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Category: Complaints

  • Taliban orders shutdown of broadcaster Tamadon TV

    New York, June 7, 2024 — The Taliban must reverse its order to shut down private broadcaster Tamadon TV and end its ongoing, unprecedented suppression of Afghan media, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

    On Thursday, the Taliban’s Ministry of Justice announced the closure of Tamadon TV, alleging that the broadcaster was affiliated with the Harakat-e-Islami political party, after the Taliban banned all such affiliations, and operating on “seized land,” according to Qari Baraktullah Rasuli, the spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Justice who posted the statement on X, formerly Twitter, and media reports. Tamadon TV denies the claims.

    In a breaking news announcement earlier that day, Tamadon TV stated that a Taliban delegation was inside its station to shut down operations. However, later the TV station confirmed that the suspension of its operations was postponed until Saturday. The Taliban has not announced an exact date that it plans to close the station. 

    “The Taliban must immediately and unconditionally reverse its decision to ban Tamadon TV and allow the channel to continue broadcasting,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “The Taliban is expanding its relentless crackdown on Afghan media and suppressing any independent voices. This must end.”

    On June 6, Mohammad Jawad Mohseni, director of Tamadon TV, rejected the Taliban’s claims about the broadcaster’s political affiliations, according to broadcaster Afghanistan International. Mohseni noted that the late founder of the TV station, Ayatullah Asif Mohseni, had resigned as the leader of Harakat-e-Islami in 2005, years before establishing Tamadon TV.

    Mohseni said that “the land for Tamadon TV was purchased from a private owner and has a legitimate and legal title deed, and it is not and has never been government property.”

    On February 18, 2023, about 10 armed Taliban members raided the headquarters of Tamadon TV in Kabul, beat several staff members, and held them for 30 minutes.

    Tamadon TV is predominantly owned and operated by members of the Hazara-Shia ethnic minority and covers political and current affairs as well as Shiite religious programming. Hazara people have faced persecution and escalated violence since the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021.

    The closure order of Tamadon TV follows a series of other restrictions imposed on Afghan media in recent months. In May, the Taliban’s Media Complaints and Rights Violations Commission banned journalists, analysts, and experts from participating in discussions or cooperating with London-based Afghanistan International’s television and radio stations. The Commission called on citizens to boycott Afghanistan International and banned anyone from providing facilities for broadcasting the channel in public places.

    Earlier, in April, the Taliban shut down Noor and Barya TV broadcasters, which were affiliated with other Islamist political parties, citing violations of “national and Islamic values.”

    The Taliban has shut down other broadcasters since it took over the country in 2021,  including Radio Nasim. in central Daikundi Province, Hamisha Bahar Radio and TV in eastern Nangarhar province, and Radio Sada e Banowan in northeastern Badakhshan province. In 2022, the group also banned international broadcasters such as the U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Voice of America.

    CPJ’s requests for comment sent to Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid did not receive a response.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Pepsi bottler faces legal case in Myanmar over worker complaints

    Every two weeks for nearly a year, Thoung Han has reported to a Myanmar court where the former electrical department team leader at a bottling plant making Pepsi and other drinks is pursuing legal action against the owner of the American beverage giant’s Myanmar operations.

    Thoung Han says he was fired unfairly in 2022 without severance pay from a factory owned by Lotte MGS Beverages, which produces PepsiCo’s products in Myanmar. The lawsuit isn’t just about severance but is also for damages, including for more than 10 million kyat (US$4,770) for defamation, according to a court document seen by RFA.

    Thoung Han alleges that he was verbally abused by a Lotte MGS boss and fired for taking a 10-minute lunch break, which he said he needed because he is diabetic. His dismissal letter said he was responsible for an accident that he says had nothing to do with his department. 

    “He was swearing and told me, ‘You’re not allowed to have lunch … you don’t have respect,’” Thoung Han told Radio Free Asia, referring to his run-in with the Lotte manager. He was speaking shortly before he was due to make his 22nd trip to the court in Hmawbi, where Lotte operates a bottling plant.

    ENG_BUR_PepsiLawsuit_04172024_4.png
    Pepsi’s production factory in Yangon’s Hmawbi township. Taken on Sept. 15, 2023. (Myanmar Labor News)

    The head of human resources for Lotte MGS, Hein Htet Aung, declined to go into details on any specific complaints, citing the legal case. He said the company was keen to address concerns and was confident the facts would be established in the proceedings.

    “While we understand the importance of addressing concerns raised by individuals, it is essential to note that not all allegations may be founded on factual basis,” Hein Htet Aung said in a statement. “Rest assured, we are fully cooperating with the appropriate authorities and legal processes, trusting that the facts will be clarified through the due course of these proceedings.”

    PepsiCo’s corporate office did not respond to a request for comment about the situation in Myanmar.

    ‘Many violations’

    The Solidarity Trade Union Myanmar says dozens of people have been fired, often on baseless grounds, from Lotte’s plants. Employees complain of intimidation by management and a failure to make proper severance payments.

    Over the past two years, 20 people have approached the union to complain about a lack of compensation after being fired from the factory, said the union’s director, Myo Myo Aye. The union helps workers handle complaints in Myanmar’s manufacturing sector. 

    Myo Myo Aye said that all but one person, Thoung Han, had withdrawn their complaints.

    “Before U Thoung Han’s case, there were many dismissal cases in that factory … but the workers didn’t dare complain,” she told RFA. 

    ENG_BUR_PepsiLawsuit_04172024_2.jpg
    This Pepsico handout image shows a billboard advertisement for Pepsi, Aug. 9, 2012 in Yangon, Myanmar. (PepciCo/AFP)

    In 2023, the Myanmar Labor Society, which monitors labor complaints and is not connected to the trade union, received seven reports of suspected labor violations at  the factory, which also produces 7Up, Sting, and Mirinda soft drinks. The society tracks complaints across Myanmar’s manufacturing sector and publishes an annual report.  

    In 2023, nine dismissed employees, including Thoung Han, and a legal adviser were threatened by a group of unidentified men who told them they would “do anything to stop this case”, Myo Myo Aye and Thoung Han said.

    “They told them, ‘You have to stop the negotiations and not continue the case, because it is attacking the brand name and company. If anything happens to you if you continue, we’re not responsible,’” Myo Myo Aye said.

    Neither Myo Myo Aye nor Thoung Han knew the affiliation of the men. 

    RFA could not independently verify their account. Asked about this complaint and others, Lotte MGS head of human resources Hein Htet Aung cited a company policy of refraining from discussing unsubstantiated claims, particularly given the legal proceedings. 

    ‘Watching’

    Other employees have told Solidarity Trade Union Myanmar of verbal abuse, intimidation by management, and the replacement of fired employees by relatives of management, the union said. 

    The union further alleges that in the factory’s Mandalay branch, a marketing group of over 30 people were fired at once for not reaching production targets. In the last two years, about 60 people have been dismissed from the company, both the union and Thoung Han said.

    Thoung Han said a culture of bullying and harassment, and the pressure of unrealistic production targets, had forced some people to resign.

    “The company is watching and taking notes and if they don’t like anyone, they’ll come up with any reason to get them dismissed,” Thoung Han said. “If the company doesn’t like someone, they do something to make them feel bad, uncomfortable, so they’ll resign, so there’s no need for compensation.”

    ENG_BUR_PepsiLawsuit_04172024_3.JPG
    A bus painted with Pepsi’s logo picks up passengers in a street of the Burmese capital, Feb. 1, 1997. (Reuters)

    Military rulers shunned international business for decades as they pursued an isolationist “Burmese way to socialism”. By the time the generals began opening the impoverished economy in the 1990s, international sanctions over the suppression of democracy stifled business.

    PepsiCo’s left Myanmar in 1997 but returned in 2012, at the beginning of nearly a decade of tentative economic and political reforms. But hopes for democracy and growth fueled by record foreign investment were shattered by a 2021 military coup.

    Edited by Taejun Kang.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Kiana Duncan for RFA.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Complaints over Myanmar’s manufacturing sector tripled in 2023, report finds

    Employees in Myanmar’s manufacturing sector reported three times as many labor violations in 2023 than the year before, according to a labor advocacy group’s report. 

    Nearly 75% of factories accused of workplace violations are owned by Chinese nationals, according to the March 30 report in Myanmar Labour News. 

    Reports increased from 164 to 438 in just one year, and factories committing these workers’ rights abuses jumped from 124 to 166, said Kyaw Gyi, founder of the Myanmar Labour Society. That trend in foreign investment surged by as many as 100 factories between 2022 and 2023.

    “The workers have lost trust in the complaint mechanisms and it resulted in more abuses on the workers. Various forms of abuse in the workplaces have risen,” Kyaw Gyi told Radio Free Asia. “For example, before the coup, if apparel factory workers had to complete 100 orders, the workloads have been tripled now.”

    The seizure of ministries and other government roles by Myanmar’s military during the 2021 coup d’etat has caused a lack of oversight for much of the manufacturing sector, union leaders told RFA. In addition to driving down wages and union-busting, junta-affiliated labor officers have created a lack of accountability for managers, who often rely on junta soldiers to intimidate workers attempting to negotiate or protest. 

    In response to ongoing allegations of dismal working conditions and a public outcry, several large international brands have already vowed to begin withdrawing from the country in the three years following the coup due to deteriorating conditions. 

    Despite vowing to withdraw from the country, factories supplying brands like H&M, Zara and Primark continued to be among the most frequently cited by workers for reducing wages, forcing employees to work overtime and endure verbal abuse by management. 

    However, these brands are among the most affected by public pressure, providing an incentive to improve working conditions, union leaders and labor advocacy groups said. 

    “To the extent that Western brands have pulled out unquestionably this has given carte blanche to factories to drive down labor conditions and increase violations of Burmese labor law and trade union rights,” said Dave Welsh, Myanmar country director of labor rights group Solidarity Center. 

    “In a climate where the rule of law and industrial relations are absent, there is leverage in having Western brands that are vulnerable to pressure, present,” Welsh said. 

    To stay or to go

    Despite these challenges, workers are still concerned about the absence of the major manufacturers, who they say are more invested in finding a resolution than smaller local firms, where breaches of contract are rife.

    “I understand, it’s a controversial issue, the brands staying in the country or leaving from Myanmar,” said Thurein Aung, a labor activist in Myanmar. “My concern is that when the multinational brands leave Myanmar, it is almost impossible to protect worker rights.”

    Multinational brands that have chosen to stay in the country after the coup have similarly collected a laundry list of complaints from workers.

    German sportswear company Adidas was cited in relation to four supplier factory violations in 2023, while other factories producing for European brands have been documented as repeat offenders. A factory for Denmark’s Bestseller was accused of eight different violations, including forcing pregnant women to resign and bribery between factory staff and labor officials. In spite of that, the factory will continue to supply Bestseller in 2024. 

    Bestseller did not respond to RFA’s enquiries by the time of publication. 

    Violations continue to rise

    In the past, collecting and publishing evidence of abuses could result in positive action from brands and factories, even if it was only temporarily. But in 2023, many factories stopped responding to complaints at all, said Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar president Khaing Zar Aung.

    “The factories come to understand the brand will not leave the country because they are making a profit. So the factories now do not care about their violations in the media,” she said. “So we cannot have many changes and improvements in the factories after posting [about these issues].”

    And while 2023’s numbers concern labor advocacy groups, reports in the first three months of 2024 look set to be on track to surpass them.

    As of March, the Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar had received 114 complaints of labor and human rights abuses involving 169 brands, the vast majority stemming from the country’s garment sector.

    “Violations are the same, the verbal abuse, illegal dismissal, not paying overtime or not paying minimum wage, forced labor, sexual assault, giving pressure and intimidating and the violation of the employment contract,” Khaing Zar Aung said. “The data shows us that the situation is worse and worse, day by day.”

    Edited by Mike Firn and Elaine Chan.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Kiana Duncan for RFA.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • ‘No underlying issues’ with telco complaint handling: ACMA

    The Australian Communications and Media Authority has found very high rates of small business complaint handling compliance by telecommunications companies in Australia following the completion of its six-month audit. Beginning in December 2021, the audit looked at data collected between June and November 2021, with up to 600 small business customer complaints made to the…

    The post ‘No underlying issues’ with telco complaint handling: ACMA appeared first on InnovationAus.com.

    This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.