Word: junta
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...Rohingya come from western Burma's isolated Arakan State. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, who speak a dialect similar to that of Bengalis from neighboring Bangladesh, have fled the brutality of Burma's military regime by escaping their Buddhist-majority homeland for lives as illegal immigrants. The ruling junta has denied the Rohingya some of the most basic human rights - no citizenship, no freedom of movement, no marriage without permission. In January, their plight made headlines when Thai forces reportedly towed hundreds of Rohingya boatpeople who made it to Thai territorial waters back out to sea in leaky vessels with...
...back home. Last October, Thailand's Supreme Court found him guilty of corruption on charges that he maintains were politically motivated. Thailand, meanwhile, remains roiled by political turbulence, as pro- and anti-Thaksin forces struggle for control of the country. Since Thaksin was removed from office by a military junta, the country has cycled through five prime ministers - some aligned with the polarizing tycoon, some vehemently opposed to him. Last September, protesters upset that elections had ushered in a pro-Thaksin government, even took over Bangkok's international airport for a week, virtually paralyzing the Thai capital. Thailand's current...
...Prime Minister Abhisit has urged other nations to start extradition processes against you because of a conflict-of-interest conviction you received last year. How do you feel about this? Abhisit knows that [the conviction against me] happened because the military junta appointed [to the court] those who are clearly against me. [Abhisit] is a democratic man; he should not comment in this manner. The way he acts is purely political...
...Domingos Santos a longstanding leader of Portugal's Communist party, also knows what's at stake. He was a victim of secret police beatings during the junta's rule. Deprived of sleep and forced to spend days in a tiny windowless cell without a bed, Santos remains an outspoken critic of the U.S. base at Guantanamo. Terrorists need to be punished, he says, but torture is never justified. "We could take some [prisoners in Portugal] on grounds of human rights because of Guantanamo is a cancer which is afflicting society," he told TIME. "I condemn terrorism. It is barbaric...
...heroin loaded onto a ship bound for Singapore, according to the Irrawaddy, a media organization run primarily by Burmese in exile in Thailand. But the raid appears to have been galvanized by foreign anti-drug agents, and, as the Irrawaddy points out, it's not clear whether the Burmese junta would have raided the ship without international pressure. In the mean time, Southeast Asia's largest narco-state continues to thrive. And some Burmese farmers are able to fill their bellies for now, even as they are feeding the world's drug habit...