Myanmar's government-in-exile finds friends in the Czech Republic

There has long been a special connection between pro-democracy activists in Myanmar and the Czech Republic, thanks to the long-distance friendship between Vaclav Havel and Aung San Suu Kyi, say experts.


The Myanmar military toppled the nation's democratically elected government in a coup last year

From his small apartment in the suburbs of Prague, Linn Thant is fighting to restore democracy in Myanmar.

When the National Unity Government (NUG), a shadow government set up by deposed parliamentarians and civil society groups to oppose the military junta that took power in a coup last February, wanted to set up a lobbying group in Europe, the Czech Republic was the logical choice — as was Thant, who became its liaison officer.

Analysts say it is not surprising the Czech Republic was the first European country where the NUG set up a representative office last year.

"The Czech Republic used to be one of the most stalwart supporters of human rights and democracy in Myanmar, and it is welcome to see them continuing that tradition at such a critical time," said Mark Farmaner, director of the campaign group, Burma Campaign UK.

"The Czech Republic is a small country, but I think they've done a lot within the European Union to help Myanmar," says Thant, a former political prisoner who has lived in Prague since 2015.
Fighting to restore democracy in Myanmar

Sitting in his home that doubles as his campaign headquarters, the 54-year-old Thant told DW that he hopes the EU will take decisive steps this year to help the people of Myanmar who have been trying to topple the junta for the past 11 months.

The NUG, along with its people's defense forces and Myanmar's numerous ethnic militia, now controls swathes of the country, yet it is struggling to receive recognition and support from the international community. "The Burmese people, they hope and expect the international community to get involved," Thant said

Watch video03:29 Myanmar military apparently used civilians as 'target practice' – HRW's Phil Robertson

The EU has so far imposed three rounds of sanctions on junta officials and their aligned businesses. Brussels is preparing to announce a fourth round of sanctions on February 1, the first anniversary of the coup, a source, who asked not to be named, told DW.

Thant spent 20 years in prison in Myanmar because of his role as student leader during the 1988 protests, a nationwide uprising that almost toppled the military regime that had ruled the country for decades.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Western-educated daughter of Myanmar's "father of the nation," emerged as the country's pro-democracy icon during these protests. After five decades of military rule, multi-party elections were held in 2010.

In the 2015 general elections, Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party won an absolute majority in both chambers of the national parliament. The party again secured victory in the 2020 elections.

However, the democratically elected government was ousted by last year's military coup.

Lobbying Czech and EU politicians

Thant, whose official title recently changed to the NUG's "representative" to the Czech Republic — which makes him a de facto ambassador — is tasked with lobbying Czech as well as other European politicians. His days are spent meeting officials and politicians, some of whom he has known for years.

He provides information to them, which they then pass on to their European colleagues, he says. Often, he's asked to explain issues related to Myanmar's political situation or history.

On February 9 last year, eight days after the military coup, then Czech Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček vowed his country would "use all available diplomatic instruments in order to restore democracy in Myanmar and will coordinate its effort with partners in the European Union and global democratic community."

In the subsequent months, Thant met with several key Czech politicians, including Pavel Fisher, chairman of the Senate's foreign affairs committee. He was instrumental in getting Jakub Kulhánek, who took over as foreign minister briefly in 2021, to hold virtual talks with Zin Mar Aung, the NUG's minister of foreign affairs.
A special connection

Kristina Kironska, a Bratislava-based academic who specializes in Myanmar, said there has long been a special connection between pro-democracy activists in both countries, thanks to the long-distance friendship between Aung San Suu Kyi and Vaclav Havel, the leading Czech anti-communist figure who became president after the fall of communism in 1989.

Havel kickstarted the campaign for Suu Kyi to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, which she won in 1991 while under house arrest. The same year, he wrote the preface to her best-selling collection of essays, Freedom from Fear. Thant, who received asylum in the Czech Republic in 2011, also credits Havel for welcoming him to the Czech Republic.

The new Czech government under Prime Minister Petr Fiala, which took office in December, campaigned on the pledge to restore Havelian liberalism and internationalism at the heart of foreign policy decisions. And Thant, who is also tasked with lobbying other European governments, reckons more progress could be made this year to get greater recognition for the NUG.

"We call for the immediate restoration of the legitimate civilian government in Myanmar, and the swift opening of parliament with the participation of all elected representatives, as foreseen by the constitution," a spokesperson for the Czech foreign ministry told DW.

"We have welcomed since the very beginning the creation of the National Unity Government," he added. "The NUG has our political support." The spokesman also said that the new Czech Foreign Minister, Jan Lipavský, will soon discuss the situation and further steps with NUG representatives.

Thant, who held talks with officials in the foreign ministry last week, expects Lipavsky to hold a call with the NUG's foreign minister in the coming weeks. If the Czech government does pursue a more hostile policy against Myanmar's junta, it could push the EU's agenda in a similar direction as the Czech Republic takes on the EU presidency in the second half of this year.

As well as a new round of sanctions, which will likely be imposed next month, Brussels has also called for an international arms embargo on Myanmar, which analysts think is unlikely.

Call for international community to act

Russia and China, both of whom sit on the UN Security Council and could veto an embargo, have reportedly sold munitions to the junta forces, which stand accused of having killed more than 1,400 civilians since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a human rights group.

"The NUG needs to keep explaining its cause — and I don't mean only to the broad public," Kironska said, adding that the crisis is complicated and can be misunderstood in Europe.

According to Marek Svoboda, director of programs at the Central and Eastern European Law Initiative, the "crucial political fight" this year is to make sure the international community doesn't grant a de facto legitimacy to the military junta.

So far, the United Nations has postponed any decision on who should represent Myanmar at the international organization, as has the World Health Organization and other bodies.

For Thant, it's time for the international community, including European states, to stop sitting on the fence. He wants European governments to formally recognize the NUG as the legitimate government of Myanmar, and to brand the military junta as "terrorists."

"There are only two things that you should want in life," he says, paraphrasing a famous Burmese poem. "Real enemies and real friends. It's clear to see who our real enemies are," he says, "but we don't see who our real friends are."

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru

A FAVOURITE COMIC OF MY YOUTH
Oscar Isaac Transforms into the Sleepless Moon Knight in First Trailer for Marvel's New Series

Natasha Dado

Hello, and welcome to staying awake... and setting your calendars for March 30, when the latest Marvel Studios series, Moon Knight, hits Disney+.

The first official trailer for the hotly anticipated new series was released on Monday night, starring Oscar Isaac as Marvel's mysterious new superhero.

The clip introduces Steven Grant (Isaac), a museum gift shop employee plagued with blackouts and strange memories. He says has "a sleeping disorder" and "can't tell the difference between waking life and dreams."

One night in the museum, he discovers a hidden key and old flip phone that's ringing. "Oh my god, you're alive!" the woman on the other end of the phone shouts. "What's wrong with you, Marc?"

Marc, it seems, is Marc Spector, a mercenary. According to Marvel's description, "Steven discovers he has dissociative identity disorder and shares a body with mercenary Marc Spector. As Steven/Marc's enemies converge upon them, they must navigate their complex identities while thrust into a deadly mystery among the powerful gods of Egypt. "

RELATED: Oscar Isaac Set to Star in Disney+ Moon Knight Series, Marvel Confirms

© Provided by People Disney+

"There's chaos in you," notes the show's mysterious villain, rumored to be Dr. Arthur Harrow and played by Ethan Hawke.

"Embrace the chaos," he adds.

RELATED: Oscar Isaac Set to Play Solid Snake in Upcoming Metal Gear Solid Movie Adaptation

The trailer premiered during the NFL Super Wild Card matchup Monday, featuring a showdown between the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals.

Also on Monday night, Marvel Studios' official Twitter account unveiled the first poster image for the series, showing details from Moon Knight's costume and weapon of choice (resembling a crescent moon).

© Provided by People Disney+

The series is set to follow Spector as he becomes the embodiment of the Egyptian god Khonshu.

"Struggling with multiple personalities and amoral inclinations, Marc Spector fights on against all odds as the cloaked avenger Moon Knight," Marvel previously said in a description of the series.

Moon Knight also stars French actor Gaspard Ulliel and Palestinian-Egyptian actress May Calamawy.

Moon Knight is the latest MCU series at Disney+ set in the MCU, following WandaVision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, What If…? and Hawkeye. She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Secret Invasion, Ironheart and Armor Wars are also in the works.

Moon Knight will premiere on Disney+ on March 30.

WHITE MALE ARROGANCE & MISOGYNY

Neil Gorsuch defied a request from Chief Justice John Roberts to wear a mask out of respect for Sonia Sotomayor, a report says

bgriffiths@insider.com (Brent D. Griffiths,Oma Seddiq) 

SMIRKING PRIMATE FULL OF HUBRIS 

© Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images Justice Neil Gorsuch. Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images
Sonia Sotomayor attended oral arguments remotely because Neil Gorsuch didn't wear a mask, NPR said.

Chief Justice John Roberts asked the court to wear masks on Sotomayor's behalf, the report said.

All of the justices are fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who has diabetes and is at a higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, has been participating in Supreme Court oral arguments remotely from her private chambers after Justice Neil Gorsuch refused to wear a mask, NPR's Nina Totenberg reported on Tuesday.


Sotomayor hasn't taken the bench this year amid the nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant. The remaining justices have appeared in the courtroom for arguments, with each of them wearing masks except for Gorsuch.

After the onset of the pandemic, the nine justices first returned to in-person arguments last fall. At the time, none of the justices wore masks during oral arguments besides Sotomayor, NPR reported. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said either type of diabetes could make a person more susceptible to severe illness from COVID-19.

As infections began to spike recently, Chief Justice John Roberts "in some form" asked the entire court to wear masks on Sotomayor's behalf, NPR reported. All of them did, with the exception of Gorsuch.

Based on the court's tradition, Sotomayor, appointed by President Barack Obama in 2009, sits next to Gorsuch, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2017.

Sotomayor doesn't feel safe around unmasked people and has been participating remotely, NPR reported. All nine justices are fully vaccinated and have received booster shots against COVID-19.

Gorsuch's "continued refusal since then has also meant that Sotomayor has not attended the justices' weekly conference in person, joining instead by telephone," NPR reported.

A Supreme Court spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Gorsuch's behalf.

Totenberg, a longtime Supreme Court reporter, also described an institution that's overflowing with animosity.

The court's three liberals, including Sotomayor, are increasingly upset with their conservative colleagues, especially over the possibility that Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that legalized abortion nationwide, could soon be overturned.

The justices recently split along ideological lines in a 6-3 decision that blocked the Biden administration's mandate that would have required private companies with over 100 employees to get their workers vaccinated against COVID-19 or tested weekly. The court's conservative majority expressed skepticism of the Biden administration's power to impose a sweeping mandate on workplaces without direct authorization from Congress.

The three liberals disagreed, writing in a dissenting opinion: "When we are wise, we know enough to defer on matters like this one. When we are wise, we know not to displace the judgments of experts, acting within the sphere Congress marked out and under Presidential control, to deal with emergency conditions. Today, we are not wise."

In a separate 5-4 ruling, the court allowed a Biden-administration mandate that required COVID-19 vaccinations for healthcare workers at federally funded facilities to take effect. Two of the court's conservatives, Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, joined the liberals in the majority.
Read the original article on Business Insider

110 Dogs Will Arrive Safe In Toronto This Week After Being Rescued From A Meat Farm (PHOTOS)

Canada Edition (EN) 
This article contains graphic content that might not be suitable for some readers.

© Provided by Narcity

More than 100 dogs will be arriving safe and sound at Pearson Airport in Toronto this week, after being rescued from South Korea's controversial dog meat trade last year.

The pups will get a second chance at life upon their arrival in Canada starting on Wednesday, January 12, and will be transferred to a temporary facility in Cambridge, Ontario, to receive care.

Photos of the dogs' rescue were provided to Narcity by the Humane Society International, casting a light on the animals' dire living conditions.

© Provided by NarcityHSI | Handout

The rescue effort, assisted by Korean partner group LIFE, includes over 60 dogs that were saved from a meat farm on Jindo Island in August of 2021.

After their stay in Cambridge, the dogs will be transported for further treatment and sheltering in the U.S. at the new HSI Trauma Rehabilitation Center in Montreal.

© Provided by NarcityHSI | Handout

According to HSI, the sweeping Initiative came on the heels of the South Korean government announcing its plans to consider a ban on dog meat consumption.

President Moon Jae-In revealed, in a joint statement with his ministries that he was considering setting up a task force to end the practice.

According to the news release, an estimated 2.5 million dogs are still being bred and forced to live in appalling conditions on "thousands of farms across South Korea" for human consumption.

© Provided by NarcityHSI | Handout

"The dogs suffer immensely both physically and mentally, spending their entire lives in small, barren, wire cages without proper food, water, stimulation, comfort, or veterinary care. Death is often by electrocution," a statement from HSI reads.

© Provided by NarcityHSI | Handout

"Dog meat consumption is declining rapidly in South Korea and recent announcements by the South Korean government suggest there is a political will to put an end to this cruel trade for good," it adds.

Safety doors failed in NYC high-rise fire that killed 17
2022-01-10

NEW YORK (AP) — Investigators sought answers Monday for why safety doors failed to close when fire broke out in a New York high-rise, allowing thick smoke to rise through the tower and kill 17 people, including eight children, in the city's deadliest blaze in more than three decades.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

A malfunctioning electric space heater apparently started the fire Sunday in the 19-story building in the Bronx, fire officials said. The flames damaged only a small part of the building, but smoke poured through the apartment’s open door and turned stairwells into dark, ash-choked death traps. The stairs were the only method of escape in a tower too tall for fire escapes.


Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said the apartment’s front door and a door on the 15th floor should have been self-closing and blunted the spread of smoke, but the doors stayed fully open. It was not clear if the doors failed mechanically or if they had been manually disabled. Nigro said the apartment door was not obstructed.

The heavy smoke blocked some residents from escaping and incapacitated others as they tried to flee, fire officials said. Victims, many in cardiac and respiratory arrest, were found on every one floor. Firefighters carried out limp children and gave them oxygen and continued making rescues even after their air supplies ran out.

Glenn Corbett, a fire science professor at John Jay College in New York City, said closed doors are vital to containing fire and smoke, especially in buildings that do not have automatic sprinkler systems.

“It’s pretty remarkable that the failure of one door could lead to how many deaths we had here, but that’s the reality of it,” Corbett said. “That one door played a critical role in allowing the fire to spread and the smoke and heat to spread vertically through the building."

Dozens of people were hospitalized, including several in critical condition. Mayor Eric Adams called it an “unspeakable tragedy” at a news conference near the scene Monday.

“This tragedy is not going to define us,” Adams said. “It is going to show our resiliency.”

Adams lowered the death toll from an initial report Sunday, saying that two fewer people were killed than originally thought. Nigro said patients were taken to seven hospitals and “there was a bit of a double count.”

The dead included children as young as 4 years old, City Council Member Oswald Feliz said.

An investigation was underway to determine how the fire spread and whether anything could have been done to prevent or contain the blaze, Nigro said.

A fire department official said the space heater had been running for a “prolonged period” before the fire began. What caused it to malfunction remains under investigation, spokesman Frank Dwyer said. Fire then spread quickly to nearby furniture and bedding, Dwyer said.

Nigro said the heat was on in the building before the fire started, and the space heater was being used to supplement it.

But Stefan Beauvogui, who lived with his wife in the building for about seven years, said cold was an ongoing problem in his fourth-floor apartment. Beauvogui said he had three space heaters for the winter — for the bedrooms and the sitting room. The heating system that was supposed to warm the apartment “don’t work for nothing.” He said he had complained, but it had not been fixed.

Large, new apartment buildings are required to have sprinkler systems and interior doors that swing shut automatically to contain smoke and deprive fires of oxygen, but those rules do not apply to thousands of the city’s older buildings.

The building was equipped with self-closing doors and smoke alarms, but several residents said they initially ignored the alarms because they were so common in the 120-unit building.

Bronx Park Phase III Preservation LLC, the group that owns the building, said it was cooperating fully with the fire department and the city and working to assist residents.

“We are devastated by the unimaginable loss of life caused by this profound tragedy,” the statement said.

A spokeswoman for the ownership group, Kelly Magee, said that maintenance staff in July fixed the lock on the front door of the apartment in which the fire started and, while doing that repair, checked that the apartment’s self-closing door was working. No issues were reported with the door after that point, Magee said.

Residents smoking in the stairwells sometimes tripped the fire alarms, and property managers had been working with them to address the problem, Magee said. She said the alarms appeared to work properly on Sunday.

The tower was required by building codes to have sprinklers only in its trash compactor and laundry room because it has concrete ceilings and floors, she said.

Camber Property Group is one of three firms in the ownership group that purchased the building in 2020 as part of $166 million purchase of eight affordable housing buildings in the borough. One of Camber’s founders, Rick Gropper, served on Adams’ transition team, advising him on housing. He contributed to a dozen politicians in the past few elections, including $400 to Adams’ campaign last year.

New York City has been slow to require sprinklers for older apartment buildings, passing laws to mandate them in high-rise office towers after 9/11 but punting in recent years on a bill that would require such measures in residential buildings.

In 2018, a city lawmaker proposed requiring automatic fire sprinklers in residential buildings 40 feet or taller by the end of 2029, but that measure never passed, and the lawmaker recently left office.

A sprinkler system set off by heat in the apartment might have saved lives, said Ronald Siarnicki, executive director of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

“Most likely it would have extinguished that fire or at least held it in check and not produced the amount of toxic smoke,” said Siarnicki, adding that firefighter groups have been lobbying for stricter sprinkler requirements for years.

The building is home to many families originally from Gambia in West Africa.

Resident Karen Dejesus said she was used to hearing the fire alarm go off.

“Not until I actually saw the smoke coming in the door did I realize it was a real fire, and I began to hear people yelling, ‘Help! Help! Help!’”

Dejesus, who was in her two-floor apartment with her son and 3-year-old granddaughter, immediately called family members and ran to get towels to put under the door. But smoke began coming down her stairs before the 56-year-old resident could get the towels, so the three ran to the back of the apartment.

“It was so scary,” she said. "Just the fact that we’re in a building that’s burning and you don’t know how you’re going to get out. You don’t know if the firefighters are going to get to you in time.”

Firefighters broke down her door and helped all three out the window and down a ladder to safety. Dejesus clung to her rescuer on the way down.

The fire was New York City's deadliest since 1990, when 87 people died in an arson at the Happy Land social club, also in the Bronx. Sunday’s fire happened just days after 12 people, including eight children, were killed in a house fire in Philadelphia.

___

Associated Press writers Bobby Caina Calvan, Deepti Hajela and Bernard Condon contributed to this report.

David Porter, Michelle L. Price And Michael R. Sisak, The Associated Press

OTTAWA

Identification of Eastway Tank explosion victims could take weeks, coroner says
Blair Crawford 

The remains of a fifth victim have been found in the rubble left after last Thursday’s explosion and fire at Eastway Tank Pump & Meter Ltd., the coroner’s office has confirmed.

© Provided by Ottawa Citizen Six people are believed to have died in a fire and explosion at Eastway Tank on Merivale Road in Ottawa last week.

“The Office of the Chief Coroner (OCC) and the Ontario Fire Marshal, assisted by the Ottawa Police, are beginning the work to recover the human remains of some of the deceased that have been located at scene,” coroner spokeswoman Stephanie Rea said in an email Tuesday. “Once the human remains have been recovered, the next step will be for the OCC in conjunction with the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service, to identify those remains. The forensic identification process may take days, if not weeks.”

The names of the victims have not been officially released, but all six casualties have been identified on social media.

Matthew Kearney, 36, a service supervisor and calibration technician at Eastway, died in hospital early Friday from injuries he suffered in the blast. Five others remain unaccounted for and are presumed dead. They are: plant manager Russell McLellan, 43; Rick Bastien, 57, a mechanic and welder from Luskville, Que.; electrician Etienne Mabiala, 59, a husband and father who moved to Canada from the Republic of Congo; welder and Algonquin College graduate Kayla Ferguson, 26, of Carleton Place; and electrician Danny Beale, 29, of Ottawa.

The explosion and fire is believed is the deadliest workplace accident in Ottawa since nine workers were killed in the 1966 collapse of the Heron Road Bridge.

The complex investigation to determining just how and why the tragedy occurred has been hampered by unsafe conditions at the scene, freezing temperatures and Monday’s winter blizzard. In addition to the main investigation by Ottawa police, the coroner’s office and the fire marshal, parallel probes are being done by the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development and the Technical Standards and Safety Authority.

Hopeful signs: How some southeast Asian nations are snubbing Myanmar's military leader

Quoc Tan Trung Nguyen, PhD Candidate in Public International Law, University of Victoria 

In the urgent meeting in Indonesia of 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known as ASEAN, in April 2021, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing — the architect of Myanmar’s coup two months earlier — was welcomed by his soon-to-be peers.

© (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana) An activist holds up a defaced portrait of Myanmar Gen. Min Aung Hlaing during a rally against the military coup in Jakarta, Indonesia in April 2021, as the ASEAN summit was being held.

Everything seemed to be working out for the Myanmar junta regime. Min Aung Hlaing likely believed the international community would soon recognize his seizure of power as an irreversible fait accompli. He probably assumed that based on its history, ASEAN — ostensibly the primary promoter of peace and stability in the region — would treat him as the new legitimate leader of the country and that Myanmar citizens would subsequently stop resisting the new, universally accepted military government.

After all, tolerating coups and other authoritarian acts had become commonplace for ASEAN. The organization, focused on the non-intervention/consensus principle manifested in the so-called “ASEAN way,” doesn’t directly challenge its members for human right violations, let alone coup d’états.

In 2014, in its tepid response to Thai military leaders deposing the democratically elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra, the official ASEAN statement by heads of state called for “political stability” in Thailand while expressing no concern about the coup.

Read more: Muted response to Thai coup hints at other nations' limited options

This characteristic timidity is why ASEAN’s refusal to seat Min Aung Hlaing at its biannual leaders’ summit a few months later was so stunning — it represented the harshest diplomatic sanction it’s ever handed down to a fellow member state in more than five decades.
Significant blow

According to the ASEAN charter, the summit is the “supreme policy-making body,” with the ultimate power to decide upon any “serious breach of the Charter or non-compliance” and other disputes where consensus cannot be reached.

World leaders were invited to the October 2021 summit, including United States President Joe Biden. Barring Min Aung Hlaing delivered a significant blow to his government’s hopes of international recognition.

© (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) U.S. President Joe Biden participates virtually in the U.S.-ASEAN Summit from the White House in October 2021.

More importantly, it appears this wasn’t just a stunt by ASEAN members — there were clearly disputes among the ASEAN members on whether the military could represent Myanmar at the summit at all. ASEAN’s credibility as a rules-based organization was on the line in the aftermath of the Myanmar coup and the subsequent deadly crackdowns carried out by the military.

Those discussions among members of ASEAN suggest the organization might be evolving.

Before and after excluding Myanmar’s top general from its biannual summit, the language in recent ASEAN literature also hints at sympathies toward the country’s democratic causes.

ASEAN’s initiative to address the Myanmar problem, known as the Five-Point Consensus, emphasizes its intent to “facilitate mediation of the dialogue process” and “meet with all parties concerned.” It’s one of the few times the organization has ever explicitly offered to work directly with a party that’s not in power amid a member state’s internal conflict.
Meeting with all parties

In fact, this ASEAN provision is the main reason why the Myanmar military junta refuses to adhere to the consensus.

A visit to Myanmar by ASEAN Special Envoy Erywan Yusof was cancelled after the junta would not allow him to visit the detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi or any members of the National League for Democracy, her pre-coup ruling liberal democratic party.

The conclusion of the October summit suggested a further evolution. The organization pledged a commitment to “rule of law, good governance, democracy and constitutional government.” The member states promised to “strike an appropriate balance to the application of ASEAN principles” on the situation in Myanmar.

Some experts see no progress. The Diplomat magazine asked if it really mattered that ASEAN banned Min Aung Hlaing from its October summit without a long-term plan on the situation in Myanmar.

What’s more, Myanmar’s junta has yet to adhere to any of the Five-Point Consensus provisions. Snubbing the general came with few costs but produced a big public relations boost for ASEAN. And its decision received support from Brunei, which is where the chair of the organization hails from this year.

It was a close 5-4 ruling of the ASEAN member states to ban Min Aung Hlaing. As soon as Cambodia takes over ASEAN’s rotating chair, progress could be reversed, especially since the Cambodian prime minister has met with and expressed support for Myanmar’s military rulers.

© (AP Photo/Heng Sinith) Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen gestures at a ceremony in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in February 2021.
Hope on the horizon?

Nonetheless, it’s significant that a majority of ASEAN members actively punished and refused to recognize a coup government due to the blatant violations of human rights.

Will we see the day when the ASEAN Charter fully rejects unconstitutional changes of government and undemocratic elections similar to the Constitutive Act of the African Union that implicitly condemns authoritarianism?

Probably not any time soon. International law evolves slowly, focusing on universally agreed-upon norms that can require decades to take shape. Nonetheless, it’s a positive step in the right direction.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.


Quoc Tan Trung Nguyen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointmen

ZIONIST OCCUPIERS STOLE THEIR LAND

Negev Bedouin protests an issue long ignored by Israel - analysis
By HERB KEINON

JERUSALEM POST

© (photo credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD) Israeli security forces detain a Bedouin man during a protest against forestation at the Negev desert village of Sawe al-Atrash, southern Israel January 12, 2022.

Making the desert bloom and planting trees on Tu Bishvat (though perhaps not during a shmita year such as the current one) has long been the Israeli equivalent of America’s mother and apple pie.

Everyone loves it, everyone wants it. What could be bad?

It is for this reason that many Israelis were caught completely off guard by the brouhaha over Tu Bishvat tree planting this year in the Negev. A brouhaha that not only turned violent but also shook the coalition. Planting trees in the Negev – wasn’t that David Ben-Gurion’s dream?

Yet here we are: rocks hurled, arrests made, railroad tracks sabotaged, cars set alight, people injured.

The question in play is not whether Israel should make the Negev green with trees. The question is where those trees should be planted. It’s a big place, that Negev, made up of 12.2 million dunams. You want to make it bloom, make it bloom. But do you have to do it on the 5,000 dunams of land claimed by a Bedouin clan near the unrecognized Bedouin village of Sawa?

And that is the issue here: whose land is it?

© Provided by The Jerusalem Post Israeli security forces advance during a protest by Bedouins against forestation at the Negev desert village of Sawe al-Atrash, southern Israel January 12, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD)

Seventy-two years after the establishment of the state, and 48 years after a local Bedouin filed a claim to this particular plot of land, the issue has not been adequately adjudicated. And that is what is needed: the state, once and for all, has to determine whose land it is – who has ownership over nearly a million dunams of Negev land claimed by Bedouin.

If the courts rule that the Bedouin claims are adequate, then so be it. But if they determine that these claims, often based only on oral tradition, are not enough, and that the area is state land, then so be that as well.

The problem now is that the gray area has been allowed to last for too long, and various efforts in the past to resolve this issue have gone nowhere.

Since what is at issue is disputed ownership over land, have the courts decide, and then live by their decision. If the determination is that this particular plot of land belongs to the al-Atrash family, then let them plant their wheat there, as they recently did. If not, and the determination is that it is state land, then let the JNF plant as thick a forest as it wants at the site.

But decisions are needed, determinations must be made.

For too long, Israel has kicked the can down the road regarding Bedouin claims in the Negev. Why? Perhaps because it is a thick maze of competing oral claims and Ottoman, British and Israeli law. Or perhaps out of fear of rocking the boat, or just trying to keep things quiet. There is a certain logic to that, because if the courts would rule against the al-Atrash family, then surely there would be violent protests in the Negev. And who wants that, right?

Yet, as we have now seen, even if you don’t make an official determination, there could still be violent protests in the Negev. Avoidance of dealing head-on with complicated, emotion-laden issues does not make them go away.

Yet, as has been so highly evident in recent years, this is how the country has dealt with numerous issues, at enormous cost.

The country turned a blind eye to the way security inmates were running prisons, afraid to use a heavy hand for fear of inciting riots. It then woke up one morning to find six security prisoners had escaped from the Gilboa prison.

The country turned a blind eye to the inadequate security situation at the site of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai’s grave in Meron, not wanting to wade into byzantine battles regarding who controls the site. It then woke up one morning to find that 45 people were crushed to death there.

The country turned a blind eye to the massing of illegal weapons in the Arab sector, and woke up last year to a blizzard of shooting deaths.

The country turned a blind eye to autonomy that had developed in various haredi communities, and woke up during the start of corona to communities that were blatantly flouting the state’s rules and regulations.

Issues long ignored don’t just solve themselves. As the country again saw this week in the Negev, they tend to pop up and smack you in the face – often when you least expect it.

ZIONISTS CANNOT SAY FREE PALESTINE
Celebs Support Emma Watson’s Controversial Palestinian Solidarity Post

Melissa Romualdi 

Hollywood film stars, including Mark Ruffalo, Susan Sarandon, Charles Dance, and Peter Capaldi, have shown support for Emma Watson and Palestinian solidarity.

Last week, the "Harry Potter" alum was accused of anti-Semitism after she shared an Instagram photo of a pro-Palestinian protest featuring a banner that read “solidarity is a verb." Watson captioned the post with a quote from intersectional feminist scholar Sara Ahmed regarding the meaning of solidarity.

“Solidarity does not assume that our struggles are the same struggles, or that our pain is the same pain, or that our hope is for the same future. Solidarity involves commitment, and work, as well as the recognition that even if we do not have the same feelings, or the same lives, or the same bodies, we do live on common ground. —Sara Ahmed"

The post was criticized by Israeli officials, including Danny Danon, a former science minister from Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and United Nations' Israeli ambassador, who commented, “Ten points from Gryffindor for being an antisemite.”

Israel’s current UN ambassador Gilad Erdan reacted on twitter:

A letter was organized by Artists for Palestine UK, a cultural network “standing together for Palestinian rights,” by more than 40 notable celebs, including Jim Jarmusch, Gael García Bernal, Steve Coogan, Maxine Peake, and Viggo Mortensen, that said, “We join Emma Watson in support of the simple statement that ‘solidarity is a verb’, including meaningful solidarity with Palestinians struggling for their human rights under international law.”

The artists, including Watson’s "Harry Potter" co-stars Miriam Margolyes and Julie Christie, cited a report by Human Rights Watch, which claimed Israel commits crimes of apartheid and persecution. “We recognise the underlying power imbalance between Israel, the occupying power, and the Palestinians, the people under a system of military occupation and apartheid," the letter continued.

“We stand against ongoing Israeli attempts to forcibly displace Palestinian families from their homes in the East Jerusalem neighbourhoods of Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan, and elsewhere in the occupied Palestinian territory.”

The team of artists noted that they condemned any form of racism, including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

“Opposition to a political system or policy is distinct from bigotry, hatred and discrimination targeting any group of humans based on their identity,” they wrote

Facebook owner to 'assess feasibility' of human rights review on Ethiopia practices
By Elizabeth Culliford

© Reuters/TIKSA NEGERI FILE PHOTO: Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Ahmed and leader of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) party Gebremichael are pictured on the Maleda Local News papers, in Addis Ababa

(Reuters) - Facebook owner Meta Platforms said on Thursday it would "assess the feasibility" of commissioning an independent human rights assessment into its work in Ethiopia, after its oversight board recommended a review of how Facebook and Instagram have been used to spread content that heightens the risk of violence there.

The board, set up by the company to address criticism over its handling of problematic material, makes binding decisions on a small number of challenging content moderation cases and provides non-binding policy recommendations.

Meta has been under scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators over user safety and its handling of abuses on its platforms across the world, particularly after whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked internal documents that showed the company's struggles in policing content in countries where such speech was most likely to cause harm, including Ethiopia.

© Reuters/Tiksa Negeri FILE PHOTO: People walk through the streets of a shopping area in Addis Ababa

Thousands have died and millions have been displaced during a year-long conflict between the Ethiopian government and rebellious forces from the northern Tigray region.

The social media giant said it has "invested significant resources in Ethiopia to identify and remove potentially harmful content," as part of its response to the board's December recommendations on a case involving content posted in the country.

The oversight board last month upheld Meta's original decision to remove a post alleging the involvement of ethnic Tigrayan civilians in atrocities in Ethiopia's Amhara region. As Meta had restored the post after the user's appeal to the board, the company had to again remove the content

.

© Reuters/MOHAMED NURELDIN ABDALLAH FILE PHOTO: Ethiopians who fled the ongoing fighting in Tigray region, gather in Hamdayet village near the Sudan-Ethiopia border, eastern Kassala state

On Thursday, Meta said while it had taken the post down, it disagreed with the board's reasoning that it should have been removed because it was an "unverified rumor" that significantly increased the risk of imminent violence. It said this would impose "a journalistic publishing standard on people."

An oversight board spokesman said in a statement: "Meta’s existing policies prohibit rumors that contribute to imminent violence that cannot be debunked in a meaningful timeframe, and the Board made recommendations to ensure these policies are effectively applied in conflict situations."

"Rumors alleging an ethnic group is complicit in atrocities, as found in this case, have the potential to lead to grave harm to people," they said.

The board had recommended that Meta commission a human rights due diligence assessment, to be completed in six months, which should include a review of Meta's language capabilities in Ethiopia and a review of measures taken prevent the misuse of its services in the country.

However, the company said not all elements of this recommendation "may be feasible in terms of timing, data science or approach." It said it would continue its existing human rights due diligence and should have an update on whether it could act on the board's recommenation within the next few months.

Reuters' previous reporting on Myanmar and other countries has investigated how Facebook struggled to monitor content across the world in different languages. In 2018, U.N. human rights investigators said the use of Facebook had played a key role in spreading hate speech that fueled violence in Myanmar.

Meta, which has said that it was too slow to prevent misinformation and hate in Myanmar, has said that the company now has native speakers worldwide reviewing content in more than 70 languages which work to stop abuse on its platforms in places where there is a heightened risk of conflict and violence

.

© Reuters/DADO RUVIC FILE PHOTO: Woman holds smartphone with Facebook logo in front of a displayed Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta in this illustration picture

The board also recommended that Meta rewrite its value statement on safety to reflect that online speech can pose a risk to the physical security of persons and their right to life. The company said it would make changes to this value, in a partial implementation of the recommendation.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Culliford; Editing by Nick Zieminski)