'Strong evidence' of genocide in Myanmar

Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit has uncovered what amounts to "strong evidence" of a genocide coordinated by the Myanmar government against the Rohingya people, according to an assessment by Yale University Law School.

The Lowenstein Clinic spent eight months assessing evidence from Myanmar, including documents and testimony provided by Al Jazeera and the advocacy group Fortify Rights.

"Given the scale of the atrocities and the way that politicians talk about the Rohingya, we think it's hard to avoid a conclusion that intent [to commit genocide] is present," concluded the clinic.

Exclusive evidence obtained by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit and Fortify Rights reveals the government has been triggering communal violence for political gain by inciting anti-Muslim riots, using hate speech to stoke fear among the Myanmarese about Muslims, and offering money to hardline Buddhist groups who threw their support behind the leadership.

As the first fully contested general election in 25 years approaches on November 8, eyewitness and confidential documentary evidence obtained by Al Jazeera reveals that the ruling, military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has attempted to marginalise Muslims and target the Rohingya.

Al Jazeera has made several requests for comment to the Myanmar President's office and government spokespeople but has not received any response.

Genocide Agenda

The investigation, presented in a new documentary, Genocide Agenda, consults legal and diplomatic experts on whether the government’s campaign amounts to systematic extermination.

The University of London’s Professor Penny Green, director of the International State Crime Initiative (ISCI)m said: "President Thein Sein (USDP) is prepared to use hate speech for the government's own ends, and that is to marginalise, segregate, diminish the Muslim population inside Burma.

"It's part of a genocidal process."

An independent report by the ISCI concluded that riots in 2012, which saw conflicts between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims erupt, were pre-planned. The violence saw scores killed, and tens of thousands of people displaced after several thousand homes were burned.

 "'Strong Evidence' of Genocide in Myanr." Aljazeera. Aljazeera Investigative Unit, 26 Oct. 2015. Web. 26 Oct. 2015. <http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/exclusive-strong-evidence-genocide-myanmar-151024190547465.html>.

Response: I think it is great that the world is stepping into action to investigate the case in Myanmar before it goes any further. From the information gathered it seems highly likely that a genocide would result from the discrimination of Rhongiya Muslims. As stated in the article, all the hate propaganda is part of the genocidal process. I hope the UN will not delay in finding a resolution to this severe situation. 

Cambodia unlicensed medic on trial for HIV infections

An unlicensed medical practitioner who infected more than 100 villagers in northwestern Cambodia with HIV by reusing unclean needles has gone on trial, his lawyer said.
Yem Chhrin faces life in prison if found guilty of murder, and intentionally spreading HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, his lawyer, Em Sovann, said on Tuesday.

Chhrin also faces charges of practicing medicine without a license.

He was arrested last December and taken into protective custody, due to the risk of revenge lynching by residents of Roka village, where at least 106 of the 800 people tested were found to be infected with HIV. Those infected were aged between 3 to 82, and include Buddhist monks.

Of those infected, at least 10 are reported to have died. Local newspapers have put the number of infected at 300.
Cambodia, one of the poorest countries in the world, has inadequate health care facilities, especially in rural areas, where villagers often have no recourse but to depend on unlicensed medical practitioners who have trained themselves to treat minor ailments and to give injections.

'No intention'

Yem Chhrin was one such practitioner. Some villagers said he had a good reputation for his years of dedicated service to the village by providing treatment even though he lacked formal training or certification.

Em Sovann, the lawyer, said his client has acknowledged reusing syringes for treatment of patients. But he "has repeatedly said before the police and court officials during pre-trial detention that he had no intention to transmit the deadly virus to any of his patients," Em Sovann said.

He said he will try to get the first two charges, murder and intentionally spreading HIV, dropped by the court.

Yem Chhrin's wife, Nhoum Chenda, also urged the court to drop all charges against her husband, saying he never believed that the villagers were infected because of his actions.

"The HIV virus transmitted to those villagers must be from ... something else that we don't know about right now," she said by phone.
She added that since her husband's arrest, she also had to flee to another province, fearing that angry villagers would kill her.

Cambodia had a high HIV prevalence rate of two percent in 1998, but an aggressive campaign to promote safe sex brought the figure down to an estimated 0.7 percent last year, according to the UN agency that spearheads the worldwide fight against AIDS.

It's heart breaking that Yem Cherin would destroy so many people's lives, by making one stupid mistake. I find it ignorant, arrogant and almost disgusting that he would even try to defend himself by saying that he had "no intention" to transmit the virus. He definitely deserves life imprisonment, and his actions should be universally shamed. it is inhumane and my heart goes out to the people of Cambodia.

"Cambodia Unlicensed Medic on Trial for HIV Infections." www.aljazeera.com. Agencies, 20 Oct. 2015. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
            <http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/cambodia-unlicensed-medic-trial-hiv-infections-                   151020063831732.html>

Edward Snowden interview: 'Smartphones can be taken over'

Smartphone users can do "very little" to stop security services getting "total control" over their devices, US whistleblower Edward Snowden has said.

The former intelligence contractor told the BBC's Panorama that UK intelligence agency GCHQ had the power to hack into phones without their owners' knowledge. Mr. Snowden said GCHQ could gain access to a handset by sending it an encrypted text message and use it for such things as taking pictures and listening in.

Edward Snowden says government phone-hacking capabilities were "named after Smurfs". Mr. Snowden spoke to Panorama in Moscow, where he fled in 2013 after leaking to the media details of extensive internet and phone surveillance by his former employer, the US National Security Agency (NSA). He did not suggest that either GCHQ or the NSA were interested in mass-monitoring of citizens' private communications but said both agencies had invested heavily in technology allowing them to hack smartphones. "They want to own your phone instead of you," he said.

Mr Snowden talked about GCHQ's "Smurf Suite", a collection of secret intercept capabilities individually named after the little blue imps of Belgian cartoon fame. "Dreamy Smurf is the power management tool which means turning your phone on and off with you knowing," he said. "Nosey Smurf is the 'hot mic' tool. For example if it's in your pocket, [GCHQ] can turn the microphone on and listen to everything that's going on around you - even if your phone is switched off because they've got the other tools for turning it on. "Tracker Smurf is a geo-location tool which allows [GCHQ] to follow you with a greater precision than you would get from the typical triangulation of cellphone towers."

Peter Taylor's film Edward Snowden: Spies and the Law also covers: The contentious relationship between the British government and social media companies. The intelligence agencies and the police want the companies to co-operate in detecting terrorist content but the programme learns that not all companies are prepared to co-operate to the extent that the agencies would like. Documents leaked by Mr. Snowden that appear to show that the UK government acquired vast amounts of communications data from inside Pakistan by secretly hacking into routers manufactured by the US company, Cisco.

Once GCHQ had gained access to a user's handset, Mr Snowden said the agency would be able to see "who you call, what you've texted, the things you've browsed, the list of your contacts, the places you've been, the wireless networks that your phone is associated with.

"And they can do much more. They can photograph you".

            Mr. Snowden also explained that the SMS message sent by the agency to gain access to the phone would pass unnoticed by the handset's owner. "It's called an 'exploit'," he said. "That's a specially crafted message that's texted to your number like any other text message but when it arrives at your phone it's hidden from you. It doesn't display. You paid for it [the phone] but whoever controls the software owns the phone. GCHQ is the UK government's digital spy agency. Describing the relationship between GCHQ and its US counterpart, he said: "GCHQ is to all intents and purposes a subsidiary of the NSA.”

             The government believes Mr. Snowden has caused great damage to the intelligence agencies' ability to counter threats to national security. Mr. Snowden maintains he has acted in the public interest on the grounds that the surveillance activities revealed in the thousands of documents he leaked are carried out - in his words - "without our knowledge, without our consent and without any sort of democratic participation".

Taylor Peter, Edward Snowden interview: 'Smartphones can be taken over' BBC News, 5 Oct. 2015.

               < http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34444233>

 In this article, we view Mr. Snowden’s response to how smartphones can be taken over by the GCHQ. It is both informational, giving us the techniques that he is using to accomplish this and critical to what he can do with the smartphone.  In my opinion, Mr. Snowden may believe that he is doing what is right for the greater good by potentially avoiding terrorism actions, however, it is violating everyone else’s privacy and therefore causing public turmoil. Not only could it be threatening to other countries as well who do not want the U.S or the U.K to be involved in their affairs, it also serves as a warning to terrorists out there, to be more alert on how to track their devices as it is now viral on the internet.