More than 5,600 prisoners to be released by Myanmar junta

Published

3 years ago

October 18, 2021

admin

More than 5,600 prisoners in Myanmar will be released by the military junta which seized power earlier this year.

Videos and pictures from the country showed tearful reunions as those who had been detained were reunited with their loved ones.

An announcement on state television said the move was part of an amnesty for those who protested against the coup earlier this year, in which the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi was deposed.

However, observers say the move was due to pressure put on the dictatorship by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Footage from Insein Prison, Yangon – formerly known as Rangoon – showed the tearful scenes.

Bus-loads of people were taken outside the gates of the compound to waiting crowds, after the release was announced by state television.

It added that 1,316 convicts were freed and charges against 4,320 people were suspended.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners says that at least 9,043 people have been arrested since the coup, and 7,355 remained in detention when the amnesty was announced.

Ms Suu Kyi is still being held in detention.

After her government was toppled, there were extensive demonstrations in Myanmar against the new regime.

Estimates place the death toll in the wake of the takeover at around 1,000 – a figure the junta says is exaggerated.

ASEAN recently snubbed the junta by inviting a non-political representative from the country to the upcoming summit of the organisation, as opposed to a member of the government.

Analysis by Siobhan Robbins, south east Asia correspondent

Desperately waiting after months without news, the raw emotion on display shows you what today’s prisoner releases mean to families finally able to hug their loved ones.

Some simply disappeared without a word as relatives hunted for scraps of information to confirm if they were dead or alive.

While people across Myanmar celebrated the freedom of their fellow citizens, on social media many rejected any suggestion that they should be thankful to the military for its mercy.

Afterall, they argued, these peaceful protestors wouldn’t be in jail if the junta hadn’t seized power in February.

While this isn’t the first prisoner release since the coup, this does appear to be the largest amnesty for those directly involved in demonstrations against the military government.

The timing isn’t a coincidence. It comes just days after the junta leader was excluded from attending a summit by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The unprecedented rebuke follows the ASEAN special envoy cancelling a much delayed trip to the country after he was denied access to ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others as he had requested.

This amnesty is a gesture by the junta to its neighbours paying lip service to a request to release all political prisoners at a time when it has done little to fulfil all of the five demands agreed by ASEAN in April.

For opponents this is just empty political power play.

There’s no sign high value prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi are about to be freed and in recent weeks armed conflict has been escalating.

Instead, today’s announcement was nothing more than “a form of distraction for foreign governments” according to monitoring group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).

In a country used to decades of military rule, political parlour tricks no longer work.

ASEAN laid out a five-point roadmap for Myanmar to follow, but made the decision to shun the current administration after they failed to commit to the plan.

In response, Min Aung Hlaing, who led the coup in February, reiterated the junta’s own five-stage plan to restore democracy.

World

Sudan: Civilians trapped as UN warns of possible imminent attack on city of al Fashir by Rapid Support Forces

Published

4 hours ago

April 28, 2024

admin

Sudan: Civilians trapped as UN warns of possible imminent attack on city of al Fashir by Rapid Support Forces

The United Nations has expressed increasing concern over a potential imminent attack on al Fashir, the capital of North Darfur in Sudan.

It comes as residents describe the city as “seriously suffocated” and besieged by Sudanese paramilitary forces known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

A spokesperson for the office of UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said in a statement that “an attack on the city would have devastating consequences for the civilian population”.

“The escalation of tensions is an area already on the brink of famine,” with the rival Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) appearing to be “positioning themselves”.

The last of Darfur’s five state capitals not under full RSF control, al Fashir city and its 800,000 inhabitants face an uncertain fate as a local ceasefire negotiated in the early days of the conflict has collapsed.

Mr Guterres has reiterated his call on all parties to refrain from fighting in the area.

At least 43 people, including women and children, have reportedly been killed since the RSF began their push into al Fashir earlier this month, Friday’s UN statement continued, and civilians are trapped in the city.

The North Darfur capital and sprawling displacement camps in its suburbs have been a haven for thousands of people displaced by armed conflict and ethnic violence in the region since the early 2000s, including the last year of war between the RSF and SAF.

Sudan was plunged into chaos in mid-April 2023 when tensions between its military, headed by General Abdel Fattah Burhan who leads the SAF, and the RSF paramilitary, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, broke out into street battles in the capital Khartoum.

Fighting has spread to other parts of the country, especially urban areas and the western Darfur region.

The conflict has left around 25 million people, or half the country’s population, needing humanitarian aid, with over eight million forced to flee their homes, said the UN.

More than 14,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands of others wounded.

Residents have told Sky News the RSF is blocking main arterial routes bringing in goods and fuel to al Fashir, leaving them with dwindling medicine, humanitarian aid and food supplies as increased army airstrikes have hit civilian homes in surrounding areas.

Many fear a telecoms blackout which marked the start of an RSF-led massacre last year in al Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, and December’s siege of Wad Madani, the capital of al Jazira state, as reports mount of an RSF advance.

An online video shows a large RSF convoy in the desert, with militiamen yelling “lift your head al Fashir, the steel is coming”.

“Al Fashir is unsafe and an attack is expected at any time. Three days ago, a shell fell into my uncle’s house – only 80 metres from my home. My uncle was injured and my cousin’s son died,” said Mohamed.

“The city is seriously suffocated.”

Fighting displaced 40,615 people in al Fashir between 1 and 16 April, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

‘Where will people go?’

Aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, has said it has responded to three mass casualty events in al Fashir’s South Hospital over the past week and treated over 100 wounded patients.

“The situation is already catastrophic and we are very worried that the escalation in conflict is going to make it even worse,” said MSF spokesperson Kirsty Cameron.

Alarm bells are sounding with little hope of successful intervention.

“Where will people go? People have fled to al Fashir from surrounding areas that are still unsafe. There are no more options for refuge,” said Darfuri journalist and human rights monitor Ahmed Gouja.

“They are forced to surrender to their death.”

World

Hamas releases video of hostages as efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza continue

Published

4 hours ago

April 28, 2024

admin

Hamas releases video of hostages as efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza continue

Hamas has released a new video that appears to show two hostages who have been held in Gaza since the 7 October assault on southern Israel.

The two men, Keith Siegel, 64, and Omri Miran, 47, speak in the video against an empty background, sending their love to relatives and asking to be released.

The video was released during the Passover holiday, when Jews celebrate the biblical story of gaining freedom from slavery in Egypt.

Sky News has decided not to show the video online.

In the footage, Mr Siegel breaks down in tears as he recalls spending last year’s Passover with his family, saying he hoped they would be reunited.

Mr Miran was taken from his home in Nahal Oz in front of his wife and two daughters, while Siegel, who is a dual US citizen, was abducted with his wife, although she was released during the brief truce in November.

Some 250 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage during the 7 October Hamas attack, which killed around 1,200 people.

It prompted Israel’s assault on Gaza, as it pledged to destroy Hamas and bring the hostages home.

Some 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict so far, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.

Also on Saturday, Hamas said it was reviewing a new Israeli ceasefire proposal.

Hamas senior official Khalil al Hayya did not share details of Israel’s offer but said it was in response to a Hamas proposal made two weeks ago.

This included a six-week ceasefire, release of 40 civilian and sick hostages, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Israel’s foreign minister said on Saturday that the country’s planned incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah could be put on hold if a deal is struck to secure the release of Israeli hostages.

The prospect of an attack on Rafah has prompted concern from various countries, including Israel’s staunchest ally, the US.

Meanwhile, Egypt also ramped up its efforts to broker a deal that could end the war.

An Egyptian delegation left Israel on Saturday after talks there about a “new vision” for a ceasefire in Gaza.

This would include the release of some hostages and Palestinian prisoners and the return of many displaced Palestinians to their homes in northern Gaza with “minimum restrictions”, according to an Egyptian official.

Hamas still wants a permanent ceasefire and full withdrawal of Israeli troops but Israel has rejected both of these, saying it will continue military operations until Hamas is defeated and it will maintain a security presence in Gaza.

It came as protests continued around the world calling for an end to the conflict, including pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London and at universities across the US.

World

Om Fahad: Iraqi social media influencer shot dead by gunman on motorbike who posed as food delivery rider – report

Published

19 hours ago

April 27, 2024

admin

Om Fahad: Iraqi social media influencer shot dead by gunman on motorbike who posed as food delivery rider - report

A well-known Iraqi social media influencer has reportedly been shot dead in her car by a gunman on a motorbike.

Om Fahad, whose real name is Ghufran Sawadi, was killed outside her home in Baghdad’s Zayouna district on Friday, according to the AFP news agency, citing security officials.

It appears the unidentified attacker pretended to be delivering food to the victim, one security source said.

Om Fahad, who has nearly half a million TikTok followers, became famous for posting light-hearted videos where she dances to Iraqi music.

Six days ago, she shared footage of herself driving in a car and also posing in front of a mirror. They have each been watched hundreds of thousands of times.

The influencer was sentenced to six months in prison in February last year for sharing videos that a court ruled contained “indecent speech that undermines modesty and public morality”.

A campaign was launched in 2023 by the Iraqi government to clamp down on social media content which broke the country’s “morals and traditions”.

The interior ministry set up a committee to look for “offensive” clips on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, with several influencers being arrested.

“This type of content is no less dangerous than organised crime,” the ministry declared in a promotional video which asked the public to help by reporting such content.

“It is one of the causes of the destruction of the Iraqi family and society.”

Speaking last year, interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan argued the morality campaign has “nothing to do with freedom of expression”.

In 2018, gunmen in Baghdad shot dead Tara Fares, who was a model and influencer.

After years of war and sectarian conflict following the 2003 US invasion that overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraq has returned to some semblance of normality despite sporadic violence, political instability and corruption.

But civil liberties, particularly among women and sexual minorities, are still constrained in a conservative and male-dominated society.