Uwazi

Three cadres of the Islamic Student Association (HMI) were arrested by police in front of the State Palace, Central Jakarta. These three HMI cadres were arrested during a demonstration to protest the arrest of a robbery case in Bekasi with the defendant Muhammad Fikry, who is also an HMI cadre.

"Yes, three people (Akmal Fahmi, Andi Kurniawan, and Imam Zarkasi) are still being held. I am still at the Central Jakarta Police, Kemayoran," said Head of Defense and Security Division of PB HMI, Arven Marta, when contacted by reporters, Friday (22/4). /2022).

Arven explained that the arrest occurred when HMI held a demonstration in front of the State Palace on Friday (22/4), at 15.30 WIB this afternoon. The HMI demonstration throughout Jabodetabek was protesting the arrest of one of its cadres, M Fikry, who was considered a victim of the wrongful arrest of a robbery case in Babelan, Bekasi Regency.

"We took action at around half past four in the afternoon. This is because of the problem that our cadres in Bekasi were criminalized, accused of being robbers. Therefore, our alliance from the Jabodetabek HMI went down together at the palace. Indeed, the goal is to pay attention to the issue of human rights cases and victims of wrongful arrests. ," he continued.

Arven said the location for their demonstration coincided with a state official's event. They were asked to move the location of the demo.

"However, the location of the action coincided with an event by a high-ranking state official, so we were asked to shift, because it did not comply with the protocol, which was referred to as a vital object," said Arven.

According to Arven, when the HMI mass was moving to move locations, there was pushing between HMI cadres and the police. Clashes are unavoidable.

Arven explained, three people were arrested in the incident. He said dozens of other cadres were injured.

"So that three people from HMI were arrested and dozens of other friends were injured," he said. Police Explanation

Head of Criminal Investigation Unit for Central Jakarta Metro Police AKBP Wisnu Wardana confirmed that his party had secured 3 HMI cadres.

"We are still investigating," said Vishnu.

Wisnu explained, the initial chronology of the arrests of these three HMI cadres. Initially, the HMI mass numbered about 20 people demonstrating in front of the palace without any notification.

"The mass of the unras action from the HMI group was about 20 people without giving notification of the action to the police," said Wisnu.

On the other hand, HMI held a demonstration at the location of a vital object, namely in front of the State Palace. Which is in accordance with Law Number 9 of 1998 concerning Freedom of Expression of Opinions in Public, demonstrations may not be held at the location of a vital object or a radius of 500 meters from a vital object.

"The police have appealed humanely for the mass action to disperse but it was ignored, so that strict and measurable police action was taken against the mass action so that we arrested three people," said Wisnu.

The alleged hacking of cellphones happened to a number of student activists in Kediri who held a demonstration in front of the Kediri City DPRD Office, Monday (11/4/2022).

The hacking occurred allegedly related to student demonstrations. Because the cellphone numbers belonging to a number of activists were asked to enter a verification code.

Chadifan, as the commander of the demonstration team, said there were hacking attempts by irresponsible parties.

A student of the Study Program Outside the Main Campus (PSDKU) Universitas Brawijaya Kediri told a number of media crews that his cellphone suddenly received a notification from another device that was trying to log in to his WhatsApp account.

According to him, the piracy of cellphones is evidence of the ongoing crisis of democracy in Indonesia.

"We are verifying the code. What we have done is two number or two-step verification. If there is an attempt we need to re-enter, this means hacking or logging in from another device so we need to confirm who is my login or not," said Chadifan after the demonstration in front of the Kediri City DPRD Office. In fact, a friend's number at Brawijaya University Malang has also been hacked and is still not functioning again. Even though there have been hacking attempts by other parties, Chadifan admitted that he still has no plans to report the case to the police.

It is suspected that the hacking of the student's cell phone number was related to the student demonstration movement to address the latest issues raised by students.

Meanwhile, the Head of Operations at the Kediri Police, Kompol Abraham Sisik, admitted to a number of media crews that so far the officers had not received any reports.

“There is no hacking of cellphones in Kediri. We ensure that the demonstration in Kediri is safe and orderly. Students are like our own children and younger siblings. We oversee it from the beginning, until the end of the demonstration. They expressed their gratitude to the police,” he said. To secure the student demonstration, the Kediri City Police deployed 410 personnel. Officers also escorted students and carried out traffic engineering during the demonstration which took place on Jl Mayor Bismo, Kediri City.

A total of six students participating in the demonstration against the extension of President Joko Widodo's term of office were hacked. Their WhatsApp number was hacked.

BPP Spokesperson, Delpedro Marhaen Rismansah, who is also an orator at the demonstration in the Harmoni area, Central Jakarta, said the hack was in the form of taking over WhatsApp accounts.

"So the WhatsApp account asked for verification again. We asked for the code not to enter again, then the WhatsApp account exited," said Pedro to Suara.com, Friday (1/4/2022).

It is clear that the hack took place a few days before their demonstration. The first hack was experienced by the Chair of the University of Indonesia's BEM on March 29, 2021.

Then the next day experienced by the management of BEM throughout Indonesia. Then on March 31, three administrators of the Student Political Block also experienced it.

"And today one person, during our long march from Trisakti University. So a total of six people," he said.

Pedro also suspected that the hacking was an attempt to defuse the demonstration they held today.

This afternoon, hundreds of students held a demonstration in the Harmoni area or precisely behind the State Palace area. They protested against the postponement of the election which would have an impact on the extension of President Joko Widodo's term in office.

The alleged hacking of cellphones happened to a number of student activists in Kediri who held a demonstration in front of the Kediri City DPRD Office, Monday (11/4/2022).

The hacking occurred allegedly related to student demonstrations. Because the cellphone numbers belonging to a number of activists were asked to enter a verification code.

Chadifan, as the commander of the demonstration team, said there were hacking attempts by irresponsible parties.

A student of the Study Program Outside the Main Campus (PSDKU) Universitas Brawijaya Kediri told a number of media crews that his cellphone suddenly received a notification from another device that was trying to log in to his WhatsApp account.

According to him, the piracy of cellphones is evidence of the ongoing crisis of democracy in Indonesia.

"We are verifying the code. What we have done is two number or two-step verification. If there is an attempt we need to re-enter, this means hacking or logging in from another device so we need to confirm who is my login or not," said Chadifan after the demonstration in front of the Kediri City DPRD Office. In fact, a friend's number at Brawijaya University Malang has also been hacked and is still not functioning again. Even though there have been hacking attempts by other parties, Chadifan admitted that he still has no plans to report the case to the police.

It is suspected that the hacking of the student's cell phone number was related to the student demonstration movement to address the latest issues raised by students.

Meanwhile, the Head of Operations at the Kediri Police, Kompol Abraham Sisik, admitted to a number of media crews that so far the officers had not received any reports.

“There is no hacking of cellphones in Kediri. We ensure that the demonstration in Kediri is safe and orderly. Students are like our own children and younger siblings. We oversee it from the beginning, until the end of the demonstration. They expressed their gratitude to the police,” he said. To secure the student demonstration, the Kediri City Police deployed 410 personnel. Officers also escorted students and carried out traffic engineering during the demonstration which took place on Jl Mayor Bismo, Kediri City.

A resident in Labuan Bajo was arrested by officers from the Resort Police [Polres] of West Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Thursday (21/4) while trying to block an attempt to clear a road for the National Strategic Project [PSN].

Paulinus Jek, the name of the resident, is a member of the Racang Buka Community. He was arrested for trying to block an excavator when the eviction arrived at his teak plantation.

The Racang Buka Community is one of three groups of residents in Labuan Bajo whose land was allegedly taken by the Implementing Agency for the Labuan Bajo Flores Authority [BPOLBF] for the tourism business.

The road that passes through his garden will open access to an area of ​​400 hectares in the Bowosie Forest which will later become a project site by the Tourism Authority of Labuan Bajo Flores [BPOLBF] to be developed into a tourism business area.

Together with other residents of the Racang Buka Community, Paulinus has tried to resist the eviction. This is because they have controlled and resided in the area since 1999. They have made various efforts to gain recognition from the state.

However, their efforts went unanswered, and the eviction for the opening of the road was carried out on Thursday, April 21 under the guard of about 50 police and several members of the TNI. There are officers wearing official uniforms, some wearing civilian clothes while carrying long-barreled weapons.

Paulinus's arrest began with his shouting so that the teak trees would not be evicted.

"Don't evict my teak. Don't," he said, pointing and walking towards the excavator.

His scream was then followed by other residents. "This is our plant," shouted a resident.

"We are humans, sir. Please communicate. We are not animals," added another resident.

The actions of Paulinus and several other residents had made the excavator stop. However, the Head of the Mabar Police OPS Division, Robert M. Bolle, asked the heavy equipment operator to continue the work.

"Don't be silent. Forward, forward," he said.

Paulinus continued to protest and questioned the presence of the officers at the place.

"How much did you get paid. How much did the police get paid?" Paulinus shouted, pointing at the police in front of him.

Robert responded to his words with an arrest warrant.

"Secure him. Secure him. Take him. Arrest the others," he ordered to which several police personnel responded immediately.

Paulinus who was standing right in front of the excavator was immediately dragged away. He was struggling to get free from the police ambush. After Paulinus was arrested, the eviction was continued, under tight security by the army and police.

At 13.00 WITA, Paulinus was released and rejoined the residents.

The refusal of residents in the vicinity of the Bowosie Forest, as well as other civilian elements to the project, which is part of the national strategic project, was carried out because they considered the eviction site to be a buffer forest area for the city of Labuan Bajo. In addition, some areas are community gardens.

Racang Buka residents who enter the area of ​​Gorontalo Village, Komodo District have inhabited the area since the 1990s.

They have made various legal efforts to legally inhabit at least 150 hectares of the Bowosie Forest in the southern part through a scheme to free forest areas into settlements and agricultural land.

Their step was answered by the government through the Decree of the West Manggarai Forest Boundary No. 357 of 2016, but only about 38 hectares were granted, which was designated as an area for Other Use Areas [APL].

While the residents were only given 38 hectares, the other part of the forest that they requested to become their rights is now part of the area handed over by the government to BPO-LBF through Presidential Decree 32 of 2018.

The Head of Operations Section [Head of OPS] West Manggarai Police, AKP Robertus M. Bolle stated that his presence at the eviction site was only to provide security at the order of the Chief of Police and the request of the Implementing Agency for the Labuan Bajo Flores Authority [BPOLBF].

"We carry out security duties with a letter of assignment from the police chief. The basis for that is an application from the Flores Labuan Bajo Authority Implementing Agency [BPOLBF] for security related to the opening of roads on government land. So that's the basis," he said.

"So, we are here to carry out security. Only security. Both from the workers and from the community itself," he added.

Regarding the arrest of the residents of Paulinus, he emphasized that this step was taken to prevent a bigger problem from being avoided.

"Persuasion has been done, communication has been good, we have to be a little strict with this activity. There is no pushing. But there is one of our brothers who gave his life in the excavator. We secure him so he doesn't get hurt. We move him from the location that threatens his life. , said Robert.

The Central Coordinator of the Student Executive Board or BEM SI, Kaharuddin, said that his house in Riau was visited by unknown people after the April 11, 2022 demonstration in front of the Indonesian Parliament Building, Central Jakarta. The unknown person came to his house when Kaharuddin was in Jakarta.

"On the evening of April 11, a neighbor saw (an unknown person). He asked for his home address and wanted to tell his parents that there was no news of Kahar in Jakarta. It seems he wants to panic the parents," said Kaharudin when contacted by Tempo, Wednesday. , April 13, 2022.

In last Monday's action, Kaharuddin was the most vocal student delivering oration in front of the DPR RI Building. The Riau University student who was also a student representative met with three Deputy Chairmen of the Indonesian House of Representatives, namely Sufmi Dasco, Rahmat Gobel, and Lodewijk F Paulus, and the National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo.

Kaharudin explained that threats also came to him ahead of the April 11 action. He admitted that he received a call from an unknown number threatening to harm Kahar before the April 11 demonstrations began.

Kaharuddin said that threats like this have often happened every time BEM SI will hold a national action. However, this is the first time that the perpetrators have carried out a mode of action by making parents worried.

This effort to stamp out this action also happened to other members of BEM SI. Kaharuddin said that several campuses in the area even summoned the BEM the day before the action started. Several other students also admitted to being terrorized before the action started.

Kaharuddin said that his Instagram social media had also been hacked since 7 April 2022 until now. After being hijacked, his social media spread information on the cancellation of the April 11, 2022 action. "Yesterday I reported it to Safenet (about the hacking)," said Kaharuddin.

Joseph (pseudonym) was arrested around 10.00 today (10 May) while leaving his house to join the activists submitting a petition to the US Embassy calling for the release of detained activists and the repeal of the royal defamation law. The police officers who arrested him presented an arrest warrant on a royal defamation charge resulting from a speech he gave at the protest at the King Taksin the Great Monument at Wongwian Yai on Chakri Memorial Day (6 April).

During his speech, Joseph talked about the history of how the ruling class in Southeast Asia come to power, especially in the ancient kingdoms located in the area currently known as Thailand, and how the Chakri dynasty came to rule Siam.

Activist Somyot Pruksakasemsuk from the activist network Citizens for the Abolition of 112 said that Joseph was a member of the network and that he came up with the idea that the network should petition embassies to demand the release of political prisoners.

Somyot said that Joseph’s speech was about the history of Chakri Memorial Day, noting that previous court rulings stated that speaking about history does not constitute an offense under the royal defamation law, leading him to speculate that Joseph was arrested to prevent yesterday’s protest at the US Embassy.

“We’ll keep going, and we will let the world know about this, especially the US, which is a country from which we will campaign the use of social sanctions against the judges, the police, or anyone related to the justice system,” Somyot said.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that after his arrest, Joseph was taken to the Police Club on Vibhavadi Road, even though the charge against him is under the jurisdiction of Buppharam Police Station in Thonburi. He was then taken to the Thonburi Criminal Court for a temporary detention request and was later granted bail on a 200,000-baht security.

The Court also set the conditions that he must not participate in activities which damage the monarchy or cause public disorder, and must not leave the country.

Joseph was previously charged with royal defamation and sedition for reading out a statement during the 26 October 2020 protest in front of the German Embassy.

Another activist has been arrested and charged with royal defamation for a speech given at the Chakri Memorial Day protest on 6 April 2022.

Mint (pseudonym) was arrested on Tuesday evening (10 May). She said that she and other activists were eating at a restaurant on Chaeng Wattana after the protest at the US Embassy when around 10 police officers came to present an arrest warrant, leading her to speculate that the officers had been following her since the event at the Embassy.

She was taken to the Police Club on Vibhavadi Road, where she was detained overnight before being taken to court for a temporary detention request. According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), Mint was charged with royal defamation, violation of the Computer Crimes Act, and using a sound amplifier without permission.

TLHR also reported that, according to the inquiry officer from Buppharam Police Station, three people are being charged for speeches given during the Chakri Memorial Day protest: Mint, student activist Sopon Surariddhidhamrong, and Joseph (pseudonym).

Joseph was arrested on Tuesday morning (10 May) and charged with royal defamation. He was later granted bail on a 200,000-baht security and was given the same conditions later given to Mint. TLHR said that his speech did not mention the current king, and that, in his testimony, Joseph said that several writers and academics have discussed the execution of King Taksin, such as Sulak Sivaraksa, Nidhi Eoseewong, and Sujit Wongthes. He also mentioned a previous court ruling that the royal defamation law does not cover former kings.

Sopon is currently held in pre-trial detention on another royal defamation charge resulting from a speech he gave at a protest on 22 April 2022. He was arrested on 1 May and subsequently denied bail. TLHR said that the police will visit Sopon in prison next week to notify him of the charges.

The inquiry officer said that Mint was charged for her speech, in which she said that King Taksin was not beaten to death with a sandalwood club or allowed to enter monkhood as history books have it, but was beheaded on order from King Phutthayotfa Chulalok, who ascended the throne as the first monarch in the Chakri dynasty after he seized power in 1782. She also spoke about the creation of the Equestrian Statue of King Chulalongkorn.

On Wednesday (11 May), Mint was granted bail by the Thonburi Provincial Court on a 200,00-baht security. The Court gave her the conditions that she must not participate in activities which are damaging to the monarchy or cause public disorder, and prohibited her from leaving the country.

Mint, Joseph, and Sopon are among 194 people currently facing royal defamation charges for participating in pro-democracy protests in 209 cases. Of this number, 43 cases are related to speeches given at protests.

The South Bangkok Criminal Court on Tuesday (3 May) ordered bail for monarchy reform activists Baipor and Netiporn to be revoked, saying that they violated their bail conditions by causing public disorder.

Baipor and Netiporn are members of the monarchy reform group Thaluwang and were charged with royal defamation for conducting a public poll on whether people think royal motorcades cause problems on 8 February 2022 at Siam Paragon shopping mall.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that the Court revoked their bail because they participated in another poll on land expropriation on 13 March 2022 at the Victory Monument, which the Court said caused public disorder. The Court claimed that because the group posted on the Thaluwang Facebook page an invitation to people to join the “protest,” a large number of people would join the event and cause public disorder, and that a clash took place between Thaluwang supporters and members of a royalist group gathering nearby.

In the 13 March 2022 event, the activists walked on the skywalk around the Victory Monument and conducted a poll asking “Would you give up your house to the royal family?” Meanwhile, the ultra-royalist group People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy gathered next to the monument to sing the national anthem and King’s anthem.

A small group of Thaluwang supporters argued with the royalist protesters gathered there, but no major altercation took place as activist Sam Samat and other Thaluwang supporters defused the situation.

Baipor said before going to the hearing that Thaluwang’s polls are open for everyone to participate, and that conducting polls is about raising questions about social issues, not just those relating to the monarchy. She said that it is a good thing that other groups are also conducting public polls, and that, if she is detained, she would like more people to raise questions about various issues in the country.

The order revoking their bail was signed by Judges Santi Chukitsappaisan and Puttawat Rintarasri.

Baipor and Netiporn are currently detained at the Women’s Central Correctional Institution. They are among 11 people currently detained on charges relating to political expression. Of this number, 5 are detained on royal defamation charges while their cases are still at the inquiry level: Baipor, Netiporn, Tantawan Tuatulanon, Sopon Surariddhidhamrong, and Weha Saenchonchanasuek. Activist shaves head to demand right to bail

After Baipor and Netiporn were taken to the Women’s Central Correctional Institution, 17-year-old activist Benjamaporn or “Ploy”, also a Thaluwang member, shaved her head to protest the activists’ bail revocation and demand the right to bail for detained activist.

Benjamaporn wore a school uniform and taped a piece of paper to her chest saying “This young person behaved in violation of the law by raising questions about the monarchy, causing dishonour to, defaming, and threatening one of the country’s main institutions. Please condemn this young person.”

The sign is a reference to Benjamaporn’s first demonstration, in which she protested outdated haircut and uniform regulations in Thai schools by sitting under a staircase at the Siam BTS station in a school uniform with a sign saying “This student violated school rules by leaving her hair longer than her ears and having fringes, destroying Thai students’ characteristics. Please punish this student,” and inviting people to cut her hair.

After shaving her head, Benjamaporn flashed the three-finger ‘Hunger Games’ salute. She picked up a piece of her hair and said that the braids she was wearing before the demonstration were done for her by Netiporn before they went to court that morning.

Benjamaporn said that the loss of her hair cannot be compared to the loss of lives from the economic recession, the lives of young people lost to the education system, the juvenile detention centres, or the life of 15-year-old Warit Somnoi, who was shot during a protest at the Din Daeng Intersection and died after several months in a coma.

She asked people to remember those who are unjustly imprisoned and those who died and not let them be forgotten by political history. She also asked that adults listen to young people and stand with them to call for justice, freedom, and equality.

“Young people have tried their best to speak out, but there are many adults who are still choosing not to listen to their voice. Actually, it is an adult’s responsibility to listen to the voice of young people and come out to stand alongside them, not just discard youth, not just discard children so that they have to run away from home and be without a place to live, without even a dream and having to struggle by themselves. In the end, the destination of people who come out to fight and ask questions is prison and death. Such things happen, and such things should not happen,” she said.

Benjamaporn said she is tired and feels discouraged, but she is not giving up. She asked people to continue following Thaluwang’s activities and support young people.

Student activist Sopon Surariddhidhamrong was arrested on Sunday night (1 May) on a royal defamation charge resulting from a speech he gave at a protest on 22 April 2022 and subsequently denied bail.

Sopon, a 23-year-old radiological technology student, was arrested while he was leaving the Labour Day event in front of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC). Witnesses said that, at around 21.20, Sopon got into a taxi to leave the event. A police truck then blocked off the taxi, after which officers came to read him an arrest warrant on a royal defamation charge. The officers also asked him to get out of the taxi and into the truck, or an officer would ride in the taxi with him to Samran Rat Police Station.

Nearby participants in the Labour Day event then came to negotiate with the officers. They also formed a cordon around the taxi to prevent the officers from taking Sopon until a lawyer arrived. At around 22.05, Sopon and a group of protesters got into the police truck for Samran Rat Police Station.

The police blocked the entrance to the police station with metal fences, while a crowd of supporters gathered outside. At around 23.30, the police said they were taking Sopon to the Police Club on Vibhavadi Road. Sopon insisted that the police interrogate him at Samran Rat Police Station and not at the Police Club because the protest which led to the complaint against him did not take place in the Police Club’s jurisdiction and the announcement making the Police Club a restricted area has already been repealed.

However, at 2.00 on Monday (2 May), the police took Sopon to the Police Club. They also did not allow his lawyer to travel with him, forcing the lawyer to travel separately and wait in front of the Police Club before being allowed to meet him.

The officers initially did not say what the charges resulted from and would not let anyone take pictures of the warrant. Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported later that Sopon was charged with royal defamation and using a sound amplifier without permission for a speech he gave during a protest march in the Ratchadamnoen area on 22 April 2022. Anon Klinkaew, a member of the ultra-royalist group People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy who filed the complaint against Sopon, said the speech defamed Queen Suthida.

Sopon was detained at the Police Club overnight. On Monday morning (2 May), the police took him to court via teleconference for a 12-day temporary detention request. The inquiry officer opposed bail on the grounds that the charges carry a high penalty and because, since Sopon is a monarchy reform activist on police watchlist, many royal ceremonies will be taking place in May.

TLHR said that the Court denied him bail because he was previously granted bail on a contempt of court charge resulting from a protest on 2 May 2021 at the Ratchadaphisek Criminal Court following bail rejections for several activists detained pending trial at the time on royal defamation charges. The Court therefore believes that if Sopon is released, he is likely to run or repeat his offense, and so denied him bail. The name of the judge who denied bail was redacted by court officials. Sopon is now detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison.

TLHR noted that the police only took 6 days after the complaint against Sopon was filed to issue an arrest warrant without first issuing a summons, and that this is Sopon’s first royal defamation charge.

An opposition activist in Kazakhstan's southern city of Shymkent has been sentenced to seven years in prison on terrorism charges that he rejects.

The Al-Farabi district court sentenced Erulan Amirov on May 16 after finding him guilty of inciting social hatred, propagating terrorism, and involvement in the activities of a banned organization.

After his sentence was pronounced, Amirov said, "I do not know why I am in custody."

An RFE/RL correspondent said a bruise could be seen on Amirov's head, but when asked about it, the activist answered that he was "scared" to talk about it.

Amirov's mother, Sharipa Niyazova, said the court ruling will be appealed.

Amirov, who went on trial in January, was arrested in April last year. But his family only learned that he was being held in a detention center in Shymkent in December after what a Kazakh human rights group said was attempt to commit suicide.

Niyazova says her son suffers psychiatric disorders.

Kazakh human rights organizations have designated Amirov as a political prisoner and have demanded his release.

The charges against Amirov stemmed from his posts on social networks criticizing Kazakh authorities and for his participation in unsanctioned protest rallies organized by the banned Koshe (Street) political party.

Many activists across the Central Asian nation have been handed prison terms or parole-like restricted freedom sentences in recent years for their involvement in the activities of the Koshe party and its affiliate Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement.

DVK is led by Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank and outspoken critic of the Kazakh government.

Human Rights Watch earlier this year criticized the Kazakh government for using anti-extremism laws as a tool to persecute critics and civic activists. Several hundred people have been prosecuted for membership in the Koshe party.

The Kazakh authorities have insisted there are no political prisoners in the country.

Several dozen women's rights activists have protested a Taliban order making it mandatory for women to wear the all-covering burqa, including face veils, when they are in public.

The women marched through the streets of the capital, Kabul, on May 10 holding signs calling for justice despite intimidation attempts by Taliban operatives, who threatened them with violence.

"We were faced with harsh behavior by the Taliban. It was terrifying...They even told us if we move one step forward, they will fire 30 rounds at us," one women said in a video made by the group, called Afghanistan's Powerful Women's Movement.

The decree, announced on May 7, calls for women to only show their eyes and recommends they wear the head-to-toe burqa. Head scarves are common for most Afghan women, but in urban areas such as Kabul, many do not cover their faces.

Failure to comply will result in a woman's father or closest male relative being reprimanded, imprisoned, or fired from employment.

It immediately sparked criticism from many Afghans and the international community amid an outcry over the erosion of human rights in the country, especially for women and girls.

"Under the latest draconian decree, Afghan women are ordered to follow full veil and avoid unnecessary movement. This violates fundamental human rights of women to chose what to wear & move freely," Amnesty International's South Asia department said in a tweet a day after the measures were announced.

"Despite continued assurance of Taliban de-facto authorities that they respect women & girls rights, millions of women & girls are exposed to systematic gender based discrimination," it added.

The UN Security Council will meet on May 12 to discuss the order.

Deborah Lyons, UN special envoy for Afghanistan, is to brief the 15-member council, according to Norway's UN mission, which requested the closed-door meeting "to address the increased restrictions on human rights and freedoms of girls and women."

Girls have been banned from school beyond the sixth grade in most of the country since the Taliban’s return last August. In March, the Taliban ordered girls' high schools closed on the morning they were scheduled to open.

Pakistan’s first transgender lawyer Nisha Rao sustained injuries after being attacked in Saddar, Karachi by four men.

Trans Pride Society, an NGO founded by Nisha Rao, narrated the incident calling it a ‘heinous crime.’ It said Nisha was attacked during a visit to members of the transgender community in Saddar by four men on two motorbikes as she got off a rickshaw to walk towards her friend’s apartment.

It said the aggressors beat and stole her belongings. One man used a ring to pierce Nisha’s scalp while his accomplices stole her handbag and mobile phone.

Nisha is a strong advocate for the transgender community and spends her time working as a lawyer in the City Court of Karachi where she fights for the rights of transgenders, in addition to attending Karachi University where she is receiving her Masters of Law degree.

“Serving and empowering the transgender community is Nisha’s biggest determination in life and it is crimes like these that make her fear the fragmented society we live in,” the statement said. It cannot be known whether it was a targeted attack and the identity of the perpetrators remains unknown.

The trans community and lawyers have demanded police take immediate action and arrest the culprits. In April 2021, five transgender persons were killed and eight sustained injuries in separate attacks.

Nisha Rao is Pakistan’s first trangender lawyer to be accepted into an MPhil programme to study law at Karachi University.

NagaWorld labor negotiations remained at a stalemate as fired union workers continued to attempt to protest outside the casino complex.

Workers have continued their protests in Phnom Penh and have been met with severe police action, including protesters getting kicked while being shoved onto buses outside the NagaWorld 2 casino on Wednesday. Around 130 workers were again confronted by police, terminated worker Mam Sovathin said.

Kong Sokhom, another protesting worker who still works at the casino, said she was initially shocked when a police official pinched her hard and had to be pulled away by his colleagues.

“I laughed after that. He pinched me and then pushed me on the bus. And some authorities had to pull him out,” she said.

Sokhom said protestors were returning to the casino almost every day, only taking short breaks to rest. The authorities continued to take them on buses near Phnom Penh Safari park and then dropping them off at the new Freedom Park in Russei Keo district.

At the same time, five union representatives met with NagaWorld and the Labor Ministry on Wednesday, the eighth negotiation meeting to end without a resolution.

Union president Chhim Sithar, who was recently re-elected to head the union, was not optimistic heading into the meeting, saying there was no compromise in sight. Her outlook had not changed after the meeting ended Wednesday evening.

“It is like before. The company still rejects all of our requests. There was no result,” she said.

The union has asked NagaWorld to find jobs for 200-odd terminated workers, a demand workers say the casino has refused during the negotiations.

The union also delivered the results of its 10-day leadership election to the Labor Ministry on Monday. The ministry will now have to re-register the union, and Heng Sour, a ministry spokesperson, did not respond to requests for comment.

A court in Afghanistan has sentenced a journalist to one year in prison on charges that free press advocates say included criticism of the Taliban government in his social media posts and "espionage." A Taliban spokesman said he was sentenced for “criminal misconduct.”

Khalid Qaderi, a poet and reporter with Radio Nowruz in the western Afghan city of Herat, has been in custody since his arrest in mid-March. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) alleged in a statement issued Thursday that he was tried and sentenced last week by a Taliban military court, something the Taliban denied.

The IFJ said the young Afghan journalist was accused of posting content critical of the Taliban, including his radio broadcasts, on Facebook. It quoted Qaderi telling the court, "I realized my errors, and I deleted the posts from my Facebook page."

The IFJ denounced what it said was "the arbitrary sentencing" and urged the Islamist Taliban to cease their persecution of journalists for their independent reportage. This would be the first reported case of a journalist being tried by a military court since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan last August.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on Thursday confirmed the sentencing of the journalist but insisted Qaderi's arrest had nothing to do with his "journalistic work," nor was he tried by a military court.

Mujahid claimed while speaking to VOA’s Afghan Service that a "civil" court in Herat had imposed the sentence on Qaderi for "criminal misconduct." The spokesman did not elaborate.

"Under Taliban rule," the IFJ said, “Afghan journalists have continued to face draconian restrictions, threats to freedom and arbitrary arrests.” The group called for the Taliban to immediately release the journalist from prison.

The Taliban insist they support media activities in Afghanistan within the law, but an estimated 1,000 journalists have fled the country since the Islamist group returned to power almost nine months ago, citing threats, harsh restrictions on media and economic upheavals.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said in a report issued Thursday that the Taliban continue to persecute religious minorities and punish Afghans in accordance with the group's extreme interpretation of Islamic law or Sharia.

"The Taliban takeover and U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 led to a mass exodus, heightened by a violent crackdown on civil society, targeted killings, beatings and detentions, severe restrictions on women's rights, diminished local media presence, and an increase in violent, targeted attacks claimed by Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K)," the U.S. government entity said.

The USCIRF monitors the conditions of refugees who have fled severe violations of religious freedom and the U.S. government's policy responses.

Women's rights

Last week, the Taliban government decreed that women must fully cover their faces and bodies when in public, ideally with the traditional all-covering burqa, in one of the harshest restrictions the Islamist group has imposed on Afghan women since seizing power.

The edict advised women to leave their homes only in cases of necessity and warned that violations could lead to the punishment of their male relatives. The move drew widespread international condemnation and demands for its reversal.

The Taliban defended the female dress code, saying it is in line with Islamic and Afghan traditions. The group also has not yet allowed secondary schoolgirls to resume classes, ignoring domestic and international demands to lift the ban.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said Thursday that its chief, Deborah Lyons, in a series of meetings with Taliban leaders this week, called on them to respect and ensure women's fundamental rights.

"The international community's ability to engage with the Taliban as credible actors requires them to make good on commitments for all girls to return to school, as well as to ensure women can work, access basic services and have free movement without impediments," UNAMA wrote on Twitter.

Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa Friday declared a state of emergency giving security forces sweeping powers for the second time in five weeks to deal with escalating anti-government protests.

A spokesman for the president said he invoked the tough laws to "ensure public order" after trade unions staged a nationwide strike Friday demanding his resignation over a worsening economic crisis.

Months of blackouts and acute shortages of food, fuel and pharmaceuticals have caused widespread suffering across the South Asian island nation of 22 million people.

Public anger has sparked sustained protests demanding the government's resignation over its mismanagement of the crisis, Sri Lanka's worst since independence in 1948.

Thousands of student protesters had been camped on the road leading to the legislature, which is on a man-made island on a lake in the capital Colombo, since Thursday.

Officers fired a barrage of tear gas followed by water cannon from two trucks, but the crowd quickly reassembled behind police barricades set up to block access to the parliament.

It was the second time police tried to disperse the crowd with tear gas, after an earlier unsuccessful attempt on Thursday afternoon.

Millions of workers stayed off the job on Friday in a strike organised by the country's trade union movement, with all but one scheduled train service cancelled.

Privately owned buses were off the roads while industrial workers demonstrated outside their factories and black flags were hung across the country in an expression of anger against the government.

"We can pinpoint the policy blunders of the president that led to this very sorry state of our economy," said trade union leader Ravi Kumudesh. "He must go."

Private buses, which account for two-thirds of the country's fleet, were also off the road, Private Bus Operators Association chairman Gemunu Wijeratne said.

"We are not providing services today, but if groups of people want to join the anti-government protests within a radius of 20 kilometres, we will give our buses free of charge," Wijeratne told reporters in Colombo. No resignation

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has insisted he will not step down despite escalating demonstrations across the island, including a protest that has been camped outside his seafront office for nearly a month.

Sri Lanka's economic crisis took hold after the coronavirus pandemic hammered income from tourism and remittances.

Unable to pay for fuel imports, utilities have imposed daily blackouts to ration electricity, while long lines of people snake around service stations for petrol and kerosene.

Hospitals are short of vital medicines and the government has appealed to citizens abroad for donations.

Last month Sri Lanka announced it was defaulting on its $51 billion foreign debt, and finance minister Ali Sabry warned this week that the country will have to endure its unprecedented economic hardships for at least two more years.

esponding to the news that atleast 12 peaceful protesters were unlawfully arrested today by police officers for demonstrating outside the Parliament of Sri Lanka, Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International’s South Asia Regional Director, said:

“These protesters have the right to demonstrate peacefully outside the Parliament of Sri Lanka and to express themselves and speak with their MPs as the country’s economy crumbles. The charges against all the protesters must be dropped as they were detained solely for peacefully exercising their human rights.

“Any restrictions placed on these rights must be necessary, proportionate and provided by law. Today’s arrests were undoubtedly arbitrary and unlawful. After they arrested protesters recently in Mirihana, the Sri Lankan authorities subjected them to ill-treatment in police custody and refused to allow access to legal counsel. It is crucial that the authorities do not commit the same rights violations with the protesters arrested today.”

“Excessive use of force, intimidation and unlawful arrests seem to be a pattern in which the Sri Lankan authorities’ respond to dissent and peaceful assembly. These repressive actions clearly do not meet Sri Lanka’s obligations under international human rights law.”

Background

On 4 May, the police arrested 12 people near the Parliament of Sri Lanka for allegedly obstructing the vehicles of MPs.

In footage seen by Amnesty International, a small group of protesters can be seen holding up placards that called for MPs to support a motion of no confidence that was tabled in parliament today. The protesters were then forced into a police bus.

The protestors were later released on bail.

Authorities in Sri Lanka must immediately rescind the emergency regulations and shooting orders that provide excessive powers to the police and military, and take immediate steps to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of peaceful protestors, Amnesty International said today.

The authorities must also refrain from using the state of emergency as a pretext to curb the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, including at the protest sites such as “Gotagogama” in the country.

Following the President’s proclamation of a State of Emergency on 6 May along with a country-wide curfew from 9-12 May, backdated emergency regulations were published overnight on 9 May. They give sweeping powers to the police and the armed forces to search and make arrests of “suspects” without due process safeguards. On 9 May, protesters peacefully demonstrating in front of the Presidential Secretariat since over a month were violently attacked by pro-government supporters after being allegedly incited to violence by top party leaders at Temple Trees, the Prime Minister’s official residence in Colombo. The police stood largely as bystanders to the violence, doing little to effectively protect the peaceful protesters and their protest site, despite having used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the protestors just days before on 6 May.

“Authorities in Sri Lanka should carry out a prompt, thorough, impartial, independent, effective and transparent investigation into the reports of violent attacks on peaceful protesters. Authorities should bring to justice those suspected to be responsible and ensure access to justice and effective remedies for victims,” said Yamini Mishra, South Asia Regional Director at Amnesty International.

“The attacks look like a deliberate decision by the Police to allow pro-government groups to physically assault peaceful protesters, destroy structures and wreak havoc at the ‘Gotagogama’ protest site. The authorities have an obligation to provide an enabling environment for the protesters to peacefully exercise their human rights, and to end the violent attacks on protesters,” added Yamini Mishra.

Elements of anti-government groups retaliated to the attack on 9 May by beating up pro-government supporters and destroying buses believed to have transported them. This escalated into targeting of parliamentarians with damage to their vehicles and arson against their homes, businesses, and party offices. According to authorities, nine people have died and over 220 people have been injured in the violence that erupted. Additionally, 41 vehicles had been set on fire, 61 vehicles were damaged, and 136 incidents of property damage were recorded.

“Justice and accountability from the Sri Lankan authorities is the need of the hour. An effective and transparent inquiry is necessary to bring those responsible for the violence to justice. The country is headed towards a deepening crisis while accountability and solutions for the economic crisis – key calls by the protesters – go completely unaddressed. Right now, Sri Lanka is a tinderbox, and any move to impermissibly restrict human rights through sweeping emergency powers granted to law enforcement agencies, including the armed forces, – will lead to further repression,” said Yamini Mishra.

The Emergency Regulations lack due process safeguards, such as the right to be informed of the reason for arrest, and the issuance of an arrest receipt at the time of arrest informing family where they would be detained. Access to legal counsel is subject to conditions. The offences are broad and can be used to bar trade union strike actions, give powers to the President to shut down public processions, restrict access to public spaces, restrict the right to freedom of expression including the right to information, freedom of movement and peaceful assembly.

Further, the Regulations provide powers to use armed force against anyone who does not comply with orders. The Regulations come with hefty penalties including life imprisonment for ordinary penal offences. There is also no access to bail for offences under the Regulations, except under “exceptional circumstances.” Persons authorised by the commanders of the armed forces are empowered by the Regulations to remove suspects from detention for a period of seven days at a time. Sri Lankan authorities are accused of multiple instances of custodial torture in the past, making these provisions dangerous and raising the possibility of misuse of these powers.

On 10 May, the Defence Ministry issued a notice saying the Armed forces have been ordered to open fire at anyone looting public property or causing harm to others- a move that has been called “illegal” by some parliamentarians. The cabinet remains dissolved following the PM’s resignation on 9 May.

“The shooting orders provide a license to kill. Violent mobs should be contained, however lethal force must not be the first resort. Any restrictions on human rights during times of emergency must be necessary and proportionate to the exigencies of the situation and must not be used as a tool against freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, right to personal security, liberty and freedom from arbitrary detention. Further, any derogations from human rights guarantees under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Sri Lanka is a state party, should be formally communicated with a clear explanation of the reasons for them to other State parties,” said Yamini Mishra.

Sri Lanka has a history of human rights violations implicating the Military, including custodial torture under consecutive emergency situations in the past. This pattern of violations of human rights must end.

Responding to the arrests under Hong Kong’s national security law of four trustees of the defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Regional Director Erwin van der Borght said:

“Even by Hong Kong’s recent standards of worsening repression, these arrests represent a shocking escalation. Some of the city’s most respected pro-democracy figures, whose activism has always been entirely peaceful, are now potentially facing years in jail. There could be few more poignant examples of the utter disintegration of human rights in Hong Kong.

“The targeting of these four activists, among them a 90-year-old cardinal, for enabling legal and humanitarian support for protesters lays bare the Hong Kong government’s callous disregard for the basic rights of its citizens.

“By attempting to criminalize the provision of legal, economic and medical aid to those in need, the authorities are undermining the rights to fair trial and other human rights of all people in Hong Kong.

“The trustees’ so-called crime of ‘collusion with foreign forces’ once again highlights how the vagueness of Hong Kong’s national security law can be weaponised to make politically motivated, or simply malicious, arrests.

“The Hong Kong government must stop pursuing criminal charges against members of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund and others who are being targeted simply for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association or assembly.”

Background

Cardinal Joseph Zen (90), barrister Margaret Ng (74) and singer Denise Ho (45) were arrested on Wednesday, accused of “collusion with foreign forces” under Hong Kong’s national security law. Scholar Hui Po-keung was arrested at Hong Kong airport on Tuesday while attempting to leave Hong Kong, while a fifth trustee, Cyd Ho (67), is already detained for other offences. All except Ho were released on bail on Wednesday.

The five were trustees for the defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which provided financial support for legal assistance to people prosecuted for their participation in the 2019 mass protests.

The fund ceased activities in September 2021 after it became known that it was subject of an investigation by the Hong Kong police’s National Security Department

The fund’s name “612” stems from the date 12 June 2019, when the police used unnecessary and excessive force against largely peaceful protesters who demonstrated against the later-retracted extradition bill.

Attacks against Pakistani media workers continue to escalate, with senior journalist, Zia-Ur-Rehman Farooqi fatally attacked by ‘land-grabbers’ in the Punjab province, and veteran journalist Khawar Mughal tortured by members of the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) political party at a public meeting in Lahore. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Pakistan affiliate, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), condemn the attacks and urge the newly formed Pakistani government to apprehend the perpetrators and implement security mechanisms to better protect journalists in Pakistan.

According to the First Information Report (FIR) filed on March 24 at Kuhna Police Station Khanewal, several assailants stopped and threatened a car carrying media reporters, including Zia-Ur-Rehman Farooqi, a correspondent for 7 News in the Khanewal district of Punjab.

Armed individuals opened fire on the journalists, hitting Zia-Ur-Rehman in the head. The other journalists in the car managed to escape unharmed, while the assailants fled the scene. Zia-Ur-Rehman was brought to the District Head Quarter Hospital in Khanewal, before being shifted to Nishtar Hospital Multan for further treatment. The journalist died of his injuries on April 28.

Zia-Ur-Rehman was allegedly attacked for his critical reporting of land grabbing schemes in the area, with the FIR lodged under Section 7 of Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act and the country’s penal code.

In another incident, renowned journalist Khawar Mughal, of 92 News, was tortured during a public gathering in Lahore by members of the PTI political party. An FIR was lodged at Lari Addah Lahore police station against Mughal’s assailants, who tortured him before stealing his media firm logo and breaking his microphone and camera.

At PTI public events in Islamabad and Karachi, journalists were tortured and female journalists, including Zamzam Saeed of Samaa TV, were the subject of targeted harassment.

Gharida Farooqi, a distinguished journalist and anchorperson, was harassed by PTI members on social media and through online assaults, cyberbullying, character assassination, and threats of death and rape.

"I've reported to the FIA regarding rude, harassing, disparaging banners against me held at Lahore Public meeting and put up on social media," Farooqi told the IFJ. “From now on, there will be no tolerance. Anyone who spreads false information about me will now be reported to the FIA. I expect the FIA to take speedy action against all of the perpetrators."

The PFUJ strongly condemned the armed attack on journalist Zia-Ur-Rehman Farooqi and asked that Punjab Police arrest and detain the offenders. Rana Muhammad Azeem, PFUJ Secretary General, demanded the perpetrators be arrested, or else a nationwide demonstration would be called.

Pakistan authorities must conduct a swift and impartial investigation into the police assault of journalist Jahangir Hayat, as well as the detention of Hayat and his family, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday.

On May 1, police officers in the Icchra area of Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, assaulted and detained Hayat, a chief reporter for the privately owned daily newspaper Daily Business, according to a report by his outlet, video of the incident shared on social media, and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ by phone.

Police also detained Hayat’s wife and seven-year-old daughter, and released the family after about 45 minutes, according to those sources.

Hayat told CPJ that he believes the assault and detention were acts of retaliation for his work as a journalist, including his reporting on crime and alleged police malfeasance, which CPJ reviewed.

“Punjab police officers’ assault and detention of Jahangir Hayat, as well as their detention and harassment of his family, underscores the significant dangers that Pakistani journalists face for simply doing their jobs,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna. “Authorities must conduct an immediate and impartial investigation into this incident, hold the perpetrators accountable, and demonstrate that such attacks will not continue with impunity.”

Hayat and his family were walking to their motorcycle when the journalist noticed that speedometer of his motorcycle had broken; he approached a police van nearby for help because he thought it had been vandalized, he said.

Hayat told CPJ that he showed the officers his press card as a form of identification, and the officers then recognized him, cursed at him, and one officer, whom Hayat identified as the station house officer of the Icchra Police Station, said he would “get rid of his journalism.”

Icchra Police Deputy Superintendent Zakaria Yusuf then arrived at the scene and ordered the officers to detain the journalist, Hayat told CPJ, saying the officers hit him in the ribs with their pistols, grabbed his neck, and threw him into a police vehicle, and escorted his wife and daughter into the vehicle as well.

The officers held the family in that vehicle for about 45 minutes and then brought them to the Icchra Police Station, where authorities released them without charge after a group of journalists gathered at the station’s gate, Hayat said.

The journalist sustained injuries to his ribs and neck from the attack, for which he took painkillers, he said, adding that his daughter was traumatized from the incident.

On May 9, Hayat registered complaints with the offices of Lahore Capital City Police Officer Bilal Kamyana, Senior Superintendent of the Lahore Police Operations Mustansar Feroze, and Inspector-General of the Punjab Police Sardar Ali Khan, the journalist said, adding that no action had been taken against the officers involved in his detention and assault.

Following publication of this article, Feroze told CPJ via messaging app that police had opened an inquiry into the incident, and would make its findings public upon its conclusion.

CPJ was unable to identify contact details for Yusuf. Kamyana and Khan did not respond to CPJ’s requests for comment sent via messaging app.

he Hanoi police have resumed investigation against blogger Le Anh Hung, taking him back to their temporary detention center from the city-based mental hospital.

According to the decision of the capital city’s Police Department on May 9, the compulsory mental treatment was stopped by the city’s People’s Procuracy on the same day and he was transferred back to jail on May 10 for further investigation on the allegation of “abusing democratic freedom” under Article 331 of the Criminal Code.

The investigation is expected to end soon and the first-instance hearing will be carried out in coming months, according to his lawyer Nguyen Van Mieng.

Mr. Le Anh Hung, a political blogger of Voice of America, was arrested on July 5, 2018 for his postings on Facebook on which he accused many senior communist leaders of criminal activities and working for China against the country’s interests. Ten months later, on May 4, 2019, he was sent to a mental hospital for compulsory treatment.

He was reported not to agree with the treatment, denying to take medicines provided by the mental facility. However, he was beaten and forced to take medicines after being tied to his bed, according to his family.

Le Anh Hung was moved from the National Psychiatric Ward in Hanoi, where he was admitted in April 2019, and returned to prison last week so that the criminal prosecution against him could resume. A member of the Independent Journalist Association of Vietnam, Hung was arrested in July 2018 and charged with “abusing democratic freedoms.” However, he has yet to be tried. During his unusually long pre-trial detention period, now entering its fourth year, Hung has often complained of physical and psychological abuse and has had to go on several hunger strikes to protest the abuse.

On 11 and 12 May 2022, Hoa Binh province police repeatedly called Mr Trinh Ba Khiem - Mrs Theu's husband - to come to their office 'to work'. This was the third time 64-year-old Mr Khiem was summoned to the police office regarding the statuses, video clips... he posted on his Facebook since the arrest of his wife Mrs Can Thi Theu and his two sons Trinh Ba Phuong and Trinh Ba Tu. Mr Khiem told RFA Viet: 'In the second working session I had with Hoa Binh province police, they questioned me, why did I say on social media that the communist regime killed people; I told them, that was correct, [the communist regime] killed [land petitioner] Mr Le Dinh Kinh [in an ambush on Dong Tam village in Jan 2020]...

'The police also told me, I am not allowed to publish on social media unverified articles, they asked me to stop live streaming on social media.'

Mr Khiem said he refused to comply with the police's demand, and asserted that he would continue to speak out on social media and to fight for justice for his family members.

'They demanded me to stop [all those activities], otherwise I will be jailed with a heavy sentence.'

On 11 May, before going to the police office, Mr Khiem told RFA Viet: 'I am never afraid of the communist louts. In my struggle [for my rights] , it is the communist regime that commits criminal offences, the communists must defend themselves before me, I never have to defend myself before them.'

Coming home after his working session with the police, he said:

'[The police] persuaded me not to live stream bad mouthing the regime, otherwise they will put me in jail. The communist regime's police really want to arrest me, that is my assessment.'

In the working session on 12 May, Mr Khiem informed that the police changed tack. Instead of banning him from speaking out on social media. they persuaded him not to use the word 'communist' in his speech.

'That was their demand, they didn't like that word; in the view of this communist regime, the Communist Party is always correct, only individuals make mistakes, if you call them all 'communists', they don't like it at all, they said, you bad mouth the regime and the state by saying that.'

Tran Hoang Huan was sentenced to eight years in prison plus three years of home surveillance for postings on Facebook that allegedly violated Article 117 of the Criminal Code. Huan, 34, was accused of making 186 posts and 60 statuses that “distort and defame the people’s government,” and 21 articles that “are lies which created confusion among the citizens.” The trial, which was televised, did not appear to show any lawyer representing Huan.

On May 5, the People’s Court of the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang convicted a local citizen named Tran Hoang Huan of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code for his online posting. During a short trial which lasted a few hours, the court sentenced him to eight years in prison and three years of probation. Huan, who was arrested on April 8 last year, was accused of disseminating 186 articles on Facebook from early September 2020 to early April 2021 with the content criticizing the regime and defaming its leadership.

Before being arrested, in 2020, he was fined VND12.5 million ($560) for posting articles on Facebook unwanted by the regime. He was also summoned to a police station many times where he was forced to pledge not to post critical statuses, according to the state-controlled media.

About the Human Rights Defender: Ms. Jayeeta Das is a senior activist residing in Nadia district of West Bengal. She has participated in many people’s movements in the past two decades, including the Nandigram movement against forcible land acquisition and state repression and movements demanding justice for rape and murder victims. Mr. Pratik Bhowmik and Mr. Hasibur Sk are residents of Murshidabad district and members of Shramik Krishak Aikya Mancha, an organisation that works towards protecting the rights of workers, farmers and other marginalised groups in West Bengal. They have organised several public meetings and demonstrations and were actively involved in addressing the issues of migrant workers during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Details of the Incident: On March 23, 2022, at around 10.30 PM, Mr. Pratik Bhowmik and Mr. Hasibur Sk were illegally detained by personnel from the Nowda Police Station when they were returning home from a nearby village. They were kept at the Nowda Police Station till the morning of March 25, but not told about any case against them or their arrest. While in detention, police forced them to sign a seizure memo claiming arms were found on them. Mr. Hasibur Sk was also beaten up by police officials on one occasion. On March 24, 2022, more than 12 hours after Mr. Bhowmik and Mr. Hasibur’s illegal detention and arrest, the Nowda Police Station registered an FIR against the HRDs under Sections 25 and 35 of the Arms Act. However, the police falsely claimed the HRDs were arrested on March 24 at around 3.30 PM. They were produced at the Berhampore court on March 25 and were remanded in police custody for seven days. On March 29, 2022, around 12 PM, personnel from Haringhata Police Station in Nadia district apprehended Ms. Jayeeta Das from the Boro Jaguli area. They ordered her to get into the police vehicle without providing any reason and took her to an empty house, where she was detained for nearly seven hours. She was not provided any reason for her detention or allowed to inform her family members or lawyer. At around 7 PM, personnel from the Special Task Force of Kolkata Police reached the spot and informed she was being arrested in FIR no 1/2022. They took her to Kolkata where she underwent a medical examination. On March 30, Ms. Das was produced at the Bankshall Court, and remanded in police custody for 14 days. On April 2, when Mr. Bhowmik and Mr. Hasibur were produced at the Berhampore court, the Special Task Force prayed for their remand, which was granted. On April 3, an arrest warrant was issued against the duo in connection with FIR no 1/2022 by the Bankshall Court in Kolkata, and they were remanded in police custody. On April 7, all three HRDs were booked under Sections 17, 18, 20, 38 and 39 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act following approval from the City Sessions Judge. They continue to remain in police custody.

Human rights defenders (HRD) associated with Odhikar have been under surveillance and subjected to various forms of intimidation and harassment due to them speaking out about human rights violations and their contact with family members of the victims. An HRD associated with Odhikar was approached by members of RAB near his home on 26 February 2022, who wanted to talk to him, but the HRD did not want to talk to them as it was late at night. The RAB members left. On 6 March at around 12 o'clock in the night, his frightened wife called him when he was working in the newspaper office, and told him that some RAB members had come to their house to look for him. When he called the RAB members on cell phone asking them to meet him at day time, they left. At around 9:00 pm on 7 March, that same HRD was called from his office to a dark place by a RAB member. There, another man claiming to be a member of RAB’s Intelligence Unit (name and designation was not disclosed) wanted to know about his contacts with the victim-families and the meetings organised by Mayer Daak, a network of the families and relatives of the disappeared.

On 11 March 2022, the Khalishpur-Daulatpur Jute Mill Joint Factory Committee announced a protest rally in Khulna City demanding the launching of state-owned jute mills, payment of arrears and withdrawal of cases filed against Khalishpur Jute Mill workers. On the day before the programme, at around 2:30 pm on 10 March, the police came on an easy bike to the road adjacent to Khulna Circuit House, in plainclothes, and picked up Monir Hossain, President of Khalishpur-Daulatpur Jute Mill Joint Factory Committee and Organizing Secretary of Khalishpur Jute Mill Workers Union. Monir Hossain informed Odhikar that when he asked them for the reason behind his arrest, the police abused him. He was first taken to the Khulna Metropolitan Police (KMP) office and later detained at the Boyra Police Outpost. He wanted to drink water but he was not given water till half past two at midnight. Alamgir Kabir, General Secretary of the Committee, was also arrested from the Khalishpur Jute Mill gate at around 8:00 pm on 10 March. Both were taken to Khalishpur Police Station on 11 March at noon. After 29 hours of detention, they were released on 11 March at around 7:00 pm. Monir Hossain also informed Odhikar that they had called a meeting in front of the Khalishpur Jute Mill gate on 15 March with the same demand but the police did not allow them to assemble.

Vietnamese citizen journalist and political prisoner Le Trong Hung was allowed to see his wife for the first time since his arrest more than a year ago, a 40-minute meeting last week, his wife told RFA.

Born in 1979, Hung is known for livestreaming on Facebook and YouTube videos on controversial social and political issues, particularly land rights cases that have been at the center of controversies in Vietnam.

He was arrested in March 2021 on charges of “disseminating anti-State materials” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code shortly after nominating himself to run for Vietnam’s National Assembly elections in defiance of the ruling Communist Party and sentenced in December to five years in prison and five years of probation.

Hung was able to see his family on April 22, three days after an appeal’s court in Hanoi upheld his sentence in a hearing that neither his lawyers nor his family were informed about in advance, said Hung’s wife, Do Le Na.

“My husband said that on April 19, the trial day, he was ‘kidnapped; and sent to the court. He did not agree to stand the trial as he hadn’t got a chance to see his lawyers,” she told RFA.

Her 40-minute meeting was closely monitored, Na added.

“They repeatedly reminded me and my husband not to mention the appeal trial,” she said. “They warned that our talk over the phone would be stopped and we would be kicked out if we talked about the trial.”

Na said that she would keep fighting for her husband.

“I myself will keep speaking up and reaching out to human rights organizations and civilized countries which pay attention to the human rights situation in Vietnam. I want to point out how my husband has been treated and expose all of the Vietnamese government’s wrongdoings.”

Before his candidacy, Hung was a chemistry teacher at Xa Dan junior high school in Hanoi, but he quit teaching after unsuccessfully petitioning for reforms to the educational system.

He had also participated in protests for environmental conservation, as well as sharing news about protests in Myanmar and the cases of other activists targeted by Vietnam’s government.

Background

Dinh Van Hai, a disabled person, is living in Duc Trong district, Lam Dong province. History of Activism

Dinh Van Hai, with his deep knowledge on international, criminal, civil and land rights, often shares his views on national and international issues. He participated in many demonstrations on national sovereignty and the environment and also protests against human rights violations by the authorities, especially violent attacks against activists.

Mr Hai was arrested in Oct 2021, charged with conducting “anti-state propaganda” pursuant sec 117 of the penal code for his Facebook postings that were critical of the regime's environmental and social policies.

On 26 April 2022, he was sentenced to 5 years jail plus 3 years probation by Lam Dong province court.

His relative (name withheld due to security concern) informed RFA Viet that his family didn't receive any official notification about the hearing. They were only aware of it via a person who provided legal assistance for the disabled, as Mr Hai was disabled.

According to the relative, Mr Hai stated before court that what he did was towards a more progressive, developed, better society, it wasn't his intention to oppose the Party and the state. He also expressed his wish for a multi-party system so the people can participate in a free election.

A Tibetan activist traveling to promote language rights in Tibetan areas of western China has been denied shelter, RFA has learned, after authorities ordered hotel operators in the region to turn him away.

Tashi Wangchuk, a former political prisoner aged around 35, had been traveling in China’s Qinghai province since April 6, a Tibetan living in the area told RFA’s Tibetan Service in an exclusive interview earlier this week.

“On his way from Yulshul to Siling, he had stopped by various Tibetan schools in Golog, Rebgong and Malho to advocate for the use of Tibetan language in Tibetan schools,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

“But he was denied accommodation and dismissed from hotels in Rebgong [In Chinese, Tongren] and Malho [Huangnan]. We don’t have any information about his present whereabouts, and it’s dangerous to talk about this,” he added.

Wangchuk was later confirmed by RFA to be staying at his brother's home in Siling, where officials are requiring anyone traveling to the area to enter a 15-day quarantine for COVID-19. Sources said authorities continue to monitor his movements.

A resident of Qinghai’s Yulshul (Yushu) municipality, Wangchuk was released on Jan. 28, 2021, after completing a prison term for “inciting separatism” and is now subject to near-constant monitoring by authorities.

While traveling, Wangchuk had posted photos and videos of his visits to Tibetan schools in Darlag (Dali) county in the Golog (Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and in Rebgong, where Chinese authorities have clamped down on the use of the Tibetan language in teaching, RFA’s source said.

“However, only 30 minutes after checking into a hotel in Rebgong on April 7, the hotel told him to leave after they were instructed by county police not to let him stay, and his attempts to find a hotel on April 8 and 9 also failed after police told the hotels not to give him accommodation.”

When Wangchuk went to a police station in the Malho prefecture to complain, he was denied entry to the station and told no one there could talk to him, the source said. “And later he even went to Rebgong county’s Commission for Discipline Inspection to file an appeal, but it was closed.”

“After April 10, all the details that he posted on his Weibo social media account were deleted by the Chinese authorities, so it’s difficult to learn anything now about his well-being,” he added.

Also speaking to RFA, Pema Gyal — a researcher at London-based Tibet Watch — said that former political prisoners in Tibet are kept on Chinese government black lists and often have trouble finding jobs or accommodation in hotels.

“We are, of course, very concerned about Tashi Wangchuk at the moment,” Gyal said.

While China claims to uphold the rights of all minorities to access a bilingual education, Tibetan-language schools have been forced to shut down, and school-age children in Tibet regularly receive instruction only in Mandarin Chinese.

Similar policies have been deployed against ethnic Mongolians in China’s Inner Mongolia and Muslim Uyghurs in northwestern China’s region of Xinjiang.

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force more than 70 years ago.

Language rights have become a particular focus for Tibetan efforts to assert national identity in recent years, with informally organized language courses in the monasteries and towns deemed “illegal associations” and teachers subject to detention and arrest, sources say.

The trial of Wang Aizhong, a social media activist who highlighted vulnerable communities, was set to take place on April 12 at the Guangzhou Tianhe District Court on the charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” but the trial was canceled four days before the scheduled date. The court refused to provide Wang’s lawyer with any rationale for the sudden cancelation, including refusing to confirm whether it was COVID-related.

The police have told Wang Aizhong’s wife that he was detained because of his social media posts and for giving foreign media interviews. While in detention, Wang has lost 10kg due to poor nutrition and he has been prevented from purchasing extra food or toiletries from the commissary.