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Giving truth a voice

Singapore to study Malaysia’s challenge to Pulau Batu Puteh judgment

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KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia, citing “new facts” discovered in recently declassified British documents, has filed a challenge to the 2008 decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that ruled Pedra Branca to be Singaporean territory.

Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in response that the Republic is “studying Malaysia’s application and documentation closely”, and has formed a legal team to respond to Malaysia’s challenge.

The Singapore legal team includes Attorney-General Lucien Wong, former Deputy Prime Minister S Jayakumar, Professor Tommy Koh, and former Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong.

Malaysian Attorney-General Mohamed Tan Sri Apandi Ali filed the application with the ICJ at The Hague yesterday over the sovereignty of Pedra Branca, which is located some 24 nautical miles to the east of Singapore.

“The application was made by Malaysia upon the discovery of some fact of such a nature as to be a decisive factor, which fact was, when the judgment was given, unknown to the Court and also to Malaysia as the party claiming revision,” Apandi said in a statement today.

He added: “We are also confident that the requirements as stipulated under Article 61 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice have been met in that, inter alia, the application for revision is brought within six months of the discovery of the new fact, and within 10 years of the date of the Judgment.”

The Malaysian statement did not disclose details of the “new facts”. In response to queries from TODAY, Apandi would only say that the “new facts” were “discovered after the British Government declassified the documents recently”.

But when asked to identify the specific documents, the Malaysian AG said: “Not now…when Singapore is being notified, they will be served with the relevant papers.”

The row over the ownership of Pedra Branca dates back to 1979, when Malaysia published a map indicating the island to be within the country’s territorial waters. Singapore lodged a formal protest with Malaysia in early 1980.

It took more than 20 years for the dispute to be brought before the ICJ in July 2003. In May 2008, after several rounds of written pleadings and public hearings, the court ruled Pedra Branca to be Singaporean territory.

The ICJ had found that Singapore investigated shipwrecks within Pedra Branca’s territorial waters and granted or did not grant permission to Malaysian officials to survey the waters surrounding the island. The ICJ noted too that Malaysia did not react to the flying of the Singapore ensign on the island and Singapore’s installation of military equipment on the island.

The ICJ had also judged that sovereignty over the Middle Rocks, a maritime feature to the south of Pedra Branca, belonged to Malaysia. But the court refrained from awarding South Ledge, also to the south of Pedra Branca, to either Malaysia or Singapore.

Asked how confident he was with this latest legal challenge, Apandi said: “I’m very confident, so is my team at The Hague.” — TODAY

Hundreds likely killed in Myanmar’s Rohingya crackdown, says UN

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Migrants believed to be Rohingya take their breakfast inside a shelter after being rescued from boats at Lhoksukon, in Indonesia’s Aceh Province May 12, 2015. Thailand and Malaysia may set up camps and detention centers to shelter hundreds of refugees arriving on their shores, officials said on Tuesday, as a leading inter-governmental agency said about 7,000 boatpeople were still adrift in the Bay of Bengal. REUTERS/Roni Bintang

GENEVA, Feb 3 — Myanmar’s military crackdown on Rohingya Muslims has likely killed hundreds of people, with children slaughtered and women raped in a campaign that may amount to ethnic cleansing, the UN said Friday.

A report from the United Nations Human Rights office, based on interviews with 204 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, also found it was “very likely” that crimes against humanity had been committed in Myanmar, echoing previous UN accusations.

The so-called “area clearance operations” launched by the military in northwest Rakhine state on October 10 “have likely resulted in several hundred deaths”, the report said.

Rohingya refugees recounted gruesome violations allegedly perpetrated by members of Myanmar’s security services or civilian fighters working in collaboration with the military and police.

“An eight-month-old baby was reportedly killed while his mother was gang-raped by five security officers,” the rights office said in a press release, citing witnesses.

Three children aged six or younger were “slaughtered with knives”, according to the report.

“What kind of hatred could make a man stab a baby crying out for his mother’s milk,” UN rights chief Zeid bin Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein said in the statement.

“What kind of ‘clearance operation’ is this? What national security goals could possibly be served by this?,” he added.

A full 47 per cent of those interviewed by the UN said they had a family member who had been killed in the operation, while 43 per cent reported being raped.

Ethnic cleansing?

Rights office spokesman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva that “the kind of systematic and widespread violations that we have documented could be described as ethnic cleansing”, but noted that was not a legally defined offence provable in court.

The report said the violence was the result of “purposeful policy” designed by one group to remove another group from an area “through violent and terror-inspiring means”.

The Rohingya Muslims are loathed by many among Myanmar’s Buddhist majority.

Myanmar refuses to recognise the Rohingya as one of the country’s ethnic minorities, instead describing them as Bengalis—or illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh—even though many have lived in Myanmar for generations.

Witnesses told the UN they had been taunted while they were beaten and mocked over the failure of “Allah” to help.

The military crackdown in Rakhine, home to more than one million Rohingya, was triggered by October 9 attacks on border guard posts, which Myanmar and the International Crisis Group say were carried out by foreign-backed militants.

Nearly 70,000 Rohingya have fled the ensuing crisis to Bangladesh.

The Myanmar government’s own probe into the unrest denied that the security forces had carried out a genocidal campaign against the Rohingya.

The government, led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has said the allegations are invented and has resisted mounting international pressure to protect the minority.

But the UN’s Zeid, who has previously urged Myanmar to act, hit back again on Friday demanding that impunity for such serious crimes had to stop.

“The Government of Myanmar must immediately halt these grave human rights violations against its own people, instead of continuing to deny they have occurred,” he said.

Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay had no immediate comment as he had not seen the UN report.

Shamdasani however told reporters that the rights office had shared their findings with the government and was “engaged with them in Geneva as well as in Myanmar.” — AFP

Malaysia regrets Bangladesh’s rebuff of food flotilla

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KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 — Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry expressed regret today over the Bangladeshi government’s decision not to allow a food flotilla to provide aid for Rohingya refugees.

The Foreign Ministry said its minister, Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, met with the High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Malaysia, Md Shahidul Islam, at the Foreign Affairs Ministry today to seek clarification on Bangladesh’s decision on the “Humanitarian Mission — Food Flotilla for Myanmar” that was originally planned to dock at Yangon, Myanmar, before heading to Teknaf, Bangladesh, the port closest to 65,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

“YB Foreign Minister reiterated that Malaysia’s main concern is the plight of the Rohingyas in Myanmar as well as the Rohingya refugees,” said the Foreign Ministry in a statement.

“The High Commissioner acknowledged YB Foreign Minister’s concern and would revert after getting further clarifications from the Bangladesh government.

“The Food Flotilla aims to provide some 2,200 tonnes of goods for the Rohingyas. This initiative is consistent with the resolution adopted by the Extraordinary Session of the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) Council of Foreign Ministers which called upon OIC member states to urgently render humanitarian assistance to alleviate the suffering and hardship of the Rohingyas,” it added.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak launched earlier today the food flotilla organised by Umno, PAS, and some non-governmental organisations, that carried 2,200 tonnes of food and medicine meant for affected communities in Sittwe, Myanmar’s western Rakhine state.

The mission, organised by 1Malaysia Putera Club (KP1M), the Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organisations (MAPIM) and Turkiye Diyanet Vakfi (TDV), is expected to arrive at Yangon, Myanmar, on February 9.

Travellers with nut allergies clash with airlines

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Dr. Roseanne Bloom holds her sons’ Epi-Pens, which they carry with them whenever they leave the house in case of a life-threatening allergic reaction, in Clarksville, Md., Jan. 22, 2017. On Christmas morning, the family was removed from an American Airlines flight because of concerns about the boys’ nut allergies. (Andrew Mangum/The New York Times)

NEW YORK, Jan 31 — Rosanne Bloom and her family had just settled into their seats on a flight from Philadelphia to Turks and Caicos Islands on Christmas morning when two airline employees ordered Bloom, her husband and two boys off the plane. Their luggage had been removed.

The problem? Bloom had informed the crew that her teenage sons had severe nut allergies.

“I said, ‘We have our medicine. We brought our own food, and we’re comfortable staying on the plane.’ I offered to sign a waiver,” said Bloom, an orthodontist in Clarksville, Maryland. “We were off the plane in two minutes.”

Matt Miller, a spokesman for American Airlines, said such decisions are left to the pilot. “The pilot determined it would be best for the family not to travel based on the severity of the allergy and the need to divert the airline if anyone were eating nuts,” he said.

Airline carriers have a long tradition of serving peanuts on flights, and often serve little else. But the practice also presents a challenge to travellers with severe nut allergies, who can suffer a reaction simply by touching a surface that has been exposed to nuts.

But tensions between passengers with food allergies and airline staff members have risen in recent years, as airlines have begun to enforce stricter rules related to pre-boarding passengers. In the past, parents of young children could board the plane early, giving them a chance to wipe down seats, trays and armrests to reduce exposure to allergens. But today many airlines have stopped letting families with children board before other passengers.

When families request permission to pre-board — or pose another request, such as asking whether nuts will be served — they risk being taken off the flight or threatened with removal, said Mary Vargas, a lawyer whose family was almost kept off a plane from London back to the United States in December because of a nut allergy.

Families with nut allergies are waging a legal challenge against such policies. Two formal complaints filed with the Department of Transportation in the last month accuse American Airlines of discrimination against passengers with allergies. The complaints cite the airline’s pre-boarding policy, which prohibits pre-boarding specifically for people with allergies, and not for others.

“This is about being allowed to fly like everybody else in the United States,” said Vargas, the lawyer representing the families.

Although nobody tracks medical emergencies on airplanes, studies show that in-flight medical emergencies are relatively uncommon and affect only a fraction of the estimated 3.6 billion passengers who fly each year. Chest pain and cardiovascular events are the most common reason planes are diverted for a medical emergency. Allergic reactions make up fewer than 4 per cent of all in-flight medical emergencies, according to a 2013 study published in the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine.

Secrets of lost Cambodian cities to be revealed

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PHNOM PENH, June 12 — Unprecedented new details of medieval cities hidden under jungle in Cambodia near Angkor Wat have been revealed using lasers, archaeologists said today, shedding new light on the civilisation behind the world’s largest religious complex.

While the research has been going on for several years, the new findings uncover the sheer scale of the Khmer Empire’s urban sprawl and temple complexes to be significantly bigger than was previously thought.

The research, drawing on airborne laser scanning technology known as lidar, will be unveiled in full at the Royal Geographic Society in London tomorrow by Australian archaeologist Damian Evans.

“We always imagined that their great cities surrounded the monuments in antiquity,” Evans told AFP.

“But now we can see them with incredible precision and detail, in some places for the very first time, but in most places where we already had a vague idea that cities must be there,” he added.

Angkor Wat, a Unesco World Heritage site seen as among the most important in South-east Asia, is considered one of the ancient wonders of the world.

It was constructed from the early to mid-1100s by King Suryavarman II at the height of the Khmer Empire’s political and military power and was among the largest pre-industrial cities in the world.

But scholars had long believed there was far more to the empire than just the Angkor complex.

‘Entire cityscape’

The huge tranche of new data builds on scans that were made in 2012 that confirmed the existence of Mahendraparvata, an ancient temple city near Angkor Wat.

But it was only when the results of a larger survey in 2015 were analysed that the sheer scale of the new settlements became apparent.

To create the maps, archaeologists mounted a special laser on the underneath of a helicopter which scans the area and is able to see through obstructions like trees and vegetation.

Much of the cities surrounding the famed stone temples of the Khmer Empire, Evans explained, were made of wood and thatch which has long rotted away.

“The lidar quite suddenly revealed an entire cityscape there with astonishing complexity,” he said.

“It turned out we’d been walking and flying right over the top of this stuff for ten years and not even noticing it because of the vegetation.”

Among the new scans already published are a detailed map of a huge city complex surrounding the stone temple known as Preah Khan of Kompong Svay, a series of iron smelting sites dating back to the Angkor era and new information on the complex system of waterways that kept the region running.

The new data also maps out the full extent of Mahendraparvata, information that will make future digs much more accurate and less time consuming.

“What we had was basically a scatter of disconnected points on the map denoting temple sites. Now it’s like having a detailed street map of the entire city,” Evans said.

Further maps will be published in the coming months, he added.

Long Kosal, a spokesman for the Apsara authority, the government body that manages the Angkor complex, said the lidar had uncovered “a lot of information from the past.”

“It shows the size and information about people living at those sites in the past,” he told AFP, adding further research was now needed to capitalise on the finds.

While the Khmer Empire was initially Hindu it increasingly adopted Buddhism and both religions can be seen on display at the complex.

Angkor is visited by hundreds of thousands of visitors a year and remains Cambodia’s top tourist attraction. — AFP