Myanmar military further extends state of emergency
The military has continuously extended emergency rule since it took power in a coup in February 2021. Myanmar’s ruling military government has extended the state of emergency in the country for six months. The National Defence and Security Council decided to prolong emergency rule for another six-month stint on Wednesday, just ahead of the previous term’s expiry at midnight. The move further delays elections that were promised following the coup that put the military government in power in February 2021. The Southeast Asian nation has been in turmoil since the coup, which ended a 10-year experiment with democracy and sparked mass protests and a crackdown on dissent. The military says it is not able to lift the state of emergency while it is battling armed opposition across the country. “Myint Swe, the acting president, announced the extension of the state of emergency … as the situation is not normal and to be able to continue the process of combatting terrorists,” the government said in a statement. The council discussed “preparations for holding multi-party elections” and a national census at its meeting in the military-built capital of Naypyidaw, the statement added, without giving further details. Emergency rule extended The military has continuously extended emergency rule since it took power in February 2021, toppling ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s government. More than 4,400 people have been killed in a crackdown on dissent since, according to a local monitoring group. The military-drafted 2008 constitution, which the current government has said is still in force, requires authorities to hold fresh elections within six months of a state of emergency being lifted. However, the government is struggling to crush widespread armed opposition to its rule and recently suffered a series of stunning setbacks to an alliance of ethnic minority armed groups. More than two million people have been displaced by the violence, according to the United Nations. Spring Revolution eyes victory Since 2021, Myanmar has faced a barrage of international sanctions, undoing years of progress and leaving the economy 10 percent smaller than it was in 2019. On Wednesday, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch were among those calling on the international community to cut off the military’s access to jet fuel. The UN and human rights groups have accused military generals of rights abuses in their crackdown on the opposition, including crimes against humanity. Furthermore, economists say the generals who toppled the previous government increasingly rely on illicit revenues from gem mining and logging. The country’s anti-coup forces, however, say they are moving closer to victory against the military. “After three years, the Spring Revolution is stronger than ever,” Duwa Lashi La, the acting president of the National Unity Government (NUG), an alliance of ethnic armed groups and resistance fighters, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday. “With each passing day, we are edging closer to victory. The criminal military will never crush the will of the people.” Adblock test (Why?)
Lagos ban on styrofoam and plastics brings applause and concern
From trash-strewn pavements to street vendors packing meals in polystyrene containers, plastic waste is a constant menace in the urban landscape of Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital and the continent’s most populous city. That image could soon change if the local Lagos State government manages to implement its recent ambitious ban on the use of polystyrene and single-use plastics. The announcement of the ban on styrofoam boxes and single-use plastics, “with immediate effect”, by Tokunbo Wahab, the state’s commissioner for environment, took many Lagosians by surprise, especially those who earn a living in the informal sector. “Styrofoam boxes are cheaper than reusable plastic ones,” said Cecilia Mathew, 20, who sells dishes of rice, meat and garri – or cassava flour – on the streets of the popular district of Obalende in Lagos. “It does not make sense to put food inside poly bag [plastic bag],” said another food vendor, Funmilayo Oresanya, 43. For environmentalists, the Lagos State move was a welcome one that could not only cut down on waste but also reduce carbon emissions. But other critics questioned the feasibility of an immediate ban on such commonly used products, especially for businesses. “It’s too sudden,” said Kehinde Bakare, 61, a polystyrene box seller. “There are people that are using it as a means of living so what will they be doing? How about the production people?” she said, asking that they be offered “substitutes”. Nigerian fast-food chain Food Concepts, known for its popular restaurants Chicken Republic, PieXpress, and The Chopbox, “applauded” the measure, saying in a statement it was “beginning its transition” to end polystyrene boxes and encouraging its customers “to come with their own containers”. Bakare Kehinde, a retired principal, holds various types of plastic plates in her store in Lagos. [Benson Ibeabuchi/AFP] Action plan Folawemi Umunna, co-founder of the NGO Initiative for Climate and Ecological Protection, said the decision to eliminate non-biodegradable materials was positive if Lagos State properly manages its action plan. On his X account, Wahab published a video on Tuesday showing health workers carrying out checks in the city. In 2019, Nigerian MPs passed a law banning plastic bags but it hit a dead end because it did not complete its legislative process. Other African countries have also attempted to ban plastic bags with mixed success. But in Lagos, a megacity of more than 20 million inhabitants, the issue of waste management is key as rubbish regularly blocks sewers and evacuation routes, particularly during the rainy season, causing floods and encouraging the proliferation of mosquitoes, vectors of malaria, in stagnant water. Nigeria is Africa’s second-largest importer of plastics, according to the German Heinrich-Boell Foundation, representing 17 percent of the total plastic consumption on the continent, and more than 130,000 tonnes of plastic ends up in Nigerian waters each year. If nothing is changed, imports and consumption of plastics will exceed 40 million tonnes by 2030, it warned in a 2020 report. Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) staff clean up waste from the roadside in Lagos. [Benson Ibeabuchi/AFP] ‘Socio-economic consequences’ Plastic microparticles are ingested by animals and can be found in human beings, said Temitope Olawunmi Sogbanmu, environmental toxicologist at the University of Lagos, pointing to the “non-degradable” nature of these materials. But if the ban on polystyrene and single-use plastic is “good news” for climate and sustainability, Sogbanmu says she still worries about “the socio-economic consequences” of this measure on “those whose livelihood depends on this value chain”. Climate benefits may be offset by the impact on vendors of food and water in plastic bags as well as waste collectors who are part of the informal economy in a country which is already undergoing an economic crisis with a tripling of fuel prices since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu came to power in May. The annual inflation rate stood at almost 29 percent in December. “There will be more people impoverished and it will become even harder for people to get the basic things,” said Sogbanmu, who recommends the implementation of “strategic interventions” especially for the poor. Environmental activist Oluwaseyi Moejho said the Lagos government took a bold step, but agreed that state officials must ask people what they want and how it can support them. “There was once a Nigeria without plastic, and we survived it. It is very much possible,” she said. “I understand the convenience of plastics, it’s quite blinding, but convenience at the cost of our lives and future is too expensive.” Adblock test (Why?)
Thousands of protesting farmers have France’s government in a bind
Convoys of tractors have edged closer to Paris, Lyon and other locations in France as thousands of protesting farmers have appeared to ignore warnings of police intervention if they cross red lines laid down by the government. Farmers unions, unimpressed by concessions offered by President Emmanuel Macron’s government, encouraged their members on Wednesday to fight on for improved pay, less bureaucracy and protection from foreign competition. “I’m so proud of you,” Serge Bousquet-Cassagne, the head of the farmers association in the southwestern Lot-et-Garonne department, told protesters headed for the wholesale Rungis market south of Paris, a key food distribution platform for the capital. “You are fighting this battle because if we don’t fight, we die,” he said. The government has warned farmers to stay away from Rungis and large cities. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who has ordered police so far to tread lightly, said police stood ready to defend strategic spots. “They can’t attack police. They can’t enter Rungis. They can’t enter the Paris airports or the centre of Paris,” Darmanin told the France 2 broadcaster. “But let me tell you again that if they try, we will be there.” Despite the warning, a convoy of tractors that started in the southwest resumed its drive towards Rungis early on Wednesday after spending the night at farms along the way. Police units with armoured vehicles have been deployed along the A6 motorway leading to the food market in anticipation of its arrival. The government has scrambled to offer concessions with Prime Minister Gabriel Attal telling parliament on Tuesday that it was ready to resolve the crisis as he praised the agriculture sector as “our force and our pride”. But farmers said the promises, including assurances of higher payouts under the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy, did not go far enough. “Several of these measures will take three or four years to be implemented,” said Johanna Trau, a grain and cattle farmer in Ebersheim in eastern France. “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Darmanin said there were 10,000 protesting farmers on French highways on Wednesday, blocking 100 spots on major roads. In addition to moving on Paris, the convoys were also trying to encircle Lyon, France’s third-biggest city. In Toulouse in the southwest, protesting farmers tried to blockade the local wholesale food market but were removed by police. The uproar by farmers has been widening across Europe with Spanish farmers saying on Tuesday that they would join protests by their French, German, Polish, Romanian, Belgian and Italian counterparts. Adblock test (Why?)
Ukraine war critic submits bid to challenge Putin for Russia’s presidency
Putin win seen as forgone conclusion, but Boris Nadezhdin’s opposition to Russia’s war in Ukraine has won him significant support. Boris Nadezhdin, a prominent critic of the Kremlin, has submitted the documents needed to register as a candidate for Russia’s presidential elections in March. The 60-year-old local councillor, who has promised to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, said on Wednesday that he had collected more than 100,000 signatures of support across 40 regions and submitted them and other documents to the Central Election Commission (CEC), which is technically enough to challenge President Vladimir Putin. Election officials will next check the authenticity of the signatures submitted by Nadezhdin and other potential candidates and announce next month who will join Putin on the ballot for the March 15-17 elections. The electoral body has in the past uncovered what it claimed were irregularities in signatures or documents collected by some candidates and disqualified them. Putin, who will be running as an independent rather than as the candidate of the ruling United Russia party, needs 300,000 signatures but has already collected more than 3.5 million, according to his supporters. In December, the 71-year-old incumbent announced his decision to seek to extend his rule. He is almost certain to win a fifth term as president, extending his 24-year leadership of Russia, including eight years as prime minister. Nadezhdin, who has criticised the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 as a “fatal mistake”, was born in Soviet-ruled Uzbekistan to a Jewish mother who was a music teacher and a physicist father. He has spent the last 30 years in Russian politics, working as a councillor in the town of Dolgoprudny outside Moscow. He will be standing as a candidate for the Civic Initiative party. He shot to fame with his calls to end the war, bringing out crowds of Russians across the country eager to add their signatures to his bid to get on the ballot. After a series of heating outages across Russia during an unusually cold winter, Nadezhdin said earlier this month that the country would be able to afford to spend more on its citizens if it was not pouring so much money into the military. He described the war as “catastrophic” in an interview with the AFP news agency, and said he wanted to “free political prisoners” in Russia. “This is my pride,” he said of the signatures collected, as he thanked his supporters in a statement posted on his official Telegram account. “The work of thousands of people going without sleep over many days. The result of the queues you stood in, in the cold, is in the boxes. It will be very difficult for the CEC and the authorities to say: ‘I didn’t notice the elephant in the room’!” He also posted a video from the CEC’s headquarters showing papers containing the signatures piled up on tables ready to be checked by officials, describing which region each stack had come from. Nadezhdin’s bid raises the question of just how far the Kremlin would let him go, at a time when speaking out against the conflict is politically fraught, often landing critics in prison. Putin has not allowed real electoral opposition in his 24-year rule, with rivals such as opposition leader Alexei Navalny behind bars. Navalny’s wife Yuliya signed her name in support of Nadezhdin in a symbolic photo posted by the jailed critic’s ally. Adblock test (Why?)
How escalating Red Sea crisis poses billions of dollars of risk for India
New Delhi, India – Demand for India’s Basmati, the long-grain aromatic rice, from traditional buyers in the Middle East, the US and Europe has dropped as it has become costly. The reason is the escalating tensions in the Red Sea, the shortest and most efficient trade route for ships moving from Asia to Europe. Attacks by Iranian-backed Houthis from Yemen on commercial vessels passing through the Red Sea have forced shippers to avoid one of the world’s most crucial trade routes. The alternative longer route around the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of Africa has added more than 3,500 nautical miles (6,500km) to the journey and close to a half-month of sailing time to each trip, significantly increasing shipping costs. Exporting Basmati from India has become a challenge for shippers as freight costs have shot up as high as five times with an increase in insurance premiums, shortage of containers and longer transit time, said, Vijay Kumar Setia, director of Chaman Lal Setia Exports Ltd and former president of the All India Rice Exporters’ of India. Part of the inventory is lying at various ports or processing units, while some stock is now being sold in the domestic market, resulting in a fall in prices by about 8 percent in the local market. India, the world’s biggest rice exporter, ships over 4.5 million tonnes of basmati rice out of the country annually. About 35 percent of about 7.5 million tonnes of production is shipped to Europe, North America, North Africa and the Middle East through the Red Sea. “Buyers are hesitant to take at higher prices,” said Setia. “Some exports are going on, but business isn’t that smooth. We are losing profits because of higher logistic costs.” Like Basmati, chaos in the Red Sea is disrupting shipments of produce from tea to spices and grapes to buffalo meats from India, resulting in losses to exporters. Similarly, imports of fertilisers, sunflower oil, machinery components and electronic goods to India are getting delayed, raising the risk of higher costs to consumers. This has raised concern that the unrest will lead to supply-chain snarls and contraction of trade, and halt a slowdown in food inflation. India is heavily reliant on the Red Sea route through the Suez Canal for its trade with Europe, North America, North Africa and the Middle East. These regions accounted for about 50 percent of India’s exports of 18 trillion rupees ($217bn) and about 30 percent of imports of 17 trillion rupees ($205bn) in the year ended March 2023, according to CRISIL Ratings. Shipments are currently getting delayed by 21-28 days. The crisis could cost the country more than $30bn in exports for the fiscal year ending March, hitting $451bn of exports a year ago by around 6.8 percent, said Sachin Chaturvedi, director-general of the Research and Information System for Developing Countries, a New Delhi-based think tank. Official estimates of the impact on trade in India will be known when the government releases export and import data around mid-February for January. Houthi rebels have been carrying out missile and drone attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea since November, actions they say are in response to Israel’s war on Gaza. Retaliatory strikes to aid the safe movement of ships by a US-led coalition haven’t stopped the Houthi assaults. Shipping costs rise To avoid risk, the shipping industry has temporarily suspended Suez Canal transit. The average number of tankers and cargo ships transiting through the Suez Canal had fallen about 46 percent over two months till January 28, while the voyages around Cape of Good Hope have risen 32 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund PortWatch data. Meanwhile, shipping prices have increased. According to Drewry’s World Container Index, the average price of transporting a 40-feet (12-metre) container on a cargo ship rose 161 percent to $3,964 on January 25 from $1,521 on December 14. The chaos has brought concern for India. Around half a dozen ships heading toward India or with Indian crews on board have been attacked – allegedly by Houthis or hijacked by armed pirates. In response, India has increased its maritime presence in the Arabian Sea by deploying about a dozen warships. But the fear is so high that about 25 percent of the outbound shipments transiting through the Red Sea have been held back and roughly 95 percent of cargo ships from India have been rerouted through Cape of Good Hope, said Ajay Sahai, director-general of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, set up by India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Imports more expensive, exports hurt Russia has emerged as one of the largest suppliers of crude oil to India [File: AP Photo] However, there is no disruption in oil flows even as the Red Sea is one of the key routes for oil shipments for India which imports 80 percent of its crude oil needs. Russia emerged as one of the biggest crude suppliers to India in 2023, accounting for more than one-third of its imports. Unlike other sectors, there is no diversion of Russian vessels carrying crude oil bound for India through the Red Sea, as per S&P Global. But the supply of sunflower oil has become tight for India, the world’s biggest importer of the vegetable oil. As most of the vessels from Russia and Ukraine are being rerouted through Cape of Good Hope, freight costs have increased by 35 percent and transit time increased by 15 days, said Sandeep Bajoria, CEO of Sunvin Group, a vegetable oil brokerage. Part of the higher costs has been passed to consumers, he said. Similarly, shipments of fertilisers have been delayed and logistics costs have risen, minister of chemicals and fertilisers, Mansukh Mandaviya, told reporters, adding India will have no shortage of fertilisers critical for the country’s food security as there are adequate reserves. But the crisis is hurting buffalo meat export. India is one of the major buffalo meat suppliers to the international market. About 60 percent of the
Kataib Hezbollah announces halt of attacks on US forces
Iraqi-based group seeking to de-escalate as Washington mulls response to deadly Jordan strike. Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah has announced the suspension of hostile operations against US troops, as Washington ponders its response to a deadly drone attack that left three of its soldiers dead. The group’s attempt to de-escalate late on Tuesday, which it said was motivated by a desire not to “embarrass” the Iraqi government, was met with some scepticism in the US. The Pentagon alleges that there have been three further attacks since the attack in Jordan on January 28. However, the White House has indicated that it is pondering a “tiered response” to Sunday’s attack. Speaking yesterday in Washington, Biden tied the attacks to Iran. “I do hold them responsible in the sense that they’re supplying the weapons to the people who did it,” he said. However, he specified he did not want “a wider war” in the region. However, Al Jazeera correspondent Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington, said that Republican hawks were calling for strikes inside Iran. “For months, this administration has been saying the biggest concern they have is that this will lead to a wider war, and it seems fairly clear that striking inside of Iran would make it more likely rather than less,” she said. Powerful element Kataib Hezbollah is the most powerful element in a group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which has claimed more than 150 attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria since 7 October. The US has so far responded to that campaign by conducting air raids and imposing sanctions against Iran-backed groups in Iraq, particularly Kataib Hezbollah. In its statement on Tuesday, Kataib Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi noted that many of its allies, in particular Iran, “often object to the pressure and escalation against the American occupation forces in Iraq and Syria”. Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Abdelwahed said the statement aimed to “alleviate or reduce the burden, the pressure that the government in Iraq has been facing since … the beginning of these attacks”. The Iraqi government, he said, has been engaged in talks with US military officials to find mechanisms guaranteeing the withdrawal of US and coalition troops from the country. Hawks apply pressure In the face of Biden’s caution over the US response to the attack in Jordan, hawkish members of the Republican Party have gone into overdrive as they appeal for more direct military action against Iran. Senator Lindsey Graham called on the Biden administration to “strike targets of significance inside Iran, not only as reprisal for the killing of our forces but as deterrence against future aggression”. Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee called for “striking directly against Iranian targets and its leadership”. Adblock test (Why?)
Hate crime tracker Hindutva Watch blocked in India ahead of national vote
New Delhi, India – The website of Hindutva Watch, a United States-based independent research project that documents hate crimes against religious minorities in India, is no longer accessible in India, days after government officials warned its founder that they might block it. The website of India Hate Lab, another initiative dedicated to exclusively tracking hate speech in the country, can also no longer be accessed in India even though both platforms are available outside the country. “We received communication from MEITY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) under the IT Act last week regarding the potential blocking of India Hate Lab and Hindutva Watch,” Raqib Hameed Naik, the founder of both projects, told Al Jazeera, referring to India’s Information Technology (IT) Act. On January 29, Naik was informed by users in India that both websites had become inaccessible on multiple servers, he said. “Currently, I am exploring legal options,” Naik added. The government issued notices for blocking the websites under section 69A of the controversial IT Act, which empowers authorities to prevent the public from accessing information citing the “interest of sovereignty, integrity, and security” of India. The Supreme Court of India in 2022 had struck down another section of the IT Act that allowed the government to prosecute people for sending “offensive” messages online – multiple governments, across political parties, had used that section to arrest everyday civilian critics, from a cartoonist to a chemistry teacher. Al Jazeera reached out to India’s IT ministry for comments but has not yet received a response. Naik, a Kashmiri journalist living in the US since 2020, launched the Hindutva Watch website in April 2021. He is joined by 12 volunteers, spread across five countries, who work through different time zones to keep up with the documentation of rising hate crimes in India. Since its launch, Hindutva Watch has grown into a rare database that documents hate speech and violence against India’s religious minorities, which have escalated everywhere from major cities to smaller towns, yet often receive little mainstream press coverage in the country or outside it. The project has been documenting two to four hate events daily, nearly double the number of reported incidents from a year ago. Its critics, however, accuse Hindutva Watch, Naik and their coverage of being driven by a bias against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its political ideology, called Hindutva. Indian PM Narendra Modi, right, meets Elon Musk, chief of X, in New York on June 20, 2023 [Narendra Modi Youtube Channel via AP] Censorship fears The blocking of the websites comes two weeks after X – formerly known as Twitter – withheld the account of Hindutva Watch in India on January 16, following the government’s order under the IT Act. The X account of India Hate Lab was still accessible in India as of Wednesday morning. “While shocking, it’s not surprising, considering Prime Minister Modi regime’s history of suppressing free press & critical voices,” Naik wrote on X on January 16, reacting to the ban. “The suppression of our account in India only fuels our determination to continue our work undeterred.” Critics of the government have pointed to a growing climate of censorship involving X accounts in India since the platform was taken over by billionaire Elon Musk in November 2022. Last year, the company also withheld the accounts of US-based human rights groups – the Indian American Muslim Council and Hindus for Human Rights in India – in response to legal demands by the Modi government. “Not only is the Indian state rewriting history, the government does not want information, or any kind of documentation, of violence against minority groups,” said Suchitra Vijayan, an author and founder of The Polis Project, a New York-based research and media organisation. Describing Hindutva Watch as an “institution”, Vijayan said the group of volunteers had effectively used social media to highlight rights abuses against minorities in India. “The Indian government is literally going after anybody still thinking, writing and documenting,” she noted. The blocking of Hindutva Watch’s website in India is a part of a larger pattern, including “the absolute destruction of media in Kashmir,” she said, referring to a crackdown on independent news outlets and journalists in the region, which is claimed by both India and Pakistan and that both partly control. “A story of David versus Goliath,” she added. India’s ranking in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index slipped to 161 out of 180 countries, from 150 in 2022, as per the annual report by global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF). In 2014, when Modi came to power, India stood at 140. “In any democracy, this kind of violence against minorities should be 24/7 news. But it has been completely wiped out [in India],” Vijayan said. “Even an act of documenting [it] is seen as a threat.” Supporters of India’s ruling BJP light firecrackers as they celebrate winning elections in three states in Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir [File: Mukhtar Khan/AP] Run-up to election In a September 2023 report, Hindutva Watch and India Hate Lab jointly analysed more than 255 documented incidents of hate speech aimed at Muslims and noted that 80 percent of the events took place in states governed by Modi’s BJP. About 70 percent of the incidents took place in states scheduled to hold elections in 2023 and 2024, the report added. The majority of the hate speech events mentioned conspiracy theories as well as calls for violence and socioeconomic boycotts against Muslims. India is headed towards a national election, likely to be held in April-May 2024. “There is a huge concern in the way that hate speeches will be used to incite people in the run-up to the elections,” said Geeta Seshu, an editor at Free Speech Collective, a media watchdog. Rather than obstructing the work of such projects, she added, the government should “see them as allies and not adversaries”. “Is the government trying to shield people that are committing illegal acts against the Constitution?” asked Seshu.
Myanmar’s NUG says anti-coup forces ‘edging closer’ to defeating generals
Myanmar’s anti-coup forces say they are moving closer to victory over the generals who seized power in a coup three years ago, energised by the successes of a major offensive that began at the end of October. Speaking from an undisclosed location inside Myanmar at an online forum, NUG Acting President Duwa Lashi La said anti-coup forces had made “stunning gains” since the start of Operation 1027, which was launched late last year by an alliance of ethnic armed groups and resistance fighters. “After three years, the Spring Revolution is stronger than ever,” Duwa Lashi La said on Tuesday. “With each passing day, we are edging closer to victory. The criminal military will never crush the will of the people.” The NUG includes elected politicians who were removed in the February 2021 coup and established the so-called Peoples’ Defence Force (PDF) of civilians, after the military responded with brutal force against peaceful protests against its power grab. Duwa Lashi La added that the military was facing an increasing rate of desertion that was a “deep humiliation for the junta”. As anti-coup forces advance in multiple areas of the country taking control of military outposts and several towns, the generals are facing their biggest challenge since they overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi triggering a mass opposition movement. The military has claimed those fighting against them are “terrorists”, while reports of military abuses, losses and desertions are “fake news” designed to “discredit” the military. At least 4,468 civilians have been killed since the coup and nearly 20,000 people are being held in detention on political grounds, according to the local monitoring group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. The United Nations and human rights groups have accused the generals of serious human rights abuses, including crimes against humanity in their crackdown on the opposition. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said the country’s human rights crisis was now in “free fall” with the military “routinely” targeting civilians, medical facilities and schools. The world, he added, was paying “insufficient attention” to the situation. “Amid all of the crises around the world, it is important no one is forgotten,” Turk said in a statement on Tuesday. “The people of Myanmar have been suffering for too long. As the military has suffered setback after setback on the battlefield, they have lashed out, launching waves of indiscriminate aerial bombardments and artillery strikes.” Entire villagers have been burned to the ground and attacks from the air, where the military has overwhelming superiority, have intensified. ‘Where dictatorship ends’ On Wednesday, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch were among those calling on the international community to take additional steps to end the military’s access to jet fuel. “Concerned governments should be doing more to curb the junta’s capacity to commit appalling laws of war violations,” Elaine Pearson, the Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “United Nations member countries should urge the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar including sanctions on jet fuel that facilitates unlawful air attacks on civilians.” Amnesty said an analysis of shipping satellite, trade and customs data from 2023 suggested there had been “significant changes” in the way in which aviation fuel was entering Myanmar over the past year after the European Union, United Kingdom, United States and others implemented sanctions. The military was engaged in multiple sales and using intermediaries as well as storage units, including in Vietnam, to obscure the fuel’s origin and destination, it added. “After the international community took action on this deadly supply chain, the Myanmar military is ripping a page out of the sanctions evasion playbook to continue importing jet fuel,” Montse Ferrer, Amnesty’s deputy regional director for research, said in a statement. “Air strikes have killed or injured hundreds of civilians across Myanmar in 2023, and left many feeling nowhere is safe. The best way to stop the Myanmar military from carrying out lethal air strikes is to stop all jet fuel imports into the country.” Calls are also growing for the international community to make more effort to hold the military leadership accountable for its abuses. “Since the February 1, 2021 coup, the junta military has been killing unarmed civilians, razing down villages, destroying religious structures, and arresting activists, journalists, and politicians with impunity. After Operation 1027, it has continued targeting and killing innocent civilians and displacing whole communities across Myanmar,” John Quinley III, the director at Fortify Rights, said in a statement urging the international community to take “concrete action” to hold the generals to account. Quinley said member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) should request the court to investigate the military’s alleged crimes in Myanmar. Although the country is not part of the ICC, the NUG lodged a declaration with the court in 2021 accepting its jurisdiction. “Without adequate intervention by the international community, the well-oiled killing machine that is the Myanmar junta will continue unabated,” he said. The NUG’s Duwa Lashi La also called for accountability as well as for governments to recognise the NUG. Any attempt at negotiations by the military should also be treated with caution, he added. “The military has no place in our politics,” said Duwa Lashi La. “It must be made permanently subservient to a civilian government. Now is where the dictatorship ends.” Adblock test (Why?)
Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan, wife sentenced to 14 years in state gifts case
Verdict comes a day after another court convicted Khan for leaking state secrets and gave him a 10-year prison sentence. Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have been sentenced to 14 years in jail in a case related to illegal selling of state gifts. An accountability court – which deals with corruption cases – in Rawalpindi on Wednesday also ruled that the couple would be ineligible to contest for a public office for 10 years while also slapping a fine of 757 million rupees ($2.7m). The sentencing came a day after Khan was given a 10-year prison term for revealing state secrets. It was not immediately clear if the sentences were to run consecutively or concurrently. Khan was handed a three-year prison sentence in August for selling gifts worth more than 140 million rupees ($501,000) he received when he was the prime minister from 2018 to April 2022. Though he secured bail, he remained in jail facing trial in other cases. The convictions against arguably Pakistan’s most popular politician came a week before the general elections to be held on February 8. Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has already been stripped of its election symbol, with most of its candidates contesting as independents. PTI official Syed Zulfiqar Bukhari said the sentencing against Khan was “yet another sad day in Pakistan’s judicial history” and questioned its legitimacy. “Judiciary is being dismantled. A flawed decision meant to be suspended by the higher court, as witnesses clearly seemed compromised,” he told Al Jazeera. “Star witnesses were changed… with no cross questioning allowed, no final argument concluded, and the decision pops up like a predetermined process in play. This ridiculous decision will be challenged in superior courts.” Adblock test (Why?)
‘Slank U’: Indonesian presidential candidates try to harness power of music
Medan, Indonesia – On a blisteringly hot and thundery day in the city of Medan, fans peeled off their T-shirts and hoisted each other up onto shoulders to get a better view of one of Indonesia’s most famous rock bands. “Don’t forget to spread the virus of peace across Indonesia” Slank’s frontman and lead vocalist, Akhadi Wira Satriaji, better known as Kaka, screamed to the thousands of people who had come down to Istana Maimun, the palace of the Sultanate of Deli, to rock out with their favourite band. The crowd, known as “Slankers”, roared their approval and grabbed selfies with their idol, as Kaka crouched near the edge of the stage, shaking hands and bumping fists with thrilled fans. But while the atmosphere was electric, Slank had not come to Medan on Indonesia’s western island of Sumatra, just to put on a good show. In Indonesia, there is a tradition of presidential and vice presidential candidates enlisting popular musicians in their campaigns in an attempt to boost their electability. “Political elites and political parties have actually been using artists to gain support or votes for a long time,” said Hikmawan “Indra” Saefullah, who played guitar in the Indonesian indie band Alone at Last from 2002 to 2013 and is a lecturer in Indonesian Studies at the University of New England. Slank frontman Kaka preached a message of “peace” at the concert [Al Jazeera] “Whether it is effective or not is rather difficult to measure unless you want to wait until the election results come out. Even then, it is difficult to know for sure whether a candidate’s victory was the result of votes from a supporting artist’s fans or not. Because voting is secret. So who knows?” The Slank gig was organised in conjunction with a visit to the city by presidential hopeful and former governor of Central Java, Ganjar Pranowo, and his running mate Mahfud MD, the former coordinating minister for politics, legal and security affairs. A natural fit To some supporters, the concert was the perfect mix of music and politics. Johnny and Dian, both construction workers, told Al Jazeera that they were lifelong Slankers and fervent supporters of Ganjar. “We like their songs because they are easy to listen to and understand, and they appeal to young people,” 30-year-old Johnny said. “Slank also often come to Medan to perform and we also go to see them.” Dian, also 30, added that he liked Slank because they “sing from the heart” and that he would vote for Ganjar and his party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), because Slank supported them. For Dian, the band and the candidates are a natural fit. He noted Slank was interested in social justice, while the PDI-P, a secular-nationalist party, had traditionally been affiliated with the interests and rights of workers across Indonesia. “Ganjar will work for the people and will make changes for the Indonesian populace. He supports grassroots workers more than other candidates,” Dian said. University student Lufti (back centre) holds a flag with the Slank logo as he poses with his friends. He said he would not vote for Ganjar even though the band had endorsed him [Al Jazeera] Slank was founded in 1983 by a group of then-teenagers in Jakarta and takes its name from the term “slange’an” which means “free men” in Betawi, the language of the Betawi ethnic group in the capital. Slank has also long been known for the political nature of many of its songs and lent its support to current Indonesian President Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, when he ran for the presidency in 2014 and 2019 on a PDI-P ticket. Now that Ganjar is the PDI-P presidential candidate (Jokowi has served the maximum two terms in office), Slank is also backing him ahead of the presidential election on February 14. “They want to build a perception among the public that they will be left behind or ‘not cool’ if they don’t support the PDI-P and Ganjar [by saying], ‘See, Slank support him, why wouldn’t everyone else?’” lecturer Saefullah said of the alliance. Also in the crowd at the concert were market-sellers 34-year-old Ratna and 28-year-old Lisa who said that they had come to the event to support Ganjar who they praised for being “an intellectual candidate”. Among his election promises, Ganjar has said will improve Indonesians’ work life, including raising salaries, paying off farmers’ debts and eliminating the corruption and nepotism that have long plagued the job market in Indonesia. Most of the Slank fans were there to see the band and Ganjar made only a brief appearance [Al Jazeera] He has also pledged to distribute social assistance more evenly and widely across the archipelago of 278 million people. “The cost of living is rising in Indonesia and essentials are becoming more expensive,” Ratna said. “Rice and cooking oil are more expensive now while salaries are still low. We want salaries to be reasonable, which is why we support Ganjar.” No guarantees However, not everyone in the crowd was convinced. Mulia, a 20-year-old communications student at the State Islamic University of North Sumatra, told Al Jazeera that he had come to the concert to see Slank but that he had yet to decide who to vote for. “Maybe I will choose Ganjar. It seems like he is close to young people and he might do more for the youth of Indonesia if he is elected,” he said. “It depends how I feel when I see him. If I like him, then I’ll vote for him.” Ganjar, himself, made only a brief appearance at the concert. Ganjar Pranowo took his campaign to Medan over the weekend as Indonesia prepares to go to the polls on February 14 [Binsar Bakkara/AP] Given a traditional Sumatran welcome dance, he made his way through the crowd, a flower garland around his neck, greeting supporters who screamed and grasped his hands while taking selfies on their phones. But, while Ganjar stood alongside Kaka and