Uwazi

On July 8, Arunachal police detained two anti-dam activists claiming that they were likely to cause a 'public order issue', on the same day that the Union power minister visited Itanagar to review the status of several hydropower projects

The day-long detainment of two anti-dam activists on Monday, July 8, in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, was equivalent to harassment and a violation of the democratic rights of indigenous communities, said several environmental and human rights organisations.

The state police arrested lawyer and anti-dam activist Ebo Mili and convenor of the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum Dugge Apang on July 8, claiming that they were likely to cause a “public order issue”. The two activists were later released on the same day after signing a bond that they would not participate in activities for the next year that might ‘breach the peace’.

The activists, incidentally, were hoping to organise a peaceful demonstration in the city on July 8 and meet Union power minister Manohar Lal Khattar in person and hand over a memorandum at the Itanagar secretariat, for which they were in the process of taking necessary permissions from the deputy commissioner. Khattar was in the city to review hydropower projects with state government officials, including the controversial 11,000-megawatt Upper Siang multipurpose power project.

Two anti-dam activists were detained for an entire day

On the morning of July 8, Arunachal police arrested lawyer and anti-dam activist Ebo Mili at Itanagar. The police took Mili into preventive custody. On the same day, Arunachal police also arrested Dugge Apang, another anti-dam and pro-river activist in Itanagar. Apang is the convenor of the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum (SIFF).

According to the Indian Express, the Itanagar police said in a statement that they took this action after “reliable sources” reported that both Mili and Apang were “likely to disrupt the forthcoming public meeting involving the Honorable Chief Minister and Union Ministers” on July 8 and “attempt to cause a public order issue.” The police took this “preventive action”, to “maintain public order”, they said in a statement quoted by Hindustan Times.

The Arunachal police ultimately released both Mili and Apang on Monday evening — but only after both signed a bond promising not to participate in further activities that may be considered “breaching the peace” for one year.

Mili is no stranger to being apprehended for crimes he has not committed. In August last year, the state police detained him for staging a peaceful protest outside a banquet hall in Itanagar, where the Bharatiya Janata Party government was engaged in signing memoranda of understanding with public sector undertakings to continue the construction of 12 stalled hydropower projects in the state.

As per the Indian constitution, it is not against the law to protest peacefully, Mili, a lawyer, told The Wire on July 9.

“I was made to sign a bond, and placed under monitoring for one year,” Mili told The Wire. “But yesterday the police could not file an FIR against me because I had not done anything to breach the peace, so they made me sign another bond for one more year.”

As per news reports, the state police detained both Mili and Apang under Section 128 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) that states that an Executive Magistrate can require a person to show cause why the person should not be ordered to execute a bond or bail bond for his good behavior for a period of time not exceeding one year, if the Magistrate feels that there is reason to believe that the person could commit a cognizable offence.

While the law permits the police can detain individuals if they are “apprehensive” that their actions might affect public order, the law also makes it clear that this power should not be abused, Mili told The Wire.

Violation of democratic rights

The Indian Express quoted members of the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum as saying that they had no intention to disrupt the day’s events and that the activists were in the process of seeking permission from the Deputy Commissioner for a peaceful demonstration in Itanagar town, to hand a memorandum to Khattar in person at the Itanagar Secretariat.

The Wire accessed a copy of the letter that the activists were hoping to file for seeking permission for this. The letter clearly states that permission was being sought for a “peaceful demonstration against the rampant building of dams and the sale of our land”, and specified the location of the demonstration in Itanagar as well.

Several environmental and human rights organisations have come out in support of Mili and Apang, and condemned their “unlawful” detainment. The Centre for Research and Advocacy, Manipur, (CRA) and Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) expressed their concerns at the detention of both Mili and Apang in a press note on July 8.

“The arbitrary detention of Advocate Ebo Mili and Mr. Dunge constitute a harassment and violation of fundamental rights of indigenous human rights defenders for raising legitimate concerns with large hydropower projects over the Siang and Dibang River basins in Arunachal Pradesh,” the CRA and ACT said in their press note.

The duo’s “arbitrary detention” without an arrest warrant represents “a violation of democratic rights enshrined under India’s constitution and the indigenous peoples’ rights, as guaranteed under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2007”, the press note declared.

The press note also called on the Government of India to stop the “arbitrary detention” of Mili and Apang and “to stop all forms of harassment of indigenous human rights defenders for asserting their indigenous rights and concerns with unsustainable development”.

How is it even possible to detain the two activists when they hadn’t done anything, and when they hadn’t even been given an opportunity to present their letter to the Deputy Commissioner to seek permission for the peaceful march, asked a member of the local community who did not want to be named.

“They’re even trying to control how we think, let alone act,” the resident, from an indigenous community in the state, told The Wire. “This is very concerning, also because of the timely coincidence of the [amended] FCA which cites national security and defense as a reason for getting away with such projects that have a huge impact on our lands and people.”

The Union government recently amended the Forest Conservation Amendment Act of 1980. One of the new clauses that the legislation includes is that projects coming up in areas within 100 km of India’s borders will not require forest clearance, unlike before. Experts have pointed out how this, and a few other new clauses added as part of the amendment to the FCA can result in huge tracts of forest land being opened up to developmental activities and tourism.

Minister reviews the status of hydro projects

The Union minister for power, Manohar Lal Khattar, arrived at Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, on July 8.

“Reviewed various ongoing hydropower projects, comprehensive scheme of transmission & distribution and the revamped distribution sector scheme in the state,” Khattar posted on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, on July 8. “Arunachal Pradesh has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to enhancing its power infrastructure, resulting in significant strides in sustainability.”

Chief minister Pema Khandu who also took part in the discussions claimed that they are “committed to overcoming any challenges” to expedite the completion of hydropower projects in the state. “These projects are not only vital for meeting the state’s power needs but also for contributing to the national grid and boosting our economy,” he tweeted.

Among the 60-odd hydropower projects being planned in the state is also the 11,000 megawatt Upper Siang multipurpose project, which has been pushed forward as a counter to China’s dam on the Brahmaputra. However, local communities have raised several concerns including loss of crucial forest and community land, among others.

Thousands of people gathered for a glimpse of the funeral procession of the slain Pakistani rights activist Gilaman Wazir as his casket passed through towns and cities from Islamabad to his native village in the restive Waziristan region bordering Afghanistan about 250 miles away.

The procession was not covered by Pakistan’s mainstream media.

A member of the Pashtuns’ rights movement — Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, or PTM — Wazir (his name in documents was Hazrat Naeem) advocated for the rights of his people on digital platforms, using prose and poetry to convey his messages in short reels and TikTok videos and on social media platform X.

He was attacked in Islamabad on July 7 and succumbed to head injuries after four days. Police officials told VOA they have not found the men involved in the attack. PTM says it will investigate why he was killed.

Wazir’s activism on digital platforms incurred Pakistan’s anger when he was working as a laborer in Bahrain. He was arrested in Bahrain at Pakistan’s request and in 2020 and he was handed over to Pakistani authorities the same year.

“He was doing labor work in Bahrain. He was deported through Interpol and was put in jail. He was then kept in an internment center. He was bitten by dogs and was given electric shocks,” PTM leader Manzoor Pashteen said in his address to mourners gathered for a view of Wazir’s casket in different towns on July 11 and 12.

Pakistani officials have not responded to Pashteen’s charges.

Wazir has a series of reels, Facebook posts and TikTok videos that describe in his own poetry, in Pashto, his ordeal in the prisons.

PTM claims Wazir was picked up again by Pakistani authorities in July 2023, in Peshawar, but government officials did not confirm his whereabouts for about six months. He was later handed over to police and was released in late January 2024.

PTM says he was on the Exit Control List till his death. Anyone on the list is subject to restrictions on their movements outside the country.

Pakistani television networks and media outlets often cover protests and funeral processions, but there was silence in the mainstream media on the killing of Wazir.

Afrasiab Khattak, former head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, told VOA there is a ban on covering PTM activities in media. An army spokesperson told the media in April 2019 to stop reporting on the group.

"When the media cannot report the news about killings, like Gilaman's, or the dead bodies of Baloch, or missing people, then there will be questions,” said Peshawar-based author and academic Irfan Ashraf.

Social media platforms have filled the vacuum of information about Wazir. The hashtag #GilamanWazir was trending on the social media platform X in Pakistan on Thursday. Pakistan has banned X in the country, but more than 32,000 tweets mentioned Wazir in one day. Among others, former Afghan Presidents Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani offered condolences on Wazir’s killing in their tweets.

Government leaders in Islamabad have made no comment on the issue.

PTM staged huge pro-peace rallies after Islamabad announced last month it was launching a new military operation against terrorism. Wazir and Pashteen questioned the dividends of Pakistan’s dozen-plus previous military operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Khattak said there is a trust deficit between the state and the people.

“The government is like a thin layer of onion on the face of [the] military. The army makes the decisions, and people don’t trust the generals,” he said.

Tens of thousands of people attended Wazir’s funeral in North Waziristan on Friday. They chanted against the Pakistan army, and some waved the three-color Afghan national flag, a message to Islamabad that they don’t accept Taliban in Kabul.

On July 6, the Uttar Pradesh Police filed a First Information Report (FIR) against journalist Zakir Ali Tyagi and four others for alleging on social media that a Muslim man had been lynched by a mob in the state’s Shamli district. As per multiple media reports, the four other that have been booked include Wasim Akram Tyagi, Asif Rana, Saif Allahbadi and Ahmad Raza Khan. It is essential to note that both Zakir Ali Tyagi and Wasim Akram Tyagi are journalists.

The above-named five persons have been booked for promoting enmity between different groups under section 196 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023, and making statements conducive to public mischief under section 353 of the BNS. This comes after a social media post had been put out by Zakir Ali Tyagi on July 5, claiming that a man Firoz, or Kala Qureshi, had died in a mob lynching incident in the Jalalabad town of Shamli district. He also named the persons who had allegedly beaten-up Qureshi. Qureshi was a scrap worker with no criminal record, and was beaten to death over allegations of theft in the Jalalabad town of Shamli district. After his family protested, an FIR against three persons – Pankaj, Pinky and Rajendra – was lodged.

In the said social media post. Zakir Ali Tyagi had alleged that deceased Firoz was “killed by members of another community” on the suspicion of breaking into their house. The post had also been accompanied by a picture the deceased as well as the complaint that was filed by Qureshi’s family, who claimed that Qureshi had been beaten up by a group of men that had caused his death. As provided by Qureshi’s family, he had gone to the Aryanagar area for some work where he was beaten up by a group of three men – Pinky, Pankaj and Rajendra, all residents of Ganga Arya Nagar – around 8 pm. It was after reaching Qureshi being rescused by some men and reaching his house that Qureshi took his last breath around 11 pm, as stated by the police. It is essential to note that an FIR over the said incident had been registered under BNS Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) on July 5 based on the complaint filed by the family.

Thousands of students in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country on Thursday continued their street protests by blocking the capital’s Shahbagh intersection and major highways including Dhaka-Aricha, Dhaka-Chattogram, Chattogram–Khagrachari, Dhaka-Barishal and Dhaka-Rajshahi, demanding cancellation of the High Court order for restoring a 30 per cent quota for freedom fighters’ children and grandchildren in government jobs.

Dhaka University students, meanwhile, alleged that ruling Awami League-backed student organisation Bangladesh Chhatra League leaders and activists barred students at different halls of residence from joining the protests.

The day’s protests intensified following the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the morning refused to stay the High Court verdict that asked the government on June 5 to restore the 30 per cent quota for the children and grandchildren of freedom fighters while recruiting cadre and non-cadre officers in the civil service.

DU students brought out a procession from in front of the university’s central library at about 11:00am and after marching around all halls of residence of the university, Teacher-Student Centre, Raju Memorial Sculpture ended at Shahbagh Intersection at about 12 noon.

Then the students blocked the intersection from 12 noon to 6:10pm for the third consecutive day defying rain.

The six-hour long blockade at the capital’s major intersection caused severe traffic congestion in and around Banglamotor, Karwan Bazar, Kataban, Elephant Road, Hatirpool, Nilkhet, Segun Bagicha and Press Club areas and people and vehicles, including ambulances carrying dying patients, suffered immensely,.

Nahid Islam, coordinator of the Students Movement against Discrimination, an anti-quota movement platform, announced a fresh three-day programme till Sunday, including the online and in-person programme on Friday.

‘We urge all students to bring out protest processions in all universities and colleges at 3:00pm across the country,’ Nahid said, urging all students to boycott all classes and exams on Sunday.

The protesting students’ four-point demand include cancelling the High Court order that restored the quota system, upholding the 2018 government circular, ensuring merit-based recruitment in the public service, giving appointment to qualified candidates from the merit list if any eligible candidates are not found in quotas for marginalised communities.

A large number of Dhaka University students tried to join the protests and they allegedly faced intimidation by the BCL leaders and activists.

At Surja Sen Hall, BCL leaders and activists closed the hall gate and stood there and the situation became tense when protesting students brought out processions to join the protests.

The agitating students opened the gate and came out of the hall to join the movement chanting slogans against the BCL activists terming them as ‘fake’.

Alongside Surja Sen Hall, the BCL leaders also took position at Bijoy Ekattor Hall’s gate to obstruct the agitating students.

The BCL reportedly created obstruction in several other halls, including Kabi Jasim Uddin Hall, AF Rahman Hall and Shahid Sergeant Zahurul Huq Hall.

Denying the allegations, BCL DU unit general secretary Tanbir Hasan Shaikat termed those as baseless and fabricated.

He said that the BCL did not obstruct anyone from joining the quota reform movement.

Several hundred students of Jahangirnagar University blocked the Dhaka-Aricha highway for about one hour for a fourth straight day on Thursday as the Appellate Division refused to issue a stay order on the HC verdict, New Age correspondent in JU reported.

About three kilometers of tailbacks were created on both lanes of the country’s one of the busiest highways due to the blockade from 12:15pm to 1:00pm on the day.

In Cumilla, a five-kilometre long tailback was created on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway as the students of Cumilla University put up barricades on the highway and many vehicles were seen stuck till 4:00pm on both sides of the highway.

In Barishal, vehicular movement on the Dhaka-Barishal highway remained suspended since this noon as Barishal University students put up barricades, United News of Bangladesh in Barishal reported.

Braving heavy rain in Rajshahi, several thousands of Rajshahi University students staged demonstrations and blocked the Rajshahi-Dhaka highway in front of the university main entrance gate for one hour and a half to press home their demands.

At around 10:40am, they took position on the Dhaka-Rajshahi highway in front of the university main entrance and blocked the highway till 12:10pm, said witnesses.

Students of Chittagong University blocked Chattogram–Khagrachari highway while Shahjalal University of Science and Technology held rallies and sit-ins in front of the main entrance of the university.

On October 4, 2018, the government issued a circular abolishing all the 56 per cent quotas in the public service in the wake of street protests by the public university students and jobseekers demanding reforms to the quota system introduced in 1972.

Until the abolition, about 56 per cent of government jobs were reserved for candidates from various quotas. Of them, 30 per cent were for freedom fighters’ children and grandchildren, 10 per cent for women, 10 per cent for people of underdeveloped districts, 5 per cent for ethnic communities and 1 per cent for physically challenged people.

On 4 July 2024, the Pervomaiskii District Court of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan ruled to place human rights defender and whistleblower Zhoomart Karabaev in Pre-trial Detention center no. 1. The accusations against him are based on his social media posts, which authorities have argued are an “incitement of mass public discord”, a criminal offense stipulated by the Part 3 of Article 278 of the Criminal Code of Kyrgyzstan. The human rights defender was sentenced to remain in detention until August 19, 2024. Zhoomart Karabaev is a human rights defender, an academic, and a whistleblower from Kyrgyzstan. In 2024, he systemically blew the whistle on how the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan signed expert reviews, which then commonly became the only grounds to sentence state critics in Kyrgyzstan, pre-drafted by the State Committee for National Security. In May 2024, Zhoomart Karabaev provided a witness testimony during the trial of writer Olzhobai Shakir on the nature of the evidentiary support presented by the state authorities. He has also written on social media in regards to these practices, calling for an end to the unjust persecution of state critics. On 2 July 2024, the State Committee for National Security Officers in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, arrested human rights defender Zhoomart Karabaev, brought him in for questioning, and detained him for 48 hours. On 4 July 2024, the Pervomaiskii District Court of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, ruled to place the human rights defender in pre-trial detention in Pre-Trial Detention Center no.1. The accusations against him are based on his social media posts, where he discussed the current wave of persecution against civil society actors, as well as the authorities' failure to acknowledge corruption in the National Academy of Science. The authorities have argued that the human rights defender's posts are an “incitement of mass public discord,” a criminal offense stipulated by Part 3 of Article 278 of the Criminal Code of Kyrgyzstan. Zhoomart Karabaev’s lawyers argue that this persecution is in retaliation for him blowing the whistle on the manner in which the State pressured him and other academics to produce many supposed “expert opinions” for high-level criminal cases against human rights defenders, journalists, and others. These would then support the state’s position in sentencing vocal critics of the state. Such expert opinions are often used as the only incriminating evidence in criminal cases against persons exercising their freedom of expression, including recent cases such as the Kloop media shutdown and trial against women human rights defenders from the Committee to Protect Kempir-Abad. After Zhoomart Karabaev blew the whistle in the Spring of 2024, he was fired from his post as an expert at the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan after refusing to rubberstamp precooked expert opinions prepared by the State Committee for National Security. The leadership of the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan also threatened the human rights defender with retaliation, accusing him of treason.Front Line Defenders condemns the pre-trial detention of human rights defender and whistleblower Zhoomart Karabaev as it believes it constitutes a form of retaliation for his legitimate and peaceful human rights work of exposing state corruption. The organization is gravely concerned with the wave of repressions faced by human rights defenders and journalists in Kyrgyzstan. Front Line believes that targeting human rights defenders has a harmful effect on the peaceful and legitimate work of human rights defenders in Kyrgyzstan.

The five Mother Nature activists arrested yesterday after being sentenced to 6-8 years in prison have been sent to five different prisons, some hundreds of kilometres from their residences and families. Splitting up activists to ensure they are detained far from each other and their families is a cruel and unusual punishment that has no precedent in Cambodia.

Thun Ratha was sent to Correctional Center 3 in Tbong Khmum province; Ly Chandaravuth to Kandal prison; Phuon Keoraksmey to Pursat provincial prison; Yim Leanghy to Kampong Speu prison; and Long Kunthea to Preah Vihear prison.

Sending people to prisons far away from their families and lawyers has been recognised as an infringement of people’s human rights by the United Nations. It is also a clear violation of the “Nelson Mandela Rules” for the humane treatment of prisoners, which calls for people in prison to be close to their homes.

The decision will make it more difficult for families and friends to visit these activists. It will undermine access to quality medical care. Access to timely legal consultation will be effectively impossible. There is no justification for this action, which will severely harm the mental and physical wellbeing of the activists and their families.

Ten Mother Nature environmental activists were convicted and sentenced to prison terms of between 6 and 8 years by a Phnom Penh court this morning, while four of the youth activists who were present outside the court were violently arrested by security personnel.

The panel of judges delivered the verdict at the Phnom Penh Capital Court Tuesday morning, concluding the trial that hinged on two criminal charges - plotting and insulting the king — which were related to Mother Nature activists’ peaceful environmental activism.

The court issued arrest warrants for all 10 individuals. At 10:40 am, four of the five activists who have been present at the series of trial hearings were surrounded by at least 50 police officers and security personnel while sitting peacefully outside the Phnom Penh court. The police and plainclothes personnel violently dragged them into waiting cars, as fellow activists shouted for their release. At least two of the Mother Nature activists were dragged by their necks.

The location of the fifth Mother Nature activist who was not present outside the court this morning, Yim Leanghy, is not known. Another activist, Eng Sokha, was also detained by police while gathering near the Mother Nature activists during their arrest, but was released after several hours in police custody.

Four environmental activists — Thun Ratha, 32; Long Kunthea, 26; Phuon Keoraksmey, 23; and Ly Chandaravuth, 24 — spent the hours prior to their arrest leading a peaceful march in a funeral-style procession from the Chrouy Changvar roundabout to the court. The activists were dressed in white funerary clothing and joined by around 50 other activists and supporters. Once they reached the court, the four activists chose not to attend the verdict hearing, and instead met with supporters and family members and expressed their desire to see a more just society that protects and defends natural resources for all Cambodians.

Mother Nature activists have for years faced harassment, threats and criminal charges for their peaceful environmental activism, which has included advocating for the halting of sand mining in Koh Kong province, the protection of the Koh Kong Krao island, and preventing the flow of effluents and sewage into water bodies in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville.

The Ministry of Interior has ordered Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL) to disclose its bank account details within 30 days of the date of the letter, failing which they could face non-compliance and legal action in accordance with Article 30 of the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations.

“In case CENTRAL failed to fulfill its obligations, it is subject to legal actions in accordance with the law and other existing laws,” the statement read.

The notification by the ministry stated that it received complaints and statements from various unions, federations and associations in relation to CENTRAL’s report titled Barriers to Representation: Freedom of Association in Cambodia, which was criticized for being “biased and unfair”. They also mentioned that a “minority assessment of the overall situation does not reflect the reality of trade union freedom in Cambodia”. In addition, the report allegedly “dishonored the nation”, and “affected job stability” and the common interests of workers in Cambodia.

The ministry reminded CENTRAL that in accordance with Article 30 of the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations, CENTRAL must abide by its own statutes stored at the ministry.

Quoting the letter, Interior Ministry spokesperson Touch Sokhak told CamboJA News that Article 10 of the law states that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are duty-bound to provide bank details to the ministry.

“So, what the ministry has [instructed] is based on the law. It is not against the law. However, CENTRAL’s annual report to the ministry is a different matter,” said Sokhak.

He said the ministry did not arrange a team to observe the NGO, but was only following the law on non-governmental organizations.

Moeun Tola, executive director of the CENTRAL, confirmed receiving the letter from the ministry and its 30-day deadline for bank information to be disclosed.

He said CENTRAL submitted its reports to the ministry every year, however they currently sought for the bank information. The NGO would “send it again” as nothing has changed regarding the account information.

“The strange thing is why the ministry wants it again [bank details]. For CENTRAL, we will send the report or bank information to the ministry again, because in the letter it says that if we do not send the information within 30 days, we will face the law,” Tola said.

Normally, NGOs send their reports to the ministry at the end of February every year. The reports include bank statements. Even “when they want to change bank accounts”, they need to inform the ministry, Am Sam Ath, operation director of Licadho, said.

Last week, 44 local organizations, including Licadho, published a joint statement “disagreeing” with the calls made by the public for a ministerial investigation into the finances and operation of CENTRAL.

“So, when we talk about bank accounts, each NGO complies [with the rules of the ministry]. Regarding bank information, CENTRAL did not have anything new or changed [anything] because they had already sent it. All organizations have auditors to ensure transparency,” he added.

He also mentioned that if other unions disagreed with CENTRAL’s report, they should conduct a new research or case study to show that the report did not represent the situation in Cambodia.

“The most important thing is that all sides want to highlight workers’ rights and freedom of unions. So, they should find a middle ground to talk and discuss rather than sue each other, as it is not looking good [now],” said Sam Ath.

About 10 members of the Confederation Union of Cambodia Bright Workers gathered last week to file a petition with the US Embassy in Cambodia, calling on the country director of USAID to consider providing funds to CENTRAL. They also asked USAID to advise CENTRAL to act transparently.

At the same time, Cambodia Worker’s Right Protection Union Confederation (CWPUC) filed a complaint against CENTRAL program manager Khun Tharo in the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on June 27.

According to a complaint sent by CWPUC to a prosecutor at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday, Tharo is alleged to have uttered the words “use fake unions to attack independent unions and use fake youths or civil societies to attack youths and independent civil society”.

CWPUC requested the prosecutor to review and decide on the legal action while demanding that Tharo pay a compensation of 100 million riel ($25,000) to CWPUC, which will be donated to Kantha Bopha Hospital.

Confederation Union of Cambodia Bright Workers general secretary Sea Kunthea declined to comment when CamboJA News contacted via phone and Telegram.

Myanmar’s military regime on Friday sentenced Development Media Group (DMG) reporter Ko Htet Aung, who was arrested while covering an alms donation ceremony on October 29, 2023, and night watchman Ko Soe Win Aung, detained during a raid on DMG’s office the same day, to five years in prison with hard labour.

Police Captain Bo Bo Kyaw of the No. 1 Police Station in Sittwe brought prosecution against the pair under Section 52(a) of the Counter-Terrorism Law, with the Sittwe Court delivering the verdict on Friday.

Junta personnel coerced reporter Ko Htet Aung into taking them to the DMG newsroom in Sittwe, before raiding the office and arresting watchman Ko Soe Win Aung. They confiscated newsroom equipment including cameras, computers and video editing equipment, documents, cash to pay DMG employees’ salaries and office equipment and materials, and also sealed off the building.

While the two men were being detained at the No. 1 Police Station, family members were denied a visit. The pair were sent to a junta interrogation centre at least two times. They were then remanded into custody under Section 65 of the Telecommunications Law and sent to Sittwe Prison. After the two completed their remand, the regime remanded them again in custody for one week on a fabricated charge of stealing a motorbike.

The regime changed the charge to Section 52(a) of the Counter-Terrorism Law on December 1, 2023, over a DMG news story headlined “Calls for justice on sixth anniversary of Muslim genocide in Arakan State”, published on August 25, 2023.

Despite Police Captain Bo Bo Kyaw, the plaintiff in the case, failing to attend court hearings multiple times, the Sittwe Township Court sentenced Ko Htet Aung and Ko Soe Win Aung to five years in prison with hard labour on June 28.

Bo Bo Kyaw also filed a lawsuit against 18 other DMG reporters, editors and office staff employees under Section 52(a) of the Counter-Terrorism Law. Currently, the 18 DMG employees are considered fugitives.

The prosecutions are just the latest to target DMG, which has faced similar court actions dating back to Myanmar’s pre-coup period.

DMG chief editor U Aung Marm Oo has been in hiding for more than five years, after the Myanmar Police Force’s Special Branch opened a case against him under Section 17(2) of the Unlawful Associations Act on May 1, 2019. More than a year and a half later, reporter Aung Kyaw Min was charged by the Road and Bridge Construction Special Group 4 at the instruction of the former, semi-civilian Arakan State government on December 14, 2020, under Section 66(d) of Telecommunications Law for his report “Maungdaw 3 rd Mile Bridge needs urgent repairs”, published on December 11, 2020.

Major Phone Myint Kyaw of the Myanmar military opened a case against female reporter Hnin Nwe and Deputy Editor-in-Charge Nay Win San under Section 66(d) over her report headlined “Tatmadaw personnel accused of looting paddy in Kyauktaw Twsp village”, published on January 10, 2021. The military also filed a defamation case at the township court under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code over the report. In early September 2022, the regime filed cases against Editor-in Charge Moe Zaw Myint under both Section 66(d) and Section 505(a) of the Penal code for alleged online defamation and incitement.

The military regime has shut down independent news outlets, arrested journalists, wielded the law arbitrarily, and interfered with journalists’ work and the public’s right to information in various ways, and continues to block internet access and phone lines, contributing to an environment of fear and keeping the public in the dark.

The military regime has meanwhile been committing mass killings and arrests of innocent civilians amid the ongoing armed conflict, and continues to suppress the media to cover up their actions.

The military regime’s sentence of five years’ imprisonment for the two DMG employees not only suppresses the media, but also infringes on freedom of the press, the right of journalists to be safe and secure, and the right of the people to know the truth.

DMG strongly condemns the regime’s unjust imprisonment of Ko Htet Aung and Ko Soe Win Aung, and urges international organisations and foreign governments to pressure the junta to release all journalists arrested under various dubious charges in prisons across the country, including the DMG staff facing charges behind bars or in absentia.

The Dak Lak People’s Court on Thursday sentenced six farm workers to between five and seven years in prison on charges of “destroying assets,” amid a longstanding dispute between an indigenous Ede village and a coffee company.

According to a report from state-owned media outlet, Cong Ly, Y Luh Nie and Y Coh Nie were each sentenced to seven years in prison; Y Luong Hlong, Y Nguot Hdok, and Y Hoan Bya, to six years in prison; and Y Rosi Nie to five years.

The six men were found guilty of cutting down and destroying coffee trees belonging to a local company, causing a loss of over VND2.7 billion (around US$108,000), according to the indictment, which also alleged the group incited and aided neighbors to create petitions to claim their land back.

Residents of Ea Pok town have long struggled with Ea Pok coffee, which has for decades held the rights to cultivate land residents say was once theirs.

According to the indictment summarized by Cong Ly, in 1987, the state-owned Ea Pok Coffee Company invested in planting coffee in Cu Mgar district. Local residents were contracted to look after the coffee trees and were allowed to keep a small part of the harvest as payment. The arrangement left many in debt, villagers reported to Radio Free Asia in 2022.

In 2018, the Ea Pok Coffee company was privatized, and the government’s share was reduced to 32 percent. A year later, villagers petitioned the government to restore their farming rights, without success.

After going private, the company announced it would replace some of the coffee trees with durian, avocado, and jackfruit. Though residents opposed the plan, the company started destroying coffee trees in 2022 to clear the way for the new crops leading to mass protests in May 2022.

The Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL) clarified that its report, which highlighted restrictions on freedom of association, was aimed at improving workers’ conditions and ensuring respect for the rights of trade unions and leaders.

The Ministry of Interior is currently investigating the allegations by unions and federations against the organization.

At the same time, Cambodia Worker’s Right Protection Union Confederation (CWPUC) has filed a complaint against CENTRAL program manager Khun Tharo in the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday.

Amid this, dozens of unions and federations have continued protesting against CENTRAL, saying that they “still cannot accept” the clarification.

On Wednesday, CENTRAL issued a clarification, stating that their report sought to highlight Better Factories Cambodia’s (BFC) assessment that freedom of association can create a safer and more respectful environment for Cambodian trade unions to operate.

“Our intention was to raise awareness for changes in compliance monitoring that would lead to more accurate, usable data for all workers in negotiations to improve their working conditions and exercise their rights,” the statement read.

“Many of the workers and unions that CENTRAL partnered with experienced restrictions in their ability to associate freely,” it said.

The report attempted to detail the experiences of union leaders and workers who participated in the study and show that what happened on the ground “was not always captured” in BFC’s public compliance data, due to various methodological, institutional, and logistical reasons.

“We fully acknowledge that our sample is not necessarily representative of Cambodia’s entire garment sector,” it said. “We would like to reiterate that we feel it is clear that the report was never intended as an attack on any party or institution nor was it intended to damage Cambodia’s reputation.”

CENTRAL mentioned that the report had a “very narrow scope with a small sample size” that was meant to be viewed as “illustrative”, “not necessarily representative of all Cambodian garment workers”.

In addition, a survey was conducted with one representative from 14 of the 24 participating unions from December last year. By June this year, six unions had dissolved because of factory closures, while the remaining four either “did not have compliance reports available or were not registered with BFC”.

Meanwhile, CWPUC has accused CENTRAL’s Tharo of public defamation and incitement to discrimination following an interview with RFA on June 15.

According to a complaint sent by CWPUC to a prosecutor at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday, Tharo is alleged to have uttered the words “use fake unions to attack independent unions and use fake youths or civil societies to attack youths and independent civil society”.

The complaint by CWPUC also alleged that Tharo’s statement was a “serious accusation without clear legal basis and infringed on the rights, freedoms and dignity of professional organizations (unions), defaming (them) as well as CWPUC”.

The CWPUC requested the prosecutor to review and decide on the legal action while demanding that Tharo pay a compensation of 100 million riel ($25,000) to CWPUC, which will be donated to Kantha Bopha Hospital.

CENTRAL’s Khun Tharo could not be reached for comment.

Phnom Penh Municipal court deputy prosecutor Plang Sophal did not reply to questions regarding the lawsuit via Telegram.

Separately, Confederation Union of Cambodia Bright Workers’ general secretary Sea Kunthea said CENTRAL acknowledged that its report was incomplete or not comprehensive and did not reflect the reality in Cambodia.

“I don’t accept [the statement] unless they edit the report that was released on June 4, 2024 to reflect the actual situation,” said Kunthea. By actual situation, she meant that there was no restriction on the freedom of association. Until CENTRAL changes the report, she will continue to protest, she vowed.

Kunthea said CENTRAL should not have released the report which talked about the restriction of freedom of association, particularly when Cambodia has approximately 6,000 unions present in about 1,000 factories. “Compare this to other countries, are there any which have the freedom [to set up] unions like our country?”

Echoing Khunthea, Kim Chan Samnang, president of the Cambodian Workers’ Rights Union, demanded that CENTRAL change its report as it does not represent the overall situation of unions and federations in the country.

“The statement of clarification is just an excuse because [what they meant in the] statement is opposite to their report,” he said, adding that the report has already been released publicly.

Samnang demanded that the Ministry of Interior review CENTRAL’s activity and their foreign funding.

International organizations, such as CIVICUS and garment industry labor alliance Clean Clothes Campaign, said pro-government unions have started a “coordinated effort” to convince the Interior Ministry to investigate CENTRAL’s operation and finance. It will further restrict civil society organizations’ space to exercise their rights to freedom of speech, which is essential for exercising the rights to freedom of association.

“It is extremely worrying that these groups are seeking to undermine and seek greater government control of the organization. These actions send a chilling message to human rights groups undertaking their work in the country,” the statement by CIVICUS read.

Forty-four local organizations, including rights group Licadho, published a joint statement “disagreeing” with the calls made by the public for a ministerial investigation into the finances and operation of CENTRAL.

The organizations said “using administrative measures to penalize the labor rights group’s work is a violation of freedom of expression”.

On Monday, it was reported that the Interior Ministry was planning to launch an investigation into CENTRAL’s operation and use of foreign funds. A petition was also submitted to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) by the unions and federations to reconsider its funding of CENTRAL.

On the same day, the Textile, Apparel, Footwear and Travel Goods Association in Cambodia (TAFTAC) issued a controversial statement, alleging that Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (CCAWDU) and Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU) also refuted the CENTRAL report.

However, CATU rejected the claim made by TAFTAC, which stated that the freedom of association in Cambodia was “better”, and it was “certainly so in the garment, footwear and travel goods sectors”.

Interior Ministry spokesperson Khieu Sopheak confirmed that an investigation committee is working on this issue.

“They are working, and the person who brings the information to them [CENTRAL] is [doing something] illegal,” he said. “Let the committee do it [inform CENTRAL],” Sopheak said, declining to comment further.

Neither USAID in Cambodia nor BFC responded to CamboJA News via email.

The International Labor Organization said it will respond by Friday.

An activist who highlighted the plight of the indigenous Bajau Lau community was arrested by Sabah police today, a move that was criticised by a local chapter of an international rights group.

Mukmin Nantang, the founder of Borneo Komrad, was released on police bail later, Amnesty International Malaysia said.

It is understood that Mukmin is being investigated for sedition.

Amnesty International Malaysia slammed the arrest, describing it as an attempt to intimidate and silence activists. It said the use of the Sedition Act was a blatant violation of freedom of expression.

“The government has an obligation to protect human rights defenders, not arrest and attempt to intimidate (them).

"The repressive Sedition Act has no place in Malaysia and goes against Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration’s own commitments to repeal draconian laws curtailing freedom of speech, its executive director, Katrina Jorene Maliamauv, said in a statement.

Maliamauv urged the authorities to drop the investigation against Mukmin and called on the Sabah government to end the crackdown on human rights activists and the Bajau Laut people.

On June 25, Sabah police said it would be questioning Mukmin in connection with videos depicting the demolition of Bajau Laut homes.

The eviction of the Bajau Laut community in Semporna, Sabah, earlier this month saw their stilt homes torn down in an operation that apparently targeted those living on seven islands in the region, including Pulau Bohey Dulang, Pulau Maiga, Pulau Bodgaya, Pulau Sebangkat and Pulau Sibuan.

Mukmin was reported as saying that men had arrived at the Bajau Laut community’s homes on June 4, and demolished and burnt their homes to drive them out.

Borneo Komrad also shared several videos of the alleged evictions on X, one of which showed several men pushing a dilapidated house until it collapsed.

However, Sabah tourism, culture and environment minister Christina Liew said the operation was carried out because of safety concerns following a shooting incident in Teluk Darvel and cross-border criminal activities in the area.

RSF is urging Indonesian authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into a recent house fire that claimed the lives of a journalist and his family, amid serious suspicions that the disaster may be a criminal act in retribution for his investigations into an illegal gambling network.

A coalition of Indonesian press freedom organisations released a report on 2 July 2024 suggesting that the death of Sempurna Pasaribu, a journalist for Tribrata TV who perished in a house fire, was a criminal act. According to a witness, five unidentified individuals were seen approaching the journalist's home, located in the city of Kabanjahe, in western Indonesia, thirty minutes before the blaze on the night of 27 June. Sempurna's wife, son, and grandson also perished in the fire.

In the days leading up to the tragedy, the 47-year-old journalist received threats from officials reacting to his articles on the TV channel’s website about an illegal gambling den owned by a local army officer, as well as his coverage of local campaigns that opposed drug use, illegal gambling, and prostitution. Army and police officers also contacted the editor-in-chief of Tribrata TV, urging the removal of the articles, but their requests were left unanswered.

"The initial findings of the investigation suggest that Sempurna Pasaribu and his family may have been victims of an assassination due to the journalist’s investigations on illegal gambling activities. We urge the Indonesian authorities to conduct a thorough judicial investigation to determine the causes and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.

Cédric Alviani Director of RSF’s Asia-Pacific Bureau In Indonesia, journalists investigating abuses committed by local authorities often face intimidation and even imprisonment. In November 2021, journalist Muhammad Asrul was abusively sentenced to three months in prison for publishing a report on the embezzlement of public funds by a local administration.

Indonesia ranked 111th out of 180 in the 2024 RSF World Press Freedom Index, guarantees freedom of the press in principle in its legislation.

Twelve Koh Kong land activists were convicted by a provincial court on incitement charges for attempting to travel to Phnom Penh in 2023 to petition authorities for a resolution to their long-standing land dispute.

The Koh Kong Provincial Court found all 12 defendants guilty of incitement on Wednesday and imposed a suspended sentence of six months in prison. The defendants are Det Huor, Heng Chey, Inn Thou, Lang Cheav, Phav Nheung, Seng Lin, Sok Chey, Soung Theng, Tith Tang, Yi Kunthea, Yoeut Khmao, and Rek Soeung.

In July 2023, the group of activists from three communities were stopped at Srae Ambel district in Koh Kong and prevented from reaching Phnom Penh to deliver a petition to Justice Minister Koeut Rith. A majority of the defendants — including Nheung, Lin, Heng Chey and Sok Chey — have also faced multiple charges in separate cases.

The land activists are embroiled in disputes with companies linked to tycoons Ly Yong Phat and Heng Huy that have been ongoing for more than a decade. The companies were granted concessions for sugar plantations that overlapped with community members’ land. The activists have repeatedly demanded for the government to find solutions to the disputes, but continue to be harassed by authorities.

The Teachers-Principals Trade Union Alliance has declared a nationwide strike today (27) in response to the water cannon and tear gas attacks on teachers and principals during their protest in Colombo on Wednesday (26).

The union members are demanding a resolution to the salary disparity issue.

In contrast, the Ministry of Education has issued an announcement stating that all government schools will operate as usual today.

On Wednesday (26) afternoon, teachers and principals held a protest march near the Fort railway station. Sri Lanka Police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Over 30 professional associations, representing teachers, principals, teacher advisors, and piriven staff, participated in the demonstration.

As a result of this ongoing trade union action, academic activities in schools have been significantly disrupted.

Meanwhile, the second phase of evaluating answer scripts of the G. C. E. Ordinary Level examination (2023) was scheduled to begin today.

However, the Department of Examinations announced that the evaluation work will be postponed due to unavoidable reasons.

The department informed all inspectors and evaluation center staff that the process will now commence tomorrow.

In Central Luzon, tarpaulins addressed to Karapatan-Central Luzon coordinator Pia Montalban were hung in at least three provinces — Pampanga, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija — accusing her and KARAPATAN of being the recruiters of ten alleged members of the New People’s Army (NPA) slain in a gunbattle in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija on June 26. The latter’s families had requested Montalban’s assistance in retrieving the bodies of their loved ones from a funeral parlor.

Unidentified gunmen shot and killed a prominent human rights defender in Pattani province in southern Thailand on June 25, 2024, Human Rights Watch said today. Thai authorities should urgently conduct a transparent and impartial investigation into the killing of Roning Dolah, 45, and bring those responsible to justice.

On June 25 at about 8:45 p.m., two assailants on a motorcycle opened fire at Roning with assault rifles in front of his family in Pattani’s Yarang district, instantly killing him, his wife said. Local police said seven 7.62mm and one 5.56mm bullet casings were found at the scene.

“The brutal killing of a prominent human rights defender underscores that anyone who speaks out for justice in Thailand’s deep south is at risk,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Thai authorities should urgently and transparently investigate this killing and bring all those responsible for Roning Dolah’s death to justice.”

On June 26, the Thai government’s Internal Security Operations Command Region 4 – responsible for counterinsurgency operations in the deep south – issued a statement expressing condolences to Roning’s family and asked for witnesses with information to come forward, but did not announce a full criminal investigation into his killing.

Roning was widely known in Thailand’s southern border provinces for assisting ethnic Malay Muslim victims of arbitrary arrest and torture by Thai security forces in counterinsurgency operations in Songkhla, Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat provinces. He had previously been arrested and tortured in military custody, according to the Cross Cultural Foundation. Thai human rights groups used his accounts and information he gathered from other torture victims in their campaigns to demand accountability for military abuses and advocate for Thailand’s Act on Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearances, which took effect in February 2023.

But during 20 years of armed insurgency in Thailand’s southern border provinces, not a single soldier or other security personnel member has been prosecuted for unlawfully detaining, torturing, or extrajudicially killing suspected insurgents.

Thailand has an obligation under international human rights law to ensure that all human rights defenders and organizations can carry out their work in a safe and enabling environment, Human Rights Watch said.

The killing of Roning is a crucial test of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s pledge to promote and protect human rights in his speeches to the Thai parliament on September 11, 2023, and to the United Nations General Assembly on September 22. Despite Thailand’s adoption of a much-advertised national human rights agenda and its efforts to be elected to a seat on the UN Human Rights Council for the 2025-2027 term, Thai authorities have done little to address threats and violence, as well as the use of strategic lawsuits by government agencies and non-state actors to silence those reporting human rights violations.

“The Srettha government should promptly act to reverse the deepening climate of fear in Thailand’s deep south by showing that those responsible for killing Roning will be held to account,” Pearson said. “Thai authorities should take concrete measures to protect the rights of ethnic Malay Muslims to speak out about state-sponsored abuses and demand justice.”

The Kyrgyz prosecutor asked the Sverdlov district court on June 25 to convict activist Askat Jetigen and sentence him to eight years in prison on charges of calling for the seizure of power and mass unrest. In his final statement at the trial, Jetigen, known for his criticism of the Central Asian nation's government, reiterated his innocence. Jetigen was arrested in March, days after his last video, criticizing reforms by the Culture Ministry, was posted online. His trial started in late May. Human rights groups have criticized the Kyrgyz government for using the charge of "calling for mass unrest" as a tool to muzzle dissent.

On June 25, journalist Shivshankar Jha, 48, sustained multiple wounds to his throat after being stabbed by unidentified persons, allegedly organised by illicit alcohol suppliers in the north-eastern state of Bihar. Jha was attacked while returning to his residence in Maripur village, situated near Muzaffarpur in Bihar. Reportedly, he was rushed by local residents to the Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital, where he died as a result of his injuries on June 26.

Jha, who worked for several Hindi media outlets, had complained to the police about severe threats to his life prior to the attack. According to local media reports, the family claimed that the local ‘liqour mafia’ an organised crime outfit distributing illicit alcohol, was responsible for Jha’s murder. Two people have reportedly been arrested in connection to the killing.

In a statement, the Indian Journalists’ Union (IJU) strongly condemned the journalist’s killing, with local politicians expressing condolences and committing to holding those responsible to account. Since prohibiting the sale of alcohol, in 2016 Bihar has seen the rise of illicit alcohol production and distribution.

On May 13, Sudarshan News journalist Ashutosh Srivastava was fatally shot in Uttar Pradesh while travelling home from a market. Like Shivshankar, he had received threats prior to his killing, and had written to police requesting protection.

On May 24, social activist Medha Patkar was convicted by a Delhi court lodged in a criminal defamation case filed against her by VK Saxena, the current Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. The said conviction under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 was delivered by Metropolitan Magistrate Raghav Sharma in a 23-year-old case.

“Medha Patkar has committed an offence punishable under Section 500 of the IPC. She is hereby convicted of the same,” the court said while pronouncing the conviction.

The matter will now be heard for arguments on sentence on May 30. Notably, for a conviction of criminal defamation, the Narmada Bachao Andolan leader may get a jail term of two years or fine or both as the punishment under the relevant law.

Details of the case:

As per multiple media reports, Patkar and Saxena have been locked in a legal battle since 2000 after she filed a suit against him for publishing advertisements against her and the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA).

Saxena was then the chief of Ahmedabad-based NGO National Council for Civil Liberties. Saxena had also filed two cases against her for making derogatory remarks against him on a TV channel and issuing a defamatory statement.

As per LiveLaw’s report, Saxena had filed the present case in 2001 against Patkar for defaming him in a press note dated November 25, 2000, titled “true face of patriot.” In the press note, Patkar had reportedly said Saxena was a coward and not a patriot.

Observations of the Court:

As per a report of India Today, the magistrate court stated that Patkar’s statements against Saxena were “not only defamatory but also crafted to incite negative perceptions”. The Court had further held that Patkar’s actions were deliberate and malicious, aimed at tarnishing Saxena’s good name and have caused substantial harm to his standing and credit.

During the delivery of the conviction, the Magistrate court further held that “It has been proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused Medha Patkar published the imputations with the intent and knowledge that they would harm the reputation of the complainant.”

The judge also concluded that Patkar’s decision to label the complainant as a “coward” and “not a patriot” was a direct attack on his personal character and loyalty to the nation. Furthermore, the court noted that Patkar’s accusation that Saxena was “mortgaging the people of Gujarat and their resources to foreign interests was a direct attack on his integrity and public service”.

The court went on to hold that the statements made by Patkar were defamatory as it questioned his patriotism and stated “It has been demonstrated that the defamatory statements made by the accused not only questioned his integrity and patriotism but also falsely associated him with activities contrary to his public stance.”

Referencing to the lack of evidence provided by Patkar to counter the charged levied against her, the court observed that “The accused failed to provide any evidence to counter these claims or to show that she did not intend or foresee the harm these imputations would cause.”

Political prisoner Truong Van Dung, who is serving a six-year prison sentence on allegations of “distributing anti-state propaganda,” received a disciplinary punishment in prison for two months, between June 20 and August 20, for the second time for allegedly “defaming the honor and dignity of others,” according to a notice dated June 21 sent to Dung’s family. Dung, 66, who is being held at Gia Trung Prison in Gia Lai Province, has been shackled and kept in a solitary cell for seven days as a punishment, his wife, Nghiem Thi Hop, said.

The prison’s notice declared that Dung had “insulted the honor and dignity of others as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 1 of the Regulation on Detention.” However, Hop told Radio Free Asia (RFA) that she believed her husband “had done nothing wrong” and that he was disciplined because he protested the wrongdoing of other correctional officers. She added that after the disciplinary order was lifted, Dung would only be allowed one visitation every two months instead of one every month.

Moreover, Hop told RFA that earlier this year, her husband was also held in solitary confinement for a month as a punishment for the same violation of prison regulations; he was not shackled at that time. She added that she sent Dung a gift bag by mail in the middle of this month, but the package was returned on June 24 because the prison refused to send it to him. Truong Van Dung was convicted under Article 117 of the Penal Code, which is frequently used to target human rights defenders and journalists in Vietnam.

Koet Saray, President of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association (KSILA), was denied bail by the Phnom Penh Appeal Court this morning and transferred back to Correctional Centre 1 (CC1) prison.

Over a dozen youth activists gathered outside of the court in support of Saray, who has been imprisoned since his arrest in April 2024 on charges of incitement in relation to ongoing land conflicts in Preah Vihear province.

Saray is also charged with “committing a misdemeanour after sentencing for a misdemeanour,” due to previously being convicted of incitement in 2021 over a peaceful gathering calling for the release of then-imprisoned union leader Rong Chhun. This additional charge potentially doubles the sentence of the new incitement charge, meaning he faces up to four years in prison if convicted.

Union leader Chea Chan was convicted today and sentenced to one year in prison by the Kampong Speu Provincial Court over charges of​ being an accomplice to theft, which were filed shortly after Chan unanimously won a union vote at Wing Star Shoes factory. Six months of the one-year sentence were suspended.

Chan has been imprisoned since his arrest in February 2024, while the alleged theft had occurred years earlier. Around 40 workers and union members gathered inside and outside the court today to support Chan, a unionist with the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU). The union has called the charges judicial abuse to stifle freedom of association, and Chan reported receiving threats warning him against forming a union at the factory prior to the union vote.

Chan is one of at least three union leaders imprisoned in Cambodia. Chhim Sithar, president of the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld (LRSU), has been imprisoned since November 2022. Morm Rithy, president of the Cambodian Tourism and Service Workers’ Federation, was jailed in May this year prior to an internal union vote.

A Bishkek court on June 19 ordered anti-war activist Ondurush Toktonasyrov to pay a 100,000-som ($1,140) fine after being convicted on a charge of inciting hatred online. Prosecutors had sought three years in prison for the activist. Toktonasyrov said he will appeal the ruling, calling it politically motivated. The 65-year-old activist is known for publicly raising social and political issues for years. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he condemned Moscow's aggression on social media.

On 19 June 2024, the Tbong Khmum Appeal Court upheld the verdict of the Ratanakiri Provincial Court convicting well-known environmental activist Chhorn Phalla of defamation, insult and incitement to commit a felony under Articles 305, 502, and 495 of the Criminal Code.

The decision of the Appeal Court came after Phalla’s trial on 28 May 2024. He faces one year in prison and a 10 million riel (around US$2,500) fine, pending the exhaustion of the appeals process.

Phalla is an outspoken and long-time activist who has endured significant prosecution in the course of his work protecting natural resources and monitoring deforestation. Before his conviction the Ratanakiri Provincial Court earlier this year in this case, he had been imprisoned between September 2021 and October 2023 for convictions in two other cases – both brought against his for his activism – that were subsequently overturned.

People in Ayeyarwady, Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing and Bago regions, as well as Kachin State, participated in the nationwide Flower Strike called by pro-democracy groups in Burma to commemorate Aung San Suu Kyi’s 79th birthday on June 19.

In Mandalay, at least 20 people were arrested. In Sagaing Region, four people were arrested. In Ayeyarwady Region another four were arrested. “The military has called for the arrest of flower sellers and buyers, as well as those who posted photos with flowers on social media,” a Mandalay resident told DVB.

The embassies of several countries in Burma released statements condemning the ongoing detention of Aung San Suu Kyi. “[We] continue to call for her and all those arbitrarily detained to be released. The charges against her are clearly politically motivated,” stated the British embassy. Norway, Denmark, Finland and the E.U. shared photos of roses on their social media accounts.

Karapatan also documented a case of harassment against a farmer in Negros Occidental. Human Rights Alliance of Negros (HRAN) reported that on June 13, Evelyn Manait, a member of the Ituman-Bukidnon tribe, was harassed in her house in Barangay Amontay, Binalbagan. Eight men in civilian clothes interrogated her on the whereabouts of her husband and brother-in-law. The said men accused them of being members of the New People’s Army.

“Manait answered that her husband had gone to another town to sell mangoes and denied knowing where her brother-in-law was. She later learned that the men were elements of the 62nd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army,” Palabay said.

According to the HRAN, Manait now fears for her safety after the incident.

Meanwhile, on June 19 in Batangas, a man who identified himself as a police officer asked barangay officials in Bauan, Batangas for the whereabouts of Tanggol Batangan paralegal Juvie Ann Biding.

Karapatan said that as a human rights worker, Biding has been providing services to political prisoners in their province. She has also been involved in various humanitarian missions in Batangas and other parts of Southern Tagalog.

Biding has reported being under surveillance and harassed multiple times since April this year and has filed a complaint with the Commission on Human Rights, Karapatan added.

“These forms of harassment and threats are committed with impunity by State security forces, as sanctioned by the Marcos administration through its counterinsurgency program. Karapatan calls on human rights advocates and the public to strongly denounce these rights violations which are a prelude to worse forms of violations as military operations continue in rural areas,” Palabay said.

On the evening of June 18, unidentified assailants fatally shot Jibran, a reporter for the privately owned Pashto-language broadcaster Khyber News, in the Landi Kotal area of northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to news reports and the local press freedom group Pakistan Press Foundation.

Two armed men dragged Jibran, former president of the Landi Kotal Press Club, out of the vehicle and ordered three other individuals traveling with him to get out, stating they were not targets, according to those sources. The gunmen then opened fire on Jibran, killing him on the spot.

“Pakistan authorities must urgently bring those responsible for the killing of journalist Khalil Jibran to justice and take immediate steps to end the wave of violence against reporters in the country,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “The only way to reassure Pakistani journalists of their safety is for authorities to stop the cycle of impunity that allows these attacks to continue unabated.”

Police did not arrive at the scene until nearly an hour later, Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported, citing information from local residents.

Jiban sustained 19 bullet wounds and an arm fracture, suggesting a physical scuffle had taken place between him and the attackers, Dawn reported, citing doctors at a local hospital. The journalist is survived by his wife and five children.

Qazi Fazlullah, president of the Tribal Union of Journalists and a reporter for broadcaster Geo News, told CPJ that local journalists were advocating for a judicial commission to investigate journalists’ murders amid a severe pattern of impunity.

Saleem Abbas Kulachi – district police officer of Khyber district, which encompasses Landi Kotal – told CPJ that no suspects had been apprehended as the early morning of June 21, but that a few people “have been made part of investigations.”

Jibran had received threats from militants over the past decade in relation to his journalism, Fazlullah said, adding that unidentified individuals attacked Jibran with a hand grenade in 2014 and planted an explosive device that did not detonate under his car in 2017.

Jibran had received a resurgence of threats over the past two years in relation to his reporting for Khyber News, in which he documented militancy with the help of government and army sources, Fazlullah said.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has experienced a dramatic surge in militant attacks since the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, otherwise known as the Pakistani Taliban, exited a ceasefire with the Pakistan government in 2022.

Pakistan information minister Attaullah Tarar did not immediately respond to CPJ’s request for comment.

At least five other journalists have been killed in Pakistan thus far in 2024, including Kamran Dawar, a journalist based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district. CPJ is investigating the motives behind these attacks.

Human rights group Karapatan denounced a series of raids and harassment against peasant leaders and rights advocates.

The latest incident happened on June 18 in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan where soldiers ransacked the house of Tanggol Magsasaka Secretary-General and Spokesperson Ronnie Manalo.

Cristina Palabay, secretary-general of Karapatan, said in a statement that these incidents may be a “prelude to a major crackdown against peasant leaders, activists and farmers’ rights advocates.”

According to KMP, soldiers forcibly entered Manalo’s unoccupied house at around 7:00 am on June 18. The group said that the soldiers, reportedly belonging to the 80th Infantry Battalion, illegally searched Manalo’s house and claimed to have found a firearm. Just like in previous raids of activists’ houses and offices, KMP stressed that the evidence was fabricated.

Karapatan added that the soldiers who interrogated Manalo’s relative were not accompanied by police officers or village officials.

On the same day at around 10:30 am, soldiers went to the house of 63-year old Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Bulacan (AMB) Chairperson, Cecilia Rapiz in barangay Paradise 3, San Jose Del Monte City in Bulacan asking for her whereabouts.

“Local residents reported seeing a company-size group of soldiers along the common boundaries of barangays San Roque, Paradise 3 and Tungkong Mangga. Checkpoints have reportedly been set up in the area, preventing residents of San Roque and Paradise 3 from leaving their villages,” Palabay said. She added that the planting of a firearm in Manalo’s residence “shows that State forces are concocting a trumped-up case of illegal possession of firearms against him.”

The villages of San Roque, Paradise 3 and Tungkong Mangga are known as a major source of produce for the Bagsakan Bungkalan Farmers Market, a farm-to-market project of the KMP that holds bazaars in different parts of Metro Manila to sell lower-priced fruits and vegetables grown by farmers nationwide. Rapiz is known to be among the active producer-sellers for Bagsakan.

According to KMP, farmers have observed an increased presence of soldiers in civilian communities over the weekend. “Almost a hundred combined forces of soldiers from the 80th IBPA, PNP-SAF, and SWAT started conducting operations in at least six sitios in the SJDM villages of Barangay San Roque, Barangay Paradise 3, and Barangay Tungkong Mangga, merely 25 kilometers away from Quezon City proper. The said military operations in the peasant communities of SJDM are causing intense fear and distress among residents and farmers.”

Both Manalo and Rapiz were victims of persistent red-tagging, threat, harassment and intimidation by state forces defending their land rights.

Farmers are defending their rights in San Jose Del Monte as their land is reportedly being grabbed by the Aranetas.

In 2022, KMP said Manalo and Rapiz were frequently visited by the military. Manalo, in particular, was part of a team of farmers and peasant advocates in 2022 who were fired upon and harassed by goons hired by Araneta Properties Inc. in Sitio Ricafort, Tungkong Mangga in SJDM.

Reports indicate that the Taliban have detained Yama Maqsudi, a civil activist, and taken him to an unknown location.

Yama Maqsudi, who has German citizenship, arrived in Kabul from Germany on Wednesday, May 8, to visit his relatives, and was detained ten days later in district four of the city of Kabul.

The Afghanistan International news network, citing Maqsudi's relatives, reported that the civil activist was arrested by Taliban intelligence agents. So far, the Taliban have not made any statements in this regard, and the reason for Maqsudi's detention remains unknown.

In 2019, Maqsudi received the Federal Cross of Merit from the Federal Republic of Germany for his work on “pluralism, mutual acceptance and social justice.” The Federal Cross of Merit is the highest decoration in Germany, awarded since 1951 by the President of Germany to individuals who have provided outstanding service in various areas, including politics, economics, culture, spirituality and volunteerism.

Members of Maqsudi's family have reportedly attempted to contact the Taliban to find out his whereabouts, but the Taliban have refused to provide information.

Maqsudi's relatives have expressed concern because he suffers from diabetes and needs regular medication. They fear that his health will be in serious danger if he does not receive his medication.

According to available information, Yama Maqsudi has worked in recent years in defense and cooperation with refugees in Germany.

Six Tibetan caterpillar fungus harvesters and sellers from eastern Tibet have been detained by Chinese police after attempting to report a buyer who allegedly defrauded them, sources with knowledge of the situation said.

The harvesters from farming or nomadic families in Chamdo city’s Tengchen county, or Dengqen in Chinese, were trying to report a Chinese merchant who allegedly duped 26 Tibetans out of caterpillar fungus worth 2.5 million yuan, or about US$344,000, the sources said.

In English, the substance is called caterpillar fungus, but it is more widely recognized throughout Asia by its Tibetan name yartsa gunbu, which means “summer grass, winter worm.”

Many Tibetans in the county rely on income from selling the fungus to make a living.

Highly valued in traditional medicine and sometimes fetching up to US$50,000 per pound, the fungus is believed to treat various ailments, despite lacking scientific validation.

Police detained the six Tibetans — Dhargey, Drubgha, Ngado, Samdup, Tsering Dhargey and Tsega — on June 18 when they traveled to northern China’s coastal city of Tianjin to lodge a complaint, said the sources, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals by authorities.

Two police officers from Chamdo city and a local officer initially detained the group there before transferring them to Tengchen county, the sources said. Their current whereabouts are unknown.

Scammed

Twenty-six Tibetans in the county who accumulated their own stocks of caterpillar fungus, supplemented by additional purchases, sold their entire supplies to Chinese businessman Lin Jinyuan, who offered 5,000 yuan, or nearly US$700, more per kilogram than other buyers, said a Tibetan from the region.

Upon learning that Lin owned stores and hotels in Beijing and Tianjin, the sellers immediately trusted him and agreed to sell their stocks, he said.

Lin gave them a receipt and promised to pay them the money after a few days, but on June 9, he vanished from Tengchen and could not be found, the source said.

“When the Tibetan sellers went to the address on the receipt in Tianjin to collect their payment for the caterpillar fungus, they realized they had been duped,” the Tibetan told Radio Free Asia. “The receipt was fake and did not belong to him.”

Chinese authorities detained the Tibetans for taking the matter into their own hands rather than following the proper protocol for lodging complaints, and for creating a commotion, a second Tibetan from Tibet told RFA.

“The Tibetan sellers, however, insisted that all they want is to recover the money the Chinese businessman duped them out of,” he said. “They have submitted all the evidence, including a picture of the Chinese businessman and the receipts he gave them.”

Local authorities and police in Tengchen county warned the Tibetans to follow proper procedures or risk imprisonment instead of recovering their money, he said.

Myanmar prison authorities beat about 80 female political prisoners, critically injuring five of them, after prison authorities sparked a protest when they confiscated the women’s belongings, a human rights group told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday.

Many people have been imprisoned in Myanmar for their political beliefs and activity since a 2021 coup ended a decade of tentative democratic reforms and triggered widespread opposition to military rule.

Junta authorities have been accused of torture, extrajudicial killings and other abuses in Myanmar’s cramped and crumbling prisons.

Tension in the Bago region’s Daik-U Prison began when guards seized food and personal belongings of about 40 political prisoners on Saturday, according to the Political Prisoner Network Myanmar.

The women demanded their items back. As the disturbance grew, prison authorities punched and beat women prisoners and fired shots into the air, said a member of the rights group’s steering committee, Thaik Tun Oo.

“The five who were seriously injured are being treated at the prison’s clinic,” he told RFA, adding that they had suffered severe blows to the head.

Thirty of the victims were locked in cells following the riot, he said.

RFA contacted both the junta’s Prison Department and the Myanmar office of the International Committee of the Red Cross for more information on the situation but telephone calls and emails to both went unanswered.

About 160 political prisoners, including many of the victims, had recently been transferred from Kyaikmaraw Prison in Mon state, as well as Bago’s Thayarwady Prison, known for its poor conditions and crumbling infrastructure, Thaik Tun Oo said.

Two prominent members of the political activist organizations 88 Generation Peace and Open Society, Nu Nu Aung and Khat Khat Lwin, are being held at Daik-U Prison, said sources close to Nu Nu Aung, who added that she had been injured in the disturbance.

According to the rights group the Assistance Association for the Political Prisoners, as of Monday, more than 9,000 of the 26,877 people arrested since the coup had been sentenced to prison terms.

Delhi lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Friday granted sanction to prosecute author Arundhati Roy under stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for her alleged 'provocative' speech at an event in 2010, PTI quoted Raj Niwas officials on Friday.

“Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena has sanctioned the prosecution of Arundhati Roy and former Professor of International Law in Central University of Kashmir, Dr. Sheikh Showkat Hussain, under section 45 (1) of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the case,” a Raj Niwas official said.

Last October, Saxena had granted sanction to prosecute Roy and former Central University of Kashmir professor Sheikh Showkat Hussain under section 196 of CrPC for commission of offences punishable under different sections of the Indian Penal Code.

"The issues discussed and spoken about at the conference propagated the separation of Kashmir from India," the Raj Niwas official said.

Besides Roy and Sheikh Showkat Hussain, the others who made speeches included late Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, SAR Geelani (anchor of the Conference and prime accused in the Parliament attack case) and Varavara Rao.

The complainant Sushil Pandit, an activist from Kashmir, had filed a complaint under Section 156(3) of CrPC before the Metropolitan Magistrate Court, New Delhi, who disposed of the complaint on November 27, 2010 with the directions to register an FIR.

It was alleged that Geelani and Arundhati Roy strongly propagated that Kashmir was never part of India and was forcibly occupied by the Armed Forces of India and every possible effort should be made for the independence of the J-K from India and recordings of the same were provided by the complainant.

Accordingly, an FIR was registered and an investigation was carried out, the officials added.

Roy has been a vocal critic of the Modi government and has criticised it on several issues.

Guangzhou Intermediate Court today sentenced Sophia Huang Xueqin to five years in prison and labour activist Wang Jianbing to three years and six months in prison for “inciting subversion of state power”. Sophia Huang Xueqin said in court that she would appeal.

Sophia Huang Xueqin is a journalist who has been involved in several #MeToo campaigns to provide support and assistance to survivors of sexual assault and harassment. Wang Jianbing has provided legal support for people with disabilities and workers with occupational diseases. He is also a prominent supporter of the #MeToo movement in China.

Their conviction is related to their attendance at weekly gatherings with fellow activists, hosted by Wang Jianbing; their participation in online human rights education; and online posts on issues deemed “sensitive” by the Chinese government.

The pair were arrested in Guangzhou on 19 September 2021, the day before Huang was planning to leave China for the UK to study for a master’s degree.

Since their arrest, both activists have been prevented from seeing family members. Meanwhile, dozens of their friends have been summoned by the police and had their homes searched and electronic devices confiscated. Sophie Huang Xueqin is believed to have been subjected to ill-treatment in detention, leading to the dramatic deterioration of her health.

In January 2023, Sophia Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing were transferred to Guangzhou City No 1 Detention Centre, awaiting trial at the court.

The Chinese authorities systematically use national security charges with extremely vague provisions, such as “subverting state power” and “inciting subversion of state power”, to prosecute lawyers, scholars, journalists, activists, NGO workers, and others.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention determined in 2022 that Wang Jianbing was being arbitrarily detained and has repeatedly called on China to repeal the crime of “inciting subversion” or bring it into line with international standards.

On the evening of June 13, Taliban intelligence officers detained Danish, a freelance journalist, while he was traveling from the capital Kabul to Bagrami district, according to news reports and a person familiar with the case, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, due to fear of reprisal.

The source told CPJ that Danish was questioned over an April 3 report for the Khane Mawlana cultural center that was critical of the Taliban’s education policies and an April 21 Facebook post alleging the Taliban were using schools as military bases in Kapisa province.

Danish was held in an unknown location and severely beaten, sustaining a head injury, before being released on June 15 and going into hiding, the source said.

“The Taliban must immediately and impartially investigate the arbitrary detention and beating of journalist Abdullah Danish and hold those responsible to account,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “It is high time for the Taliban to take responsibility for the safety of the media and to allow reporters to critically cover issues of public interest without fear of reprisal.”

Danish previously worked as a broadcast director at Dunya Radio, a reporter and presenter at Mitra TV, and a program host and research manager at Maarif TV, the source told CPJ.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment.

The livelihoods of fisherfolk in Zambales have been largely affected by the rising tension in the West Philippine Sea and the lower catch due to recurring seasonal loss called “sigwada.” But instead of due assistance, they are subjected to so-called “visits” and interrogation by soldiers.

Fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) once again raised alarm over incidents of harassment experienced by fishers in Zambales.

Pamalakaya said fishers who joined their group’s two-day fishing expedition last May 30 to 31 in Zambales have been experiencing a series of harassment from members of the Philippine Army.

According to Pamalakaya-affiliated Panatag Fisherfolk Association, fisherfolk in Masinloc town were first visited by a soldier belonging to the 69th Infantry Battalion on June 1. The soldier asked the association’s president about the fishing expedition and other information about the group, including the whereabouts of their members.

The same soldier returned on June 12 and attempted to talk to the local leader of the town, but failed. The official then proceeded to question the members of the association, prodding them with the same questions and fishing information about the group and Pamalakaya.

This time, the members of the association said that the army officer was also showing them photos of some of the organizers of Pamalakaya and accusing them as alleged recruiters of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

The last incident they recorded was on June 13, when an army officer went to the houses of fisherfolk who joined the fishing exhibition. According to the members, they were also asked the same questions about the expedition and the group.

Because of the increasing cases of harassment against its members, Pamalakaya filed a letter of complaint with the Commission of Human Rights over the weekend.

In a letter addressed to CHR Chair Richard Palpal-latoc, the group called for an on-site investigation in Masinloc town where the members are reportedly being harassed.

They claimed that during the “visits” the Philippine Army red-tagged their members. This, they added, goes against the Supreme Court ruling on the dangers of red-tagging.

“The military should have no business with Pamalakaya’s members and the organization’s legitimate activities,” said Pamalakaya in their complaint.

The livelihoods of fisherfolk in Zambales have been affected by the rising tension in the West Philippine Sea. They are also experiencing lower catch due to recurring seasonal loss called “sigwada.”

Apart from the incidents cited above, another elderly leader of Pamalakaya was also earlier subjected to harassment.

“Instead, the military should be securing our territorial waters and protecting our fishers against foreign aggressors, not surveilling fisherfolk who actively uphold their fishing rights,” the group added.

Criminalization of the Nagari Kapa Pejuang Farmer Community occurred again while legal efforts were underway. Where on June 12 2024 five people from the community were summoned by the West Pasaman Police with an invitation for a clarifying interview regarding the report reported by PT Permata Hijau Pasaman (PHP) I to the community who are currently fighting for their rights to land for livelihood. Thursday, June 13, 2024

Even though the community is carrying out several legal efforts to resolve problems that have been suffering for so long, including Civil lawsuit Number 9/Pdt.G/ 2024/PN Psb, Cassation Number 7/Akta Kas/VI/2023/ PN Psb against the decision of the Padang High Court dated 27 June 2023 Number 130/PDT/2023/PT PDG. Apart from that, it is also a Priority Location for Agrarian Reform (LPRA) by the ATR BPN ministry in the 2024 Agrarian Reform Task Force (GTRA) program in accordance with the Central GTRA Decree (SK) for completion, chaired by the Regent of West Pasaman while the implementer of the West Pasaman BPN Office and Related Agencies in the GTRA Decree.

The community has also held two hearings at the West Pasaman Regency DPRD, with the result that the DPRD promised to form a Special Committee Team for governmental resolution regarding the conflict that occurred in Nagari Kapa between the Nagari Kapa Pejuang Farmer Community and PT PHP I (Wilmar Group). These are some of the efforts being made by the community to obtain their rights as citizens in accordance with Pancasila in the fifth principle of "social justice for all Indonesian people". According to Tuangku Muhammad Arif Datuak Majo Basa as Ninik Mamak in Nagari Kapa asked the enforcement officers to be neutral, because of the conflict between the people of Nagari Kapa and PT PHP I, efforts are ongoing and this problem is being handled by the ATR BPN Ministry and in Pasaman a Cluster Team has been formed. The task of Agrarian Reform is chaired directly by the Regent of West Pasaman to resolve the conflicts that occur.

One of the residents who was summoned by the West Pasaman Police, Hendri Saputra, "hopes that the Law Enforcement Officials, in this case the West Pasaman Police, will no longer summon us and other communities because the settlement and litigation process is ongoing, we hope that it will be resolved quickly by the parties concerned. ”.

A Vietnamese human rights activist with refugee status in Thailand was arrested in Bangkok and now risks being deported to Vietnam, where he faces a 10-year prison sentence on terrorism charges.

Thai police arrested Y Quynh Bdap on June 11, according to his lawyer and rights activists. The arrest came exactly one year after dozens of people attacked two public agency headquarters in Vietnam’s Dak Lak province, in the Central Highlands, leaving nine dead.

Since then, scores of individuals have been tried and convicted in hearings that have been criticized as show trials. Y Quynh, who had left Vietnam in 2018, was sentenced in absentia to a decade in prison.

He has denied being involved in the attacks, calling the convictions politically motivated retaliation for his activism.

The area where the attacks took place is home to about 30 indigenous tribes who have a long history of conflict with the Vietnamese majority, and claim they have been discriminated against and persecuted.

They are often referred to as Montagnards, a term coined by French colonialists to describe the tribes, many of whom are Christians, but Vietnam has rejected use of the term.

Y Phic Hdok, who founded Montagnard Stand for Justice, or MSFJ, along with Y Quynh said he received a text message from Y Quynh on Tuesday reading: "I have been arrested."

A June 11 arrest warrant seen by RFA lists his arrest as a “warrant for extradited criminals” and notes he has been found guilty of acts of terrorism.

A Thai police official who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media told RFA the activist would likely face trial for "overstaying" his visa.

Granted refugee status

Y Quynh left Vietnam in 2018 and sought asylum in Thailand, and was granted refugee status that same year by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR. He has spent his time in Thailand collating rights abuses by the Vietnamese government for his MSFJ reports.

Because of his refugee status, Y Quynh has the right to resettle in a third country, and had applied for asylum in Canada. But his refugee card offers him little protection in Thailand, which has never ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention.

That has meant activists like Y Quynh can easily be picked up by Thai police on visa violations, and rights campaigners have accused Thailand of participating in transnational repression. A Human Rights Watch report issued last month noted Thailand facilitated forced returns and even abductions of refugees and dissidents.

His colleague, Y Phic, urged the Thai government to respect international human rights standards and reject Vietnam’s request to extradite Y Quynh.

“Because the UNHCR has recognized Y Quynh’s political refugee status, Thailand should have the obligation to protect his rights,” he said.

Officers from Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission met with Y Quynh on June 7 and sent a letter marked “most urgent” to the Immigration Bureau asking that he not be deported, given his refugee status and expected resettlement in Canada.

The letter cites Thailand’s anti-torture law, which prohibits extradition in cases where the deportee could face torture or forced disappearance.

‘Hunting me down’

In a video Y Quynh filmed days before his arrest, published by several rights campaigners immediately following, the activist says that Vietnamese authorities “have been hunting me down” since late 2023 and accused the Thai police of aiding their pursuit.

“Out of fear for the safety of my family and myself, we have been in hiding for the past six months,” he says. “But on June 6, 2024, the Thai police found our location and have surrounded us since then.”

In March, RFA reported that Thai police had been visiting Vietnamese refugees from the Central Highlands, urging them to return home, and that they were asking for the whereabouts of Y Quynh.

“There is a worrying trend of Thailand deporting HRDs [human rights defenders] awaiting UNHCR resettlement to neighbouring countries to face unfair trial,” Mary Lawlor, the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights defenders wrote in a tweet about Y Quynh’s case.

Several Thai immigration officials declined to speak with RFA.

As a registered refugee, Y Quynh would have been entitled to protection from the UNHCR, which on its website tells asylum seekers in Thailand it will “advocate for your right to non-refoulement to be respected.”

It is unclear whether protection officers were present at his arrest, and the agency told RFA it would not comment on individual cases.

'Inexplicable'

A letter sent by his lawyer, Christopher MacLeod, to the UNHCR representative in Canada and Canada’s ambassador to Thailand, noted that Y Quynh attended an asylum claim interview at the Canadian Embassy one day before his arrest.

Afterwards, staff from the UN’s International Organization for Migration, or IOM, transported him “to a safe place to await Canada’s decision to grant him asylum.”

“It seems inexplicable that he could be arrested while under the protection of the UN,” MacLeod wrote.

Neither the IOM nor the Canadian UNHCR representative responded to requests for comment.

Since the attack first occurred, Vietnam has accused overseas groups of masterminding the attacks. In March, the Ministry of Public Security labeled Y Quynh’s Montagnard Stand for Justice as one of two “terrorist organizations” that helped plan the attacks.

Y Quynh has long denied such charges. In an interview with RFA last year, he insisted the Vietnamese authorities had used the attack in Dak Lak to slander him for the purpose of “smearing my reputation and silencing my voice of human rights protection.”

Rights groups have urged Thai authorities to release Y Quynh, arguing that there’s little to substantiate Vietnam’s allegations against him.

“The terrorism charges brought by the Vietnamese regime against Y Quynh Bdap are clearly baseless and trumped up and the Thai government must not be complicit in his refoulment, which is a violation of international law and standards,” said Josef Benedict, civil space research officer for global civil society alliance CIVICUS.

“This incident highlights a growing trend of transnational repression by Vietnam with activists and dissidents seeking refuge in Thailand facing arrests, harassment, surveillance and physical violence, often with the cooperation of Thai authorities.”

Phil Robertson, Director of Asia Human Rights and Labor Advocates, said the activist would likely face violence in custody if forcibly returned to Vietnam.

“The Vietnamese government has a long, horrid track record of severely persecuting Montagnard political and religious activists, so there is a real fear that Y Quynh Bdap would face arrest, torture in custody and a long prison term if Thailand forced him back to Vietnam,” he said.

Last year, Duong Van Thai, a Vietnamese blogger disappeared from the streets of Bangkok in an apparent kidnapping with Vietnamese authorities later saying he was in state custody. The case was similar to that of RFA contributor Truong Duy Nhat, who disappeared from Bangkok in 2019 and reemerged in a Hanoi prison.

Y Quynh expressed such a fear in the final video he recorded.

He beseeched the UN, NGOs and democratic governments to “please protect me. Don’t let them arrest and bring me back to Vietnam as in the cases of Truong Duy Nhat and Thai Van Duong.”

On 10 June, prosecutors requested 20 years in prison with confiscation of property for all 22defendants, who are charged with preparing for mass riots. Several face an additional charge of attempting to violently overthrow authority. The criminal proceedings were opened in response to the public opposition to the government’s decision regarding the border dispute over the Kempir-Abad water reservoir and the surrounding lands with Uzbekistan, in 2022.

During the investigation and trial, the detainees, including Rita Karasartova, a renowned human rights defender, have been held in inhumane conditions and have not been allowed to access the medical treatment they need for deteriorating health conditions.

The trial has been conducted behind closed doors. The defendants have repeatedly reported violations of their rights, including lack of access to adequate medical care and denial of the right to a fair hearing, as the court has routinely rejected defence motions and ignored substantial evidence that contradicts the prosecution’s claims.

Kingsrich Myanmar Fashion garment factory workers in Shwepyitha Township held a protest on Monday calling for a daily wage increase. The Burma Army later quelled the protest. DVB was unable to confirm if arrests were made. “They asked who the leader of the protest was but everyone said it did not have one,” an anonymous source close to the workers told DVB. The garment factory produces clothing for Swedish fashion retailer H&M. Workers there report that they have been barred from forming a labor union. Negotiations between workers, factory management, and the Burma Army are underway.

The police forcibly dispersed the "All Eyes on Papua" demonstration which was held on Jalan Puputan, Denpasar City, on Monday (10/6). This movement aims to respond to the demands of the Awyu Tribe and Moi Tribe regarding customary forests.

Based on Kumparan's monitoring, four people were arrested by the police when they broke up the demonstration. One of them is a representative of LBH Bali. "There is 1 person, that's right (the LBH representative was detained by the police). We are currently preparing a press release, please be patient," said LBH Bali Director, Rezky Pratiwi, when contacted.

The demonstration held by dozens of students initially went peacefully from 11.00 WITA. The participants conveyed a number of demands and expressed themselves by dancing a number of typical Papuan dances.

The police asked the crowd to disperse when the representatives were about to read a statement. The police then pushed back the protest participants, which sparked conflict. The action participants responded by throwing stones.

"We have provided a place to convey aspirations. I ask that the action be finished and the participants disperse," said a police officer who led the command.

The police were then seen hitting some of the demonstrators and pouring water from water cannons to disperse them. The police also surrounded and arrested some of the demonstration participants. The police threatened to arrest participants who did not comply with orders to disperse. The demonstration participants finally dispersed at around 14.00 WITA.

Citizen journalist Ms. Zhang Zhan was released from Shanghai Women’s Prison on May 13 after serving four years in prison on charges related to her documentation and report on the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan. Recently, Zhang Zhan was warned by Shanghai police not to touch the “red line.”

Ms. Wang Jianhong, a British activist and founder of the Zhang Zhan Concern Group, said, “Zhang Zhan, a prominent Chinese citizen journalist, sent a message on June 9 on her WeChat Moments that she was being questioned and threatened by the Xuanqiao police station of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau’s Pudong branch. The police warned her that if she touched the “red line” again, she would go in again (referring to jail). In her post, Zhang Zhan said: “Whose red line are you all protecting? Is the life of the people the red line? Or is it “the opinion of superiors”? I don’t want to go in (to jail), and I’m not the one who should go in.

On May 29, Zhang Zhan shared her weaknesses, fears, and hopes as a Christian on the Christian house church’s online networking platform, Five O’Clock in the Afternoon in China. She immediately broke down in tears when she appeared in the video, tearfully saying that she is not strong and loves to cry. While in prison, she prayed for healing for her cellmate’s illness, and it was amazing that God heard and answered her prayer. Even though she is still under surveillance and has no freedom after her release, she wants to attend Sunday worship and meet with her brothers and sisters. She wept several times during the sharing. She is thankful for everyone’s continued prayers for her.

In the video, she recounted how the experience of being with God in prison produces gratitude, not a single complaint, but rather pure and ultimate joy. This experience showed her that the Kingdom of Heaven exists and that the suffering in the world is temporary.

It is not known whether the subpoena has anything to do with her remarks in this video. Did she cross over a “red line” simply by the act of appearing in the video?

After Zhang Zhan’s release, friends at home and abroad were very concerned about her health. Shanghai lawyer Peng Yonghe broke through the resistance as soon as possible and successfully visited Zhang Zhan; however, on May 31, Peng was summoned by the local police to Xuanqiao police station, which has jurisdiction over where he was, and a number of his electronic products were seized. The police did not produce any paperwork.

In the earliest stages of the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, the population of China was simply unfamiliar with the new virus and the disaster it was going to cause. In 2020, Zhang Zhan’s reporting from the ground in Wuhan symbolized the public’s mistrust of the government’s handling of the initial outbreak and their desire for unfiltered, truthful information. She was on the front lines of the pandemic, deep in the corridors of hospitals, where a city of 11 million people was as silent as a dead city, its streets empty. Soon the crackdown began, the country went into a tight lockdown, and she was silenced, arrested and imprisoned.

Unfortunately, China sees those who document the truth as forces of social destabilization, not realizing that stifling the voice of society is the root of true unrest. Many of those who have tried to speak out on behalf of Zhang Zhan within China seem to have been targeted as well. Zhang Zhan’s personal freedom is an indicator of the rule of law in China. There may be division amongst the officials and private citizens, but both sides want Chinese society to make more remarkable strides.

The People’s Republic of China must unconditionally respect the fundamental human rights of its own great citizen, Ms. Zhang Zhan, and ChinaAids call on the government of China to immediately cease its restrictive measures against her, including surveillance, censorship, harassment and intimidation.

In Negros, elements of the 15th IBPA elements barged into the house of fisherfolk leader Joselito Macapobre in Barangay Guiljungan, Cauayan, Negros Occidental on June 11, 2024 while he was out selling fish. According to Macapobre’s wife, the men introduced themselves as “kaupod” (comrades), asked for his whereabouts and opened the bags inside his home, claiming to be in search of something Macapobre left for them. The soldiers had earlier summoned Macapobre on June 9 to “discuss” his submission of an affidavit in support of development workers of Paghida-et sa Kauswagan Development Group Inc (PDG) facing trumped-up terrorism financing cases. Macapobre refused the summons for fear of being coerced into retracting his affidavit.

The Indonesian Forum for the Environment or Walhi regrets the attempt to forcibly pick up Muhriyono, one of the farmers in Pakel Village, Licin District, Banyuwangi Regency , East Java. Muhriyono was forcibly picked up by the Banyuwangi Resort Police, Sunday (9/6/2024) at around 19.30.

The retrieval of Muhriyono is related to a case of alleged assault against a security personnel of PT Bumisari Maju Sukses plantation company. The incident took place last March.

In a virtual and offline press conference on Tuesday (11/6/2024), Executive Director of Walhi East Java, Wahyu Eka Setyawan, stated that what happened to Muhriyono was one of many reckless actions carried out by the police.

"There is a pattern of violation of procedures, because the process is very fast and it seems as if farmers in Pakel are dangerous people for society and the state. "The stigma was conveyed by them, one of them from the police, plantations which actually have their roots in the agrarian conflict in Pakel," said Wahyu, who is part of the Advocacy Working Team for Agrarian Sovereignty.

According to Wahyu, agrarian conflict in Pakel has been ongoing for so long that the rights of residents, particularly small farmers, are often lost. In addition to their economic rights, their right to speak and their citizenship rights are also lost because they are deemed to have behaved badly.

The Pakel conflict is a problem of land ownership inequality. The community only owns a small portion of the village area, while the rest is occupied by Perhutani and claimed by plantation companies. These companies hold the right to use the land (HGU), but the process is considered odd as it does not involve the community.

Cases like this not only happen in Pakel, but also in other areas. The Ministry of Agrarian and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN), according to Wahyu, should not include land such as that in Pakel in the HGU, but distribute it to the community.

"We have repeatedly conveyed this to ATR/BPN to resolve this conflict. ATR/BPN promised to do areview because there were allegations of malpractice. "We ask that they be returned to Pakel Village, released from the plantations as promised by the government regarding redistribution," he said.

Wahyu also assessed that the efforts made by the Banyuwangi Regency Government (Pemkab) to address the issue were inadequate. The Pemkab Banyuwangi did not establish a Land Dispute Resolution Team, but a Social Conflict Resolution Team.

The Head of Pakel Farmers Association, Harun, stated that the residents of Pakel were shocked because according to Muhriyono's family, he was suddenly visited by unknown persons claiming to be police officers who arrived in three cars on Sunday night.

Also read: 87 Percent Realized Forest Area Release

At that time, Muhriyono was having dinner. The unknown person then showed the (arrest) letter, but the family had not had time to read its contents. "According to the story, it was his son (Muhriyono's son), who brought (arrested) it from the police, but not talking from the police or Banyuwangi Police," he said.

eeling panicked and confused, the residents immediately went to the Banyuwangi Police station that night. They stayed at the police station until late at night.

Due to not obtaining definite information regarding the whereabouts of the person being searched for, on Monday (10/5/2024) at 01:30, residents eventually returned to their respective homes.

"Because we were tired and many young children were with us, we eventually agreed to go home. At that time, the weather was rainy day and night. Despite the rain, we still searched for the whereabouts of our missing friend (Muhriyono)," said Harun online.

On Monday afternoon, according to Harun, residents returned to the Banyuwangi Police Headquarters to inquire about the whereabouts of Muhriyono. They finally received confirmation that Muhriyono was arrested by the Banyuwangi Police on the grounds that he had ignored a summons and refused a letter sent by the police.

According to information from his child, Muhriyono only received one summons letter from the Banyuwangi Regional Police. The second letter was sent through a courier, but the name stated on the letter was Muh. Riono (not Muhriyono), causing the recipient of the letter to assume it was for a different person.

Edy Kurniawan from YLBHI also expressed concern. He believes that what was done to Muhriyono was an arbitrary action and a violation of human rights. Procedurally, Muhriyono was declared a suspect on June 10.

On the same date, the family received a detention order and an arrest warrant. The arrest process was carried out on June 9, 2024. "This means that the police took action - which is why we released the term 'kidnapping' - because it was not based on valid grounds," he said.

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Edy considers that the arrest of Muhriyono was actually unnecessary and excessive. The police should have carried out a series of investigations and investigations based on a process that is accountable and transparent.

The police should first take persuasive measures. If Muhriyono will complicate the legal process, then arrest can be made, but human rights must be considered. "There should be no violence, it should not be done at night, and the community around should be taken into consideration," he said.

According to Edy, this is not the first or second time the Pakel incident has happened. Previously, in 2023, three Pakel residents were arrested and went to court. However, he was finally free after being ruled onslag (free from all legal demands) by the Supreme Court.

"In the Pakel case, we see that what is being done is not in the context of law enforcement, but rather law enforcement that favors the company or there are indications that law enforcement is being carried out to intimidate residents," he said.

Authorities across China are targeting dissidents and petitioners ahead of next week’s key meeting of the ruling Communist Party, placing them under house arrest or escorting them out of town on enforced "vacations," Radio Free Asia has learned.

Several high-profile activists including political journalist Gao Yu, rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang and political commentator Zha Jianguo have been targeted for security measures ahead of the third plenary session of the party's Central Committee, a person in Beijing familiar with the situation who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals said.

The meeting is scheduled to start Monday at the Jingxi Hotel in Beijing in a bid to boost the struggling economy.

"I can name several people in Beijing who have been notified by state security police of house arrest or [enforced] travel, including Gao Yu, Zha Jianguo ... Pu Zhiqiang and many other rights activists," the person said. "Some have already left Beijing."

The operation is part of China's "stability maintenance" system, which kicks into high gear targeting those the authorities see as potential troublemakers ahead of top-level meetings and politically sensitive dates in the calendar.

Activists in Wuhan reported similar arrangements, with one participant in last year's "silver protests" among those targeted.

"Tong Menglan has been taken to Kunming by state security police for a few days," a Wuhan-based activist who gave only the surname Liu for fear of reprisals told RFA Mandarin on Tuesday.

"Several dissidents have been getting calls from police nearly every day, telling them to stay home and to share their cell phone locations with police, so they can be sure they've stayed home," he said.

Keeping them quiet

The "stability maintenance" system typically targets independent journalists, rights activists and lawyers, anyone with a grievance against the government, people who complain about or petition the authorities, and anyone with a track record of posting online content that the government doesn't like.

Meanwhile, an army of internet censors, many of whom work for private service providers, keeps a list of metaphors, code words, homophones and other workarounds to help them block and delete unwanted content.

Fellow Wuhan-based rights activist who gave only the surname Sun for fear of reprisals said he is currently under house arrest. "One reason is the July 1 Communist Party anniversary, and another is the upcoming third plenum of the Central Committee,” he said.

"Anyone who tries to go to Beijing will be put under house arrest," he said. "Even if you just say you are going to Beijing in a group chat, they will target you. They get paid to maintain stability.”

Government-backed censors are also blocking any groups on WeChat that typically discuss politics and current affairs, according to a Hunan-based dissident who gave only the surname Tian for fear of reprisals.

"Two of the groups I'm in for politically sensitive dissidents or political prisoners have been shut down two or three days ahead of [the plenum]," Tian said.

Unusually strict

Several dissidents told RFA Mandarin that controls are unusually strict this year.

"Firstly, this year's third plenum was delayed for so long, and secondly, two defense ministers have been arrested just beforehand," Tian said.

"They're under a lot of pressure due to the situation at home and internationally, and due to the economy," he said. "They're a little nervous."

Tian said he hasn't been put under house arrest -- yet.

A leaked directive from a county-level Stability Maintenance and Security Command Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan that was circulating on social media on Tuesday ordered staff to target any petitioners from the county who are still in Beijing, and bring them back home under escort by July 12.

China's army of petitioners, who flood the Communist Party's official complaints departments daily, frequently report being held in unofficial detention centers known as "black jails," beaten, or otherwise harassed if they persist in a complaint beyond its initial rejection at the local level, even if they follow legal channels.

They are often escorted home forcibly by "interceptors" sent by their local governments to prevent negative reports from reaching the ears of higher authorities. They face surveillance, violent treatment and possible detention on criminal charges, particularly during major political events or on dates linked to the pro-democracy movement.

A petitioner who gave only the surname Li for fear of reprisals told RFA Mandarin that she had just been brought back to Sichuan's provincial capital Chengdu by interceptors.

"Third plenums of the Central Committee are closely bound up with petitioners," Li said, adding that some people she knows are already under house arrest.

But she said it was "normal" for petitioners to go to Beijing to complain about problems.

"They shouldn't restrict and suppress petitioners just because there's a meeting on, when the government itself hasn't done anything to resolve these issues," she said.

KARAPATAN condemns the arrest of animal rights and climate justice activist Edison Yu last June 8, 2024 and demands that the unjust and unfounded charges against him be dropped.

Yu was set to join a solidarity action opposing the genocide of the Palestinian people in front of the Israeli embassy at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City, when he was arrested.

According to reports, Yu was near the Israeli embassy, waiting for a friend and taking pictures of the buildings in the area to while away his time when diplomat security officer Rodolfo Osorio Jr. confronted him and demanded an ID. Yu refused and said he would just leave. Unknown to him, however, the security personnel had followed him as he walked away. The latter caught up with Yu in the vicinity of BDO and suddenly hit him in the face, and an altercation between the two happened. Yu is confident that CCTV footages in the area will show that he was a victim of assault and not the other way around.

Ironically, it is Yu who is now detained at Camp Bagong Diwa and facing complaints of alarm and scandal, unjust vexation, physical assault and oral disobedience.

KARAPATAN supports the call for the immediate release of Edison Yu. The right to protest against Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people should be respected and upheld.

Music teacher Dang Dang Phuoc was able to call home for the first time in two months. His wife, Le Thi Ha, said that in the June 12 call, her husband gave more details about why he was shackled for 10 days after her visit on May 9. Before she left the visiting room that day, he gave her a small piece of paper containing the phone number of an inmate who’d just been transferred to Xuan Phuoc Prison, to be passed to his family so they’d know where he was. In Vietnam, families rarely are notified when a prisoner is transferred to a new prison facility. Immediately afterwards, Phuoc was taken to the office and ordered to write a “confession letter”; in it, he said he knew his action was against prison rules but thought it was only a minor infraction. The warden allegedly took a vote from all of Phuoc’s cellmates (about 26 people), and everyone agreed that his action only warranted a minor disciplinary response. Nevertheless, Phuoc was still put in shackles and kept in isolation. During those 10 days, Phuoc refused to eat to protest the unfair treatment and lost 10 kg., according to his wife. And although just one leg was shackled, after five days, his ankle became severely swollen and required medical attention. After a visit by the prison medical staff, the shackle was removed and transferred to his other leg for the remaining five days.

In a bit of good news, Ha told her husband that she was able to go to Saigon to attend their son’s graduation ceremony. However, not long after she returned to Buon Me Thuot in the Central Highlands, Ha received a summons from Phu Yen provincial police (200Km away) to appear “in person” on June 7 to resolve the issues she cited in the letter she wrote to them on June 2, asking why her husband had been disciplined. Ha said it seemed absurd that they could not simply respond to her by a letter like they’d done many times before instead of requiring her to travel such a long distance.

Security agents allegedly assaulted a Vietnamese-American family at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City after they refused to leave Vietnam immediately after being denied entry.

Nguyen Thi Bich Hanh, a former literature teacher, told Radio Free Asia (RFA) about the ordeal she and her children experienced when they arrived in Vietnam on June 7. Hanh, who married freedom of expression activist Thai Van Tu and later settled in the United States, is known for helping Vietnamese students gain a multifaceted and impartial education about Vietnamese Communist leaders. She said that she and her children were taken to a closed room in the airport, where security officers took turns mistreating them.

According to Hanh, airport police requested they board a plane to South Korea to return to the U.S. after they were refused entry. However, she denied the order because one of her sons had severe asthma and was in an emergency situation, and he needed immediate treatment. Tan Son Nhat police authorities called in a doctor, but Hanh said the doctor did nothing to treat her son. Eventually, Hanh had to treat her son with asthma medicine and a ventilator they brought with them from the U.S.

The security officers at Tan Son Nhat International Airport reportedly locked Hanh and her children in a closed room where they could not communicate with their family or anyone outside. Hanh said most of the officers who interrogated them were in plain clothes, so she did not know their names or positions. After two days in custody, the police released them following pressure from the U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, and they were made to board a flight to South Korea. The former teacher said she had returned to Vietnam to visit her ailing 89-year-old mother in Nghe An Province.

After RFA reporters contacted Tan Son Nhat Airport authorities to verify Hanh's allegations, a security staff member said on a phone that the information was “incorrect.” According to the person who answered the call, if a person is denied entry to Vietnam, he or she will be deported back to the country where they previously transited before arriving there. The airport staff added that if that person’s name is on a list of dissidents, “immigration security will look into it, but there will be no beatings or arrests.”

On 07 June 2024, Pakistan authorities filed a First Information Report (FIR), including false sedition charges, against Baloch woman human rights defender Dr. Mahrang Baloch. The FIR is linked to a full day conference held by Mahrang Baloch in the Quetta Press Club on 18 May 2024, which was unjustly disrupted by local authorities.

Dr. Mahrang Baloch is a woman human rights defender based in Balochistan, and a leader of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) campaigning against unlawful enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings by the Pakistani authorities in the Balochistan Province. Balochistan is a region that has experienced decades of violence, and systemic abuses by Pakistan authorities. This includes the military, intelligence agencies and armed groups that continue to target local commmunities and human rights defenders who seek to document and advocate against the violations. In November 2023, Dr. Mahrang Baloch was a key figure in the Baloch Long March, organized in response to the extra judicial killing of a Baloch youth in Turbut, Balochistan and which galvanized into a peaceful march calling for an end to the atrocities including enforced diappearances and killings. Authorities responded with violence and reprisals against peaceful protesters, including Dr. Mahrang Baloch.

On 07 June 2024, a FIR bearing number 61/24 was filed against Dr. Mahrang Baloch, including charges of sedition linked to a conference held on 18 May 2024. The event, which was due to take place at the Quetta Press Club, was disrupted by local police, who locked the gates to the press club in order to prevent the BYC members from attending the full day conference. No clear reasons were provided for the unlawful blockade on the press club. When BYC members entered the premises, the SSP Operation and Quetta DIG cordoned off the press club building and the Quetta Metropolitan Corporation (QMC) office until the conference was concluded. Undettered by the threats, intimidation and reprisal, the BYC continued the planned event, which highlighted human rights issues in Balochistan. There was particular emphasis on the rights and concerns of residents in Gwadar – a coastal town in Balochistan – where residents have experienced increasing militarization and attempts to forcibly displace local populations. This displacement has been motivated by the desire to make way for state development programs, linked to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor and the building of a new port.

The FIR filed on 7 June against Dr. Mahrang Baloch accuses her and BYC members of several offences, including unlawful assembly, deterring public servants from discharging their duty, rioting, condemnation of the creation of the state, advocacy of the abolition of its sovereignty, and sedition. Dr. Mahrang Baloch also faces two separate FIRs filed during the Baloch Long March in 2023, which includes serious offences of supporting militancy and terrorism.

Hundreds of residents of Torobulu, Laeya District, South Konawe Regency, protested in front of the Southeast Sulawesi (Sultra) Regional Police, in Kendari, Wednesday (12/6/2024). This action was a response to efforts to criminalize two Torobulu residents which continued to stage II - the case files have been transferred to the Kendari District Prosecutor's Office (Kejari).

The two residents who were criminalized were Haslilin (30), female, and Andi Firmansyah (41), male, who were accused of obstructing or disrupting mining business activities in accordance with Article 162 of Law No. 3 of 2020 concerning Mineral and Coal Mining (Minerba). ) jo Article 55 of the Criminal Code.

Muhammad Ansar, from LBH Makassar, representing the legal advisory team Haslilin and Andi Firmansyah assessed that the naming of two Torobulu residents as suspects was an act of criminalization of environmental and human rights (HAM) fighters. He said that the constitution states that everyone has the right to a good and healthy living environment as part of human rights.

"Therefore, we assess that the legal process against Ms. Haslilin and Mr. Andi with both of them being named as suspects is nothing more than an act of criminalization. This act of criminalization will endanger the right of public participation to obtain a good and healthy environment guaranteed by the Constitution," said Ansar, Wednesday. (12/6/2024).

This case started when Haslilin and Andi Firmansyah, together with other Torobulu residents, visited a PT Wijaya Intan Nusantara (PT WIN) excavator unit belonging to Frans Salim Kalalo, on November 6 2023. The heavy equipment was dredging nickel ore in Torobulu Village.

PT WIN's activities are only approximately 100 meters from residential areas and very close to the main road. The aim of the residents' arrival was to find out whether the mining activity was in accordance with regulations or not.

"We came here to find out whether the mining activities carried out comply with regulations. The mining area is very close to residential areas. Even though previously it had been agreed that each party should refrain, there should be no mining activities yet. "At the meeting there were village heads, sub-district heads and Torobulu residents," said Andi Firmansyah.

Residents protested because they did not want landslides and dust covering residents' houses due to mining activities to repeat themselves as had happened before. In addition, the residents' 2 water sources have been damaged, the residents' rice plants are damaged during the rainy season, not to mention the dust. Because of this, Andi Firmansyah and Haslilin asked that the excavator be pulled back far from residential areas.

"We came not to arrest, but to question why there was activity. "We also don't want any more landslides, our water sources being damaged, and dust entering our houses which we have been experiencing because of mining activities," said Haslilin.

However, via letter number: S.Pgl/234/VI/RES.5.5./2024/Ditreskrimsus and letter number: S.Pgl/235/VI/RES.5.5./2024/Ditreskrimsus, dated June 7 2024, Southeast Sulawesi Regional Police instead summoned both of them to be handed over to the Kendari Prosecutor's Office (Phase II).

"We consider that PT WIN's use of Article 162 of the Mineral and Coal Law has an evil aim, namely to silence the residents of Torobulu, therefore, we urge law enforcement officials, prosecutors and courts to maintain the dignity of the law by not criminalizing Mrs. Haslilin and Mr. Andi Firmansyah," said Ansar.

The Director of Walhi Sultra, Andi Rahman, believes that Andi Firmansyah and Haslilin should be protected, not punished. Because what Andi Firmansyah and Haslilin and other Torobulu residents are doing is an effort to protect the environment and defend their living space from the threat of mining.

Andi explained, Article 66 of Law no. 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management, it is very clear that anyone who fights for the right to a good and healthy environment cannot be prosecuted criminally or sued civilly.

"Therefore, it would be very strange if Ms. Haslilin and Andi Firmansyah were prosecuted, the question would arise, who is the law for?" Andi said.

In the ongoing process of criminalization efforts, in front of the Southeast Sulawesi Regional Police, residents also voiced the conditions in Torobulu which continue to face mining activities.

Andi said that residents had to pay a high price due to ongoing mining activities in Torobulu. Environmental damage is visible to the naked eye around residential areas. He said, there are only days left, if the mining continues, residents will slowly be pushed out of their living space.

In this action, the residents of Torobulu issued a statement of their position and demands, namely to stop criminalization efforts against Andi Firmansyah and Haslilin, who are environmental fighters, as well as the criminalization of other residents of Torobulu Village.

Then the masses also asked for the rights of fishermen in Torobulu Village and the residents' living space to be returned. Residents also demand an end to environmental destruction and the revocation of PT WIN's IUP.

"It is important to note that the transfer of case files and suspects (Phase II) to the Kendari District Prosecutor's Office which was planned to be carried out on June 12 2024 has been postponed until June 20 2024," said Andi Rahman.

Madhesh Province bureau Chief of Nayapatrika National Daily, Hadis Khuddar, was attacked and taken under control while reporting in Dhanusha on June 6.

Freedom Forum's representative for the province Rajan Singh informed that police attacked Khuddar while reporting on a protest by youths at District Police Office, Dhanusha premises. Local youths were protesting at the office demanding fair investigation on a case of attack upon a local youth with knife.

"While journalist Khuddar was taking a video of the protest, policepersons attacked him and seized his mobile phone. Journalist Khuddar showed his press identity card but they did not stop and took him to the police station", shared representative Singh.

After an hour, Khuddar was released by holding discussion among fellow journalists and police officers. The police chief has also assured of taking action against the policeperson who detained the journalist, said representative Singh.

Mumbai’s Jai Bhim Nagar colony saw a hoard of demolitions on June 6th which also left several injured as they protested the demolition of their homes and tried to save their belongings.

On 6th June, just two days after the results for India’s 18th Lok Sabha elections were announced, Mumbai’s most marginalised saw their homes raised to the ground. Not just that, over 35 people were injured in the process.

The area called Jai Bhim Nagar witnessed a brutal demolition undertaken under the supervision of the police and municipal corporation officials. Armed with JCBs, cranes, and other heavy machinery, the officials entered the area without warning and started the demolition of homes.

This operation was conducted in a hasty manner; many residents were unable to save their personal belongings and valuables. Scores of people even reportedly lost their valuable documents in the process as they were not allowed to enter the area. Many locals have claimed that the demolitions took place due to certain builders, though there is little clarity on the official’s motivations. NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad has asked why private bouncers were present at the demolition.

Furthermore, there have been no resettlement or rehabilitation related arrangements made for the displaced residents. The demolition did not just leave scores of families homeless but also destroyed their personal and essential property leaving them homeless. Indian Express reported that the residents had protested the demolition, and had invoked Dr B R Ambedkar when the police came. The colony reportedly housed over 500-600 ‘jhuggies.’

However, the demolition did not just lead to displaced residents but also saw reports of harrowing violence and arrests. Children and the elderly were especially affected. Several videos circulating on social media have shown police officers beating residents, including children and the elderly. As per reports, about 66 and 75 people have been arrested and detained in Byculla and Taloja jails.

A Government Resolution (GR) issued by the state explicitly mentions that no ‘jhuggi; or house, regardless of whether it is on government or private land, can be demolished between June 1 and September 30 due to the monsoon season. Despite this clear order, the recent demolition in Jai Bhim Nagar has taken place, leaving many homeless at a time when Mumbai’s weather will also be at its most difficult for displaced people.

The police have justified these arrests by alleging that the people were involved in stone-pelting incidents. However, residents allege that the violence was provoked by goons hired by a builder who had vested interests in the demolition.

Meanwhile, civic officials have stated that the structures were erected illegally and conveyed that the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) had directed the removal of these structures. According to them, notices were served to the slum-dwellers on June 1.

On June 9th, a peaceful protest was taken out by civil society organisations, activists, and citizens of the Jai Bhim Nagar Powai Rescue Committee at Jai Bhim Nagar to protest what they say are illegal demolitions carried out by the BMC.

They raised three crucial demands which include the demand for resettlement for all residents or the return of land rebuilding their homes. Secondly, they have also asked that compensation be given to the people for the damages caused by the police during the demolition, and lastly, they have asked that all charges against those detained and arrested be withdrawn.

Sabrang India reported, narratives from the ground, saying that they also demand strict action against the MCGM and police officers responsible for the demolition which is violation of the state government’s GR. “We call for an investigation into the role of a builder in inciting violence and hiring private bouncers to act on behalf of the state. If our demands are not met, we will continue our ongoing struggle.”

Authorities in Vietnam’s Dak Lak province have refused to issue a passport to former political prisoner Huynh Thuc Vy, for "national security reasons," she told Radio Free Asia.

However, the provincial police department’s Security Investigation Agency didn’t provide any documents to support the decision.

Thuc Vy, 39, is a co-founder of Vietnam Women for Human Rights and the author of many articles on democracy and human rights.

She was sentenced to 33 months in prison for "insulting the national flag" in November 2018, but released in June, three months early.

On June 6, she went to the Immigration Department in Dak Lak to apply for a new passport because her old one was confiscated by border security in 2015 when she was preparing to go to Bangkok to attend a digital security training course by Reporters Without Borders.

She was told she was barred from leaving the country until June 26.

On June 27, Thuc Vy applied for a passport online and was asked to visit the immigration department.

“The security officers of Dak Lak province informed me that I am still on an exit ban, so they will not issue a passport for me,” she told RFA on Friday.

“They said not granting a passport is not permanent but will depend on my attitude, meaning whether I continue to speak up.”

Thuc Vy recently started a food charity near her home along with her brother Huynh Trong Hieu, asking people to donate money to help provide 50 free lunches a day to poor patients at a local hospital.

During the meeting on July 9, authorities warned her that "distributing charity gifts if not done properly will result in criminal liability."

Thuc Vy said she would stop accepting donations and wouldn't hand out any more free meals after using up the money already donated.

RFA Vietnamese called the Immigration Department of Dak Lak provincial police department to verify her claims but the reporter was asked to bring a letter of introduction and make inquiries in person.

The 2019 Law on Entry and Exit of Vietnamese Citizens states that authorities can refuse to issue a passport for “national defense and security reasons according to the decision of the minister of national defense or the minister of public security."

The ministers can decide the duration of the ban based on when they believe the person is no longer a threat to defense and security.

Thuc Vy said the police told her not to speak to the media, not to write articles about social issues and not to gather with “other government critics.”

"It feels like I no longer have my civil rights because,” she said.

“I thought that when I was released from prison I was free and could return to a normal life, but it turned out that they continued to oppress me and don’t let me have a life like a normal citizen.”

The Supreme Court today (4 June) sentenced activist Nutchanon Pairoj to 1 month in prison, suspended for 2 years, and a fine of 500 baht on a contempt of court charge relating to a protest on 29 April 2021 at the Criminal Court.

Nutchanon was previously found guilty and sentenced to 4 months in prison by the Criminal Court. The Appeal Court upheld the guilty verdict, but reduced his sentence to 1 month in prison on the grounds that the penalty given by the Criminal Court was too severe. Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that the Supreme Court ruled to suspend his sentence on the grounds that the protest took place on the steps to the Criminal Court building, not inside the court, and fining him and putting him on probation would be better.

In addition to the fine, the Supreme Court required Nutchanon to report to a probation officer 3 times over a period of 1 year and perform 24 hours of community service.

On 29 April 2021, a crowd gathered on the steps of the Ratchadaphisek Criminal Court while lawyers went to file a bail request for 7 activists who were detained pending trial at the time on royal defamation charges. During the protest, Benja and a group of other students came to the Criminal Court to submit an open letter signed by over 10,000 people demanding the release of detained activists.

When judge Chanathip Muanpawong did not come out to receive the letter, activist Benja Apan scattered pieces of paper printed with the names of those who signed the letter on the steps of the court building. She also read out a poem by Anon Nampa, which criticised the judicial process and called on judges to grant justice to the people.

During the protest, Nutchanon gave a speech on the steps of the court, saying that he does not count the judges as alumni of Thammasat University, where he was currently studying, because they do not love the people as stated in the university’s motto. He also shouted for Chanathip to come receive their open letter and said that the judges “have no backbone.”

Nutchanon said that he made the statement because he believes that denying detained activists bail rights is an injustice that goes against legal principles. The court found him guilty of contempt of court, not for expressing opinions different from the court, but rather for joining a protest, shouting, and acting rudely in a court area in an attempt to use a crowd to pressure the court, which violates the court’s independence in ruling on a case.

Hong Kong police arrested four people on the 35th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown. Among them, an elderly woman was apprehended on suspicion of acting with seditious intention under the city’s new, homegrown security law.

Two men and two women were arrested around Causeway Bay on Tuesday, which marked 35 years since Beijing sent the People’s Liberation Army to put an end to a months-long democracy movement led by students in China.

It is estimated that hundreds, perhaps thousands, died in the military crackdown.

No more vigils Hong Kong used to be one of the few places on Chinese soil where annual vigils were held to commemorate the victims who died in the 1989 crackdown. But police banned the gathering at Causeway Bay’s Victoria Park for the first time in 2020 citing Covid-19 restrictions, and imposed the same ban in the following year.

No official commemoration has been held since the vigil organiser – Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China – disbanded in September 2021.

Causeway Bay on Tuesday saw extensive police presence with uniform and plainclothes officers stationed at nearly every corner. Counter Terrorism Response Unit personnel were on standby outside the SOGO mall, while an armoured vehicle drove along Hennessy Road in the evening.

From late afternoon onward, several people were taken aside or stopped and searched by police.

‘Seditious intention’ Police told HKFP shortly after midnight on Wednesday that a 68-year-old woman had been arrested under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, the city’s new security law enacted in March and known locally as Article 23. She allegedly committed “crimes related to seditious intention” by chanting slogans on Yee Wo Street in the afternoon.

Local media cited sources saying the arrestee was activist Alexandra Wong, nicknamed “Grandma Wong,” who was often seen at the 2019 pro-democracy protests.

A 24-year-old man and a 69-year-old woman were said to have “acted suspiciously in public” on Yee Wo Street at night. Police said the man had attacked two officers after the pair was intercepted, and he was later arrested on suspicion of assaulting police. The woman was apprehended for alleged public disorder.

Police also arrested a 23-year-old man in a park in Hing Fat Street for common assault after he allegedly attacked two security guards. HKFP witnessed security guards surround a young man wearing a black shirt in Victoria Park, shielding him from view with five or six umbrellas. The man was heard calling for help, telling HKFP: “[The security guards] said I had a book about Xi Jinping’s governance of China. They said it was against the rules.”

Police said three men and two women, aged between 27 and 88, were taken to police stations for investigation after they allegedly breached the peace. They were all released afterwards.Swiss photographer Marc Progin and a woman were taken aside by police near SOGO at around 8.40 pm on Tuesday before being put into a police vehicle. He told HKFP on Wednesday that police said they were unable to check Progin and a friend’s identification documents while they were surrounded by the press, and thus the pair was escorted into the vehicle.

Progin and his friend were sent to to Wan Chai police headquarters after officers said they could not release them at the scene with “such a mess around.” The duo were interviewed and searched at the police station and were later released at around 11 pm.

On Monday night, artist Sanmu Chan was stopped, questioned and taken away by police in Causeway Bay on the eve of the Tiananmen crackdown anniversary, as he sought to partake in some performance art. He was later released without being arrested.

Separate to the 2020 Beijing-enacted security law, the homegrown Safeguarding National Security Ordinance targets treason, insurrection, sabotage, external interference, sedition, theft of state secrets and espionage. It allows for pre-charge detention of to up to 16 days, and suspects’ access to lawyers may be restricted, with penalties involving up to life in prison. Article 23 was shelved in 2003 amid mass protests, remaining taboo for years. But, on March 23, 2024, it was enacted having been fast-tracked and unanimously approved at the city’s opposition-free legislature.

The law has been criticised by rights NGOs, Western states and the UN as vague, broad and “regressive.” Authorities, however, cited perceived foreign interference and a constitutional duty to “close loopholes” after the 2019 protests and unrest.

A controversy erupted in Chhattisgarh on Monday after the state police arrested a 25-year-old woman who advocates for the rights of tribal, provoking howls of protests from the human rights groups that accused the police of framing her in fake cases to silence her.

Bastar range inspector general of police (IGP) Sunderaj P said Suneeta Pottam was wanted in 12 cases linked to Maoist activities and was arrested from Raipur.

“Suneeta Pottam (25) was held by a team of Bijapur police from Raipur, where she was living under an assumed name and identity. She is a resident of Korcholi village under the Gangaloor police station area in Bijapur and is a key operative of the Maoists’ urban network and frontal organisation. At least 12 warrants are pending against Potam in three different police stations in Bijapur for offences related to murder, attempt to murder, loot, provocative speeches and causing damage to government property,” Sunderaj said.

Bijapur superintendent of police Jitendra Yadav said seven of the 12 cases against Suneeta Pottam were registered at Gangaloor police station. Four cases are registered at Mirtur police station and one at Bijapur police station.

She was produced before a local court and remanded in judicial custody, police said.

The Chhattisgarh unit of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) rebutted the police claim, insisting that Pottam was a “tribal activist and a human rights defender” and “an active member of PUCL Chhattisgarh and of national women’s organization WSS (Women against Sexual Violence and State Repression) since 2015”.

The statement said Suneeta Pottam was staying with colleagues of a women’s collective to prepare for an examination when the police turned up. “In the most shocking way, the other two colleagues were pushed inside the room and bolted from outside before the Deputy Superintendent of Police took Pottam in an unregistered vehicle without number plates threatening the landlady not to open the door. In less than half an hour, the DSP returned to flash the warrant against Pottam, refusing to give a copy to her colleagues and PUCL member Shreya Khemani who reached the place after hearing the news,” the statement alleged.

Mary Lawlor, a United Nations Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, said Suneeta Pottam’s arrest was “seemingly as a result of her peaceful advocacy” for the protection of tribal rights and against systemic violations. “She should be released immediately @IndiaUNGeneva,” she said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

PUCL also said she was arrested in violation of the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in the DK Basu case, adding that no memo of arrest was prepared or attested by family, friends and neighbours.

In 2016, Pottam petitioned the Chhattisgarh high court over the alleged extra-judicial killings of six persons in Kadenar, Palnar, Korcholi and Andri villages of Bijapur district, it said.

“At the local level she has been leading ongoing protests against the widening of roads piercing through several villages, cutting hundreds of fruit-bearing trees without holding any gram sabha in complete violation of the PESA Act,” the PUCL statement said.

Vietnamese authorities must reveal the whereabouts of independent journalist Truong Huy San, release him, and drop any pending charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.

San, a well-known political commentator and author also known by his pen names Huy Duc and Osin, was apprehended by the police on June 1 in the capital Hanoi while traveling to an event where he was scheduled to speak, and his home was also searched, according to multiple news reports.

San’s family had no news about his location or legal status, the BBC reported on June 4. CPJ has received no new information as of Thursday.

“Vietnamese authorities should immediately disclose where they are holding journalist Truong Huy San and release him unconditionally,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Vietnam must stop treating journalists like criminals and release all members of the press wrongfully held behind bars.”

Days before his arrest, San wrote critical commentary about Vietnamese politics on his Facebook page, which was shut down on June 2 for unknown reasons, those sources said.

In his posts, San wrote about two of Vietnam’s top leaders — the ruling Communist Party’s long-serving chief Nguyen Phu Trong and President To Lam, who was appointed on May 22 after being nominated by the party, the BBC said.

In his post to his 350,000 followers, San argued that Vietnam’s development could not be based on fear and noted Lam’s long-time role as Minister of Public Security.

Lam is widely seen as a contender to replace 80-year-old Trong in the top political position when his third five-year term ends in 2026.

San wrote about corruption and political reform for leading newspapers and published a popular blog before receiving a Nieman Fellowship to study at Harvard University in 2012 and 2013.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, which manages the nation’s prisons and authorizes police to make political arrests, did not immediately respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.

Vietnam was the fifth worst jailer of journalists worldwide, with at least 19 reporters behind bars on December 1, 2023, in CPJ’s latest annual global prison census.

The magistrates’ court here today ordered former student activist Wong Yan Ke to stand trial for the charge of disobeying a police order to stop recording a Facebook live video during a raid four years ago.

Magistrate Shahril Anuar Ahmad Mustapa dismissed Wong’s application to strike out his charge under Section 188 of the Penal Code.

However, the court did not provide the grounds for the decision.

Previously, Wong’s lawyers told the court that the charge was groundless, and did not disclose any offence.

Shahril also fixed June 26 and 27 for the trial to commence.

Wong, currently the Bersih deputy chairman, was charged with disobeying police officer Lee Robert’s order to stop broadcasting a Facebook live video during a raid at the home of former Universiti Malaya Association of New Youth (Umany) president Yap Wen Qing in 2020.

Wong, who was also Umany president, was granted a discharge not amounting to acquittal (DNAA) last year after witnesses did not turn up for the trial.

However, this was subsequently set aside by the High Court, and Wong was ordered to stand trial.

Wong told reporters after today’s proceedings that he will fight the charge and prove his innocence.

He was represented by lawyers Shashi Devan and Chong Kar Yan, while deputy public prosecutor Asmaa Zamri appeared for the prosecution.

On 31 May 2024, human rights defender and lawyer M. Ravi was struck off from the roll of advocates and solicitors, ordered by the High Court of Singapore.

A Hong Kong court found 14 of the city’s leading democracy activists guilty of subversion on Thursday under a tough national security law imposed on the city by China four years ago in what was described by one former lawmaker as a 'political trial.'

The city's High Court acquitted two of the 16 defendants, but the city's Department of Justice said it would appeal those verdicts.

The 118-day trial is the biggest ever prosecution of pro-democracy politicians and activists in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997 amid promises that it would keep the freedoms that once ensured its status as an international financial hub.

The mass arrest of 47 lawmakers, grass-roots activists and election hopefuls from Hong Kong’s now-defunct pro-democracy parties drew international condemnation in 2021.

Sixteen of the 47 defendants went on trial after pleading not guilty to the charge of "conspiracy to commit subversion," which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. The other 31 defendants have already pleaded guilty to the charge, and are currently awaiting sentencing along with the rest.

The charges are based on their participation in a democratic primary election in the summer of 2020, in which some 600,000 Hong Kongers turned out to vote.

But the scheduled general election was eventually postponed while the government rewrote the rules to ensure that pro-democracy candidates wouldn't be allowed to run in future elections.

The government claims the pro-democracy camp planned to subvert its power by blocking passage of its budget through the city's Legislative Council.

Former lawmakers Leung Kwok-hung, known as "Long Hair," Lam Cheuk-ting, Helena Wong and Raymond Chan were among the 14 found guilty by three government-appointed judges and no jury.

Journalist-turned-politician Gwyneth Ho and the head of the hospital workers' union Winnie Yu were also convicted.

The panel of national security judges said the two acquitted defendants, Lee Yue-shun and Lawrence Lau, should be released on bail and report to the police every month. The Department of Justice said later on Thursday that it would appeal those verdicts.

Justice Andrew Chan set June 25 as a tentative date for the court to hear mitigating arguments from those convicted, prior to sentencing.

‘Serious criminal scheme’

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said the convictions showed "the scale and the seriousness of their criminal scheme."

He said the Department of Justice had already informed the court of its intention to appeal in the case of the two acquittals.

"[The Hong Kong government] ... will do our utmost to prevent, suppress and impose punishment for acts and activities endangering national security to fulfill this justified responsibility," Lee said in a statement after the verdicts.

But former pro-democracy lawmaker Ted Hui, who fled the city amid the ongoing crackdown on dissent, and who is now living in Australia, said the trial of the 47 was effectively "a political trial."

"This has been a political trial from start to finish," Hui told RFA Mandarin on Thursday. "They are arbitrarily finding excuses to convict them to meet political needs."

"The playbook here is that the Chinese government believes it necessary to round up all democrats and convict them," said Hui, who is also a lawyer.

"The judges are merely executing the script, by finding some pretty far-fetched legal reasoning and evidence to support the idea that the democrats were trying to overthrow the regime," he said.

Australia-based lawyer and rights activist Kevin Yam said the court's interpretation and definition of what constitutes "subversion" will likely set a precedent for future cases under the 2020 National Security Law, but that the verdicts made no sense when considered alongside protection for economic, civil and political rights enshrined in the city's mini-constitution, the Basic Law.

"What's wrong with legislators exercising their constitutional power to veto the budget?" Yam said. "The most terrifying thing about this is the fact that exercising your constitutional powers can be construed as a criminal offense."

"That's a precedent that will bring all kinds of trouble in its wake," he said. "Anyone exercising their civil rights can be deemed to be breaking the law, which means that the National Security Law can be infinitely magnified [to include anything]."

‘Bulldozing freedoms’

In Washington, the Congressional Executive Commission on China, or CECC, accused the Hong Kong government of violating its international law and treaty obligations, and "bulldozing the freedoms and rule of law that once made it so vital and prosperous."

"These verdicts are yet another sign that the Chinese Communist Party is pulling the strings, as its extreme efforts to restrict democracy and human rights now dictate Hong Kong’s political and judicial institutions," Rep. Chris Smith, who chairs the commission, and Sen. Jeff Merkley said in a statement on Thursday.

The commission called for the Biden administration to sanction the judges and prosecutors responsible for what it termed "political prosecutions" and to shut down the city's Economic and Trade Offices on American soil.

Amnesty International’s China Director Sarah Brooks called the mass conviction “the most ruthless illustration yet of how Hong Kong’s National Security Law is weaponized to silence dissent.”

She called on the international community to join Amnesty in demanding the immediate and unconditional release of the activists.

“To imprison these men and women, having already kept most of the 47 in pre-trial detention for more than three years, is a brazen injustice.

“None of those convicted have committed an internationally recognized crime; they have been targeted simply for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and participation in public affairs,” she said.

‘Hostile foreign forces’

Meanwhile, a government spokesman accused unidentified "external forces" of smearing the government, the police and the courts during the trial, and of trying to interfere with the trial "through intimidatory political means and misleading remarks."

Hong Kong and Chinese officials have long blamed "hostile foreign forces" for inciting several waves of mass popular protest in Hong Kong, including the 2019 protests for fully democratic elections and greater official accountability.

The verdicts show that Hong Kong is "no longer a safe place for international business,” said Benedict Rogers, chief executive officer of the London-based rights group Hong Kong Watch.

He said the prosecution had presented "bogus evidence," and that the British government should reevaluate Hong Kong's overseas privileges and expand its lifeboat British National Overseas, or BNO, visa program to help people flee the ongoing crackdown, which was recently expanded with a second national security law, known as Article 23.

According to the overseas-based Hong Kong Democracy Council, the sentences that are eventually handed down will depend on the defendants' alleged role in the primary election.

“Ringleaders” could get 10 years to life, "active participants" 3-10 years and other participants less than three years, the group said via its X account, calling on the authorities to “free all political prisoners.”

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said her government was “deeply concerned” by the verdicts, including that for one Australian citizen among them, Gordon Ng.

“Australia has expressed our strong objections to the Hong Kong authorities on the continuing broad application of national security legislation to arrest and pressure pro-democracy figures, opposition groups, media, trade unions and civil society.

“We know that the application of these laws also has implications for individuals outside of Hong Kong, including in Australia,” she said in a statement.