Freedom of expression on trial in Thailand – ISN
March 10th, 2011
Thailand’s ranking as a place where the public and press can freely express information and opinion has nosedived in recent years, as the conflict between the country’s constitutionally-enshrined freedom of expression and other apparently contradictory laws has come to a head.
Chiranuch Premchaiporn outside Bangkok’s Criminal Court last Friday, after receiving flowers from a well-wisher (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
By Simon Roughneen in Bangkok for ISN Insights
A number of high-profile cases alleging insults against the Thai monarchy and breaches of the country’s 2007 Computer Crimes Act have put the spotlight on freedom of expression in Thailand, and the role of the courts in assessing these matters. Since the military coup in September 2006, Thailand’s ranking in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index has dropped from 107 in 2005, the year before the country’s last military coup, to 153 in 2010.
From web-boards to courtrooms
In mid-February, the case of Chiranuch Premchaiporn, head of the news site Prachatai – a sort-of Thai version of the Huffington Post – was postponed until September, as the slower-than-expected hearings process meant the case would delay other trials on the judge’s schedule.
Chiranuch has not been accused of personally saying anything negative about the monarchy. Ten anonymous comments, long-since removed from the Prachatai web-board, have been singled out by state prosecutors as insulting the monarchy. If found guilty of the charges, Chiranuch faces a possible five decade sentence. (more…)
Political Burlesque Follows Economic Chaos in Ireland – ISN
February 3rd, 2011
Ireland’s economy has shrunk by over 20 percent since the Celtic Tiger’s heyday, and a February 25 election could see the country’s political map redrawn.
For the birds? Ireland's politicians have come under relentless attack in recent months. (Photo, Dublin city centre Jan 2001, taken by Simon Roughneen)
The echo-chamber that is Irish political punditry has seen an over-used acronym get another airing in the past few weeks: “GUBU”, coined by the late Conor Cruise O’Brien, former UN diplomat, Irish Government Minister and editor of The Observer, stands for “Grotesque, Unbelievable, Bizarre and Unprecedented”. Whenever something controversial or unusual takes place in Irish politics, GUBU is the shorthand of choice, irrespective of hyperbole or appropriateness. (more…)
Chinese walls in Hong Kong – ISN
November 16th, 2010
In the run-up to the Communist Party plenum which ended 18 October, there was much anticipation that the authoritarian-ruled economic giant would announce some new political departure – especially after Prime Minister Wen Jiabao intimated in the weeks leading up to the conference that some reform might be necessary to maintain the ruling party’s legitimacy. Wen told CNN in a 7 October interview that China “should not only let people have freedom of speech” but “must create conditions to let them criticize the work of the government.”
Hong Kong's skyline at night (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
These astonishing comments perhaps generated more enthusiasm than was appropriate, and for China watchers the eventual conference outcome was a disappointment – though perhaps no surprise given the government’s shrill reaction to the awarding of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to jailed dissident Lia Xiaobo, whom Beijing regards as a criminal. (more…)
O Brother, there art thou – ISN
September 14th, 2010
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/Security-Watch/Detail/?lng=en&id=121101
Junta leader comes back happy from China after getting backing for his November election and a pledge from Beijing to snub ethnic militias inside Burma
“May I propose a toast for the long-lasting Sino-Myanmar Pauk-phaw friendship”. So said Li Jinjun, China’s Ambassador to Myanmar, or Burma, speaking at an official reception in Rangoon five years ago.
Meaning ‘brother’ in Burmese, the wording is a hat-tip to the growing commercial and strategic ties between the two countries – links which Burmese opposition leaders and exiles have slammed for helping maintain an oppressive status quo in Burma, which is scheduled to hold elections on November 7. The real meaning of Pauk-phaw was underlined last week with the visit of Burma’s junta leader Sen. Gen. Than Shwe to China, marking the 60th anniversary of bilateral relations between the two countries, where once again both sides saluted their pauk-phaw relationship
More than oil and gas
China is Burma’s third-biggest trade partner after Thailand and Singapore. Going by official Chinese statistics, the two countries did business worth US$2.9 billion in 2009. However illicit or unreported commerce likely means that the given numbers underestimate the real scale of business across the 2,200 kilometer land border.
Chinese investment in Burma, focusing on the country’s lush natural resources, vastly outweighs bilateral trade. This year alone Chinese companies have sunk over US$8 billion in Burma, mainly in gas, oil and hydropower ventures. Beijing sees Burma as vital to securing energy supplies, as its economy overtakes Japan’s to become the second largest in the world.
However resource extraction is just part of the picture. (more…)
US and Vietnam tighten the bond – ISN
August 17th, 2010
One-time enemies, the US and Vietnam are developing new-found links as both countries take stock of China’s rise.
Just over fifteen years after the US and Vietnam normalised relations marred by war, the naval destroyer USS John S. McCain docked in Da Nang last week to mark the anniversary. The ship is named after the grandfather of 2008 US presidential candidate John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam. Commanding officer Jeffrey Kim said that “over the last 15 years, we’ve established trust, a mutual respect, and I know that, in the coming years, our friendship and relationship will continue to become better.”
According to a Vietnamese scholar who requested anonymity, the tighter relations are seen as a good thing inside the country. “Vietnamese view the US rather positive as the war is becoming history in the memory of a new generation”, he said in an email.
Trading off civil liberties?
From a low base, US-Vietnam relations have grown during the decade-and-a-half since normalisation, with both Presidents Clinton and Bush II visiting Vietnam while in office. However, human rights activists have criticised what seems to be a bipartisan drive in Washington to develop ties with the one-party state. (more…)
Two Reminders From Indonesia – ISN
August 12th, 2010
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/Security-Watch/Detail/?lng=en&id=120027
While Indonesia has made notable strides in the twelve years since the fall of the Suharto dictatorship, radical ideology and elitist cronyism could stall further progress
It is sometimes said that Indonesia is the most important country that the world knows least about. It might be clichéd to remind that the country is “the world’s largest Muslim-majority democracy”, but in truth the world’s fourth-biggest country remains little-known relative to its size.
Earlier this week came two reminders why this knowledge deficit probably needs addressing. Former Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leader Abu Bakr Basyir was arrested on Monday for allegedly backing an al-Qaeda linked training camp in the country, with this coming after a series of terrorist-related shoot-outs and arrests in recent months. Almost simultaneously, Jim O’Neill, the economist who coined the term BRICs to categorise the large emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China, said that Indonesia, along with Turkey, would likely emerge next as a major global economic player. (more…)
Cambodia’s Teflon Tribunal – ISN
July 27th, 2010
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/Security-Watch/Detail/?lng=en&id=119423
The first conviction against one of the lead perpetrators of mass murder under the Khmer Rouge was issued Monday, but questions remain about the tribunal process.
The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) , a hybrid UN-Cambodian war crimes tribunal sentenced ‘Comrade Duch’, a former Khmer Rouge chief jailer and executioner to 35 years in prison Monday for overseeing the deaths of thousands of people in the gristly ‘S-21′ detention and torture center during the height of the Pol Pot regime. An estimated 1.7 million people, a quarter of the country’s population, were killed during the Communist Khmer Rouge era, as Pol Pot and his lieutenants sought to return the country to ‘Year Zero’, abolishing money and property and herding people out of cities and into massive labour camps. Across the country, an estimated 5 million survivors of the Khmer Rouge era remain, alongside thousands of Khmer Rouge officers and footsoldiers.
Relatives of victims wept as the verdict was handed out, but for some, the catharsis turned to anger and disappointment as it became apparent that Kaing Guek Eav, to give his real name, may serve no more than 18-19 years, by which time he will be 85-86 years old. (more…)
No textual healing for Thailand – ISN
July 21st, 2010
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/Security-Watch/Detail/?lng=en&id=119092
Two months after Thailand’s army routed the anti-Government redshirt protest movement from central Bangkok, sixteen provinces including Bangkok remain under emergency law. Thai media carried Government claims that sabotage and political assassinations remained possible, as the now-dormant redshirt movement goes underground.
The retention of emergency law will be reviewed by the Government on a week-by-week, district-by-district basis. Nonetheless, keeping emergency powers has come under fire. William Burns, the third most senior official in the US State Dept. spoke at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University on July 16, saying that the retention of emergency powers “not healthy for a democratic system”
Thailand’s already-shaky press freedom is coming under renewed pressure. According to the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), 26 more radio stations were recently closed by authorities using the emergency powers. Many of these are linked to the redshirts and stand accused of fomenting protestors to come to Bangkok to take part in the March 12-May 19 rallies, which turned violent on April 10 when black-clad ‘ronin’ seemingly-allied to the protestors fought with Thai troops near one Bangkok’s best-known backpacker haunts. (more…)
Both sides of the wall – ISN
June 24th, 2010
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/Security-Watch/Detail/?lng=en&id=117949
Simon Roughneen in Ramallah – It might be unwitting irony, but the coffee-shop overlooking central Ramallah tips its hat to an American consumer icon, in what might otherwise be deemed an outpost of anti-Americanism.
Inside Stars and Bucks, Ramallah. (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
Stars and Bucks cafe in downtown Ramallah is branded with almost the same colour scheme as the global chain, a hue pretty-close to Islamic green. Hummus and labaneh are on the menu should the customer want a more “authentic” experience than just downing a Middle East macchiato. Inside a mixture of western and Arabic-dressed women kept to their own tables, appearing inscrutable behind outsized sunglasses. Some men lounged on sofas, puffing on shishas while watching the Portugal-North Korea World Cup mismatch. (more…)
Thailand, Reconciled to Division? – ISN
June 8th, 2010
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/Security-Watch/Detail/?lng=en&id=117160
A government peace plan is viewed with skepticism by opposition leaders as the fallout from recent political violence continues.
By Simon Roughneen in Bangkok for ISN Security Watch
Redshirt leaders give press statement at 6pm on May 17, 3 hours after Government deadline for redshirts to vacate rally area. Speaker Nattawut Saikua is one of the leaders now facing terrorism charges(Photo: Simon Roughneen)
Three weeks after a violent conclusion to a two-month political protest in downtown Bangkok, the Thai government says it wants to implement a five-point reconciliation plan, which Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajjiva believes will address some of the grievances anti-Government redshirts say motivated their mass rally in the capital.
The plan was first proposed on 3 May, and while leaders initially welcomed it as “quite constructive,” they turned it down in the end. (more…)
