Security forces in Myanmar lobbed tear gas to break up anti-coup protests on Thursday as demonstrators returned to streets, a day after 38 people were killed in the bloodiest crackdown since last month’s military takeover of government.
The 38 people were killed in Myanmar as the military quelled protests in several towns and cities on Wednesday, the most violent day since demonstrations against last month’s military coup. Police and soldiers opened fire with live rounds without warning to the peaceful protesters.
The bloodshed occurred one day after neighbouring countries - members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) had called for restraint in the aftermath of the military’s overthrow of the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
The dead included four children. Hundreds of protesters were arrested.
“Today it was the bloodiest day since the coup happened on the 1st of February. We had today — only today — 38 people died. We have now more than over 50 people dead since the coup started, and many are wounded,” United Nations special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, said in New York.
Schraner Burgener said that in conversations with Myanmar’s deputy military chief Soe Win, she had warned him that the military was likely to face strong measures from some countries and isolation in retaliation for the coup.
“The answer was: ‘We are used to sanctions, and we survived’,” she told reporters in New York. “When I also warned they will go (into) isolation, the answer was: ‘We have to learn to walk with only a few friends’.”
In the main city Yangon, witnesses said at least eight people were killed. In the central town of Monywa, six people were killed. Others were killed in the second-biggest city Mandalay, the northern town of Hpakant and the central town of Myingyan.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said the United States was “appalled” by the increase in violence. The administration of President Joe Biden was evaluating “appropriate” measures to respond and any actions would be targeted at Myanmar’s military, he added.
The European Union said the shootings of unarmed civilians and medical workers were clear breaches of international law. It also said the military was stepping up repression of the media, with a growing number of journalists arrested and charged.
France is calling for “the immediate end of the repression in Myanmar”, the release of all those detained and for the return of democracy, President Emmanuel Macron said.
On Tuesday, ASEAN failed to make a breakthrough in a virtual foreign ministers’ meeting on Myanmar. While united in a call for restraint, only four members - Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore - called for the release of Suu Kyi and other detainees.
ASEAN members are Myanmar, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam.
The foreign minister of Indonesia, Retno Marsudi, urged Myanmar to “open its doors” to the ASEAN bloc to resolve the escalating tension. She called for the release of political detainees and restoration of democracy, stating ASEAN countries would not break their pledge of not interfering in each other’s affairs.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein suggested ASEAN, could “help bridge the discrepancies found in the last elections”.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who in an interview with the BBC described the coup as a “tragic” step back for Myanmar, said sanctions would not affect the military government but hurt the people and the way forward was to free Aung San Suu Kyi and work out a solution.
“To use lethal force against civilians and unarmed demonstrators, I think it is just not acceptable. That is disastrous not just internationally, but disastrous domestically,” he said.
US on Khashoggi killing
The US administration of President Joe Biden has released an intelligence report that Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, approved the 2018 murder of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
 Jamal Khashoggi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman |
The report confirmed that the 35-year-old crown prince had a personal hand in the violent murder of one of his most prominent critics, a columnist and former Saudi insider who was living in exile in the US, and strongly critical of the crown prince’s crackdowns on dissent.
The release of this leads to the unveiling of a new “Khashoggi policy” which is set to impose visa sanctions on individuals who, acting on behalf of a foreign government, engage in “counter-dissident” activities, including harassment, surveillance, and threats against journalists, activists, and dissidents. However, – Washington did not target the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) with financial or other sanctions, which has led to criticism of the Biden administration.
Asked whether President Biden had concerns about Prince Mohammed’s position in Saudi succession, the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said it was for Saudi Arabia to “determine the path forward on their future leadership”.
“I will say that the president has been clear, and we’ve been clear by our actions that we’re going to recalibrate the relationship,” Psaki said.
In Saudi Arabia, the mood was said to be one of relief. In a statement, the Saudi foreign ministry said the kingdom’s government “categorically rejects what is stated in the report provided to Congress”.
While MBS has previously denied ordering the killing or having any knowledge of it, the new report raises serious new questions about how the newly published information will affect the future heir’s relationship with the Biden administration and other foreign and business leaders. Tony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, said: “While the United States remains invested in its relationship with Saudi Arabia, President Biden has made clear that partnership must reflect US values. To that end, we have made absolutely clear that extraterritorial threats and assaults by Saudi Arabia against activists, dissidents, and journalists must end. They will not be tolerated by the United States.”
RSF against Saudi Prince
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has filed a criminal case in a German court against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for “crimes against humanity” in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The complaint, which seeks an inquiry by prosecutors under Germany's international jurisdiction laws, accuses Saudi Arabia of persecuting Khashoggi – who was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 – as well as dozens of other journalists.
“We call on the German prosecutor to take a stand,” Christophe Deloire, secretary-general of RSF said. “No one should be above international law, especially when crimes of humanity are at stake,” he said.
The 500-page complaint, filed on Monday with the German Public Prosecutor General in the Karlsruhe federal court, includes allegations of arbitrary detention of more than 30 journalists and the 2018 murder of the Washington Post columnist in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
RSF said it filed the lawsuit in Germany because of its principle of universal jurisdiction, allowing its courts to prosecute crimes against humanity committed anywhere, and that other names could be added to the complaint at a later stage.
Hong Kong - Security Law
Forty seven pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong are charged with conspiracy to commit subversion under the National Security Law.
The group is accused of organising and participating in an unofficial primary poll in July last year aimed at selecting the strongest candidates for a legislative council election the government later postponed, citing the coronavirus. Authorities said the informal poll was part of a plan to “overthrow” the government.
Prosecutors opposed bail, and requested a three-month adjournment to further investigate. Defence teams argued against the long wait, and questioned why charges had been laid if the case was so far off readiness. The national security law makes it almost impossible for anyone charged to be granted bail.
Outside the West Kowloon magistrates court, foreign diplomats joined the crowds hoping to get one of the 100 or so seats inside the courtroom. Security was tight, with about 100 police officers deployed as supporters gathered outside the court in one of the largest rallies since the coronavirus outbreak. Later in the afternoon police warned crowds against breaching laws against unauthorised assemblies and the national security law with chants and slogans.
Nearly every major voice of dissent or figure of opposition in Hong Kong is now in jail, in exile, or on trial.
Sunday’s charges drew international condemnation and calls for the release of the detainees. The European Union said the charges made clear that “legitimate political pluralism will no longer be tolerated in Hong Kong”.
The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, condemned the charges. “Political participation and freedom of expression should not be crimes. The US stands with the people of Hong Kong,” he said. On Sunday, the British Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, described the charges as “deeply disturbing”.
Yemen - UK and US
The UK and the US have taken important different moves in providing aid to the people of Yemen facing hunger and huge economic hardships.
Britain has drastically cut its aid to Yemen, which has been devastated by conflict for six years, saying the pandemic created “a difficult financial context for us all”.
Meanwhile, the US pledged an extra $191m at the event - bringing its total aid for Yemen to $350m this year.
Aid officials have condemned the cut. The UN chief, Antonio Guterres, said reducing aid was a “death sentence”.
The situation in Yemen has been called the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The conflict began in late 2014, when rebels seized control of much of the west of the country and a Saudi-led coalition of Arab states launched a military operation to restore President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi's rule.
An estimated 20 million people - two-thirds of the Yemeni population - depend on humanitarian assistance. Some two million children are acutely malnourished. In addition to conflict, Yemen has seen a collapse of its health system, leaving it incapable of coping with the coronavirus pandemic.
UN officials warned that if the UN failed to meet its $3.85bn target for 2021, millions of Yemenis could face starvation. It is unclear how much has been raised so far.
David Beasley, Executive Director of UN's World Food Programme, told the conference: “We've got famine knocking on the door.”
Mr. Guterres said that generous donations had averted a famine in 2018, but that “today, reducing aid is a death sentence”.
The US Biden administration has pledged an extra $191m - bringing its total aid for Yemen to $350m this year.
The United States announced it is revoking the designation of Yemen’s Houthi rebels as a terrorist group, a reversal by the Biden administration welcomed by the United Nations and humanitarian groups who feared former president Donald Trump's actions would impede aid deliveries to the conflict-torn country facing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called President Joe Biden’s decision to rescind the designation “a recognition of the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen”.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Friday called the U.S. action “extremely positive.”... “We hope that helps build momentum for a political solution to the conflict in Yemen,” Dujarric said.
Germany: Far Right threat
Germany’s domestic security agency has placed the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) under surveillance for posing a threat to democracy, parliamentary sources said Wednesday, dealing a blow to the anti-immigration party in a big election year.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified the AfD party as a “suspected case” of having ties to right-wing extremism. The decision will allow intelligence agents to shadow the party, tap its communications and possibly use undercover informants.
This follows a two-year investigation and a report containing some 1,000 pages of evidence, including several hundred speeches and statements by AfD members at all party levels.
One of the heads of the party, Alexander Gauland, accused the Security Agency of playing politics and trying to bring about the “destruction” of the AfD. The party would not be “pandering” to the agency, he told reporters, drawing comparisons to state security in the former East Germany.
The anti-Islam, hard-right AfD has often courted controversy by calling for Germany to stop atoning for its World War II crimes. Gauland once described the Nazi era as just “a speck of bird poo” on German history.
Starting out as an anti-euro outfit in 2013, the AfD capitalised on public anger over Chancellor Angela Merkel’s 2015 decision to allow in a wave of asylum seekers from conflict-torn countries like Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. The AfD took nearly 13 percent of the vote in the 2017 general election, allowing it to make its debut in the German Bundestag where it is also the biggest opposition party.
But with the migrant influx waning and with the coronavirus pandemic roiling Germany, the AfD has seen its popularity fall while Merkel’s handling of the health crisis has won her plaudits.
The AfD faces six regional elections this year and a general election on September 26, the first in over 15 years that will not feature Merkel, who is retiring from politics. Latest surveys show the party’s popularity at between 9 and 11 percent.
The head of Germany’s Central Council of Jews, Josef Schuster, welcomed the classification as a “right and necessary step”. “With its destructive politics, the AfD contributes to undermining our democratic structures and to discrediting democracy,” he said.
Sarkozy: Corruption
 France’s former President Nicolas Sarkozy |
France’s former right-wing president Nicolas Sarkozy has been found guilty of corruption by a court, with an imprisonment sentence, which he is appealing against.
He was handed a three-year sentence for corruption following a trial, which he portrayed as a travesty of justice. A Paris court ruled that the 66-year-old Sarkozy had formed a “corruption pact” with his lawyer Thierry Herzog to convince a judge to obtain and share information about an inquiry into the financing of Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign.
With three other legal cases pending against him, Monday’s conviction deals a blow to any hope Sarkozy has of making another political comeback after a failed bid to win a presidential nomination in 2016.
Despite being given a three-year jail term Sarkozy is not expected to serve time: two of the three years were suspended by the court, with the remaining year set to be served at home with an electronic bracelet.
Handing down the sentence, the court said Sarkozy’s crime was “particularly serious having been committed by a former president who was the guarantor of the independence of the judiciary”.
On March 17, the ex-president is scheduled to face a second trial over accusations of fraudulently overspending in his failed 2012 re-election bid.
In 2016 he was beaten to the presidential nomination of the Republicans by his former Prime Minister Francois Fillon, who later crashed out of the race after being charged with fraud.
Sarkozy has also been charged over allegations that he received millions of euros from the late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi for his 2007 election campaign.
And in January, prosecutors opened another probe into alleged influence-peddling by Sarkozy over his advisory activities in Russia.
ICC probe: Israel - Palestine
The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has launched an investigation into alleged crimes in the Palestinian territories, plunging the court into the midst of one of the most fraught conflicts of the past half century.
Fatou Bensouda said the probe will look into “crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court that are alleged to have been committed” since June 13, 2014, and that the investigation will be conducted “independently, impartially and objectively, without fear or favour.”
Israel swiftly condemned the decision. Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi called it “an act of moral and legal bankruptcy” and said Israel “will take every step necessary to protect its citizens and soldiers from legal persecution.”
Bensouda said in 2019 there was a “reasonable basis” to open a war crimes probe into Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip as well as Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority welcomed Wednesday’s move. “This long-awaited step serves Palestine’s vigorous effort to achieve justice and accountability as indispensable bases for peace,” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said. It called for concluding the investigation quickly because “the crimes committed by the occupation’s leaders against the Palestinian people are lasting, systematic and far-reaching.”
Israel blames Hamas and other militant groups for Palestinian war casualties, saying the militants use residential areas as cover to launch rockets and leave the military no choice but to strike back.
Hamas welcomed the initiation of the investigation and called on Bensouda to “resist any pressure” that could scuttle the process.
COVID -19: Spread and Control
The World Health Organisation (WHO) sees a resurgence of cases in central and eastern Europe, as well as a rise of new cases in several western European countries.
The spread of the virus globally is 115,257,713 with 2,561,585 deaths midweek. Of these the highest is the US with 28,761,056 infected and 518,458 deaths, followed by India 11,156,923 (157,435) and Brazil - 10,718,630m (259,271).
Vaccination is spreading with Covax facilities being given to several countries in Africa and Asia. However, there are considerable fears that the vaccine production and spread is insufficient to meet the needs of the Third World countries, as the richer Western countries have already purchased and made orders for much larger numbers than needed for their populations.
The rollout of a ‘Vaccine Passport’ scheme, whereby those who have been vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus will have a record to help travel to foreign countries is gaining the interest of western governments.
