All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

Interview: ‘We Are Hoping For The Best and Preparing For The Worst’

Myanmar attorney Khin Maung Zaw has been assigned by the leadership of the now-deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) to represent state counselor and de facto national leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, now both being held under house arrest, in their trial on charges brought by Myanmar’s new military leaders. Here, Khin Maung Zaw speaks with RFA’s Myanmar Service in an exclusive interview:

RFA: We have learned that you are going to represent the detained NLD leaders, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint. Can you tell us how you became involved in this case?

Khin Maung Zaw: I was asked by the NLD’s Central Executive Committee to take up these cases, and I now have a written request from them to represent Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint. Aung San Suu Kyi has been charged under Section 8 of the Import and Export Law with the ownership of illegal walkie-talkies, and President Win Myint under Section 25 of the Natural Disaster Prevention Law. These are two separate cases.

RFA: Will you be their only attorney? Have you been able to meet with them?

Khin Maung Zaw: I will be assisted by Supreme Court lawyer Daw Min Min Soe and High Court lawyer U Rashid in the proceedings, and we are now preparing all relevant documents. Normally when a case is assigned to us we have to take the general power agreement [General Power of Attorney] to the accused for them to sign.

So with the letter from the NLD, we went to the houses of Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint yesterday, as they are both under house arrest, but we couldn’t get in, and so we went to the township police officer who made the arrests to ask him to let us see the leaders. He said he didn’t have the authority to do this and told us to ask the District Police Chief.

But the latter told us he was too busy and didn’t have time to see us. We tried again today, but without success. We hope to see him soon.

RFA: Do you think that the authorities will allow you to meet with your clients?

Khin Maung Zaw: The accused has the right to meet with their legal representative, according to the Prisons Manual. We had this same experience in the case of Reuters correspondent Wa Lone, whom we were able to meet only at the end of the remand period. We are hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.

What we really want is an acquittal. We believe that they have done nothing illegal, as the charges against them now say. And look at the case of the president. Even though Myint Swe is now the acting president, Win Myint is legally still the president because he was not impeached, and only an impeachment can remove a president from his position.

Under Section 215 of the Constitution, the president does not have to answer to any criminal charges. The remand period will end on Feb. 17, and they will have to be in court by then. I don’t know whether the accused will appear in a virtual court or not, but I have the right to see them.

Reported by RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane.

Civil Disobedience Movement Spreads Throughout Myanmar on Day Five of Military Coup

A Civil Disobedience Movement in response to a coup by the military spread rapidly throughout Myanmar on Friday despite threats of a crackdown, while investors began pulling out of the country amid political uncertainty and calls for a pressure campaign by the international community.

Hundreds of government employees from various sectors joined a protest in the capital Naypyidaw, demanding the release of detained leaders and calling on the military, or Tatmadaw, to respect the results of the country’s November 2020 election, which saw State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party win in a landslide.

Staffers from the Ministry of Social Welfare and Relief and Resettlement, the Ministry of Electric Power and Energy, the Ministry of Construction, and the Ministry of Ethnic Affairs joined the protests, while doctors and nurses from the city’s 1,000-bed hospital joined the protests, dubbed the Civil Disobedience Movement, demanding an end to military rule.

“We are here to show our support for the people,” Thet Lwin Oo, assistant director of the Ministry of Ethnic Affairs, told RFA’s Myanmar Service. “We worry for our future because we are government employees.”

On Monday, the military dissolved parliament, citing allegations of voter fraud in a bloodless coup that gave it control of the country. Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s de facto leader, was taken into custody along with other NLD leaders in the putsch, which saw army chief General Min Aung Hlaing declare a one-year state of emergency. The 75-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest.

Raucous street protests and criticism of the coup on social media have since been met with arrests in cities across Myanmar, drawing condemnation from Western governments. In New York on Thursday, the U.N. Security Council expressed “deep concern” at the declaration of the junta’s state of emergency and the “arbitrary detention” of Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and others. As of Friday morning, 134 NLD members had been detained, according to the Irrawaddy online news website.

In addition to Friday’s protests in Naypyidaw, more than 300 academic staff members and 200 students from Dagon University in Myanmar’s economic center of Yangon held a protest in front of the school’s Convocation Hall, displaying a three-finger salute borrowed from Thailand’s democracy movement to condemn the military’s actions.

Nyi Nyi Lwin, a professor at Dagon University’s International Relations Department, told RFA that academic staff took part in the protests “of our own volition and without any outside pressure.”

“We want the elected leaders to be released and we condemn the military takeover, which shouldn’t have happened at all,” he said.

Min Han Htet, president of the Dagon University Students Union, said students would go on fighting to ensure that Monday’s coup would be “the country’s last military takeover.”

“There will be more public demonstrations throughout the country in the coming days and I believe this kind of movement will have to be led by us students,” he said. “With the help of the entire population, we must take down this military dictatorship so that it won’t be a threat to future generations.”

Dagon University staff and students were joined by staff from the Yangon Institute of Education, who launched a “red ribbon campaign” in support of the color of the NLD’s flag and to signal their condemnation of military rule.

Medical staff at Yangon University Hospital also held a red ribbon protest Friday.

In total, thousands of government and medical staff, as well as students and academics at 91 government hospitals, 18 universities and colleges and 12 government departments in 79 townships across the country were on strike in protest of the coup, according to the Civil Disobedience Movement Facebook page.

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Teachers take part in the Civil Disobedience Movement in Sittwe, Rakhine state, Feb. 5, 2021. RFA

Regional cities see protests

Similar protests were held by academics and students at universities in the seats of Myanmar’s Magway region, and Kayin, and Kachin states; while red ribbon campaigns were launched in Mandalay, Ayeyarwaddy, Taninthayi and Yangon regions, as well as Chin and Rakhine states.

Anti-coup protests also spread Friday to the townships of Sittwe in Rakhine state, Lashio in Shan state, Dawei in Tanintharyi region, Loikaw in Kayah state, Kalemyo in Sagaing region, and Chauk and Pakokku in Magway region.

The protests at educational institutes came a day after Cho Yu Mon, the dean of the Hpa-an Technological High School in the seat of Kayin state, was detained by police for promoting civil disobedience during a protest at the school.

Cho Yu Mon has been charged with defamation of the state under article 505(B) of the penal code and is being held without bail at Hpa-an Central Prison, fellow teacher Naing Say, who recorded a video of the arrest that has since gone viral on social media, told RFA.

“The main reason for her arrest is that we held a civil disobedience movement campaign at our school, Naing Say said, adding that her case is set to be heard in court on Feb. 17.

Meanwhile, military authorities in several townships on Friday began arresting people who have taken part in a nightly nationwide pot-banging campaign to signal their frustration over the coup.

On Friday, authorities detained six people in Mandalay region’s Chan Mya Tharzi township, bringing to 30 the number of people arrested in the region since the beginning of the campaign on the evening of Feb. 2. Arrests have also been made in Myingyan, Magway, Maypyidaw, and Yangon.

Several people in both Mandalay and Yangon regions were detained for banging pots but released after police were surrounded by angry residents.

Most pot-bangers are being detained and charged under section 47 of Myanmar’s Police Act, which allows the authorities to arrest those who “disrupt safety and security in public spaces” without warrants. Others are being targeted under article 27 of the Civil Administration Act, which carries a fine of 5,000 kyat (U.S. $3.65) or up to seven days in prison.

Shortly after the launch of the pot-banging campaign began, police nationwide were ordered to monitor and file reports on participants. The directive was posted to social media earlier this week and has since gone viral.

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Plastic crates containing Kirin brand beer bottles are seen at the Kirin Brewery factory in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan, June 11, 2019. Reuters

Military business partners

On Friday, foreign firms began distancing themselves from partnerships with Myanmar’s military, which is involved in a myriad of sectors, including banking, breweries, buses, telecoms, tobacco and media.

Kirin Holdings of Japan announced it had ended its relationship with the Tatmadaw, prompting the International Campaign for the Rohingya—which advocates on behalf of the Muslim ethnic group that endured a brutal military-led crackdown in 2017—to suggest it had “finally stepped too far” in orchestrating the coup.

Simon Billenness, executive director of the International Campaign for the Rohingya, said in a statement that Kirin had “finally acknowledged its grievous mistake” in choosing to do business with Myanma Economic Holdings Public Company Limited, a military-owned conglomerate, and called on corporations around the globe to also cut ties with the military.

In particular, he called out Facebook—which the junta blocked access to on Thursday—for providing a platform that the military uses to recruit soldiers and conduct business, as well as jewelers that buy gems the military uses as a substantial source of revenue.

Billenness also called on governments to hold the Myanmar military accountable for its actions through sanctions against Myanmar military leaders, the army’s extensive business empire, and the military’s business associates.

Kirin’s announcement came as Myanmar’s former student leaders Ko Min Ko Naing and Ko Jimmy of the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society urged the public to take a variety of approaches to oppose military rule, including a boycott of its businesses.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the State Department in Washington, Feb. 4, 2021. AP Photo

US lawmakers weigh in

In Washington, Senators Edward J. Markey, Jim Risch, Bob Menendez, and Marco Rubio called on President Joe Biden’s administration to take steps to preserve Myanmar’s “fragile democratic transition” following Monday’s coup.

In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the senators called on the White House to press for the immediate release of all political prisoners detained in association with the coup, impose targeted sanctions on the senior leadership of the Tatmadaw, and organize multilateral economic and diplomatic pressure with global allies.

They also urged the administration to use the U.S. position on the United Nations Security Council to push for a “quick and serious” U.N. consideration of the situation in Myanmar, remain engaged with partners in the country, and to call for protections for the roughly 600,000 Rohingya who still live in Rakhine state.

“Given the Tatmadaw’s long history of human rights violations and suppression of democracy, there is no reason to believe Burma’s military leaders will return the country to democratic rule without strong and sustained international pressure,” the Senators wrote, using the British colonial name for Myanmar.

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The United Nations headquarters in New York, Sept. 21, 2020. AP Photo

UN condemnation

The lawmakers’ call for action came a day after U.N. Special Envoy for Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener spoke with Myanmar’s Deputy Commander-in-Chief Vice-General Soe Win, condemning the military action and calling for the immediate release of all detained government officials, according to U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

“[The Special Envoy] had a virtual meeting with the deputy commander in chief of the armed forces of Myanmar,” Dujarric told reporters on Friday.

“She reiterated the Secretary-General’s strong condemnation of the military action that disrupted the democratic reforms that were taking place in the country. She also reiterated her call for the immediate release of all detained and emphasized the need to advance progress on key areas in regards to a safe, dignified, voluntary and sustainable repatriation of the Rohingya refugees.”

Attorney Khin Maung Zaw, who is representing Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, told RFA Friday that he had been unable to meet with his clients, who are both under house arrest. Aung San Suu Kyi was charged under the Section 8 Import & Export Law for ownership of “illegal walkie-talkies,” while Win Myint was accused of violating Section 25 of the Natural Disaster Prevention Law.

Pyi Pyo, an elected member of parliament for the NLD, said he expects the military to bring charges against additional party members.

“This coup was launched by a small group of senior officers and we are hoping to see good decent Tatmadaw officers who would stand on the side of the people,” he said.

Reported by RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung and Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

Myanmar coup: social media captures singing of emblematic anthem of defiance in the street

In #Myanmar, the return of the #military means the return of “Kabar Ma Kyay Bu” sung to the tune of Kansas’ Dust In The Wind.

Journalist Catherine Field tells #WorldThisWeek why that anthem of resistance resonates so profoundly in a nation that’s now seen its democratic transition suspended after only five years.

Full show 📺➡️ f24.my/7L8n.t

Subscribe to France 24 now: https://f24.my/YouTubeEN

FRANCE 24 live news stream: all the latest news 24/7

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News That Will Drive You To Drink

¡Bueno!

Mock Paper Scissors

Happy Hour News

Lou Dobbs has been cancel-cultured, just because another voting machine company is suing Fox News. Shocked, I am.

Fox News Cancels Lou Dobbs’ Show

Fox News has canceled “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” the Los Angeles Times reported on Friday.

The final airing of the show, which typically runs twice each night on Fox Business Network, will take place on Friday, a Fox News representative told the L.A. Times.

“As we said in October, Fox News Media regularly considers programming changes and plans have been in place to launch new formats as appropriate post-election, including on Fox Business,” the representative said. “This is part of those planned changes. A new 5 p.m. program will be announced in the near future.”

He has been fired more times by more networks than any other “personality” that I can think of at the moment.

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US suspends Haiti deportation flights as Biden administration tries to control Ice

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Halt came after activists and staffers called homeland security secretary’s office but it is unclear how long it will last

The US has suspended deportation flights to Haiti, in the latest sign the Biden administration is attempting to assert control over the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, Ice, according to community activists and congressional sources.

The reported halt to Haitian flights came after a night of frantic calls from community activists and congressional staffers to the office of the newly confirmed secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas. It is unclear how long the suspension will last, and Ice did not reply to a request for comment on Friday morning.

Continue reading…

Humans Are Walloping Sea Creatures With Deadly, Disorienting Noise

STOP!

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This story was originally published by The Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

A natural ocean soundscape is fundamental to healthy marine life but is being drowned out by an increasingly loud cacophony of noise from human activities, according to the first comprehensive assessment of the issue.

The damage caused by noise is as harmful as overfishing, pollution and the climate crisis, the scientists said, but is being dangerously overlooked. The good news, they said, is that noise can be stopped instantly and does not have lingering effects, as the other problems do.

Marine animals can hear over much greater distances than they can see or smell, making sound crucial to many aspects of life. From whales to shellfish, sea life uses sound to catch prey, navigate, defend territory and attract mates, as well as find homes and warn of attack. Noise pollution increases the risk of death and in extreme cases, such as explosions, kills directly.

Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel burning are also making the oceans more acidic, meaning the water carries sound further, leading to an even noisier ocean, the researchers said. But the movement of marine mammals and sharks into previously noisy areas when the Covid-19 pandemic slashed ocean traffic showed that marine life could recover rapidly from noise pollution, they said.

Everything from the tiniest plankton up to sharks sense their acoustic environment,” said Prof Steve Simpson at the University of Exeter in England, and part of the review team. “As a result, the animals have to produce sound to communicate, but also to receive sound.” He said noise pollution was like an “acoustic fog” in the ocean.

“Marine animals can only see across tens of meters at most, and can smell across hundreds of meters, but they can hear across entire ocean basins,” said Prof Carlos Duarte at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, who led the review. Duarte said major assessments of the health of the ocean were ignoring noise: “Yet the scientific literature, when read carefully, provides compelling evidence of human-caused noise being a major source of disruption to the marine ecosystem.”

“We find that animals are directly stressed by noise as well, and so they make poor decisions that often lead to death.”

The review, published in the journal Science, analysed more than 500 studies that assessed the effects of noise on sea life. About 90% of the studies found significant harm to marine mammals, such as whales, seals and dolphins, and 80% found impacts on fish and invertebrates. “Sound is a fundamental component of ecosystems, [and noise] impacts are pervasive, affecting animals at all levels,” the analysis concluded.

The most obvious impact is the link between military sonar and seismic survey detonations and deafness, mass strandings, and deaths of marine mammals. But many uses of sound can be harmed, such as the hums that male toadfish use to attract females and the honks that cod use to coordinate spawning.

Baleen whales produce calls to help group cohesion and reproduction that can travel across ocean basins, and humpback whales sing complex mating songs that have regional dialects. Sperm whales and various dolphins and porpoises use sonar to echolocate prey. Other animals use sound to feed: some shrimps produce a “snap” sound to stun prey.

However, over the past 50 years, increased shipping has raised low-frequency noise on major routes by 32 times, the review said. Fishing vessels use sonar to find shoals of fish and bottom trawlers create rumbling noise. The construction and operation of oil rigs and offshore wind farms also cause noise pollution, as does the detonation of second world war bombs in the North Sea.

“Fish, clams, crabs and corals all hear sound and use it to find healthy places to make their home,” said Simpson. “So shipping or construction noise takes away that homing sense. It also means that whales that might have lived in a family and hunted over hundreds of miles have to live within 10 miles of each other to be able to communicate.

“We find that animals are directly stressed by noise as well, and so they make poor decisions that often lead to death,” he said, noting that noise from motorboats on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia leads to double the mortality from predators.

“Underwater noise is a serious concern and it is growing,” said Prof Daniel Pauly at the University of British Columbia in Canada, who was not part of the review team. “The level of noise marine mammals are exposed to is devastating … Underwater sound waves are far more violent than sound waves in air.”

There are solutions, the review found, with a retrofit of five large container ships by shipping giant Maersk in 2015 showing that new propeller designs reduce noise and also increase fuel efficiency. Quieter propellers are the top priority, said Duarte; half of shipping noise comes from just 15% of vessels.

Electric motors are another possible solution, as are small reductions in speed. For example, cutting the speeds of noisy vessels in the Mediterranean from 15.6 to 13.8 knots cut noise by 50% between 2007 and 2013. Seismic surveys can also be carried out using seabed vibrators, rather than sending noise waves through the whole water column.

“Cutting noise is possibly the lowest-hanging fruit to make a difference and we can change that today,” said Simpson. “I have real hope that we will hear a healthier ocean in our lifetimes.”

Myanmar’s New Military Government is Now Blocking Twitter and Instagram

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Myanmar’s new military government has ordered local telecom operators, internet gateways, and other internet service providers to block Twitter and Instagram in the South Asian country days after imposing a similar blackout on Facebook to ensure “stability” in the Southeast Asian nation. From a report: Norwegian telecom giant Telenor, which is one of the largest telecos in Myanmar, said the government has ordered ISPs to block Twitter and Instagram “until further notice.” The directive has “legal basis in Myanmar’s telecommunications law,” Telenor said, but it is challenging the “necessity and proportionality of the directive in its response to Myanmar Ministry of Transport and Communications, and highlighted the directive’s contradiction with international human rights law.”

[…] In a statement, a Twitter spokesperson told TechCrunch: “We’re deeply concerned about the order to block Internet services in Myanmar. It undermines the public conversation and the rights of people to make their voices heard. The Open Internet is increasingly under threat around the world. We will continue to advocate to end destructive government-led shutdowns. We understand some people across the Asia-Pacific region may also be having trouble accessing Twitter, and we’re working to fix it.”

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Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Indian farmers’ protests: Twitter withholds, then restores, prominent accounts by government order · Global Voices

A source speaking under the condition of anonymity told The Hindustan Times said that Twitter decided to restore the accounts after concluding that the content withheld was “speech and newsworthy.” Source: Indian farmers’ protests: Twitter withholds, then restores, prominent accounts by government order · Global Voices