Russians torture a Mongolian

In June 2012, a Mongolian citizen  named Khairibolat, resident of Bayan-oelgii province (aimag), was present near the borderline between  Mongolia and Russia when he was asked to "come over" to the Russian site. He then crossed the border and was beaten and arrested by Russians. Mind to bring our readers' attention to the fact that locals from both sides (Mongolia and Russia) can enter and reenter the border temporarily using a pass, a document issued to local people. That pass allows Mongolians to cross the border and visit without  going too deep in the country (Russia) , and also allow Russians to visit Mongolia's near-the-border-places crossing Mongolian border.

It seems like an acquaintance or somebody who knew Khairibolat on the Russian site was forced by Russian authorities to lure him  across the border in order to arrest him on Russian soil. Like I mentioned, he was beaten and arrested on the spot. The Russian authorities say Khairibolat was involved in weapon smuggling. Isn't anybody innocent  until proven guilty? And until today his case was not even brought to the court. Postponed until who knows when. One more thing. Russia is joined the UN Convention against Torture in 1985 and is obliged "to take effective measures to prevent a torture in any territory under its jurisdiction."

What is a torture?  Definition of torture is given in the Article 1.1 of the Convention against Torture: "Any act by which severe pain or suffereing, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed  or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity."
So according to Article 1.1., Khairibolat is tortured at the moment he was arrested. The Russian officials (probably police officer) intentionally inflicted  physical pain on him. With that one can say that the central Russian Government and the  state Government of that territory where the incident occurred, have failed to fullfil their obligation to prevent any kind of torture in their territories.

MP Baasankhuu O.

Now, Khairibolat is a foreign citizen to Russians and this is a serious problem. What would Russians do if one of their citizens were beaten and arrested in Mongolia? And kept in jail without any contacts for almost 1.5 years!? Even a member of the Mongolian Parliament could not meet with Khairibolat when he went to Russia to see him. Russian officials have refused to let this MP to meet with his landsman! My suspicion is  that Khairibolat has still been tortured in jail and Russian officials couldn't let them meet face-to-face because Khairibolat's physical condition. Well, you know, how one looks like when he is tortured and punished for a crime he  maybe has not committed, for  16 months. As for Russians who get more racist lately, one can imagine how it feels like to be in prison among Russian prisoners.

Khairibolat's family says he is  innocent. And they reached out to Baasankhuu O, a newly member of Mongolian Parliament, who, as I mentioned earlier,  couldn't meet with Khairibolat when he went to Russia on request of Khairibolat's family. Actually this isn't a problem Baasankhuu should be dealing with, but he does it out of courtesy and sympathy.

Bold, L. (Minister of Foreign Affairs)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Minister, Mr.Bold L. himself must  take care of this issue as it should be. But until now there is nothing to hear from them. Shame on them!  As much as it sounds shameful, Mongolia does not care much about its citizens abroad and that must be changed. Maybe we need more officials who love and care about own people. As for the Russian officials who beat and arrested a Mongolian citizen, they do a great harm to their own image and  Russia's image as well. Violating an international agreement (Convention against Torture) will definitely show Russia as a country which cannot be trusted. Russians can sign a treaty but in real life they never keep their word. Not a trustworthy people. That is how the world will see you, Russia!

Is Rio Tinto mocking Mongolia?

Rio Tinto Group is a British-Australian multinational  metals and mining corporation with headquarters in London, United Kingdom  and  a management office in Melbourne, Australia.  Founded in 1873.
As of August 30, 2013, the stock price $45.11 ( NYSE)
Rio Tinto's unit Turquoise Hill Resources LTD.  operates a copper-gold mine in Mongolia's Gobi region, a huge project with two stages. Oyutolgoi is the name of the mine (or the location), given by the locals due to its rich appearances of a mineral called "malachite. "Oyu" is the Mongolian word for  malachite, a stone (mineral) of green color, used  as both an ornamental stone and as a gemstone.  Malachite presence is typically associated with copper deposits, and so was this  mine discovered, not far from the border of Mongolia and China. "Tolgoi" is the Mongolian word for "hill". So the name "Oyutolgoi" would be translated as "Malachite Hill".

Mongolian style hat looks good on Robert Friedland

Discovered  by the well-known adventurer Robert Friedland , also famous as "Toxic Bob", back in 2001, Oyutolgoi is one of the top copper-gold  deposits in the world. Now with 66% owned by Turquoise Hill Resources (THR), the first phase of this mine was completed and  the export of copper and gold concentrate has started already.  The second stage is going to be carried out  underground where 80% of the treasure is waiting to be  extracted. Rio Tinto has frozen its underground expansion work, phase 2, and laid off 1700 Mongolian workers, an act many explain as a pressure by Rio Tinto to make the Mongolian Government accept  the terms related to the financing of the underground expansion of the mine.
According to one of the three Mongolian board  directors , Tsagaan Puntsag, who is planning to resign soon, the project financing conditions for the second stage of the mine must be  unacceptable for Mongolia.

There seem to be other issues both parties, Rio Tinto and Mongolia, could not be agreed on  yet, like royalty dispute, tax  and cost overruns. With that higher costs, Rio Tinto will exceed the amount of overall cost in the end, and that would be a violation of the agreement signed by both sides. It must be a reasonable explanation about  how and why the costs run so high but  Rio Tinto seems to be very reluctant to be cooperative or open to its partner. Mongolia, as 34% owner of the mine, has also a point of view  to be considered, and it is unacceptable if Rio Tinto wants to force an unacceptable condition to be accepted by the "host" country.

Tsagaan Puntsag

Rio Tinto may have had successful outcomes, using this kind of strategies in various  countries earlier with regards to  mining businesses, but we Mongols are a nation too proud to be depressed.  Disrespecting others causes people to disrespect you, right?  Let's see what Mr.Tsagaan said in his interview recently.
As mentioned above, he said that there are unacceptable conditions included in the options of financing for the second phase of mining. He also said  that Rio Tinto plays the role of double-faced partner. They (Rio Tinto) seem to pretend to be an honest and fair partner to Mongolia, saying they care about this joint business and being successful for both sides, but at the same time don't bother to send a wrong message out there saying that Mongolia is the "bad guy" with whom nobody should do business with. What the hell?!

That is Rio Tinto 's strategy:  to scare away any potential foreign investors and be the only guy Mongolia has to have a "sex" with, because Mongolia has no other choice! A mining of this kind of huge capacity and investment is crucial to Mongolia's economy ( it is a question of up and down) and that is why Mongolian government should be forced to accept any terms and conditions Rio is pushing. I don't think Mr.Tsagaan is lying, and  why should he?  He said that is why we should play the same game with Rio. That's right!
He even compared Rio with somebody  who went fishing with Mongolia on the same  boat and  while trying to gain a favorable situation like using a bigger fishnet or disturbing  his partner's  effort to catch a fish by slapping his hand, he manages  badmouthing  his partner (Mongolia)  to the other "fishermen" passing by in their boats. If the situation between Rio and Mongolia looks just like Mr.Tsagaan has described, then is there any good reason why we should do business further with this company?

Both parties should stick to the agreement they signed, and any changes must be  consensus based.   Now it seems like Rio wants to "rape" Mongolia against its will, and that is not fair. "Consensus sex"  is OK! Mocking Mongolia and treating it as if forcing a  child to do something, will lead to nothing but  turning the Mongolian people against itself and  hurting its reputation. We say yes  for going forward  with  this project as long as it is fair and profitable for both sides. But if Rio thinks that they  can use a  pressure by shutting down the project or laying off thousands of workers by suspending operations halfway, to force Mongolia to agree on that for Mongolia unfavorable situation, they are mistaken. Oyutolgoi is not our only life, you know what I am saying?  We have and will have many "Oyutolgois". We can go on with our lives  as if Oyutolgoi didn't exist. With or without it, we are going to be just fine.

Oyutolgoi mine (Gobi, Mongolia)

At the reporter's question what Rio is up to, Mr.Tsagaan answered that she should ask Rio about it. But he added that Rio wouldn't answer it anyway even if asked. He said, he wouldn't blame  Rio playing   chess on two tables at the same time in order to increase its share from the underground  part of the mine, but he is frustrated that Rio damages Mongolia's image and reputation by doing so. With its tactics, Rio Tinto is also contributing to the fact that  foreign investors are scared away. So, how fair is that? Is this the way to conduct business by this company, I would like to ask.
Everything has a limit. Even the  greed should have a limit. If Rio insists on waiting until the Mongolian government officials give up, they won't be able to open the underground part of Oyutolgoi mine, never, because we won't tolerate any condition which would be unacceptable for us. Fairness should be the rule of our game.

So, Rio has two choices: Either be  respectful and fair  and do the business acceptable by both sides, or give up everything and go home. They can sell their share to others, but again, whoever be the successor, our demand stays the same. It might look like that  today Mongolia suffers more from Rio's suspension of  the underground part of the project, but in the long run the Rio might be the one who hurts more, Mr.Tsagaan said.  And he was right when he says, "Let's go ahead and work on some other  bigger projects, pretending that Oyutolgoi's underground mining didn't exist". I couldn't agree more. Oyutolgoi is indeed not the only "cow" we have to milk.   Now everything  depends on whether Rio Tinto wants to change  its attitude, or continue being stubborn to  ruin the project. We don't have anything to lose if things go wrong and as Mr.Tsagaan says, Rio will lose if both sides go to court.  Now speak up, Rio!

Immoral judges undermine sport's principles

I witnessed an extremely unprofessional  and unacceptable judgement by some judges at Judo World Championship Senior 2013  in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. It is not something new in sports. We talk about not tolerating any kind of discrimination in sports, and   even though we do  rarely  see any racist behavior by athletes or  judges, we  witness often a  "hidden" discrimination  by judges in  treating athletes  differently, favoring one over the other one. Almost with no exclusion, the athletes from  "poor" countries become victims of this unfair treatment by judges and lose the match. Especially in sports where the judges decide whom he or she wants to see win. In other words, it happens in sports where judges give the scores and make the decision. That includes boxing, wrestling, soccer (referee can refuse or give a penalty, or expel player etc.) or other sports with human involvement in decision making process.  One can "feel" the "taste" of certain judges sometimes when he or she favors particular athlete based on the color of the skin.

With 44 seconds left, Khashbaatar  (in white) was "awarded" three times with penalty for being more active, while defending Legrand  (in blue) stays "clean"

One suspects that whoever gives a favor to a  "rich-country-athlete", that judge will be "compensated" in some way later on. The question of how much and when should be kept secret, and nobody knows.  Who would like to receive  all the blaming and cursing on him/herself for upsetting an athlete for "no reason" and would put his/her credibility and prestige on risk?  The decision is not reversible and the judge is protected by the organization which pays the judge, so the athlete is the one who gets hurt badly. All his/her  efforts and dreams  are ruined. Especially in world class competitions, like World Championship or Olympic Games, "victimizing" of athletes fall hard on them for they have prepared long time for those important matches and had set a goal to achieve certain success. And it is ridiculous  when a stupid judge ruins the athlete's goal  by putting him/her at a disadvantage for own personal gain. And more stupid is the fact that the organization which hired the judge does nothing afterwards, and that is the reason why this kind of  "discrimination" still exists. The world organization of that particular sport is like encouraging this kind of behavior of  judges by keeping silent and doing nothing.

Ts. Khashbaatar (Mongolia)

Mongolian athletes fell  victim many times   to this kind of  discrimination for many years now and we couldn't do anything but to curse the judges and the organization which organized  the competition.
Latest victim was  Tsagaanbaatar Khashbaatar  who competed in weight category of 73 kg at Judo Senior World Championship 2013 in Brazil. His opponent was the French judoka  Ugo Legrand whom the judge did  a favor by punishing the Mongolian judoka in the beginning with 2 penalties within a  minute for "no reason".  The match ended scoreless, but  Tsagaanbaatar  was "defeated"  because of these  unjustified and excessive penalties  given by  the judge.  With that,  Tsagaanbaatar was  "robbed"  of his possibility maybe  to win in his  group B and qualify for the semifinal and then who knows what. He is a top athlete in his weight category and was a World Champion once.
With all due respect, I must say that Legrand went all the way to Silver thanks to the support and sympathy given  by certain judges, especially by the one who oversaw the  match with Khashbaatar.

U. Legrand (France)

The penalty score issue  needs to be addressed in judo because this was one of the most discussed and controversial  topic during this  Championship in Rio de Janeiro. Some judges gave to both athletes penalties at the same time when the one was clearly aggressive  and attacking,  while the other one avoided  fighting and stepped  back, defending. That is ridiculous. I don't mean the "false attack" and/or   pretending to be active.
One example: In the woman's 57 kg  repechage match between the Japanese Anzu Yamamoto and  the Slovene  Vlora Bedeti, Yamamoto got her second penalty score when she was  more active than her opponent,  being all over her. In contrary Bedeti got not punished for being passive. I see here a discrimination based on the color of skin. There is no other explanation, unless  there was   a bribery issue. This judge "robbed" the Bronze medal from Yamamoto and gave it to Bedeti by punishing the Japanese 3 times straight with the penalty (shido score). In the last minutes he gave Bedeti 2 penalties pretending he was fair to both. No, he wasn't!

With 55 seconds left, Yamamoto was punished with three penalties for doing all the hardwork and going forward 

The athletes representing "poor" countries or those who have a different skin color than one "prefer", must  be way too strong and capable of making scores any judge  cannot deny, in order to win  surely. That means, they should always keep in mind  that they have a disadvantage and have no chance to win unless they overpower their opponent. Both in boxing and wrestling, "poor" athletes must dominate if they want to win. The K.O is the  guarantee for  winning in boxing, for example. I am positive that not one  judge can declare an unconscious "rich" boxer as the winner. Our trainers should keep this in mind all the time and prepare their athletes to make them superior to others if they want to see some success. Being evenly strong like  the world class athletes alone does not guarantee a thing. We must dominate to overcome this discrimination if we want to make names in the world level. Unfortunately the officials in the world sport organisations do not enough to put an end to this unacceptable attitude shown by some judges again and again, so we shouldn't expect anything better or any improvement in near future. If there is no will, there will be no change.
Until then let's keep pretending that  we all don't tolerate any kind of discrimination in  sports and that everything is fair and just.

Chinese murder Mongolian herders

Chinese worker attack Mongolian herders

An another herder is killed by Chinese  workers.  Now, for those  who have no clue about these Mongolian herders, I must give an explanation here. We are talking about Mongolian nomads living in so called Inner Mongolia, a piece of territory used to belong once upon a time to Mongolia.  China has it annexed , with support from Russia and against the will of the native inhabitants- Mongolians, thus making them the minority nationals in China. Mongolian mainland was cut in three parts, and two smaller portions are now behind the border of proper Mongolia:  Inner Mongolia is included in  China and Buryat Mongolia in now part of Russia. Mainland Mongolia borders with Inner Mongolia (China) to  south, southeast and east, and with Buryat Mongolia (Russia) to  north.

Buryat Mongolia's territory (red, part of Russia)

Inner Mongolia (yellow border line, now part of China)

So, this incident happened in Inner Mongolia and we are talking about the  native Mongols living in that region, now part of China. This is the fifth murder committed by Han-Chinese against the Mongolian herders who suffer more and more from the Chinese migration and occupation in their lands. 

SMHRIC (Southern Mongolian Human Right Information Center) reported about this murder on its website. Let's first read about  what happened there:

One more Mongolian herder killed by the Chinese, defending his grazing land 

SMHRIC
August 20, 2013
New York

On August 19, 2013, around 5:30 pm local time, Mr.Bayanbaatar, a 58-year old Mongolian herder from Dalan-tsetseg village, Tohootai Gachaa (a Gachaa consists of several pastoral villages), Tug Sum (Sum is equivalent to township), Uushiin Banner of western Southern (Inner) Mongolia, was brutally beaten to death by Chinese railroad workers while he was defending his grazing land.  His son was severely injured. Several other herders were also beaten. Bayanbaatar's body was left in the Uushin Banner People's Hospital for cremation.

According to written communications received by the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC), several Chinese workers from China Railway Bureau No.23 started the brutal beating when Bayanbaatar and other herders protested the Railway Bureau's occupation of their grazing land without proper compensation. Arrogant and rude as shown in the pictures, the Chinese railroad workers not only threatened to kill the herders if they continued to protest but also sent some of their fellow workers to bring knives to carry out the killing. The local police arrived late to the scene, but reportedly refused to carry out any arrest  of the killer or other offenders.

"Our deep sorrow and sincere condolences to Mr.Bayanbaatar who was beaten to death by the Chinese railway workers from China Railway Bureau No.23 while defending his grazing land", posters, messages of condolences and pictures by Mongolian netizens spread quickly through major Chinese social media including  Renren, QQ, Tencent Weibo, Webchat and Sina Weibo before they were deleted.

Since 2010, at least five Mongolian herders including Mr.Bayanbaatar have lost their live at the hands of Chinese workers while defending their rights to their grazing lands as well as their right to maintain their traditional way of life.

In 2010, a Mongolian herder from Sobrog Sum of Bairin Right Banner was stabbed to death by Chinese from the  "Livestock Grazing Prohibition Team" ("jin mu dui" in Chinese), a special police task force set up by the Chinese Government to ban livestock grazing by Mongolian herders on their own grazing lands.

In May 2011, a Mongolian herder named Mergen from Shiliin Gol League was brutally run over by Chinese coal-hauling truck while he was defending his grazing land from coal miners.  His death sparked large-scale protests and demonstrations by Mongolian herders and students across Southern Mongolia.

In October 2011, a Mongolian herder named Zorigt from Huhtolgoi Gachaa, Uushin Banner of Ordos Municipality was killed by a Chinese oil transport truck as he tried to protect his grazing land from Chinese oil mining trucks.

In July 2013, an angry and desperate herder from Ongniud Banner of Ulaanhad Municipality committed suicide after stabbing and killing the head of the "Livestock Grazing Prohibition Team" and seriously injuring another official while defending his right to graze his livestock on his grazing land.

Becoming the largest coal and natural gas source in China and producing 95% of the world's rare earth supplies, Southern Mongolia has recently been named  "China's energy base".
Chinese mining giants Shenhua Coal and Chang Qing Oil as well as thousands  of private miners have rushed to Southern Mongolia chasing their fortune.  Grazing lands have been illegally occupied and opened up for mines. Herders have forcibly been removed from their land without adequate compensation and proper resettlement.

In response to this unprecedented level of destruction of their grazing lands, Mongolian herders are standing up to defend their right to pursue their livelihood and traditional way of life.
Hundreds of herders have been beaten, arrested and detained in clashes with the Chinese on an almost daily basis. In the latest such case, 13 Mongolian herders were arrested and detained last week in Ar Horchin Banner for protesting a Chinese gold mine's illegal occupation of their grazing land; hundreds of Mongolian herders stormed into the government building of Urad Middle Banner to carry out a mass sit-in a few  days ago.

Source:   http://www.smhric.org/news_494.htm   

An update on this case has been made by SMHRIC recently. More detailed information is given by the victim's daughter-in-law by phone. 

Central Government involved, family rejects negotiation

SMHRIC
August 22, 2013
New York

The Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information  Center (SMHRIC) has been closely monitoring the case. Additional pictures were received showing further details of beating that led to the herder's death.
In response to the Chinese authorities' denial on the cause of death as murder as reported on some news media, the SMHRIC was able to interview the victim's daughter-in-law Ms.Chyandmuun who provided further details and confirmed that her father-in-law was unquestionably  beaten to death.

Fearing possible large-scale demonstrations, the Chinese Central Government is directly managing the fall out from the incident.  An attempt is in progress to negotiate with the murdered herder's family, offering them 500000 yuan (approx. USD 82,000) to settle the case. The family members rejected any sort of negotiation and stated that "We Mongolians do not want and do not need any money. What we want is dignity and justice".
About 80 people including the family members and relatives of the victim have been placed under police custody in a funeral house near the Uushin Banner People's Hospital.
Reportedly an unknown number of Mongolian herders from the same area have been arrested yesterday on suspicion of possible unrest sparked by the case. The following is the full interview conducted over the phone by SMHRIC :

SMHRIC : Hi, this is the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center, calling from the United States. We talked to Mr.Batchuluu yesterday about his father's unfortunate death. May we talk to him again?
Chyandmuun : Sorry, my husband is not available at this moment.

SMHRIC : We would like to obtain further details on your father-in-law's death. The Chinese authorities seem to be determined to deny the facts of the beating death of your father-in-law. They are claiming that he "possibly had some pre-existing heart problem". How credible is this claim?
Chyandmuun : My father-in-law was a very healthy man who had no health problem at all. He had no pre-existing medical conditions whatsoever. It is an undeniable fact that my father-in-law was beaten to death by the Chinese.

SMHRIC : We know it is difficult for you to recall the details of this tragic event. But, for the sake of clarity, is it possible for you to give us some details about how exactly the beating took place? Did the offenders use any weapons such as knives? How many of them were involved in the beating?
Chyandmuun : Although they claimed to kill us with knives, they didn't use any knife. My father-in-law was beaten to death by the Chinese who violently kicked and used their fists on him. Most of the beating was done by one man in a white shirt.

SMHRIC : One of the pictures shows that a man in white is holding his fists tight and carrying out the attack. In another picture, the same man was holding a big rock and targeting someone to hit.
Chyandmuun : Yes, exactly, he was the murderer. But, actually the big rock he threw didn't hit my father-in-law, it hit another herder who was lucky to narrowly escape with minor injuries.  My father-in-law collapsed under his fists. When my husband tried to help him stand up, he said he felt serious discomfort on his chest.
Unable to stand up, he fell on the ground again. My husband tried to rush to bring him to a hospital nearby.
But what was even more egregious was that the Chinese workers intentionally blocked our way and stopped us from taking him to the hospital for more than 30 minutes. It was clear that the killing was intentional, malicious and brutal.

SMHRIC : What was the Chinese workers' attitude toward you at the beginning of the incident?
Chyandmuun : Their attitude was very rude and arrogant. They seemed to have come for the purpose of carrying out a killing, not for construction.  They started using  their fists as soon as we started to protest their illegal occupation of our private road on our land.  Especially, the killer asked the other Chinese to bring a knife from his car. He said he would kill all the Mongolians one by one.

SMHRIC : What is the response from the government? Any word on prosecuting the murderer by the authorities? 
Chyandmuun : No, no word on the prosecution has ever been received. Instead, the government is holding all of us  hostage at the funeral house. We are about 80 people including all of our family members and relatives.  The entire funeral house is put under tight police surveillance, and we are not allowed to leave the funeral house. Our every single move is monitored closely. Our phones are tapped. Police are escorting us everywhere around the clock, even when we go to the toilet. We have completely lost our freedom here.
What the government is trying to do is to negotiate with us.  They said, they can give us 500,000 yuan (approx. USD 82,000). We said no negotiation, eye for an eye. The murderer must be brought to justice to be executed in front of our eyes.  We told them, unlike you Chinese we Mongolians do not measure human life with money.   We Mongolians do not want and do not need money. What we need is dignity and justice. The murderer who claimed to kill us Mongolians one by one must be executed, and the government must apologize publicly to the Mongolians in front of the eyes of the whole world.
Similar events are taking place too often and everywhere in Mongolian areas.  My father-in-law or my family is not the only victim. All Mongolians are victimized.

SMHRIC : You have mentioned that the government is trying to negotiate with your family. What department of what level of government is attempting to engage in the negotiation?
Chyandmuun : The government of Uushin Banner and the Central government. They told us that some special dispatches from the Central Government arrived here already to negotiate with us on behalf of the murderer. We do not engage in any type of negotiation.

SMHRIC : We learned that yesterday some other herders were arrested there. Is this arrest related to the case of your father-in-law? 
Chyandmuun : Yes, I heard that. Although I am not sure exactly how many herders were arrested, I know that they were herders from our Tug Sum. In terms of the possible connection, being Mongolian is enough for them to be subjected to arrest and questioning in relation to my father-in-law's case, fearing  possible unrest.

SMHRIC : Thank you very much for the further details on the case. We will continue to monitor events related to this case as it unfolds. 
Chyandmuun : Thank you for your concern and publicizing it to the world.

Source:   http://www.smhric.org/news_495.htm  

MY NOTE:  Even though those Mongols of Inner Mongolia are being considered as Chinese citizens, they are our brothers and sisters by blood and flesh, and that is why we care.  We, the Mongols living in Mongolia, condemn strongly this kind of brutal action by the Chinese against the Mongols, a minority in China, and demand immediate punishment of the killers. One could ask, how on earth the Chinese would expect any respect and  appreciation from the minorities in China, like the Mongols, Tibetans or Uighur, if they treat them  this way?  Such attitude and behavior on part of the Chinese toward the minority will cause nothing but hatred and resentment against Chinese. The Chinese will not only hated by those affected, but also the world society  dislikes their murderous  actions  as well.  Such hostile attitude, bullying and disrespect against the native Mongols and other minorities in that matter, will lead to nothing but  disgust and  antipathy. We hope that is not what Chinese people want.  We also hope that as a member of the world society, the Chinese care well about their reputation and standing among the world nations.  So, the conclusion is crystal clear:  Show some respect and  acceptance towards the minorities who have different life styles and own ways of existence. There is no other way to be respected and accepted by others than to respect and accept the other ones. 

A tiny info-mosaic

It's been a while since my last post in June. So, what has  happened since then?  Here is a  list of some events which got the most attention:

N. Enkhbayar (former President of Mongolia)

- Former  President N. Enkhbayar got pardoned by the current President Elbegdorj. He flew to South Korea to get some treatment because  his health condition got worse after his  "dry" hunger strike in prison. He was sentenced to 2.6 years of prison for his abuse of power.

- Mongolian People's Party (MPP- former communist party)'s Conference is scheduled  on October 27 this year. MPP has been "knocked down"  5  times in a row, in  last elections, and they will discuss at their meeting how to stop this  downslide and make a come back. Major changes in party leader positions are expected.

- Oyutolgoi project has put on hold  its underground developments and sent its 2000 workers home, temporarily. It is not clear whether Rio Tinto uses it as a tool to "tease" the Mongolian Government and/or the Parliament, or was it because of the lack of financing the underground expansion  which is the key of reaching to the major deposits of this mine. It says, Mongolia  still has 22 disputes with Rio Tinto over Oyutolgoi - a world class copper and gold  mine in the south Gobi in Mongolia.

New Boeing 767-300 ER

- Mongolia has bought a brand new Boeing 767-300 ER. Two additional Boeing 737-800 will arrive in 2015.  Mongolian Airlines (MIAT) has recently opened a new line to Ereen city (China) and plan to open additional new routes.

- Some  former and current high ranking  Government officials, and an MP are involved in money laundering crimes, bribery and either awaiting their cases been  decided at the court, or sent already to prison. All of them are MPP members since this party ruled in the last 8 years, making this country one of the most corrupt in the world.

Horse racing

- This year's Naadam fest was no exclusion with regards to losing  of children's lives during the horse racing. Two children have lost their lives after falling off their horses while racing. Few escaped with different level of injuries. The jockeys in Mongolian horse races are exclusively children ages of from  7 and up. This has been a big issue among Mongolians for some time, but it couldn't be solved yet. The supporters (race horse owners, mostly riches) say it should be kept as is it because it's been a tradition (a point which is disputable), and opponents argue we should stop using the children as jockeys.

Brown stallion secured an SUV for his owner

A Naadam is a traditional festival  where men compete in three competitions: horse racing, traditional wrestling and archery. There are lot of drinking and eating involved, and celebrated nationwide. Officially it lasts for three days but at the country sides it continues a bit longer. At the "Grand speed" (in Mongolian: Ikh Hurd) after Naadam,  the winner was awarded  with an SUV (Toyota Land Cruiser) and the next runner-ups  from second place to fifth place received  20 mil, 16 mil., 14 mil., and 10 million MNT respectively. (Mongolian Tugrik-MNT and USD rate is currently  1568 : 1 ). The best  stallions and horses of 5 years and up, from around the country compete in 2 categories in  distances  of 22 km and 24 km.  

Horse rider parade (with 11500 participants)

- Mongolians are being  addicted to beat Guinness records any way they possibly can. It might look harmless than a marijuana addiction but it did cost a child's life during the recent event- a  race of 4249  horses (18 km = 11 miles).   Organized by the Mongolian  Federation of Horse Racing Sports  and Trainers  (MFHRST) ,  this race was officially registered as  world record by Guinness officials who came to Mongolia and witnessed the event.  MFHRST  has also organized a parade  of 11 thousand horse riders, a something that had  not an important point except to show the world that Mongolia has lot of horses and we are a nation  proud of our  horses.

"Killer food" touched down in Mongolia

KFC logo

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) settled down recently in Mongolia's capital.  First KFC! Not surprisingly, Mongols have shown Mr.Sanders  a warm welcome  and everybody rushed to "shake his hand". Busy as hell, this fast food restaurant has been overcrowded since its opening, and it looks like a retail store where a big sale on a brand name product is announced. Extremely patient  customers were willing to  wait  80 minutes to get some chicken and some less patient fans left after an hour- waiting, frustrated.

Anything new is always a magnet,  and it seems that  KFC was a very strong one. From the company's standpoint, it was a great decision to open a branch in Mongolia and they will make a good profit along the way for sure.
Represented in 120 countries worldwide, KFC is of course a famous one in culinary field, and so it was not an  "unknown" subject to Mongols. It is also known that KFC has "occupied"  neighboring China since 1987  with more than 4000 branches, making China accountable for more than 40 percent of its revenue.

KFC fans swarming outside the entrance (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia)

Remarkably, KFC was not "successful" in  making its  Chinese customers "obese", and that is mainly because Chinese are very  much "people in the move". In comparison, the Americans are getting fat because they don't "move" a lot. "Move" in the meaning of exercising , action, motion, movement, and activity.
In that sense the Chinese get a credit regarding how they "protecting" themselves from this "fast food danger" while enjoying the food at the same time. The main reason that Americans having this overweight problem, is the fast food consumption from the childhood on and lack of motion.  McDonald's and KFC are the guilty ones, making them obese.

KFC menu (UB, Mongolia)

Here is the menu:

- One piece of chicken (leg) meal                 T4900     ($3.40)
- Two piece meal                                         T7900     ($5.50)
- Colonel rice meal                                       T7900   
- Zinger "X" meal                                         T 9900    ($6.89)
- Fillet "X" meal                                            T 9900
- Zinger burger meal                                     T 7800   ($5.43)
- Fillet burger meal                                       T 7800
- Friends meal                                              T 16900  ($11.76)
- Family meal                                               T 29900  ($20.80)
--------------------------------------------------------
- 1pc chicken (drumstick)                            T 2900     ($2.00)
- 2pc chicken                                               T 5900    ($4.10)
- 5pc chicken                                               T 13900  ($9.67)
- 9pc chicken                                               T 24900  ($17.33)
- Zinger burger                                             T 4500    ($2.78)
- Fillet                                                          T 4500
---------------------------------------------------------
- Cole slaw                              regular          T 800     ($0.55)
                                               large             T 1000    ($0.70)
- Fried potato (pomme frites)   regular          T 2000   ($1.40)
                                               large             T 3000   ($2.08)
- Mashed potato                     regular           T 800
                                               large             T 1000
- Rice                                                          T 1000
------------------------------------------------------------
Note: T is for Mongolian currency "Tugrik". Current exchange rate USD-T is $1.00=T1437.00
It is not clear how many pieces of chicken are included in Friends' and Family meals.
         
I am afraid that we, Mongols, are awaiting the same fate as Americans because we can't compete with the  Chinese in "keeping our body in shape". Why? Because we are getting lazy and  prefer more to "be moved" (i.e. use of  transportation),   instead of using own muscles, and that way we "collect" more fat in our bodies. A nation who consumes a lot of meat fat anyway, KFC, or any fast food in that matter, is not something we should be welcoming.  And as we say, anything fried is always not good for your stomach. I don't want to see our future generation suffering from obesity , strolling down the street like a giant ball.

So, no need to be excited in having a new fast food place to go, and be careful in consuming it. I mean don't make it as your regular go-eat-place , but instead  try to avoid it as often as possible. And don't forget to stay on "the move" all the time instead of sitting on your Lazy-boy for hours or drive your car when you can walk.
And also remember: Home-made food is always better and healthy!

Nothing personal Champ, but...

"The Champ" with his wife

I love him! I do. He is the greatest wrestler we had in the last decades. He won many times the champion's title in Mongolian traditional wrestling. He was also the World Champion in Amateur sumo wrestling. So he is a famous figure in Mongolia. He became later a politician, representing the former communist party, currently called Mongolian People's Party (MPP).  He is an MP now.

MPP decided to let him run for President's  office and so he is the one of the  two opponents against whom the  current President Elbegdorj, the candidate  from the Democratic Party (DP), runs now.  The other candidate is a female who is nominated from the offspring party of MPP named Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP), chaired by N.Enkhbayar who was sentenced to 2.6 years in prison for misusing his position of power when he was the President of Mongolia.

Bat-erdene is his name, but people in Mongolia refer to him always as "The Champ". Read more on him at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badmaanyambuugiin_Bat-Erdene

My personal opinion is that he is running for the office not in the right time. Not that he cannot do the job, but the ones behind him won't let him do his job or do things rightly. I mean the political party where he "belongs" to. Right now MPP is furious about taking revenge for the defeat they had to swallow in recent elections. (Presidential election in 2009, Parliament's election in 2012, election of local governance in 2012)
So they (MPP) are really pissed off and will do whatever it takes, to win this Presidential election.
From their perspective, they made a right decision to nominate "the Champ" as candidate because like I said  there is not a single Mongol who doesn't know "The Champ" and does not respect him. Not a single soul!
In that case many would vote for him just because he is so popular!

The thing is that many people think that one should give the new government a chance to prove itself and that is there should be a like-minded team in order to work as a team. A team consists of the Government with the Prime Minister as the leader, the Parliament where DP is the majority with its coalition partners, and the President who supports the current power. Only then, a policy can go through and a plan can be worked out. If one of these three is from the opposition, there would be lot of  stall,  blocking, delay etc., which would eventually  slow down the progress and the whole country would suffer from it. Nobody wins.

But MPP thinks that they would win if they do so. Why? Because that way they can make it harder for the new Government to do its job and make look it bad. It does not matter if the country is not going forward or stay the same; the bad the better. The result? People will be disappointed and change their mind, and choose MPP next time. That is what they have in mind right now and they would have nominated even a sheep if the sheep   was so famous that everybody would vote for it.  So MPP is just using  "The Champ" for his prestige and influence.

Anyways, I hope that our people learned the lesson from the past 20 plus years when MPP ruled and promised always that they let us live in paradise if only they were given the chance. After all those years we stayed the same, living in hell instead of heaven. So think hard and don't repeat the mistake. I have personally nothing against "The Champ", in contrary, but like I said, it is so sad that he is being victimized by this party.
Sad, sad situation. But what we can do? So, let's have a team of "Three  Musketeers" who says, "All for one, one for all!", and let them do their job to make us happy!

Some pictures of our famous man, "The Champ", for you to enjoy!

Champ on the left, in Mongolian traditional wrestling championship 1998 (with Sumyabazar)

Representing Mongolia in the Olympics

"The Champ" ,left, with another champ (Usukhbayar)

"The Champ" won another  Championship (on the shoulders), while the current President is waiting to take a picture of him (red arrow). Back at that time current President Elbegdorj was a journalist and both were caught here together.

Believing in Buddha

The Champ in the middle (left Sumyabazar, right Asashoryu-the famous Sumo champion)

Largest Mongolian wrestling tournament with 6002 participants. It was organized by the Mongolian National Wrestling Federation (Mongolia) and was held in the capital city in 2011. "The Champ" was among them.

There he is, looking at you! (on the right)

"The Champ" in combat uniform since he was the chief of the Police athletes

During a Naadam festival at the stadium

"The Champ" became the World Amateur Sumo champion defeating this 550 pound guy from the USA

"The Champ"(right) having lunch with Asashoryu, the Sumo champion

"The Champ" is all dressed up for the event

"The Champ" and his horse

In Khentii province where "The Champ"  is born

Having some serious talks

Campaigning in the countryside

Meeting with Kazakhs, the minority in Mongolia, during his campaign (dressed up in Kazakh costume)

Speaking with a Buryat oldie at the countryside

Taking picture

Madame Eegii

(posted initially on 12/6/12)

"Ancient" pirates were represented by only male personas with an exception of a very few females who would dress like a man and pretend to be a man. It was forbidden to have a female on board.
"Modern" piracy has no sex "discrimination". One famous example is "Madam Wong" whom the police in Japan, Hong Kong, Philippines , Macau, Taiwan, and Thailand  are chasing after for centuries.  But "the Queen of the pirates" of the seas of South East Asia was never caught, and until today "Madame Wong's" treasures are being searched for everywhere.

Mongolia has requested Interpol to hunt down an  "offshore pirate" named "Madame Eegii", a Mongolian citizen.  Her full name is Enkhtuya Nambar and she is a sister of our ex-president Enkhbayar Nambar who is convicted  for misusing his position and corruption and sentenced to  4 -year jail term. He is the "Godfather of corruption" in Mongolia. "Madame Eegii" as his younger sister was his closest ally and partner. She is disappeared after her brother started  having "problems" because of his sins committed  in his "good, old times". It seems true when people say that Enkhbayar's conviction was nothing compared to his real crimes.

What are we talking about?  Three luxurious and fancy houses in America, elegant and expensive dwellings  in Moscow, London and Beijing, the vacation center next to the Baikal sea, registered under his mother's name, mineral water resorts under his father's name, 200 million USD investment in a skyscraper in the capital city among other billion's of Tugrik (Mongolian currency)  savings, including $1.5 billion saving, and money laundering cases in Singaporean and Hong Kong banks  rumored in foreign medias recently, etc.
All these  are worth of billions of dollars and how  a president can possible earn all this during his terms?
Yes , he was a Prime minister and Speaker too, but this amount of treasures  is simply not possible to collect by this one man with his salary. So there must be something else except his salary.  Salary plus what? Money laundering, stealing, bribes! Now we are talking!

But who is owning and "moving" all this around? Not Enkhbayar. He is in jail, right? (Well, actually in a hospital) You guessed it! It is nobody but his lovely sister, our modern  day "pirate"- "Madame Eegii".
Last time  she was in charge of all businesses connected directly and related to an agency called "Mongolia Ship Registry Pte LTD.", based in Singapore.
So she was not called for no reason as "Madame Eegii" and  "honored" as "pirate" because she was the "boss" of all ships flying the state flag of Mongolia, wasn't  she? She lived in Singapore for so many years "taking care" of all money going in and out, and of course "washing" the money her brother has sent her.  Why would she go "underground" if she is clean? And remember, she vanished as soon as her brother (our dear ex-President Enkhbayar) got in trouble, without any trace.

The Mongolia Ship Registry (MSR) is, according to the statement on its website, the exclusive authority, appointed by the Mongolian government and based in Singapore, to process applications for ships registering under the Mongolia flag. MSR is fully authorized to issue all the necessary documents and certificates, and administer the registration system on behalf of the Mongolian Government.  Based in Singapore, where financial and legal services are readily available, the MSR is well positioned to take on the challenge of providing efficient and quality services to ship owners who choose to have their vessels  fly the Mongolian flag. 

If we (or the famous INTERPOL to be exact) catch her, then it will be like we hit a huge gold mine. But it's been a while since we asked Interpol for  help and it's kinda  impressive how can she hide herself so well until  now, even from Interpol. The Interpol had no problem to find out that 27 international terrorists were hiding in Mongolia, and  supplied  Mongolian police with their pictures and information. 7 of them must be from Japan and the remaining people are from Palestine, they say. But our "Madama Eegii" seems like to  be more clever than those 27 men. If she gets  caught, her brother will fall in much deeper hole from where he is not gonna make it alive and that is why it's important not to be caught. She is maybe considering a "harakiri" in case the Interpol succeeds.

Speaking of Interpol, we requested also to find a man, former city official, named Biligt who managed to escape to US fearing of his possible conviction in corruption and bribery. He is still at  large amusing himself by messing around  with Interpol. Maybe he is working for Walmart, strip-waxing the floor.

There is a guy, a whippersnapper, named  E. Erdenejamyan who became a newly  Deputy Minister of Justice Ministry, and he sent a letter asking the Interpol to stop searching for both "Madame Eegii" and  Biligt. That was an act way out of his "jurisdiction"! But he justified his dumb act as an example of free speech! What an idiot! You wonder why? Because he is  a member of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) which sprang from current Mongolian People's Party (MPP). MPRP was a "brand" name for our communists for a long time during the one-party rule.
MPP claimed the "brand" name of MPRP as it own, and didn't want  the "party deserters" to use this name, but the newly "drop-outs" were  allowed to use this  "brand" name anyway for their new party, by court's decision.

Meanwhile, Enkhbayar is considering a hunger strike, again to protest his sentence (his sentence is being reviewed by High Court) and to force his liberation. And his party members have started acting seriously. The cabinet members in the coalition government  from this party were ordered to resign from their positions. A female MP from this party (MPRP) has announced that she will start a hunger strike to demand that Enkhbayar be released immediately. MPRP is in the move.

No wonder because this party is one-man's party! It is Enkhbayar's party. He owns it. He is the head of this party and they intend to  do anything  to free their chief and to make him "innocent".
Only then our "Madam Eegii" can come back home from her "voluntary-exile" without any fear to be punished. But that is very unlikely though. Sorry, "Madame Eegii"!

Bad girl, bad girl, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do, when we come for you!?