19/09/2024

THURSDAY | SEP 19, 2024

7 UN report damns Myanmar military

o ‘5,350 civilians killed since February 2021’

reporting period, the report said, citing a list of named individuals it compiled. Many are thought to be in military training centres. Among those seized by authorities are children who were taken when the parents could not be located “as a form of punishment for political opposition”, the report said. It detailed cases of abuse of detainees that amount to torture, such as suspension from the ceiling without food or water, the use of snakes and insects to instil fear and beatings with bamboo sticks and motorcycle chains.

civilians had been killed by the military since the coup. Of those, 2,414 died in the period covered by the UN report between April 2023 and June 2024, with hundreds killed by air strikes and artillery attacks, amounting to an increase of 50% versus the previous reporting period. A government spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment. The report also revealed the scale of detentions across the country. Nearly 27,400 individuals have been arrested since the coup, including more than 9,000 in the latest

elected civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi and triggering nationwide street protests that it violently crushed. The protest movement has since turned into a widening armed rebellion and fighting has flared on multiple fronts, prompting authorities to introduce conscription in February. The report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, based partly on remote interviews with hundreds of victims and witnesses since investigators were denied access, said 5,350

Jammu and Kashmir vote in first regional poll in a decade SRINAGAR: Voters queued outside polling stations in India’s Jammu and Kashmir yesterday to vote in the first provincial election being held in a decade in the Himalayan region that has grappled with years of violence. The nine million registered voters are choosing members for the region’s 90-seat legislature in the three-phase election. Votes will be counted on Oct 8 and results expected the same day. “I gave my vote for development. For the last 10 years, we were unable to exercise our democratic right and I am happy that I am able to cast my ballot,” said Mohammad Asim Bhat, a 23-year-old first-time voter. Jammu and Kashmir has been at the centre of a dispute with Pakistan since 1947. India and Pakistan both claim Kashmir in full but rule it in part, after having fought two of their three wars over the region. Until 2019, Indian-ruled Jammu and Kashmir had a special status of partial autonomy that was revoked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. Last year, the Supreme Court upheld the government’s decision and set a deadline of Sept 30 this year for local polls to be held. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) government has said revoking the region’s special status restored normalcy in the area and helped its development. “As the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections begins, I urge all to vote in large numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy,” Modi said. In the past, pro-independence gunmen have targeted elections in Kashmir, and voter turnout has been largely weak. However, the territory recorded its highest turnout in 35 years in national elections held in April and May, with a 58.46% participation rate. The contest this time is between regional parties promising to restore the special status, India’s main opposition Congress party, which has allied with a prominent regional group, as well as the BJP, which is pitching development and a permanent end to militancy. The legislative assembly will have powers to debate local issues, make laws and approve decisions for governing the territory but cannot restore special status as that is the remit of the federal government. – Reuters High Commissioner Turk has repeated a recommendation that the rights violations in Myanmar be referred to the International Criminal Court. – Reuters UN rights office spokesperson Liz Throssell told a press briefing that at least 1,853 people have died in custody since the coup, including 88 children. “Many of these individuals have been verified as dying after being subjected to abusive interrogation, other ill-treatment in detention or denial of access to adequate health care,” she said.

GENEVA: military government has ramped up killings and arrests in an apparent bid to silence opponents and recruit soldiers in an escalating conflict, with tens of thousands detained since a 2021 coup, a UN report said on Tuesday. The military came to power in February 2021 after deposing the Myanmar’s

Volunteers searching for stranded people yesterday in Taungnoo city, Myanmar. – REUTERSPIC

Six million children affected by Yagi disaster: Unicef

BANGKOK: Deadly floods and landslides triggered by Typhoon Yagi have affected nearly six million children across southeast Asia, the UN said yesterday, as the death toll from the disaster rose. Yagi brought powerful winds and torrential rainfall to Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar when it swept across the region almost two weeks ago. Thailand reported three more deaths yesterday, taking the toll in the kingdom to 18, with a total of 537

violated any regulations. If proven to have improperly received gifts as a son of a state official, Kaesang must repay the cost of taking the private jet to his destination. Kaesang had initially planned to fly to the US on Aug 20 on a commercial flight, but ended up boarding the private plane of a friend who was also travelling to the same destination,said his spokesperson Francine Widjojo. – Reuters marginalised communities into deeper crisis”. The World Food Programme said yesterday it would launch an emergency response in Myanmar this week, distributing a one-month ration of emergency food to up to half a million people. Humanitarian hazards affect children disproportionately in East Asia and the Pacific, where they are six times more likely than their grandparents to be affected, according to Unicef. – AFP

In Vietnam, some three million people are facing the risk of disease due to a lack of safe drinking water and sanitation, Unicef said. Almost 400,000 people have been forced from their homes by floods in Myanmar, piling misery on a population already struggling with more than three years of war between the military and armed groups opposed to its rule. Yagi worsened an “already dire humanitarian situation” in Myanmar, said Unicef, and “pushed already

fatalities now confirmed across the region. Six million children have been affected by Yagi , UN children’s agency Unicef said in a statement, with access to clean water, education, healthcare, food and shelter all compromised. “The most vulnerable children and families are facing the most devastating consequences of the destruction left behind by Yagi ,” said Unicef regional director for East Asia and Pacific June Kunugi.

Jokowi’s son visits anti-graft body over private jet use JAKARTA: The son of Indonesian President Joko Widodo visited the country’s anti-corruption agency on Tuesday to explain his recent use of a private jet, telling reporters after the meeting that he denied all allegations of misconduct. “I hitchhiked on the plane of my friend,” he said, after voluntarily meeting anti-graft investigators. “I came here not because of an invitation, or being summoned but of my own initiative.” following the backlash. Jokowi, as the outgoing president is known, has faced criticism for attempting to build his political dynasty before leaving office next month. His eldest son, Gibran

News of Kaesang and his wife’s trip to the United States aboard a private jet last month came days after nationwide protests against a proposed law that would have allowed Kaesang, 29, to run in regional elections. The parliament retracted the plan

Rakabuming Raka, 36, was elected as vice-president in February and will be inaugurated on Oct 20. A top official from the anti-graft body Pahala Nainggolan said the agency would determine within the next week whether Kaesang had

The luxurious lifestyle of the president’s youngest son Kaesang Pangarep, as shared by his wife in social media posts, has recently sparked anger in Indonesia. But on Tuesday, Kaesang downplayed the uproar.