Uwazi

The wives of Cambodian opposition activists jailed on “incitement” charges were roughed up by police as they staged a protest Friday outside the U.N.’s human rights office in Phnom Penh, demanding that the government drop the charges against their husbands and release them.

The group of about 10 women — known as the “Friday Wives” for their weekly rallies on behalf of their husbands from the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) — demanded the release of their spouses following reports that the men had been infected with the coronavirus in prison.

Several police officers roughly manhandled the women as they tried to pry large posters with their husbands’ images from their hands during the protest in the capital’s Chamkar Mon district, the women said.

Prum Chantha, one of the protesters, said it was beyond belief that police resorted to manhandling them while breaking up the group in front of the U.N.’s office.

“They dared to abuse us in front of the U.N office… This is very unjust for the family members of politicians,” she said.

The women submitted a petition to the U.N.’s human rights office to intervene, saying that they were concerned about the health and safety of their husbands because they have been banned from communicating with them for the last three months while the pandemic has spread rapidly in Cambodia.

They complained that their husbands are at risk for contracting the virus because they are being held in overcrowded prison cells and don’t have enough food to eat.

The women have said that authorities should allow them access to their detained spouses during the COVID-19 pandemic so that they can monitor their health.

Dos Kimteang, another protester, told RFA that the women did not violate any laws by gathering because they did not impede traffic or disrupt social order, and that they adhered to the Health Ministry’s guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

“We never provoked any social chaos,” she said. “Please don’t abuse us and then accuse us of violating the law.”

‘They gathered without permission’

A coronavirus outbreak has surged unabated through Cambodia’s prisons in recent weeks amid a nationwide outbreak. As of Friday, the government reported a total 33,075 confirmed coronavirus cases, including 886 news ones, and 242 total related fatalities.

San Sok Seiha, spokesman for the Phnom Penh municipal police, said police prevented the women from gathering because they did not request official permission to assemble.

But when RFA asked him to cite the regulation that requires people to ask for permission to hold public gatherings, he refused to elaborate.

“They gathered without permission,” he said. “This county has laws, so authorities are obligated to implement them. We can’t let a few people to provoke problems in Phnom Penh city.”

On Friday, 20 civil society organizations and unions issued a statement repeating a call for the government to release all prisoners of conscience in light of the growing number of COVID-19 infections.

“In view of the reports of mounting COVID-19 cases within Cambodian prisons, compounded by prison overcrowding, we call on the RGC [Royal Government of Cambodia] to release all nonviolent prisoners of conscience as a mitigation measure to minimize the risk posed by the spread of the virus,” the statement said.

Soeung Sen Karuna, spokesman for the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) who monitored the Friday Wives protest, said that the police crackdown on the women in front of the U.N’s human rights office indicates a further decline of human rights in the Southeast Asian nation.

“This is yet more evidence showing that … the authorities should consider their actions and coordinate them, so that people can express themselves and their demands,” he said. “It would give the government a better image.”

Soldiers fired bullets at land protesters on Thursday in Kandal province, hitting one man in the shoulder, as a group of about 100 Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) soldiers faced off against villagers involved in a land conflict in Kandal province, about five kilometres from Phnom Penh. The injured man remains hospitalised, while some local villagers resumed protesting on Friday morning.

The shooting occurred in Tuol Prich commune, Angk Snuol district, in an area that houses several military bases and outposts and has seen a boom in development in recent years. Villagers reported that the soldiers were from the nearby Thmat Pong military school. Videos of the incident show an excavator digging up land while local villagers try to stop it and block National Road 51. Uniformed soldiers can be seen advancing on the villagers and firing dozens of live rounds from handguns and assault rifles into the air, at the ground, and into the crowd of villagers, hitting one man in the shoulder.

The land conflict involves more than 150 hectares that have been farmed for many years by more than 300 local families from at least seven villages. Satellite data shows that the land around the location of the shooting has been farmed continuously since at least 2008, which is the earliest satellite imagery available on Google Earth. Government-produced maps dating from 2001 also mark the area as containing farmland. The Kandal provincial government issued a letter on Thursday saying that all of the land was state land, while some villagers have said they have farmed on the land since 1979.

There have been several shootings of land protesters by mixed forces including military soldiers in recent years. In January 2019, a man was shot in Preah Sihanouk province and left paralysed after mixed forces descended on protesters and opened fire during the enforcement of a Supreme Court decision over a land conflict in the province. In March 2018, three people were shot in Kratie after mixed forces fired into a crowd of 300 villagers protesting a violent eviction.

Several protesters captured the improper deployment of soldiers and excessive use of force using smartphones, and videos of the shooting were posted to Facebook.

On 2 June 2021, border control authorities at the Fuzhou airport prevented Beijing-based human rights lawyer Tang Jitian from boarding a flight to Japan to see his ill daughter. The authorities told the human rights defender that the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau has imposed an exit ban on him because his travel abroad “may endanger national security”. Tang Jitian (唐吉田) is a Chinese human rights lawyer who has taken on human rights casesacross a range of areas, including land rights, freedom of religion, freedom of expression and freedom of association. As a result of his persistent activism, his license to practise law was revoked in 2010. The human rights defender continued his human rights work since his disbarment and has been subjected to beatings, torture, surveillance, travel restrictions, and arbitrary detentions on multiple occasions. In November 2017, he tried to enter Hong Kong from Shenzhen to seek medical treatment, but the mainland border control authorities told him he was not allowed to leave because he “may endanger national security”. Tang Jitian’s 25-year-old daughter, who has been studying in Japan, fell ill in April 2021 with tuberculosis and has since been hospitalised in an intensive care unit. She is said to be in serious condition due to multiple complications triggered by tuberculosis.After his daughter was hospitalised, Tang Jitian obtained a visa to travel to Japan and contacted public security officers in Beijing to seek the lifting of his exit ban. However, the officers he contacted said they were discussing the matter with their superiors and failed to give him a definitive answer despite repeated follow-up. On 1 June 2021, the human rights defender flew from Beijing to Fuzhou. On the morning of 2 June 2021, he checked in his luggage and obtained his boarding pass at the Fuzhou airport for his flight to Japan, but was stopped and turned back at the border control area. The border control officers told the human rights defender that he was prohibited from leaving the country on the basis of article 12(5) of the Exit and Entry Administration Law, which grants the authorities the power to impose exit bans on Chinese citizens if they “endanger national security”. The officers did not provide any legal documents or any detailed explanation as to why and how his departure would endanger national security. They also initially refused to disclose the officials who ordered the exit ban. After Tang Jitian insisted on knowing who issued the order, the officers said it was the Beijing Public Security Bureau, but refused to disclose the names of the officials who made the decision.Chinese authorities have a history of imposing arbitrary restrictions on freedom of movement,including both domestic and international travel bans, as well as forced temporary relocation during politically sensitive periods, in order to target human rights defenders. These restrictions based on such ill-defined concepts as “endangering national security” are inconsistent with the Chinese Constitution, which prohibits unlawful deprivation or restriction of citizens’ freedom of the person,and are also incompatible with international human rights standards protecting the right to freedom of movement.

Two reporters working for independent media outlets in Myanmar were jailed for two years on Wednesday for reporting on the demonstrations against the February takeover by the military junta, a family member of one of them and other sources said.

Aung Kyaw, a 32-year-old Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) reporter, was charged by the military regime with violating Section 505(a) of the Penal Code and sentenced by a court in Myeik Prison in the southern Tanintharyi region, his wife Nay Chi Moe told RFA.

The section pertains to the circulation of statements, rumors, or reports with the intent to cause military officers to disregard or fail in their duties, and carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison.

“I don’t know why he was sentenced to two years in prison under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code,” Nay Chi Moe said. “Our family was not allowed to hear the case held at the prison court.”

Junta forces arrested Aung Kyaw when they stormed his home on March 1. He streamed his arrest live on Facebook, and the arrest video has been watched millions of times since then, according to a statement issued Wednesday by DVB.

The day before his arrest, the journalist broadcast live news that soldiers raided and destroyed some houses in Myeik township.

Because Aung Kyaw’s attorney was under threat by the junta, he decided not to hire another lawyer and instead defended himself in court during his last two hearings, DVB’s statement said.

Aung Kyaw argued that non-criminal charges should have been brought against him under Myanmar’s Media Law, rather than the Penal Code, and that he subsequently would have been found not guilty because he was doing his work as a journalist. The judge refused to accept the argument, however.

“I have no confidence in the judiciary under the military council, so I will not appeal,” Aung Kyaw said after the verdict, according to his wife.

Nay Chi Moe said she would not submit an appeal.

“The 505(a) charge should not have been used against a journalist,” she said. “He did not want to file an appeal because he does not believe in the law. He said his case was meant to create a news blackout. It is totally unfair that he was given a two-year sentence under 505(a).”

Aye Chan Naing, DVB's executive director and chief editor, called the sentence “total injustice.”

“There is no reason our reporter Aung Kyaw should be jailed,” he said. “The legal system is so flawed, and it was an unlawful arrest.”

Situation is ‘deteriorating’

Aung Kyaw’s jailing followed that of Min Nyo, a DVB reporter based in Pyay, Bago region, who was sentenced to three years in prison on May 12.

“The military junta is illegally detaining Aung Kyaw and Min Nyo, and there is not a single reason to keep them in prison,” DVB said in its statement. “The junta has currently 57 journalists detained for doing their work. This is a clear violation of both national and international laws by the Burmese junta.”

In another sentencing Wednesday in Myeik, Zaw Zaw, a freelance journalist who works for the outlet Mizzima, was sentenced to two years in prison for violating Section 505(a) of the Criminal Code. RFA could not reach his lawyer or family for comment.

Myint Kyaw, a former Myanmar Press Council member, says the current situation of the press in Myanmar is at its worst under the military regime.

“The situation of the press is deteriorating,” he said. “It is likely to become even worse. No one can say for sure whether it will lead to a censorship regime as existed under the previous junta, but we can say it’s heading in that direction.”

“There had been no such situation like this for a decade with putting more than 50 journalists in jail in Myanmar,” he said. “Press freedom is in a free fall at the worst rate.”

More than 80 journalists have been arrested since the Feb. 1 coup, and over 50 of them face criminal charges wile detained in prisons across the country.

“Myanmar’s junta started with zero respect for independent journalism and has gone downhill from there as the military tries to stop any reporting on the atrocities it's committing every day against the people,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch.

“The military’s move to go after journalists from respected Burmese media outlets like DVB and Mizzima is all about strangling any independent narratives about what’s happening in Myanmar, and trying to drag the people of the country back to the dictatorially imposed isolation that characterized the rule of previous military regimes in the country,” he said in a statement from Bangkok.

Correspondents say many journalists now are fleeing the country because of the junta’s crackdown on the media, with some going abroad to continue their reporting and others out of jobs and struggling to make ends meet.

Following the coup, the junta banned 11 independent news outlets, including DVB and Mizzima, from operating.

A court in southern Vietnam’s southern Hau Giang province on Wednesday sentenced a Facebook user to seven years in prison for posting writings said by prosecutors to have misrepresented state policies, Vietnamese sources said.

Dang Hoang Minh, 28, had been charged with “creating, storing, and disseminating information, items, and materials opposing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s 2015 Criminal Code, state media reports said.

Reports by local media did not say when Minh—a resident of the Phu Khoi hamlet in Hau Giang’s Phung Hiep district—had been arrested or whether he had been represented by a lawyer at his trial.

Citing the provincial People’s Procuracy indictment against him, state media said Minh had posted several “untrue stories” concerning current and former leaders of Vietnam’s one-party communist government on his Facebook page from June to December 2020.

Former Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, founder of the country’s communist party, was among the leaders Minh had defamed, prosecutors said, adding that Minh’s postings had been aimed at opposing the national government and ruling party and had caused “confusion and anxiety” to his readers.

Reporting by RFA shows that at least 21 Vietnamese citizens have been charged with political offenses involving social media posts since the beginning of the year, with 21 now serving prison terms following convictions under Article 117.

Among those jailed this year, former RFA blogger Nguyen Tuong Thuy, now in his 70s, was sentenced on Jan. 5 by a court in Ho Chi Minh City to an 11-year prison term following his conviction on charges under Article 117.

On Friday, April 23, a court in coastal Phu Yen province sentenced an independent journalist, Tran Thi Tuyet Dieu, to an eight-year prison term for writing “anti-state” stories and sharing them on social media.

And on May 5, a court in northern Vietnam’s Hoa Binh province sentenced land-rights activist Can Thi Theu and her son Tring Ba Tu to eight years in prison each for posting online articles and livestream videos criticizing the government for its handling of a deadly land-rights clash last year.

Harsh forms of persecution

With Vietnam’s media all following Communist Party orders, “the only sources of independently-reported information are bloggers and independent journalists, who are being subjected to ever-harsher forms of persecution,” the press freedoms watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says in its 2021 Press Freedoms Index.

Measures taken against them now include assaults by plainclothes police, RSF said in its report, which placed Vietnam at 175 out of 180 countries surveyed worldwide, a ranking unchanged from last year.

“To justify jailing them, the Party resorts to the criminal codes, especially three articles under which ‘activities aimed at overthrowing the government,’ ‘anti-state propaganda’ and ‘abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to threaten the interests of the state’ are punishable by long prison terms,” the rights group said.

Vietnam’s already low tolerance of dissent deteriorated sharply last year with a spate of arrests of independent journalists, publishers, and Facebook personalities as authorities continued to stifle critics in the run-up to the ruling Communist Party Congress in January. But arrests continue in 2021.

A Pakistani television station Monday took a prominent journalist off air, removing him as host of a popular talk show after he criticized the country’s powerful military, the journalist and rights groups said.

The development comes just days after the journalist, Hamid Mir, made a fiery speech at a rally in support of a fellow reporter, Asad Ali Toor, who was beaten up by three unidentified men in his apartment in Islamabad.

Geo News TV did not comment on the changes regarding its “Capital Talk,” a five-days-a-week program during which Mir would invite guests to debate current events in the country. Journalists and press freedom advocates often accuse Pakistan’s military and its agencies of harassing and attacking journalists. The government insists it supports freedom of speech.

In a statement on Twitter, Amnesty International denounced the ban on Mir and asked Pakistani authorities to protect free speech. “Censorship, harassment, and physical violence must not be the price journalists pay to do their jobs,” it said.

Also on Monday, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan denounced Geo News for taking Mir off air. It said the action against him comes after he spoke fervidly against the escalation of curbs on freedom of expression in the country.

Local journalists’ groups, which document attacks or violations against journalists in Pakistan, say the period from May 2020 to April 2021 saw 148 such attacks.

Mir confirmed his removal in a text message to The Associated Press. He later tweeted that it was nothing new for him. “I was banned twice in the past,” said Mir, who had also in the past been fired by Geo News.

Mir was attacked in 2014 in the port city of Karachi, when a gunman critically wounded him. His family at the time blamed the country’s intelligence service for orchestrating the attack. The perpetrator was never publicly known.

Geo News’ move drew swift condemnation by journalists, politicians, and members of civil society groups. The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists asked the TV station to explain whether the step was taken under government pressure.

The station’s owner, Mir Shakilur Rehman, was arrested last year in a decades-old case related to allegations of tax evasion in a real estate purchase. He was freed months later on a court order.

Toor, the journalist beaten in his apartment, works for the Aaj News Pakistani TV. He later told police his attackers claimed they were from the Inter-Services Intelligence. However, the spy agency days later distanced itself from the attack.

On Friday, Mir along with dozens of Pakistani journalists attended a rally in Islamabad to condemn the attack on Toor. So far, authorities have not arrested anyone in connection with the attack and police say they are still investigating.

A popular blogger in China was sentenced to eight months in prison on Monday for "defaming martyrs" after he suggested that the number of Chinese soldiers killed during last year's border clash with India was higher than the official count.

In February, well over six months after the clashes, the Chinese military said four of its soldiers were killed in a skirmish with Indian troops in the disputed Galwan Valley.

Qiu Ziming posted on China's Twitter-like social media platform Weibo saying that the actual death toll on the Chinese side might have been higher.

He also said that the commanding officer survived "because he was the highest-ranking officer there" — a remark that outraged Chinese officials.

Indian and Chinese soldiers clashed with iron rods, sticks, and stones last June in what was the deadliest clash between China and India in more than four decades.

New Delhi said Chinese troops had intruded into its side of the territory, triggering tensions. China had denied the transgression and accused Indian troops of provocative behavior. Timeline of Qiu's case

Qiu was arrested on February 20, a day after his Weibo post. He was subsequently charged under a new provision of China's criminal law that bans the "defamation of martyrs and heroes."

The 38-year old was also ordered to publicly apologize through national media outlets within 10 days.

"I feel extremely ashamed of myself, and I'm very sorry," he was quoted as saying by the state-run newspaper The Global Times.

A court in the eastern city of Nanjing on Monday ruled that Qiu had "infringed on the reputation and honor of heroes and martyrs ... and confessed to his crimes." China's new provision

Qiu is the first person to be jailed under the new provision which came into effect in March.

In 2018, China's national legislature passed a law making "defamation of martyrs and heroes" a civil offense.

This was made a criminal offense in February and police have since arrested at least six bloggers for allegedly defaming the dead soldiers in online comments of Qiu's post.

The crackdown highlights the political sensitivity of the border clash in China.

Hong Kong police have arrested an elderly democracy activist as she made a solo demonstration over China's deadly Tiananmen crackdown in a vivid illustration of the zero protest tolerance now wielded by authorities in the financial hub.

Alexandra Wong, 65, was detained on Sunday on suspicion of taking part in an unlawful assembly as she walked towards Beijing's Liaison Office in Hong Kong.

Wong -- known locally as "Grandma Wong" -- was a regular fixture of the huge democracy protests that swept Hong Kong in 2019.

She could often be seen waving a Union Jack flag, a symbol of her dissatisfaction with Beijing's rule since the city was handed to China by former colonial power Britain in 1997.

Protest is now all but outlawed in Hong Kong.

Authorities have used both the threat of the coronavirus and security concerns to ban demonstrations.

A vigil planned for this Friday -- the 32nd anniversary of Beijing's 1989 crackdown on democracy protests in Tiananmen Square -- has been denied permission for the second year in a row.

Authorities have cited the coronavirus, although Hong Kong is currently celebrating no local transmission cases of unknown origin for the last month.

Activists had also sought permission for a small Tiananmen-themed march on Sunday to the Liaison Office, which represents the central government in the city, but it was also denied permission.

Wong turned up anyway that afternoon holding as sign that read "32, June 4, Tiananmen's lament" and a yellow umbrella -- the latter a symbol of Hong Kong's democracy movement.

The South China Morning Post said the pensioner started chanting slogans in a park before heading towards the Liaison Office by herself, while being followed and filmed by police.

She was stopped twice.

"I'm only by myself, just an old lady here. Why stop me?" the Post quoted Wong as telling officers.

Soon afterwards she was arrested.

Police confirmed a 65-year-old woman surnamed Wong had been arrested for "knowingly participating in an unauthorized assembly and attempting to incite others to join an unauthorized assembly."

Hong Kong's democracy movement has been crushed by a broad crackdown on dissent over the last year, including the imposition of a sweeping security law that criminalizes much dissent.

In the middle of the 2019 protests Wong disappeared for more than a year.

She resurfaced saying she had been detained by mainland authorities during a trip to Shenzhen, a neighboring city where she lived at the time.

For Hong Ly, the dispute over her family’s hectare of farmland in Kien Svay district was frustrating, but it became personal on Monday when authorities arrested her 40-year-old brother.

As the woman recounted his unexplained arrest on Wednesday, dozens of people huddled in the shade of her stilted house, discussing how authorities have disappointed them in their response to a yearlong land dispute and to the residents blocking National Road 1 in protest, and now for a new offense: the arrest of Hong Sok.

“He’s a gentleman. He never hurt anybody,” said Ly, 52.

A Kandal province land dispute that was supposed to be solved in 2017 has continued, as residents of three villages say they’ve been forcefully stopped from using their land, leading residents to block roads in protest of the dispute and one man’s arrest.

In less than an hour after reporters arrived, more than 60 people were murmuring to each other, occasionally raising their voices to explain the two-day protest and vent about the land they feel they’re losing to neighbors.

The dispute ignited on Sunday, when residents of Kien Svay district’s Banteay Dek commune decided to block National Road 1 in order to garner attention to their dispute, over about 3,000 hectares of farmland distributed among three villages.

The residents who were gathered under Ly’s house told VOD that they were awarded 1 hectare of land per family a few years ago, when Prime Minister Hun Sen intervened in their dispute with Lok Hour, a CPP lawmaker, and granted the area back to residents of Prek Pol, Kandal Krom and Samrong Thom villages. However, villagers said they never received titles for the area.

About 3 km away from their homes, past fields of rice, eggplants and other crops, the residents constructed a number of farm shacks to guard their land, marked with Cambodian and Buddhist flags. At the intersection of two dirt motorbike paths, residents hung large laminated posters of Hun Sen, deputy prime minister Sar Kheng and Hun Sen’s wife Bun Rany.

But since that government intervention, residents of another nearby village, Chong Ksat, have been trying to stop their community from using the farmland, explained resident Cheang Sinoun, 48. She said she had been able to clear and plow her land but wasn’t able to cultivate it, and some of her neighbors had been attacked with slingshots while trying to clear the land.

When asked why people would be attacking others for their land, Sinoun said she did not know, later adding, “I think someone hired the people to claim this land.” Powerful people have been interested in the area, she said.

Sinoun said a group of villagers — she couldn’t remember how many — gathered at the Kien Svay district office on Sunday at 8 a.m. to meet with officials, alleging that residents from another village were trying to prevent them from using land that was granted to them. They were ignored by district officials, so instead they went to block the national road at about 10 a.m. to demand attention. Sok, the arrested man, was with them during this protest.

“They threatened us to stop blocking the road. Police told us they could arrest us for blocking the road,” Sinoun said, saying this was the first time the frustrated residents took this action.

Recounting what she learned later from peers, Ly said her brother Sok had gone for a meal and coffee early Sunday evening, and was arrested at about 6:30 p.m. He participated in the protest, but Ly said she did not know why he was targeted, saying he wasn’t a community leader.

“We do not know whether someone called him [for a meal] to target him or not,” she said.

The residents then gathered again that night, blocking the road a second time, now to demand Sok’s release as well as for a solution to their dispute, Sinoun said.

“Only this way can break through to them,” she argued, saying authorities ignored their concerns before. “We are ignorant, but we don’t think it’s illegal.”

Sok’s 24-year-old daughter, Sok Kakada, said she saw her father briefly on Monday morning, when the residents reported to the Kien Svay district hall for a discussion. While others were worried about Sok’s health because he has diabetes, he told the crowd he was okay.

“We wanted to ask authorities” what Sok was charged with, Kakada said. “But they wouldn’t talk.”

Sin Siphoeun, another resident who joined the roadblock protest, said the authorities had promised protestors they would release Sok on Monday morning, but they had not. She called Sok’s short visit with the protestors an attempt by authorities to appease the angry residents, but she warned that they could block the road again. Siphoeun said she and her neighbors just wanted an explanation for his arrest.

“He has not killed anybody nor stolen anything from anybody, and what he has done was for all the people to find a solution, but [authorities] accused him of being a bad person and arrested him,” she said. “We’re not scared because we have not done anything illegal. … Why did they arrest [him] and what kind of offense did he commit?”

When asked about the dispute, Kandal’s deputy provincial governor, Nouv Peng Chandara, told reporters to check the provincial administration’s Facebook post from Monday, which said that residents who blocked the road had accepted the government’s mediation.

According to a Phnom Penh Post report from 2017, the Council of Ministers ordered the Land Ministry to return 2,997 hectares of land in Kien Svay and Sa’ang districts to villagers, with some 2,391 hectares taken from CPP lawmaker Hour.

Mao Phirun, a Kandal provincial councilor and former governor, said the land was returned to residents via a sub-decree in 2017 after Hour had taken the land illegally from residents. Hard titles from this area were made, he said, but people who were not granted land by the government could be jealous.

“People know it, and they have no land and they see other people’s land. … They have been provoked by other people,” he said.

“There are brokers behind this … the one who is behind it, they have been known [by the people], and the one who is being detained pushed the cyclo only to be crushed by the car,” he said. “[The protestors] will be the ones to bear the blow.”

On May 29, Zhanar Sekerbaeva and Gulzada Serzhan, co-leaders of the feminist group Feminita, were holding a private event to discuss gender equality in Shymkent, a city in southern Kazakhstan, when unidentified men tried to break up the gathering by harassing and filming participants.

A police officer arrived at the hotel where the event was taking place, but instead of trying to get the men to back off, the officer confronted Sekerbaeva. A video recording of the encounter posted on Facebook shows the officer forcibly grabbing Sekerbaeva and manhandling her into his car.

Sekerbaeva told Human Rights Watch that after she was shoved into the vehicle, another man opened the opposite door and tried to pull her out of the car by her hair. He was not successful, she said, but he did punch her in the face.

Ignoring the attack that happened in his own car, the officer took Sekerbaeva and Serzhan to the police station, threatening to press criminal charges for “offending a police officer.” Police held Sekerbaeva and Serzhan at the station for eight hours, interrogating them about what they were doing in Shymkent.

At around midnight, the police insisted the two activists leave Shymkent immediately. They were not charged. Sekerbaeva said she asked the police to allow them to travel back to Almaty, where they live, by train, but the police refused.

Instead, five police officers escorted Sekerbaeva and Serzhan to Almaty in a police vehicle – an eight-hour journey – telling them the reason they had been detained and were being driven back was “for their own safety.” A police officer even accompanied her to the toilet, Sekerbaeva said.

Embassies of the United States, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom issued statements of “deep concern” over the attack on the feminist activists, and called on Kazakh authorities to respect equal rights for women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Kazakhstan.

The police’s response to Saturday’s events – targeting the activists rather than their attackers – shows just how urgent the need is for better protection of women’s and LGBT rights in Kazakhstan today.

Authorities in the southwestern province of Sichuan are holding prominent rights activist Huang Xiaomin under criminal detention for "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Huang was detained on May 29 by police in his hometown, the provincial capital Chengdu, his friends said.

"I heard from a friend he called using the police phone that he had been detained, and that this time he was looking at a sentence of more than three years in prison," a friend of Huang's who gave only a surname Li told RFA on Wednesday.

"What he did for them to detain him isn't clear yet," Li said. "We don't understand it."

Li said Huang had been writing about vulnerable groups of people fighting for their rights on Mala -- an online forum on Sichuan-related matters.

Huang is a former teacher at a bingtuan CCP party school near Kashgar, in the northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).

He took part in the student-led pro-democracy movement that ended in the massacre of unarmed civilians by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) on June 4, 1989.

In 2019, the Jinniu District People's Court in Chengdu handed down a two-and-a-half year jail term Huang for supporting a call for direct elections to choose the leader of the CCP.

Huang pleaded guilty to "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charged based on interviews given by Huang to foreign media organizations including RFA, in which he allegedly "attacked the government."

He was earlier sentenced in 2010 by Sichuan's Leshan County People's Court to two years and six months in jail for "gathering a crowd to disrupt social order" for taking part in a street protest outside a court in February 2009.

Another friend of Huang's, Feng Gang, said his most recent detention was likely linked to his advocacy work for disadvantaged groups in Chengdu.

"He helped local human rights defenders and posted details of their cases online, especially to overseas websites, including Twitter and Facebook," Feng told RFA. "He also exposed local corruption and ... criticised the political and legal system."

He received a visit from local police after he gave an interview to RFA in November 2020 about CCP leader Xi Jinping's claim to have eliminated poverty in China.

"Huang has been a thorn in the sides of the local police in Chengdu," Feng said. "He has been detained around the 32nd anniversary of the June 4 crackdown, and ahead of the CCP centenary [on July 1], as part of the local stability maintenance plan."

Huang is also a member of the Independent Chinese PEN Association and one of the conveners of the Sichuan Pan-Blue Alliance, which is politically aligned with Taiwan's opposition Kuomintang (KMT).

A 14-year-old girl (name withheld) has been summonsed by the police in Phitsanulok on a royal defamation charge under Section 112 of the Criminal Code.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported last Friday (28 May) that the girl received a summons from Mueang Phitsanulok Police Station on a Section 112 charge and is required to report to the police on 1 June.

The complaint was filed against her by former Action Coalition for Thailand (ACT) MP candidate Nangnoi Assawakittikorn, who has previously filed complaints under Section 112 against activists Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, Anon Nampa, Panupong Jadnok, and Parit Chiwarak. She has also filed a libel complaint against a Facebook user for calling her a “slave of the dictator”.

The girl told Voice Online that a police officer delivered the summons to her house and it was received by her father. She said she does not know why the complaint was filed and does not know Nangnoi personally.

She also said that during the protests in Phitsanulok in 2020, she made comments about the royalist groups who were against the protests. One of her friends then commented about Nangnoi, who saw the comment. Even though she said the comment was not directly to do with Nangnoi, the girl was told by Nangnoi to meet at the police station.

Police officers then contacted her and told her that a Section 112 complaint had been filed against her, but did not show her an arrest warrant or a summons, so she decided not to speak to the officers until she received the summons last Friday (28 May).

Special Branch police also contacted the girl’s mother on 23 February, asking to discuss with her about sharing Facebook posts about the monarchy. The officers wanted the girl to delete the posts, saying that she would face no charges if she did so.

The girl said that she is surprised that an adult would press a politically motivated charge against a minor, and even use Section 112. However, she said that she will enter the judicial process and has already contacted a lawyer. She is likely to ask to postpone her appointment with the police, as her lawyer is unavailable on that day.

Accord to TLHR, the girl is the 7th person under the age of 18 to face charges under Section 112.

A timber company operating in Malaysia’s Sarawak state has threatened to take legal action against Penan and Kenyah Indigenous communities that are campaigning against the company’s certified-sustainable production plantations.

For more than a year, the Indigenous communities have been speaking out against Malaysian timber, plantation and construction conglomerate Samling Group and its subsidiaries. They allege the company has encroached on community land, has withheld key documents about the certification process, and failed to obtain free, prior and informed consent of affected communities during the certification process.

Samling has consistently refuted these allegations, saying it has followed all due and lawful processes in its certification process, and has met all document disclosure requirements.

Sarawak-focused environmental justice NGOs Bruno Manser Fund and the Borneo Project call the recent legal threats an attempt to silence the Indigenous communities who have spoken out.

In a letter dated May 26 and seen by Mongabay, Samling subsidiary Syarikat Samling Timber warned the Long Moh village community in Sarawak’s Miri division that it reserved the right to take legal action against parties alleging the company was involved in trespass, damage or destruction. According to Syarikat Samling, such allegations were “astonishing” given that the community is aware the company has the correct permits to operate in the disputed area, and has already accepted payments for a share of the timber harvested.

The threat of legal action comes after the Penan community complained through news articles that Samling, whose subsidiaries operate a certified-sustainable timber plantation in the area, was crossing into an area that was within their demarcated village.

Earlier this month, Penan and Kenyah communities filed complaints with the Malaysia Timber Certification Council, accusing Samling of failing to properly consult the communities and disregarding the way they use the land.

The Borneo Project and Bruno Manser Fund have partnered with grassroots groups like the Penan community NGO Keruan, whose CEO, Komeok Joe, is visiting communities bordering and within the Samling forest management units or FMUs (government-granted concessions that aim to use funds from timber production in parts of a concession to conserve forest in other parts of the concession) to take reports from the communities. The residents around two of Samling’s certified FMUs were nomadic up until the 1970s, Joe said. Now, the remaining untouched forest is vital to their lives.

“They tell me, ‘Even if they offer us millions in money [for the forest], we won’t accept, we want our land,’” he said of the Penan communities. “They want to fight for their rights.”

Samling Group operates three FMUs in Sarawak, in which 60% and 76% of the granted land is designated for timber production. The concessions are certified as sustainable timber producers by Malaysia’s Timber Certification Council, but critics of the program say that Malaysian Borneo’s decentralized governance and history of corruption make sustainable certification programs illusory.

Representatives of the Penan and Kenyah communities in May filed formal letters of complaint to the MTCC over its decision to certify the 117,941-hectare (291,439-acre) Ravenscourt FMU in Sarawak’s Limbang division and the 148,305-hectare (366,470-acre) Gerenai FMU in Miri division.

In their complaints, the communities, represented by grassroots Indigenous NGOs, allege that full environmental and social impact assessments for the timber projects have not been made publicly available; that Samling failed to properly consult them on the project; and that projects don’t consider how Indigenous communities use the land for their livelihoods.

However, filing an actionable complaint about an FMU is difficult, requiring an in-depth understanding of the certification process and its many players.

When asked about the legal warnings against Indigenous communities, Siti Syaliza Mustapha, senior manager of FMUs for the MTCC, called for open dialogue between parties over legal action whenever possible, adding that good communication is key to the certification process.

“We maintain that the best method for dispute resolution would be through open communication, mutual respect and understanding between the concerned parties,” Mustapha said. “Legal proceedings would be the least preferred option.”

According to Mustapha, the timber certification council she represents does not have the ability to grant or revoke FMUs, nor does it have the final say over whether to certify FMUs. Instead, the MTCC responds only to complaints about the standard-setting process.

Complaints regarding the decision to certify specific FMUs should be sent to the certifying body, Mustapha said. Under Sarawak law, these bodies are hired by the company that holds the concession for an FMU to conduct audits of the areas and eventually certify the planned FMU. For the Ravenscourt and Gerenai FMUs, Samling hired the Selangor-based testing, inspection and certification firm SIRIM QAS International.

Mustapha added that the MTCC encourages people to “make full use of the complaints mechanisms,” and that the council could provide assistance. She said the council in general takes complaints very seriously, without clarifying whether the MTCC was looking into this case after receiving the May complaints.

SIRIM QAS International’s audit of the Gerenai FMU says the concession follows the criteria set for forest management bodies, but the audit — conducted in 2019 and published in 2020 — flagged nine major and minor issues with the management. Among the problems, SIRIM QAS found via conversations at Indigenous community meeting houses that residents were not sufficiently consulted, and that most were not aware of a community relations committee that’s supposed to be established for communication on the FMU.

Thorsten Arendt, head of communication for the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification, an international group for sustainable forest certification boards that counts the MTCC among its members, said the body had met with the MTCC, Indigenous communities and NGOs over Samling’s FMUs to discuss the certification process and their concerns. He noted that complaints against a national member like the MTCC could be appealed to the PEFC if it can’t be resolved at the country level, and could result in suspension or termination of PEFC endorsement if upheld.

While the Penan communities near the Ravenscourt FMU were informed about their new corporate neighbor from the village’s government-appointed leaders, Joe, the Penan community NGO leader, said Penan and Kenyah residents near the Gerenai FMU only found out about it after its certification.

Joe said community representatives came to him with a document informing local people of plans for an agricultural development, but when he looked into the case further, he found that it was actually an approval for the Ravenscourt timber production plantation.

“The logging companies and FMU [holders], they don’t do right by the communities. This is why the situation is worldwide,” he said, referring to the global attention raised by campaigns against the company. “It’s very simple to solve this issue if everyone respects the [Penan community’s] area.”

Peter Kallang, chairman of Sarawak-based environment and land rights NGO SAVE Rivers, says it’s clear the company had limited knowledge of the land when an auditor came to check Samling’s documentation of the Gerenai FMU. He says the auditor asked to see one salt lick — a place where animals go to lick salt and other essential minerals in a natural habitat — in Tanjung Tepalit village, but a Kenyah community member had to explain there are actually three salt licks within the village’s area.

“It means to say the [environment impact] assessment was not done correctly, so for the audit process, it puts a big question mark there,” he said.

Kallang also noted that the audit process is diluted by the fact that Samling pays the auditor, calling it a “conflict of interest” that would push the auditor to approve the company’s claims.

Joe, the Keruan CEO, emphasized how important the forest was to the Penan people, of which he is part. The untouched patches of forest in Sarawak are troves for food and medicine for Penan communities, and though many have adopted Christian beliefs, the forest still holds spiritual significance for their communities.

“We treat the forest as ourselves,” he said. “Before we go into the forest, we pray to our elders, so the spirits of the forest will protect us and give us what we want.”

Joe said he was bothered by the company’s claim that Penan people don’t use the forest. He said Samling probably drew this conclusion because the few community consultation meetings it had were held with English-speaking representatives in the city of Miri, but if company officials came to the forested villages, they would see differently.

“If there is a consultation, they need to make it proper,” he said. “Maybe the big boss from Samling or MTCC [should] go to the forest, sit down with the people, talk to the people, explain [their plans] to the people nicely.”

A Chinese human rights activist was reportedly lured from his home and detained by police on Friday, in a sign of a more severe environment for political dissidents in the run-up to the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party.

Wang Aizhong received a phone call on Friday from someone who claimed his car had been damaged, Chinese human rights blog Weiquanwang reported. When he left home to check on the vehicle, police took him away.

Up to nine police officers then presented a warrant to Wang’s wife and searched his home. They confiscated 29 books, two computers and a cell phone. Wang’s wife was later summoned to the local police station, where she was questioned about her husband’s contacts and remarks. Police reportedly warned her against speaking out.

A few weeks ago, public security officers prevented Wang from attending a dinner on May 5 with a group of entrepreneurs in Guangdong province. Police broke up the meal gathering and interrogated the attendees until the early hours of the following morning.

Wang is known for his involvement in the “Southern Street Movement,” a democracy reform movement originating in Guangdong. In May 2014, he was subjected to four weeks of administrative detention in the provincial capital city of Guangzhou on suspicion of “disorderly behavior.”

The activist has more than 39,000 followers on Twitter, which is officially banned in China, where the authorities frequently monitor dissidents’ accounts.

Senior NagaWorld union leaders all received dismissal notices amid the casino’s plan to lay off more than 1,000 employees, a union official said, in what some labor and civil society observers labeled an attempt to eliminate the active union from the workplace.

NagaWorld has begun a process of laying off 1,329 employees, which it has explained is due to declining revenues, according to the union. But the workers targeted for dismissal have been long-time union members, and on Thursday the union’s top leadership all received notice, said NagaWorld union vice president Chhun Sokha.

Sokha said on Friday that she and other leaders, including union president Chhim Sithar and more than a dozen core activists, received a dismissal message from the company on Thursday.

As of Friday, more than 600 employees — mostly union members — had received notice, she added.

Sokha said the company wants to eliminate protests, which the union has led. She said recent protests were about protecting workers rights.

“It is a violation of the freedom of association. We have the right to be an independent union, which has been registered and recognized by the Ministry of Labor. And now the company is terminating the leaders as well as the union activists, to make the leaders and activists unable to fulfill their obligations on behalf of workers,” she said.

She added that NagaWorld should not be allowed to do whatever it wanted, and the union was preparing a legal complaint to file to the Labor Ministry.

She said most workers had declined the redundancy compensation offered by the company so they could fight the dismissals together.

“They are also waiting to see what Naga wants to do to the union. They said as they already cut [the leaders], they might as well cut all 8,000 employees in the company. Then let’s wait and see how the company will operate without any employees working for them.”

Labor Ministry spokesman Heng Sour said he hadn’t received any complaint from the union yet, but any dismissals of union leaders needed to be justified.

“In principle, union leaders cannot be fired unless they have made serious mistakes or violated any of the company’s internal regulations, or [due to] the actual financial situation of the company. We need to look at the facts and the root of the problem first,” Sour said.

NagaWorld chief operating officer Mike Ngai could not be reached.

International Labor Organization national coordinator Sophorn Tun, when asked if the ILO would be taking action in the case, said: “It will, as soon as it receives from the union of the workers affected a request detailing the circumstances of the case.”

He added that ILO staff have no authority to pronounce whether the case was a violation of labor rights or Cambodia’s Labor Law — “only its competent supervisory bodies, including the Committee on Freedom of Association [can do that].”

Ath Thorn, president of the Cambodian Labor Confederation, said he believed NagaWorld’s layoff plan was not about Covid-19 economic disruptions, but a way to eliminate union activities. The NagaWorld union had been unafraid to strike and protest.

“I can say that there can be some discrimination against the union, and [the company] wants to take advantages of workers’ rights. For example, dismissing old workers, recruiting new workers, eliminating unions, et cetera,” he said. “Laying off unionists in particular sets a bad example for other employers.”

Pav Sina, president of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers, said the company was taking advantage of the Covid-19 outbreak to “crush” the union.

“There is nothing other than intent to destroy the union,” Sina said. Dismissals due to genuine financial difficulties were fine, but “dismissals focusing on union activists, union leaders — these show that the real intention is to discriminate against the union.”

Cambodian Center for Human Rights executive director Chak Sopheap said mass layoffs amid Covid-19 went against the Labor Ministry’s advice to support workers during the crisis.

“If the termination refers to active individuals like union representatives, it means that the company has violated and harassed the union representative,” Sopheap said, calling it “revenge against active individuals.”

The casino and hotel company reported a net profit of $102 million in 2020 despite the Covid-19 crisis, down from more than $521 million in 2019.

Police in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi tried on Tuesday to arrest an independent journalist charged with reporting on corruption and other issues deemed politically sensitive by authorities, but missed him at home, taking away a laptop computer and two mobile phones instead.

Le Van Dung, also known as Le Dung Vova—owner of the online CHTV news channel—was not at home when officers from the Hanoi Police Department’s Investigation Agency arrived at around 1:30 p.m., Dung’s wife Bui Thi Hue told RFA on Wednesday.

“Around 20 officers came to our house and read a warrant to search our home and to charge and temporarily detain my husband Le Van Dung in accordance with Article 117 [of Vietnam’s Criminal Code],” she said.

Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code imposes penalties for “creating, storing, and disseminating information, documents, items and publications opposing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” and is frequently used by authorities to stifle peaceful critics of the country’s one-party communist state.

Dung was away from home when the police arrived and is now “temporarily safe,” Hue said, adding that officers searching the house found nothing belonging to her husband, but left with a laptop computer and two mobile phones of her own.

Hue said that she had not touched or looked at the warrant that was read to her and had to stand back from the officers because of COVID concerns.

“They documented their search, but I didn’t sign the document, and therefore they didn’t leave me with any papers,” she added.

Dung’s CHTV channel has used Facebook’s live-broadcast feature to transmit information on social issues such as land disputes and corruption, and to give ordinary citizens a chance to discuss matters of concern, drawing the attention of law enforcement and security agencies.

'Useful and good'

Writing on his Facebook page on May 25, Dung said he had received repeated calls since January to report to local authorities for questioning concerning a denunciation filed against him by the government’s Cybersecurity Department, alleging he had created videos with “anti-State” content.

Half of the 12 videos used by police investigators to accuse him showed signs of outside editing, though, Dung said.

“I think that I’ve done is useful and good for other people and for our country. We need to join hands and work to create a better society,” Dung said, writing on his Facebook page. “What I have done is in line with my responsibilities as a citizen.”

“I understand that by telling the truth, my family and I may suffer. But I will always do this, even if I am imprisoned for doing what my conscience tells me to do,” he said.

With Vietnam’s media all following Communist Party orders, “the only sources of independently-reported information are bloggers and independent journalists, who are being subjected to ever-harsher forms of persecution,” the press freedoms watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says in its 2021 Press Freedoms Index.

Measures taken against them now include assaults by plainclothes police, RSF said in its report, which placed Vietnam at 175 out of 180 countries surveyed worldwide, a ranking unchanged from last year.

“To justify jailing them, the Party resorts to the criminal codes, especially three articles under which ‘activities aimed at overthrowing the government,’ ‘anti-state propaganda’ and ‘abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to threaten the interests of the state’ are punishable by long prison terms,” the rights group said.

Vietnam’s already low tolerance of dissent deteriorated sharply last year with a spate of arrests of independent journalists, publishers, and Facebook personalities as authorities continued to stifle critics in the run-up to the ruling Communist Party Congress in January. But arrests continue in 2021.

Asad Ali Toor, an Aaj Television journalist and vlogger often critical of the Pakistani military, was attacked by unknown assailants in his apartment in Islamabad on May 25. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Pakistan affiliate, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), urges the authorities to investigate the case objectively and for justice to be delivered.

According to a statement from Asad Ali Toor, more than three gunmen broke into his house at 11pm (18:00 GMT) on May 25, and savagely assaulted him, “I was threatened by showing the pistol, dragged to my bedroom, beaten up mercilessly. When I shouted for help, they gagged off my mouth, threw to the hard floor and hit on my elbow with buts of pistol”, the statement reads. Toor’s electronic devices, including his mobile phone, were snatched. CCTV footage shows that the journalist’s hand and feet were tied.

Toor’s arms were bruised and his sleeves were coloured red with his blood. Immediately, the journalist was taken to a local hospital for treatment and his health condition is reported to be stable.

According to Toor, the assailants identified themselves as being agents of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency and warned him not to cover the ISI. He was told to say ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ (Long Live Pakistan) to prove his patriotism.

The journalist who is also the host of the YouTube channel, "Asad Toor Uncensored” is known for this critical report about the Pakistan military. In September 2020, a First Information Report (FIR) was filed against Toor accusing him of defaming the military by spreading propaganda through his facebook posts. However, the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) dismissed the case and described it as ‘infructuous’.

According to the IFJ’s South Asia Press Freedom Report 2020- 2021, nine journalists and media workers were murdered and 36 media rights violations were committed in Pakistan from May 2020 to April 2021.

The pro-democracy activist brother of a high-ranking official in Myanmar’s military junta died under suspicious circumstances while in custody of the junta’s security forces this week, their family told RFA.

Soe Moe Hlaing, 55, also known by his alias Mae Gyi, was the younger brother of Lt. Gen Than Hlaing, who was appointed the country’s chief of police and deputy home affairs minister on Feb. 2, one day after the military ousted the country’s democratically elected government and seized control.

Authorities arrested Soe Moe Hlaing and eight others on May 22 in the central city of Bago for running a charity school. Two days later, his family received a notice to retrieve his body.

His wife, Myat Muyar Win, told RFA’s Myanmar Service Tuesday that the military planned to cremate his remains at Mingaladon War Cemetery that day.

“We didn’t have to see or do much. It was as if we were attending a funeral they were holding. We wanted to take his body back to Yangon but they refused. We asked them to postpone the funeral for a day, but they refused that, too. We are on our way to Mingaladon right now,” she said.

Local outlet Myanmar Now quoted Myat Muyar Win as saying a regime official told her that he died of “some disease,” but she asserted that her husband was healthy. She also said that she heard reports that the 901st Artillery Operations Command beat Soe Moe Hlaing with the butt of a gun during his arrest. Than Hlaing reportedly went to see the body at the cemetery prior to the cremation.

In the report, Myat Muyar Win said the brothers had not seen each other in many years and they never contacted each other.

RFA attempted to contact the junta’s spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun but he was not available for comment.

Soe Moe Hlaing, an honors chemistry student at Yangon University, was active in the 1988 pro-democracy uprising. After the 1988 coup he joined and served as a battalion commander in the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF), a pro-democracy armed group.

After returning home in 1991, the previous junta arrested him and sentenced him to 15 years in prison for his involvement in the ABSDF. He spent 10 years in Insein and Thayarwaddy prisons. Since his release, he had dedicated his life to charity work.

After Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) came to power in the 2015 elections, Soe Moe Hlaing founded a community-based tourism network for local development, leading the development of the Zalon Taung Pagoda, a religious facility on a scenic mountaintop in the northwestern Sagaing region.

Over the past few years, he established and taught at the Winkabaw Ex-Political Prisoner Education Network, which has a mission to educate family members of political prisoners.

“Even though his brother had a high position in the military, he never took advantage of that,” a friend of Soe Moe Hlaing told RFA on condition of anonymity.

“The local military authorities in Bago did not know he was related to the sitting deputy home affairs minister during his arrest or detention,” Soe Moe Hlaing’s friend said.

According to Myanmar Now, the two brothers have nine other siblings. The invitation for Soe Moe Hlaing’s memorial service mentioned his ties to Deputy Minister Than Hlaing, and said he was survived by his wife, three daughters and two sons.

According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 21 people, including two women, have died since the coup after being arrested and tortured at interrogation camps.

Thai authorities should immediately and unconditionally drop insulting the monarchy and other politically motivated charges against children who peacefully express their opinions, Human Rights Watch said today.

On May 24, 2021, the Central Juvenile and Family Court informed 17-year-old Thanakorn Phiraban that he has been indicted on lese majeste (insulting the monarchy) charges related to his speech at a pro-democracy rally on December 6, 2020, in Bangkok. Under Thailand’s draconian article 112 of the Criminal Code, Thanakorn faces 3 to 15 years in prison if found guilty.

“By punishing outspoken children with lese majeste charges, the Thai authorities are seeking to intimidate peaceful critics by demonstrating that they will all be harshly punished regardless of their age,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “These senseless, rights-abusing charges should immediately be dropped against Thanakorn and all others peacefully expressing their views.”

The number of lese majeste cases in Thailand has significantly increased in the past year. After almost a three-year hiatus in which lese majeste prosecutions were not brought before the courts, in November 2020 Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-ocha ordered the authorities to resume lese majeste prosecutions because of growing criticisms of the monarchy. Since then, officials have charged at least 82 people with lese majeste crimes in relation to various activities at pro-democracy rallies or comments on social media. Six of them are children, under age 18.

In a February 8 statement on the situation in Thailand, United Nations human rights experts said that lese majeste laws have “no place in a democratic country.” They also expressed serious concerns about the growing number of lese majeste prosecutions and harsh prison sentences the courts in Thailand have meted out to some defendants.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Thailand has ratified, protects the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. General Comment 34 of the Human Rights Committee, the international expert body that monitors compliance with the covenant, specifically states that laws such as those for lese majeste “should not provide for more severe penalties solely on the basis of the identity of the person that may have been impugned” and that governments “should not prohibit criticism of institutions.”

Children from middle school and high school have become commonplace at most pro-democracy rallies across Thailand, even giving speeches onstage. Groups such as the Bad Students have held their own rallies on school grounds and occasionally conducted street protests. But despite concerns publicly raised by the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and human rights groups, the Thai authorities continue to punish children for expressing views, participating in peaceful public rallies, and otherwise taking part in activities to demand democratic reforms.

The Thai Lawyers for Human Rights has reported that at least 41 children have been charged for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly since the youth-led pro-democracy rallies started in July 2020. Many other children have faced various forms of intimidation by the authorities to try to stop them from taking part in political activity or making critical comments about the government and the monarchy. The government’s actions violate Thailand’s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which ensures children’s rights to participate in peaceful protests and to express their opinions.

“Thai authorities should not be suppressing the voices of Thailand’s children expressing their views and demanding democratic reforms,” Adams said. “Instead of responding to children’s appeals with prosecutions, the authorities should listen to their views, and protect their rights to express their opinions without fear or intimidation.”

Nearly 50 people in Ayeyarwady Region initially charged with violating Section 505a of the Penal Code for incitement were hit with additional charges on Wednesday for treason.

The new charges—violating Sections 122 and 124a of the Penal Code—carry the death penalty or a lifetime prison sentence.

The plaintiff in the case is the chief of the Pathein District police station. He has directed the charges against 31 activists and 17 current and formerly elected National League for Democracy (NLD) parliamentarians, one of the affected MPs said.

“They’ve already opened cases against us under 505a. I heard they’re adding more charges to those who are part of CRPH [Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw] or close to them. I also heard we are facing more charges in our township as well,” Ni Ni Moe, a former NLD regional parliamentary representative for Nyaungdon Township’s Constituency 1, said.

Ni Ni Moe went into hiding after being charged with Section 505a for incitement, and is now facing the two additional charges in Pathein.

Since the February 1 military coup, 12 people including four NLD lawmakers have been detained in Ayeyarwady.

Thein Tun, a Lower House representative for Tharpaung Township; Aung Aung Oo, a regional parliamentarian for Tharpaung’s Constituency 1; and Than Htut, a regional representative for Pathein District’s Constituency 1, were arrested on March 31 and charged with incitement.

Dr. Tin Min Htut, a lawmaker from Pantanaw Township and secretary of Ayeyarwady Region’s NLD office, was arrested on the night of May 15. He is among those facing additional charges for treason.

Ni Ni Moe told Myanmar Now that while many NLD MPs are facing persecution by the junta, some have opted to side with the coup regime and have given up their elected posts.

“Before, they filed charges against almost all of the representatives under 505a and now there are additional charges. However, some representatives are casually relaxing at home. I heard some of them have already resigned [from the legislature],” Ni Ni Moe said.

After seizing power, the military amended Section 505a of the Penal Code, increasing the prison sentence for those convicted from two to three years.

Like Section 505a, Section 124a was also amended by the coup regime. It carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years for inciting “disaffection towards the Government [...] or the Defence Services.”

Conviction of high treason under Section 122 is accompanied by the death penalty or 20 years’ imprisonment.

The mother of student activist Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul has received a police summons on a charge under the Emergency Decree, after she joined a protest demanding her daughter’s release

Panusaya posted a picture of the summons on her Facebook page yesterday (19 May). The summons states that her mother violated the Emergency Decree by organizing an unauthorised gathering of more than 20 people at risk of the spread of disease, after she joined the “Stand Against Detention” protest in front of the Supreme Court on Ratchadamnoen Avenue on 28 April 2021 to demand the release of Panusaya and other activists who were detained at the time.

The “Stand Against Detention” protests were organised by the activist group Resistant Citizens to demand the release of activists being detained pending trial on charges relating to the recent pro-democracy protests and have been held continuously since 22 March 2021 at various locations across Bangkok. Similar events have also been held in other provinces.

According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), no other participants in the “Stand Against Detention” protest have so far been charged with violating the Emergency Decree.

However, TLHR reported today (20 May) that two other people have received a police summons for participating in one of the “Stand Against Detention” protests: activist Punsak Srithep, a member of Resistant Citizen and whose son Samapan was killed during the the military crackdown on red shirt protesters in May 2010; and another protester named Napatsorn Boonrey.

Panusaya said in her post that participants in the protest kept a distance from each other. Resistant Citizen also required registration for each protest and only 20 participants were allowed.

Panusaya was granted bail and released on 6 May, after she had been in detention for 74 days. 7 people are currently still detained pending trial on charges relating to political expression.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday denied bail to five members of activist group Khmer Thavrak and two members of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association, as the defendants urged that they had already been in jail for as long as nine months.

Khmer Thavrak members Hun Vannak, Chhoeun Daravy, Tha Lavy, Eng Malai and Koet Saray were arrested in August and September amid protests in support of jailed unionist Rong Chhun; KSILA’s, Muong Sopheak and Mean Prom Mony were arrested in September for their involvement in the same protests.

On Tuesday, Malai, with a visible swollen leg, held hands with Daravy as their lawyers made their arguments for bail.

Vannak spoke out that even though the courts had not found them guilty, it had already jailed them for many months.

Judge Tith Sothy Borachat tried to cut him off, telling him that only lawyers would be permitted to speak.

“Please release us. We have clear home addresses and we are prepared to show up when the court needs to do any interrogation,” Vannak said.

Sam Chamroeun, one of three defense lawyers, argued that the pretrial detention had continued too long. The crime for which they had been charged — incitement to disturb social security — carried a potential jail sentence of six months to two years.

The seven defendants had already been in jail for longer than the low-end of the potential sentence, he said.

Pretrial detention of more than six months also breached the requirement for a quick and fair trial, Chamroeun argued, citing the Criminal Procedure Code.

“The court needs to consider this case as urgent and necessary,” he said.

Bail would reduce challenges for the defendants, including the risk of Covid-19 and mental health pressures, as they could be in the care of their families, Chamroeun said.

Deputy prosecutor Sam Rithy Veasna said the defendants had already had two trial hearings, and their release now would obstruct the court process.

The trial had been delayed due to Covid-19, he added. “We will continue the procedure when the Covid-19 situation is better,” he said.

Prum Mony was questioned during a trial hearing in February, when he was asked about links to a Cambodian-Australian former member of parliament in Victoria, Hong Lim.

Sopheak, the other KSILA member, said on Tuesday that he was chronically ill and he was not getting the care he needed.

“It is very difficult to endure this and it is very difficult to live there,” especially without money to spend in prison, Sopheak said.

He did not want to stay in prison as he was afraid that he would have mental health issues, he said.

During a 15-minute break, the defendants talked with each other and visiting family members. Some family members could be heard asking about their health and seen handing over bundles of 20,000 riel notes, worth about $5 each.

After the break, Sothy Borachat, the judge, said there was not enough evidence to release the defendants on bail, and rejected the defense’s arguments.

“To guarantee their presence for the charges at the upcoming trial, [the court] does not allow their release on bail,” he said.

A specific trial date was not announced.

Chamroeun, the defense lawyer, said he would discuss appealing the decision with his clients.

Bangladesh authorities should drop all oppressive charges against the renowned Bangladeshi journalist Rozina Islam, Human Rights Watch said today. Islam’s colleagues believe she was detained over her reporting on corruption and mismanagement in the public health sector, including the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Islam is accused under sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act and sections 379 and 411 of the Penal Code, for allegedly attempting to “collect sensitive government documents and taking photos of them” at the Health Ministry. If convicted, she faces up to 14 years in prison and the possibility of the death penalty. Journalists across Bangladesh are protesting to seek her release.

“Bangladesh authorities should produce evidence of wrongdoing or immediately release Rozina Islam and stop arresting journalists for doing their job, which is also to highlight governance flaws,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “Instead of locking up critics, encouraging a free press should be central to the government’s strategy to strengthen health services in combatting the pandemic.”

Media reported that Islam went to the Health Ministry at around 3:30 p.m. on May 17, 2021, for a meeting with the health services secretary. She was confined to a room there for nearly six hours, during which she fell ill and fainted, then was taken to the police. According to the complaint filed by the Health Ministry, she had taken government documents related to the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines. She denies these allegations.

In a video recording by another journalist after her hearing on May 18, Islam said that, “because of my reporting on the Health Ministry, I am being wronged.” Her recent work includes reporting on bribery in recruitment at the health directorate, irregularities in the purchasing of emergency medical supplies to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, and for holding much-needed donated emergency medical supplies at the airport for ten months.

On May 18, a magistrate court turned down the police department’s request for 5-day remand and instead sent her to jail until her bail hearing on May 20. The court ordered the police to submit a report on their investigation into the allegations by July 15 and for the jail authorities to ensure that Islam has access to necessary medical care according to national law.

The Bangladesh Editor’s Council said that Islam’s arrest under a colonial-era law is “the manifestation of the negative attitude and the evil mentality of the authorities concerned to gag newspapers.” The Committee to Protect Journalists called for her release, while a spokesperson for the UN secretary-general expressed concern.

Bangladesh authorities have frequently gone after journalists and the media for reporting critically on the government’s response to the pandemic. For instance, in May 2020, the authorities arrested four people and charged seven others for “spreading rumors and misinformation on Facebook” because they criticized the government’s response to the pandemic.

Mushtaq Ahmed, a writer who was among the four, died in custody on February 25 after being held in pre-trial detention for nine months during which it has been credibly alleged that he was tortured. After a public outcry over Ahmed’s death, Ahmed Kabir Kishore, a cartoonist arrested at the same time, was granted bail. He described being tortured after he was taken into custody and also said that Ahmed had been brutally beaten.

The authorities have also increased surveillance of anyone who might spread “rumors” about the Covid-19 pandemic and ramped up media censorship.

Human Rights Watch and eight other organizations wrote to Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on World Press Freedom Day, on May 3, raising concerns over continuing attacks on the media including arbitrary arrests, torture, and extrajudicial killings.

“The arrest of Rozina Islam sends a terrifying message to journalists uncovering corruption in Bangladesh,” Adams said. “By speaking out for Islam, concerned governments will be standing with Bangladeshi journalists across the country.”

Prominent activists Bela Bhatia and Jean Dreze alleged on Monday that they were not allowed to proceed to Silger in Chhattisgarh, where three persons were killed in a police firing on May 17 in what the police claimed was an 'encounter' with Maoists present in a crowd of people.

The activists were also allegedly interrupted when they were meeting people injured in the firing that took place on the inter-district border of Bijapur and Sukma in Bastar region on Wednesday. The duo were asked to undergo COVID-19 tests before being allowed for any further movement.

Bela Bhatia, talking to THE WEEK on telephone from Bijapur, said that she and Dreze both underwent repeat COVID-19 tests (both rapid antigen test and the RTPCR) on Wednesday and got negative reports on Thursday. “We are now waiting to talk to the Bijapur district collector and show him the reports. On our part, we think we have cooperated fully with the administration despite both of us being vaccinated with both the doses. Now we want to be allowed to meet the injured as well as to visit Silger and interact with the local people,” Bhatia said.

District Collector Ritesh Agrawal told THE WEEK that he was yet to confirm the COVID-19 test reports of the two activists and any further decision or action would be taken only after that. He refused to comment further.

Questions have been raised on the “encounter” after videos of local villagers claiming death of nine persons and injuries to about 18 people in a “unilateral” firing by the police on a crowd of protesting villagers on May 17, made rounds on social media. The villagers were seen claiming that there was no Maoist presence in the crowd.

The villagers had gathered in the area to protest against a newly set up camp of security forces which, they said, had infringed on their livelihood and natural resources like forest, land and water.

Bastar Inspector General Sudarraj P. had claimed that three persons were killed in an encounter with Maoists present in the crowd who had fired at the camp of security forces in Silger. He, however, added that it was not yet confirmed whether those dead were Maoists or villagers. The state government has not made any official statement regarding the incident or the villagers' allegations.

Civil society organisations have demanded a judicial probe into the incident and filing of criminal cases against responsible police officers, apart from compensation to the families of those dead.

Bhatia told THE WEEK that she and Dreze were interrupted by the authorities when they tried to speak to five injured persons in the district hospital on Wednesday and were asked to leave the place.

“We saw three seriously injured persons with bullet injuries in back, shoulder and leg respectively and two others—one man and one woman—with injuries due to alleged lathicharge by the police. Later, relatives of these people, who were present on the hospital campus, told us that they, too, had been present at the protest rally for five days before the incident and that there was firing from the police side,” she said.

Later in the evening, the activist said, they were stopped at the Chiramangi CRPF camp before Avapalli on their way to Silger and told that they could not proceed. “I saw a document with my name and photograph that said I should not be allowed to go to Silger. I was not given any reason and the only thing they asked us was to get COVID-19 tests done, which we have fulfilled. We saw journalists and others from outside Bijapur proceeding to Silger and coming back while we were waiting at Chiramangi camp,” Bhatia said.

“We want to talk to the local people around Silger to know their version of the incident and what they felt. We have always found that no counter-complaint of such incidents (disputed 'encounters') are ever entertained. But if the villagers feel so, we will help them with the legal action,” Bhatia said.

She said there seemed to be further attempts to hold up their (activists') plan. On Thursday morning, she was initially told that her COVID-19 test sample was invalid and re-sampling would have to be done. “However when Jean went to get his report, my report, too, was handed over to him and we both have tested negative in both the tests. So now, we want to proceed with our plan,” Bhatia said.

Police in Kazakhstan have detained an Instagram blogger over satirical posts he made on the social media platform as the government continues to pressure political opponents.

Police searched the home of Temirlan Ensebek in Almaty on May 15 and seized his equipment, his wife told RFE/RL.

Yensebek is a member of Oyan, Qazaqstan (Wake Up, Kazakhstan!), a group that supports political reform in the authoritarian Central Asian nation.

A few supporters of the blogger protested outside the police station where he was being questioned.

Ensebek's wife said he could face charges of knowingly spreading false information that puts public order in danger.

His wife said she did not know which post could have caused the police investigation. All posts on his Qaznews24 Instagram page have been deleted.

Some of Ensebek's satirical posts poking fun at the nation’s authoritarian system were widely discussed on social media.

In one of his posts, he joked that Muslim leaders in Kazakhstan had proposed giving former President Nursultan Nazarbaev that status of a god and recommended incorporating that into the constitution.

Kazakhstan changed the name of its capital to Nur-Sultan in 2019 to honor Nazarbaev, who ruled with an iron fist from the nation’s independence in 1991 until 2019.

He continues to wield considerable influence as chairman of the Security Council.

In another post, Ensebek said the Interior Ministry was preparing a law that would limit the right of Kazakh citizens to travel abroad to just one time a year.

Under President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, who was handpicked by Nazarbaev, Kazakhstan continues to clamp down on freedom of speech and harass opposition members.

Police last year detained dozens of journalists and bloggers and launched criminal cases for alleged crimes such as spreading false information and inciting the public, according to Adilsoz, a local media watchdog.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's lawyer has filed a report with the police against Suthipongse 'Heart' Thatphithakkul under the lèse majesté law and the Computer Crime Act. Suthipongse, a famous Thai singer with a political profile, is one among many who have been charged for speaking out against the government's vaccine policy.

Seksakon Atthawong, also known as Rambo Isan, assistant to the Minister of the Office of the Prime Minister, threatened on 15 May that the matter could be withdrawn if Suthipongse truly loves the monarchy and wants to help the country.

According to the Thai legal system, a criminal charge cannot be withdrawn unless a suspect is proven innocent. Suthipongse’s case was reported on 13 May at Nang Loeng Police Station, together with evidence of his Facebook post criticizing the government's Covid-19vaccine policy.

“The medicine of the boss is not selling. The stock is not moving. The lackeys have to come out to help with the marketing (I copied this from someone else) #vaccine monopoly, unless you are really ruthless, cannot be done," said one of the Facebook posts which made him a suspect under the lèse majesté law and the Computer Crime Act.

Apiwat Kantong, the Prime Minister’s lawyer, said that the term “boss” might refer to the monarchy and even if it was copied from someone else it might still constitute disinformation and lèse majesté.

After Suthipongse was reported to the police, he posted on Facebook asking ”how come that the Prime Minister sues the people?”

In a separate Facebook post, Suthipongse asked the government to drop the charges because he ran out of money to hire lawyers. Suthipongse also said that he was not interested in entering politics and the government may even get his help if it talks to him nicely.

Who is Heart? Suthipongse ‘Heart’ Thatphithakkul was a famous singer in Thailand. After he earned a Bachelor of Economics from the University of California at Los Angeles, and a Master of Economics from the University of Southern California, he returned to Thailand not only as a singer, but also as an economic analyst and famous TV host on many channels and programmes.

Suthipongse entered politics briefly in June 1997 when he became an executive committee member of the Prachakorn Thai Party under Samak Sundaravej as the party leader. However, he was disqualified from the party only 6 months later.

At the time, Prachakorn Thai was an important player in the Thai political landscape. After Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh resigned from the premiership because of the financial crisis in 1997, Prachakorn Thai defected from Chavalit’s New Aspiration Party coalition and forged a new government led by the Democrat Party with Chuan Leekpai as the Prime Minister.

In 2015 (one year after the military coup by Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha), Suthipongse invited Anutin Charnvirakul to sing a song in his show “Byrd & Heart” which he made with his old colleague Kulpong “Byrd” Bunnag. Anutin became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health in the current government after the election in 2019.

In 2018, Suthipongse revealed that he had 3 wives and 7 children.

When the protests erupted in Thailand, he became more vocal against Prayut Chan-o-cha’s government. In 2019, Narisroj Fuangrabil, former Thai ambassador to Argentina who posted on Facebook against the pro-democracy protesters, filed a report with police against Suthipongse for defamation after Suthipongse criticized him in a comment on the Facebook page of political exile Pavin Chachavalpongpun.

Suthipongse gave Narisroj flowers and apologized so the case was withdrawn.

Not the only one Suthipongse is not the only one to criticize the government’s vaccine policy who now faces legal charges.

On 18 January, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit of the Progressive Movement went Live on Facebook with a presentation on “The Royal Vaccine: Whose benefit, Whose loss?” Thanathorn was charged with violating the lèse majesté law and the Computer Crime Act on 21 January by the Prime Minister’s lawyer Apiwat.

On Facebook Live, Thanathorn said that although there were many vaccine providers, the Thai government bought only from AstraZeneca and Sinovac and in insufficient quantities because the government wanted to support Siam Bioscience Co. Ltd. Nikkei Asia reports that King Vajiralongkorn owns all but 2 of the company’s shares.

On 25 January, student protesters led by Benja Apan and Parit Chiwarak held an activity at the Srijulsup Building, where Siam Bioscience’s registered office is located, to publicize the problems surrounding the government’s vaccine policy. They too face 4 charges under the lèse majesté law, the Emergency Decree, the Communicable Diseases Act, and the Advertisement by Using Sound Amplifiers Control Act.

On 25 January, 5 students and citizens in Lampang Province were also served with summons as suspects under the lèse majesté law for displaying a banner which said “Budget for monarchy > Covid-19 vaccines.” The suspects were named as Phinit Thongkham, Wannaphon Hutakowit, Phattharakan Khaengkhan, Yupadee Kulkittanon), and Wan (alias).

In February 2021, a female student from Rajabhat University, Chiang Rai, and an admin of the page “Free Youth - CEI” was arrested under the lèse majesté law and the Computer Crime Act for sharing the “budget for monarchy > Covid-19 vaccines” banner on Facebook. Police believe that she was involved in hanging the banner near to King Vajiralongkorn’s portrait.

On 3 March, Piyarat Chongthep, a leading activist of the We Volunteer group, was detained in Kalasin Remand Prison on charges under the lèse majesté law and the Computer Crime Act for 7 protest signs against the government’s vaccine policy and for his social media posts of the protest signs. After 33 days in detention, he was allowed bail with a security of 200,000 baht.

A court in southern Kazakhstan has handed a parole-like sentence to an activist for his links with the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement amid an ongoing crackdown on individuals supporting the opposition group and its associate, Koshe (Street) party.

The Qarasai district court in the Almaty region on May 14 sentenced Abaibek Sultanov to one year of "freedom limitation" after finding him guilty of participating in the activities of the DVK.

The court also sentenced the 45-year-old activist to 100 hours of community work.

Sultanov's lawyer, Zhanar Balghabaeva, told RFE/RL that her client rejects the charge and will appeal the sentence.

Several activists across the Central Asian nation have been handed lengthy prison terms or "freedom limitation" sentences in recent years for their involvement in the activities of the DVK and the Koshe party, as well as for taking part in the rallies organized by the two groups.The DVK is led by Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank and an outspoken critic of the Kazakh government. Kazakh authorities labeled the DVK extremist and banned the group in March 2018. Human rights groups have said Kazakhstan’s law on public gatherings contradicts international standards as it requires preliminary permission from authorities to hold rallies and envisions prosecution for organizing and participating in unsanctioned rallies even though the nation’s constitution guarantees its citizens the right of free assembly.

MANILA – Peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas is calling for the release of their two elderly and ailing leaders who were arrested on “trumped-up charges” in separate incidents in Caraga region on May 14.

Police arrested Marcela “Silay” Diaz, 59, who was taken at 4:30 A.M. on May 14 from her home in barangay Bayan, Marihatag, Surigao del Sur; and Virgilio “Yoyong” Lincuna, 70, who was taken at 11 A.M. in barangay Banza, Butuan City, Agusan del Norte.

Diaz, a member of Mag-uuma sa Surigao del Sur-Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KAMASS-KMP) is a stage 4 cancer patient who is in remission, while Lincuna is a former political detainee and a stroke patient who suffers from partial paralysis, said KMP.

The two elderly and sickly activists were charged with murder and attempted homicide.

The arrests happened on the same day of the burial of KMP national vice chairperson Joseph Canlas who died after contracting COVID-19 in jail. Canlas, who died on May 11, was arrested on March 30 in Pampanga on trumped-up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. Although he had hypertension and diabetes, Canlas was well and stable when he was arrested. He was transferred from one detention facility to another, and was denied medical attention when he complained of feeling ill. He was rushed to a hospital only when his condition worsened.

“The brutality of the Duterte regime is boundless,” said KMP in a Facebook post, as it denounced the arrest and detention as “a form of silent extra-judicial killing via COVID.”

The group said that Diaz and Lincuna both faced constant red-tagging and harassment from government forces. “Both are veteran peasant leaders campaigning for farmers’ right to land and against the militarization of peasant and indigenous communities in Caraga region,” KMP said.

Diaz is charged with attempted homicide, while Lincuna is accused of two counts of murder. The case against Diaz was in connection with a shooting on 29th infantry soldiers on combat patrol in Santiago, Agusan del Norte on Nov. 21, 2020, said PNP Region 13.

Lincuna, who has been an activist since the 80s, was first arrested in October 2019 on a trumped-up case of attempted murder. He was released on bail after several days in detention. He later suffered from stroke, and now “can barely walk and needs constant assistance in his daily chores,” said KMP.

The Philippine National Police Region 13 said the arrest warrant for Diaz was issued by the municipal circuit trial court, 10th Judicial region, Tubay-Santiago, Agusan del Norte. The arrest was made by a combined force of the Regional Intelligence Unit 13, Butuan City Police Intelligence Unit, Butuan City Mobile Force Company, Surigao del Sur Police Provincial office Intelligence unit, 1st Surigao del Sur Provincial Mobile Force Company, and 7th Special Forces Company of the Philippine Army.

Diaz is detained in Camp Rafael Rodriguez in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte, while Lincuna is in PNP-Lianga, Surigao del Sur.

A pro-democracy activist in the Sagaing Region town of Monywa was murdered on Friday after being set on fire in an unprovoked attack, according to a witness to the incident.

Factory manager Taing Aung said that he was talking to the victim, 60-year-old Sein Win, on Friday morning when a factory worker poured gasoline over his head and set him alight.

“I saw him pour the gasoline and then immediately set him on fire. I shouted and tried to put out the fire on Ko Sein Win,” said Taing Aung, who was a friend of the victim.

“He poured the gasoline on him just like we do with water during the Thingyan water festival,” he told Myanmar Now.

Sein Win was immediately admitted to the Monywa General Hospital, but died at around 11pm on Friday, he added.

“He had severe burns on his legs, hands, and head—almost his entire body. His face was burned black. The skin on his legs and hands peeled off,” said Taing Aung.

The assailant was identified as Aung Ko, a resident of Monywa’s Myawaddy ward. At the time of reporting, he was still at large.

Officials at the Monywa police station could not be reached for comment when contacted by Myanmar Now on Saturday.

Sein Win’s family will hold a funeral for him on Sunday afternoon.

A longtime supporter of the National League for Democracy (NLD), Sein Win had been active in politics since the 1988 pro-democracy uprising and campaigned for the party in the 1990 election.

According to his daughter Thin Thin Nwe, his political activism often made life difficult for him and his family, including his three adult children.

“None of us ever applied for jobs that required documents or references from ward administrators or the police,” she said, explaining that the regime actively discriminated against those known to oppose its rule.

She added, however, that she understood her father’s position because he shared his political beliefs with his children and educated them about the nature of the dictatorship.

As a veteran pro-democracy activist, Sein Win joined anti-regime protests in Monywa soon after the military seized power on February 1. He was also close to youth activists and supported the anti-coup activities of Generation Z protesters in the town.

“He believed this revolution would win. He saw rays of hope, and so do we. I am very sad that my father will no longer be able to see our victory,” Thin Thin Nwe said.

Sein Win was also a charity worker and a lover of poetry whose poems have been published in a number of magazines.

A fellow poet in Monywa who spoke to Myanmar Now on condition of anonymity said that it was unlikely that the motive for the attack was personal.

“He was an honest and active charity worker and political activist,” he said.

At least nine civilians, including poet Kay Za Win and writer Kyi Lin Aye, have been murdered in brutal crackdowns on anti-coup protesters in Monywa.

Monywa-based poet Khet Thi died last week in the regime's custody a day after he was arrested in Shwebo, another town in Sagaing about 100km from Monywa.

Two digital news journalists reported harassment by authorities Tuesday while covering villagers protesting two separate land disputes.

Though government officials dismissed the confrontations with reporters from outlets VOD and TN Hot News as a matter of enforcing public order, media advocates are again sounding the alarm of ever-tightening restrictions of press freedom in Cambodia.

VOD reporter Khut Sokun, 33, said he had arrived at about 11 a.m. at the scene of a dispute in the Krakor district of Pursat province when an armed man in military uniform approached and seized his smartphone, recorder and notebook.

“I parked my motorbike and rushed to report,” Sokun told CamboJA of the day’s work in Ansar Chambak commune. “I turned on my recorder, and wrote what they were saying, but after that one official came to ask my identity, and where I had come from.”

Authorities had come to tell villagers mostly from the nearby Boribor district of Kampong Chhnang province to stop cultivating paddy rice in a location deemed state land, an area that authorities are measuring to reserve as a social land concession. They had come on Tuesday with military police, at least one of whom eventually focused on Sokun.

“I told him that I am a reporter at VOD, and I came to report something related to land issues, and he asked me to delete the pictures I’d taken from my smartphone,” Sokun recalled. “A man with a RCAF uniform and an AK-47 confiscated my recorder and notebook. They also tore up my notes of what I wrote and [deleted] audio from the recorder.”

Sokun said authorities returned his equipment more than a half-hour after talking with Pursat province Deputy Governor Cheng Lai, who had led the meeting to resolve the dispute.

“I tried to ask him why they didn’t allow pictures and reporting, but they did not tell me the reason,” Sokun said. “I think that it was threatening, intimidation, and it has restricted the right of press freedom because I did nothing wrong. I just went down to report and listen to what [the villagers] were saying.”

A VOD colleague who interviewed Cheng Lai after the incident told Sokun the deputy governor had claimed informally that his reporting on Tuesday had caused incitement among the villagers, a potentially serious charge often used to silence dissent. After hearing of this allegation, Sokun said that he is now scared to report land disputes in that area.

“Now, I dare not report this story because I am afraid of the accusation. I am also living near that area,” he said. “And yes, I am worried about my security and safety.”

Lai denied the accusation of harassment to CamboJA, saying officials had confronted the journalist only to learn who he was. Though he confirmed Sokun’s recorder had been confiscated and later returned, he denied that anyone had destroyed the reporter’s notes.

“Our authorities were working [to resolve the land dispute] and we did not know who he was, and at that time there were military police, police and soldiers accompanying me,” he said.

“We just asked what he was doing,” Lai said, adding that any claim otherwise was subjective. “It is just their opinion, because no one threatened him.”

As for the land dispute, Lai said people who have cultivated the area for a long time will be excluded from government action but that newcomers will have their access revoked. He said a directive was issued in 2017 to prepare a 5,400 hectare social land concession to benefit 3,000 families in the Ansar Chambak commune.

Though the deputy governor described the encounter with Sokun as benign, at least one witness described it otherwise.

“In fact, I saw they [authorities] scuffled with him, seized his phone and deleted pictures, and checked his press card,” said Pen Phol, 43, who attended Tuesday’s meeting and said authorities had not allowed photography and reporting. “I feel pity for him because he is a journalist that comes to help villagers who are suffering.”

After the confrontation, Phol said she didn’t see anything else, as authorities then dispersed the gathered villagers.

Phol is now concerned authorities will take her land away, noting that her family has been cultivating about 2 hectares since the 1980s.

“I am worried because I heard that they will revoke our land and provide it to other villagers,” she said.

When asked about the incident at Ansar Chambak, Information Ministry spokesman Meas Sophorn said local authorities had only implemented the law in their jurisdiction to maintain security and public order.

“Authorities and police have their duty to fulfill too,” he said, declining to comment further.

But Sokun wasn’t the only reporter to face a confrontation Tuesday from authorities while reporting on a land dispute case.

Keo Ratana, 36, journalist and publisher of TN TV, or TN Hot News Online, said that he suffered harassment while covering villagers protesting that same day against a decision of the Kampong Chhnang Provincial Court in favor of a wealthier landholder.

The protest was complicated when a bodyguard named Lon Leng intervened apparently on behalf of the landholder and, according to Ratana, physically confronted the journalist at the event. Ratana said Pheng ordered police to detain the reporter, but the officers did not due to the many villagers around him.

“He came and pushed me away and attempted to use violence, and I pushed his hand back,” Ratana said of the bodyguard. “As a journalist, I think it is a threat to press freedom as we carry out our professional journalism.”

Ratana was previously arrested in July 2019 by military police for his role in covering a long-running land dispute in Sihanoukville between local villagers and the Thai Boon Roong development company.

Ith Sothoeuth, media director at the Cambodian Center for Independent Media, condemned the harassment against working journalists who amplify important viewpoints for the public to hear.

“For me, it seriously threatens press freedom because journalists have just gone to fulfill their duty in reporting land disputes between villagers,” he said of the Tuesday incidents.

Sotheouth, whose center produces VOD, said the media plays a significant role in a democratic society by providing voices for those who can’t express their concerns by themselves to the government or the general public.

“It is an extreme violation of press freedom in Cambodia, while it has already narrowed its space,” he said, pointing to the confrontation in Ansar Chambak.

Nop Vy, executive director at CamboJA, said that any activities that obstruct the work of journalists run directly against government policy to cooperate with the press.

“It is a message of warning and intimidation to the duty of journalists,” he said, urging officials and the head of state to review law enforcement policies of lower authorities and advise them on correct implementation.