State and market solutions to the ecological crisis have only increased the wealth and power of those on top, while greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. Nearly all the experts and professionals are invested, literally, in a framework that is only making things worse. With so much power concentrated in the very institutions that suppress any realistic assessment of the situation, things seem incredibly bleak. But what if we told you that there’s another way? That there are already people all around the world implementing immediate, effective responses that can be integrated into long-term strategies to survive these overlapping, cascading crises?
We spoke with three revolutionaries on the front lines resisting capitalist, colonial projects. Sleydo’ from the Gidimt’en clan of the Wet’suwet’en nation, in so-called British Columbia, Isa from the ZAD in the west of France, and Neto, a militant with the Landless Workers’ Movement based in the northeast of so-called Brazil. They share their experiences gained from years of building collective power, defeating repression, and defending the Earth for all its inhabitants and for the generations still to come.
They share stories of solidarity spreading across a continent, of people abandoned to poverty and marginalization reclaiming land, restoring devastated forests, and feeding themselves communally, stories of strangers coming together for their shared survival and a better future, going head to head with militarized police forces and winning. And in these stories we can hear things that are lacking almost everywhere else we look: optimism alongside realism, intelligent strategies for how we can survive, love and empathy for the world around us and for the future generations, together with the belief that we can do something meaningful, something that makes a difference. The joy of revolutionary transformation.
We learn about solutions. Real world solutions. Solutions outside of the control of capitalism and the state.
The Revolution is Already Here.
Next up: how do we make it our own?
Revolution or Death is a three-part collaboration between Peter Gelderloos and subMedia. Part 1, ‘Short Term Investments,’ examined the official response to the climate crisis and how it’s failing. In Part 2, ‘Heads Up, the Revolution is Already Here’ we talk with movements around the globe that provide inspiring examples of what realistic, effective responses look like. Part 3 ‘Reclaiming the World Wherever We Stand’ will focus on how we can all apply these lessons at home.
Austrian authorities have joined in the harassment of independent journalist Richard Medhurst in connection to his criticism of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. He explained on 6 February:
I was detained this week by the Austrian police and intelligence services.
They raided my house, office, and took all my devices.
They are accusing me of being a member of Hamas and threatened me with 10 years in prison.
I was detained this week by the Austrian police and intelligence services.
They raided my house, office, and took all my devices.
They are accusing me of being a member of Hamas and threatened me with 10 years in prison.
In 2024, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) expressed “their grave concern on the apparent mis-use of anti-terror legislation and consequential undermining of media freedom in the wake of the arrest of NUJ and IFJ member Richard Medhurst on 15 August upon his arrival at London Heathrow Airport”.
As the NUJ’s Michelle Stanistreet and the IFJ’s Anthony Bellanger said:
Richard Medhurst’s arrest and detention for almost 24 hours using terrorism legislation is deeply concerning and will likely have a chilling effect on journalists in the UK and worldwide, in fear of arrest by UK authorities simply for carrying out their work. Both the NUJ and IFJ are shocked at the increased use of terrorism legislation by the British police in this manner.
Medhurst categorically denies the allegations. And he believes Austria’s persecution this week was “related to the case in Britain” and being “coordinated with Britain”. As he stressed:
This is insane. This is disproportionate state violence. And it’s not just an attack on me. This is an attack on the entire profession, on freedom of speech, on democracy itself.
Medhurst was also detained last year. On Thursday 15 August 2024, he was escorted off a plane by six cops. They explained that he was being arrested under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000 – for, quote:
expressing an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation
Presumably, in Medhurst’s case this was either Hamas or Hezbollah.
He went on to describe how cops took his phone and did not allow him to tell his family they were detaining him. His belongings were confiscated, and cops held him for 24 hours. His cell was monitored by camera for the whole time he was there.
Not the last
Richard Medhurst said that:
I believe this was done to try and rattle me psychologically. That failed.
He is not the first – nor will he be the last – journalist to experience this:
Not a single word on Richard Medhurst, Asa Winstanley, Sarah Wilkinson in a UK newspaper either.
I find this more scary than the arrests themselves.
The public realm in Europe lies undefended. The media and civil society has been captured. https://t.co/acpXr3pCzn
Those of us who, like myself, are speaking up and reporting on the situation in Palestine are being targeted
He also pointed out how his arrest must have been pre-planned – the implication being that clearly authorities are monitoring non-corporate media journalists’ output. This is probably one of the worst-kept secrets going. As independent journalist Alex Tiffin found out, the Cabinet Office under Boris Johnson had been monitoring his social media – and Canary journalist’s names cropped up in the data it had been storing on him.
It seems that in 2025, independent journalists are still not safe – whatever country they are in.
Part of a three-story series on the fight for and rebuilding of Myanmar’s Kayah state following the 2021 coup. Read Part 1 here.
DEMOSO, Kayah state, Myanmar – The officers of Station 8 in Myanmar’s southern Shan state pile out of their police car, a beat up minivan with bad brakes and a busted front light. Their mission: set up a checkpoint to search for yaba, a type of methamphetamine that’s become a scourge in Southeast Asia.
Young and slight, this contingent from the new Karenni State Police, or KSP, looks more like students on an immersive career day than a group of no-nonsense cops. A few practice waving cars to the side of the road – striving to convey a confident authority but struggling to suppress embarrassed grins.
KSP spokesperson Bo Bo is seen at his office in Mese, Kayah state, Myanmar, Oct. 26, 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)
After what locals say was years of abuse by the former police force run by Myanmar’s repressive military regime, a little humility isn’t a bad thing.
“Before, civilians didn’t trust the police, so they didn’t come to see us,” says Bel Kyaw May, 29, the commander of Station 8 who, like a chaperone, patiently watches over his officers from the side of the road. “We’re more friendly.”
The KSP was established in August 2021, six months into a civil war triggered by the Myanmar military coup.
The importance of developing a rebel-backed police force in the midst of this ongoing conflict may not be immediately clear. But rebels and outside observers of Myanmar say that for the insurgency to succeed, its backers must not only beat better-armed government troops on the battlefield but assure a traumatized public that they can replace the services that have been lost in the fighting, including security.
An officer from KSP Station 8 motions for a motorcyclist to stop at a checkpoint in southern Shan state, Myanmar, Nov. 4, 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)
“If you don’t do that, you run the risk of losing the support of the population, which in the case of the Karenni movement is really critical,” says Jason Tower, a Bangkok-based analyst at the United States Institute of Peace. Karenni is a catch-all for the various ethnic groups in Kayah.
“The revolution isn’t going to end tomorrow.”
The rebel effort to rebuild the governmental institutions, they say, can serve as a model for federal democracy and a showcase for how best to avoid the mistakes of the past, which included a Myanmar Police Force that was often an instrument of military repression.
In other words, quite a lot is riding on the success of Bel Kyaw May and his bright-eyed recruits. “Now it’s revolutionary time,” he said through an interpreter. “Young people are asking, what can I do for the state?”
Officers from KSP Station 8 prepare to set up a roadside checkpoint in southern Shan state, Myanmar, Nov. 4, 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)A female officer with KSP Station 8 explains the checkpoint, in southern Shan state, Myanmar, Nov. 4, 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)KSP Station 8 officers look for narcotics at a roadside checkpoint in southern Shan state, Myanmar, Nov. 4, 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)Officers from KSP Station 8 examine travelers at a checkpoint in southern Shan state, Myanmar, Nov. 4, 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)A KSP Station 8 officer chats with a driver at a checkpoint in southern Shan state, Myanmar, Nov. 4, 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)
Police as oppressors
The challenges facing the rebels in general and the KSP in particular, however, are considerable. The biggest is a lack of resources. Insurgent leaders have created a nominal state government called the Interim Executive Council that raises revenue through fundraising, taxes and business levies.
But 70% of what it collects goes to warfighting, with the remainder split among the KSP and health, education, humanitarian and other agencies in Kayah established by the council. That means that the KSP must try to deal with rising drug use and violence – consequences of the traumas of four years of war – on a shoestring budget.
Bags of illicit drugs, including a mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine known as yaba, lie on a table at KSP Station 8 in southern Shan state, Myanmar, Nov. 4, 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)
Bo Bo, the KSP’s chief spokesman, said the monthly allotments are only about 10% of what his force needs. There were 638 officers in the force as of August – 558 of whom were men and 180 of whom were women. Bo Bo estimates a few hundred more officers are still needed.
The van that ferried the officers to the checkpoint is a 1996 Toyota Granvia that would have a hard time chasing down a scooter. There are more cops than guns and so few uniforms, most days officers stay in civilian clothes.
They also aren’t regularly paid. Most live at the stations and give thanks to their constituents at every meal because that’s usually where their food comes from.
“Our effectiveness is a little lower because we don’t have much manpower; we don’t have much money,” Bo Bo, who leads a station in Mese in southern Kayah state, told RFA.
Officer Angelo Karlo holds a puppy at KSP Station 8 in southern Shan state, Myanmar, Nov. 4, 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)Bel Kyaw, commander of KSP Station 8, stands near fellow officers at the station in southern Shan state, Myanmar, Nov. 4, 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)A detainee washes dishes at KSP Station 8 in southern Shan state, Myanmar, Nov. 4, 2024. The station lacks funds to hire services, so detainees help with cooking and general cleaning.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)Officers at KSP Station 8 eat a meal provided by civilians in southern Shan state, Myanmar, Nov. 4, 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)KSP Station 8 officers gather after making their morning pledge to serve the people in southern Shan state, Myanmar Nov.4, 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)
At the heart of the force are officers like Bo Bo and Bel Kyaw May, both of whom were members of the Myanmar Police Force but resigned after the coup to join a countrywide worker strike known as the Civil Disobedience Movement, or CDM, to pressure the junta to back down. More than 100 former MSP officers are now with the KSP.
In earlier decades, the police force had been accused of harsh tactics, but, according to Tower, it had begun to reform after a previous military dictatorship agreed to share power in 2011.
In the post-coup crackdown, bad habits resurfaced, as Myanmar Police Force officers busted up rallies and arrested protesters. But the coup also highlighted the fact that a number of officers, like Bo Bo and Bel Kyaw May, were more reform-minded.
Shy and soft-spoken, Bo Bo said he had dreamed of being a scientist growing up but had gone to the police academy because it was free and offered steady employment after graduation. He was first assigned to a station in his home township but was soon transferred farther away because the military didn’t want its officers to have ties to local communities, he said.
Debris litters the abandoned junta-run Mese police station in Kayah state, Myanmar, Oct. 26, 2024. It was overrun by rebels in June 2023.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)
He said he quickly became disillusioned by the corruption he witnessed during those years. A friend once reported his bike was stolen but decided not to pursue the case when he learned that the required bribe was more than his bike was worth.
Officers could be roused to work on serious offenses like murder or rape, but the outcome was often preordained, Bo Bo said.
“True and false doesn’t count,” Bo Bo said. “If you had money, you win.”
A police officer lights the cigarette of a detainee in a cell at KSP Station 8 in southern Shan state, Myanmar, Nov. 4, 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)
The success of the insurgents on the battlefield has given them a chance to reset the relationship between police and the communities they serve, the USIP’s Tower said.
“Whereas in the past, the police were the oppressors of the communities,” he said. “There was no concept of the idea of community security or community policing.”
Developing new habits
Part of what fueled corruption in the Myanmar Police Force was the low-pay of the officers. KSP officers make even less. They often go weeks without pay. As a hedge against the type of graft that plagued the old force sprouting in the new one, recruits must complete courses that include instruction not only on police procedure but also on Karenni history and the principles of democracy and human rights that underlie the revolution here.
And in the Kayah rebel government organizational chart, the KSP sits under civilian control, unlike the Myanmar State Police, which was overseen by the military.
Officer “Sunday” is locked in a British colonial-era restraint at KSP Station 8 after reporting back to work a week late following his vacation, in southern Shan state, Myanmar, Nov. 4, 2024.
Still, there appeared to be a few hiccups in the operation when RFA visited. One detainee at Station 8 was being held with one ankle bound in an old fashioned British stockade, a holdover from colonial days. “Sunday” turned out to be a member of the police force. His crime? He said he’d be gone for one week but took two instead.
Other detainees at the two stations RFA visited were teens who had been caught by their parents using drugs. Fearing they were losing control of their children, they had asked the KSP to put them in jail as a form of rehabilitation.
Criminal suspects, meanwhile, can sit in jail for weeks without having their cases adjudicated because there are so few judges and attorneys in Kayah.
KSP officer Yar Zar Tun comforts his wife, Zin Zin Aung, as surgeon Aung Ko Myint cleans wounds she received in a junta airstrike, at a hospital in Demoso, Kayah state, Nov. 5, 2024(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)
A dangerous job
The other challenge the young officers of the KSP face are the not insignificant dangers of their jobs.
Station 8 is located off the main road among terraced hills of yellow-green stalks of rice swaying in the wind. The picturesque setting, the youthful attractiveness of the officers, and the fact that they live at the station gives it a summer-camp vibe.
But the risks are real, and the main benefit of Station 8’s setting is that it’s hidden. The military junta would likely bomb the station if it knew where it was. Station 2 to the south was bombed on Sept. 5, 2024. Among the injured was Zin Zin Aung, the wife of a KSP officer. Her five-month-old fetus didn’t survive the attack.
KSP officers are also outgunned by local drug dealers, some of whom have ties to ethnic armies in the area.
Poppies bloom in a field in southern Shan state, Myanmar, Oct. 29, 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)Partially harvested poppy seedpods are seen in southern Shan state, Myanmar, Oct. 29, 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)Farmers harvest the sap from poppy seedpods in southern Shan state, Myanmar, Oct. 29, 2024. “People come and buy our harvest. We don’t ask or don’t care who they are,” said one farmer, who didn’t want to be named.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)Partially harvested poppy seedpods are seen in southern Shan state, Myanmar, Oct. 30, 2024. Myanmar is the world’s biggest exporter of the raw material used to make heroin and other opiates.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)A farmer harvests the sap from seedpods in a poppy field in southern Shan state, Myanmar, Oct. 29, 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)A woman harvests sap from seedpods in a poppy field in southern Shan state, Myanmar, Oct. 30, 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)
Poppy fields cover the landscape in southern Shan, near the border with Kayah. In the chaos created by the war, Myanmar has become the number one exporter of opium in the world, according to the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime.
“Sometimes the drug dealers give a warning: We can kill you anytime,” Bel Kyaw May said.
Behind horn-rimmed glasses and a serious expression, Shun Lai Yee Win, 20, acknowledged the risks she and her fellow officers face in a brief interview with RFA. She said she joined the KSP and Station 8 simply because she wanted to be part of the process of building a new, more just society.
The old police force “was corrupt, always showing their power to civilians,” she said, before the officers set off to establish the checkpoint.
Officers during a break at KSP Station 8 in southern Shan state, Myanmar, Nov. 4, 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)
Wiliam Tun, 28, who was among the civilians who were stopped, had the same opinion. “We were afraid of the military police,” he said. “They will put you in jail just to do it.”
Asked if he minded being stopped and searched by the KSP officers, he shook his head no. He knew several from the community, he said.
“These are all my friends.”
Soe San Aung for RFA Burmese contributed reporting. Edited by Boer Deng and Abby Seiff.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Jim Snyder and Gemunu Amarasinghe for RFA.
The main provincial road linking New Caledonia’s capital, Nouméa, to the south of the main island will be fully reopened to motorists after almost eight months.
Route Provinciale 1 (RP1), which passes through Saint Louis, had been the scene of violent acts — theft, assault, carjackings — against passing motorists and deemed too dangerous to remain open to the public.
The rest of the time, motorists and pedestrians were “filtered” by law enforcement officers, with two “locks” located at each side of the Saint Louis village.
The troubled road was even fully closed to traffic in July 2024 after tensions and violence in Saint Louis peaked.
Last Friday, January 31, French High Commissioner Louis Le Franc announced that the RP1 would be fully reopened to traffic from today.
Gendarme patrols stay
The French High Commission, however, stressed that the law enforcement setup and gendarme patrols would remain posted “as long as it takes to ensure everyone’s safety”.
“Should any problem arise, the high commission reserves the right to immediately reduce traffic hours,” a media release warned.
The RP1’s reopening coincides with the beginning, this week, of crucial talks in Paris between pro-independence, pro-France camps and the French state on New Caledonia’s political future status.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Why has any discussion about Israel, its violations of international law, and the international legal expectations for third party states to hold IDF soldiers accountable not been addressed in Aotearoa New Zealand?
ANALYSIS:By Katrina Mitchell-Kouttab
Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa national chair John Minto’s campaign to identify Israeli Defence Force (IDF) soldiers in New Zealand and then call a PSNA number hotline has come under intense criticism from the likes of Winston Peters, Stephen Rainbow, the Jewish Council and NZ media outlets. Accusations of antisemitism have been made.
Despite making it clear that holding IDF soldiers accountable for potential war crimes is his goal, not banning all Israelis or targeting Jewish people, there are many just concerns regarding Minto’s campaign. He is clear that his focus remains on justice, not on creating divisions or fostering discrimination, but he has failed to provide strict criteria to distinguish between individuals directly involved in human rights violations and those who are innocent, or to ground the campaign in legal frameworks and due process.
Any allegations of participation in war crimes should be submitted through proper legal channels, not through the PSNA. Broader advocacy could have been used to address concerns of accountability and to minimise any risk that the campaign could lead to profiling based on religion, ethnicity, or language.
While there are many concerns that need to be addressed with PSNA’s campaign, why has the conversation stopped there? Why has the core issue of this campaign been ignored? Namely, that IDF soldiers who have committed war crimes in Gaza have been allowed into New Zealand?
PSNA’s controversial Gaza “genocide hotline” . . . why has the conversation stopped there? Why has the core issue about war crimes been ignored? Image: PSNA screenshot APR
Why has any discussion about Israel, its violations of international law, and the international legal expectations for third party states to hold IDF soldiers accountable not been addressed? Why is criticism of Israel being conflated with racism, even though many Jewish people oppose Israel’s war crimes, and what about Palestinians, what does this mean for a people experiencing genocide?
Concerns should be discussed but they must not be used to protect possible war criminals and shield Israel’s crimes.
It is true that PSNA’s campaign may possibly target individuals, including targeting individuals solely based on their nationality, religion, or language. This is not acceptable. But it has also uncovered the exceptionally biased, racist, and unjust views towards Palestinians.
Racism against Palestinians ignored
Palestinians have been dehumanised by Israel for decades, but real racism against Palestinians is being ignored. As a Christian Palestinian I know all too well what it is like to be targeted.
In fact, it was only recently at a New Zealand First State of the Nation gathering last year that Winston Peter’s followers called me a terrorist for being Palestinian and told me that all Muslims were Hamas lovers and were criminals.
The question that has been ignored in this very public debate is simple: are Israeli soldiers who have participated in war crimes in Aotearoa, if so, why, and what does this mean for the New Zealand Palestinian population and the upholding of international law?
By refusing to address concerns of IDF soldiers the focus is deliberately shifted away from the actual genocide happening in Gaza. If IDF soldiers have engaged in rape, extrajudicial executions, torture, destruction of homes, or killing of civilians, they should be investigated and held accountable.
Countries have a legal and moral duty to prevent war criminals from using their nations as safe havens.
Since 1948, Palestinians have been subjected to systematic oppression, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, violence and now, genocide. From its creation and currently with Israel’s illegal occupation, Palestinian massacres have been frequent and unrelenting.
This includes the execution of my great grandmother on the steps of our Katamon home in Jerusalem. Land has been stolen from Palestinians over the decades, including well over 42 percent of the West Bank. Palestinians have been denied the right to return to their country, the right to justice, accountability, and self-determination.
Living under illegal military law
We are still forced to live under illegal military law, face mass arrests and torture, and our history, identity, culture and heritage are targeted.
Almost 10 children lose one or both of their legs every day in Gaza according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNWRA). 2.2 million people are starving because Israel refuses them access to food. 95 percent of Gaza’s population have been forced onto the streets, with only 25 percent of Gaza’s shelters needs being met, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council.
One out of 20 people in Gaza have been injured and 18,000 children have been murdered. 6500 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip were taken hostage by Israel who also stole 2300 bodies from numerous cemeteries. 87,000 tons of explosives have been dropped on all regions in the Gaza Strip.
Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a British Palestinian reconstructive surgeon who worked in Al Shifa and Al Ahly Baptist hospital and who is part of Medicine Sans Frontiers, estimates as many as 300,000 Palestinian civilians, most of them children, have been murdered by Israel.
This is because official numbers do not include those bodies that cannot be recognised or are blown to a pulp, those buried under the rubble and those expected to die and have died of disease, starvation and lack of medicine — denied by Israel to those with chronic illnesses.
‘A Genocidal Project’: real death toll closer to 300,000. Video: Democracy Now!
As a signatory to the Geneva Convention, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and UN resolutions, New Zealand is expected to investigate, prosecute and deport any individual accused of these serious crimes. This government has an obligation to deny entry to any individual suspected of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide.
IDF has turned war crimes into entertainment
Israel has violated all of these, its IDF soldiers filming themselves committing such atrocities and de-humanising Palestinians over the last 15 months on social media.
IDF soldiers have posted TikTok videos mocking their Palestinian victims, celebrating destruction, and making jokes about killing civilians, displaying a disturbing level of dehumanisation and cruelty. They have filmed themselves looting Palestinian homes, vandalising property, humiliating detainees, and posing with dead bodies.
They have turned war crimes into entertainment while Palestinian families suffer and mourn. Israel has deliberately targeted civilians, bombing schools, hospitals, refugee camps, and even designated safe zones, then lied about their operations, showing complete disregard for human life.
Israel and the IDF’s global reputation among ordinary people are not positive. Out on the streets over 15 months, millions have been demonstrating against Israel. They do not like what its army has done, and rightly so. Many want to see justice and Israel and its army held accountable, something this government has ignored.
Israel’s state forced conscription or imprisonment, enforced military service that contributes to the occupation, ethnic cleansing, systematic oppression of a people, war crimes and genocide is fascism on display. Israel is a totalitarian, apartheid, military state, but this government sees no problems with that.
The UN and human rights organisations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have repeatedly condemned Israeli military operations, including the indiscriminate killing of civilians, the use of white phosphorus, and sexual violence by Israeli forces.
While not all IDF soldiers may have committed direct atrocities, those serving in occupied Palestinian territories are complicit in enforcing illegal occupation, which itself is a violation of international law.
Following orders not an excuse
The precedent set by international tribunals, such as Nuremberg, establishes that following orders is not an excuse for war crimes — meaning IDF soldiers who have participated in military actions in occupied areas should be subject to scrutiny.
This government has a duty to protect Palestinian communities from further harm, this includes preventing known perpetrators of ethnic cleansing from entering New Zealand. The presence of IDF soldiers in New Zealand is a direct threat to the safety, dignity, and well-being of our communities.
Many Palestinian New Zealanders have lost family members, homes, and entire communities due to the IDF’s actions. Seeing known war criminals walking freely in New Zealand re-traumatises those who have suffered from Israel’s illegal military brutality.
Survivors of ethnic cleansing should not have to live in fear of encountering the very people responsible for their suffering. This was not acceptable after the Second World War, throughout modern history, and is not acceptable now.
IDF soldiers are also trained in brutal tactics, including arbitrary arrests, sexual violence, and the assassination of Palestinian civilians. The presence of war criminals in any society creates a climate of fear and intimidation.
Given their history, there is a concern within New Zealand that these soldiers will engage in racist abuse, Islamophobia, or Zionist hate crimes not only against Palestinians and Arabs, but other communities of colour.
New Zealand society should be scrutinising not just this government’s response to the genocide against Palestinians, but also our political parties.
Moral bankruptcy and xenophobia
This moral bankruptcy and neutral stance in the face of genocide and racism has been clearly demonstrated this week in Parliament with both Shane Jones and Peter’s xenophobic remarks, and responses to the PSNA’s campaign.
Winston Peter’s tepid response to Israel’s behaviour and its violations is a staggering display of double standards and hypocrisy. Racism it seems, is clearly selective.
His comments about Mexicans in Parliament this week were xenophobic and violate the principles of responsible governance by promoting discrimination. Peters’ comments that immigrants should be grateful creates a hierarchy of worthiness.
Similarly, Shane Jones calling for Mexicans to go home does not uphold diplomatic and professional standards, reinforces harmful racial stereotypes and discriminates based on one’s nationality. Mexicans, Māori, and Palestinians are not on equal standing as others when it comes to human rights.
Why is there a defence of foreign soldiers who may have participated in genocide or war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories, but then migrants and refugees are attacked?
“John Minto’s call to identify people from Israel . . . is an outrageous show of fascism, racism, and encouragement of violence and vigilantism. New Zealand should never accept this kind of extreme totalitarian behaviour in our country”. Why has Winston Peter’s never condemned the actual racism Palestinians are facing — including ethnic cleansing, forced displacement, and apartheid?
Why has he never used such strong language and outrage to condemn Israel’s actions despite evidence of violations of international law? Instead, he directs outrage at a human rights activist who is pointing out the shortcomings of the government’s response to Israels violations.
IDF soldiers’ documented atrocities ignored
Peters has completely ignored IDF soldiers’ documented atrocities and distorted the campaign’s purpose for legal accountability to that of violence.
There has been no mention of Palestinian suffering associated with the IDF and Israel, nor has the government been transparent in admitting that there are no security measures in place when it comes to Israel.
For Peters, killing Palestinians in their thousands is not racist but an activist wanting to prevent war criminals from entering New Zealand is?
Recently, Simon Court of the ACT party in response to Minto wrote: “Undisguised antisemitic behaviour is not acceptable . . . military service is compulsory for Israeli citizens . . . any Israeli holidaying, visiting family or doing business in New Zealand could be targeted . . . it is intimidation towards Jewish visitors . . . and should be condemned by parties across Parliament.”
This comment is misleading, and hypocritical.
PSNA’s campaign is not targeting Jewish people, something the Jewish Council has also misrepresented. It is about identifying Israeli soldiers who have actively participated in human rights violations and war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.
It intentionally blurs the lines between Israeli soldiers and Jewish civilians, as the lines between Palestinian civilians and Hamas have been blurred.
Erases distinction between civilians and a militant group
Even MFAT cannot use the word “Palestinian” but identifies us all as “Hamas” on its website. This erases the distinction between civilians and a militant group, and conflates Israeli military personnel with Jewish civilians, which is both deceptive and dangerous.
The MFAT website states the genocide in Gaza is an “Israel-Hamas” conflict, denying the intentional targeting of Palestinian civilians and erasing our humanity.
Israel’s assault has purposely killed thousands of children, women and men, all innocent civilians. Israel has not provided any evidence of any of its claims that it is targeting “Hamas” and has even been caught out lying about the “mass rapes and burned babies”, the tunnels under the hospitals and militants hiding behind Palestinian toddlers and whole generations of families.
Despite this, MFAT had not condemned Israeli war crimes. This is not a just war. It is a genocide against Palestinians which is also being perpetrated in the West Bank. There is no Hamas in the West Bank.
The ACT Party has been silent or outright supportive of Israel’s atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank, despite overwhelming evidence of war crimes. If they were truly concerned about targeting individuals as they are with Minto’s campaign, then they would have called for an end to Israel’s assaults against Palestinians, sanctioned Israel for its war crimes, and called for investigations into Israeli soldiers for mass killings, sexual violence and starving the Palestinian people.
What is clear from Court and Seymour (who has also openly supported Israel alongside members of the Zionist Federation), is that Palestinian lives are irrelevant, we should silently accept our genocide, and that we do not deserve justice. That Israeli IDF soldiers should be given impunity and should be able to spend time in New Zealand with no consequences for their crimes.
This is simply xenophobic, dangerous and “not acceptable in a liberal democracy like New Zealand”.
New Zealand cartoonist Malcolm Evans with two of his anti-Zionism placards at yesterday’s “march for the martyrs” in Auckland . . . politicians’ silence on Israel’s war crimes and violations of international law fails to comply with legal norms and expectations. Image: Asia Pacific Report
Erased the voice of Jewish critics
ACT, alongside Peters, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Labour leader Chris Hipkins, and the Jewish council have erased the voice of Jewish people who oppose Israel and its crimes and who do not associate being Jewish with being Israeli.
There is a clear distinction, something Alternative Jewish Voices, Jewish Voices for Peace, Holocaust survivors and Dayenu have clearly reiterated. Equating Zionism with Judaism, and identifying Israeli military actions with Jewish identity, is dangerously antisemitic.
By failing to distinguish Judaism from Zionism, politicians and the Jewish Council are in danger of fuelling the false narrative that all Jewish people support Israel’s actions, which ultimately harms Jewish communities by increasing resentment and misunderstanding.
Antisemitism should never be weaponised or used to silence criticism of Israel or justify Israel’s impunity. This is harmful to both Palestinians and Jews.
Seymour’s upcoming tenure as deputy prime minister should also be questioned due to his unwavering support and active defence of a regime committing mass atrocities. This directly contradicts New Zealand’s values of justice and accountability demonstrating a complete disregard for human rights and international law.
His silence on Israel’s war crimes and violations of international law fails to comply with legal norms and expectations. He has positioned himself away from representing all New Zealanders.
While we focus on Minto, let’s be fair and ensure Palestinians are also being protected from discrimination and targeting in New Zealand. Are the Zionist Federation, the New Zealand Jewish Council, and the Holocaust Centre supporting Israel economically or culturally, aiding and abetting its illegal occupation, and do they support the genocide?
Canada investigated funds linked to illegal settlements
Canada recently investigated the Jewish National Fund (JNF) of Canada for potentially violating charitable tax laws by funding projects linked to Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, which are illegal under international law.
In August 2024, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) revoked the Jewish National Fund of Canada’s (JNF Canada) charitable status after a comprehensive audit revealed significant non-compliance with Canadian tax laws.
On the 31 January 2025, Haaretz reported that Israel had recruited the Jewish National Fund to illegally secretly buy Palestinian land in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
What does that mean for the New Zealand branch of the Jewish National Fund?
None of these organisations should be funnelling resources to illegal settlements or supporting Israel’s war machine. A full investigation into their financial and political activities is necessary to ensure any money coming from New Zealand is not supporting genocide, land theft or apartheid.
The government has already investigated Palestinians sending money to relatives in Gaza, the same needs to be done to organisations supporting Israel. Are any of these groups supporting war crimes under the guise of charity?
While Jewish communities and Palestinians have rallied together and supported each other these last 15 months, we have received no support from the Jewish Council or the Holocaust Centre, who have remained silent or have supported Israel’s actions. Dayenu, and Alternative Jewish voices have vocally opposed Israel’s genocide in Gaza and reached out to us. As Jews dedicated to human rights, justice, and the prevention of genocide because of their own history, they unequivocally condemn Israel’s actions.
Given the Holocaust, you would expect the Holocaust Centre and the Jewish Council to oppose any acts of violence, especially that on such an industrial scale. You would expect them to oppose apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and the dehumanisation of Palestinians as the other Jewish organisations are doing.
Genocide, war crimes must not be normalised
War crimes and genocide must never be normalised. Israel must not be shielded and the suffering and dehumanisation of Palestinians supported.
We must ensure that all New Zealanders, whether Jewish, Israeli or Palestinian are not targeted, and are protected from discrimination, racism, violence and dehumanisation.
All organisations are subject to scrutiny, but only some have been.
Instead of just focusing on John Minto, the ACT Party, NZ First, National, and Labour should be answering why Israeli soldiers who may have committed atrocities, are allowed into New Zealand in the first place.
Israel and its war criminals should not be treated any differently to any other country.
We must shift the focus back to Israel’s genocide, apartheid, and impunity, while exposing the hypocrisy of those who defend Israel but attack Palestinian solidarity.
Bangkok, January 30, 2025—Malaysian authorities must immediately return Malaysiakini’s executive editor RK Anand’s laptop, and stop harassing the independent news site, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.
“The police seizure of Malaysiakini executive editor RK Anand’s laptop is a clear and gross violation of press freedom,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “The computer should be returned to him unconditionally and this type of coercion must stop immediately.”
Police confiscated the computer and took a statement from Anand after Malaysiakini reported remarks that former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin made about two ministers on his podcast, according to newsreports. Jamaluddin is under investigation for defamation for those comments.
The regulatory Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) also demanded access to Malaysiakini’s content management system (CMS), used to publish content on the outlet’s website, those sources said.
CPJ was unable to confirm whether Malaysiakini complied with the media regulator’s request.
Neither Malaysiakini nor the MCMC immediately replied to CPJ’s emailed requests for comment.
Following heavy-handed policing on 18 January against the regular anti-genocide protests in London, the Canary spoke with one descendant of a Holocaust survivor who attended the march and witnessed what went on. Carolyn Gelenter was one of hundreds of Jewish people who opposed the police ban on protesting outside the BBC on 18 January. And she described to us in detail the aggressive policing…
Ali Abunimah is executive director of important pro-Palestinian media outlet The Electronic Intifada. And Switzerland is facing demands for “an apology and reparations” after its highly controversial political decision to detain him over the weekend. Activists in Switzerland had invited Abunimah to speak at an event on 25 January. But “three plainclothes police officers violently arrested” him…
Kenya has deployed another batch of 217 police officers to Haiti, adding to the 400 sent last year as part of a “multinational mission” aimed at addressing the country’s deepening crisis of gang violence. The intervention aims to protect critical infrastructure and conduct “targeted operations” alongside the Haitian National Police, however, there are significant doubts about its effectiveness in resolving the systemic challenges plaguing Haiti.
On October 2, 2024, the United Nations Security Council authorized this year-long, Kenyan-led security intervention to purportedly combat gang violence and restore stability to territories controlled by armed groups.
A police officer chased a Native teen to his death. Days later, the police force shut down without explanation.
In 2020, Blossom Old Bull was raising three teenagers on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana. Her youngest son, Braven Glenn, was 17, a good student, dedicated to his basketball team.
That November, Old Bull got a call saying Glenn was killed in a police car chase that resulted in a head-on collision with a train. Desperate for details about the accident, she went to the police station, only to find it had shut down without any notice.
“The doors were locked. It looked like it wasn’t in operation anymore—like they just upped and left,” Old Bull said. “It’s, like, there was a life taken, and you guys just closed everything down without giving the family any answers?”
This kicks off a yearslong search to find out what happened to Glenn and how a police force could disappear overnight without explanation. This week on Reveal, Mother Jones reporter Samantha Michaels’ investigation into the crash is at once an examination of a mother’s journey to uncover the details of her son’s final moments and a sweeping look at a broken system of tribal policing.
This is an update of an episode that originally aired in April 2024.
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Taiwan said 85% of its national security cases were found to involve retired military and police officers, saying China “systematically and organically cultivated” these forces in the island.
Taiwan’s national security law is a set of legal provisions aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty and democratic system from internal and external threats. It includes measures against espionage, subversion, and activities threatening national security, with a particular focus on countering external interference, including from China.
China regards Taiwan as a renegade province that should be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary. The democratic island has been self-governing since it effectively separated from mainland China in 1949 after the Chinese civil war.
“85% of current incidents related to national security are involved with retired military and police. We are very concerned about this situation,” said Liang Wen-chieh, spokesperson of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, which oversees relations across the Taiwan Strait.
“China has been systematically and methodically cultivating these forces on the ground in Taiwan … it has become very difficult to secure evidence in espionage and national security-related cases,” Liang added without elaborating.
The number of individuals in Taiwan prosecuted for Chinese espionage increased from 16 in 2021 to 64 in 2024, Taiwan’s main intelligence agency, the National Security Bureau, or NSB, said in a report this month.
In 2024, 15 military veterans and 28 active service members were prosecuted, accounting for 23% and 43%, respectively, of all Chinese espionage cases.
“Chinese operatives frequently try to use retired military personnel to recruit active service members, establish networks via the internet, or try to lure targets with cash or by exploiting their debts,” said the NSB.
“For example, military personnel with financial difficulties may be offered loans via online platforms or underground banks, in return for passing along secret intelligence, signing loyalty pledges or recruiting others,” the agency added.
The Taiwan government’s announcement on national security cases came days after Taiwanese prosecutors sought a 10-year prison sentence for a retired military officer for leaking classified information to China.
The Taiwan High Prosecutors Office on Monday indicted retired Lt Gen. Kao An-kuo and five others for violating the National Security Act and organizing a pro-China group.
Prosecutors claim that Kao, leader of the pro-unification group “Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,” along with his girlfriend, identified by her surname Liu, and four others, were recruited by China’s People’s Liberation Army, or PLA.
The group allegedly worked to establish an organization that would serve as armed internal support and operational bases for the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, in the event of a PLA invasion of Taiwan. This effort reportedly included recruiting active-duty military personnel to obtain classified information and monitor strategic deployments.
Additionally, they are accused of using drones to simulate surveillance on mobile military radar vehicles and other combat exercises, subsequently relaying the results to the CCP.
China has not commented on Taiwan’s announcement on national security cases.
Edited by Mike Firn.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Taejun Kang for RFA.
Hong Kong national security police have taken away three family members of U.K.-based pollster and outspoken political commentator Chung Kim-wah, who has a bounty on his head amid a crackdown on dissent under two security laws.
Chung, 64, is a former deputy head of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute and co-host of the weekly talk show “Voices Like Bells” for RFA Cantonese.
He left for the United Kingdom in April 2022 after being questioned amid a city-wide crackdown on public dissent and political opposition to the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
Officers took two of Chung’s brothers and a sister from their homes on Wednesday morning.
Chung’s second brother was taken to Tsuen Wan Police Station for questioning, his third sister to Central Police Station, and his fourth brother to Castle Peak Police station.
Chung is accused — alongside Carmen Lau, Tony Chung, Joseph Tay and Chloe Cheung — of “incitement to secession” after he “advocated independence” on social media and repeatedly called on foreign governments to impose sanctions on Beijing over the crackdown, according to a police announcement.
He told Radio Free Asia that the questioning of his family members came as “no surprise,” but said they had nothing to do with his professional activities.
“My brothers and sisters are all adults, so why should they be held responsible for what I do?” Chung told RFA Cantonese in an interview on Jan. 22. “They live in Hong Kong, and I’m in the U.K., so I never tell them anything.”
U.K.-based Hong Kong pollster Chung Kim-wah, who has a bounty on his head, in an undated file photo.(RFA)
Chung said the move was likely an attempt to intimidate people carrying out independent public opinion research, which often involves negative views of the government.
“It seems that they don’t want to face up to public opinion, so they’re doing this to scare us, and ‘deal with’ the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute,” he said. “It’s kind of tedious.”
‘Long-arm’ law enforcement
Exiled Hong Kong democracy activists have called for an international effort to combat the threat of Beijing’s “long-arm” law enforcement beyond its borders, saying recent bounties on the heads of 19 people are deliberately intended to create a “chilling effect” on activists everywhere.
The move came after police questioned Chung’s wife and son and former colleague Robert Chung earlier this month, as part of a “national security police investigation.”
Chung announced he had left the city on April 24, 2022, to “live for a while in the U.K.”
In a Facebook post announcing his departure, Chung said he didn’t want to “desert” his home city, but “had no other option.”
He ran afoul of the authorities early in December 2021, ahead of the first-ever elections for the Legislative Council to exclude pro-democracy candidates in a system that ensures only “patriots” loyal to Beijing can stand.
Chung was hauled in for questioning after pro-Beijing figures criticized him for including a question in a survey about whether voters intended to cast blank ballots in the election, which critics said could amount to “incitement” to subvert the voting system under the national security law.
Nineteen people now have HK$1 million (US$130,000) bounties on their heads following two previous announcements in July and December 2023.
‘Seditious intention’
Meanwhile, national security police said they had also arrested a 36-year-old man in Eastern District on Jan. 21 on suspicion of “knowingly publishing publications that had a seditious intent,” a charge under the Safeguarding National Security Law, known as Article 23.
The content of the publications had “provoked hatred towards the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Hong Kong Police Force and the Judiciary, as well as called for sanctions against government officials and inciting violence,” police said in a statement dated Jan. 22.
“Police remind members of the public that “knowingly publishing publications that had a seditious intention” is a serious crime,” the statement said, warning that offenders could face jail terms of seven years on their first conviction.
“Members of the public are urged not to defy the law,” it said.
More than 10,000 people have been arrested and at least 2,800 prosecuted in a citywide crackdown in the wake of the 2019 protest movement, mostly under public order charges.
Nearly 300 have been arrested under 2020 National Security Law, according to the online magazine ChinaFile.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Roseanne Gerin.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Lee Heung Yeung and Matthew Leung for RFA Cantonese.
A Just Stop Oil supporter has been arrested on suspicion of planning to organise and/or attend a protest at a UK airport last year. In the latest episode of the ongoing farce that is the UK state – something Alan Ayckbourn would struggle to parody – Joe was nicked in some bizarre pre-crime maneuver by the police.
Just Stop Oil: nicked by the UK pre-crime division
Just Stop Oil shared a clip of Joe’s arrest on X. In it, he said:
It’s been alleged that I’ve been involved in plots of protests at airports about a year ago, and now the police have turned up at my door unannounced, told me they’re going to bash the door down, and are currently going through my room.
BREAKING: MET POLICE RAID JUST STOP OIL SUPPORTER'S HOME
Joe was arrested this morning for allegedly thinking about taking nonviolent action at airports last year.
At this point, it is unclear just what protest, if any, Joe was involved in.
As the Canarydocumented across 2024, Just Stop Oil joined around 21 groups across 12 countries. They staged a range of interventions at 19 international airports across the summer last year, causing serious disruption and having a global impact.
For example, in August six supporters of Just Stop Oil nonviolently blocked the departure gates at Heathrow Airport, causing delays:
Dozens of people were arrested. One of those nicked at Heathrow was Di Bligh who was formerly CEO of Reading Borough Council. She said:
Climate breakdown is endangering all we love. Starvation already threatens those who have done the least to cause this mess. Billions will be on the move as they try to find land they can cultivate, water to drink- any safe place.
Electric cars and windfarms won’t do it: governments must act together before we reach more tipping points into chaos than we can prevent. We need our political leaders to act now, by working with other nations to establish a legally binding treaty to stop the extraction and burning of oil, gas and coal by 2030.
However, Joe did not actively take part in a protest – yet cops have nicked him, anyway. Thanks to the government, though, police are allowed to do this – and already have.
Not the first time
As the Canary previously reported, in August 2024 police arrested four Just Stop Oil supporters near Manchester airport on suspicion of conspiring to cause a public nuisance. That is, they were planning to non-violently disrupt Manchester Airport. Police said it was because Just Stop Oil’s actions “would have brought significant delays”.
As you may well remember, this was at the same time police lost control of parts of the UK to far-right race riots.
Yet cops see fit to arrest Just Stop Oil supporters around the notion of pre-crime. And now, Joe is yet another victim of this authoritarian mindset that’s now infesting the UK. We have of course been here before. My late father, a prominent member of the UK Communist Party in the 1950s and 60s, would always recount stories of their meetings where the chair would, during the introduction, give:
A special welcome to our friends at the back.
The friends were, of course, Special Branch – and as the Spycops saga shows the state has always infiltrated anyone who it deems is or could in the future be a threat to it.
However, this pre-emptive action by cops is hitting another level of repression.
Just Stop Oil: martyrs for us all?
As Joe summed up:
Six police officers turned up for an alleged potential protest over a year ago… You can decide whether that’s a good use of resources.
Any rational, decent person would say ‘no’. But despite the planet burning, non-human animals becoming extinct, and marginalised people being further abused and repressed around the world – apparently it’s some kid with a hi-vis and orange leaflets that’s the problem.
Three Youth Demand supporters defied Met Police restrictions on the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC) demonstration on Saturday 18 January by standing outside the BBC with signs. Youth Demand are calling for a two-way arms embargo on Israel and for the new UK government to halt all new oil and gas licences granted since 2021.
Youth Demand: not letting the BBC get away with it
At around 4:00pm, the three were arrested under Section 14 of the Public Order Act after marching to the BBC and standing on the pavement with signs, defying the conditions imposed on the protest by the Met. One Youth Demand supporter was holding a sign saying “Can I protest here?”, another held a completely blank sign.
A Vietnamese government restructuring proposal includes the shifting of authority over state-owned MobiFone –- the country’s third-largest telecommunications provider –- to the Ministry of Public Security.
Such a move could allow the ministry to easily obtain personal information for police investigations, several commentators on Radio Free Asia’s Facebook page said this week.
Those fears are partly based on the government’s recent efforts to tighten control on what can be posted on global internet sites such as YouTube.
Vietnamese authorities can demand access to that information. The decree raised concerns about the government’s growing use of the law to crack down on freedom of expression.
Why is Vietnam streamlining its government?
General Secretary To Lam announced the ambitious state restructuring in December. The plan includes the elimination of parliamentary committees, the shuttering of government offices and party committees and the closure or consolidation of five of 21 ministries, according to state media. The number of civil servants is expected to be reduced by a fifth.
To Lam’s goal is to complete the plan before the next Communist Party of Vietnam National Congress, planned for early 2026, according to Carl Thayer, a veteran Vietnam watcher and emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Canberra, Australia. The Congress is expected to decide whether to elect him to a full term at that time.
Vietnam’s General Secretary of the Communist Party To Lam at the National Assembly in Hanoi, Vietnam, Oct. 21, 2024.(Minh Hoang/AP)
To Lam was named to the most powerful position in the country in August following the death of his predecessor. He told state media at the time that large national institutions like the government must change before Vietnam can become a wealthy, democratic, just and civilized country.
The restructuring aligns with the party’s goal of transforming Vietnam into a high middle-income country with modernized industries by 2030 and a developed, high-income nation by 2045, Thayer said.
To Lam also pledged in August to build a strong Communist Party of Vietnam, according to state media.
Why would the Ministry of Public Security be given authority over MobiFone ?
In 2016, MobiFone acquired 95 percent of Audio Visual Global JSC, or AVG, a privately run company that provided a paid television service. MobiFone intended to rebrand the television service to “MobiTV.”
A follow-up police investigation found that more than US$3 million in bribes were paid to the then-minister of information and a top deputy to approve the sale without seeking proper permission from the Ministry of Public Security.
The Vietnam Government Inspectorate later found that AVG was in poor financial condition. The sale was nullified, resulting in the loss of more than US$300 million to the state budget.
To Lam, who was a top deputy at the Ministry of Public Security at the time, is believed to have been involved in the signing of official documents in late 2015 that paved the way for the deal.
One document affirmed that the agreement complied with existing laws and regulations and stated that the sale price was reasonable. The document was classified as secret. Another document signed by To Lam in March 2015 was also classified as secret and directed the Ministry of Information to prohibit media organizations from reporting on the sale.
To Lam was never charged or implicated in the investigation, which resulted in long prison terms for the two Ministry of Information officials. His recent rise to the top of Vietnam’s leadership came amid an anti-corruption campaign that saw eight members of the Politburo resign between December 2022 and May 2024.
MobiFone remains profitable, which could benefit the Ministry of Public Security and help strengthen To Lam’s continued influence within the police force.
Will MobiFone users stay with its cellphone service?
A Hanoi lawyer who has used MobiFone’s cellphone plans for five years said he was concerned that the Ministry of Public Security “could directly access user databases” -– something that could “undermine the privacy and security of customers’ personal data,” he said.
“They could monitor users without their knowledge,” he told RFA, requesting anonymity for personal reasons.
Le Hong Phong, a security guard in Hanoi, said he has been using MobiFone for over 20 years but would switch providers immediately if it is officially transferred to the Ministry of Public Security because he doesn’t police to use “users’ information against themselves.”
But one commentator on RFA’s Facebook page said this week that if people don’t break the law, they shouldn’t be worried about government monitoring.
“If I don’t break the law and live by it, why should I be afraid of using MobiFone’s service?” said the commentator whose user name was listed as T.V.
Another Facebook commentator, X.L., noted that other mobile networks in Vietnam are also assumed to include some kind of government surveillance of private data.
“Every provider requires users to register with their names and take photos of their faces and IDs,” he said. “Things are fully monitored.”
Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Matt Reed.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Vietnamese.
Various news outlets reported on January 7 that a 36-year-old woman from Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh had allegedly left her husband and six children, and eloped with a beggar.
ABP News published a report on this event, noting that the husband, identified as Raju, had filed a police complaint, under Section 87 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which pertains to the crime of abducting a woman. The husband had suspected his wife, Rajeshwari, of an extramarital affair with a man named Nanhe Pandit, who sometimes used to beg in the neighbourhood. (Archive)
Deccan Herald reported that the 36-year-old woman had often been seen talking with the Pandit for long hours, but little did the family apprehend that the two could fall in love with each other. (Archive)
Besides, various other popular news outlets in India, like Times Now, Jansatta, News 18, reported on this incident from Uttar Pradesh, alleging that the woman had eloped with a beggar, deserting her husband and six children. (Archived links: 1, 2, 3)
A keyword search in Hindi led us to a clarification, issued by the verified X account of Hardoi Police (@hardoipolice). It states that on January 5, a man named Raju, from Lamkan village in the district of Hardoi, had filed a report at the Harpalpur police station, claiming that his wife Rajeshwari had absconded with a man named Nanhe Pandit, along with all the money in their house.
Rajeshwari, on being notified that a case had been registered by her husband, turned herself in voluntarily at the Harpalpur police station, and clarified that she had left her husband because of his abusive tendencies. Angered by the fact that he would frequently mistreat her and beat her up, Rajeshwari had left her home and gone to stay at her relative’s house, in Farrukhabad. The police statement clearly states that allegations levelled against the woman of eloping with someone were false and baseless.
कतिपय सोशल मीडिया प्लेटफॉर्म पर थाना हरपालपुर क्षेत्रांतर्गत वायरल खबर के संबंध में- pic.twitter.com/NdqGApUmMI
In short, the viral claim that a 36-year-old woman had left with a beggar deserting her husband and six children is false. The woman, identified as Rajeshwari, had gone to a relative’s house, to escape her husband’s abuse and physical violence.
Clarification Issued by India Today and The Times of India
The official X handle of India Today (@IndiaToday) had shared the viral claim on January 7. However, after the clarification issued by Hardoi Police, the news outlet tweeted an update.
UPDATE: A Hardoi man’s allegations of his wife eloping with a beggar were dismissed by @hardoipolice as ‘baseless’ after the woman appeared before the cops and accused him of abuse and provided her side of the story. https://t.co/J9ptectrWLpic.twitter.com/pRtUEKciZo
Times of India (@timesofindia) was another news outlet that misreported the incident. Upon the disclosure of Rajeshwari’s account, they also updated their story. The original tweet, however, is still live and provides no clarification on the event.
#UttarPradesh | A 36-year-old woman from #Hardoi district, reportedly absconded with a beggar after leaving her husband and six children behind.
Her husband filed an FIR, suspecting the beggar, who often visited their neighborhood.
British director of Human Rights Watch attacks ‘dangerous hypocrisy’ of government
Britain’s crackdown on climate protest is setting “a dangerous precedent” around the world and undermining democratic rights, the UK director of Human Rights Watch has said.
Yasmine Ahmed accused the Labour government of hypocrisy over its claims to be committed to human rights and international law.
The voter turnout at the last election was less than 50 percent but Malessas is optimistic participation today will be high.
He urged voters to go and exercise their democratic right.
“This country — we own it, it’s ours. If we just sit and complain that, this, that and the other thing aren’t good but then don’t contribute to making decisions then we will never change,” Malessas said.
Not everybody convinced
But not everybody is convinced that proceeding with the election was the right decision.
The president of the Port Vila Council of Women, Jane Iatika, said many families were still grieving, traumatised and struggling to put food on the table.
“If they were thinking about the people they would have [postponed] the election and dealt with the disaster first,” she said.
“Like right now if a mother goes and lines up to vote in the election — when they come back home what are they going to eat?”
This is the second consecutive time Vanuatu’s Parliament has been dissolved in the face of political instability.
And the country has had four prime ministerial changes in as many years.
The chairman of the Seaside Tongoa community, Paul Fred Tariliu,. said people were starting to lose faith in leadership, not just in Parliament but at the community level as well.
Urging candidates to ‘be humble’
He said they had been urging their candidates to be humble and concede defeat if they found themselves short of the numbers needed to rule.
“Instead of just going [into Parliament] for a short time [then] finding out they don’t have the numbers and dissolving Parliament,” Tariliu said.
“We are wasting money.
“When we continue with this kind of attitude people lose their trust in us [community] leaders and our national leaders.”
The official results of the last election in 2022 show a low voter turnout of just over 44 percent with the lowest participation in the country, just 34 percent, registered here in the capital Port Vila.
The Owen Hall polling station in Port Vila, Vanuatu. Image: Koroi Hawkins/RNZ Pacific
Conducting the election itself is a complicated logistical exercise with 352 polling stations spread out over the 12,000-sq km archipelago manned by 1700 polling officials and an additional one in Nouméa for citizens residing in New Caledonia.
Proxy voting is also being facilitated for workers overseas.
360 police for security
Deputy Police Commissioner Operations Kalo Willie Ben said more than 360 police officers had been deployed to provide security for the election process.
He said there were no active security threats for the election, but he said they were prepared to deploy more resources to any part of the country should the need arise.
“My advice [to the public] is that we conduct ourselves peacefully and raise any issues through the election dispute process,” Kalo Willie Ben said.
The head of the government Recovery Unit, Peter Korisa, said according to their initial estimates it would cost just over US$230 million to fully rebuild the capital after the earthquake.
Korisa said they were getting backlash for the indefinite closure of the CBD but continued to work diligently to ensure that, whatever government comes to power this month, it would be presented with a clear recovery plan.
“We still have a bit of funding but there is a greater challenge because we need to have a government in place so that we can trigger the bigger funding,” Korisa said.
Polling stations close at 4:30pm local time.
Unofficial check count
Principal electoral officer Malessas said an unofficial count would be conducted at all polling station venues before ballot boxes were transported back to the capital Port Vila for the official tally.
According to parliamentary standing orders, the first sitting of the new Parliament must be called within 21 days of the official election results being declared.
A spokesperson for the caretaker government has confirmed to RNZ Pacific that constitutional amendments aimed at curbing political instability would apply after the snap election.
The most immediate impact of these amendments will be that all independent MPs, and MPs who are the only member of their party or custom movement, must affiliate themselves with a larger political party for the full term of Parliament.
They also lock MPs into political parties with any defection or removal from a party resulting in the MP concerned losing their seat in Parliament.
However, the amendments do not prohibit entire parties from crossing the floor to either side so long as they do it as a united group.
It remains to be seen how effective the amendments will be in curbing instability.
The only real certainty provided by the constitution after this snap election is that the option to dissolve Parliament will not be available for the next 12 months.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
To make good on the promise implicit in the “Secure DC Omnibus Crime Bill ,” to intensify its war on the Black working class, the DC government is now targeting anyone who can’t afford to pay for public transportation.
In December 2024, a new enforcement campaign was launched called “Operation Fare Pays for Your Service” professing an intention to decrease fare evasion on DC’s Metrobus system. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) argues that increased fare enforcement is necessary after reporting that more than 70% of metrobus riders do not pay their fare, and claiming a $50 million dollar loss in annual revenue.
Palestine Action targeted the new London premises of an Elbit Director’s consultancy firm, Eagle Strategic Consulting Limited, on Tuesday 14 January. However, at the same time in Bristol cops were ‘visiting’ the venue where a group meeting is being held in Bristol. Coincidence?
Palestine Action: smashing the genocide enablers
Palestine Action activists shattered the windows and sprayed the company’s new London address in red paint to symbolise the company’s continued complicity in Palestinian bloodshed:
BREAKING: Palestine Action target the new London address of an Elbit director's weapons consultancy firm.
Eagle Strategic is owned by Richard Applegate, the former chairman and current 'Head of Strategy & New Business' for the British division of Israel's biggest arms firm. pic.twitter.com/0zpdx4Jdu0
Eagle Strategic acts as a consultancy firm for weapons manufacturers and is wholly owned by Richard Applegate, the former Chairman and current ‘head of strategy and new business’ for Israeli weapons firm Elbit Systems UK. This is the second time his lobbying company have been targeted by the direct action network, with Palestine Action shattering windows and spray painting the building of the Dorset premises in March 2024.
Applegate has a long history of lobbying for the Israeli arms company, previously boasting about pulling off a covert political lobbying campaign which secured a £500m from the MOD, by ensuring his “fingerprints weren’t over any of it”. He was caught by journalists admitting that he had applied pressure by “infecting” the system at “every level”.
According to Israeli media, Elbit provides up to 80% of the Israeli military’s land based military equipment and 85% of its military drones. It supplies vast numbers of munitions and missiles – including the ‘Iron Sting’ recently developed and deployed for the first time in the 2023-2024 Genocide in Gaza, along with wide categories of surveillance technologies, targeting systems, and innumerate other armaments.
Cops trying to disrupt legitimate assembly
Meanwhile, as Palestine Action posted, cops visited Head First Bristol; a venue that is hosting a meeting of the group:
BREAKING: The police visited the venue of a scheduled Palestine Action talk and attempted to question the venue on their affiliation to our direct action group.
As ever, we refuse to be intimidated and look forward to the event tonight organised by Bristol Transformed.
Called “Smashing the genocide-industrial complex“, the meeting will look at what activists can learn “about effective direct action from the courageous efforts of Palestine Action?”. No wonder the cops weren’t happy.
The venue and the group refused to be intimidated, however, and the meeting is due to go ahead as planned.
A Palestine Action spokesperson said:
We remain committed to targeting all firms and associations which enable Israel’s weapons trade to continue fuelling genocide. There is no space for war criminals on our streets and those responsible for mass murder must be held accountable. Applegate can’t hide behind his consulting firm and changing its premise doesn’t change a thing. We’ve hit Eagle Strategic before, we’ll hit them again and we’ll keep taking action until we’ve shut down Elbit Systems for good.
While mediator Qatar says a Gaza ceasefire deal is at the closest point it has been in the past few months — adding that many of the obstacles in the negotiations have been ironed out — a special report for Drop Site News reveals the escalation in attacks on Palestinians in Jenin in the occupied West Bank.
SPECIAL REPORT:By Mariam Barghouti in Jenin for Drop Site News
On December 28, 21-year-old Palestinian journalist Shatha Sabbagh was standing on the stairs of her home on the outskirts of the Jenin refugee camp when she was shot and killed.
The bullets weren’t fired by Israeli troops but, according to eyewitnesses and forensic evidence, by Palestinian Authority security forces.
The Palestinian Authority has been conducting a large-scale military operation in Jenin since early December, dubbing it “Operation Homeland Protection”.
A stronghold of Palestinian armed resistance in the occupied West Bank, the city of Jenin and the refugee camp within it have been repeatedly raided, bombed, and besieged by the Israeli military in an attempt to crush the Jenin Brigade — a politically diverse militant group of mostly third-generation refugees who believe armed resistance is key to liberating Palestinian lands from Israeli occupation and annexation.
Over the past 15 months, the Israeli military has killed at least 225 Palestinians in Jenin, making it the deadliest area in the West Bank.
The real aim, residents say, is to crush Palestinian armed resistance at the behest of Israel. Dubbed the “Wasps’ Nest” by Israeli officials, Jenin refugee camp has posed a constant threat to Israel’s settler colonial project.
But the current operation, which is being billed as a campaign to “restore law and order,” is the longest and most lethal assault by Palestinian security forces in recent memory. While the PA claims to be rooting out armed factions and individuals accused of being “Iranian-backed outlaws,” according to multiple residents and eyewitnesses, the operation is a suffocating siege, with indiscriminate violence, mass arrests, and collective punishment.
Sixteen Palestinians have been killed so far, with security forces setting up checkpoints around the city and refugee camp, cutting electricity to the area, and engaging in fierce gun battles. Among those killed are six members of the security forces and one resistance fighter, Yazeed Ja’aysa.
Yet the overwhelming majority of those killed have been civilians, including Sabbagh, and at least three children — Majd Zeidan, 16, Qasm Hajj, 14, and Mohammad Al-Amer, 13.
“It’s reached levels I have never seen before. Even journalists aren’t allowed to cover it,” M., 24, a local journalist and resident of Jenin, told Drop Site News on condition of anonymity for fear of being arrested or targeted by PA security forces.
Dozens of residents, including journalists, have been arrested from Jenin and across the West Bank by the PA in the past six weeks under the pretext of supporting the so-called Iranian-backed “outlaws.”
PA security forces spokesperson Brigadier-General Anwar Rajab has justified the assault as “in response to the supreme national interest of the Palestinian people, and within the framework of ongoing continued efforts to maintain security and civil peace, establish the rule of law, and eradicate sedition and chaos”.
‘Wasps’ Nest’ threat to Israel’s settler colonial project
But the real aim, residents say, is to crush Palestinian armed resistance at the behest of Israel. Dubbed the “Wasps’ Nest” by Israeli officials, Jenin refugee camp has posed a constant threat to Israel’s settler colonial project.
Just one week into the operation, on December 12, PA security forces shot and killed the first civilian, 19-year-old Ribhi Shalabi, and injured his 15-year-old brother in the head. Although the PA initially denied killing Shalabi and claimed he was targeting its security forces with IEDs, video captured by CCTV shows Ribhi being shot execution-style while riding his Vespa.
The PA later admitted to killing Shalabi, saying “the Palestinian National Authority bears full responsibility for his martyrdom, and announces that it is committed to dealing with the repercussions of the incident in a manner consistent with and in accordance with the law, ensuring justice and respect for rights”.
Just two days later, the PA began escalating their attack on Jenin. At approximately 5:00 am on December 14, the Palestinian Authority officially declared the large-scale operation, dubbing it “Himayat Watan” or “Homeland Protection.”
By 8:00 am, Jenin refugee camp was under siege and two more Palestinians had been killed, including prominent Palestinian resistance fighter Yazeed Ja’aisa, and 13-year-old Mohammad Al-Amer. At least two other children were injured with live ammunition.
The roads leading to Jenin are now riddled with Israeli checkpoints while the entrance to the city is surrounded by PA armoured vehicles and security forces brandishing assault rifles, their faces hidden behind black balaclavas.
Eerily reminiscent of past Israeli incursions, snipers fire continuously from within the PA security headquarters toward the refugee camp just to the west, sending the sound of live ammunition echoing through the city. The PA also imposed a curfew on the city of Jenin, warning residents that anyone moving in the streets would be shot.
PA counterterrorism units have also been stationed at the entrance to Jenin’s public hospital, while the National Guard blocked roads with armoured vehicles and personnel carriers, denying entry to journalists.
When I attempted to reach the hospital on December 14 with another journalist to gather information for Drop Site on the injuries sustained during the earlier firefight and follow up on the killing of Al-Amer, the 13-year-old, armed and masked PA security forces claimed the area was a closed security zone. When we attempted to carry out field interviews outside the camp instead, two armed men in civilian clothing who identified themselves as members of the mukhabarat — Palestinian General Intelligence — requested that we leave the area.
“If you stay here, you might get shot by the outlaws,” he warned. Yet, from where we stood between the hospital, the PA security headquarters, and Jenin refugee camp, the only bullets being fired were coming from the direction of the PA headquarters towards the camp.
PA security forces also appear to have been using one of the hospital wards as a makeshift detention center where detainees are being mistreated. While Brigadier-General Rajab, the PA’s spokesperson, denied this; several young men detained by the PA told Drop Site they were taken to the third floor of Jenin public hospital where they were interrogated and beaten.
“They kept asking me about the fighters,” said A., a 31-year-old medical service provider from Jenin refugee camp, who says he was held for hours, blindfolded, and denied legal representation.
“They kept beating me, cursing at me, asking me questions that I don’t have answers for.”
Fear of being arrested, abused again
Since his arbitrary detention, A. has not returned to work out of fear of being arrested and abused again.
According to residents, the PA also stationed snipers in the hospital, firing at the camp from inside the facility. During the past six weeks, according to interviews with several medics in Jenin, PA security forces shot at medics, burned two medical vehicles, beat paramedics, and detained medical workers throughout the siege.
“What exactly are they protecting?” Abu Yasir, 50, asks as he stands outside the hospital, waiting for any news of the security operation to end.
A father of three, Abu Yasir grew up in the Jenin refugee camp. “There are people being killed in the camp just for being there. They didn’t do anything,” he told Drop Site as he burst into tears.
By December 14, with Operation Homeland Protection entering its 10th day, families in the refugee camp had run out of food, the chronically ill needed life-saving medication, and with electricity and water punitively cut from the camp, families found themselves under siege and increasingly desperate.
Women and their children tried to protest in an attempt to break the PA-imposed blockade. They also wanted to challenge the PA’s claim of targeting outlaws. As the women gathered in the dark towards the edge of the camp, several men worked to fix an electricity box to restore power to the camp.
When the lights came on, cheers echoed in the camp — but barely 15 minutes later, PA forces shot at the box, plunging the area into darkness again.
Denying electricity for families
According to residents of the camp, over the course of 10 days, the PA shot at the electric power boxes more than a dozen times, denying families electricity just as temperatures began to plummet.
Elderly women confronted soldiers of the Special Administrative Tasks squad (SAT), a specialised branch of the PA security forces, SAT is trained by the Office of the United States Security Coordinator (USSC) and is responsible for coordinating operations with the United States and Israel, including joint-operations and intelligence sharing.
“I yelled at them,” said Umm Salamah, 62. “They burst through the door, and at first, I thought they were Israelis’” she told Drop Site, pointing to the destroyed door. “I told them I have children in the house. But they forced their way in.
“I told them we already have the Israeli army constantly raiding us, and now you?”
Not only were homes raided, according to Umm Salameh, but PA security forces also fired at water tanks, effectively cutting water supplies to the camp. Jenin refugee camp had already been severely damaged in the last Israeli invasion, during which Israeli military and border-police bulldozed the city’s civilian infrastructure, turning streets into hills of rubble.
Operation Homeland Protection comes just three months following “Operation Summer Camps,” Israel’s large-scale military operation between August and October.
Under the pretext of targeting “Iran-backed terrorists,” Israeli forces destroyed large swathes of civilian infrastructure in the northern districts of the West Bank, namely Jenin, Tulkarem, Nablus and Tubas, and killed more than 150 Palestinians over three months, a fifth of whom were children.
Protest over ‘outlaws’ framing
Outside in the mud-filled streets, the group of women began to chant “Kateebeh!” (Brigade) in support of the Jenin Brigade, and in protest of the PA’s attempt to frame them as “outlaws” and a “threat to national security.”
Within minutes, the SAT unit responded with teargas and stun grenades fired directly at the crowd, which included journalists clearly marked with fluorescent PRESS insignia. While elderly women tripped and fell to the ground, children ran back towards the camp as PA security forces kept lobbing stun grenades at the fleeing crowd.
In an interview with Drop Site that evening, Brigadier-General Rajab affirmed that “this operation comes to achieve its goals which are the reclaiming of safety and security of Palestinians and reclaiming Jenin refugee camp from the outlaws that kidnapped it and spread corruption in it while threatening the lives of civilians.”
Days later, the PA had expanded its operations to Tulkarem, where clashes between resistance fighters and PA security forces erupted on December 19. This came just one day following an Israeli airstrike which killed three Palestinian fighters in Tulkarem refugee camp: Dusam Al-Oufi, Mohammad Al-Oufi, and Mohammad Rahayma.
On December 22, Saher Irheil, a Palestinian officer in the PA’s presidential guard was killed in Jenin, and two others injured.
According to official state media and statements by the PA, Lieutenant Irheil was killed by the “outlaws” of Jenin refugee camp. Brigadier-General Rajab claimed “this heinous crime will only increase [the PA’s] determination to pursue those outside the law and impose the rule of law, in order to preserve the security and safety of our people.”
By military order, speakers from mosques across the West Bank echoed in a public tribute to the fallen officer. The same was not done for those killed by the PA, including Shalabi, the 19-year-old whom the PA dubbed “a martyr of the nation” after being forced to admit they killed him.
That week, PA security forces escalated their attack on the Jenin refugee camp, using rocket-propelled grenades and firing indiscriminately at families sheltering in their own homes. PA security officers even posted photos and videos of themselves online, similar to those taken by Israeli soldiers while invading the camp in August and September.
On December 23, security forces shot and killed 16-year-old Majd Zeidan while he was returning to his home from a nearby corner store. The PA claimed Zeidan was an Iranian-backed saboteur.
Killed teenager had bag of chips
“They killed him, then said he was a 26-year-old Iranian-backed outlaw,” Zeidan’s mother, Yusra, told Drop Site. “Look,” she said while pulling her son’s ID card from her pocket. “My son was 16 years old, killed while returning from the store with a bag of chips.”
According to Yusra, not only was her son killed, but her brother who lives in Nablus, was arrested by the PA a few days later for holding a wake for his slain nephew.
“The Preventative Security are detaining my brother because he was mourning a mukhareb,” she said. The term “mukhareb” which roughly translates to “saboteur” is a term derived from the Israeli term “mekhablim” which is commonly used when arresting Palestinians.
The funeral of journalist Shatha Sabbagh who was shot and killed on December 28 in Jenin. The journalist carrying her body the next day on the left (Jarrah Khallaf) was later arrested by the PA. Image: The photographer chose to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal by the PA/Drop Site News
A few days later, on December 28, Shatha Sabbagh, a young journalist, was shot and killed as she stood on the stairs of her home at the edges of the camp. Official PA statements claim that Sabbagh was killed by resistance fighters, not its security forces.
However, accounts by eyewitnesses and the victim’s family belie those claims.
According to testimonies from her family and residents, Sabbagh was killed while holding her 18-month-old nephew; her sister lives nearby, on Mahyoub Street in the refugee camp — the same area PA snipers were targeting. Initial autopsy findings shared with Drop Site show that the bullet that struck her came from the area in which PA snipers were positioned in the camp.
Known for her reliable reporting during both Israeli and PA raids on Jenin, local residents claim that PA loyalists had been inciting against Sabbagh for some time. Further inflaming tensions, Sabbagh’s killing underscored the risks faced by Palestinian journalists in documenting what the PA would rather conceal.
Soon afterward, Brigadier-General Rajab spoke about the killing of Sabbagh in a live interview with Al Jazeera. He turned off his camera and left the interview, however, as soon as Sabbagh’s mother was brought on air. Sabbagh’s mother, Umm Al-Mutasem, was next to her daughter when she was killed.
On January 5, the Magistrate Court of Ramallah announced a suspension of Al Jazeera’s broadcasting operations in the West Bank, citing a “failure to meet regulations.” This move followed Israel’s closure of Al Jazeera offices during Operation Summer Camps in September of last year.
100 Palestinians arrested in operation
The Preventative Security, an internal intelligence organisation led by the Minister of Interior, and part of the Palestinian Security Services, arrested more than a hundred Palestinians as part of Operation Homeland Protection, including five journalists in Nablus and Jenin. Palestinians were summoned and interrogated, at times tortured, and detained without legal representation.
The PA not only targeted residents of the camp, but also expanded its repressive campaign to target anyone that would sympathise with the camp or is suspected of having any solidarity with the armed resistance.
Amro Shami, 22, who was arrested by the PA from his home in Jenin on December 25 had markings of torture on his body during his court hearing in the Nablus Court the following day. Shami was reported to have bruising on his body and was unable to lift his arms in court.
Despite appeals by his lawyer, the court denied Amro release on bail. Amro’s lawyer was only able to visit 15 days later when he reported additional torture against Amro, including breaking his leg.
An armed resistance fighter of the Jenin Brigade in Jenin refugee camp last month. Image: The photographer chose to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal by the PA/Drop Site News
At the very end of December, as the operation stretched into its fifth week, journalists were able to enter the camp at their own risk. With water and electricity cut off, families huddled outside, burning wood and paper in old metal barrels to try and keep warm.
The camp reeked with uncollected trash piled in the alleyways due to the PA cutting all social services from the camp.
Inside the camp, armed resistance fighters patrolled the streets. After confirming our IDs as journalists they helped us move safely in the dark.
“In the beginning there were clashes between the Brigade and the PA, but we told them we are willing to collaborate with anything that does not harm the community,” H., a 26-year-old fighter with the brigade, told Drop Site. The young fighter was referring to the PA’s claims that they are targeting “outlaws”, in which the Jenin Brigade agreed to hand over anyone that is indeed breaking the law.
However, the PA seemed more interested in the resistance fighters.
Spokesmen of the Jenin Brigade have made several public statements informing the PA that as long as the operation was not targeting resistance efforts, they would fully comply and coordinate to ensure law and order.
‘We are with the law . . . but which law?’
“We are with the law, we are not outside the law. We are with the enforcement of law, but which law? When an Israeli jeep comes into Jenin to kill me, where are you as law enforcement?”
Abu Issam, a spokesman for the Jenin Brigade told Drop Site: “As I speak right now, the PA armoured vehicles and jeeps are parked over our planted IEDs, and we are not detonating them,” he said.
A former member of the PA presidential guard, Abu Issam is no stranger to the PA’s repressive tactics to quell resistance.
“Our compass is clear, it’s against the occupation,” he said. “Come protect us from the Israeli settlers, and by all means here is my gun as a gift. Get them out of our lands, and execute me.
“We were surprised with the demands of the PA. They offered us three choices: to turn ourselves in along with our weapons, offering us jobs for amnesty; to leave the camp and allow the PA to take over; or to confront them.
“We have no choice but to confront,” he says, holding his M16 to his chest. “We want a dignified life, a free life, not a life of security coordination with our oppressors,” H. said.
By the second week of January, not only did the PA expand its security operations to Tulkarem and Tubas, but intensified its violence against Palestinians in Jenin refugee camp as well.
On January 3, PA snipers shot and killed 43-year-old Mahmoud Al-Jaqlamousi and his 14-year-son, Qasm, as they were gathering water. Two days later, PA security forces began burning homes of residents near the Ghubz quarter of the camp.
“Why burn it? I didn’t build this home in an hour, it was years of work, why burn it?” Issam Abu Ameira asks while standing in front of the charred walls of his home.
The operation, ostensibly intended to restore security and order, has instead brought devastation, raising troubling questions about governance and resistance in the West Bank.
“This is not solely the PA. This is also the United States and Israel’s attempt to crush resistance in the West Bank,” H. said. Like him, other fighters find the timing of the operation to be questionable.
“This is an organisation that negotiated with the occupation for more than 30 years, but can’t sit and talk with the Jenin refugee camp for 30 hours?” Abu Al-Nathmi, a spokesperson for the Jenin Brigade, said as he huddled inside the camp while fighters patrolled around us and live ammunition fired continuously in the area.
‘PA acting like group of gangs’
“The PA is acting like a group of gangs, each trying to prove their power and dominance at the expense of Jenin refugee camp,” Abu Al-Nathmi tells Drop Site. “Right now the PA is trying to prove itself to the United States to take over Gaza, but there was no position taken to defend Gaza.”
While the PA continued its attack on Jenin refugee camp, the Israeli military waged military operations on the neighboring villages of Jenin, as well as Tubas and Tulkarem where 11 Palestinians were killed in the first week of January, three of whom were children.
In the 39 days since the PA launched Operation Homeland Protection, more than 40 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military in the West Bank, including six children. Over that same time period, Israeli courts have issued confiscation orders for thousands of hectares of land belonging to Palestinians in the West Bank.
The PA is failing to provide protection to the Palestinian people against continuous settler expansion and amid an ongoing genocide in Gaza, residents of the Jenin refugee camp say.
“The PA is claiming they don’t want what happened to Gaza to happen here, but here we are dying a hundred times,” Abu Amjad, 50, told Drop Site. Huddled near a fire outside the rubble of his home, he cries “we are being humiliated, attacked, beaten, and told there’s nothing we can do about it. In this way, it’s better to die.”
Mariam Barghouti is a writer and a journalist based in the West Bank. She is a member of the Marie Colvin Journalist Network. This article was first published by Drop News.
For 30 years, Filipino journalist Manny “Bok” Mogato covered the police and defence rounds, and everything from politics to foreign relations, sports, and entertainment, eventually bagging one of journalism’s top prizes — the Pulitzer in 2018, for his reporting on Duterte’s drug war along with two other Reuters correspondents, Andrew Marshall and Clare Baldwin.
For Mogato it was time for him to “write it all down,” and so he did, launching the autobiography It’s Me, Bok! Journeys in Journalism in October 2024.
Mogato told Rappler, he wanted to “write it all down before I forget and impart my knowledge to the youth, young journalists, so they won’t make the same mistakes that I did”.
His career has spanned many organisations, including the Journal group, The Manila Chronicle, The Manila Times, Japan’s Asahi Shimbun, and Rappler. Outside of journalism, he also serves as a consultant for Cignal TV.
Recently, we sat down with Mogato to talk about his career — a preview of what you might be able to read in his book — and pick out a few lessons for today’s journalists, as well as his views on the country today.
You’ve covered so many beats. Which beat did you enjoy covering most?
Manny Mogato: The military. Technically, I was assigned to the military defence beat for only a few years, from 1987 to 1992. In early 1990, FVR (Fidel V. Ramos) was running for president, and I was made to cover his campaign.
When he won, I was assigned to cover the military, and I went back to the defence beat because I had so many friends there.
‘We faced several coups’
I really enjoyed it and still enjoy it because you go to places, to military camps. And then I also covered the defence beat at the most crucial and turbulent period in our history — when we faced several coups.
Rappler: You have mellowed through the years as a reporter. You chronicled in your book that when you were younger, you were learning the first two years about the police beat and then transferred to another publication.
How did your reporting style mellow, or did it grow? Did you become more curious or did you become less curious? Over the years as a reporter, did you become more or less interested in what was happening around you?
MM: Curiosity is the word I would use. So, from the start until now, I am still curious about things happening around me. Exciting things, interesting things.
But if you read the book, you’ll see I’ve mellowed a lot because I was very reckless during my younger days.
I would go on assignments without asking permission from my office. For instance, there was this hostage-taking incident in Zamboanga, where a policeman held hostages of several officers, including a general and a colonel.
So when I learned that, I volunteered to go without asking permission from my office. I only had 100 pesos (NZ$3) in my pocket. And so what I did, I saw the soldiers loading bullets into the boxes and I picked up one box and carried it.
Hostage crisis with one tee
So when the aircraft was already airborne, they found out I was there, and so I just sat somewhere, and I covered the hostage crisis for three to four days with only one T-shirt.
Reporters in Zamboanga were kind enough to lend me T-shirts. They also bought me underpants. I slept in the headquarters crisis. And then later, restaurants. Alavar is a very popular seafood restaurant in Zamboanga. I slept there. So when the crisis was over, I came back. At that time, the Chronicle and ABS-CBN were sister companies.
When I returned to Manila, my editor gave me a commendation — but looking back . . . I just had to get a story.
Rappler: So that is what drives you?
MM: Yes, I have to get the story. I will do this on my own. I have to be ahead of the others. In 1987, when a PAL flight to Baguio City crashed, killing all 50 people on board, including the crew and the passengers, I was sent by my office to Baguio to cover the incident.
But the crash site was in Benguet, in the mountains. So I went there to the mountains. And then the Igorots were in that area, living in that area.
I was with other reporters and mountaineering clubs. We decided to go back because we were surrounded by the Igorots [who made it difficult for us to do our jobs]. Luckily, the Lopezes had a helicopter and [we] were the first to take photos.
‘I saw the bad side of police’
Rappler: Why are military and defense your favourite beats to cover?
MM: I started my career in 1983/1984, as a police reporter. So I know my way around the police. And I have many good friends in the police. I saw the bad side of the police, the dark side, corruption, and everything.
I also saw the military in the most turbulent period of our history when I was assigned to the military. So I saw good guys, I saw terrible guys. I saw everything in the military, and I made friends with them. It’s exciting to cover the military, the insurgency, the NPAs (New People’s Army rebels), and the secessionist movement.
You have to gain the trust of the soldiers of your sources. And if you don’t have trust, writing a story is impossible; it becomes a motherhood statement. But if you go deeper, dig deeper, you make friends, they trust you, you get more stories, you get the inside story, you get the background story, you get the top secret stories.
Because I made good friends with senior officers during my time, they can show me confidential memorandums and confidential reports, and I write about them.
I have made friends with so many of these police and military men. It started when they were lieutenants, then majors, and then generals. We’d go out together, have dinner or some drinks somewhere, and discuss everything, and they will tell you some secrets.
Before, you’d get paid 50 pesos (NZ$1.50) as a journalist every week by the police. Eventually, I had to say no and avoid groups of people engaging in this corruption. Reuters wouldn’t have hired me if I’d continued.
Rappler: With everything that you have seen in your career, what do you think is the actual state of humanity? Because you’ve seen hideous things, I’m sure. And very corrupt things. What do you think of people?
‘The Filipinos are selfish’
MM: Well, I can speak of the Filipino people. The Filipinos are selfish. They are only after their own welfare. There is no humanity in the Filipino mentality. They’re pulling each other down all the time.
I went on a trip with my family to Japan in 2018. My son left his sling bag on the Shinkansen. So we returned to the train station and said my son had left his bag there. The people at the train station told us that we could get the bag in Tokyo.
So we went to Tokyo and recovered the bag. Everything was intact, including my money, the password, everything.
So, there are crises, disasters, and ayuda (aid) in other places. And the people only get what they need, no? In the Philippines, that isn’t the case. So that’s humanity [here]. It isn’t very pleasant for us Filipinos.
Rappler: Is there anything good?
MM: Everyone was sharing during the EDSA Revolution, sharing stories, and sharing everything. They forgot themselves. And they acted as a community known against Marcos in 1986. That is very telling and redeeming. But after that… [I can’t think of anything else that is good.]
Rappler: What is the one story you are particularly fond of that you did or something you like or are proud of?
War on drugs, and typhoon Yolanda
MM: On drugs, my contribution to the Reuters series, and my police stories. Also, typhoon Yolanda in 2013. We left Manila on November 9, a day after the typhoon. We brought much equipment — generator sets, big cameras, food supply, everything.
But the thing is, you have to travel light. There are relief goods for the victims and other needs. When we arrived at the airport, we were shocked. Everything was destroyed. So we had to stay in the airport for the night and sleep.
We slept under the rain the entire time for the next three days. Upon arrival at the airport, we interviewed the police regional commander. Our report, I think, moved the international community to respond to the extended damage and casualties. My report that 10,000 people had died was nominated for the Society Publishers in Asia in Hong Kong.
Every day, we had to walk from the airport eight to 10 kilometers away, and along the way, we saw the people who were living outside their homes. And there was looting all over.
Rappler: There is a part in your book where you mentioned the corruption of journalists, right? And reporters. What do you mean by corruption?
MM: Simple tokens are okay to accept. When I was with Reuters, its gift policy was that you could only accept gifts as much as $50. Anything more than $50 is already a bribe. There are things that you can buy on your own, things you can afford. Other publications, like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Associated Press [nes agency], have a $0 gift policy. We have this gift-giving culture in our culture. It’s Oriental.
If you can pay your own way, you should do it.
Rappler: Tell us more about winning the Pulitzer Prize.
Most winners are American, American issues
MM: I did not expect to win this American-centric award. Most of the winners are Americans and American stories, American issues. But it so happened this was international reporting. There were so many other stories that were worth the win.
The story is about the Philippines and the drug war. And we didn’t expect a lot of interest in that kind of story. So perhaps we were just lucky that we were awarded the Pulitzer Prize. In the Society of Publishers in Asia, in Hong Kong, the same stories were also nominated for investigative journalism. So we were not expecting that Pulitzer would pay attention.
The idea of the drug war was not the work of only three people: Andrew Marshal, Clare Baldwin and me. No, it was a team effort.
Rappler: What was your specific contribution?
MM: Andrew and Clare were immersed in different communities in Manila, Tondo, and Navotas City, interviewing victims and families and everybody, everyone else. On the other hand, my role was on the police.
I got the police comments and official police comments and also talked to police sources who would give us the inside story — the inside story of the drug war. So I have a good friend, a retired police general who was from the intelligence service, and he knew all about this drug war — mechanics, plan, reward system, and everything that they were doing. So, he reported about the drug war.
The actual drug war was what the late General Rodolfo Mendoza said was a ruse because Duterte was protecting his own drug cartel.
Bishops wanted to find out
He had a report made for Catholic bishops. There was a plenary in January 2017, and the bishops wanted to find out. So he made the report. His report was based on 17 active police officers who are still in active service. So when he gave me this report, I showed it to my editors.
My editor said: “Oh, this is good. This is a good guide for our story.” He got this information from the police sources — subordinates, those who were formerly working for him, gave him the information.
So it was hearsay, you know. So my editor said: “Why can’t you convince him to introduce us to the real people involved in the drug war?”
So, the general and I had several interviews. Usually, our interviews lasted until early morning. Father [Romeo] Intengan facilitated the interview. He was there to help us. At the same time, he was the one serving us coffee and biscuits all throughout the night.
So finally, after, I think, two or three meetings, he agreed that he would introduce us to police officers. So we interviewed the police captain who was really involved in the killings, and in the operation, and in the drug war.
So we got a lot of information from him. The info went not only to one story but several other stories.
He was saying it was also the police who were doing it.
Rappler: Wrapping up — what do you think of the Philippines?
‘Duterte was the worst’
MM: The Philippines under former President Duterte was the worst I’ve seen. Worse than under former President Ferdinand Marcos. People were saying Marcos was the worst president because of martial law. He closed down the media, abolished Congress, and ruled by decree.
I think more than 3000 people died, and 10,000 were tortured and jailed.
But in three to six years under Duterte, more than 30,000 people died. No, he didn’t impose martial law, but there was a de facto martial law. The anti-terrorism law was very harsh, and he closed down ABS-CBN television.
It had a chilling effect on all media organisations. So, the effect was the same as what Marcos did in 1972.
We thought that Marcos Jr would become another Duterte because they were allies. And we felt that he would follow the policies of President Duterte, but it turned out he’s much better.
Well, everything after Duterte is good. Because he set the bar so low.
Everything is rosy — even if Marcos is not doing enough because the economy is terrible. Inflation is high, unemployment is high, foreign direct investments are down, and the peso is almost 60 to a dollar.
Praised over West Philippine Sea
However, the people still praise Marcos for his actions in the West Philippine Sea. I think the people love him for that. And the number of killings in the drug war has gone down.
There are still killings, but the number has really gone so low, I would say about 300 in the first two years.
Rappler: Why did you write your book, It’s Me, Bok! Journeys in Journalism?
MM: I have been writing snippets of my experiences on Facebook. Many friends were saying, ‘Why don’t you write a book?’ including Secretary [of National Defense] Gilberto Teodoro, who was fond of reading my snippets.
In my early days, I was reckless as a reporter. I don’t want the younger reporters to do that. And no story is worth writing if you are risking your life.
I want to leave behind a legacy, and I know that my memory will fail me sooner rather than later. It took me only three months to write the book.
It’s very raw. There will be a second printing. I want to polish the book and expand some of the events.
A new year has begun, yet Israel’s atrocities in Palestine persist. In Gaza, the situation is more dire than ever. Health workers are stretched to breaking point, particularly in northern Gaza, where not a single hospital remains functional. Their resilience in the face of unimaginable suffering is nothing short of heroic, but they cannot do it alone.
On Monday 7 January, health workers and supporters gathered outside parliament to demand urgent action. Jeremy Corbyn addressed the crowd calling for IDF troops to withdraw from Gaza and the West Bank, as well as from southern Lebanon and Syria; and for the British government to stop supplying arms to Israel.
Chinese authorities in Xi’an have detained Fei Xiaosheng, a prominent musician and performance artist who had publicly supported the Hong Kong democracy movement, his friends and fellow artists told RFA Mandarin.
Xi’an police caught up with Fei, 55, on Tuesday, and are now holding him the Beilin Detention Center, according to associates who knew him as part of the Songzhuang Artists’ Village scene of dissident and fringe artists in Beijing.
His detention comes as the ruling Communist Party continues to crack down on artists and other creative workers whose work or views are seen as potentially subversive.
Authorities are also holding Gao Zhen, one of the Gao Brothers artistic duo, on suspicion of ‘insulting revolutionary heroes and martyrs,’ after seizing satirical artworks depicting Chairman Mao from his home studio.
“I was shocked to hear that Songzhuang musician and artist Fei Xiaosheng has been detained,” fellow artist Du Yinghong, who now lives in Thailand, said in a social media post on Wednesday.
“Two years ago, we contacted each other a number of times, and he said he envied me [living outside of China],” he wrote. “A few days ago, we had a video call, and I found out he had applied for a passport, gone to Serbia, yet somehow returned to the cage that is our country.”
“He said he planned to leave again soon, and told me to add his European number, but then we heard the bad news that he’d been arrested,” Du wrote.
Devout Christian
Du later told RFA Mandarin that Fei is being held in Xi’an’s Beilin Detention Center, but that the authorities have yet to issue any official notification of his detention.
“This is part of their cultural cleansing operation, and a settling of scores,” he said, adding that Fei had likely been targeted for his public support for the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.
“Fei Xiaosheng is a devout Christian who once expressed solidarity and support for Hong Kong, and was detained for more than 40 days for this,” Du said.
Du said the artist had a strong sense of social justice, and followed current affairs closely. He was expelled by state security police from Songzhuang Artists’ Village in 2020.
“He used to organize music festivals and performance art festivals in Songzhuang,” Du said, adding that police had burned Fei’s old passport.
“He had returned to China [from Serbia] for work, and was just about to leave China again,” he said.
‘China is finished’
Writer He Sanpo, who like many Chinese writers now lives in Thailand, said he was saddened to hear of Fei’s detention, but not surprised.
“But people who are really engaged in making art know that China is finished,” He said. “In today’s China, if you have a conscience and dare to speak a few truths, you will have committed some crime.”
“The only thing you can do is to escape from it.”
Fei’s detention came as Gao Zhen’s trial is expected to start.
Gao’s friends told RFA Mandarin in recent interviews that his case will be heard at the Xianghe County People’s Court in the northern province of Hebei next week, possibly Monday.
Gao’s lawyer has been warned not to make public any details of the case, they said.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Qian Lang for RFA Mandarin.
The Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) conducted the common (preliminary) competitive examination (CCE) across the state on December 13, 2024. However, the exam process soon got mired into controversy when multiple videos emerged from an examination centre in Patna. These videos showed a group of people entering the venue, forcefully snatching and tearing the answer sheets of candidates alleging a paper leak. Additionally, students complained about delays in the distribution of question papers. In response, the BPSC announced a re-examination at the affected centre. Despite this, several candidates continued to raise concerns, pointing to errors in the question papers and irregularities during the exam. They demanded that the test be conducted again for all candidates, not just at the affected centre. The matter escalated when the agitated candidates staged a sit-in demonstration, which was met with police intervention, including lathicharge.
Against this backdrop, Prashant Kishor, chief of Jan Suraj, started an indefinite hunger strike at Gandhi Maidan in Patna on January 2 in support of the candidates demanding the cancellation of Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) examination due to the alleged paper leak and irregularities. On the morning of January 6, police reached Gandhi Maidan to arrest him for demonstrating in a restricted area. During this, police clashed with his supporters. Videos of police misbehaving with journalists and activists also surfaced, in which Akashvani Patna tweeted a video and accused the police of trying to beat up a journalist. Meanwhile, a video began circulating widely on social media depicting the policeman coming to arrest Prashant Kishor, his workers and the students gathered there. Alongside this video, it was claimed that a policeman slapped Kishor.
ABP News anchor Chitra Tripathi shared the video, claiming that the police had slapped Prashant Kishor.
BPSC छात्रों के समर्थन में एक व्यक्ति चार दिन से अनशन पर है. पुलिस वाले PK को गिरफ्तार करने पहुंचते हैं. एक वीडियो आता है जहां पर बिना किसी वजह के एक पुलिसकर्मी प्रशांत किशोर को थप्पड़ मारता हुआ दिखाई दे रहा है.
ख़ाकी वर्दी को ऐसे ही पुलिसवाले बदनाम करते हैं. #बेहद_शर्मनाक… pic.twitter.com/4qA0dC0owe
A journalist from the outlet named Gyaneshwar also shared the viral clip on social media, suggesting that the video footage released by Jan Suraj hinted at Kishor being slapped by a policeman. Quoting this claim, NDTV editor Pankaj Jha stated that it was “clearly visible” in the video that the police had slapped Prashant Kishor.
इस वीडियो में तो साफ़ दिख रहा है कि बिहार पुलिस के एक जवान ने प्रशांत किशोर को थप्पड़ मारा है https://t.co/QNra44DiMD
A keyword search using terms related to Prashant Kishor’s arrest led us to a report by news agency ANI. It contained a longer version of the viral video, and had been recorded from a different angle. At the 0:59 mark of this footage, it can be clearly seen that a young man who was physically holding on to Prashant Kishor and preventing the police from taking him away was slapped on the head by a policeman. Following this, other workers and supporters at the scene began shouting.
#WATCH | BPSC protest | Bihar: Patna Police detains Jan Suraaj chief Prashant Kishor who was sitting on an indefinite hunger strike at Gandhi Maidan pic.twitter.com/cOnoM7EGW1
When we reviewed the video in slow motion, it became clear that the slap was directed at the boy holding Kishor, not at Prashant Kishor himself.
In a statement to the media, Prashant Kishor denied the claims circulating in the press about him being slapped by the police.
To sum up, police did not slap Prashant Kishor, who was on a hunger strike at Gandhi Maidan in Patna, but a young man who was holding him to prevent the police from picking up the Jan Suraj chief.
A former opposition party lawmaker was fatally shot just after arriving in Bangkok from Cambodia’s Siem Reap province, apparently by an assassin who fired at him as street vendors and others stood nearby, then casually rode off on a motorbike.
Surveillance video footage posted to Facebook showed a tall man remove his helmet just before strolling across a busy street near Wat Bowonniwet Vihara temple in Bangkok’s Phra Nakhon district.
Three shots could be heard on the video, although the actual shooting was not visible. Then the man, wearing long jeans and a grey short-sleeved shirt with a bag across the front, jogs back to his parked motorbike and rides away, steering with one hand while adjusting his helmet.
The Bangkok Post reported that Lim Kimya, 74, was shot twice at around 4 p.m. and died at the scene. He had traveled by bus with his French wife and Cambodian uncle, police told the newspaper.
Police said they’ve launched a manhunt for the shooter. Thailand’s Khaosod newspaper posted two surveillance images of the suspect riding a motorbike at around the time of the shooting.
The shooting will have a “direct impact” in further intimidating hundreds of Cambodian political opposition figures, activists and human rights defenders who have fled to Thailand to escape political repression in Cambodia, said Phil Robertson, the director of Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates.
“This brazen shooting … on the streets of Bangkok has all the hallmarks of a political assassination, and looks to be a significant escalation in the use of transnational repression in Bangkok,” he said in a statement.
Lim Kimya told Agence France-Presse in 2017 that he would “never give up politics” and planned to stay in Cambodia despite an order from the Supreme Court banning the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, or CNRP.
Lim Kimya, a member of the National Assembly from Cambodia National Rescue Party, walks out of the National Assembly Building in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov. 8, 2017.(Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP)
The CNRP was founded by veteran opposition leader Sam Rainsy in 2012. It was banned by the court following accusations that it had plotted to topple the government. Many of its top leaders – including Sam Rainsy – left the country after the ruling.
“With dual French-Cambodian citizenship, Lim Kimya could have easily joined the three dozen MPs who have fled abroad,” AFP wrote in 2017. “Yet Lim Kimya refuses to quit.”
Proposal for ‘terrorist’ designation
Tuesday’s shooting came as former Prime Minister Hun Sen urged the government to pass a law allowing prosecutors to charge dissidents with terrorism.
“It is time to make a law that will define any person or group that has plans or actions to create an anti-extremist movement, cause chaos and insecurity in society, cause conflict with others, and attempt to overthrow the government as terrorists who must be brought to justice to protect peace,” he said at a public ceremony.
With no real opposition, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, or CPP, coasted to national election victories in 2018 and 2023.
After 38 years in power, Hun Sen resigned as prime minister just after the 2023 election to make way for the appointment of his son, Hun Manet, who has since shown little interest in diverting from his father’s heavy-handed approach to ruling Cambodia.
Hun Sen continues to serve as president of the CPP and as Senate president.
Lim Kimya, a member of the National Assembly from Cambodia National Rescue Party, works in his office in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Oct. 17, 2017.(Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP)
Tuesday’s ceremony marked the 46th anniversary of the day that the Khmer Rouge regime was driven from power by a Vietnamese-led force. The event is celebrated annually by the CPP, which has historic ties to Vietnam and came to power after the Khmer Rouge was forced out of Phnom Penh.
Last February, Prime Minister Hun Manet met with then-Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin in Bangkok to discuss a crackdown on what they called “interference” in Cambodian politics by Thai-based Cambodian political activists.
In June, Hun Sen encouraged CPP supporters to “smash” and “destroy” opposition political activists in audio comments that were purportedly recorded at a party meeting and circulated on Cambodian social media.
In November, six activists associated with the CNRP and one minor were deported from Thailand to Cambodia at the request of the Cambodian government. The six adults, who escaped Cambodia in 2022, were subsequently charged with “treason.”
Cambodian activists remaining in Thailand told RFA in November that the arrests have increased their safety concerns, with one dissident saying that nearly 100 Cambodian refugees had fled their rented rooms for new housing and agreed to stop meeting up in-person.
Robertson urged Thai authorities to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation, adding that the French government should also “aggressively pursue justice” for Lim Kimya – “no matter where the path leads.”
“Thailand’s international reputation is on the line in this case, and the Thai police and politicians should recognize they can’t just sweep this brutal murder under the rug,” he said.
International human rights groups have condemned Thailand for assisting neighbors, including Vietnam and Cambodia, to undertake what the groups say is unlawful action against human rights defenders and dissidents, making Thailand increasingly unsafe for those fleeing persecution.
Human Rights Watch has criticized what it called a “swap mart” of transnational repression in which foreign dissidents in Thailand are effectively traded for critics of the Thai government living abroad.
Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Khmer.
Honolulu police have announced the death of a fourth person due to the New Year’s Eve fireworks explosion in Aliamanu, Hawai’i — a 3-year-old boy who has died in hospital.
Six people with severe burn injuries from the explosion were flown to Arizona on the US mainland for further treatment.
“We’re angry, frustrated and deeply saddened at this uneccessary loss of life and suffering,” Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi told a news conference.
Three people died on New Year’s Eve after a Honolulu fireworks explosion. Image: Hawaii Governor/Josh Green FB
“No one should have to endure such pain due to reckless and illegal activity.”
He said this incident was a painful reminder of the danger posed by illegal fireworks.
“They put lives at risk, they drain our first responders, and they disrupt our neighbourhoods.
“Every aerial firework is illegal and this means we need to shut down the root cause — shutting down the pipeline of illegal fireworks entering our islands.”
The Illegal Fireworks Task Force seized 103,000 kilos of fireworks in the last year and a half, yet those cases have resulted in zero criminal charges.
Hawaii News Now obtained the state’s illegal fireworks task force’s 2025 report to lawmakers, revealing the big financial windfall for those who deal in illegal aerials.
The report said “the return on investment for those who smuggle illegal fireworks into Hawai’i is a rate of five to one”.
It also said law enforcement doesn’t have enough money or staff to interdict smuggling at points of entry.
It added that: “the task force is part-time and members have a primary job they must do in addition to task force work.”
The investigation into the explosion continues.
A fifth person died after a separate fireworks blast in Kalihi on New Year’s Eve.
He sustained multiple traumatic injuries, including a severe arm injury, according to Emergency Medical Services.
Meanwhile, five people died across Germany and a police officer was seriously injured from accidents linked to the powerful fireworks Germans traditionally set off to celebrate the new year, police said.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
It is an unprecedented case. And it risks triggering an unprecedented threat to journalism. The UK police have repeatedly tried to obtain the passwords to the phones of the British independent journalist, Richard Medhurst, the first reporter arrested in London under Section 12: his analyses and comments on Israel’s bloodbath in Gaza – which Amnesty International has characterised as genocide – have been interpreted by the police as support for organisations banned from the UK, such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
The son of two UN peacekeepers, Medhurst was arrested last August at London’s Heathrow Airport
BREAKING: MET POLICE RAID JUST STOP OIL SUPPORTER'S HOME
