Russia Announces Citizenship for Whistleblower Edward Snowden by Kyle Anzalone

 Heroic whistleblower Edward Snowden was granted Russian citizenship on Monday. Snowden leaked a massive cache of classified documents from the National Security Agency (NSA) proving the US government conducted widespread surveillance against its own citizens. 

In 2013, Snowden turned over the NSA documents to Glenn Greenwald and several other journalists, meeting them in Hong Kong after fleeing the United States. Upon leaving the city, however, the Barack Obama White House pulled Snowden’s visa – meaning that when he landed in Moscow to change flights, he was unable to continue on to his planned destination in Latin America. 

For almost a decade, Snowden has been stranded in Russia, effectively in exile. In October 2020, Moscow granted Snowden permanent residency status. He applied for citizenship one month later. The request for Russian citizenship was granted on Monday. 

In a tweet, Snowden explained that citizenship would offer his family more stability. 

“After years of separation from our parents, my wife and I have no desire to be separated from our SONS,” he said. “After two years of waiting and nearly ten years of exile, a little stability will make a difference for my family. I pray for privacy for them – and for us all.”

According to Reuters, however, the State Department said it was unaware of any changes to Snowden’s citizenship.

The US government has brought charges against Snowden for leaking classified material, which included thousands of pages of documents exposing the NSA’s sweeping mass surveillance program. There is currently no formal extradition treaty between Washington and Moscow, and while Russian officials previously indicated they had no plans to hand over the American whistleblower, they are even less likely to do so now given Snowden’s newly granted citizenship. 

About Kyle Anzalone

Kyle Anzalone is news editor of the Libertarian Institute, assistant editor of Antiwar.com and co-host of Conflicts of Interest with Will Porter.

Horrific battle sounds from Myanmar impede livelihoods of Rohingya, locals in Bangladesh border region

 

By Md. Kamruzzaman 

Md. Kamruzzaman   |24.09.2022

NAIKHONGCHARI, Bangladesh

The desire of Rohingya refugees to return to their home country Myanmar is being muffled by incessant sounds of gunshots and shelling in a remote southeastern bordering area of Bangladesh, where some 4,500 of them have been living for more than five years.

While speaking with Dil Mohammad, a Rohingya community leader in the no man's land of Naikhongchari sub-district on the Myanmar border, on Friday, an Anadolu Agency team heard six horrifying mortar rounds fired from across the border in less than 30 minutes, which caused panic.

“We are always in hypertension now due to the escalating gun battle between the Myanmar Army and the country’s rebel faction, Arakan Army. Such unrest in our homeland (Myanmar’s Rakhine State) must have an impact on our repatriation process,” Mohammad expressed concern.

A combination of hills covered in green trees, large swaths of agricultural lands with seasonal crops, and several lakes full of fresh hilly and rain waters keep Naikhongchari naturally beautiful round the year.

During the Rohingya influx in Bangladesh in Aug. 2017, over 4,500 members of the persecuted community set up makeshift tents across the border with Myanmar, hoping to remain peaceful until their dignified repatriation.

However, the entire region has turned into a hotbed of panic due to the horrifying sounds of shelling and gunfire from neighboring Myanmar for more than a month.

In the deadliest battle on the night of Sept. 16, a Rohingya youth was killed and five others were injured, while the panic also gripped more than 30,000 Bangladeshi nationals living in the bordering region because of the frequent trans-border shelling and gun bullets fired by the Myanmar Army.

Local claims that agriculture is their primary livelihood, as well as other sources of income, are being severely disturbed.

Rupla Dhar, 50, is a Gumdhum borderline resident who lives in constant fear of being hit by a stray bullet or shell fired from across the border. He owns some open croplands near the border between Bangladesh and Myanmar. 

“I, along with some other farmers, cultivate this land for livelihood. But we can’t do our work very often because of the panicky sounds of mortar shelling and gun fighting inside Myanmar from a very short distance,” Dhar told Anadolu Agency, adding that they are desperately trying to cope with the situation.

He added that they often hire day laborers for cultivation. "However, it has almost become a routine practice that as soon as they begin working in the field, horrific sounds of shelling and firing start to emanate from Myanmar. They abandon the field and do not work. But, we pay them for the entire day's work."

Echoing almost the same views, another resident of the area and former local government chairman of Naikhongchari, Toslim Iqbal Chowdhury, told the Turkish leading news agency that the deteriorating unrest in Myanmar near the Bangladeshi border has a huge adverse impact on the economy of the needy local people.

“Out of fear, our people often stay at home at night, and some shift to relatives in other areas. It should be solved immediately in order to restore normalcy in the area,” Chowdhury noted.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina informed global leaders Thursday night at a high-profile meeting in New York that intensifying fighting inside Myanmar would jeopardize the process of sustainable Rohingya repatriation.

She also warned that global leaders' attention is shifting away from the humanitarian needs and support of nearly 1.2 million Rohingya living in refugee camps in Cox's Bazar and the remote island of Bhasan Char in the Bay of Bengal's southern sea.

High alert

The deputy commissioner of the border district of Bandarban, Yasmin Parvin Tibriji, told Anadolu Agency that Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) is fully alert on the frontlines around the clock to avert any untoward incident. 

"We have discussed the issue with the local administration, law enforcement, the BGB, and other relevant authorities." "We have also informed the relevant government authorities," Tibriji said.

She added that as per the government's directives, they have enlisted all borderline people so that they could be relocated in the case of an emergency.

Bangladesh's Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has also told journalists on several occasions that the country will try to resolve the crisis through diplomatic negotiations with the neighboring country, while Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan has vowed to go to the United Nations if diplomatic efforts fail.

LETTER TO THE UN SECRETARY-GENERAL: REGARDING UN AGENCIES, FUNDS, PROGRAMMES AND OTHER ENTITIES ENGAGEMENT WITH THE MILITARY JUNTA

 Letter to the UN Secretary-General

H.E. Mr. António Guterres
United Nations Secretary-General
United Nations Secretariat
42nd Street,
New York, NY 10017

23 September 2022

Re: UN agencies, funds, programmes and other entities engagement with the military junta 

UN entities must stop legitimizing the Myanmar military junta and instead present letters of appointment, sign letters of agreement and MoUs with the legitimate government of Myanmar, the National Unity Government, and ethnic revolutionary organizations

Your Excellency,

We, the undersigned 638 civil society organizations (CSOs), condemn in the strongest terms the recent public signing of new agreements and presenting of letters of appointment to the illegitimate Myanmar military junta by UN agencies, funds, programmes and other entities working inside Myanmar. We urge you to intervene for a principled, coordinated UN response to the crisis in Myanmar. We call on you and all UN entities to immediately cease all forms of cooperation and engagement that lends legitimacy to the illegal murderous junta. Instead, letters of appointment and agreements must be presented to the legitimate government of Myanmar, the National Unity Government (NUG), and ethnic revolutionary organizations (EROs).

On 10 December 2021, 256 Myanmar CSOs urged UN entities to not engage with the junta in any way that lends them legitimacy. Despite these consistent calls from the people of Myanmar and CSOs, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) all signed new agreements with and presented credentials to the junta in August and September 2022. The public ceremonies, which were arranged with photographs, were used as propaganda by the military junta in its ongoing attempts to assert their legitimacy. The people of Myanmar have categorically rejected its attempts to seize power since its illegal attempted coup on 1 February 2021.

For nearly a year and a half, the people of Myanmar have sacrificed their lives and livelihoods to defend democracy and their rights by engaging in political defiance and armed resistance – as a last resort. Their aim is to prevent the illegal military junta from taking over the country, as it is attempting to do through inflicting immense suffering on the people.

The recent public actions by UN entities are direct interventions that clearly side with the military junta, undercutting the ongoing collective resistance efforts and sacrifices by the Myanmar people to end the Myanmar military’s tyranny and establish a federal democracy. This breaches the principles of democracy, human rights and humanitarian principles of impartiality, neutrality, independence and “do no harm” outlined in the UNs’ Joint Operating Standards and frame work of engagement, for which UN entities must comply with and hold themselves accountable.

Furthermore, in December 2021, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to endorse the recommendations of the UN Credential Committee that had rejected the credentials of the military junta and allowed the incumbent Ambassador, U Kyaw Moe Tun, who represents the National Unity Government (NUG) and thus represents Myanmar, to maintain his position at the UN General Assembly. UN entities, and agencies, funds and programmes in Myanmar should be guided by this decision and should be engaging publicly with the NUG and not the military junta.

The Myanmar junta has neither the political legitimacy nor territorial control over Myanmar. According to a recent analysis by an independent group of experts and former UN mandate holders on Myanmar – Special Advisory Council for Myanmar – the NUG and resistance organizations have effective control over 52% of the territory of Myanmar, while the junta is being actively contested in a further 23% of the territory. This means that the junta can only claim to have stable control over 17% of the territory.

Moreover, UN mandate holders have repeatedly raised concern on the weaponization of humanitarian aid by the junta, actively destroying and restricting aid to the people. These realities question the UN’s effectiveness in reaching the population in need by signing agreements to work with the very perpetrators who are causing the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar. This is also demonstrative of the importance of signing agreements with the NUG and EROs, and the urgent need to work directly with local actors in the provision of humanitarian aid, including from along the borders of Myanmar.

Within 598 days of the attempted coup, the Myanmar military has killed at least 2,311 people, including 192 children in cold blood. More than 15,400 people have been arbitrarily arrested, with at least 12,462 people still detained, with many routinely facing torture. The actual numbers of deaths and arrests are likely far higher. The Myanmar military continues to commit gross human rights violations and atrocity crimes including war crimes and crimes against humanity by torching houses, burning villages, looting properties, massacring people, committing rape and gang rape, shooting on sight, indiscriminate shelling and launching airstrikes in towns and villages. The crimes committed by the military in the past 19 months, in addition to those crimes committed against Rohingya and other ethnic minorities in the past, are collected by the UN, including by the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar.

The signing of the MoUs and agreements with the junta, coupled with the inconsistent, ineffectual and non-principled approach to addressing the crisis in Myanmar by the UN, conveys the wrong message to the junta and to the world that it recognizes the body that terrorizes the people of Myanmar and is responsible for gross international crimes. This not only emboldens the junta to commit further atrocity crimes with total impunity, but it indicates that the UN, in practice, does not respect the will of the people of Myanmar as adopted in resolutions and statements, including by the UN General Assembly, UN Human Rights Council and in a statement issued by the president of the UN Security Council. The continuing issues in the UN’s approach in Myanmar, followings its “systemic and structural failures” in providing a unified approach in addressing the Rohingya genocide in 2017, highlighted in the 2019 Rosenthal Report, is glaring.

The people of Myanmar have been loud and clear that they want their legitimate government, the NUG and their Ambassador U Kyaw Moe Tun to be their representative at the UN. The will of Myanmar people in choosing their own government and thus their own representative at the UN and as well as in their struggle for federal democracy and human rights in their country must be fully recognized and respected by the UN and its member states.

Your Excellency, as the people and civil society of Myanmar, the region and throughout the world, we strongly urge all UN agencies, funds, programmes and other entities to stop legitimizing the illegal murderous junta and call on you for your leadership in a coordinated response to the crisis in Myanmar. We call on UN agencies, funds, programmes and other entities to work with the legitimate government of Myanmar, the NUG, EROs, CSOs and community-based organizations.

For more information, please contact:

• Khin Ohmar, Progressive Voice, info@progressive-voice.org
• Naw Wahkhu Shee, Karen Peace Support Network, wahku80@gmail.com
• Gus Miclat, Initiatives for International Dialogue and Asia Pacific Solidarity Coalition, gus.miclat@iidnet.org
• Chris Gunness, Myanmar Accountability Project, cgunness@outlook.com

Signed by 638 organizations, including 239 groups who have chosen not to disclose their names:

 

Why Bangladesh shouldn't fall into trap of war with Myanmar

By Kamal Uddin Mazumder | 24 September 2022, 4:00pm |  1 comments | 

Myanmar is trying to provoke Bangladesh into war (image via nara.getarchive.net)

Myanmar is repeatedly breaking promises. 

The country is not honouring its promise not to violate the border. Instead, Myanmar's helicopters are flying in the sky every day in Myanmar near the border of Bangladesh. The entire border area including Tumbru, Baishaphandi, Reju Gorjanbania, Amtali of Naikshyangchari trembled with the loud sound of the shells fired from Bankar. Sometimes shells and mortar shells fired from Myanmar are coming inside Bangladesh. Local residents including 4,500 Rohingyas who have taken shelter in "no man's land" are terrified.

They protested by summoning the Myanmar Ambassador in Dhaka three times, but their aggressive activities did not stop. This time, a Rohingya teenager died when a mortar shell fired from the mountains of Rakhine state across the Ghumdhum border of Naikxyongchari Upazila of Bandarban fell on the zero line opposite the Tumbru border. Five Rohingya including a child were injured. In such a situation, the prospect of new Rohingya influx in Bangladesh is increasing.

A source in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Daily Our Times that Bangladesh has decided to summon the country's Ambassador in Dhaka once again in the case of the Myanmar army's shelling in Bangladesh and the death of one person. He was summoned by the Myanmar "wing" of the Ministry of External Affairs. Apart from this, Bangladesh will raise the issue of Myanmar's breach of promise and border violation in the upcoming UN General Session.

According to sources, Dhaka is monitoring the situation with patience. A clear message has been given that Bangladesh will not accept incidents like 2017 in any way. Dhaka's concerns have been strongly conveyed through the Bangladesh Embassy in Naypyidaw. Foreign missions in Dhaka have also been informed that Bangladesh will not accept a single Rohingya. Rather, the message has also been given to focus on the repatriation of Rohingyas sheltered in Bangladesh as soon as possible.

Future Fund's Adani investment supports Myanmar coup

Australia’s Future Fund is still investing in Adani Ports whose contracts with the Myanmar military are worth $290 million.

Experts believe that Bangladesh should proceed diplomatically without indulging in any kind of provocation. Apart from neighbouring India, Bangladesh has a land border only with Myanmar. There have been various tensions on that border for many years. 

In 2007, two Myanmar warships entered St. Martin. In 2011, they entered the Bangladesh border and abducted a BGB member with weapons. Bandarban's Thanchi was hit by mortar shells and bullets in 2012, 2016 and 2017. 

In 2014, Myanmar showed the audacity to kill a Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) member and take away his body in Bandarban's Naikshyongchari. In 2019 and 2020, the country shows its share of St. Martin.

Apart from this, since 2017, Myanmar helicopters have violated the airspace of Bangladesh more than 19 times. And several times in the last month, Myanmar's Choda mortar shells and ammunition have fallen inside Bangladesh. Last Friday, five mortar shells fell inside Bangladesh at the Ghumdhum border of Naikxyongchari Upazila of Bandarban. 

Another shell fired from Myanmar fell inside Bangladesh on 9 September. It was the third shot. It also falls in an area called Tumbru Ghonarpara in Ward No. 2 of Ghumdhum Union of Naikshyongchari in Bandarban. However, no casualty occurred in this incident. Earlier on 28 August, two mortar shells fired by the Myanmar Army fell in Tumbru Uttarpara Jame Masjid area of ​​the same union. There were no casualties as they did not explode. Later on, September 3 at 9:30 am, two shells fired from warplanes fell in the area between border pillars 40-41 under Reju Amtali BGB BOP of Ward No. 8.

Bangladesh-Myanmar border situation is causing concern, said United Nations Resident Representative Louise Nguyen. While talking to the journalists yesterday, he said that the border situation of Bangladesh is worrying from Rakhine. The UN is constantly monitoring, and regular contact is also being maintained with the Myanmar mission. He also said, to be honest, the whole incident is not clear. However, on-site viewing is not allowed. Therefore, Louis Nguyen requested both countries to maintain peace.

International analyst and professor of Dhaka University, Imtiaz Ahmad said:

The Myanmar army is fighting the separatist group Arakan Army on the border. It is one thing if it is within them. But some ammunition is falling inside Bangladesh. Now Rohingyas are injured, killed. We will take it as provocation. It cannot be fired inside a free-sovereign country. The matter should be brought to the international platform. It could be the United Nations General Assembly. Besides, military-diplomatic activities can also be launched.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said: 

Bangladesh does not want war with Myanmar; We want a solution through discussion. Talking to reporters about the border situation, he said, "We are strongly protesting the ammunition that is falling on our border. Talking to them. We have clearly stated our position. Our prime minister never wants war, we want a peaceful solution. Let their internal conflict remain within their boundaries. I have always protested what is coming out. We will continue our efforts to find a peaceful solution. We will take it to the United Nations. We will do everything.

The Home Minister also mentioned the issue of not keeping Myanmar's word in the talks at various times.

He said:

'Myanmar never keeps its word. We are making all bilateral and multilateral efforts. Our efforts will continue.'

Myanmar is carrying out one after another 'aggressive' activities in the border areas of Bangladesh in violation of all international norms. The country is doing this even though the situation of placing mines in the area near the zero line of the border is very dangerous. 

Earlier, Rohingyas were killed in such mine blasts, but now Bangladeshis are being victimised. A Bangladeshi youth's leg was blown off in this mine explosion. On the same day, a Rohingya youth was killed and five others injured in a shell fired from Myanmar. The presence of the Myanmar army in the border area without a war situation is against international practice, but the country does not accept it. At the same time, anxiety and fear are increasing in the unilateral behaviour of the country. The question of whether Myanmar's border violation will continue has also been raised in the recent context.

Meanwhile, the 12 villages of Ghumdhum Union on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border of Bandarban Naikshyongchari are becoming increasingly unsafe due to repeated incidents of border violations by Myanmar. The safety of about 17,000 Bangladeshis including women and children living in those villages is under threat. Naikxyongchari Upazila Executive Officer Salma Ferdous told Dhaka Times that a letter has been sent to the Chittagong Divisional Commissioner through the Bandarban District Commissioner seeking instructions regarding their evacuation and security. 

On the other hand, the 200 km border has been sealed to prevent infiltration. Patrolling has been strengthened along with the deployment of additional members of Bangladesh Border Guard-BGB at the concerned border. No one is allowed near the Zero Line of the border. BGB Headquarters Director (Operation) Lieut. 

Experts say that Myanmar seems to be inciting Bangladesh to war. They also raised questions about whether they want to trap Bangladesh in war. Experts say that two factors are in front of several factors, firstly, it is creating a situation where the rest of the Rohingyas trapped in that country are forced to migrate to Bangladesh. Second, the international process that has begun to repatriate the 1.2 million Rohingyas who are embroiled in war in Bangladesh may become a long-winded or hanging trap. Experts believe that they are doing such activities as a part of incitement for Bangladesh to join the war.

Myanmar military takeover cannot be stopped by waning U.S. power

The road towards real democracy in Myanmar remains unclear, writes Bruce Haigh.

Officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh say that the Foreign Minister, State Minister and Secretary of Bangladesh are staying in London to attend a UN session. They have already been informed about the border incident. According to their instructions, Aung Kyaw Mo, Myanmar's Ambassador to Bangladesh, has been summoned.

Bangladesh should find a way to solve the problem through discussion through diplomatic channels rather than engaging in war. 

As Myanmar repeatedly violates international law, Bangladesh can step up diplomacy.

War would be a trap. There may be different motives behind it. Rohingyas will flee if their lives are threatened. And if they escape, they will try to enter Bangladesh. Bangladesh should talk about this issue in the international forum to clarify what is the intention of Myanmar. Myanmar may have provoked war to delay or suspend the process of repatriation of Rohingyas who are in Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, putting Myanmar's mines on the border is a final violation of international law, Myanmar is repeatedly violating our borders and airspace. They get away with violating international norms. They are showing this audacity because they have not been punished in the past.

Kamal Uddin Mazumder is a Researcher and Security Affairs Analyst in Dhaka.

The 77th UNGA and Rohingya Crisis by Mohammed Parvez Imdad

 It is necessary for the 77th UNGA to attach priority to the Rohingya issue. FILE PHOTO: REUTERS

The 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), which commenced last week, would certainly reflect on the critical issues the world is currently faced with: the Ukraine crisis, global energy prices, widening trade deficits, and challenges in post-Covid recovery. However, it is necessary for the UNGA to attach priority to the Rohingya issue, too. The current session needs to build up on previous discussions and resolutions on the Rohingya crisis over the last few years, and undertake strengthened initiatives for implementation.

According to concrete evidence and findings of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Myanmar authorities have been committing genocide and ethnic cleansing in Rakhine in gross violation of human rights. The crisis has deepened further during the past couple of years. In this context, the 77th UNGA needs to reflect on the imperativeness and urgency in implementing ICC decisions and provisions of international law. The Myanmar military government has been ignoring all concerns and appeals by the international community (both at bilateral and multilateral levels) to stop repression in Rakhine. Myanmar has not demonstrated minimum efforts on its part to cushion this crisis. The UNGA needs to incorporate provisions that would expose intransigence, lapses and deficiencies in compliance of UN decisions. Furthermore, this session should consider creating a "review mechanism" to hold Myanmar's military government accountable and make them face penalties accordingly.

The instability and chaos in some regions of Myanmar for the past two years may trigger further violence, and escalate breach of peace and security in the region and beyond. Unless the UN expands the level of policy intervention through effective coordination by all stakeholders in ensuring the return of displaced Rohingyas to their homeland, the critical humanitarian crisis may further aggravate. This will impede peace, stability, and development in the region.

Based on the resolutions previously adopted, the UN may consider adopting a new resolution incorporating a programme of action, asking Myanmar to stop genocide and all repressive actions in Rakhine and adjoining areas with immediate effect. Special provisions could be incorporated stating that further delay or failure in compliance of UN resolutions should lead not only to renewed sanctions, but also suspension of Myanmar from the UN membership. In the past, there have been instances of suspension of membership by the UN for similar violations of its charter.

A special session of the UN Security Council during the current UNGA session should be convened with a view to endorsing the proposed UNGA resolution that would ask Myanmar to take back the displaced Rohingyas after ensuring a congenial atmosphere for their return. The UNGA should consider deploying UN peacekeeping forces and multinational peace observers in Myanmar's Rakhine state and in bordering areas as well. The UN peacekeepers should be mandated to review and monitor the situation and recommend, if the situation warrants, UN-guided multinational intervention.

The proposed UN resolution during the current session should also have provisions for comprehensive sanctions against Myanmar, should the influx of Rohingyas from Myanmar continue. The UNGA may also ask the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to set up a consortium to coordinate with all parties and stakeholders concerned for meeting necessary financial, operational and functional requirements related to Rohingya repatriation.

 According to concrete evidence and

findings of the International Criminal

Court (ICC), the Myanmar authorities

have been committing genocide and

ethnic cleansing in Rakhine in gross

violation of human rights.

The 77th UNGA should also consider adopting a new convention (as a subsidiary to its human rights convention), titled "Security and Rehabilitation of Displaced and Stateless People," which would ensure binding provisions on Myanmar to take the Rohingyas back and ensure their safe and smooth settling down in their homeland. Based on the scale, magnitude and effectiveness of the UN's urgent intervention on the Rohingya crisis, the proposed convention will also operate as a mechanism for fast-track solutions on handling similar issues in any region in the future, should the need arise.

The proposed UN convention should include a legal provision to assess whether Myanmar's economic zone in the Rakhine state is contrary to international law. There is specific evidence that these projects have been planned and implemented by Myanmar without taking environmental, social and security safeguards into account. There needs to be UN-driven neutral investigations to assess and uncover the destructive impact of these projects in Rakhine on the interests of local residents, and on the bordering areas of neighbouring countries.

There is also a need to implement, on an urgent basis, the recommendation of the Kofi Annan Commission. In this respect, the UN may set up an implementation task force with specific guidelines and timeframe for implementation. The core strategies suggested by Bangladesh to implement the Kofi Annan Commission recommendation would lead to effective outcomes.

The UN may request its specialised agencies and multilateral development institutions to ensure Myanmar's compliance with UN resolutions, failing which comprehensive sanctions could be in force. The UNGA may consider proposing an interregional framework (comprising members of Saarc and Asean) with a view to facilitating inter and intraregional dialogues to ease the current impediments in Rohingya repatriation.

To facilitate and implement the above, the UN secretary-general should take into account the proposals on resolving the Rohingya crisis, submitted by Bangladesh, the OIC Secretariat and Asean, during the UNGA sessions since 2017, including the ongoing one. The 77th UNGA may also propose an Arbitration and Crisis Resolution Forum that would include non-government organisations, civil society, and private sector representatives to supplement government efforts and initiatives.

 

Dr Mohammed Parvez Imdad is an economist, governance specialist and policy analyst. He is the founder-president of the Bangladesh Knowledge Forum (BKF) and adviser at the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS). 

Gambia will continue to defend rights of Rohingya – Barrow tells UN

 Sep 23, 2022, 12:04 PM | Article By: Pa Modou Cham

Yesterday, at the general debate of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Adama Barrow revealed that the plight of the Rohingya Muslims remains a matter of grave concern to The Gambia. 

“We call on the Myanmar Government to comply with the rulings of the International Court of Justice and end all human rights violations against the Rohingya. The Gambia will continue to defend their rights.”
He explained that as a responsible member of the international community, The Gambia considers Taiwan as part of the Peoples Republic of China, and advocates the adoption of the One-China policy. 
“The Gambia fully supports the Secretary-General’s call for transformation and global solidarity in the landmark report “Our Common Agenda”. In the same vein, we support his efforts to convene the Summit of the Future and the Sustainable Development Goals Summit next year.” 
President Barrow continued that Africa will continue to demand its rightful place in the permanent membership category of the Security Council; thus, the negotiations must produce tangible results.
The president emphasised that genuine commitment and substantially increased resources should now accompany the transformation of our institutions, systems, mechanisms, and state of preparedness and the developing world must not be left behind. 

He urged the international community to fully respect China’s sovereignty over Taiwan and avoid actions that undermine global peace. 

TI: Congo Corruption report

 

23/09/2022: What's trust got to do with it Hi HABIB, This week, we’re following an ongoing political scandal in the Democratic Republic of Congo that began with the release of a damning report from our friends over at the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.   An anonymous source sent investigative journalists covertly recorded videos that show President Félix Tshisekedi’s top political advisor Vidiye Tshimanga negotiating a secret mining deal with purported Hong Kong investors. Tshimanga admitted that it was him in the recordings but has claimed innocence. In interviews, he insisted that he knew he was being set up and played along to see how far the ‘investors’ would go.  Despite these assertions, Tshimanga resigned soon after the story came out. And two days ago, the prosecutor’s office reportedly questioned the former presidential advisor for seven hours and then placed him under arrest.  We don’t know what the charges are, but they may have something to do with an alleged partnership with a Canadian mining company that Tshimanga confessed grants him a 20 per cent stake in the project – on tape. While they could not verify the links or secret payments, journalists found that both the Congolese and the Canadian companies Tshimanga mentioned in the recordings had secured mining licenses right next to each other shortly after President Tshisekedi assumed office in 2019.   Supporters of Félix Tshisekedi attending an election rally in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo in December 2018. Photo: Baz Ratner / REUTERS One aspect of Tshimanga’s confession that caught our attention was how he said he would go about disguising his stake in the possible future deal. He suggested that ‘investors’ would be doing business with a Congolese company held through Mauritius-based trusts that he actually owns and controls. To evade scrutiny, he’s kept all of this off paper.   In recent years, much of our – and the world’s – attention has been focused on anonymously owned companies, with demonstrable progress. While they haven’t yet been watched so closely trusts are another highly secretive and complex vehicle that criminals and the corrupt favour to cover their tracks. (We’re looking at you, Andrej Babiš.)   So what can be done about this? Governments, without any exception, should centrally collect information on the owners of trusts that are incorporated within their jurisdictions. And public officials need to verify the data.   Mauritius, for example, doesn’t have a register of trusts, making it an easy target for those who – like Tshimanga – prefer to stay anonymous when making suspicious deals. But this is more common than you might think: even countries with the most advanced anti-money laundering frameworks, including some of the G7 members, don’t have centralised registers of trusts.   Over the next few months, we’ll be pushing the Financial Action Task Force and its members to eliminate the gaps in the global standard on trust ownership. We submitted our extensive suggestions last month and will not let up the pressure – until all the loopholes through which shady actors hide their money and assets are closed.