Category Archives: Government Oppression

Myanmar emerged from years of military rule to a form of democracy over the last decade.

While generals still held ultimate power, Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy Party led the civilian government and won November's national election in a landslide. But before Myanmar's Parliament met on Feb. 1, military rulers seized control in a coup, arresting Suu Kyi and other opposition leaders on flimsy charges as they plunged the country back into authoritarianism.

But apparently the military of Myanmar, also called Burma, didn't anticipate the depth of citizen opposition. For weeks, throngs from all walks of society have braved security forces in peaceful protests demanding a return to democratic rule.

The regime responded with relative restraint at first but has reverted to brutality. A bloody crackdown has killed at least 126, including 51 shot (many in the head) just this last weekend. More than 2,000 have reportedly been arrested, with many enduring torture.

The oppression is likely to spiral, especially after protesters burned down some Chinese-owned businesses in Burma. Beijing keeps close ties to Myanmar's military in a quest for natural resources, waterway access and ever-deeper regional hegemony.

China is not the only nation invested in Myanmar. Many others are, too, especially Singapore, which does not have commensurate geopolitical stakes but significant economic ones. Accordingly, the Biden administration should pressure both countries, as well as neighboring nations, to press Burmese leaders to stop the violence and start the process back to democratic rule.

Congress can do its part, too, including an investigation "to define what is the national strategic threat from the coup," Tun Myint, an associate professor of political science at Carleton College, told an editorial writer. Myint, who was a student leader in the 1988 democracy movement in Myanmar, added that the federal government should "at least make sure that any U.S. entities are not empowering Myanmar's military crackdown."

The administration itself has acted with alacrity, condemning the coup and sanctioning some Burmese leaders and businesses that benefit from military rule. It also granted Temporary Protected Status for Burmese currently in the U.S. a critical move for the many who live in Minnesota.

And the U.S. was among a unanimous group of nations notably including China that approved a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the violence. Yet the Security Council didn't put an arms embargo on Myanmar, in part because China and Russia have veto power.

President Joe Biden promised to reinvigorate alliances during the campaign. One way to fulfill that pledge is to convince regional countries, as well as economically powerful European nations, to join the U.S. in rallying around the Burmese people. Myanmar's version of democracy was far from perfect. Nor was Suu Kyi, a once-hallowed human rights champion who discredited her Nobel Peace Prize by failing to protect the Rohingya Muslim minority from deadly pogroms. But the nations' nascent democracy was far better than the decades of authoritarian rule.

The stakes aren't just high in Burma.

The coup should "lead the United States to really think through the future," Myint said. "To really name the threat to democracy in Myanmar as a threat to democracy everywhere. We are facing that crisis globally speaking. The U.S. has both a historical and presently an ethical and moral responsibility to democracies around the world."

Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

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US must confront the coup in Myanmar and press leaders to stop the violence - Milford Daily News

On Monday, the House of Commons will be asked to support a Lords amendment to the Trade Bill which opens the way for China and other transgressors to be called to account for acts of Genocide.

The amendment has met the Governments red line of keeping the process in Parliament. It builds on the existing position of having select Committees investigate such possible abuses by adding a Committee of ex-judges in the Lords to impartially review the evidence.

The UK government, as it turns out, almost uniquely maintains that only a competent court can decide if a country is guilty of genocide. As allies like the USA, Canada and the Netherlands have declared China guilty of genocide over their treatment of the Uighurs, this amendment allows that evidence to be properly assessed and yet the government refuses to accept the amendment.

This rejection flies in the face of the growing evidence of Chinas appalling behaviour at home and abroad. This is illustrated by the UKs Integrated review, published last week.

While it was right to identify Russia as an immediate threat, because of its appalling record of interference in our affairs and those of our allies from Russias killers on our streets attacking their own dissidents as well as British citizens, to its cyber-attacks on our military and civil infrastructure the review stopped short of placing the Chinese government in the same category as the Kremlin.

The report refers to China as a competitor, when I believe it is, in reality, a growing threat, not just to the UK but to the free world itself.

Part of the problem in our perception of China is that previous governments have naively believed that trade would liberalise and open up the country. The UKs Project Kow Tow, as it became known, was based on this principle but it turned out to be a complete fallacy.

This is still reflected in the Governments Janus-like position on trade with China. The public line is that they have no plans for trade deals, yet internally they say they do want trade agreements with China.

Worse, ministers still claim that trade with China allows us to influence Beijing. Yet we didnt have much influence when the Chinese government trashed the Sino-British agreement on Hong Kong and publicly dismissed the UK governments protestations.

What is clear is that since the arrival of President Xi Jinping, the already authoritarian Chinese government has become much more assertive at home and abroad. Their takeover of the South China Sea, the vicious border disputes with the Indians, the abuse of Christians and the Fallon Gong and the terrible crackdown on the Uighurs and the Tibetans are all examples of Chinas growing assertiveness.

So, while the UK has rightly sanctioned Russian officials for the poisoning of opposition leader Alexey Navalny, the big question is why sanctions have not yet been issued on Chinese officials for the alleged genocide in Xinjiang, or the mass arrest of democracy campaigners and destruction of democracy in Hong Kong.

Add to that a report published later this week by the Tibet Advocacy Coalition revealing the Chinese governments cradle to grave policies of displacement, control and cultural erasure in Tibet. The evidence shows Chinese officials have a stated purpose to control minds and break lineage, historic roots, and social and family connections of Tibetans in the region.

The methods used to achieve this include militarised political indoctrination for children and the end of the Tibetan language in schools. Forcibly enrolled in re-education facilities, nuns and monks are made to denounce their religion and are even, as in Xinjiang, subject to sexual abuse. Some 2.8 million Tibetans, it is believed have been subject to this treatment over the past five years.

The problem with our relationship with China is that it is based on what we would like to happen and not on reality. That is why the Integrated Review refers to China as a competitor rather than a threat.

Yet President Xi has made his position crystal clear. He intends within a decade or so, to make Communist China the worlds economic and military superpower. It is surely time we worked together with the new US administration and other allies in the free world to recognise and deal with this worrying prospect, rather than trying not to upset the Chinese Communist Party.

A good place to start would be in passing the Lords amendment on Monday and in so doing send a signal not just to the Chines government but to those who labour under this terrible oppression that the free world recognises their struggle. Genocide is the crime of all crimes and the UK must offer a beacon of hope to those who suffer. I hope MPs will vote on Monday for the amendment, to give them that hope.

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We must stand with our democratic allies in calling China to account - Telegraph.co.uk

Scholars and researchers paid glowing tributes to Pir Syed Sibghatullah Shah Shaheed on Saturday for his struggle for freedom from the British occupation. They spoke at an event at the Karachi Press Club and termed the martyred Hur leader as an unsung hero of the freedom movement.

They also underlined the need for conducting thorough research to unveil facts and forgotten aspects of the Hur movement at the memorial seminar on the 78th martyrdom anniversary of Syed Sibghatullah Shah.

Addressing the seminar, scholars and political leaders such as Aftab Nabi, Naseer Aijaz, Prof Mumtaz Bhutto, Javed Qazi, former MPA Anwer Mahar and Pakistan Muslim League-Functional General Secretary Sardar Rahim praised the Hur resistance movement led by Sibghatullah Shah.

Discussing the history of the movement, the speakers said the Hur movement spanned over a century as the first phase of the movement started in 1830s when the East India Company was trying to conquer the state of Sindh on one side and Raja Ranjit Singh was also posing threats from the northern frontiers.

At that time Sibghatullah Shah I supported Syed Ahmed Shaheed and provided him with fighters and finances so that threats to Muslims of the area could be effectively countered, the speakers said, adding that the second phase of the movement was witnessed during last two decades of nineteenth century.

Later, Sibghatullah Shah II in 1930s mobilised his followers against the oppressive colonial power and opted for armed resistance for the freedom of the country, the speakers said. They informed the ceremony that the Sindh government of that time had to enact a draconian law to suppress the movement.

Thousands of Hurs were kept in concentration camps established in Sanghar and other areas of Sindh and their hideouts were furiously bombed. Sibghatullah Shah II and main figures of the Hur movement were arrested and indicted in false cases and the first ever martial law was enforced in Sindh to curb the movement, the speakers was said and added that the British Raj levelled baseless allegations and carried out propaganda against the Hur leader, denied him fair trial and finally convicted him to death.

The occupying forces were so afraid of the movement that they resorted to hide the burial place of the martyr, the speakers said as they stressed the need for collecting the relevant data and declassified documents to unveil the important but neglected chapters of the Hur movement that supplemented the cause of the All India Muslim League and the Pakistan movement

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Sibghatullah Shah Shaheed eulogised for fighting colonial oppression - The News International

To allow Chinas genocidal regime to take part in the games would be a travesty.

In October 1963, the International Olympic Committee announced that unless South Africa abolished its system of racial segregation, its athletes would be barred from the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo. In 1970, the IOC went further, expelling apartheid South Africa from all Olympic competition.

The sports worlds boycott of South Africa ultimately lasted 28 years. Not until apartheids repeal in 1991 were the countrys athletes once again invited to participate in Olympic competitions. The first racially integrated South African team competed in the Barcelona Games in 1992.

The IOC was right to ban South Africa. A core purpose of the Olympic movement, spelled out in the Olympic Charter, is the preservation of human dignity and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles. To have allowed South Africas apartheid regime to take part in the games a generation ago would have made a travesty of everything the Olympics are supposed to represent.

To allow Chinas genocidal regime to take part in the games today would be an even greater travesty.

Beijing is scheduled to host the 2022 Winter Games. It should not be allowed to do so not while Chinas communist regime is engaged in grotesque violations of human rights and systematic crimes against humanity, including genocide, torture, slave labor, compulsory abortions, religious persecution, cultural oppression, and a brutal antidemocracy crackdown.

In an open letter last month, a coalition of 180 human rights organizations implored world governments to boycott the 2022 Games, and not let them be used to embolden the Chinese government in its unrelenting crackdown on basic freedom.

That was what happened in 2008, when the IOC, spurning the pleas of dissidents and human rights activists, permitted Beijing to stage the Summer Games. China had never before been awarded the Olympics, and avidly sought the propaganda bonanza of hosting the worlds foremost sporting event. The communist regime promised that the games would be a catalyst for internal reform, and international Olympic officials took (or pretended to take) those assurances at face value.

We are convinced that the Olympic Games will improve human rights in China, the IOCs then-president, Jacques Rogge, told an interviewer. They will have definitely a positive, lasting effect on Chinese society.

In reality, their effect was exactly the opposite, beginning with the run-up to the 2008 Games themselves. To make room for the construction of Olympic facilities, the government forcibly expelled more than 1.25 million people from their homes. Citizens who objected were detained, and some were tortured; journalists who told the truth were imprisoned, Chinese dissident and human rights lawyer Teng Biao recounted in a recent essay.

Because China in 2008 was a key accomplice to Sudans genocide in Darfur, the Summer Games that year were dubbed the Genocide Olympics. But today China is not merely abetting genocide; its committing it. Its sweeping repression in Xinjiang province, where more than 1.5 million Uighur Muslims are imprisoned in a vast gulag of internment camps and subjected to horrific abuses systematic rape, involuntary sterilization, the breakup of families, coercive reeducation, and government-directed enslavement has been labeled genocide by two consecutive US secretaries of state, Mike Pompeo and Antony Blinken. Chinas human rights crimes in 2008 were unspeakable. They are worse today.

Yet the IOC refuses even to contemplate withdrawing the 2022 Olympics from Beijing, insisting that politics should not be allowed to interfere with sports. It turns a deaf ear to the scores of human-rights groups pleading that China not be permitted to sportwash its record by hosting the worlds most prestigious competition.

Awarding the games to a dictatorship, the IOC recently declared, does not mean that it agrees with the political structure, social circumstances, or human rights standards in that country. That was what it said in 1936 as well, when it refused to move the Summer Games from Berlin and thereby handed Nazi Germany a massive propaganda victory.

The IOCs unwillingness to act must not be a pretext for decent people to do nothing. If youre going to accuse a government of genocide, you cant then have an Olympics in that country as if its a normal place, Representative Tom Malinowski of New Jersey, a former assistant secretary of state in the Obama years, told the Washington Post.

No athlete should wish to compete in Olympic Games hosted by a totalitarian regime that uses its power to persecute, repress, torture, and kill vast numbers of innocent men and women.

No corporation should wish to sponsor such Games. No head of state or government minister should wish to attend them. No media outlet should wish to cover or broadcast them. No sports fan should wish to watch them.

If there was no place in the Olympics for apartheid, surely there can be none for genocide. The 2022 Games must be moved, or they must be shunned.

Jeff Jacoby is a columnist for The Boston Globe.

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Move the Beijing Olympics or shun them | Opinion | avpress.com - Antelope Valley Press

Switzerland is set to pass a new ban on face coverings following a 51.2% majority on Sundays referendum, joining Germany, Austria, Denmark, France, Belgium, Latvia and Bulgaria. The ban was championed by the Swiss Peoples Party (SVP), a right-wing populist political party whose alleged aim was to stop extremism. Although the ban officially applies to all facial coverings, it primarily targets Muslim women.

According to the University of Lucerne, approximately 30 women in Switzerland wear the niqab and fewer still wear the burqa. The effect of the ban is thus likely to be small in practice, leading many to argue that it amounts to political symbolism. While explicit political debates on the issue typically centre around the burqa as a symbol of womens oppression, the burqa may also be perceived as symbolic of illiberality more generally. The SVP, for example, associates the burqa and niqab only with extremist Islamic groups. Fear of terrorism and the rise of islamophobia in Switzerland may thus be motivating factors. Recent research is consonant with this view; according to Bertelsmann Stiftungs Religion Monitor, in 2019, 50% of respondents in Germany and Switzerland perceived Islam as a threat.

The burqa and niqab differentiate Muslim women in public spaces as members of a particular racial and religious group. The view that facial coverings are representative of the subjection of Muslim women conflicts with Swiss values on womens liberation. Insofar as the burqa is seen as a symbol of oppression, it may be co-opted into political discourse characterizing Muslims more generally as a social threat. For example, before Germany banned facial coverings, Alexander Kudascheff published an open letter arguing that the burqa debate is about how to deal with the enemies of an open society.

At the same time, Muslim women who choose to wear the burqa may be dehumanized by campaigns that seek to ban the burqa because they are seen as unable to emancipate themselves without Western intervention. The dichotomization of freedom of religion and gender equality may thus be a false one, failing to recognize womens freedom of choice in their own religious expression. The new ban could thus increase the psychological and cultural distance between Switzerlands Islamic minority and its Western majority, reinforcing existing islamophobia. Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International have re-centred the importance of Muslim womens autonomy in the debate, with Head of Womens Rights Cyrielle Huguenot arguing If we really want to respect womens rights, we should let women decide what they want to wear.

The ban may also violate a number of international human rights. Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights forbids discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status. Since the ban primarily targets Muslim women, it may be regarded as discriminatory on the basis of religion. Likewise, the right to religious freedom may be thwarted. Article 9 holds that Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance. Insofar as wearing the burqa can be seen as a public manifestation of religion, it is a human right.

Switzerlands new ban thus represents the latest development in a worrying trend across Europe of banning facial coverings. The bans marginalize Muslim groups on the basis that their religious practices pose a threat to liberty, whilst simultaneously reducing the actual freedoms of Muslim persons. The United Nations ruled in 2018 that the French burqa ban disproportionately discriminates against Muslim women, violates their right to religious expression, and may oppress rather than liberate them by confining them to their homes, impeding their access to public services and marginalizing them, the UN committee stated. The UN strongly recommended that the French government review the law and compensate women adversely affected by the ban. Three years later, another European country is passing a similar law and the French burqa ban remains intact. Greater pressure on European countries to uphold the human right to religious expression is needed.

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Switzerland Passes Ban On Facial Coverings The Organization for World Peace - The Organization for World Peace

Fans of big fictional universesMarvel, Star Wars, Star Trek, The Simpsonsoften speak to each other in references. Ive got a bad feeling about this. Cheese-eating surrender monkeys. BortaSnIvqu oH bortaSe.

These in-group references can sometimes be exclusionaryor even seem rude to casual fans. But they can also be a lot of fun, letting hardcore fans have faster, deeper conversations about stories they love.

In-speak has taken hold in right-wing media, too. Peruse Conservatism Inc. these days and youll see its become so dependent on inside references and shared fictions, that its inaccessible to the general public, even as its more thrilling to fans.

Except instead of radiation can give you superpowers, its stuff like Donald Trump won the 2020 election.

This closed system of conservative media didnt start in 2021. For example, in September 2018, former president Barack Obama gave a speech arguing against appealing to tribe, appealing to fear, pitting one group against another. By way of response, conservative pundit Ben Shapiro dismissed this idea by noting, among other things, that Obama declared that a slain black teenager could have been his son. That was it, no further explanation. Shapiro was referencing the Trayvon Martin caseover six years old at that pointand his audience had to both (a) know that and (b) already have internalized the conclusion that expressing empathy about it in the past was a bad thing.

In 2019 David Roth coined the term Fox News Cinematic Universe (FNCU) to describe the reference-heavy style of Trump tweets, such as those that mention, without context, the very dumb legal argument of Judge Andrew Napolitano and low ratings Shepard Smith.

Its not new, but the universewhich includes Fox, Newsmax, OANN, various websites, podcasts, and Republican officialshas gotten even more insular in recent months. The main reasons include:

(1) COVID, which led the Trumpified FNCU to downplay the viruss severity, push a false miracle drug, and treat even mild mitigation measures as assaults on freedom.

(2) The 2020 election, which led right-wing media to push the Big Lie that Trump won but was somehow cheated out of victory (despite no evidence and over 60 losses in court).

(3) The Biden presidency, which Republicans have found hard to attack.

The result is an alternate reality that manufactures grievances and celebrates lost causes that you cant really understand unless youre already a fanboy.

A good example of this phenomenon came after Bidens speech marking the anniversary of the pandemic on March 11. It was a short address, barely 25 minutes long, during which the president lamented all weve lost, outlined where things stand now, and explained his plans for vaccine distribution. He implored everyone to get vaccinated, and set a target for something close to normal life. Heres part of what he said:

If we do all this, if we do our part, if we do this together, by July the 4, theres a good chance you, your families and friends, will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout or a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day. That doesnt mean large events with lots of people together, but it does mean small groups will be able to get together.

After this long hard year, that will make this Independence Day something truly special, where we not only mark our independence as a nation, but we begin to mark our independence from this virus.

To most people this was a fairly no-nonsense assessment laced with hope and cautious optimism.

To members of the FNCU, it was a horrific threat of government oppression that required immediate defiance.

This is a free people, a free country. How dare you tell us who we can spend the Fourth of July with, Fox News host Tucker Carlson demanded.

Im thinking massive party, Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw wrote.

And Ted Cruz tweeted this:

For Cruzs Tweet to make any sense, you have to already believe that Biden saying he hopes people can gather safely for barbecues on July 4 was actually a threat to forbid them from doing so. You have to believe that the president has the power to do such a thing. (He doesnt.) Basically, you have to be steeped in FNCU canon.

Or in this case, cannon. Cruzs post is a reference to a makeshift flag from the 1835 Battle of Gonzales, where Texan revolutionaries resisted the Mexican armys effort to take back a cannon.

Come and take it goes back to ancient Spartas Battle of Thermopylae against the Persian army, and the original phrase, molon labealong with its English translationare popular among gun-rights activists. So to really grok everything going on with Cruzs tweet, you have to believe Biden was threatening Texans barbecues, think its similar to Democrats supposed efforts to take your guns, and then understand that Ted Cruz is suggesting any such government assault on freedom will be opposed by his band of Great Patriots with force.

This isnt a one-time thing. Heres Cruz using the same meme last Thanksgiving:

These two calls for resistance highlight the increasing disconnect between the FNCU and reality. Because in case youve forgotten, heres what happened in November 2020:

Public health officials, such as Anthony Fauci, implored Americans not to gather for Thanksgiving, lest they spread the coronavirus. There was no order from the federal government forbidding gatherings. But enough people got together anyway that Thanksgiving 2020 took the pandemic to new heights. Three weeks after Thanksgiving we had 2,500 Americans dying from COVID per day.

But none of that really registered for Cruz and the FNCU fanboys. Because the entire conceit of their expanded universe is that in every situation they are the victims. Asking them to view thousands of sick and dying as victims deserving protection is like asking a Star Wars fan to embrace Star Trek. Or a Marvel fan to switch allegiances to DC.

Back in 2018 I argued that during the Obama years, the right had geared up to oppose a left-wing radical. When Barack Obama governed as a liberal centrist, conservatives didnt bother to change their narrative. They just plowed ahead with their pre-written attacks, reality be damned. With Biden, its the same. But worse.

The new president soundly defeated both economic and cultural progressives in the Democratic primary. He opposes single-payer healthcare and calls for increasing police funding. He displays a moderate disposition, advocates unity, and stays out of the culture wars. At a town hall in February, he refused to cancel $50,000 of student debt. Youre welcome to dislike Joe Biden, but a left-wing radical he is not.

Biden is an old, white Catholic. The bigoted attempts to other him, which worked to some degree with Obama or Hillary Clinton, arent available. Attempts to attack him indirectly, via his son Hunter, have fallen flat. And accusations that Biden is not of sound mind set a low bar he has easily cleared over and overin debates, town halls, and speeches.

Yet the Republican party and right-wing media are committed to opposing Biden, to pushing the Big Lie that his election was illegitimate, and to casting their supporters not as people who disagree with the president, but as perpetual victims living under existential threat. So they retreat further into their bubble, fixating on hyperbolic dangers posed by, for example, Hasbro slightly rebranding Mr. Potato Head (they still sell Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, but the whole line is now called Potato Head).

Thats as unimportant as it sounds, but GOP Congressman Matt Gaetz goes around lamenting that Mr. Potato Head got canceled, Fox News host Greg Gutfeld claimed Mr. Potato Head got neutered, and Sean Hannity put together a panel to discuss the controversy and confusion.

Because their base is so deep in this bubble, and so committed to the Big Lie about mass voter fraud, the Republican party has essentially given up on winning a majority of voters, and is trying instead to restrict voting. GOP legislators in Georgia, Arizona, Texas, and other states are attempting to pass bills reducing early voting, creating new hurdles for mail-in voting, and even banning passing out water to voters waiting on long lines. The intention is unmistakable: fewer voters casting ballots.

The right-wing media bubble isnt new, but its gotten deeper, more self-referential, and less accessible to outsiders. With a fictional universe, that can make for a fun fan experience, allowing more complicated storytelling with a greater variety of characters.

With the Fox News Cinematic Universe, its a danger to democracy.

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Conservative Fanboys - The Bulwark

Since 2018, the Ugandan government has been playing a game of catch and release with opposition leader and pop music star Bobi Wine, the stage name of Robert Kyagulanyi. The 39-year-old's latest detention which lasted a matter of hours happened on March 15, as Wine led a protest in Kampala.

Wine, a member of the Ugandan parliament, also leads the National Unity Platform, a political party deeply at odds with President Yoweri Museveni. In January, Wine lost to Museveni in a disputed presidential election but he is not letting up on his quest to unseat Museveni, who has been in power since 1986. Marco Werman speaks with Bobi Wine about his political plans.

TRANSCRIPT:

Marco Werman:In Uganda, Bobby Wine has been kicked around for as long as he can remember. The 39-year-old musician and opposition leader, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, has a huge following, especially among young Ugandans. Wine has been relentless in his quest to unseat Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who has held power for 35 years. Wine lost a disputed presidential election in January. During his campaign, Bobi Wine was shot at, beaten and thrown in jail many times. Bobby Wine joins us from Uganda's capital, Kampala. Bobi Wine, nice to have you back on the show.

Bobi Wine:Thank you very much for having me. And greetings to all the listeners.

Marco Werman:I mentioned the numerous times you were detained during the campaign, not just during the campaign. And this past Monday, you were briefly detained again in Kampala while taking part in a protest. What was that protest about?

Bobi Wine:Well, we called for protests, peaceful protests, against the continued abduction of the people of Uganda, particularly my supporters the supporters of the National Unity Platform.

Marco Werman:So, on Monday, when you were detained, were you told why you were detained?

Bobi Wine:Yeah, I was detained. I was arrested on Monday, taken to the police station, but again, immediately driven and dumped at my house. And then on Tuesday, I was arrested from my office and driven by the police and military back to my house, detained, and my house surrounded. So as we speak right now, I'm under house arrest and my house is surrounded by police and the military. I am not allowed to leave my house.

Marco Werman:So if you look out your window right now, you see police and soldiers.

Bobi Wine:Yes, police and soldiers surround my house. And they are blocking any car that tries to come in. And they actually blocked me when I tried to leave my house.

Marco Werman:So, Bobbi, one, aside from these reports of abductions of your supporters, what are the fundamental differences you have with President Museveni?

Bobi Wine:The fundamental difference that I have is the respect for the rule of law on our side and the lack of the same on his side for enforced disappearances, for the elections, for disrespect of human rights and the rule of law. The free media was taken over. The courts are largely in the pockets of the president, and the military has taken over everything. So that's mainly the difference between us. General Museveni, he said that Uganda's problem, in particular, Africa's problem in general are the leaders that over are overstaying power. He said that 1986, 35 five years later, he is still president of Uganda and using brute force to cling to the presidency.

Marco Werman:Bobi Wine, let me ask you this as you know, homophobia has been weaponized by politicians in Uganda. President Museveni blames outside LGBTQ groups for interfering in Uganda. When it comes to homophobia, we can also look to your past specifically in song lyrics that past prevented you, in fact, from receiving a visa to the UK in 2014. Today, where do you stand on LGBTQ rights?

Bobi Wine:Thank you. First of all, I want to say that as a person that's going through oppression and as a growing leader, I am learning every day that human rights are human rights, regardless of who the person is or what private interests are. Therefore, it must be that all human rights are respected. All people of Uganda and the world are respected and their rights protected. But also to agree with you, that this issue, well knowing that we have [inaudible] population, General Museveni tries to use it against anybody that stands against his rule to claim that we are agents of the West. And he has claimed quite a few times that we are being funded by LGBT communities, which is not true. We are being supported by all Ugandans here and abroad. So, General Museveni uses that as a smokescreen for a bigger problem.

Marco Werman:But you had some pretty oppressive lyrics back in the day. Can the LGBTQ community count on you, Bobi Wine, to defend their rights? Male and female homosexuality in Uganda, as you know, is still a crime. Would you invalidate that legislation if you became president someday?

Bobi Wine:Like I said, I believe in human rights and that it is my duty as a leader, and also the duty of all Ugandans to respect all rights of all people regardless.

Marco Werman:Bobi Wine, after all the setbacks and detentions and political losses for you, what keeps you going today?

Bobi Wine:Well, what keeps me going is the fact that good has always risen over evil. To know that love has always won [over] hate. To know that nonviolence has always trumped violence. Knowing that an oppressed people cannot be oppressed forever, you know. And also knowing that, we as the people of Uganda we have no option, we have been under subjugation for 35 years. And now that we are all united, we are more united than ever before. We are united by the oppression that we go through. We are united by the marginalization we face. We are united by the effects of bad governance and antipathy that we face as humanity as a whole. That keeps me going. Knowing that I'm not alone while I'm paying prices or being put under house arrest. Many people are incarcerated in unknown places. While I am imprisoned and beaten and pushed around, many other people have actually paid the ultimate price with their lives. So that alone keeps me going. Knowing that we have friends here in Uganda and abroad that stand for the same thing. Equal rights and justice, freedom for all humanity.

Marco Werman:Bobi Wine, Ugandan opposition leader and pop singer speaking with us from Kampala. Thank you very much for your time.

Bobi Wine:Thank you for having me.

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A conversation with Bobi Wine, Ugandan opposition leader - The World

We are taking measures to support BCs in education and occupations, he said while presenting the Budget in the State Assembly here on Wednesday

Hyderabad: Empowering the lives of Backward Classes (BCs) is the top priority of Telangana government, said Finance Minister T Harish Rao. We are taking measures to support BCs in education and occupations, he said while presenting the Budget in the State Assembly here on Wednesday.

Mahatma Jyoti Rao Phule said Lack of education led to oppression of lower castes. Without education there is no economic development. When there is no financial improvement, naturally the BCs face oppression in the society. To provide quality education to BC students as per the global requirements, the government has established Mahatma Jyoti Rao Phules BC residential schools in a large scale, Harish said.

There were 19 BC residential schools in 2014 in with 7,580 student strengths and Rs 44 crore were spent on these residential schools. But after formation of Telangana government, the BC residential schools were increased to 281. Books, uniforms and other facilities were provided free of cost. Presently, 1,13,280 students are studying in these schools. For the maintenance of these schools, government has allocated Rs 545 crore in 2021.

The State government has increased BC residential schools funds 10 times. For BC students, the government is providing special hostels, pre-metric, post-metric scholarships, establishment of womens residential degree college and providing quality education to them. For the purpose of pursuing overseas education by BC students, an amount of Rs 20 lakh each is being provided in the name of Mahatama Jyothi Rao Phule overseas scholarship scheme.

So far, an amount of Rs 178.52 crore has been sanctioned to 1,082 BC students. In the next two years, it has been decided to provide financial assistance to Nayee brahmins for establishing modernised saloons. The government has decided to construct modernised dhobi ghats to washermen.

Since the government brought Neera policy for welfare of toddy tappers, an amount of Rs 25 crore was proposed in the Budget, Harish Rao said. As a part of Haritha Haram programme, the palymra and palm trees plantations are also taken up. For accidental deaths, the government is extending Rs 6 lakh ex-gratia to the families of toddy tappers.

To achieve self-sufficiency in meat production, and enhance living standards of Golla Kurmalu, the State government has taken up sheep distribution in a large scale. It distributed 77,02,737 sheep among 3,66,797 beneficiaries across the State at a cost of Rs 4,584 crore. It also provided insurance facility to these sheep.

An additional Rs 1.20 crore sheep were produced from the sheep that were distributed. With these, Rs 5,400 crore worth of wealth was accumulated to Golla Kurmalu in the State. In the coming financial year, the government decided to provide another three lakh units with a cost of Rs 3,000 crore to Golla Kurmalu.

With the success of both Kaleshwarm and Mission Kakatiya projects, water bodies in the State are filled with water. They turned into best sources for fisci culture. The State government is releasing huge number of fish seedlings and shrimp into the reservoirs and ponds. An opportunity has been given to the fishermen themselves to catch these fish and sell it in the market resulting in increase in income to them. The fish grown in fresh water in Telangana has high demand in the market.

The fishing industry is contributing 0.5 per cent to the State GDP. At the time of formation of State, 2,49,633 tonnes of fish was produced, which was worth Rs 2,479 crore. The government has released 268.37 crore of fish seedling and 11.64 crore of shrimp into 18,335 reservoirs. As a result, in one years time, fish production has increased substantially to 3,10,000 tonnes. The value of fish that is being produced in the State today is around Rs 4,670 crore. An additional income of 88 per cent is added as compared to 2014.

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Inclusive Growth TS govt committed to welfare of BCs, says Harish Rao - Telangana Today

Prostitution should be viewed as oppression rather than a profession, Anna Borg, director of the University of Maltas Centre for Labour Studies, said.

Borg was interviewed on Reno Bugeja Jistaqsi, broadcast on MaltaTodays Facebook page.

Borg said that while prostitution has always been around, it is still stigmatised and carries a lot of baggage.

I think we need to ask ourselves, should prostitution we treated as any other career? Is that the impression we want to impart on our youth? Are we going to tell the public that now that we're going to legalise prostitution, a womans body is an object? Borg asked.

Borg said these questions needed to be asked and answered before a conclusion is reached.

When asked about persons who go into prostitution voluntarily, Borg said from what she has seen, that was not the case most of the time.

I think you will find, if you ask the general public whetherthey would be willing to try out being a prostitute for a day, the majority would say no. Information gathered by front liners working with people in the field tells us that the majority of those who go into prostitution do so because they have no choice, she said.

Borg said that many were as young as 13when they enteredprostitution, with the majority being under-18.

We need to ask ourselves, is that true? If someone is homeless, or has an addiction, or sexually abused, are they going into it by choice or because they have no other option? Because this is the typical profile of people who end up prostitutes, she added.

Borg said the majority of prostitutes want out; however, they find it difficult to leave.

Borg, along with the majority of the NGOs in Malta, favour the Nordic Model, which decriminalises those who sell sex while criminalising buyers and pimps.

From what weve seen in countries which have attempted to regularise prostitution such as Germany, Holland and New Zealand, a positive impact was not witnessed. While the industry was formalised, a larger one grew underground. Because once you open that door, you're giving out a message that prostitution is now accessible. In those countries, the industry flourished, but the rights of those within the industry did not improve much for the better, Borg said.

Borgagreed with the decriminalising of prostitution, such as loitering and soliciting, to avoid people in that line of work being arrested.

We see prostitutes end up in court, however, it is rare to see pimps or traffickers, so there we are in total agreement, Borg said. She added that the government should not be giving out the impression that this sort of work is normal.

Borg said NGOs are calling for the government to do a widespread study before releasing its proposals she said the government should release the data, which led them to reach their decision.

In a brief mention, Borg saidpornography was just prostitution filmed. It is part of a large industry that is flourishing, which has a lot of tentacles and is influencing a lot of things, she said.

Youth and agriculture

Reno Bugeja Jistaqsi also interviewed Jeanette Borg from the Malta Youth in Agriculture Foundation (MaYA).

Borg said MaYA was created to study the situation and gauge the youth's opinions, as they are the future of each sector. Borg noted that while MaYA started at MCAST, she felt she had a good scope of how youth think after speaking to so many of them. In fact, it led me to realisethere was a lot more interest than I first realised, Borg said.

Borg pointed out that many of the problems the agriculture sector faces in Malta are a reflection of what is happening globally and that it was a mistake to assume that the island was suffering alone.

Land was another issue that had to be tackled as soon as possible. "Countries that joined the European Union along with us also had problems...some had more problems then we had when you look at the economic state they were in. But they put in the work and invested in the agricultural sector," she said.

Borg said the way forward for Malta was to diversify products and consolidate the sector.

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Government should not give impression prostitution is a normal career path, activist warns - MaltaToday

Vietnam has announced itscandidacy to join the UN Human Rights Council, basing its case mostly on the countryssuccessful containment of COVID-19. However, when it comes to Vietnams own human rightsrecord, the government has done everything to curtail peoples fundamentalcivil and political rights.

By Umair Jamal

Vietnam has announced its bid to join theUN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for the bodys 2023-2025 term.

The countrys foreign minister, PhamBinh Minh, justified the application by saying that peoples freedom can only besafeguarded if a country defends itself against pandemics like that of COVID-19.

Critics are skeptical of the bid, sayingthat the one-party communist state is hardly a torch bearer when it comes to protectingand promoting peoples fundamental rights.

TheUNHRC, responsible for promotingand defending human rights globally, has 47 members who are elected for three-yearterms, according to quotas by region. The UNHRC elected 15 members in its lastelection in October 2020. The next round of elections will take place laterthis year.

DespiteVietnams announcement, evidence suggests the government has done little toimprove its poor human rights record over the years and remains one of the mostoppressive states in Southeast Asia.

Electingthe country to the UNHRC would virtually give Vietnams government a permit tocontinue its oppressive policies.

For Vietnams government, successful containmentof the COVID-19 pandemic is apparentlyenough to deserve a UNHRC seat. Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh indicatedthat Vietnams supplying of masks and medical equipment to over 50 countries make it an effectivecandidate for the UNHRC.

Speaking at the UNHRCs 46th Regular Session in Geneva inFebruary, Binh said that keeping people safe amid a pandemic is essential tosafeguarding rights and freedoms. [This] isthe best way to ensure that each and every member of the society can fullyenjoy their human rights, Pham said, as quoted by Vietnamese media.

We continue to put emphasis on theprotection and promotion of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of ourpeople, even in this most difficult of times, he added.

Vietnamese Foreign Office spokesperson Le ThiThy Hang echoed Binhs points in a statement onMarch 11, but she didnt exactly explain how Vietnam has promoted human rights.She offered no indication of whether Vietnam has followed any of the actionplans proposed by international observers to improveits poor human rights record.

The fact that the governments justification for its UNHRC candidature has not gone beyond COVID-19 shows that the country doesnt have much to offer when it comes to real efforts to defend peoples rights and freedoms.

Critics say that Vietnams one-party statestrictly limits peoplesfundamental political and civil rightsand should not be offered anyposition at the UNHRC.

Nguyen Van Dai, a Vietnamese lawyer and democracyadvocate, says that its surprising that the country has applied for UNHRCmembership. According to Van Dai, Vietnam is Southeast Asias one of the mostoppressive states.

Surely, Vietnam cant run for [membership on] the Human Rights Council, Nguyen toldRadio Free Asias Vietnamese Service.

For the last four years, Vietnamhas become Southeast Asias most oppressive country, even replacing Burma asthe country holding the most political prisoners.

In addition, Vietnams tradepartners like the European Union, the Federal Republic of Germany, the UnitedStates and Australia have frequently called on it to release the activists nowbeing held in Vietnams prisons, and to improve its record on human rights, headded.

Vietnams human rights record remains dismal in many areas,including freedomof expression, freedom of speech and the rights to freely practice beliefs andreligion. The ruling communist party maintains a monopoly on power and hascrushed all political challenges to its leadership. The countrys courts and criminal justice system lack independence and onlyserve the ruling partys interests.

Thepress in the country is subject to government attacks for little more than publishingfacts. In its 2020 WorldPress Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders placed Vietnam at 175 outof 180.In the run up to Vietnams CommunistParty Congress in January, the ruling party used strict laws and other means toarrest and intimidate independent journalists and to silence critics. Dozens ofbloggers and journalists are imprisoned in Vietnam for merely publishing material critical of theruling partys domestic and foreign policies.

A USState Department report examining therights records of countries around the world said that in 2019, Vietnam wasresponsible for considerable violations of human rights, including unlawful orarbitrary killings by the government; forced disappearance; torture bygovernment agents; [and] arbitrary arrests and detentions.

According to Human Rights Watch,Vietnams government presented aninaccurate report of its human rights record at the the UNHRC in Geneva in2019. Vietnam claimed that it had implemented 175 out of 182 recommendations fromthe 2014 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) to improve its human rights record, butHuman Rights Watch said this bears no semblance to reality.

Vietnamsleaders could have used the UN session to commit to real rights reforms, butinstead they plunged deeper into denial about the countrys abysmal humanrights record, said Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watchs deputy Asia director.

Vietnamshould recognize that when the only country that praises your human rightsprogress is China, you are clearly doing many things wrong, he added.

TheUNHRC should push Vietnam to implement existing action plans to improve humanrights conditions in the country, rather than offering it a place in the forum.If Vietnam becomes a member of the UNHRC, it will not only discredit the UNbodys standing but will also legitimize Vietnams policies of oppression.

Related

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Should Vietnam become a member of the UN Human Rights Council? - ASEAN TODAY