Uwazi

The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Kyrgyz authorities to drop their threats against two independent online news outlets over reports about President Sadyr Japarov on the grounds they contain “false information.”

In a September 4 letter, Kyrgyzstan’s culture and information ministry threatened to block access to Novye Litsa in 24 hours unless it deleted an August 30 article connecting a Russian political strategist linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the deceased leader of the Russian mercenary company Wagner, to Japarov’s 2021 election campaign. The outlet complied with the order but defended the accuracy of the article.

The ministry also demanded that the Kyrgyz Service of the U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, known locally as Radio Azattyk, remove a radio report covering the Novye Litsa story or face a similar block.

“By issuing threats against Radio Azattyk and Novye Litsa over reports looking into President Sadyr Japarov’s alleged political strategists, Kyrgyz authorities have once again demonstrated that the ‘false information’ law is used for shielding the reputations of top state officials, not for countering disinformation,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Defamation allegations should be weighed against evidence— not the opaque whims of officials sitting in the halls of power. The false information law must be repealed.”

The ministry cited a 2021 law, which allows it to block websites it deems to contain “false information.”

In 2022, authorities blocked Radio Azattyk’s websites and in 2023 ordered the outlet to close, only reversing their decisions after the outlet had deleted a video about border clashes. This year, prosecutors shuttered and liquidated Kloop, a local partner of the global Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, after blocking its website which featured a series of corruption investigations.

Presidential press secretary Askat Alagozov said on Facebook that if Radio Azattyk’s reporting was found to “deliberately slander” Kyrgyzstan’s leadership, “the question of whether we need such an outlet may be put on the agenda.”

Since Japarov became president in 2021, Kyrgyz authorities have launched an unprecedented crackdown on independent reporting in a country previously seen as a regional beacon for the free press.

Several people were injured and around a dozen were detained during a protest by local government workers in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. Police fired tear gas at the protesters after they broke through barricades to enter the high-security zone. The demonstrators were protesting the withholding of funds from local governments and denying them the authority to carry out development activities.

The Appeal Court has found Mongkhon Thirakot, a Chiang Rai-based activist and online clothes vendor, guilty of royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act and sentenced him to 4 years and 6 months in prison for two Facebook posts made in July 2022.

The ruling upholds a 30 October 2023 verdict by the Chiang Rai Provincial Court which found that Mongkhon was guilty of royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act. He was initially sentenced to 4 years in prison and given an additional 6 months in prison on a trespassing charge.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reports that the Appeal Court ruled to uphold the verdict on the grounds that Mongkhon admitted that he made the posts and that they referred to King Vajiralongkorn. The Court found that the two posts, which appeared to refer to ordinary people, were rude and inappropriate. Written with the intent of insulting the King, they were deemed to constitute an offence under the royal defamation law. The court noted that the defendant’s discontent with the current political situation was not a valid excuse for the offence.

Mongkhon was charged with royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act for two Facebook posts made on 28 and 30 July 2022. One contains a picture of King Vajiralongkorn and a message about wearing black while in mourning. The other contains an edited picture of Mongkhon holding a picture frame.

He was arrested at his family home in Chiang Rai on 11 August 2022 by a unit of 21 police officers. He was later released on bail. The public prosecutor indicted him on the grounds that the posts insulted the King and damaged his reputation.

Mongkhon was previously sentenced to 50 years in prison on 25 counts of royal defamation for Facebook posts made between 2 – 11 March 2021. He is now facing a cumulative prison sentence of 54 years and 6 months, currently the longest prison sentence ever given for a royal defamation. Since January 2024, he has been detained pending appeal at the Chiang Rai Central Prison after the Supreme Court denied him bail on the grounds that his lengthy sentence makes him a flight risk.

Authorities on Sunday announced the closure of at least 15 factories in Savar and Dhamarai areas in the face of workers' protests.

Local people said a group of workers and job aspirants started a demonstration in Palashbari area that later spread across the entire Savar and Dhamrai. Workers said their protest was aimed at demanding fair wages, overtime allowance, attendance bonuses and job security.

The workers of GAB Limited and some nearby garment factories blocked the road in Palashbari area of Ashulia around 9am. Similarly, workers of Ha-meem, Sharmeen, NASA Group, Snowtex Outerwear Limited factory also came down on the streets and blocked the roads.

Meanwhile, the workers of Acme Consumers Limited put forward a 16-point demand.

Mohammad Sarwar Alam, superintendent of police of Industrial Zone Police-1 in Ashulia, said that the workers are protesting with various demands. He said that additional men from the law enforcement agencies are currently deployed in the area to bring the situation under control.

Police officers arrested the father of an activist facing charges of violating the Anti-Terrorism Law, September 1 in Barangay Silongin, San Francisco, Quezon province.

Roberto Mendoza is the father of Lieshel, a farmer who was charged by elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ 85 th Infantry Battalion last January 2024 with violating Section 12 of the Anti- Terrorism Law and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act.

According to human rights watchdog Tanggol Quezon, Roberto was arrested at approximately 5 a.m. with no search or arrest warrant given to him.

“[Mendoza’s arrest is] clearly another tactic by the 85 th IBPA and the police to intimidate Lieshel into ‘surrendering’ as an alleged member of the revolutionary New People’s Army,” Tanggol Quezon said in its statement. “Lieshel and Roberto are ordinary farmers working honorably and standing up for their rights.”

Tanggol Quezon maintains that both Roberto and Lieshel Mendoza are innocent. “The Mendozas have nothing to ‘surrender’ for,” the group said in their statement. “If anything, the 85 th IBPA and the police should surrender given their long list of human rights violations in South Quezon and the Bondoc Peninsula.”

Mendoza is detained at the San Francisco Municipal Police Station pending charges filed against him. Tanggol Quezon is calling for his immediate release.

Mendoza’s arrest is the latest in a series of attacks against farmers and human rights defenders in the province. Tanggol Quezon notes that the 85 th IBPA is using a pattern of “using the law to equate human rights advocacy with crime.”

Last October 2023, another coconut farmer, Liezel Merchales, was charged with financing terrorism by the 85 th IBPA.

Yulesita Ibañez was similarly charged with financing terrorism and violating Section 12 of the Anti-Terror Law after the military alleged that they provided food and coffee to members of the NPA last January.

Ibañez and Mendoza are members of Karapatan Quezon and the group Coco Levy Fund Ibalik sa Amin (CLAIM). Soldiers have once forced Mendoza into presenting herself as a surrendered NPA combatant under the government’s Enhanced Community Livelihood Integration Program (ECLIP).

Their paralegals, Tanggol Quezon members Paul Tagle and Fritz Labiano, were also charged with financing terrorism last February. The charges against Tagle and Labiano were dropped last June by the Batangas Regional Trial Court for lack of evidence.

The 85 th IBPA is currently headed by Lt. Col. Reynir S. Nirza, who took the reins of command from Lt. Col. Joel R. Jonson last April. Under Nirza, the 85 th IBPA has been involved in the arrest of peasant and women’s right advocate Fatima Banjawan last August 2 while conducting a community investigation in Santa Elena, Camarines Norte.

As many as 11 journalists and media workers employed by Cable News Network (CNN) Indonesia were illegally terminated on August 31, less than a week after workers at the broadcaster formally registered their labour union. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its Indonesian affiliates, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and the Media and Creative Industry Workers Union for Democracy (SINDIKASI), in strongly condemning CNN’s illegal union-busting tactics, urging Indonesian authorities to conduct an immediate investigation into the incident, and calling on the broadcaster to immediately overturn its salary cuts and reinstate all affected workers.

CNN Indonesia’s Head of Human Capital Development sent termination notices by email to 11 leading union activists on August 31, with the journalists barred from attending work and access to the company WhatsApp group and email system restricted the same day.

The layoffs came just days after employees of the broadcaster officially registered Solidaritas Pekerja CNN Indonesia (SCPI), translating to CNN Indonesia Workers Solidarity, with the country’s Ministry of Manpower on August 27. Organised workers announced the union’s registration on August 31, with an accompanying online discussion attended by Indonesian Press Council Chair Ninik Rahayu.

According to SCPI’s Chair, workers had held a series of discussions over the past several months, in part responding to unsanctioned wage cuts imposed in June, issued without full agreement from staff or any compensation. Workers at the news service had previously faced layoffs without union representation. Throughout months of organising efforts, journalists reported receiving threats and intimidation from management, who warned against unionisation.

The union was officially declared on July 27 and brings together workers from broadcast services at CNN Indonesia TV and digital news via CNNIndonesia.com. The SCPI is the first labour union organised under Trans Media, a media and entertainment subsidiary of the Indonesian conglomerate CT Group headed by former minister and prominent businessman Chairul Tanjung.

Speaking with the IFJ, SINDIKASI Advocacy Coordinator Guruh Riyanto said: “As a union officially registered, the SPCI union is protected by Indonesian law. The act of terminating the unionised workers can be categorised as a form of union busting. It is strongly suspected to violate Article 28 of the Indonesian Labour Union Law that clearly protects the rights of the workers to unionise.”

The right to form or join a trade union is protected in Indonesia under the 1945 Constitution, the Human Rights Law, and industrial relations legislation. Indonesia is also a signatory to the International Labour Organisation Conventions No. 87 and No. 98, which protect Freedom of Association and the Right to Organise, and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining respectively.

AJI said: “AJI assesses that the unilateral termination of employment by CNN management is contrary to the freedom of expression guaranteed by the constitution. The decision to terminate SPCI members just hours after the union’s establishment can be suspected as an attempt by the company to carry out union-busting (eradicating labour unions).”

SINDIKASI said: “SINDIKASI strongly condemns the alleged union busting by CNN Indonesia to the workers unionised under Solidaritas Pekerja CNN Indonesia (SPCI). The workers organised the union to respond to the salary cut by the management that had lasted for three months (June-August). […] SINDIKASI supports the SPCI union to organise and conduct collective bargaining. We also call for the press and media workers unions as well as other social movements to support the struggle of the SPCI union. The fulfillment of the media workers’ rights will ensure the quality of journalism works as well as the rights of the people to access reliable information.”

The IFJ said: “Union busting is illegal under Indonesia’s Constitution and industrial legislation and is a blatant violation of workers' rights. At a time of global economic challenges, the act of terminating journalists for organising and imposing unsanctioned wage cuts is disgraceful and punishable by law. The IFJ strongly condemns the actions of CNN Indonesia and calls on the authorities to take immediate action to ensure the broadcaster reverses these unlawful dismissals and salary cuts, reinstating all affected workers."

Nguyen Ngoc Anh, a fisheries engineer and activist, was released from Xuan Loc Prison on August 30, 2024, after serving a six-year sentence for charges related to his criticism of the Vietnamese government. Anh, 44, was convicted in 2019 for "making, storing, and disseminating information against the state" through social media posts and videos addressing issues such as marine pollution caused by Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation and territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea.

Upon his release, Anh was turned over to local authorities in Binh Dai District, Ben Tre Province, where he will begin a five-year probation period. Despite his imprisonment, Anh expressed pride in standing up for what he believed was right, though he noted his health had deteriorated during his incarceration.

Nguyen Ngoc Anh has been an outspoken critic of government policies since 2013, using Facebook to voice his concerns. His wife, Nguyen Thi Chau, also faced harassment from authorities for advocating for her husband's release and highlighting his mistreatment in prison. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) previously condemned Anh's imprisonment as "arbitrary" and in violation of international human rights conventions.

The Sri Lankan government continues to persecute the families of victims of enforced disappearance who seek to enforce their rights, Human Rights Watch said today. Security forces persistently harass families through surveillance, intimidation, false allegations, violence, and arbitrary arrests.

On August 29, 2024, a court in Trincomalee granted a request by police to ban relatives of the disappeared from holding a procession to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance on August 30.

“The relatives of the disappeared experience the daily torment of not knowing what happened to their family members, which state agencies have cruelly compounded by trying to silence them,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Hundreds of mothers, wives, and others have passed away without learning what happened to their loved ones, and many more express fear they might not live to see justice done.”

Sri Lanka has one of the world’s highest rates of enforced disappearance, including those who disappeared during the leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna insurgency (1987-89) and the civil war between the government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (1983-2009). Sri Lankan authorities have for decades refused to reveal the fate of the disappeared or to prosecute those responsible, leading the United Nations human rights office to call for international prosecutions.

In his August 22 annual report on Sri Lanka to the UN Human Rights Council, the UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, described “a persistent trend of surveillance, intimidation and harassment of journalists and civil society actors, especially those working on enforced disappearances … and reprisals against family members of the disappeared engaging with the UN or international actors, including members of the diplomatic community.”

The high commissioner also examined allegations of abduction, arbitrary detention, torture, and sexual violence by Sri Lankan security forces carried out as recently as January. The victims in these cases, whom they said were primarily men, had been involved in protests over issues such as enforced disappearances.

In May, Human Rights Watch met with relatives of disappeared people throughout north and east Sri Lanka, mostly the wives or mothers of victims. They described a pattern of ongoing abuses. Several are facing court proceedings after being arrested at protests, including three who had been hospitalized as a result of police violence against protesters.

One woman in the Eastern Province, campaigning to know the fate of her husband, who surrendered to the military in 2009, said she believes she is under regular surveillance by security agencies, including the police Criminal Investigation Department, Terrorism Investigation Division, Special Task Force, and the army. She said they offer to pay her neighbors for information about her, in tactics apparently designed to isolate her from her community.

“We can’t raise our voices, we have no freedom to move,” said a woman in the Northern Province, whose husband has not been seen since his arrest in 2008. “They [security agencies] threaten us, and even take action against our family members. We have no freedom to do anything.”

The women said that police officers habitually deliver stay orders – prohibiting them from attending memorialization events or protests – in the middle of the night when they are dressed in their nightclothes and take photographs. “If my gate is locked, police climb over the wall or cut the fence to deliver a stay order,” one said. Another showed a pile of eight stay orders, although she said she had received more. “If anything is happening in the Northern or Eastern Provinces I get a stay order,” she said.

Several mothers of the disappeared said the most frightening threats were directed at their other children. One said that when she attends protests the police tell her, “You have to look after your child who is still alive.” Another said that days after she was arrested at a protest in 2023, her son was arrested in an allegedly fabricated drugs case and sent for custodial “rehabilitation.” Criminal cases against both her and her son are ongoing.

In December, the authorities launched an abusive anti-narcotics campaign called “Yukthiya,” which the UN says had resulted in over 121,000 arrests five months later. Families of the disappeared said the authorities are increasingly using false drug cases to harass them. The mother of a disappeared man said that police – including anti-narcotics officers – began making inquiries about her surviving son in December, leading her to fear that they would plant drugs in her home. “I have already lost a son,” she said. “He is now the only one I have left. I sent him to India [for his safety].”

Relatives of the disappeared said they have little or no recourse to domestic avenues for redress. In 2017 the Sri Lankan government established the Office of Missing Persons (OMP), which is supposed to establish the whereabouts or fate of the disappeared but has resolved almost no cases. Relatives accused the OMP of pressuring them to agree to receive compensation payments that they fear will lead to their cases being closed without further investigation.

One relative said, “The OMP says ‘take this certificate, get Rupees 200,000 [US$665], don’t support this movement [for truth and justice].” Another, whose daughter disappeared in 2009, said, “When I went to the OMP I noticed that they were pressing many families like us. They said to the families, ‘we don’t want any documents, we just want the details of the [disappeared] person.’ Some people took compensation, and some refused.”

“Earlier we trusted the OMP but after they recruited certain commissioners, we lost our faith,” said the mother of a disappeared person from Mannar, in northwest Sri Lanka, referring to the appointment of former senior security forces officials to the body. She said she has refused offers of compensation because “I need to know what happened to my son.”

Many relatives of the disappeared are also skeptical of the current government’s proposal for a new domestic truth and reconciliation commission, following numerous similar bodies that have previously failed to deliver truth or accountability. “We don’t accept it. We don’t have faith in it,” one said. They emphasized the importance of international involvement, including in criminal investigations.

The UN Human Rights Council, concerned governments, and other UN bodies should implement the recommendations in the UN high commissioner’s report, including:

Investigating and prosecuting alleged perpetrators of international crimes committed in Sri Lanka under the principle of universal jurisdiction. Imposing targeted sanctions on alleged perpetrators. Carrying out enhanced vetting of Sri Lankan officials, including those involved in UN peacekeeping missions. Renewing the Human Rights Council’s mandate for UN monitoring, reporting, and work on accountability for human rights violations and related crimes in Sri Lanka. “Successive Sri Lankan governments have resisted any progress to address the terrible legacy of enforced disappearances, and instead compounded the anguish of victims’ families,” Ganguly said. “While the Sri Lankan government commits these abuses, the Human Rights Council and governments around the world need to stand with the families of the disappeared.”

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Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan, previously imprisoned for four years for her independent reporting on the Covid 19 outbreak, is missing again and was reportedly recently taken to a detention facility in Shanghai for unclear reasons. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is alarmed by this development, and urges immediate mobilisation of the international diplomatic community to ensure her safety. She must be released and granted full freedom without delay.

On 1 September, independent Chinese news website Weiquanwang revealed that journalist and former lawyer Zhang Zhan is being held in Pudong Detention Center in Shanghai. The journalist was apprehended by police while she was travelling to her hometown in the Shaanxi province in northwest China on 28 August. Since that time she has not answered her phone or updated her social media accounts where she had recently resumed posting.

No official reason has been given for her detention, but in the weeks prior to this incident, Zhang Zhan had been sharing news about the harassment of other activists in China on social media. She had also travelled to the northwestern province of Gansu to persuade the mother of a recently arrested activist to sign a power of attorney.

Zhang Zhan was initially arrested in May 2020, while covering the early stages of the Covid 19 outbreak in Wuhan, in central-eastern China. She had posted more than 100 videos on social media before her arrest on 14 May 2020, and seven months later was sentenced to four years in prison by a Shanghai court on the charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.”

Throughout her imprisonment, RSF campaigned for her release and warned about the ill treatment she was subjected to in prison. During her early months of detention, Zhang Zhan nearly died after going on a total hunger strike to protest her situation. Prison officials forcibly fed her through a nasal tube and sometimes left her handcuffed for days.

China, the world’s biggest prison for journalists and press freedom defenders with at least 120 currently behind bars, is ranked 172nd out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2024 World Press Freedom Index.

Members of a Facebook group that opposes expensive recycling fees imposed by the Kazakh government, especially those on cars and other vehicles, have had their accounts on the platform either removed or restricted, the group said, attributing the moves to government pressure.

Activists with the No To Recycling Fees (Nyetutilsboru) group authored a petition earlier this year calling for recycling fees on imported goods to be lowered to nominal rates, forcing a public hearing and a government review of the policy after the petition gained more than 50,000 signatures.

While the group has questioned all recycling fees, it is especially concerned about those imposed on cars and agricultural vehicles. The activists say that the charges have artificially inflated the cost of vehicles sold in Kazakhstan, benefiting only a small group of automakers whose factories they argue are not internationally competitive.

Kazakhstan's government cut recycling fees in half and effectively liquidated the private company set up to collect them in 2022, but they are still high by global standards, often amounting to thousands of dollars per vehicle.

After the July 15 hearing, Kazakhstan's Industry Ministry ruled to keep recycling fees on goods such as cars at their current levels, dismissing the group's arguments as baseless.

No To Recycling Fees activists have said that they would continue their campaign.

But they now complain that multiple administrators of their Facebook group have been forced to restore accounts or create new ones in recent weeks, while Facebook has sent the group repeated warnings over the content of their posts.

Administrator Vladimir Kim said on August 28 that he and four other administrators had lost access to their Facebook accounts over alleged copyright infringements.

"The Facebook office in [Kazakhstan] is simply following the authorities' orders," Kim wrote from a new account that he created this month.

Both Facebook and Instagram are owned by Meta, which did not respond to a request for comment.

A representative of the Culture and Information Ministry contacted by RFE/RL on August 29 denied any role in the removal and restriction of accounts related to the group.

Kazakhstan has a special agreement with Facebook that allows the government to remove content it deems "harmful."

Under the agreement, authorities in Kazakhstan can access Facebook's internal content-reporting system.

The joint agreement between Kazakhstan and Meta Platforms, reached in 2021, came after Astana threatened to block the social media giant's millions of local users. It is the first of its kind in Central Asia.

Authorities in Laos detained two young men who posted a video on social media poking fun at the sorry state of the roads in their town, according to residents.

The pair of graphic artists – going by their adopted Western-sounding screen names of Dai James and James Famor – uploaded an artificial intelligence-generated video to Facebook last week showing them fishing in water-filled potholes on a street, surrounded by crocodiles – a video that went viral in Laos.

In response, police on Aug. 28 handcuffed the two and took them into custody in Tonpheung, a port town on the Mekong River that is home to the Golden Triangle Economic Zone, or SEZ, in northwestern Laos’ Bokeo province on Aug. 28.

Authorities released James the same day, but required Famor to attend a “re-education” class, and forced him to confess and apologize before freeing him on Monday.

A friend of Famor who works at the studio where they produce and post videos to social media confirmed the arrest and release to RFA Lao on Tuesday.

“They were released on different days – the first one, Dai James, was released on August 28 and the other was freed on Sept. 2,” said the friend who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.

“From now on, we [the studio] can’t post or produce anything at all.”

‘Confession’ and ‘apology’

In a video posted to Facebook on Monday, following his release, Famor apologized to the police for his actions.

“I would like to confess that on Aug. 8, I took photos of a damaged road filled with potholes and water, and then I cut and pasted some photos of crocodiles into the middle of the road,” he said.

“At the time, I didn’t intend to campaign against anybody … Now, I admit that what I did was wrong.”

Famor also “thanked” authorities who “warned and re-educated me,” saying he had learned an important lesson.

“In the past, I’ve posted a lot of videos, but this time, posting that video was a big mistake and for that I apologize to all relevant authorities,” he said. “I would like to ask all my followers to understand that the party and government’s warning is a good lesson for me.”

RFA spoke with an officer at the Bokeo Province police department who referred questions about the case to authorities in Topheung, but attempts to contact the district station went unanswered.

The men appeared to have violated Article 117 of the Lao Criminal Code, which says that persons who “campaign against the Lao PDR by twisting the policy of the [ruling Communist] Party and government, releasing destructive news causing disorder, speaking, writing, printing, posting photos, videos and texts via electronics means or otherwise, will be jailed from one year to five years, and fined from 5 million to 20 million kip (US$225 to $900).”

Lighten up

Residents and experts said the police reaction was excessive and wrong, and that the young men were actually helping improve everyone’s lives by highlighting a problem the government appears unwilling to address.

“Everybody knows that the roads here in Tonpheung district are bad,” a resident of the town said. “They were accused of defaming the party and government when, actually, it's the party and government that are in denial."

“The SEZ is an economic hub, but look at the roads – they’re terrible.”

The Golden Triangle refers to the largely lawless area where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet that has recently become notorious for methamphetamine production. The neighbors have tried to promote trade and tourism with economic zones, while casinos and online scam centers have also proliferated on the Lao and Myanmar sides of the Mekong.

Another resident of Tonpheung agreed that the police response was “inappropriate.”

“These guys just posted a video showing damaged roads on social media using AI,” he said. “The post reflects the real conditions of the roads in our community ... Many people complain about these roads, even though they know that nothing will happen and nothing will be fixed.”

Social media as a reporting tool

Others suggested that the authorities should welcome such posts, as they may not be aware of such issues.

“In this day and age, it’s normal for people to post something like that on social media, and the Lao people should have some freedom to do that – they shouldn’t be threatened or arrested,” said a professor at Souphanouvong University in Luang Prabang province.

“The authorities should be looking for a solution to the problem, not for a way to punish them,” he said. “It’s not right to arrest, detain or even fine them.”

People in Laos frequently turn to social media to draw attention to problems that the authorities ignore or that state-run media are unwilling to report on.

Last month, residents and business operators near the Lao capital Vientiane posted images of their outrageously high electricity bills on social media after an apparent miscalculation by the state-owned power company.

Some business owners in Vientiane province’s Thoulakhom district received monthly bills as high as US$4,000 from the state-run Electricite du Laos – 10 times the usual US$400.

Electricite du Laos’ district office quickly issued a follow-up notice, saying that bills for July had been miscalculated, and a corrected invoice would be sent soon.

Cyclists and environmental advocates sounded alarm over the 15th victim of enforced disappearance under the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Felix Salaveria Jr. is a known cyclist and a dedicated activist. He is the founding member of the Kabataan para sa Tribung Pilipino (Katribu Youth) and Tunay na Alyansa ng Bayan Alay sa mga Katutubo (TABAK), both groups known for advocating the rights of indigenous peoples (IP). He is also a founding and active member of Cycling Advocates (Cycad), a group advocating for low-cost, healthy, and non-polluting alternative mode of transportation.

“As an active member of the cycling community and environmental defender, his disappearance cannot be ignored,” said cyclists and mobility advocacy group Make It Safer Movement (MISMO), in a statement.

Salaveria was abducted in Tabaco, Albay on the morning of August 28, five days after his 67th birthday. It was celebrated with James Jazmines, who also disappeared on August 23. Jazmines was his cycling buddy and brother of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultant Alan Jazminez.

Salaveria was also the person who reached out to human rights group Karapatan on August 26, reporting Jazmines’s disappearance.

MISMO said that Cycad had a great impact on the transportation sector, which mobility advocates continue to benefit today “in promoting active mobility and advocating for safer, greener transportation options.”

Aside from bicycling, Salaveria was also a known advocate of eco-waste management, according to his family and Katribu Youth. Since he moved to Tabaco, he has been encouraging proper waste management and coordinating the transport of biodegradable waste for conversion to compost. He also donated a bicycle especially modified to collect waste for composting to their community.

In the initial report of Karapatan, they gathered footage from a barangay-owned CCTV that showed men in civilian clothes forcing Salaveria into a silver van.

Gab Ferrer, daughter of Salaveria, appealed for the immediate surfacing of his father.

“We have not heard from him since. We appeal to the public to help us pressure authorities to surface our father. We do not want our father to be just a statistic. It is important that you know him as a human being and a cherished person in his community,” said Ferrer.

She also added that Salaveria is loved and respected in the community, known for his generosity and kindness especially to those in need. “He has been working on a community garden to benefit his neighborhood.”

Salaveria’s family also cited humanitarian considerations, especially that he is still recovering from a medical condition. Aside from his old age, Salaveria has suffered a stroke in 2023, paralyzing the left side of his body.

Advocacy groups and the family resounded the call to immediately surface Salaveria and other victims of enforced disappearance.

“We, together with his family, friends, and the cycling community, ask for your support and collective action to stop the red-tagging and extrajudicial persecutions that continue to endanger the lives of those who stand for justice. It is time to stand together, to end this violence, and to demand the immediate surfacing of all desaparecidos,” MISMO said in a statement.

A 33-year-old protester has been sentenced to approximately 12 years without parole for 8 Facebook posts in 2022.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that Kanruethai Klaion, 33, was charged with royal defamation and violation of the Computer-Related Crime Act for Facebook posts during 8 February – 1 April 2022.

On 8 April 2022, 8 officers went to her apartment, claiming that the posts constituted an offense under the royal defamation law and the Computer-Related Crime Act, and told her they were taking her to Lat Phrao Police Station to negotiate with her not to post such material again and to close her Facebook account.

On 1 July 2022, 6 plainclothes officers claiming to be from Lat Phrao Police Station searched Kanruethai’s apartment on a warrant issued by the Criminal Court. They confiscated her laptop and mobile phone.

The inquiry officer’s report stated that her 8 Facebook posts, including pictures, messages, and video clips, were deemed defamatory towards the King who is revered by the people.

The court on 27 August ruled that she was guilty as charged, sentencing her to 3 years in prison for each post. However, due to her useful testimony, the sentence was reduced to 1 year and 6 months for each post without parole, resulting in 8 years and 48 months imprisonment or around 12 years.

Her lawyer later submitted a bail request pending appeal, but the outcome has not yet been released. During this time, Kanruethai is being held at the Central Women’s Correctional Institution. According to TLHR, Kanruethai expressed concern that she might not receive antidepressants, which must be taken daily.

This is her second royal defamation charge. Previously, she was also charged with royal defamation over 2 posts from 2022. In this case, the complaint against Kanruethai was filed by Anon Klinkaew, leader of the ultra-royalist People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy, over two Facebook posts from July and September 2022.

Anon has repeatedly filed royal defamation complaints against monarchy reform advocates, including Thanalop Phalanchai, who was 14 years old when the complaint against her was filed. He also posted a video clip threatening to kill her.

On August 25, Prothom Alo’s Dhaka University correspondent Asif Himadri was assaulted by members of a paramilitary group, known as Ansars, while covering a clash between university students and political workers outside the Secretariat Complex of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

During the Ansar protest, who laid siege to the secretariat demanding the nationalisation of their jobs, a clash broke out between Ansar members and students associated with the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement. Whilst covering this incident, Himadri was allegedly attacked and injured by Ansar personnel at around 9.30 pm, despite identifying himself as a journalist. Around 40 students were injured in the clashes. On August 26, 388 general Ansar members were sent to jail by magistrate Md Mossaraf Hossain of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court.

At least four journalists have been killed and hundreds injured while reporting on the violence of national protests. On August 14, 20 journalists were injured during an assault on the Chittagong Press Club in south-eastern Bangladesh and five days later on August 19, offices of the East West Media Group Limited (EWMGL) Complex were attacked, with assailants vandalising the premises and injuring one journalist.

Some journalists injured during the protests remain in critical condition. Journalist Aminul Islam Emon, affiliated with the daily Bangladesh Samachar, was shot by police on July 20 at around 7:30 pm in the Malibagh Railgate area of Dhaka, where he was filming a police attack on a student protest. More than a month after this incident, he remains in critical condition despite two major surgeries, having suffered a heart attack on August 25 requiring further medical care.

The BMSF said: “BMSF unequivocally condemns these heinous acts of violence and demands that the authorities take immediate and decisive action to bring the perpetrators to justice. We call for a comprehensive and transparent investigation into both incidents, ensuring that those responsible are held accountable for their actions.

The IFJ said: “The IFJ condemns the ongoing insecurity and violence faced by journalists and media workers in Bangladesh. The interim government must take steps to ensure the safety of journalists and media workers and ensure those responsible for these attacks are investigated and held to account.”

Beijing authorities shut down independent journalist Gao Yu’s internet, landline, and cellular connection on Monday, August 26, after she published a Sunday article analyzing an Al Jazeera interview with Victor Gao, vice president of the Chinese think tank Center for China and Globalization.

“Chinese authorities must restore journalist Gao Yu’s internet connection and phone services and stop harassing her with physical and digital surveillance,” said Iris Hsu, CPJ’s China representative. “Beijing’s excessive need to control dissent is a reflection of its cowardice and fear of critical reporting.”

Authorities have asked Gao to shut down her account on the social platform X for years, she told CPJ, adding that she believes that her posts, including ones sharing her articles, are the reason for turning off her internet and phone access. Gao told CPJ that she must go to a friend’s house or a restaurant to access the internet.

Beijing police also asked Gao to leave the capital from August 29 to September 9 while the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, a state-level economic conference between African countries and China, took place. Gao said that after she refused, the police told her that they would take turns guarding her house to ensure she wouldn’t leave. This is a common practice against dissidents in China.

CPJ’s email requesting comment from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a message sent via the webpage after office hours to the Government of Beijing Municipality did not immediately receive any responses.

Authorities sentenced Gao to six years in 1994 for “leaking state secrets;” she was released in 1999 on medical parole after serving part of the sentence. Gao was sentenced to seven years in 2015 on the same charge. The sentence was later reduced to five years, which Gao served outside of prison due to her deteriorating health.

Chinese authorities are holding Gao Zhen, one of the Gao Brothers artistic duo, on suspicion of 'insulting revolutionary heroes and martyrs,' after seizing satirical artworks depicting Chairman Mao from his home studio, Radio Free Asia has learned.

Gao Zhen, 68, who with his brother Gao Qiang has a global reputation for works of political satire, was detained by police in Sanhe city in the northern province of Hebei on Aug. 26, according to a detention notice sent to his family the following day, Gao's lawyer and friends told RFA Mandarin.

The Gao Brothers’ dissident artwork has been shown at many venues overseas, but not publicly displayed in China since they signed an open letter from dissident physicist Fang Lizhi to then supreme leader Deng Xiaoping during the pro-democracy movement of 1989.

Police detained Gao Zhen at around 9.00 a.m. on Aug. 26, rushing into his apartment and taking him away in handcuffs, while searching his studio and questioning his wife for several hours, according to an Aug. 31 post on the Gao Brothers' Facebook page.

State security police confiscated books, computer hard drives, and sculptures and artwork relating to late supreme leader Mao Zedong, the post said.

All of the works taken by police were created more than a decade ago, before laws on protecting the reputation of "revolutionary heroes and martyrs" took effect, it said.

China passed a law criminalizing "insults" to the ruling Communist Party's canon of revolutionary heroes and martyrs in 2018.

Gao is currently being held in the Sanhe Detention Center on suspicion of "infringing the reputation of revolutionary heroes and martyrs," the Facebook post said.

His lawyer Qu Zhenhong confirmed Gao's detention to RFA Mandarin on Sunday, but declined to give further details.

"His family has received a notice [of detention], but it's inconvenient for me to say anything more because the case is still under investigation," Qu said.

‘Miss Mao’

U.K.-based writer Ma Jian said he had heard of Gao's detention in a text message from his brother Gao Qiang, who lives in New York.

"According to the detention notice, he has been detained for crimes against the reputation of heroes and martyrs," Ma said in an open letter about Gao's detention, a copy of which was shared with RFA Mandarin.

The letter cited several sculptures from several years back including the "Miss Mao" series, depicting the late chairman with breasts, and "Mao Kneels in Repentance," which are believed to have sparked the charges.

Signed by Ma and several other creative artists, the letter called on the Chinese government to release Gao and to repeal the legislation banning "insults" to revolutionary heroes, because it infringes on the freedom of speech guaranteed -- on paper, at least -- in China's constitution.

It likened Gao's detention to the political witch-hunts of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, in which the Gao brothers lost their father.

"Today, the Sanhe police department seems to see Gao Zhen's artistic works as evidence of crime, repeating the persecution of the Cultural Revolution," the letter said, saying that controls on Chinese artists continue to tighten under Communist Party leader Xi Jinping.

About to depart for New York

Thailand-based fellow artist Du Yinghong said Gao's detention came as he and his family prepared to board a flight to New York, where his son was due to start school.

"We've booked a flight to Tokyo, and then back to New York, because our son is about to start school," Gao says in an Aug. 26 voice note to Du, a recording of which was shared with RFA Mandarin. "I hope I'll get a chance to organize a trip [to visit you] next year, when we can discuss art-related matters."

Repeated calls to the Sanhe Detention Center rang unanswered on Sunday.

The other Gao Brother -- Gao Qiang -- responded to written questions from RFA only with the message: "Thank you for your attention."

A person close to the case told RFA Mandarin that the detention notice included the phrase "infringing the reputation of heroes and martyrs.” It is likely that the charge relates to sculptures of late supreme leader Mao Zedong, including one of Mao "kneeling and repenting," they said.

If the authorities can't make that stick retroactively, they may seek evidence to support other charges typically used to target critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, including "subversion" and "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," the person said.

Raid on warehouse

Gao Zhen's detention came alongside a police raid on his warehouse, apartment and studio in Sanhe's Best Jingu Industrial Park, according to Ma Jian. Previous attempts by police to enter the premises in 2023 were unsuccessful as Gao Zhen was in New York for the whole of last year.

In 2011, as the authorities released artist and social critic Ai Weiwei from 80 days' detention over alleged tax evasion, officials raided the 798 Art Village in Beijing in reaction to a satirical sculpture the brothers made of Mao as a woman.

The polished stainless steel sculpture titled "Miss Mao trying to poise herself at the top of Lenin's head," portrays the aging leader with signature receding hairline and facial mole, sporting a large pair of naked breasts. The Miss Mao element sits atop a large and grotesque head of Lenin, balancing with a tightrope walking pole.

A super-sized version of the sculpture was shown at the Vancouver Biennale festival in 2010, and was widely seen as a dissident work, satirizing orthodox communism and the official Chinese view of history.

The Chinese government should immediately quash the conviction of and release a Taiwanese political activist who was sentenced to nine years in prison for “separatism,” Human Rights Watch said today. On August 26, 2024, a court in China’s Zhejiang province convicted Yang Chih-yuan (楊智淵), 34, for political activities carried out in Taiwan, a neighboring democracy over which the People’s Republic of China claims sovereignty.

The case is the first known in which the Chinese authorities have charged a Taiwanese national with “separatism” for allegedly seeking to split the country in violation of article 103 of China’s Criminal Law. The law is typically used in politically motivated prosecutions of Uyghurs, Tibetans, and other ethnic groups who are Chinese nationals.

“The Chinese government’s prosecution of Yang Chih-yuan for exercising his basic rights in Taiwan has effectively criminalized being Taiwanese,” said Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch. “The use of a national security law coupled with an outrageous prison sentence appears to be Beijing’s latest attempt to intimidate the Taiwanese people and reinforce its claims of sovereignty over Taiwan.”

On August 3, 2022, more than seven months after Yang arrived in China to live, Chinese authorities detained him in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province. In April 2023 he was formally arrested for alleged “separatist” activity. At the time, Yang was not involved in any political activities in China, and was teaching and competitively playing the strategy game Go, according to Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, the government agency responsible for China-Taiwan affairs.

Yang’s “crimes” include establishing a minor political party called the Taiwan National Party in Taiwan, and promoting Taiwan’s inclusion in the United Nations between 2008 and 2020.

The Chinese authorities repeatedly and seriously violated Yang’s rights to due process during the legal proceedings against him. The Chinese state-owned media, CCTV, confirmed after Yang’s detention in August 2022 that he had been placed under “residential surveillance in a designated location;” a form of detention that Human Rights Watch has repeatedly criticized, and that United Nations human rights experts have said is “tantamount to enforced disappearance.”

Yang was incommunicado for two years, during which time he had no access to legal counsel or his family in violation of international human rights law. Chinese laws allow the authorities to deny national security detainees access to family and lawyers under “residential surveillance,” leaving them at serious risk of torture and other mistreatment.

Yang’s trial took place behind closed doors. Details of his sentencing were not announced until September 6, and judicial authorities still have not released any documents or evidence from the trial.

In June, two months prior to Yang’s trial, the Chinese government issued new judiciary guidelines that make it a criminal offense to do anything broadly related to Taiwanese independence. Peaceful activities and advocacy, such as teaching and writing about Taiwan’s democracy and history independent of China or promoting Taiwan’s inclusion in the United Nations, would be construed as criminal. Taiwanese who have engaged in such activity would be subject to arrest in China.

The judicial guidelines violate Taiwanese people’s rights to freedom of expression and association, and the right to public participation in Taiwan, Human Rights Watch said. The guidelines also permit the use of in absentia trials and the death penalty for “especially serious or … vile” activity in violation of international law.

In a second case, Chinese authorities have detained the Taiwan-based Chinese-born publisher Li Yan-he (李延賀), commonly known by his pen name Fu Cha (富察), for alleged “separatism.” In March 2023, national security police in Shanghai detained Fu. According to Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, Fu has been detained for publishing works that are “not in line with the Chinese Communist Party’s view of history.”

Fu is editor-in-chief of the Taiwanese Gūsa Publishing (八旗文化), which has published books critical of the Chinese government. In early 2023 he become a Taiwanese citizen, and was visiting China to renounce his People’s Republic of China nationality and see his family. The authorities have been holding Fu under “residential surveillance in a designated location.”

The guidelines and the two cases appear intended to reinforce the People’s Republic of China’s sovereignty claims over Taiwan.

“The Chinese government is tightening its grip over the lawful activities of Taiwanese in Taiwan,” Wang said. “Beijing’s intimidation and arbitrary arrests of Taiwanese under national security charges is an alarming escalation of its efforts to control the rights to free speech and association beyond its borders.”

KARAPATAN raised grave concern over the reported disappearance of a brother of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultant Alan Jazmines.

James Jazmines, 63, Alan’s youngest brother, has been reported missing since August 23, 2024 and was last seen in Barangay San Lazaro, Tabaco City, Albay. As of today, efforts by his wife, friends and human rights groups to ascertain his whereabouts have been in vain.

James is a 1978 graduate of the Philippine Science High School and took up BS Psychology at the University of the Philippines in Diliman. He was the editor of Commitment, the official paper of the League of Filipino Students (LFS) and later became the executive director of the Amado V. Hernandez Resource Center, a cultural institution. From 1988 to 1992, James served as the information officer of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) labor center. He was the information technology (IT) consultant of a development NGO up to the mid-2000s, and has been working freelance in the IT sector since then.

“Members of the Jazmines family, including James, have suffered surveillance, threats and harassment over the decades because of the military’s relentless operations to locate Alan and arrest him,” said KARAPATAN secretary general Cristina Palabay. “In fact, James’ wife, a development worker, was red-tagged several times last year and was even erroneously referred to as Alan’s wife in an episode of ‘Laban ng Masa,’ a rabid red-tagging program aired over the Quiboloy-owned SMNI,” added Palabay.

“We believe that James’ disappearance is either the latest in the military’s arsenal of dirty tricks to force his brother Alan to surface, or is a vicious example of palit-ulo, given the military’s continuing failure to arrest Alan,” said Palabay. “We denounce this foul maneuver by the military and demand that James be surfaced safe and sound and reunited with his family.”

Thousands of people rallied in several cities in Indonesia on Friday, pressuring its election commission to issue rules for regional voting amid outrage over an attempt by parliamentary allies of President Joko Widodo to change them in their favor.

The protests followed a day of demonstrations in which 301 people were detained and tear gas and water cannons used to disperse angry crowds outside parliament, which on Thursday shelved its controversial plan to amend eligibility rules on candidates, citing the absence of a quorum.

The protests were accompanied by fury on social media at the influential Jokowi, as the president is known, who stood to gain from proposed changes that would have allowed his son to seek office in Central Java and blocked an influential government critic from running for the high-profile post of Jakarta governor.

When asked about the protests, Jokowi said Friday that it was good for people to express their aspirations.

He said Wednesday that he respected Indonesia's democratic institutions, when asked about the attempt by parliament to change the election rules.

The demonstrations capped a dramatic week in politics in which anger has mounted over what Jokowi's critics say is an attempt to further consolidate his power as he prepares to make way for successor Prabowo Subianto in October.

Jokowi's popularity and outsized influence after a decade in charge was instrumental in Prabowo winning February's election by a big margin, in what was widely seen as a quid pro quo to ensure the outgoing leader retains a political stake long after he leaves office.

'This is nepotism'

Student protester Diva Rabiah, 23, was among hundreds of people who gathered outside the election commission in Jakarta urging it to issue clear rules on candidates, concerned that regulations could be changed before registration opens next week.

"This bothers me because they eased the way for the president's son to run in the regional elections. This is nepotism," she said of the earlier plan by lawmakers.

Demonstrations were also held Friday in the cities of Medan, Makassar and in Surabaya, where students threw rocks and bottles at police, calling for the election commisison to issue the rules.

It is unclear what role Jokowi will play when he leaves office, but he is expected to wield influence through the Golkar Party, the largest member of Prabowo's parliamentary alliance, which Wednesday appointed the president's right-hand man, Bahlil Lahadalia, as its leader.

The push by lawmakers to change the election rules would have effectively been a reversal of a Constitutional Court decision Tuesday, which upheld the minimum age of 30 for candidates and made it easier for parties to make nominations.

That ruling opened the door for Prabowo's presidential election rival, Anies Baswedan, to be nominated for Jakarta governor, a post he held from 2017 to 2022, but meant Jokowi's son Kaesang Pangarep, 29, could not run in regional polls.

The election commission will issue rules in line with Tuesday's court ruling, but after a consultation with parliament next week, its acting chief, Mochammad Afifuddin, said in a news conference.

The Maligakanda Magistrate's Court has issued a restraining order to prevent a protest organized by the Union of Associate Health Science Graduates and the Inter-University Student's Federation, which was scheduled for today.

The order was granted following a request from the OIC of Maradana Police, based on intelligence that was received.

The court's order prohibits protestors from gathering around the Health Ministry between 10 am and 9 pm, blocking surrounding highways and sidewalks, and entering the Health Ministry premises.

At least 11 journalists were injured and their equipment was damaged when police used physical force during last week's protests in Indonesia. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for a transparent and independent investigation to bring those responsible to justice.

At least 11 journalists were assaulted by members of the Indonesian Republic Police (Polri) as they covered widespread protests against amendments to a law governing elections in Jakarta, the capital, and the city of Bandung on 22 August. The police forced these journalists to delete their coverage of the demonstrations, while their equipment was damaged.

“Nothing justifies this police brutality against journalists, as well as the damage to their equipment. We call on Indonesian authorities to conduct transparent and independent investigations into these acts of violence and guarantee the protection of journalists in the course of their work.

Cédric Alviani RSF Asia-Pacific Bureau Director In Jakarta, two photojournalists from online media Makna Talks, known as Edo and Dory, were targeted with tear gas and beaten when reporting on the spot. Juan Robin and Achmad Wahib, reporters from Narasi TV, were pushed to the ground and their cameras were damaged by police officers. Anggita Raissa and Riyan Setiawan, from online media Deduktif, told RSF they also experienced similar encounters with the police. Angga Permana from online media konteks.co.id suffered a beating by security forces that resulted in a head injury.

In the city of Bandung, Alza Ahdira, a journalist from Pikiran-Rakyat.com, was reportedly beaten on her head and arms by five police officers after filming the police dispersing the protesters. Three other journalists from two media, IDN Times and Tempo, remain anonymous for safety reasons. One of them was beaten by police and later brought to a police station for interrogation. He was later released with numerous wounds.

Indonesia is ranked 111th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2024 World Press Freedom Index.

The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Myanmar authorities to immediately and credibly investigate Wednesday’s killing of journalists Win Htut Oo and Htet Myat Thu in a military raid on a home in southern Mon State.

“The killing of journalists Win Htut Oo and Htet Myat Thu is an atrocity against the free press and must not go unpunished,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Myanmar authorities must ensure swift and full justice for the country’s independent journalists who are being killed simply for reporting the news.”

The bodies of Win Htut Oo, a journalist with the media group Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), and Htet Myat Thu, a freelance reporter with the local Than Lwin Times outlet, were cremated without being returned to their families, according to a U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Asia report.

Two other people were killed in the August 21 raid in Kyaikto Township. One was a member of the local Kyaikto Revolutionary Force, one of several armed groups resisting the military government, which took power in a 2021 coup.

Myanmar’s Ministry of Information did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.

Myanmar ranked 9th on CPJ’s latest Global Impunity Index, an annual ranking of countries where the killers of journalists habitually get away with murder. The nation also was the world’s second-worst jailer of journalists, with 43 behind bars in CPJ’s 2023 prison census.

Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Court on August 21 rejected an appeal filed by activist Kanykei Aranova against a 42-month prison term she was handed in June over a Facebook post. Aranova was arrested in February as part of a case concerning protests against a Kyrgyz-Uzbek border deal that led to the detention of 27 people. Aranova was initially ordered to pay a fine after she was found guilty of inciting hatred and making online calls to seize power. Prosecutors appealed the ruling, calling it too lenient, after which the Bishkek City Court cancelled the initial ruling and sentenced her to 42 months in prison.

Authorities in democratic Taiwan have refused entry to a Chinese dissident writer who called for public commemoration of the Tiananmen Square massacre, leaving her stranded in a third country with her family.

Deng Liting, who fled to Thailand with her family after being arrested and assaulted by police in the southwestern megacity of Chongqing in July, said she had hoped to claim political asylum in Taiwan, which has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party, nor formed part of the People's Republic of China.

But officials there turned her around and put her on another plane within less than 24 hours, citing the island's lack of a refugee law and fears of a wave of asylum-seekers from neighboring China, she told Radio Free Asia in an interview on Wednesday, but declined to reveal her current location for fear of being targeted for "long-arm" law enforcement by the Chinese state.

The Taiwan Immigration Agency confirmed to RFA that Deng, her husband and son had transited in Taiwan, but had left again without being allowed to pass through immigration.

"The Taiwanese staff told me that Taiwan doesn't have a refugee law, so they really couldn't grant me asylum," Deng said. "I told them I just wanted help getting in touch with a third country, any that was willing to take me in, but they said it wasn't their job to help me."

"They were very tough on that, and I couldn't say too much else, as it could have had bad consequences," she said. "They told me to leave, so I and my family left."

Deng said officials had told her that Taiwan is loath to grant any asylum claims, for fear of precipitating a huge wave of asylum-seekers from China, where many are joining the "run" movement of mass migration to foreign countries.

"There was no way it would happen," she said. "We were in Taiwan for less than 24 hours, which was pretty quick."

"I thought about it, but I didn't want to make it difficult for them," she said. "They told me that almost nobody in the past decade has been granted political asylum."

Fear of repatriation

Deng's refusal of entry comes after authorities in Taiwan sent three Chinese nationals back to Malaysia in February after they landed in Taipei seeking political refuge.

She has declined to share her current location for fear of being forcibly repatriated to China, where she would likely face arrest and a prison sentence linked to her social media post about commemorating the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square massacre, public mention of which is banned in China.

Deng's debut Chinese-language novel "The World of Lost Souls" was also criticized for being critical of China under the ruling Communist Party, she said.

"On June 3 this year, I posted a video supporting the [1989 Tiananmen protests] to my WeChat, Weibo and Douyin accounts," Deng said. "A lot of people reposted it, which led to my video account on WeChat and Douyin being blocked."

"On June 4, my son and I were arrested in Chongqing," she said. "The police interrogated, threatened, pushed, pulled and tore my clothes in front of my son, leaving him with serious psychological trauma."

Soon after the incident, Deng bought plane tickets for herself and her family and flew to Thailand, where she learned it could take up to four months to get recognition as a political refugee from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

So the family flew to Taiwan instead, in hope of being signposted to a third country for resettlement from there.

"Our family just wants to live a normal life where our human rights aren't violated, free from fear," Deng, who hails from the southwestern region of Guangxi and who uses the pen name Molu, posted to her X account on Aug. 20 after arriving at Taiwan's Taoyuan International Airport.

"Yet we were born in an authoritarian country, where we have lived in fear for half of our lives. We are still being hunted down, and are still on the run," she wrote.

Deng said police in Guangxi said her case was deemed "serious" and that she could be looking at a seven-year jail term. They also threatened to send her young son to prison alongside her.

'A very dangerous situation'

Deng said she is anxious and frightened, and has no idea where to go next.

"I hope there is a country that will accept us," she said. "I hope it will be soon, because we're actually in a very dangerous situation right now."

Tseng Chien-yuan, an adjunct professor at Taiwan's National Central University who has assisted Chinese dissidents with asylum, said the lack of a refugee law means that each asylum case is decided by officials based on political considerations, rather than its fundamental merits.

"The government should find a way to achieve a clearer rule of law via administrative orders or regulations," he said. "Otherwise, frontline immigration officials will be at a loss. They don't have the power to make decisions and must report to their superiors in Taipei."

"Airports are not normal places to decide on placement," Tseng said. "Time is needed to investigate and understand the individual's situation," he said, adding that asylum-seekers should at least be offered temporary food and shelter while their claims are processed."

Burmese documentary filmmaker and political activist Pe Maung Same died Monday at the age of 50 due to complications from tuberculosis, just three days after his medical parole from a junta prison, according to his wife Khin Suu Suu Htay.

The son of prominent cartoonist Pe Thein, Pe Maung Same had served as an editor at the Yangon Film School and directed award-winning documentaries prior to his May 18, 2022, arrest and sentence to three years in Kayah state’s Loikaw Prison for “unlawful association.”

He had been accused of meeting with an ethnic armed group that opposed the junta’s February 2021 coup d’etat.

Khin Suu Suu Htay told RFA Burmese that on April 22, while in Loikaw Prison, Pe Maung Same had “collapsed” and was subsequently “paralyzed below the waist.” He was later diagnosed with tuberculosis – a disease caused by bacterial infection that spreads easily in overcrowded conditions.

“After being transferred several times, he was sent to Insein Hospital [in Yangon] on July 13 via Insein Prison,” she said. He was released on Aug. 16 because of his medical condition while still undergoing treatment and “was moved to a private hospital, where he passed away three days later.”

Prior to being admitted to the private Sakura Hospital on Aug. 16, Pe Maung Same had been “restrained with an ankle iron” at Insein Hospital, she said.

Local media cited a source with ties to the filmmaker’s family as saying that Pe Maung Same was “beaten and kicked in the back” while interrogated by authorities, and that “inadequate medicine and food” in Loikaw Prison had “further aggravated his condition.” The source said Pe Maung Same had also developed “complications with his heart and kidneys.”

RFA was unable to independently verify the claims.

In January, the journalist and award-winning documentary filmmaker Shin Daewe was sentenced to life in prison for violating Myanmar’s Anti-terrorism Law, prompting an outcry from rights groups and members of the media.

Known for her work highlighting the challenges facing Myanmar’s environment and the impact of conflict on civilians following the military’s 2021 coup, the 50-year-old Shin Daewe was arrested on Oct. 15 in Yangon’s North Okkalapa township while picking up a video drone she had ordered online to use in filming a documentary.

According to his family, Pe Maung Same’s funeral will be held on Aug. 21 at the Yae Way Cemetery in Yangon.

A Bunong man was questioned by Mondulkiri police after he released a song describing the sufferings of indigenous people in land disputes in conjunction with World Indigenous Peoples Day.

While indigenous people state their right to sing on International Day of Indigenous Peoples has been restricted, local authorities request that the songs be sung with clear information to avoid “problems” on social media. But indigenous people’s associations and human rights groups say that the recent questioning restricted indigenous peoples’ freedom of expression.

Bunong native Srom Chounh, 38, told CamboJA News that the song was to celebrate the 30th World Indigenous Peoples Day in Mondulkiri on August 15, 2024.

Chounh, who is a teacher, said the song was an expression of their rights and highlighted the concerns of indigenous communities. It was a collaboration with other indigenous communities who also agreed to compose the song.

However, the way in which “outsiders” reacted was not planned as the video was “cut into different images”, which resulted in the authority requesting him to delete the video.

He said the song titled “Why Arrest Us” was based on three points – the “forest and mountains being taken away”, “where is the law and why is it biased”, and “we are the owners of the land, and all are imprisoned”.

The three points apparently riled up the authorities who asked him to delete the video immediately.

Explaining each point, Chounh said he would not refer to the government “cutting off large tracts of forest land and giving them to other countries”, but the law allegedly allowed indigenous peoples’ lands and farms to be confiscated, and barred them from farming. The local authorities also allegedly “handed over power to traders who assume the right to indigenous people’s land anarchically”.

In the second point, he said the law enforcement was biased, in reference to the involvement of environmental officials who allegedly accepted bribes from people with power. They are given the right to illegally cut down forests, while indigenous people who engage in subsistence farming are “barred”, with complaints filed in court. Cases have been filed against 80 native people, Chounh said.

As for the third point, he admitted that using the word “prison” was not correct. What he meant was that lawsuits were filed in court and people were barred from farming.

“The three meanings are not related to politics, there is no provocation in [any situation] arising from the suffering of the indigenous people,” he said.

Chounh said after the authorities asked for more information about the song on August 19, 2024, a contract was prepared for him to agree to stop singing it. If the song continues to circulate in social media, people will be punished by the law, Chounh said.

He opined that it was a threat to his rights as well as to other indigenous people. “In the video, I wanted to show that indigenous communities’ rights are restricted today. The collective land registration is slow, which has caused problems for the people. It’s difficult to farm one’s land and not have money to pay the bank.”

Mondulkiri provincial police chief Lor Sokha told CamboJA News that the local authority must inquire and ask for more information to find out the reason for the song. People must also seek permission before posting the song online, he said.

Sokha said the lyrics revealed that indigenous people have lost their land and “they will die”. “Who wrote the song for him?” he said, adding that the authorities should find out the reason and person behind the song.

“What about indigenous people where the government and the authorities do not pay attention? […] And indigenous people who are Khmer. We have to deal with them all,” he said.

He said if Chounh came out with “clear arguments” and it was correct, then it “did not matter”. If his argument was clear and he wants the local authority to address the issues, they will help to resolve any concerns in accordance with the law.

Pleok Pirom, chief of Bunong indigenous community, told CamboJA News that the questioning by the authorities was a deprivation of their right to express their views and a coercion to stop them from singing the song.

She said the composition of the song saw the participation of the indigenous network, which represented 55 villages from five districts.

“If the authorities change their minds [in future] and there is no discrimination, no arrests of indigenous people or intimidation, then we won’t sing. But if the authorities continue, we will sing the song. The first time was by Srom Chounh,” she said, adding that in future they will sing together.

Provincial coordinator of rights group Adhoc, Be Vanny, told CamboJA News that singing was an art of the indigenous community who agreed to sing and is within the rights of indigenous people.

They have sent a message to the local authorities and the government which shows the hardships they have encountered.

He said the authorities should not force indigenous peoples to delete the video and intimidate them, rather they should address the issues raised by them.

“If the people just send a message to seek justice for their problems and we [authorities] restrict their freedom by banning them […] this must be reconsidered as our country is a signatory of human rights treaties.”

“Indigenous people are also citizens, and the authorities have a duty to promote and protect human rights. As an organization and a citizen, I am only involved in promoting indigenous people’s [issues],” Vanny said.

Cambodia Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance coordinator Sompoy Chansophea told CamboJA News that it was normal to sing songs reflecting the situation of the indigenous people.

If the authorities restrict and threaten the right to freedom of expression, it is a violation of human rights.

“So, if he is restricted, he won’t dare to speak on social media next time. Don’t confuse the community. Let them talk about what they are going through,” he said.

A court in Kazakhstan has fined three activists over their participation in a rally in late May demanding the official registration of the opposition Algha, Qazaqstan (Forward, Kazakhstan) party. Aizhan Zholdasova and Ermek Qonyshbai were ordered on August 19 to pay 110,740 tenges ($230) each, while Azia Abieva was fined 77, 532 tenges ($161). All three pleaded not guilty before the court in the southern city of Shymkent, saying they have a right to express their political demands. In November, a court in Astana sentenced the chairman of Algha, Qazaqstan, Marat Zhylanbaev, to seven years in prison on extremism charges, which he also rejects as politically motivated.

The Appeal Court has sentenced a protester to two years in prison for royal defamation over wearing Thai traditional dress at a mock fashion show during a protest in 2020. She was later granted bail after being detained for 2 days.

On Monday (19 August), the Appeal Court upheld the initial ruling to sentence protester Jatuporn Sae-ung without parole for royal defamation.

Jatuporn was charged with royal defamation, violating the Public Assembly Act, the Emergency Decree, and the Communicable Diseases Act, and using a sound amplifier without permission. She was accused of insulting the Queen by wearing a Thai traditional dress to participate in the “Ratsadorn Catwalk” fashion show, a gesture seen as mockery of the royal family, staged at a 29 October 2020 protest.

The complaint against her was filed by Waritsanun Sribawornthanakit, the owner of a pro-establishment Facebook page who also filed a complaint against Noppasin Treelayapewat, a 17-year-old protester, who wore a black crop top to the same event with the message “My father’s name is Mana, not Vajiralongkorn” written on his back.

The ”Ratsadorn Catwalk” took place after it was reported that the Ministry of Commerce received a 13-million baht budget for the overseas exhibition of new products by the Sirivannavari brand, a fashion label owned by the King’s daughter, Princess Sirivannavari.

The 29 October 2020 protest took place on the same day that Sirivannavari’s new collection was being launched at the nearby Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

The indictment accused Jatuporn of imitating the Queen’s demeanour by walking on a red carpet while a woman bowed at her feet. Jatuporn stopped walking and extended her hands for the protesters to grab. At the same time, an unidentified person shouted out “the Queen” as the royal anthem was played. The protesters also shouted “Long Live the Queen,” making it appear as if Jatuporn was posing as the Queen.

The South Bangkok Criminal Court on 12 September 2022 found Jatuporn guilty of royal defamation and violation of the Public Assembly Act, sentencing her to three years in prison and a fine of 1,500 baht. As a result of her ‘helpful’ testimony, it reduced her sentence to two years in prison and a fine of 1,000 baht. On 14 September 2022, she was allowed bail with 200,000 baht as security.

The Appeal Court today ruled to uphold the verdict, sentencing Jatuporn to two years in prison without parole over royal defamation and a 1,000 baht fine for violating the Public Assembly Act. Her lawyer requested bail. The request has been forwarded to the Supreme Court. As this takes approximately 2-3 days, Jatuporn is being held at the Central Women’s Correctional Institution.

Update: Jatuporn was granted bail on 21 August.

Cambodian authorities have arbitrarily arrested at least 94 people since late July 2024 for publicly criticizing the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area (CLV), Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today. At least 59 of those arrested, which include environmental, human rights and other activists, remain unlawfully detained and charged for peacefully expressing their views, including several children. The authorities should immediately drop all charges for which no internationally recognized charge is brought.

The CLV is a development plan among the governments of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam established in 2004 to facilitate cooperation on trade and migration. Concerns about the agreement resurfaced on social media in July particularly regarding land concessions and whether the CLV benefitted foreign interests above Cambodians. Many of those arrested have been charged with plotting and incitement merely for expressing their views on the CLV or organizing peaceful protests.

“The arbitrary restrictions on freedom of movement, peaceful assembly and freedom of expression are not justified under international law. The harassment of activists and their families is never acceptable. Alarmingly, the heavy-handed response by the Cambodian government has seen young people, including some children, unlawfully detained and charged with serious crimes against the State,” said Kate Schuetze, Deputy Regional Director for East South East Asia and the Pacific Regional Office at Amnesty International. “Cambodia’s partners should publicly and jointly call for this assault on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly to end.”

Background Following the first arrests of three activists in July, Telegram groups with thousands of members formed and began organizing public gatherings and peaceful marches to protest the agreement. Cambodians also held demonstrations in early August in South Korea, Japan, and Australia about the CLV.

As public criticism grew, Cambodian authorities tightened security measures and travel restrictions. Local human rights groups alleged that government officials across the country were putting land rights and civil society activists under surveillance, including ordering several not to travel outside of their communities and threatening their family members. The authorities also have imposed roadblocks on highways entering Phnom Penh and have been arbitrarily searching vans and taxis entering the capital.

Former prime minister and current Senate president Hun Sen’s official Telegram channel has aired videos of school children across Cambodia chanting in unison their support for the development agreement.

Senior officials have endorsed the crackdown through various public statements.

Hun Sen publicly called for the aforementioned arrest and sentencing of three activists in July who criticized the agreement on a broadcast on Facebook. He also threatened critics of the CLV in Cambodia as well as the families of opposition activists who live abroad with surveillance tactics that violate the right to privacy and the right to family life, stating that, “I urge the [Cambodian] government to search and find out all the groups that created this problem and live in the country. And compile all the cases of individuals outside the country, and study their family history, where their family are, if they are outside the country.”

The National Police stated on August 11 that “We are committed to making sacrifices in order to safeguard the legitimate Royal Government and implement stringent measures to prevent and suppress treacherous acts without exception, at all costs.” On August 16, the Cambodian gendarmerie leader, Sao Sokha, also released a video of a speech to his subordinates ordering them to be ready to face protesters armed with guns and to shoot if necessary.

The National Defense Ministry spokesperson, Chhum Socheat, told CamboJA News on August 12 that the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) supports the CLV and in a post on Facebook, the RCAF High Command stated that it “… will suppress and destroy all incited tactics that destroy the nation and peace, and other attempts to sabotage and overthrow the legitimate Royal Government in any form.”. Government officials from the national and provincial level, including from the armed forces, have issued a petition supporting the CLV.

Hun Sen continued to make public threats against CLV critics in an August 12 speech, including against Hay Vanna, an opposition activist living in Japan: “[Y]ou all tried to incite others. … [W]e have heard what Hay Vanna said outside of the country. … You need to think about it carefully. If you make mistakes, you might be in danger. … You need to think about this carefully before you travel to join the protest.”

On August 16, Cambodian authorities arrested Hay Vannith, Vanna’s brother, a Health Ministry civil servant and did not provide information about his whereabouts until August 20, raising concerns that he had been forcibly disappeared. His family only learned he was in custody after an audio recording of a “confession” by Vannith to overthrow the government was posted on August 21 on the Cambodia government spokesperson Facebook page.

The government-aligned media outlet Fresh News broadcast on August 19 a “confession” from Lach Tina, a youth activist, accusing fellow activists protesting the CLV of organizing a plot against the government.

These supposed “confessions” by detainees and claims of plots against the government heighten concerns for their safety and others in custody, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said.

Of the 94 people arrested, at least 59 have been charged and remain under arrest or in pretrial detention. Cambodian authorities have charged at least 21 people with incitement to commit a felony, a charge often spuriously brought against human rights activists. In 2021, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia expressed concern about the improper use of incitement charges. Incitement carries a penalty of up to two years in prison, while “plotting” carries a punishment of up to 10 years.

At least 33 people face charges of plotting against the state, including four young adult members from the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association. This charge was recently brought against members of the environmental group Mother Nature, after which the UN Human Rights Office spokesperson, Thameen Al-Kheetan, “call[ed] on Cambodia to hold broad-based public consultations to amend relevant articles of the Cambodian Criminal Code to bring them into conformity with international human rights law.” At least four children have also been charged with plotting, punishable by up to five years in prison, rather than 10, because they are children.

All four children charged remain in pretrial detention. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Cambodia ratified in 1992, states that the arrest and detention of a child should be used only as a last resort and for the shortest period of time. The convention also upholds the rights of children to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

“The mass arrests of CLV Development Triangle Area activists are a deliberate, coordinated effort by Cambodian authorities to intimidate critics and prevent them from demonstrating in Phnom Penh or sharing their views on social media,” said Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “These wrongful detentions and charges show Prime Minister Hun Manet’s disrespect for the rights of Cambodians and the country’s international human rights obligations.”

About the Human Rights Defenders: Progressive Student Forum (PSF) is a student organisation based in Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), it was established in 2016, build democratic and secular spaces that would enable critical engagement with the emerging socio-economic and political environment. The student body organised sessions, discussion and dialogues on various issue and different events such as talks, seminars, films, screenings, informal discussions between students. PSF intervene in various issues and concerns of students of TISS. Background: PSF organised a protest in solidarity against the suspension of PhD Scholar KS Ramdas over alleged ‘misconduct and anti-national activities’ at the Institute and they condemned dismissal of TISS faculty in July 2024. Details of the Incident: On August 19, 2024, the registrar of TISS administration issued a notice to ban PSF, calling the forum unauthorized and illegal forum. The notice claimed that the “PSF has been engaging in activities that obstruct the institute functions, defame the institute, demean members of our community, and create divisions among students and faculty.” The notice further states that “group is misleading, distracting and misguiding students from their academic pursuit and harmonious life in the campus”. The Notice imposed immediate ban on PSF for all institute premises and activities and ordered that “any student or faculty member found supporting, associating with or propagating the group’s divisive ideologies will be subject to disciplinary action”.