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.

On May 29, an unknown number of unidentified gunmen on three motorbikes stopped Mastoi, a reporter for Sindh News TV and Times News media outlets, and shot him four times while he was on his way home in Rohri town, located in Pakistan’s Sukkur District, according to press freedom nonprofit the Pakistan Press Foundation and the independent daily Dawn. The armed men also beat Pitafi, a cameraman accompanying Mastoi during the attack, according to the Pakistan Press Foundation.

On May 30, armed men on two motorbikes shot Ikhlaq while he was returning to his native town Bewal from Gujar Khan city in Punjab province, according to media reports. The independent daily newspaper Nation reported that Ikhlaq is a correspondent for the Daily Express and a member of the Bewal Khan Press Club.

“Pakistani authorities must swiftly investigate the attacks on journalists Haider Mastoi, Chaudhry Ikhlaq, and Khan Muhammad Pitafi, and hold the perpetrators to account,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government must stop this alarming rise in attacks against journalists, and end this cycle of impunity that fuels a culture of violence against Pakistan media.”

Pakistan remains politically volatile after a February election—marred by campaign violence and widely described as flawed—led to the formation of a coalition government.

Although the motive behind the attacks on the journalists remains unclear, media reports indicated that Ikhlaq had received death threats from local influential individuals for his critical coverage of Pakistani nationals who have left the country.

According to reports, Mastoi and Ikhlaq are in stable condition and are recovering in the hospital.

Sukkur police have detained an unidentified number of suspects in connection with the attack on Mastoi, according to Rauf Abbasi, a local journalist in Sukkur, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app.

Earlier in May, four journalists were killed in separate incidents in Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. CPJ is investigating whether the journalists were killed in retaliation for their reporting.

Police in Sindh and Punjab provinces did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment about the attacks on Mastoi and Ikhlaq.

Facebook Logo Twitter Logo May 28, 2024 Hong Kong: Arrests under new national security law a ‘shameful attempt’ at suppressing peaceful commemoration of Tiananmen crackdown Responding to the police’s first use of the recently adopted “Article 23” legislation (Safeguarding National Security Ordinance) to arrest six people, including human rights activist Chow Hang-tung, for alleged sedition crimes, Amnesty International’s China director Sarah Brooks said:

“The Hong Kong government has once again moved to suppress freedom of expression as it attempts to stop people remembering the horrific events of 4 June 1989.

“Chow Hang-tung’s 1000th day in detention on national security charges is next week – on 4 June, no less – and the authorities seem intent on ensuring that her fight for freedom is even longer by adding new so-called crimes to her file.

“Despite warnings from UN human rights experts that the law is inconsistent with international human rights laws and standards, the Hong Kong government insists on weaponizing it to silence critique.

“The government’s shameful attempt to prohibit people from marking the upcoming anniversary is an insult to those killed in the Tiananmen crackdown and their family members.

“Chow Hang-tung and others in Hong Kong arrested simply for exercising the right to freedom of expression should be immediately and unconditionally released, and the Hong Kong police must refrain from suppressing other peaceful commemorations of the 1989 tragedy. Remembering the Tiananmen crackdown is not and never shall be a crime.”

Background Five women and one man were arrested today for allegedly committing offences in connection with seditious intention under section 24 of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (i.e. Article 23 legislation).

A government press release stated that the arrests are related to social media posts commemorating “a sensitive day” (referring to 4 June, the anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown). Media and civil society groups reported that detained activist Chow Hang-tung and her mother were among the six arrested.

Hundreds – possibly thousands – of people were killed in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on 4 June 1989 when Chinese troops opened fire on students and workers who had been peacefully calling for political and economic reforms as well as an end to corruption. For thirty years, Hong Kong hosted the largest vigil in the world to commemorate those who stood up for freedom, and those who lost their lives, in June 1989.

Hong Kong’s Legislative Council unanimously voted on 19 March 2024 to pass the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance under Article 23 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution. The Ordinance increases penalties for acts relating to sedition and contains many troubling provisions, such as the vague and broadly worded crime of ‘external interference’ as well as an attack on the right to a fair trial.

Ambassador of People’s Republic of China to Nepal intimidated a noted journalist in a conversation through his post on X (twitter).

Chief editor at https://taksarnews.com/ Gajendra Budhathoki wrote a post on X on May 27 about interest rate for loan from the Chinese government for construction of Pokhara International Airport, Pokhara.

On the post, Ambassador Chen Song accused Budhathoki of posting the worst lie and challenged him to furnish clarification over his post with proof on May 28. Again on May 29 early morning, the ambassador replied in the same thread, “We demand a formal apology from you and whoever people you represent.”

In response to this thread, Budhathoki replied that he would publish the information in detail soon and that his post was based on official documents from the Nepal Government.

To this, Freedom Forum’s Chief Executive Taranath Dahal observed, “It is quite strange that a foreign ambassador wants apology from a noted investigative journalist over a social media post in the host country. He could disagree with journalist’s point. Such intimidation is deplorable.”

Freedom Forum condemns the ambassador’s behavior towards a journalist on the twitter. His replies to the journalist’s post is against the diplomatic etiquette and a sheer violation freedom of expression. Being a diplomat, the ambassador should cooperate with journalist to publish the credible information rather than intimidation.

Trieu Sieu, 35, an indigenous Khmer Krom resident in Tran De District, Soc Trang Province, learned that the Immigration Department of Soc Trang Provincial Police refused to issue him a passport because he is currently on the travel ban list. The official notice, No. 377/XNC, issued by the immigration department, stated that Sieu’s travel ban is effective between August 1, 2023, and August 1, 2026. It did not specifically say why the Khmer Krom resident is banned from traveling abroad.

A relative of Sieu, who declined to be named due to security concerns, Sieu was banned from leaving the country because he advocated on May 28 that the only reason why Sieu was banned from leaving the country was because of his advocating for the rights of the local Khmer Krom people. According to the relative, Sieu had distributed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, along with other activities to promote the rights of the Khmer Krom populations.

Sieu also used his social media account to denounce the authorities’ suppression of the rights of the Khmer Krom people, especially their religious freedom and land rights. RFA reported that in January 2023, the Trung Binh Commune Police, where he lived, summoned Sieu to an interrogation regarding his posting on social media. During that session, the police reportedly questioned him on his sharing of allegations about state repression of the Khmer Krom people.

A group of civil activists gathered in front of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna office at Nelum Mawatha, Battaramulla for a protest.

Their protest centered around the contention that the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna lacks the mandate to endorse bills affecting the country.

Among the activists present was Jamuni Kamantha Thushara, who had participated in the signing of an agreement known as “One Agenda for the Nation” in Colombo yesterday afternoon.

This morning, they assembled outside the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna head office to protest.

Security measures were heightened, with police and anti-riot teams stationed at the party headquarters. However, civil activists were denied entry.

Additionally, Dan Priyasad, a civil organization activist, attempted to reach the protest site from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party headquarters.

In a separate incident, journalist Enamul Haque, a local correspondent of Dainik Kalbela in Islampur was stabbed while investigating the stocking practices of the Asad Dali Rice Mill, meant to feed people in need under the Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) programme.

Haque was accompanied by three local journalists on this assignment, and shortly after arrival, they entered into a confrontation with the mill’s owner. Haque was stabbed by the owner of the mill, and transported to receive medical care at the Jamalpur General Hospital. by police. No cases have been filed in relation to the attack, with the mill owner believed to be in hiding.

Two activists have been sentenced to prison on a royal defamation charge for allegedly burning a portrait of King Vajiralongkorn in front of the Klongprem Central Prison. They were later released on bail pending appeal.

Chaiamorn ‘Ammy’ Kaewwiboonpan, a pop singer-turned-activist, and Thanapat Kapeng, an activist from the Thalufah group, were charged with royal defamation and arson for allegedly setting fire to a portrait of King Vajiralongkorn on 28 February 2021. Chaiamorn was also charged with violation of the Computer Crimes Act for posting on Facebook a picture of the burning portrait with the caption “The media wouldn’t dare report this. A friend said that, last night, a royal portrait was torched in front of the Klongprem Prison. Give this post a ‘share’ for freedom. #Freeourfriends.”

Chaiamorn was arrested on 3 March 2021. He was subsequently denied bail and detained for 69 days before being released on bail. Thanapat was later summoned to report to the police.

After his indictment, Thanapat’s lawyer requested that his case be transferred to the Central Juvenile and Family Court, since he was only 18 years old at the time of the incident. The request was denied on the grounds that he was no longer a minor and was of normal physical and mental condition for his age.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said yesterday (27 May) that the Criminal Court found Chaiamorn and Thanapat guilty of all charges. Chaiamorn was sentenced to 4 years in prison, while Thanapat was sentenced to 1 year.

Noting that the two activists claimed they did not intend to defame the King, the Court ruled that setting fire to a royal portrait as a symbolic act of protest to demand release of political prisoners implied that they would burn or destroy the King himself if their demands were not met - a threat to the King and devaluation of the institution.

The Court also ruled that, by posting a picture of the burning portrait on a public Facebook profile, Chaiamorn aimed to damage the King’s reputation.

Chaiamorn and Thanapat were later granted bail pending appeal on a security of 200,000 baht and 50,000 baht respectively.

A progressive Move Forward Party MP, Chonthicha Jangrew, has been sentenced to three years in prison for royal defamation over a protest speech in 2021. The sentence was later reduced to two years in prison without parole.

The court ruled that Chonthicha Jangrew, also known as “Lookkate”, was guilty under the royal defamation law for her speech during a 2021 protest in front of the Thanyaburi Provincial Court. The protest was staged to demand the release of political detainees. The MP revealed that another nine defendants in this case were charged under the Emergency Decree and the Sound Amplifier Act for using a loudhailer without permission. These nine defendants were later acquitted.

Chonthicha was the only one who was charged under the royal defamation law over her speech about the laws concerning crown property management and royal service administration that were amended during the tenure of former PM Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha. She asserted that the speech was delivered with good intentions.

In her speech, she criticized the then-Prime Minister’s amendments to the laws, which gave King Vajiralongkorn more power to monopolise royal assets. The judges stated that her speech could lead to misunderstanding by suggesting that the King intentionally spent taxpayers’ money for his personal use and exercised his power to interfere with the state administration.

Initially sentenced to three years in prison, her sentence was reduced to two years in prison without parole due to her useful testimony. The court allowed provisional bail, and the MP will appeal the verdict.

This is Chonthicha’s second case as she also faces another royal defamation charge for posting a message to King Vajiralongkorn during a November 2020 protest. That case is currently at the stage of witness examination.

Before entering politics, Chonthicha was a prominent pro-democracy activist after the 2014 coup, when she was a university student. She was among those who were arrested and detained for 12 days in 2015 for sedition and illegal assembly for staging a protest to mark the first anniversary of the 2014 coup.

The court’s verdict came a few days after Chonthicha was named among Time’s Next Generation Leaders 2024.

Authorities in southern Vietnam have stepped-up harassment of activists from the ethnic Cambodian Khmer Krom community who are trying to promote the rights of the indigenous people, according to representatives.

Nearly 1.3 million Khmer Krom live in the south. They face serious restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly, movement and religion, community members say.

Relatives of a 35-year-old Khmer Krom activist called Trieu Sieu told Radio Free Asia the Immigration Management Department of Soc Trang provincial police refused to issue a passport to him.

The deputy head of the department, Lt. Col. Thanh Hoa, said in a letter on May 24 that Trieu Sieu is banned from leaving the country between Aug. 1, 2023 and Aug. 1, 2026.

He said Trieu Sieu could not get a passport until he was removed from an exit ban list.

“The only reason Trieu Sieu is banned from leaving the country is due to his activities fighting for the rights of the local Khmer people,” said a relative who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

“He participated in disseminating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples along with many other human rights activists,” the relative said.

At the end of January 2023, Trieu Sieu was invited to Trung Binh Commune Police to discuss "a number of issues related to online activities on Facebook when sharing information about repression of the Khmer people.”

On a Facebook page of Hieu Khmer Krom, believed to linked to Trieu Sieu, there is a picture of him standing with activist Danh Minh Quang, who was sentenced to three years and six months in prison in February on a charge of "abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals."

RFA Vietnamese contacted Trieu Sieu to ask for more information, but he declined to comment saying that he was preparing to send a complaint to Soc Trang provincial police department to ask why he was banned from leaving the country.

The Soc Trang provincial police department and the Immigration Management Department declined to answer questions about Trieu Sieu's case over the telephone, saying the reporter should go to the agencies’ headquarters to get information.

Article 36 of the Law on Exit and Entry of Vietnamese Citizens 2019 states that cases of delayed exit include people who have grounds to believe that their exit affects national defense and security, or are suspects, defendants, accused persons, or persons recommended for prosecution through inspection and verification. If there are grounds to determine that a person is suspected of committing a crime and it is deemed necessary to immediately prevent that person from escaping or destroying evidence according to the provisions of the 2015 Criminal Procedure Code they will be prevented from leaving the country.

Vietnam denies accusations from international human rights groups that it represses religious freedoms and other rights. Freedom of religion is technically enshrined in the constitution but critics say authorities often override rights, including religious freedom, for purposes of national security, social order, social morality and community well-being.

Monk expelled from temple

Another case involves a Buddhist monk called Kim Som Rinh.

On March 26, the Giac Ngo Online newspaper reported that the Patriotic Monks Solidarity Association of the Khmer-Mekone Buddhist Association of Tra Vinh province had decided not to recognize Bhikkhu Kim Som Rinh as a member of the Sangha Chac A Kron Pagoda (Dai Tuong Pagoda); did not recognize him as a member of the Khmer Theravada Buddhist Sangha of Tra Vinh province and expelled him from the temple on March 14. They also asked all 143 Khmer pagodas in the province to refuse to accept him.

The Buddhist group said Kim Som Rinh refused three times to accept an invitation from the Patriotic Monks' Solidarity Association of Tra Vinh province; posted or shared untrue images and videos on social networking sites with content that caused insecurity and threatened social order; invited monks and Buddhists to participate in his own activities causes disunity in the temple and the community; and is a Bhikkhu – or ordained monk – who is difficult to teach, stubborn and does not comply with the canon law and teachings of the abbot and leaders at all levels of the association.

Kim Som Rinh, now living with his family, confirmed that he was forced to leave the temple. He said it was because he promoted human rights and spoke in support of the victims of miscarriages of justice, including Khmers whose land was confiscated in Kien Giang.

“They do not want the monks and activists here to speak about indigenous peoples,” he told RFA Vietnamese.

“They also don't want us to use the words ‘Khmer Krom and the tricolor flag representing the Khmer Krom Federation,” Kampuchea-Krom Khmers Federation or KKF.

“They accuse Khmer activists of many things, and often summon them just because of disseminating the United Nations human rights law and indigenous people's law. They often accuse activists of distorting the truth and disrupting security and order."

Police summon Khmer Krom

On May 27, Cau Ke district police summoned 34-year-old Thach Nga to come to the headquarters to work on issues "related to the use of the organization's 3-color flag … and posting and sharing false information on social networks."

Three days earlier, Ham Giang commune police sent a fourth letter to Thach Thi Huynh Thone to request her to come to the agency's headquarters the next morning to "discuss about carrying the KKF flag.”

And on May 15, Nhi Truong commune police summoned Thach Pho Reng on "some issues related to social networks."

Even though it was just an "invitation," the commune police chief told Thach Pho Reng "to strictly comply and go on the prescribed date, time, and location, without making any excuse for his absence."

The commune's police also summoned 37-year-old Thach Yen Sa Ray, concerning social media posts.

RFA telephoned the police in those communes to verify the details but officials asked the reporter to meet them directly to receive the information.

Tran Xa Rong, second vice president of the KKF, told RFA that more Khmer Krom people had been learning about human rights and the rights of indigenous people, so they distributed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations International Convention on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in their communities.

“The local police always monitor and harass every meeting of young people, and every celebration of every temple, and from then on, any young people who have any insight in that matter are always summoned for questioning," he said.

There is a strong suspicion that there is an attempt to criminalize plasma farmers who are members of the Kuala Tunak KUD in Tabuyung Village, Muara Batang Girls District, Mandailing Natal (Madina) Regency.

This was explained by the Chairman of KUD Kuala Tunak, Wardan Batubara via a WA message received by Waspada.id, Monday (27/5).

Wardan explained that the criminalization was allegedly carried out by the Management of PT Sawit Sukses Sejati (PT. SSS). KUD Kuala Tunak plasma farmers concluded that they were criminalized after hundreds of plasma participating farmers came to the South Madina Plantation Office (KMS) to ask directly for surplus plasma plantation products from PT SSS Management.

They went directly to PT. SSS because the management and supervisors have made maximum efforts, both verbally and in writing so that PT. SSS as the adoptive father in managing plasma plantations will pay a surplus at the end of 2023 worth IDR 2.8 billion to plasma participating farmers. Three months of efforts were made but did not produce results.

"We have made efforts since January 2024, both in writing and orally, conveyed in several meetings with PT Management. SSS requested that the 2023 surplus be paid to members, but the adoptive father (PT. SSS) did not want to pay it. Then, we held a meeting with plasma members, the decision at the meeting was for all members to request the surplus directly from PT Management. SSS," said Wardan Batubara, Chairman of KUD Kuala Tunak.

Wardan Batubara further explained, on March 20 2024, hundreds of members accompanied by Kuala Tunak KUD Management and Supervisors went to the KMS plantation office, the members directly asked for their rights, namely a surplus of IDR 2.8 billion, from PT Management. SSS. However, the answer received by a member from the Group Manager named Ramsi, was not accepted by the company, and the company instead invited members to manage their own plantations.

GM PT's answer. The SSS makes the members emotional and quarrels occur even though they can still be controlled. At that time, the members remained at the location until evening and there was an incident where the window of the meeting room was thrown, the perpetrator of which was not known because it was dark, there was no lighting, and the only sound that could be heard was the sound of breaking glass.

This incident of the garden office window being thrown is what is strongly suspected to have been caused by PT Management. SSS to criminalize Kuala Tunak KUD Management, Supervisors and Members as plasma farmer participants.

This can be proven by the actions of PT. SSS, through Rico Yustanto, has made a report to the Mandailing Natal Police with the reporter, Heri Risnandar as Public Relations and Iswayudi Arabia as Security, with Police Report Number: LP/B/78/III/2024/SPKT/Mandiling Natal Police/North Sumatra Police. A total of 14 administrators, supervisors and members of the Kualo Tunak KUD will respond to the summons from the Mandailing Natal Police on Monday and Tuesday, 27/28 May 2024 regarding this incident.

"We have received the summons from the Madina Police and we will attend at the appointed time. We believe that what the members have done is the truth to demand their rights and we also ask that PT SSS be held accountable for what they have done in managing the community plasma plantation, it is a mandate." said Wardan Batubara.

Meanwhile, Sakwan Lubis, Chief Supervisor of KUD Kuala Tunak, who was contacted via cellphone, said that PT. The SSS should be suspected of embezzling plasma farmer funds because to date, the 2023 plasma plantation surplus of IDR 2.8 billion has not been distributed to members. Sakwan hopes that the Mandailing Natal Regency Government will not remain silent on this issue, as civil servants and public servants they should not allow society to be criminalized by unscrupulous business people.

Sakwan Lubis also explained, PT. SSS as the adoptive father in the management of plasma plantations never involves KUD. Kuala Tunak as the plantation owner makes plans for plantation management costs and their realization, whether annually, monthly or even weekly. But suddenly, at the beginning of 2023 the management of PT. SSS delivers KUD. Kuala Tunak is in minus condition and has a debt of IDR 8.3 billion. This condition makes KUD Kuala Tunak question what kind of management is carried out by PT. SSS in managing the garden seems unprofessional. The reason is because the plasma farmers have handed over the management of the plantation to PT. SSS is considered an expert and professional in managing oil palm plantations, but the facts on the ground are different. It should be PT. SSS can plan and predict what costs and profits will be as well as what obstacles will be faced.

KUD party. Kuala Tunak is currently conducting an investigation to prove this, if proven it will bring the matter into the realm of law.

Madina Police Chief. AKBP Arie Sopandi Paloh, S.Ik confirmed via WA message, until this news was sent there had been no reply.

Anti-coup protesters said they were shot at by soldiers in Hlaing Township on May 26. A group called Yangon UG said three of its members hung a banner that read: “Only justice will win” from an overpass and burned a copy of the 2008 constitution. The protesters said they all escaped from the gunfire unharmed and evaded arrest.

The Jalal-Abad City Court in southern Kyrgyzstan told RFE/RL on May 27 that independent journalist Ali Ergeshev was fined 70,000 soms ($795) on a hooliganism charge three days earlier. Ergeshev was detained on February 13 and placed under house arrest. His detention came just before Kyrgyz lawmakers approved a controversial bill allowing authorities to register media outlets and NGOs as "foreign representatives" in a way that critics say mirrors repressive Russian legislation that the authorities there have used to discredit its critics and stifle civil society. Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov signed the bill into law in early April.

An appellate court in Tra Vinh Province on May 23 rejected the appeals of Thach Cuong, 37, and To Hoang Chuong, 38, two activists who have campaigned for the rights to freedom of religion of the indigenous Khmer Krom population living in the southwestern part of Vietnam.

In a first-instance trial on March 20, Cuong was sentenced to four years, and Chuong received three years and six months in prison. Both were charged with violating Article 331 of the Penal Code, which forbids “abusing democratic freedom to infringe on the state and other individuals' interests.”

The People’s Police Newspaper, a mouthpiece of the Ministry of Public Security, reported that Thach Cuong was arrested because he “had regular interactions with overseas reactionary organizations and individuals through social networking platforms from 2021 until he was detained on July 31, 2023.”

At the same time, it added, Cuong had “posted, live streamed, and published 14 videos that reflect false facts and affect national and religious solidarity in Vietnam.” Meanwhile, Chuong was accused of sharing the information published by Thach Cuong and several foreign websites that “distorted” the religious situation in Vietnam.

According to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), Thach Cuong and To Hoang Chuong became targets of the government’s persecution because of their advocacy for the Khmer Krom religious adherents to practice their religion and beliefs without state interference. The USCIRF noted that the police had temporarily detained and assaulted Chuong when he visited another Khmer Krom activist in Soc Trang Province in June 2023.

Journalists associated with different online news media were manhandled while reporting on May 22 in Kathmandu.

Journalists were Krishna Kattel and Navraj Pahadi from https://www.hareknews.com/, Sudeep Bhandari from https://pathibharachannel.com/, Pushkar Bhandari from https://www.rightsanchar.com/ were manhandled while reporting on footpath expansion in New Road.

According to Kattel, the locals were protesting against the Kathmandu Metropolitan City’s order to expand footpath at New Road area.

“After we reached there to report on the KMC’s order and locals views, few local people pushed us out of the premises. They also kicked one of the journalists and tried to seize our reporting devices but the on-duty police officers helped us leave the site safely”, journalist Kattel shared.

Ward chair apologizes Thereafter, as journalists tried to report the incident at a nearby police station, ward chairperson Chin Kaki Maharjan apologized to them on behalf of the protestors and ensured that such incident will not repeat in future.

“It seems the attack was targeted against me as I have been reporting on the issues surrounding the place. I have also learned that a social campaign along with my photo has been started to ban my entry to New Road area. But this does not stop my work”, Kattel said.

Freedom Forum is concerned towards the intimidation upon journalists. It is a sheer violation of press freedom. Journalists reporting on protest and public issues must not be targeted. The security authority is urged to ensure security of journalists while report in the premises, while locals must cooperate with journalists for reporting in public spaces.

Police on Tuesday arrested Kantipur Media Group Chairman Kailash Sirohiya.

A police team, including Senior Superintendent of Police Sanuram Bhattarai and Superintendent of Police Rabindra Regmi of Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office, arrested Sirohiya from the Thapathali-based central office of the media group.

Police arrested Sirohiya without questioning him on a complaint filed at the Dhanusha District Police Office.

The arrest follows a series of news reports carried out by KMG’s outlets on the cooperative scam. Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane is accused of misappropriating millions of rupees deposited in various cooperatives in several cities.

Talking to the media briefly after his arrest, Sirohiya said the government showed authoritarian characteristics [by arresting him] despite his willingness to assist in the investigation.

Sirohiya also described his arrest as a blow to press freedom. “This is an assault on press freedom, and I will fight until the end,” he said.

Earlier today, Sirohiya said he was ready to cooperate in every investigation conducted as per the law.

In a statement, Sirohiya said the arrest warrant was issued to blackmail Kantipur daily into not publishing more reports on cooperative frauds.

“It is the media’s responsibility to raise voice and demand justice and fair investigation into all those involved in the embezzlement of the hard-earned savings of more than 7.1 million depositors in various cooperatives,” Sirohiya said. “There is no doubt that the filing of the complaint and the issuance of the arrest warrant against me without any interrogation has been done to blackmail Kantipur into not publishing more reports on the issue and to divert attention.”

Sirohiya asserted that Kantipur will not back down even an inch from raising its voice against the wrongdoings in the society, including on the cooperatives scam.

“The office bearers who abuse their authority and misuse police administration to exact vengeance against the chairman of a media house based on the news they publish should also answer when there will be an investigation into the individual who came to power through political bargaining that entailed getting the Attorney General to certify that he would not be prosecuted for holding dual passports,” Sirohiya said.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Pakistani authorities to shed all possible light on an independent reporter’s murder in North Waziristan, a mountainous district bordering Afghanistan, on 21 May, just weeks after he voiced fears for his safety. Those responsible must be brought to justice, RSF says.

An independent online reporter aged in his 30s, Kamran Dawar was slain by unidentified gunmen outside his home in Tappi, a village 15 km south of Miranshah, the chief town in the North Waziristan district, which is located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

“It was a targeted murder,” Miranshah-based police officer Rukhan Zeb Khan told RSF’s Pakistan representative, when reached by telephone.

Dawar ran a YouTube channel and a Facebook TV news channel called Waziristan TV in which he covered the social problems that his fellow citizens face in North Waziristan. The Miranshah press club said in a statement that he had voiced concerns about his safety. He leaves a widow and two young daughters.

The media community has condemned Dawar’s murder and has called for an investigation that brings the perpetrators to justice. No group has so far claimed the killing, RSF has learned.

Dawar was the fourth journalist to be killed in Waziristan since 2005, in an increasingly dangerous environment. Several politicians and election candidates have been killed recently in the district, which borders Afghanistan’s Khost province.

In the southern province of Sindh, the same day, Nasrullah Gadani, a journalist with the Awami Awaz newspaper, has been severely injured by motorcycle gunmen near the city of Mirpur Mathelo. Gadani denounced the feudal system in his province and was targeted because of his work, the newspaper’s editor, Jabbar Khattak, told RSF’s Pakistan representative.

Five pro-Palestine activists were summoned to the Sentul district police headquarters to give statements for demonstrating against an exhibition featuring US defence contractors earlier this month.

Lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan said the five, who were individually represented, were questioned this afternoon for about 90 minutes.

“All five stated that they would answer any charges brought against them in court,” he told FMT, adding that they were being investigated under the Peaceful Assembly Act.

Rajesh, who represented Jason S Ganesan, a freelance editor, said the five were summoned last week.

Earlier, Malaysiakini reported that the five, who are members of the Sekretariat Solidariti Palestin (SSP), were called up after gathering at the Defence Services Asia (DSA) and National Security (Natsec) Asia programme, which was held from May 7-9.

SSP had previously hit out at the presence of major US defence contractors, such as Lockheed Martin, at the three-day defence and security exhibition for providing arms to Israel which it said was engaged “in acts of genocide and brutal killings against the Palestinian people”.

Defence minister Khaled Nordin later defended the involvement of such companies, saying Putrajaya did not intervene in matters involving international companies.

Agrarian conflicts are thought to have led to the criminalization of residents, as experienced by Subardin (55) and Agus (36), residents of Bungintimbe Village, North Morowali Regency (Morut), Central Sulawesi (Central Sulawesi).

Currently the two residents have been detained and named as suspects by the Morut Police for alleged threats that occurred in the PT Sinar Mestika Nusantara (SMN) mining area.

Due to the detention, the families of the suspects, namely their wives and children, came and complained to the Central Sulawesi Representative Commission of National Human Rights, on Thursday (30/5/24), accompanied by the Coordinator of the People's Front for Palm Oil Advocacy (FRAS) Eva Bande.

Previously, Subardin and his group in 2019 had gradually cleared 32 hectares of land, by planting cassava, bananas and coconuts, and at that location they also built a small hut as a place to rest.

In 2022 PT Sinar Mestika Nusantara will evict land that has been managed by Subardin and his group. On the grounds that the company has compensated the Tanaoge village community for losses.

Because they were defending their land rights, Subardin and his group protested by blocking the location of PT Sinar Mestika Nusantara. At that time an argument broke out between Subardin's group and company employees.

Furthermore, on May 21 2024, Subardin and one member of his group, Agus, were named as suspects, even though they were only defending their land which had been cultivated and managed together.

Meanwhile, Central Sulawesi FRAS Coordinator Eva Bande condemned the act of detaining the two residents. According to him, this is a form of criminalization and silencing of farmers who are fighting for their land rights.

The agrarian activist also urged the Central Sulawesi National Human Rights Commission to take firm steps to end the legal process by prioritizing dialogue and persuasion in the agrarian case that befell Subardin and Agus.

Confirmed separately, Head of Criminal Investigation Unit for North Morowali Police, AKP Arsyad Ma'aling, denied that the detention of the two people was related to land issues and land disputes.

"The case is not about land and land disputes, they were detained because they made threats with sharp weapons, we will release them later to the Police," he said briefly.

The Civil Society Coalition has condemned all forms of threats, intimidation, and violence experienced by the residents of Kampung Susun Bayam (KSB).

The violence occurred on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, at KSB in the Jakarta International Stadium (JIS) area, North Jakarta, and was carried out by security personnel from Jakarta International Stadium, Jakarta Propertindo (JakPro), the Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP).

The coalition, which includes LBH Jakarta, KontraS, WALHI Jakarta, YLBHI, Community Paralegal, Brotherhood of Kampung Bayam Residents (PWKB), Pancoran United Forum, Oppressed Kampung Pilar Community Forum (FORWAPTI), and Petamburan Public Housing Residents, stated this in their press release, quoted by KBA News on Saturday, May 21, 2024.

“From the information we gathered, JIS security personnel and the police approached KSB residents’ homes and immediately demanded that the residents vacate their residences. JIS security and police forcibly entered and used violence to force residents out of their homes, resulting in injuries to several residents and trauma to others, including women and children,” the statement read.

The coalition observed that police members allowed violence by Jakpro security personnel, which they view as a violation of the constitutional mandate as stated in Article 30 Paragraph (4) of the 1945 Constitution, which stipulates that the police’s function is to maintain public security and order by providing protection, fostering, and serving the community.

Additionally, about 500 combined forces consisting of private security, Civil Service Police, National Police, and the Armed Forces were deployed to evict 150 residents from 37 families (KK). “We assess this as a clear form of excessive use of force in security actions,” the coalition further explained.

The actions of these forces are prohibited by various internal regulations and other rules, specifically Police Regulation (Perkap) No. 1/2009 on the Use of Force in Police Actions and Perkap No. 8/2009 on the Implementation of Human Rights Principles and Standards in the Performance of Police Duties of the Republic of Indonesia.

“The Civil Society Coalition demands the Indonesian National Police, Mabes Polri Cq. Metro Jaya Police to stop all forms of repressive actions against Kampung Susun Bayam residents,” the release stated. Colonized by Our Own People

The forced eviction actions in Kampung Susun Bayam by the Satpol PP and security are considered arbitrary abuses of power. PT Jakarta Propertindo (JakPro), the BUMD of DKI Jakarta and manager of KSB, is accused of neglecting the humanistic aspect in handling the issue.

Human Rights and Democracy Activist Muhammad Adi Alim views the actions by the BUMD as orders from the higher-ups, specifically the Acting Governor of DKI Jakarta, Pj Heru Budi Hartono.

“This is the outcome of an acting governor appointed through a giveaway, who was never democratically elected by the people of Jakarta,” he stated when contacted by KBA News on Friday, May 24, 2024.

According to him, an acting official is appointed as an executor, a public servant, but what is done and decided does not represent the people. “Then who does it represent? Obviously, it represents those who appointed him as Acting Governor,” he firmly stated.

This social media activist recalled that what happened in Kampung Susun Bayam is part of the colonization performed by our own nation. “I am reminded of Bung Karno’s will, my struggle was easier because it was against other nations, your struggle is harder because it’s against your own nation,” he explained.

He said, to this day, Bung Karno’s will remains relevant. The colonization in this country is by those paid with the people’s money. “The events in Kampung Susun Bayam are proof of what Bung Karno said. The red carpet of colonization is laid out by our own nation,” he revealed.

The political TikToker expressed sadness over the events affecting the residents of Kampung Susun Bayam. He also hopes for justice to arrive soon. “May justice arrive soon. May the oppressors, those unjust to the people, receive fitting retribution,” he said.

Previously, KBA News reported that Muhammad Chozin Amirullah, Special Staff to Governor Anies Baswedan, condemned the JakPro elites who claimed the eviction of Kampung Susun Bayam on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, was conducted humanely.

Contrary to their claims, the eviction at KSB located in the JIS area involved over 500 officers and even led to injuries among the residents during the upheaval.

“How can that be considered humane when you deploy hundreds of officers, almost 500 or maybe more, consisting of Satpol PP, security. How can you say there was no intimidation,” he strongly stated.

“There was blood spilled there. There was blood scattered on the floor. There were mothers who fainted. There were children crying. You claim that was humane,” he further rejected the claims of the JakPro elites.

Discussion activities at the Water Forum for the People (The People's Water Forum/PWF) event in Denpasar City , Bali, Monday (20/5/2024) afternoon, discontinued. A group of people from a community organization came to the location of the event and forced the organizers of the Water for the People Forum to stop the discussion activities.

Not only did they force the event to be stopped, the group of community organizations (mass organizations) also took a number of billboards for the Water Forum for the People event. The coordinator of the mass organization argued that the activities of the Water Forum for the People could disrupt the conduciveness of Bali in the midst of holding the international conference World Water Forum (World Water Forum/WWF) 10.

"There has been a directive from the Governor of Bali to maintain a conducive atmosphere during the WWF activities," said Gus Yadi, coordinator of the organization, when interviewed by reporters.

Also read: Opening World Water Forum, Jokowi Reveals Threat of Water Crisis

The intimidation actions taken by the organization have been regretted by several parties, including participants, event organizers of the People's Air Forum who were on location, as well as several discussion participants who joined the event virtually.

The participant in the discussion from Carleton University in Canada, Meera Karunananthan, who attended the event virtually, stated that the act of intimidation towards the series of forums on Air for the People, which discussed water issues and concerns the interests of the general public, indicates a restriction on public rights.

Director of Bintang Gana Bali Foundation, who is also the Chairman of Bali Care Forum, I Nyoman Mardika, revealed that the organization of the People's Water Forum event, coordinated by the People's Coalition for the Right to Water and serving as a people's forum accompanying the 10th World Water Forum (WWF) in Bali, also discussed issues about water and water justice for the people. "We feel there is repressive action against this public activity," said Mardika, who was a speaker during the ongoing discussion.

In response to the suspension of the discussion event, Mardika declared that he had to leave the room to meet with the group of organizations, which disrupted the discussion and eventually caused it to stop.

In his statement to reporters, Mardika said that the hosting of the People's Forum on Air in Denpasar, scheduled to begin on Tuesday (21/5/20204), does not disturb the security situation and community conduciveness because there is no agenda for protests or demonstrations.

Encountered at the event location, Secretary General of Pro-Democracy (ProDem) 98 Bali, Roberto Hutabarat expressed his disappointment over the occurrence of intimidation from an organization claiming to represent the Bali community.

In his statement to reporters on Monday (May 20, 2024), Roberto stated that the repressive actions of certain civil society groups towards the public activity of the Air Forum for the People event indicates pressure from government officials and security forces who are anti-criticism.

"As facilitators of the event, we strive to ensure the implementation of the People's Water Forum," said Roberto, who is also part of the local committee organizing the People's Water Forum in Bali. "WWF also organizes discussions and meetings. Why is it forbidden when the community holds such meetings as a counter-narrative?" questioned Roberto.

Contacted separately, Head of Bali Regional Police Public Relations Division, Commissioner Jansen Avitus Panjaitan stated that there are no prohibitions for the implementation of discussions and demonstrations during the international events in Bali.

The activity can take place as long as it is carried out in an orderly manner and does not disturb the security and public order. In addition, the organizers have informed the police about the agenda and implementation of the activity beforehand.

The Water for the People Forum event, held in Denpasar, raised the theme of "Building Solidarity through the Water Justice Movement". The event was attended by participants from Indonesia and the international community.

Also read:Strengthening Solidarity and Prosperity Through Water

In a series of discussions under the People's Air Forum activities on Monday (May 20th, 2024), several participants who joined online and offline emphasized the importance of fair access to water for the community.

Online, Director Main of the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) Bali Women Crisis Center (WCC) Ni Nengah Budawati said that fair water access is correlated with fulfilling the rights of women and children.

The Chairperson of the National Executive Body of the Women's Solidarity Armayanti Sanusi stated that ensuring fair access to water is also a form of respect for women's rights. Water is a fundamental necessity that affects all aspects of community life, including women.

Found at a discussion event in Denpasar City, Armayanti also expressed her disappointment with the pressure and intimidation during the implementation of the People's Water Forum event.

Police in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi have arrested trade unionist Vu Minh Tien, according to The 88 Project, an international nonprofit that campaigns for freedom of speech in Vietnam.

Tien is head of policy and legal affairs at the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor and director of the Institute for Workers and Trade Unions, the group said.

Tien was being held under Article 337 of Vietnam’s criminal code, which covers “deliberate disclosure of classified information; appropriation, trading [and] destruction of classified documents,” the group said.

Tien was last seen in public at a workshop in Ho Chi Minh City on March 21, The 88 Project said.

News of his arrest follows the detention on April 24 of Nguyen Van Binh, director general of the Labor Ministry’s legal department.

Binh was arrested for disclosing state secrets under Article 337, according to state broadcaster the Voice of Vietnam.

Vietnam only has one state-affiliated union. The two unionists were working to bring labor law in line with international standards by ratifying International Labour Organization Convention 87 which allows workers to form unions, The 88 Project said.

“These arrests are yet another example of the failure of international organizations to say a mumbling word about the advocates and reformers they are so keen to champion until these people wind up in jail,” said the group’s co-director, Ben Swanton.

He called on the International Labour Organization, the European Union and the United States to immediately issue public statements condemning Vietnam for arresting the trade unionists.

“Western governments that claim to care about human rights need to break their silence about Vietnam’s policy of violating those very same rights,” Swanton said.

Radio Free Asia phoned Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ask about Tien’s arrest but no one answered. A call to the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor was also not answered.

International nonprofit CIVICUS joined calls for the unconditional release of Tien and Binh.

“These arrests highlight the systematic targeting of human rights defenders in country by the regime and makes a mockery of Vietnam’s membership of the Human Rights Council,” said CIVICUS Asia researcher Josef Benedict referring to Vietnam’s place on the United Nations rights body for a three-year term.

“We call on the international community to speak up, especially the EU, and push for the release of the two union activists and for greater freedom for trade unions in the country.”

On 17 May 2024, the Bishkek City Court refused to consider human rights media outlet Kloop Media’s appeal of the February 9th decision to shut down the outlet. The Court stated that Kloop Media had a late submission of the text of the appeal and thus refused to review it. Kloop’s lawyer, in his commentary, said that he made a mistake in the address of the Ministry of Justice building in Bishkek and received the submitted appeal back, as it could not be delivered. The lawyer resubmitted it immediately; however, the Court denied it, as the timeline for the appeal has passed. Kloop Media will appeal the refusal to consider its appeal.

Cassava farmers working on Lampung Provincial Government land in Kota Baru demonstrate at the South Lampung Police Station.

This was the result of a farmer named Tini who worked on Lampung Provincial Government land in Kota Baru, South Lampung.

She was policed ​​on suspicion of damaging a tractor unit while defending her farm which was evicted in March 2024.

This is registered with the police report number STTPL/B/120/III/2024/SPKT/Polda Lampung.

Most recently, Tini has begun to be questioned regarding the report on Friday (17/5/2204).

As a result of Tini's questioning by the police, hundreds of farmers cultivating Lampung Provincial Government land in Kota Baru raided the police station.

To be precise, at the South Lampung Police Station, hundreds of farmers came in six trucks.

They reject the criminalization of their colleague Tini.

"The farmers used six trucks from Kota Baru to the South Lampung Police. They carried posters containing their demands and rejection of all forms of criminalization against farmers," said the farmer's legal assistant from LBH Bandar Lampung Prabowo Pamungkas, Saturday 18/5/2024).

He said that the arrival of hundreds of farmers was not only to reject the criminalization of Tini, but also to support their colleague.

"This is done by farmers as a form of solidarity with fellow farmers in terms of defending their cultivation rights," he said.

The figure of Tini, among farmers cultivating Lampung Provincial Government land in Kota Baru, is quite well known.

He said Tini was vocal in defending farmers against the land rental policy issued by the Lampung Provincial Government for this land.

The policy is in 2022, the farmer claims, the land has been cultivated since the 1950s and there was no order to pay before that.

Former prisoner Dang Thi Hue, who was released in 2023 after serving 39 months in prison for protesting BOT projects in 2019, has reported to Project88 that she was “abducted” by Thai Binh provincial security agents on May 16 while she was running errands. She said the agents were a group of four men and two women, only one of whom was in uniform. She was held in temporary detention for 24 hours without any notice given to her family. The anxiety allegedly caused her father to have a heart attack. Luckily, her younger sister, who works at Lam Hoa Hospital in Thai Binh, was able to come home quickly to revive her. Hue was released the next day and told Project88 that she is OK and that her health is good.

A Taguig City court convicted child rights advocate Ma. Salome “Sally” Ujano of rebellion on Thursday, May 16.

Ujano’s lawyer Finella Jocom confirmed with Rappler that Taguig City Regional Court Branch 266 sentenced her client to a minimum of 10 years to a maximum of 17 years and four months in prison.

Jocom said that the court did not allow Ujano – who was granted provisional liberty in December 2022 – to continue her bail, so she was turned over to police authorities in Taguig City.

She will later be placed under the custody of the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City.

“For now, we manifested with the court that the defense will file a motion for reconsideration. So we have 15 days to file the MR. After that, we’ll see what happens,” Jocom said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Police arrested Ujano in Malolos, Bulacan, in November 2021 after serving the arrest warrant issued by Judge Virgilio Alpajora of Regional Trial Court Branch 59 in Lucena City in 2006 for the crime of rebellion.

The case stemmed from Ujano’s alleged involvement in the ambush of two military personnel in the province of Quezon in 2005.

Her daughter Karla decried the allegations against her mother as baseless, saying Ujano was serving as executive director of Women’s Crisis Center in 2005, the year the alleged crime happened.

Human rights group Karapatan has condemned Ujano’s detention, saying that the police were lying to justify Ujano’s arrest.

Ujano has been the national coordinator of the Philippines Against Child Trafficking since 2008. She served in the Women’s Crisis Center as mobilization officer from 2006 to 2007, and as executive director from 2000 to 2006.

Ujano was arrested at the height of the Rodrigo Duterte administration’s crackdown on progressive individuals. Under his presidency, activists endured intensified red-tagging and violence.

Karapatan said at least 1,161 activists have been arrested and detained under the Duterte administration.

A court in Kazakhstan has fined two activists from the Feminita movement that defends women's rights for taking part in an unsanctioned rally in Almaty to protest against a 24-year prison sentence handed to former Economy Minister Quandyq Bishimbaev for violently beating his wife to death last year. Gulbaqyt Otebai and Gulzada Serzhan were ordered each to pay a 184,000 tenge ($415) fine for organizing and taking part in an unsanctioned public event. Both women had pleaded not guilty. Otebai and Serzhan were among several activists of Feminita who marched to demand a life sentence for Bishimbaev.

Pakistan authorities must immediately reveal the whereabouts of freelance Kashmiri journalist Syed Farhad Ali Shah, who was taken from his home at night by unidentified men over a week ago, and stop intimidating the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.

At about 1 a.m. on May 15, four men appeared at Ali Shah’s door as he returned home, dragged him down the stairs, and forced him into a vehicle, according to a copy of a petition filed with the Islamabad High Court later that day, which was reviewed by CPJ, and a journalist familiar with the case, who spoke to CPJ on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

The men damaged CCTV cameras that recorded the incident, and took a digital video recorder containing camera footage, according to multiple media reports.

At the time of publication, Ali Shah’s whereabouts were still unknown, the journalist’s wife, Syeda Urooj Zainab, told CPJ.

“The secretive, late-night seizure of journalist Syed Farhad Ali Shah is further evidence of an intensifying crackdown on media freedom in Pakistan,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna. “Authorities must either present Ali Shah in court or immediately release him and ensure that law enforcement agencies do their job of investigating crimes against journalists.”

Zainab told CPJ that she witnessed her husband being taken away by the men, two of whom were dressed in what appeared to be a black uniform. Zainab said she reported the incident to the local police, but they did not open a case to investigate her husband’s disappearance.

In her High Court petition, Zainab requested that Ali Shah be found and produced before the court and that those responsible for his disappearance be identified, investigated, and prosecuted. The petition named the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, and the Ministry of Defense, as part which the ISI operates, as well as the Ministry of Interior, Federal Investigative Agency, and Inspector General of Police Islamabad as respondents in the case.

Pakistan’s powerful ISI has previously been accused of forced disappearances – a major issue in Pakistan, where prominent reporters including Imran Riaz Khan, Sami Abraham, Syed Fawad Ali Shah, and Gohar Wazir went missing in 2023.

Zainab told CPJ that she received a call on May 17 on her husband’s number from an unknown person who asked her to withdraw her petition and promised to free the journalist on May 18.

Zainab told CPJ that she did not know who the caller was, but the independent daily Dawn cited a court order that said Zainab was phoned and received text messages from ISI officials who assured her that her husband would be freed the next day. In response, Zainab’s lawyer applied to withdraw the petition and shared a copy of the withdrawal application with ISI officials, but Ali Shah was not released, Dawn said.

“This Court is not satisfied with the working of the Secretary Ministry of Defence as well as officials of ISI as of now there is direct allegation against the agency,” Dawn quoted the court order as saying.

At a hearing on May 20, Justice Mohsin Akhtar ordered the police to inform the head of the ISI that Shah “should be produced at any cost,” Dawn reported, but a defense ministry official said Ali Shah was not in the ISI’s custody.

The defense and interior secretaries were ordered to attend court on May 21, but Zainab told CPJ on May 23 that there had been no further hearings.

With 22,500 followers on the social platform X, Ali Shah has reported critically on protests over rising prices in Pakistan-administered Kashmir since May 11, in which at least three people died.

Separately, on May 18, the Baluchistan police and local administration locked the gates of the Quetta Press Club, in the provincial capital, to prevent a local advocacy group, Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), from holding a seminar, according to media reports and the local non-profit Pakistan Press Foundation.

The BYC, which campaigns against what it calls a genocide against the ethnic Baloch population in Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province, planned to hold a conference highlighting the group’s opposition to government plans to build a fence around the port city of Gwadar.

The campaigners broke the locks and the event went ahead, surrounded by a police cordon, those sources said.

Syed Shahzad Nadeem Bukhari, Deputy Inspector General of Police in Islamabad, did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment via messaging app.

A Kyrgyz court on May 14 sentenced government critic and journalist Oljobai Shakir (aka Egemberdiev) to five years in prison on a charge of making calls online for mass unrest. Shakir was arrested in August 2023, days after he criticized the government's decision to hand four spa centers near Lake Issyk-Kul to Uzbekistan and called President Sadyr Japarov and the State Committee of National Security chief Kamchybek Tashiev to participate in public debates with him.

An Astana court on May 14 fined activist Elvira Bekzadina of the unregistered Algha, Qazaqstan (Forward, Kazakhstan) opposition party 110,760 tenges ($250) on a charge of disobeying police. Police detained Bekzadina two days earlier when she was going to hold a public poll on the results of President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev's time in office since March 2019. Bekzadina rejected the charge, accusing the police of physically abusing her during her detention. In November, a court in Astana sentenced the chairman of Algha, Qazaqstan, Marat Zhylanbaev, to seven years in prison on extremism charges that he also rejects as politically motivated.

A young activist jailed for insulting Thailand’s monarchy died on Tuesday following a prolonged hunger strike, officials said, prompting an outpouring of grief and renewed calls for justice reform in the Southeast Asian kingdom

Netiporn “Bung” Sanesangkhom, 28, died after suffering a “sudden cardiac arrest,” Thailand’s Corrections Department said in a statement. A medical team tried to resuscitate her before transferring her to Bangkok’s Thammasat University Hospital but she “did not respond to treatment,” the department said.

An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death, the department added.

Netiporn was a member of protest group Thalu Wang, which has pushed for reform of Thailand’s powerful monarchy and amendment of the country’s draconian lese majeste law, in which criticizing the king, queen, or heir apparent can lead to a maximum 15-year prison sentence.

The group’s name loosely translates to “piercing through the palace,” in reference to its drive to hold the monarchy accountable; it campaigns by holding public opinion polls questioning the monarchy’s power.

Netiporn had been part of the nationwide 2020 youth-led protests that saw millions of young Thais take to the streets of major cities calling for constitutional, democratic and military reforms, and, for the first time, openly criticizing the monarchy and publicly questioning its power and wealth.

She had been in jail since January 26 and was awaiting trial, according to legal advocacy group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.

While in detention, Netiporn went on a 65-day hunger strike until April to protest the jailing of political dissidents without bail, the group said. During this time, she had been moved back and forth to the prison hospital due to her deteriorating health.

After Netiporn was sent back to jail on April 4, the Thai Corrections Department said she was able to eat and drink normally, but she was weak and suffered from swollen limbs and anemia. She had refused to take “minerals and anti-anemia supplements,” the department said.

The activist faced seven criminal cases, including two lese majeste charges. She previously spent 94 days in jail in 2022 and conducted a hunger strike before being released on bail, which was later revoked.

One lese majeste case against her was filed in relation to a 2022 protest where she held up a banner at a busy shopping mall in Bangkok that read: “Did the royal procession cause an inconvenience?”

The other lese majeste charge is from a similar 2022 protest where she held a sign asking the public: “Do you agree that the government allows the king to use power as he pleases?”

In an open letter Netiporn wrote from jail in March, she said growing up as a judge’s daughter made her realize “this country doesn’t exist to serve small people’s justice.”

“You don’t have to be a judge’s daughter to understand the scale of the failure in the justice system. Their existence is not for the people, they exist shamelessly for the powers and a few groups of people in this country,” she wrote. “By simply asking question and honking a car, you go to jail.”

Calls for reform

Netiporn’s death has shocked many in the country and sparked renewed calls for reforms to the judicial system, which allows activists to be denied bail and held in detention for extended periods of time before trial.

“This is a shocking reminder that Thai authorities are harshly denying pro-democracy activists their freedom in an apparent bid to silence the peaceful expression of dissent. Many are currently detained, with their right to temporary release on bail denied,” said Amnesty International in a statement.

“This tragic incident should serve as a wake-up call to Thai authorities to drop charges against and release all human rights defenders and other people who are unjustly detained.”

On Tuesday night, supporters held a candlelight vigil outside the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court. Those attending included Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul, a fellow activist who also faces lese majeste charges for her involvement in the 2020 protests.

“I feel so shocked. I question myself, did she really die?” Panusaya told CNN Wednesday. “She didn’t receive any justice for her cases.”

Calling on the government of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin to respond to her death, Panusaya demanded the release of all political prisoners in Thailand.

“Do we have to have more people die before you will care?” she asked.

On Wednesday, Srettha called Netiporn’s death a “tragic incident,” adding he had ordered Thailand’s Ministry of Justice to investigate the circumstances surrounding it.

“I would like to convey my condolences to her family. I am confident that we will give justice,” he said.

Responding to the calls for the release of all political prisoners, Strettha said, “I believe that the justice minister has heard about the call, and he’s working on looking into the whole legal system. We have to give justice to everyone.”

Thailand has some of the world’s strictest lese majeste laws and sentences for those convicted under Section 112 of the country’s criminal code, can be decades long. Hundreds of people have been prosecuted in recent years, including Mongkol Thirakhot, who was sentenced to a record 50 years in prison in January for social media posts deemed damaging to the king.

For years, human rights organizations and free speech campaigners have said lese majeste has been used as a political tool to silence critics of the Thai government.

Rights groups say the right to freedom of expression in Thailand has come under increased attack since the 2020 protests. Despite the change from a military-backed government to civilian leadership last year, surveillance and intimidation against activists and students continues, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.

The legal advocacy group said that since the start of those protests in July 2020 and up until March 2024, at least 1,954 people have been prosecuted or charged for their participation in political assemblies and for speaking out, with 286 of those cases involving children.

At least 270 people have been charged with lese majeste during that time, the group added.

“The death of Ms. Netiporn is evidence that the problems of political prosecution and detention of pro-democracy activists, especially in lèse-majesté cases, are still very much alive under the Pheu Thai government,” the group’s advocacy lead, Akarachai Chaimaneekarakate told CNN.

Netiporn’s death comes as Thailand is running for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council and while the Thai government is negotiating a free trade agreement with the European Union, Akarachai added.

“The right to bail must be granted to political detainees who have not been found guilty of any crimes by a final judgment,” he said. “The price of fundamental freedoms should not be their lives.”

On May 14, the Supreme Court bench of Justices MM Sundresh and SVN Bhatti granted bail to Gautam Navlakha in Bhima Koregaon conspiracy case, arguing that the accused has already undergone 4 years of incarceration and the trial may take “years and years and years” to complete. The Supreme Court did not extend the stay on the bail, noting that the charges are yet to be framed and six of the co-accused in the case have already secured bail. It also said that the Bombay High Court has passed a detailed order on December 19, 2023 granting bail to Navlakha, against which National Investigation Agency (NIA) had filed this appeal. The bench took cognizance of the fact that there are 370 witnesses in the case, which would prolong the completion of the trial. Importantly, as a precondition to bail, Navlakha has been asked to pay 20 lakhs for the security expenses incurred during his house arrest. Pertinently, there had been an argument between the two parties over calculation of the cost incurred for his house arrest security, with NIA previously sending him the bill of over 1.64 crores, which Navlakha’s lawyer decried as ‘extortion’.

Reporters from Makwanpur, Bagmati Province Manju Mainali and Chhabi Anitya were misbehaved while reporting on May 14. Mainali is reporter to Himalaya Times national daily and Anitya is associated with Sourya daily.

Reporter Mainali told Freedom Forum that She along with fellow reporter Anitya reached Hetauda Sub-metropolitan city’s ward office to collect news and information on Chepang community children being deprived of birth registration. Reporters duo were on follow-up reporting for the news published four months ago about six children in a Chepang community family deprived of birth registration certificate.

“When we asked ward chairperson Deepak Thapa about the birth registration of the children, Thapa furiously told us to leave the office or he would use force to send us out. Thapa also called us ‘thief’ and seized reporter Anitya’s mobile while he was trying to record video of the incident”, shared reporter Mainali.

“Furthermore, Thapa and other ward members again took to social media to share 'fake information' about us through Facebook live. This is serious harassment, I am very disturbed. In this situation, I am unable to continue my profession”, said Mainali in a disappointment.

Freedom Forum condemns the harassment meted out to reporters. Ward Chaiperson’s behavior towards reporters is a sheer violation of press freedom and their right to information. FF urges the concerned authority to respect journalists' right to free reporting on public concern.

One week after the end of her four-year prison term, the Chinese authorities refuse to reveal the whereabouts of journalist Zhang Zhan. Deeply concerned that she may still be detained, severely ill, or placed under heavy surveillance, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges Beijing to disclose information about Zhang Zhan immediately and ensure her full and unconditional release without further delay.

Chinese journalist and former lawyer Zhang Zhan, detained for four years for her independent reporting on the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic in China under the charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” was due to be released from Shanghai Women’s Prison a week ago, on 13 May, following the completion of her sentence. But the journalist remains unaccounted for, while authorities refuse to disclose information about her whereabouts, after stopping and interrogating activists coming to pick her up from prison.

Even more concerning, her family, who used to openly share updates about the journalist’s situation, is now unreachable, and in the weeks prior to Zhang Zhan’s scheduled release, human rights defenders and lawyers were threatened by authorities and warned not to raise her case internationally. Zhang Zhan had been severely weakened by a hunger strike she had carried out to protest her innocence, and there are credible reasons to believe that her health has deteriorated even further during her final months of detention, possibly motivating the Chinese regime to keep her hidden from the public eye.

In China, reporters locked up for their work often remain under detention or surveillance even upon completion of their prison term. The European Union, the UK and the US have expressed deep concern over reports that Zhang Zhan has disappeared, following her expected release.

Zhang Zhan was arrested in May 2020, while covering the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in Wuhan, in central-eastern China. She had posted more than 100 videos on social media before being arrested on 14 May 2020 and sentenced to four years in prison by a Shanghai court seven months later.

Serious concerns about Zhang's health

On several occasions, RSF has called for her release and warned about the ill treatment that she has been subjected to while in prison. During her first months in detention, Zhang Zhan almost died after going on a total hunger strike. Prison officials forcibly fed her through a nasal tube and sometimes left her handcuffed for days.

When Zhang’s mother visited her in prison in July 2023, she was very weak and weighed only 37 kilograms despite being 1.7 metres tall, which is half of what she weighed prior to detention. Zhang is also suffering from severe malnutrition, a gastrointestinal disease, and a low white blood cell count.

China, the world's biggest prison for journalists and press freedom defenders with at least 119 detainees, is ranked 172nd out of 180 countries in the 2024 RSF World Press Freedom Index.

Update:

As international pressure grew, on 21 May 2024, Zhang Zhan released a short video via an intermediary confirming her release from prison and stating that she was at home with her family. However, she remains under strict surveillance by the authorities. RSF remains concerned by her situation and emphasises that partial freedom is not freedom at all. Diplomatic intervention remains crucial to ensure her full and unconditional release without delay.

A court in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, on May 13 fined journalist Zhamila Maricheva for an online article she wrote supporting RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, known locally as Radio Azattyq.

The court ordered Maricheva to pay 73,840 tenges ($167) for "distributing false information."

The charge stems from an article she posted on her ProTenge Telegram channel in January where she raised the issue of problems faced by Radio Azattyq in obtaining official accreditation from the Foreign Ministry, which had sparked fears the government was trying to stifle independent media.

Maricheva praised Radio Azattyq for what she called its professionalism, stressing the importance of the broadcaster's programs in Kazakhstan.

Another Kazakh journalist, Askhat Niyazov, reposted Maricheva's article at the time and was charged with slander.

A court in late April acquitted Niyazov and closed the case, stressing that there was nothing criminal in Niyazov's actions.

Maricheva reiterated her innocence as her trial began on May 2 and stated that the police violated her rights on April 24 by detaining her for questioning while she was jogging instead of officially summoning her to a police station.

Maricheva's lawyer, Asel Toqaeva, asked the court to dismiss the case against her client, saying that Maricheva's constitutional rights were violated by the police during her detention and questioning.

In January 2023, the Foreign Ministry denied accreditation to 36 Radio Azattyq journalists. Some of the correspondents had not been able to extend their accreditation since late 2022.

The situation was exacerbated when a group of Kazakh lawmakers approved a draft bill that would allow the tightly controlled former Soviet republic's authorities to refuse accreditation to foreign media outlets and their reporters on grounds of national security.

RFE/RL reached an agreement with the Kazakh Foreign Ministry over the accreditations on April 23.

Journalist Raghav Trivedi, who works with the digital outlet Molitics, was beaten up and locked in a room allegedly by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers while covering Union home minister Amit Shah’s rally in Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh. Trivedi was taken to hospital for treatment after the attack.

According to him, he spoke to several women at the rally who said they had been given Rs 100 to attend and said they did not know who Shah is. When he asked BJP workers at the rally about this allegation, he was first asked to delete videos of these women and then attacked.

“Initially, they denied any wrongdoing but when I informed them I had recorded statements of women, a group forcibly took me to a secluded place and demanded I delete the recording. When I refused, they began to assault me… I pleaded with police and bystanders for help, but no one intervened… I lost consciousness. When I regained consciousness, I found myself in hospital,” Trivedi told The Indian Express.

An FIR has been registered against six unknown persons under Sections 147 (rioting), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the IPC based on a complaint from Trivedi’s colleague and cameraperson, Sanjeet Sahni.

In a video of the incident police persons can be seen in the vicinity while Trivedi is beaten, but do not intervene. Trivedi too confirmed that the police did not act. He also says that the attackers used anti-Muslim slurs against him. “I kept requesting people to stop. There were 40-50 police personnel too, but no one came to my rescue as they called me ‘mullah’ and ‘attanki’ and punched me 150-200 times,” he told Newslaundry.

Several opposition parties and leaders have come out strongly in Trivedi’s support, and condemned both BJP workers and leaders and the Uttar Pradesh police for the incident.

“These incidents are a sign that the people of BJP are frustrated with the defeat that is visible. Now the injustice is about to end,” the Congress said on X.

Several senior journalists too have condemned the attack. The Press Club of India in a statement “vehemently condemned” what happened and said, “We urge the EC and local authorities to ensure strict action against the attackers.”

“Journalists in their day to day reportage have been subjected to regular physical intimidation, harassment and attack. Such things undermine India, being the fourth pillar of democracy,” the statement concluded.

In the recently released 2024 World Press Freedom Index, India ranked at 159 of 176 countries. Reporters Without Borders, which releases the rankings, said that India’s position is “unworthy of a democracy”.

On May 11, police officers, once again armed and in plainclothes, arrested another two Kuala Langkat villagers who were opposed to the clearing of the mangroves. Safii, 48, and Taufik, 34, were arrested while fishing. Ateng, a fellow fisherman on the same boat, described how the officers arrived in a speedboat around 9 a.m. and ordered the two men to come with them.

“We did not see the police who arrested them show any identification or provide an arrest warrant,” Ateng told Mongabay.

At night, the villagers gathered at the police station and called for the release of the two men.

Safii and Taufik said they were arrested by the police because they were accused of damaging the home of a man identified only by the initials SAR, said to be BP’s right-hand man. That incident occurred hours after the arrest of Ilham, with villagers accusing SAR of being behind the arrest. Safii and Taufik said that while they did attend the protest outside SAR’s home, they weren’t involved in any kind of vandalism.

During the subsequent arrest of Safii and Taufik, fellow fishermen confirmed seeing SAR on board the police speedboat, pointing at the two men and appearing to order the police to detain them.

Sumiati Surbakti, chair of the Srikandi Lestari Foundation, a women-led environmental nonprofit, said field visits by her organization with LBH Medan and the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, an NGO known as Kontras, showed a high number of oil palms in protected forest areas in Langkat.

“This omission shows that policyholders from the provincial to the village level don’t support the Joko Widodo government’s program to suppress climate change by conserving mangrove forests,” Sumiati said.

Adi Yoga Kemit, a lawyer for Kontras, said their investigation had found villagers who opposed the destruction of mangrove forests faced threats and intimidation by thugs hired by the businessmen.

“We urge the police to arrest the financial backers and anyone involved in destroying mangrove forests in Kuala Langkat,” Adi said. “Stop criminalizing people who protect mangroves.”

Advocates from LBH Medan have twice visited the North Sumatra police headquarters to request information on the encroachment of Langkat’s mangrove forests.

“We urge that Ilham’s report regarding the damage to the mangrove ecosystem in Langkat be followed up immediately,” Ali said.

Police and district guards blocked a march of around 60 Samrong Tbong community members living next to Boeng Tamok lake in northern Phnom Penh. This morning, authorities were violent and shoved community members who were walking to the Prek Pnov district hall to meet officials after six families received eviction orders signed on 8 May to make way for road construction.

Around 60 police and district security guards cordoned off community members, pushed them back, were violent with some of the members and prevented the group from walking to the district hall. Residents were forced to return to their homes escorted by security forces.

Samrong Tbong community members have faced repeated police harassment, criminal charges and threats of eviction as the government has parcelled off and filled in large swathes of Boeng Tamok lake, giving plots of land to various government ministries, officials and well-connected individuals.

Some community members were injured during an altercation in February with authorities who were filling the lake area people used for fish farming.

Wai Moe Naing, the leader of the Monywa People’s Strike Committee, who was detained in the Monywa prison in Sagaing Region, was sentenced to another 20 years in prison by the military junta, said Shin Thant, a member of the Monywa People’s Leading Strike Committee.

On the afternoon of May 10, 2024, six people, including Wai Moe Naing, were sentenced by the military junta in Monywa Prison Court.

“It was ordered by the prison court. Six people, including Wai Moe Naing, were sentenced to 20 years in prison for murdering two policemen in the Monywa Industrial Zone. The six people and the rest, more than 30 people who were unjustly arrested, were sentenced,” Shin Thant said.

Currently, the military junta has been arresting and killing anyone who obstructs them. Shin Thant says that only if the revolution is united and successful will prisoners be able to return home.

“Today, the prison court sentenced six people, including Wai Moe Naing, separately to serve 20 years in prison under Section 302 (2)/149 of the Penal Code,” said a person close to the court.

On April 15th, 2021, junta troops rammed into him with a car while he was riding a motorcycle in a strike on Tharsi Road, Monywa.

Wai Moe Naing was charged with violating Natural the Disaster Management Law, rioting, participating in a crowd, and carrying a deadly weapon, among other cases sentenced to a total of 74 years in prison.

Twenty-three development workers and activists here have posted bail worth P200,000 each in connection with terrorism financing charges filed against them by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Based on a press release from the 302nd Infantry Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, the DOJ filed the case against both former and incumbent members of the Cebu-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) Community Empowerment Resource Network (CERNET) on May 10.

The DOJ accused 27 individuals associated with CERNET of violating Section 8 (ii) in relation to Section 9 of the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012.

Lawyer Mel Ebo, the legal counsel of CERNET, said in a press conference on Friday, May 17, that they were shocked to find out that an information had already been filed with a court before they were given a copy of the DOJ’s resolution on the preliminary investigation of the case.

The justice department typically furnishes respondents a copy of its resolution before filing an information with a court.

In August 2023, the DOJ issued a subpoena to CERNET in relation to the Army’s accusations against the NGO of financing terrorist activities.

The development workers attended and submitted counter-affidavits during the preliminary investigation held in Cebu on September 28, 2023.

“The DOJ and the complainants made a very sloppy investigation in this case because other than the individual respondents that are included in the complaint, they also included some respondents who have passed on already,” Ebo said.

According to the lawyer, one of the respondents, labor rights advocate Jaime Paglinawan, is not even a member of CERNET.

He said out of the 27 respondents, only 23 were confirmed to have posted bail. One respondent’s condition is still unknown, while three respondents have already passed away.

On Tuesday, May 14, the Regional Trial Court Branch 74 in Cebu City issued arrest warrants against the 27 accused individuals.

Ebo said that as of Thursday, May 16, a majority of the respondents whose names he did not disclose for security reasons had already paid the bail amount of P200,000 each.

“Considering that at the prosecution level, we have presented numerous documents that will show that CERNET has no involvement in any of this, we are studying the possibility of filing counter-suits,” the lawyer said.

Silencing NGOs CERNET staff Macy Crecencio said during the press conference that the charges have halted the organization’s services.

Since its founding in 2001, the NGO had provided legal assistance and livelihood programs to marginalized sectors, especially farming and fishing communities, in the Visayas.

“It’s a huge misfortune to our partner organizations who have lost support. Mind you, these communities already have little to no access to social services,” Crecencio said.

According to the development worker, the organization has faced multiple red-tagging threats and attacks against its members in the past, including the abduction of CERNET staff Dyan Gumanao and partner Armand Dayoha.

Ebo described the charges as a “witch hunt,” citing criminal cases filed against organizations like the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines and the Cordillera Peoples Alliance.

“Since CERNET has been charged, the Eastern Visayas-based Leyte Center for Development (LCDe) and the Negros-based Paghida-et sa Kauswagan Development Group Inc. have also been targeted, with the bank accounts of LCDe and its staff frozen,” a statement from human rights group Karapatan read.

Xuan Phuoc Prison authorities have sent political prisoner Dang Dang Phuoc, 61, a music teacher in Dak Lak Province, to solitary confinement as a punishment for his violation of unspecified regulations, his wife, Le Thi Ha, told Radio Free Asia (RFA).

Ha said that she learned about Phuoc’s punishment when she received a notice from the prison saying that her husband was being disciplined in a solitary cell between May 10 and 20. The notice did not specify his violations, but Ha believed it resulted from her last visitation on May 9, when Phuoc gave her a piece of paper containing a cellmate’s phone number and asked her to pass it to that prisoner’s family. The correctional officers intervened and took that information away.

Ha also expressed worries over her husband’s health since prison rations lack nutritious food, and visitations from relatives have been reduced to once every two months from once a month. She added that she would file a complaint with the Phu Yen Provincial Procuracy regarding Phuoc’s punishment.

The Dak Lak music teacher received an eight-year sentence in June 2023 on charges of “distributing anti-state propaganda.” Phuoc lost an appeal in September of the same year and was transferred to Xuan Phuoc Prison in Phu Yen Province.

Karapatan condemns the freeze order issued by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) on the accounts of the Citizens’ Disaster Response Center (CDRC), a development NGO with partners nationwide focused on community-based disaster management.

In an order dated May 10, 2024, the AMLC ordered the CDRC’s accounts frozen allegedly because the latter is a direct recipient of funds from the bank accounts of Leyte Center for Development Inc. (LCDe), which are subject to a separate freeze order. An AMLC order dated May 2 had earlier frozen the bank accounts of the multi-awarded LCDe as well as the personal accounts of its staff.

The CDRC has filed a petition before the Court of Appeals questioning both the basis of the freeze order and the constitutionality of the AMLC’s power to freeze. In the same petition, the CDRC explained that the funds in question had been returned by LCDe as they exceeded what was intended for relief operations after Typhoon Agaton in April 2022.

The CDRC is but the latest development NGO to be targeted by the AMLC in the arbitrary and unjust exercise of its powers. Before the CRDC and LCDe, other NGOs with strong presence in impoverished and marginalized communuties like the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP), the Amihan Federation of Peasant Women (Amihan), the Cebu-based Community Empowerment and Resource Network (CERNET) and the Negros-based Paghida-et Development Group had been maliciously red- and terror-tagged and their bank accounts frozen or their staff baselessly charged with violation of RA 10168 or the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012. The freeze orders and court cases have paralyzed these NGOs’ operations and effectively sabotaged much-needed development, relief and rehabilitation projects, mostly in poor and far-flung communities.

Karapatan firmly stands in solidarity with the CDRC and all other affected NGOs in their fight against the AMLC’s unjust and arbitrary freeze orders which are issued after ex parte proceedings violative of the right to due process and providing little to no mechanisms for redress. It views these successive assaults against development NGOs as an escalation of the Marcos Jr. regime’s drive to suppress civil liberties, stifle dissent and further constrict civic space.

At least four people were reported killed on Thursday during clashes between protesters and Taliban security forces in eastern Afghanistan.

Residents in Nangarhar province, which borders Pakistan, held a demonstration after being told by Taliban authorities to vacate their homes for the construction of a customs clearing facility, according to witnesses and officials.

Protesters blocked a busy highway linking Afghanistan to Pakistan and refused to allow the destruction of their properties. Taliban security forces fired gunshots to disperse the crowd and clear the highway to allow trade convoys to resume their journey in both directions, eyewitnesses reported.

An area information and culture department spokesperson confirmed the clashes, saying residents "created chaos in response" to the official order. Arafat Mohajer said that the violence resulted in the death of a Taliban officer and "a number of people who were occupying the [state[ land [illegally]." He did not share further details.

Protesters refuted the official claims, saying they had the deeds and owned the land.

A resident in Jalalabad, the provincial capital, confirmed to VOA by phone that firing by Taliban security forces killed three protesters.

The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan three years ago and faced no public opposition to their hard-line policies until this month.

Last week, farmers and residents took to the streets in northeastern Badakhshan province to protest the eradication of poppy fields by the Taliban counternarcotics units.

Security forces opened fire to disperse the demonstrators, killing two people.

Hibatullah Akhundzada, the reclusive Taliban supreme leader, has imposed a nationwide ban on poppy cultivation and production, usage, transportation and trade of all illicit drugs in Afghanistan.

It is said that the Yangon-based Octopus Youth Organization, which protests against the military coup, has lost contact with two women after military junta arrested them on May 9.

The two women who were arrested are the manager of the Octopus Youth Organization and S4, a Octopus strike member, and in their 20s, according to the chairman of the Octopus Organization.

“It is believed that the manager was arrested when she returned to home from downtown. From there, with the reason on guest list checking, the soldiers came to the women’s dormitory in Hledan, where Comrade S4 lived, between 12:00 a.m. and 1:00 a.m., and then beat and arrested her. It is yet known where she was taken,” the chairperson of the Octopus Youth Organization told MPA.

He added that along with the two women, some family members and some of their friends have been arrested.

“There have been fourteen Octopus members arrested. Since we joined this organization and did such things, all of our members already know that such incidents may occur. We have all prepared in advance. No matter how brutally the terrorist military oppresses us, we will raise the Octopus flag hand in hand and continue marching with the people until the uprising succeeds,” he said.

A political activist from the western part of Bago Region commented that the military junta treats all those who oppose their sovereignty and interests as enemies.

“Not only armed and unarmed, treating the entire people who oppose them as enemies, and using force to arrest and beat people who are peacefully protesting without arms, is unacceptable in terms of human rights, and I strongly condemn it,” he said.

Monywa Strike Leader Wai Moe Naing, who was arrested by the military junta in 2021, was also sentenced to 20 years in prison a few days ago, and he has been sentenced to a total of 74 years in prison.

Musician Chokdee “Alex” Rompruk and citizen reporter Waranya “Nui” Sae-ngo have been found guilty of royal defamation and given a suspended prison sentence of 4 years for singing two songs by the protest band Faiyen during a protest on 23 August 2022.

Waranya was arrested on 1 September 2022 and charged for singing two songs by Faiyen called “Lucky to have Thai People” and “Who killed King Rama 8?”, both of which are critical of the monarchy. She was also charged for livestreaming herself singing.

Chokdee reported to the police on 3 March 2022 after being contacted by the police and told that he was being charged because he was playing guitar while Waranya was singing.

The complaint against them was filed by Akkhrawut Kraisisombat, a member of the ultra-royalist group Vocational Students Protecting the Institution.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said on Thursday (9 May) that the Ratchadaphisek Criminal Court found Chokdee and Waranya guilty of royal defamation. It also found Waranya guilty of violation of the Computer Crimes Act.

Chokdee and Waranya were sentenced to 6 years in prison, reduced to 4 years because they confessed. The Court then suspended their sentence for 2 years on the grounds that they expressed remorse and promised not to defame the monarchy again. It noted that the two defendants were not protest leaders, are both working, and have a permanent residence, and took into consideration their family responsibilities and health issues.

Chokdee and Waranya will be subjected to a 1-year probation period, during which they have to report to a probation officer every 3 months. They are also required to perform at least 24 hours of community service.

Chokdee is facing another royal defamation charge for singing at another protest on 23 August 2022. Waranya is facing another royal defamation charge for livestreaming while activists conducted a poll on royal motorcades at the Siam Paragon shopping mall on 8 February 2022.

A court in Ho Chi Minh City on May 8 sentenced defendant Phan Tat Thanh, 38, to eight years in prison under Article 117 of the Penal Code for “making, storing, disseminating or propagating information, documents to oppose the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” state media reported. The prosecutors claimed that Thanh’s activity “constitutes a serious crime which threatens national security” and that “it is necessary to impose a harsh punishment to deter similar activities.”

Phan Tat Thanh is a pro-democracy activist and an administrator of a dissident Facebook fan page called Nhật ký yêu nước (A Patriot's Diary). The Ho Chi Minh City Police Department detained him in July 2023 and charged him with violating Article 117 of the Penal Code. However, his family said Thanh had no longer engaged in pro-democracy activism but focused on building his business.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that court officials allowed Thanh's parents into the courtroom. However, they rejected requests from foreign diplomatic missions in Vietnam, such as the Consulate General of Germany and the United States, to send representatives to observe the trial. Phan Tat Chi, Thanh’s father, said he was very frustrated since the sentence the court handed was higher than the recommendation of the Procuracy, which suggests between five to seven years of imprisonment.

Chi said that in his last words, Thanh pleaded not guilty and said that the investigators obtained his testimonies through forced confessions. However, the judge interrupted his speech and said, “This is not a forum for you to talk nonsense.”

Rights advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) on May 7 called on the Vietnamese government to immediately drop all charges against activist Phan Tat Thanh and to release him, according to a statement sent to VOA News Vietnamese language service.

“Peaceful advocacy for democracy and human rights is not a crime,” said Patricia Gossman, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch (HRW). “The Vietnamese government needs to immediately release Phan Tat Thanh and drop all charges against him.” Gossman called on the government to immediately release all those imprisoned or detained simply for expressing peaceful political views.

Political activist Panupong Jadnok has been sentenced to three years in prison on charges of violating the lese majeste law and Computer Crimes Act, and a warrant issued for his arrest after he failed to appear in court for sentencing.

The Criminal Court on Wednesday sentenced the 28-year-old to four years behind bars and reduced it to three years due to his cooperation during witness examination.

The defendant was found guilty for a message posted on Facebook on Nov 8, 2023, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.

The court said the message was viewed as offensive to the monarchy and His Majesty the King and in breach of the computer law.

The joint leader of the Ratsadon group had denied the charges.

He was not present in court for the judgement and a bench warrant was then issued for his arrest.

The ruling was postponed from March 28 after the defendant first failed to appear in court for judgement.

Panupong is known online as Mike Rayong.

Vietnam’s human rights activist and pro-democracy campaigner Nguyen Van Dung (aka Dung Aduku) was found dead on Hong River (Red River) a day ago, about two weeks after being detained and interrogated by police in his native province of Phu Tho.

In the morning of May 8, people in Ba Vi district, Hanoi, found a body of a man on Hong River’s bank and they informed the local authorities. Relatives of Dung, who went missing from April 27, came to see and recognized that the decomposing body belongs to him.

Dung, 47 years old, was reportedly chased by police since July last year on the same time that the police forces in Ho Chi Minh City detained local activist Phan Tat Thanh. Both were admins of the Facebook fanpage Nhật Ký Yêu Nước (Patriotic Diary) which has beeen advocating for multi-party democracy and human rights since 2010.

According to his family, he was detained by the security forces of the Phu Tho province’s Police Department on April 22 and held for interrogation until April 25.

After being released, he stayed at his mother’ house for one day, and on April 27, he took his mother’s motorbike and left without his ID nor money. He was said to leave a note for his mother and son containing a few words “Mamy, I am sorry! Son, I am sorry!” His son is just about one year old.

Dung’s death is unclear and the causes of his departure seem not to be unveiled as his family buried him on the same day.

Meanwhile, Phan Tat Thanh was convicted of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code for seven posts on Patriotic Diary fanpage which was changed into Van Toan since 2021.

In a short trial in the morning of May 8, the 38-year-old activist was sentenced to eight years in prison and three years of probation.

He was detained on July 5, 2023 and officially charged with the allegation on July 13. During the first-instance hearing, Thanh claimed his innocence and accused police investigators of conducting torture against him during the detention and pre-trial imprisonment.

Thanh is the second admin of the Patriotic Dairy being imprisoned within two months. On March 26, former admin Nguyen Van Lam was also sentenced to eight years in prison by a court in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang on the same allegation.