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FW: AudioNow & Radio Free Asia Launch Major Digital Initiative

by Rohit Mahajan

From: AudioNow [mailto:elan@audionow.ccsend.com] On Behalf Of AudioNow Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2016 2:50 PM To: mahajanr(a)rfa.org Subject: AudioNow & Radio Free Asia Launch Major Digital Initiative Having trouble viewing this email? Click here <http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1102254001789&ca=f7ae8d26-…> <http://r20.rs6.net/on.jsp?a=1102254001789&r=3&c=88b98e30-07f6-11e6-a610-d4a…> News From AudioNow <https://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs122/1102254001789/img/162.png?ver=1…> & National Television Authority <https://mlsvc01-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/d7e4573a001/c2f57249-2aa8-4d29-86e9-6…> Radio Free Asia Launches Major Digital Initiative With Multilingual Audio Mobile Streamer App by AudioNow® December 8, 2016 - Washington, D.C. Radio Free Asia, a private, nonprofit multimedia news corporation broadcasting in nine East Asian languages, and AudioNow®, the leading mobile platform for broadcasters, today announce a new state-of-the art mobile app to expand the reach of RFA’s global audio content, RFA Mobile Streamer. Available here: <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001jNTq7DjtwPHBFd1BgGYjQvbsGWQaC8KuH-MoAg90BOxF…> Download the app on the Google Play store <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001jNTq7DjtwPHBFd1BgGYjQvbsGWQaC8KuH-MoAg90BOxF…> Download the app on the iTunes store The centerpiece of the AudioNow®-produced app is RFA’s award-winning investigative brand of domestic journalism via its audio programs, serving audiences in six Asian countries who otherwise lack access to reliable news and information. In-language programming by RFA Cantonese, Khmer (Cambodian), Korean, Lao, Mandarin, Myanmar, Tibetan, Uyghur, and Vietnamese is streamlined for an “audio-only” experience, where listeners can choose how to hear favorite programs over voice or data plans. “RFA’s mission is to bring reliable, accurate news and information to people living in closed Asian countries,” said Rohit Mahajan, RFA’s Director of Public Affairs and Digital Strategy. “This app, which RFA is proud to launch with AudioNow®, provides a great way for people in Asia to access RFA’s programming and audio content through their mobile phones and devices.” Headquartered in Washington, D.C. since 2008, AudioNow® has become the leading developer of innovative, in-language apps for global and local broadcasters designed around listener engagement unique to communities and broadcaster genres. App Splashscreen <https://mlsvc01-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/d7e4573a001/62610337-b447-4fdb-bf42-7…> App Screenshot <https://mlsvc01-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/d7e4573a001/efb14cd1-c8ba-4366-8a69-2…> RFA Mobile Streamer includes features that enable users to: * Listen to dozens of radio news programs in all of RFA's nine languages on demand; * Choose between listening to audio over your phone cellular connection or data connection to save money and bandwidth; * Save on data costs with the Low-Bandwidth Mode in the settings; * Share audio content by e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and other social media services; * Download podcasts, allowing listeners to access programs offline; and * Users will soon be able to submit their citizen journalist content to RFA (allowing users to send text, photos, audio files, or video –- giving access to content in a variety of forms). This specific feature will be available in the upcoming weeks. In addition to RFA, AudioNow® app partners include VOA, BBC, ESPN 980, WTOP, Radio America, Multimedios, CCTV, Radio Television Caraibes, United Nations, and apps in over 50 languages. For more information, contact Rebecca Walker at: Rebecca.walker(a)audionow.com About Radio Free Asia Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. About AudioNow® & AudioNow Digital AudioNow®, based in Washington, DC, USA, is the leading in-language mobile distribution platform in the world. With broadcast partners on every continent, AudioNow® extends the reach of radio by connecting mobile listeners to their favorite radio stations in two ways: through its acclaimed Call-to-Listen™ system, and through our industry-leading mobile apps. AudioNow® serves more than 5,000 radio broadcast partners around the world, broadcasting radio by phone in over 100+ languages, to over 7 million unique listeners across 140+ nationalities and ethnic groups. AudioNow® partners include global leaders such as the United Nations, BBC, RFI, Voice of America, Entravision, talkSPORT, C-SPAN and IMG College. Our platform connects users to breaking news, sports, faith, talk, and much more, resulting in 4 billion minutes of listening time annually. Apps from AudioNow® Digital are designed for a “two-way” engagement experience between the station and its audience. Features include: video programming; live and recorded content; one-touch call-to-listen; user control of bandwidth size to manage data costs; sharing through social media; “Radio Reporter” for on-the-ground reporting; push notifications, and next generation advertising integrating external businesses including money transfer services.. <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001jNTq7DjtwPHBFd1BgGYjQvbsGWQaC8KuH-MoAg90BOxF…> Facebook: www.facebook.com/AudioNow <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001jNTq7DjtwPHBFd1BgGYjQvbsGWQaC8KuH-MoAg90BOxF…> Website: www.audionow.com <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001jNTq7DjtwPHBFd1BgGYjQvbsGWQaC8KuH-MoAg90BOxF…> Twitter: twitter.com/AudioNowUS AudioNow 1101 17th St. NW Suite 250 Washington, DC 20036 <https://imgssl.constantcontact.com/letters/images/sys/S.gif> Alpine AudioNow LLC, 1930 Isaac Newton Square, Reston, VA 20190 <https://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&m=001m6o5RA_BR29wC-upegT42w%3D%…> SafeUnsubscribe™ mahajanr(a)rfa.org <http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?llr=6ttkxrcab&m=1102254001789&ea=…> Forward email | <https://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=oo&m=001m6o5RA_BR29wC-upegT42w%3D%…> Update Profile | <http://www.constantcontact.com/legal/service-provider?cc=about-service-prov…> About our service provider Sent by <mailto:rebecca.walker@audionow.com> rebecca.walker(a)audionow.com in collaboration with <http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?cc=custom01> Constant Contact <http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?cc=custom01> Try it free today <https://imgssl.constantcontact.com/letters/images/sys/S.gif>

8 years, 1 month

RFA Breaking News: Tibetan Self-Immolates in China’s Gansu Province

by Paul Eckert

Tibetan Self-Immolates in China’s Gansu Province Dec. 8, 2016 - A Tibetan living in northwestern China’s Gansu province self-immolated on Thursday in the first such protest in Tibetan areas of China since May, Tibetan sources say. The protest took place at about 7:00 p.m. local time on a main road leading from the Machu (in Chinese, Maqu) county center to the Machu Bridge, a local source told RFA’s Tibetan Service. “Many who saw the protest said the self-immolator was praying to [exiled spiritual leader] the Dalai Lama,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Not long after, Chinese police arrived and took the self-immolator away,” the source said. No details on the protester’s identity or condition were immediately available. The protest brings to 146 the number of self-immolations by Tibetans living in China since the wave of fiery protests began in 2009. Most protests feature demands for Tibetan freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from India, where he has lived since escaping Tibet during a failed national uprising in 1959. Reported by RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney. View this s tory online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/burns-12082016120643.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news , information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA ’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org . To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at mahajanr(a)rfa.org .

8 years, 1 month

Radio Free Asia Launches 'A River in Peril: The Mekong Under China's Control'

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 6, 2016 Contact: Rohit Mahajan 202 530 4976 mahajanr(a)rfa.org Radio Free Asia Launches 'A River in Peril: The Mekong Under China's Control' Project Investigates Dams, Development, through Eyes, Experiences of People in Six Countries cid:image003.jpg@01D24FB4.6531DD40WASHINGTON - Radio Free Asia <http://www.rfa.org/english/> (RFA) today launched a multimedia investigative web series examining the impact of China's rapid development on the Mekong River and the communities downstream. "A River in Peril: The Mekong Under China <http://www.rfa.org/english/news/special/riverinperil/> 's Control" tells the story of Southeast Asia's longest river, on which more than 60 million depend for their food, drinking water, and livelihoods. Relating personal accounts from people of all walks of life from six countries in addition to analysis by some the world's foremost authorities on the Mekong, the project follows on RFA's award-winning 2009 web series "The Mekong Diaries <http://www.rfa.org/english/multimedia/MekongProject/mekongVideo-02272013110 500.html> ," which chronicled the early stages of the major waterway's damming. "This is an underreported story," said Dan Southerland, the chief editor of RFA's six-part series of blogs and photos, as well as a forthcoming e-book on the plight of the Mekong. "I call it the slow death of a river, which has had an untold effect on the many millions who rely on the Mekong's health and viability." The river's slowly developing crisis rarely gains much attention from mainstream Western media or the state-controlled press in several Southeast Asian countries. This is partly because of a lack of transparency from regional governments and developers over plans by China, Laos, and Cambodia to build more dams. RFA revisited many locations from its 2009 series in China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, interviewing people who have both witnessed and endured the drastic changes since then. Among those interviewed were Laotian villagers who complain that their government tells them little about the impact of dams built in Laos. "A River in Peril" explores these stories and more in reporting on the dire environmental, health, and commercial consequences that have been felt by numerous communities and individuals living along the river as a result of Chinese industrial development and dam building. People featured in the project's blog series include Cambodian villagers who demonstrate against their government and block bulldozers sent in to destroy their village and make way for a new dam; a Thai teacher who organizes villagers to stand up against Chinese-backed enterprises that pollute the villagers' drinking water; and farmers and fishermen in Vietnam's heavily populated Mekong Delta who complain that upstream dams have blocked the sediment needed to refresh their soil and riverbanks. Offering expert commentary are Brian Eyler, Southeast Asia Director at the Stimson Center; Dr. Ian Baird of the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Dr. Pham Tuan Phan, Chief Executive Officer of the Mekong River Commission. # # # Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA's broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to "seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Rohit Mahajan | Radio Free Asia | Director of Public Affairs and Digital Strategy <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org | O: 202.530.4976 | M: 202.489.8021

8 years, 1 month

RFA Breaking News - China Expels Nine Uyghur Children From Soccer Talent Program

by Paul Eckert

China Expels Nine Uyghur Children From Soccer Talent Program Oct. 14, 2016 - Authorities in the northern Chinese province of Hebei have ordered a regional soccer club to expel nine youth trainees of Uyghur ethnicity, citing "counterterrorism" concerns, leaving them potentially with nowhere to go, RFA has learned. Hengshui Power Football Club received applications for training contracts from promising youngsters from across China following a nationwide recruitment drive, among them nine members of the mostly Muslim, Turkic-speaking Uyghur group, who won places on the scheme. Trainees are given the opportunity to enter the club's intensive soccer training program at the same time as completing their education, and the youngsters had already been enrolled in a local school since the start of the academic year. "These kids are very talented, and the club wanted to train them up properly," a Xinjiang-based coach told RFA. "But the local state security police wouldn't allow the club to take on these children from Xinjiang, and that they would have to go home." "They weren't to be allowed to attend school here," he said. The police decree had caused anger and consternation at the club, sources close to the story said, as even the local middle school had offered the boys places to study, and the boys had won the official support of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission in Beijing. But state security police vetoed the plan. Four of the children have already left Hengshui, but five others remain in their dormitories in the hope of pursuing their dream of becoming soccer stars, the coach said. "We are very shocked and very angry about this, because we are citizens of China, it says so on our ID cards," he said. "We are very patriotic, but we just grew up somewhere different and we look a bit different, is all." "We are Chinese too. Maybe you can subject adults to such controls, but what is there to fear from children?" he said. "I can't get my head around it." Far worse consequences The ban has left the children facing potentially far worse consequences, too, as their hukou, or household registrations, were moved to Hebei after they signed the contract with the club and the middle school, the coach said. This means they are no longer eligible for enrollment in schools back in Xinjiang, as the hukou system is the basis for access to all government services. The coach said it would be impossible to find similar training opportunities for the children closer to home. "There are far more opportunities in majority Han Chinese areas of China, including better teaching and more funding," he said. "Soccer is much better developed there than in Xinjiang." Repeated calls to the Hengshui Power Football Club rang unanswered during office hours on Thursday and Friday. A second coach close to the story told RFA that the reason for the police decision was linked to China's antiterrorism campaign. But he said the boys were likely to be negatively affected by being expelled from the soccer training program. "Everyone says that Chinese soccer is going to depend on talent from Xinjiang in future," the coach said. "Now they're putting pointless obstacles in the way of that." "I really hope that the relevant departments take note of what is happening here, and help out these future national heroes." Exaggerated threats While China blames Uyghur extremists for a string of violent attacks and clashes in recent years, critics say Beijing has exaggerated the threat from the Uyghurs, and that repressive domestic policies are responsible for violence that has left hundreds dead since 2009. China has vowed to crack down on what it calls religious extremism in Xinjiang, and regularly conducts "strike hard” campaigns including random, nighttime police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people, including clothing and personal appearance. Anhui-based rights activist Shen Liangqing said ethnic tensions remain high in China, blaming flawed policies in Beijing. "The main reason for this is that the [ruling] Chinese Communist Party insists on copying Russia's approach to ethnic conflict," Shen said. "This sort of overreaction on the part of the authorities is just going to make ethnic tensions even worse." "Right now, Uyghurs aren't allowed to work, study or travel freely through the rest of China, and now they are interfering with the training of Uyghur youths," he said. "This sort of hyper-vigilant paranoia goes far beyond normal counter-terrorism measures, and it will make Uyghurs feel insulted and discriminated against," he said. Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie. View this s tory online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/china-expels-nine-uyghur-children-fro… Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news , information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA ’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org . To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at mahajanr(a)rfa.org .

8 years, 3 months

RFA Breaking News: Bomb Blast Kills County Police Chief in Xinjiang's Hotan

by Paul Eckert

Bomb Blast Kills County Police Chief in Xinjiang's Hotan Sept. 18, 2016 - A county police chief was killed and three officers are believed to have died in China's restive region of Xinjiang on Saturday when a bomb exploded in a house they were searching, local police told RFA's Uyghur Service. The police were raiding homes in a village in Guma (In Chinese, Pishan) County of Hotan (Hetian) Prefecture when a bomb exploded in the basement of a house they were searching that belonged to a family suspected of radical behavior, police from neighboring districts told RFA. "What I know is that Gheyret Mamut was leading a group of four officers in a house-to-house search of No.23 Village of Kokterek Township. The house they were searching belonged to a blacklisted family and there was nobody in the house," said Turup Abbas, deputy chief of Guma County Police Department. "When they entered the cellar at the center of the house, suddenly a bomb exploded, and Gheyret Mamut died on the spot. Three of the officers were heavily injured," said Turup Abbas. "I am not sure whether the three wounded policemen taken to the hospital are alive or dead. There has been no official announcement issued yet of a death toll," he added. A second police officer in Muji told RFA that Gheyret Mamut, 45, was "among the dead" and described the same sequence of events leading to the explosion. "According to an oral announcement by our station chief, a group of police in Kokterek Township was conducting house-to-house searches in the village, and one or a bunch of homemade bombs exploded when they were checking the cellar of the house," said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Don't spread rumors A farmer from nearby No. 21 Village of Kokterek Township told RFA he attended a meeting early on Sunday at which the village Communist Party secretary discussed the explosion and urged villagers not to talk about it. "We were just warned not to say much about the incident, to avoid spreading rumors, to advise youth not to challenge the government and to call the police if strangers appear in the village," said the farmer. "From the neighbors I heard that the police chief died in the cellar, and the three police officers were dead when they arrived at the hospital," the farmer added. Memet Eli, a police officer in Kokterek Township, said he did not know details about the explosion, but was familiar with the house where it took place and had interrogated a couple that lived there but did not remember their names. "The house belonged to the owner of a fast-food restaurant in Guma County that is located in front of a teachers college," he told RFA. "I have gone there several times to bring him to the police station for interrogation. I only remember that he has a four-year-old child and that he and his wife were about 30 years old and were blacklisted because of signs of extremism in their life," said Memet Eli. The family's fate and whereabouts were unknown. 'Emergency situation' The farmer from No. 21 Village said, however: "Some people are saying that there was no one in the house other than police when the bombs exploded, but other people say the owner and his friends were hiding in the cellar when the police entered." Meanwhile, an officer from Guma's neighboring Qarghiliq (Yecheng) County said his district was "under an emergency situation now." "In order to prevent potential attacks or incidents, most of our officers are patrolling streets or guarding sensitive places like government buildings, or Han immigrant resident complexes," said the officer. Kokterek Township was the hometown of the perpetrators of a May 2014bombing at a market in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi that killed 43 people, including the four attackers. China has vowed to crack down on what it calls religious extremism in Xinjiang, and regularly conducts "strike hard" campaigns including police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people, including videos and other material. While China blames Uyghur extremists for terrorist attacks, experts outside China say Beijing has exaggerated the threat from the Uyghurs and that repressive domestic policies are responsible for an upsurge in violence there that has left hundreds dead since 2009. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA's Uyghur Service. Translated by Mamatjan Juma. Written in English by Paul Eckert. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/uyghur-hotan-09182016105401.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA's broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to "seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

8 years, 3 months

RFA e-Book by Han Dongfang Uncovers 'Dark Side of China's Economic Rise,' Proposes a Way Out

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 8, 2016 Contact: Rohit Mahajan 202 530 4976 <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org Radio Free Asia e-Book by Labor Advocate Han Dongfang Uncovers 'Dark Side of China's Economic Rise,' Proposes a Way Out Workers interviewed share personal accounts of falling victim to unfair system WASHINGTON - Radio Free Asia (RFA) published an e-book today that highlights the struggles and challenges faced by China's workers during the country's dramatic economic rise. "China's Workers Wronged," available for a free download on RFA's website <http://www.rfa.org/english/bookshelf> , is based on 88 interviews with Chinese workers conducted in recent years by China Labor Bulletin Executive Director Han Dongfang for RFA. "China's workers' struggles are an underreported story that deserves more attention," said Dan Southerland, RFA's Executive Editor. "Han Dongfang brings the dark side of China's economic rise to light." "With this e-book, RFA makes available to our audiences an important, in-depth investigation of a story so often overlooked." While the rise of China as a global economic powerhouse has been well documented, less well known is how ordinary workers reaped few rewards during this period of astounding growth. Their side of the story is subject to censorship in the Chinese state media and is often underreported in Western media. Roughly half of Han's interviewees were victims of the injuries or illness endemic among coal miners, construction workers and others whose local governments deny them the benefits that are owed to them. Some interviewees tell of being cheated out of their wages or arbitrarily reassigned to jobs with lower pay and poorer working conditions. Some are simply fired without compensation. Seeking justice through the court system, they often hit a stone wall. As Han explains in the foreword to his book, China's official trade union is "in league with the Communist Party and the factory bosses, and does nothing to represent the workers." Many of these stories are harrowing, but are also inspiring. The book closes with several encouraging examples of how workers have come together to defend their legal rights and push for better pay and working conditions. "Going forward," states Han, "the key task for China's workers is to reclaim the trade union and make it an effective bulwark against employer abuses." Based in Hong Kong, Han Dongfang has been an advocate for workers' rights in China for more than two decades. He first came to international prominence during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 when, as a railway worker, he helped set up China's first independent trade union, the Beijing Autonomous Workers' Federation. In 1993, he was expelled to Hong Kong, where the following year he set up the China Labor Bulletin to promote labor rights in mainland China. He also has his own radio talk show on Radio Free Asia in which he conducts regular interviews with Chinese workers and farmers. # # # Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA's broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to "seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Rohit Mahajan | Radio Free Asia | Director of Public Affairs and Digital Strategy <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org | O: 202.530.4976 | M: 202.489.8021

8 years, 4 months

RFA Breaking News: Tibetan Political Prisoner Who Opposed ‘Patriotic Reeducation Campaign’ Dies

by Paul Eckert

Tibetan Political Prisoner Who Opposed ‘Patriotic Reeducation Campaign’ Dies Aug. 9, 2016 - A Tibetan political prisoner and monk who was jailed by authorities for five years for refusing to participate in a "patriotic reeducation campaign" died on Monday in western China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, RFA has learned. Khenrab Tharchin, who was about 40 years old when he passed away, was jailed in 2008 and had suffered beatings and torture while in prison, said a Tibetan source in Nepal. He was released in 2013 because of poor health, and his health continued to deteriorate thereafter, he said. “His relatives took him to the hospital, but he died on the way there,” the source said. Tharchin hailed from Drushe village, Shelkar township, in Dingri county of Shigatse (Xigaze) prefecture in southwestern Tibet. At the time of his arrest in May 2008, he was one of several monks at Dingri Shelkar Choedhe monastery who opposed a patriotic reeducation campaign imposed upon them by local Chinese authorities, the source said. Authorities began conducting new patriotic reeducation campaigns in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and nunneries in April 2008 following unrest a month earlier that spread across region as a result of protests that started in the Tibetan capital Lhasa and led to rioting, burning, looting, and ethnic killing. The campaigns were conducted in an effort to control religious practices, suppress support for exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, and quash notions of independence or genuine autonomy for Tibet. Under the reeducation program, work teams temporarily moved into religious institutions and provided instruction on the Chinese government’s official version of Tibet's history as well as religious policy and the law. Monks and nuns were required to comply or risk arrest or expulsion. Open opposition When Tharchin was arrested, he was 32 years old and a member of the monastery’s democratic management committee set up by Chinese authorities to ensure that the monks did not disrupt social order through protests or self-immolations, according to an article on the Tibetan news site Phayul.com on June 1, 2008. Tharchin stood up while the reeducation campaign was in session, openly opposed it and told the visiting work team that he could not denounce the Dalai Lama as required under the campaign, the article said. Eleven other monks also stood up and opposed the campaign. That night, Chinese security forces raided Dingri Shelkar monastery and arrested the 12 monks, taking them to unknown locations, the article said. It later came to be known that authorities had sentenced three of the monks to 18 months in prison and had handed Tharchin a five-year sentence, the Tibetan source said. Tharchin was first detained at a facility in Shigatse but later moved to Chushul (Qushui) prison on the outskirts of Lhasa. Reported by Sangye Dorjee for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. View this s tory online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/tibetan-political-prisoner-who-oppose… Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news , information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA ’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org . To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at mahajanr(a)rfa.org .

8 years, 5 months

RFA Breaking News: Shan State Villagers Arrested by Myanmar Military Turn Up Dead Near Lashio

by Paul Eckert

Shan State Villagers Arrested by Myanmar Military Turn Up Dead Near Lashio June 30, 2016 - Five days after the Myanmar army arrested three ethnic Palaung men and 11 Shan villagers working in a cornfield near Lashio township in conflict-ridden northern Shan state, five of them turned up in shallow graves along with two other identified locals on Thursday, RFA’s Myanmar Service has learned. Government soldiers detained the six women and five men on June 25 in Long Mon village near the sub-township of Mong Yaw where fighting erupted that day between the military and armed ethnic soldiers. They later released all the women and three of the men, local villagers told RFA. “They arrested and took us away, and later separated us along the way,” one of the released women told RFA through an interpreter. “We had to keep our heads down, and we were not allowed to look at their faces. Those who were released notified lawmakers and civil society organizations (CSOs) about what had happened to them, villagers said. They also reported the incident to local police, who declined to look into the incident since the powerful Myanmar military was involved, they said. The police declined to provide information to CSOs and reporters who inquired about the incident. The same day that soldiers detained the villagers, police arrested three Palaung men who arrived at the cornfield on motorbikes to pick up relatives who were working there, residents said. Local residents reported to the CSOs that they had heard gunshots in the vicinity, said Than Than Aye, chairwoman of northern Shan state’s CSO Network who went to the area. “The shooting occurred around 3.30 p.m.,” said one of released men. “We are sure it was the Myanmar army. During the interrogation, they asked us, ‘Did you see the rebels? Did you see armed men?’ We told them we hadn’t.” Wait until morning Some of the victims' relatives asked village authorities to do something, but they said they could do nothing,” said Mya Yin, the aunt of one of the Palaung victims who was killed. “They thought the soldiers might beat them while they are angry, so they told us to wait until the next morning," she said. Five days later, villagers found seven corpses in three shallow graves—the corpses of the three men who had been on motorbikes in one, the bodies of two men from the cornfield in the second, and the bodies of an unidentified man and woman who had passed along the road beside the cornfield in the third. “We were told that three bodies were interred in a hole in the ground, and two others in another hole,” said Than Than Aye, adding that locals said the victims were members of the Palaung and Shan ethnic groups. “Their hands were tied behind their backs,” she told RFA. “We saw the rope they were tied with near their bodies.” “We saw two other bodies—a man and a woman who were interred together in a hole on the opposite side of the road, but we haven’t yet identified who they are,” Than Than Aye said. “As a CSO, we object to and condemn any killings or executions by any group," she said. "We cannot accept any armed groups killing unarmed civilians.” Villagers watch while corpses are removed from shallow graves in Long Mon village of Mong Yaw subtownship in Myanmar's northern Shan state, June 30, 2016. Credit: RFA Soldiers open fire A Myanmar army unit from Lashio entered Long Mon village in about five trucks on June 25 and suddenly opened fire near the cornfields, injuring three female villagers who were taken to a hospital in Mong Yaw, Myanmar’s Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN) reported, citing a resident who requested anonymity. The troops then unloaded their guns and began stopping and questioning drivers who passed, shooting one man dead at the checkpoint, the report said. As farmers ran for cover, the army allegedly told them to line up by the side of the road for questioning and they took five into custody—Aik Hseng, 23; Aik Lod, 39; Aik Maung, 27; Sai Mon Awn, 17; and Sai Aik Maung, 23, it said. The source told SHAN that the army later denied arresting the villagers, though soldiers claimed to have released all of them. Of the ethnic armies that operate in the area, the Manpang Peoples Militia commanded by Bo Mon is active in and around Mong Yaw, according to SHAN. The Kachin Defense Army (KDA) People’s Militia led by Matu Naw, Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Shan State Army (SSA), and Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) are active about 30 miles outside the area. Human rights abuses Arbitrary detentions by soldiers in Shan state are nothing new. Unidentified gunmen abducted 50 men from four villages between Lashio and Namtu townships during a raid last Nov. 26. Clashes between Myanmar’s military and the ethnic Shan State Army-North (SSA-N) had frequently occurred in the area. Hostilities resumed between the army and the SSA-N early last October, forcing an estimated 10,000 people to flee their homes in the central part of Shan state. At the time, local civil society groups urged the international community to “break its silence on the war crimes” being committed by Myanmar government troops in Shan state with their repeated air and ground missile attacks on densely populated civilian areas, along with the shootings and rapes of villagers. Last week, officials prevented Yanghee Lee, the United Nations human rights envoy to Myanmar, from visiting areas of Shan state where fighting and human rights abuses have reportedly occurred, according to another SHAN report. Citing security reasons, they also prevented her from visiting conflict zones in northern Myanmar’s restive Kachin state where fighting is taking place. Lee had wanted to include the states on her 12-day mission to Myanmar, which ends Friday, to observe the situation of war refugees, especially in the aftermath of heavy fighting in Shan state between the Myanmar military and armed ethnic groups in May. However, she did meet with CSOs in Lashio and told them that she would thoroughly review reports of human rights violations submitted to her for a report she is compiling for the U.N., the SHAN report said. Reported by Kan Thar for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. View this s tory online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/shan-state-villagers-arrested-by-my… Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news , information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA ’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org . To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at mahajanr(a)rfa.org .

8 years, 6 months

RFA Breaking News: Lao Police Publicly Confirm Arrest of Trio of Workers For Criticizing State

by Paul Eckert

Lao Police Publicly Confirm Arrest of Trio of Workers For Criticizing State May 27, 2016 - Lao police have publicly acknowledged that the arrest of three Lao workers who returned home from Thailand to renew their passports for the offense of criticizing the government and the ruling communist party via social media while abroad. Somphone Phimmasone, 29, his girlfriend Lod Thammasong, 30, and Soukane Chaithad, 32, disappeared after returning to Laos earlier this year to renew their passports, their family and friends told RFA’s Lao Service in a previous report. “Special police forces suppressed a group of bad people who have campaigned to accuse and condemn the direction of the state and party through Facebook,” the Ministry of Public Security and police announced on a state security television channel on Wednesday. “It’s true that the three of them were arrested,” a policeman who works at the TV channel told RFA’s Laos service on Friday. “They were at the press conference which was held only for the state security TV channel and newspaper yesterday,” he said. “Other media were not allowed to cover the event.” The security channel showed the three making what appeared to be public confessions. They apologized to the communist party, government, Lao people and their relatives for making the mistake of getting involved with the group that protested against the country’s policies. “For me, from now on I will improve myself, change my ideas, not go against the government and not be traitor to the country,” Somphone said. He also said that no authorities or agencies had threatened or coerced him into speaking to the press at the conference. “We admit our mistake,” he said, speaking on behalf of the other two at the end of the press conference. Apprehended for political campaigning Police arrested Somphone and Lod at her home at Navatai village of Nongbok district in central Laos’ Khammouane province on March 5, said a relative of the couple, who declined to be named, in an earlier report. Police initially told the couple’s relatives that the pair had been arrested for drug possession, but two weeks later the policeman in charge of the jail informed them that they had been arrested for political campaigning. Somphone and Lod were being held in the province’s Khamkhikai jail as of April, but later the police told their families that they had transferred the pair to the capital Vientiane for detention, the relative said. Soukane Chaitad disappeared on March 22 while he was renewing his passport at a police station in Savannakhet province, south of Khammouane, according to his wife who now works in Thailand. Police denied seeing him there, although a witness told his family that someone drove off with Soukane in a truck after he had arrived at the station, she said. While working in Thailand, the three strongly criticized the Lao government on social media for its human rights abuses and lack of democracy, sources told RFA in an earlier report. They and some friends also protested outside the Lao embassy in the Thai capital Bangkok on Lao National Day on Dec. 2, 2015 calling on the Lao government to respect human rights and democracy, they said. Reported by RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Ounkeo Souksavanh. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. View this s tory online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/lao-police-publicly-confirm-arrest-of-… Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news , information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA ’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org . To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at mahajanr(a)rfa.org .

8 years, 7 months

RFA Breaking News: Shootout Between Lao Soldiers And ‘Bandits’ Leaves One Dead, Others Injured

by Paul Eckert

Shootout Between Lao Soldiers And ‘Bandits’ Leaves One Dead, Others Injured MAY 11, 2016 - An exchange of gunfire between Lao soldiers and unidentified armed forces along a new road between Vientiane and Luang Prabang provinces on May 6 left one soldier and eight of members of the unknown group dead and others injured, a relative of the deceased soldier and a local health official said. The shootout occurred on the thoroughfare connecting Kasy district of central Laos’ Vientiane province’s and Luang Prabang province’s Nanh district, where two other deadly attacks by unknown assailants referred to by government authorities as “bandits” took place in March. Second Lieutenant Santhi, a soldier who died during the attack, was from Nanh district’s military division, said one of his relatives who declined to be named and did not provide the soldier’s surname. The assailants shot Santhi dead while he was walking in front of the other soldiers, the relative said, adding that he didn’t know if the soldiers were in pursuit of the gunmen. “Brothers and sisters at home informed me that Santhi had passed away during the exchange of fire,” he said, adding that others were also killed. Authorities later sent Santhi’s body to his hometown in Thinkeo village, Xieng-ngun district, in Luang Prabang province, the relative said. But authorities have not issued an official report on the others who were killed and injured, he said. A health official at the hospital in Luang Prabang told RFA that eight members of the unidentified armed group were killed and others arrested after they purchased medicine in the town to treat their injuries. “But I don’t know how many people were arrested afterwards,” she said. Government soldiers wounded in the shootout were sent to military hospital 103 in Vientiane for treatment, she said. Lieutenant Colonel Peankham Boutchanpheng, deputy chief of Luang Prabang’s military headquarters told RFA that he had no further information about the shootout. “Santhi’s funeral was on May 7, but I cannot provide more details,” he said One of many incidents The incident is one of many shootings by unidentified armed groups that have occurred in Vientiane province, north-central Xaysomboun province, and Luang Prabang province since last November. In March, a bus shooting by unknown assailants left one Chinese national dead and six others wounded on the stretch of road between Tham and Houasan villages in Kasy. Another attack in January on a public bus traveling along Route 13 North in Kasy injured one of about a dozen passengers, but caused no deaths. Military and police officials in Vientiane province have arrested 30 people suspected of being involved in the bus shooting. A shooting in Phoukhoun district of Luang Prabang province in early March killed a Chinese man and injured three other Chinese nationals, all of whom worked for a logging company clearing land for the Nam Ngum 3 hydropower dam project. On the same day as the shooting near the dam, gunmen mounted two separate attacks on a public bus and a truck traveling along Route 13 North in Phoukhoun, injuring five people. An exchange of gunfire between a Lao anti-government resistance group and local troops in Xaysomboun last November left three government soldiers dead and some others injured, a retired Lao soldier close to a high-ranking officer in the Ministry of Defense told RFA in an earlier report. A month later, 15 attackers shot two motorcyclists in the province’s Anouvong district, killing one and injuring the other. The alleged bandits shot at a truck transporting beer in the district three days later, injuring two people in the vehicle. Reported by RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Ounkeo Souksavanh. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. View this s tory online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/shootout-between-lao-soldiers-and-band… Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news , information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA ’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org . To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at mahajanr(a)rfa.org .

8 years, 8 months

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