- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jun 30, 2022
- Event Description
A digital artist was arrested at her home on Thursday (30 June) on a royal defamation charge, after charges were filed against her for a portrait of King Vajiralongkorn published on Instagram in September 2021.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that 11 police officers from the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) raided the home of 27-year-old Thopad Atanan, an independent digital artist who often posted artwork about the pro-democracy movement, and arrested her for royal defamation under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code and for importing into into a computer system data which is an offense against national security under Section 14 of the Computer Crimes Act. TLHR noted that Thopad never received a summons in the 9 months since the alleged offence before being arrested.
The police presented an arrest warrant and a search warrant, and confiscated a computer, a painting, and a mobile phone. They declined to let anyone photograph the arrest warrant and the search warrant.
According to the TCSD inquiry officer, the charges are related to a portrait of King Vajiralongkorn which was posted on Instagram on 16 September 2021. The police said that the portrait defamed the King, and that their investigation shows that the Instagram account is likely to belong to Thopad, so they requested the Criminal Court for an arrest warrant. Thopad denied all charges and said she will submit her testimony at a later date.
The inquiry officer then took Thopad to court for a temporary detention request via a teleconference system, claiming that the police still have to interview 4 additional witness, check her computer and mobile phone, and her criminal record. The Court approved the request, but granted her bail on a 90,000-baht security, covered by the Will of the People Fund, a bail fund for people facing charges for participating in the pro-democracy movement.
The Court ordered Thopad to appoint a supervisor and required her to present a letter of consent from her supervisor by Friday (1 July). The Court also set the conditions that she must not repeat her offense and must report to her supervisor every 15 days. She must also report to the court on 17 August 2022.
According to TLHR, at least 208 people has been charged with royal defamation since November 2020, more than half of whom has been charged for their online political expression.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 30, 2022
- Event Description
An appellate court in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh upheld a lower court’s decision not to return the passport of Yeang Sothearin, citing an ongoing investigation into the former RFA editor and reporter, he told RFA.
Yeang Sothearin, who also worked as a news anchor for RFA’s Khmer Service, was taken into custody in November 2017 along with Uon Chhin, who was an RFA photographer and videographer.
They were charged with “illegally collecting information for a foreign source” after RFA closed its bureau in the capital in September that year amid a government crackdown on independent media. They have since been charged with additional crimes.
If convicted of the first charge, they could face a jail term of between seven and 15 years. They remain out on bail but in legal limbo after a series of appeals have been rejected by courts.
Yeang Sothearin said the court’s decision would prevent him from visiting his ailing father, an ethnic Cambodian living in southern Vietnam, or participating in NGO activities outside of Cambodia.
“I told the court that it has been five years, it is a long time and I don’t know when it will end,” Yeang Sothearin told RFA’s Khmer Service.
“There is no indication from the judge of when the investigation will end and they won’t tell me when my passport will be returned, so how can I live? I will use my rights to demand [my passport],” he said.
He said that he will appeal again by taking the case to Cambodia’s Supreme Court.
The decision not to return the passport violates Yeang Sothearin’s rights because the case has been delayed for many years and has not yet reached conclusion, Ny Sokha, president of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (Adhoc) told RFA.
He said the delay affects both Yeang Sothearin and Uon Chhin.
“We don’t see any indication that they want to avoid the court or flee overseas. They have houses here and they want the freedom to travel to make a living. I don’t see any reason to restrict their freedom,” he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 29, 2022
- Event Description
The Koh Kong Provincial Court placed seven Botum Sakor residents under court supervision for alleged incitement and occupying state land, after the group returned to land they used to live on before it was given to a sugar plantation.
The court summoned seven people — Pheap Teng, Noy Sok, Ton Lay, Touch Ngann, Khung Roch, Long Moeun and Chhorm Nern — on Wednesday and placed them under court supervision, according to court documents. Only the first five attended the hearing.
They are facing charges of incitement, under articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code, and infringement of state property related to articles 17 and 259 of the Land Law.
The group returned to land in Botum Sakor’s Kandol commune in January, which was given in 2006 to a sugar plantation owned by business tycoon Ly Yong Phat. The group said they had not received compensation for the land and were reclaiming it by building small shelters.
The court order states that investigating judge Lor Krem placed them on bail to ensure they would not interfere in the investigation, would attend future hearings and would not change their address without informing the court.
Pheap Teng, a village representative and one of the seven people, said the court’s decision was an attempt to thwart their protests, and was a biased decision.
“I think that the court makes decisions with a bias for the powerful and rich person, because we are victims and really lost the land and they use the judicial system to pressure us,” she said. “Especially when our community heard that they were being sued in court, they worried. They don’t dare to protest even though they unfairly lost their land.”
Koh Kong court spokesperson Vei Phirum could not be reached for comment.
Botum Sakor district governor Hak Leng said officials had repeatedly said they would not find a solution for the group, but the residents kept protesting.
Noy Sok, who is also under court supervision, said authorities had not helped them with a resolution. The disputants were given no compensation and have instead been threatened with violence, he said.
“They said if I dared to protest on that land, they would shoot, they would arrest and imprison [me]. So our people dare not to protest,” she said.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Right to property
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jun 29, 2022
- Event Description
Junta authorities arrested three more Mandalay-based lawyers representing political detainees on Wednesday as they returned home from court hearings inside the city’s prison, according to sources within the local legal network.
The detainees—identified as Tin Win Aung, his wife Thae Su Naing, and Thuta—were reportedly leaving Obo Prison after attending hearings for their clients within the closed court there.
Three of their local colleagues spoke to Myanmar Now on the condition of anonymity and confirmed their arrests to Myanmar Now. At the time of reporting it was not known where they were being held in junta custody or why they had been specifically targeted.
“We still don’t know the details of their arrests. I only heard that Thuta’s vehicle was also seized,” one of the lawyers said.
Following the February 2021 military coup, lawyers representing jailed activists and political opponents of the military have also faced threats to their personal security for challenging the practice of arbitrary detentions in a junta-controlled judiciary.
While the number of lawyers detained across the country is unknown, attorneys in Mandalay said that at least 10 of their colleagues had been arrested since the coup and dozens more are wanted by the military authorities.
Among the detainees is 43-year-old Ywet Nu Aung, a prominent lawyer arrested on April 28. She was representing jailed Mandalay chief minister Zaw Myint Maung and other leaders of the ousted National League For Democracy (NLD) government at the time of her arrest. She was later charged with violating the Counterterrorism Law for allegedly providing funding to an armed resistance group, and was transferred to the Obo Prison in May.
Days before Ywet Nu Aung’s arrest, Si Thu, another lawyer known for helping farmers in land disputes with the military, was beaten by soldiers in front of his wife and children before being taken away from his home in Chanayethazan Township.
Last December, attorney Lwin Lwin Mar and three other lawyers—all women—were also jailed by junta authorities.
Following the series of arrests, lawyers representing junta opponents have reportedly become hesitant to go to their clients’ hearings inside Obo Prison.
Lawyers have been targeted outside of Mandalay as well. In the military’s administrative capital of Naypyitaw, Thein Hlaing Tun—who was representing Myo Aung, the ousted mayor under the NLD—was detained after leaving a court hearing in May 2021. Similarly, two lawyers for deposed Karen State chief minister Nang Khin Htwe Myint were arrested and charged with incitement in June.
The military council has placed a gag order on the lawyers of incarcerated State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and the NLD’s chief ministers in an effort to restrict information released concerning their trials and charges.
As of Friday, Myanmar’s military council had detained more than 14,000 people since the coup, of whom 3,000 had been released.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Timor Leste
- Initial Date
- Jun 29, 2022
- Event Description
Raimundos Oki, chief editor of news portal Oekusipost.com, has been accused of breaching judicial secrecy following an investigative report concerning the detention and forced virginity testing of 30 underage girls in 2020. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns the charges and calls on the Timor-Leste government to immediately rescind the case.
On June 29, Oki received a telephone call from an officer at the Criminal Investigation Scientific Police (Polícia Científica de Investigação Criminal), instructing him to appear before police the following day. The journalist exercised his right to silence during the minute meeting.
Oki faces charges for allegedly breaching ‘judicial confidentiality’ under Article 291 of Timor Leste’s Timor Code, with a penalty of one to six years imprisonment, for a report that argued several virginity tests were forcibly conducted on inmates at the Topu Honis Shelter in Kutet, Oecusse.
The report centered on evidence-gathering practices during the trial of Richard Daschbach, an American priest in Timor-Leste, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison in December 2021 for sexually abusing children under his care.
According to Oki’s report, the public prosecution ordered several local NGOs and police to detain around 30 underage girls for two weeks and performed forced virginity tests in June 2020.
Speaking to UCA News on July 1, Oki said, “When almost all media, including international media, focused on the former priest, I tried to bring up the other side, about the forced virginity test... I happen to be from Oecusse and I found those 30 girls. I spoke to them, and they admitted to being forced to undergo a virginity test.”
In 2017, the Oki faced a year imprisonment for defamation following an article published by the Timor Post published in 2016, which referred to the then Prime Minister of Timor Leste, Rui Maria de Araujo, in his previous role as advisor to the Minister for Finance. According to the article, Araujo recommended the winning bid for a project to supply and install computer equipment for the new Ministry of Finance building in 2014. In June 2017, a Dili judge dismissed all charges against Oki at the Dili Court.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jun 28, 2022
- Event Description
On the last two days of President Rodrigo Duterte, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an order affirming one more time its decision to revoke the certificates of incorporation of Rappler.
“The company registration and monitoring department is hereby directed to effect the revocation of the certificates of incorporation in the records and system of the Commission,” read part of the order dated June 28, and signed by SEC chairperson Emilio Aquino; and Commissioners Javey Paul Francisco, Kelvin Lester Lee, Karlo Bello, and McJill Bryant Fernandez.
What does this mean? “We have existing legal remedies all the way up to the highest court of the land. It is business as usual for us since, in our view, this is not immediately executory without court approval,” said Rappler in its statement on Wednesday, June 29.
In a statement on Wednesday, the SEC said: “In this light, the latest order issued by the Commission En Banc merely puts in effect its earlier decision and those of the Court of Appeals.”
This comes after the National Security Council (NSC) blocked news websites, including Bulatlat.com, using the feared anti-terror law. Reasons
In July 2018, the Court of Appeals (CA) issued a decision siding with the findings of the SEC that Rappler’s issuance of Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs) to foreign investor Omidyar constituted some amount of foreign control that was prohibited by the Constitution. The Constitution requires that media companies should have zero foreign control.
But in the same decision, the CA said that when Omidyar donated its PDRs to Rappler’s Filipino managers, “the negative foreign control found objectionable by the SEC appears to have been permanently removed.” The CA remanded the case to the SEC to reevaluate, with a nudge to the Corporation Code’s clause allowing companies to have a grace period to cure their alleged defects.
The SEC stood by its findings in February 2021. Rappler filed a motion for reconsideration before the SEC. This latest order is an action to that motion.
SEC said in this latest order: “Considering that the object of the Donation (the Omidyar PDRs) was void for being contrary to law, the Donation itself was void under Article 1409(1) of the Civil Code for being contrary to law and public policy.”
SEC said that when the CA remanded the case, the appellate court did not order to reinvestigate but only to reevaluate. Rappler asked the SEC to receive additional evidence.
“The Commission’s compliance with the said directive could not have violated the due process rights of Rappler and RHC because, by the very nature and essence of the directive, Rappler and RHC were not entitled to participate in the said legal evaluation,” said the SEC.
In February 2019, the CA affirmed its 2018 decision. By September 2019, the Supreme Court issued a resolution declaring the case closed and terminated. The CA registered its books of entry of judgment, declaring it had attained finality in March 2019.
“Public interest will be served if the revocation of the Certificate of Incorporation of Rappler and Rappler Holdings Corporation is sustained because it will implement the policy of respecting and fully complying with the provisions of the Constitution, to which every Filipino owes allegiance,” said the SEC in its order.
Rappler told its staff in an internal memo sent late night Tuesday: “Clarity, agility, sobriety. Review our drills and the tasks assigned to you.”
“Meantime, it is business as usual for us. We will adapt, adjust, survive and thrive.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 27, 2022
- Event Description
NagaWorld protestors were met with violence by security personnel on the streets of Phnom Penh Monday afternoon, after weeks of their protests proceeding relatively subdued.
Police and district guards pulled and shoved about 100 workers Monday afternoon at the intersection of Sothearos and Sihanouk boulevards, as they attempted to make their way to NagaWorld casino to resume their protests.
The workers walked north on Sothearos Boulevard, arms locked together, when they were met with dozens of police officers and security guards. The protestors resisted as police tried to break through the workers, only managing to pull away one or two at a time. They were shoved into waiting city buses, according to Facebook livestreams taken by the workers.
“I am a woman, I have nothing. We are all women, we have nothing,” one of the workers could be heard saying.
Police continued to pull at the workers and shove them, with people in plain clothes and deputy Phnom Penh governor Mean Chanyada yelling orders at security personnel. In the background of the livestream, district security guards could be seen blocking U.N. observers.
The police officers and city officials could be seen pointing to the pavement and asking the workers to move off the street.
Suddenly, the plainclothes officials ordered police and security guards to retreat behind a barricade and after a few minutes the bus that was being filled with workers was also driven away empty.
The worker stayed behind the barriers, chanting slogans and calling out to Hun Sen to intervene in the case. They left just before 5 p.m. and said they would continue the protest on Tuesday.
The workers have been protesting since December 2021, with recent protests seeing workers reach the casino complex and compliantly board buses. The buses normally drive around the city before workers are let off at the new Freedom Park in Russei Keo.
Keut Chhe, Phnom Penh municipality spokesperson, denied officials used violence against the protestors. He said it was illegal to protest on the streets because it caused traffic and that protestors had been asked to continue their protest at Freedom Park.
Authorities have regularly blocked traffic with barriers to seal off the major intersections to apprehend the protestors, often closing the major roadway for hours at a time.
“The authorities never [used] violence with protestors. But the protestors did not listen to the authorities’ orders,” Chhe said. “The authorities also got small injuries too and lost some of their equipment as well.”
Sin Sreynich, one of the workers, said plainclothes officials were the ones hitting and shoving workers, and were reluctant to listen to the workers.
“They were not listening to us. We tried to compromise with them and talk kindly,” she said.
Has Rithyratana, another worker at the protest, said she was scared but that the workers were united in continuing the strike.
The union, Labor Ministry and NagaWorld have gone through multiple rounds of negotiations, all ending in no resolution. The union’s key demand is for reinstatement of about 200 workers who have refused to accept compensation. The casino company has been more willing to negotiate other demands.
Workers were terminated last year sparking near-daily protests in the capital. Nine union leaders and workers were arrested earlier this year but released on court supervision.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Singapore
- Initial Date
- Jun 24, 2022
- Event Description
Several people, including activists Kirsten Han and Rocky Howe, are under investigation for three public assemblies held outside Changi Prison Complex and in nearby Mariam Walk.
In a statement on Sunday (June 26), the police said Ms Han and Mr Howe were interviewed on Friday (June 24) as part of investigations into the assemblies.
T-shirts with anti-death penalty slogans that Ms Han and Mr Howe wore on the day of the interview were relevant to the probe, the police added in response to queries.
Both Ms Han and Mr Howe had agreed to hand them over after they were told the T-shirts would be required for investigations, the statement said.
In addition, the police said they were also advised by the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) to investigate if any further offences had been committed by Ms Han and Mr Howe, who are both Singaporean.
"In response to specific media queries, the police can confirm that the AGC, having reviewed the facts, has advised that Ms Han and Mr Howe did not commit any offences, by reason of the T-shirts they wore, when they came for the police interview," the police added.
When asked, the police declined to say who else is being investigated for the three public assemblies, citing the ongoing inquiry.
The police also did not say when the assemblies were held.
In several online posts last week, Ms Han, who is a freelance journalist, said she and Mr Howe were questioned over allegations that they had taken part in two public assemblies without a permit between March 29 and April 25.
Taking part in a public assembly without a police permit is illegal in Singapore and is an offence under the Public Order Act. First-time offenders can be fined up to $3,000, while repeat offenders face a fine of up to $5,000.
According to Ms Han, police said the first alleged illegal assembly was when she and three others had gathered outside Changi Prison the night before 68-year-old Singaporean Abdul Kahar Othman was hanged for drug trafficking on March 30.
The second alleged illegal assembly was when Ms Han and three others had posed for photos outside Changi Prison two nights before the execution of Malaysian Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam on April 27, she added.
For these alleged offences, Ms Han, who is in her 30s, and Mr Howe, wh
Ms Han said the anti-death penalty T-shirts she and Mr Howe wore to the interview were confiscated by the police, who allegedly claimed that the pair had participated in an illegal procession because they walked across the street to the police station while wearing them.
Writing in her online newsletter on Saturday (June 25), Ms Han added: "I was made to call our friend Soh Lung, who was waiting for us in the foyer, to get her to go to the market to buy us new shirts, so that we could change and surrender our T-shirts."
She was referring to Ms Teo Soh Lung, a former political detainee who has also been posting updates about the investigation into Ms Han on social media.
In her post, Ms Han also took issue with a police officer who had asked that she surrender her social media accounts and provide the police with the passwords to access them.
This was after Ms Han had agreed to surrender her phone, but not before she had logged out of, or uninstalled, her social media applications.
Ms Han said when she refused, she was warned that Section 39 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) "might come into play".
The police, in their statement on Sunday, said only that Ms Han's and Mr Howe's mobile phones were seized for forensic examination as part of investigations.
Under Section 39 of the CPC, police officers have the power to access, inspect and check the operation of a "computer" used in connection with an arrestable offence.
The police officer may also order persons using, or who have used, the computer to assist the police in gaining access to it, including providing any username, password or other authentication information required.
Any person who obstructs the lawful exercise of any power under the section by a police officer, or fails to comply with an order under it, can be fined up to $5,000, jailed for up to six months, or both.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Media Worker, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jun 24, 2022
- Event Description
Still as usual, agrarian conflicts that never met the bright spot again led to criminalization and the arrest of a number of people.
The latest agrarian conflict in Talisayan, Berau Regency, East Kalimantan involving the Dayak Marjun indigenous community and a palm oil plantation company named PT Tanjung Buyuh Perkasa Plantation (TBPP) which has been going on since 2004 led to the criminalization and arrest of a number of residents by the police.
In a statement released by the National Committee for Agrarian Reform (KNPA) on June 24, 2022, the arrest of Talisayan residents was based on a PT TBPP report accusing residents of harvesting and stealing palm oil belonging to PT TBPP, 6 residents were subject to Article 363 of the Criminal Code regarding theft.
KNPA also spoke loudly through its release which was received by the media crew. KNPA noted in its release that the harvesting of palm oil by the indigenous Dayak Marjun community on their ulayat lands cannot be called a case of theft using a criminal law approach.
Because if you look back, the reason behind the action of harvesting palm oil by the community is because PT TBPP has planted oil palm outside its HGU boundaries and has confiscated the Marjun customary area of approximately 1800 hectares.
The struggle of the Dayak Marjun indigenous people has been going on with various attempts to protest and reject the operational activities of PT TBPP which have confiscated customary land and damaged the environment. However, their efforts actually got a bad response.
They were directed to criminal charges. Whereas Article 66 of Law No. 32 of 2009 concerning Processing and Protection of the Living Environment (UU PPLH) explicitly states "Everyone who fights for the right to a good and healthy environment cannot be prosecuted criminally or be sued in a civil manner."
Responding to this incident, the Head of the Indonesian Human Rights Committee for Social Justice (IHCS) Jambi Province, Ahmad Azhari, requested that the indigenous Dayak Marjun community who had been arrested by the police be released immediately.
“It is not relevant to criminalize the efforts of the police against the Marjun indigenous people, they are not only subjects that have been regulated and protected by law but also constitutionally the Constitutional Court 35 gives respect, meaning that for social justice there is the right to control the state over objects of agrarian conflict. We ask that our brothers be released," said Ahmad Azhari, Saturday, June 25, 2022.
Regarding the conflict that afflicted the Dayak Marjun indigenous people, KASBI, KPA, Aman, Walhi, and IHCS who are in coalition with the KNPA demanded that the Prosecutor's Office, Polres and Berau Regency Government immediately release 6 residents who were criminalized and arrested by the police and also for legal proceedings against indigenous peoples. Dayak Marjun immediately stopped.
Then, the President immediately instructed the Ministries and related institutions to accelerate the resolution of the agrarian conflict in the Marjun customary area as part of the commitment to implementing agrarian reform and recognizing and restoring the rights of indigenous peoples.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jun 17, 2022
- Event Description
The Observatory has been informed about the conviction, sentencing, and ongoing arbitrary detention of Nguy Thi Khanh, a prominent environmental activist, winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2018 and a symbol of the campaign against Vietnam’s reliance on coal power.
On June 17, 2022, Nguy Thi Khanh was sentenced to two years of imprisonment for tax evasion under the Article 200 of Vietnam’s 2015 Criminal Code, after being prosecuted and convicted for failing to pay a 10% tax on her Goldman Prize money, which is equivalent to an amount of VND 456 million (around 18,252 Euros).
Ms. Khanh was arrested on January 11, 2022 and detained for investigation at the Police Detention Centre No. 1 in Hanoi, where she remained detained pending trial. The acts of harassment against her began after she had repeatedly raised concerns on Vietnam’s heavy reliance on coal. In October 2021, Nguy Thi Khanh along with several NGOs alerted Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on the necessity to revise Vietnam’s Draft National Power Development Plan for the 2021-2030 period. In October 2019, she had joined 12 Vietnamese NGOs, including Oxfam - Vietnam, in signing the “Hanoi Statement” (Tuyến bố Hà nội), which called on the government to stop funding coal-fired power stations and to conduct a democratic consultation with the Vietnamese people.
At the time of publication of this urgent appeal, Nguy Thi Khanh remains in the Police Detention Center No 1.
Ms. Khanh is the fourth and most prominent environmental activist denouncing Vietnam’s continued heavy reliance on coal-fired power to be arrested this year on charges of tax evasion. On January 24, 2022, Dang Dinh Bach, director of the Law and Policy of Sustainability Development Research Center, was sentenced to five years in prison. On January 11, 2022, Mai Phan Loi, founder and leader of the Center for Media in Educating Community (MEC) and Bach Hùng Duong former director of the MEC were sentenced to our years and two years and six months respectively.
The three environmental rights defenders were accused of corporate tax evasion, although non-profit organizations are exempt from corporate tax in Vietnam. Tax laws regarding NGOs receiving funds from international donors are particularly vague and restrictive. The organisations of the three defenders, along with the VCHR, believed that their arrests were prompted by their work to promote civil society engagement in monitoring the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) which came into force in 2021.
The Observatory expresses its deepest concern about the Vietnamese authorities’ use of legal harassment, especially the use of tax-related charges against environmental activists, as a strategy to criminlise them.
The Observatory strongly condemns the judicial harassment and arbitrary detention of Nguy Thi Khanh, Dang Dinh Bach, Bach Hung Duong, and Mai Phan Loi, as it seems to be only aimed at punishing them for their legitimate environmental and human rights activities.
The Observatory urges the Vietnamese authorities to put an end to all acts of harassment against the above-mentioned human rights defenders and immediately and unconditionally release them.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Vietnam: award-winning environmental WHRD arrested
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jun 17, 2022
- Event Description
On June 21, Bulatlat obtained from a reliable source a copy of a government order for all internet service providers to block the website of Bulatlat and 26 others, including fellow alternative news outlet Pinoy Weekly and progressive organizations.
Bulatlat has condemned this move as prior restraint against protected speech, adding that this is based on hearsay of National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr.
“We raise the alarm that such arbitrary action sets a dangerous precedent for independent journalism in the Philippines,” the country’s longest-running online news said in a statement.
This report revisits what the public needs to know about the DNS blocking and what it means for press freedom in the Philippines.
- How was DNS blocking on Bulatlat and 26 other websites discovered?
On June 17, 2022, Bulatlat received queries from its readers asking why its website was inaccessible. These were forwarded to its web host, Qurium Media Foundation, which confirmed that users of Smart Broadband as their internet service provider were faced with returning errors related to failing DNS resolution. In its initial investigation, Qurium found out that the last DNS request coming from Smart Broadband was recorded on the 16th June at 6:24 UTC. Simply put, the ISP deliberately blocked access to the website.
This prompted Bulatlat to write to PLDT/Smart, the National Telecommunications Commission, and the Department of Information and Communications over the apparent DNS blocking on June 20. A day after, on June 21, Bulatlat was able to get, through a reliable source, a copy of the NTC memorandum and the letter of National Security Adviser and retired general Hermogenes Esperon Jr. requesting the blocking of Bulatlat and 26 other websites of independent media and progressive organizations over allegations that they are “affiliated to and are supporting terrorists and terrorist organizations.”
- What is DNS blocking?
A DNS (domain name server) block is a mechanism to prevent users from accessing suspicious websites. In this case, however, DNS blocking is being used for internet censorship, similar to what is implemented in Vietnam and Myanmar.
- What did the NSC “request”?
In its letter, the National Security Council cited as basis for the DNS blocking three resolutions of the controversial Anti-Terrorism Council designating revolutionary organizations and alleged members of the Communist Party of the Philippines Central Committee as terrorists.
Esperon, in his capacity as National Security Adviser, “requested” for the blocking of the 27 websites (28 were listed because perhaps for emphasis, Bulatlat was listed twice), without laying the grounds nor presenting evidence.
- What did NTC order?
Responding to the so-called request, the National Telecommunications Commission issued a June 8, 2022 “for strict and immediate compliance” order directing the immediate blocking of the reported websites. The NTC gave internet service providers no later than five days upon receipt of the order to carry out the blocking.
Bulatlat and the groups in the NSC list were never informed of the said blocking “request.”
- Why is it questionable and unconstitutional?
There is no provision in the Anti-Terror Act nor in the Cybercrime Prevention Act which provides authority for the NTC to order the blocking of websites.
The NTC memo violates the right of Bulatlat and other groups to publish, and the people’s right to freedom of thought, free speech and free expression.
- What does it mean for the Philippine independent news?
In a statement, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines has denounced the blocking, adding that while reporting may be critical of the government, “it is dangerous to equate this with affiliation or support that the government now claims.”
“Blocking access to these sites leave a gap in discourse and in flow of information and highlights and threats posed by the Anti-Terrorism Act on the freedom of expression and on freedom of the press,” the NUJP said.
- Impact of Event
- 27
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Censorship, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Philippines: alternative media outlets red-tagged
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jun 16, 2022
- Event Description
The activist group 24 June Democracy has demanded that the Ministry of Justice investigate a prison doctor’s alleged harassment of Nutthanit (last name withheld), or “Baipor,” a monarchy reform activist currently detained pending trial on a royal defamation charge, while the Department of Corrections claims no harassment took place.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said last week that Natthanit told her lawyer that she was threatened by a prison doctor named Chatri, who was performing a physical exam on her and Netiporn, another detained activist. She said that the doctor said to her “If I had a gun, I would…” and imitated a gun with his hand, pointing it at his chin while laughing, and that he told her that prison officials should separate her and Netiporn. She also said that Dr Chatri asked her about personal matters and criticized her on things unrelated to the physical exam he was performing.
On Wednesday (22 June), members of the 24 June Democracy group, led by activists Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, Jetsada Sripleng, and Shinawat Chankrajang, went to the Ministry of Justice to submit a petition calling for the Ministry to investigate Dr Chatri’s behaviour, to release the evidence related to the reported harassment, and for women doctors to be employed to treat inmates in the women’s prison.
The activists also demanded that legislation be amended to prevent judges from ordering the detention of defendants who should be considered innocent until the court has issued a verdict, and that the royal defamation law be amended as it is being used to restrict freedom of expression.
Their petition was received by Deputy Permanent Secretary Sahakarn Petchnarin, who said that the Ministry must make sure that prisons meet global standards, and that the Department of Corrections will not neglect inmates or allow them to die while in detention. He also met and spoke to representatives of the group about their demands.
Meanwhile, the Department of Corrections’ Public Relations Department issued a press release saying that Nutthanit went to see the prison doctor on 16 June for a physical exam and to receive medication for a stomach ache since she is on a hunger strike, and that the doctor on call at the time was Dr Chatri Chongsiriloet.
According to the press release, Dr Chatri spoke to Nutthanit and examine her symptoms, but Nutthanit told the doctor that she will not be receiving treatment and refused medication. The Department of Corrections also said that Dr Chatri claimed that he was testing Nutthanit’s intelligence and cognitive abilities and was asking her why she is on a hunger strike, and that he claimed he did not threaten or harass her. He also told the Department of Corrections that a nurse was present during the examination.
The Department also said that Dr Chatri has been working at the Women’s Central Correctional Institution for 15 years, during which there has never been a complaint against him.
Nutthanit and Netiporn are both monarchy reform activists from the activist group Thaluwang and have been held in pre-trial detention since 3 May when their bail was revoked by the South Bangkok Criminal Court, which claimed that they violated their bail conditions by causing public disorder by participating in another poll on land expropriation on 13 March 2022 at the Victory Monument, during which a small altercation took place between Thaluwang supporters and members of a royalist group gathering nearby.
Nutthanit and Netiporn have been charged with royal defamation, sedition, and refusing to comply with an officer’s order after they conducted a poll on royal motorcades at Siam Paragon shopping mall on 8 February 2022. They were arrested on 28 April 2022 along with activist Supitcha Chailom and charged with royal defamation for conducting a poll on whether people agree with the government allowing the King to use his powers as he pleases.
In addition to the above charges, Nutthanit was arrested on 22 April 2022 and charged with royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act for sharing a Facebook post about the monarchy budget.
To demand the right to bail for detained activists, Nutthanit and Netiporn have been on hunger strike for the past 22 days. TLHR reported on Wednesday (22 June) that Netiporn was taken to the prison infirmary on Tuesday night (21 June) after her conditions deteriorated. According to TLHR, Nutthanit told their lawyer during their Wednesday morning visit that Netiporn had a stomach ache, and that she was fainting and throwing up.
Nutthanit also told their lawyer that Netiporn has not eaten anything for over a week and has only been drinking water, and that she wanted Netiporn to be released to receive treatment since she has lost 11 – 12 kg in weight and her condition has deteriorated.
TLHR said lawyers requested bail for Nutthanit and Netiporn again today (23 June), but their request was denied. The South Bangkok Criminal Court said that there is still no reason to change existing court order and that, even though the two activists said they suffer from stomach ache and fatigue, the prison infirmary is capable of treating their symptoms. The order was signed by judge Netdao Manotamkij, Deputy Chief Justice of the South Bangkok Criminal Court.
TLHR notes that keeping Nutthanit in detention would affect her education. She is currently a student at Thammasat University’s Puey Ungphakorn School of Development Studies and has already missed her final examinations, but has filed a request with her department asking to take the exams at a later date after she has been released. Meanwhile, Netiporn was previously found to have a uterine cyst, and keeping her in detention would deny her medical treatment, possibly affecting her long-term health.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 15, 2022
- Event Description
The Supreme Court this morning upheld the conviction of land community representative Hoeun Sineath from Tbong Khmum province. Sineath was convicted by the Tbong Khmum Provincial Court in December 2020 of intentionally causing damage with aggravating circumstances of acting as a co-perpetrator under Articles 410 and 411(1) of the Criminal Code. He was sentenced to two years in prison, a decision upheld by the Tbong Khmum Appeal Court in August 2021 and the Supreme Court this morning.
Multiple communities in Dambe district, Tbong Khmum province have faced a decade-long dispute over community farmland with Harmony Win Investment Co. Ltd., a Chinese-owned rubber company. Sineath, along with eight other villagers who are not in detention, were convicted after they protested the company blocking access to and clearing their land. Sineath was the only one to appeal the verdict to the Supreme Court. He has spent more than 1 year and 10 months in Tbong Khmum prison since his arrest in August 2020.
Sineath was also convicted in a separate case following his arrest. In that case, he was convicted alongside 14 other people for obstructing public officials with aggravating circumstances under Articles 503 and 504 of the Criminal Code after they filmed authorities implementing a court order related to the disputed land. He was sentenced to spend one year in prison and fined 1 million riel (US$250). The other 14 people received fully suspended six-month sentences. Sineath has also appealed that case to the Supreme Court, with proceedings ongoing.
Around 30 members of Tbong Khmum’s Sre Prang community travelled to Phnom Penh and gathered outside the Supreme Court in support of Sineath during the trial hearing last Wednesday. Daun Penh security guards blocked them from gathering in front of the court and from walking to the National Assembly to follow up on a petition they had previously submitted.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jun 15, 2022
- Event Description
The community of Rejecting the Sangihe Mine was repressed by elements of the joint TNI and POLRI officers who were suspected of protecting PT TMS, which had unloaded heavy equipment to enter the mining location in Bowone Village, Kec. Tabukan South Central, Wednesday, June 15 2022, at approximately 15.00 WITA.
The action of the Community Rejecting the Sangihe Mine by closing the road access is a form of protest against the mining company PT. TMS which has been defeated based on the TUN court decision, to be able to respect the court's decision and the existing legal process, including the prohibition for companies to bring heavy equipment into the building. mine site. Heavy equipment belonging to the company, which was under the direct supervision of the TNI and POLRI, resulted in a conflict between the Sangihe Reject Mining Community and the TNI and POLRI which even led to repressive actions by the apparatus.
It is known that on Thursday, June 2, 2022, the Manado State Administrative Court has won the Sangihe Mining Community's lawsuit with case number 57/G/LH/2021/PTUN.Mdo, namely the Cancellation Decision and the Revocation Order. 503/DPMPTSPD/IL/IX/2020, concerning the Granting of Environmental Permits for PT. TMS Gold Mining Activities in Sangihe Regency, North Sulawesi Province.
That after the decision of the Manado Administrative Court, PT TMS should be able to show a law-abiding and respectful attitude to the court's decision and temporarily stop all forms of mining activities until a court decision has legal force, instead of ignoring and straddling the court's decision. The attitude and actions of PT. TMS are a form of disobedience to the law and harm to us as a state of law.
The protest form of the Community Rejecting the Sangihe Mining has given rise to threats from the Sangihe Police, as can be seen from the video spread on various social media with a duration of ± 58 seconds. The video shows how an individual from the Sangihe Resort Police gives an appeal by using several provisions of the Articles in the Criminal Code that must be obeyed by the community against mining.
In response to this, YLBHI-LBH Manado as the Institute for Human Rights Observer considers that the appeal from the police is a form of real and serious threat and has the potential for criminalization for the people who have consistently defended their living space. The criminal provisions conveyed by the police officers cannot be snared or imposed on the Sangihe community who refuse to mine, because the actions taken have been guaranteed and protected by law. So that the appeal is considered a form of partiality given to PT. TMS, and has tarnished the image of the police as protectors, protectors and law enforcers.
In a press release from YLBHI-LBH Manado received by CYBERSULUT, the treatment of the TNI and POLRI against the community rejecting the sangihe mine has straddled and violated various regulations that have guaranteed the rights of every citizen or community in defending their land rights and living space. Article 28A of the 1945 Constitution guarantees that "Everyone has the right to live and has the right to defend his life and life", Article 28D paragraph 1 "Rights to recognition, guarantees, protection and fair legal certainty and equal treatment before the law", Article 28J paragraph 1 "everyone is obliged to respect the human rights of others", and Article 66 of the PPLH Law explicitly states that "everyone who fights for the right to a good and healthy environment cannot be prosecuted criminally or be sued in a civil manner".
TNI and POLRI as law enforcement officers should be able to act professionally by enforcing the rule of law, in this case providing protection to people who are maintaining their living space as guaranteed and protected in laws and regulations, instead of threatening the community by using Articles of the Criminal Code which have the potential for criminalization. for the community to refuse mining and provide protection for PT. TMS to be able to return to mining activities.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 14, 2022
- Event Description
The Kampong Thom Provincial Court has put an indigenous Kuy community representative in pretrial detention for violence against a property owner following a complaint from a local company.
Heng Phen, second deputy of the local Kuy community in Sandan district, was arrested on Tuesday and charged under the Land Law with committing violence against a property owner for alleged illegal encroachment on the company’s land, said provincial court spokesman Say Veasna.
The community has long been in dispute with Sambath Platinum, which received nearly 2,500 hectares in 2011 for a rubber plantation in Boeng Per Wildlife Sanctuary.
Hean Hiek, first deputy of the Kbet Changho Khnar community, rejected the accusations against Phen.
“She has done nothing wrong. She did not do anything affecting the company’s benefit, and her arrest violated the rights of indigenous people because there was no clear reason,” Hiek said, adding that they had seen no arrest warrant.
Hiek said that the company had begun clearing the community’s farmland in 2011. In 2014, the provincial administration told the company to cut off 130 hectares of its concession for the community and stay 100 meters away from a canal they used. But, according to Hiek, the company had not complied. The community alleges the company has cleared about 700 of 1,000 hectares of the community’s land.
A letter issued by the Kampong Thom land management department in August last year ordered Sambath Platinum to stop planting boundary poles, clearing crops, and removing the community’s markers. It also ordered the company to compensate the community for crop damage.
Another community member, Um Bunthorn, alleged that on May 18, eight armed officers had used violence against residents and confiscated their tractors. Now, the company had unfairly filed a court complaint against them, he argued.
“Our indigenous people would like to appeal to the court and national authorities to intervene for the release of Heng Phen,” Bunthorn said.
Chheng Phann, a company representative and the case’s plaintiff, could not be reached on Thursday.
Ngoan commune chief Seth Phouy said the dispute was long-standing, but the matter was resolved.
“Previously, the people feared using land within the map of the company, forests that they had used for many years. [But] the company has never done anything to affect the people,” Phouy said.
Ngoan’s commune police chief, who only gave his name as Sopheak, said he had also not received a court order for the arrest, and instructions had come down from higher levels.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jun 14, 2022
- Event Description
Four protesters who took part in the commemoration of the death of Mako Tabuni which took place at Perumnas 3, Waena, Jayapura City, on Tuesday (14/6/2022) were injured when the police broke up their demonstration. The four people were injured by rubber bullets. The four protesters who were injured were Aris Nepsan and Jon Kadepa, Benedict Tebai and Natan Pigai. They were injured on the forehead, head, hands, and buttocks. The head of the Freedom of Association and Expression Team for the Legal Batuan Institute or LBH Papua, Aristoteles Howay said announcing the death of Mako Tabuni was dismissed by the police at around 13.00 WP. During the dispersal, the police released tear gas, and were expected to fire rubber bullets. “They were dispersed with tear gas and shot [rubber bullets]. There were four people hit by rubber bullets," Howay told Jubi on Tuesday. Howay said Tuesday's demonstration was a commemoration of the death of Deputy I of the Central West Papua National Committee (KNPB), Mako Tabuni. According to him, the police dispersed the flag after the protesters raised the KNPB. Howay said that at least six demonstrators were arrested by the police and taken to the Jayapura City Police Headquarters. "[Besides], four motorbikes and action attributes were also confiscated," he said. Howay said Tuesday afternoon they had not been able to meet the demonstrators until they were arrested by police. According to Howay, the disbandment of the demonstration violated the provisions of the Regulation of the Chief of the Indonesian National Police Number 16 of 2006 concerning Guidelines for Crowd Control. "Everyone has the right to express their opinion," he said. The Director of LBH Papua, Emanuel Gobay asked the Papuan Regional Police Chief in charge of the Profession and Security Sector to arrest the police who used rubber bullets to disperse the demonstration commemorating the death of Mako Tabuni. He assessed that the Jayapura City Police (Polresta) officers tended to carry out repression during demonstrations. Police institutions regulate the implementation of human rights standards in police duties,” said Gobay.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jun 13, 2022
- Event Description
The military has intensified efforts to locate and capture participants in anti-junta flash demonstrations in Yangon, arresting more than 30 young adults on Monday and Tuesday alone, according to a source close to the city’s student activists.
Leo, the on-ground officer for the General Strike Committee, told Myanmar Now that the youth were detained from townships including Kyimindaing, Sanchaung, Tamwe and Yankin.
“Over 30—almost 40—youth were captured. They forced people who had connections with the victims to guide them to the victims at gunpoint,” he said.
A member of the Yangon Revolution Force (YRF) said that two of the people arrested had hung banners on Strand Rd in Kyimindaing on Monday morning condemning the military-led education system and encouraging people to commit to the anti-dictatorship movement.
“One of them was captured first and the military found out about the other one’s whereabouts from the first one,” the YRF member said. “Although we knew that the first one had been taken, the second one couldn’t get away as it was already 1am when he was captured.”
A member of a youth strike committee from Kyimindaing who had gone into hiding at the time of reporting confirmed that several youth from the township were arrested on Monday.
Soldiers and police officers were searching apartments and blocking roads in order to search vehicles and increasing their patrol in an effort to apprehend protesters, according to a recent statement by the online community the Yangon scout group, which warns members of the public of junta surveillance.
A protest leader and student union member told Myanmar Now that junta troops had been checking household registration lists at night for unregistered guests, as part of a push to identify and arrest youth who had participated in recent demonstrations.
“We get really scared at night as we are all at risk of getting arrested. I can’t afford to pay rent alone, so I’m sharing a room with a colleague from the strike committee,” he explained.
Soldiers reportedly beat and arrested two men in Tamwe and three in Sanchaung in addition to the several people apprehended in Kyimindaing, among whom were four protest leaders, another activist said.
“A boy and a girl were taken in Alatt Chaung ward in Kyimyindaing last night and they’re forcing them to guide them to their team members” he added, noting that some 35 junta personnel were present.
Acknowledging the risk of punishment by the military council, Leo, from the General Strike Committee, called on area residents to help shelter protesters in hiding in order to show support for the anti-dictatorship movement.
“We request that, when it is necessary, the public protect the youth who are fleeing,” he said.
- Impact of Event
- 30
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jun 12, 2022
- Event Description
Myanmar law students are reporting for JURIST on challenges to the rule of law in their country under the military junta that deposed the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. Here, one of our correspondents reports the suicide of a young Myanmar pro-democracy lawyer whose brother and sisters were taken hostage after junta agents came looking for her. The text has only been lightly edited to respect the author’s voice.
Myanmar lawyer Daw Phyu Phyu Khaing (age-29) took her own life Sunday after military junta troops arbitrarily abducted her family members and held them as hostages.
According to a neighbour, a group of junta armed forces raided her home in Ohn Chaw Village, Patheingyi Township, at 1 pm on 8th June. The military initially intended to arbitrarily arrest her based on reports from their on-ground informants who said that she was actively involved in protest groups in which lawyers protest against the military junta and that she financially supported People’s Defence Force (PDF) members. However, when they found out she had already fled away, the junta severely tortured her family members who remained at home. Junta agents subsequently abducted a total of three of her family members – her brother and her two sisters – to hold them hostage instead of her. According to informants, her siblings were sent to the interrogation centre inside the Mandalay Royal Palace compound where the junta military has a base.
Even after four days of their detention [yesterday, 12th June], there was no further news about her family members. On that day, Phyu Phyu Khaing tried to take her own life by taking pesticides. A neighbour saw the scene and tried to save her, but due to lack of adequate medical support in the area where she was, she passed away, according to the Mandalay Free Press (MFP).
Can you imagine what a 29 year old lawyer could have done to support the rule of law and social justice for her country?
Before doing all those great things, here in Myanmar, lawyer Phyu Phyu Khaing succeeded in taking her own life before Myanmar people succeed in getting Democracy. At least she was able to end her suffering now while we all continue. And maybe she did that in the hope of having her family released.
Once again, the Myanmar juntas have successfully proven their excellence in being the cruelest TERRORISTS.
Even though this news is not published on local or international media, there are many Myanmar lawyers who have been arbitrarily arrested for many absurd accusations. The reason why these stories are not more broadly publicized is a fear, uncontradicted by the junta, that media attention will makes the life of hostages worse. But we desperately need media attention to shine light upon this continuous torture while we risk everything just to tell the world about this.
This is not the first time a lawyer has been chased like prey. This is not the first time that the family members of someone on the junta’s “wanted list” have been held as hostages. I hope no one ever forgets how last year a 20 year old third year Myanmar law student, her mother and her 5 year old younger sister were held as hostages.
And Myanmar is not the only place where we are continuously failing to bring peace and justice. Myanmar’s trouble should be considered the world’s trouble because the Myanmar junta is committing crimes against humanity. It’s going on two years since the coup, but where is our democracy, and how many innocent people are going to get murdered before we get it back? All of us do not have a tomorrow. I wonder what the point of having a tomorrow is when every tomorrow comes with misery.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Death, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jun 11, 2022
- Event Description
Progressives denounced the arrest of 68-year old environmental defender Daisy Macapanpan who was arrested on June 11, Sunday.
Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan, called for the immediate release of Macapanpan who, she said, is “a victim of warrantless arrest and unjust detention based on false charges, which are seen as reprisals on her advocacy work for the environment and her community.”
Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment described Macapanpan’s arrest as overkill.
Macapanpan was arrested in her home in Pakil, Laguna reportedly by 24 policemen.
In an online press conference on June 12, Macapanpan’s relative, Ryan, Macapanpan just came from a meeting in a church in their town in Pakil when the police came to their residence.
According to Kalikasan, Macapanpan has been leading the opposition against the construction of Ahunan Pumped-Storage Hydropower Project on top of the mountain in Pakil, Laguna.
Leon Dulce, national coordinator of Kalikasan, said that there is nothing wrong with airing disapproval and explaining opinions on why the Ahunan Hydropower Project should be shelved.
“The purpose of such discussions that locals have is to raise awareness and discourse over the matter at hand. Is there something that the proponents are trying to hide that Daisy has probably discovered,” Dulce said.
The said project, according to Dulce, will be constructed in Mt. Inumpong of the Sierra Madre mountain range along Pakil, Laguna. He said that the biodiverse area also has water resources flowing from the Dakil river ecosystems, including the Sirena Falls.
He said that the Ahunan Power Inc., a joint venture of tycoon Enrique Razon’s Prime Metro Power Holdings Corp. and JBD Water Power Inc., is one of the proponents of the hydropower project that will affect 300 hectares of land.
The project will result in more flooding brought about by larger typhoons in floodplains along the shores of Laguna de Bay. The location of the said project is also prone to landslide, said Dulce.
Agham (Advocates of Scientist and Technology for the People) said the proposed project is envisioned to produce 1,400-MW electricity. The group said that the water from the Laguna Lake will be pumped into a reservoir on top of the Sierra Madre in Pakil which will be dropped thereafter to produce hydroelectric power.
They said that the residents fear that the hydropower dam will affect their source of drinking water as well as religious practices in the natural pools in Pakil.
“The construction of the Ahunan hydropower dam will also involve the destruction of trees in Sierra Madre, which will also affect wildlife. The destruction of forests will also increase the likelihood of landslides and heavy flooding,” the group said in a statement.
The group recognizes that the Ahunan hydropower dam is seen as a renewable energy source that could become an alternative to coal-fired power plants. “However, the development of such renewable energy sources should not be at the expense of the environment and people. Additionally, such renewable energy would still be under the control of a private corporation, thus cheap electricity prices are still not guaranteed,” the group added.
More arrests foreseen
Ryan denounced the ill-treatment of her aunt by the arresting officers.
“Some of the policemen who did not have name patches and were carrying firearms, forcibly entered the house of my aunt Daisy. She was alone then. I tried to run to her because I was afraid they might kill her and say that she fought back. The police won’t let me. They were able to get my aunt. Male police officers carried her through her arms and feet and forcibly took her to their mobile,” Ryan said.
He added that the police did not wear body cameras and did not present any warrant of arrest.
Karapatan said it was only when Macapanpan was at the Quezon Provincial Police Office in Camp General Nakar, Lucena City when she learned that she was charged with rebellion for an incident in Infanta, Quezon.
Karapatan added that the charges against Macapanpan and other activists in Southern Tagalog were filed in 2008.
“The rebellion case filed before the Regional Trial Court Branch 65 in Infanta, Quezon was the same case levelled against peasant organizer Dana Marcellana, daughter of peasant leader Orly Marcellana and slain human rights worker Eden Marcellana, who was arrested last year,” Palabay said in a statement.
“At this rate, this rebellion charge may be used repeatedly against activists in Southern Tagalog as the government continues its harassment against activists and government critics,” Palabay added.
Agham meanwhile expressed their alarm over the increasing number of rights violations against environmental and land rights defenders as the President Duterte’s term is about to end.
“Prior to Daisy’s arrest, at least 90 agrarian reform beneficiaries and peasant advocates were illegally arrested in Tarlac. With the worsening global climate crisis, it is imperative that the government afford protection on environmental defenders who serve as frontliners in protecting and conserving the environment,” the group said.
Palabay meanwhile said that they believe that the policy of repression and terror will continue under the new government following the mass arrests of farmers and supporters in Tarlac as well as the preparations for president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s inauguration including restrictions on rallies and mass actions.
“Nevertheless, we will continue to call and work for Macapanpan’s release and that of all political prisoners who face trumped up charges and other forms of attacks,” Palabay said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jun 11, 2022
- Event Description
The commander of the Bangkok police force on Wednesday rejected allegations that its officers endangered anti-government demonstrators by aiming baton rounds at their upper bodies during a recent confrontation.
Metropolitan Police Bureau commander Pol Lt Gen Samran Nualma said in a statement that the use of rubber-tipped bullets complied with all appropriate safety guidelines, a day after he told a group of media representatives that citizen journalists and independent media are free to operate from protest sites, provided they do not encourage violence or break the laws.
“The shoulder firing position is a basic pose and complies with standards in using firearms, because it allows the officers to take [accurate] aims at the targets, and it is less dangerous than firing without aiming at all,” the statement quoted Police Lt. Gen. Samran as saying. “Firing the weapon from other positions, without aiming, may cause injuries to vital organs.”
Samran was responding to images and videos that appear to show riot police aiming their rifles directly at protesters near Din Daeng Intersection on the night of 11 June.
Police critics say such action may cause serious injuries to those struck by the projectiles. They also point to police guidelines on the use of non-lethal weapons, which state that the rubber bullets should only be aimed at non-vital organs and lower parts of the bodies.
Samran said the images don’t tell the whole story since an elevated firing position alone does not indicate where an officer is aiming.
“Furthermore, the environment is also important. Were the demonstrators above or below where the officers were standing?” Samran said in the statement. “Focusing on the firing position and assuming that the officers were aiming high simply lacks sufficient evidence for a conclusion.”
Police were seen firing multiple rounds of tear gas and rubber bullets at the protesters on 11 June after they tried to march from Victory Monument to PM Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha’s official residence on Vibhavadi Road, sparking the first violent confrontation between police and anti-government demonstrators in months.
The organisers said they were marching to demand the ousting of PM Prayut, who has been in power since the 2014 coup.
Some of the demonstrators responded by throwing fireworks at the officers. Two government vehicles were also torched. There were no official figures on injuries.
Videos taken by bystanders that night also show a group of plainclothes police detaining a citizen journalist who was reportedly filming the protest on Facebook Live.
Comments on social media identify the person as a staff member of a popular Facebook page called “Katoey Mae Look Orn,” which routinely broadcasts live commentary from protest areas. It is unclear why the person was detained and whether he was charged with any offence.
Attempts to reach “Katoey Mae Look Orn” were unsuccessful on Wednesday, but a person familiar with the group said the citizen journalist was released without charges after being searched by plainclothes police officers .
The incident sparked concerns that citizen journalists who report on social media would face further repercussions or arrests from police at protest sites. Police officials have in the past attempted to paint citizen journalists and independent reporters as “unsanctioned media” that need to be controlled or regulated.
In a Monday meeting with the representatives of six media associations, Samran stated that he respected the rights of professional and citizen journalists to report or broadcast news of political demonstrations, provided they obey the law.
A summary of the meeting published by the Thai Journalists Association, one of the organisations present at the discussion, quoted Samran as saying that he “maintained that citizen journalists and members of the public can definitely publish or broadcast the news and images from the protests.”
“But at the same time,” Samran was quoted as saying. “I’d like to ask for cooperation from the citizen journalists and members of the public to refrain from using words that lead to sedition or incitement of violence, or engaging in any unlawful acts.”
A police summary of the meeting did not include Samran’s remarks, noting instead that both parties discussed ways to ensure that the police will not “obstruct or harass the operations of the media other than in instances when a reporter is encouraging or participating in the protest, or in cases where it is necessary for police officers to defend themselves.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jun 10, 2022
- Event Description
The charred bodies of five members of the anti-coup movement were found by members of a local resistance force amid military raids on villages in northern Yesagyo Township in Magway Region on Tuesday evening.
The township’s People’s Defence Force (PDF) chapter announced that two local guerrilla fighters, as well as three people who had been participating in the general strike associated with the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), were discovered slain near Peik Thin Kat village.
They were burned beyond recognition and buried in a shallow grave, the PDF statement said.
U Naing, a leader of another guerrilla force active in northern Yesagyo described the individuals to Myanmar Now as having been “murdered in a cruel manner.”
“All five bodies were found and accounted for. They killed them, burned the bodies and buried the remains,” he said, noting that the victims were found after the handcuffed hands of one of the bodies was left uncovered by soil.
Among those killed was 54-year-old headmaster Win Kyaw, 27-year-old nurse Zarli Naing, and Khin Hnin Wai, 28, a teacher who was five months pregnant at the time of her murder. Also murdered with them were two armed resistance force members in their 20s: Htay Min Oo and Thae Ei Ei Win.
All five victims were in Myaing Township’s Dan Pin Kan village, located next to Peik Thin Kat, and captured on the evening of June 10, according to U Naing. He added that a bullet was found amongst the bodies, and that the abdomen of Win Kyaw appeared to have been perforated by a sharp object.
Both Khin Hnin Wai and Win Kyaw had been participating in the education program launched by the civilian National Unity Government after refusing to return to work in the junta-controlled school system.
The site where they were killed is located two miles west of the Sin Phyu Shin bridge, where PDFs from Yesagyo, Myaing and Salingyi townships ambushed a junta checkpoint on June 9, killing three military personnel, taking one soldier prisoner, and seizing multiple weapons.
In the days that followed the attack, hundreds of Myanmar army soldiers began raiding the surrounding villages in northern Yesagyo Township, torching homes and abducting civilians.
On June 10, hundreds of villagers were forced to flee into the area’s western forests when junta troops fired indiscriminately towards Dan Pin Kan after encountering explosives planted by the northern Yesagyo guerrilla group in an attempt to stop their advance.
Zarli Naing, the nurse who had been supporting the resistance movement, was working between Yesagyo and Myaing townships after fleeing her home in Pakokku, 30 miles to the south. She was among the fleeing Dan Pin Kan locals at the time she was captured.
“One of our members who attacked the military with explosives got injured after falling down a cliff, so we sent him to the CDM nurse to get his injuries treated,” guerrilla leader U Naing explained. “Another member of our group accompanied him and all five of them were arrested together by the military.”
He told Myanmar Now that Zarli Naing and Win Kyaw had been located in the area by a junta informant, who then guided the troops to the place where she was providing first aid to the injured resistance fighter, at a distance from the other displaced civilians.
“The victims might have thought the junta soldiers were PDF members because they were wearing shorts just like PDF members do,” he said.
Instead, they are believed to have been killed by their captors later that day.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Public Servant, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jun 9, 2022
- Event Description
A Vietnamese court on Thursday sentenced a Facebook user to five years in prison for posting stories criticizing government authorities, with an additional five years of probation to be served following his release, state media and other sources said.
Nguyen Duy Linh, a resident of the Chau Thanh district of southern Vietnam’s Ben Tre province, was jailed following a 3-hour trial in the Ben Tre People’s Court. He had been charged with “creating, storing, disseminating information, materials, publications and items against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code.
Linh’s wife Nguyen Ngoc Tuyet was present at his trial as a witness, but friends and other political dissidents were barred by authorities from attending and Linh had waived his right to a defense by lawyers in the case, sources said.
Commenting on the outcome of the case, Phil Robertson — deputy director for Asia for the rights group Human Rights Watch — told RFA by email that posting criticisms of government policies and authorities online should not considered a crime.
“All that Nguyen Duy Linh did was exercise his right to freedom of expression, which is a core human right that is explicitly protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that Vietnam ratified,” Robertson said.
Vietnam’s one-party communist government “seems intent on proving that it is one of the most rights-repressing governments in the Asian region,” Robertson added. “The authorities in Hanoi have completely lost any idea of how to rule a modernizing, 21st century country with intelligence and respect for the people.”
State media reporting on the case said that Linh from March 2020 to September 2021 had posted on his Facebook page 193 stories with content “offensive to the Party and State’s leaders or against the government.” Linh had also posted what state sources called false stories about socio-economic issues and the spread of COVID-19 in Vietnam, according to media reports.
Linh is the fifth person accused in Vietnam since the beginning of this year of “spreading anti-State materials” under Article 117 of the 2015 Penal Code or “propagandizing against the State” under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code. Both laws have been criticized by activists and rights groups as measures used to stifle voices of dissent in Vietnam.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jun 9, 2022
- Event Description
Four people were hurt in clashes with police as hundreds of mostly female protesters wrapped themselves in Vietnamese flags to rally against a cemetery and crematorium project in central Vietnam, villagers said Friday.
The protest on Thursday targeted Vinh Hang Eco-park and Cemetery, an 80-ha, 500 billion dong ($21.8 million) project in the Hung Nguyen district of central Nghe An province.
Approved by local authorities in 2017, the cemetery has encountered strong objection by local residents due to environmental and water resource concerns.
“There was a clash among the police and local residents. One woman was seriously injured and was sent to Nghe An provincial hospital for emergency care. Two others were sent to a district hospital with less serious injuries,” local resident Phan Van Khuong told RFA Vietnamese.
“They arrested three or four people but released them on the same day,” he added.
A Facebook page titled “Hạt lúa Kẻ Gai” showed dozens of police officers in uniform knocking down protesters’ tents.
“The Commune People’s Committee sent some people to plant markers on a road where local residents put up tents [to block the project] and we all rushed up there to stop them,” Nguyen Van Ky, a resident from Phuc Dien village, told RFA.
“In response, district and commune police officers were deployed and they removed the tents and shoved us down, injuring four people,” said Ky.
The injuries were caused when police officers kicked and stomped on protesters. A fourth protester had a leg injury that did not require hospital treatment.
RFA called authorities from Nghe An province and Hung Tay commune to seek comments but no one answered the phone.
While all land in Communist-run Vietnam is ultimately held by the state, land confiscations have become a flashpoint as residents accuse the government of pushing small landholders aside in favor of lucrative real estate projects, and of paying too little in compensation.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jun 9, 2022
- Event Description
Groups condemned the violent arrest of 93 individuals, including agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), in Hacienda Tinang, Concepcion, Tarlac on Thursday, June 9.
According to the report of the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA), the ARBs together with peasant advocates were peacefully holding a bungkalan or collective farming when members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and regional mobile group patrol came to the area, some bearing long firearms.
Authorities forcibly took peasant leaders of agrarian reform beneficiaries group, Malayang Kilusang Samahan ng Magsasaka ng Tinang (Makisama-Tinang) namely Ophelia Cunanan, Alvin Dimarucot and three others members along with volunteers, supporters, peasant advocates who were members of Sama-Samang Artista para sa Kilusang Agraryo (SAKA, Artists’ Alliance for Genuine Agrarian Reform).
UMA said that those arrested are in police custody and reportedly charged with malicious mischief and obstruction of justice.
Cathy Estavillo, secretary-general of women peasant group Amihan said that the mass arrest and harassment faced by farmers and advocates at Hacienda Tinang showed “the uselessness of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).”
“Deprived farmers are faced with violent reprisal when they assert their rightful claim to land. This exposes CARP as instrumental to landlords while the majority of our farmers remain landless, poor, and hungry,” Estavillo said, adding their call for the immediate release of the farmers and their supporters and holding the police accountable.
Non-installation of agrarian reform beneficiaries
Farmers who are beneficiaries of agrarian reform have made their calls clear when they trooped to the Department of Agrarian Reform office in Quezon City on Tuesday, June 7, demanding the installation of some 236 legitimate ARBs who are all holders of Certificate of Land Ownership Awards (CLOAs).
They also submitted a manifestation opposing the DAR’s proposal for what they described as a tedious revalidation process, which they said will only favor the family of Tarlac Rep. Noel Villanueva.
The group said Villanueva is claiming ownership of the disputed land.
They added that Villanueva is reportedly attempting to install some 468 members of a local farmers cooperative, half of which already sold their rights to the family of the Tarlac solon.
UMA said that the disputed land is a 200-hectare sugarcane landholding which is part of the more than 1,200-hectares of land formerly owned by Benigno Aquino Sr. and inherited by the Aquino siblings including Antonio Urquico Aquino who later sold the land to Dominican priests.
“In 1988, the said landholding was placed under voluntary land transfer (VLT) by the Dominican Priests of the Phils. Inc. under Cory Aquino’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL). The farmer-tenants then applied to become beneficiaries. They were awarded their CLOAS in 1998,” the group
In an earlier statement, Abby Bucad of Makisama-Tinang said the farmers decided to collectively cultivate the land in 2016 due to decades of non-installation (of land reform beneficiaries).
The following year, they filed a petition for installation and in 2018 and 2019, DAR issued a writ of execution and ordered with finality the distribution and installation of the ARBs. However, Bucad said that the order did not take effect.
“President Duterte’s term and that of DAR Secretary Bernie Cruz are ending but the farmers still do not have their land. DAR and Sec. Cruz only have less than a month to proceed with the installation of farmers in their land, Bucad said in Filipino.
“DAR has been remiss of its duty and obligation to implement a comprehensive and genuine agrarian reform. More than three decades after CARP was enacted, nine out of ten farmers remain landless. ARBs on the other hand, still cannot pay the land amortization under CARP,” UMA said.
Members of the NPA?
Supporters were also accused of being members of the New People’s Army, said SAKA in a statement.
When they asked for the basis of their arrest, one police officer replied: “NPA kayo.”
SAKA is a peasant advocate group whose members are artists.
The group said that “the police cornered them in a hut, dismantled its doors, then forced themselves into it to drive the others out. It was the local police chief, at the time wearing civilian clothes, who ordered that everyone be rounded up and brought to the Concepcion police station.”
“Such land cultivation, called ‘bungkalan,’ is a form of protest in which peasants—usually ARBs—assert ownership of land by planting agricultural products that primarily address their immediate need for food. It is a method of guaranteeing a peasant community’s own food security,” the group said in a statement.
“In the case of MAKISAMA, they aimed to grow rice and vegetables on land granted to them by DAR as early as 1998, but whose collective CLOA was seized by a cooperative run by a local family of bureaucrats, including the incoming Mayor,” they added.
Meanwhile, Agham Advocates of Science and Technology for the People called for the immediate release and dropping of all charges against the 87 persons arrested by the police. They also called on DAR and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to conduct an immediate and impartial investigation on such human rights violations against the ARBs and peasant advocates.
“We also challenge DAR to immediately resolve the chronic problem of landlessness among peasants in the country by fast-tracking the granting of lands. As we face another economic crisis brought by increasing fuel and food insecurity, we demand the government to provide more support to our farmers who provide food to our tables,” the group said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jun 9, 2022
- Event Description
Filipino environmentalist groups have assailed the new wave of surveillance, harassment, and red-tagging of their members in the past five days..
The Center for Environmental Concerns-Philippines (CEC) and Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) said men believed to be police officers in plainclothes knocked on their office on Thursday, June 9, and took photos of their staff.
The groups said their staff did not consent to being photographed and that no search warrant was also presented.
Earlier today, men believed to be police officers were once again seen taking photos of their office, the green groups added in their joint statement.
The wave of harassment and red-tagging happened following the mass arrests of 93 farmers and land reform advocates in Hacienda Tinang in Concepcion, Tarlac, and the recent arrest of an anti-dam activist in Pakil, Laguna.
Apart from the two environmentalist groups, they also noted the spate in red-tagging incidents on progressive partylists.
“We fear that this is the beginning of a crackdown against land and environmental defenders under the incoming authoritarian Marcos-Duterte regime,” the group said.
This is not the first time that Kalikasan and CEC were subjected to red-tagging. In 2018, there was an attempt to raid their office, they said, citing their then collaborations with the Commission on Human Rights and international groups such as the United Nations Human Rights System, Global Witness and the International Union for Conservation of Nature for their work on the issues and challenges being faced by environmental defenders.
They said, “We call on the CHR and the various UN human rights and environmental offices we have worked with in the past years to undertake preventive interventions against these human rights abuses and threats.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jun 8, 2022
- Event Description
A former journalist from Mandalay who was arrested nearly two months ago has been charged with incitement for a Facebook post, according to lawyers familiar with his case.
Zaw Zaw, a photojournalist who quit his job with news outlet The Irrawaddy after last year’s coup, disappeared after he was taken into custody on April 9.
Last month, it was learned that he had been transferred to Mandalay’s Obo Prison after being held at the notorious Mandalay Palace interrogation centre for more than a month.
He was formally charged with incitement under Section 505a of the Penal Code during a court appearance inside the prison on Wednesday, a lawyer told Myanmar Now.
“They couldn’t find any dirt on him even after interrogating him, so they just found one Facebook post and laid the charge against him based on that,” said the lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The content of the post had not been disclosed at the time of reporting.
Zaw Zaw attended his first court hearing through an online conferencing system on Monday, and the charge was filed at the prison court with him present two days later, according to lawyers.
His former employer, The Irrawaddy, has also been charged with incitement for its post-coup news coverage. Zaw Zaw resigned from his job shortly after the regime forced the outlet to close.
A number of journalists have been convicted on incitement charges. In January, a court in Sagaing Region handed two-year prison sentences to an editor and a reporter from the now defunct Zayar Times.
According to figures compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, there are a total of 10,962 political prisoners currently being held in regime custody, including at least 50 journalists.
Myanmar’s junta charged The Irrawaddy’s former photojournalist Zaw Zaw with incitement on Monday, according to his lawyer.
Zaw Zaw was detained in Mandalay in April and later sent to the city’s Obo Prison. He stopped working for The Irrawaddy last year.
His lawyer U Myo Min Zaw said that the police submitted the case to the court on Monday, charging Zaw Zaw with incitement under Article 505(a) of the Penal Code.
Zaw Zaw appeared in court for the first time on Wednesday.
“He looks fine and in good health,” said his lawyer.
He added that his client thought that he had been charged for a Facebook post in which he denounced the junta.
But U Myo Min Zaw declined to confirm the exact reason for the charge as he was still waiting for access to the police file submitted to the court.
Another court hearing for Zaw Zaw is set for next Wednesday.
Since last year’s coup, the military regime has arrested over 140 media workers, of whom around 60 remain behind bars.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 7, 2022
- Event Description
The Mondulkiri Provincial Court questioned four Bunong environmentalists for several hours on Tuesday over alleged defamation and incitement based on a developer’s complaint.
Kroeung Tola, Ploek Phyrom, Ploek Nary and Kloeung Tum were summoned to appear on allegations leveled by Kak Ratana, director of Villa Development, according to one of the accused.
Phyrom said the case was a result of the foursome earlier filing a complaint against the company for deforestation, clearing state land and destroying resin trees in the Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary. The area of forest in question, in Sen Monorom’s Sokdum commune, had been used by the local indigenous community for a long time before the company brought in heavy machinery to clear it, she said.
On Tuesday, court officials questioned them for several hours but they made no immediate decision on the case and let them go home, Phyrom said. The accused requested that the case be dropped, she added.
The company director, Ratana, could not be reached on Tuesday.
“We are protecting our land. They are planning to clear 100 hectares,” Phyrom previously said after receiving the court summons. “We make a living on that land.”
The community had already lost around 1,000 resin trees in the area, she said. “If we lose all of them, what can we do?”
Tola, another of the accused, is a prominent activist and coordinator for the Mondulkiri Indigenous People Network. He has faced previous legal actions against him, including fines for defamation.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 6, 2022
- Event Description
The residence of a monk living in a Kampong Speu has been burned down amid a land dispute with soldiers.
Prom Thomacheat, living in Oral district’s Metta forest, said the small hut where he had slept was burned to the ground on Monday. It followed a pattern of violence from soldiers laying claim to the land, he said.
“They’ve fired shots over my head” in the past, he said. “If I die, I die. What can I do in this situation? … People ask me to leave and no one would hurt me. But I won’t go.”
Community members say they were protecting Metta forest for years before the state handed the land to soldiers in August last year. The transfer sparked protests of hundreds and locals camping out in the forest to protect the woods, which is part of the Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary.
But satellite imagery shows land clearing ramping up in the past two months, leaving broad scars through the forest. Residents have said they can no longer approach the clearings due to incidences of violence.
A community member, Khorn Khern, said she believed it was soldiers who had burned the monk’s hut, though she provided no evidence.
“Soldiers are now clearing and cutting the forest of the monk,” Khon said. “This is not right. This forest is a place that people and monks have been protecting for a long time. Now the sound of machines cutting down trees is close to the big pagoda.”
Trapeang Chhour commune chief Tep Nem said he had not received any report or information about the burning of the monk’s hut.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to property
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: land rights activists threatened with bullets
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jun 6, 2022
- Event Description
Bulatlat condemned the National Telecommunications Commission’s (NTC) latest memorandum targeting alternative media sites and organizations, calling it a “dangerous precedent for independent journalism in the Philippines.”
In a statement released Wednesday, June 22, Bulatlat expressed its shock and rage against the NTC’s memorandum instructing all internet service providers to immediately block access to 28 websites, including Bulatlat.
“Bulatlat […] condemns this brazen violation of our right to publish, and of the public’s right to free press and free expression,” the media outfit said in its statement.
The NTC cites in its memorandum a June 6, 2022 letter from the National Security Council (NSC) listing down over two dozen websites “found to be affiliated to and are supporting terrorists and terrorist organizations.” However, the NSC failed to provide basis for the inclusion of several independent and alternative media outlets in their list.
The letter was written and signed by National Security Advisor Hermogenes Esperon Jr., who is also the Anti-Terrorism Council Vice Chairperson.
Following reports that Bulatlat could not be accessed by readers since June 17, 2022, the news site also wrote a letter on June 20, 2022 addressed to the NTC and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) urging them to investigate Esperon’s claims. Bulatlat has not yet received any reply as of writing.
Bulatlat deplored this most recent state-sponsored cyber attack in its statement and called it “prior restraint against protected speech.”
“It is downright unacceptable as it is based on Esperon’s mere hearsay,” Bulatlat said.
The alternative media organization is no stranger to red-tagging and cyber attacks. Exactly one year ago, June 22, 2021, Qurium released a forensic report linking a 2021 cyber attack on Bulatlat to the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Philippine military.
Bulatlat called on the public to “stand against attempts to muzzle legitimate sources of information” as it continues its coverage.
“No matter who is in power, we have remained fearless in our truth-telling. We will continue our work while we also consider all legal remedies available to question, and stop yet another state-sponsored repression,” it said in its statement.
Meanwhile, the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines denounced what they call as arbitrary inclusion of Bulatlat, Pinoy Weekly and other news websites in the said list.
In a statement, the group said Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly have existed for years and have built a track record of reporting on people’s issues.
“Sometimes, that reporting has been critical of the government and its policies, but it is dangerous to equate this with affiliation or support that the government now claims,” the group said.
“Blocking access to these sites leave a gap in discourse and in the flow of information and highlights the threats posed by the Anti-Terrorism Law on the freedom of expression and on freedom of the press,” the group said adding that what’s even more concerning is the danger that labeling puts the staff and correspondents of the listed websites in.
“We have repeatedly warned against the dangers of red-tagging and how the practice paints groups and people as legitimate targets for threats, harassment and physical attacks. This labeling, in the form of an official government document, magnifies that danger even more,” the group said.
- Impact of Event
- 26
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jun 4, 2022
- Event Description
Papua Police Chief Inspector General Mathius D Fakhiri admitted that 17 people were arrested in connection with demonstrations against the establishment of new autonomous regions (DOB) in Jayapura and Merauke regencies. In Jayapura Regency, two people were arrested on Friday (3/6/2022). Meanwhile in Merauke, 15 people were arrested on Saturday (4/6/2022). "When we forced ourselves to hold a demonstration, we arrested several people, after we asked for their information, we sent them home," said Fakhiri in Jayapura, Sunday (5/6/2022) night. Fakhiri explained that the reason the security forces detained the 17 people was because their actions did not have a permit. The police's offer to facilitate vehicles for the demonstrators to their respective DPRD offices was rejected by the masses. "They wanted to hold a demonstration (but) we didn't give them permission because they couldn't fulfill the licensing procedures regulated by law in this country," said Fakhiri. According to Fakhiri, the masses on behalf of the Papuan People's Petition (PRP) have repeatedly held the same demonstrations and have always insisted on a long march to the Papuan DPR office. This wish cannot be granted because it will interfere with the activities of other communities. "Please also respect the interests of other people who want to be active. The police do not hinder the right to express their aspirations, but it must be done according to the applicable rules," said Fakhiri. Demonstrations against the plan to form new autonomous regions have been held four times in a number of regencies/cities in Papua. The last action was carried out in Jayapura City, Jayapura Regency, Mimika, Jayawijaya and Merauke, on Friday and Saturday.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jun 3, 2022
- Event Description
As a result of the arrests, the simultaneous demonstration of the Papuan people against the division, revoking of Otsus volume II and holding a referendum by all Papuan people in Papua and Indonesia who are members of the Papuan People's Petition (PRP) on Friday (3/5/2022), in Nabire district, Papua cancel done. The action will be carried out by holding a free pulpit. It was reported that the action was canceled due to the arbitrary arrests of the joint TNI-Polri apparatus against the mass of action before the action took place at the Gizi park, Oyehe, Nabire. A total of 23 people were forcibly arrested. 22 people were arrested first and one from behind. The 22 people who were arrested were transported by police trucks and taken to the Nabire Police Headquarters for interrogation. Over 10 hours they were interrogated and released. “Initially, 11 of us came to the Gizi park to do a free pulpit action. We brought some pamphlets and a megaphone. At that time there was no security apparatus. But there are already two billboards that say thank you for DOB. One of them is from the Key harmony in Nabire," said a protester who was arrested to Suarapapua.com from Nabire, Saturday (4/6/2022), who declined to give his name. He said starting at 06.00, continued at 06:37. The police with full weapons along with about tens of intel arrived and went straight to them asking to disperse with the excuse that at the nutrition park there would be a joint rally in the morning. “We were lazy to know and stayed. At 06:40, another crowd was arriving. The police chief also arrived with some of his men, then again forced us to disperse with shouts and threatening words, while ordering his men within 10 minutes of the mass action to be disbanded.” At 07:12, the police managed to force them out of the Gizi garden (just behind the Nun Biru Gate monument). Not accepting the brutal actions of the officers, one of the masses took photos of the officers. “He was immediately chased by intelligence and police to the front of the road. After we were in front of the Gizi park main road, the police then pushed us into the Oyehe market and continued to push until we reached the end of the Oyehe terminal.” "We want to disband. But the Police Chief and his men forced us not to go home and had to get into the police truck. We are surrounded. The police chief also threatened us with words that he would take us to a faraway place. The police chief also asked us to take off all the masks we were wearing," he said. When they were surrounded, he said, a woman took a photo but the woman was shouted at and her cellphone was taken by the police. After the police truck arrived, he continued, at around 08:01, they were transported and taken to the Nabire Police Headquarters. At 08:14, they were interrogated. “They asked for our name, address, occupation, status, etc. by yelling at us one by one. Only our friend, Wakakorlap, Adiknas Pekei, was examined with the BAP," he explained. It was said, after the examination, at 16:20 accompanied by the Papua Talent LBH Nabire, they were removed from the Nabire Police Headquarters. Meanwhile, another mass protest from Kalibobo, which initially gathered at the Intan Jaya dormitory together with nine (9) BEM campuses in Nabire to conduct a free pulpit, was also forcibly dispersed by the authorities after the Nabire Police Station deployed hundreds of personnel with full weapons. However, before the officers came down and dispersed, they managed to hold a free pulpit on the street (reading poetry, singing and giving speeches). And also succeeded in reading out the statement of position read by the head of the general field coordinator (Korlap) for the action, Abia Pujau. Seeing the officers coming, all the masses of the action entered the dormitory. The officers broke down the gate and almost chaos ensued. No protesters were arrested. Regarding the assistance carried out by the Papua Talent LBH Nabire, Suara Papua has contacted the director of the Nabire Papua Talent LBH, Richar Danny Nawipa through his phone number twice to ask for information but was not picked up.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jun 3, 2022
- Event Description
Ten members of the peaceful demonstration mass demanding the revocation of Otsus volume II and the rejection of the expansion of the New Autonomous Regions (DOB) for West Papua and Papua were injured as a result of the forced disbandment by police officers from the Sorong Regional Police, in the courtyard of the Sorong City DPRD Office, Friday (3/03/2020). 6/2022).
Three of them were hit by rubber bullets. Aves Susim, 25 years old, was shot by a rubber bullet in the leg. Subi Taplo, 27, was shot in the shoulder, and Agustinus Kamat, 27, hit other body parts.
Meanwhile, seven other people were injured as a result of the forced dispersal of the police and tear gas.
The following are the names of the injured and gunshot wounds of rubber bullets:
Aves Susim, 25 years old (He was shot by a rubber bullet in the thigh). Sriyani Wanane, 30 years old (Wounds on knee and big toe). Mama Rita Tenau, 50 years old (wound on temple) Betty Kosamah, 22 years old (Leg wound). Agus Edoway, 25 years old (Tear gas in the shoulder). Agustinus Kamat, 27 years old (He was shot by a rubber bullet). Subi Taplo, 27 years old (He was hit by a rubber bullet in the shoulder). Amanda Yumte, 23 years old (Swollen legs and tear gas). Jack Asmuruf, 20 years old (Toe wound). Sonya Korain, 22 years old (Leg wound)
Previously, at around 2:25 p.m. Papua time, a peaceful demonstration demanding the revocation of the second volume of Otsus and the rejection of the expansion of the new autonomous regions in Sorong came to the Sorong City DPRD office.
While giving speeches in the courtyard of the DPRD office, they asked the chairman of the DPRD of Sorong City to meet them, but this effort did not materialize. The crowd, disappointed, burned tires at around 15.12 Papua time. As a result, the authorities took action and forcibly dispersed the crowd using tear gas and rubber bullets.
One of the protesters who suffered an injury to the right temple was Mama Rita Tenau (50). He was part of the mass action that came to the Sorong City DPRD office.
During the long march to the Sorong City DPRD office at 11:00 Papua time, the mass of action raised a flag similar to the Morning Star or the Morning Star, but it didn't last long. Only three minutes flew between the masses of action, after that his party again secured the flag which had been the reason for the apparatus to detain Papuan activists.
Previously, the Head of the Ops Section of the Sorong Police, M. Nur Makmur, who had visited the mass of action, explained that his party had carried out the disbandment because the mass of action did not heed the instructions of the officers.
“They have secured the mass of the demonstration to the DPRD building. The DPRD representatives have already left, but the masses of the demonstration refused. We have emphasized that if we burn tires, we will not hesitate to disband them,” explained the Head of Ops.
So far there has been no confirmation from the police regarding 10 people injured.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jun 2, 2022
- Event Description
On 2 June, Sitanun Satsaksit, the sister of Wanchalearm Satsaksit and legal advisors sought an audience with the Cambodian ambassador to Thailand to request an update on an investigation into the political refugee’s abduction in Phnom Penh on 4 June 2020. Their request was denied before they could enter the Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok.
With the second anniversary of Wanchalearm’s disappearance a few days away, Sitanun and legal advisors went to the Cambodian embassy on Pracha Uthit Road to inquire about progress in a police investigation ordered by the Phnom Penh Court in 2020 after a disappearance case was filed.
They were not welcomed. The embassy’s front sign was fenced off and dozens of Thai police officers, in both plain clothes and uniforms, were waiting for them to arrive.
At the embassy, Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, a Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF) director and legal advocate against enforced disappearance and torture, asked if they could meet the ambassador to submit their request for an investigation update.
Instead, embassy staff ordered accompanying journalists to stop taking photos and shortly thereafter, Pol Maj Sarot Somhanwong, an inspector from the Wangthonglang police station that oversees the area, told the group that the Embassy advised them to submit their petition to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs instead, an action that they have already taken without effect.
It has been two years since Wanchalearm was grabbed by a group of unidentified men in front of Mekong Garden, a luxury condominium in the middle of Cambodia's capital city. Thus far, the investigation has made no progress. Buck Passing
Having filed numerous complaints and petitions with relevant authorities in Thailand and Cambodia, Sitanun questioned why both countries continue to pass the buck about Wanchalearm’s disappearance. After two years, she is angry and exhausted about how little progress has been made, but remains determined to discover her brother’s fate.
“Given what happened to Wanchalearm, don’t we have the right to ask for help? It has been two years. We have submitted so many documents that we no longer know who else to contact. Silence and inaction are all we have gotten from Thai and Cambodian authorities,” said Sitanun.
According a statement from CrCF that was meant to have been submitted to the embassy today, Thailand’s Office of the Attorney General issued a letter on 19 May 2022 asking for an update from the Cambodian National Police Headquarters and Phnom Penh Court via Thailand’s Department of Consular Affairs.
A response was received on 24 February 2022 that further testimony in the case was being acquired. The outcome of the process was reportedly secret and further information could not be immediately provided but the Thai Embassy in Cambodia was to be given further updates.
In Thailand, the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) issued a statement on 1 March 2022, saying that it had accepted Wanchalearm’s case for investigation, listed as case number 13/2564. The DSI also reported that it had received documents and requested additional information from relevant Thai and Cambodian authorities.
According to Montana Duangprapa, a Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) lawyer, although Wanchalearm case is under investigation by the Cambodian police as a result of a Phnom Penh Court ruling, his relatives have still not received any significant updates about the investigation. A plea for justice
Wanchalearm, a former civil society worker and staff member of Pheu Thai Party’s Bangkok gubernatorial election campaign team in 2013, went into self-exile three days after the coup in 2014. He flew out of Thailand, narrowly escaping military arrest.
He was summoned by the NCPO along with 28 other activists to report to a military facility in Bangkok on 1 June 2014. A week later, the junta issued a warrant for his arrest under the Computer Crime Act for political statements he allegedly posted to his Facebook page ‘I must have got 10 million baht from Thaksin’, a pro-Thaksin parody page.
After a short stay in Malaysia, Wanchalearm settled in Phnom Penh, where a sympathetic Cambodian official put him up in Mekong Gardens. Several other Thai dissidents lived there in self-imposed exile at the time.
On 4 June 2020, Wanchalearm, who had been living under the alias of ‘Sok Heng’, disappeared. His friends, family, the United Nations and human rights groups allege that he was abducted by a group of armed men that afternoon while buying food on the street outside Mekong Gardens.
Wanchalearm’s sister Sitanun says she was on the phone with him during the alleged abduction and that she heard him say “I can’t breathe” before the line went dead.
CrCF has issued a statement calling for the Cambodian government to conduct an effective investigation to determine Wanchalearm’s fate and provide information to his family members.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to information
- HRD
- Lawyer, NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jun 2, 2022
- Event Description
Pham Doan Trang’s mother, Bui Thi Thien Can, was detained at Noi Bai Airport for questioning by security police for four hours. She was detained as she returned to Hanoi from her trip to Geneva to accept the Martin Ennals Human Rights Award on behalf of her daughter on June 2. During the three-week visit, Mrs Bui met with more than 20 representatives from the EU, several international organizations, officials at Switzerland Foreign Ministry, representatives from the UNHCR, a number of UN Special Rapporteurs, the US ambassador to Geneva, and officials from Canada and the Czech Republic. According to one of her children, the octogenarian was finally released after midnight in a state of total exhaustion.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Reprisal as Result of Communication
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 1, 2022
- Event Description
A factory refusing a Labor Ministry order to reinstate fired unionists has dismissed 10 more union members this week.
SYHJ Garment, a Chinese-owned factory in Kandal province’s Ang Snuol district, fired three leaders of a newly emerging union in April, leading to a Labor Ministry directive that the terminations violated Trade Union Law protections for shop steward and union leaders. But the factory has remained defiant.
Hul Sokhim, president of the new union — one of the three fired in the initial round of terminations — said on Wednesday that 10 other workers had been laid off this week. She said it was illegal union busting.
“The owner dismissed them without clear reason. They were voters who supported those who stood as my union’s representatives,” she said. “Frankly speaking, those who were involved with me … were dismissed.”
Ny Mao, one of the 10 workers fired this week, said the termination was unreasonable. He worked overtime and weekends like other workers, and had committed no transgressions of company policies, he said.
“During work, they called me to dismiss me. I did nothing wrong,” Mao said. “I don’t understand how my work was lacking?”
Prum Kosal, an executive assistant at SYHJ, said the factory had dismissed workers because they violated the company’s internal rules on several points. He said the company was not concerned about the union’s complaints.
“The company dismissed them because they had issues with our internal rules, including that they did not cooperate much and did not pay attention to the company’s work.”
Independent Trade Union Federation president Ry Sithinet said his federation would help the factory’s workers file a complaint to the Labor Ministry requesting reinstatement.
“[We] are translating them to English. When we are ready, we will submit them to buyers. We have found that three brands are involved with the factory SYHJ,” but the federation had yet to ascertain who they were, Sithinet said. On Thursday, Sithinet said the brands were Mango and Inditex’s Bershka, both Spanish, and Sinsay, from Poland.
The federation said in a statement that a similar case was ongoing at Walmart shoe supplier Qi Ming Xin, also in Kandal province. The factory had fired five union leaders earlier this year, and the Labor Ministry issued an order on March 16 to reinstate and compensate them. The company had not complied, the statement said.
Around 350 union leaders and active members have been unfairly dismissed since the start of 2020, the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union has estimated.
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 1, 2022
- Event Description
Around 100 indigenous residents gathered outside the Preah Vihear Provincial Court on Wednesday as five community members were questioned by court prosecutors for alleged threats to kill and damage property.
The five village residents — Thon Sot, Son Savon, Ngorn Him, Thab Sokkey and Rourng Khan — were summoned to court for questioning on Wednesday after Ly Kimsreng, who they have a land dispute with, filed a complaint.
Residents of the Preah Vihear’s Tbeng Meanchey commune have faced persistent issues with their traditional farmlands, first from five Chinese sugarcane companies that were granted around 40,000 hectares of the land in four provinces, often referred to together as Rui Feng. More recently, residents said they had reclaimed their land only to be harassed by alleged representatives of the company and newcomers who were claiming land in the district.
Village residents alleged Kimsreng had been trying to clear their land earlier this year and they only attempted to stop the destruction of their crops.
Savon said all five attended the court hearing and denied all the accusations. He said Kimsreng was attempting to scare the village residents away.
“Where should we do farming?” he said. “We request the court to end these charges against us. This is an injustice for us.”
Savon said he wouldn’t stop fighting for their land even if local authorities got involved in the case.
Am Sam Ath, from rights group Licadho, said the case was another example of the rich and well-connected using the courts to harass people and undermine their rights.
VOD could not reach Kimsreng on Wednesday.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to property
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 31, 2022
- Event Description
Police briefly arrested three union representatives amid a demonstration of more than 1,000 shoe-factory workers in Kampong Chhnang, saying workers should be only allowed to submit letters, not protest.
At least 5,600 workers at Can Sports Shoe, a supplier for Adidas, gave thumbprints supporting a strike about 35 demands that have accumulated over several years, according to workers and labor rights groups.
Only a few hundred went into work on Tuesday as more than 1,000 workers gathered outside the factory in Samakki Meanchey district’s Sethei commune and blocked a road, they said.
Deputy provincial police chief Ear Bunthoeun said three union leaders had been arrested, but released after they agreed to stop organizing chaos.
“If workers want to demand benefits, just let them do it and submit letters. But we can’t allow inciters to provoke demonstrations and work stoppages,” Bunthoeun said.
Public order could be disrupted by demonstrations, he said. The workers had blocked National Road 5, which could suffer traffic jams even with short disruptions, he added.
Noem Sokhoeun, one of the arrested union leaders, said he had been accused of incitement to commit a felony.
“I think it’s a violation of my rights,” Sokhoeun said, adding that he had not organized the protest himself.
The contract he signed on Tuesday says he promises not to gather workers for protests or demonstrations that cause chaos in the factory, and not to commit any acts in the factory against the law.
According to labor rights group Central, the two other union leaders are Sean Sokleab and Pen Sophorn.
Patrick Lee, legal consultant at Central, said: “My view is that these union leaders have been arrested for the sole purpose of attempting to restrict workers’ fundamental right to peacefully strike. The authorities should be acting as mediators and not use their power to restrict workers’ rights and freedoms.”
A list of 35 demands from the workers details accumulated grievances related to payment schedules and methods, medical facilities at the factory, and the availability of food vendors and allowances.
Factory worker Kan Savy said more than 1,000 workers had protested on Tuesday, while another worker, Nou Sitouch, estimated that most of around 8,000 striking workers at the factory gathered outside from around 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Yang Sophorn, the president of Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions, said Can Sports Shoe had more than 10,000 workers in total, and some grievances stretched back two decades.
Two of the union leaders had been arrested Monday evening even before the protest was held, Sophorn added.
“It’s inappropriate as the authorities have the duty to give justice to people and workers,” she said, adding that the factory union had informed the employer about the peaceful demonstration.
“This is a means of threatening workers who are just peacefully exercising their legal rights as stated in the law.”
A woman who picked up on a number listed with the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia for the factory denied she was part of factory management.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- May 30, 2022
- Event Description
Five teenagers suffered multiple injuries after regime soldiers plowed their vehicle into them following a flash mob protest in Yangon on Monday, according to activist sources.
Myat Min Khant, the Yangon district chair of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), said the incident occurred at around 11am on Thu Mingalar Street in South Okkalapa Township.
“Normally, people just run off on their own when they disperse after a protest, but they stayed together as a small group, which is what raised the military’s suspicions,” he said.
According to Myat Min Khant, four of the injured protesters were boys, and one was a girl. Further information about their identities was not available at the time of reporting.
After running into the teens with their Toyota Mark II, the soldiers beat them with the butts of their rifles, he added.
“We still don’t know how bad their injuries are as they were taken away right after they were hit,” he said. However, they were believed to have suffered serious abrasions to their heads, backs, arms and legs, according to the ABFSU.
“I have been told that they are being held at the South Okkalapa Police Station,” the ABFSU district chair added.
s.okkalapa_protest-2.jpeg Protesters march in Yangon’s South Okkalapa Township on May 30 (Supplied)
Around 30 people took part in Monday’s protest march, which began at the Zarli Taung housing complex on Thu Mingalar Street and ended at the intersection with Yadanar Road.
Three other protesters, all aged 15 or 16, were also pursued by the regime’s forces but managed to escape, according to the ABFSU.
A similar incident occurred last December, when soldiers drove into a crowd of protesters in Yangon’s Kyimyindaing Township, killing several people and injuring a number of others.
On April 20, junta troops riding in a double cab pickup truck smashed into a car carrying three women who had taken part in an anti-regime demonstration in South Okkalapa.
Despite facing such brutal tactics from the military, Myat Min Khan said that protests would continue, albeit in a different form.
“It would be too much for us if we kept running into these situation, so we will continue to protest in other ways,”he said.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- May 26, 2022
- Event Description
The protest against the new NPO bill is now in its 4th day since it occupied the street in front of the United Nations headquarters on Monday (23 May), while concerns are being raised as the police try to convince them to move to make way for an upcoming royal motorcade.
After the activist and NGO network People’s Movement Against the Draft Laws that Undermine Freedom of Association staged a protest on 24 March and getting no response to the petition submitted to Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and Social Development and Human Security Minister Juti Krairiksh calling for the drafting process to cease, protesters gathered in front of the UN headquarters on Ratchadamnoen Road on Monday to demand that the government withdraw the bill. The network said that they will occupy the area until their demand is met.
The NPO bill has been criticized as a threat to freedom of association and giving state officials the authority to oversee, and possibly obstruct the work of a wide range of civil society organisations, since it defines NPOs as groups “that organise, in one form or another, to collectively pursue activities in society without seeking financial gain, exclusive of groups that stage ad-hoc activities of benefit to group members or political parties.”
The bill also gives state officials the authority to temporarily or permanently shut down any NPO seen as violating the bill’s provisions, which are vaguely worded and can be widely interpreted.
Under this bill, NPOs will be required to register with the government and to comply with all Ministry of the Interior regulations. Once the law is in effect, existing organisations will have 30 days to register. Those operating an unregistered organisation face punishments of up to 5 years in prison or a fine of up to 200,000 baht or both.
The bill prohibits organisations from engaging in activities that threaten national security, economic stability, foreign relations, public order, public safety and the rights and liberties of others.
It also attempts to control NPO funding, prohibiting groups from using foreign funding to pursue activities deemed inappropriate by the Ministry of the Interior. In addition, it gives state agents the authority to search NPO offices and make copies of their online communications. NPOs receiving overseas funding will need to provide authorities with bank records showing where funds are held and what purpose they serve.
After requesting that a government representative come to meet them at the protest site and getting no response, on Tuesday (24 May), the protesters marched to Government House to submit their petition calling for the bill to be withdrawn and for a government representative to also sign a written agreement promising that the bill will not be presented to the Cabinet.
During the march, the protesters faced multiple police blockades. They finally arrived at Chamai Maru Chet bridge next to Government House, which was blocked by razor wire and units of crowd control police. Anucha Nakasai, Minister of the Office of the Prime Minister, then came to receive the protesters' letter stating their demands.
After speaking with Anucha and receiving no answer or commitments, the protesters returned to their camp in front of the UN, where they will continue to stay until their demands are met.
Earlier on Thursday (26 May), police officers came to tell the protesters that there will be a royal motorcade passing through Ratchadamnoen Nok Road on its way to Thammasat University’s Tha Prachan campus for the university’s graduation ceremony on 27 – 29 May, and asked that the protesters move to another location for a few days.
The protest leaders insisted that they will not be moving until their demands are met. Activist Lertsak Khamkongsak said after several negotiations with police officers that they will continue to protest, and told the police to leave and to stop taking pictures of the protesters.
The police’s action caused concerns among protesters that they will be forcibly dispersed. Lertsak, along with activists Juthamat Srihatthapadungkit and Somboon Khamhang, gave a press conference as representatives of the protesters during the afternoon. He reported that police officers have claimed that the protesters are obstructing traffic or are creating a risk of spreading Covid-19. They said that they have explained to the authorities that other groups have used the space for protest, and that traffic can still move normally through Ratchadamnoen Nok Road. The protesters also wear face masks and take Covid-19 tests, while temperature screening points have been set up around the protest site.
According to the three activists, the police’s actions, including walking around the protest site and looking at how the protesters set up their camp, raised questions about what the authorities want with them.
Juthamat said that this is not the first time they have spoken out against the NPO bill, but the cabinet is refusing to consider their demands. She said that if the police are truly concerned about the women, children, and older people at the protest, they should be facilitating the activities, not harassing the protesters. She said that the protest is peaceful and unarmed, and that they have filed a complaint with the Civil Court for a temporary injunction protecting their right to protest, which the Court will give its ruling on Friday (27 May).
Lertsak said that the police might be preparing to forcibly disperse of the protesters. He told the protesters that, if they are dispersed, they will face any police violence without weapons, and anyone who is ready to face the police to come to the tent in front of the protest site. He said that they must be on watch all night, and that it is the police’s responsibility to manage traffic, but they did not do their job and are using it as a pretext to try to get the protesters to leave. He also said that no officer has ever shown up to see whether they have proper disease control measures, but they showed up on Thursday to try to legitimize any dispersal that might take place.
At around 17.00, several protesters dressed in kangaroo costumes went to the Siam shopping district and scattered leaflets about the need to protest against the bill near the Siam BTS station and Siam Square One shopping mall. They also stood on the Pathumwan Skywalk holding a banner saying “People’s Movement Against the Draft Laws that Undermine Freedom of Association” and gave out leaflets to passers-by.
According to the Facebook page No NPO bill, the activity is to show that the government is trying to issue a law to control all kinds of association, which would affect everyone, and to spread information about the bill, the rights to freedom of association and freedom of assembly, and why the bill should be stopped.
iLaw reported today (27 May) that police officers in riot gears lined up along Ratchadamneon Nok road in front of the UN headquarters at around 16.00, blocking the protesters from view as a royal motorcade went by. An officer made an announcement through a sound amplifier insisting that the police will not forcibly disperse the protesters.
After the royal motorcade has gone, Lertsak demanded that the police move to the traffic island and to line up again when the royal motorcade is returning. If not, he asked that they turn their backs to the protesters. He also told the protesters to continue their activities.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- May 25, 2022
- Event Description
Karapatan condemns in strongest possible terms the attempt of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to disperse the peaceful indignation protest today at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) compound using violent force. According to health marshals, at least 10 individuals were reportedly injured after being hit with truncheons and shields while the protest was being bombed with water from a firetruck.
The right to peaceful assembly and protest is a basic right enshrined in our constitution; even our laws guarantee the exercise of this right, especially in a designated freedom park such the CHR’s Liwasang Diokno. Is the violent dispersal today a prelude of things to come under a Marcos-Duterte administration — where exercising our basic rights and freedoms are met with brazen State violence?
We will not take these violations sitting down, and in the face of the looming return of the forces of tyranny and fascism, all the more that we will protest and resist any and all attempts to unleash the horrors of Marcosian martial law and State repression. All the more that we should take to the streets and denounce a despotic tandem that has cheated their way to victory through lies, historical distortions, and mass deception.
We call on the CHR to investigate and condemn the PNP’s attempt to violently disperse a peaceful assembly right within their premises, and to hold the responsible PNP officials accountable for the incident. Above all, we call on all freedom-loving Filipinos to bravely stand to defend our hard-won rights and freedoms, and to reject the Marcos-Duterte tandem.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- May 25, 2022
- Event Description
Do Le Na, the visually impaired wife of Le Trong Hung, took her two sons to visit their father on May 15 as scheduled. But when she got there she was told the schedule was changed, without being given a reason; she was told to come back the next day, which she did. Finally, after 411 days the children were able to see their father for the first time in a brief 30-minute visit. Hung reported he had contracted Covid earlier but was coping well; he said he was also suffering from back pain. Hung mentioned he was not eating food that she bought from the canteen out of concern that prison officials might spike it with drugs in an effort to send him to a psychiatric hospital.
RFA Viet 3 June reported that on 25 May, Mr Hung - currently serving 5 years jail for anti-state propaganda - has been transferred to a further away prison 350km in distance from his home, where his visually impaired wife lives with their two young children.
Mr Hung's new prison is prison 6, Nghe An province. Mrs Le Na told RFA Viet, she wasn't informed of the prison transfer. Only when she came to temporary detention centre no 1, Tu Liem, Hanoi to bring him supplies on 1 June that she was informed of this. She said, during the time Mr Hung was transferred to the new prison, Hanoi police even sent people to her place to guard her and her two children, to intimidate them. '...My husband's only offence was being patriotic and trusting Party Chief Trong, thinking that he could help the Party Chief in his anti-corruption campaign by raising awareness about [officials'] wrongdoings and gifting copies of the nation's constitution to the people to raise their understanding.
'Yet, for that, my husband was jailed and transferred to a very remote prison, notorious for its harsh conditions, among the worst in Vietnam.' Mrs Le Na said.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 23, 2022
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Appeal Court this morning upheld the baseless September 2018 convictions of four current and former ADHOC staffers - Ny Sokha, Nay Vanda, Yi Soksan, and Lim Mony - and National Election Committee official Ny Chakrya, all of whom were previously imprisoned and convicted on spurious charges of bribery.
Sokha, Vanda, Soksan, and Mony were convicted on 26 September 2018 for bribery of a witness under Article 548 of the Criminal Code. Chakrya, who was serving as deputy secretary-general of the National Election Committee at the time of his arrest, was convicted as an accomplice to bribery of a witness under Articles 29 and 548 of the Criminal Code. The arrests came during a broader crackdown on civil society and the political opposition in Cambodia. All five human rights defenders served 14 months in pre-trial detention before being released on bail in June 2017, and were later sentenced to five years in prison with the remaining time suspended.
Both the defendants and the prosecutor filed appeals, with the defendants seeking to be exonerated and the prosecutor appealing to have the five human rights defenders serve the full five years in prison. The Appeal Court rejected both appeals, upholding the original convictions and suspended sentences of all five defendants.
The five human rights defenders were all current and former staff of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) at the time of their arrest. They were accused of paying a woman to make false statements regarding another case linked to then-opposition leader Kem Sokha.
None of the witnesses named in the case appeared for the lower court proceedings, during which no credible evidence was presented by the prosecution. Requests by the defence to summons witnesses at the Appeal Court hearing were denied, as was a request to delay the hearing.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- May 21, 2022
- Event Description
Police in Vietnam’s capital on May 21 arrested Hanoi resident and human rights activist Truong Van Dung, charging him under Article 88 of Vietnam’s 1999 Penal Code with “conducting propaganda against the State,” Dung’s wife Nghiem Thi Hop told RFA the same day.
Dung, who was born in 1958, was taken into custody at around 7 a.m. at the couple’s home, Hop said.
“While I was out shopping, I received a phone call from a neighbor telling me he had been arrested, and I came back at 7:30 but they had already taken him away.”
Police in plain clothes then arrived and read out an order to search the house, taking away books, notebooks, laptop computers and protest banners, she added.
Dung had participated in protests in Hanoi including demonstrations against China’s occupation of the Paracel Islands — an island group in the South China Sea also claimed by Vietnam — and protests against the Taiwan-owned Formosa Company for polluting the coastline of four central Vietnamese provinces of Vietnam in 2016.
Public protests even over perceived harm to Vietnam’s interests are considered threats to its political stability and are routinely suppressed by the police.
Dung’s arrest under Article 88 of Vietnam’s Penal Code is the second arrest on national security charges reported since Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s May 12-17 visit to the U.S. Cao Thi Cue, owner of the Peng Lai Temple in southern Vietnam’s Long An province, was arrested on charges of “abusing the rights to freedom and democracy” under Article 331 of the 2015 Penal Code.
Both laws have been criticized by rights groups as tools used to stifle voices of dissent in the one-party communist state.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- May 20, 2022
- Event Description
An ethnic Ede Montagnard minority activist was sentenced to four years in prison on Friday for submitting three reports about human rights violations in Vietnam to “reactionary forces” overseas, another activist who followed his trial said.
A court in Cu Kuin district, Dak Lak province, sentenced Y Wo Nie on the charge of “abusing the rights to freedom and democracy” under Article 331 of Vietnam’s Penal Code, said activist Vo Ngoc Luc, who followed the trial developments as they were broadcast over a local loudspeaker.
The article prohibits citizens from abusing “the rights to freedom and democracy to violate the State’s interests and the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals.” Rights groups have criticized the statute as providing authorities widespread latitude to crack down on any criticism of the government.
Nie participated in several online training courses held by “reactionary forces.” The classes included lessons on religious faith, Vietnam Civil Law, international human rights law, the Montagnard experience in Vietnam, and how to document human rights abuses, according to the online news outlet Congly, the mouthpiece of the Supreme People’s Court of Vietnam.
“Learning about human rights is very good — that’s what I told security officers whom I met this morning,” Luc said. “You cannot convict [people] for taking online courses on human rights.”
Prosecutors failed to provide evidence to support a second accusation against Nie for “providing false information,” Luc said.
“They were all general and ambiguous accusations,” he said.
“Saying the sentence was too heavy is wrong,” Luc added. “I would say it was groundless. If we lived in a civilized world, then the court would declare his innocence, set him free right at the trial, and the investigation agency would apologize him.”
In its indictment, the Cu Kuin People’s Procuracy said that in 2020 Nie collected distorting and false information and composed three reports on human rights violations and sent them to “reactionary forces overseas” via the WhatsApp instant messaging service.
The indictment also said Nie met with the delegates from the U.S. Embassy and Consulate General in Vietnam when they visited the Gia Lai province in June 2020.
The judges concluded that Nie’s acts had affected social safety and order, political security and government administrative agencies’ activities, undermining confidence in the regime and at home and abroad.
When Nie was arrested in September 2020, Cu Kuin police officers said that they seized “many materials with false content and images slandering, insulting and defaming the prestige and dignity of the party, state, local authorities, the public security forces in Cu Kuin district and in Dak Lak province.”
Prior to the September 2020 arrest, Nie received a nine-year jail term for “sabotaging the national unity policy.”
In recent decades, many ethnic minority groups in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, including the Montagnards, have been persecuted for their religious beliefs and seen their land confiscated without adequate compensation. The crackdowns tend to ramp up on the groups when they try to fight back and report these human rights abuses, activists said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- May 20, 2022
- Event Description
Regime forces shot and killed a third-year medical student in Sagaing Region’s Myinmu Township on Friday, according to a source close to the victim’s family.
Kyaw Nyi Zin, 21, died after junta troops opened fire on the vehicle that he and other members of his family were traveling in on their way from Mandalay to Monywa.
“They were going to a wedding in Monywa and the military told them to stop. But then they started shooting before they even had a chance to slow down. Kyaw Nyi Zin was shot in the head,” the source said.
After the incident, the family took Kyaw Nyi Zin to Monywa to receive emergency medical treatment, but he later died of his injuries, the source added.
Kyaw Nyi Zin was a student at the University of Medicine, Mandalay, one of five universities in Myanmar dedicated to the study of medicine.
Since last year, however, he had stopped attending classes at the state-run university in order to take part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against military rule.
A funeral was held for him in Mandalay on Saturday.
“I’m getting used to the horror, but this still breaks my heart,” said a Mandalay-based doctor who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“They do as they please, just because they have weapons.”
Healthcare workers have been at the forefront of the anti-coup movement, making them frequent targets of arrest and regime brutality. An estimated 80% of the medical staff in Mandalay are currently taking part in the CDM.
Dr. Thiha Tin Tun, a Mandalay doctor, was among more than 100 people killed in crackdowns on anti-coup protests around the country on March 27 of last year.
The junta has revoked the licenses of medical professionals who refuse to work in hospitals under its control, and has also threatened to shut down private hospitals that hire doctors taking part in the CDM.
As a result of these moves, hundreds of doctors in Mandalay alone are believed to have lost their livelihood for resisting last year’s military takeover.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- May 20, 2022
- Event Description
Four monarchy reform activists were again denied bail on 20 May, including Tantawan Tuatulanon, who has been on a hunger strike for the past 32 days to demand the right to bail, while a protest caravan visited the Ratchadaphisek Criminal Court and the Bangkok Remand Prison to demand the release of 11 detained activists.
The Ratchadaphisek Criminal Court on 20 May again denied bail to monarchy reform activist Tantawan Tuatulanon, who is currently held in pre-trial detention on a royal defamation charge and has been on a hunger strike for the past 30 days to demand the right to bail for detained activists.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that the public prosecutor requested the Court to continue detaining Tantawan for another 7 days, claiming that her case has to be forwarded to the Attorney General Commission to see whether she should be indicted and that this is standard procedure for royal defamation cases.
The Court subsequently approved the request, and scheduled a bail hearing for Tantawan on 26 May after Move Forward Party MP Pita Limjaroenrat posted bail for her using his MP status as security. The order was signed by judge Parit Piyanaratorn, Deputy Chief Justice of the Criminal Court.
Pita previously submitted a bail request for Tantawan on Tuesday 17 May, but his request was denied after the Court claimed that he did not submit a pay slip, even though he submitted a certifying letter from the Secretariat of the House of Representatives, which stated the amount of his salary as an MP.
He said today after filing a bail request for Tantawan that, according to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), anyone accused of breaking the law should be presumed to be innocent until they are tried and found guilty. He is also concerned about her health as she has been on a hunger strike for 30 days.
He also said that he was informed that his previous bail request was denied due to a documentation error. He said that he is not so naïve that he wouldn’t know the difference between a pay slip and a salary certification letter, but he believes that the difference is not a significant issue, that he was told by his lawyers that he may submit these documents, and that the matter of Tantawan’s health is more important than documents.
Pita said that the Move Forward Party has a list of activists currently in detention and that its MPs will be posting bail for them. The Party will also propose an amendment to the royal defamation law, but he is not sure when the proposal will go before parliament.
Tantawan, 20, was charged with royal defamation, resisting officers, and violation of the Computer Crimes Act for live broadcasting before a royal motorcade on 5 March, during which she questioned the priorities of the police and the King as farmers protesting in the area at the time were forced to move to clear the route.
She was detained at the Narcotics Suppression Bureau located inside the Police Club from 5 March to 7 March when she was granted bail on a 100,000-baht security on the conditions that she must not repeat her offense or participate in activities which damage the monarchy, and must wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.
She was also charged with royal defamation and sedition for conducting a poll on royal motorcades at Siam Paragon on 8 February 2022.
The Court revoked Tantawan’s bail on 20 April, claiming she had broken her bail conditions by going near a royal motorcade and posting about the monarchy on Facebook. She has been held in pre-trial detention at the Women’s Central Correctional Institution for the past 30 days and has been on a hunger strike throughout her detention to demand the right to bail for detained activists, raising concerns that her condition will deteriorate further if she continues to be detained.
According to TLHR, Tantawan has lost 4 kg, is severely fatigued, and has fainted several times a day. She has not been taking anything but milk and water, and has told her lawyers that she will drink only water until she is released if she is not granted bail this time. Three other activists denied bail
Three other monarchy reform activists currently in pre-trial detention on royal defamation charges were also denied bail on 20 May.
The police requested the court today to detain activist Sopon Surariddhidhamrong for 12 more days, claiming that they are still processing evidence in the case and have to interview another witness, even though they admitted that Sopon would not be able to tamper with the evidence and that the last time the Court approved a detention request for Sopon, the judge said that it would be the last time.
Nevertheless, the Court approved the request and ordered Sopon to be detained for another 7 days. His lawyers filed a bail request, which was subsequently denied on the ground that there is no cause to change existing court order. The order was signed by judge Parit Piyanaratorn.
Sopon, a 23-year-old radiological technology student, was arrested while he was leaving a Labour Day event in front of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre. He 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 is facing two other royal defamation charges; one is for a speech given at the Chakri Memorial Day protest on 6 April 2022 and another for a speech given during a Labour Day rally in front of Government House on 1 May. He is also on a hunger strike to demand the right to bail and has been for 16 days.
Meanwhile, the South Bangkok Criminal Court denied bail again for Baipor and Netiporn, two activists from the monarchy reform activist group Thaluwang. The order was signed by Manas Phakphuwadol, Research Justice of the Supreme Court, serving temporarily as Deputy Chief Justice of the South Bangkok Criminal Court, and made on the grounds that the two have previously broken their bail conditions and that they are likely to commit other offense if released.
According to TLHR, Baipor, who is currently a 1st year student at the Puey Ungphakorn School of Development Studies, Thammasat University, is likely to be expelled from university if she continues to be detained, since she will miss 4 of her final examinations, which will cause her GPA to fall below the university’s requirement to remain enrolled. Keeping her in detention would therefore be an excessive deprivation of her rights and destructive to her future in a situation where she has not been judged guilty, and if she is found to be innocent, the court will not be able to remedy the damage to her education.
Meanwhile, the bail request for Netiporn said that her mother has a heart condition, and that Netiporn and her sister are responsible for paying for their mother’s medical treatment, since their parents are separated. Keeping Netiporn in detention would therefore mean that the family will struggle to cover their mother’s medical expenses. Netiporn herself is also at risk of developing a tumour in her uterus and has been prescribed hormonal therapy by a doctor at Ramathibodi Hospital. Being in detention and not being able to see a doctor would increase the risk to her health.
Baipor and Netiporn have been charged with royal defamation, sedition, and refusing to comply with an officer’s order after they conducted a poll on royal motorcades at Siam Paragon shopping mall on 8 February 2022. They were arrested on 28 April 2022 along with activist Supitcha Chailom and charged with royal defamation for conducting a poll on whether people agree with the government allowing the King to use his powers as he pleases.
In addition to the above charges, Baipor was arrested on 22 April 2022 and charged with royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act for sharing a Facebook post about the monarchy budget.
They have been detained since 3 May when their bail was revoked by the South Bangkok Criminal Court, which claimed that they violated their bail conditions by causing public disorder by participating in another poll on land expropriation on 13 March 2022 at the Victory Monument, during which a small altercation took place between Thaluwang supporters and members of a royalist group gathering nearby. Protest at court and prison demand the right to bail
To demand the right to bail for detained activists, the activist network Citizens for the Abolition of 112, which has been campaigning for the release of detained activists and the repeal of the royal defamation law, staged a ‘car mob’ protest. A caravan of cars and motorcycles carrying white flags saying “free our friends” and pictures of detained activists drove from the Democracy Monument to the Ratchadaphisek Criminal Court, and then to the Bangkok Remand Prison.
Activist Somyot Pruksakasemsuk said before the caravan took off from the Democracy Monument that the royal defamation law is being used to destroy democracy and human rights, and that activists like Tantawan are being denied the right to bail.
He noted that the 11 activists currently detained are still presumed to be innocent and are fighting for the people’s rights and freedoms, and questioned whether the courts are exercising their power for justice or the protection of the people.
In front of the Ratchadaphisek Criminal Court, protesters hung a banner saying “Free political prisoners, repeal Section 112” from an overpass in front of the Court and scattered papers containing various messages from the overpass. Representatives of the network then submitted a petition to the Criminal Court calling for the right to bail for detained activists.
The petition said that the right to bail is a fundamental right and stemmed from the principle of presumption of innocence, which is the most basic principle in criminal proceedings, and that denying or revoking bail on the grounds that a defendant is going to commit another offense or cause public disorder is not in accordance with legal principles.
The petition noted that the detained activists’ actions were an exercise of their freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and to deny them bail on the grounds that they are likely to repeat their offense or cause danger is not in line with the fact that their actions are not dangerous. The courts also have other means to use in place of detention, such as requiring a defendant to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet, and activists who were detained on the grounds that they are a flight risk have never tried to flee.
Somyot said after the petition was submitted that he is concerned about Tantawan, and asked why she was charged with royal defamation for conducting public polls. He said that defendants in cases relating to political expression should be granted bail and that the 11 detained activists should be released.
Labour rights activist Sripai Nonsi said that the detained activists did nothing wrong and that they were only asking questions about someone who is using taxpayers’ money.
“The world today has progressed so far that there is nothing you can hide. The court itself should consider and reflect upon itself how it could do its job well. I ask the court to have some dignity and consider the cases fairly, and I ask it to return our country’s future to society,” Sripai said.
The caravan then moved to the Bangkok Remand Prison, where protesters tied yellow and black ribbons, as well as flags containing images of detained activists to the razor wire barricade in front of the prison entrance.
Another group of activists also went to the Supreme Court on the morning of 20 May to submit a petition to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to demand that the detained activists be granted bail.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- May 18, 2022
- Event Description
Various groups condemned the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict for the latest red-tagging of journalism professor Danilo Arao and election watchdog Kontra Daya.
The recent red-tagging spree was published by the Philippine News Agency (PNA), with Jeffrey “Ka Eric” Celiz as their lone source.
Celiz claims to have held several positions in the underground movement in the Philippines. Of late, he has been notoriously red-tagging progressive organizations as part of the NTF-ELCAC.
In their published articles, the PNA wrote that Kontra Daya and Arao are affliated the Communist Party of the Philippines. The report also alleged that Kontra Daya is a project used to manipulate public opinion on the elections.
In a statement, Kontra Daya denounced this, saying that Celiz’ claims are “grounded in falsehoods” which had long been refuted.
“Given his propensity for weaving a web of lies, it comes as no surprise that the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflicts finds him useful for red-tagging which is considered the highest form of ‘fake news’ as it can get a person arrested, tortured or even killed,” said Kontra Daya in their released statement.
IBON Foundation, who had worked with Arao for many years, claimed that the professor was one of their senior staff in 1999, during the time that a “former cadre” accused him of involvement with armed groups.
As an education and advocacy institution, IBON had also held countless trainings and seminars with Arao as one of the resource speakers but it was never as a front for any terrorist group.
“It is delusional and malicious to say that these simple capacity-building activities are organized by the Central Committee of the CPP through Arao as alleged,” said IBON.
Bulatlat, for its part, called out the PNA, and urged them to uphold journalism ethics and not to parrot disinformation that is being spread by the NTF-ELCAC.
“As a state-run news agency, PNA should observe the ethical standards of journalism, as government resources should be utilized for the public good,” said Bulatlat managing editor Ronalyn Olea in a statement.
She added that government resources, “should not be spent endangering the lives of the people, particularly those who are critical of the government.”
--
A former cadre of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) on Wednesday said he has “direct personal knowledge” about Kontra Daya convenor Danilo Arao’s link with the communist terrorist group (CTG).
“Proof of my claims that Danilo Arao and the leaders and core operatives of Kontra Daya are CPP-NPA-NDF urban operators? And that CPP-NPA-NDF created Kontra Daya? I have direct personal knowledge about Danilo Arao's involvement with the CPP-NPA-NDF as among the local communist terrorists' urban operatives,” said Jeffrey 'Ka Eric' Celiz in a statement.
Celiz, the current secretary-general of a national organization of former rebels dubbed Sentrong Alyansa Ng Mga Mamamayan Para Sa Bayan (Sambayanan), said he personally met Arao with other CPP-NPA-NDF urban operatives in a resort in Laguna during a five-day training and seminar-workshop on urban mass movement campaigns and propaganda operations, including the conduct of media operations in urban mass movement activities, in April 1999.
He said the seminar-workshop was actually a joint activity called upon by the CPP Central Committee staff organs known as CPP National Organizations Department (NOD) and National United Front Commission (NUFC) where Arao was among those who helped facilitate the event.
Similar activities, Celiz said, were also held in March 2001 in preparation for the May 2001 elections in which Arao also participated.
Celiz said it might have been better if he was invited by the ANC when it interviewed Arao on its program on Tuesday.
He said the revolutionary tactic of the CPP-NPA-NDF of using front organizations and activities as cover were “masterfully exhibited and displayed by Danilo Arao in his interview with ANC”.
“How I wish that ANC could have also made due diligence in reaching out to me so that I can confront Danilo Arao, right before a public discussion and be able to tell ANC and the people, how the CPP-NPA-NDF and Danilo Arao operated in order to establish their cover and front electoral project known as Kontra Daya so that their pretensions and hypocrisy could have been exposed more distinctly in a public discourse,” Celiz said.
During the interview, Arao criticized and insulted the government's official media and information group, including the Philippine News Agency, and the media network SMNI and Remate.
Arao challenged Celiz to prove his accusations.
On Monday, the PNA published an article entitled “Watchdog ‘Kontra Daya’ brainchild of CPP-NPA-NDF: ex-cadre” based on a statement issued by Celiz linking Kontra Daya with the CTG.
Celiz, the top nominee of Abante Sambayanan party-list, said their group has been one of the victims of prejudiced and partisan public opinion manipulation, which he called a “mind frame game and conditioning modus operandi.”
Arao accused Celiz and the PNA of red tagging him and the Kontra Daya.
“Truth hurts for the CPP-NPA-NDF and their operatives and functionaries such as Danilo Arao when they are exposed to the people,” Celiz said.
Celiz said there is no such thing as red-tagging, adding that this word is an “invention of the CPP-NPA-NDF” as a defense and an escape switch to deceive the people.
“Conveniently, Arao and his group Kontra Daya used the CPP-NPA-NDF masquerade of 'red tagging' claim as his defense, while doing references to their so-called dangers of 'red tagging' against their personal safety,” he said.
He said Arao's pathetic use of “red tagging” claim as his defense also “blew him away when he parroted the CPP-NPA-NDF personalities.”
Celiz added that truth shall liberate the people from the clutches of communist terrorism that has destroyed the country and the people, most especially the youth, “and Danilo Arao and his Kontra Daya group are part of the conspirators and enablers of the CPP-NPA-NDF”.
“And the proof of it is my direct personal knowledge of the matters that I expose, and I am standing by the truth of what I declare,” Celiz said.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
The NDF has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973. (PNA)
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Academic
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- May 18, 2022
- Event Description
Hundreds of ethnic minority households from a commune in south-central Vietnam's Dak Lak province are fighting to reclaim their land from a forestry company after 40 years of working on it as hired laborers.
Protests in Lang village, Ea Pok town, Cu Mgar district began last month, with farmers demanding the return of about 40 hectares of arable land.
Demonstrations came to a head on May 18 when hundreds of people gathered on the land to protest against the coffee company's destruction of their crops.
Videos and photos of the protest were shared on social media, showing riot police clashing with demonstrators.
Demonstrations continued last week, with protestors holding up banners asking the coffee company to return the land. State media has so far not reported on the incident.
“We want the company to return our ancestral land so that people can have a business in the future,” a local resident told RFA under the condition of anonymity. “People are getting [taxed] more and more but have less land, so people need to reclaim the land.”
According to RFA research, Lang village has about 250 households, all indigenous Ede people. The residents all make a living from farming.
‘The company does not give a dime’
Residents told RFA they had been cultivating the land for many generations but after 1975 the local government took it and gave it to the state-owned enterprise, Eapok Coffee Farm to grow coffee trees. The company later changed its name to Ea Pok Coffee Joint Stock Company.
Locals went from being landowners to hired workers on their own land. They say the company allowed them to cultivate the land from 1983 until now but told them to produce 18 tons of coffee per hectare or pay for up to 80% of each harvest.
“People work hard, but they don't have enough to eat because they have to pay the company's output. In many cases, they don't even have enough output to pay so they are in debt and have to pay for it in the next crop," said one resident who was assigned to grow coffee on 8,000 square meters of land.
Residents say that in 2010 the company allowed them to uproot coffee trees and grow other crops, including corn, but did not support them by offering seedlings, fertilizers, or pesticides. The company also continued to impose output quotas or taxed as much as 80% of the crop.
“People have to pay by themselves. The company does not give a dime or give a single pill when people are sick,” said another resident farming 10,000 square meters of land.
Struggling farmers decided to file an application with the government in 2019 to reclaim their land and farming rights.
Locals say this year Ea Pok Coffee asked them to start growing durian trees. When they opposed the plan the company started destroying crops on May 18 to prepare the land for durian cultivation.
When an RFA Vietnamese reporter called Ea Pok Coffee Joint Stock Company to ask for comments they were told the press must register with the company's leaders, and get their approval first.
When asked about the government's attitude towards people's demands, a local resident said: “We sent petitions to the town government and the provincial government but got no response. The first time five households signed, then many more households signed. The government always sides with the company, rather than helping the people.”
RFA contacted Nguyen Thi Thu Hong, chairwoman of the People's Committee of Ea Pok town, to ask about the dispute between Lang villagers and the coffee company. She said that she would not accept telephone interviews.
When asked if people would agree to maintain the current form of contract farming if Ea Pok Coffee Joint Stock Company reduced taxes and increased support, local people said they still committed to reclaiming the land.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Timor Leste
- Initial Date
- May 18, 2022
- Event Description
A parliament minister has brought defamation charges under Timor Leste’s Penal Code against journalist Francisco Belo Simões da Costa, following coverage of an allegation of ministerial corruption. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate, the Timor-Leste Press Union (TLPU), in calling for the immediate withdrawal of the case against the journalist.
Timor Leste’s Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Social Communication, Francisco Martins da Costa Pereira Jerónimo, filed a claim against Francisco Belo, the editor-in-chief of local news portal Hatutan.com, over a report regarding allegations of corruption in a ‘set-top-box installation’ project.
Minister Francisco Jeronimo replied to the article, stating the news report about his project was not valid, and his response was republished by Hatutan.com. The minister is responsible for drafting legislation to develop public and private media in Timor Leste.
Following the coverage, Minister Jerónimo brought charges against Francisco Belo, who received a summons from the Dili district prosecutor’s office for defamation under Article 285 of Timor-Leste’s Penal Code.
Francisco Belo gave a statement to the prosecutor’s office on May 23, meeting with officers for approximately thirty minutes. If found guilty under Article 285, the journalist faces up to three years in prison or a fine.
In 2017, two Timor Leste journalists, Oki Raimundos and Lourenco Martins, also faced jail for defamation for their articles about Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araujo in 2015, but the charges were overturned by the Dili District Court on June 1, 2017.
The TLPU stated that it had verified that Hatutan.com's report about the installation project followed all media laws and the journalistic code of ethics. "We urge Minister Francisco Jeronimo to resolve this case through mediation from the Press Council because journalism is not a crime," TLPU said.
23 MAY 2022 by RAIMUNDOS OKI in JUSTISA Created: 23 May 2022Hits: 1481 Ghost articles return to haunt journalists in Timor-Leste
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DILI (TOP) – Freedom of the press is protected by article 41 of the Timor-Leste’s Constitution, but there is still one ghost article in the Criminal Code (2009), namely article 285 on Defamatory false information.
The ghost article has been used by politicians and law enforcement in Timor-Leste to strike back at their opponents, especially journalists who often write stories about corruption cases in both private and public institutions.
Article 285 is a giant ghost that not only haunts journalists but will also haunt critics in this country one day.
Leaders and politicians in Timor-Leste have been pleased with the annual world press freedom index of 71st out of 180 countries in 2021 and 17th in 2022 ahead of Australia, but the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Social Communication Francisco Martins da Costa Pereira Jerónimo has sued the editor-in-chief of the online media www.hatutan.com Francisco Belo Simões da Costa after publishing a corruption case allegedly involving the minister Francisco Jerónimo.
According to information accessed by The Oe-Kusi Post (TOP), installation project Set-top Box Set-top Box/dexodificador RTTL,E.P with a budget of $900,0000.00, allegedly involve Minister Francisco Jerónimo who is also the President of the Federação Futebol de Timor-Leste (F -FTL) entered into a contract with a local company DILI ETERNAL INNOVATION INFORMATION, Lda as a Joint Venture of Melánia da Silva Fernandes Capela was a secretary in the F-FTL cabinet, but according to his right of reply to Hatutan.com that the news reports about this project is not true.
As a result, Minister Francisco Jerónimo finally sued the editor-in-chief of Hatutan.com who is also a member of the Timor-Leste press council to the Dili District Prosecutor Office.
“I have gone to give a statement at the Dili prosecutor's office on a report from the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Social Communication Francisco Martins da Costa Pereira Jerónimo regarding Defamatory false information in article 285 of the Timor-Leste's penal code,” Francisco Belo Simões da Costa told
According to a news report from the online media Hatutan.com that their chief editor gave a statement at the Dili prosecutor's office on Monday 23 May 2022 from 9 to 9:30 am Timor-Leste time.
Journalist Francisco Belo received a summons from the Dili prosecutor's office on 18 May 2022 with the case number NUC 0078/22/PCCIC as a suspect.
The online media Hatutan.com explained that their editor-in-chief had been sued by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Social Communication Francisco Martins da Costa Pereira Jerónimo for the publication of news about the Set-top Box/dexodificador installation project Rádiu Televizaun Timor Leste, Empreza Públika (RTTL, E.P).
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 17, 2022
- Event Description
A Kandal factory is continuing to refuse to reinstate workers whom it fired as they were trying to start a union despite instructions from the Labor Ministry, as workers said they now want to take up the issue with the factory’s international clients.
In two separate orders issued May 4 and May 17, the Labor Ministry said the SYHJ Garment factory in Ang Snuol district should take back Prak Tola, Ny Tola and Hul Sokhim, saying their dismissals were illegal under articles 43 and 67 of the Union Law.
Those articles say workers standing to lead a union are protected from dismissal unless there is authorization from a labor inspector.
It is the same argument the NagaWorld casino union has been making to contest the layoffs of its union leaders last year.
A manager at SYHJ, Prum Kosal, said in a message that the factory could not take back the three workers as they had made serious mistakes that violated the company’s internal regulations. He also alleged they had damaged thousands of dollars of company property.
“At the moment, the company has no association with the union. Please tell them that before they complain, they should look at the law — which articles, which paragraph,” Kosal said. “Ask if they know the law. … If the union wants to sue, it’s their right.”
Sokhim, one of the fired workers, said she was head of the packaging department and was due to become the new union’s head.
“They said to sue them,” she said. “They said they don’t care where we complain.”
Independent Trade Union Confederation president Ry Sethynet said he would help the SYHJ workers find the factory’s international buyers and file a complaint to them for intervention to get the three prospective union leaders back to work.
The Labor Ministry orders, issued by the labor disputes department, said factory owners must reaccept the workers who had been laid off and pay them wages from the day they were fired. A department official, when asked about enforcement, previously told VOD that both sides had two months to appeal the decision.
Ministry spokeperson Heng Sour did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
The Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union has estimated that roughly 350 union leaders and active members were dismissed under the guise of Covid-19 — around a quarter of about 1,400 cases of alleged union-busting since 2015.
According to maps, the factory is next-door to similarly named SYSG Garment, a Chinese-owned T-shirt producer registered with the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- May 12, 2022
- Event Description
The police finally dispersed a group of people calling themselves the United Liberation Movement for West Papua or ULMWP who were going to hold a demonstration in the Pasar Baru area of Kaimana, Thursday (12/5). They were disbanded because they did not have official permission from the police. There was an argument between the mob and the police when it was disbanded. The police eventually arrested a protester, and he was taken to the Kaimana Police Station for trying to provoke another crowd.
The masses finally dispersed in an orderly manner by taking public transportation, although they had been offered a ride from the police, the masses refused. Traders who are currently selling their wares in the area have also chosen to close their stalls. For security reasons because of the concentration of the masses in the new market area of Kaimana.
Kaimana Police Chief AKBP I Ketut Widiarta, SIK MH, when confirmed said the reason for the disbandment was because his party did not issue a permit to the demonstrators, who would convey their aspirations to disband from the Republic of Indonesia. “So we firmly reject and do not give permission for this demonstration,” said the Police Chief when confirmed during the security demonstration in the Pasar Baru Kaimana area, Thursday (12/5).
The police chief appealed to the people of Kaimana to jointly maintain security and order in the city of Kaimana. And not easily provoked by other issues or invitations that will damage Kaimana’s security. “Don’t be provoked, provoked by issues or people who will damage the security situation in Kaimana,” he stressed again.
According to journalists’ observation until Thursday afternoon, activities at Pasar Baru Kaimana were running normally, although before that the traders had closed their stalls for security reasons.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- May 12, 2022
- Event Description
Today, May 12, 2022, members of the Association for Prosperous Earth Warriors (PPPBS) in Malin Deman Sub-district are carrying out their usual activities, harvesting palm fruit on the land they cultivate. The land they are working on is land that is currently still in the process of resolving the conflict with the company PT Daria Dharma Pratama (DDP). Based on the information we collected from local villagers, PPPBS members carried out harvesting activities simultaneously at around 10.00 WIB. But at the same time the company is also carrying out the same activity around members' arable lands. After about 2 hours of harvesting, the police officers (BRIMOB), totaling approximately 40 people, surrounded PPPBS members on the land of a member named Zarkawi (a resident of Talang Arah village). It is suspected that BRIMOB members took repressive actions against PPPBS members and the surrounding community land (who are not even members) by making arrests and beatings. So far, only 1 person has been confirmed with a laceration to the head as a result of being attacked by the police. The victim of this criminalization is Hardoni, a resident of Talang Arah village, Malin Deman sub-district. Meanwhile, around 40 PPPBS members were stripped half their bodies, their hands were tied using plastic ropes and their cellphones were confiscated. These 40 people were then taken to the South Mukomuko Police Station at around 4 pm.
From the information we received until 20.00 WIB, several PPPBS members had gone through the BAP process without an assistant or legal representative.
According to information from the local community, the police (BRIMOB) have been guarding the company's concession area for a long time, since early January. And during that time there has never been any coordination carried out by the police to the local village government to provide notifications regarding the agenda of the police to carry out operations around the village and sub-district areas. So far there has also been no response from the local government to protect those detained.
Based on information obtained from the PPPBS attorney, namely the Akar Law Office, who arrived at the South Mukomuko Police on Friday, May 13, 2022 at 02.00 WIB, the attorney was prevented from assisting the examination process carried out by PPPBS members. And at that time, the BAP process for 3 PPPBS members was still ongoing. However, after the examination process and BAP are completed, 1 ALO Advocate can only meet with the Secretary General of PPPBS; Lobian Angrianto's brother was escorted by 5 police officers in the detention room.
According to information from Lobian and the Head of Criminal Investigation at the South Mukomuko Police, 40 people and members of the community were detained. Currently (May 13, 2022, at 02:26) the 40 people who were arrested are still witnesses. The Head of Criminal Investigation Unit stated that the detention of 40 PPPBS members was carried out because of OTT with alleged Article 362 of the Criminal Code; Theft.
PPPBS is an acronym for the Association of Pejuang Pejuang Bumi Sejahtera which is an association of smallholders in Malin Deman District, Mukomuko Regency, Bengkulu. This PPPBS is a legal entity NUMBER AHU-0013151.AH.01.07.TAHUN 2021. The number of farmer members who are members of this PPPBS is 187 people from 7 villages; Talang Direction, Red Water, New Talang, Lubuk Talang, New Serami, Semambang Makmur and New Serami. This association was created based on a common interest to regain their rights and sovereignty over their land. And currently PPPBS is in the stage of proposing the TORA Redistribution program for PT Bina Bumi Sejahtera's abandoned HGU land which is physically controlled by PT Dharia Darma Pratama (DDP) covering an area of 603.50 Ha.
- Impact of Event
- 40
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to work
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- May 11, 2022
- Event Description
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.'
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
News summarised from Vietnamese article: VoA Vietnam
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 11, 2022
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 11, 2022
- Event Description
Twenty-five members of a youth group who are marking World Environment Day with a 600-kilometer cycling campaign, say that although local authorities allowed the event to go ahead they were questioned and monitored, which some took as a form of intimidation.
The campaign, which started on May 10 and ends on Friday, saw the cyclists ride all the way from Kampong Thom to Preah Vihear province. In each commune along the way, through four provinces, the participants say they were stopped by authorities who questioned them about their activities and camped out with them overnight.
Authorities say their interest was only intended to keep the cyclists safe on their journey, but one of the campaigners, Out Latin, a project coordinator with the advocacy group Cambodian Youth Network, said their interest meant the activists hadn’t been able to speak freely.
“I think it is a challenge that the authorities always come to interrogate and sleep with us under the pretext of security. What the authorities are doing is hurting our ability to debate on social issues and make our next plan.”
However, he noted that in the past, authorities have been more interfering, even stopping village meetings. This time they were allowed to go ahead, he believes, because they don’t want trouble ahead of the commune elections next month.
After the youths arrived in Preah Vihear, city authorities led by Deputy Governor Khiev Ban and accompanied by about 10 plainclothes police officers came to inquire about their activities, took down their names, and took photos. In Promer commune, Tbeng Meanchey district, police did the same.
Latin said they asked where the group had got its funding for the campaign, which mainly came from civil society organizations abroad. The campaign was meant to promote forest conservation, he said, and teach communities to protect natural resources.
“Through this campaign, we are demanding that the government, especially the Ministry of Environment, allow local communities to participate in protecting the last remaining natural resources, such as in Prey Lang and Prey Preah Roka,” he said.
San Mala, another member of the Cambodian Youth Network who took part in the event, said he didn’t think the real reason the authorities monitored the cyclists activity was in order to guarantee their safety. Instead, he said he thought it was a way of monitoring them.
“The authorities there have said that their actions are only for the safety and security of the youth,” he told CamboJA. “Especially at our rest stops, the authorities always sent police and village security to guard the youth group.”
However, he noted that in the past it’s been very difficult for youth to pass through protected forest areas, but this time it was easy. He thinks the authorities facilitated this because the government doesn’t want trouble ahead of elections, and also because the ASEAN Summit was being held in the US at the same time and they didn’t want negative press.
Mala said he hoped the campaign would encourage the Ministry of Environment to allow citizens to participate in forest protection, because in Prey Lang in the past well-known environmental activists have been arrested for organizing patrols against illegal logging.
“In the last two years, authorities, especially officials from the Ministry of Environment, have been restricting communities and civil society organizations from working in forest areas… The absence of environmental activists monitoring or patrolling has resulted in a major surge in deforestation,” he said.
“There may be collusion between local authorities and traders,” he added.
Koet Saray, president of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association (KSILA), said some authorities seemed pleased to see youth and civil society campaigning for environmental protection, and that they were mainly allowed to conduct their campaign unhindered. However he said, despite the group having widely publicized the event in the press, the authorities hadn’t been aware of it or what was about.
During their 600 km cycle, the group saw several deforested sites in Prey Lang forest in Kratie and Kampong Thom, according to Out Latin, each ranging between 5 and 50 hectares.
Sar Seng Leang, deputy chief of Achen village, Kampong Cham commune, Sambor district, Kratie province, said that as a village authority, it was his duty to welcome and protect the cyclists passing through and that he welcomed the environmental advocacy campaign..
Khiev Ban, Deputy Governor of Preah Vihear City, agreed that the cycling campaign was a good way of making people aware of environmental issues. He told CamboJA that the authorities only questioned the participants so they knew which direction they were going and could protect them.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- May 10, 2022
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- May 10, 2022
- Event Description
Myanmar authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Maung Maung Myo and stop jailing members of the press for reporting the news, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.
Around 6 p.m. on May 10, Maung Myo, a contributor to the local Mekong News Agency, was traveling by train to report on recent armed clashes between the military and anti-junta people’s defense forces when military authorities arrested him, according to news reports and the news agency’s editor Nyan Linn Htet, who communicated with CPJ via messaging app.
The reporter, who is also known as Myo Myint Oo, was arrested at the Salween River bridge checkpoint near the town of Hpa-an in eastern Kayin state after officials discovered he had shared Mekong News Agency reports on his personal Facebook page, according to Nyan Linn Htet, who told CPJ that the news publication had been banned by the military junta regime that seized power in the February 1, 2021 coup.
Maung Myo has since been charged under section 52(a) of the Counter-Terrorism Law, which carries a maximum of seven years in prison, according to Nyan Linn Htet. Since his arrest, the journalist has been held at Hpa-an Prison.
“Myanmar authorities must free journalist Maung Maung Myo and drop any charges pending against him,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Myanmar’s junta must cease leveling outrageous terrorism-related charges against journalists who are merely doing their jobs as reporters.”
Maung Myo has reported for Mekong News Agency since June 2020 and has covered various political topics, including Myanmar’s COVID-19 situation, anti-coup protests, and clashes between the military government and different armed resistance groups.
Nyan Linn Htet told CPJ that military authorities raided Mekong News Agency’s office and his residence on two occasions after the 2021 coup, and the publication had to close its bureau in the Shan state town of Tachiliek on April 15, 2021, due to threats from security forces.
Nyan Linn Htet added that he is in hiding from an arrest warrant issued against him on March 6, 2021, under section 505(a) of the penal code, a vague anti-state provision that penalizes incitement and the dissemination of “false news.”
Myanmar’s Ministry of Information did not reply to CPJ’s emailed request for comment on Maung Myo’s arrest and detention.
CPJ’s latest prison census published in December ranked Myanmar as the world’s second-worst jailer of journalists. Myanmar authorities have killed at least three journalists since the military seized power on February 1, 2021, according to CPJ documentation.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- May 10, 2022
- Event Description
LBH Papua Director Emanuel Gobay said one participant of the demonstration against the New Autonomous Region (DOB) Papua in Jayapura was critical after being hit by a rubber bullet allegedly released by the police.
Previously, the police forcefully dispersed demonstrations against DOB in a number of areas in Papua, Tuesday (10/5).
"Yes (critically) the action in Waena," said Director of LBH Papua Emanuel Gobay when contacted.
Gobay admitted that he did not know the exact chronology of the incident. He only confirmed that the victim was taking part in an action in front of Mega Waena, Jayapura.
"So when they arrived in front of Mega Waena, they were forcibly dispersed. At that time, they used rubber bullets and so on. When they released the rubber bullets, they hit one of the protesters," he said.
According to Gobay, at that time the victim was immediately taken to Mimika Dormitory to be treated by female students. However, he did not know more about the victim's condition.
He added that apart from rubber bullet victims, one protest participant also suffered injuries due to being mistreated by the police. The victim, he said, was shot in the chest by the police.
"Besides that, someone was beaten, then he was unconscious, then carried, then taken to the dormitory. I met him earlier, he complained that his chest still hurts from being kicked. There are also several others who were injured," explained Gobay. .
Demonstrations against the new autonomous regions and Special Autonomy (Otsus) in several areas of Jayapura, Papua, were disbanded by the police today.
The forced dissolution was recorded in a video that was spread on Twitter social media. The video was uploaded by the spokesman for the Papuan People's Petition, Jeffry Wenda.
At that time, the police forcefully dispersed the peaceful protest using water cannons.
At least seven people were arrested by the police in the action. Those arrested included PRP spokesman Jeffry Wenda, National Spokesman for the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) Ones Suhuniap, and Omizon Balingga.
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- May 9, 2022
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- May 9, 2022
- Event Description
The office of the Papua Legal Aid Institute (LBH) became the target of a terrorist attack on Monday (9/5) morning. The action is suspected to be related to a case that the agency is currently working on.
One unit of a motorcycle caught fire and the back of a car parked side by side was also scorched in the terrorist act. The director of LBH Papua, Emanuel Gobay, believes that there were parties who did this on purpose.
“From the evidence we found, such as the presence of a wick, the wick smelled of kerosene mixed with gasoline, coupled with evidence of plastic filled with gasoline, then added with grass that looked charred after being exposed to gasoline, our suspicions were made by people who have bad intentions with us,” Gobay told VOA Monday morning.
Testimony Regarding the Suspected Perpetrator So far, the facts gathered by LBH Papua regarding the incident stated that the arson took place at around 04.00 WIT. LBH Papua staff who live in the office dormitory noticed the fire after hearing the sound of an explosion coming from the garage area. The staff then came out and found the flames that burned the motorbike.
The staff and the community living around the agency’s office located on Jalan Gerilyawan, Kamkey, Jayapura, immediately put out the fire.
“The LBH Papua staff and local residents worked together to collect water and immediately extinguished the fire that was burning on the motorbike, then pulled the burning motorbike out of the garage of the LBH Papua office, so the fire didn’t spread everywhere,” added Gobay.
The motorcycle owner explained that he parked the vehicle around midnight, or four hours before the incident. In the initial inspection, the motorcycle tank did not explode in this fire.
LBH Papua staff also received information from two residents who passed in front of the office shortly before the incident. The resident stated that he saw one person wearing a black sweater, hat and mask running out of the LBH Papua office environment, then going on a motorbike.
“We have no other problems. The problems we face are from the cases we are accompanying. So, of course it has something to do with the cases we are attending. Maybe the people we suspect of doing this are people whose interests might be disturbed by our advocacy,” added Gobay.
On Monday afternoon, Gobay was at the Papua Regional Police to report the terror incident.
Similar terrors have occurred at LBH offices in other cities in Indonesia. LBH Medan, for example, was targeted by Molotov cocktails in October 2019. Meanwhile, the Yogyakarta LBH office was targeted by Molotov cocktails in September 2021.
Common in Papua Yohanis Mambrasar from the Papuan Human Rights Lawyers Association (PAHAM) said that from the chronology described by LBH Papua, he believed this incident was a terror against LBH Papua staff.
“This is an action taken by a person or group who feels disturbed by the work of LBH Papua in fighting for truth and justice in Papua,” said Yohanis.
PAHAM Papua noted that, at least in the last 4 years, LBH Papua was very massive in advocating for a number of cases. The cases handled include the criminalization of Papuan political activists, freedom of expression, as well as assistance to indigenous peoples in cases of theft of timber or confiscation of customary lands.
“Including assistance to palm oil workers and PT Freeport workers, and it should not be forgotten, legal assistance to cases of treason in Papua,” he added.
Human Rights (HAM) activist Theo Hesegem also considered what happened at LBH Papua as an act of terror.
“We can’t confirm who the perpetrators are, but we know that a terrorist act is taking place. Actually, if human rights defenders experience acts of terror, it does not mean that people who work for humanity end up there. It’s impossible,” he said.
Interestingly, Theo himself had recently become a victim of what he described as terror against critical activists. On 7 May, Theo, Executive Director of the Papuan Justice and Human Integrity Foundation, lost his motorcycle, which was his operational vehicle, while investigating cases of human rights violations in Wamena, Nduga, and the surrounding mountainous areas.
Theo himself has experienced many terrors during his activities in defending human rights in Papua. For example, when he was actively investigating cases of armed violence in Nduga. But he promised that any incident would not hinder his efforts to carry out humanitarian work.
“And that is something human rights defenders have to face. We must not forget that for me this is a normal thing, and it must be experienced by human rights defenders,” he said again.
Moreover, added Theo, in Papua acts of terror are a daily occurrence.
“It’s a normal thing that human rights defenders have to deal with in the poor conditions of this region. But we also want it not to happen again, and it is the duty of the police to follow up on this terror. We don’t want human rights defenders in Papua to be treated like that,” said Theo.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to property, Right to work
- HRD
- NGO, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- May 5, 2022
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- May 3, 2022
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Thailand: three pro-democracy WHRDs arrested
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- May 3, 2022
- Event Description
Alipio “Ador” Juat is no stranger to political repression.
A longtime unionist and community organizer for the labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Juat was one of the scores of activists who survived arrest and torture during the martial law regime of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s late father.
Since that period, labor and peasant organizers and political activists were considered destabilizers, KMU secretary general Jerome Adonis told reporters on Wednesday.
“But it is not a crime nor will it ever be a crime to organize communities,” Adonis said.
On May 3 — just days before the presidential elections that was won by the dictator’s son and namesake — history repeated itself for Juat. He and fellow community organizer Elizabeth Magbanua were abducted by armed men who said they were from the Philippine Navy, according to Adonis.
He said the martial law survivor “has now been victimized twice over by a Marcos.”
Juat and Magbanua and two peasant organizers, Elgene Mungcal and Elena Cortez, had gone missing in a string of disappearances in Central Luzon.
Their families have called on the Marcos administration to help find their loved ones and stop the wanton arrests and enforced disappearances of dissidents. Asking AFP
On Wednesday, they filed a formal complaint before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and asked the state rights watchdog to help them investigate the cases.
The CHR said it would send a representative to Camp Aguinaldo, the Armed Forces headquarters in Quezon City, as soon as possible.
Juat supposedly was able to send word to his family that he was taken there by the men who had seized him.
The families of the missing are demanding that the authorities allow them to return home “without condition and immediately.”
They also want the new administration to junk Executive Order No. 70, which created the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) that was created by Marcos’ predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte. Last call to family
The anti-communist task force has become notorious for Red-tagging critics of the government, many of whom were later persecuted, prosecuted or killed.
Representatives of the women’s group, Gabriela, and KMU accompanied the relatives of Juat and the three others to the CHR.
Magbanua, a longtime member of KMU, has been missing since May 3. Gabriela members Mungcal and Cortez disappeared on July 3.
Juat was able to make a call to his family recently, telling them he was being held in Camp Aguinaldo
Adonis believes that no one else “would have an interest in our four colleagues except the government and the military who wish to silence those who fight for true justice.”
Apparently, Magbanua and Juat were together in Valenzuela City on May 3 to attend a meeting related to their community organizing work, according to Ruth Maglalan, Magbanua’s partner.
In his brief phone call, Juat told his family that the police were waiting for him and Magbanua at the gate of the subdivision where they were to hold their meeting. After they were seized, they were whisked away in separate vehicles.
Juat demanded to know where Magbanua was taken but the men just told him not to fret about his colleague, his relatives said.
Juat said he was brought to Camp Aguinaldo without being told what charges he was being detained for. He has not been heard from since making that call. ‘No right to take her’
Maglalan tearfully told reporters that Magbanua had been a community organizer for the past three decades and “has done nothing but help people realize their rights.”
“There is no just reason for them to take her away from us, from me, from everyone who loves her,” she said. “They have no right to take her away from the masses that she has served her entire life.”
She challenged President Marcos to “prove that he is not like his father” in the way that the ousted dictator let human rights abuses “run rampant” under his martial law regime, and to show that he was different, he should order the military to surface Magbanua and all other victims of enforced disappearances.
Cortez’s daughter, Azaze Galang, was distraught over the disappearance of her mother years after her father, also a peasant organizer, went missing.
She asked the military “to open the camps and let us look for our loved ones freely.” Worst fears
The last time she saw her mother was when she was heading to a meeting with Mungcal in Moncada town, Tarlac province. A closed circuit television footage at Moncada’s Winfare Supermarket was the last image of her mother that she saw on July 3.
Cortez has not returned home since then.
There were no members of Mungcal’s family that met with the reporters and the CHR staff on Wednesday.
Galang fears that both her parents are victims of enforced disappearances, never to be heard from again.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- May 1, 2022
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Apr 28, 2022
- Event Description
Three activists from the monarchy reform group Thaluwang were arrested yesterday (28 April) on a royal defamation charge after police officers raided their apartment.
Activist Supitcha Chailom went live on her personal Facebook profile saying that she was with Netiporn Sanesangkhom and “Baipor” or Nutthanit (last name withheld), and that police officers were outside their apartment door with an arrest warrant for them. She said they would not open the door until they felt safe and barricaded the door.
The activists stayed inside the locked room until a lawyer from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) arrived at around 16.40. They also stayed live on Facebook and only opened the door once they got confirmation that the police would not search their apartment.
During the live stream, Supitcha said that an employee of the apartment building was arranging for a locksmith to come take the digital lock out of the door. Netiporn said that their apartment building is likely to be collaborating with government agencies, since the police previously parked their cars on the apartment premises. She also speculated that there are police officers on the apartment committee and that this is why they facilitated the police operation.
She later said that plainclothes police have been stationed under her apartment building since the morning, and that the officers who came up to her room did not state their names or what warrant they have, only saying that they wanted to search the room because there is an arrest warrant.
The activists were taken to Bang Sue Police Station. However, once they arrived, the vehicle containing Supitcha and Nutthanit turned out of the police station towards Soi Inthamara 4. The activists then insisted on going back to the police station, where their lawyer was waiting. The car stopped in front of a condominium building for a few minutes before taking them back to the police station.
TLHR said that there is an arrest warrant out for the three activists on a royal defamation charge issued by officers from Bang Sue Police Station. At the police station, they were later told that the charge resulted from an event on 18 April around the Chatuchak MRT station, during which Thaluwang conducted a poll on whether people agree with the government allowing the King to use his powers as he pleases.
TLHR also said that Technology Crime Suppression Division officers came to the police station asking to check the activists' phones. However, since they could not present a warrant, the activists refused to comply. Meanwhile a crowd was gathering outside to show support for the activists.
Supitcha, Netiporn, and Nutthanit were detained overnight at Bang Sue Police Station. They were taken to court for a temporary detention request via teleconference this morning (29 April) and were later granted bail using a 90,000-baht security each.
The Court prohibited them from participating in activities which damage the monarchy or cause public disorder and gave them a curfew of 16.00 – 6.00. They must also wear an electronic monitoring bracelet and report to the court every 30 days.
Supitcha and Nutthanit, along with activist Benjamaporn Nivas, were arrested last Friday (22 April) while on their way to Cha-am on charges of royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act.
As Thaluwang members, Supitcha, Benjamaporn, and Nutthanit have conducted public polls on questions relating to the monarchy, such as whether people are affected by royal motorcades, whether they would like their tax money to be used to maintain the monarchy, and whether they agree with the government allowing the King to use his powers as he pleases.
Nutthanit and Netiporn were previously charged with royal defamation, sedition, and refusing to comply with an officer’s order for conducting a poll on royal motorcades at Siam Paragon shopping mall on 8 February 2022. Yesterday was the third time they have been charged with royal defamation.
On 28 December 2021, Nutthanit was also among three activists arrested for holding up banners with the message “Abolish Section 112” at Wongwian Yai, where a crowd of people were waiting to see King Vajiralongkorn and his entourage. At that time officers pushed them around and tried to silence them by placing their hands over their mouth, causing minor injuries. They were charged with causing a public commotion and failing to comply with police orders and received a 1000-baht fine.
Supitcha has been previously charged with royal defamation for a speech given at a protest in Songkhla on 30 November 2020. Yesterday was also her third royal defamation charge.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Thailand: three pro-democracy WHRDs arrested
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 26, 2022
- Event Description
Indigenous community representatives who say they filed a complaint against a company for encroaching on community forests have been summoned to court over defamation and incitement.
The court summons names the complainant as Kak Ratana from the company Villa Development, and orders Kroeung Tola, Phlek Phirum, Phlek Navy and Khveng Tum to appear at the Mondulkiri Provincial Court on April 26 for questioning over defamation and incitement.
Phirum said on Friday that she had not heard from the courts or received the summons, but knew the company since she had filed her own complaint against it in recent weeks.
“We are protecting our land. They are planning to clear 100 hectares,” Phirum said. “We make a living on that land.”
The community had already lost around 1,000 resin trees in the area, she said. “If we lose all of them, what can we do?”
She said Villa Development was a rubber plantation that arrived to the area in 2008, and it had encroached on community forests since 2012.
A phone number for Ratana listed with the Commerce Ministry did not connect.
Tola, a prominent activist and coordinator for the Mondulkiri Indigenous People Network who has faced previous legal actions against him, including fines for defamation, told VOD that he planned to appear at the court because the representatives did not “incite or defame.”
Phirum has also faced previous legal troubles, including a reported conviction for aggravating a land issue under the Land Law, for which she, Navy and Tum purportedly received two-year jail sentences but were not taken into custody.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 26, 2022
- Event Description
Five people from three activist groups were prevented from riding bicycles in Phnom Penh on Tuesday to commemorate the 10th death anniversary of prominent environmentalist Chut Wutty.
Wutty was shot dead 10 years ago while showing journalists forest destruction in the western province of Koh Kong. The activists planned to ride bicycles from Independence Monument to the ministries of justice and environment.
They were first followed by district security guards and police officers to Wat Botum park in central Phnom Penh, and then prevented from starting the bicycle ride.
The activists are Khmer Thavrak’s Chhoeun Daravy, Chhem Sreykea and Yong Sokhlai, Mother Nature’s Phuon Keoreaksmey and Eng Malai from the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association. Two other activists, Hun Vannak and Svay Samnang, were also present to broadcast the bicycle ride on social media.
“We were only talking with them about why they took our bicycles, why they prohibited us from walking, or going anywhere else, asking us to stay in one place,” said Malai.
There was some shoving by security personnel when the activists attempted to leave the area. Authorities also unsuccessfully tried to take the camera of a VOD reporter.
Security personnel told the activists they could leave only after senior officials gave them the go-ahead, Malai said, adding that they planned to go to a small shrine on the riverside to offer blessings for Wutty.
“[Their] message is that this is anarchy, and they are restricting our freedoms,” she added.
Keoreaksmey was previously part of another group of activists who were attempting to cycle from Koh Kong to Phnom Penh to raise awareness about Koh Kong Krao and urge the government to preserve the undeveloped island as a national park. The group was also stopped by police and they had to continue their journey on foot.
At Tuesday’s event, the five activists were dressed in shirts adorned with Wutty’s image and wore helmets adorned with leaves. Keoreaksmey said the authorities wanted to take their shirts too.
“There is not any law that says wearing hats with tree leaves or wearing a shirt with Chut Wutty’s photos is illegal,” she said. “They demanded something from us that we could not do for them.”
Phnom Penh City Hall spokesperson Met Measpheakdey said that people needed permission before conducting activities in public.
“Every public activity for any purpose must be approved by the authorities,” he said.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Apr 26, 2022
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Apr 23, 2022
- Event Description
Independent photojournalist Natthaphon Phanphongsanon was attacked by 4 men near the Democracy Monument after a protest. Another journalist and a bystander were injured by pro-monarchists in another incident that took place shortly afterward.
The 4 men, who were wearing vests and casual clothes, approached Natthapon, who was about to leave the area on his motorcycle, asking to see the pictures on his mobile phone, but Natthaphon refused. He was subsequently attacked and hit with batons.
The attack took place after a protest by the activist group Draconis Revolution around the Ratchadamnoen area between 16.00 - 20.30. During the event, a group of pro-monarchy supporters could be seen gathering at the opposite side of the Monument.
At one point, there was a confrontation between the two groups as one member of the pro-monarchy group aggressively approached the protestors. The police came in to settle the situation after several minutes of verbal exchanges and taunts.
According to an interview with Thai Media for Democracy Alliance (DemAll), Natthapon said he met one attacker as he was leaving the McDonald restaurant after finishing his work after the protest ended. As he was attacked, he ran back into the restaurant.
DemAll managed to access the CCTV footage from the restaurant. It can be seen that the man approached Natthapon and another two men later surrounded him shortly before the attack took place. Luckily, Natthaphon’s safety helmet saved his head from injury, but his shoulder and arm were directly hit.
Natthaphon filed a complaint to the police over the assault. However, as he was trying to access the CCTV footage at McDonald, two men in private clothes with pistols approached him, claiming to be police officers, asking him not to collect the footage and instead go to see a doctor.
The two left the scene as Natthaphon’s friend made a phone call to the police station responsible for the area to ask whether they had dispatched officers or not, and the answer was no.
As Natthapon was giving an interview to the media in McDonalds, Akkhrawut Kraisisombat, a leading figure from Vocational Students Protecting the Institution, a pro-monarchy group with vocational training backgrounds, together with a two to three followers explained that the attackers were not affiliated with his group and that they wanted the media to remove any accusation of him being involved in the incident.
As the explanation dragged on, quarrels arose and the restaurant staff told the people to talk outside. Shortly after another fight broke out when one of Akkrawut’s group punched a man in the eye, causing bleeding from the eyebrow. One journalist from Political24 who was livestreaming the event was also punched in the hand.
Since the surge of mass protests calling for political and monarchy reform in 2020, the media have rarely been a target of civilian groups who hold different political opinions, and have been most at risk of being from the victims of police operations to disperse protests. This incident has raised concerns about the safety of the media whose job is to present information from the field to their audiences.
Like many others, Natthapon has covered the protests as a citizen photojournalist. He has been a target for public naming and shaming on the pro-monarchy Facebook page Dr.X for covering the protest where the public were asked their opinions about royal motorcades. Despite being wrongly identified as a news agency employee, Natthapon’s name was mentioned along with other citizen journalists and reporters.
On 23 April, Teeranai Charuvastra, Thai Journalists Association (TJA) Vice President for media rights and liberties and reform stated that he and his colleagues are closely monitoring the situation and demanded that the police quickly investigate the incident and inform the public directly about the result.
He expressed concern that the assault had taken place as Natthapon was about to leave the scene as this may cast doubt as to whether the attack had anything to do with him being a journalist and that media practitioners would be afraid for their safety if the investigation result is not clear and the perpetrator could not be brought to justice.
The TJA Vice President also stated that the media, either with official affiliation or independent, have the legal right under the constitution to report information without being harassed and it is the authorities’ duty to protect the exercise of this right.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Apr 22, 2022
- Event Description
Three members of the monarchy reform activist group Thaluwang were arrested earlier today (22 April) on charges of royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act.
Activists Supitcha “Maynu” Chailom, Benjamaporn “Ploy” Nivas, and “Baipor” or Nutthanit (last name withheld) were stopped by highway police on Phet Kasem Road, Phetchaburi, while on their way to Cha Am, a beach town in Phetchaburi and a popular tourist destination. The police checked their identification before presenting arrest warrants on charges of royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act.
The warrant was issued by the Criminal Court and the Central Juvenile and Family Court on a request from the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD).
The three activists were detained at a nearby highway police service centre before being taken to Bangkok. Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that while they were detained, the police presented a search warrant for their electronic devices. Officers also tried to search their car despite not having a warrant for it.
TLHR also said that the police also searched the three activists’ residences and confiscated a laptop, a mobile phone, several t-shirts used during the group’s activities, and signs and stickers the group used to conduct their polls.
The search took place at 9.00, when the activists were already in police custody. The officers were let into the activists’ apartments by the buildings’ juristic persons.
As Thaluwang members, Supitcha, Benjamaporn, and Nutthanit conducted public polls on questions relating to the monarchy, such as whether people are affected by royal motorcades, whether they would like their tax money to be used to maintain the monarchy, and whether they agree with the government allowing the King to use his powers as he pleases.
Nutthanit, 20, has previously been charged with royal defamation, sedition, and refusing to comply with an officer’s order for conducting a poll on royal motorcade at Siam Paragon shopping mall on 8 February 2022. On 28 December 2021, she was also among the three activists arrested for holding up banners with the message “Abolish Section 112” at Wongwian Yai, where a crowd of people were waiting to see King Vajiralongkorn and his entourage, during which officers pushed them around and tried to silence them by placing their hands over their mouth, causing minor injuries. They were charged with causing a public commotion and failing to comply with police orders and received a 1000-baht fine.
Supitcha, 18, is from Chiang Mai and has been previously charged with royal defamation for a speech given at a protest in Songkhla on 30 November 2020, while 17-year-old Benjamaporn previously campaigned against human rights abuses in schools with the student rights group Bad Student. She was charged with violation of the Emergency Decree for participating in a protest at the Ratchaprasong Intersection on 15 October 2020.
All three activists were released on bail at around 18.00. The Criminal Court granted bail for Supitcha and Nutthanit using a 100,000-baht security each, and gave them the conditions that they must not participate in activities that can cause public disorder or damage the monarchy or repeat their offense. They must also report to court every 30 days.
Meanwhile, the Central Juvenile and Family Court granted Benjamaporn bail using a 20,000-baht security.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Apr 22, 2022
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Apr 21, 2022
- Event Description
Seven students from Yangon’s Dagon University who went missing over two days last week are believed to have been abducted by the military, a leader of the university’s student union said.
On April 21, five of the students disappeared after one revealed in a phone call with Dagon University Student Union chairperson Min Htet Han that a military truck was entering their street in Bahan Township.
The students were identified as Khant Zin Win, Thura Maung Maung, Zaw Lin Naing, Thiha Htet Zaw and Hein Htet.
The next day, two of their colleagues—Thet Paing Oo and Khant Lin Maung Maung—also reportedly went missing.
“We highly suspect that they were taken by the junta. Their families are also asking at the township police stations because they suspect the same thing, but we are still unable to find anything out,” Min Htet Han told Myanmar Now.
None of the students were members of the student union, but they had taken part in anti-coup protests, he said, adding that their disappearance has been reported to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The military council has not responded to Myanmar Now’s calls for comment concerning the missing students.
“We’re worried for their lives,” student union chair Min Htet Han said. “Many incidents like this have happened before, and so many people have died during interrogations without anyone knowing. We are extremely worried because we don’t even know where they are being held or what charges they are facing.”
“Their families at least have the right to know where they are,” he added.
The student union from the Yangon University of Economics also released a statement identifying one of their students, Htet Paing Soe, as also having been detained by the junta on April 21.
At the time of reporting, the AAPP had confirmed that nearly 1,800 civilians had been killed by the military council since the coup, and verified that more than 10,000 people were still in detention.
The actual figures may be much higher.
Even following brutal crackdowns on protests by the junta’s armed forces following the coup in February last year, youth across Yangon have continued demonstrations in opposition to the military.
Several attacks targeting members of the junta’s administrative mechanism have also been carried out by guerrilla forces in the commercial capital.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Apr 21, 2022
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Apr 20, 2022
- Event Description
Junta soldiers drove a vehicle into a crowd of protesters in Yangon on Wednesday afternoon, missing the marchers but smashing into a car carrying three women taking part in the demonstration, a witness told Myanmar Now.
After the collision, the troops took the women away, said Zaw Htet, a protester from Youth Union, one of the groups involved in the flash mob demonstration. “They held the women at gunpoint and made them sit in formation,” he said.
The women, aged 23, 25 and 30, were trying to escape in the car when they were hit, said Zaw Htet, adding that he did not know where the soldiers took them.
Two of those detained–Khine Thinzar Aye and Ei Phyu Phyu Myint–are members of the Confederation of Trade Unions, Myanmar, the union said on Wednesday. The identity of the third woman has not yet been revealed.
At around 4:25pm, just minutes after the protest started on Thanthumar road in South Okkalapa, some ten troops riding in a double cab pickup truck came hurtling towards the crowd of roughly 30 people.
“We saw them speeding towards us from Myittar street just minutes after the protest started and we dispersed to the sides of the road,” he said. “That was the only reason this didn’t end up the same way as it did on Panbingyi street.”
In December, junta forces drove into a crowd of anti-coup protesters on Yangon’s Panbingyi street, injuring and then arresting several. Witnesses initially told Myanmar Now that five were killed, but it is now unclear if there were fatalities.
Wednesday's protest was organised by the Anti-Junta Alliance Yangon, a group of students’ unions and youth organisations from the city.
The crowd chanted: “The oppressors are becoming more cruel,” and “Those who value justice, wake up!”
“We just wanted to notify people that the military cares for no one’s rights or needs as long as they get to rule the country,” said Zaw Htet.
Regular flash mob protests against the military have continued in Yangon even after soldiers massacred hundreds of peaceful protesters across the country last year.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Apr 20, 2022
- Event Description
Monarchy reform activist Tantawan Tuatulanon’s bail was revoked today (20 April), after the Criminal Court claimed she has broken her bail conditions by going near a royal motorcade and posting about the monarchy on Facebook.
The Ratchadapisek Criminal Court ruled to revoke bail for Tantawan, claiming that she intended to cause disorder by going near a royal motorcade and that her Facebook posts are a repetition of her offence. The order was signed by judge Parit Piyanaratorn, Deputy Chief Justice of the Criminal Court.
Tantawan, 20, was charged with royal defamation, resisting officers, and violation of the Computer Crimes Act for live broadcasting before a royal motorcade on 5 March, during which she questioned the priorities of the police and the King as farmers protesting in the area at the time were forced to move to clear the route.
She was arrested again on the evening of 5 March on Ratchadamnoen Nok Road, the route of King Vajiralongkorn’s motorcade, by about 60 officers. She was initially taken to Phaya Thai Police Station before being moved to the Police Club on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road since the police feared her supporters would stage a demonstration in front of the police station.
Tantawan was detained in the Narcotics Suppression Bureau located inside the Police Club from 5 March to 7 March when she was granted bail on a 100,000-baht security and the conditions that she must not repeat her offense or participate in activities which damage the monarchy, and must wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.
Police from Nang Loeng Police Station asked the court to revoke her bail in late March, claiming that she violated her bail conditions by driving into an area where a royal motorcade was scheduled to pass on 17 March, and for posting on her Facebook page comments about royal motorcades and about being harassed by the police.
At around 11.40, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that the police notified them that they will be taking Tantawan to the Central Women's Correctional Institution immediately, even though her lawyer has yet to file another bail request for her.
Meanwhile, Tantawan posted on her Facebook following the court ruling: "Please continue the fight. When you go out to fight, please think of me."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 19, 2022
- Event Description
More than 100 unionists returned to strike against NagaWorld on Tuesday following failed negotiations and the holiday weekend, and they were yet again put on buses and toured around Phnom Penh’s outskirts.
Shortly after workers arrived near the Australian Embassy a little after 2 p.m. Tuesday, a total of 106 strikers were immediately loaded onto public buses and driven as far as the zoo in Chroy Changva district before being dropped off at 4 p.m. near the relocated Freedom Park, according to unionists.
Chan Bora, 37, who is still employed by NagaWorld, said Tuesday afternoon’s protest proceeded as it had before their nine-day break.
She said they unsuccessfully tried to “get in front of the company” by rallying at the park in front of NagaWorld 1, as they had in the early days of the strike.
“I know that when I come, I will be pushed onto the bus. But if we don’t come, they will think that we stopped, so we keep coming,” she said.
When asked how she was feeling to be back on the bus, Bora started crying: “I’m scared of the force from the authorities. If they want us to get on the bus, I will follow. I don’t want to be pushed and forced.”
Negotiations between NagaWorld and the unionists are set to resume on Thursday at the Labor Ministry, after talks stalled once again two weeks before.
Bora said she felt the solution should be simple.
“Two-hundred workers want to go back to work, which is easy to solve if the company wants, because they are full of experience, and this problem will continue if the company won’t solve this.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Apr 19, 2022
- Event Description
Karapatan condemns in the strongest terms the shooting incident against indigenous Manobo-Pulangiyon leaders and community members in Quezon, Bukidnon earlier today during their consultation meeting with presidential aspirant Leody de Guzman and senatorial candidates Roy Cabonegro and David D’ Angelo. The incident was livestreamed on Facebook and several were reportedly injured, including a local peasant organizer and a Manobo-Pulangiyon leader.
This act of violence is not merely a flagrant violation of election gun bans: it is a shameless attack which clearly aims to intimidate the indigenous Manobo-Pulangiyon community from asserting their rights to ancestral domains against land-grabbing. That this attack was committed in broad daylight speaks of the brazenness and impunity enjoyed by its perpetrators as well as of other cases of land-grabbing against indigenous communities in Mindanao. It also threatens the safety and integrity of our elections.
We call on the Commission on Elections to immediately investigate this incident. The perpetrators of this incident should be held accountable. We also call on all candidates in the upcoming elections and all freedom-loving Filipinos to condemn this attack and to stand in solidarity with our indigenous brethren in their struggle for their rights to their ancestral domains and self-determination, and in asserting the call for free, safe, and fair elections.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of Religion and Belief, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Apr 19, 2022
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to fair trial
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Apr 18, 2022
- Event Description
Sitanun Satsaksit, sister of missing activist in exile Wanchalearm Satsaksit, was included on a police special ‘red level’ watchlist, said the Cross-Cultural Foundation (CrCF) today (22 April).
The CrCF said that a document was released on Monday (18 April) containing a list of people who are on the police’s list of “Special surveillance subjects (red level)”. The list included Sitanun and another activist, and the CrCF speculated that the list was compiled by a national security agency and sent to provincial police in order to have these people monitored.
Sitanun’s brother Wanchalearm went missing on 4 June 2020 while living in exile in Cambodia. For the past two years, Sitanun has been calling for justice for him. She has submitted petitions to government agencies and joining pro-democracy protests to campaign against enforced disappearance.
She is currently facing 2 charges of violating the Emergency Decree for speaking about her brother’s disappearance at a protest in September 2021 and for joining a group of other activists to submit a petition on human rights violations in Thailand to UN representatives in Thailand.
Meanwhile, Wanchalearm’s fate remains unknown and no progress has been made in the investigation into his disappearance.
The CrCF said that the watchlist is unlawful and a violation of Sitanun’s privacy and safety, and its lawyer, acting on behalf of Sitanun, will be sending a letter to police headquarters requesting an investigation into which agency complied the document, what its purpose is, and what the agency in question intend to do with Sitanun.
The request also asked the police to investigate whether the document has been sent to the local police near Sitanun’s residence, and if police headquarters is involved in the document’s compilation and in monitoring her activities, they must immediately cease their actions.
The CrCF called on the authorities to stop the legal prosecution of Sitanun, who is a human rights defender and is currently facing charges for participating in pro-democracy protests and demonstrations to call for justice for her brother. It also said that it will be sending copies of the letter to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC); the parliament Standing Committee on legal affairs, justice, and human rights; and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR).
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Reprisal as Result of Communication
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Thailand: WHRD charged with Emergency Decree violation
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 17, 2022
- Event Description
Land rights activist Sat Pha, who was convicted of incitement last August in relation to a protest one year earlier outside the Chinese embassy, has fled Cambodia saying a death threat was posted on her door in Phnom Penh.
Pha was released in November with several other activists after serving a year in pre-trial detention and prison. Since her release, the former prisoner of conscience had been active in protesting the charges against Cambodian-American lawyer Seng Theary. Theary, an activist, is one of 139 supporters of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party who are being tried, en masse, for plotting to overthrow the government — charges rights monitors maintain are politically motivated.
“Upon my release from prison, I continue to struggle to fight injustice and have received verbal threats, including a death threat posted on my front door,” she told CamboJA via text message.
Pha said that she left Phnom Penh on Sunday and entered Thailand through an illegal crossing in Banteay Meanchey province.
“I am worried about my personal security if I remain in Cambodia,” she said. She added that she hopes the UN Refugee Agency can provide her with asylum status and find a third country for resettlement as she may face security threats in Thailand too.
A photo shared by Pha showed a note reading: “If you are still strong, be careful of disappearing.”
Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said he knew nothing of the death threat and suggested that perhaps the activist had forged the note.
“We do not know if it is true or not, related to the note posted,” he said.
“There are no death threats, and what would she have been threatened for because she wasn’t involved to commit or impact [national] security,” Sopheak said, noting that she already had been convicted and imprisoned.
“It might be her trick that she has posted herself to seek political asylum,” he said.
Pha denied the allegation, saying it was unsurprising a ruling party official would suggest it.
“I believe that because he is a CPP official, he will say that because he has never accepted their mistake.”
Am Sam Ath, operation director at rights group Licadho, called on the authorities to thoroughly investigate the threat.
“We beg authorities to investigate and find out the truth for the victim to avoid an accusation of politically motivation or political discrimination,” he said.
He noted that harassment of former opposition activists and supporters is not uncommon and that authorities rarely investigate.
In August 2021, Pha was sentenced to 12 months in prison along with nine others who protested outside the Chinese embassy in October 2020, calling for the Cambodian government to respect the Paris Peace Agreement and oppose a Chinese military presence.
A longtime activist, Pha was among the thousands of families evicted from the Boeung Kak lake area to make way for the development project of Shukaku Inc.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Death threat, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Apr 17, 2022
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 12
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Apr 15, 2022
- Event Description
A network of civil society organizations dealing with children’s rights filed a complaint on Monday (18 April) with the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (MSDHS), after Ministry officials were reported to be involved in the detention of 3 teenage activists on 15 April.
On 15 April, 3 teenage activists, one of whom was a 13-year-old girl, were detained while eating at the McDonald’s next to the Democracy Monument, possibly because a demonstration was scheduled to start there later in the day.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that the group was detained by 30 - 40 police officers and MSDHS officials, and were taken to the Ministry. Police officers also tried to confiscate their phones, claiming that they have the authority to do so on Ministry grounds, but the three activists were not charged, which TLHR said amounts to wrongful detention.
The activists were later taken to the Police Club on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road. They were released in the evening without charges.
One girl said on a live broadcast on the Facebook page Friends Talk that she went to eat at the McDonald’s next to the Democracy Monument, but was then asked by plainclothes police to leave because a royal motorcade was scheduled to pass the area. She insisted she was not planning any demonstration, and that she should not have to leave because she had done nothing wrong. Officials from the Ministry then came to talk to her before she was forcibly taken away by police officers. She also noted that the police told her parents she was “asked” to go with them when in fact she was carried out of the shop.
The girl said that the officers originally told them that they would be taken to the Bangkok City Hall, but they were instead taken to the MDSH. Once there, they were moved again to the Police Club since the officers were afraid that protesters would come to the Ministry. She also said that, once they arrived at the Police Club, their phones were confiscated, although they were later returned.
She also said that the police told her parents she tried to obstruct a royal motorcade when in fact she was just eating in the McDonald’s, and that Ministry personnel also told her parents that she was campaigning about the Ministry.
Although the MDSH is responsible for child welfare and has the authority to detain minors if they are committing a crime, the girl said that what Ministry personnel did to her should not be called protection.
“They said that they are protecting children, but what they did was dragging me and ordering to have me detained. MDSH officials watched me being carried into a police vehicle. They kept their arms by their side and just watched,” she said, noting that officials were dragging her by the arm while detaining her.
Following their release, 2 of the activists went to Chana Songkhram Police Station to file a complaint against the officers who arrested them for misconduct, confinement, taking children away from their guardians, and assault.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Apr 12, 2022
- Event Description
The authorities in Thailand should urgently investigate an incident intended to intimidate a prominent human rights defender, Human Rights Watch said today.
On April 12, 2022, at about 6 a.m., an unidentified assailant threw a pair of 9-inch-long scissors at the house of Angkhana Neelapaijit in Bangkok, making a hole in her front door. Security camera footage showed what appeared to be a woman wearing a face mask and a dark t-shirt with the Thai numeral 9 standing in front of the house, throwing the scissors, and then running away. Angkhana, 66, is a former commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand and a newly appointed member of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.
“Violent acts intended to intimidate a well-known figure like Angkhana not only pose a threat to her and her family, but send a spine-chilling message to the entire Thai human rights community,” said Elaine Pearson, acting Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The Thai government should respond immediately by undertaking a serious investigation to ensure that everyone responsible for this incident is held accountable.”
Angkhana told Human Rights Watch that she and her family felt vulnerable after the Justice Ministry canceled her protection under the government’s witness protection program on April 1. The authorities claimed the service was no longer needed because Angkhana’s life would no longer be in danger after the Department of Special Investigation ended its investigation of the enforced disappearance of her husband, the prominent human rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit.
“The Thai government should not ignore this disturbing incident, which appears to be a response to Angkhana’s effective human rights advocacy,” Pearson said. “Foreign governments and the United Nations should press the Thai government to urgently act to protect Angkhana and other human rights defenders in the country.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Apr 11, 2022
- Event Description
Rumors that Indonesia might postpone the scheduled 2024 presidential elections caused thousands of students around the country to march in protest on Monday.
The students say postponing the vote would allow President Joko Widodo, or Jokowi as he goes by, to remain in office beyond a two-term limit. Widodo has denied the rumors.
"This needs to be explained so that there are no rumors circulating among people that the government is trying to postpone the election, or speculation about the extension of the president's tenure or a related third term," Widodo said at a Cabinet meeting on election preparations.
In front of the parliament building in Jakarta, police used tear gas and water cannons to try to end the protests. Most left after some politicians met with them and vowed to protect the constitution.
However, some politicians reportedly support an extension for Widodo, saying he needs more time to fix the country’s economy, which has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We demand that the lawmakers do not betray the country's constitution by amending it," Kaharuddin, a protest coordinator, said. "We want them to listen to people's aspirations."
Another protester, Muhammad Lutfi, blamed the country’s elites for trying to delay the elections.
A two-term limit for the president was established in 1999 as the first amendment to the country’s constitution. That came one year after pro-democracy protests caused dictator Suharto to step down after leading the country for decades.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 11, 2022
- Event Description
Local police claimed soldiers were on holiday, not shooting at patrollers in a Kampong Speu community forest, as residents allege they were again targeted by soldiers last week.
Nov Norn, Trapaing Chor commune police chief in Oral district, acknowledged victims’ accounts that they had been shot at inside the “Metta” community forest last week, but downplayed the incident.
Though residents said it was soldiers who had shot at them, Norn said he had been told the area’s soldiers were on holiday.
“We asked the superiors in relation to the soldiers. We were not involved, and will let the inspection team investigate because this case is related to the military court,” he said. “It was not soldiers. It was just shooting to threaten, and shots to break the trailers’ tires. There were no injuries in the shooting.”
The forest has been mired in dispute since it was given to the military last year, taking away a community asset that local residents say they have worked to protect for decades. Among the forest’s defenders is a monk who has been living in the woods for years, and who was also allegedly shot at by soldiers last month.
Resident Khoeun Kea said six soldiers shot at him and his brother on April 11, destroyed their trailer, and beat his brother. He filed a police complaint two days later that the incident amounted to an attempt on their lives. But he had yet to be questioned for any further information, he said.
“I asked the relevant authorities to investigate and arrest the perpetrators to punish them under the law because this was an act of manslaughter,” Kea said.
Norn, the commune police chief, however, said the violence had been merely a conflict between individuals, and it was hired workers — not soldiers — who fired guns.
Oral district police chief Buth Buntheoun hung up after a reporter introduced himself.
Khorn Sarith, another local resident, said it was not an isolated incident. Soldiers had also fired at him when he and other community members protested against them clearing the forest in the past, Sarith said.
There have now been several incidents of shooting and violence, including some injuries. But police have not responded, he said.
“Soldiers have done whatever they want, and legal action has not been taken,” Sarith said.
Ten community representatives are instead facing court prosecution over their protests, residents said.
Vann Sophat, a land monitoring official at the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said warning shots, threats and violence were clearly illegal and violated human rights.
“We see that Cambodians who are affected by land or other rights violations are suffering worse and worse because there is a culture of impunity for law enforcement officials, especially the armed forces.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Apr 11, 2022
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Online Attack and Harassment, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Internet freedom, Freedom of expression Offline, Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Apr 11, 2022
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Apr 10, 2022
- Event Description
The family of a church worker who was arrested in Cagayan De Oro denied the claims of authorities that there were firearms and ammunition found in his home.
Aldeem Yañez, a member of Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), was arrested when combined members of the Philippine military and the Philippine National Police raided his home early morning of Sunday, April 10.
The Promotion of Church People’s Response described Yañez’s arrest as an “established pattern where authorities have planted firearms and ammunition during the operations.”
In a video uploaded in social media, Yañez’s mother, Kathleen, said that her son is known as a good man in their village and in the IFI national office, dedicating his life to serve the marginalized.
She thanked all those who are supporting their Yañez and their fight for justice and the truth.
On Monday, April 11, church groups held an online indignation rally to condemn Yañez’s arrest.
Last June 4, 2018, Yañez was among 13 activists and church workers who were arrested during a program consultation of the IFI’s Visayas-Mindanao Regional Office for Development regarding issues of farmers and the lumad communities in General Santos City, South Cotabato.
IFI priest Fr. June Mark said that the allegations against his brother is impossible because he has been taking care of their sick father at their home for the past months. “Who in their right mind will bring firearms and ammunition in this kind of situation? He also does not have a record of being a gun smuggler or drug dealer for him to bring firearms and ammunition where our parents live,” June Mark said.
“He is not a priest like me, or bishop like my other brother but he is eager to serve the people. Guitar is his most favorite instrument of proclaiming the good news as well as what we can call a weapon of resistance as an activist, not guns and ammunition as claimed by the state agents,” he said.
In a statement, IFI Supreme Bishop Rhee Timbang decried what he described as a “grave abuse of police and the military power and the cooptation of the civil courts.”
“We root this in the tyrannical rule of the present dispensation which has no regard and respect for the law, human rights, social justice and human dignity,” Timbang said in a statement.
Yañez is currently detained at Camp Evangelista, Patag, Cagayan de Oro City with charges of illegal possession of firearms.
Timbang said Yañez is in good standing as a member of the IFI. “He is active and committed in his participation to the life and work of the Church as being a consistent church youth leader in the parish, diocesan, regional [Mindanao], and national level,” Timbang said adding that Yañez also served as the national youth president of the church.
Yañez also served as a volunteer staff of Visayas-Mindanao Regional Office for Development (VIMROD), a development program of the IFI, and of Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP).
“He is a musician and songwriter of many church songs used popularly within and outside the IFI,” Timbang said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 10, 2022
- Event Description
Traffic police taking money from motorists detained and threatened a citizen journalist, ordering him to delete his photos and videos of the bribery, the journalist alleged.
Suon Vutha said he was on his way from Kampot to Phnom Penh on Sunday when he reached a checkpoint in Kandal’s Loeuk Dek district. He saw taxi vans overflowing with passengers, but traffic police were taking money to look the other way, Vutha said.
“Some of them were overcrowded, so they just gave 20,000-30,000 riel [$5-$7.5] to the traffic police. They let them go without any direct law enforcement,” he said.
Vutha pulled out his phone to take videos, and he was taken in for questioning for more than an hour. Officers demanded to see his “mission letter” as well as ID, and ordered him to delete his videos and sign an agreement to stop.
“It’s a threat to the people,” he said. “I filmed this in public. I did nothing wrong. And he threatened to send me to the district authorities to build a case to take to court.”
“He said I was wrong to film authorities while they operated.”
Vutha said he eventually signed the agreement and deleted his images so he could get away.
Vutha is a member of a citizen journalists training program with the Cambodian Center for Independent Media. CCIM is VOD’s parent organization.
Loeuk Dek district governor Am Thou defended the police’s actions, saying that the orders to delete the videos were not a threat because the journalist had failed to request and receive cooperation from authorities at work.
“The press must ask for cooperation from that place. No matter what the place is, please show up with enough rights to do so,” Thou said. “If you sneak up and take photos, it means that you are taking the negative points to do something bad, and we, the authorities, are not prepared.”
Thou added that if there was any bribery, both the motorists and police would be at fault.
However, Information Ministry spokesman Phos Sovann said anyone could take photos or videos in public. Exceptions were areas that authorities had enclosed off to preserve evidence or conduct important inquiries, he said.
Traffic officers would be overstepping if they ordered journalists to delete videos and threatened to send them to court, and would be infringing on journalists’ work, Sovann added.
Cambodian Journalists Alliance director Nop Vy agreed, saying orders to delete images taken in public places were a violation of civil liberties.
“It is only if such threatening actions are investigated and prosecuted or punished with administrative fines that it will be possible to prevent such threats from repeating in the future.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Apr 8, 2022
- Event Description
A Mandalay-based lawyer known for helping farmers in land disputes with the military was “brutally” beaten by soldiers in front of his wife and children before being taken away earlier this month, a friend of his has said.
Five vehicles full of junta troops arrived at the Chanayetharzan Township home of Si Thu, 40, on April 8 to abduct him. He has not been seen or heard from since and the military has not told the family where he is being held.
“He was beaten brutally in front of his family,” said the friend, who is also a lawyer and asked not to be named. “They only stopped beating him when the wife and the children started begging the soldiers.”
From 2019 Si Thu worked pro bono on the case of a group of residents who were opposing the construction of a cement factory in the village of Aung Tha Pyay. Police shot a man in the leg during a 2020 raid targeting those protesting the factory.
The lawyer also represented farmers in Pyin Oo Lwin who tried to prevent the military from seizing their land in late 2020.
At least 20 people were arrested in Mandalay last week for their opposition to the military, according to local sources.
Three young anti-coup activists from the city, including a protest leader named Thura Aung, have been held in junta custody since January. Activists from the Mandalay Strike Committee say they are worried for the detainees’ lives.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to work
- HRD
- Land rights defender, Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Apr 7, 2022
- Event Description
Vietnamese authorities should drop all requirements that journalist Phan Bui Bao Thy attend mandatory “re-education” classes, let him work freely, and stop using arbitrary anti-state laws to harass and detain journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.
On April 7, the People’s Court of Quang Tri sentenced Thy to one year of “non-custodial re-education” for allegedly defaming state leaders on social media, according to news reports. That sentence allows Thy to live outside of a prison, but under state supervision that requires him to attend classes on local laws and regulations for the duration of his sentence, according to reports.
The ruling, handed down after five days of deliberations, cited 79 posts allegedly published by Thy and Le Anh Dung, a local businessman, on the Facebook pages Hoang Le, Quang Tri 357, and QUANG TRI 357 between April 2020 and February 2021, according to those reports, which said the posts infringed on the “reputation, honor and dignity” of provincial leaders.
Dung was sentenced to 18 months of the same punishment, those reports said.
“It is Vietnamese authorities, not journalist Phan Bui Bao Thy, who need a ‘re-education’ on the importance of a free press in a just, fair, and democratic society,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Vietnam must immediately stop punishing and jailing journalists on spurious anti-state charges.”
Thy, the bureau chief of the state-run Giao Duc Va Thoi Dai (Age and Education) news magazine, was first detained on February 10, 2021, in Vietnam’s central Quang Tri province, as CPJ documented at the time.
At the time, CPJ was able to review the page Quang Tri 357, which had about 2,300 followers and featured posts accusing Quang Tri provincial leaders of misusing funds meant for local infrastructure and property projects. The Facebook pages allegedly linked to Thy and Dung have since been taken down or set to private.
Thy was held in pretrial detention until his conviction under Article 331 of Vietnam’s penal code, an anti-state provision that bans “abusing freedom and democracy to infringe on the legal interests of the state, organizations, and individuals,” according to those news reports.
CPJ emailed the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security and called the Quang Tri People’s Court for comment, but did not receive any replies.
Vietnam is among the world’s worst jailers of journalists, with at least 23 members of the press, including Thy, behind bars for their work at the time of CPJ’s 2021 prison census.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Apr 7, 2022
- Event Description
Frontliners led by the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) filed charges against the anti-insurgency task force’s spokesperson Lorraine Badoy before the Office of the Ombudsman on Thursday, April 7, World Health Day.
The group, together with union leaders from different government hospitals, filed their complaint on the same day when Badoy tagged the AHW along with other progressive groups as a “creation of the CPP-NPA-NDF” to infiltrate the government.
Speaking to members of the press, Antonio La Viña, who serves as counsel for the health workers, said they are filing the complaint against Badoy to make her stop her red-tagging activities.
“As we can see, all those who are doing good things are being red-tagged, even Vice President Leni Robredo and her supporters,” La Viña said in Filipino, adding that red-tagging should be stopped.
“USec. Badoy insulted and demeaned our dignity as leaders and damaged the good reputation of our organization,” said Robert Mendoza, AHW national president, adding, “As we fight the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been at the forefront in consistently and wholeheartedly serving the Filipino people as we also fight for our safety, protection and welfare.”
After red-tagging AHW, Mendoza said that last April 12, 2021 Badoy accused him and Benjamin Santos Jr., AHW’s secretary general as operatives and cadres of the CPP-NPA-NDF.
In a position paper, Filipino Nurses United said that some of their colleagues experienced threat, harassment and vilification from state forces.
“There have been instances when hospital workers engaged in union activities were stalked in their workplaces and/or red-tagged and caricatured in social media to denigrate their persons and even portray them as enemies of the state,” the group said.
In a statement, Santos asserted that vilifying their organization is putting their lives in imminent danger, citing cases of leaders of legal organizations who, after being red-tagged, were arrested due to trumped-up charges or are even killed.
In December 2020, Dr. Mary Rose Sancelan and her husband were killed in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental. This after her name was included in a hitl ist tagging her as JB Regalado, spokesperson of the New People’s Army in Central Negros. However, Sancelan was working as city health officer and head of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) in the province.
Community health workers and human rights defender Zara Alvarez was also killed in Bacolod City. She was also relentlessly red-tagged by the state forces.
Recently, Dr. Natividad Castro who was also red-tagged and arrested, but fortunately was released from prison after the court dismissed the charges against her.
Another health worker, 72-year old Vilma Yecyec, remains in prison after authorities arrested her last February of this year. She is accused of being a member of the NPA.
FNU said that red-tagging by the State is a “blatant violation of one’s right to speak up about issues and concerns affecting our role as health care providers.”
“When we raise our grievances about work life conditions, for instance, and assert our rights to fair wages and humane work conditions, we are justly exercising our fundamental rights to free speech as an organization. But an extreme response by some state forces is to stifle the exercise of legitimate rights, sow fear by red-tagging, hurl trumped-up charges to exact arrest and worse, as has happened, even physically eliminate the targets,” the group said.
Meanwhile, the AHW assert the legality of their organization which, for the past four decades, has championed the rights not only of health workers but also of the people’s right to health.
The group is also behind the legislation of significant laws such as Republic Act 7305 or the Magna Carta of Public Health Workers that ensures the benefits and well-being of government health workers. It also significantly contributed to the proclamation of May 7 as “National Health Workers Day” under Republic Act 10069.
“AHW also played a major role in fighting for salary increase and just benefits of both public and private health workers and made various concerted efforts to seek and improve the living and working conditions of public and private health workers,” Mendoza said.
Mendoza said the AHW was also established in accordance with Executive Order No. 180, s.1987, otherwise known as the Public Sector Unionism. It is also registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and its member organizations are registered and accredited by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
“For the longest time, the so-called ‘modern-day heroes’ have been fully committed to render service to our country, even risking their lives in battling the deadly virus. Yet, they remain overworked and underpaid while the promised COVID-19 benefits were not equally and fully provided to them,” said Mendoza.
“Instead of addressing and supporting our just call for safety, protection, rights and welfare, Usec. Badoy managed to red-tag us. This is grave misconduct and conduct unbecoming of a government official and as a medical doctor. She has no sympathy with us as her colleagues in the health profession,” Mendoza added.
Santos said filing a case against red-taggers is one way of protecting their loved ones and their organization.
“Thus, we earnestly urge the Office of the Ombudsman to issue an immediate preventive suspension and ultimately dismiss USec. Badoy from the service, cancel her civil service eligibility and permanently disqualify her to enter any government service,” Santos said.
Prior to this filing by AHW, several groups and individuals have already filed complaints against Badoy at the Office of the Ombudsman after her relentless red-tagging of Robredo, her supporters and groups who are supporting her candidacy.
Groups maintained that Badoy, as a government official, should not be using government resources in attacking the opposition.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Apr 6, 2022
- Event Description
Activist Tantawan Tuatulanon was blocked from going near the Temple of the Emerald Buddha yesterday (6 April) after she intended to wait for a royal motorcade.
King Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida were scheduled to travel past the area to pay respect to the Monument of King Phuttayodfa Chulalok, or King Rama I, at Memorial Bridge, on the occasion of Chakri Memorial Day, an annual public holiday held on 6 April to commemorate the establishment of the Chakri Dynasty.
The King and Queen were also scheduled to attend a religious ceremony at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Their royal motorcade was greeted by a crowd waiting along the route.
While passing through a checkpoint, Tantawan was stopped by police officers, who checked the identification of both Tantawan and a Prachatai reporter covering her activities.
The police told Tantawan that they could not allow her to pass and join others waiting to receive the King and Queen because she is facing a national security charge. They claimed that they did not have the authority to decide whether she can be let through without consulting the organizing committee. Another person waiting for the royal motorcade nearby also said that Tantawan had to be watched even if she was allowed through because she has broken the law, so Tantawan asked them if they are aware that she is facing a royal defamation charge merely for conducting a poll about whether people are affected by royal motorcades.
Tantawan is facing two royal defamation charges, one for conducting a poll on royal motorcades at Siam Paragon on 8 February 2022 and another for live streaming near a royal motorcade route on 5 March and questioning the authorities for clearing the road in preparation for a procession by removing protesting farmers who had been living in a makeshift shelter on the footpath for 3 months.
She was granted bail on all charges. However, the police have requested that her bail be revoked, claiming that she violated her bail conditions by posting about the monarchy and royal motorcades on social media. The police also claimed that Tantawan and her friends tried to drove to an area close to a royal motorcade on the evening of 17 March 2022. The Ratchadapisek Criminal Court has scheduled a hearing on 20 April 2022 during which it will rule whether her bail will be revoked.
While Tantawan was waiting at the checkpoint, she was approached by a woman wearing a yellow shirt. After seeing a "Ku Kult" sticker on Tantawan's mobile phone, the woman asked if she worked for the Ku Kult Facebook page.
The woman then asked Tantawan if she knew that the man who put the sticker onto a portrait of King Vajiralongkorn was convicted on a royal defamation charge. Tantawan then asked the woman if the conviction was reasonable, but the woman continued to argue with her and said that normal people are not affected by the royal defamation law.
A Prachatai reporter covering Tantawan's activity was filming the argument on his mobile phone. The woman then tried to slap the phone away, despite the reporter insisting that he had not filmed her face. The woman then walked away while saying "Ku Kult is a Facebook page that insults the King".
At around 17.30, at another protest at the King Taksin the Great Monument at Wongwian Yai, one of the activists announced that Tantawan was being held at a checkpoint along the royal motorcade route and that protesters would march to Memorial Bridge to meet her.
As the march approached Memorial Bridge, police officers lined up to block the bridge and prevent traffic from taking the bridge. The Buppharam Police Station Superintendent then announced that the protesters were violating the Emergency Decree and must disperse immediately.
The Superintendent also said that the police would bring Tantawan to meet the protesters at a park near Phra Pok Klao bridge. However, at the time, Tantawan was still waiting at the checkpoint. The police never took her into custody during the entire evening. She later left the checkpoint with a friend at around 20.30.
At 18.45, the police began letting motorcycles onto Phra Pok Klao Bridge. Officers were stopping motorcycles taking the bridge and asking each person where they were going before letting them through. Other vehicles were not allowed through until 19.00.
While protesters are gathering at Memorial Bridge and Tantawan was waiting at the checkpoint, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that Tanruetai, a 16-year-old activist, was detained at Samranrat Police Station after police officers found a “Long live the King” banner in her bag.
Tanruetai said that the police forced her to sign a log of her activity, but did not notify her if she is being charged, so she refused to sign any document and left the police station at around 19.35. She told TLHR that she was detained in the Bangkok City Hall area.
TLHR also said that another teenage activist was detained from the Sanam Luang area and taken to Royal Palace Police Station. The officers claimed that they would record her detention and release her without charging her. The activist refused to participate in the procedure and left the police station at around 19.35.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Apr 5, 2022
- Event Description
On April 5, Win Naing Oo, a reporter for Myanmar news outlet Channel Mandalay, was sentenced to five years in prison for alleged incitement under Myanmar’s Counter-Terrorism Law. The International Federation of Journalists condemns the sentencing of the journalist and calls on Myanmar authorities to immediately revoke the charges against him.
A court inside Obo Prison sentenced Win Naing Oo, the former chief correspondent at Channel Mandalay, to five years in prison under Section 52 (A) of Myanmar’s Counter-Terrorism Law.
Under the law, “whoever is convicted of committing [acts of terrorism] shall be sentenced to a minimum of three-year imprisonment to a maximum of seven-year imprisonment”.
The journalist was sentenced along with three others, Min Thwe, Kyaw Oo and Zaw Min Oo, who were also charged with terrorism.
According to Myanmar Now, the junta has not released any other information regarding Win Naing Oo’s case, including his connection with the other accused.
Authorities first arrested Win Naing Oo and his wife, Thu Thu, on August 31, 2021 at a mango farm in Sintgaing, Mandalay. He was charged with incitement under Section 505 (A) of Myanmar’s Penal Code on September 15, 2021.
The journalist was set to be granted amnesty by the Obo Prison court, however, just before he was to be released, the offer was retracted and he was instead sentenced to prison.
This is not the first time Win Naing Oo has been targeted by the military junta. In 2019 the journalist was charged with defamation under Section 66 (D) of Myanmar’s Telecommunications Law for a story on the military’s confiscation of land near Pyin Oo Lwin.
Myanmar’s Counter-Terrorism Law has been criticised in the past for being “overly broad”, and a way for the junta to justify the arrest and jailing of journalists in the country.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Myanmar: two more media workers detained
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Apr 5, 2022
- Event Description
Vietnamese authorities should release journalist Nguyen Hoai Nam immediately and unconditionally, and stop imprisoning members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.
On Tuesday, April 5, the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City sentenced Nam to three years, six months in prison under Article 331 of the penal code, an anti-state provision that bans “abusing freedom and democracy to infringe on the legal interests of the state, organizations, and individuals,” according to news reports.
According to those reports, the charges stemmed from Nam’s critical reporting on how authorities handled a corruption case at the Vietnam Internal Waterways Agency, which he posted on his personal Facebook page, which has about 7,800 followers. Nam, a former state media reporter, also frequently posted criticism of Communist Party officials, reports said.
“Vietnamese authorities must free journalist Nguyen Hoai Nam, who was wrongfully sentenced to prison for doing his job as an independent journalist,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Vietnam must stop treating journalists who report in the public interest as criminals, and should ensure that members of the press do not face prison for their work.”
CPJ could not immediately determine whether Nam intends to appeal the conviction. He was first detained on April 3, 2021, in Ho Chi Minh City, and was held in pretrial detention until his conviction and sentencing on Tuesday.
CPJ emailed the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security and called the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court office for comment, but did not receive any replies.
Vietnam is among the world’s worst jailers of journalists, with at least 23 members of the press behind bars for their work at the time of CPJ’s 2021 prison census.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Vietnam: media worker arrested on catch-all charges
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Apr 5, 2022
- Event Description
Ma Wai, a 35-year-old single mother, was in an especially good mood on the morning of April 5 as she prepared to send packages of chicken and rice to her son’s kindergarten to celebrate his third birthday.
Then a group of soldiers arrived at her home on Mahar Thukhita street in Yangon’s Insein Township.
Her brother, 30, and elderly parents, both in their 70s, received the news shortly after the troops blindfolded Ma Wai and took her away. Having heard multiple stories of the junta targeting the family members of anti-coup protesters, they decided to go into hiding.
But they never imagined the soldiers would be so cruel as to take Ma Wai’s young son.
They calculated that it would be safer to leave Thant Hpone Waiyan at the Best Choice Kindergarten with his teachers and friends. But troops arrived shortly after taking Ma Wai to kidnap the toddler too, a relative who would like to remain anonymous told Myanmar Now.
“It doesn’t make sense,” the relative said. “They’d already taken the mother. There was no reason for them to take the child as well.”
Friends of the family speculated that the soldiers took the boy in order to psychologically torment Ma Wai as a means of extracting information from her. The whereabouts and status of the two are unknown.
Thant Hpone Waiyan was Ma Wai’s only son. As well as caring for him, she had the role of breadwinner in her family and ran her own small ecommerce business. Ma Wai has worked to make money for her family since she was just 10 years old, when she would sell food.
After her husband left her while she was pregnant with Thant Hpone Waiyan, she took out loans to support her family.
“She had been making money for her parents and her brother. Even when she was married, she let her husband stay home while she went out to work. She’s such a bright and honest woman who can’t stand injustice,” said the relative.
“The family has now lost the person they rely on the most and the child they love the most. Everyone’s shaken to the core,” he added.
Myanmar Now was unable to contact Ma Wai’s parents or brother for comment. Their names have been withheld for their security. None of Ma Wai’s family members are politically active. Her father used to work as a driver.
Ma Wai, a graduate of the Yangon Technological University, has never sided with a political party, but after last year’s coup she was so angered by the military’s actions that she joined street protests.
“She wasn’t a fan of any political parties but she took part in the protests solely because it was unfair and she just couldn’t stand by and watch,” said a friend of Ma Wai’s.
Ma Wai’s relatives have received no information about her or her son since they were taken, and they dare not come out of hiding in search of her for fear of being detained themselves.
“The family doesn’t dare to follow her as there’s a risk that the military would arrest the family as well,” said the friend. “It’s hard as her parents are both very old now. They’re in a very tight situation.”
The junta has denied kidnapping Ma Wai’s son. Military spokesperson Zaw Min Tun told Radio Free Asia on April 7 that reports of Thant Hpone Waiyan’s detention were “nonsense”.
“We haven’t arrested any child.,” he told the broadcaster. “There was absolutely no such incident.”
In January Zaw Min Tun admitted the junta had detained some children “out of necessity”.
Since seizing power in last year’s coup, the junta’s forces have killed 132 children and detained another 216, two of whom are facing death sentences, according to figures from the underground National Unity Government (NUG).
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Apr 5, 2022
- Event Description
On April 5, Kadamay-Negros education officer Iver Larit is reported missing after he left his residence in Bacolod City. According to Karapatan, Larit left his house around 9:00 a.m. that day but he reportedly did not arrive at an appointment with an urban poor community which he was helping to organize against threats of demolition. By 10:00 a.m. Larit’s son could no longer reach him through his mobile number.
Larit is a former political prisoner and has been a target of harassment and other attacks throughout the years, Karapatan said. In 2011, he was detained for eight months over a trumped-up robbery-in-band charge. He was eventually released after the court dismissed the charges against him due to lack of substantial evidence.
Karapatan said Larit’s name was also included in a ‘kill, kill, kill’ list of activists in Negros which was sent to the Karapatan national office’s public information desk through a text message just mere hours after the Bloody Sunday raids throughout the Southern Tagalog region last year.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Apr 1, 2022
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Mar 31, 2022
- Event Description
Oktovianus Tabuni from the Gratia Legal Aid Post in Nabire said the police had forcibly dispersed a mass demonstration against the planned expansion of Papua Province and Papua Special Autonomy at Karang Tumaritis Market, Nabire, Thursday (31/3/2022). However, some of the participants in the same demonstration managed to deliver a statement of their position at the Office of the Regional People's Legislative Assembly or DPRD Nabire. The demonstration in Nabire followed the call for the Papuan People's Petition (PRP), a petition that garnered support from the Papuan people to reject Papua's Special Autonomy Volume 2, and to demand the right of self-determination for the Papuan people. PRP is supported by 116 grassroots movement organizations, youth, students, communities/paguyuban. There are at least 718,179 Papuan people who have expressed their support for the Papuan People's Petition. Since last week, the Papuan People's Petition has called for simultaneous demonstrations to reject Papua's Special Autonomy, the plan for the expansion of Papua, and to demand the right to self-determination. The PRP's appeal called for a demonstration to be held on April 1, 2022, but the demonstration in Nabire took place earlier on Thursday. The participants of the demonstration gathered in a number of locations since 09.00 WP. Oktovianus Tabuni said that since Thursday morning, residents who will take part in the action have gathered in four different locations. The four locations are Pasar Karang Tumaritis Nabire, in front of the Satya Wiyata Mandala (Uswin) Nabire University campus, in front of the Jepara II Wadio Hotel, and the SP1 Nabire intersection. “The crowd that gathered at Wadio, in front of the Jepara II Hotel and at the Uswim campus, disbanded, because there were so few people who joined there. They then joined the crowd that had gathered at the Nabire DPRD office, which was located in Kali Bobo. Meanwhile, there were many who gathered at the SP1 intersection, and had a chance to have a dialogue with the police because they asked the Nabire DPRD members to be presented to accept the aspirations of the Papuan People's Petition, "said Tabuni. Demonstrations also took place at the Karang Tumaritis Market. According to Tabuni, members of the Nabire DPRD, Sambena Inggeruhi and Cahaya Tambroni, had time to meet the protesters at the Karang Tumaritis Market. “Members of the Nabire DPRD, Sambena Inggeruhi and Cahaya Tambroni, were present at the Karang Market to receive their aspirations. However, the coordinator of the action [at Karang Tumaritis Market] rejected the DPRD members, because the masses asked to march as well as read their aspirations directly at the Nabire DPRD office,” said Tabuni. However, the police refused the request, and forbade the masses at Karang Tumaritis Market to march to the Nabire DPRD office. “When the crowd was about to walk, there was chaos after the police tried to arrest the coordinator of the action and kick the demonstrators. There was a commotion and chaos at the Karang Tumarits Nabire Market,” said Tabuni. Tabuni said police then fired tear gas and warning shots. Tabuni said he received information that three to five people were arrested by the police, including the coordinator of the action at the Karang Tumaritis Market, and were being interrogated at the Nabire Police Headquarters. Although the demonstrators at Karang Tumaritis Market were dispersed by the police, Tabuni said the demonstration of the Papuan People's Petition at the Nabire DPRD Office was peaceful. "The protesters at the Nabire DPRD office have read their statement," said Tabuni. Limiting the rights of Tabuni residents to criticize the police for preventing Nabire residents from joining the Papuan People's Petition demonstration. He reminded that the freedom to express opinions in public is the right of every citizen guaranteed by the 1945 Constitution. “The police also fired shots, that was a bad treatment. It should be the mass police who want to join the masses in the Nabire DPRD, in trucks so they don't get into chaos," said Tabuni. Separately, the Director of the Papuan Legal Aid Institute, Emanuel Gobay, stated that the demonstration of the Papuan People's Petition in Karang Tumaritis Nabire became chaotic because the police tried to arrest one of the coordinators of the action. He asked the Nabire Police Chief to take action against the police who came to the crowd and tried to arrest the coordinator of the action, because this action made the crowd angry and caused chaos. "[There was a policeman who] pulled one of the participants in the action. And [there was] a police officer who kicked the protester and beat him," said Gobay. General. The action of the police kicking and hitting demonstrators also fulfills the criminal element of beating as stipulated in Article 170 of the Criminal Code.
The demonstration by the Nabire Student and Papuan People's Solidarity (SMRP) was forcibly dispersed by the police, Thursday [31/3/2022] The video footage showing the repressive actions of the security forces has gone viral on social media. In the video, the action of Papuan students and people in Nabire withdraws the Special Autonomy and rejects the DOB. The gathering point for the coral market is disbanded with gunfire and tear gas. It was seen that 2 people were arrested by armed violence apparatus, while the protesters took shelter in the market and in the market aisles. Police in full force while firing shots conducted a search inside the Karang market. Disbanded due to pandemic reasons According to the information compiled by Kabar Mapegaa, the demonstration by hundreds of Solidatitas students and the Papuan people was initially peaceful. Not long after, the police asked the students and the Papuan people who were holding the demonstration in Karang Tumaritis to immediately disperse. The reason is that the crowd action carried out is considered to have the potential to cause the transmission of Covid-19. However, the warnings of disbandment by the police were not heeded by the mass action of students and the Papuan people. The actions of the Papuan students and people who were still holding out at the location were finally forced to disperse with firearms and tear gas during the forced dispersal. The mass action of the Papuan Students and People who tried to survive was finally carried out by repressive actions by the police. Two people from the mass protest were reportedly arrested by armed violence officers Police do an evaluation After the video showing the police's repressive actions against Papuan students and people went viral on social media, Nabire Police Chief AKBP I Ketut Suarnaya, S.I.K., S.H, spoke up. Suarnaya admitted that he regretted the repressive actions taken by his members. Moreover, previously the members had been ordered to act humanely in carrying out security. Therefore, his party will conduct an internal evaluation and are ready to take firm action against the guilty members. "There are still unscrupulous people's behavior, of course we will take firm action," said Suarnya.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest, Right to self-determination
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 30, 2022
- Event Description
An anti-dictatorship protest leader from Sagaing Region’s Chaung-U Township was handed a two-year jail sentence for incitement on Wednesday in a junta court inside Monywa Prison, where he had been detained for nearly 10 months, according to a source close to the activist’s family.
Twenty-nine-year-old Man Zar Myay Mon was arrested by the military from Shanhtu village in early June of last year, where he had been on the run from the junta’s forces. He endured a violent interrogation in which he had his fingers broken, a relative told Myanmar Now.
He was charged with five counts of violating Section 505a of the Penal Code.
“He still has to face four more charges,” the family friend told Myanmar Now.
Wednesday’s charge was based on a case filed by police Maj Aung Than Myint, and included two other defendants. Their time already served will be deducted from their prison sentence, the court ruled.
Three of Man Zar Myay Mon’s four other incitement charges were also filed by police officers, and one by a man simply identified in police records as “Aung Baw.”
Further details about those cases were not available at the time of reporting.
The military council issued a warrant for his arrest on April 27, after he had led multiple demonstrations in Chaung-U. He had also taken part in the Letpadan students’ strike in Sagaing in 2014.
Man Zar Myay Mon had previously worked as a freelance journalist, and is an environmental and land rights activist who has researched Myanmar’s mining sector. He is a member of the Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability and the Myanmar Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative for Sagaing.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, there are nearly 10,000 people in detention who have been arrested since the coup. More than 880 have been formally sentenced to prison time.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 30, 2022
- Event Description
A married couple who were arrested last year for protesting against the junta in southeastern Myanmar’s Dawei Township have each been hit with heavy prison sentences, a friend of theirs has said.
Zay Lin Oo and his wife Hnin Su Hlaing, both in their 30s, were detained at a rally on Kyan Mar Yae street in Dawei on March 31, two months after the military siezed power in a coup, a report published by the Dawei Watch media outlet said.
On Wednesday Zay Lin Oo was sentenced for multiple alleged crimes, including murder, that added 15 years to the sentence he was already serving. He now faces a total of 21 years in prison.
In November, a judge at the Dawei Prison Court named Myint Myint San gave Zay Lin Oo six years in prison for various charges including inctiment and breaches of weapons control laws. Hnin Su Hlaing received a four-and-a-half-year sentence on similar charges.
The couple have been separated from their 10-year-old son as a result of their detention, and the boy is now staying with his grandparents, the friend told Myanmar Now.
The boy is their only child and they have not been allowed any visits from him, added an officer from the Dawei Political Prisoners Network.
A 30-year-old former political detainee who met Zay Lin Oo in prison said Zay Lin Oo was not guilty of murder and was charged in place of someone else. Myanmar Now was unable to gather further information about the case.
The officer from the Dawei Political Prisoners Network, who also met with Zay Lin Oo in prison, said Zay Lin Oo had been kept in an isolation cell for two months for taking part in protests inside the prison.
“He was brutally tortured during his interrogation,” the officer added. “His face had so many bruises. He was badly beaten on his legs and arms and back before he arrived at the prison. He has been very active about asking for prisoners’ rights as well.”
Zay Lin Oo did charity work helping the victims of natural disasters across Myanmar, according to his friends.
As of March 6, 175 men and 38 women have been sentenced at the Dawei Prison Court for their opposition to last year’s coup, according to figures from the Dawei Political Prisoners Network.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 29, 2022
- Event Description
The stalemate between NagaWorld executives and laid-off workers continued as a fourth negotiation meeting at the Labor Ministry failed to deliver a resolution.
The meeting was held Tuesday afternoon as more than 200 NagaWorld workers were again met with violence as they attempted to resume their demonstration, and were again packed into buses and driven around the capital.
Outside the Labor Ministry, Sun Sreypich, one of the workers’ negotiators, said the meeting had discussed the reinstatement of workers for over two hours — a point workers have said is a top priority for negotiations.
She said NagaWorld was against reinstating workers because the company had already decided on the redundancies.
She claimed that there were around 350 people who wanted to voluntarily leave the casino and that around 200 workers could be swapped in for people choosing to quit. Sreypich recalled that NagaWorld had indicated that it wanted to further reduce staff, and suggested the swap system would result in a reduction of around 150 workers.
“We talked again and again. I can say I bargained with them to accept the first point,” she said, referring to the demand for reinstatement.
She added that the ministry said another meeting would be scheduled for next week. The ministry had previously said there would be only three meetings and that the parties could then approach the courts, but also scheduled today’s meeting.
Around 220 workers made their way to the casino complex Tuesday afternoon, where video footage uploaded to social media showed them shoved and pushed against security personnel, including plainclothes security officials.
One official routinely seen at the protests was seen on video slapping a worker on the head and then trying to drag away the same worker.
“They solve it at the Ministry of Labor, why don’t you go to resolve it? There are illegal strikes every day and every day I am very bored,” he is heard shouting at workers in one video.
Later, police released photos of the security officer with scratch marks on his arms. The same officer has harassed journalists and human rights monitors at the protests.
Tim Satya, one of the detained workers, said it was worrying that the authorities were escalating the violence used with strikers.
“It is my first time seeing the bad actors from the authorities pushing women workers in front of my face. They don’t listen to us that we have a problem with NagaWorld,” she said.
“They have a big body and pushed me and others. I am shocked and I am afraid but I and the others will still keep striking everyday.”
Meanwhile at the Appeal Court on Tuesday afternoon, judges denied a motion from eight NagaWorld unionists — who were released earlier this month — asking for the investigating judge in their case to visit the protests and for workers to be questioned in the presence of the authorities alleging their involvement in incitement.
Sam Chamroeurn, the workers’ lawyer, said the court had upheld the lower Phnom Penh court’s decision to deny the motions.
Khlaing Soben, one of the workers who attended the hearing, said it was not surprising their motion was denied. “We knew beforehand that there would be no justice for us,” Soben said.
Court spokesperson Sreng Souyeat could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 28, 2022
- Event Description
A freelance journalist based in Myawaddy, Karen State—across the border from Thailand—has been charged with violating Section 505a of the Penal Code for incitement, according to a family friend.
While the reason for his arrest has not been confirmed, the source said that Nay Naw, also known as Myo Naung Naung Zaw, was accused of incitement after a March 27 report he published on social media.
He wrote that two trucks were shot at and set on fire near the Taw Naw waterfall along the section of the Asian Highway that connects Myawaddy with Kawkareik, and noted that “serious battles” were taking place in the area between the Myanmar army and resistance forces.
The friend said that he learned of Nay Naw’s arrest on Tuesday through another social media post by an account under the name of Thurin Min Tun, who said that the journalist had been detained on Monday. Further information about this individual was not available at the time of reporting.
“They said he reported false news and charged him under Section 505a,” the source said.
Nay Naw reportedly went to the Myawaddy police station on Monday after being summoned twice, and was taken into junta custody.
It is not known where he was being held at the time of reporting. His family has not been allowed to see him.
Nan Paw Gay, the editor-in-chief of the Karen State-based KIC news organisation, said that Nay Naw had worked as a freelancer but contributed to KIC.
“We only saw that all his news stories sent to us were based on facts. He always based his news stories on evidence. He did not accuse anyone of anything without evidence,” she said.
A total of 115 journalists have been arrested by the military council since the February 2021 coup, and 39 were still in detention at the time of reporting, according to data compiled by journalists. Three media workers have died during interrogations or in fighting.
Myanmar has more detained journalists than any other country in the world, except China, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
Journalists and activists are frequently charged with violating 505a; the section was amended by military chief Min Aung Hlaing weeks after staging a coup and prohibits the spreading of false information, causing fear, or calling for action to be taken against government employees. It is punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment.
At least 1,315 people have been detained under Section 505a, according to records compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Four journalists—from Kamayut Media, Mizzima, Mandalay Free Press, the Ayeyarwady Region-based Myanmar Herald—were given two-year prison sentences by junta courts for incitement in March alone.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 28, 2022
- Event Description
An engineering student who was maimed by soldiers while taking part in an anti-coup protest in Magway last year was sentenced to three years in prison with hard labour on Monday.
Hlyan Phyo Aung, 23, had been charged with incitement under Section 505a of the Penal Code.
The sentence, which was handed down by judge Swe Aye Nyein at a special court inside Magway Prison, was the maximum for the alleged offence.
It comes almost exactly a year after Hlyan Phyo Aung was arrested during a protest in his hometown of Magway on March 27, 2021.
Immediately after his arrest, he was hospitalized to have his hand, which had been shot at close range by soldiers cracking down on the protest, amputated.
Two months later, he was transferred to Magway Prison, despite requiring treatment for an eye injury caused by the gunshot.
According to a source close to his family, Hlya Phyo Aung later lost the sight in his right eye and is now having trouble seeing through his left eye.
“He went completely blind in his right eye and now sees lines in his left eye. He says it’s just like static on TV. At least the blind eye is in stable condition. This is actually worse,” said the source, who did not want to be named for security reasons.
Hlyan Phyo Aung was one of 37 people arrested during the crackdown on the protest in Magway. Although 30 were later freed despite facing similar charges, he was repeatedly denied bail and excluded from a mass release last July.
“The family couldn’t even attend his court hearings. They just drove them away. They only got to see him from afar,” said the family friend.
It was only when they were called to testify on his behalf, nine months after his detention, that Hlyan Phyo Aung’s family was able to see him again, he added.
The friend also said that he had heard Hlyan Phyo Aung was being forced to harvest watercress inside the prison, and was having trouble receiving medications sent by his family.
Myanmar Now was unable to confirm this information.
Hlyan Phyo Aung was one of seven people—five men and two women—who received similar sentences inside Magway Prison on Monday.
No details were available about the other prisoners, only four of whom—Nyein Pyae Sone, Phyo Maung, Ye Moe Aung, and Saw Min Htet—could be identified by name at the time of reporting.
The underground National Unity Government has publicised Hlyan Phyo Aung’s treatment as part of plans to submit evidence against the regime to the International Criminal Court.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 27, 2022
- Event Description
The family of a 19-year-old activist from Mandalay is concerned for his well-being after being unable to contact him or obtain information on his condition or whereabouts since his arrest by junta forces on March 27.
Kyaw Swar Win, who also goes by the name Felix, was beaten and taken into military custody during a roadside inspection by troops in Amarapura Township, according to a friend.
The friend alleged that the military was attempting to track the teen’s contacts through his phone.
“He got arrested while getting his phone checked on the road. When I called him to remind him that we were meeting up, I only heard the voices of the soldiers who asked me where we were,” he told Myanmar Now. “They were trying to lure us to them.”
The friend said that he had heard that Kyaw Swar Win was being interrogated and passed out while being abused.
“His family is worried for his life,” he added.
“I heard that he even passed out during the interrogation and that he hasn’t come round properly. His family is also very worried for his life.”
Anti-dictatorship strike committees in Mandalay released a joint statement on Monday demanding that the military take full responsibility for any emotional or physical abuse Kyaw Swar Win was forced to endure.
Sources from the strike committees also said that three people, including protest leader Thura Aung, who were arrested in Maha Aungmyay Township in late January, were also held at an undisclosed location for two months without being transferred to Mandalay’s Obo Prison.
Myanmar Now was unable to obtain comment from the victim’s family or the military council.
Daily protests continue to occur in Mandalay after starting five days after the February 1, 2021 coup. The demonstrations have been met with violent crackdowns by the junta’s forces.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Lao People's Democratic Republic
- Initial Date
- Mar 25, 2022
- Event Description
The five villagers detained by soldiers on Sunday had not been formally arrested but were taken away for “re-education” because they had gathered others to stage a protest and cause disruptions, Phouvone said. “Thus, the officers had to assert their control and prevent more problems.”
Sources told RFA on Tuesday that the five now held are being questioned by military authorities, with no word given yet on when they may be released.
“The military will release them later, but they may still end up being held for a while,” a Naxaithong district official said. “Their families have asked the military for permission to visit and bring them some food, but their request was denied.
“The military officers haven’t said when they’re going to release the villagers. But some rumors say they might be freed sometime after the Lao New Year on April 15,” a district villager added.
Reached for comment, family members of some of those now held declined to speak about the case, fearing retaliation by authorities, while one family member was ordered on Monday to delete a video he had taken of the arrests.
An official of the People’s Council, meanwhile, said his office had received no reports of the conflict or arrests.
“A report may have been sent to the economic committee, though, because the conflict involves land,” he said.
Some of the families living on the 25-hectare area of land now claimed by the army had inherited the land from their parents even before the 1975 communist takeover of Laos, and had paid property taxes on the land ever since, another villager told RFA.
“The military says that the land belongs to the army, but everybody knows that the land belongs to the villagers,” the villager said, also speaking on condition of anonymity. “Before building anything, the military should at least have asked for approval from the village authorities, but in this case they began building things without any warning,” he said.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 24, 2022
- Event Description
On March 24, the local Nam Dinh Provincial People’s Court held an appeal hearing for Vietnamese activist Do Nam Trung, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison and four years of probation on charges of “distributing anti-state propaganda” last December under Article 117 of Vietnam’s 2015 Penal code. The appeals court announced its decision on the same day, upholding Trung’s previous sentencing.
Do Nam Trung, 40, is an activist famous for his work on the promotion of freedom of expression, human rights, and democracy in Vietnam. His activism includes his participation in and calling for protests opposing China’s actions in the South China Sea, which resulted in his arrest and 14-month incarceration in 2014.
After being released from prison, the Nam Dinh-based activist continued his role as an activist, which included demanding the suspension of Taiwan-based Formosa Steel Plant’s operations following its environmental scandal, helping rescue people living in flooded and landslide-prone areas, calling for the boycott of corrupt toll booths, as well as working with victims of land confiscation in Vietnam and informing them about their rights.
Trung was also a frequent target of coordinated harassment from the government-backed army of cyber trolls. Trung’s Facebook account, which he used as a platform to report his activities, had been constantly under mass reporting by Vietnam’s online Force 47 and often resulted in a temporary suspension of his account.
According to Nguyen Thi Anh Tuyet, Trung’s partner, his parents and sister were able to enter the courthouse while she was not. The court insisted that only “family members” were allowed inside.
Previously, Tuyet wrote on her Facebook account that Do Nam Trung’s overall health remained stable and that his condition while in detention was acceptable. He also received full COVID-19 vaccinations, she added.
Prior to the Nam Dinh activist’s trial last year, rights advocate Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a press statement urged the Vietnamese authorities to “immediately release the human rights activist Do Nam Trung and drop all charges against him.”
“Do Nam Trung is the latest victim of Vietnamese government retaliation against citizens who refuse to remain silent in the face of injustice and rights abuses,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of HRW. “Global pressure on the Vietnamese government is needed to repeal this abusive criminal law that blatantly violates the right to free expression.”
Trung’s appeal hearing took place only one day after the Hanoi People’s Court tried independent journalist Le Van Dung. The court sentenced Dung to five years in jail and five years probation.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 23, 2022
- Event Description
A court in Hanoi on Wednesday handed down sentences to a journalist and a relative who tried to hide him from authorities.
Le Van Dung, an activist and independent journalist who publishes to Facebook and YouTube, was sentenced to five years in prison and five years’ probation for “propaganda against the state.”
The court handed Dung’s 66-year-old uncle Nguyen Van Son an 18-month suspended sentence for helping the journalist hide from police.
Dung denies the charges, according to his lawyers and family.
Ha Huy Son, one of the lawyers representing Dung, described the court’s decision as an “unjust verdict, with no basis.” He added that they will appeal.
Dung, a 51-year-old journalist also known as Le Dung Vova, was arrested for his reporting in June 2021.
He posted videos and articles to social media about corruption and land confiscations, and commented on political and social issues.
An indictment cited by state media alleged that Dung “made and posted to the internet 12 video clips” between March 2017 and September 2018 that included propaganda against the state, defamed the government, spread false news, caused confusion, and were insulted the “honor and prestige of the Party and State leaders.”
Vietnam’s state-run radio Voice of Vietnam quoted part of Dung's statement to the court, in which he said it makes no sense to argue about the legal system in Vietnam.
His lawyer, Ha Huy Son, gave VOA the full statement.
In it, Dung said that the accusations against him have “no legal basis. It does not follow a standard or a rule. I am not guilty.”
A second lawyer, Dang Dinh Manh, wrote on Facebook after the trial that while Dung admitted posting content to social media, “he has consistently rejected the views that the statements in the clips are illegal.”
Dung’s wife, Bui Thi Hue, told VOA that she and his mother were not allowed to attend the trial, even though the court said it was “open to public.”
The Hanoi People’s Court did not immediately respond to VOA’s request for comments.
Human Rights Watch earlier said Vietnam should drop the charges and that Dung is one of more than 60 people being prosecuted for speaking out.
“Vietnamese authorities persist in treating any sort of criticism of the government as a grave threat to be prosecuted with long prison terms,” the rights group’s deputy Asia director Phil Robertson said on Tuesday.
“International donors and trade partners of Vietnam should press Hanoi to listen to its critics instead of persecuting them,” he added.
With limited space for independent reporting in Vietnam, many independent bloggers and journalists use social media to report or comment on sensitive issues.
The country has one of the worst records on the global press freedom index, ranking 175 out of 180 countries where 1 is freest. Accusations of propaganda against the state and abusing freedoms are regularly used to jail critics, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders says.
Many face lengthy sentences.
An activist arrested in July on propaganda charges lost his appeal against the sentencing on Thursday.
The appeals court in Nam Dinh province upheld a sentence of 10 years’ prison and four years’ probation for rights activist Do Nam Trung, his lawyer told VOA.
“This is an unjust judgment,” said the lawyer, Dang Dinh Manh. He added that under Vietnam’s penal code, violations of speech should be punished only under civil charges.
“Trung has held the view that his statements in his video clips and articles are exercising his right to freedom of speech as provided by the constitution, and therefore he believes that the verdict is wrong”, Manh said.
Trung, 40, was arrested on July 6, 2021, for posting six video clips that authorities said were “distorting content” and “defaming the government,” according to state-run media.
A court in December sentenced him to prison.
“Vietnam routinely prosecutes people for simply expressing their views critical of the government, making it one of the most dangerous countries in Southeast Asia to be a human rights activist,” said Robertson of Human Rights Watch.
“Authorities should immediately and unconditionally release [Trung] for speaking his mind about the government. Vietnam should also immediately repeal the rights-abusing charge of ‘propaganda against the state,’ which has been used so frequently to target government critics,” he added.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Mar 22, 2022
- Event Description
Two citizen journalists have been charged with royal defamation and sedition for live broadcasting an event at Siam Paragon on 8 February 2022, in which activists conducted a poll on whether people think they face trouble from royal motorcades.
Worawet (last name withheld), who runs the Facebook page Free Our Friends, and Nui (pseudonym), who runs the YouTube channel “Sakdina Sua Daeng,” reported to Pathumwan Police Station yesterday (22 March) after receiving a summons on royal defamation and sedition charges under Sections 112 and 116 of the Thai Criminal Code.
In addition to the two charges, they were also charged with resisting officials and refusing to comply with an officer’s order.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that they were charged for participating in the activist group Thaluwang’s royal motorcade poll at Siam Paragon on 8 February. The inquiry officer said they were live broadcasting the event, and that participants in the poll were trying to push through a police blockade near Sa Prathum Palace. Nui was also accused of shouting profanities at police officers trying to take hold of a female activist and charged with insulting an official on duty.
According to TLHR, the inquiry officer did not say how their actions constitute an offense under Sections 112 and 116.
Despite reporting to the police after receiving a summons, the police took them to court for a temporary detention request, claiming that the investigation has not been concluded and that the police still need to interview 10 other witnesses and wait for their criminal record check.
The inquiry officer also opposed to granting them bail, claiming that they have “committed an offense” together with activist Tantawan Tuatulanon, and that they are likely to tamper with evidence or cause other damage, but did not say what exactly they meant by such actions.
The South Bangkok Criminal Court granted them bail on a security of 200,000 baht each and set the conditions that they do not repeat their offense in a manner that could damage the monarchy, join activities which can cause public disorder, or post on social media invitations to people to join protests. They must also wear electronic monitoring bracelets.
The 7 activists who conducted the poll, one of whom is 14 years old, have also been charged with royal defamation, sedition, and resisting arrest. TLHR said that, despite reporting to the police after receiving a summons, they were taken to court for a temporary detention request and were later released on bail.
The activists were set the conditions that they must not engage in activities which damage the monarchy, or post on social media invitations to people to participate in protests or activities that cause public disorder. They must also wear electronic monitoring bracelets and are not allowed to leave the country without court permission.
TLHR reported yesterday (22 March) that the police have filed a request with the court to revoke the bail for Baipor and Netiporn, two activists charged for the royal motorcade poll, but it is unclear what they are using as grounds for bail revocation. Their bail hearing has been scheduled for 19 April 2022.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 22, 2022
- Event Description
Authorities in Phnom Penh again rounded up more than 100 striking NagaWorld Casino workers Tuesday, in the latest in a series of brutal mass arrests since the strike started more than three months ago.
Hundreds of security forces violently pushed about 140 striking workers onto 140 buses as they attempted to demonstrate near the casino to demand it reinstate laid-off workers and recognize their union.
“The authorities rushed in with anger,” An SreyPe, who was among the protesters, told RFA’s Khmer Service. “They assaulted and cursed the women among us, but our demands continue to be the same. We will protest until we have a solution.”
An SreyPe said she was injured when the authorities pushed her against the bus and her leg was caught in the door. They also sexually assaulted her in the process, she said, but did not elaborate.
Another protester said that the authorities used excessive force and confirmed they were specifically targeting women.
“Their punches are not meant to prevent a protest. They intended to hurt us,” said Srey No. Authorities hit her in the face during the crackdown and she suffered black eyes. “I am sad. We are only fighting for our livelihoods.”
Thousands of NagaWorld workers walked off their jobs in mid-December, demanding higher wages and the reinstatement of eight jailed union leaders, three other jailed workers and 365 others they say were unjustly fired from the hotel and casino, which is owned by a Hong Kong-based company believed to have connections to family members of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Cambodian authorities have called the strike “illegal” and alleged that it is supported by foreign donors as a plot to topple the government. But a series of mass arrests in recent weeks have been attributed to alleged violations of pandemic health regulations in Cambodia’s capital. Activists said the charges were trumped up to break up the strike.
The eight union leaders have since been released on bail but still face charges.
Authorities on Tuesday forced the 140 workers into buses around 2 p.m. and drove them around Cambodia’s capital, preventing them from leaving the buses. The workers were finally released around 6 p.m. on the outskirts of the city.
In previous arrests, the strikers were taken to quarantine facilities in Phnom Penh or its suburbs.
RFA was unable to reach Phnom Penh police spokesman San Sok Seiha for comment Tuesday.
The workers are continuing to protest because there has been no solution, Am Sam Ath of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights told RFA.
“Our concern is that because there is no solution, the workers will continue their protest and more arrests will be made,” he said.
The union and the casino will meet Wednesday for talks. The Ministry of Labor urged parties to file complaints to the court if there is no solution.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 22, 2022
- Event Description
A video report alleging a Battambang timber factory was illegally processing luxury wood has landed a local journalist in court.
Lim Phally, a reporter for Los Seng News, said he had asked for a delay for court questioning that was scheduled today.
He was sued after a livestream report from January 16 about a local businessman he claims was trafficking timber, he said.
“We saw him actively transporting timber in and out of Battambang every day. When our reporters went to cover it, he complained against us, accusing us of defamation and disseminating [false] information — even though I have documents, videos and photos of him carrying wood.”
The January 16 video shows Phally going to video the businessman’s wood processing factory and commenting that luxury wood was found in the factory, and that it was illegal, calling for an investigation.
“This machine is legal only for local wood,” he says in the video, claiming the luxury wood was imported.
Battambang provincial forestry department director Chhim Vachira said the factory was licensed and had been inspected.
All the wood transported to the factory had a valid permit, Vachira said.
“Without being legal, they would not be able to run. So in my opinion, if it was not legal, it would not be possible to be open in the center of the city.”
Provincial court spokesperson Duong Savorn could not be reached for comment.
The Cambodian Journalists Alliance says in its latest monitoring report that 93 journalists faced harassment in 51 incidents last year. Thirty-two journalists were arrested and 10 faced other legal action, the report says.
The government, meanwhile, has complained of the dissemination of false information that could disrupt social order or hurt Cambodia’s reputation.
Los Seng News is also facing court action in Kampot province after its reporters covered a land dispute, while the outlet’s publisher, Los Seng, last year said he was facing pressure from officials over covering the at-times violent land dispute in Kandal province related to Phnom Penh’s new under-construction international airport.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 21, 2022
- Event Description
According to the International Press Institute, Hanthar Nyein was sentenced on March 21 in a military-run court inside Yangon’s Insein Prison. The court charged the journalist for incitement under Section 505(A) of the Myanmar Penal Code.
On March 22, Than Htike Aung was handed the same charge, but was sentenced in Dekkhina District Court in Naypyitaw, Myanmar's capital. Section 505(A) of Myanmar’s Penal Code criminalises the circulation of any information that is deemed “false news” against the military regime. Both journalists pleaded not guilty.
Radio Free Asia reported that Ye Yint Tun, a reporter for the Myanmar Herald, was also sentenced for two years on March 23 under Sections 505(A) and 505(B) of the Penal Code.
The sentencing of the three journalists comes one year after their original arrests. Hanthar Nyein, co-founder of Kamayut Media, was arrested on March 9, 2021, during a military raid of the news outlet’s office in Yangon.
“They said Kamayut Media had incited riots and rallied people to protest. However, Hanthar Nyein appealed to them that he had just reported the news in accordance with journalistic ethics,” Hanthar Nyein’s lawyer said.
Than Htike Aung, a news editor affiliated with independent media outlet Mizzima, was arrested on March 19, 2021, in Naypyitaw whilst reporting on a court hearing. Authorities arrested Ye Yint Tun on February 28, 2021, whilst he was covering a protest in Pathein.
Section 505(A) of the Penal Code has been heavily criticised in Myanmar, with activists arguing that it is a “legal catch-all for bringing criminal charges against a broad range of individuals deemed to pose a challenge to the military regime”, and thus justifies the arbitrary arrest of journalists.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Mar 21, 2022
- Event Description
Often highlighting the alleged illegal mining of PT. Rajawali and CS8 along with the alleged involvement of police officers, activists in Southeast Sulawesi were terrorized by unknown people (OTK)
It is known that the company is not registered with MODI ESDM and does not have an IPPKH, in fact the Southeast Sulawesi Forestry Service Signpost has been installed which explains that the area is included in a forest area and the KLHK Gakum Sign and Tipidter Police Headquarters regarding the prohibition of activities in the area.
One of the activists who is the Chairman of the Mining Circle Network (JLP) Wawan Soneangkano who often highlights companies operating in the Marombo Block, Lasolo District, North Konawe Regency several times has received terror from the autocrats.
"We suspect the company and its backers are uncomfortable with our spotlight, so some people who are suspected to be company people terrorize over the phone," he said.
Wawan also explained that the terror had worsened after he previously filed a complaint regarding the alleged involvement of SGT police officers in the Southeast Sulawesi Regional Police.
"On March 21, 2022, at 18:32 to be exact, I got a call from one of the people claiming to be part of the company that I complained to at the Southeast Sulawesi Regional Police as well as a member of the police who I complained about in a conspiracy alleged to be illegal mining, namely CPT as the main director and SGT Police Officer. During the conversation, the person claiming to be from the company used language to warn me to be careful, and said that I should stop investigating the alleged Illegal Mining of PT. CS8 which does not have that IUP. If not I will report back. Even the person who claimed to be from the company said he would meet me at the Southeast Sulawesi Regional Police so that I could no longer go home or go straight to prison. After that the phone died. After the phone died, I tried to search for the number through the application. And after that, I also found out that the person who had just finished calling me was named Pak Dydit,” he explained.
He also regrets his complaint regarding the alleged illegal mining of PT. Rajawali and CS8, which have entered their third month, have not made any progress, and for this reason, they will complain to the Criminal Investigation Unit at the National Police Headquarters.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Suspected non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 18, 2022
- Event Description
After months of near-daily striking, negotiations resumed in the NagaWorld labor dispute on Friday, though workers said little progress was made.
The Labor Ministry hosted worker representatives and the casino corporation for negotiations on Friday, a potential step towards ending the stalemate in the long-running dispute. The meeting came after 11 union leaders and workers were released from prison on bail this week to facilitate the negotiations.
Sun Sreypich, one of the worker representatives, said there were “no good results” to report from the meeting and that the ministry was focused on ensuring “unity” as negotiations proceeded.
“Today we don’t have positive results yet but the ministry is preparing the next meeting, at which point we should resolve problems,” she said.
Chhim Sithar, the union’s president who also attended the meeting, said the ministry only laid out the dispute resolution procedures, including the arbitration process.
The meeting would resume on Monday, Sithar said, and the ministry wanted to focus on a ruling by the Arbitration Council, but that workers would continue to push for reinstatement and dropping of charges against union leaders and members.
“If we do not drop the charges, we cannot accept that. This is our position that the ministry addresses these points,” she said.
Last year, the Arbitration Council refused to rule on the mass layoff of more than 1,300 workers, and had punted the decision to the Labor Ministry’s inspectorate. The council only directed the casino to correctly calculate seniority pay, unused annual leave and indemnity payments.
Early on in the strike, workers said a NagaCorp representative had suggested the company’s board of directors would consider reinstatement demands from around 300 workers who were holding out from accepting compensation packages to return to their jobs.
The Labor Ministry released a statement Friday evening, suggesting that the parties hold three meetings to resolve the dispute. The statement adds that the union requested that charges against the 11 released workers be dropped and to consider the reinstatement of fired workers, whereas NagaWorld said they regretted that the protests were continuing even though union leaders had said they would ask workers to end their strike action.
The 11 union leaders and workers had signed letters, released earlier this week, asking for bail and asking other workers to end the protests to facilitate negotiations. Protesters have refused to comply with their leaders’ requests so far.
Labor Ministry spokesperson Heng Sour pointed to the statement when asked for comment on Friday.
Even as the negotiations were taking place, more than 100 protesters were again rounded up from outside the NagaWorld casino and taken to the new Freedom Park in Russei Keo district and kept in public buses for over four hours. Workers were still being held in the buses as of 7 p.m.
Tim Satya, one of the workers, said they didn’t know why the buses had stopped at Freedom Park or why workers weren’t allowed to disembark. Until Friday, protesters appearing near the casino had been bused to a quarantine center in Prek Pnov instead.
“We haven’t gotten off the bus. We are on the bus and standing and screaming from the bus,” she said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of association, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 18, 2022
- Event Description
The All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) confirmed that three of their Mandalay-based members were charged last Friday by the junta with violating Myanmar’s counterterrorism law.
The individuals, who were arrested on March 2 in Amarapura Township, include Aung Myo Ko, chair of the student union at the Mandalay Education College; Thiri Yadanar, upper Myanmar secretary of the ABFSU; and Kyaw Zin Latt, a middle school teacher from Singu Township.
ABFSU chair Aung Pyae Sone Phyo said that the activists had been helping families of detained students send care packages to their loved ones in prison.
“They were actually a part of the democratic movement before but they stopped doing that. They just focused on sending care packages to the detained students and helping the detained students contact their families in distant places,” he told Myanmar Now.
The three detainees—all in their 20s—have been held at the township police station since their arrest, and were formally accused on March 18 of violating Section 50j of the counterterrorism law for funding “terrorist” organisations. The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, Aung Pyae Sone Phyo told Myanmar Now.
A second charge was also added to their cases for being alleged accessories to terrorist acts, as is outlined under Section 52a of the law, and carries a seven-year sentence.
The three student activists are also reportedly being investigated for incitement charges under Section 505a of the Penal Code, but Aung Pyae Sone Phyo noted that the final charge had not yet been formally filed.
“[The military] started by arresting protesters on the streets and now they’re arresting people who are helping the detained civilians. They clearly want to instill fear into the people so that they don’t dare to revolt,” the ABFSU chair said.
The military council has not released any information on the charges allegedly brought against the student activists.
Protests have continued in Mandalay more than one year after the military coup in February 2021. The junta continues to make frequent arrests of dissidents in the region, questioning civilians in public, and sealing off houses belonging to anti-dictatorship figures.
“They are going to decimate each and every one of their opponents. That is why we have been revolting against the junta from the time of Ne Win until Min Aung Hlaing,” Aung Pyae Sone Phyo said, referring to the military leader who seized power in a 1962 coup and the current army chief.
“It’s also essential that we, the people, hold our heads high and keep fighting back,” he added.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Public Servant, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Myanmar: two pro-democracy students, a teacher arrested
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Mar 18, 2022
- Event Description
A peasant youth organizer was arrested by soldiers in Quezon province, March 18.
Carlo Reduta, a member of the peasant organization Coco Levy Funds Ibalik sa Amin (CLAIM Quezon), was arrested by elements of the Philippine Army’s 85th Infantry Battalion at barangay Cawayan, Gumaca, Quezon province while engaged in field work with the local farmers in the area. He was charged with violations of Section 4 of the Anti-Terror Act, murder and frustrated murder and is currently detained at the Gumaca Munipical Police Station, according to Karapatan-Southern Tagalog.
Section 4 of the Anti-Terror Act defines acts of terrorism, which implicitly includes “advocacy, protest, [and] dissent” which are intended to “cause death or serious physical harm to a person, … endanger a person’s life, or … create a serious risk to public safety.”
Reduta comes from a family of coconut farmers and peasant organizers. According to human rights watchdog Karapatan Southern Tagalog, the Redutas have “a long history of being victims of state terrorism, surveillance, and harassment from the military.”
Reduta’s father Maximo is a longtime political prisoner who died due to illnesses last 2021. Maximo passed away at the Gumaca District Jail without seeing freedom. He was the third political prisoner from the Southern Tagalog region to die while imprisoned under President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.
Carlo also has a brother who faced similar charges. According to Karapatan ST, those charges were eventually dismissed.
Under CLAIM Quezon, the Reduta family pushed for the rights of coconut farmers in the province, including the return of the coco levy funds stolen by the Marcos dictatorship and its cronies during Martial Law. As of 2021, these funds now amount to some P75 billion.
The coconut industry remains an important part of agricultural life in Quezon and a major source of export income for the Philippines – in 2017, total exports from the industry amounted to over 70 percent of coconut production and were worth over 1.5 trillion USD.
Despite this, however, attacks against coconut farmers and CLAIM members in particular have intensified under the Duterte administration. Last March 6, CLAIM member Felizardo Repaso and his wife received threats and repeated harassment from military units, including surveillance and visits to their home in Atimonan.
Last August 30, 2021, at least 50 CLAIM members were forced to ‘surrender’ as members of the New People’s Army in a ceremony headed by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), an inter-agency task force and the centerpiece of the Duterte administration’s “whole-of-nation approach” in attempting to solve the over five decades’ long revolutionary war waged by the Communist Party of the Philippines.
In November 2020, CLAIM General Luna chapter President Armando Buisan was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen in a hit and run operation. The Philippine Army’s 201st Infantry Battalion claimed that Buisan was an “NPA supporter” and a member of the NPA’s “milisyang bayan” (people’s militia).
Given the Reduta family’s history of encounters with the police and military, Karapatan ST said that they are “deeply worried about Carlo’s condition, especially the threat of mental torture, harassment, and repeated jail transfers in an attempt to ensure that the family doesn’t see him while he is under police custody.”
Both Karapatan ST and the Reduta family maintain that the charges against Carlo are “trumped up.” Karapatan ST is calling for Reduta’s immediate release and the junking of the Anti-Terror Law.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Mar 18, 2022
- Event Description
A Lumad council leader was arrested by state forces last March 18, Friday.
In a statement, the Save Our Schools Network said that Lumad leader Edwin Oribawan Sr. was arrested by combined forces of the Philippine National Police and the 72nd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army at 4:00 a.m. in sitio Aguila, Kabalantian, Arakan, North Cotabato.
The group said authorities forcibly entered the residence of Oribawan, threatening his daughter and two other children.
“They held them at gunpoint while asking about their father’s whereabouts. At 5:00 a.m., elements of the 72nd IBPA illegally arrested and handcuffed Oribawan. The elements of the PNP and 72nd IBPA planted bullets in order to prove their allegations,” the SOS Network said.
Oribawan was then brought to the Arakan Police Station and was reportedly charged with attempted murder, rebellion, and use of illegal drugs.
SOS said Oribawan was also instrumental in the establishment of the Mindanao Interfaith School Foundation, Inc. (MISFI) in Arakan, North Cotabato and was part of its Parents Teachers and Community Association (PTCA).
This was also not the first time that Oribawan was falsely accused by the authorities. In 2017, the SOS Network said he was falsely implicated in an ambush in sitio Gambodes.
The group condemned the illegal arrest of Oribawan.
“We also urge everyone to stand with us in condemning the intensified attacks on Lumad schools and communities,” the group said.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Indigenous peoples' rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Mar 18, 2022
- Event Description
Human rights groups the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), and 23 organisations condemn the judicial harassment of human rights defenders Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti.
‘We call on the police to put an end to the judicial harassment of Fatia and Haris for sharing the research conducted by civil society. The Indonesian government must fulfill its human rights obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and its Constitution that safeguards freedom of expression and opinion,’ FORUM-ASIA said.
On 18 March, Fatia and Haris were named suspects in an alleged defamation case filed by Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, after they revealed the Minister’s controversial involvement in business operations in the gold mining sector in Papua Province’s Intan Jaya Regency[1]. The following day, Fatia and Haris were summoned by the police for questioning.
Luhut filed a criminal and civil lawsuit for IDR 100 billion (USD 7 million) against the human rights activists last year, which stemmed from an investigative report Haris posted on YouTube, mentioning Luhut. The Minister cited the Electronic Information and Transaction Law, an ambiguous law that criminalises free speech in the country.
The report divulged that Luhut was affiliated with PT Madinah Qurrata’ain, a mining company, which holds the Derewo River Gold Project in Intan Jaya Regency. Luhut is a shareholder of PT Toba Sejahtera, whose subsidiary PT Tobacom Del Mandiri or PT Tambang Raya Sejahtra is said to have acquired a 30 per cent stake in PT Madinah Qurrata’ain[2]. Intan Jaya Regency is a conflict-ridden area in Papu. Frequent clashes between the Indonesian security forces and armed groups in the area have resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians and displaced thousands of residents.
Given this alarming development, it is likely that an arrest warrant could be issued against Fatia and Haris at any time. This is not the first time Fatia and Haris were targeted by state forces over charges filed by Luhut. Early this year, police officers arrived to fetch Fatia and Haris at their respective houses for interrogation[3]. FORUM-ASIA and many organisations denounced Luhut’s judicial harassment of Fatia and Haris, which clearly aimed to silence the activists.
The plight of Fatia and Haris highlights the country’s trend of repressing human rights defenders for holding public servants accountable within Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s government. Last August, Presidential Office Chief of Staff Moeldoko filed a defamation complaint against two activists of the Indonesian Corruption Watch for exposing Moeldoko’s involvement in racketeering the government’s Ivermectin rollout and rice export program.[4]
‘We urge the Indonesian government to immediately drop the charges against Fatia, Haris, and other activists and cease any efforts by public officials to criminalise the fair criticisms of human rights defenders and civil society organisations. Cases like these further erode the country’s civic space landscape and deteriorate the country’s compliance with international human rights standards. Despite these threats, we will continue to monitor the performance of public officials and call them out for their wrongdoings,’ said the groups.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Mar 17, 2022
- Event Description
A 19-year-old man in Ubon Ratchathani said he received on 17 March 2022 a summons on a royal defamation charge, possibly for a protest sign he used during a protest on 15 August 2021.
Kittipon Thaingamsil said two plainclothes officers came to his home to deliver a summons from Muang Ubon Ratchathani Police Station on a royal defamation charge ordering him to report to the police station on 24 March 2022.
Kittipon told Prachatai that he believes he has been charged because he posted a picture of himself standing in front of a portrait of King Vajiralongkorn while holding a sign saying “I’m starving during the reign of King Rama X” and a flag with three lines symbolizing the three-finger salute, a recognized symbol of the pro-democracy movement, during a “car mob” protest on 15 August 2021 in Ubon Ratchathani. He said he has no hidden agenda but was only expressing his living conditions at the time.
The 19-year-old has a vocational certificate in computer graphic design. He is currently unemployed and lives with his grandmother and sister.
Kittipon said he joined several protests in Ubon Ratchathani, including the Stand Against Detention protests to demand the release of detained activists. He was previously charged with violation of the Emergency Decree for participating in a “car mob” protest on 1 August 2021, and with violation of the Traffic Act, the Sound Amplifier Act, and the Communicable Diseases Act for participating in the 15 August 2021 protest.
According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), at least 182 people have been charged with royal defamation under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code for their political expression since November 2020. Many activists are also facing several counts of the charge, such as Parit Chiwarak, who is facing 23 counts; Anon Nampa, 14 counts; Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, 10 counts, Panupong Jadnok, 9 counts; and Benja Apan, 7 counts.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 17, 2022
- Event Description
Bui Van Thuan’s wife received a letter from him for the first time since he was arrested on August 30 last year. Thuan said he’d had two shots of the Pfizer vaccine and was in generally good health due to regular exercise. But since last October he’s been having joint pains that doctors have looked at but couldn’t do anything about. Thus every 10 days or so he needs to take antibiotics and pain medication.
Later in the month, Trinh Nhung, Thuan’s wife, received a summons from the Thanh Hoa Police Department in order to discuss details related to the case of Bui Van Thuan, who allegedly stored documents and “items that oppose the state” on his computer.
Mr Thuan was arrested since Aug 2021. Since then, his wife Mrs Trinh Thi Nhung continued to update about his situation on social media and lodge grievance letters to authorities to demand that his rights are protected.
On 17 Mar [2022], Mrs Nhung was summoned by Thanh Hoa province police investigation bureau. In this working session, the police threatened her for fighting for her husband's rights.
Talking to RFA Viet, Mrs Nhung said:
'The investigators told me I should cut down on publishing articles about my husband on the net, they can arrest me any time, they said they had good basis to arrest me. They said I should not publish my police summon on the net, it was not a right thing nor a good thing for me to do.'
She said investigators had asked leading questions to her many times in the working session. They wanted her to confirm her husband's Fb account and her own Fb account, she refused and was again threatened of arrest.
'[Investigators] told me, for me to refuse to provide my private information and my husband's information meant I wasn't cooperative, they could arrest me for not cooperating with the investigation office.'
Before his arrest, Mr Thuan was known for his reports and comments about officials' power game with biting humour. Since his arrest, his family hasn't been allowed to contact him.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 16, 2022
- Event Description
Cambodian police on Wednesday arrested around 200 workers striking outside the NagaWorld casino in Phnom Penh, crowding them into buses for transport to a COVID-19 quarantine center outside the city, Cambodian sources said.
Hundreds of officers both in uniform and plain clothes used force against the workers, who were still being held at the center as of 9 p.m. local time on Wednesday, sources said.
“The strikers were physically abused by the authorities, who also took our cell phones,” one worker named Chantha told RFA, saying city authorities are siding with the NagaWorld company to prevent striking workers from entering casino buildings.
NagaWorld workers will continue their protests until their union is recognized and solutions are found to the now months-long labor dispute, she said.
Wednesday’s arrests follow the release on bail on Monday of eight union leaders and members, with three others still held in detention and workers vowing to continue an online campaign demanding that charges against all 11 be dropped, sources said.
Thousands of NagaWorld workers walked off their jobs in mid-December demanding higher wages and the reinstatement of 365 workers they say were unjustly fired from the casino and hotel, which is owned by a Hong Kong-based company believed to have connections to family members of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Chhim Sithar, leader of the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld, and seven colleagues were later arrested and charged with inciting social unrest, with Cambodian authorities calling the strike illegal and part of a plot promoted by foreign donors to topple the government.
Speaking to RFA in an interview on Wednesday, Chhim Sithar said that she and the others released on Monday have called for striking workers to be allowed to return to work and are urging those laid off to remain at home until a legal settlement of their status is in place.
These statements show a softening of the union’s stance, she said. “We have made a lot of concessions, especially by asking the workers to return to work. There should be some benefit on all sides.”
Asked why the striking workers had continued their protest on Wednesday in spite of the union’s call for them to return, Chhim Sithar said the NagaWorld workers were free to make their own decisions without union interference.
Chhim Sithar denounced as “fake” another labor union recently established by NagaWorld, saying casino owners have consistently opposed the independent representation of workers’ rights.
Cambodia’s Ministry of Labor meanwhile said on Wednesday that a previously missed meeting with workers’ representatives to help resolve the labor dispute would now be held on Thursday.
Also speaking to RFA, Am Sam Ath — deputy director of the Phnom Penh-based Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights — said that the striking NagaWorld workers have continued their protest because they feel their dispute with the casino can never be resolved while three of their union representatives are still detained.
“The court should drop all charges against the workers’ representatives so they are able to represent the workers during talks,” he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of association, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 15, 2022
- Event Description
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on Cambodia’s information ministry to immediately restore the licences it withdrew from three online media outlets for alleged ethical violations after they covered corruption cases. The ministry failed to follow procedure when it revoked the licences and its accusations are spurious, RSF says.
With no prior warning and no possibility of appeal, the three news outlets – Bayong Times, Khmer Cover TV (KCTV) and Cambodia Today – learned that their licences had been rescinded in a letter issued by the information ministry on 15 March accusing them of violating journalistic ethics and their contracts with the ministry.
By way of ethical violations, what the three news sites have in common is having recently published investigative stories about the rampant corruption within Cambodia’s political and economic elites.
Cambodia Today editor Touch Yuthea told RSF he suspected that the withdrawal of his licence was a “personal decision by senior ministry officials in charge of licences” in response to a story about a corrupt contract bidding process at the labour ministry.
Brazen intimidation
“The decision to revoke the licences of Bayong Times, Cambodia Today and KCTV is a gross violation of the freedom of publication as enshrined in article 41 of Cambodia’s constitution,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “This is brazen intimidation, and we call on the government to immediately restore the publication licences to these three outlets. Press freedom must not be the collateral victim of the actions of a few corrupt officials.”
Bayong Times publisher Tel Samuth told RSF: “I think cancelling these media outlets will serve to scare many other outlets into ceasing to report the truth.” He added that the information ministry had also violated standard procedure by failing to issue at least two warnings and enter into negotiations before revoking the licences – the procedure established in article 10 of the press law.
When reached by RSF, information minister Khieu Kanharith’s office refused to make any comment. Meanwhile, the ministry has reportedly told the editors of the three publications that they could recover their licences if they “correct” their articles and delete certain content.
Last October, RSF accused the defence minister of abusing his authority by ordering officials to “punish” provincial website operator Youn Chhiv for publishing an investigative report about illegal land seizures. He was sentenced to a year in prison just two days after his arrest.
Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government embarked on an unrelenting offensive against independent media outlets in 2017 in order to maintain its grip on power, as RSF detailed in a report published in February 2018.
Cambodia is ranked 144th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2021 World Press Freedom Index.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Censorship, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Mar 15, 2022
- Event Description
Members of student press organisation LPM Lintas, at the State Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN) Ambon, have faced ongoing threats and intimation after publishing an investigative story on sexual harassment. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Indonesia, urge the university’s executive to end all forms of intimidation against the student journalists and respect press freedom.
On March 14, LPM Lintas published an investigative story on sexual harassment at the university from 2015 to 2021, in an article titled ‘IAIN Ambon prone to sexual harassment’. The piece gathered the stories of 32 victims of sexual assault, including 25 females and seven males, and mentioned allegations of sexual offences involving lecturers, staff, students, and alumni.
Following the publication, on March 15, Nurdin Kaisupy, a student journalist who was a part of the investigative team, and Muh. Febrianto, a layout designer, were punched at the LPM Lintas office on March 15, by assailants suspected of being family members of a lecturer. The assailants also smashed the office’s windows. Police investigation on the assault had slow progress.
IAIN Ambon, located in the capital city of the Maluku province, also discontinued LPM Lintas’ activities after the university failed to verify all information relating to the piece in a meeting with the student journalists. The university accused the students of publishing false information and said it would change the structure of LPM Lintas to include those willing to ‘cooperate with the university and protect its reputation’.
The university also reported nine student journalists to the police, who received summon letters in May asking them to appear before the police for ‘clarification’. Intimidation and harassment against the student journalists is ongoing, with some students allegedly facing prejudice at the university since the investigative story was published.
The Indonesian Press Council published an assessment and stated that the investigative story by LPM Lintas should be awarded as it was in the public interest. Many universities in Indonesia have not taken firm action following reports of sexual harassment in the past.
- Impact of Event
- 11
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 14, 2022
- Event Description
Thugs with steel pipes attacked members of the Yao ethnic minority community in Vietnam’s Lao Cai province on Monday as they protested the construction of a hydropower plant they said would block the water source they rely on for salmon farming.
Residents are trying to block construction of the project because they say it has contaminated water on a nearby spring, killing their fish, and Vietnamese project developer May Ho Energy Company Ltd. has not offered inadequate compensation to cover their losses.
“The company has been carrying out the construction work without paying [enough] compensation to local residents,” a resident surnamed Lo told RFA by text message.
But when members of the Dao Do (Red Yao) community gathered to stop work on the plant in a hamlet of Sa Pa town, the company hired thugs to “suppress them,” Lo said.
“Being beaten, the residents had to resist,” he said. “Because the thugs all used steel tubes, the residents had to pick up bricks [to throw] to fight back.”
A video shot by a protester shows dozens of people in plainclothes with steel tubes approach and attack local residents who had gathered peacefully.
The incident quickly escalated and turned into a clash when the locals fought back.
Vuong Trinh Quoc, who is the chairman of the town’s People’s Committee, told state media that locals assaulted construction workers, leaving eight workers injured.
Many residents, including Lo, denied the report and said they were not the instigators. He expressed anger about the incident on social media after seeing Quoc’s statement in the media.
Another resident who gave her name as May also said that those who had assaulted locals were thugs hired to attack them.
RFA could not reach Quoc for comment, but later contacted Pham Tien Dung, vice chairman of the town’s People’s Committee, who said he was not authorized to speak with the media about the incident.
RFA could not reach the local representative of the May Ho Energy Company for comment, despite making several calls.
The private company registered in April 2017 received a project license for construction of the hydropower plant in May 2021. Building work began the following month.
The project falls under a category that allows the state to appropriate land for the purpose of national development, according to a report by state-run Vietnam News Agency.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 11, 2022
- Event Description
Authorities in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh again detained more than 100 striking NagaWorld Casino workers Friday, in the latest in a series of brutal mass arrests since the strike started more than three months ago.
Some of the 158 strikers who were detained this time told RFA’s Khmer Service that they were forced into buses and taken to a quarantine facility on the outskirts of town but were not allowed to leave the buses for several hours, enduring extreme heat until the point that some of them began to vomit.
“It was awful. We are just workers. They used such brutal measures. The authorities pushed me into a truck and my arm was injured when they detained me,” Pov Raksmey told RFA.
Lay Sopheaktra, another detained worker, told RFA that she felt the authorities wanted to torture the workers so that they would not dare to gather for more protests.
“I am very sad that we are protesting for our jobs, but the authorities are denying our rights and assaulting us,” she said.
Thousands of NagaWorld workers walked off their jobs in mid-December, demanding higher wages and the reinstatement of eight jailed union leaders, three other jailed workers and 365 others they say were unjustly fired from the hotel and casino, which is owned by a Hong Kong-based company believed to have connections to family members of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Cambodian authorities have called the strike “illegal” and alleged that it is supported by foreign donors as a plot to topple the government. But a series of mass arrests in recent weeks have been attributed to alleged violations of pandemic health regulations in Cambodia’s capital. Activists said the charges were trumped up to break up the strike.
RFA reported Wednesday that 147 of the fired workers accepted compensation, but the remaining strikers are still calling for their union leaders to be released and for the company to negotiate with them.
RFA attempted to reach Phnom Penh Municipal Police spokesman San Sok Seiha for comment about Friday’s arrests, but he was not available.
A Cambodian labor advocacy group told RFA that the authorities have used similar tactics to break up peaceful protests.
“The authorities and NagaWorld Casino need to seek a solution. If they continue violence, the crisis will be deepened,” said Khun Tharo, the labor program manager for Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights
He urged the Ministry of Labor to intervene the release of 11 union leaders and workers who are being jailed to allow the workers and the NagaWorld to resume talks.
The workers arrested Friday said authorities released them from the quarantine center after detaining them without medical attentions for a few hours. They said they will continue their fight if there is no solution.
RFA reported Tuesday that Cambodia’s Minister of Interior Sar Kheng was planning to lead a meeting of governmental officials on Wednesday to resolve the dispute.
Also on Wednesday, Phnom Penh authorities released around 200 strikers detained a day earlier while they were protesting.
On Thursday, an appeals court denied bail to the eight union leaders on the grounds that their case is still under investigation by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Mar 11, 2022
- Event Description
Hari ke empat aksi unjuk rasa (demo) buruh PT Wahana Graha Makmur (WGM) di Kantor Unit Pelaksana Tekhnis (UPT) Pengawasan Wilayah III Dinas Tenaga Kerja (Disnaker) Sumatera Utara di Jalan Adam Malik, Kota Siantar, dibubarkan aparat kepolisian secara paksa, Jumat (11/03/2022).
Aksi pembubaran paksa oleh aparat Polres Siantar dibantu personil Sat Pol PP Pemko Siantar dan TNI tersebut, sebabkan sejumlah bayi dan anak dibawah umur menjadi korban.
Meski tidak ada terpantau bayi dan anak dibawah umur dari Kabupaten Dairi tersebut alami kekerasan secara fisik, namun mental anak-anak tersebut dikhawatirkan terganggu.
Sebab, sejumlah bayi dan anak dibawa umur tersebut harus menyaksikan kekerasan, berupa pembubaran secara paksa. Dimana, beberapa pengunjukrasa ditarik, digotong dan diseret.
Serta, para anak tak berdosa itu, juga dipaksa untuk menyaksikan pengunjuk rasa (juga orang tua mereka) melakukan upaya perlawanan. Baik dengan suara, maupun rontahan.
Suara tangisan bayi dan anak terdengar lirih, diantara teriakan marah dan suara tangisan pengunjuk rasa, maupun suara tegas berupa perintah dari sejumlah oknum perwira polisi kepada anggotanya.
Bahkan, disaat aksi tarik-menarik antara aparat dengan pengunjukrasa berlangsung, seorang anak berusia sekira 2 tahun, nyaris terinjak.
Aparat Polres Siantar bersama Sat Pol PP dan TNI membubarkan aksi warga Dairi di Kota Siantar, agar pengunjuk rasa dapat dipulangkan ke Dairi. Sehingga tidak lagi melanjutkan aksi menginap di Kantor UPT Pengawasan Wilayah III Disnaker Sumatera Utara.
Sebelum dibubarkan, secara bergantian Kabag Ops Polres Siantar Kompol Lamin, perwakilan UPT Pengawasan Wilayah III Disnker Sumut Ardiles Silitonga, Ketua Lembaga Perlindungan Anak Siantar Simalungun Ida Halanita Damanik, dan perwakilan Disnaker Dairi memberikan pemahaman dan informasi kepada pendemo.
Saat itu, Ardiles Silitonga menyampaikan penolakan PT WGM untuk menjalankan penetapan dari Kepala UPT Pengawasan Wilayah III Disnaker Sumut Bangun Hutagalung, dengan sejumlah alasan.
Penetapan itu sendiri, ungkap Ardiles, sudah dua kali dilakukan UPT Pengawasan Wilayah III Disnaker Sumut. Penetapan kedua, tenggang waktunya akan berakhir pada 21 Maret 2022.
Sebut Ardiles, bila penetapan tidak dilaksanakan PT WGM, maka sengketa buruh dan pengusaha PT WGM akan dibawa ke ranah hukum, dengan meminta Penyidik PNS (PPNS) Disnaker Sumut untuk menggelar penyidikan.
Sementara itu Kapolres Kota Siantar AKBP Sutan Boy Binanga Siregar mengatakan, aksi unjuk rasa buruh PT WGM di Siantar dilakukan tanpa pemberitahuan ke Polres Siantar dan kepada Satgas Penanganan Covid-19 Kota Siantar.
Tindakan kepolisian terhadap pengunjukrasa, menurut Boy Sutan Binanga sudah dipertimbangkan, dan telah sesuai dengan ketentuan peraturan.
“Yang kami lakukan sudah kita pertimbangkan, sesuaikan dengan aturan. Ya, bahwa mereka datang ke Pematangsiantar ini pun, tidak ada melakukan ataupun melaporkan kepada kepolisian maupun Satgas Covid untuk datang kesini melakukan demo atau pun menginap,” ucap Boy Sutan Binanga.
Sehingga, lanjut Boy Sutan Binanga, polisi pun melakukan upaya memulangkan pengunjukrasa ke Dairi. Hal itu mengingat, Kota Siantar saat ini sedang diterapkan PPKM Level 3.
“Kami melakukan upaya-upaya sesuai dengan prosedur. Bahwa saudar-saudara kita ini tidak mempunyai izin. Dan untuk Kota Pematangsiantar sendiri, itu sedang diberlakukan PPKM Level 3. Sehingga kita berupaya dengan SOP, tentunya dengan SOP, supaya mereka bisa kita kembalikan ke Dairi,” ujar Boy Sutan Binanga. (*)
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Mar 11, 2022
- Event Description
As many as 90 Papuan students were detained by the police following riots against the formation of a new autonomous region (DOB) or the expansion of Papua in front of the Ministry of Home Affairs office, Central Jakarta, Friday (11/3). As of 21.30 WIB, 89 of them have been sent home.
"A total of 89 have been repatriated, but one has not been repatriated because it is related to the beating of an Intel Head," said Head of Public Relations of the Polda Metro Jaya Kombes E Zulpan when contacted, Friday (11/3).
Previously, Papuan students held a demonstration against the new autonomous regions (DOB) in front of the Ministry of Home Affairs Office, Jakarta. The action turned violent and resulted in 4 police personnel being injured. Eight protesters were also reported to have experienced the same thing.
Dozens of students were then secured and collected at the Metro Jaya Police Headquarters for data collection.
Zulpan said that his party was still conducting an investigation related to the beating of the Intel Head of the Central Jakarta Metro Police AKBP Ferikson Tampubolon. Strict action will be taken against the perpetrators.
"The police will enforce the law against acts of violence committed against officers on duty," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 10, 2022
- Event Description
Veteran democracy activist Mya Aye, who was arrested on the day of the military coup in February last year, was sentenced to two years in prison by a junta court on Thursday as he marked his 56th birthday.
The activist was a prominent leader of the 1988 pro-democracy uprising and was among the first people to be detained by the new junta last year.
He was sentenced at a court inside Insein Prison, where he has been detained since his arrest, under Section 505c of the Penal Code for “inciting hate towards an ethnicity or a community,” his lawyer Thet Naung said.
A judge from Yangon’s Mingalar Taungnyunt Township Court handed down the sentence, he added.
Mya Aye was arrested at his home in Mingalar Taungnyunt on February 1 last year and charged in mid-March, Thet Naung said, adding that his client would have around a year deducted from his sentence for time served.
Mya Aye needs medical attention for a wound on his foot and for a heart condition, the lawyer said. In October last year, he was admitted to a hospital outside the prison for several days because of an infection in the foot.
“He’s not in very good health,” Thet Naung said. “We asked the court to let him go to an outside hospital [again] but he was not allowed in previous court hearings.”
The charge against Mya Aye relates to an email he sent to a Chinese official seven years ago about Myanmar’s peace process.
He wrote in the email that because of government propaganda and Burmese ethnonationalism, people in Myanmar believed that China was interfering in the peace process and had backed Kokang rebels in their fight against the Myanmar military, according to his case file.
“The plaintiff couldn’t even submit solid evidence against him. He was arrested unjustly and sentenced unfairly,” Thet Naung said.
Mya Aye did not call any defence witnesses but testified for himself, the lawyer added.
Mya Aye spent a total of 12 years behind bars for his role in the 1988 uprising and the 2007 Saffron Revolution. After his release in 2012 he remained politically active, often drawing the military’s anger.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 10, 2022
- Event Description
A court in Insein Prison last week indicted freelance journalist Soe Yarzar Tun under Section 52a of the Counter-Terrorism Law, which carries a prison sentence of up to seven years, lawyers have told Myanmar Now.
The reporter was detained in Bago Region’s Thone Sel Township on March 10, just days after he escaped arrest when fifty soldiers raided a monastery in Bago where he was practising as a monk.
He was held at the Phayar Lay Interrogation Center in Yangon’s Hlegu Township and then sent to the local police station, a family member said, adding it was likely the journalist was tortured under interrogation.
“We sent him some food and some money when he was being held at the Hlegu Central Police Station but we weren’t allowed to see him,” the relative said. “We managed to communicate through hand signals from afar and he signalled back at us from behind bars.”
The relative speculated that the junta filed a terrorism charge based on information found on the journalist’s phone after his arrest.
In March last year he was arrested while covering anti-coup protests and charged with incitement under Section 505a of the Penal Code. He was released on June 30.
The date of next court hearing for the terrorism charge is not yet known, a group of lawyers helping political prisoners said.
A total of 115 journalists have been detained since last February’s coup, and 39 of them are still in prison.
Another three journalists–Sai Win Aung, Pu Tuidim and Soe Naing have been killed by the junta’s forces since December, according to the International Federation of Journalists
Last year, Myanmar had the second-highest number of journalists behind bars in the world after China, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Mar 9, 2022
- Event Description
On Wednesday, March 9, 2022, the Pasangkayu Police, West Sulawesi arrested five farmers who were involved in the struggle of the Kaili Tado indigenous people in Kabuyu Hamlet, Mertasari Village, Pasangkayu Regency, West Sulawesi. The five farmers were previously reported by the PT Mamuang truck driver, Andi Alamsyah, in the case of alleged criminal acts of threats as referred to in Article 335 Paragraph (1) 1st of the Criminal Code. This arrest was made after the police issued a second summons to five farmers, in which the first police call was not received by the farmers.
The five farmers were intercepted on their way to get legal assistance, after being successfully stopped by the police, they were taken to the Pasangkayu Police Station at 10.00 WITA on the grounds that a BAP (Minutes of Investigation) process would be carried out by the police for the previously reported threatening actions.
The five farmers are Agus (male, 66 years old), Suarka (male, 66 years old), Lodra (male, 58 years old), Halima (female, 55 years old) and Dedi (male, 30 years old). ). After going through a lengthy BAP process, three of the five people who were originally witnesses are now named suspects, namely Dedi, Agus, and Suarka.
Since the entry of PT Mamuang in their area in 1991, the lives of the people in Dusun Kabuyu have undergone significant changes. Initially, the people in Kabuyu Hamlet managed their ancestral land for productive agricultural land. The community grows rice, corn, cocoa, coconut and various other types of crops to support their livelihoods. However, since PT Mamuang came to their area, the community is only allowed to manage a narrow land on the banks of the Pasangkayu river. They lost their management area because it was taken over by PT Mamuang. Since the start of the company's operations, PT Mamuang has planted outside their HGU. This is evidenced by the oil palm plantations planted along the Pasangkayu watershed at a distance of less than 50 meters from the river bank. PT Mamuang was proven to have violated Government Regulation No. 38 of 2011 concerning Rivers, which stipulates that oil palm companies are not allowed to plant within the border line, which is 50 meters from the river bank.
PT Mamuang, a subsidiary of PT Astra Agro Lestari, the second largest palm oil company in Indonesia, has a long list of criminalizations committed against farming communities. According to WALHI records, since 2017 PT Mamuang has criminalized 7 farmers who have lived in the plantation area for a long time, fighting over their housing because it was confiscated by PT Mamuang. In the criminalization effort carried out by PT Mamuang, it was reported that the indigenous Kaili Tado community was struggling to find a place to live amidst the onslaught of palm oil investment by PT Mamuang. Since PT Mamuang entered community territory in 1991, PT Mamuang has planted 100 hectares outside their HGU, which is the customary land of the Kaili Tado community. For nearly 32 years, a total of 107 households (KK) in Kabuyu have lived in the midst of a crisis of limited living space, marginalized by PT Mamuang's palm oil investment. They live and farm on the banks of the Pasangkayu river and become the “living embankment” of PT Mamuang's plantation. The deprivation of the living space of indigenous peoples is the initial pattern of the destruction of investment controls, taking advantage of limited access to information and poor conditions closing civil rights to recognize citizen entities, which has been the opening for ASTRA Investment to seize community land since 1991.
The community's resistance in Dusun Kabuyu to reclaim their land began in 2003, when the community realized that PT Mamuang had been planting outside their HGU, such as oil palm located along the Pasangkayu watershed less than 50 meters from the riverbank. Since then, the people of Kaili Tado have slowly occupied the oil palm land planted by PT Mamuang and managed the land around their area. Resistance was also conveyed by taking action against companies and local governments to demand the return of their land. In 2006, the company then mobilized a number of police and company thugs (centeng) to oppress and intimidate the public into silencing their three-year resistance.
In early January 2022, the Indonesian government issued Decree No. SK.01/MENLHK/SETJEN/KUM.1/1/2022 concerning Revocation of Forest Area Concession Permits, although PT Mamuang's concession is not included in the list of companies whose forest permits were revoked despite problems, the indigenous people of Kaili Tado consider this moment to reclaim their land . After the issuance of the decree, they returned to occupy another area previously planted by PT Mamuang which is believed to be customary land and is outside the HGU area of PT Mamuang. After two months of occupation, on February 27, 2022 PT Mamuang, with complete escort from the Pasangkayu Police, isolating Kabuyu Village by cutting off a number of road access for the Kaili Tado community by making a ditch to close the road. They also intimidated the Kaili Tado indigenous community by mobilizing a number of thugs.
It is important to note that the rampant criminalization carried out by palm oil companies does not only occur in Kabuyu or is carried out by PT Mamuang. Conflicts that often occur and are unavoidable in the circle of oil palm plantations do not escape the government's fault in ensuring all requirements are met. For example, in the process of issuing oil palm plantation permits, each company is required to fulfill a number of requirements such as IUP, INLOK (Location Permit), Land Acquisition, and HGU (Hak Guna Usaha). However, in each stage of the licensing process there are requirements that are not completed at each stage of the licensing process, causing problems in the next licensing process. This is also due to the weak principle of FPIC (Free Prior Informed Consent) free, free consent given by communities affected by oil palm companies.
Responding to frequent criminalization by PT Mamuang, Khairul Syahputra, Head of the Campaign and Advocacy Department of WALHI Central Sulawesi stated, “Almost half a century ASTRA Group in Central Sulawesi and West Sulawesi has been doing oil palm plantation business by robbing people of their livelihood space, and causing structural poverty for the people. community in the circle of investment. The massive land conflict between the community and ASTRA today is an accumulation of business impacts that started with land grabbing. Criminalization and intimidation are used as weapons by ASTRA to quell the resistance of the people who today demand the return of their rights." Obviously.
“WALHI urges ASTRA to return community lands that have been confiscated and stop all attempts to criminalize and intimidate residents. WALHI also urges the government to undertake reconstruction and re-audit all acquisitions of ASTRA land permits in Central Sulawesi and West Sulawesi.” added Khairul.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Mar 9, 2022
- Event Description
The terror acts still haunt the residents of RW 11 Tamansari Village, Bandung City who reject the row house construction project (rudet).
Residents are haunted by acts of terror by unknown people who destroy their homes.
A resident or anti-eviction activist from the Tamansari Bersatu Forum, Eva Eryani Efendi reported that the destruction by unknown persons was most recently discovered on 19 and 23 March 2022. A fish pond and windows of his house were broken.
However, no valuables were lost, Eva also suspected that the perpetrator did not intend to steal but sent a threatening signal.
Eva used to open a confectionery business at home, since the eviction of Tamansari in 2019 she lost her livelihood and is now a daily laborer at a sewing house in Bandung. The destruction usually happens when Eva is out of the house for work.
"We found that our house, our fighting post was damaged by unknown people. The atmosphere of the dwelling became chaotic," he said recently.
To Suara.com, Eva showed the broken window. Now it's been patched again. There was also a fish pond barrier that was also damaged, the water was dry and the fish disappeared. In fact, it is one of the residents' self-help food sources.
Similar damage had occurred on February 11, 2021. The vegetable garden managed by the residents was ransacked by a group of people.
At that time, there were also attacks and intimidation not only against residents but also legal assistants and a journalist. Some of them were injured and taken to the hospital.
The incident has been reported to the Bandung Police. However, according to Eva, a year has passed and the handling of the case has not progressed.
For this experience, Eva is pessimistic and disappointed. The reason is that this time the residents chose not to report the recent incident.
"If you report to the police a case that has not continued at that time, no one has been declared the perpetrator, so for this case I will not report to the police because it is useless to report to the police, where there has been no progress in the past," said Eva.
In addition to criticism of the police's performance, Eva said, the choice not to report is also a symbol of criticism of the treatment of Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, who reported human rights activists Haris Azhar and Fatia to the police.
It is known that Haris Azhar is the director of Lokataru and Fatia Maulidiyanti is the coordinator of KontraS. They have been named as suspects based on Luhut's report.
The report that was sent to the two of them originated from the video content of Haris and Fatia on YouTube. There, they alluded to the allegation that Luhut was involved in the mining business in Papua.
Eva could not stand to speak up for Luhut's actions, which she said were a form of criminalization or repression against civilians, especially human rights defenders, including those who often fight for land rights.
"This country with a government that is now so brave (oppresses) to its people, to its citizens they use power," he said.
Eva believes that what Haris and Fatia convey is data from a research result. Luhut should have responded with research or scientific data, not a report to the police. According to Eva, Luhut is childish.
As a satire, Eva gave diapers and pacifiers to the minister, who is often called Lord Luhut.
"I'm really angry. I want to give him a diaper with a pacifier, right. Yes, it's because it's childish," he said. "Even if I have to be in front of Luhut, I'll say it like that, okay, if you say the ITE Law is geus weh wanina ka me, I'm sorry that you've been arrested, ambeh loba deui my suffering. )," said Eva. More about this source text Source text required for additional translation information Send feedback Side panels
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to property
- HRD
- Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 7, 2022
- Event Description
Authorities in Phnom Penh arrested another 180 striking employees of the NagaWorld Casino Monday as the fight against the Hong-Kong based company enters a third month.
Thousands of workers walked off their jobs in mid-December, demanding higher wages and the reinstatement of several jailed union leaders and 365 workers they say were unjustly fired from the hotel and casino, which is owned by a Hong Kong-based company believed to have connections to family members of Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Cambodian authorities have called the strike “illegal” and alleged that it is supported by foreign donors as a plot to topple the government. But a series of arrests in recent weeks have been attributed to alleged violations of pandemic health regulations in Cambodia’s capital. Activists said the charges were trumped up to break up the strike.
On Monday, dozens of security officers forced the 180 strikers onto buses and transported them to a quarantine center in the city’s suburbs for processing. The workers maintain that they have been following quarantine rules.
“The authorities accuse us relentlessly. I ask where is the will to find a solution for the people who have been exploited by foreign companies? Where is the justice for the Cambodian people?” Miech Srey Oun, a worker who has now been arrested twice, told RFA’s Khmer Service.
“The company tried to turn our dispute with the company over to the authorities, even though we, the workers, had a dispute with the employers only, not with the authorities,” she said.
Miech Srey Oun said that a bus released the workers into the hot sun. The strikers were not given food and water, she said.
Chinn Usaphea, another striking casino employee, told RFA that the strike is a last resort. She and her coworkers exhausted all other options in hope of resolving their dispute with NagaWorld. She is now calling on Hun Sen to step in and solve the dispute.
“As citizen, I would like to ask the Samdech father Hun Sen to look at his children in NagaWorld, because we need to be stable in the workplace and to have unions in the workplace,” she said.
“He should tell the relevant ministries to stand neutral to encourage the NagaWorld employers to come out and deal with their grieving staff to end this long-standing dispute,” she said.
RFA could not reach Phnom Penh City Hall spokesman Met Meas Pheakdey and Ministry of Labor spokesman Heng Sour for comment.
The authorities should release the detained union representatives and let them solve the issue with NagaWorld, Ny Sokha, president of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association, told RFA.
Once the union leaders are free, they can negotiate and the strikers would have no reason to demonstrate, he said.
He noted that the government, which has called for talks to end the war in Ukraine, could handle this much smaller dispute.
“This is such a small thing compared to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. So, I think the government is not so incompetent that it cannot solve the NagaWorld issue,” he said. “But this depends on the will of the government to solve the problem. That requires will of the government to uphold justice for the workers, who need help from the government.”
On March 4, two NagaWorld strikers were placed under judicial surveillance in connection with allegations that they had prevented other NagaWorld workers from taking COVID-19 tests, which the two workers denied.
As one of the largest casinos in Phnom Penh, NagaWorld had a total of over 8,000 workers before the strike. The number has been reduced to slightly over 6,000 after the cutbacks that caused the strike.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 7, 2022
- Event Description
On March 7, 2022, Tran Thanh Phuong was released into home surveillance for another two years, after completing his sentence. However, instead of allowing him to return to his home in Ho Chi Minh City, the An Phuoc prison officer took Phuong to Hue, a city in central Vietnam, without any explanation. Phuong’s wife, Le Khanh, posted a message on Facebook asking for help resolving the issue since her husband currently doesn’t have a job and is sheltering temporarily with a relative.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Mar 5, 2022
- Event Description
The state’s strict stance guarding royal processions has been underlined once again as an activist was arrested and charged with lèse majesté and violation of the Computer Crime Act for live-streaming herself at a royal procession and questioning the priorities of the police and the King as protesters were cleared from the route.
On 6 March, Nang Loeng Police Station charged Tantawan ‘Tawan’ Tuatulanon, 20, an activist on the issue of monarchy reform and abolition of the lèse majesté law, with 5 counts of resisting officers, violating the Computer Crimes Act and royal defamation for her actions on 5 March. She was sent to court for a temporary detention order on 7 March.
On the evening of 5 March, Tantawan was arrested on Ratchadamnoen Nok Road, the route of King Vajiralongkorn’s procession.
Her Facebook livestream shows her questioning the way the authorities cleared the road in preparation for the procession by removing protesting farmers who had been living in a makeshift shelter on the footpath for 3 months, demanding that the government solve the agricultural debt problem, a promise they had made 2 decades ago.
In her live broadcast, Tantawan expressed her excitement at seeing real horses from the cavalry and questioning the perspective of the King and police in clearing the protesters away from the scene instead of coming to listen to their grievances. Her insistence on broadcasting live despite police orders for her to stop led to her arrest 49 minutes into the broadcast.
The broadcast included phrases like “What route is this? Can I see the horses? Can I look at the horses? Can I come for a close look?”, “The farmers’ protest has to move … so you should know that the farmers’ protest must be moved because one person is coming”, and “Let’s remember that the farmers’ protest has to move. Instead of going to listening to their problems, they have chased them off just because one person is coming. So let’s remember, between the people and the monarch, who is more important.”
The broadcast was deemed by the police to negatively affect the King, possibly causing viewers to hate the King and to misunderstand the situation because the farmer protesters willingly stepped aside ahead of the procession.
The arrest was made by about 60 police officers ahead of the motorcade's arrival. Tantawan was taken to Phaya Thai Police Station while still live broadcasting the incident in the police vehicle. Fearing that her supporters would follow her, the police decided to move her to the Police Club on the outskirts of Bangkok in Lak Si.
Tantawan was detained in the Narcotics Suppression Bureau located inside the Police Club from 5 March to 7 March when she has been granted bail on a 100,000-baht security and the conditions that she must not repeat her offense or participate in activities which damage the monarchy, and must wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.
While waiting for the result of her bail request, officers from Pathumwan Police Station came to notify Tantawan that they have charged her with royal defamation and sedition for conducting a poll on royal motorcades at Siam Paragon on 8 February 2022.
It must be noted that it took almost 2 hours for a lawyer to meet Tantawan after arriving at the Police Club despite the right in the Criminal Code for those arrested to meet a lawyer.
According to Tantawan and her friend who was able meet her before the investigation process, Tantawan was detained with drug-related crime suspects. The royal defamation and Computer Crime offences added to the charge sheet on Sunday, a day after she was charged while detained in the Police Club with resisting officers. The bail process was therefore suspended due to the gravity of the charges.
Throughout her detention, people could be seen in front of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau facility waiting for her release. Red ribbons were tied to the locked entrance gate as a symbol of support.
A royal defamation offense stemming from Tantawan’s live broadcast raised questions about how the law is being given an even wider interpretation by criminalising people who dare to cross the long-time taboo against criticizing the monarchy.
Anon Nampa, human rights lawyer and famous monarchy reform advocate posted on Facebook that the police charge was an insult to the judicial system. The police will be held responsible if the Thai judicial system begins to look untrustworthy in the eyes of the world.
Somsak Jeamteerasakul, an exiled academic well-known as a monarchy critic, posted the charge sheet, highlighting the allegedly offending phrase “...between the people and the monarch, who is more important.”
According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), 83 activists and civilians have reported police surveillance and harassment before or during royal processions countrywide in January and February 2022. In 2021, TLHR reported 291 similar cases.
TLHR cited the royal processions as the main reason for the harassment because the police often asked if any action would be staged along the routes of royal processions. The police also put heavy restrictions on targeted individuals to keep them away from the vicinity of royal processions.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 5, 2022
- Event Description
More than 100 Vietnamese villagers demanding title to their land were attacked and beaten on Saturday by assailants wearing civilian clothes while police looked on and refused to intervene, according to local sources.
The attack in Dien Ban town in central Vietnam’s Quang Nam province came after petitioners set up tents and raised banners in front of the town’s People’s Committee headquarters, asking for their right to land for which they paid five years ago, sources said.
Roads leading to Dien Ban had already been blocked to prevent access to the town center when protesters arrived, a petitioner named Nguyen Thi Thanh Tam told RFA on Monday.
“However, a large number of us managed to push our way through and reached the place where we raised our banners and set up mats and blankets, planning to stay there till today.”
A group of around 30 men wearing face masks, helmets and civilian clothes then arrived and attacked the group, beating petitioners including children and elderly women, Tam said.
“They even sprayed us with fire extinguishers and took away our tents, illegally detaining protesters and taking them to a nearby police station,” she added.
Traffic police present at the scene did nothing to prevent the assault, Tam said, noting that the unidentified attackers appeared to be working in coordination with local authorities to attack and disperse the protest.
“After all, the roads to the town center had been cordoned off, so how could they get to where we were?” she asked.
Thugs associated with the police have frequently been used by Vietnamese authorities in the past to break up land-rights protests or attack political dissidents or members of unsanctioned religious groups, sources say.
Saturday’s protest was the latest attempt by petitioners to secure title to land lots purchased from the Bach Dat An Stock Company, which accepted villagers’ payments for the land but have yet to acknowledge ownership, sources say.
A March 5 report by state-owned newspaper Lao Dong (Labor) said that petitioners had set up tents and raised banners in front of the People’s Committee headquarters, but had taken down the tents themselves and dispersed quietly on their own.
No mention of the assault on protesters was made in the article, which quoted the committee’s deputy chairman.
Calls seeking comment from Dien Ban Town Party Chief Dan Huu Lien and Village Chairman Tran Uc were not picked up this week.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 5, 2022
- Event Description
The Vietnamese authorities stopped several pro-democracy supporters from attending an event in Hanoi in support of Ukraine on March 5, 2022, following the Russian invasion, Human Rights Watch said today. The Ukrainian Embassy was holding “a charity bazaar dedicated to raising funds for people in need in Ukraine.”
The Vietnamese government routinely violates freedom of movement and other basic rights by subjecting activists, dissidents, human rights defenders, and others to indefinite house arrest, harassment, and other forms of detention to keep them from attending protests, criminal trials, meetings with foreign dignitaries, and other events. At times, the authorities detain people just long enough to make them miss the event.
“Vietnamese security agents frequently restrict activists’ movements, blocking them from leaving their homes or neighborhood to prevent them from attending an event the government considers problematic,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Now the Vietnamese government has extended its policy of repressing activism by preventing people from showing support for the embattled people of Ukraine.”
Hoang Ha (known as Song Que), a rights supporter, reported that the evening before the Ukrainian charity event, security agents from ward and district levels asked her whether she planned to attend. On the morning of March 5, a security agent in civilian clothes prevented her from leaving her house even though she promised that she would only go to a friend’s house for lunch.
Dang Bich Phuong wrote on her Facebook page, “Ukrainian people, please sympathize with us. When we express our support for you online, our accounts got blocked. When we tried to take to the street to support you, they blocked our doors. At least, Ukrainian people enjoy more freedom than we do.” Among six friends that Dang Bich Phuong had invited to her house for lunch before heading to the charity event in the afternoon, only three were allowed to go to her house. Each of them brought along a “tail” of two security agents who were apparently told to prevent them from going to the bazaar after lunch. Dang Bich Phuong wrote that, when she went down to pick up the food she ordered, she saw “a row of six guys sitting in the lobby.” As a result, Dang Bich Phuong and her friends realized they would not be permitted to go to the bazaar.
Security agents prevented at least eight democracy campaigners from going to the Ukrainian Embassy’s event: Nguyen Xuan Dien, Hoang Ha, Nguyen Nguyen Binh, Nguyen Khanh Tram, Nguyen Van Vien, Pham Thi Lan (wife of political prisoner Nguyen Tuong Thuy), Dang Bich Phuong, and Nguyen Hoang Anh.
During the March 2, 2022 vote at the United Nations General Assembly on passage of a resolution calling on Russia to end its military offensive in Ukraine and denouncing Russia’s violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, Vietnam abstained.
As Human Rights Watch detailed in its February report, “Locked Inside Our Home: Movement Restrictions on Rights Activists in Vietnam,” the Vietnamese government frequently uses various methods to keep people under house arrest, such as stationing plainclothes security agents outside homes, using padlocks to lock people inside, erecting roadblocks and other barriers to prevent people from leaving their homes and others from entering, mobilizing neighborhood thugs to intimidate people into staying home, and applying very strong adhesives – such as “superglue” – on locks.
In a separate case on March 2, the poet Thai Hao left his house in Thanh Hoa for the airport. He planned to fly to Ho Chi Minh City to receive an award for poetry at an informal ceremony organized by the literary group Van Viet. Thai Hao reported that prior to his trip, security agents went to his house and “advised” him not to go. He was determined to go, but before he could get very far, uniformed police stopped him on the road. Two men in civilian clothes then crossed the street and attacked him, hitting him in the face.
Initially, the uniformed police did not intervene. Only when Thai Hao yelled repeatedly for help did the police at the scene tell the two men to stop hitting him. The police fined Thai Hao for violating traffic laws and took him to the police station, keeping him there for three hours. Thai Hao missed his flight and had to return home.
Hoang Hung, a poet involved in organizing the informal Van Viet gathering, wrote that the authorities prevented all invitees who lived outside of Ho Chi Minh City from attending the event. Those who lived in Ho Chi Minh City met at a café on March 3, surrounded by plainclothes security agents. When one participant raised a piece of paper with the names of the awardees, a security agent snatched the paper out of his hand.
On March 7, Van Viet published a letter that “denounces the government’s obstruction of its awards and harassment of its recipients.”
“Vietnamese police and security officers harass and abuse critics and rights activists in the most blatant ways, always with total impunity,” Robertson said. “Concerned governments should urgently condemn this litany of abuses and call for an end to the authorities’ violations of people’s right to freedom of movement because of their beliefs and speech.”
- Impact of Event
- 8
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 2, 2022
- Event Description
A major students’ union has said it fears for the lives of two students and a teacher who were arrested in Mandalay last week for involvement in the movement against the junta.
Student activists Aung Myo Ko and Thiri Yadanar were detained on Wednesday evening along with Kyaw Zin Latt, a teacher taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), a member of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) said.
A large number of soldiers raided Thiri Yadanar’s home in Amarapura Township to make the arrests, said the union member, who asked to remain anonymous. “They were arrested while the three of them were meeting at Thiri Yadanar’s house,” he said.
“I think they were tipped off by someone. Aung Myo Ko was beaten during his arrest. I heard the house was sealed off as well,” he added.
Aung Myo Ko is the chair of the Mandalay Education Degree College Student Union, while Thiri Yadanar is secretary of the ABFSU in upper Myanmar. Kyaw Zin Latt is a teacher at the Magway Tayar Middle School in Singu Township. The three are all in their 20s.
Before their arrests, they had been helping the families of activists detained at Obo Prison to send care packages to their loved ones, the ABSFU member said.
He added that the three are being interrogated at the Amarapura Township Police Station and that he was worried the military would falsely accuse them of being involved with the People's Defence Force (PDF) and file unfounded charges against them.
“They were only involved in the actions of the ABFSU,” he said. “They have no affiliations with the PDF at all. I heard anti-terrorism charges are going to be filed agaisnt them. We are very worried about their safety and for their lives.”.
Police and military officials could not be reached for comment.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Public Servant, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 1, 2022
- Event Description
Vietnam’s security forces continue political suppression which started in late 2015, arresting Ho Chi Minh City-based human rights activist and civil society campaigner Tran Van Bang (aka Tran Bang) on March 1 and charged him with “conducting anti-state propanda” under Article 117 with potential imprisonment of between seven and 12 years, even 20 years in prison.
According to local activists, the HCM City’s police broke into his private residence in the Tuesday’s morning when he was alone at home. The state-controlled media reported that police also conducted a house search and confiscated a number of documents with “anti-state” content.
Citing information from the city’s Police Department, the state-controlled newspapers reported that the local police probed the case on November 24 last year.
Like other political cases, Mr. Bang, 61, likely will be held incommunicado for at least four months during the investigation period.
Before being arrested, Mr. Bang was summoned by the local police twice and he warned his friends that he would be arrested soon.
In late 2021, he announced to close his Facebook page Tran Bang to focus on his health. He reportedly has a number of health issues in recent years, including eye vision but has not been treated properly due to Covid-19 pandemic and social isolation due to the deadly outbreak.
Mr. Bang, an engineer in construction, has been involved in social affairs more than a decade ago. He is among well-known government critics, and often gives interviews to foreign media such as Radio Free Asia, Voice of America, and BBC.
He has actively participated in peaceful demonstrations in HCM City and Hanoi since 2011 to protest China’s violations of Vietnam’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea). He was detained many times by security force, and in a protest in 2015, he was brutally beaten by security forces.
Bang has been the second activist being detained and charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda” since the beginning of 2022. On January 10, blogger Le Manh Ha got arrested for his posts on Facebook on a number of issues, including systemic corruption and land grabbing across the country.
According to Defend the Defenders’ latest statistics, Vietnam is holding at least 254 prisoners of conscience, including 37 in pre-trial detention. Hanoi always denies holding prisoners of conscience but only law violators. Among them are 12 activists in pre-trial detention and 50 convicted activists alleged of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the Penal Code (1999) or Article 117 of the Criminal Code (2015), the controversial accusation the international community has urged Vietnam’s authoritarian regime to remove from the country’s law because it has been used for decades to silence peaceful government critics.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
Case shared by Defend the Defenders Vietnam
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Feb 28, 2022
- Event Description
Background
Tuan was born in Quang Nam Province and currently lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City. He graduated from the history program at the University of Da Nang, and now is also pursuing a law degree at Hanoi Law University.
Profile photo source. History of Activism
Tuan is a young professional that showed his concern for human rights in Vietnam starting at a very young age. He has participated in the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam since 2015 and joined many collective movements across the country. According to journalist Pham Doan Trang, Tuan has always dreamed of writing the first historical book on the democratization of Vietnam.
Details of Imprisonment
According to certain news sources in Vietnam, the authorities intend to combine the cases of Pham Chi Dung, Pham Chi Thanh, and Le Huu Minh Tuan into one case with Le Huu Minh Tuan acting as an accomplice. All are members of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam.
October 2020:
The government has finished its investigation of Nguyen Tuong Thuy and Le Huu Minh Tuan. Thuy’s wife said their lawyer will be Nguyen Van Mieng. Some observers expected that the trial would be held soon.
November 2020:
Lawyers for jailed journalists Pham Chi Dung, Nguyen Tuong Thuy, and Le Huu Minh Tuan say they have finally received paperwork that allows them to start working on the cases on behalf of their clients, after the Procuracy office finished its investigation. Attorney Nguyen Van Mieng reported that since their arrests, the three men have not yet been allowed to talk to a lawyer. He also said the men were allowed to receive supplies sent by their families on November 6, but he was not able to see them due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Attorney Nguyen Van Mieng, lawyer for Pham Chi Dung, Nguyen Tuong Thuy, and Le Huu Minh Tuan, said the order for their temporary detention was signed on November 12, 2020, allowing for three months and 15 days of additional detention. It is thus expected that their first instance trials will take place toward the end of January 2021. Dung said that after reading the 12-page indictment against him, “I could not see where I broke the law.” Thuy said, “Of the 45 articles attributed to me, some weren’t even mine.” He said he’d appeal the indictment within 15 days.
January 2021:
Three members of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN) were sentenced to a total of 37 years in prison after a trial lasting half a day. Pham Chi Dung, 55, received 15 years; Nguyen Tuong Thuy, 69, received 11 years; and Le Huu Minh Tuan, 32, received 11 years. All three were convicted of “anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the 2015 Criminal Code. Thuy is known to be in poor health; the long sentences could cause serious health problems. You can read our analysis of the trial here. Before his sentencing, Thuy made this statement: “All my articles are just yearnings for our people and our country. In the future, activities like mine will be considered perfectly normal.” Dung said, “A harsh sentence for independent journalists like us will show the world what ‘freedom of the press’ looks like in Vietnam. It’ll also create problems in international relations during this difficult period.”
The authorities accused the three of writing “reactionary content,” of publishing articles that “distort the truth, incite individuals to rise up and overthrow the people’s government, or even incite hatred and extremism.” However, a video of Tuan highlights the peaceful nature of his work and aspirations. He contends that he joined the IJAVN, a purely civil and professional entity, to pursue the rights enshrined in Vietnam’s Constitution. He also emphasizes, explicitly, that his objective is never to topple the current regime. Please watch and share this video of Le Huu Minh Tuan speaking in his own words.
Update, late January: Le Huu Minh Tuan has decided to appeal his prison sentence. He appears to be in good health and spirits, according to his lawyer, Dang Dinh Manh.
June 2021:
The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) issued an opinion on Le Huu Minh Tuan, in which they found Le Huu Minh Tuan’s detention to be arbitrary and called for his immediate release.
The WGAD also noted that this case is one of many cases brought before the Working Group in recent years concerning arbitrary detention in Viet Nam. These cases follow a familiar pattern of arrest that does not comply with international norms, which is manifested in the circumstances of the arrest, lengthy detention pending trial with no access to judicial review, denial or limiting of access to legal counsel, incommunicado detention, prosecution under vaguely worded criminal offences for the peaceful exercise of human rights, and denial of access to the outside world. This pattern indicates a systemic problem with arbitrary detention in Viet Nam which, if it continues, may amount to a serious violation of international law.
February 2022:
On February 28 an appeals court in Ho Chi Minh City upheld the 11-year sentence for Le Huu Minh Tuan, a member of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN), on charges of “anti-state propaganda.” The open trial lasted only half a day and Tuan’s family was not allowed inside the courtroom. Tuan’s sister, Le Thi Hoai Tam, told VOA that Tuan was not allowed to see his lawyer, Dang Dinh Manh, before the trial due to “pandemic reasons.” According to his lawyer, Tuan stated in court that he only exercised his basic freedoms of expression and of the press according to Article 25 of the Constitution.
We talked to Le Thi Hoai Tam, Tuan’s sister. Like many other families of political prisoners in Vietnam, they have faced harassment from the law enforcement to visit and send Tuan necessities. Ms. Tam calls on the international community to speak out forcefully for the release of Tuan and members of the Independent Journalist Association. Watch the interview to learn more about Tuan and his personality through the eyes of his sister and the family.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 28, 2022
- Event Description
Four student leaders held in Yangon’s notorious Insein Prison for nearly a year have been sentenced to three years with hard labour for incitement, according to their lawyers.
Wai Yan Phyo Moe, Sitt Naing, Lay Pyay Soe Moe, and Thuta Soe were among hundreds arrested last March for taking part in protests in Yangon’s Tamwe Township.
All four were found guilty of violating Section 505a of the Penal Code for their part in leading the protests. They were tried by a special prison court and sentenced on Monday, their lawyers said.
“They were very calm and collected when they received the sentence. But I’m worried about Wai Yan Phyo Moe, as he has a history inside the prison,” said Thet Naung, the lawyer representing Wai Yan Phyo Moe and Sitt Naing.
Wai Yan Phyo Moe, who is vice president of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, was previously sentenced to two years and one month in prison for taking part in a campaign calling for the restoration of internet access in Rakhine State in 2020.
He is also facing other incitement charges related to his anti-coup activism last year.
Wai Yan Phyo Moe, Sitt Naing, and Lay Pyay Soe Moe were also tortured and placed in solitary confinement for taking part in a protest inside Insein Prison last July, according to statements released by their respective organisations at the time.
Sitt Naing, who is also known as Zaw Htet Naing, is the vice chair of the Yangon Educational University Student Union, while Lay Pyay Soe Moe is a central executive officer of the Yangon University Student Union.
Thuta Soe, who is a member of the Yankin Educational College Student Union, was among seven prisoners singled out for mistreatment by prison authorities for not complying with orders, Myanmar Now reported last June.
Aung Kaung Sett, the chair of the Yangon University Student Union, said the fact that all four had received the maximum sentence for their alleged offences reflected the junta’s attitude towards its opponents, but would do nothing to deter others from resisting its rule.
“We will continue to hold fast to our anti-dictatorship policies, as we always have,” he said.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), the regime has detained more than 12,000 people since seizing power last February. Of these, at least 9,437 were still behind bars as of March 1, the group says on its website.
The regime has also killed nearly 1,600 civilians since the coup, according to the AAPP’s latest figures.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Feb 27, 2022
- Event Description
The Commission on Human Rights condemned the ambush of Infanta, Quezon mayor Filipina Grace America on Wednesday as it vowed to launch its own probe into the attempted killing.
To recall, local police reported that the mayor was on her way home from church when her vehicle was repeatedly shot by unidentified gunmen in Poblacion Uno, Infanta, Quezon on Sunday, February 27.
In a statement, the CHR said that it launched its investigation "in hopes that our independent investigation may help in holding perpetrators to account."
"It is deeply alarming that violations of human rights are becoming more brazen—committed in broad daylight and without regard for human life," lawyer Jacqueline de Guia, CHR spokesperson said.
"Under a democratic society, any dispute—may it be politically-motivated or otherwise—should never be settled through the barrel of a gun."
America is running for re-election in Infanta.
She and her office also voiced strong opposition to the construction of Kaliwa Dam, which advocates say will submerge parts of Quezon and Rizal provinces, threaten wildlife and biodiversity, and displace indigenous communities in the area.
She is still recovering after sustaining gunshot wounds in different parts of her body, the Philippine National Police.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Public Servant, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 26, 2022
- Event Description
Activist Tantawan “Tawan” Tuatulanon was arrested on Saturday (26 February 2022), after she conducted a poll on whether the royal defamation law should be repealed and attempted to deliver the poll result to the Grand Palace.
Carrying red and blue ribbons, Tantawan asked passengers on the BTS sky train, the MRT underground and public buses to vote on whether the royal defamation law, or Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code, should be repealed by tying a ribbon to the handrails on the train or bus, red if they want the law repealed, blue if they think it should remain.
Throughout the afternoon, Tantawan took the BTS from the Victory Monument station to the Kan Kheha station, before transferring to the MRT and travelling to the Sanam Chai station. After a small clash with police officers at the Sanam Chai station entrance, she boarded a public bus and continue conducting her poll on the way to Sanam Luang. During her journey, a majority of passengers were seen taking red ribbons and tying them to handrails.
Since November 2020, the number of people charged with royal defamation has risen rapidly. According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), at least 173 people have been charged with royal defamation for political expression and participation in pro-democracy protests. Several protest leaders are facing multiple counts, including Parit Chiwarak, who is facing 23 counts; Anon Nampa, 14 counts; Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, 10 counts; Panupong Jadnok, 9 counts; and Benja Apan, 7 counts.
An online petition to repeal the royal defamation law was launched in November 2021 and gained over 100,000 signatures within 24 hours of its launch. It gained over 240,000 signatures before becoming inaccessible. Any attempt to access the site was redirected to a screen saying that it has been suspended by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society for violating the Computer Crimes Act. If accessed via https URL on the Google Chrome browser, the browser shows a privacy warning.
While on her way to the Grand Palace, intending to deliver the result of her poll, Tantawan was arrested by police officers near the Ministry of Defence and was carried away by a group of women police officers.
She was taken to Samranrat Police Station where THLR reported that her hands were restrained with cable ties, and she was denied access to a trusted person to go inside the police station with her. Tantawan’s friends had to negotiate with the police to be able to see her.
After spending three hours in detention, she was charged with refusing to comply with an officer’s order under Section 268 of the Criminal Code, and received a fine of 5000 baht. TLHR said that her phone was confiscated while she was detained, and that there were bruises on her hands from the cable ties.
Tantawan said that her intention was to go to the Grand Palace. She said that all she has was ribbons and would not have been able to cause any harm, and that she only intended to show that a large number of people wanted to have the royal defamation law repealed and that the online petition for the repeal has been blocked.
She also said that police officers were talking on the phone while she was being taken to the police station, and that she heard them asking the person on the phone what charge they should file against her. She said that when she was detained on the police van, the officers could not tell her which law she had violated.
Nevertheless, Tantawan said that she will continue her campaign, and that she considered Saturday’s event a success since most participants in the poll wanted the royal defamation law repealed.
Tantawan previously conducted a poll at Siam Paragon shopping mall on 8 February 2022 on whether people think they face trouble from royal motorcades, along with activists from the Thaluwang (“Through the palace”) group, which she has since left. She is now campaigning independently.
During that event, two activists walked around the mall holding a piece of paper saying “Do you think royal motorcades cause problems?” on which people could place a sticker to cast their vote. The event faced obstruction from mall security, who stood in front of the activists, as well as announcements that the mall is a private area and permission must be granted before any event can take place or the management will press charges. They also followed the activists while they were inside the mall, but despite the blockade, people continued to vote on the activists’ poll.
After completing their activity inside the mall, the activists walked to nearby Sa Pathum Palace, Princess Sirindhorn’s residence, intending to deliver the result of the poll. They were blocked by police officers near the palace entrance. Plainclothes officers took hold of one of the activists from behind and tore the cardboard poll sign out of her hands.
A 22-year-old woman who participated in the royal motorcade poll also said that police officers visited her at home after the event. She was not one of the organizers, but went to observe the event and take pictures. She admits that she became directly involved in the proceedings when police officers tried to stop the event and a small clash took place. She said that this was the first time she had been visited by the police.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Singapore
- Initial Date
- Feb 25, 2022
- Event Description
The sentencing of Singaporean activist Jolovan Wham highlights the increasingly repressive space for activists and human rights defenders in Singapore, said the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, and Think Centre in a joint statement today.
On 25 February 2022, Jolovan Wham was fined S$3,000 (approximately USD$2,200) after being found guilty of violating the Public Order Act in January. In 2018, Wham held a one-person protest outside of the former State Courts building by holding a sign urging for charges against The Online Citizen editor Terry Xu and writer Daniel De Costa to be dropped for alleged defamation over an article on corruption. Wham uploaded his photo with the sign on Facebook. In its ruling last month, the court reasoned that Wham was aware that holding assemblies without official permission was prohibited.
‘Wham’s conviction merely for exercising his right to free expression is part of a wider pattern of harassment and intimidation against activists and defenders in Singapore. The continuous judicial harassment he is subjected to is meant to intimidate Singaporeans into silence,’ said FORUM-ASIA.
In recent years, Wham has faced harassment over his activism. Last year, Wham faced a separate charge for illegal assembly under the Public Order Act for holding a cardboard with a smiley face drawn on it in front of the Toa Payoh Central Community Club in Singapore. He was also fined a total of S$8,000 for organising a silent protest on the MRT train in 2017 on the 30th anniversary of the detention of activists under the draconian Internal Security Act. In 2019, he was convicted for violating the Public Order Act after organising an event titled ‘Civil Disobedience and Social Movements’ without a permit. In 2018, he was also charged with contempt of court over his dissent in a court decision on political cases.
In 2021, CIVICUS Monitor which ranks countries based on their civic space rating downgraded Singapore’s civic space from ‘obstructed’ to ‘repressed’ due to the deterioration of freedom of speech and the media, and the use of repressive legislation against critics, journalists and civil society.
‘The recent sentencing of Jolovan Wham reaffirms our position to downgrade Singapore’s civic space, which has consistently shrunk in recent years. Beyond the targeting of Wham and other activists, the government has imposed a crackdown on fundamental freedoms including through the use of repressive laws including the Public Order Act, POFMA and FICA,’ said CIVICUS.
Singapore’s 2009 Public Order Act defines the ‘assembly’ as including ‘a demonstration by a person alone’, and penalises individuals who organise assemblies without permission to a fine of up to $5,000. Journalists and critics have faced defamation charges for publishing information about State actors under overly broad legislation while the Protection Against Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) has been used to target the opposition, activists and critics. A new Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act (FICA) passed last year, provides the government powers to target individuals seen to be acting on behalf of a foreign national.
‘The string of charges and conviction of Jolovan is a sad and stark reminder that Singapore remains a repressive State. Years of oppressive laws have conditioned Singaporeans to be fearful without safe spaces to express their thoughts on social and political matters. The international community must do more to hold the Singapore government accountable for judicial harassment against human rights defenders,’ shared Think Centre.
During Singapore’s third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2021, States urged Singapore to revise legislation restricting the right to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and associate and ensure the full enjoyment of the fundamental rights. Singapore, however, rejected the majority of recommendations related to civic space.
‘Singapore’s continuous refusal to address its worsening human rights situation should raise concerns within the wider international community. Its political and economic influence in Southeast Asia risks further perpetuating and reinforcing such authoritarian trends in other countries. Singapore must end its judicial harassment of Wham and other defenders, repeal its repressive laws, and commit towards taking genuine steps to improve and widen its civic space,’ said the groups.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Feb 24, 2022
- Event Description
The military said that five alleged New People’s Army (NPA) rebels were killed after a series of encounters with soldiers in Davao de Oro on Thursday morning, February 24. Two of those slain, however, were known teachers of Lumad schools.
Captain Mark Anthony Tito, information officer of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, identified one of those killed as activist and volunteer community school teacher Chad Booc, who gained prominence after he and several others were accused of training Lumad “child warriors” at the University of San Carlos Talamban campus in Cebu City in early 2021. The university denied that the children received military training in its campus.
Tito said the other one who died was Jojarain Alce Nguho III, a volunteer teacher at the Community Technical College of Southern Mindanao in Barangay Lapu-lapu, Maco, Davao de Oro.
The military referred to the two as among the alleged NPA members killed in a series of encounters with soldiers in Purok 8, Barangay Andap, New Bataan town in Davao de Oro on Thursday.
Tito said the soldiers did not immediately know that Booc was one of the casualities. “The soldiers did not know it was Booc until he was positively identified by one former rebel,” he added.
Tito said civilian residents had alerted soldiers of the 1001st Infantry Brigade to the presence of rebels foraging for food in a hinterland village.
“The firefight started at around 4 am and lasted throughout the morning. There were three encounters in the forested section of the village,” Tito said.
Tito said that based on the documents found at the scene, the estimated 20 rebels apparently belonged to the NPA-Southern Mindanao Regional Committee and its regional operational command. He said they fled after the firefights and left behind the slain victims.
Also found in the area were an M653 rifle, a caliber .45 pistol, a grenade, and an anti-personnel landmine, according to Tito.
Booc graduated cum laude from the University of the Philippines-Diliman with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. After he graduated, Booc volunteered as a Mathematics teacher at the Alternative Learning Center Agricultural Development (ALCADEV), a school for lumad children in Lianga, Surigao del Sur.
The military has repeatedly tagged ALCADEV and other lumad schools as NPA fronts, and the government has since closed down the schools in Mindanao.
Police in February 2021 charged Booc and several others for allegedly trafficking children in Cebu City. The court dismissed the charges and Booc was released from jail. ‘Bloody massacre’ of civilians
Save Our Schools Network (SOS) condemned the incident as a “bloody massacre” of civilians.
SOS said in a statement on Friday that according to residents of Barangay Andap in New Bataan, there was “no encounter between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the New People’s Army” in the area.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 23, 2022
- Event Description
The Preah Vihear Provincial Court has summoned a forest activist for questioning for incitement over an unspecified complaint, which the activist believes is related to mobilizing people to patrol and protect the forest.
Investigating judge Pheng Kosal ordered Het Nay, a representative of the Prey Preah Roka Forestry Community Network, to appear at the court on February 23 for questioning for incitement. The accusation dates to 2020, the summons says, without specifying the nature of the complaint.
Chheb district governor Sok Sandara said he did not know the details of the complaint either, but Nay was well-known for being uncooperative with authorities and demanding community land from Chinese companies in the area.
“Nay has a tendency. He considers the Prey Preah Roka forest as his forest, regardless of the ministry’s authorizations. Whether community land or companies’ economic concessions, he always claims it’s his land. He does not cooperate with the village, commune, district or provincial authorities. He seems to have a different opinion from us,” Sandara said.
Nay patrolled in the forests without respecting local authorities, he added.
Nay told VOD on Tuesday that he was ready to testify though he did not know the identity of the complainant or the alleged offense.
He believes the case came after he mobilized people in the community, including monks, to patrol and prevent community forest crimes. He was particularly active in 2020, he said. Authorities had prevented people from meeting and discussing the actions, he said.
The activist called on the court to drop the charges, saying that all he did was protect the forest.
“This accusation against me is because someone hates us. They hate us as a forest protector who prevented them from logging,” he said. “The destroyers of the forest have many people. They have many factions. They have found a way to stop and prevent us from entering to protect the forest and protect the trees.”
Another activist in the Prey Preah Roka Forestry Community Network, Pean Sophat, said he saw the summoning of Ney as a threat to discourage the community from patrolling the forest.
“He did not incite anything. He just facilitated participation in protecting the forest to protect nature, which is in the common interest,” he said.
Rights group Adhoc’s Preah Vihear provincial coordinator, Lor Chan, said the case against Ney had initially been for fraud when it was in the hands of the court prosecutors, but had changed to incitement after it reached the investigating judge.
Prey Preah Roka, a sanctuary covering more than 90,000 hectares, has seen significant deforestation as community patrollers have been suppressed, a recent report said. A visit to the forest found marks of cuttings and clearings scattered through the sanctuary.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 23, 2022
- Event Description
About 30 NagaWorld strikers spent the night at a Prek Pnov quarantine center waiting for a Covid-19 test that eventually happened Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday, police and health officials continued to detain protesting NagaWorld workers near the casino complex in Phnom Penh. That afternoon, authorities took 39 workers to the Prek Pnov facility. But unlike Monday’s batch of 64 detainees, health officials did not test the workers the same day as their detention, nor make them sign contracts to leave.
However, health officials began testing workers at about 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, according to worker accounts and Facebook livestreams recorded at the facility. In those streams, workers can be seen keeping track of tests performed.
After the tests were conducted, officials can be heard saying four workers had tested positive, with the group asking for those people to be tested again. Ros Lyheng, a NagaWorld worker at the quarantine center, confirmed there were four positive cases.
“I don’t have anything to suggest besides testing the four people again. If they test again, they are positive. Please take them but we just want to [test] again,” said Srey Pov, one of the workers seen in the livestream.
A health official replied saying that was not possible and that the four workers were being placed in a separate area.
Of the 64 workers tested on Monday, two people tested positive and were sent to hospital for treatment.
Phnom Penh city spokesperson Met Measkpheakdey refused to answer questions Wednesday morning and sent reporters a copy of a City Hall statement released Tuesday night. He did not confirm the test results from the group of 39 workers.
The statement the spokesperson referred to describes “anarchic” gatherings of NagaWorld strikers disobeying city-issued health guidelines.
“City Hall has eagerly appealed to demonstrators to stop illegal activity. They still violated under the pretext of holding a strike to find labor solutions by gathering through social networks and other means, and ignored health measures while Omicron transmission is spreading in the community with three digits,” the statement read.
The capital administration said it would no longer educate the workers and would instead impose fines of $250 to $1,250 going forward, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, workers complained about the conditions at the testing facility, saying the Prek Pnov center lacked basic facilities. The workers detained there said the space was divided into narrow cubicles with cots, as well as dirty linen and bedding that was left outside the rooms.
Photos posted by the workers show them sleeping on mosquito nets outside the rooms at the quarantine center.
Lyheng, one of the workers, said health officials made them complete forms but would not say anything else or address their concerns with the conditions at the facility.
Authorities on Thursday continued to detain NagaWorld workers attempting to resume their strike, with local rights groups criticizing what they described as excessive use of police force including sexual harassment against the strikers.
There have been more than 150 detentions from NagaWorld unionist attempts to resume their strike at the casino complex. Union members confirmed on Thursday that an additional 27 people were detained and taken to the same quarantine center in Prek Pnov that officials have used this week to confine workers and test them for Covid-19.
Thursday’s arrests followed the same strategy used by police over the past few days of shoving, carrying and dragging the workers who appeared near the casino into waiting city buses. Videos from today’s detentions show police officers wearing personal protective equipment pushing women into a bus, crushing some of them against the vehicle’s stairs.
Civil society groups also released a statement condemning the use of “state-sponsored violence” and Covid-19 measures against the workers to end their strike. The groups expressed concern over tactics used by security personnel, which they said includes sexual harassment.
According to the statement, a male police officer grabbed one worker and “squeezed her breast” as she was forced into a bus on Tuesday. The groups also pointed to the alleged use of lewd language and threats of sexual assault made by a security official against a union member in late December.
“In these challenging times, women need increased guarantees to exercise their rights and support, and civil society cannot remain silent in the face of the violence committed against them, all the more when such abuses are committed by the very authorities whose mission is to protect them,” reads the statement.
Ou Tepphalin, who heads a service and entertainment worker federation, said the police were being heartless in their behavior, especially in relation to the allegations of sexual harassment.
“It is unfortunate that when the authorities wear the security uniforms, it seems that the exercise of rights is reduced and the perpetrators are not afraid of the law,” she said, during an online press conference by rights groups.
Phnom Penh police chief Sar Thet denied that any officers were intentionally touching the workers inappropriately, and blamed the physical skirmishes on workers’ reluctance to follow authorities’ instructions.
“No one intended to touch her breast,” he said, referring to the allegation in the statement. “I think we don’t have the intention to do this and I believe that no one wants to do that.”
As of Thursday morning, about 75 detainees brought on Tuesday and Wednesday remained at the Prek Pnov center.
Authorities had brought 39 workers there on Tuesday, of which four tested positive and were taken to a hospital. Of the 51 detained on Wednesday, three tested positive on Thursday morning and were taken for treatment. The rest of the detainees were still at the center as of Thursday evening.
Workers say officials have demanded the detainees sign contracts pledging to end their striking or pay fines of $1,250. The workers have refused this, instead choosing to remain at the facility. However, on Thursday 35 workers were released and allowed to return home, said striker Ros Lyheng, who is part of the group.
“They did not have a car to pick us up, they told us to find our own way [home],” Lyheng said. “Doctors told me if you want to have a bus for you, you should sign a contract.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Sexual Violence
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Feb 23, 2022
- Event Description
The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) in Indonesia has described the hacking and disinformation attacks against its chairperson Sasmito Madrim as a threat to press freedom and freedom of expression.
This statement was originally published on aji.or.id on 25 February 2022.
The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) condemned the hacking and disinformation attacks against AJI Chairperson Sasmito Madrim. AJI believes that such tactics should be regarded as an assault against AJI as an organization and its activists in their fight for freedom of expression and freedom of the press.
On February 23, 2022, around 6.15 PM (Western Indonesia Time), an unknown party simultaneously hacked the WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook accounts and the personal mobile number of Sasmito. His Whatsapp account was the first to be hacked when the instant messaging application notified Sasmito on his mobile phone that his number had been registered to another device.
Around 7 PM, the hack had spread to his Instagram and Facebook accounts. The hacker then deleted all of his Instagram posts before uploading Sasmito’s personal contact information. Meanwhile, on Facebook, Sasmito’s profile picture was changed to a pornographic image. Afterward, his mobile number could no longer receive calls and SMS messages.
AJI’s internal digital safety team has made efforts to restore those accounts and has successfully recovered Sasmito’s Facebook account. Meanwhile, the recovery process of his Instagram and Whatsapp accounts is still ongoing.
On February 24, 2022, AJI Indonesia noticed disinformation attacks brandishing Sasmito’s name and photo on social media with the following narratives:
- Sasmito supported the government to disband the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).
- Sasmito supported the government in constructing the Bener Dam in Purworejo, Central Java.
- Sasmito called for the National Police (Polri) to arrest human rights activists Haris Azhar and Fatia.
On behalf of Sasmito, AJI Indonesia would like to state the following: that AJI Chairperson Sasmito Madrim never issued any of the statements above and that they are all fake. AJI Indonesia is an organization that supports and fights for freedom of association and speech, freedom of expression, and people’s right to information.
The three disinformation posts were trying to pit AJI Indonesia against other civil society organizations. Including the people of Wadas, who are currently fighting the forces behind the natural resource exploitation in their village.
Regarding the attacks on Sasmito, AJI Indonesia states the following:
-
The hacks and disinformation attacks against AJI Chairperson Sasmito Madrim are an act of terror against activists fighting for freedom of expression and democracy.
-
Requesting the public reject the disinformation narratives spreading on social media.
-
Requesting the public support AJI Indonesia in fighting for freedom of the press, freedom of expression, association, speech, and right to information.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Censorship, Online Attack and Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Media Worker, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 22, 2022
- Event Description
11 activists have been charged with violations of the Emergency Decree for joining a protest organized by the People’s Movement for Just Society (P-Move), which addressed land rights and community rights.
Activist Pachara Kamchamnan, a member of the Save Bang Kloi Coalition, said that he received a summons from Nang Loeng Police Station on a charge of violating the Emergency Decree and must report to the police station on 22 February 2022. He said that the charge is likely related to the P-Move protest, during which protesters occupied the sidewalk opposite the UN headquarters on Ratchadamnoen Avenue from 20 January 2022 before marching to Government House. They then continue to occupy the Nang Loeng Intersection until 3 February 2022, when they ended their protest after their demands were answered by the government.
The Save Bang Kloi Coalition, an indigenous rights activist network, posted on their Facebook page that no other activist has reported receiving a summons, but according to Nang Loeng Police Station, summonses have been issued for 11 people, which include both protest leaders and members of P-Move’s partner organizations.
The 11 people are:
Chamnong Nuphan, Chair of the P-Move Executive Committee Phonphinan Chotwiriyanon, Northern Peasant Federation (NPF) member Pachara Kamchamnan, Save Bang Kloi Coaliation activist Chan Tonnamphet, Bang Kloi community member Wittawat Tepsong, activist from the Andaman Seafaring Ethnic People and a member of the Community Network for Social and Political Reform Nuken Inthachan, Four Regions Slum Network member Malai Chiangpheng, Community Network for Social and Political Reform member Nithip Khongthong, Four Regions Slum Network member Wanlop Pandee, Northern Peasant Federation (NPF) member Nitirat Sapsomboon, P-Move advisor Nueangnit Chidnok, Four Regions Slum Network member
Chan Tonnamphet is 17 years old and the only minor charged. She is a member of the Bang Kloi indigenous Karen community and came to join the protest with other members of her community, who are protesting under the name “Bang Kloi Khuen Thin” (“Bang Kloi returns home”) to demand that their community be allowed to return to their ancestral land at Chai Phaen Din village in the Kaeng Krachan forest.
Pachara said that the protest was an attempt to demand community rights and to call on the government to act on promises it gave during previous protests. However, the authorities’ attempt to block protest marches with razor wire and deployments of crowd control police against protesters, as well as filing charges against the 11 activists shows that citizens will never have rights in this political climate, since not only they are denied their rights but are also attacked by the authorities.
Meanwhile, P-Move issued a statement condemning the charges against the activists as severely unjust, and that they show the government’s insincerity. It says that those who joined the protest came from across the country despite the spread of Covid-19 to demand the rights they are entitled to, and to use legal measures against them is inhumane.
P-Move demanded that the government must lift the State of Emergency declared in March 2020 to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, and cancel the summonses, since the protest was within their constitutional rights and in line with international human rights principles.
- Impact of Event
- 11
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 22, 2022
- Event Description
Regime forces in Sagaing Region’s largest city, Monywa, made multiple arrests on Tuesday during crackdowns that caused one protester to have a miscarriage and left one man wounded.
The first incident occurred at around 6am in Monywa’s Thala Ward, where two young women on motorcycles were distributing anti-regime flyers with a group of other protesters when they were rammed from behind by a car.
While one of the women managed to esape on her motorcycle, the other, who was knocked off of hers, was forced to flee on foot, according to Arkar, a member of the Monywa People’s Strike Committee.
The second woman asked another motorcyclist for help, but was pushed aside when she attempted to get on the vehicle, said Arkar, who also took part in the protest.
“She said it was soon after that that she started bleeding,” he added, noting that the woman was two months pregnant.
The woman was eventually able to get away, but at least five youths were arrested in the crackdown, according to Arkar.
Myanmar Now has been unable to contact the two women directly for comment.
The second incident took place about an hour later in Monywa’s Ywar Thit Ward, where soldiers opened fire on two young men who they suspected were waiting to join others in a protest.
According to Arkar, one of the men was shot three times in the thigh before being arrested.
“When he fell after getting shot, a soldier came over and stepped on his face with his boot. They hadn’t even started protesting yet,” he said.
Arrests were also reported elsewhere in the city as part of an effort to crush a new nationwide protest movement called the “Si Kar Thapate” (“Strikes Galore”) campaign, also known as "Six Twos Strike Day" in reference to Tuesday’s date, 22.02.2022.
The campaign involves small groups gathering in public places with flowers and wearing traditional hats and thanaka, a paste made from tree bark that is spread on the face as a natural cosmetic.
A 30-year-old resident of Monywa’s Yankin Ward was arrested at around 9am on Tuesday, while two women who had thanaka on their faces were arrested on the city’s Bo Bwar Yeik Thar at around 10am, according to Arkar.
“They’ve had scouts out there since 4am, waiting at all the places where they expect protesters to gather,” he said.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to health, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 22, 2022
- Event Description
Anti-junta writers Maung Tha Cho and Htin Lin Oo (Wisdom Villa) were given two-year and three-year prison sentences respectively by the Insein Prison Court on 22 February, according to a prison source.
The writers were charged under Section 505 (A) of the Penal Code, which makes it a crime to publish or circulate any statement or report with the intent of causing military officers, civil servants and soldiers to mutiny or to otherwise disregard orders or fail in their duty.
When the military seized power on 1 February 2021, Maung Tha Cho and Htin Lin Oo were arrested and taken to Insein Prison, where they were charged under Section 505 (a). They have only now received their prison sentences, despite having been detained in prison for more than a year.
The decision to appeal a case lies with the convicted individual or their family members. It is unknown at this time whether the writers will appeal their sentences.
“Maung Tha Cho was sentenced to two years instead of the maximum sentence (three years imprisonment) under section 505 (a) and Htin Lin Oo was sentenced to the maximum sentence under the section,” said a source.
In the case of 88-Generation student leader Mya Aye, his lawyer filed a final appeal on 22 February, and a final verdict is expected on 8 March.
Htin Lin Oo, who was sentenced to the maximum sentence of three years, was arrested on the morning of the junta military coup, 1 February 2021, for broadcasting an anti-junta live video on his social media page.
Maung Tha Cho was arrested for an article he wrote in a journal about eight years ago.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 21, 2022
- Event Description
Authorities in Cambodia detained more than 100 striking workers from the NagaWorld Casino Monday and Tuesday for allegedly violating COVID-19 protocols.
Thousands of workers walked off their jobs in mid-December, demanding higher wages and the reinstatement of eight jailed union leaders and 365 workers they say were unjustly fired from the hotel and casino.
Cambodian authorities have said the strike is “illegal” and allege that it is supported by foreign donors as a plot to topple the government.
Earlier this month, officials in Phnom Penh’s City Hall directed the striking workers to stop their protest out of concern they would spread the coronavirus. Activists dismiss the claim as an excuse to end the peaceful protest.
Authorities rounded up 64 of the striking workers on Monday and 39 on Tuesday. Two workers in the group of 64 tested positive for COVID-19, while the other 62 were released. The group of 39 workers, meanwhile, had not been released as of Tuesday evening.
After their arrests, the workers were taken to the premises of an NGO called the Cambodian Women for Peace and Development in Phnom Penh’s Prek Phnov district. The facility appeared to have been long abandoned and did not have running water, Meach Srey Oun, one of the 39 workers, told RFA’s Khmer Service Tuesday.
“They put us in a remote building that’s really dirty and refused to let us leave. Our families are worried,” she said.
She said that at least two of the workers were injured when they were arrested Tuesday morning and that security guards sexually abused the workers by touching their breasts. They were forced to fill out forms with their names, phone numbers and addresses before they were allowed to eat dinner.
“We don’t know the reason behind our detention. We have received no information about our arrests,” Meach Srey Oun said.
She said the workers are continuing to strike because there are 11 union members, including leaders, who remain in detention.
“We will continue to demand justice and until justice is prevailed, we will continue the demand,” Meach Srey Oun said.
Authorities should never have become involved in the dispute between NagaWorld Casino and its workers, Am Sam Ath of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (Licadho) told RFA.
He dismissed concerns about the propagation of COVID-19, noting that the workers had recently finished quarantine procedures.
“If authorities continue their actions, there will be more criticism,” he said. “We want to see the dispute be resolved peacefully to prevent this dispute from getting bigger.”
Licadho and other civil service organizations issued an open letter to authorities calling for the release of all detained union members.
“The charge of incitement to commit a felony levied against the union leaders and activists sends the message to NagaWorld strikers that their labor rights can be flouted with impunity while they will face legal action merely for calling out their company’s labor violations and seeking redress,” the letter said.
“This could set a dangerous precedent, emboldening employers to ignore inconvenient labor standards, and potentially leading to a roll-back of hard-earned labor rights in Cambodia,” it said.
RFA could not reach Phnom Penh City Hall spokesperson Met Measpheakdey for comment Tuesday. The city government issued a statement late on Tuesday saying the 39 workers are being tested for COVID-19. It said the detained workers must pay fines of between 1 million to 5 million riel ($245-1,230) or remain in detention.
“City Hall urges all NagaWorld workers to stop gathering in violation of health measures and cooperate with authorities to ensure public health and order,” the statement said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: 16 more labour rights defenders arrested, including union president, Cambodia: City Hall bans protest of labour rights defenders, Cambodia: labour rights defenders prevented from leaving strike site, 9 arrested, charged and questioned, Cambodia: labour rights defenders prevented from staging peaceful strike, Cambodia: Ministry of Health orders COVID-19 test for all protesting labour rights defenders, Cambodia: six more labour rights defenders arrested
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Feb 18, 2022
- Event Description
The family, lawyers and colleagues of development worker Dr. Ma. Natividad Marian Castro called on the authorities to surface her.
Castro, or Doc Naty, was arrested on Feb. 18 in her house in San Juan City allegedly based on an arrest warrant on trumped-up charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention in Caraga.
According to lawyer Theodor Te, Castro’s whereabouts are still unknown. She was reportedly last seen by her relatives at Camp Crame. Upon inquiry, Te said police officers told the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) that Castro is no longer at Camp Crame as “she was supposedly brought to the airport to be delivered to the court in Butuan City.”
Her lawyers waited at the airport yesterday afternoon but they did not see Castro nor the arresting team. As of press time, Castro is yet to be found.
Former Commission on Elections Luie Tito Guia who was with Castro’s family yesterday said they were given a runaround. In a Facebook post, Guia said he was only allowed to talk to his client for a few minutes while at the Quirino Memorial Medical Center. When Castro was taken out of a building, Guia said he asked for the names of the arresting team but he was ignored and the police vehicle sped away.
Before her arrest, Castro was red-tagged along with 32 other progressive leaders in November 2020. Their photos and names appeared on tarpaulins in Lianga, Surigao del Sur and Butuan City, Agusan del Norte. On March 21, 2021, one of those who were red-tagged, Lumad human rights worker Renalyn Tejero, was arrested in Cagayan de Oro City.
Karapatan said the arrest of Castro is another form of attack against human rights defenders.
“This despicable policy and practice of the Duterte regime of filing trumped up charges against rights defenders in an attempt to silence them should stop,” the group said.
Karapatan Secretary Deneral Cristina Palabay lamented that those who are guilty of seven counts of graft are still at large while a doctor who is helping the poor is being accused of being a criminal.
The group said Castro could have made a prominent career in medicine in the urban areas or even abroad after her graduation, but she chose to work in the rural areas of Mindanao.
Castro, is, in fact, a cum laude in BS Zoology in University of the Philippines-Diliman in 1990. In 1995, she graduated with a degree in Medicine at the UP College of Medicine. She was also a Scholastican High School Valedictorian in 1986.
In 2006, Castro’s alma mater, St. Scholastica’s College-Manila honored her with the Centennial Award as one of the 100 Outstanding Graduates in the last century.
“There is a huge lack of doctors in the rural areas where one out of 10 Filipinos die without even being able to have a health consultation. There are only a few doctors who choose to work for the poor. Why arrest her?” the Health Alliance for Human Rights said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 17, 2022
- Event Description
A student in Lamphun has been ordered to take down a set of campaign photographs on marriage equality from their social media account by their school administration, which claims that protests should not be done on campus or in uniform.
Fah (pseudonym), a Mathayom 6 (Year 12) student in Lamphun, said that she was summoned to meet on Thursday (17 February 2022) with school administrators along with other students who participated in the campaign, after they posted on Monday (14 February 2022) a set of photographs of themselves carrying Pride flags and flashing the three-finger ‘Hunger Games’ salute as part of a campaign for marriage equality.
Fah said that Mathayom 6 students were taking their graduation photos on that day, and so were already wearing their school uniform. Since she saw that the LGBTQ right activist network Rainbow Coalition for Marriage Equality was staging rallies across the country to campaign for the right of people to register their marriages regardless of gender, she invited her friends to take photos with Pride flags at several locations in the city, including their school campus. Fah then posted the photos on her personal Facebook profile.
She said that a teacher saw the photos, and the school administration was upset that there were photos of the students flying Pride flags and flashing the three-finger ‘Hunger Game’ salute, a well-recognized resistance symbol commonly used by pro-democracy protesters. She was told by a teacher that the principal wanted them to take the photos down, and that it is inappropriate to take part in such a campaign while on campus and in uniform.
Fah said that she refused to take the photos down, and that her teachers are trying to pressure her into taking them down by calling her and sending her Facebook messages, but she has not answered their calls or answered their messages.
She said that this is not the first time her school has tried to limit students’ freedom of expression. Students were harassed at an earlier protest in Lamphun town, near the Queen Cham Thewi (Camadevi) Monument. She alleged that the school provided the police with students’ personal information, allowing the police to visit students at home, and that the school did not try to protect its own students.
Fah said she thinks that the school is a public space, although some teachers see it as private, and that students should be safe to organize activities on campus. She said that campaigning for marriage equality would not damage the school’s reputation, but would instead be a good thing if the school showed support for the LGBTQ community, which is a universal value.
“If the school still deprives students of the right to freedom of expression, you will not be able to develop towards a free world,” she said.
On Monday (14 February 2022), Valentine’s Day, activists in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and several other provinces staged rallies to campaign for marriage equality, after proposed amendments to the marriage law to allow registration of marriage regardless of gender were delayed by parliament. Activists in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Sakhon Nakon set up booths to hand out leaflets, Pride flags, and stickers, and invited people to sign the online petition backing a bill proposing amendments to the marriage law to allow registration of marriage regardless of gender. The bill is proposed by a network of civil society organizations and is currently gathering signatures so that it can go before parliament.
A similar bill was proposed by the Move Forward party in early 2021. It went before parliament on 9 February 2022 for a first reading. However, parliament voted to have it forwarded to the Cabinet for a 60-day review.
Both bills propose to amend Article 1448 of the Civil and Commercial Code, which governs marriage, so that marriage registration is allowed between two people of any gender, instead of only between a man and a woman. If passed, these amendments will individuals to be legally married regardless of gender, and ensure that they receive equal rights, duties, and protection under the law. LGBTQ couples who have registered their marriage will be able to adopt children together, make medical decisions on behalf of their partner, and in cases where one partner dies, the other will be able to inherit from their partner and make legal decisions about their partner’s assets.
The bill being proposed by civil society also proposes to raise the age at which people can legally marry from 17 to 18 years old, and to replace the terms “man” and “woman” in every article of the Civil and Commercial Code relating to marriage with “person,” as well as to replace “husband” and “wife” with “spouse” and “father” and “mother” with “parents.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- SOGI rights defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 17, 2022
- Event Description
Two student activists in Chiang Mai have been evicted from their apartment, after police surveillance on their activity caused their landlord concerns.
“P,” a 19-year-old Chiang Mai University student activist, said that plainclothes police officers have been coming by their apartment every day for the past 2 -3 days since Phimchanok Jaihong, a member of the activist group Thalufah, came to stay with them in Chiang Mai.
P said that 2 officers came up to them on Wednesday (16 February 2022) while they were retrieving their belongings from their motorcycle and asked them whether they lived with Phimchanok. P said they denied it because they were concerned about Phimchanok’s safety, but the officers claimed that they heard that Phimchanok has problems with other activists, so they were making sure she is safe. P’s landlord also told them that police officers came to the apartment on Tuesday (15 February 2022), and that the police also called the landlord last month and asked to search the apartment, but the landlord denied their request as they were traveling at the time.
P said that Phimchanok was also staying with them at the time the landlord was contacted by the police, and after she left, the landlord, who has just returned to Chiang Mai, contacted the police about the search, but was told that they no longer needed to search the apartment.
After the officers left on Wednesday (16 February 2022), P’s landlord told them that the police coming around the apartment regularly make him afraid, and that P must leave the apartment by the end of the month. The landlord also told P that Phimchanok must leave immediately, claiming that P violated the apartment’s rule by bringing in a guest without first informing the landlord.
P is currently searching for a new apartment.
The Chiang Mai activist group Wilar Party also posted about the incident saying that the police also told P’s landlord that the two activists are facing legal charges and could be dangerous, and that they were monitoring the apartment because they heard that Phimchanok has problems with other activists, which is not true and not acceptable reasons for surveillance.
“The government is afraid of just one woman. They are questioning and pressuring her every day. She has no privacy, and we have been affected by the police’s harassment,” said the post.
“We are activists who work on several issues and have no fear of dictatorial power. This abuse of power and feeding people with false information, leading to this much damage will be a force to drive us forward. Don’t think that the people will be afraid of you. The more you do it, the more we will rise. We are just activists, not prisoners. Don’t imprison us by harassing us like we’ve done something wrong.”
Phimchanok was previously arrested on 14 January 2022, along with another Chiang Mai University activist, when they held up banners near the Chiang Mai University auditorium calling for graduates to boycott the graduation ceremony, presided over by Princess Sirindhorn, and for the repeal of Section 112. They were charged with creating a noise without a reasonable cause and refusing to comply with an official’s order. They received a 1500 baht fine and were released.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to housing, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 17, 2022
- Event Description
A student activist arrested in Yangon last year after putting up posters that criticised the junta was handed a three-year prison sentence for incitement at a court inside Insein Prison last week.
Yin Myat Noe Oo, the treasurer of a branch of the Yangon University of Economics Students' Union, was among four detained in April near the Kyauk Myaung Market in Tamwe.
The court took time already served off of the 22-year-old’s sentence when handing down its decision on Thursday, said lawyer Thet Naung.
Yin Myat Noe Oo was arrested alongside Khant Thu Aung, her union’s chair, Phyo Kyaw Naing, a union member and Min Hein Khant, a former member.
She and the three others face an ongoing incitement charge for allegedly supplying information to a foreign journalist via a film director named Thein Tan.
Thein Tan was arrested in April while staying at the Chatrium Hotel. He was accused of selling information to Yuki Kitazumi, a Japanese journalist who was arrested in April but released and deported the following month.
Despite the journalist’s release, Thein Tan and the students are still being tried for the case at the Mingalar Taung Nyunt Township Court.
“The four members of the students’ union were allegedly acting as informants for Thein Tan, who in turn allegedly sold the information to international news departments and supplied Yin Myat Noe Oo with the money, according to the military,” said Thet Naung, the student’s lawyer.
La Pyae, a member of the students’ union, said he and others were fighting for Yin Myat Noe Oo’s freedom.
“We are fighting our hardest for everyone’s release and are revolting against the dictatorship,” he said. “I’m proud of her. We are going to do what we can from the outside until we win the fight.”
Khant Thu Aung, the union’s chair, was reportedly denied medical attention while sick in prison.
Last week, a separate students’ organisation published a letter written by an inmate at Insein that said political detainees were being tortured and denied medical care at the prison.
At least 12,219 civilians have been arrested by the military since last year’s coup and at least 9,206 are still in detention, according to a tally from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) that the junta claims is exaggerated.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Feb 17, 2022
- Event Description
Kades Kinipan Ditahan, Perjuangan Kinipan Dibungkam.
Kepala Desa (Kades) Kinipan, Wilem Hengki, ditahan di Kepolisian Resor (Polres) Lamandau, Kalimantan Tengah. Tidak hanya alasan penahanannya yang tidak jelas, tetapi hal ini juga menjadi upaya kriminalisasi untuk membungkam perjuangan Masyarakat Kinipan.
Palangka Raya. Pada hari ini Jum’at (14/1/2021), Wilem Hengki, Kades Kinipan ditahan di Polres Lamandau. Padahal, selama ini Kades Kinipan menjadi salah satu tokoh Masyarakat Kinipan yang frontal berjuang mempertahankan wilayah adat Kinipan dari ekspansi perkebunan kelapa sawit PT. Sawit Mandiri Lestari (PT. SML).
Penahanan Kades Kinipan ini terkesan tiba-tiba dan terburu-buru. Aryo Nugroho dari Lembaga Bantuan Hukum (LBH) Palangka Raya, yang juga tergabung dalam Koalisi Keadilan untuk Kinipan, menyatakan kecewa akan penahanan yang dilakukan oleh Polres Lamandau. “Sebagai Pengacara yang mendampingi beliau, saya kecewa akan penahanan yang dilakukan oleh Polres Lamandau,” kata Aryo.
Aryo bahkan mengaku telah meminta agar penahanan Wilem ditangguhkan oleh Polres Lamandau. Namun, pihak Polres justru menyatakan ditahannya Kades Kinipan di Polres Lamandau adalah untuk mempermudah proses penyerahan Wilem ke Kejaksaan pada hari Senin (17/1/2022) nanti.
“Pihak Polres mengatakan bahwa penahanan Kades Kinipan ini adalah usaha paksa (penahanan) dan menunggu pelimpahan ke Kejaksaan. Selain itu, menurut mereka penahanan Kades tidak bisa ditunda karena adanya perintah dari atasan. Padahal Kades tidak pernah mangkir dari proses hukum, mestinya tidak perlu sampai ditahan,” kata Aryo.
Sebelumnya, pada tanggal 11 Agustus 2021 lalu, Kades Kinipan telah ditetapkan sebagai tersangka. Ia diduga telah melakukan tindak pidana korupsi (Tipikor) yaitu penyimpangan dalam penggunaan atau pengelolaan anggaran dana desa tahun anggaran 2019 Desa Kinipan dengan melanggar Pasal 2, Jo Pasal 3, Jo Pasal 18 Undang-Undang Nomor 31 Tahun 1999 tentang Tipikor.
Mencuatnya kasus dugaan Tipikor Kades Kinipan sama janggalnya dengan penahanannya hari ini. Menurut S. Mahendra, selaku Direktur Save Our Borneo, yang juga tergabung dalam Koalisi Keadilan Untuk Kinipan, kasus Kades Kinipan ini tidak lebih hanya sebagai upaya kriminalisasi dalam perjuangan yang sedang dilakukan Masyarakat Kinipan.
“Penahanan Wilem Hengki, selaku Kades Kinipan hari ini, tidak lebih hanya sebagai upaya pembungkaman terhadap perjuangan Masyarakat Kinipan. Ini adalah upaya pelemahan. Kita harus berdiri bersama Kades dan Masyarakat Kinipan,” ungkap S. Mahendra.
Karenanya, seruan untuk membebaskan Kades Kinipan harus kita gaungkan bersama. Koalisi Keadilan untuk Kinipan juga menyatakan siap untuk mendampingi dan mengawal proses hukum Kades Kinipan sampai memperoleh keadilan.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Public Servant
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Malaysia
- Initial Date
- Feb 17, 2022
- Event Description
Today, authorities charged artist Fahmi Reza under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act for the second time this year. Fahmi was released on bail set at RM 3,000 (approximately USD 750). The graphic, posted by Fahmi on Facebook on 1 June 2021, depicts a can of Carlsberg beer and reads, ‘Carlsberg for everyone.’ The graphic is a satirical commentary on the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s decision to grant approval for all factories producing alcohol to operate as ‘essential services’ throughout the nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19. The decision caused a public outcry, leading the government to revoke its decision and ban the operations of breweries until the lockdown was relaxed.
Today’s charge forms part of a campaign of government harassment targeting Fahmi following criminal charges against him last week and multiple previous investigations. So far this year Fahmi has paid RM 8,000 (approximately USD 2,000) in bail charges.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Artist, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 16, 2022
- Event Description
Two students from Dawei University in Tanintharyi Region were sentenced to seven years in prison each last week for making 5,000-kyat donations to assist civilians displaced by Myanmar’s ongoing political unrest.
Ei Chu Chu Maw, 19, and Lin Latt Kyi, 20, were both found guilty by a court inside Dawei Prison of violating Section 52b of Myanmar’s Counterterrorism Law for allegedly funding anti-regime activities.
The two young women both received the maximum sentence under the law, according to information released by the Dawei Political Prisoners Network (DPPN), a local advocacy group.
The sentences were handed down last Wednesday, the group said.
“They just donated money to help civilians in need. It’s unfair that they had to go to prison for this,” said a DPPN spokesperson.
The two women were arrested in their home village of Hein Dar Pyin, about 30km from Dawei, on November 5 after they made the donations using a popular money-transfer app last June.
Dawei Watch, another group that monitors human rights abuses in the region, later reported that they were sent to Dawei Prison on November 19 and charged under the anti-terror law.
They did not receive legal representation, according to the DPPN spokesperson.
“No lawyer dares to take up those cases anymore,” he said, noting that lawyers in Dawei stopped defending political detainees in October after several were threatened with arrest as accessories to their clients’ alleged crimes.
Myanmar Now contacted relatives of the two women, but they declined to comment on their cases, citing security concerns.
Ei Chu Chu Maw and Lin Latt Kyi were both first-year students at the time of their arrest. Ei Chu Chu Maw was studying English, while Lin Latt Kyi was enrolled in a program at the University for the Development of the National Races under the management of the ministry of border affairs.
According to the latest figures released by DPPN, the Dawei Prison court has sentenced 180 people, including 30 women, to prison in connection with alleged anti-regime activities.
In the final week of last year, 31 people received lengthy prison sentences for opposing the junta that seized power last February.
Tun Tun Oo, a 38-year-old protest leader who was arrested last September, received the longest sentence—a total of 18 years on four charges. Eight more years have since been added on three other charges.
Two more charges—including one for murder and another under Section 54 of the Counterterrorism Law—are still pending.
If found guilty of the remaining charges, he could be given the death penalty.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 15, 2022
- Event Description
NagaWorld protesters are not permitted to rally in public spaces, City Hall said on Tuesday, urging them to gather at a park in the city’s outskirts when workers clear Covid-19 testing and quarantine requirements.
The casino workers’ protests, which began on December 18, came to a halt this month when the Health Ministry ordered they all test for Covid-19 and stay at home. The protesters are about to finish the mandated self-isolation period, to be followed by more Covid-19 tests.
City Hall issued a statement Tuesday saying the NagaWorld protests were banned in public places, and protesters should continue their rallies at Freedom Park if they don’t have Covid-19 symptoms.
Freedom Park, once an epicenter of rallies in the capital, was moved from its original location near the Night Market to the city’s outskirts in Russei Keo district.
“During the illegal protests, [their] activities caused serious disruptions to public order, traffic jams and people’s businesses,” City Hall said.
Protester Kim Sokha said she was sad to see the City Hall statement, which she believed was biased in favor of NagaCorp.
“I don’t know about other workers, but for myself, I will not go to Freedom Park. The strike was supposed to be near Naga. I will stand there. I’m ready for anything. If they arrest me, I’m not scared. Freedom Park is far. If we strike two or three years, we will still not have gotten a solution,” Sokha said.
“Since my workplace was Naga, I demanded that it should be the only place where the workers stand,” she added. “This is more pressure for me and the other strikers. City Hall does not see that we are in difficulty.”
Meach Sreyaun, another worker, said the protesters had held an online meeting on Tuesday, and they would discuss plans again after resuming testing tomorrow and Thursday.
“We are worried. Why don’t the authorities help us? Find a good solution. But they try to separate strikers. How powerful is Naga?” she said.
“Maybe the NagaWorld company is sleeping. If they are still not awake, we should wake them up in front of Naga.”
The Health Ministry announced 184 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, a dropoff after a surge to more than 500 daily cases announced on Monday.
In a statement, Human Rights Watch said it was concerned that Covid-19 was being used to justify a crackdown, pointing to three NagaWorld protesters arrested and charged under the Covid-19 Law.
“The Cambodian authorities are stooping to new lows by bringing criminal charges in the guise of public health measures to end a strike,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government’s persecution of union activists appears aimed at blunting the growing unity and strength of Cambodia’s union movement and their support for the NagaWorld strikers.”
Phnom Penh deputy governor Keut Chhe referred questions to the City Hall statement.
Around 40 NagaWorld workers tested positive during three days of testing earlier this month. They were sent to treatment centers, while the rest of the workers were told to stay at home for 10 days.
The protests revolve around mass layoffs last year that workers say targeted union leaders and members. Eleven protesters are now in pre-trial detention: eight are facing incitement charges and three were jailed for obstruction of the Covid-19 law.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: 16 more labour rights defenders arrested, including union president, Cambodia: labour rights defenders prevented from leaving strike site, 9 arrested, charged and questioned, Cambodia: labour rights defenders prevented from staging peaceful strike, Cambodia: Ministry of Health orders COVID-19 test for all protesting labour rights defenders, Cambodia: six more labour rights defenders arrested
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Feb 14, 2022
- Event Description
The general chairman of the Indonesian Citizen Journalists Association (PPWI), Wilson Lalengke, S.Pd, M.Sc, MA is very concerned and regrets the behavior of unscrupulous police officers at various police stations in this country. One of them is the Kasatreskrim Polres Merangin, Jambi, with the initials IDS with the rank of Adjunct Commissioner of Police (AKP).
“There are strong indications that the police are using their authority arbitrarily. He is currently detaining journalists from Global Investigation News (GIN) on behalf of Ahmad Taufik and Sumiran for reports of alleged criminal acts that lack evidence," said the national press figure when he received a report from the Chief Editor of GIN regarding the detention of his journalist, Monday. February 14, 2022.
When asked about the reason for the detention which seemed forced on the two journalists, Lalengke said that there were strong indications that the detention was related to the news. As a result of the news in the GIN media, payments to unscrupulous officials, both at the Merangin Police and other local authorities from illegal mining entrepreneurs, stopped.
"I strongly suspect that this is related to the news in the Global Investigation News media about illegal mining activities in the Merangin area which are indicated to be backed up by elements at the Resort Police, Kodim, and other local authorities. As a result of the news, regular deposits from unlicensed mining entrepreneurs (PETI) have stalled or have stopped. Now, when there are residents who make LPs for these journalists, the opportunity is not wasted by these elements to silence journalists Ahmad Taufik and Sumiran by detaining the case of loose change that is not supported by strong evidence, "explained the PPRA-48 alumnus of Lemhannas RI in 2012 to hundreds of media affiliated to PPWI while sending a link to the news on the illegal mining case [1].
This arbitrary action by police officers, Lalengke asserted, is not only a violation of the Police Professional Code of Ethics (KEPP) but is also a criminal matter. "Yes, it's very clear, detaining people without being supported by strong evidence for alleged criminal acts as a violation, not only a violation of KEPP but can also enter the realm of crime, even violating human rights," said the PPWI Ketum who is known to be keen on defending these oppressed citizens.
For this reason, Lalengke hopes that the National Police Leaders at the central level evaluate the performance of the Merangin Police as a whole. Likewise, other agencies such as TNI Headquarters are required to carry out monitoring and evaluation (monev) on the performance of their officers in the area.
“I hope that the Jambi Regional Police Chief and the National Police Chief will immediately evaluate the performance of their subordinates at the Merangin Police, including examining the former Chief of Police and the new Chief of Police there. Likewise, the Sriwijaya Military Commander and the TNI Commander, to immediately evaluate the apparatus at the regional Kodim. Information received by the editors shows that Kasdim is involved in PETI activities by providing a dompeng machine that is used by miners to mine illegally," added Lalengke.
It is known that two journalists from the Global Investigation News Bureau of the Merangin Regency have been detained by the Merangin Police on behalf of Ahmad Taufik and Sumiran, since Monday night, February 14, 2022. They were detained on a report from a resident of Merangin, a mother with the initials RH, who accused them of committing criminal offenses as stipulated in the law. in articles 372 and 378 of the Criminal Code, with very weak evidence.
The story begins when RH asked Amrizal, a former GIN journalist, to help seek a suspension of detention for her husband who was arrested because of Article 480 of the Indonesian Criminal Code regarding the collection of stolen goods. Amrizal and RH then entered into a cooperation agreement with operating costs of Rp. 43 million. In the next process, Amrizal invited Ahmad Taufik and Sumiran, fellow journalists at the GIN media, to help him lobby the Merangin Police.
Long story short, the attempt to hold the detention of RH's husband failed even though he was assisted by a lawyer appointed by the Merangin Police investigator. Finally, the legal process against RH's husband went to court and he was sentenced to 1 year in prison.
Due to the failure of Amrizal and his friends, RH asked for the return of all operational funds given to them in the amount of Rp. 43 million [2]. Of course, if they are to be returned, they cannot return the operational funds in full because some of it has been used to pay for their lawyers and operations. Unfortunately, RH persisted in asking for the funds to be returned in full, which because it could not be fulfilled, he went to the police to make an LP on charges of embezzlement and fraud by the reported Amrizal and his friends.
Odd bin miraculous, only Ahmad Taufik and Sumiran were made suspects and are now being detained. Meanwhile, Amrizal as the maker of the agreement with RH and receiving operational funds was not a suspect in this case. Also, the lawyer appointed by the Merangin Police investigator was not prosecuted even though he was involved in the matter.
Based on this anomaly, the public should strongly suspect that this police report from RH was well used as a golden opportunity by individuals at the Merangin Police to avenge their savagery against GIN media friends because these friends often reveal and report on the PETI case which is indicated to be strongly affiliated. with individuals Kasatreskrim Merangin Police. The criminalization process was carried out so that the two journalists could be imprisoned.
When confirmed to the Merangin Police Chief, AKBP Dewa Ngakan Nyoman Arinata, and the former Merangin Police Chief, AKBP Irwan Andy Purnamawan, S.I.K, regarding this case, the two officials did not give any response until this news went up. WhatsApp messages were not answered, voice notes were not responded to, telephones also did not get a response like a good official in serving the people.
Likewise, when the editor contacted the Kasatreskrim AKP Indar Dwi Septian, his two contact numbers were inactive.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Feb 12, 2022
- Event Description
On February 12, a young man was taking part in a seemingly routine protest by the Aliansi Rakyat Petani (Alliance of People’s Farmers) about five kilometers from his home in Tada village in Central Sulawesi. Farmers and other local residents had been organizing almost daily protests since January 2021, demanding the revocation of the license for PT Trio Kencana, a mining company.
But things turned nasty that night. Protesters, angry that the governor had not kept his commitment to speak to them, blocked the provincial road with trucks. The police responded by deploying 15 trucks of their own and water cannons. The authorities turned off the electricity in the area. At around 11:30 p.m., local police started firing teargas to disperse hundreds of protesters blocking the Trans Sulawesi road. They arrested at least 59 protesters.
Protesters alleged that the police used live ammunition to disperse the rally. Nine minutes after midnight, the protesters found the body of Erfaldi Erwin Lahadado, a 21-year-old mechanic. He had been struck by gunfire on his right shoulder.
I checked Erfaldi’s Instagram account. It shows him dressed in a bright yellow jacket next to his Honda motorcycle. His Instagram portrayed the life of a young man: music, family, friends, but no sign of activism.
Why was he on the streets that night?
In August, the Central Sulawesi government had granted PT Trio Kencana a license to start digging for minerals in Kasimbar and South Tinombo districts in Parigi Moutong regency. It’s a huge area of 15,725 hectares, almost the size of Bandung or Washington, D.C. The land contains the homes, farms, schools, clinics and businesses – such as kiosks like the one run by Erfaldi’s mother – of 50,000 people. Parigi Moutong is also Central Sulawesi’s largest food-producing area.
PT Trio Kencana says that it is mining gold on the Kasimbar site and has promised “environmental protection, community service, and transparency” on its website, but it is not clear to local residents how these commitments are being kept. Villagers are concerned about the possibility that their land will be confiscated and are angry about ongoing exploration activities, as three mining pits in Kasimbar have flooded rice fields nearby.
Central Sulawesi, according to the Mining Advocacy Network, an Indonesian environmental group, is facing an ecological crisis because of excessive mining operations. The province has issued a total of 135 licenses over the last decade — 28 for an exploration phase and 107 others for operations already in production. The Mining Advocacy Network has called for the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in Jakarta to revoke the license for this mining operation.
Among local residents’ chief complaints is that they say they were not consulted about the deal. They are afraid that more digging will pollute the soil and water in the area. Governor Rusdi Mastura promised on February 7 to meet with the affected communities. He has yet to do so. But he has called on the police to arrest “provocateurs.”
The Central Sulawesi police chief, Rudy Sufahriadi, has promised to investigate the fatal shooting. His team found 60 bullet casings at the scene and sent them for ballistic examination in Makassar, South Sulawesi, confirming the villagers’ claim about live ammunition. Many local residents are skeptical that the police will be held accountable. The police promised to announce the result in March.
Rosmawati, Erfaldi’s mother, has repeatedly asked the police and authorities to find the person who shot her son and bring them to justice. She is hoping that his death will be the last among the farmers and others struggling to protect their land and environment.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Feb 12, 2022
- Event Description
Translation types Text translation Source text 3,365 / 5,000 Translation results Komnas HAM Commissioner Beka Ulung Hapsara revealed the findings of the field after visiting Wadas Village, Bener District, Purworejo Regency on Saturday (12/2/2022). From the results in the field, his party said that it was true that there was violence perpetrated by the police against local residents. Traumatized residents "What we found was that there was violence perpetrated by the authorities, then residents were still traumatized," he said when contacted on Sunday, February 13. Komnas HAM also asked Ganjar to focus on trauma recovery for Wadas Village residents, especially for women and children. "It's also about security guarantees, no more intimidation, then no threats or coercion," he said. According to Beka, Ganjar accepted these proposals. "He (Ganjar) claimed responsibility for yesterday's incident and will follow up on Komnas HAM's advice," said Beka about the incident in Wadas Village. LBH's social media and activists were hacked. "This pattern of attacks such as hacking often happens to human rights defenders who are critical of public policies. This is not an ordinary crime such as illegal access or hacking, but this is a backlash that can endanger the lives of human rights defenders," said the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Institute. (LBH) Press Ade Wahyudin, quoted from Tempo. The initial hack took place against the Director of LBH Yogyakarta, Yogi Zul Fadhli on Saturday, February 12, 2022. At 15:34, Yogi received an incoming message from WhatsApp that contained his number being registered on a new device along with the WhatsApp code info. Yogi then opened the WhatsApp application and received a notification that his number was no longer registered on WhatsApp. According to WhatsApp, he had registered the number on another phone. Even though he was not registering his phone number on another device. Yogi is trying to take over his WhatsApp again. At 15:44, WhatsApp he was back. On the same day at a different time, the cellphone of a contact person for a press conference of a civil society network in solidarity with the Wadas residents was also hacked. Dean, the name of the owner of the cellphone, cannot open messages on WhatsApp with a locked description. Dean then decided to leave the WhatsApp group which consisted of the civil society network. The hack made it difficult for activists who were in solidarity with Wadas residents to communicate with each other. As a result, some group conversations are disabled. LBH Yogyakarta's Instagram cannot be accessed Previously, LBH Yogyakarta's Instagram account was also inaccessible on Tuesday, February 8, 2022, at 23.20 WIB. The account uploaded content about the arrest of Wadas Village residents by the police. Even though it was hacked, now the LBH Yogyakarta Instagram account has recovered. Ade does not want to conclude who is behind the hack, but the public can judge for themselves. "It is difficult to conclude who the perpetrator is. But in fact, there was an attack and it coincided with Wadas' advocacy," he said. LBH Yogyakarta has been accompanying Wadas residents who have refused to mine andesite rocks. Chaos ensued in Wadas Village at the beginning of last week. A number of Wadas residents were arrested because they insisted on refusing to have their land measured and released for andesite mining.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy
- HRD
- NGO, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Feb 9, 2022
- Event Description
Prominent Vietnamese environmentalist Nguy Thi Khanh is the latest activist in the country to be arrested on tax evasion charges, state media reported this week.
Khanh, who is the first Vietnamese ever to win the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in 2018, was arrested last month in her home in Hanoi. State media did not confirm her detention until Feb. 9. Authorities searched her office and home and confiscated documents and several devices.
Khanh won the Goldman for her work with the Green Innovation and Development Center, an organization she founded which promotes sustainable development in the Southeast Asian country.
Her advocacy for green energy sometimes puts her crosswise to the Vietnamese government, which wants to increase the production of coal, the burning of which is a major contributor to climate change.
Two other activists were sentenced last month tax-related charges.
Dang Dinh Bach, leader of the Law and Policy of Sustainable Development Research Center, was sentenced to five years for tax evasion, while journalist Mai Phan Loi, who heads the Center for Media in Educating Community, received four years for tax fraud. Both were arrested in June 2021.
The Paris-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights said in a statement that the arrests of Bach and Loi were intended to prevent the creation of the Vietnam Domestic Advisory Group, which would have enabled activists to be independent civil society representatives in accordance with the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to work
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 9, 2022
- Event Description
Koh Kong authorities have threatened to tear down shelters built by residents of Botum Sakor district on land the locals say was taken from them by sugarcane plantations run by CPP Senator Ly Yong Phat.
Local authorities in Kandol commune said about 100 villagers had built small shelters on state land in January. In a statement released February 9, the authorities threatened to demolish the structures soon.
Residents said the land was used by them before Ly Yong Phat’s Koh Kong Sugar and Koh Kong Plantations were granted the land in 2006 to grow sugarcane. The group said they were given no land or monetary compensation after being evicted.
Pheng Teng, a representative of the group who is being sued in court in relation to the land dispute, said they will not leave the land nor will they dismantle the shelters built on the land.
“The people are determined that they will not leave the land because they really have lost their land,” she said. “They are upset that the authorities took their land and gave it to the company without compensating them and are accusing them of already receiving compensation.”
She added residents were worried authorities could arrest them.
Touch Ngann said his family had three hectares of land that was taken by the companies in 2006, and that his family was threatened to not resist the clearings more than a decade ago.
“And at that time, we were too poor and dared not to protest,” he said.
“Now, we are protesting to get our land back. If it is not resolved properly for us, we will not move from this land. We will face the authorities.”
Botum Sakor district governor Hak Leng told VOD on Wednesday that the relevant authorities had already compensated the affected people.
There are numerous land disputes in Koh Kong and Kampong Speu provinces relating to forced evictions and clearing of communities’ land to make way for sugarcane plantations. In Preah Vihear, residents of Tbeng Meanchey district are similarly taking back land given to five Chinese-owned sugarcane companies, commonly referred to as Rui Feng, and are facing off with local officials who are instead trying to lease the land for rice cultivation.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 9, 2022
- Event Description
Authorities in Myanmar’s Mandalay region on Wednesday detained nearly 20 people accused of participating in a “Silent Strike,” bringing the number of those arrested in connection with the nationwide anti-junta protest to more than 200 in recent days, according to sources.
Residents of Mandalay’s Mahar Aung Myae township told RFA’s Myanmar Service on Thursday that security forces blocked off streets for most of the previous day and arrested at least 19 people — including a Buddhist monk and several youth activist leaders.
Ashin Raza Dhama, the leader of the Mandalay Buddhist Monk Union, said junta forces searched Mahar Aung’s Sein Pan ward and detained “around 15 people.”
“In the evening, four leaders [who led] boycotts were taken,” he said of the youth activists, whose names were withheld due to concerns for their safety and that of their families.
“Today, I heard they are searching in Myaukpyin area the same way they did in Sein Pan,” he added.
Authorities also arrested a Buddhist monk from Mandalay’s Thingazar Monastery, alleging that he was involved in the protests.
Streets in Myanmar were largely empty on Feb. 1 as people across the country took part in the Silent Strike to protest the one-year anniversary of the military coup, despite a week of junta threats and arrests of organizers.
Public areas around the country were noticeably barren, except for occasional groups of young people holding flash protests. In the lead up to the anniversary of the Feb. 1, 2021, coup, authorities had warned of tough punishments — including life in prison — for anyone found applauding, honking or otherwise expressing support for the strike.
The movement marked the third Silent Strike since the military seized power, the others coming in March in the immediate aftermath of the putsch and in December on International Human Rights Day. In the past year, security forces have arrested more than 9,000 civilians and killed 1,546 — mostly during nonviolent anti-junta protests, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Residents of Mandalay said the junta is arresting protest leaders in the region to tighten security ahead of the 75th Diamond Jubilee Anniversary of Union Day on Feb. 12. The holiday commemorates the 1947 signing of the Panglong Agreement by ethnic majority Burmans and the country’s minorities to form a union following Myanmar’s independence from Britain on Jan. 4 a year later.
Sources expressed concern for the safety of the four protest leaders who were arrested Wednesday, who they said are on the junta’s “wanted list.”
One source, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing fear of reprisal, said that arresting the youth leaders will not end the resistance against the military regime.
“The revolution will not be stopped. It may take some time to recoup, but it will be restarted. The protesters will come out again,” he said.
The source called on more people to participate in the movement against the junta, saying that the political situation in the country has worsened.
“Popular participation has declined. We no longer have safehouses, and it has become more challenging to organize,” he said.
“We hope nothing happen to [the leaders]. I feel bad because they are very important for us.”
Tayzar San, a protest leader in Mandalay, said the junta’s violent crackdown on dissent will be its downfall.
“People throughout the country are fully motivated and in the mood for revolution,” he said.
“The people’s participation in the Silent Strike during the anniversary of the coup is evidence of that. The people of Myanmar will push back when the military tries to push them down.” Dozens arrests over silent strike
Prior to Wednesday, the junta said that authorities had arrested 193 people throughout the country between Jan. 27 and Feb. 8 for allegedly offering support for or encouraging others to take part in the strike by committing to close their shops on social media.
The announcement said that it will charge the alleged strike supporters under the Counter-Terrorism Act and the Electronic Communications Act, and that those found guilty of violating the laws are subject to having their property confiscated.
Family members of those arrested told RFA on Thursday that they were not talking about participation in the strike when they posted messages about closing shops, but just writing about how they intended to observe the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, which also falls on Feb. 1.
A woman who declined to be named said she hadn’t had contact with her husband since his arrest for allegedly closing his shop.
“We are ethnic Chinese. We announced on Facebook that we would close our shops on Feb. 1 according to New Year tradition,” she said. “Now my husband has been arrested, and I am in trouble taking care of three kids.”
A fortune teller in Yangon named Thar Htet Hsann was also among those detained in recent days.
His wife said he was arrested for allegedly participating in the strike but that he always takes the day off on Mondays.
“He closes his fortune teller shop every Monday. He used to call me when he is coming home, but he didn’t that evening,” she said. “Later, I saw something about his arrest on the news on TV. I have two children. They are still very young, and I don’t know what to do.”
‘Instilling fear’ through arrests
The spokesperson of a social media watchdog group in Myanmar said the junta works with popular pro-military influencers to monitor the activities of users.
“There are so many accounts of people named Kyaw Zwar, Han Nyein Oo or Thazin Oo on Telegram,” he said, referring to a popular social media platform.
“We found out that they are military supporters. We found that they are monitoring activities on these channels and taking actions by initiating these arrests.”
Attempts by RFA to contact junta Deputy Information Minister Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment on the arrests related to the silent strike went unanswered on Thursday.
A court attorney who works on human rights violation cases in Yangon told RFA that if a person runs their own private business and independently pays municipal taxes, the authorities cannot arrest them for closing their shop.
“The arrests are illegal and unlawful. They are using the law to oppress the people. I believe they are just using the laws to limit individual freedom,” the attorney said.
A Facebook user and youth activist in Yangon said the military council is trying to intimidate its opposition with the arrests.
“They are trying to instill fear among young people from using internet,” he said. “We will make sure they cannot govern us. We will continue the resistance online.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Feb 8, 2022
- Event Description
Local opposition to a mine on Indonesia’s Java Island, and the heavy-handed police crackdown on protesters, has turned the national spotlight on a spate of development projects touted by the government as being of “strategic importance.”
The conflict centers on a planned mine that will supply the nearby Bener dam, under construction since 2018, with andesite rock. About a quarter of the village of Wadas in Purworejo district, in the province of Central Java, is slated to be mined — something that locals have strongly opposed since 2013.
But while their protests have simmered for nearly a decade, the issue only exploded onto the national stage this month: On Feb. 8, hundreds of police officers arrived in Wadas, claiming they were there to escort officials from the land agency who wanted to demarcate the 114-hectare (282-acre) mining area within the village.
The heavy police presence triggered a clash with the villagers, resulting in the arrest of 67 people, 13 of them children. Police had previously arrested 11 and 12 villagers, respectively, in similar confrontations in 2019 and 2021.
A preliminary investigation by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) found that the police used physical violence in the latest incident in Wadas. It said this had caused trauma among some villagers, including children, with several people fleeing their homes and not returning yet.
The police have refuted Komnas HAM’s findings, saying they only “forcefully arrested” the villagers without resorting to violence.
A villager, who asked to be identified by the pseudonym Siji, said he was chased by plainclothes assailants when he was praying at a mosque in Wadas. They assaulted him at his house, then handcuffed him and five other villagers before taking them to the local police station.
Waliyah, another villager, told Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo during the latter’s visit to Wadas on Feb. 13 that her husband was among the villagers arrested during the clash.
“We’re scared, sir. My husband was arrested without knowing what the problem is,” Waliyah said. “Now [he’s] home and if [he] sees the police or strangers in black outfits, [he] gets scared. Every day [he] locks himself in the house. The doors are always locked. [My] children are also traumatized, sir.” ‘Escort investors’
While the Wadas case is one of many land conflicts in Indonesia in which the security forces have been accused of cracking down on local communities in favor of state or corporate interests, it’s one of the few that has shot to national prominence.
In addition to prompting visits from the governor and the rights commission, the latest clash has also seen representatives from the presidential palace meet with the villagers. And while they’ve promised to convey the villagers’ grievances to the president, longtime observers of this and other conflicts say it’s precisely the Widodo administration’s unrelenting push for infrastructure projects that’s fueling these problems.
Wahyu Yun Santoso, an environmental law expert at Gadjah Mada University, linked the Wadas conflict to Widodo’s pro-investment statements, particularly one he issued in December 2021, when he ordered the national police chief to fire any local police chiefs who fail to “escort investors.”
“There’s an indication that the event in Wadas is linked to the president’s statement, coupled with the fact that the Bener dam project is a national strategic project and thus has become a priority,” Wahyu said.
The conflict has also prompted 55 academics from 31 universities and research institutions across Indonesia to issue a joint call for the government to reconsider the dam project as a part of the slate of national strategic projects.
“The urgency of this project has to be reevaluated, especially with violent acts that come with its process,” they said in a press statement. “The state is obligated to provide protection and fulfill human rights.”
Dewi Kartika, secretary-general of the Consortium for Agrarian Reform (KPA), said the Wadas case is the latest example of how the government’s national strategic projects result in land grabbing and conflicts.
“The president has to make sure that all national strategic projects don’t eliminate people’s rights to their lands and space to live,” she said.
The Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL) said the conflict highlights the failure of the Bener dam project to involve the public in the decision-making process. Instead, the government has pushed this and other projects from the top down, often ignoring the communities most likely to be affected, the NGO said.
“As a result, there’s no space for the public to learn [about the project] and voice their objection against a national strategic project,” ICEL said in a statement. “Furthermore, public involvement is also not effective and too late, seeing how it’s almost certain that the project will proceed.”
ICEL said it’s important for the Widodo administration to guarantee community rights to decide on a project being undertaken in their area, as well as to strengthen public participation in the country’s development. ‘Nothing’s been violated’
Senior government officials have indicated the mine project will go ahead, regardless of the current furor.
Ganjar, the Central Java governor, who is reportedly eyeing a presidential run in 2024, declined to respond directly to the Wadas villagers’ calls for the mine permit to be revoked, calling it a “technical issue.”
Mahfud M.D., the chief minister for legal and security affairs, was more explicit about where the Widodo administration stands, saying the dam project will continue. This time, he added, there will be dialog with the villagers, with the government taking a “persuasive” approach rather than a repressive one.
Mahfud also rejected allegations that the dam project violates any laws, in response to protesters’ concerns about the lack of an environmental impact analysis.
“[That] has been met,” Mahfud said. “Nothing’s been violated.”
The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), however, has noted that the planned mine doesn’t have its own environmental impact analysis. Instead, it’s bundled into the environmental impact analysis for the dam.
Halik Sandera, director of the Walhi chapter in Yogyakarta, the nearest large city to Wadas, said the mine should have a separate environmental impact analysis since mining is a different activity from dam construction. Mining activity also requires a host of other permits, including for exploration and post-mining activity, he added.
The initial presentation by project officials to villagers was “focused more on the benefit of the dam, and what a dam is,” Halik said. “They didn’t inform [the villagers] in detail about what the impact [of the mine] on the people would be.”
The Yogyakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH), which is assisting the Wadas protesters, said the villagers have never been opposed to the dam project itself. The dam, which is expected to be completed by 2024, the final year of the Widodo administration, would provide electricity for three districts, including Purworejo, where Wadas is located.
What they oppose, said LBH Yogyakarta campaign official Dhanil Al Ghifary, is the planned andesite mine, which would destroy their farms.
Siswanto, a Wadas villager, said they’re also concerned about the mine’s environmental impact.
“Mining will threaten the safety of the villagers of Wadas and its surrounding areas,” he said. “The hills of Wadas are in an area that’s prone to landslides.”
Siswanto said the villagers remain opposed to the planned mine, even if the project is touted as being for economic development.
“What’s the use of supporting the economy,” he said, “if people are going to be sacrificed?”
Head of the Research Division of the Yogyakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH), Era Hareva Pasarua, revealed that approximately 25 residents of Wadas Village, Bener District, Purworejo Regency were transported to the Bener Police Station. Era said that one of the legal team from LBH Yogyakarta, Dhanil Al Ghifary and Julian was also arrested. "About 25 people were brought to the Bener Police, including the legal team from LBH Yogyakarta
One of the prisoners was the artist and activist Bambang Adyatmata or commonly called Yayak Yatmaka.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist, Land rights defender, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 8, 2022
- Event Description
The activist group Thaluwang (“Through the palace”) conducted a poll yesterday (8 February 2022) at Siam Paragon shopping mall on whether people think they face trouble from royal motorcades, but were obstructed by mall security and the police.
From 17.00 yesterday (8 February 2022), two activists stood in front of the shopping mall’s ground floor escalator holding a piece of paper saying “Do you think royal motorcades cause problems?” on which people could place a sticker to cast their vote. They later moved to the fountain courtyard connecting Siam Paragon with Siam Centre and the Siam BTS station, as well as to Sirivannavari Siam Paragon, the flagship store for the Sirivannavari brand, owned by the King’s youngest daughter, Princess Sirivannavari.
Ahead of their activity, Siam Paragon closed the doors on the fountain courtyard side. Mall personnel also stood in front of the activists, as well as making announcements that the mall is a private area and permission must be granted before any event can take place or the management will press charges. They also followed the activists while they were inside the mall, but despite the blockade, people continued to vote on the activists’ poll.
After completing their activity inside the mall, the activists walked to nearby Sa Pathum Palace, Princess Sirindhorn’s residence, intending to deliver the result of the poll. They were blocked by police officers near the palace entrance. Plainclothes officers took hold of one of the activists from behind and tore the cardboard poll sign out of her hands. Nearby supporters later demanded that the officers apologize to the activist. The activists ended their event by standing in front of the entrance to Sa Pathum Palace and giving the three-finger ‘Hunger Games’ salute.
Tawan, one of the activists, said that they wanted to raise questions about the problems caused by royal motorcades, such as during Princess Sirindhorn’s visit to Nakhon Sawan, prior to which police officers harassed local activists, while the Department of Livestock Development had to clear stray dogs from the area. Roads are also closed during a royal motorcade, wasting people’s time and causing loss of income.
Tawan said that the activity was successful, since they have already communicated that royal motorcades cause many problems for people, and hope that the relevant authorities will be working on solving the issues. She also said that the police’s attempt to block their poll shows that they are afraid and did not want these issues to be discussed.
Even before the beginning of the pro-democracy movement in 2020, Thai netizens had begun to voice their frustrations at road closures caused by passing royal motorcades. The hashtag #ขบวนเสด็จ or ‘Royal Motorcade,’ trended on Twitter in October 2019, after a motorcade caused a traffic jam around Victory Monument in Bangkok during the evening rush hour, even halting ambulances. The hashtag appeared again in January 2020, with many tweets expressing how their daily routines are affected by these motorcades.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 5, 2022
- Event Description
The Cambodian authorities should immediately stop abusing public health measures to repress workers’ right to strike and other basic rights, Human Rights Watch said today.
Since the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld (LRSU) went on strike in December 2021 to call for the reinstatement of workers laid off earlier in the year, Cambodian authorities have arbitrarily arrested, detained, and prosecuted union activists. Most recently, the authorities have sought to justify these criminal charges as Covid-19-related measures. On February 5, 2022, the police arrested six union members at Phnom Penh’s NagaWorld casino as they left a Covid-19 testing site and baselessly charged three of them with obstructing the government’s Covid-19 efforts.
“The Cambodian authorities are stooping to new lows by bringing criminal charges in the guise of public health measures to end a strike,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government’s persecution of union activists appears aimed at blunting the growing unity and strength of Cambodia’s union movement and their support for the NagaWorld strikers.”
On February 4, Cambodia’s Health Ministry ordered several hundred workers engaged in a strike action outside the NagaWorld casino to take a Covid-19 test, after one striking union member (who had last participated in the strike on January 15) tested positive. The authorities said that anyone who tested negative would have to self-isolate for seven days, and that if they tested positive, they would be sent to a Covid-19 treatment center. Between February 5 and 6, over 400 protesting workers appeared as ordered at the designated testing site on Phnom Penh’s Diamond Island (Koh Pich). Since the strike began, protesters have protected themselves and others by wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.
The six arrested on February 5 were Seng Vannarith, Choub Channath, Sao Sambath, Ouk Sophorn, Touch Danet, and Em Kunthea. The police released Sophorn, Danet, and Kunthea later that night, but held Vannarith, Channath, and Sambath at the Phnom Penh police headquarters. On February 9, the Phnom Penh court charged the latter three with “obstruction of Covid-19 measures” (article 11 of Cambodia’s Covid-19 law), which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison. The court ordered their pretrial detention at Phnom Penh’s Police Judiciaire prison facility, which in November 2020 was at about 170 percent capacity.
On February 5, the authorities issued summonses for four other workers for questioning about alleged obstruction of Covid-19 measures. The four had followed government orders by getting tested for Covid-19 and self-isolating after testing negative. One of the four told VOD News that she was “shocked” to receive a summons because she said she “didn’t incite people to block testing.” Another feared that she would be found in violation of Covid-19 measures if she left self-isolation to appear in court.
“Throwing workers into overcrowded jails that are hotbeds for Covid-19 as they await criminal trial shows that the government’s concern is not about public health but about ending one of Cambodia’s longest industrial actions in years,” Robertson said.
On December 18, LRSU began the strike in accordance with international labor law, calling for the reinstatement of 365 employees previously dismissed as part of the mass layoff of 1,329 workers by Phnom Penh’s NagaWorld casino in April 2021. Among those dismissed were union leaders. The authorities called the strike “illegal” on the basis of a court order issued on December 16 that violated the right to strike protected under international law. The authorities ordered protesters to resume work, contending that if they did not, NagaWorld would be permitted to terminate them. The government has failed in achieving a fair resolution in the labor disputes between NagaWorld and the union.
Since December 31, the authorities have arrested dozens of LRSU members who participated in the strike, and already jailed eight, including the union president, Chhim Sithar, on “incitement” charges. They are held at Phnom Penh’s Correctional Centers 1 and 2.
The Cambodian government adopted the Law on Measures to Prevent the Spread of Covid-19 and other Serious, Dangerous and Contagious Diseases in March 2020. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly highlighted the threat the law poses to human rights in Cambodia because the authorities can easily abuse its overly broad and vague provisions. The law also fails to provide any independent oversight and procedural safeguards, and provides disproportionate fines and penalties of up to 20 years in prison for alleged violations of Covid-19 related measures.
The United Nations special rapporteur on Cambodia reported that, between March and October 2021, the police arrested over 700 people based on allegations of having violated Covid-19 measures. Some of the alleged violations of the Covid-19 law involved people making critical commentary on social media about the government’s handling of the pandemic.
Cambodia is bound by Convention No. 87 of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protects the right to strike. The ILO tripartite Committee on Freedom of Association held that prohibitions of strikes during a national emergency, such as the Covid-19 public health crisis, should be limited in time, strictly necessary, and proportionate. The committee also stated that the “responsibility for suspending a strike on the grounds of public health should not lie with the government, but with an independent body which has the confidence of all parties concerned.”
The LRSU protesters’ precautionary health measures made the denial of the strike and the subsequent arrests unnecessary, excessive, and disproportionate, violating their internationally protected right to strike, Human Rights Watch said.
“Using public health measures to repress workers undermines the public’s faith in the government’s actions against Covid-19,” Robertson said. “UN agencies in Cambodia, the ILO, and foreign embassies should press the government to immediately and unconditionally release the detained union activists and stop abusing health measures for political ends.”
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: 16 more labour rights defenders arrested, including union president, Cambodia: labour rights defenders prevented from leaving strike site, 9 arrested, charged and questioned, Cambodia: labour rights defenders prevented from staging peaceful strike, Cambodia: Ministry of Health orders COVID-19 test for all protesting labour rights defenders
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Feb 5, 2022
- Event Description
Philippine authorities must drop their legal threats against the independent news outlet Rappler and allow the press to work without fear of legal harassment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday.
On Saturday, February 5, Lorraine Marie T. Badoy, a spokesperson for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, a body tasked with responding to and raising awareness about communist activities in the country, published a statement on her official Facebook page saying that the task force “is taking legal action” against Rappler, according to news reports.
The statement accused Rappler of spreading “disinformation” in a January 31 article fact-checking statements by Badoy. She also said the task force would act against Facebook for allowing Rappler and Vera Files, the two local news outlets approved by Facebook to serve as fact-checkers, to “abuse the immense powers of [that] designation” and harm national security.
Gemma Mendoza, head of digital strategy at Rappler, told CPJ in a phone interview that the outlet had not received any official legal complaint, and that it was not clear under which law it could be charged.
“Philippine authorities must drop their frivolous legal threat against Rappler and stop harassing the independent news group and its employees,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Even in its waning days, the Duterte administration will stop at nothing to silence one of the Philippines’ most credible independent news outlets.”
The January 31 Rappler article labeled as “false” statements by Badoy claiming that members of the Makabayan Bloc minority political coalition included operatives affiliated with “communist guerillas.”
Previously, in March 2021, the task force accused Rappler of being a “friend and ally” of communist rebels over a separate fact-check, according to news reports.
The government practice of claiming journalists and activists are associated with banned communist or leftist groups is known as “red-tagging” in the Philippines, and has resulted in the wrongful criminal suits, detentions, and deaths, according to Rappler.
CPJ sent requests for comment to Badoy and the task force’s official Facebook pages, but did not receive any replies.
Last year, Rappler founder Maria Ressa received the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to safeguard press freedom amid legal threats in the Philippines. She also received CPJ’s Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award in 2018.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 3, 2022
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced Voeun Veasna, a former monk who was involved in forestry activism, to two years in prison for incitement over criticisms he posted on Facebook.
On Thursday, judge Chhun Davy said Veasna, who posted online under the account Kra’nhung Prey Lang, was sentenced to two years in prison and fined 2 million riel for his posts in April 2021.
Veasna was extradited from Thailand in November for the crime.
During the morning session, judge Davy asked Veasna whether he had any response to the allegations against him.
“I ask not to answer because I don’t have a lawyer,” he said. After Veasna refused to give an answer, the judge asked the prosecution to make its final statement.
Deputy prosecutor Mut Dara said posts were inciting and had affected the government.
Veasna had posted a poem under a photo of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s grandson criticizing the government over land disputes and the destruction of forests.
Veasna again told the court that he had nothing to add since the court had not invited his lawyer. Judge Davy responded that the court had given him a month to find representation.
“If the court receives a request from a lawyer, the court will invite the lawyer to come for the trial,” Davy said. “No lawyer submitted a letter to defend the case.”
Davy issued the verdict following a 15-minute break.
Veasna continued to insist that the court had failed to invite his lawyer and called the decision unjust. He refused to thumbprint the decision, saying the court was “remote-controlled.”
Defense lawyer Sam Sokong said he represented Veasna in a separate case for plotting, but not in the incitement case.
Licadho spokesperson Am Sam Ath said the sentence was too harsh considering the crime.
Veasna was extradited from Thailand alongside Voeung Samnang, a former opposition commune deputy chief.
A monk, Bor Bet, faced extradition soon after, but was released and is now a refugee in Switzerland.
Dozens of opposition activists have faced trial over support for the outlawed CNRP, which was once the country’s main opposition party.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 3, 2022
- Event Description
RSF has confirmed that, in the continuing relentless crackdown on the media, Thu Rein Kyaw (ကိုသူရိန်ကျော် in Burmese) was arrested when soldiers raided and searched his apartment in Yangon’s Insein township on the afternoon of 3 February. Located in northwestern Yangon, Insein is notorious for being the site of Myanmar’s largest prison, where at least 14 journalists are currently detained.
Thu Rein Kyaw become one of the military’s first victims after they seized power in a coup d’état on 1 February 2021. While covering a demonstration the next day in support of the Tatmadaw, as Myanmar’s armed forces are known, he was badly beaten by unidentified individuals, and photographs circulated online showing his injuries, including an eye injury.
According to RSF’s press freedom barometer, his arrest has brought the number of media professionals currently detained in Myanmar to 60.
Damning toll
“We demand the immediate release of Thu Rein Kyaw and all the other journalists who are paying with their freedom for having tried to inform the world about the tragedy taking place in Myanmar,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “The international community, civil society and businessmen who have dealings with Myanmar cannot be indifferent to the damning list of arrests of journalists. It is high time to prevent Myanmar’s military junta from completing its normalisation process.”
After last year’s coup, RSF embarked on a major advocacy campaign whose targets including multinationals operating in Myanmar. RSF wrote to 15 corporations urging them to end all activity that directly or indirectly supported the junta. Several of them, including TotalEnergies, Chevron, Voltalia, Telenor and Ericsson, finally announced that they plan to pull out of Myanmar in the near future.
Myanmar is ranked 140th out of 180 countries in RSF’s latest World Press Freedom Index, which was compiled in early 2021, before the biggest surge in press freedom violations.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Raid, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 2, 2022
- Event Description
At least 9 activists in Nakhon Sawan Province have reported visits and intimidation by police officers throughout the past week ahead of Princess Sirindhorn’s visit to the province on Monday (7 February 2022).
Thai Lawyers for Human rights (TLHR) said that members of a vocational school student network in the province have been visited by police officers several times since 2 February 2022, and that they have been threatened by the police.
One of the members said that they have faced regular surveillance, such as in December 2021 and January 2022, when they were followed by police officers while setting up a table for people to sign a petition to repeal the royal defamation law at a local park. They said that police officers are now calling their parents and threatening to arrest them, causing several members to be reprimanded by their families for participating in these activities.
Ice, 19, said that police officers visited his family’s house on 2 February 2022. The house is his address according to the household register, but he does not live there. The police met his aunt and uncle and showed them a picture of him participating in a demonstration, telling them that he could be arrested for joining such activity. The police then called his uncle again on 4 February 2022, telling him that they wanted Ice to move his household registration into Mueang District, Nakhon Sawan, so that it would be easy for the police to monitor his activity.
Another 19-year-old student also said that police officers have been trying to track him down since 30 January 2022. He said that officers went to his relative’s house, which is his registered address. The house is currently for sale, so the officers called the number on the for sale sign, and asked his relative whether he is home and asked to meet him.
The student said that while getting a call from the police caused concerns, his family has not forbidden him from joining protests. He insisted he will continue his activity, since he believes it is his right to do so.
Another member of the network said that he received a call from an officer at the Mueang Nakhon Sawan Police Station, who asked him whether he knows Princess Sirindhorn will be visiting the province and whether he and his friends will be doing anything during her visit. He said he told the officer that he did not know that the princess would be visiting the province until the officer told him.
The member said that police officers previously called him several times to check on his activities, such as during the Naresuan University graduation ceremony in late 2021. He said that he has gotten used to police surveillance, but he still thinks of it as intimidation and said that his friends who have not faced this before, as well as their parents, might be frightened.
One more member of the group said that a police officer also called him on 2 February 2022 and asked him whether the network would be doing anything during Princess Sirindhorn’s visit.
On Monday (7 February 2022), activist Phimchanok Jaihong posted on Facebook that around 14 – 15 plainclothes officers went to her house, which TLHR said is also a gathering place for activists. The police claimed that they were not visiting Phimchanok. However, they stood around the alley in front of her house, and TLHR speculated that they were monitoring the activists’ activities.
Phimchanok also said that she had been followed by an officer since she left Bangkok, since she noticed that one of the passengers on the bus she took from Bangkok to Nakhon Sawan was also among the officers outside her house.
Princess Sirindhorn visited Wat Si Utum Phon temple in Muang district, Nakhon Sawan, in a personal capacity on Monday (7 February 2022) to attend a ceremony in which the Chofa, a decorative ornament often seen at the top of Thai temples, is raised above the roof of the ordination hall.
Previously, on 3 January 2022, Kantapat, 17, a student activist in Buriram, was summoned to meet the police and made to sign a paper affirming that he would not interfere with an upcoming royal procession of Princess Sirindhorn on 5 January.
Kantapat told Prachatai that he received a phone call from a police officer on 2 January asking him not to stage any activity on 5 January. The police also asked that he go to the police station to sign the daily log and allow police to confirm his whereabouts via telephone at least twice a day during the 3-5 January period.
The activist said that he had no plan to organise any activity during that time and was instead preparing for a midterm exam that was scheduled for after the long new year’s holiday. Despite this, plainclothes police reportedly kept an eye on him at his home and school.
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Feb 2, 2022
- Event Description
The firm stance of the Pekanbaru Police Chief Kombes Pol Dr Pria Budi, S.I.K, M.H was awaited by the people of Riau in particular and the people of Indonesia in general.
Why not, it is important that the Police Chief's firm stance is immediately taken for the sake of upholding the rule of law in following up the alleged criminalization of journalist Rudi Yanto and activist Larshen Yunus which was allegedly carried out by his subordinates, Head of Criminal Investigation Unit of Pekanbaru Police Commissioner Andrie Setiawan, SH, SIK, and three investigators of Pekanbaru Police Ipda Petrus Situmorang, SH, Iptu Holder Situmorang, SH and Brigadier Novriadi, SH.
The Pekanbaru Police Chief stated that he had received reports of alleged criminalization of activists and journalists reported by activist Larshen Yunus and Wartakontras.com journalist Rudi Yanto who reported the Head of Criminal Investigation Unit for Pekanbaru Police Commissioner Andrie Setiawan, SH, SIK, and three Pekanbaru Police investigators Ipda Petrus Situmorang, SH, Iptu Holder Situmorang, SH and Brigadier Novriadi, SH.
"We are following up, checking the truth of the report," said Pol Kombes Dr Pria Budi, S.I.K, M.H to wartakontras.com, Friday (11/2/2022) when confirmed via WhatsApp (WA) message.
Moreover, the criminalization of activist Larshen Yunus and journalist Rudi Yanto was carried out when two well-known youths were active in voicing the interests of many people in carrying out their duties as Agents of Change and Agents of Control.
Instead, they are protected and even criminalized when they are in the public space of the Riau DPRD People's Building.
If, the illegal practice of criminalization is continued and continues to be carried out, it will certainly tarnish the image of the Pekanbaru Police Chief who always maintains the good name of the Police Institution.
A multi-generational activist Larshen Yunus is an Anti-Corruption Activist and Activist who is well-known for caring for the poor and defending the oppressed.
Larshen Yunus, a well-known activist from Riau, is an Alumni of the Vocational School of Gadjah Mada University (UGM) and an Alumni of Sospol Unri. Larshen Yunus is also the Chairman of the GAMARI Central Presidium (PP) for five terms and the Head of the Satya Wicaksana Law Office.
Journalist Rudi Yanto is a journalist and editor-in-chief of Wartakontras.com who has been a journalist for 12 years working in the press sector, which is the fourth pillar of democracy. Rudi, who is a former Riau Haluan Daily Journalist, has a Journalist Competency Test Certificate (UKW) from the Press Council.
Not only that, Rudi even has a Digital Media Reporter Certificate from the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology of the Republic of Indonesia. Then, Rudi Yanto joined the Association of Indonesian Journalists (PWI), which is the oldest journalist organization in Indonesia. Along with the euphoria and excitement of the commemoration of the National Press Day (HPN) which falls on February 9, 2022 in Kendari, South Sulawesi, journalists in Riau have been criminalized.
The alleged criminalization of journalists and activists in Riau originated from the Riau Provincial DPRD's State Civil Apparatus (ASN) on behalf of Ferry Sasfriadi with a report of Entrance without Permit and Vandalism in the Honorary Board of the Riau DPRD. This report must be proven in the name of the law, especially since this report is clearly slanderous against journalists and activists. It is clearly suspected that it was engineered by the Pekanbaru Police investigators, allegedly on the orders of the Riau DPRD Secretariat Official and Riau DPRD Members in an effort to criminalize activists and journalists.
“The reporter must be able to prove, who saw the destruction? with what tool did he do it? for what purpose do they do this? these are activists and journalists of Agents of Change and Agents of Control who voice the interests of the community at large," said Dr Yudi Krismen as the Legal Counsel for the Reported Party who is the Doctor of Criminal Law, the Padjadjaran University Alumni.
Journalist Rudi Yanto, one of the reported parties, stated that the evidence of the report against him was slander because there was no evidence and witnesses, let alone CCTV evidence of vandalism, such as the article alleged.
Then, the evidence of this report is slander, namely who the reporter to the Pekanbaru Police has different information between the Riau DPRD internal party, especially the Pekanbaru Police Investigator.
“The Pekanbaru Police investigator who examined me, Ipda Petrus Situmorang, S.H, stated that the reporter was a BK staff. In fact, we already have permission from the Riau DPRD BK Expert Staff," explained Rudi.
However, this Unri Faperika Alumni continued, in the news in online media that attached a photo of the evidence of the report, it explained that the complainant was an ASN. In a different way, the Head of Public Relations of the Riau DPRD, Raja Faisal, said in the press conference that the reporter was the security section of the Riau DPRD. The security section of the Riau DPRD is security and the Riau DPRD security is not ASN.
"From here, it's clear that it's not true, for just who the reporter is, their information is different from one another. I strongly suspect that the five witnesses are false witnesses," said Rudi, who already has a Journalist Competency Test Certification from the Press Council.
According to the report at the Riau DPRD People's Building, investigator Ipda Petrus Situmorang, SH said that his party had examined five witnesses before asking for their statements.
"We asked the five witnesses, what are they trying to do?, even though we were both in the room, the CCTV footage of the Riau DPRD BK room was leaked to journalists, in the video it was clear that we did not do any damage at all. In fact, I was doing my reporting duty which was protected by the Press Law, but instead I was criminalized like this,” said Rudi.
In the process of his investigation regarding the invitation for an ordinary request for clarification on February 2, 2022, Rudi was questioned by Pekanbaru Police Investigator Ipda Petrus Situmorang, SH, who was not at all humanistic and seemed to take sides with the reporter who did not uphold the principle of presumption of innocence. abusively while smoking and intimidating him into making a confession according to the allegations. So, much of what the investigator wrote often did not match the results of my answer.
“Because of the inhumane behavior of the investigators, using abusive language while smoking cigarettes in examining me, examining me like I am a criminal and totally inconsistent with POLRI'S PRECISION. So, we have reported the investigators to the Head of the Propam Riau Police, the Pekanbaru Police Chief and the Pekanbaru Propam Headquarters. We have sent a copy to the Head of the Criminal Investigation Investigation Bureau of the Police, and Commission III of the DPR RI and other related parties," said Rudi, who is a member of the Riau PWI.
In fact, the evidence of this case was engineered and forced, ready for us to be examined on Wednesday (2/2/2022) and immediately went up for investigation. Thursday (3/3/2022). The process for the title of the case is questionable because it has not been notified at all to the reported party and his legal counsel. Then, a notification letter for the start of the investigation was sent to the Pekanbaru Kejari with a letter dated February 9, 2022, which was signed by Andrie Setiawan, SH, S.I.K as Head of Criminal Investigation Unit of the Pekanbaru Police.
"That in this case the Pekanbaru Police must prioritize Restorative Justice first, as mandated by the Indonesian National Police Regulation Number 8 of 2021. And that has not been done at all," said Dr Yudi Krismen.
It is clear that the illegal practice of criminalizing journalists and activists is a legal process that was engineered and forced by the Pekanbaru Police, allegedly at the instigation of Riau DPRD Officials and Riau DPRD Members.
Because the evidence of the CCTV footage that was leaked by the Riau DPRD to journalists, it is clear that we never did any damage in accordance with the article that was alleged, because we did not do any damage, we carried out our duty to cover coverage that was protected by the Press Law, not protected but I was instead criminalized.
“In fact, my report at the Riau Police seems to have been frozen. The secretary of the Riau DPRD until now has not been investigated at all as the reported party. The Secretariat should have been examined two weeks ago, said the investigator, I as the Reporting Party will be notified if the reported party is summoned. However, in fact, until now there has been no follow-up information, this clearly proves that the law is sharp downwards and blunts upwards," explained Rudi.
"I have written to the Riau Police Chief and the Indonesian President Joko Widodo asking that the rule of law be enforced, there should be no difference like what I am experiencing right now, the law is sharp downwards and blunt upwards which clearly contradicts POLRI PRECISION. Stop criminalizing journalists and activists. However, until now there has been no response from the Riau Police Chief at all,” said Rudi.
He continued, the issue of discrimination and criminalization of journalists and activists. Journalist Rudi Yanto and activist Larshen Yunus wrote to the Riau Police Chief and President Jokowi.
“We hope that the rule of law will be enforced and stop the criminalization of journalists and activists. Don't, because what I reported to the Riau DPRD Secretary, Muflihun, was privileged to him, as is happening now," said Rudi.
Moreover, before being reported, journalist Rudi Yanto was expelled from the Riau DPRD Building on Thursday (12/23/2021) and was accused by the Secretary of the Council (Sekwan) of the Riau DPRD, Muflihun of damaging, tearing apart and accused of stealing by stating that there were items missing in the office of the Board of Directors. The honor (BK) of the Riau DPRD when journalist Rudi Yanto carried out coverage on December 15, 2021 with Activist Larshen Yunus who was the resource person, Senior Researcher of Formappi Riau reporting rogue members of DPRD Riau lazy to work.
In his accusation, Sekwan stated that all of this was recorded on CCTV and journalist Rudi Yanto had been reported on behalf of the Riau DPRD institution to the Police. However, in fact the journalist Rudi Yanto and the activist Larshen Yunus were only reported on December 29, 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 1, 2022
- Event Description
Royal defamation case defendants indicted for reading a statement in German and wearing a crop top said that they were unable to obtain passports because of their ongoing court cases.
On 1 February, Ravisara Eksgool, who recently received a scholarship to study overseas, posted on Facebook that her request for a new passport was denied, reportedly because the case against her was a matter of national security.
Ravisara is one of 13 people indicted on lèse majesté and sedition charges under Sections 112 and 116 of the Thai Criminal Code for participating in a protest in front of the German Embassy in Bangkok on 26 October 2020 to demand monarchy reform. On that day, she read a statement in German.
Sainam (pseudonym), an underage youth charged with royal defamation for attending a ‘fashion show’ protest, was reportedly denied a passport as well. On 28 January 2020, he went to the show wearing a crop top. A message painted on his exposed belly stated that King Vajiralongkorn was not his father.
According to Sainam, he went to obtain passports with three other family members and his was the only application rejected. The Consular Affairs Department was reportedly asked by Yannawa District Police Office, the station that brought 112 charges, not to issue a passport.
On 8 February, Prachatai contacted the Yannawa police station to clarify matters but received no response. No way out
On 7 February, Ravisara posted another Facebook message stating that she had petitioned the Southern Bangkok Court to challenge the decision to deny her a passport. According to Ravisara, the Court ruled that travelling abroad violated her bail conditions and that a 2-year scholarship would result in her fleeing the country.
She was awarded a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) scholarship to pursue a Masters Degree in the management of non-profit organization in Germany, a degree that she finds an aspiration from her desire to help out the work of the Thai Human Rights Lawyers (TLHR).
“As for the passport, when I went to renew it, it did not cross my mind that they would reject my application. I didn’t know. When they did, I felt a bit down. But later I felt angry; they are treating me like a criminal when I haven’t done anything.”
While no official policy has been reportedly announced, the passport and travel ban has frequently been imposed on critics of the Prayut-administration and the monarchy.
According to BBC Thai, Dechathorn Bamrungmuang, a.k.a. HOCKHACKER, a member of the band Rap Against Dictatorship, found on 25 November that he could not get a new passport because his name had been placed on a ‘watchlist’ after he voiced criticism of the government,
In a BBC Thai interview on 18 November, Pol Col Tossaphol Ampaipipatkul, Superintendent of Samranrat Police Station, revealed that he was the one requesting passport revocations, in keeping with legal procedures for those facing charges related to national security.
Yan Marchal, a French expat well known for his political parodies, had to take a return flight to France after receiving an expulsion order upon arrival at Phuket Airport on 27 November 2021. Immigration officials reportedly deemed him to be a threat to society.
According to the Thai Enquirer, the Samranrat Police Station submitted a request to the Department of Consular Affairs to revoke the passports of 13 people who had been charged with sedition over their involvement in pro-democracy rallies. Six were listed by name: Jutatip Sirikhan, Korakot Saengyenpan, Suwanna Tanlek, Baramee Chaiyarat and Panumas Singprom.
According to Kumklao Songsomboon, a lawyer from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, the state has no authority to impose a travel ban on people who have yet to be found guilt of a crime by the Court. In the case of underage defendants like Sainam, Thai laws and international conventions also oblige state officials to consider their future well-being.
“Whatever they do, whatever constraints they place on the rights [of young defenders], they have to consider their futures," said Kumklao.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Judicial Harassment, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jan 31, 2022
- Event Description
The Khon Kaen Provincial Court began its trial of 3 Khon Kaen University students for desecrating the national flag. The students were charged after they replaced a national flag with a ‘monarchy reform’ banner on a flag pole during a protest at Khon Kaen University in February 2021.
According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), Wachirawit Tedsrimuang, Chaitawat Rammarerng and Chetta Klindee were summoned to appear in court as defendants and witnesses on 31 January and 1 February.
On the opening day of the trial, the Court prohibited attorneys and observers from recording the proceedings. Court officers said that a detailed record of the trial would later be made available for copying and added that note-taking was prohibited in previous trials.
In their testimony, the three defendants admitted that they had done the act but claimed that they were merely exercising their constitutional right to freedom of expression. They also said that they raised the ‘reform monarch’ flag after removing the national flag from the pole after 18.00, the time when national flags are supposed to be taken down countrywide. They added that they did not see any officers coming to collect the flag for the evening.
The defendants stated that they did not desecrate that flag. Instead, they brought it down properly, did not take it away, and did not damage it in any way.
The 2-day trial included testimony from eight witnesses in support of both the plaintiff and the defendants. The Court is scheduled to issue a ruling on 25 March 2022.
The case stemmed from the defendants raising a red flag bearing the message ‘reform monarchy’ on a national flag pole in front of the President’s office at Khon Kaen University.
The following explanation of the protest was later posted on a Facebook page, Khon Kaen Has Had Enough (Khon Kaen Por Kan Tee).
“A “reform monarchy” flag was raised to the top of the flag pole in front of the KKU President building to symbolically show that Thailand can become a full-fledged democracy when it reforms the monarchy. We do not despised the national flag but we do .want it to be a truly dignified national flag representing a democratic regime that conforms with international standards.”
The flag remained at the top of the pole for 10 minutes before police and a university security officer came to remove it. The Khon Kaen District Police Station subsequently pressed charges against the three defendants for raising a flag that damaged Thailand’s dignity and treating the national flag in a manner violating the Flag Act. The charges carry a 2 year jail sentence, a 4,000 baht fine or both.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jan 29, 2022
- Event Description
A Lao human rights activist living in Thailand as a UN-recognized refugee is being held for deportation back to Laos, where he faces arrest for his advocacy work, Lao sources say.
Khoukham Keomanivong was arrested Saturday on a charge of overstaying his permission to be in the country and was tried Monday afternoon at the Don Mueang district court in the capital Bangkok, an officer at the Thug Song Hong police station told RFA.
“He was transferred to the immigration bureau after he was found guilty of overstaying his visa,” the officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Authorities held Khoukham’s one-day trial behind closed doors, citing COVID-19 concerns, and RFA reporters were not allowed inside the court building.
Court officials did not provide information on the case following the proceedings, and calls seeking comment from Thailand’s immigration bureau received no response on Monday.
Khoukham, a member of Free Laos — a group set up in Thailand to promote human rights and democracy in Laos — is currently being held at the Suan Plu detention center pending deportation, sources said.
Angkhana Neelapaijit, a former national human rights commissioner, said she is now working with colleagues to seek bail for Khoukham.
“I’m working with various networks who help foreign refugees and hope to lodge a request tomorrow,” she said, speaking to RFA and BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. “In the case of UNHCR-protected individuals, the immigration authorities could grant bail with a bond and guarantor. Such individuals should not be forced to go back to face harm.”
'Harm’s way in Laos'
Khoukam is a formally recognized UNHCR refugee, “and under no circumstances should Thailand send him back to Laos, where he would certainly face arrest and abuse,” added Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“The Thai authorities should release him immediately and enable him to seek protection in a third country if that is what he wants,” Robertson said.
Laos deals severely with dissidents who call for democracy and respect for human rights in the one-party communist state, “and there is no doubt that he would face arrest, imprisonment, and perhaps worse if the Thais send him back into harm’s way in Laos.”
A third country would grant asylum to Khoukham if requested by HRW, Robertson said. “But we have to make sure he doesn’t get sent back first.”
Three Lao workers who criticized their government on Facebook while working in Thailand disappeared in March 2016 after returning to Laos to renew their passports.
Somphone Phimmasone, his girlfriend Lod Thammavong, and Soukane Chaithad were later shown on television making what appeared to be forced confessions and were charged with criticizing the Lao government online while working abroad and for taking part in a protest outside the Lao embassy in Thailand.
Somphone was sentenced to a 20-year term, while Soukane was sentenced to 16 years, and Lod was handed a 12-year sentence.
In August 2019, Lao democracy activist Od Sayavong, a friend of Khoukham, vanished under mysterious circumstances in Thailand after posting a video clip online criticizing the Lao government. Listed as a “person of concern” by the UNHCR because of his advocacy for democracy and human rights in Laos, his whereabouts remain unknown. He was 34 at the time he went missing.
Veteran activist
Khoukham, 38, told RFA's Lao Service in an a previous report that he left Champassak province in southern Laos in 2002 to work in Bangkok.
He was one of a handful of Lao workers who organized Lao youth students and workers in Thailand and founded Free Laos, under the motto, "New Lao youths want democracy and do not support the dictatorship."
Khoukham's active years in the group were 2010 to 2016, when they campaigned for the release of the three workers and for missing Lao rural development expert Sombath Somphone, who disappeared in 2012. He told RFA he was scared into hiding in the Bangkok area after the series of arrests of other Lao activists.
Thailand has hosted hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing war, natural disasters and human rights violations in neighboring countries.
Human rights groups, however, criticize Thailand's authoritarian government for recent cases in which it returned refugees and asylum-seekers to China, where they face torture, persecution and other rights abuses.
Last November, Thai authorities arrested and deported to Cambodia two activists from the banned political opposition after Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered the arrest of one of them over a poem criticizing the strongman ruler on Facebook.
In early 2019, Vietnamese blogger Truong Duy Nhat was arrested by Thai Royal Police and handed over to Vietnamese police, who took him across the border into Laos, and from there back to Vietnam.
Nhat, who had been a weekly contributor to RFA’s Vietnamese Service, was sentenced in 2020 to ten years in jail for “abusing his position and authority” in a decade-old land fraud case.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 29, 2022
- Event Description
Three community representatives involved in a long-running dispute with the energy minister’s wife were taken into police custody over the weekend in relation to a separate dispute, residents said.
Lor Peang community members Oum Sophy, her husband Snguon Nheun, another activist Tuon Seng, and Seng’s 1-year-old grandchild were taken to Kampong Chhnang’s Cholkiri district police station around 3 p.m. Saturday, according to a witness, Prak Sophum.
Sophum believed the arrests were due to a live Facebook broadcast the land activists had made over an argument people were having over a plot of land, which he said began in 2017 and is separate from a decadeslong dispute with KDC International.
“I ask samdech puk, samdech me to help the poor people to settle their land and release them from the detention … so that they can come and support their children because their children and grandchildren are still very young,” Sophum said, using words that roughly translate to lord father and lord mother, likely referring to Prime Minister Hun Sen and his wife Bun Rany.
However, Cholkiri district police chief Him Yong on Saturday said that the arrests were due to destruction of property, not social media streams.
Seng’s husband Oeur Sarith said as of Saturday evening that he had not been able to get in touch with his wife and grandchild.
Sophy and Nheun were also questioned by police in September over an altercation with an illegal fisher. Sophy previously told VOD that authorities tore down a building where they taught community members environmental issues, but they recorded the crackdown to show officials’ actions widely on social media.
The Lor Peang land community has been in a land dispute with Chea Kheng and KDC International for decades, with villagers accusing the wife of Energy Minister Suy Sem of bulldozing houses and razing farms. The activists have repeatedly clashed with police and military police.
Lawyers for Kheng, the Energy Minister’s wife, told The Cambodia Daily in 2010 to not mention the minister in articles about the land dispute or they would sue for spreading “disinformation.”
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jan 28, 2022
- Event Description
Security guards and armed goons opened fire at farmers in Sitio Ricafort, Barangay Tungkong Mangga, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, according to Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.
Security guards armed with high-powered rifles fired at the members of a fact-finding team and 20 farmers, including seven minors at around noon today, Jan. 28. According to peasant women’s group Amihan, more than 20 shots were heard which lasted for more than 10 minutes. Cellphones, bags, wallets and relief goods for the peasant families were taken by the guards.
Two days ago, four houses were demolished by the security guards.
“These series of harassment and rights violations should be investigated and hold the perpetrators accountable. We are calling for democracy loving Filipinos to stand with farmers in asserting their rights to land and livelihood,” Amihan National Chairperson Zenaida Soriano said.
Local farmers group said that Araneta Properties Inc., led by Gregorio “Greggy” Araneta III, has been trying to evict the farmers of Lupang Teresa since January 2013.
The farmers have been asserting for their rights to the land since 1997 after the Department of Agrarian Reform issued an exemption order from land reform coverage.
Greggy Araneta is the brother in law of convicted tax evader and presidentiable Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.
Araneta, the brother-in-law of presidential aspirant Ferdinand Marcos Jr., reportedly plans to construct a private subdivision in the disputed land.
As of press time, no one has been reported wounded.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 28, 2022
- Event Description
The Cambodian authorities have reported that two strikers who had been protesting at the NagaWorld hotel and casino were arrested during the evening on Feb. 5 while they were at the COVID-19 test site of the Koh Pich Exhibition Center.
However, according to labor and rights groups, the police actually arrested six people, then released three of them and the situation of the sixth person is unknown.
Phnom Penh Municipal police spokesman San Sokseyha on Feb. 6 said that strikers Choup Channat and Seng Vannrith, were arrested on Feb. 5 for obstruction to the implementation of the medical authorities’ measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which falls under Article 11 of the Law on Measures to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19.
“I said only two have been detained,” he said in a phone interview on Feb. 6. “If six people were arrested, I would tell you six.”
This arrest was made in accordance with the order and arrest warrant of the prosecutor of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, Sokseyha said, adding that Channat and Vannrith are being interrogated at the Commissariat of the Phnom Penh Municipal Police and that further action will be set according to the procedures of the court orders.
The arrests took place at around 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 5 at Koh Pich as the protesters were on their way home after having gone to be tested for COVID-19.
The Labor Rights Supported Union (LRSU) posted on their Facebook page on Feb. 5 that six strikers had been arrested: Choup Channat, Ean Kunthea, Sao Sambath, Seng Vannrith, Touch Danet and Uk Sophorn.
Khun Tharo, program manager at the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL), said on Feb. 6 that three people had been released while the situation of one person—Sao Sambath—remains unknown as he had not seen an arrest warrant for Sambath and his family has lost track of him.
“As of now, we don’t know where he is or whether he has been released or not,” Tharo said in interview. “His family doesn’t know too. His family will be filing a complaint because his situation is unknown.”
According to Tharo, it is difficult to explain why the three persons who were later released were arrested in the first place. “There were in the same tuk-tuk, so perhaps, the three of them were taken along to avoid the spread of the information,” he said.
Around 1,000 NagaWorld employees have been on strike for roughly 50 days, demanding the release of their eight representatives from prison and the settlement of a labor dispute with the company. On Jan. 28, the Ministry of Health ordered all NagaWorld strikers to be tested for COVID-19 to prevent the spread of the disease after one woman striker was identified as being infected with the Omicron variant.
The ministry had ordered that all strikers be tested at the Koh Pich Center within three days from Feb. 4. However, the strikers asked to delay till Feb. 5, which is the day the arrests were made.
"Individuals who do not implement these health and administrative measures will be punished in accordance with the law on preventive measures against the spread of COVID-19 and other severe and dangerous contagious diseases in force," the ministry said in its statement.
Am Sam Ath, deputy director of rights group Licadho, said the arrests were unreasonable as the strikers did not seem to disrupt or obstruct the medical authorities in implementing the COVID-19 preventive measures, adding that the arrests were made with an intention of repression and threats on the strikers.
“The workers only asked for a postponement for taking the test, from Feb. 4 to 5,” he said in interview on Feb. 6. “So, on Feb. 5, they came to have their samples taken…They did not seem to disrupt the measures. They also practiced social distancing.”
Sam Ath added that the Cambodian authorities should release the three newly-arrested strikers and the other eight union representatives to ease the tension between the strikers and the authorities, and that proper and effective negotiation should be held.
“The strikers’ request has not been responded but instead the arrest continues, so the strike will take a longer time to end,” he said. “What is important is that the relevant authorities should find a solution with transparency and justice. The delay will only lead to further criticism.”
Khun Tharo of CENTRAL said that these additional arrests show repression against the strikers with an intent to disperse the gathering and the peaceful strike.
“The practice is not fair because the authorities only target the strikers when it comes to implementing the COVID-19 measures,” he said. “There are no measures implemented on wedding receptions or any gatherings in supermarkets. This is an unequal application of health measures and is intended to prevent the strike.”
The allegations that the strikers were obstructing the COVID-19 preventive measures does not have a sufficient legal basis to charge them as they only tried to find solutions and exercise their rights, Tharo said, calling the arrest a serious violation of labor rights.
“When inequality and irregularity occur, there is an intention not to want to settle the dispute,” he said. “A strike is a last resort to put pressure on employers to come to the negotiating table.”
Tharo added that the action implemented by the authorities reflected the weakness of the legal implementation in Cambodia as powerful and influential companies continue to violate the human rights and labor rights of their employees.
“It seems like the authorities do not have any power over those companies,” he said. “This case is a bad example, and unfairness will remain in the Cambodian society.”
As of the afternoon of Feb. 6, the Phnom Penh Municipal Police was attempting to implement arrest warrants on four other NagaWorld hotel and casino strikers on similar charges of obstructing the implementation of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The four women are Eng Srey Bo, Kheng Chenda, Meng Kanika and Meng Kanika.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jan 28, 2022
- Event Description
A youth anti-dictatorship activist and a journalist were convicted of incitement and handed a two-year prison sentence with hard labour in a junta court in Dawei, Tanintharyi Region last week, sources close to them said.
Htoo Myat Lwin, a 22-year-old member of the Coalition Strike Committee of Dawei, and Sai Ko Ko Tun, a 28-year-old former reporter at 7Day News, had no lawyers present at their trial in the court inside Dawei Prison, which delivered its verdict on January 28.
They were convicted of violating Section 505a of the Penal Code.
“It is not yet known if they will face more charges,” a source familiar with the case told Myanmar Now on the condition of anonymity.
The military council-appointed judge in the case ruled that Htoo Myat Lwin was guilty of participating in and leading anti-coup protests, joining the strike committee and inciting others to join anti-dictatorship activities, a source in the prison said.
Sai Ko Ko Tun’s conviction was for covering the protests as a journalist and sending the reports to Myanmar Now.
Family members of the defendants were not allowed into the court on the day of the verdict and only learned of the sentencing from sources close to the prison officers, a relative of Htoo Myat Lwin said.
They could not afford to hire legal representation for Htoo Myat Lwin, he explained.
“He defended himself in court without a lawyer. He was afraid the family would face difficulties if he hired a lawyer,” the relative said.
Sai Ko Ko Tun also did not have a lawyer present.
Around 30 junta troops arrested both men at Sai Ko Ko Tun’s home in Dawei’s Bon Maw ward on November 30 last year. Also detained were Sai Ko Ko Tun’s father and sister, who were released days later.
From January 5 until the end of the month, 31 people were sentenced within the same court in Dawei Prison, the prison source said, convicted of incitement or Section 51 of the Counterterrorism Law for the use of explosive devices.
The junta’s armed forces raided the Myanmar Now office in Yangon’s Pabedan Township on March 8 last year, five weeks after the February coup, and imposed a publication and broadcasting ban on five news outlets in the commercial capital, including Myanmar Now. The other four targeted organisations were 7Day, DVB, Khit Thit Media and Mizzima, with the coup regime’s information ministry later adding 74 Media, Delta News Agency, Myitkyina News Journal and Tachileik News Agency to the blacklist.
Internet services were disrupted and access was blocked to continued TV news broadcasts by outlets such as DVB and Mizzima.
Since the coup, 100 journalists have been detained by the military council, which has accused them of violating the law. Among them were three staff members from Dawei Watch, who were detained for eight days in late January.
At the time of reporting, around half of the reporters arrested nationwide were still behind bars.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Media Worker, Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jan 27, 2022
- Event Description
Direktur Eksekutif Wahana Lingkungan Hidup (Walhi) Bengkulu Abdullah Ibrahim Ritonga dipanggil kepolisian untuk dimintai keterangan pada hari ini, Senin (31/1).
Dia akan diperiksa terkait dugaan merintangi atau mengganggu aktivitas pertambangan pasir besi di Pasar Seluma, Kecamatan Seluma Selatan, Kabupaten Seluma.
"Pada surat pemanggilan tersebut, saya akan diperiksa pada 31 Januari di Polres Seluma," kata Ibrahim seperti dilansir dari Antara.
Sejauh ini, Ibrahim masih berkonsultasi dengan pendamping hukumnya sebelum memenuhi panggilan kepolisian.
Belum ada pernyataan dari polisi terkait pemanggilan Ibrahim Ritonga ini. CNNIndonesia.com masih berupaya menghubungi Polsek Seluma dan Polda Bengkulu terkait hal ini.
Diketahui, Walhi sempat menerima warga yang mengaku mendapat intimidasi dari aparat kepolisian beberapa waktu lalu.
Kala itu, warga melancarkan demonstrasi menolak aktivitas tambang pasir besi di Desa Pasar Seluma Kabupaten Seluma. Namun, warga dibubarkan oleh aparat dan mengaku mendapat kekerasan serta intimidasi.
Pada 27 Januari, warga mendatangi kantor Walhi Bengkulu untuk melaporkan hal tersebut. Mereka juga sempat melakukan zoom meeting dengan Komnas Perempuan.
Kelompok yang menamakan diri Perempuan Pasar Seluma menyampaikan kekerasan yang diterimanya dari aparat saat berunjuk rasa menolak tambang pasir besi.
Mereka berharap Komnas Perempuan membantu warga setempat yang ingin memperjuangkan kelestarian lingkungan namun mendapat kekerasan dari aparat. Warga merasa dikriminalisasi, sehingga meminta perlindungan dari Komnas Perempuan.
Setidaknya ada 8 orang yang ditangkap kepolisian pada Desember lalu. Terdiri dari 4 aktivis Walhi dan 4 warga setempat.
Kala itu, Kabid Humas Polda Bengkulu Kombes Sudarno menyebut mediasi antara Pemda dan masyarakat sudah dilakukan. Mediasi melibatkan kepala desa, camat dan Pemda Seluma.
"Tapi masyarakat tetap tidak mau meninggalkan lokasi, sehingga pemda minta ke polres agar dilakukan pembubaran," kata dia saat dikonfirmasi, Senin (27/12).
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jan 24, 2022
- Event Description
Background
Bach lives and works in Hanoi. He is currently the Director of the non-profit Law & Policy of Sustainable Development (LPSD).
LPSD is a member of the Vietnam Environmental Network (VEN), Vietnam Sustainable Energy Alliance (VSEA), and the Vietnam Non-Communicable Diseases Prevention and Control Alliance (NCDs-VN).
Bach, 43, is known for his ability to mobilize young people to volunteer for charitable projects such as helping victims of storms and disasters, especially those impacted by global warming and environmental catastrophes. Bach has created many competitions and awards for innovation in the field of sustainable living which attracted the participation of many young Vietnamese. LPSD has also been a strong supporter of the government’s fight against the spread of COVID-19.
Profile picture: Dang Dinh Bach. Source: Thiennhien.net History of Activism
Bach was not known for his role in political activism. Family Situation
He was arrested just weeks after his wife gave birth.
On January 24, he was sentenced to five years in prison. He did not know of his trial date until his lawyers visited him on January 14.
The family has not been allowed to see him. They said because Bach is a vegan, he has been eating very little while in prison. His lawyer said Bach has gone on a hunger strike since January 10 to protest against his prolonged detention and not being allowed family visits. Bach has also demanded to be released on bail.
January 2022:
His family can send him food (which is bought at the detention center) twice per month. Bach is a vegan. The family is concerned that Bach can not maintain his physical and mental health if he follows the vegan diet, due to the poor nutritional value of food in the detention center. As a result, they have sent him non-vegan food. Nevertheless, he has given it all away to his fellow inmates. Bach follows a meager diet of rice, sesame, and salt. The family worries for him because he has lost a lot of weight since his arrest. He was in good health before the arrest, his wife reported.
On January 18, 2022, Thao and attorney Huong went to the Hanoi Court to submit a document saying that Bach’s family would pay compensation (on the accusation of tax evasion) before the trial, amounting to VND 500,000,000 (~US$ 22,000). However, they were told that they need to ask for the judge’s signature to be allowed to do so. As of the time of this writing, the family still has not received the approval needed to pay the fine. The family was advised by their attorneys that they should propose again at trial to pay the compensation with the hope that Bach will receive a minor sentence. It is refundable if Bach is proven innocent.
Bach's hearing reportedly failed to meet international standards for a fair trial and even Vietnam’s Criminal Procedure Code. His cases was purely political and he was imprisoned for his activities, given the fact that according to Vietnam’s laws, all non-profit non-government organizations (NGOs) are not subject to tax.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jan 24, 2022
- Event Description
JATAM, LBH Kendari, LBH Makassar, YLBHI dan KontraS, KIARA serta FNKSDA menilai penangkapan tiga warga Desa Sukarela Jaya, Wawonii Tenggara, Konawe Kepulauan, Sulawesi Tenggara, menunjukkan aparat kepolisian sebagai centeng oligarki.
“Sebanyak tiga warga Desa Sukarela Jaya, Kecamatan Wawonii Tenggara, Kabupaten Konawe Kepulauan, Provinsi Sulawesi Tenggara ditangkap aparat kepolisian dari Polda Sulawesi Tenggara,” kata JATAM, Muhamad Jamil, Senin (24/1).
Ketiga warga itu, diantaranya La Dani alias Anwar (L) dan Hurlan (L), dan Hastoma (L). Mereka ditangkap pada Senin, 24 Januari 2022, sekitar Pukul 13.30 Wita. Semenatara Anwar dan Hastoma ditangkap di kebun milik mereka saat tengah makan siang. Adapun Hurlan ditangkap di rumahnya.
“Penangkapan terhadap Anwar, Hastoma, dan Hurlan oleh polisi hari ini, berikut kriminalisasi terhadap warga Wawonii pada 2019 lalu, patut diduga sebagai bentuk arogansi korporasi tambang yang rakus dan aparat kepolisian yang lebih sering tampil sebagai centeng oligarki,” tegas Jamil.
Menurutnya, belum diketahui penyebab ketiga warga pulau kecil Wawonii itu ditangkap. “Menurut keterangan warga, ketiganya tengah dalam perjalanan laut, menggunakan speedboat Polisi, menuju kantor Polda Sulawesi Tenggara di Kendari,” tuturnya.
Sebagaimana diketahui, Anwar, Hastoma, dan Hurlan merupakan bagian dari barisan warga penolak tambang di pulau Wawonii. Warga, yang sebagian besar menggantungkan perekonomian pada sektor pertanian/perkebunan dan laut, menentang rencana penambangan nikel oleh PT Gema Kreasi Perdana (GKP), anak perusahaan Harita Group.
“Keteguhan warga dalam melakukan penolakan atas tambang nikel itu, berujung pada ancaman, intimidasi, dan kriminalisasi, hingga pada 2019 lalu sebanyak 28 warga dilaporkan ke polisi oleh pihak perusahaan,” ungkap Jamil.
Pihaknya mendapati, tuduhan yang dialamatkan ke warga bermacam-macam dan cenderung mengada-ada. Mulai dari dugaan menghalangi aktivitas perusahaan tambang, dugaan merampas kemerdekaan terhadap seseorang, pengancaman, dan tuduhan penganiayaan.
“Anwar, Hastoma, dan Hurlan, yang ditangkap polisi pada hari ini, Senin (24/1), termasuk ke dalam 28 warga yang sebelumnya telah dilaporkan ke polisi pada 23 Agustus 2019 lalu,” kata Jamil.
Tuduhan yang dialamatkan kepada ketiganya saat itu, adalah terkait dugaan Tindak Pidana Perampasan Kemerdekaan Terhadap Seseorang, sebagaimana dicantumkan dalam Pasal 333 KUHP.
“Penangkapan terhadap warga penolak tambang itu, patut dibaca sebagai upaya negara melalui institusi kepolisian dan korporasi untuk menekan resistensi warga, sehingga rencana investasi penambangan dapat berjalan mulus,” ujarnya.
Jamil melihat, dugaan tersebut semakin kuat, mengingat aparat kepolisian cenderung bersekongkol dengan korporasi yang melakukan tindak kejahatan lingkungan dan melanggar hak asasi manusia.
“Dalam kaitan dengan PT GKP, misalnya, pada 2019 lalu, pihak perusahaan melakukan penerobosan lahan-lahan milik warga,” terangnya.
“Pertama, pada Selasa, 9 Juli 2019, sekitar Pukul 11.00 Wita, PT GKP menerobos lahan milik Ibu Marwah. Kedua, pada Selasa, 16 Juli 2019, sekitar Pukul 15.00 di lahan milik Idris. Ketiga, pada Kamis, 22 Agustus 2019, tengah malam, kembali menerobos lahan milik Amin, Wa Ana, dan (Alm) Labaa,” rinci Jamil.
Menurut Jamil, penerobosan lahan warga yang berulang itu dan berakibat pada rusaknya tanaman jambu mete, kelapa, pala, cengkeh, dan tanaman lainnya justru dikawal ketat aparat kepolisian.
Adapun laporan warga, lanjutnya, kepada pihak kepolisian terkait penerobosan lahan milik masyarakat oleh PT GKP itu tak kunjung diproses, semua mengendap begitu saja.
“Salah satu warga Konawe Kepulauan atas nama Idris, misalnya, melaporkan PT GKP ke Polres Kendari pada Rabu, 14 Agustus 2019. Idris melapor ke polisi karena lahan dan tanamannya dirusak PT GKP pada Selasa, 16 Juli 2019,” jelas Jamil.
Atas dasar itu, koalisi masyarakat sipil itu mendesak Polda Sulawesi Utara untuk membebaskan La Dani (Anwar), Hurlan, dan Hastomo.
Selain itu, mereka juga mendesak Kapolri untuk menghentikan segala bentuk upaya kriminalisasi terhadap masyarakat yang menolak aktivitas pertambangan di pulau Wawonii;
“Mendesak pemerintahan Presiden Joko Widodo untuk menjalankan amanat pasal 66 UU No. 32 Tahun 2009 tentang Perlindungan dan Pengelolaan Lingkungan Hidup,” tukas Jamil.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jan 21, 2022
- Event Description
A junta court has handed death sentences to veteran pro-democracy activist Ko Jimmy and former National League for Democracy MP Phyo Zayar Thaw, military-controlled media said on Friday evening.
Ko Jimmy, whose real name is Kyaw Min Yu, was arrested during a raid in Yangon in late October and Phyo Zayar Thaw was captured in November.
Both activists were accused of leading and planning guerilla attacks against the junta’s forces and their allies.
Phyo Zayar Thaw has been named by the junta as the mastermind behind numerous attacks on coup regime targets in Yangon in recent months.
The men were convicted under sections 49a, 50i and 50j of the Counterterrorism Law, which outlaws activities related to explosives, bombings, and financing terrorism.
The junta accused Phyo Zayar Thaw, who is also a well-known hip-hop artist, of supporting terrorist groups and keeping stashes of guns, ammunition, grenades and explosives at two apartments in Yangon.
The military court also accused him of having Zoom meetings with the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), the National Unity Government (NUG), and its People’s Defence Force (PDF), all of which are labelled as terrorist groups by the junta.
The court said he supplied weapons to assassinate pro-junta targets 35 times, masterminded 11 attacks and was complicit in over 100 bomb attacks.
He was also accused of raising money from abraod to fund “terrorist activity”.
The ‘88 Generation veteran Ko Jimmy was accused of hiding weapons and ammunition at an apartment in Yangon and being an “advisor” in implementing “terrorist activities” as part of the CRPH, NUG, and the PDF.
Ko Jimmy asked the NUG to buy a $100m 3D printer to make weapons, the junta’s Friday announcement said.
Both men had leadership positions during a series of attacks in Yangon known as Moon Light Operation, it added.
Min Ko Naing, another ‘88 Generation veteran, said the sentencing today was aimed at diverting people’s attention from the news that oil giants Total and Chevron were exiting Myanmar.
“That news was an encouraging response from the world… It was such a blow, financially and physically, for the military council,” Min Ko Naing told Myanmar Now.
He added that the military regime has realised it is going to lose the fight with anti-junta forces and will react by doing reckless things.
“They may win a hill or a camp but will lose the ultimate war in the end. Our people will win,” he said.
The military council released no information about Ko Jimmy’s case after his arrest but on January 14 released a video of Phyo Zayar Thaw confessing to involvement in the attacks.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 8,716 people are being detained by the junta across the country as of Thursday.
A total of 82 people, including 39 people who were convicted in absentia, have been sentenced to death by the junta, the group added.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Myanmar: veteran pro-democracy defender beaten, detained
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jan 21, 2022
- Event Description
6 activists from the Thalufah group had their bail revoked last Friday (21 January 2022) for writing on the wall of a court arraignment room when they reported to the court on 18 January 2022, before one was released on Saturday (22 January 2022).
Songpol Sonthirak, Nawapol Tonngam, Phiraphong Phoemphun, Pawaris Yaemying, Wachirawit Limthanawong, and Wirocha Chatchawanwong were told to report to the Ratchadapisek Criminal Court on Friday (21 January 2022) by Chawannat Thongsom, Director of the Administrative Office of the Criminal Court.
Chawannat contacted the activists’ lawyer and said that while they were waiting in the arraignment room at the Criminal Court after reporting to court on 18 January 2022, the activists wrote “Free our friends” and “Repeal Section 112” on the wall of the arraignment room. Chawannat also claimed they wrote rude words on a picture of King Bhumibol inside the room.
The activists’ lawyer was told that they must report to court immediately, or an arrest warrant would be issued for them.
The activists were previously granted bail on charges relating to an incident on 3 August 2021, when Thalufah activists splashed paint in front of Thung Song Hong Police Station following their release after spending a night in detention on charges relating to a protest at the Narcotics Suppression Bureau on 2 August to demand that the police return a speaker truck seized after the 1 August 2021 ‘car mob’ rally.
They had their bail revoked since the court claimed that defacing the arraignment room was considered a repetition of their offense, since they were charged with destruction of public property for the 3 August 2021 incident. They were also charged with contempt of court.
Their bail revocation orders were signed by judge Attakarn Foocharoen, Deputy Chief Justice of the Criminal Court, and did not state the reason for revoking their bail.
The activists’ lawyer posted bail again on Saturday (22 January 2022) for 19-year-old Wirocha. She was later granted bail and was released from the Central Women Correctional Institution on Saturday evening.
The other 5 activists are still detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison. Nawapol, Wachirawit, and Pawaris were previously detained pending trial on the same charge for 33 days in late 2021, while Songpol was detained for 15 days before being granted bail.
Thawee Thiangwiset, another Thalufah member, is also currently detained pending trial on charges relating to the 3 August 2021 incident, as well as charges relating to a protest on 3 September 2021, in which he was accused of attacking a police officer. He has been in detention for 128 days and repeatedly denied bail.
According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), 22 people are currently detained pending trial on charges relating to political expression.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 20, 2022
- Event Description
Los Seng, publisher of Los Seng News, has been placed under court supervision for six months over a live video report by two staff members in Kampot province.
In November, two LSN reporters covered a protest outside the Kampot provincial hall against the arrests of residents involved in a land dispute. A police report at the time said four suspects had been arrested, and LSN interviewed residents who said that among the four was a 4-year-old child.
The two reporters were arrested, then issued a public apology that although the 4-year-old and his mother were taken to the provincial police station, they were not in detention. The reporters were later released and placed under court supervision.
On Thursday, publisher Seng was questioned at the Kampot Provincial Court for incitement and insult in relation to the case.
Seng said the court had decided to let him go home, but also put him under court supervision for six months.
Seng asked not to give further comments out of fear for repercussions.
At the time of his reporters’ arrests, however, Seng had been outspoken.
“When any report is a crime, where is the freedom of the journalist? They could use the Press Law, but instead they use their power against the journalist,” Seng told VOD in November. “Their action is to break the spirit of the journalist from daring to cover news in Kampot province.”
The province had recently received a new governor, Mao Thonin, who had a reputation for listening to residents’ concerns, especially in relation to land disputes, during his previous tenure in Pursat. But in Kampot, he quickly turned against journalists.
He ordered the director of his provincial information department in November to more tightly control their work.
“All news institutions that come to work in the province must go through the department’s review,” Thonin said in a meeting with officials at the time. “They cannot just come to report exaggerations. Every night I listen, I almost get a headache — they cannot do this. Authorities work very hard and sometimes [people] believe [these journalists’] useless words that impact the honor and hard work of our leaders.”
Nop Vy, executive director of the Cambodian Journalists Alliance, said on Thursday that legal actions against journalists were threats, and authorities should not use the judicial system against reporters.
Information Minister Khieu Kanharith also spoke in November against the authorities’ actions against LSN.
“If [journalists] take pictures in front of the provincial hall, why not let them take pictures?” Kanharith said at the time. “Arresting them is wrong, it is arbitrary. So our administration is also abusive. We do not understand. Or, as a provincial governor has said, wherever journalists go, they have to report to the authorities — it is not like this.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jan 19, 2022
- Event Description
Former novice monk Saharat Sukkhamla, 21, has been indicted on a royal defamation charge resulting from a speech he gave during a protest organized by the students’ rights group Bad Student on 21 November 2020.
The complaint against Saharat was filed by Ratthanaphak Suwannarat, who claimed that he saw a video recording of Saharat’s speech and noted that it contained insults against the King. Saharat reported to Pathumwan Police Station in July 2021 to hear the charges, more than 5 months before the public prosecutor decided to indict him.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported today (19 January 2022) that the public prosecutor has decided to indict Saharat on the grounds that parts of his speech insults the King. The indictment gave examples of the offending parts, such as when Saharat ask why we can only discuss the King’s good deeds but cannot discuss his bad side, and when he said that Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha’s statement that the authorities will use every law against the protesters, even the royal defamation charge, will make the King break his promise, since the King said that the royal defamation law will not be used against citizens.
The public prosecutor said that Saharat’s speech could cause misunderstanding concerning the King, such as making him seem like someone who could harm the country or someone who is dishonest and does not keep his promise or that he will intervene in law enforcement. The public prosecutor also claimed that Saharat intended to harm the monarchy and cause a loss of respect for the monarchy.
Saharat is a student at Mahidol University’s College of Religious Studies and a member of the New Restoration Order. Known among young people as the “Carrot Gang” due to the orange robes worn by Thai Buddhist monks, the group calls for reform of the Thai Buddhist clergy and for it to be removed from the secular government’s authority in a move towards a secular state.
As a novice monk, Saharat often participated in pro-democracy protests and is the first Buddhist monk to be charged for joining the protests. In addition to the royal defamation charge, he is also facing charges for joining protests on 25 November 2020 at the Siam Commercial bank headquarters building and 20 February 2021 in front of parliament.
In relation to the 25 November 2020 protest, Saharat was charged with organizing a public gathering without notifying the authorities, violation of the Emergency Decree, using a sound amplifier without permission, and obstructing traffic.
For the 20 February 2021 protest, he was charged with violation of the Emergency Decree, joining an assembly of more than 10 people and causing a breach of public peace, and using a sound amplifier without permission.
In February 2021, it was reported that special branch police tried to disrobe Saharat, claiming a consensus of the Sangha Supreme Council of Thailand, the main governing body of the Buddhist order in Thailand, and an announcement from the National Office of Buddhism.
The Sangha Supreme Council of Thailand reportedly reached a consensus in February 2021 to press charges against Saharat, claiming that he insulted the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand, who is the head of the order of Buddhist monks, and that he caused conflict within the order.
Saharat left monkhood in November 2021, saying that he faced pressure from both the Buddhist order and state authorities.
The South Bangkok Criminal Court granted Saharat bail on a 200,000-baht security and set the conditions that he may not join a gathering which may cause public disorder, participate in activities which can harm the monarchy, or leave the country without permission.
According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), at least 167 people have been charged with royal defamation for political expression since November 2020. Following a protest in front of the Royal Thai Police HQ on 18 November 2020, Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha announced that the government would use every law it had to stop pro-democracy protesters.
Several protest leaders are facing multiple counts of the charge, including Parit Chiwarak, who is facing 23 counts; Anon Nampa, 14 counts; Panupong Jadnok, 9 counts; Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, 9 counts; and Benja Apan, 6 counts.
Four people are currently detained pending trial on royal defamation charges: Parit Chiwarak, Jatupat Boonpattaraksa, Anon Nampa, and Panupong Jadnok.
According to TLHR’s December 2021 situation report, public prosecutors have decided to indict at least at least 75 of existing royal defamation cases have been indicted. The report also stated, so far, there has yet to be a case that was not indicted.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jan 18, 2022
- Event Description
Regarding today’s forced summons of human rights defenders Fatia Maulidiyanti and Haris Azhar, FORUM-ASIA Executive Director Shamini Darshni Kaliemuthu said:
The harassment of Fatia and Haris earlier today reflects the Indonesian government’s continuous use of reprisals against human rights defenders. Approximately 8:00 am, five police officers arrived at Fatia’s residence, and another four arrived at Haris’ house to pick them up for interrogation. This stems from charges filed last year by the Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan against the two over comments regarding a report alleging the involvement of army officials with the operations of the gold mining sector in Papua.
The unexpected police presence at their respective homes is clearly an intimidation against these defenders, and sends out a message that defenders will be targeted for exposing corruption or rights violations.
We call on the police to immediately end the criminalisation of these two defenders. The Government of Indonesia must instead ensure protection of human rights defenders who hold state actors accountable, and halt any misuse of litigation by authorities, businesses, and other sectors.
Indonesia as a democracy must be committed towards the implementation of laws and policies that protect freedom of expression, and it must respect the rights of its people to share critical or dissenting views to hold the government accountable.
About Fatia and Haris Fatia Maulidiyanti is the Coordinator of the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS). Haris Azhar is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Lokataru Foundation.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jan 18, 2022
- Event Description
Myanmar authorities must immediately release the three recently arrested employees of the Dawei Watch news website and cease detaining members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
During the night of January 18 to 19, authorities arrested Dawei Watch reporters Ko Zaw and Ma Moe Myint and web designer Ko Thar Gyi at their homes in Dawei, the capital of the southern Tanintharyi region, according to news reports. Those reports said that Ko Zaw was seen being taken from his home in handcuffs.
A Dawei Watch representative quoted by The Irrawaddy said they were not aware of why the three employees were detained or where they were being held.
Authorities also raided Dawei Watch’s office and seized documents and other items, reports said.
“Myanmar authorities must account for Dawei Watch employees Ko Zaw, Ma Moe Myint, and Ko Thar Gyi, drop any charges against them, and release them immediately,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Myanmar’s junta must stop harassing, jailing, and killing journalists.”
Dawei Watch, which was established in 2012, covers news in southern Myanmar including the area’s recent anti-coup protests, according to those news reports and CPJ’s review of the outlet’s website and Facebook page, which has about 380,000 followers. CPJ emailed the outlet requesting further information on its employees’ detention, but did not immediately receive any reply.
Myanmar’s Ministry of Information did not reply to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.
CPJ’s latest prison census, published in December, ranked Myanmar as the world’s second worst jailer of journalists, trailing only China. At least three journalists have been killed by Myanmar authorities since the military seized power on February 1, 2021, according to CPJ documentation and research.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jan 17, 2022
- Event Description
Aparat kepolisian membubarkan paksa aksi yang digelar para pengungsi Afghanistan di depan Kantor UNHCR, di Pekanbaru, Riau, Senin (17/1) kemarin. Aparat diduga melakukan kekerasan kepada para pengungsi tersebut.
Aksi pembubaran paksa yang dilakukan aparat kepolisian turut dibagikan oleh aktivis HAM, Veronica Koman lewat akun twitter pribadinya @VeronicaKoman.
Dalam video itu, terlihat polisi yang menggunakan tameng dan tongkat memukuli sejumlah pencari suaka. Beberapa orang lari kocar-kacir menghindari pukulan aparat.
Veronica mengatakan para pencari suaka itu semula berunjuk rasa di depan kantor UNHCR menyikapi dugaan bunuh diri seorang pengungsi Afghanistan.
Dalam rekaman video lain terlihat sejumlah orang mengenakan rompi berwarna biru terlihat jatuh di tanah dan seolah diinjak-injak oleh orang yang lain.
Hingga berita ini diturunkan, belum ada keterangan resmi dari kepolisian terkait peristiwa itu. CNNIndonesia.com sudah menghubungi Kabid Humas Polda Riau Kombes Sunarto namun belum mendapat respons.
UNHCR menyayangkan insiden yang terjadi antara pengungsi dan aparat kepolisian di Pekanbaru kemarin. UNHCR menyatakan menyampaikan pendapat di muka umum diizinkan di Indonesia.
"Kami menolak segala bentuk kekerasan. Melakukan aksi damai adalah hal yang diperbolehkan di Indonesia sebagai salah satu cara penyampaian aspirasi," demikian bunyi keterangan resmi UNHCR Sebagaimana dikutip Selasa (18/1).
Di lain sisi, UNHCR mengklaim selalu mengingatkan para pengungsinya agar mematuhi hukum dan tidak mengganggu ketertiban umum.
"Mereka berisiko mengalami pembubaran paksa oleh pihak otoritas atau bahkan dapat didetensi/ditahan," ujarnya.
"Kami akan terus menawarkan pengungsi untuk berdiskusi secara terbuka dengan staff UNHCR dan mitra kerja kami. Dan terus meningkatkan agar mereka mematuhi hukum di negara ini agar insiden serupa tak terulang di masa depan," demikian bunyi keterangan itu.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jan 17, 2022
- Event Description
Intimidasi terhadap warga Desa Wadas, Kecamatan Bener, Purworejo yang menolak penambangan batu andesit meresahkan sebagian warga.
Intimidasi berupa pemasangan poster berlogo Polda Jawa Tengah berisi ancaman hukum bagi warga yang menghalangi proses pengkuran tanah lokasi penambangan.
Menanggapi hal itu, Kabidhumas Polda Jawa Tengah Kombes Pol M Iqbal Alqudussy menegaskan poster-poster tersebut baru dilidik oleh polisi.
"Baru kita lidik, " jawabnya soal poster berlogo polda di Desa Wadas, Senin (17/1/2022).
Sebelumnya, Staf Divisi Kampanye dan Jaringan LBH Yogyakarta, Dhanil Al Ghifary mengatakan, poster dipasang di 5 titik wilayah Desa Wadas. Poster mencantumkan ancaman pidana terkait tindakan menghalangi tugas pegawai negeri sipil.
Dhanil mengaku tidak mengetahui instansi mana yang memasang poster tersebut. Namun pada poster tercantum logo Polda Jawa Tengah.
"Kami tidak tahu itu dari instansi kepolisian mana. Tapi yang pasti di pojok posternya ada logo Polda Jawa Tengah, " katanya.
Menurut Dhanil, tindakan ini adalah bentuk teror terhadap warga Desa Wadas. Pemasangan spanduk berisi ancaman hukum, bertujuan melemahkan upaya warga yang menolak rencana penambangan batu material pembangunan Bendungan Bener.
Aparat hukum kata Dhanil, tidak bisa serta merta menangkap warga Desa Wadas yang menolak kedatangan petugas pengukur tanah. Sebab dalam aspek hak asasi manusia, warga punya hak untuk tidak digusur secara sewenang-wenang.
Apalagi sengketa izin penambangan batu di Desa Wadas belum sepenuhnya selesai. Kasus ini tidak sama dengan sengketa lahan milik perorangan, sehingga hukum yang berlaku juga memperhatikan aspek khusus.
“Tapi ini kan berbeda. Konteksnya warga punya hak untuk tidak digusur secara sewenang-wenang. Warga punya hak untuk melindungi hak pribadi,” ujarnya.
Warga Desa Wadas, Kecamatan Bener, Kabupaten Purworejo mengaku menerima pesan intimidatif dari orang tak dikenal.
Diduga terkait rencana pengukuran tanah bakal lokasi penambangan batu andesit untuk material Bendungan Bener.
Staf Divisi Kampanye dan Jaringan LBH Yogyakarta, Dhanil Al Ghifary mengatakan, pesan intimidatif menyasar beberapa warga Desa Wadas. Mereka yang diancam diantaranya adalah warga yang menolak rencana penambangan batu andesit di Desa Wadas.
“Beberapa warga mendapat pesan intimidatif. Seperti kalau nanti menghalangi petugas pertanahan akan diciduk (ditangkap),” kata Dhanil, Senin (17/1/2021).
Dhanil belum bisa menyebutkan identitas warga yang menerima pesan intimidatif. Sebab dikhawatirkan mereka akan mendapat intimidasi lebih jauh.
“Benar ada intimidasi (terhadap) warga. Ada beberapa. Dua atau 3 orang yang mendapat pesan (intimidasi) itu.” ujar Dhanil.
Kepada warga, pengirim pesan mengaku sebagai intel Polda Jawa Tengah. “Ngakunya intel Polda, tapi kami nggak tahu intel betulan atau tidak. Untuk orang yang dikirimi pesan intimidatif, sekarang kami belum bisa menyebutkan nama. Ada ketakutan mendapat intimidasi yang lebih.”
LBH Yogyakarta sebagai pendamping advokasi warga Desa Wadas berharap penyelesaian konflik lahan tidak represif. Konflik dapat diselesaikan dengan cara dialog tanpa teror dan intimidasi.
Intimidasi terhadap warga terjadi bersamaan dengan beredarnya isu bahwa petugas Badan Pertanahan Nasional (BPN) akan melakukan pengukuran tanah di Desa Wadas.
Pesan intimidasi yang beredar, berisi ancaman hukum bagi warga yang menghalangi petugas pengukur tanah. Orang yang mengajak warga lainnya untuk menggagalkan pengkuran tanah diancam akan ditangkap karena dianggap melakukan penghasutan.
Menurut Dhanil aparat hukum tidak bisa begitu saja menangkap warga Desa Wadas yang menolak pengukuran tanah untuk lokasi tambang batu andesit. Sebab proses hukum warga menolak izin penetapan lokasi (IPL) penambangan belum selesai.
Selain itu, izin penetapan lokasi (IPL) Bendungan Bener Purworejo tidak melampirkan peta lokasi. Sehingga kata Dahnil, tidak jelas daerah mana saja yang menjadi objek pengadaan tanah untuk Bendungan Bener.
“Dasar mengukur tanah di Desa Wadas itu apa? Karena di SK Gubernur Jateng soal IPL tidak ada secara langsung mengatakan bahwa Desa Wadas menjadi salah satu objek pengadaan tanah. Tidak ada lampiran di SK-nya,” ujar Dhanil.
Alasan lain warga menolak pengukuran tanah adalah putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi atas uji materiil UU 11/2020 tentang Cipta Kerja.
Mahkamah Konstitusi menyatakan, UU Cipta Kerja inkonstitusional bersyarat sehingga harus diperbaiki dalam waktu 2 tahun. Akibatnya semua proyek strategis pemerintah yang berlandaskan UU Cipta Kerja harus ditangguhkan.
“Bendungan Bener ini kan salah satu proyek pembangunan strategis. Artinya kalau pemerintah melihat putusan MK itu sebagai sesuatu yang penting, harusnya menangguhkan segala proses rencana pembangunan Bendungan Bener. Termasuk salah satunya pengadaan tanah (Desa Wadas).”
Calon lokasi penambangan batu di Desa Wadas disatukan dalam izin penetapan lokasi Bendungan Bener. Padahal kata Dhanil, kedua proyek tersebut memiliki
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jan 15, 2022
- Event Description
A network of vocational school students in Nakhon Sawan said their members were followed by police officers when they set up a table for people to sign a petition to repeal the royal defamation law.
The group said that on 26 December 2021, they went to Utthayan Sawan, a public park in Nakhon Sawan city, to set up a table for people to sign the petition to repeal to royal defamation law, or Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code. While they were there, they were surrounded by around 10 uniformed and plainclothes police officers, who took photos and videos of the group, claiming security reasons.
The officers also asked for documents about the petition, but the students told them that they need to sign the petition to receive any document. Despite the surveillance, the group said that about 100 people came to sign the petition.
The students returned to the park on 15 January 2022 for another event. Instead of setting up a table, they walked around the park and invited people to sign the petition. During the activity, they were followed by around 10 plainclothes officers, who they said included Special Branch police, investigation officers, and Internal Security Operations officers. The students also said that the officers took photos and videos of their activity.
The officers also tried to question them about the petition. The students said that the officers asked them why they were collecting signatures and why Section 112 needs to be repealed. They then told the officers that the royal defamation law is a problematic law which violates the people’s freedom of expression, and that the monarch can also be protected by the same defamation law as ordinary citizens.
They were asked again for documents about the petition, but the students said that the officers needed to sign the petition to be given one.
The students said that even though the officers did not prohibit them from holding their event, they were being followed at all times while walking around the park, which could be the reason why they were not able to collect as many signatures as during their previous activity. They also found that a person who is likely to be an officer tried to ask them for a petition form, but did not intend to sign it.
The students said that while they were not intimidated by the officers’ action, they believe that it deters people from signing the petition, which is considered an attempt to block public participation, even though signing petitions to propose or repeal laws is a constitutional right. They have also had to guard signed forms from being accessed by the officers.
On 31 October 2021, during a protest at Ratchaprasong Intersection, the activist network Citizens for the Abolition of 112 launched a campaign to have parliament repeal the royal defamation law. An online petition was later launched on 5 November 2021 at no112.org. Within 24 hours, it received over 100,000 signatures, and now has over 230,000 signatures, 20 times the amount required by law for a bill to be proposed to parliament by civil society.
Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code states that defaming, insulting, or threatening “the King, the Queen, the Heir apparent, or the Regent” is punishable with 3 – 15 years of imprisonment. According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), at least 167 people have been charged with royal defamation for political expression since November 2020. Following a protest in front of the Royal Thai Police HQ on 18 November 2020, Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha announced that the government would use every law it had to stop pro-democracy protesters.
Several protest leaders are facing multiple counts of the charge, including Parit Chiwarak, who is facing 23 counts; Anon Nampa, 14 counts; Panupong Jadnok, 9 counts; Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, 9 counts; and Benja Apan, 6 counts.
Four people are currently detained pending trial on royal defamation charges: Parit Chiwarak, Jatupat Boonpattaraksa, Anon Nampa, and Panupong Jadnok.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jan 12, 2022
- Event Description
Police in Vietnam have arrested land rights activist Le Manh Ha on charges of spreading anti-state materials on social media, his wife told RFA Thursday.
Ha’s arrest Wednesday already marks the sixth time since the start of this year that authorities have detained people for human rights advocacy.
He had been operating a YouTube account called “People’s Voice Television” and a Facebook account called “Voice of the Vietnamese People,” where he shared his criticisms of the government.
Years ago, the government took his community’s land in Na Hang district in the northern province of Tuyen Quang to build a power plant. He has said that the government has not yet paid him and his former neighbors proper compensation. Since then, Ha has studied Vietnamese law and has helped others with legal advice and petitioning the government.
Police in plainclothes arrested Ha Wednesday in Tuyen Quang’s Chiem Hoa district. They took him to his current home in Tuyen Quang city and searched his house. His family told RFA’s Vietnamese Service that the authorities have not yet provided them with any documentation related to the arrest.
“At about 8:30 a.m. yesterday when I was getting my mother to the hospital, a local resident informed me that the police arrested Ha in Chiem Hoa,” Ha’s wife, Ma Thi Tho said.
“I decided to return home and got back around 9 a.m. and there were many police officers, around 20 or 30 of them, surrounding my home,” she said.
She said the police brought Le Manh Ha to the home at about 10:30 that morning.
“Shortly after his arrival, they read out a house search warrant and an order to prosecute my husband,” she said.
Among the items taken from Ha’s house were books on Vietnamese laws and its constitution.
Tho said police officers told her that her husband was in violation of Article 117 of Vietnam’s penal code, which prohibits spreading propaganda against the state. Article 117 has been described by analysts as a vague set of rules frequently used by authorities to stifle peaceful critics of the country’s one-party communist government.
“The real reason is because he has been fighting for the people,” Tho said.
Le Dinh Viet, Ha’s defense lawyer, said his client has been fighting to correct the injustice of not being compensated for his land during the construction of the hydropower plant.
“He did not break any laws,” Viet said.
The Tuyen Quang hydropower plant began operations in 2008, but the government has not yet finished compensating affected families. Authorities promised to provide 16 square meters of land in Tuyen Quang city for each family, but in 16 years, only half of them have received their plot of land.
While all land in Vietnam is ultimately held by the state, land confiscations have become a flashpoint between citizens and their government. Some small landholders have accused authorities of pushing them aside in favor of lucrative real estate or infrastructure projects, and then paying too little in compensation.
“The Vietnamese government is using criminal law to intimidate and shut down people peacefully protesting against land confiscation,” Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in December 2021 about the arrests of other land rights activists in the country.
“The government should release [everyone] arrested and imprisoned under Article 117, and abolish this abusive law,” he said.
Among the remaining five arrestees this year were Le Thanh Nhat Nguyen, Le Thanh Hoan Nguyen, and Le Thanh Trung Duong, monks at the Peng Lai Temple in the southern province of Long An.
The three monks, along with their previously arrested leader Le Tung Van, were charged with article 331 for “abusing rights to freedom and democrary to violate the State’s interests, legitimate interest of organizations and individuals.”
State media did not reveal their crime, but article 331 is often used in cases involving activists advocating for human rights and religious freedom.
The other two arrestees were Nguyen Thai Hung and his wife Vu Thi Kim Hoang from the southern province of Dong Nai. Hung was in the middle of a livestream when police stormed in and arrested the couple.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jan 11, 2022
- Event Description
The Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) protests the arbitrary conviction of civil society activist Mai Phan Lợi to four years in prison by the Hanoi People’s Court at a one-day trial on 11 January 2022. Lợi was accused of “tax evasion” along with a colleague, Bạch Hùng Dương, who received a 30-month sentence. VCHR deplores the frequent use of tax-related charges as a pretext to detain and silence bloggers, human rights defenders civil society activists and other government critics in Vietnam.
“Mai Phan Lợi’s real “crime” is that of advocating greater independence for civil society in Vietnam” said VCHR President Võ Văn Ái. “As part of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), Hanoi pledged to establish a Domestic Advisory Group composed of independent CSOs to monitor the trade agreement and make recommendations on issues of land rights, worker rights and the environment. Mai Phan Lợi is sent to prison simply for urging Vietnam to uphold its binding obligations to the EU and the Vietnamese people”.
Mai Phan Lợi, 51, is founder and chair of the Scientific Board of the Centre for Media in Educating Community (MEC), a government-registered non-profit organisation established in 2012. He is also a journalist, former Hanoi Bureau chief of the law magazine Pháp Luật. He was arrested on 24 June 2021 along with another prominent civil society activist, lawyer Đặng Đình Bách, director of the Law and Policy for Sustainable Development (LPSD). Both men were accused of “tax evasion” under Article 200 of Vietnam’s Criminal Code. No information has been made public so far on the situation of Đặng Đình Bách.
Lợi and Bách were both Executive Board members of VNGO-EVFTA Network, a group of development and environmental CSOs established in 2020 to raise awareness about EVFTA and its civil society component in Vietnam, the Vietnam Domestic Advisory Group (DAG). Lợi’s role was to organize chat-shows and workshops on MEC’s communications channel GTV to highlight the role of civil society in monitoring the implementation of EVFTA in Vietnam.
The Court ruled that Mai Phan Lợi had “ordered his subordinates not to keep accounting records” and “not to declare and pay tax”. According to reports of the trial in the State-controlled press, Lợi and his accomplice had evaded taxes of almost 2 billion dongs (77,500 Euros) from subventions and donations worth over 19 billion dongs received by his organisation over the past 10 years.
The arrests of these civil society activists and the lack of independence of the Vietnamese DAG has been strongly denounced by its EU counterpart, the EU DAG, most recently in a statement issued at the first meeting of the Vietnam-EU Joint Civil Society Dialogue Forum in November 2021: ”The EU DAG has consistently raised the cases of several civil society representatives in Vietnam arrested and imprisoned in recent months directly with both parties to the EVFTA. We are concerned by the limited number of participants in the Vietnamese DAG and therefore ask that a defined process for further civil society engagement and participation be clarified. This is all the more urgent as we understand that a number of civil society organisations have had their applications for participation [in the DAG] rejected on unclear grounds”.
Stressing that EVFTA “explicitly calls for DAGs to be composed of “independent representative organisations” (Article 13.14.15 of the Trade and Sustainable Development Chapter), the EU DAG recalled that the civil society component was “the bedrock on which it can be ensured that the commitments undertaken are implemented in practice by both Parties”.
To obtain ratification of EVFTA, Vietnam adhered to all these provisions, but has failed to live up to its promises. Whereas the EU DAG, which was established in 2020 and consists of over 20 members including human rights NGOs, worker and employers organisations, business groups and environmental organisations, the Vietnamese DAG was not established until August 2021 – one year after EVFTA came into force. It has only three members, the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Institute for Workers and Trade Unions (an affiliate of the State-sponsored Vietnam General Confederation of Labour), and the Centre for Sustainable Rural Development (SRD). The criteria of independence specified for DAGs under EVFTA are clearly not applied in Vietnam.
VCHR calls on Vietnam to immediately release Mai Phan Lợi, Đặng Đình Bách, Bạch Hùng Dương and all other civil society activists detained for the legitimate exercise of their right to freedom of expression, association, assembly and freedom of religion or belief.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Vietnam: journalists were charged with tax invasion
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jan 10, 2022
- Event Description
A number of activists and journalists have reported being visited by police officers during the past week, with the officers often questioning their family members for information about them and their activities.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that at least 9 student activists in Chonburi were visited at home by police officers ahead of Burapha University’s graduation ceremony on 19 – 20 January 2022. The activists are members of the student activist group Kong Kang, which is active in the Chonburi area, but several have already graduated and are no longer active members of the group.
Doi (pseudonym), who graduated from Burapha University two years ago, told TLHR that his mother received a phone call from the assistant village head on 12 January 2022 and was told that 3 plainclothes officers had come looking for him. The officers told the assistant village head that they were from Chonburi, but the village is outside the province. They also said that they wanted to check on Doi and asked the assistant village chief where he was working and whether he is still involved in activism.
Doi’s family also found that the lock on their gates seemed to have been moved, and were not sure whether the officers tried to open the gates while no one was home. They also were not contacted by the police after the visit.
Doi told TLHR that he joined Kong Kang’s activities in late 2018, when the activists were calling for a general election, but did not join any activity after he graduated. He said that his family warned him after the visit, since they do not know what he was doing and was concerned that his job would be affected. He is also concerned that state officials know where he is, and he does not know what they want and what they will do next.
Ice (pseudonym), a third year student at Burapha University and current member of Kong Kang group, also told TLHR said 4 plainclothes officers came to see him at home during the evening of 14 January 2022.
The officers spoke to Ice and his father, and asked them about the Kong Kang group’s activities and whether the group planned to carry out any activity during the graduation ceremony, but did not explicitly tell Ice that they are not allowed to do so. The officers also took photos of Ice and his father standing with 3 of the officers.
Ice said that this is the first time he had been visited at home, and said that he was angry at the officers’ action as he felt he was being intimidated. He also felt unsafe as the officers made it seem like they know his personal information and where he was staying.
The Kong Kang group posted on Facebook that a total of 9 members had undergone police surveillance between 10 -15 January 2022. Several members received phone calls from Internal Security Operations officers and investigation officers asking for personal information and if they would be doing anything during the graduation ceremony.
TLHR said today (19 January 2022) that police officers went to another student’s house and asked about her. The student said that she was told by her father that a truck came driving past their house around 2 – 3 times. 3 officers who said they were from Police Investigation Bureau Division 2 then left the truck and spoke to her father. They asked whether she was home, about her political attitude, and told her father they were concerned that she would take part in a demonstration during the graduation ceremony.
The student also said that, on 15 January 2022, she saw a vehicle with dark windows parked in front of her dorm, and that the same vehicle followed her when she went out to eat and go to a convenience store.
Other activists and journalists also reported facing police surveillance between 10 – 15 January 2022. “Admin Ninja,” a citizen journalist from the Facebook page Live Real, said that on 15 January 2022, police officers came asking for him at his residence, which is not his address according to the household register, but is the address he gave to the police when he was arrested while live streaming a protest at the Din Daeng Intersection on 6 October 2021.
Suramet Noyubon, a citizen journalist from the Facebook page Friends Talk, said that a group of people claiming to be inquiry officers from Thung Song Hong Police Station went to his parents’ house and claimed that he was involved with Thalugaz, a group of protesters who staged nightly protests at the Din Daeng Intersection. They also did not present a police ID card or a warrant.
Suramet said that he was not involved with the Din Daeng protests, but was only live broadcasting them. On Monday (17 January 2022), Suramet and Nonthaburi New Generation Network activist Jetsada Sripleng went to Thung Song Hong Police Station, as they were both visited by men claiming to be from the Station.
Suramet said that the Thung Song Hong police superintendent apologized and told them that the men were indeed from Thung Song Hong Police Station, but that they misunderstood their superiors’ order, leading to the incident. Suramet also said that he asked the superintendent to make sure that every officer follows the proper protocol, especially presenting their police ID card before any operation.
Meanwhile, Voice TV talk show host Sirote Klampaiboon said that police officers came to his house on 15 January 2022, the second time he has been visited by the police. 2 plainclothes officers went to his house in Dusit district, Bangkok, and asked for him, claiming that they were ordered to observe his house once a month. Sirote was not home at the time. His family members told the officers that he was not home, so the officers asked to take a picture of them before leaving.
Sirote said that there are around 20 other people in Dusit district, including 2 Thammasat University lecturers, who are on the police’s watchlist. He also said that the visit frightened his 90-year-old mother and that if the authorities have problems with him, they should speak to him directly, as many people in the government already have his phone number.
iLaw also reported that plainclothes police officers visited the family home of a member of the activist group Thalufah at least 3 times between 13 – 15 January 2022. While the activist is on the household register for that address, they do not currently live there and only their family members are staying at the address. They also recorded the officers’ visits on the house’s CCTV cameras.
On 13 January 2022, a man named Nattakorn Chusano said that police officers came to his condominium around 2 – 3 times and were asking around for him and whether he has been to protests recently. The officers also threatened to charge him if he joins another protest.
Another activist named Tawan (last name withheld) also saw a truck likely to have been a police truck driving past their house on 14 January 2022, and said that they saw the truck slowed down to look inside the house.
iLaw noted that state officials have no legal right to follow or visit the residence of citizens who have not committed a crime, or to go inside their residence to speak to anyone who is there and ask for information without cause for suspicion that the person has committed a crime.
- Impact of Event
- 13
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker, Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jan 7, 2022
- Event Description
Community rights activist Khairiyah Rahmanyah, 18, said she received a summons from the Pathumwan Police Station for violating the Emergency Decree and the Sound Amplifier Act.
Khairiyah, a 1st-year student at the Prince of Songkhla University’s Faculty of Communication Sciences, said that she has to report to Pathumwan Police Station on Friday, 7 January 2022. She was uncertain of why she was being harassed, said that she just wants to study like other people, and asked why it was no longer possible for people in the country to voice their opinions.
On 29 November 2021, Khairiyah came to Bangkok to follow up on an as-of-yet unfulfilled promise the government made in 2019 to reconsider a 16,700-rai Chana industrial estate project and conduct a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). She sat in front of Government House every evening for a week to remind the administration of its pledge, but received no response from the authorities.
On 6 December 2021, a group of Chana community members came to Bangkok to occupy the area in front of Government House to demand that the government keep its promises. They were arrested that evening at their camp and charged with violation of the Emergency Decree. Held overnight at the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, they were released on 7 December without bail on the condition that they not return to Government House.
After their release, the protesters occupied the foothpath in fron of the UN headquarters on Ratchadamneon Avenue for five days before marching to Government House and occupying the nearby Chamai Maruchet bridge.
On Tuesday, 14 December, the cabinet finally issued a resolution to conduct an SEA, temporarily halting the Chana industrial zone project. The National Economic and Social Development Council was tasked with leading the SEA process. The results will be evaluated by Thaksin and Prince of Songkla Universities. The next morning, the protesters left for Songkhla.
When they were occupying the footpath in front of the UN headquarters, Khairiyah and several other young protesters from Chana participated in an event organised by the People Go Network. On 10 December 2021, she spoke on stage and participated in discussion circles about community rights issues at the courtyard in front of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC).
The Faculty of Political Science Student Union at the Prince of Songkhla University Pattani campus issued a statement last night (4 December) decrying the police action as a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) and an attempt to silence people exercising their constitutional right to demand justice for their community.
The Student Union also asked the university administration to stand by students who face harassment from state officials and support students fighting charges. They further asked that the authorities respect people’s rights and end unwarranted prosecutions.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jan 7, 2022
- Event Description
Local news website editor Pu Tuidim became the third journalist to be killed in Myanmar in just over three weeks when he was abducted and murdered by government soldiers in the northwest of the country last weekend. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns this barbaric murder of a reporter who tried to inform his fellow citizens about the fighting between armed rebels and the military junta.
Pu Tuidim’s body was found in Matupi township, in Chin State, a mountainous region bordering on India, on the morning of 9 January, two days after he and nine other civilians were abducted by members of the Tatmadaw, Myanmar’s armed forces, as he was covering the clashes between the Tatmadaw and local armed rebels. The soldiers shot him after using him as a human shield.
He was the founder and editor of the Khonumthung Media Group, a local news outlet named after Chin State’s highest mountain. Tragically, the website had just published an article about the Tatmadaw’s use of civilians as human shields.
On the evening of 9 January, Pu Tuidim's colleagues posted a statement condemning this practice and deploring their editor’s death “caused by the military council’s atrocities.” The message was circulated throughout the region under the hashtag of #အထူးဝမ်းနည်းကြေကွဲခြင်း, a Burmese expression meaning “Special Mourning.”
Escalating terror
“Cruelty, cynicism, barbarity – these words seem inadequate to describe Pu Tuidim’s shocking murder,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “He is the third journalist to be killed in Myanmar in less than a month, in a sign of the absolutely unacceptable practices increasingly employed by the junta. We appeal to the international community to toughen the sanctions imposed on the junta’s members in order to end this headlong escalation in terror.”
The most recent previous media fatality was Federal News Journal editor Sai Win Aung, who was killed by gunfire near the Thai border in the southeastern state of Kayin during a Tatmadaw artillery attack on 25 December. He was also covering fighting between the Tatmadaw and the People’s Defence Force (PDF), the armed resistance to the junta.
Freelance photographer Soe Naing was the first journalist to die at the junta’s hands. He died under torture on 14 December, four days after soldiers arrested him while he was covering a silent street protest in Yangon.
The number of journalists imprisoned in Myanmar has meanwhile risen to at least 59, according to RSF’s press freedom violations barometer, which is constantly updated.
They include two journalists who worked for the Zayar Times, a newspaper that was closed when the military staged their coup last February. The two journalists, deputy editor Pyae Phyo Aung and reporter Myint Myat Aung (also known as D. Myat Nyein), were each sentenced to two years in prison for “inciting crime” in a trial last week inside the prison where they are being held in the central city of Shwebo. The did not have access to a lawyer.
Myanmar is ranked 140th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2021 World Press Freedom Index.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jan 5, 2022
- Event Description
Police in Vietnam broke into a home and arrested a couple while the husband was livestreaming criticism of the government, their family told RFA.
Nguyen Thai Hung and his wife Vu Thi Kim Hoang were arrested Jan. 5 at about 6 p.m. in their home in the southern province of Dong Nai while Hung was on YouTube.
Viewers of the livestream were able to witness the arrest as it occurred. About 20 minutes into the broadcast, Hung left his computer to investigate what sounded like glass breaking. Shortly after, a man in an orange “Electricity of Vietnam” uniform appeared in frame, shouting, “Stay still. Don’t move.”
At that point, the webcam was turned down to show only a corner of the table and what looks to be a script.
Provincial authorities charged Hoang with “abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to violate the state’s interests.” They have yet to make any official statement on Hung’s arrest.
The couple’s arrest was carried out by people in plain clothes, Hoang’s sister, Vu Giang Tien, told RFA.
“Two men suddenly broke into my sister’s house by climbing over the fence. Then they cut the gate lock open and rushed into the house,” she said.
“My sister’s oldest daughter got scared and started screaming. My mother, who lives next door, came over immediately and shouted, ‘Robbers! Robbers!’ when seeing the intruders in plain clothes, not in police uniforms,” Tien said.
When a man wearing yellow appeared with a gun, Tien said her mother stopped shouting out of fear.
“Those people took the two kids to a room upstairs to ask questions. Others who had already entered the house broke the glass door to open it. They searched the house, making a big mess, and they arrested Hung and Hoang and took them away,” Tien said.
The police did not announce why the couple were arrested or present any documents related to the arrest, the family said.
When the family asked why Hoang was also arrested, the police said they needed to take her away for investigation because she was involved in concealing a crime.
Two days later, the family went to the police station to find out more and were told by police that Hoang had been arrested for “abusing the rights to freedom and democracy” and that she was being held at a detention house elsewhere in the province.
The police did not provide them with any information about Hung, they said.
Tien said that Hung had been sharing his views on his YouTube channel for more than a year. The channel, established in January 2020, has around 40,000 followers. Videos are no longer available on the account.
Hung’s Facebook account is active, but the most recent post, which discussed the death of a young soldier, Tran Duc Do, is from July 2021.
Vietnam is ranked 175th out of 180 countries in the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index for 2021. Vietnam’s already low tolerance of dissent deteriorated sharply in 2020 with a spate of arrests of independent journalists, publishers and Facebook personalities in the run-up to the ruling Communist Party Congress in January 2021.
Police have arrested at least 40 political dissidents since then, most of them charged with "disseminating anti-state materials,” according to RFA reports.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jan 5, 2022
- Event Description
On January 5, authorities in the central province of Ha Tinh arrested local Facebooker Nguyen Duc Hung and charged him with “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code with potential imprisonment of between seven and 12 years in prison, even to 20 years. Ha Tinh is the coastal province most affected by the waste dumping of Taiwan’s Formosa Steel plant in 2016 and Mr. Hung is among outspoken independent journalists about the environmental disaster. He was kidnapped by the local security forces when he was on his way to workplace.
Nguyen Duc Hung was accused of using social networks such as Facebook and Youtube to address the country’s issues such as land seizure, corruption, environmental pollution caused by industrial groups including Formosa, etc. He will be held incommunicado for at least four months, a common practice applied by Vietnam’s investigation agencies in so-called “national security” cases. Police have also conducted house searches and confiscated his laptops, cell phones and other personal items.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
Information provided by Defend the Defenders
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 3, 2022
- Event Description
2:55 p.m.
Striking casino workers resumed their protests outside Phnom Penh’s NagaWorld casino this afternoon following the arrests of 10 people on New Year’s Eve, as police were seen immediately arresting at least one more protester.
A fire truck arrived at the scene just after the arrest around 2:30 p.m., as protesters yelled they feared it would be used to spray them.
“It’s an injustice,” one woman was heard yelling near the casino. “Why are you helping a foreign company suppress workers?”
“Please release them,” she said as a police van drove past.
Around 300 workers are seeking reinstatement following layoffs of more than 1,300 NagaWorld workers last year, including union representatives.
They began protesting last month, and were joined by some current casino workers as crowds grew to around 1,000 on some days.
On New Year’s Eve, police cracked down on an evening protest, arresting eight people from the union’s office as well as a tuk-tuk driver and a worker outside NagaWorld 2.
Six were questioned in court over the weekend. Union president Chhim Sithar said on Monday that four of them had been released today but the six were still held at the court without knowing the charges they faced.
“We know from the beginning these tactics will be used to intimidate the members from stopping the strike,” she said.
Reporters saw no protests over the weekend.
More fire trucks were seen arriving at the scene around 2:40 p.m.
“We are coming to do nonviolent protests, but they come like they are going to war,” one worker said in a live video broadcast by protesters.
3:10 p.m.
Ma Chettra, an official at NGO the Cambodian Youth Network, said one of the arrested women, Luch Romduol, had called him saying there were 14 protesters together in a police van. She believed they were being taken to the municipal police station. One of the 14 was a man, and another was a pregnant woman, Chettra said Romduol had told him.
Near NagaWorld, around 300-400 workers continued their protest, while the park in front of the NagaWorld 1 building was cleared.
3:45 p.m.
A video from strikers shared on Facebook by Central’s Khun Tharo shows authorities grabbing women by their arms as they link arms to resist, with authorities dragging them outside the camera’s view. One woman can be heard shouting, “oh my god!” District guards appear to grab for phones, and the cameras shake uncontrollably.
In another video posted by a strike participant, an arrested woman films inside a police van, saying she is one of 14 people inside the back of a truck with pinhole-sized windows.
“We are the strikers, and now we have been arrested and placed in a cage,” a woman is heard saying in the video. “Help and share with all of the people. This is a grave injustice, what have we done wrong? Even a pregnant woman is arrested and pulled in and beaten.”
“Why, when we just come to protest? Why do the state and the forces arrest us? … This is very cruel. What have we done wrong? Now we do not know where they will take us.”
4:35 p.m.
One of several hundred protest participants said their colleagues had been arrested near the roundabout on the corner of Sisowath Quay and Sihanouk Blvd., known for the statue of dictionary author Chuon Nath, as they tried to join the fenced-off strike site next to the Australian Embassy on National Assembly Blvd.
Strike participants were seated behind red and white barricades set up by police, making noise with plastic horns and homemade shakers of empty plastic bottles and gravel. As a worker read the strike demands into a megaphone, they cheered and sounded the instruments.
Panha, a NagaWorld employee laid off after four years there, said he was not scared of anything, even knowing his colleagues were arrested.
“This is disappointing. I will keep coming until they arrest all of us,” he said.
One striking woman shouted to reporters that she would keep coming until the company offered a solution.
“If we do not come, we will die. The foreigners are working inside so easily, but we are not like them.”
“This makes us stronger. When we are scared, no one is coming [to help],” she continued.
Chan Pel, 43, said she had been working for NagaWorld for 22 years before she was laid off in May. She said she had joined the strike daily and would continue to do so.
“I’m not scared even if they arrested our friends. I’m hurting,” she said. “This encourages me to come here more and more. My heart is burning. I won’t stop coming until we get the solution.”
Riot police moved back at about 3 p.m., following the arrests of 14 union members.
4:53 p.m.
Naga union president Chhim Sithar said a total of 15 union members had been arrested on Monday afternoon according to strike participants, an update from earlier reports that 14 people were arrested. She told VOD earlier Monday afternoon that she planned to participate in the strike this week.
6:55 p.m.
Strikers departed around 6 p.m. chanting “we will come back tomorrow,” after 15 more protesters were arrested Monday afternoon and the Phnom Penh Municipal Court prosecutor issued a warrant naming nine union members in an investigation.
The prosecutor named nine NagaWorld union members as suspects for incitement charges for their role in the 17-day strike against alleged labor rights violations by Hong Kong-listed casino group NagaCorp.
Six of the nine workers named by the prosecutor were arrested on New Year’s Eve and charged on Monday with incitement under articles 494 and 495 of the criminal procedure law, according to human rights group Licadho. A total of 10 people were picked up in the New Year’s Eve crackdown, but four were released on Monday morning, union president Chhim Sithar told VOD earlier Monday.
Phnom Penh Municipal Police spokesperson San Sokseyha said Monday afternoon that he had yet to receive a report about the day’s arrests.
Municipal court spokesperson Y Rin said the case of six people arrested on Friday was in the hands of the investigating judge.
As strikers headed toward the Aeon Mall I parking lot, Police quickly removed red-and-white barricades without taking any action against the participants.
Patrick Lee, a legal adviser for labor group Central, told VOD that the authorities’ crackdown on the strike was a tactic to suppress the union members’ rights, and called for the detained strikers’ release.
“These arrests appear to be little more than a blatant attempt to dissuade peacefully striking workers from exercising their fundamental rights,” he said. “They have been arrested as a means to try and silence the voices of others. These workers should all be immediately released without charge.”
4:06 p.m.
After more than two weeks of protests and more than 20 arrests, the head of the NagaWorld union attempted to join an ongoing strike outside the Phnom Penh casino this afternoon despite an active arrest warrant against her.
Just before 4 p.m., however, Chhim Sithar was arrested by police officers on National Assembly Road, outside the Australian Embassy, as she entered barricades cordoning off the workers’ rally.
In addition to uniformed officers, undercover officers also pounced on her, and pulled her into a white sedan.
The strike and protest, which began last month, relate to the termination of more than 1,300 workers from the casino, including, in particular, top union leaders at NagaWorld.
Sithar, president of the Labor Rights Supported Union, was among those fired, and had been largely absent at rallies as authorities deemed the strike illegal. She was among nine names listed in an arrest warrant issued on Monday by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court prosecutor. Ten people were arrested on Friday and a further 17 on Monday.
5:45 p.m.
The remaining two wanted NagaWorld workers have turned themselves in, police said, on the same day union president Chhim Sithar was violently arrested outside the Phnom Penh casino.
Seventeen workers arrested on Monday either have been or will be released by tomorrow at the latest, police said.
Near NagaWorld, worker Chhuon Saman started crying as she described her reaction to Sithar’s arrest.
“It’s been 16 days that I’ve been here. My representative came and they arrested her. I feel heartbreak. They are so cruel,” Saman said. “I wanted her to come here. … But she wasn’t here yet. They caught her. I can’t accept this.”
“Today this made my conscience more and more powerful to keep going,” Saman added.
Pov Kalyan, a woman who witnessed Sithar’s arrest from close, shouted furiously
“They arrested one Sithar, but we still have a thousand Sithars. Arrest us as they wish,” She said.
Kalyan said she was not one of the more than 1,300 fired workers. But she could not go back to work seeing the pressure NagaWorld was putting on her coworkers, she said.
“I cannot step into work like this when my friends receive injustice from the company,” she said. “I’m scared. I must be brave. If they want to arrest me, I’m standing here.”
Phnom Penh Municipal Police chief Sar Thet confirmed Sithar’s arrest and said all nine people in an arrest warrant issued by the municipal prosecutor were now found. Six of them had been arrested on Friday.
“Two men came to make a confession,” he said, referring to two workers, Sok Narith and Sok Kongkea. When asked about potential leniency for turning themselves in, he said: “This is the judge’s right and power.”
Asked about 17 people arrested on Monday — none of whom were on the arrest warrant — Thet said a pregnant woman was already released and the others should also be out soon.
“Sixteen people are being educated, and will be allowed home this evening or tomorrow at the latest,” he said. “They have nothing to do with it. They just follow others.”
Sithar’s arrest was reported enthusiastically on government-aligned Fresh News: “Finally! Ms. Chhim Sithar, Mastermind of Incitement of Illegal Gatherings in Front of NagaWorld, Has Been Arrested by Authorities.”
At the rally, authorities could be heard telling workers to leave by 6 p.m.
6:03 p.m.
Workers began leaving the rally together as a group near 6 p.m.
Naly Pilorge, director of local human rights group Licadho, said the union had done everything it could to resolve the strike peacefully, but the government and NagaWorld had chosen to intimidate, harass, and arrest peaceful strikers.
“Chhim Sithar’s courage in showing up to today’s strike, knowing that she faced absurd and false charges of incitement, is a sharp contrast to the cowardly violence of those who arrested and assaulted her. This violent arrest of a peaceful unionist is outrageous, and shows the government has given up all pretense of respecting its own laws on labor rights,” she said.
Peaceful strikes were not crimes, unions were not illegal, and workers’ rights must be respected by both employers and the government, Pilorge added.
“The government has abused ‘incitement’ charges to the point that they are meaningless, and are now regularly used to criminalize legal and peaceful speech and association. These unionists are, in effect, being prosecuted for daring to organize a peaceful and effective union. They must all be immediately and unconditionally released.”
Protester Lou Mei Fong said earlier in the afternoon that she was not scared and would continue to rally.
“I do not have any concerns because I do it legally, and I will continue to do so until there is a solution for us,” Mei Fong said. “As long as NagaWorld comes out to solve the problem for us, we will return to work as normal.”
“We’re striking against the company, not against authorities.”
The protests began again on Tuesday around 2 p.m., attracting more than 100 workers.
The U.S. Embassy said on Twitter that it was closely following “the troubling arrests” of NagaWorld workers.
- Impact of Event
- 16
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Use of Excessive Force, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jan 3, 2022
- Event Description
Kantapat (surname withheld), a 17 year old student activist, was summoned to the Nong Ki police station in Buriram Province on 3 January to sign a paper affirming that he would not interfere with an upcoming royal procession of Princess Sirindhorn on 5 January.
According to the Buriram Provincial Cultural Office, Princess Sirindhorn was planning to visit two Border Patrol Police Schools in the Lahansai and Pakham Districts on 5 January. En route, the royal procession was scheduled to pass through Nong Ki District.
Kantapat told Prachatai that he received a phone call from a police officer on 2 January asking him not to stage any activity on 5 January. The police also asked that he go to the police station to sign a daily record and allow police to confirm his whereabouts via telephone at least twice a day during 3-5 January period.
The activist said that he had no plan to organise an activity during that time and was instead preparing for a midterm exam that was scheduled for after the long new year’s holiday. Despite this, plainclothes police reportedly kept an eye on him at his home and school.
He could not explain why the police were ‘so anxious’.
Kantapat has been a target of the local police and school authorities since 2020, when he organised political activities in support of the pro-democracy movement and against the school’s uniform policy.
As a result of police monitoring prior to the 14 November monarchy reform protest in Bangkok, he was unable to join the demonstration.
In December 2020, his parents were also summoned to his school to hear complaints about his political activism and Facebook posts criticicing the school principal. In April 2021, the school forced him to sign a resignation letter stating that he had failed to meet school standards of behaviour by demonstrating his ‘love for the nation, religion and the monarch. The reason pertained to his pro-democracy activities.
He was told that if he repeated the offence, the resignation paper would become immediately effective.
Police monitoring of activists in advance of royal visits has been frequent since the 2014 coup. Activists in Northern Thailand have reported such monitoring on a number of occasions. The latest was on 20 December 2021 when Pakawadee Veerapaspong, a Chiang Mai activist and translator, was visited by plainclothes policemen before Princess Sirindhorn’s royal visit in Chiang Mai Province on 24 December. A full report was published by Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.
Prior to the Kantapat incident, royal processions in Bangkok have been targeted by activists twice. On 28 December 2021, three activists held up banners with the message “abolish Section 112” at a procession of King Vajiralongkorn in Bangkok. They were arrested and fined.
Two days later, another two activists were arrested and charged with royal defamation after raising a banner at the Equestrian Monument Intersection close by one of the King’s palaces shortly before a royal procession passed the area. The banner demanded the release of detained protesters.
Arrests in both cases involved the use of force, resulting in cuts and, in one instance, a dislocated shoulder.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jan 3, 2022
- Event Description
Anthony Hamzah, Ketua Koperasi Petani Sawit Makmur (Kopsa M) mengajukan praperadilan di PN Bangkinang, atas penangkapan Satreskrim Polres Kampar, 3 Januari lalu. Permohonan dibacakan, 31 Januari di hadapan Hakim Tunggal Ersin, setelah mundur satu minggu.
Masalah ini berawal dari peristiwa petang, 15 Oktober dua tahun lalu. Hari itu, Hendra Sakti Effendi, kuasa hukum Kopsa M, memboyong sekitar 300 massa mengusir 72 karyawan dari mes di kebun sawit PT Langgam Harmuni (LH), di Desa Pangkalan Baru, Kecamatan Siak Hulu, Kampar, Riau.
Mereka memaksa para penghuni rumah mengosongkan tempat tinggal. Imbasnya, beberapa rumah rusak dan beberapa orang mengaku kehilangan harta benda maupun barang berharga lain. Ada pula yang mengaku diperas.
Sehari setelah kejadian, General Manager LH, Karealitas Zagota alias Karel buat laporan polisi ke Polres Kampar. Penyidik lalu menetapkan Hendra Sakti dan Aris Zanolo Laia alias Marvel tersangka. PN Bangkinang menjatuhkan hukuman masing-masing 2, 2 dan 1,8 bulan bui kepada keduanya karena terbukti melakukan pemerasan.
Atas laporan polisi itu, penyidik mengembangkan kasus dan menetapkan Anthony jadi tersangka, berdasarkan surat perintah penyidikan (sprindik) dan surat pemberitahuan dimulainya penyidikan (SPDP) 9 September 2021. Anthony dituduh otak pelaku dan mendanai aksi itu.
Anthony kemudian cari perlindungan hukum. Hasto Atmojo Suroyo, Ketua Lembaga Perlindungan Saksi dan Korban (LPSK) pun menerima permohonan layanan pemenuhan hak prosedural dan perlindungan hukum, sepanjang Oktober 2021-Maret 2022, atau selama enam bulan.
Pada 24 November 2021, Kasat Reskrim Polres Kampar Bery Juana Putra menetapkan status daftar pencarian orang (DPO) terhadap Anthony.
“Penetapan tersangka Pak Anthony tidak dapat dibenarkan dan bertentangan dengan peraturan perundang-undangan. Apalagi dia dalam status terlindungi,” kritik Disna Riantina, Kuasa Hukum Anthony. Dia menyoroti laporan polisi yang dibuat Karel.
Karel dianggap tak memenuhi syarat dan memiliki hak mewakili LH, melaporkan kejadian pencurian dan perusakan di kebun perusahaan. Alasannya, LH selama ini tidak memiliki izin usaha kebun sawit. Agustus tahun lalu, LH diketahui baru mengajukan permohonan izin usaha perkebunan ke Pemkab Kampar.
Disna mengatakan, pelaku yang dilaporkan Kareal adalah Hendra Sakti, Marvel dan beberapa pelaku lapangan. Kemudian, putusan perkara Hendra Sakti dan Marvel sudah berkekuatan hukum tetap, tidak menyebut Anthony tersangka.
Anthony sudah pernah diperiksa dan diminta keterangan dalam penyidikan dua perkara itu justru tak pernah dipanggil selama persidangan.
Surat yang diterima keluarga Anthony 15 September 2021 juga tidak mencantumkan nama Anthony sebagai tersangka. Anehnya, SPDP ini justru merujuk laporan polisi 16 Oktober 2020 dan sprindik 6 Januari 2020, yang digunakan dalam perkara Hendra Sakti dan Marvel.
Berarti, ada dua sprindik dalam satu laporan polisi. Kalau dicermati lagi, katanya, sprindik untuk Hendra Sakti dan Marvel terbit duluan sebelum laporan polisi dibuat.
Hendri Sakti mengakui, aksi pengosongan rumah karyawan LH itu inisiatif dia sendiri dan tak ada koordinasi maupun komunikasi dengan Anthony. Dia juga tidak pakai dana operasional jasa pengacara yang pernah diberi Kopsa M untuk menggerakkan massa. Keterangan ini tertuang dalam putusan Nomor: 384/Pid.B/2021/PN Bkn tertanggal 2 November halaman 43-47.
“Jadi tidak ada pertimbangan majelis hakim yang mengatakan Anthony Hamzah ikut dan turut serta melakukan tindak pidana seperti yang dilaporkan,” kata kuasa hukum Anthony dalam berkas permohonan praperadilan.
Keanehan tidak hanya sampai di situ. Saat Anthony jadi tersangka 9 September 2021, dia sama sekali belum pernah dipanggil dan diminta keterangan terkait kasus yang menjeratnya. Polres Kampar baru kirim surat panggilan pertama pada 27 September dan panggilan kedua 6 Oktober. Satu saksi atas nama Henni Puspita Sari juga terima dua kali surat panggilan setelah ada tersangka.
Surat perintah membawa, penangkapan dan penahanan Anthony juga dinilai cacat hukum. Anthony ditangkap di Bekasi, Jawa Barat, 3 Januari 2022. Surat perintah membawa keluar di Bangkinang, Riau, pada jam, hari dan tanggal sama. Nomor surat perintah membawa dan penangkapan juga sama dan dikeluarkan pada waktu berbeda.
Saat membawa Anthony, Tim Polres Kampar tidak meninggalkan surat apapun pada istri maupun anak Anthony, saat itu. Sejumlah surat itu baru diserahkan ke keluarga Anthony, 5 Januari 2022 setelah istri Anthony beberapa kali menanyakan kabar suaminya.
Delita Zul, istri Anthony juga memohon praperadilan ke PN Bangkinang menyoal legalitas perusahaan melaporkan peristiwa perusakan rumah karyawan kebun, penetapan tersangka, penangkapan, penahanan serta administrasi kepolisian lain.
Polres Kampar mengaku telah mengumpul dan mendapat lebih dua alat bukti sah berupa keterangan 16 saksi termasuk Anthony, keterangan dua ahli, surat dan senjata yang dipakai massa saat mendatangi perumahan karyawan LH. Prosedur itu polisi klaim sesuai Peraturan Kapolri 6/2019.
Terkait dua sprindik dalam satu laporan polisi, Polres Kampar menyebut hanya sebatas administrasi untuk penyesuaian nama personil yang menangani perkara Anthony. Dalam rujukan SPDP juga dijelaskan, penetapan tersangka Anthnoy bukan hanya sprindik 9 September 2021 juga sprindik 6 Januari 2021.
Polres Kampar tak menjawab keberatan kuasa hukum Anthony soal tahun penerbitan sprindik Hendra Sakti yang keluar dulu daripada laporan polisi. Polisi juga tidak menjelaskan perbedaan nomor laporan polisi dalam penetapan tersangka dan status DPO Anthony.
Polres Kampar mengaitkan keterlibatan Anthony dalam perusakan dan pengosongan rumah karyawan LH berdasarkan pertimbangan majelis dalam putusan Hendra Sakti halaman 61 yang menyebut aksi itu diketahui dan atas perintah Anthony.
Polres Kampar juga menyebut Anthony, sebagai tersangka tidak kooperatif karena dua kali tidak penuhi panggilan penyidik. Upaya penangkapan dan penahanan pun dianggap sah. Lagi pula, perlindungan LPSK terhadap Anthony sebagai saksi bukan tersangka. Status ini dinilai tak serta merta Anthony kebal hukum.
Polres Kampar sepertinya kurang cermat. Perlindungan LPSK terhadap Anthony sebagai saksi pelaku atau tersangka yang dijelaskan dalam halaman 13 paragraf akhir dan halaman 14 paragraf awal. Polres Kampar juga tidak menjawab keberatan Anthony, soal tidak ada koordinasi dengan LPSK atas tindakan hukum yang mereka lakukan.
Perusahaan tak berizin
Atas kasus perusahaan belum punya IUP, pengurus Kopsa M juga melayangkan surat keberatan ke pemerintah setempat karena LH menguasai 398 hektar lahan koperasi. Mereka juga melaporkan ke Bareskrim Polri, 27 Mei tahun lalu penyerobotan lahan dan tindak pidana perkebunan. Polisi sudah turun dan memeriksa sejumlah saksi termasuk perusahaan.
Idrus, Kabid Usaha Perkebun Dinas Perkebunan, Peternakan dan Kesehatan Hewan (Disbunnakkeswan) Kampar membenarkan, permohonan izin usaha perkebunan (IUP) perusahaan yang masih tertahan di Dinas Penanaman Modal dan Pelayanan Terpadu Satu Pintu (DPMPTSP), Kampar. Informasi yang dia ketahui, LH harus mendapat dokumen pengelolaan lingkungan hidup terlebih dahulu.
Meski LH beroperasi tanpa izin sejak 2008, Disbunnakkeswan Kampar belum pernah mengawasi atau mengecek langsung operasi perusahaan. Dinas cenderung pasif hanya mengimbau perusahaan agar mengurus izin. Dinas tak berinisiatif mengecek kondisi lapangan ketika mengetahui ada pergolakan di masyarakat.
“Kami baru mengecek lapangan setelah ada permohonan izin,” kata Idrus.
Dia tidak menyangkal ada penolakan petani dan anggota Kopsa M. LH, katanya, harus menyelesaikan terlebih dahulu masalah itu. Persoalan ini, katanya, akan dibahas Dinas Lingkungan Hidup (DLH) Kampar dalam permohonan izin lingkungan.
Kabid Tata Lingkungan DLH Kampar Agustriyadi membenarkan ada permohonan dokumen pengelolaan lingkungan oleh perusahaan.
Agus sudah mengetahui keluhan koperasi jauh hari. Dia terima surat Setara Institute dan Equality Law Firm, pendamping dan kuasa hukum Kopsa M, tentang penyerobotan lahan oleh perusahaan.
Masalahnya, Agus tidak menjawab atau membalas surat itu. Dia juga tidak mengundang petani dan pengurus Kopsa M untuk minta klarifikasi. Sikapnya pasif, hanya berharap pihak yang menolak dan keberatan datang menemui langsung.
Sebaliknya, Agus justru respon cepat dengan meminta klarifikasi pada LH. Katanya, perusahaan klaim tak ada konflik lahan melainkan pertikaian dua pengurus koperasi. LH menyatakan bertanggungjawab bila ada masalah kemudian hari. Agus pun manut dengan surat pernyataan yang dibuat LH.
Agus juga aktif minta klarifikasi sampai ke Kantor Pertanahan Kampar. Lembaga itu juga sudah memberikan notulensi yang menyatakan tak ada masalah lahan yang jadi obyek permohonan LH. Dia juga menyerahkan masalah itu pada LH untuk diselesaikan, tetapi mengabaikan keberatan petani dan koperasi.
“Secara sarat administrasi, yang kami terima sudah lengkap. Sudah uji publik tujuh hari. Ada surat penolakan dan sudah kami rapatkan dengan sekretariat daerah juga. Konfliknya berbeda. Maka kami coba ekspos,” katanya, ketika dihubungi, akhir Januari 2022.
Patar Pangasian, pengacara LH hanya membaca permintaan konfirmasi dan pertanyaan seputar permohonan dokumen pengelolaan lingkungan dan IUP yang dikirim ke nomor telepon celularnya. Dihubungi 17 Januari lalu, dia sempat bilang lahan Kopsa M tak ada sangkut paut dengan lahan kliennya. Saat Mongabay hubungi lagi, dia bilang tengah sibuk.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Dec 31, 2021
- Event Description
On December 31, a court in Hanoi sentenced Le Trong Hung to five years in prison and five years of probation after his release.
Le Trong Hung campaigned as an independent candidate for the 15th National Assembly election in May 2021.
Police arrested Le Trong Hung on March 27, two months before the election, and charged him with conducting propaganda against the state in violation of article 117(1) of the Vietnamese Penal Code. A Hanoi court is scheduled to hear his case on December 31. If convicted, he faces up to 12 years in prison.
“Imprisoning activists like Le Trong Hung who dare to run as independent candidates for parliament shows what a charade Vietnam’s elections are,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should immediately and unconditionally release him instead of prosecuting him for challenging the status quo.”
Le Trong Hung (also known as Hung Gan), 41, is a former government middle school teacher. In 2015, after filing a petition without success demanding reform to benefit students in a school in Hanoi, he quit teaching. In 2017 he began reporting as a citizen journalist on Facebook and YouTube, commenting on social issues and advising people petitioning the government.
He participated in anti-China protests and protests for environmental conservation. He used social media to share news about protests in Myanmar and the struggles of Vietnamese activists such as Trinh Ba Phuong, Trinh Ba Tu, and Pham Doan Trang. He also promoted education and knowledge about Vietnam’s Constitution, and offered people free copies of the constitution.
In February Le Trong Hung announced his plan to run as an independent candidate for the National Assembly election. He published his proposed policies, promising that, if elected, he would promote education about constitutional rights and campaign for laws to allow peaceful protests, freedom of association, and a citizens’ watchdog role over government. His policy agenda also included a call to amend the constitution and repeal articles granting supremacy to the Communist Party of Vietnam (article 4), allowing only a single trade union (article 10), and confirming state ownership of all land, water, and natural resources (article 53), among others.
On February 23 Le Trong Hung challenged Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to a debate on television, since Nguyen Phu Trong was running as the parliamentary candidate in the residential area where Le Trong Hung lives. One week later, police began to summon him repeatedly for questioning and placed him under intrusive surveillance.
Following his arrest on March 27, the Communist Party of Vietnam’s website ran an article accusing Le Trong Hung of “using social media to publish writing or livestream the distortion and disparagement of the government.” It chides him for “commenting in a distorted way the guidelines, paths and policies of the Party and the State.” The party’s post claimed that Le Trong Hung “continuously makes speeches that defame the government, oppose the State and dismiss the leadership role of the Party.” The article dismisses as “reactionary” comments that Le Trong Hung was arrested because he ran as an independent candidate and said that the authorities arrested him because he had been violating the law for a long time.
The authorities have also harassed Le Trong Hung’s family. They summoned for questioning his wife, Do Le Na, who is blind and taking care of their two young children. Officials also pressured her to vote in May in the parliamentary election, but she declined. Strangers in civilian clothes allegedly followed his 10-year-old son as he went home from school.
Police arrested two other people who tried to run as independent candidates for parliament in 2021; Le Van Dung (also known as Le Dung Vova) in Hanoi and Tran Quoc Khanh in Ninh Binh. Both were charged under article 117 of the Penal Code. In October a Ninh Binh provincial court convicted and sentenced Tran Quoc Khanh to six and a half years in prison.
In April police in Binh Thuan province detained a poet, Nguyen Quoc Huy (known as Dong Chuong Tu), a member of the Cham ethnic minority, and interrogated him for three days about his self-nomination for the election. They confiscated his passport before releasing him.
“Vietnam’s government brutally punishes anyone who dares to challenge them, and Le Trong Hung is yet another victim of that repression,” Robertson said. “So long as the country’s leaders don’t allow free and fair elections, the Communist Party of Vietnam will do as it pleases at the population’s expense.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 31, 2021
- Event Description
Police have detained at least eight NagaWorld union members on the evening of December 31, nearly two weeks after the casino workers’ union initiated a strike against alleged unfair dismissals and violations of the Labor Law.
Hundreds of terminated and active NagaWorld workers have been striking and protesting the termination of more than 1,300 workers, with one of the main demands being the reinstatement of around 300 workers who have refused to accept termination packages from the casino behemoth.
Phnom Penh Police chief Sar Thet confirmed Friday evening that at least eight union members were detained by the authorities, four of whom are being charged with incitement to cause chaos – an oft-used charge to target dissent in the country. The eight unioninsts include Chhim Sokhorn, who is a senior union leader.
Thet and labor group Central confirmed that union president Chhim Sithar was not one of the arrested unionists, despite her expressing concerns over imminent arrests.
“The ministry has opened negotiations for a solution, and authorities had called on them not to hold an illegal demonstration but they have not listened,” Thet said, adding that they routinely protested on public streets.
Sithar, the union’s president, said that the eight were arrested from the union’s office in Chamkarmon district.
“They surrounded [the office] quietly and arrested them at the union office. The [members] might not know because when it gets dark it gets more dangerous,” Sithar said.
“I am the one that they are mainly searching for. This is a threat to the right to expression, especially when they are leaders representing in the negotiations with NagaWorld.”
She said despite more than 10 days since negotiations began, there was no solution for the workers, but now authorities were arresting union members.
Negotiations among the Labor Ministry, NagaWorld representatives and the union have been at a standstill after the casino said last week its board would consider reinstating the laid-off staffers, according to a unionist.
Naly Pilorge, Licadho’s director, said there was no need to arrest the unionists and the casino company should work to resolve the dispute with workers.
“The authorities should release all detained union activists, who have done nothing wrong and have only peacefully advocated for their colleagues’ labor rights,” Pilorge said. “NagaWorld must work with the union to resolve the workers’ demands and comply with the Labor Law.”
Around 9 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, striking casino workers began holding each other’s hands as they faced down a team of an estimated 100 uniformed police officers.
Already, eight workers, including senior union leaders, had been arrested that evening from their union offices.
The protesters were now being prevented from leaving an area to the west of the casinos to go home, as authorities attempted to make further arrests.
“We are holding each other’s hands to prevent them from [more] arrests,” said Re Thearath. “They’re in pursuit of arresting people who have held the microphones.”
Around 9:30 p.m., police arrested a ninth worker, Touch Sereymeas, from in front of NagaWorld 2. Sereymeas had previously been misidentified as a Japanese agent in an anonymous Facebook page widely shared through government-aligned media channels.
About 150 workers remained near the Chuon Nath roundabout.
They were wary as reporters approached. “News media have distorted us a lot, especially Fresh News. They exaggerate and we are afraid of them distorting us,” Thearath said, referring to a news website that regularly serves as a government mouthpiece.
Some workers claimed that some plain-clothed officers had joined the protest pretending to be strikers, acting erratically and violently.
Around 11 p.m., more than 100 military police officers with riot shields and truncheons arrived on military trucks. Some of the soldiers carried assault rifles.
The workers were huddled near the entrance to the Phnom Penh Center, gradually moving south on Sothearos Blvd.
“We will still continue to demand justice in front of NagaWorld,” said a protester, Chhoun Sam An, despite the night’s turmoil. “We come here to protest because of the suffering, and we come from our heart.”
At midnight the workers dispersed. They said they had been successful in preventing the arrest of a 10th worker by banding together.
NagaCorp, to which the government has given a decadeslong monopoly license to operate in the capital, fired 1,300 workers last year amid major Covid-19 disruptions. Among the workers targeted for termination, however, were all top union leaders and representatives. Workers and labor groups have argued that this amounts to illegal union busting.
Around 300 workers are still contesting their terminations and pushing for reinstatement, and at one point last week the daily protests outside the casinos swelled to around 1,000 participants. Negotiations have largely stalled.
“How can they say we do it illegally, since we follow the law and procedures,” Sam An said of the strike. Workers had informed authorities, she said — though the Phnom Penh Municipal Court has deemed it illegal. “What about NagaWorld, which breached the law and silenced the union — [let’s see] whether any ministry takes any action.”
Phnom Penh police chief Sar Thet confirmed several of the arrests last night and accused the protesters of violating public order.
“The ministry has opened negotiations for a solution, and authorities had called on them not to hold an illegal demonstration but they have not listened,” Thet said. A municipal police spokesperson could not be reached on Saturday.
Chhim Sithar, the Naga union’s president who has spoken of her likely arrest, said by phone that she was in the dark about what was happening to her arrested colleagues.
“So far we haven’t gotten through them and we don’t know where they’ve taken them,” Sithar said.
But the workers had known to expect problems, she added. “Even though there were arrests, they will continue to protest until there is a solution.”
In a statement to shareholders last month, NagaCorp said casino operations would continue. “[T]he Board believes that the illegal strike has had no material negative impact on the overall business and operations of the Group.”
At least six NagaWorld union members were presented for questioning before the Phnom Penh Municipal Court Sunday afternoon, according to a local rights group, two days after authorities arrested 10 people in a crackdown on New Year’s Eve.
At least nine people were arrested from the Labor Rights Supporting Union office Friday evening, with the union releasing a statement over the weekend saying a tuk-tuk driver who ferried materials for the union was also arrested on Friday. A 10th individual was arrested outside NagaWorld 2.
The authorities have labeled the 14-day strike as an illegal demonstration, and hundreds of security personnel disrupted the workers’ protest on Friday night.
Am Sam Ath, Licadho’s deputy director for monitoring, said six individuals had been taken to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Sunday and then taken back to municipal police headquarters.
According to Licadho, the six unionists sent to court on Sunday were: Touch Sereymeas, Hai Sopheap, Re Sovandy, Kleang Sobin, Chhim Sokhorn and Sun Sreypich. Sam Ath said the remaining four union members were still at the police headquarters.
Phnom Penh police chief Sar Thet said on Friday that the arrested individuals were being investigated on alleged incitement charges.
The LRSU statement alleged that police had used excessive force during the arrests, surrounded the union’s office with cars, seized documents, and had now blocked the premises.
Ouk Sopheakmolyka, the partner of Touch Sereymeas, said it was disappointing that the authorities acted the way they did because the protest was against a private company and not the government. Sopheakmolyka added that some workers had congregated outside the police headquarters around 3 p.m. but did not stay longer than 60 minutes.
“The authorities are the ones who implement the law but then they abuse the law, and it is unacceptable,” said Sopheakmolyka. “This is sad because this is not a killing or robbery. They just protested about their work but the authorities’ actions against them was as if this was a serious crime and they had killed human beings.”
Sopheakmolyka added that the family was prevented from meeting Sereymeas and were told to deliver items and food when the union member was taken to court.
The LRSU union called for a strike on December 18 months after NagaWorld fired around 1,300 workers amid falling profits during the pandemic. Around 300 workers say they want to be reinstated, including top union leaders who were controversially part of the layoffs.
Chhim Sithar, LRSU’s president and one of the fired workers, said the arrests were aimed at disrupting the strike, but the protest would stop only when there was a fair solution.
“The workers’ nine points have not been solved yet and instead they arrested the [union] representatives, and the protest will not stop unless there is reasonable and acceptable compensation,” she said.
Reporters did not see any protesters outside NagaWorld over the weekend following Friday’s crackdown.
Municipal police spokesperson San Sokseyha has not responded to questions.
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Freedom of movement, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Dec 31, 2021
- Event Description
Jaringan Peduli Perempuan Bengkulu (JPPB) menyoroti pembubaran paksa terhadap kaum perempuan yang menggelar aksi penolakan tambang pasir besi PT Faming Levto Bakti Abadi di Desa Pasar Seluma, selama empat malam lima hari.
JPPB juga menyayangkan tindak aparat saat membubarkan massa.
“Ini tak elok ketika rakyat bersuara, perempuan bersuara dibubarkan paksa. Bukannya ini bagian dari demokrasi yang dilindungi UU, ruang dialog harus diciptakan untuk mendengar mereka,” kata Koordinator JPPB, Fonika Toyib.
Selain itu, yang menjadi sorotan sikap pemerintah daerah dalam menyikapi polemik penolakan tambang pasir besi di Pasar Seluma.
“Kami mendesak hentikan penyelesaian secara represif,” tegasnya.
Sementara itu, Aliansi Badan Eksekutif Mahasiswa (BEM) Nusantara Bengkulu mendukung para masyarakat Desa Pasar Seluma menolak tambang pasir besi.
Koordinator Daerah Aliansi BEM Nusantara Bengkulu Muhammad Fhariz Alatas mengatakan, mereka akan mengawal apapun perkembangan terkait dengan polemik tambang pasir besi yang menimbulkan konflik sosial di masyarakat.
“Kami akan mengawal terkait konflik ini. Dan poin utama tuntutan warga yaitu menghentikan aktivitas pertambangan pasir besi di Seluma, khususnya di Desa Pasar Seluma,” kata Fhariz usai melakukan konsolidasi dengan sejumlah perwakilan masyarakat.
Menurutnya, BEM Nusantara Bengkulu mengunjungi masyarakat untuk memastikan kejadian yang sebelumnya terjadi.
Yaitu, pembubaran paksa ibu-ibu penolak tambang oleh aparat kepolisian.
“Kita datang ke sini, karena kawan-kawan BEM secara pribadi memiliki rasa simpati dan empati terhadap masyarakat di Pasar Seluma ini,” jelasnya. Mahasiswa Bergerak
BEM Nusantara ini merupakan gabungan BEM di Provinsi Bengkulu.
Diantaranya gabungan mahasiswa dari kampus UMB, STIA, UIN FAS, Dehasen dan kampus lainnya di Provinsi Bengkulu. “Kawan-kawan yang belum hadir juga memberikan dukungan ke sini. Termasuk ada dari Curup dan Lebong,” sampainya.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Dec 29, 2021
- Event Description
The special court inside Insein Prison handed down sentences against two prominent student leaders on Thursday.
Aye Aung, a 45-year-old former member of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), received three years in prison for his role in anti-coup protests in Yangon’s Tamwe Township in March.
“The court decided that it was apparent that he led the protests,” his lawyer said.
Aye Aung, who took part in a student-led uprising against military rule in 1996, was previously sentenced to 59 years in prison by Myanmar’s former military junta. He spent 14 years behind bars until his release in 2012.
Fellow former ABFSU executive Min Thway Thit, meanwhile, was given a year in prison for driving an unregistered vehicle without a license.
The sentence handed down to the 38-year-old former political prisoner was the minimum for the charge, which is punishable by up to three years in prison, because the offense was related to his volunteer work with Covid-19 patients.
“There wasn’t enough evidence that Min Thway Thit owned or drove the car, but it was apparent that he was using it to transport patients during the pandemic,” his lawyer said.
A day earlier, another ABFSU activist got two years and one month in prison on charges stemming from his political activities in September of last year.
Wai Yan Phyo Moe was charged with violating Section 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law for handing out and posting leaflets in Yangon’s Mahabandoola Park calling for the restoration of internet services in Rakhine State.
The sentence was handed down by a court in Kyauktada Township. The 23-year-old ABFSU president faces similar charges in two other townships in Yangon, as well as charges of incitement under Sections 505a and 505b of the Penal Code.
According to local media reports, at least 62 junta opponents, including politicians, activists, artists and other public figures, were sentenced on Thursday.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an advocacy group based in exile, the regime is currently holding 8,331 people on charges related to their anti-coup activities, of whom only 487 have so far been convicted.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Dec 28, 2021
- Event Description
Three activists, one a 17 year old, were arrested on Tuesday night (28 December) for holding up banners with the message “abolish Section 112” at Wongwian Yai, where a crowd of people were waiting to see King Vajiralongkorn and his entourage.
A video clip of the incident shows the activists being surrounded by men wearing royal volunteer service yellow shirts and scarves. The men dragged them away, injuring them in the process.
Five activists were detained during the incident. Three - Sainam, Baipor, and Tawan (last names withheld) - were taken to the nearby Bupharam Police Station. Another two unidentified individuals were released.
A second video clip of the event shows a woman running up to the King’s vehicle as he was getting out of the car. She was immediately held back by guards.
According to Pol Lt Col Seksan Pa-taesang from Buphharam Police Station, the woman was sent to the Somdej Chao Phraya Institute of Psychiatry. When our reporter asked what charges are being filed against the three activists, he immediately hung up.
Tawan, 20, said that they arrived at Wongwian Yai around 16.00 and were planning to raise their banners when the royal motorcade reached the scene to communicate directly with the King. Although concerned that they might be attacked by royalists, she said that they still wanted to exercise their right to express their opinions.
Baipor said that they planned to stand on the footpath but while waiting, were approached by a plainclothes officer who appeared to recognise Sainam. According to Baipor, they told the officer that they were only holding banners and did not intend to cause harm. Unidentified men in yellow shirts then surrounded them. In footage of the incident, formally clad police officers receiving the royal motorcade took part in the arrest.
Tawan added that the men in yellow shirt surrounded them for around an hour. Once the Queen appeared, they lifted up their banner, but the men immediately pulled it down. She said that they were not planning to make noise, but when the men snatched their banners away, they began shouting “abolish Section 112.” They had earlier decided to do this if they were assaulted. The men dragged them away, putting their hands over the activists’ mouth and choking them in the process.
Tawan said that instead of being brought to a police station, they were taken into a nearby alley and made to wait there until the royal motorcade left. Angered by the treatment, the activists demanded to know what crime they were being charged with. Instead of answering, the officers ordered them to sit down and pushed them to the ground. Around 20.00, they were taken to the Buppharam Police Station.
According to Tawan, when the men sought to physically silence her by placing their hands over her mouth, they knocked her contact lenses out of position, pushing them deep inside her eyelids. She was later able to remove them but Sainam and Baipor both suffered injuries. Baipor was cut on the lips.
Asked about the woman who ran towards the King’s vehicle, Tawan said that she was not part of their group and that they never approached the royal entourage.
The activists were released a little after midnight. They were charged with causing a public commotion and failing to comply with police orders. Each received a 1000-baht fine. Following their release, they said that they were going to a hospital to make a record of their injuries and would by pressing charges against their assailants.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reports that police released the other two activists as they were only taking pictures of the protest, not shouting or holding up banners.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Dec 26, 2021
- Event Description
A student activist has died in Myanmar military custody, and the junta cremated his body without informing his relatives.
Ko Aung Bone Kyaw, a third year geology student at Yangon University, was detained on Sunday in Yangon’s Tamwe Township. He was taken to an interrogation center where he died the following day, according to the Yangon University Students Union. He was cremated at Yayway Cemetery the same day
“The military council didn’t inform [his family about the funeral]. His family found out from their contacts only just before the funeral. They rushed to Yayway, but were unable to see the body before it was cremated,” said Ko Aung Kaung Hset, the chair of the Yangon University Students Union.
Ko Aung Bone Kyaw’s family declined to comment out of concerns for their safety when contacted by The Irrawaddy.
“We heard that three other students were arrested along with Ko Aung Bone Kyaw. One of his classmates is now at the interrogation center,” said Ko Aung Kaung Hset.
It remains unclear why the students were arrested and how Ko Aung Bone Kyaw died.
Yangon Unversity’s Geology Department issued a letter of condolence over Ko Aung Bone Kyaw’s death, in which lecturers and students vowed to fight the dictatorship until the end.
His death in custody follows the jailing a few days ago of an executive member of the Yangon University Students Union. Ko Aung Phone Maw was sentenced to three years in prison by a junta court for incitement.
“The military regime is harshly persecuting young political activists who oppose military rule. Student union members held in Insein Prison are subject to solitary confinement and torture. Those who were beaten for their participation in protests were denied medical treatment,” said Yangon University Students Union chair Ko Aung Kaung Hset.
Political prisoners in Yangon’s Insein Prison joined the rest of the country in a silent strike on December 10 to mark International Human Rights Day. The Myanmar people stayed at home for the day to show their opposition to military rule.
Around 89 political prisoners and detainees, including members of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, were beaten and held in isolation for participating in the silent strike. Those injured have yet to receive medical treatment.
On December 19, freelance photojournalist Ko Zaw Lin Htut, and Ma Su Yee Lin from Yangon Eastern University Students Union were detained at a Yangon protest. Their whereabouts are still unknown.
1,380 people were killed by the junta between February 1 and December 28, according to rights group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Dec 25, 2021
- Event Description
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the international community to toughen its sanctions on Myanmar’s military junta after a journalist who was covering the plight of refugees in the southeastern state of Kayin was killed during an army artillery attack near the border with Thailand on 25 December.
Federal News Journal editor Sai Win Aung, also known as A Sai K, was the second journalist to die as a result the junta’s violence in less than two weeks.
He was killed instantly by a gunshot in Lay Kay Kaw Myothit, a town in Myawaddy district, during an artillery attack by the Tatmadaw, Myanmar’s armed forces, against members of the People’s Defence Force (PDF), which has been offering armed resistance to the junta.
“Sai Wing Aung paid with his life for his determination to provide his fellow citizens with coverage of the terror that the armed forces have been inflicting on Myanmar’s population since last February’s military coup,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “He died a hero and his fight must not be in vain. We urge the international community to impose new targeted sanctions on members of the ruling junta in order to end the current escalation in terror.”
World’s second biggest jailer of journalists
Freelance photographer Soe Naing was the first journalist to die at the junta’s hands. Held since 10 December and badly injured during interrogation, he died of his injuries on 14 December, as RSF reported the same day. Soldiers had arrested him while he was covering a silent street protest in Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city.
In its annual round-up of abusive treatment and violence against journalists published last week, RSF reported that a record number of journalists are being detained worldwide at the end of 2021 and that Myanmar has become the world’s second biggest jailer of journalists, after China.
Two journalists were being detained in Myanmar in connection with their work at the end of 2020, but Myanmar’s prisons are now holding at least 57, according to RSF’s press freedom violations barometer, which is constantly updated.
Myanmar is ranked 140th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index that RSF published in early 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Dec 22, 2021
- Event Description
A 22-year-old member of the central executive committee of the Yangon University Students Union was sentenced to three years in prison with hard labour on Wednesday, nine months after his arrest at an anti-junta protest.
Aung Phone Maw was charged with incitement for allegedly violating Section 505a and given the maximum sentence by a Hlaing Tharyar township judge at a court hearing inside Yangon’s Insein Prison.
He was arrested during a demonstration organised by the General Strike Committee in Kyauk Myaung ward in Tamwe Township on March 3.
Despite a lack of evidence, the military council accused Aung Phone Maw of leading two other individuals to incite unrest in Hlaing Tharyar and of supporting the Civil Disobedience Movement, his mother told Myanmar Now.
“They could not provide any evidence for any of the things he was accused of,” Aung Phone Maw’s mother explained. “His lawyer did his best during his court hearing. Aung Phone Maw, however, confessed that he took part in around three protests. That’s all.”
The student activist refused to submit any evidence to the court in his defence, noting that he had no trust in the judiciary under the junta, but he allowed his mother to testify on his behalf.
“We at least hoped that the judiciary system would still be just. We did not expect much but it was our last glimmer of hope. It’s really sad that he got sentenced to prison without any evidence,” his mother said.
Aung Phone Maw was a fourth-year mathematics student at Yangon University. He joined the student union in 2018 and became a member of the central executive committee the following year.
He was active in defending students’ rights, ethnic rights and condemning the genocide of the Rohingya people in Myanmar. He wrote regular commentary on the anti-dictatorship movement and other political issues and became an editor at the Oway Journal in 2019.
“We still remember what he said during the protests in February. He used to talk about how we should never try to reconcile with the military, never hope for a supreme saviour, and to build a brave new world on our own,” Aung Kaung Set, also a member of the Yangon University Student Union, told Myanmar Now.
Aung Kaung Set added that Aung Phone Maw led a protest when lawyer William Schabas, who represented Myanmar’s delegation when the state was accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, spoke at Yangon University in March 2020.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, as of this week more than 10,000 civilians have been arrested by the junta since Myanmar’s February 1 coup, and 1,400 killed.
The military council has declared the AAPP an illegal organisation.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Dec 21, 2021
- Event Description
20 protesters and activists have been charged with violation of the Emergency Decree for participating in the 28 November 2021 rally at the Ratchaprasong intersection to call for marriage equality.
In addition to the Emergency Decree charge, they were also charged with obstructing traffic under Section 385 of the Criminal Code.
12 of those charged reported to the police at Lumpini Police Station on Tuesday (21 December). Before going to hear their charges, the activists read out a statement by the Rainbow Coalition for Marriage Equality saying that the rally was an exercise of their legal rights and freedoms, and that the charges against them amount to a strategic lawsuit against public participation, or SLAPP.
The statement said that the activists are reporting to the police and are willing to fight the charges to show that they are free to think and are protected by the civil rights enshrined in the Constitution. They are also considering filing complaints against the officers who file charges against them.
Move Forward party (MFP) MP Nateepat Kulsetthasith gave a speech at the rally and is among those summoned to hear their charges. However, under Section 125 of the Constitution, MPs and senators cannot be arrested, detained, or summoned by the police on a criminal charge while parliament is in session unless permission has been granted by the House Speaker.
Nateepat said that he is referring the issue to the relevant standing committees in parliament for an investigation and to summon responsible officers to explain why they issued the summons without regard to the law, commenting that he does not know if the summons was issued because the officers were careless or unaware of the law, or whether it was intentional.
Nada Chaiyajit, LGBTQ rights activist, Manushya Foundation’s campaign advisor and a member of the Thai Sang Thai party’s working group on LGBTQ rights, is also among those charged. Nada said that the rally was an exercise of their constitutional rights, and the organisers asked police officers from Lumpini Police Station to help facilitate the rally, but instead they filed charges against the organizers, speakers, and even participants, which she sees as a violation of the people’s rights and freedoms.
Meanwhile, Chanan Yodhong, who is currently responsible for Pheu Thai party’s LGBTQ rights policy and is charged for giving a speech at the protest, said that the charges against them are an attempt by the state to limit the movement for human rights, and that it is clear that the state not only denies that every citizen is equal regardless of their identity but also sees that demanding marriage equality is a danger to national security.
Chanan said that such an attitude is dangerous for the state itself, because it erodes the state’s honour and is dangerous to the people, since the state sees the people as an enemy instead of those who hold power in the country and tries to silence them.
“Actually in the world, the pandemic is the new threat to national security that states have to be aware of, but the Thai state instead is using the pandemic as a tool to build security. You can see it from how they use the pandemic to obstruct popular political activities, including movement about identity and diversity,” Chanan said. “The state is stuck in old ideas about security, which see diversity, freedom, and rights as threats that needs to be suppressed. I want to support the organisers and every activist who is still fighting for what is right in a state like this.”
The rally was organized by the Rainbow Coalition for Marriage Equality, a network of around 40 civil society organizations and activist groups, during which a petition proposing amendments to the Civil Commercial Code to allow marriage between LGBTQ couples was launched.
The petition proposes to amend Article 1448 of the Civil Commercial Code, which governs marriage, so that marriage registration is allowed between two people of any gender, instead of only between a man and a woman. It also proposed to raise the age at which people can legally marry from 17 to 18 years old.
The petition also proposes to replace the terms “man” and “woman” in every article of the Civil and Commercial Code relating to marriage with “person,” as well as to replace “husband” and “wife” with “spouse” and “father” and “mother” with “parents.”
The amendments will grant LGBTQ couples the same rights, duties, and legal recognition as heterosexual couples, including the right to adopt a child together and be recognized as the child’s parents, the right to have the power of attorney to make medical decisions of behalf of one’s partner and to press charges on behalf of one’s partner, the right to use one’s partner’s last name, and the right to inherit property from each other without the need for a will.
The petition, which gained over 100,000 overnight, now has over 270,000 signatures.
Currently, two bills on marriage for LGBTQ couples are already waiting to go before parliament, one of which is a bill proposing amendments to the sections on marriage and family in the Civil and Commercial Code proposed by MFP MP Tunyawat Kamolwongwat. Nateepat said that they are aiming for the bill to go before parliament before the end of the session early next year, but it will depend on every MP whether they are able to follow the agenda, but if the bill does not go before parliament before the end of this session, he is sure it will in the next session.
Nateepat said that it is possible for the bill to pass its first reading, as there are other parties who agree with it, such as the Pheu Thai party, and if the government parties allow their MPs to vote freely, the bill is likely to gain enough votes.
Meanwhile, Nada said that she thinks it is unlikely that the government parties will allow a free vote for their MPs, since they have never allowed a free vote on a bill proposed by the opposition.
Nada also said that the Constitutional Court’s 17 November 2021 ruling that the current Thai marriage law, which states that marriage can only be contracted between a man and a woman, does not violate the Constitution is likely to push parliament in the direction of drafting a Civil Partnership bill to legalise LGBTQ marriage.
Nada believes that it will be more likely for a bill amending the Civil and Commercial Code to pass if the current opposition parties become the government in the next election, since each party, especially those in the opposition, has already seen that they will be judged by the people if they do not do what they propose to do during their election campaign.
- Impact of Event
- 20
- Gender of HRD
- LGBTQ+/ Non-Binary, Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, SOGI rights
- HRD
- SOGI rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Dec 20, 2021
- Event Description
Family members of a teacher from Naypyitaw’s Lewe Township who was arrested on Monday were notified the following day that he had died in junta custody, they told Myanmar Now.
Hla Min Maung, 36, was arrested at a tea shop in Lewe for participating in the general strike in accordance with the Civil Disobedience Movement.
His father, Khin Maung Dwe, said that the township’s police chief had summoned the family at around noon on Tuesday and told them that Hla Min Maung had died due to underlying health issues.
“It breaks our hearts that an educated and civilised young man like him was killed overnight,” Khin Maung We told Myanmar Now on Wednesday.
“It would be different for us if he was put on trial and got convicted. He didn’t even get questioned, or a chance to defend himself. It is heartbreaking that he was killed, just like that, so quickly,” the father said.
A close friend of the victim’s family said that only three relatives were permitted to see Hla Min Maung’s body, and were only allowed to glimpse his face, which was reportedly bruised. They were not allowed to take any photographs.
The family was allowed to have a funeral in accordance with Islamic traditions at the Kwegyi cemetery on Tuesday evening, but attendance was restricted by the military.
Hla Min Maung had been a middle school teacher for eight years, specialising in Myanmar language and history. He had been working at a school in Matawtpin village.
His father, Khin Maung Dwe, is also a respected retired high school English teacher.
Kyaw Myint Oo, an elected Upper House parliamentarian for Mandalay’s Constituency No. 11, is also a former teacher who taught Hla Min Maung chemistry and physics when he was in high school.
“He was such a quiet person and he came from a very educated family. [Junta soldiers] could have just done it in a civilised manner if they wanted to interrogate him,” Kyaw Myint Oo said. “They no longer value human life, not even as much as that of a chicken.”
As of Thursday afternoon, Hla Min Maung’s family still had not been told further details surrounding his cause of death.
Myanmar Now called the Lewe police station three times regarding Hla Min Maung’s death but all calls went unanswered.
Deaths during interrogations have become more frequent as the military council continues to accuse people of being affiliated with anti-junta groups and networks.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners released a statement on Thursday reporting that at least 1,362 civilians had died at the hands of the military council since the February 1 coup.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Public Servant
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Dec 20, 2021
- Event Description
A man who left his job as a teacher to join the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) was detained by soldiers in Sagaing Region last week and killed in their custody within days, his wife has said.
Hlaing Win, 40, was taken from Sabei Nanthar village on December 3 and later sent to an interrogation center at the compound of the junta’s Tank Battalion No. 6006 in Kanbalu Township.
Then on Wednesday his wife, Kaythi Oo, was told he had “died due to asphyxia” after she tried to contact his captors through the village administrator.
As well as his wife, he leaves behind a 7-year-old son and two daughters aged 10 and 15. His family said he was in good health when he was taken.
“My whole family was devastated to hear this news. He was the family’s only breadwinner. We don’t have anyone to depend on anymore,” Kaythi Oo said.
Hlaing Win worked as a teacher at a middle school in Baw village, Kanbalu for 15 years. After the February 1 coup, he joined tens of thousands government employees across the country who refused to work under the junta and left his job to work on a betel nut farm.
Upon learning about his death, Kaythi Oo tried to retrieve his body but was told he had already been cremated at the Kanbalu cemetery on Tuesday, the day the military says he died.
“I just wanted to see his body one last time so that I could have some closure,” she said. “I don’t even know how to cope with this now.”
An officer from the CDM group representing educators in Kanbalu said he believed the teacher was tortured to death like scores of others since the coup.
“There is no way we will ever accept this,” he said. “We are opposing them in a peaceful manner and they’re just blatantly killing us. Even after the revolution, we are going to need to take legal actions against them.”
A friend of Hlaing Win’s, who is also a teacher, said his death was a great loss for both his students and the country. “It’s so disgusting that they’re bullying us just because they have weapons. The death of such a good teacher made me feel as if I had lost everything,” he said.
“What I’ve learnt for sure is that we cannot afford to let the military council win in any way. We have to win. We can’t stop until we win,” he added.
Teachers are among those who have borne the brunt of a military terror camaign aimed at crushing opposition to its rule. On November 17, a teacher from Myintha village in Mandalay Region was killed at an interrogation center just hours after his arrest.
Another teacher from Ywarbo village in Mandalay was killed within 24 hours of his arrest on November 1, and his family never got his body back.
A junta spokesperson could not be reached for comment on Win Hlaing’s death.
At least 1,323 civilians have been killed by the junta since February, the latest tally from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners shows.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Public Servant
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Dec 19, 2021
- Event Description
No journalist should be threatened for doing their job, said the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines.
This after the reported threats against Adrian Puse, a journalist and safety officer of Altermidya.
In a statement, Altermidya said Puse received multiple death threats on Sunday, Dec. 19 from a Facebook user named “Bob Dinelli.”
Among the threats that Puse received were “uunti-untiin kita”, “alam ko bahay mo at pinagtatrabahuhan mo” (I know where you work and live), and “huling pasko (mo) na ito” (this is your last Christmas).
The sender also named Puse’s sister, her address, and his girlfriend’s name and email address.
“Days before, Adrian’s girlfriend received a message asking her to ‘cooperate’ with the sender in settling a certain ‘injustice’ that Adrian had supposedly done. The sender also mentioned specific details of Adrian’s whereabouts, which are all obviously fabricated and could easily be disproved,” the group said in a statement.
Puse has been with Altermidya for two years.
Facebook has since taken down what appears to be a newly-created “Bob Dinelli” account.
“We condemn the continuing attempts to silence media practitioners with threats, harassment, cyberattacks, and intimidation. Independent journalists will not be coerced against these attacks against media freedom, especially now when our responsibility of truth-telling is more urgent than ever,” Altermidya said.
They added that these acts, “clearly meant to intimidate Adrian in his task as a journalist, are a serious concern amid unrelenting attacks against independent media, rights defenders, and the administration’s perceived critics.”
The threats against Puse happened just after the news of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against Rappler, Vera Files as well network giant ABS-CBN’s news website.
The NUJP meanwhile said that they stand with Altermidya in condemning the harassment against Puse.
“No journalist should be threatened for doing their jobs in delivering news and information to communities. We reiterate our call to defend press freedom and stop the attacks against the Filipino press,” the group said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death threat, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Dec 19, 2021
- Event Description
Four lawyers from Mandalay who had been working on the defence teams for politically motivated cases put forward by the junta have been held in an unidentified location for days since their December 19 arrest by the military authorities, according to members of their legal networks.
The families of the attorneys have not been able to confirm their whereabouts since they were taken into junta custody.
They were abducted from the office of Shwe Alin Legal Services near the No. 3 police station in Chanmyathazi Township, according to a Mandalay-based lawyer who spoke to Myanmar Now on the condition of anonymity.
“They haven't been transferred to Obo prison yet,” the lawyer said, referring to a major prison in the region. “We were told that they were still at the interrogation centre. No case has been filed against them either.”
Legal sources did not want to name three of the detained lawyers, but confirmed that one is Lwin Lwin Mar, who had been helping individuals charged with incitement since the February 1 coup. All four of the lawyers are women.
“I think they’re trying to make an example out of them so that no one would dare to take on political cases,” another lawyer based in Mandalay said.
Myanmar Now has been unable to contact junta officers at the No. 3 police station in Chanmyathazi for comment regarding the arrests.
The military has been detaining its political opponents across the country, with many killed in military custody.
Earlier this month in Mandalay, Thae Htwe Maung, a party member of the National League for Democracy from Pyigyidagun Township, and his wife were taken by the military to an interrogation centre. Within days, their families were told that they had died and their bodies were not returned for burial.
According to a Wednesday statement released by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), more than 10,000 people have been arrested and nearly 1,400 people killed by the junta in the 10 months since the coup.
The military has denounced the AAPP as an illegal organisation and dismissed its figures as exaggerated.
The AAPP maintains that its regularly updated numbers are based on available data and that the actual totals of those arrested or murdered by the coup regime may be much higher.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Dec 19, 2021
- Event Description
Two student activists were arrested in Yangon on Sunday morning while they were on their way to a protest in Thingangyun Township, according to fellow activists.
The two were identified as Zaw Lin Htut, a former member of the University Students’ Union Alumni Force (USUAF), and Su Yee Lin, the chair of the Eastern Yangon University Students Union.
“They were arrested on their way to a protest. We haven’t had any contact with them since,” said USUAF member Nan Lin.
The arresting officers were reportedly plainclothes military personnel, but no further details of the arrest were available at the time of reporting.
According to Nan Lin, Zaw Lin Htut is also a freelance reporter and a member of Peacock Generation (Daung Doh Myo Sat), a group that performs thangyat, a traditional form of political satire popular in Myanmar.
In 2018, he was sentenced to two years in prison for taking part in a performance deemed insulting to the military. He was released in June 2020.
“He used to be involved in politics. These days, he is writing news. Knowing that the military is targeting journalists, we’re very worried for the lives of both Phoe Thar and Su Yee Lin,” said Nang Lin, referring to Zaw Lin Htut by his nickname.
The families of the two detainees have received no information about where they are being held, he added.
Despite violent crackdowns, “flash mob” protests against the regime that seized power in February continue in Yangon and other cities around the country.
Earlier this month, junta troops rammed a vehicle into a crowd of protesters in Yangon’s Kyimyindaing Township before firing several shots and making multiple arrests.
As many as five people are believed to have been killed in that incident, although the junta has denied that there were any casualties, despite evidence to the contrary.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 18, 2021
- Event Description
Participants in a 10-hour strike in front of NagaWorld casino dispersed by 5 p.m. on Saturday after authorities barricaded strikers inside the park, though union members vowed to return on Sunday.
Workers started filing out of the park opposite NagaWorld 1, shortly after flatbed trucks with armed security personnel arrived, as seen in a livestream of the strike by labor rights group Central. Local officials continued to speak to union workers and attempted to convince them to leave the spot.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court decision from judge Ros Piseth, which was signed on Thursday but publicized during the strike Saturday morning, determined the strike illegal and threatened active NagaWorld employees on strike with “serious misconduct.” The text was read to strike participants over a sound system earlier in the day, but only resulted in cheers from the striking workers.
The company claimed in the decision that the union’s nine demands are still under deliberation in court and “have never been raised to resolve peacefully,” while also raising concerns about impacts to business and social instability.
According to an unofficial translation by Central, Piseth said that strikes are legal when a party in a labor dispute rejects the decision by the Arbitration Council, but he said the union raised new demands in its decision to strike that were not included in the dispute negotiations. Piseth continued that the union did not sufficiently meet with NagaWorld to prepare for the impact of the strike on its business.
Phnom Penh governor Khoung Sreng released a letter this afternoon once again calling for the strike to cease, this time as a violation of Covid-19 protocol as well as a violation of the law on peaceful demonstrations.
The letter, addressed to seven named union organizers, said that the striking workers failed to give written notice of their plans to demonstrate to provincial and municipal authorities. The Nagaworld union released a letter announcing the strike on November 24.
Authorities began placing barricades around Naga 1, the park in front of the building, and surrounding streets after reading the governor’s letter to strike participants around 2:30 p.m. Guards prevented anyone from entering and leaving, as well as approaching from Preah Sihanouk Blvd at the statue of the revered monk and Khmer dictionary author Chuon Nath.
A union member who requested anonymity confirmed that the strike would proceed tomorrow from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m., without commenting on whether they had security concerns.
The same union member told VOD that authorities attempted to arrest union president Chhim Sithar in front of the union’s office early Saturday afternoon.
According to the member, a Tonle Bassac resident, who also happened to be a husband of a union member, was asked by village chief Uch Sam Oeun to monitor Sithar. The resident immediately reported the chief’s comment to Sithar, who left the office. The union member who spoke to VOD stayed to observe the office after Sithar left, and authorities showed up on four motorbikes about 10 minutes after she vacated the office. Sam Oeun showed up shortly after, the union member said, asking about the man he ordered to watch Sithar.
Sithar, who was fired earlier this year in a layoff of more than 1,300 workers, sent a note late Friday night warning that the strike would proceed, even as Phnom Penh City Hall authorities urged the workers to delay their strike.
According to Sithar, the union met with Phnom Penh officials Friday morning, but Nagaworld officials weren’t present. Authorities offered to broker a meeting between the union and the company on December 21 and 27, but authorities would instead speak for the union without allowing workers to talk.
The union held an emergency meeting on Friday evening on whether to accept the city’s proposal and refused, she said.
Among the union’s demands, which were released with a strike notice late last month, they urge Nagaworld to rehire the more than 300 workers who haven’t accepted termination compensation, as well as a recalculation of their layoff pay and benefits to match the standards set in the Labor Law.
The union also asked the company for justice on layoffs and other labor disputes, dating back to a mass layoff of union workers in 2009.
8:25 a.m.
Casino workers’ protests resumed before 7 a.m. Sunday, as authorities put up roadblocks on several locations along Sihanouk Blvd.
The street in front of NagaWorld 1 was completely blocked off, as around 100 workers gathered across the street near NagaWorld 2 and the National Election Committee headquarters, surrounded by dozens of officers and security in suits.
As workers continued to arrive, authorities prevented them from entering from the west past Sothearos Blvd. By around 7.45 a.m. around 100 further workers had gathered on the corner of Phnom Penh Center and began holding up signs and chanting slogans.
Hundreds of workers organized a strike outside the casino’s premises in Phnom Penh, demanding that NagaCorp rehire the more than 300 workers who haven’t accepted termination compensation, and to recalculate their layoff pay and benefits to match the standards set in the Labor Law.
A Phnom Penh court ruled the strike illegal on Thursday, a decision that was made public on Saturday. Local officials also deemed the congregation a violation of Covid-19 protocols and ordered the striking workers leave the park opposite NagaWorld 1. Workers left around 5 p.m. Saturday and said they would return on Sunday.
8:50 a.m.
Around 50 workers are close to NagaWorld 2 at the Chuon Nath roundabout and are now blocked by local authorities and private security guards. To the west on Sothearos Boulevard, more than a 100 workers are continuing their protest outside the Phnom Penh Center and their numbers are growing.
10:10 a.m.
The first major series of rallies since Covid-19 lockdowns continued with high spirits. Most wore red NagaWorld uniforms and white caps that they waved with loud cheers to passing traffic. Through a relatively chilly, overcast morning, workers sat on the grass on the corner of Sothearos and Sihanouk and regularly broke out into chants. Some had “strike” written across their cotton masks.
Inside a corner coffee shop, workers formed a long line for the toilets while others ate noodles and breakfast.
Fired casino worker Ment Kanika said the workers were not happy to be pushed away from protesting in front of NagaWorld.
“We want to be in front of the company to do the strike,” Kanika said. “They don’t want us to be in front of Naga.”
She said the rally would continue all day again until 5 p.m., when they would go home, and prepare to return again tomorrow.
“We’ll continue until we have a solution. We need the union,” she said. “We need stability in our jobs.”
As Kanika spoke, organizers reiterated the workers’ demands over magaphones.
She said it had been a long time since she had seen many of her colleagues, though some had kept in touch online.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has declared the strike illegal, but Kanika said this would not stop her.
“I’m not worried at all because we know what we do and we volunteer to do it. We do it from the heart.”
12:45 p.m.
The NagaWorld union president Chhim Sithar said striking workers were bracing for potential arrests after the municipal court banned the strike on Thursday.
Sithar told VOD on Sunday that employed workers could face disciplinary action from the company starting Monday, while those who don’t work for the casino could face criminal charges. She said she was “sure” there would be arrests.
“We already knew in advance and ready to stand up to fight against this unfair court order,” she said.
She estimated that 1,500 total active and laid off workers were participating in the demonstration. As of noon Sunday, there appeared to be around 300-400 workers at the strike.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Dec 17, 2021
- Event Description
A protester has been sentenced to 2 months in prison on a contempt of court charge for cutting his arm in court to protest the denial of bail for detained activists.
Joseph (pseudonym) cut his arm in front of the judge as an act of protest during an evidence hearing on 11 October 2021 to protest the denial of bail for activists Anon Nampa and Benja Apan, both of whom are detained pending trial on royal defamation charges.
Joseph is one of the 13 protesters facing royal defamation and sedition charges under Section 112 and 116 of the Thai Criminal Code, as well as using a sound amplifier without permission under the Controlling Public Advertisement by Sound Amplifier Act for either reading a statement or giving speeches during the protest in front of the German Embassy in Bangkok on 26 October 2020, in which they submitted a petition calling for the German authorities to investigate King Vajiralongkorn’s use of power during his time in Germany. Joseph is facing charges for reading out a statement in English.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that Joseph was charged with contempt of court for his action, and that the South Bangkok Criminal Court on Friday (17 December) sentenced him to 2 months in prison. He also received a 500-baht fine.
However, since he confessed and said to the court that his action was symbolic and that he has no intention of hurting anyone, the court reduced his sentence to 1 month in prison and a 250-baht fine. His sentence is also suspended for 6 months.
Several activists have previously been charged with contempt of court for demanding the right to bail for detained activists. TLHR said that 26 people have been charged with contempt of court in 16 cases since July 2020. Of these cases, 14 resulted from protests demanding the right to bail for detained activists.
On 22 November, activists Parit Chiwarak, Panupong Jadnok, Sam Samat, Thanapat Kapeng, Panadda Sirimaskul, Thatchapong or Chatchai Kaedam, Phromsorn Weerathamjaree, Sirichai Natueng and Nutchanon Pairoj were found guilty of contempt of court and sentenced to 10 days in jail by the Thanyaburi Provincial Court.
They were charged on 9 August for their role in a protest on 2 August 2021 to demand the release of 32 detained activists.
Parit, Panupong, and Sam are already being detained pending trial for other charges, while the remaining 6 individuals were released on 10,000-baht bail.
On 2 December 2021, Nutchanon was sentenced to 2 months in prison on another contempt of court change relating to a protest in front of the Ratchadaphisek Criminal Court on 30 April 2021 to demand the release of detained student activist Parit Chiwarak. He was released on 50,000-baht bail.
Nutchanon and Benja were previously sentenced to prison on another contempt of court charge stemming from a protest at the Ratchadaphisek Criminal Court on 29 April 2021 to demand the release of detained activists. Benja was sentenced to 6 months in prison – the highest possible sentence for the charge – while Nutchanon was sentenced to 4 months, but was released on bail using a 50,000-baht security.
Other than Benja and Nutchanon, 4 other activists are facing contempt of court charges for participating in the 29 April 2021 protest: Pattarapong Noipang, Shinnawat Chankrajang, Elia Fofi, and Pisitkul Kuantalaeng.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Dec 16, 2021
- Event Description
A court in Vietnam on Thursday handed down a 10-year prison term to a rights activist accused of criticizing the government on social media in the third trial held this week of political dissidents in the one-party communist state.
Do Nam Trung was convicted in a trial lasting just under four hours in the People’s Court of Nam Dinh City in northern Vietnam. He had been charged with “spreading materials against the State” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code.
Arrested on July 16 by a large group of police officers who broke into the house he shared with his girlfriend, Trung had taken part in several social movements and had spoken out against official corruption on his Facebook page.
He had also posted criticisms of the build-operate-transfer highways that Vietnam has adopted in recent years, sparking rare protests over toll collections described by many motorists as unfair.
Trung’s girlfriend told RFA that she was shocked by the sentence handed down by the court.
“It’s too unfair, damn it! It’s too harsh, and they are so cruel. Ten years in prison and four years on probation — I really didn’t think it could be that heavy,” she said.
Defense lawyer Dan Dinh Manh, writing on his own Facebook page on Thursday, said that Trung had rejected prosecutors’ arguments that he had committed any crimes. He had also refused to comment on the writings that prosecutors used to build their case against him, Manh said.
“Like almost all other verdicts handed down based on Article 117, today’s sentence is unjustifiable and unsatisfactory,” Manh said.
“In accordance with international practice, if criticisms directed against government policies, agencies, organizations or leaders are unsupported by the facts, the victims can always file a civil case and claim compensation.”
“That should be sufficient,” he said, adding that Trung now plans to appeal the court’s verdict against him.
Vietnam’s laws see criticisms as criminal offenses, Manh said.
“I would like to see Article 117 removed so that cases like this can be tried in the future as civil violations, as this would comply with international trends,” he said.
In a statement the day before Trung’s trial, New York-based Human Rights Watch slammed the government’s legal proceedings against him.
“Do Nam Trung is the latest victim of Vietnamese government retaliation against citizens who refuse to remain silent in the face of injustice and rights abuses,” the group said.
Others also convicted
Trung’s sentencing this week followed the trial on Wednesday of two land rights activists who were jailed for criticizing a deadly police assault last year against villagers living on disputed land outside Hanoi.
Trinh Ba Phuong and Nguyen Thi Tam were also convicted in a four-hour trial. Phuong received a 10-year prison term with five years’ probation, and Tam was sentenced to six years in prison with three years’ probation.
On Tuesday, independent journalist and activist Pham Doan Trang was sentenced in Hanoi to nine years in prison following her conviction under Article 117 for her writings advocating democracy and good governance in Vietnam.
Vietnam’s already low tolerance of dissent deteriorated sharply last year with a spate of arrests of independent journalists, publishers and Facebook personalities, as authorities sought to stifle critics in the run-up to the ruling Communist Party Congress in January.
Arrests have continued through 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Dec 15, 2021
- Event Description
The Hanoi People’s Court tried land rights activists Trinh Ba Phuong and Nguyen Thi Tam on the morning of December 15. The trial concluded at around 1:15 p.m. on the same day.
According to attorney Dang Dinh Manh, the court sentenced Trinh Ba Phuong to 10 years of imprisonment and five years of probation; and Nguyen Thi Tam to six years of imprisonment and three years of probation. Phuong’s sentence was longer than the prison term requested by the Procuracy, which was eight to nine years in prison and five years of probation.
Most notably, families of the two activists had reportedly not received invitation letters prior to the trial. And when they were gathering in front of the court waiting for entry approval, families and relatives of Phuong and Tam were coerced by security forces and subsequently taken to the Duong Noi Police Station around 8.30 a.m.
Do Thi Thu, Phuong’s wife, previously wrote on her Facebook account that since early morning the security forces had set up “pandemic control” checkpoints at both ends of the alley where she lived in an effort to bar Phuong’s family from attending the trial.
As of 12 p.m., sources confirmed that Thu was still being detained at the police station and she could not be reached via Facebook. Nguyen Thanh Mai, Tam’s daughter, later said that she had to shut down her cell phone while being held at the police station, expressing fear that the police might confiscate it.
On her social media, Mai said that the police released them after the court announced the sentences.
Mai also shared that the police had denied their request to take them back to the court to get their motorbikes since they were forcibly taken to the police station on the authorities’ vehicles in the morning. Their demand, however, had still not been met as of 1:47 p.m. According to Mai, the police instead told them to “pay for a taxi to go home.”
In the latest live streaming video on her Facebook page at around 7 p.m. on December 15, Mai confirmed that she had safely returned home. According to her, none of the family members or relatives of Phuong and Tam could attend the trial this morning; the court cited COVID-19 preventive measures for their refusal to grant entry permission.
Mai also shared that she believed her mom had “done nothing wrong,” adding that Nguyen Thi Tam and Trinh Ba Phuong’s vocal criticisms regarding the Dong Tam incident only resulted from the missteps of Vietnamese authorities in handling sensitive land disputes.
Who are Trinh Ba Phuong and Nguyen Thi Tam?
Trinh Ba Phuong and Nguyen Thi Tam are land rights activists in Duong Noi Commune, Ha Dong District, Hanoi City. They became activists after their land was confiscated by the local authorities without just compensation. Phuong and Tam have also been amplifying the voices of farmers at Dong Tam Village, following a police raid of the village on January 9, 2020.
They were arrested on June 24, 2020, and subsequently charged with “making, storing, disseminating or propagandizing information, materials, and products against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” in accordance with Article 117 of Vietnam’s 2015 Penal Code.
Trinh Ba Phuong is the eldest son of Can Thi Theu and the brother of Trinh Ba Tu. Theu and Tu were also arrested in June 2020. They were each sentenced to eight years imprisonment by the Hoa Binh provincial People’s Court in June 2020, under the same charges of “propagandizing against the State.”
What evidence was used to prosecute them?
According to the indictment, the evidence used to convict Trinh Ba Phuong and Nguyen Thi Tam was collected from their personal Facebook accounts, mostly from December 9 to 11, which coincided with the Dong Tam incident.
Phuong was also convicted of possessing the book “A Handbook for the Families of Prisoners” written by Pham Doan Trang.
The indictment states that the posts and videos they published on their social media contained information that was “defamatory and slanderous of the people’s government,” and it was “propagandizing false information, sowing confusion among the people.”
According to RFA, Phuong once told his lawyer that the police allegedly threatened to arrest his wife if he did not confess his crime.
What is the international response?
In a press statement, rights advocate Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned the Vietnamese government’s conviction of the two land rights activists.
HRW urged the Vietnamese authorities to “immediately drop politically motivated charges and release the two land rights activists in Hanoi.”
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Dec 15, 2021
- Event Description
The Constitutional Court has denied a request to copy several documents used as evidence in the ruling that protesters’ calls for monarchy reform is treasonous, claiming national security, says Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR). After
the 10 November 2021 ruling that the calls for monarchy reform and monarchy-related activities organized by Anon Nampa, Panussaya Sitthijirawattanakul and Panupong Jadnok are treasonous, the activists’ lawyer requested to see the case file and copy every document related to the case. However, the Court refused to allow copies to be made of several documents used in the case.
TLHR said that the lawyer went to receive the copies of the documents on 15 December. They then found that most of the documents the Court allowed them to copy were documents that they already have, such as the complaint filed against the activists by lawyer Natthaporn Toprayoon, the activists’ defence and court declarations, the recordings of each hearing, the Court’s final ruling, and each judge’s opinions, most of which have already been made public.
However, they were not allowed to make copies of documents the Court requested from various government agencies, such as the Royal Thai Police, the National Intelligence Agency, the National Security Council, Thammasat University, and Khlong Luang Police Station. The Court claimed that these documents were confidential and related to national security, and the lawyer is not allowed to check or even record the titles of the documents.
TLHR noted that these documents were the main evidence the Court used to back its ruling that the three activists’ actions can be considered as an attempt to ‘overthrow’ the democratic form of government with the King as Head of State. However, the defendants have never been allowed to see or copy these documents in order to prepare their defence.
On the day of the hearing, despite the lawyer’s request, the Court did not allow Anon, Panusaya and Panupong to be summoned to testify along with several other witnesses, claiming that it has enough evidence to rule on the case and that it has already sent all related documents to the defendants.
The activists also requested that several academics be summoned as witnesses, including historians Nithi Eoseewong and Charnvit Kasetsiri, legal scholar Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang, and writer Sulak Sivarak. However, none of these witnesses were given a chance to testify.
Realizing that they were not being given a fair chance to defend themselves and bring their own witnesses to the stand, the three activists and their legal team walked out of the courtroom as an act of protest. The ruling was then made without them being present.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to fair trial, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Dec 14, 2021
- Event Description
A court in Vietnam jailed a journalist and prominent dissident for nine years on Tuesday for anti-state activities, her lawyers and state media said, in a case that attracted the attention of international human rights groups. Pham Doan Trang, who published material widely on human rights and alleged police brutality in Vietnam, was convicted of "conducting propaganda against the state" by a Hanoi court, according to her legal team and state-controlled media. Despite sweeping economic reform and increasing openness to social change, Vietnam's ruling Communist Party retains tight media censorship and tolerates little criticism.
Calls to the court seeking confirmation of the verdict went unanswered on Tuesday.
"It was such a long sentence, close to the maximum term for such activities," said one of her lawyers, Nguyen Van Mieng, adding that Trang did not plead guilty at the trial and they would meet later to discuss a possible appeal. Trang, 43, was detained hours after an annual US-Vietnam human rights dialogue in October last year, an arrest the US embassy said could impact freedom of expression. Dang Dinh Manh, another member of her legal team, said the nine-year sentence was severe. "The sentence is too long. The judges insisted that Trang's activities were dangerous for society and for the administration," Manh said. Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, called the verdict an unacceptable sentence for a brave woman who only spoke her mind. "The imprisonment of such a committed reformer dedicated to promoting human rights, good governance and justice is a searing indictment of everything that is wrong with authoritarian Vietnam today," he said. "In a democratic society, Trang's prolific ideas and writings would be admired and extolled rather than criminalized."
In May 2016, police detained and prevented Trang from attending a meeting with then-US President Barack Obama, who had invited her to join him at an activists' forum. Two years later, she was detained after meeting with a European delegation that was preparing for an annual EU-Vietnam human rights dialogue.
During the one-day trial which failed to meet international standards for a fair trial, the People’s Court of Hanoi found her guilty of “Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under Article 88 of the country’s Penal Code 1999 which was replaced by the Criminal Code 2015 from 2018.
Ms. Trang, who was honored by a number of international and Vietnamese rights groups such as the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the Czech human rights group People In Need, and the California-based Vietnam Human Rights Network, was protected by well-known lawyers including Saigon-based human rights attorneys Dang Dinh Manh and Nguyen Van Mieng. However, the judge reportedly ignored their defense statements.
The sentence was harder than the proposal of between seven and eight years in prison of the People’s Procuracy of Hanoi.
Only Trang’s mother and older brother were permitted to attend the trial while many activists were reportedly held de facto under house arrest from very early of Tuesday. The main roads leading to the court areas were blocked by security forces. Diplomats from the EU and some other countries were monitoring the hearing via TV screen in another room near the courtroom.
Ms. Trang, 43, has a little chance of getting reduced sentence or freed if she appeals today’s judgment.
The former reporter of the state-controlled VnExpress newswire was arrested on October 6 last year, a few hours after the 24th Vietnam-US Annual Human Rights Dialogue. Initially, she was accused of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the Penal Code 1999 and Article 117 of the Criminal Code 2015 for her writing criticizing the authoritarian regime. Later, the second charge was dropped.
In a meeting with her lawyers before the trial, she said that she was held incommunicado for months and later placed to share a cell with other inmates who tried to beat her seven times but she fought back and won. She has suffered a number of diseases, including high blood pressure, and an injured leg which was a result of plainclothes attack in the peaceful demonstration in Hanoi on May 1, 2015 on environmental issue.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Dec 11, 2021
- Event Description
Around midnight on December 11,approximately 20 soldiers arrived at Aung San Lin’s residence in Pin Zin village and arrested him. The journalist was transferred to a Wetlet police station before being transported to the Shwebo Interrogation Centre on December 12.
Aung San Lin was reportedly beaten during his arrest, according to family members present at the scene, who have not been allowed to visit him and are concerned for his wellbeing.
The journalist was arrested after he published an article regarding the recent burning down of the homes of three National League for Democracy (NLD) supporters by Myanmar’s military and Pyu Saw Htee militia forces.
Executive director of DVB, Aye Chan Naing, confirmed Aung San Lin’s arrest. “So far, we haven’t got any updated news about him. We heard he was taken to the Shwe Bo military station and is no longer in his village in Wet Latt township,” he said.
On December 12, Min Theik Tun, an underage reporter for Myanmar’s Regional News Agency, was also arrested in Monywa of the Sagaing region along with 11 others. The young journalist was covering a protest in the area when he was detained.
Myanmar’s junta has antagonised journalists since it assumed control in the military coup on February 1, with over 100 journalists arrested during its administration and many remaining in custody. After its exclusion at a regional summit in October, the junta released dozens of journalists in an amnesty on humanitarian grounds, an action largely met with distrust.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Dec 11, 2021
- Event Description
A group of Filipino journalists has assailed the series of cyber-attacks targeting the Philippine media and called on government agencies to investigate and stop these attacks.
In its statement, ABS-CBN said their news website was shut down on Dec. 11, and became inaccessible to their readers at 10:30 a.m. The news network confirmed that it was a distributed denial of service attack, which lasted for almost six hours.
DDoS refers to the flooding of a website server until it becomes inaccessible to its readers.
Four days later, online news Rappler said the website was also subjected to a DDoS attack, and that it shut down their website for two hours. Later in the evening, at 9:56 p.m., their website had already received over six million requests. At the peak of the attack, the site had reportedly received over 650,000 requests per second. Rappler also mentioned that 95 percent of the requests barraging their site were targeting the recently published story on the Senate’s approval of the bill which allowed 100% foreign ownership of public utility services.
Among the latest was that of Vera Files, an independent media known for its fact-checking arm, which was subjected to DDoS on Dec. 16.
In a report, Vera Files said their website security service recorded “almost 4,000 of unique IP addresses issued more than 70 million” against them.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) condemned the consecutive attacks on media, and said in their statement that these attacks continue to happen amid the urgent need for information as the country is faced with Typhoon Odette.
“NUJP stands with colleagues under cyber-attack and is ready to work with them to document, trace and hold the perpetrators accountable,” the group said.
This is not the first time that news agencies have been subjected to cyber-attacks.
Last month, alternative news Pinoy Weekly has been subjected to another wave of cyberattacks, leading to the shutdown of their website for almost two days.
Pinoy Weekly, Bulatlat, Kodao Productions, and AlterMidya – People’s Alternative Media Network have been subjected to relentless cyberattacks since 2018. This year, Sweden-based Qurium Media Foundation was able to trace the attacks to the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Philippine Army.
“That these attacks are happening as we near the elections — when vetted information will be crucial in addressing disinformation, misinformation, and political rhetoric — is the most concerning of all,” NUJP said.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Dec 10, 2021
- Event Description
Myanmar authorities should release three Kanbawza Tai News journalists recently sentenced to prison for their work and drop all charges against them, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
On December 10, a court at the Nyaung Shwe Taung Lay Lone Prison, in Shan state, sentenced editor Nang Nang Tai, reporter Nann Win Yi, and publisher Tin Aung Kyaw to three years each in prison under Article 505(a) of the penal code, according to a report by their employer and Kanbawza Tai News chief editor Zay Tai, who communicated with CPJ by messaging app.
Article 505(a) criminalizes “any attempt to cause fear, spread false news, [or] agitate directly or indirectly a criminal offense against a government employee” or any action that causes “hatred, disobedience, or disloyalty toward the military and the government.”
All three journalists were arrested on March 24, 2021, at their homes in Hopong, Shan state, after covering protests against the country’s February 1 coup, Zay Tai said, adding that they had been held in pretrial detention since their arrests.
“Myanmar’s coup government must immediately release journalists Nang Nang Tai, Nann Win Yi, and Tin Aung Kyaw, and stop prosecuting members of the press for merely gathering and presenting the news,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Myanmar’s junta must stop treating journalists like criminals and allow all reporters to work freely without fear of imprisonment and reprisal.”
Kanbawza Tai News is an independent news website that covers politics and general news in Shan state, according to CPJ’s review of its website and Facebook page, which has more than 600,000 followers.
Zay Tai also faces an arrest warrant under Article 505(a) but has not been detained as of today, he told CPJ and The Irrawaddy.
The three sentenced journalists attended 19 court hearings held from April 8 to December 10, according to their employer’s report. They were allowed access to lawyers but not their family members, and do not immediately plan to appeal their convictions, Zay Tai told CPJ.
The court also sentenced Nang Nang Tai’s relative Sai Si Thu to three years in prison on the same charge, Zay Tai told CPJ, adding that authorities falsely described Sai Si Thu as a journalist.
CPJ emailed Myanmar’s Ministry of Information for comment, but did not immediately receive any response.
Myanmar’s military junta has cracked down on independent media outlets since its democracy-suspending coup on February 1, 2021, and has detained dozens of journalists, according to CPJ research.
In CPJ’s annual prison census, published earlier this month, Myanmar ranked as the world’s second-worst jailer, with at least 26 members of the press held behind bars for their work.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Dec 10, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities at Yangon’s Insein Prison have refused to allow medical treatment to nearly 90 detainees who were brutally beaten a week ago during a nationwide “Silent Strike” protest against Myanmar's military junta rule, the detainees’ relatives and lawyers said Friday.
Dozens of political prisoners showed their solidarity with nationwide demonstrations by staying in their cells after morning roll call and singing the protest song “Our Pledge in Blood” in unison.
Authorities at the infamous Yangon detention facility attacked the prisoners for joining the Silent Strike, which was held on Human Rights Day on Dec. 10. The strike left many cities and towns empty as citizens stayed home in protest of the military regime and its brutal crackdown following its Feb. 1 coup.
At Insein, prison authorities threw strike organizers into solitary confinement and shackled their legs, sources close to the prisoners told RFA in an earlier report.
Some of the prisoners were critically wounded but were denied medical care, while some female prisoners were subjected to sexual harassment, sources said.
A pro-democracy student leader who had joined the prison strike suffered critical head and back injuries that were left untreated. He was instead placed in solitary confinement as punishment for participating, his family said.
Sitt Naing, vice chairman of the Yangon University of Education Students’ Union, who was involved in the Silent Strike in Insein Prison, is in critical condition, a relative said.
“As family members, we are worried about his life,” said the woman, who declined to give her name out of fear of retribution. “It is because he is not even allowed to apply medicine to the wounds, let alone receive medical treatment.
“We believe that his life is still in danger,” she added. “He urgently needs medical treatment.”
Wai Yan Phyo Moe, vice chairman of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, and Lay Pyay Soe Moe, spokesman for student rights for the Yangon University Students’ Union, were also severely beaten during the crackdown, family members said. They are reportedly being held in solitary confinement with their legs in shackles.
Mya Moe, mother of Lay Pyay Soe Moe, told RFA that prison staff denied her son medical help. “On the day of the trial, the lawyers brought some ointment for his wounds but were not allowed to apply them,” she said. “He was rudely told to put his shirt back on and to ‘stop the nonsense.’ That’s how the prison staff talked to him.”
RFA could not reach Insein Prison officials or Myanmar’s Ministry of Justice. Ministries have not responded to media requests for comment since the coup, and only junta spokesmen can issue statements.
A spokesman for the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP), a nonprofit human rights organization based in Mae Sot, Thailand, said refusing medical treatment to wounded detainees was a “grave violation of human rights” by prison authorities and that those responsible should be held accountable.
The spokesman asked not to be identified for safety reasons.
A lawyer representing some of the prisoners said the victims asked the court for their injuries to be recorded, but the court refused.
“We saw some clients at trial who had been beaten,” he said. “When they were brought in, the lawyers showed the injuries they had sustained and requested that the court put them on record, but some courts rejected the requests.”
Junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun in an earlier report denied that there had been any protests inside Insein Prison.
Following the Silent Strike, prison authorities enacted stricter measures for detainees, transferring some to cells with criminals and other forms of repression that violated human rights, said Tun Kyi, a member of the Former Political Prisoners Society.
“A prison is one of the worst and most serious mechanisms for violating human rights, and it’s where human dignity can be taken away,” he said.
Before being taken out of Insein Prison for court hearings, authorities instructed female prisoners to take off their sarongs so they could feel and search their genitals, he said.
“It was OK for inmates to send letters to their families in the past, and families could also send in letters, but now they have banned all these exchanges,” he said.
News of the prisoner maltreatment has been leaked from the inside by detainees clandestinely passing small notes to family members and their lawyers during their trials.
When prisoners are taken to court for hearings, authorities constantly monitor their conversations with their attorneys and have threatened the lawyers not to leak information to the media, attorneys and family members of those imprisoned said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which used to make humanitarian visits to prisons until March 2020, is still waiting for permission to resume its prison activities.
On Friday, the AAPP reported that junta forces have killed 1,346 people and arrested 11,023 others since the Feb. 1 coup.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to health, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Dec 10, 2021
- Event Description
Demo mahasiswa yang digelar di kawasan Patung Kuda Arjuna Wijaya, Jakarta Pusat sempat ricuh. Tiga mahasiswa ditangkap, satu di antaranya dipukul aparat kepolisian.
Pantauan CNNIndonesia.com di lapangan, polisi mengejar mahasiswa ketika kericuhan pecah di Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan, Jakarta Pusat. Belum diketahui penyebab kericuhan tersebut.
Dalam kejadian itu, tiga mahasiswa ditangkap aparat berpakaian bebas. Mereka dipiting ketika digiring ke kawasan Monas. Satu di antaranya sempat dipukul di bagian kepala dan dada.
Pelaku pemukulan itu mengenakan pakaian bertuliskan polisi di punggungnya. Sementara lainnya mengenakan baju bebas dengan tulisan Satya Haprabu. Mereka sempat memukul peserta aksi yang ditangkap tersebut.
Mahasiswa menggelar aksi di kawasan Monas dalam rangka peringatan Hari HAM Sedunia yang jatuh pada hari ini. Dalam aksi itu, mereka menuntut agar UU Cipta Kerja segera dicabut.
Saat ini situasi di lapangan kembali kondusif. Sementara demonstrasi terus berlangsung di kawasan tersebut.
Di lokasi yang sama, kelompok buruh dari Kongres Aliansi Serikat Buruh Indonesia (KASBI) juga menggelar demonstrasi di depan Balai Kota Jakarta. Mereka menagih janji Gubernur DKI Jakarta Anies Baswedan soal UMP.
Massa buruh memadati Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan, akibatnya lalu lintas sempat tersendat. Sejumlah aparat tampak bersiaga dan mengatur lalu lintas di sekitar lokasi demo.
"Kenaikan (UMP) itu kan memang tidak layak sesuai dengan kebutuhan hidup kaum buruh di Jakarta. Kami datang untuk menagih janji pak gubernur yang mana katanya memang mau merevisi UMP 2022," kata Sekjen KASBI, Sunarno.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Dec 10, 2021
- Event Description
After a journalist died under interrogation today and three others were arrested in the past few days, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the international community to condemn the escalation in terror against reporters covering the news in Myanmar and to implement targeted sanctions against the generals running the country.
Freelance photographer Soe Naing has become the first journalist to pay with his life for trying to report the news. After being detained for four days, he was declared dead this morning as a result of the force used during interrogation. He was arrested by soldiers while covering a silent street protest in the Yangon district of Latha on 10 December to mark Human Rights Day.
Zaw Tun, a freelance photographer who works for various media outlets, was arrested at the same time as Soe Naing. Several sources including a relative told RSF that Soe Naing’s body was handed over to his family this morning. Zaw Tun continues to be held.
Alarm signal
“With Soe Naing’s death, a new tragic threshold has been crossed this morning in the terror that Myanmar’s military are using against journalists,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “His death must serve as an alarm signal and push the international community to impose new targeted sanctions on the military junta that has been running the country since February, starting with its chief, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. The world can no longer look on without doing something.”
Two other reporters were arrested two days ago, on 12 December, in yet another sign of the ever-harsher crackdown on media personnel throughout the country.
One was Democratic Voice of Burma reporter Aung San Lin, who was arrested by soldiers in the middle of the night at his home in Pin Zen, a village in Wetlet, a district near the big northern city of Mandalay. RSF has been told that his arrest was a reprisal for his recent report about soldiers deliberately starting fires in order to target pro-democracy activists.
57 journalists detained
The other was Min Theik Tun, who was arrested a few hours later along with 11 other persons while covering a protest in Monywa, a town 100 km west of Mandalay, for a regional news agency, according to the Mizzima News website. Neither he nor Aung San Lin were able to talk with a relative or a lawyer.
RSF began sounding the alarm about the latest escalation in the persecution of journalists in Myanmar last week, after the violent arrests of two Myanmar Pressphoto Agency journalists, Kaung Sett Lin and Hmu Yadanar Khet Moh Moh Tun, on 5 December. The latter, who was badly injured when arrested, is still in a serious condition, according to the latest information.
According to RSF’s press freedom violations barometer, which is constantly updated, at least 57 journalists are currently imprisoned in Myanmar.
Myanmar is ranked 140th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index that RSF published in early 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Death, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to life
- HRD
- Artist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Dec 9, 2021
- Event Description
Sejumlah mama-mama di Desa Rendu Butowe, Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) melaksanakan aksi telanjang dada menolak kehadiran aparat kepolisian di desa mereka. Warga menolak direlokasi dari tempat tinggalnya.
Hal ini diungkap Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara (AMAN) dalam akun Twitter @RumahAMAN pada Kamis (9/12). Mulanya, sejumlah aparat kepolisian mendatangi Desa Rendu Butowe pada pagi hari. Kemudian, sekitar pukul 10.45 WITA, mereka memaksa masuk lokasi Lowo Se dengan merusak pagar yang dibangun warga. Menurut AMAN, Beberapa anggota polisi dan Brimob juga melakukan kekerasan terhadap warga.
"Ada aksi perlawanan dari warga dengan melakukan pengadangan, sehingga terjadi aksi saling dorong. Bahkan ada aksi telanjang dada yang dilakukan oleh mama-mama," demikian cuitan AMAN di @RumahAMAN, Kamis (9/12).
Sekjen AMAN Rukka Sombolinggi membenarkan kejadian tersebut. Dia mengatakan kekerasan aparat terhadap masyarakat adat Desa Rendu Butowe bukan kali ini saja terjadi.
Menurutnya, kekerasan aparat terjadi sejak pemerintah mencanangkan Proyek Strategis Nasional (PSN) pembangunan Bendungan Lambo di Desa Rendu Butowe, Nagekeo, NTT.
"Pemerintah tidak mau mendengar sama sekali aspirasi dari masyarakat adat di situ. Masyarakat itu selalu menolak pindah, meminta kampung-meminta itu tidak ditenggelamkan, tidak dirusak. Karena tidak ada lagi kehidupan lain bagi mereka selain kampung itu," kata Rukka saat dihubungi. Menurut dia, rencana pembangunan pemerintah ini tidak memikirkan nasib masyarakat adat. Padahal, selama ini pemerintah mengklaim bahwa pembangunan besar-besaran itu diperuntukkan untuk masyarakat.
"Sementara ini bicara pembangunan, pembangunan untuk siapa? Untuk seluruh rakyat toh, kan mereka juga rakyat Indonesia," jelas Rukka.
"Memang perlu kebesaran hati semua pihak, termasuk pemerintah daerah dan pusat untuk melihat kembali lokasi itu," kata dia menambahkan. Sementara itu, berdasarkan laman resmi AMAN, kejadian ini bukan kali pertama. Sebelumnya, pada 9 Oktober 2021 juga terjadi kekerasan oleh aparat terhadap warga Desa Rendu Betowe.
Saat itu, polisi memborgol tangan Hermina Mawa atau akrab disapa Mama Mince, salah seorang perempuan adat Rendu.
Ketua Forum Penolakan Pembangunan Waduk Lambo (FPPWL) Bernadinus Gaso mengatakan, tindakan memborgol Mama merupakan tindakan kriminalisasi terhadap masyarakat adat yang sesungguhnya tidak boleh terjadi karena mama-mama di sana tidak melakukan aksi penghadangan yang mengganggu keamanan dan ketertiban negara.
Bernadinus menuturkan bahwa perempuan adat dari Rendu, Ndora, dan Lambo melakukan aksi penghadangan terhadap tim survei dan BWS di pintu keluar dari lokasi Lowo Se karena BWS dan timnya melakukan aktivitas pengukuran wilayah adat tanpa izin Masyarakat Adat. Sementara itu, Kabid Humas Polda NTT Kombes Pol Rishian Krisna menyatakan tidak ada kekerasan dalam peristiwa tersebut.
Dia mengatakan masyarakat menutup akses jalan masuk pada saat petugas akan melakukan aktivitas pengukuran di titik poros bendungan Mbay/Lambo (Kali Lowo Se) oleh PT Brantas Abhipraya.
Kontraktor Pelaksana Paket II Pembangunan Waduk Mbay/Lambo itu, kata Rishian, dikawal 25 orang anggota Polres Nagekeo dengan dibantu 10 orang personel satuan Brimob NTT serta 5 personel polwan BKO Polres Ngada dan Satpol PP Kabupaten Nagekeo.
Menurutnya, polisi berusaha melakukan negosiasi dengan masyarakat yang didominasi oleh ibu-ibu. Namun negosiasi itu gagal.
Dia mengatakan masyarakat tetap bersikukuh tidak mengizinkan petugas masuk dan melakukan aktivitas.
"Karena tidak adanya titik temu, anggota melakukan pembongkaran pagar dan mendapatkan perlawanan dari masyarakat di antaranya berupa aksi melepaskan pakaian dari ibu-ibu," kata Rishian saat dikonfirmasi CNNIndonesia.com melalui keterangan tertulis.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Dec 9, 2021
- Event Description
Mahasiswa di Aceh Barat yang hendak menggelar demonstrasi peringatan Hari Hak Asasi Manusia (HAM) di depan Gedung Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Kabupaten (DPRK) setempat, dibubarkan kepolisian, Kamis (9/12). Pembubaran itu berujung ricuh.
Enam mahasiswa yang tergabung dalam Gerakan Rakyat Menggugat (GERAM) diduga dipukul polisi. Satu orang terpaksa Dirawat ke rumah sakit.
Kabid Humas Polda Aceh Kombes Pol Winardy, mengatakan aksi mahasiswa tersebut terpaksa dibubarkan karena dilakukan pada malam hari, dan dinilai sudah melanggar Undang-Undang Nomor 9 Tahun 1998 Tentang Penyampaian Pendapat di Muka Umum.
Dia menyebut, sebelum langkah tegas itu dilakukan, polisi telah terlebih dahulu memberi imbauan agar mereka tidak melakukan aksi di malam hari. Namun imbauan ini disebut tak digubris.
"Sebelumnya telah diberikan imbauan oleh pihak Polres Aceh Barat kepada Korlapnya untuk tidak melakukan aksi pada malam hari karena menyalahi aturan. Namun, mereka tidak mengindahkan dan terpaksa diambil langkah tegas untuk dibubarkan," kata Winardy, Jumat (10/12).
Winardy membenarkan saat pembubaran, sempat terjadi aksi saling dorong sehingga salah satu peserta aksi terjatuh dan dilarikan ke UGD rumah sakit.
"Namun, menurut keterangan dokter piket siaga UGD, yang bersangkutan (peserta aksi) dalam keadaan sehat serta tidak ditemukan luka memar," ujarnya.
Winardy mengklaim, aksi saling dorong itu terjadi karena adanya upaya provokasi dari peserta aksi. "Sempat ada upaya provokasi dari kalangan peserta aksi. Namun, berkat profesionalitas petugas di lapangan hal itu bisa diatasi dan aksi ujuk rasa berhasil dibubarkan," ujarnya.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Dec 6, 2021
- Event Description
On 6 December, 36 villagers from Chana District, Songkhla Province, were arrested after they camped in front of Government House, asking for an update on the promise made last year to reconsider a 16,700-rai industrial estate in the South that would affect their livelihoods.
As of 7 December afternoon, the environmental law NGO EnLaw,, tweeted that the villagers had been released without bail at the Narcotics Suppression Bureau where they were detained for a night. The police set the condition that they must not stage any activity of this kind again.
According to the Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF), the villagers were charged with violating the Emergency Decree, causing traffic disruptions and refusing to follow official instructions. Among the villagers charged was a 70 year old.
“What the police have done to the people of Chana who came peacefully to demand answers from the government clearly shows that this is a government working for tycoons before the people,” said Pornpen Kongkachonkiet, Director of the Cross Cultural Foundation. “This further demonstrates that this government has no respect for the people.”
On Tuesday, 18-year-old Khairiyah Rahmanyah and other young protesters who had not been arrested gathered in front of the Office of the Public Sector Development Commission, opposite Government House, and declared they will keep fighting.
Meanwhile, Rungruang Rahmanyah, one of the protesters arrested last night, wrote a letter while in detention saying that the police told them that the authorities won't press charges against them if they stop protesting against the industrial project.
Ruangruang wrote that the protesters refused the offer, and that they will return to Government House once released.
"We are ready to give up our lives," he wrote.
On Monday night, community members were taken away in a detention truck, while crowd control police prevented reporters from recording the operation, threatening them with arrest and claiming that this was in line with an agreement between the Royal Thai Police and the media professional associations. Lights were intentionally directed against the photographers to prevent photographing. The police also stopped volunteer medics from reaching community members.
The incident caused #saveจะนะ hit Thailand’s twitter top trend on 6 and 7 December.
The Chana industrial project was approved by a resolution at the last cabinet meeting of the junta government which was installed after the coup in 2014. The project aims to construct an 18-billion-baht industrial estate on 16,700 rai of land. The area covers 3 sub districts with 1,500 residents.
The project is controversial because of questions about the public hearing process where those who opposed the project for a number of reasons, including its impact on livelihoods, homes and the environment, were barred from attending hearings.
The villagers had come to protest at Government House in December last year, demanding the project be cancelled and for a proper Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to be conducted to establish quality technical data for decisions about further development projects in the south.
At that time, Thammanat Prompao, the then Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, announced that a committee would be formed consisting of both those in favour and those against the project. Membership of the committee would be considered later and fieldwork carried out at the beginning of 2021.
On Tuesday (7 December 2021), Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha answered the media about the Chana protesters incident, saying that what Thammanat had proposed to the villagers was not agreed upon by either the cabinet or himself.
Gen Prayut was the one who fired Thammanat in September 2021 during the no-confidence motion after rumours of Thammanat’s attempt to topple him from within the ruling Palang Pracharat Party.
- Impact of Event
- 36
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Dec 5, 2021
- Event Description
Regime forces plowed into a crowd of protesters in Yangon’s Kyimyindaing Township early Sunday morning, killing at least five before arresting around 15 others.
Witnesses told Myanmar Now that the incident occurred minutes after a flash mob formed at around 9am to demand an end to military rule.
Video footage of the incident shows a vehicle speeding past cars as it approached the protesters, who can be seen scattering seconds before impact. Moments later, the sound of gunfire can be heard over the screams and shouts of the protesters.
“The car accelerated and rammed into the protesters. Four or five were thrown into the air,” said a member of the protest group that organized the demonstration.
One of the protesters who managed to escape told Myanmar Now by phone that he was hit with the butt of a rifle after he was knocked down by the vehicle.
“I think they hit me to knock me unconscious so that they could continue arresting other protesters,” he said.
“I think there were only around 10 of them,” he added, referring to the junta forces responsible for the attack.
According to a local resident who witnessed the incident, soldiers beat the protesters who had fallen to the ground and aimed their rifles at people watching from their apartments.
The witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the soldiers only allowed an ambulance into the area after they had finished washing blood off of the street.
Despite the deadly attack, another protest was held in Yangon’s Hlaing Township later in the day.
The junta’s use of lethal force against anti-regime protesters has done little to stop public displays of resistance to the February 1 coup in Yangon and other towns and cities around the country.
Zaw Min Tun, the regime’s spokesperson, was not available for comment on Sunday’s attack.
Since seizing power just over 10 months ago, the junta has murdered at least 1,300 civilians and arrested thousands more, some of whom have died in custody after being subjected to torture.
Meanwhile, clashes have intensified between the military and armed resistance groups in many parts of the country, including Chin and Kayah (Karenni) states and Sagaing and Magway regions.
Ethnic armed groups in Kachin and Kayin (Karen) states have also battled regime forces with increasing frequency since the coup, which has thrown much of the country into chaos.
In many remote areas, regime forces have suffered heavy casualties, prompting “clearance operations” that have forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee their homes.
- Impact of Event
- 22
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Killing, Use of Excessive Force, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to life
- HRD
- Media Worker, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Dec 3, 2021
- Event Description
An activist with the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) was killed last week after being taken into custody by regime forces, according to fellow members of the group.
Hnin Aung, 26, was apprehended at a checkpoint near Tin Ngoke Gyi, a village in Sagaing Region’s Kanbalu Township, last Friday and had been tortured to death by the next day, an ABFSU source told Myanmar Now.
“He was travelling when he ran into some soldiers and Pyu Saw Htee members doing security checks,” the source said, referring to a pro-junta militia that has been accused of carrying out attacks on groups opposed to the regime.
Hnin Aung was reportedly carrying 10m kyat ($5,600) in cash on him at the time of his capture.
“The Pyu Saw Htee killed him and took that money. He didn’t even try to run,” added the ABFSU source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The regime later reported on social media that Hnin Aung had been shot and arrested while attacking the checkpoint—a claim denied by ABFSU members familiar with the situation.
“Hnin Aung always took great care of his and his organization’s security,” said former ABFSU leader Kyaw Ko Ko, who called the junta’s allegation “a lie”.
Myanmar Now was unable to confirm reports that Hnin Aung had been tortured. However, it has learned that his family has so far been denied permission to claim his body.
Prior to joining the ABFSU, Hnin Aung was a labour rights activist. In May 2016, he was arrested while marching from Sagaing to Naypyitaw as part of a workers’ strike and sentenced to one year in prison.
Following his release, he joined the ABFSU as a central executive committee member. Until 2019, he was the group’s officer in charge of ethnic affairs.
Fellow activist Kyaw Thee, who knew Hnin Aung during his early days as a labour rights leader in Mandalay, said he was saddened by the loss of his former colleague.
“He actively advocated for the affairs of workers, farmers and students. I will always remember him,” he said.
On Saturday, the ABFSU released a statement saying that it was proud of “Comrade” Hnin Aung, who it said had died as a martyr in the fight against Myanmar’s military dictatorship.
A number of affiliated groups also expressed their condolences.
Myanmar Now attempted to contact the Kanbalu police station and regime spokespeople for comment on Hnin Aung’s death, but its calls were not returned.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Dec 2, 2021
- Event Description
Pihak kepolisian menetapkan 8 mahasiswa Papua pengibar bendera Bintang Kejora di GOR Cenderawasih, Papua sebagai tersangka. Mereka disebut melakukan dugaan tindak pidana makar dan tengah menjalani pemeriksaan.
Koordinator Litigasi Koalisi Penegak Hukum dan HAM Papua, Emanuel Gobay mengatakan bahwa informasi tersebut diterima dari Kepala Unit 1 Reskirim Polda Papua. Saat ini ia mendampingi 8 orang mahasiswa tersebut.
"8 mahasiswa pengibar bendera bintang kejora di Gor Cendewarasih Jayapura telah dinaikan statusnya menjadi tersangka atas dugaan tindak pidana makar," kata Emanuel dalam keterangan tertulisnya, Kamis (2/12/2021).
Emanuel mengabarkan 2 mahasiswa saat ini tengah menjalani pemeriksaan. Sementara 6 orang lainnya tengah menunggu proses pemeriksaan.
Ditangkap Polisi
Sebelumnya 8 mahasiswa itu ditangkap polisi karena melakukan pengibaran bendera Bintang Kejora di halaman GOR Cenderawasih, Jayapura pada Rabu (1/12/2021). Lokasinya terletak di samping Markas Polda Papua.
Mereka mengibarkan bendera Bintang Kejora pada 1 Desember 2021. Tanggal itu merupakan hari kemerdekaan rakyat Papua Barat setelah melawan penjajah.
Namun tanggal yang sama juga dikenal sebagai hari ulang tahun OPM.
- Impact of Event
- 8
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Dec 1, 2021
- Event Description
On the afternoon of December 1, authorities in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak detained local activist Huynh Thuc Vy, who has been convicted of defaming the national flag and sentenced to 33 months in prison but enjoyed delayed imprisonment due to her maternal status. Currently, she is held incommunicado in the temporary detention center managed by the province’s Police Department and it is likely the local authorities will force her to serve her sentence although her second child is only two and a half year old.
Huynh Thuc Vy has been taken into custody after a court in Dak Lak revoked the suspension which allowed her to delay serving her prison sentence. The reason given was that she had violated her terms of suspension by “actions that violate the law which cause dangers to society.” The court did not specify what those actions were. A recipient of the Hellman/Hammett Prize in 2012, Vy was arrested in 2018 after she sprayed paint on a Vietnam flag. She was convicted of “defacing the national flag” under Article 276 and sentenced to two years and nine months in prison. According to domestic law, however, she should not have to report to prison until her child is three years old, which he isn’t yet.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Dec 1, 2021
- Event Description
Cambodian monk Bor Bet was released on bail from detention with Thai immigration Friday afternoon and is now at an undisclosed location, a Thai parliamentarian said.
The activist monk, who is a frequent critic of Prime Minister Hun Sen, was detained Wednesday evening and transferred to Immigration Bureau on Wednesday. He spent the night there.
Siripa Intavichein, a deputy spokesperson for the Democrat Party, which is part of the ruling coalition government in Thailand, confirmed that Bet had been released on bail and was transferred to a safe location.
“He is in good condition and the Thai police took good care of him,” she said. “I cannot tell you where he is.”
Bet told VOD on Thursday, when he was at the immigration department, that he was “still strong” and going through what many activists had previously faced.
Siripa said the monk had to visit the police every 30 days, but there were no other restrictions as long as he did not break any Thai laws. She added that rights groups were working on trying to get Bet placed in a third country, if he wanted to leave Thailand.
In the past six weeks, three other Cambodians, all linked to the dissolved CNRP, have been extradited from Thailand. Other dissidents have been deported in the last few years, including a news fixer who worked on a Russia Today documentary on underage sex trafficking and a Kampong Speu resident who threw a shoe at a CPP billboard in 2017.
Speaking of the recent extraditions, Siripa said some of these cases were because of miscommunication, where Thai immigration officials mixed up people with refugee status with Cambodian workers who had illegally entered the neighboring country.
Rights groups have been critical of Thailand’s decision to extradite Cambodians with refugee status and have said the Thai government should abide by the principle of non-refoulement, where a country should not return refugees and asylum seekers if they face the danger of persecution.
UNHCR did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday and Friday. It had criticized the extradition of the three CNRP refugees in late November.
Bet spoke to VOD Friday evening and said he was questioned about how and why he had entered Thailand by Thai authorities. He informed them that he was a forest rights activist and had left Cambodia because he feared being arrested.
The authorities he met told him they were reluctant to arrest a monk, and the Thai Interpol told him there was a complaint from Cambodia that led to his arrest, he said.
“They said they don’t want to arrest us but there is an order from the superior,” he said.
He did not explicitly say that he wanted to leave Thailand, but said he was not against moving to a third country. He said 10 countries were being considered, including Australia and Switzerland. Though he had been advised by his lawyers to temper his social media activity and criticism of the government, he wanted to continue his activism.
“I will continue my journey. I am still strong and will not back down and will not be afraid of other situations because we are fighters. We have to move forward,” he said.
Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, a Thai human rights defender and director of the Cross Cultural Foundation, said, in brief comments, that she was pleased of the “good political decision” taken by the Thai government to intervene in this case, and hoped it would set a precedent for Thailand to protect refugees and asylum seekers.
Bet previously told Voice of America that he had fled from Cambodia in December 2020 because he feared being defrocked by Cambodian officials. Last year, Khmer Thavrak member Koet Saray was defrocked and convicted for incitement for participating in protests calling for the release of prominent unionist Rong Chhun. Both Saray and Chhun were released last month.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Dec 1, 2021
- Event Description
Lembaga Bantuan Hukum (LBH) Papua menyampaikan sedikitnya 26 warga ditangkap aparat kepolisian saat memperingati 60 tahun deklarasi kemerdekaan bangsa Papua pada 1 Desember.
Direktur LBH Papua, Emanuel Gobay menyebut dari 26 warga tersebut, tujuh orang merupakan mahasiswa dari Jayapura dan 19 orang lainnya pemuda serta tokoh di Merauke. Salah satu yang ditangkap adalah Pejuang Papua dari Distrik One Kampung KW Kabupaten Merauke, Paulina Imumbar.
"Tujuh mahasiswa Papua yang ditangkap di Jayapura, 19 Pemuda dan orang tua yang ditahan di Merauke," kata Emanuel kepada CNNIndonesia.com, Rabu (1/12).
Emanuel menjelaskan, ketujuh mahasiswa ditangkap saat aksi long march mulai dari Gedung Olahraga Jayapura menuju Markas Komando Kepolisian Daerah Papua. Sementara itu, kata dia, 19 orang lainnya ditangkap setelah viral Video Paulina Imumbar di media sosial.
"Kalau 19 di Merauke karena ada video yang viral terkait keterangan mama Paulina yang isinya juga ada kaitannya dengan tanggal 1. Sementara 7 di Jayapura karena aksi tanggal 1," jelas dia.
Emanuel mengatakan warga yang ditahan tersebut sampai saat ini masih didampingi oleh pihaknya, PAHAM Papua dan Koalisi Penegak Hukum dan HAM Papua.
Terpisah, Direktur Reserse Kriminal Umum Polda Papua Kombes Faisal Ramdhani membenarkan tujuh orang telah ditangkap di Gedung Olahraga (GOR) Cendrawasih.
Namun, pihaknya belum bisa membeberkan identas ketujuh orang tersebut karena masih dalam proses pemeriksaan.
"Tujuh orang yang kami amankan. [Identitas] Nanti masih diperiksa," kata Faisal saat dikonfirmasi, Rabu (1/12).
Faisal membantah penangkapan itu kaena perayaan HUT 1 Desember. Ia menyebut, ketujuh mahasiswa itu ditangkap lantaran membentangkan bendera bintang kejora.
"Bukan [karena HUT], mereka membentangkan bendera bintang kejora," ucapnya.
Sementara itu, 19 orang lainnya belum bisa dikonfirmasi.
Momentum 1 Desember dianggap sebagai Hari Kemerdekaan bagi rakyat Papua sejalan dengan pengakuan kemerdekaan oleh pemerintahan Belanda pada 1961 silam.
Namun, upaya kemerdekaan Papua kemudian terganjal oleh perjanjian New York Agreement pada 15 Agustus 1962. Perjanjian tersebut dibuat tanpa pelibatan masyarakat asli Papua.
Aksi unjuk rasa 1 Desember memperingati hari puncak peringatan Hari Ulang Tahun (HUT) Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) di Ambon, Maluku berlangsung ricuh di depan Gong Perdamaian Dunia, Ambon Maluku, Rabu (1/12)
Pantauan CNNIndonesia.com, mulanya sekitar 24 mahasiswa Papua menggelar aksi unjuk rasa di Depan Gong Perdamaian Funia, Kota Ambon, Maluku pukul 10.00 WIT. Aksi unjuk rasa HUT OPM itu sempat mendapat izin aparat kepolisian. Namun hanya diberikan waktu aksi hanya satu jam saja. Mereka membentangkan spanduk bertulisan Peringatan 60 Tahu Deklarasi Kemerdekaan West Papua.
Ada beberapa aspirasi lain yang disampaikan yakni Demiliterasi, Cabut Perpanjangan Otsus serta Tolak Lumbung Ikan Nasional dan Sahkan RUU Penghapusan Kekerasan Seksual.
Sejumlah anggota Polresta Ambon yang mengawal aksi 1 Desember HUT OPM lalu meminta mahasiswa untuk membubarkan diri usai waktu yang diberikan telah habis.
Namun, demonstran menolak permintaan polisi soal menyudahi aksi tersebut. Mereka tetap menyuarakan aspirasinya. Kericuhan pun terjadi. Sejumlah polisi berpakaian preman menarik seorang massa aksi yang bukan warga Papua.
Massa lantas memberikan perlindungan terhadap rekan mereka. Di sisi lain, anggota kepolisian tetap berusaha menarik seseorang yang ikut demonstrasi tersebut.
Hingga kemudian, massa berhasil mengevakuasi rekan mereka ke dalam mobil angkutan umum. Namun, anggota kepolisian berpakaian bebas kembali menariknya.
Massa lalu berupaya menyelamatkan rekannya. Setelah ditarik keluar dari mobil angkutan umum, seorang yang menjadi incaran aparat lalu berlari menjauhi lokasi.
Ada beberapa orang yang memukulinya. Namun, kepolisian mengklaim warga yang melakukan pemukulan.
"Ada empat orang bukan warga Papua ikut aksi demo, tadi yang pukul itu warga," kata seorang intel dari Polsek Sirimau, Rabu (1/12).
Sejauh ini, massa berhasil mengamankan rekan mereka dari aparat kepolisian.
- Impact of Event
- 26
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 30, 2021
- Event Description
About 600 Kampong Speu residents resisting authorities’ clearing of community forests protested outside the provincial police headquarters on Tuesday after their representatives were summoned for questioning over alleged insult and property damage.
The dispute stems from authorities giving away 262 hectares of community forests to several members of the military, and moving in with heavy machinery in October to raze the land, according to families. The Udom Sre Kpos forestry area, also known as the Prey Metta Thommacheat community, originally covered more than 2,800 hectares, but the government gradually privatized most of it for companies and soldiers over 20 years, they said.
Soeng Sok, one of the family representatives summoned by police, said authorities were trying to scare them from protesting.
“People have been trying to protect the Udom Sre Kpos community forest for 10 to 20 years, and suddenly there are machines coming in without notice to clear it — no information from any side,” Sok said. “So our people, who are trying to protect it, must chase them out first. And when we chased them out, suddenly there was a summons from the police headquarters that we were destroying other people’s property and committing public insult.”
The people did not agree, he said. “Those who try to protect, those who try to preserve, become accused while the destroyer has no guilt.”
Khorn Khern, who joined the protest on Tuesday, said around 600 residents of two districts — Oral and Thpong — gathered outside the provincial police headquarters in support of seven summoned representatives. She named four of the representatives, aside from Sok, as Khorn Sarith, Soeng Sokhom, Lor Soly and Chhorn Thea.
“Our representatives did not do anything wrong and did not insult anyone. People came to support them, because when we went to protest, we all went together in the hundreds,” Khern said. “How come only five or six people were summoned? We did not do anything wrong. We just went to protest to protect the natural forest for future generations and protect the wildlife there. So we think that what we are doing is not wrong.”
The community forest land had been divided up for 41 military families, she said.
Kampong Speu provincial police chief Sam Samoun said authorities had summoned the seven residents after receiving a complaint, but the questioning was postponed. He declined to identify the plaintiff.
“If you want to know what the charges are, ask the people, do not let me speak about that, because the police must stand on justice. Whenever someone files a complaint, we have to accept the complaint and find out how to build a case for the court, so police’s duty is just that,” Samoun said.
Nhel Pheap, Koh Kong and Kampong Speu community coordinating officer for the Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community, said the police summons was a threat, in line with similar measures that authorities have repeatedly brought against communities and activists.
“Doing this is unconstitutional. We know that our Constitution clearly states that every citizen has the right to protect their legitimate interests and the interests of all natural resources,” Pheap said.
In October, Kampong Speu provincial governor Vy Samnang told VOD that the land being cleared and given to military families was not in the community forest, and that protesters were an “opposition group” instigated by land speculators and civil society. Samnang at the time warned of legal action against the protesters and those who had incited them.
Elsewhere in the country, authorities are putting on a display of widespread crackdowns against individuals who have encroached on state forests around Tonle Sap lake after Prime Minister Hun Sen posted a searing audio message on Facebook on Sunday accusing officials of involvement in grabbing the flooded forest land.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Nov 30, 2021
- Event Description
Soldiers arrested a prominent protest leader in the southeastern coastal town of Dawei on Tuesday along with three members of the family living in the house where he was hiding, according to a fellow anti-coup activist.
About 30 troops burst into the house at 6:30am and detained 22-year-old Htoo Myat Lwin, an organiser with the Coalition Strike Committee - Dawei. The soldiers also took Hla Pe, 50, along with his 28-year-old son Sai Ko Ko Tun and 18-year-old daughter La Pyae Pyae Tun.
“The house was raided while they were sleeping,” said a member of the strike committee, requesting anonymity. “We heard that they surrounded the house before arresting the victims. The neighbours said that they could hear people being beaten and cursing.”
“It was Htoo Myat Lwin that the military wanted but the hosts were also taken along with him,” he said, adding that a fifth person in the house, who suffers from a cognitive disability, was left behind by the soldiers.
Htoo Myat Lwin is a student at Dawei University. Soldiers found out about his whereabouts after arresting and interrogating nine members of the strike committee in recent days; Htoo Myat Lwin is the tenth member to be arrested since November 25.
“The majority of Htoo Myat Lwin’s friends are in detention now,” the activist said. “He was also called from the phone numbers of his friends who were detained and asked where he was.”
The soldiers took mobile phones, two computers, a motorcycle and books from the house. The strike committee member said the four detainees were taken to an interrogation center, but Myanmar Now was unable to verify this.
Dawei is a stronghold of the anti-coup movement in Tanintharyi Region, where the junta has raided the houses of several National League for Democracy officials. The military has deployed armed troops at security checkpoints across the township, according to locals.
The junta banned the use of motorbikes by two or men at the same time in Dawei and elsewhere in a bid to curb guerrilla forces’ hit-and-run attacks against soldiers. Locals said the ban is causing hardship to people who rely on the vehicles for their livelihoods.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Nov 26, 2021
- Event Description
Polisi mengamankan 30 orang dari Aliansi Gerakan Rakyat Tutup TPL pendemo di gedung Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan (KLHK), Tanah Abang, Jakarta Pusat. Puluhan aktivis itu ditangkap usai mencoba menerobos masuk hingga memaksa bertemu menteri.
"Jadi mereka itu kan awalnya di luar pagar terus kemudian mereka nerabas masuk sampai ke lobi. Sampai mendekati pukul 18.00 WIB kita imbau untuk kembali, tapi mereka malah teriak bilang 'ya udah kita nginep di sini aja gimana caranya bisa ketemu ibu menteri'," kata Kapolsek Tanah Abang Kompol Haris Kurniawan saat dihubungi, Jumat (26/11).
Haris mengatakan awalnya demo tersebut berjalan kondusif. Namun, menjelang pukul 18.00 WIB, massa tetap bertahan meski telah diminta polisi membubarkan diri.
Menurut Haris, pihaknya kemudian mengamankan para demonstran di lokasi untuk mencegah massa bersikap anarkistis. Puluhan orang itu kemudian dibawa ke Polres Metro Jakarta Pusat.
"Makanya kita amankan sesuai ketentuan dan kita lakukan pendataan di polres," katanya.
Haris mengatakan, para demonstran tersebut mendemo KLHK menuntut soal pembebasan lahan yang saat ini dikuasai perusahaan pulp.
"Tuntutan mereka soal masalah pengembalian lahan yang sekarang dikuasai oleh perusahaan," katanya.
Dihubungi terpisah, Kasat Reskrim Polres Metro Jakarta Pusat Kompol Wisnu Wardhana mengatakan puluhan aktivis itu kini masih didata di polres. Namun, dia memastikan 30 orang yang sempat diamankan ini akan dipulangkan malam itu juga.
"Malam ini nanti akan kita pulangkan. Nanti kita berikan layanan kemanusiaan dulu kita kasih makan habis itu kita pulangkan malam ini juga," pungkas Wisnu.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Nov 25, 2021
- Event Description
The Citizens’ Network to Protect the Monarchy, the People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy and the Thai Raksa group have submitted a letter at Government House urging the Prime Minister, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, to check whether the international human rights NGO Amnesty International has damaged the security of the nation and monarchy.
On 25 November, a pro-monarchy group of 50 people were led by Noppadol Phrompasit and Anon Klinkaew to ask the PM to check Amnesty International (AI) Thailand’s operations and sources of finance.
The group was welcomed and admitted to Government House, unlike the network of musicians and entertainment workers who on 23 November were blocked by police from submitting a petition.
The group’s representatives said that AI’s Write for Rights campaign invites members around the globe to write to the Thai government asking for lèse majesté charges to be dropped against Panussaya Sitthijirawattanakul, one of the pro-democracy student activists. This, they claim, may be considered as interference in Thailand’s domestic affairs by a foreign entity and ignoring a Constitutional Court ruling.
This last charge refers to the Constitutional Court’s ruling on 11 November that found that calls for monarchy reform were unconstitutional.
The group urged that the government urgently look into AI’s activities. If evidence of domestic interference are found, AI must be expelled from the Kingdom.
Seksakol Atthawong, a former red shirt now assistant to the Prime Minister's Office came to receive the group’s letter. He said if he could not oust AI from Thailand, he would quit his post. He also said pressure to get rid of AI can be made via the law and people who are loyal to the monarchy.
On 23 November, in the face of pressure against them, AI Thailand posted “6 Facts that you may not know about Amnesty International” on Facebook, pointing out that it is a non-partisan, human rights NGO that receives no funds from any government. It is financed by donations and membership fees from human rights supporters. And its HQ is in London, not in the US.
AI set up an office in Thailand in 1996 and Amnesty International Thailand was registered as an association under Thai law in 2003. It faced a public backlash in 2018 when it campaigned publicly against the execution of a death row prisoner in the Kingdom. Death threats and threats of violence and rape were made online and at the AI office against staff and their family members.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Nov 24, 2021
- Event Description
Karapatan today expressed disappointment over the Calamba City Regional Trial Court Branch 37’s denial of elderly human rights worker Nimfa Lanzanas’ omnibus motion to quash search warrants and suppress evidence in a resolution released on November 24, 2021.
Lanzanas, 61 years old, was among those arbitrarily arrested on March 7 this year in what has been dubbed as the “Bloody Sunday” raids of State forces in Southern Tagalog, where nine activists and indigenous farmers were killed and four including Lanzanas were arrested.
“It has been more than eight months since Lanzanas was arrested in the wee hours of the morning, in the presence of her young grandchildren. There is absolutely no truth to the statements of the police and military officers who alleged that she is part of a band of gun runners. She has been a paralegal of Karapatan Southern Tagalog since 2014 when her son Edward fell victim to almost the same kind of injustice that she faces now. We hope that the court will reconsider its decision and enable the release of Lanzanas, after months of being unjustly incarcerated,” said Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay.
In her motion, Lanzanas stated that the place searched was not covered by the search warrants issued by Manila City 3rd Vice Executive Judge Jason Zapanta, and asserted the important defect in the warrant on the particularity of the place of search. Lanzanas also averred that police and their alleged informant stated deliberate falsehoods during the application for search warrants, showing inconsistencies in their statements. She also questioned how probable cause was not established during the application of search warrants.
Lanzanas and her family have stated that the alleged evidence found in their home were planted by the soldiers and cops who conducted the raid. “It is highly improbable that guns and explosives were stored in that small house with three small grandchildren of Lanzanas. There were several instances during the said raid when the State forces may have had the opportunity to plant these weapons,” Palabay said.
Karapatan reiterated their call for the release of all 709 political prisoners, including Lanzanas and the 57 other elderly political prisoners, all of them victims of the same modus of planted evidence and perjured testimonies.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Nov 23, 2021
- Event Description
A student at Prince of Songkla University’s Hat Yai campus has been arrested on a royal defamation charge while receiving a Covid-19 vaccine at the university’s vaccination centre.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that Supakorn Khunchit, a student from the Faculty of Economics, Prince of Songkla University, was arrested by a group of plainclothes police officers in the parking lot in front of the Songklanagarind Hospital’s sport complex after he went to receive his second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Supakorn said that, at first, a man called out to him in the parking lot. He thought the man wanted to ask for some information, so he walked over, but was then surrounded by 3 – 4 other men who said they were police officers and presented a warrant issued by the Phatthalung Provincial Court on a royal defamation charge under Section 112 of the Criminal Code, a sedition charge under Section 116 of the Criminal Code, and a charge of entering into a computer system data which is an offense relating to national security under Section 14 of the Computer Crimes Act.
7 – 8 more plainclothes officers then came out of a vehicle and surrounded him. Supakorn said that he was shocked, and asked the officers for the opportunity to contact a lawyer and his friends. He was allowed to do so, but the officers did not allow him to wait on campus for his lawyer to arrive as they wanted to take him to a police station to record the arrest immediately.
Supakorn also asked the officers why an arrest warrant has been issued for him, since he had never received a summons, but the officers who arrested him said they did not know.
Supakorn was held overnight at Muang Phatthalung Police Station. A lawyer from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), along with Suthichai Ngamchuensuwan, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Prince of Songkla University, went to meet him on Wednesday morning (24 November).
According to the inquiry officer, Supakorn was charged because he was allegedly part of a group of people who took pictures of various locations in Phatthalung and posted them on the Facebook pages ‘Free Phatthalung’ and ‘Democracy of Southern Thailand’ along with messages which the police claimed were insulting towards the King and the Queen and aimed to incite unrest among the people.
TLHR said that the inquiry officer did not specify which messages were the offending ones in the temporary detention request, but included them in the interrogation record. TLHR also noted that many of the messages, including “1 2 3 4 5 fuck you,” “Down with feudalism. Long live the ducks,” “The people own the country” do not correspond to the accusation.
The inquiry officer then took Supakorn to court for a temporary detention request. They were later granted bail using Suthichai’s academic position as security.
Supakorn said that he found the process of his arrest unacceptable, since he was arrested by a large group of officers even though he has never received a summons and he had just reported to the police on charges relating to another protest but did not receive an arrest warrant for this case. He was also held in the police station holding cell, which was in poor condition, and was not allowed visitors, since the officer claimed that his photograph would be taken and used to incite conflict, but other detainees were allowed visitors.
TLHR also said that an arrest warrant has also been issued for 2 other student activists on charges relating to the same incident, and that they would be reporting to the police on Friday (26 November).
According to TLHR, at least 160 people are facing royal defamation charges since November 2020. Several activists are also facing several counts of the charge, including Parit Chiwarak, who faces 22 counts, Anon Nampa, 14 counts, Panupong Jadnok, 9 counts, Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, 9 counts, and Benja Apan, 6 counts.
Parit, Anon, Panupong, Panusaya, and Benja are detained pending trial on the royal defamation charges, along with activist Jatupat Boonpattararaksa.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Nov 23, 2021
- Event Description
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for the immediate release of Muhammad Asrul, a journalist in central Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province who has been sentenced to three months in prison in a defamation case which, under Indonesian law, should have been treated as a civil matter. The prosecution must drop the case and let him be acquitted on appeal, RSF says.
A reporter for the Berita News website who investigated alleged local corruption, Muhammad Asrul was convicted on 23 November by a court in the city of Palopo of criminal defamation under section 27.3 of the “Informasi dan Transaksi Elektronik” Law (Electronic Information and Transactions Law) – usually referred to as the “ITE Law.”
He was convicted in connection with a three-part story in May 2019 about alleged embezzlement by local officials in three building projects – repairs to a hydro-electric dam, the revitalisation of the Palopo Pancasila industrial zone and construction of a bypass west of the city.
Acquittal on appeal
The complaint was brought by the Palopo mayor’s son, Farid Kisam Judas, who was named in the articles. He filed criminal charges on 17 December 2019 accusing Asrul of defamation and inciting hatred. The police arrested Asrul six weeks later, on 29 January 2020, without allowing him access to a lawyer, and he was held for 36 days, until Indonesia’s Press Council, known as the “Dewan Pers,” intervened and obtained his conditional release. But the local prosecutor’s office pursued its criminal investigation.
“Muhammad Asrul’s three-month prison sentence violates the basic principles of press freedom as proclaimed in the Republic of Indonesia’s fundamental laws,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “We call on the Palopo prosecutor’s office to immediately drop their unjustified case against this journalist so that he can be released and acquitted on appeal. He should never have been brought before a criminal court because this kind of complaint should be handled as a civil matter, as the ‘Dewan Pers’ has maintained.”
Civil jurisdiction denied
The Press Council, which issued a statement condemning the Palopo court’s decision, can itself act as mediator in a defamation complaint against a journalist by someone named in a media report. The Press Council’s competence in this case was nonetheless denied by the prosecutor’s office, which claimed that Berita News was not registered as a media outlet when Asrul’s articles were published and that this therefore justified treating the matter as a criminal case.
The ITE Law is often used by local officials in Indonesia to harass journalists whose reporting annoys them. Diananta Putra Sumedi, a local website editor in South Kalimantan province, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison under the ITE Law in 2020 for his coverage of the allegedly illegal seizure of land from an indigenous group by a huge palm oil company with accomplices within the local government. The Press Council’s role in this case was also overridden by the local prosecutor’s office, as RSF reported at the time.
Indonesia is ranked 113th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2021 World Press Freedom Index.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Nov 22, 2021
- Event Description
Military and police forces raided a Catholic Church clinic in conflict-torn eastern Myanmar, arresting four doctors and 14 nurses they accused of helping groups resisting junta rule, sources said Tuesday.
Troops also forced 60 patients at the Mercy Clinic at the Christ the King Catholic Church in Loikaw, capital of eastern Myanmar’s Kayah state, to move to hospitals under military control, while some 40 pregnant women and other patients were trapped on church grounds for most of the day, the sources said.
Those arrested in Monday’s raid are being held at an interrogation center for questioning and are out of touch with their friends, one clinic worker told RFA on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation by authorities.
“The compound was closed and searches were made from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 in the afternoon,” the source said, adding that the clinic, its attached buildings, and the office of the clinic’s senior priest were all ransacked during the search.
“The four doctors were involved in charity work, and the rest were nurses and volunteers. They were all taken away yesterday for investigation and have not been released,” he said.
A Catholic priest and two nuns accompanied the medical workers who were taken away at gunpoint in three vehicles owned by the church, he and other sources said.
Another witness to the raid said that nuns left behind in the raid told him that soldiers had confiscated clinic registration books during their search. The doctors had already been taken away, he said.
“It was past 12 noon, and so I came out, but the whole compound had been closed down, and no one was allowed to enter or leave,” he said. “I heard later that the church’s priests and nuns had wept as the young staff and volunteers were taken away.”
Residents of the area said that Mercy Clinic had provided free treatment for people of all ethnic groups for more than 20 years, with the elderly and chronically ill among the majority of its patients.
Health workers involved in the nonviolent Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) resisting military rule in Myanmar had treated patients at the clinic for about five months, sources said.
Local residents believe that government troops may have suspected that People’s Defense Force (PDF) fighters were also being treated at the clinic, but a church official speaking on condition of anonymity said that the military had appeared only to target CDM health workers treating patients at the site.
Attempts to reach Zaw Min Tun, spokesman for Myanmar’s ruling State Administration Council, for comment were unsuccessful.
The director of Kayah state’s Karenni Human Rights Group said the military raid at Mercy Clinic had violated international law.
“It is very clear that raids on religious buildings and clinics are against international humanitarian laws, and arresting health workers is a violation of these regulations,” the rights group director named Banya said.
“The junta is violating the basic human right to life by raiding clinics that are providing public health services,” Banya said.
The ethnic Karenni National Defense Force (KNDF) and the Health Ministry of Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) both condemned the military’s raid at Mercy Clinic in statements on Monday.
Military forces have detained a total of 174 people so far in Kayah state since the Feb. 1 coup that overthrew the National League for Democracy (NLD) civilian government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, according to figures provided by the Progressive Karenni People’s Movement.
- Impact of Event
- 18
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to work
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Nov 20, 2021
- Event Description
A high-school teacher who was arrested in southern Rakhine State’s Toungup Township early Saturday morning has not been heard from since, according to local residents.
Neighbours of Cherry Thet Shey say that plainclothes officers took the 40-year-old schoolteacher into custody at her home in Toungup’s Kanpai ward at around 9am on Saturday.
“We heard that she was being arrested, and when we went outside to check, we saw that she was already in a car,” said a local woman who witnessed the arrest.
Another resident of the area told Myanmar Now that the reason for the arrest was not clear, although it was known that Cherry Thet Shey had been taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against military rule since February.
“She joined the CDM soon after the coup. She had also resigned from her job at the state education department. But we still don’t know why she was arrested,” said the neighbour, noting that no charges had been filed against her at the local police station.
“If taking part in the CDM was the reason for her arrest, they would have taken her away a long time ago,” he added.
Other residents expressed concern about the teacher’s elderly mother and two teenaged sons, who all depend on her for care.
“There’s nothing we can do right now but worry about her. We don’t even know where to go to ask about her,” said one woman living near the family’s home.
“I really want justice to prevail. We’re also worried about her being tortured,” the woman added.
Although the reaction to the coup has been relatively muted in Rakhine State, a number of people in southern parts of the state have been arrested on suspicion of involvement with the anti-regime People’s Defence Force (PDF).
Sein Chit, a member of the Arakan Front Party, was arrested in Thandwe Township early last month for allegedly helping a local PDF group. Ye Naing Oo, a colleague who did charity work with Sein Chit, was arrested on the same charges later the same day.
About a week later, 23-year-old writer Min Dipar was taken into custody, also on suspicion of having PDF ties.
At least 10 local leaders of the ousted ruling party, the National League for Democracy, have also faced prosecution in the state on various charges. The party enjoys strong support in the state’s southern townships.
Earlier this month, two women and a teenaged girl were arrested in Thandwe Township and charged under the Counterterrorism Law after being accused of financing PDF operations.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Public Servant, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Nov 18, 2021
- Event Description
On Thursday night (18 November), police from Thonglor Police Station raided a live painting event organized by the Cross-cultural Foundation (CrCF) at WTF Gallery & Cafe and ordered them to erase the painting claiming that it is “insulting.”
CrCF director Pornpen Khongkachonkiet said that the event took place between 18.00 – 19.00. After the event ended, two police officers came to the venue to inform them of a noise complaint, but she told them that the sound they used was not loud and that they were already about to leave.
Around 20 plainclothes and uniformed officers from Thonglor Police Station then arrived and blocked the entrance to the alleyway. Pornpen said their behaviour was intimidating and prevented participants from taking their motorcycles out of the alleyway. An officer then came to tell them to erase the painting on the wall and asked her to go talk to him about the event.
Pornpen said that the police did not tell them why the painting needed to be erased and did not charge them. She said that the wall belongs to a privately-owned building that is often used for art events, and that they will have to wait and see whether they will be charged, but she believes that the police see even art as sensitive.
A Facebook live broadcast by one of the participants who confronted the police showed the officers arriving at the venue and ordering those who still remained in the area to erase the messages written around the painting, claiming that they are “insulting.”
The event was part of CrCF’s Safe in Custody Awareness Month, which aims to raise awareness about torture and inhuman treatment of detainees. During the event, artist Tawan Wattuya painted a portrait of young protesters arrested at a protest at the Din Daeng intersection while speaking about detainees’ experience. He also let other participants write messages around the painting.
The messages included “Fuck The King Kong” “Fuck The PoPo” “No God No K!-" "Only Humans” and “Royally Bestowed Bullet."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Nov 17, 2021
- Event Description
A teacher from Mandalay Region’s Thabeikkyin Township who had been taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) was arrested on Wednesday afternoon. Within hours, his family was notified that he had died at an interrogation centre.
Zaw Min Aung, 40, was a high school teacher participating in a general strike across Myanmar in accordance with the CDM, which aims to topple the junta that seized power in February’s military coup.
He was arrested from his home in Myintha village at around 11am by a large group of soldiers and policemen.
A local teacher told Myanmar Now that the victim’s family was notified at around 5pm by officials from the police station in the nearby village of Kyar Nyat that he had died.
“We were only told that he died during the interrogation. We don’t know the exact cause of his death. His body was all wrapped up with only his face exposed,” the teacher said, adding that Zaw Min Aung was reportedly cremated at the Kyar Nyat cemetery.
Another local said that it was likely that Zaw Min Aung was wrongly flagged by a military informant as being involved in the anti-coup movement beyond his participation in the CDM, and was subsequently targeted.
“He was a very honest and quiet person. He liked to help people, too. His only political action was taking part in the CDM. I think he was tipped off to the military by an informant,” the local man said.
Another Myintha resident, 30-year-old Moe Kyaw, was also arrested for shouting warnings to villagers that junta troops had arrived on Wednesday. He was later released from the Kyar Nyat police station, but was reportedly tortured during his interrogation, another villager told Myanmar now.
Of Zaw Min Aung, the latter villager said, “it saddens me a lot to see that a teacher from our village had to face such a fate.”
Myanmar Now tried to contact the Kyar Nyat police station in Thabeikkyin regarding the arrests and the teacher’s death, but all calls went unanswered.
Zaw Min Aung leaves behind a wife and two young sons.
Other teachers participating in the CDM have been recently targeted in Mandalay Region, arrested and killed in military custody.
Thein Zaw, a teacher from Kin village in Madaya Township, was accused of supporting the anti-coup People’s Defence Force and kidnapped by the military on October 6. He was forced to guide his captors to his home three days later, and was killed en route. His body was disposed of by the junta’s armed forces near the village cemetery.
Win Lwin, from Ywar Bo village in Sintgaing Township was also arrested on November 1 and died one day later in military custody.
Villagers in Leik San Khun in Amarapura Township tore up a notice posted on the junta’s local administration office, threatening teachers with death if they did not return to work.
Soldiers responded by carrying out a raid on a group of locals preparing for a wedding, and beating those present.
Thabeikkyin Township was once the site of mass demonstrations against military rule, but the protests waned after leaders were forced into hiding by the junta’s crackdowns.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Public Servant
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Nov 17, 2021
- Event Description
Alternative news Pinoy Weekly has been subjected to another wave of cyberattacks, leading to the shutdown their website for almost two days.
In a statement issued by its publisher Pinoy Media Center, the distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks happened on Nov. 17 and 18, where at least 10 gigabytes of requests were made to their server. While the website is now back online, the Pinoy Media Center said they “fear it may again be subject to an attack in the next few hours and days.”
DDoS refers to the flooding of a website server until it becomes inaccessible to its readers. PMC’s Board of Trustees assailed this as a press freedom violation.
Among the stories that were published around the time of attacks were an editorial on the ongoing alliance between the son of the dictator’s namesake Marcos Jr. and the president’s daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio, an in-depth report on price hikes, and a news analysis on the people’s agenda for the 2022 elections.
Back in 2018 and 2019, Pinoy Weekly was among those subjected to continuous DDoS attacks along with other alternative online news such as Altermidya, Bulatlat, and Kodao. Sweden-based digital rights advocacy group Qurium Foundation later traced the attacks to two Philippine IT firms.
This year, amid another round of cyberattacks, Qurium’s forensic investigation on the attacks against Bulatlat and Altermidya led them to the doors of the Philippine government, particularly the Department of Science and Technology and the Philippine Army.
“We condemn these attacks against alternative and independent media groups like Pinoy Weekly of Pinoy Media Center. We call on the public to join us in resisting attempts to muzzle our voices online, and make these attacks accountable to law and the people,” the PMC said.
Pinoy Weekly, like other alternative media outfits in the Philippines, has been red-tagged by the government’s anti-communist task force and the Philippine National Police.
“We warn those responsible for the cyberattacks that we will not be cowed by attempts to silence us. We will not be intimidated and will fight back with everything at our disposal. We will soon take legal and other actions to make them accountable,” they added.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Censorship, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Nov 16, 2021
- Event Description
Police in the coastal Vietnamese city of Danang summoned a former activist who runs a beef noodle stall for questioning Tuesday after he posted a video on social media in which he imitated a celebrity chef who had hand fed gold-coated beef to the country’s public security chief in a video that went viral this month.
The police came knocking six days after noodle vendor Bui Tuan Lam posted a video clip of himself on Facebook gyrating and spreading salt like Turkish celebrity chef and social media star known as Salt Bae, who served a pricey cut of beef to Vietnam’s top cop To Lam in early November.
Salt Bae, whose real name is Nusret Gökçe, served a Golden Giant Tomahawk steak to To and his entourage in London, where they stopped after representing Vietnam at the United Nations climate change conference in Scotland.
A video of To’s party being fed the U.S. $1,975 piece of meat obtained by RFA’s Vietnamese Service went viral, prompting social media comments raising questions about the propriety of a Communist Party official on a monthly salary of roughly U.S. $660 eating such a luxury meal. Subsequent media reports noted the delegation had also visited the London grave of Karl Marx during the trip.
Bui, known as Peter Lam Bui among activists in Vietnam, used to be active in human rights and justice advocacy.
In his video clip, Bui calls himself “Onion Leaf Bae” after the signature move of the celebrity chef, who writhed dramatically as he sprinkled salt on To’s steak.
“This morning they came to my house — two officers from the city security agency, an officer in charge of my locality, and, of course, some plainclothes person doing filming outside,” Bui told RFA.
The reason for the summons was not clear and only said that it requested that Bui go to an office “to provide information about a criminal dealing for investigation work,” he said.
A video of the police visit recorded by Bui shows him asking officers for the reason for the summons, but he was not given one.
“I refused [to go] and said that if the reason was stated clearly in the order, I would work with them because in principle the order is related to a legal case, so it cannot be so general given that someone could be indicted based on what I said,” Bui said.
After listening to Bui’s explanation, the police officers threatened to forcefully escort him to their office, he said.
The video clip might not be primary reason for his most recent summons, Bui suggested, noting that he has received such notices in past months and ignored them.
But he added that his imitation of Salt Bae may have irritated police enough for them to follow up.
“For me, the clip’s impact, if any, is just that they are upset by having to deliver the summons,” he said. “They have had it in mind for a long time to summons me.”
Gökçe, 38, has opened 17 steak restaurants around the world, and videos of his meat-salting performances have been seen and shared by millions. When his London eatery opened in September, it was slammed for U.S. $34 desserts and U.S. $135 hamburgers in the British press, which ran features on stratospheric Salt Bae dinner tabs.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Nov 15, 2021
- Event Description
Student activist Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul has been denied bail on a royal defamation charge relating to a protest on 20 December 2020, in which activists wore crop tops at Siam Paragon shopping mall to campaign for the repeal of the royal defamation law.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported on Monday (15 November) that Panusaya went to testify to the South Bangkok Criminal Court on the case, along with 4 other activists who were charged in the same case: Benja Apan, Parit Chiwarak, Panupong Jadnok, and Phawat Hiranphon. Two other activists were also charged, but since they are minors, their case is being heard separately.
The activists were charged with royal defamation under Section 112, after they walked around Siam Paragon in crop tops to campaign for the repeal of the royal defamation law and to make a statement that it is not illegal to wear a crop top, after a 16-year-old protester was charged with royal defamation for wearing a crop top to a protest and writing the message “My father’s name is Mana, not Vajiralongkorn” on his back.
Parit also wrote the message “Repeal Section 112” and “Reform the monarchy” on his arms, as well as “My mother doesn’t cheat” on his waist. Panusaya wrote “I only have one father” on her stomach. Benja wrote “My father’s name is not…” and “Are you insane?” on her stomach and waist, and walked behind Parit and Panusaya while carrying a handbag on a golden tray with pedestal.
Meanwhile, Phawat walked around with the group, bowing, saying 'Long live the King', and presenting flowers to Parit and Panusaya.
The public prosecutor claimed that their action mocked the King and that they intended to damage the King’s reputation and to cause people to lose their respect for him.
The complaint against them was filed by Acting Sub Lt Narin Sakcharoenchaikun, a member of the royalist group Thai Pakdee, which also filed a similar charge against Anon Nampa for his Facebook post of a letter to the King.
TLHR said that the 5 activists denied all charges, and noted that observers from the Embassies of Finland and Luxembourg were also present in the courtroom. The court then scheduled 2 more hearings on 26 November 2021 and 24 January 2022.
Since Panusaya was not brought to court when the public prosecutor indicted her on 29 June 2020, she has to file a bail request using a 200,000-baht security, which is covered by the Will of the People Fund, a bail fund for people facing charges for political expression.
However, the court denied her bail on the grounds that she has committed similar offenses, and is likely to repeat her offense if released. The order was signed by judge Santi Chukitsappaisan, Research Justice of the Supreme Court, temporarily acting as the Deputy Chief Justice of the South Bangkok Criminal Court.
Panusaya is detained at the Central Women Correctional Institution. This is the second time this year that she has been detained pending trial on a charge relating to pro-democracy protests, after she was previously detained for 60 days on charges relating to the 19 – 20 September 2020 protest before being released on 6 May 2021.
According to TLHR, 25 people are detained pending trial on charges relating to their participation in pro-democracy protests, 6 of them on royal defamation charges: Parit Chiwarak, Jatupat Boonpattaraksa, Anon Nampa, Panupong Jadnok, Benja Apan, and Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Nov 15, 2021
- Event Description
Troops on Monday raided the office of a Mandalay-based charity helping people displaced by violence and arrested its chairwoman on accusations that she had been supporting the People’s Defence Force (PDF) in its fight against the junta.
Nwe Nwe Win, 43, was taken in the evening by 10 plainclothes soldiers from the Shwe Mahar Nwe social welfare group’s office on 25th street, in the city’s Aungmyay Thazan Township.
She is reportedly being questioned at the interrogation center inside Mandalay Palace and has also been accused of supporting striking workers involved in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM).
“They accused her of financially supporting staff members taking part in the CDM, as well as the PDFs,” said a source close to the charity who wanted to remain anonymous. “They ransacked the entire office and even broke open packages of donations to the orphanage and IDP camps.”
Shwe Mahar Nwe was founded in 2014 and also organises blood donation drives, a spokesperson for the group told Myanmar Now. “We were only accepting clothes donations for IDPs as winter is coming, but they accused us of something else entirely,” he said.
Hours after Nwe Nwe Win was arrested, soldiers returned to the office in search of two other team members but were unable to find them, added the spokesperson.
On October 6 a teacher named Thein Zaw, from the village of Kin in Madaya Township, was accused of financially supporting the PDF and arrested.
He was killed three days later while travelling to his home with the soldiers, who appear to have forced him to show them where he lived, according to two local sources.
Also in October, a local philanthropist and restaurant owner from Pyin Oo Lwin Township named Po Pyae Thu was accused of supporting the CDM and the PDF and was arrested, a source close to her family said.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, NGO, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Nov 14, 2021
- Event Description
A man was shot in the chest during a rally against a Constitutional Court ruling after key protest leaders were accused of trying to bring down the constitutional monarchy.
The man was shot in front of the Forensic Medicine Institute of Police General Hospital at 5.12pm and was rushed out of the area for treatment, following several gunshot sounds.
The protest was staged at Democracy Monument at 3pm and led by the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration, the Thalu Fah Group, the Democracy Restoration Group, the Ratsadon movement, and the Coalition of Salaya for Democracy, Supporter Thailand, We Volunteer and Campaigning for a People's Constitution groups.
Afterwards, the rally moved on to Pathumwan intersection. Marchers had also intended to visit the German embassy in Sathon district to submit a petition to reform the highest institution.
However, police had already blocked the lanes in and out of Pathumwan intersection.
Protesters then blocked more traffic while giving speeches.
The group also held aloft nine straw effigies dressed in black to represent the judicial officials who ruled that Arnon Nampa, Panupong "Mike" Jadnok and Panusaya "Rung" Sithijirawattanakul aimed to bring down the constitutional monarchy.
The court had ordered them to cease all actions deemed threatening to the democratic system with the King as head of state. They burned the effigies at the intersection.
The protesters claimed that the Constitutional Court's ruling is bringing the country back to an absolute monarchy and they were opposing it.
At 6.20pm, protesters reached the German embassy to submit a statement opposing the court ruling.
Three representatives were allowed into the embassy premises to hand in the statement.
It was the second rally outside the embassy, following a demonstration on Oct 26 last year that led to the indictment of 13 leaders on lese majeste and other charges.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Nov 14, 2021
- Event Description
A long-time women and child rights advocate was arrested in her Bulacan home on Sunday, Nov. 14, over a rebellion case filed back in 2005.
Ma. Salome Crisistomo Ujano, 64, national coordinator of Philippine Against Child Trafficking (PACT), was presented with a warrant of arrest and was brought to Camp Crame in Quezon City.
Referring to Ujano as one of the country’s “topmost wanted persons,” the Bulacan police said the arrest warrant was issued by a Lucena court on June 28, 2006, with no bail recommendations.
“The case is baseless as she was actively involved as executive director of Women’s Crisis Center back in 2005. She never heard of this case before,” her daughter Karla wrote on Facebook.
Ujano was with the Women’s Crisis Center from 1990 to 2007, of which she served as its executive director from 2000 to 2006.
In a statement, House Assistant Minority Leader and Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Arlene Brosas condemned the arrest, adding that it happened in November where activities are slated in commemoration of Children’s Month.
“Her arrest points to the absurdity of the PNP’s operations against perceived enemies of the state. It is perhaps the first arrest of a women and children’s rights advocate under the new PNP chief Dionardo Carlos,” she said.
Her colleagues, on the other hand, refuted police claims that she was in hiding for the past 15 years as Ujano has been attending public events as a child rights advocate, including gatherings that were organized in relation to the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Here she talked about how government agencies can better protect children and women from human trafficking.
This 2019 gathering, too, dubbed as “Ako Para sa Bata,” was attended by ranking government officials.
Relatives and colleagues of Ujano called for her immediate release and the dropping of baseless charges against her.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Nov 12, 2021
- Event Description
A man who was detained when soldiers were unable to find his nephew during a raid in Mandalay Region last week died in junta custody within hours, with his body showing signs of severe injury when his family went to collect it.
Ye Aung, 33, was taken from home to the village of Kyauktada, Madaya Township, on Friday afternoon when troops arrived searching for his 24-year-old nephew, who is a protest organiser in the village.
The family has said they do not want to disclose the name of the protest leader, who has been in hiding for several months. Soldiers also took the protest leader’s 48-year-old father, Myint Aung, who has not been heard from since.
“They both were taken at around 4pm and Ye Aung's family was notified the next morning that he had died,” a Kyauktada villager told Myanmar Now. “I heard he was sent to the interrogation center. The family had to go there to take his body back home.”
Ye Aung’s body showed signs that he had been badly beaten in custody; he had numerous injuries on his head, said the villager. Ye Aung left behind his baby and his wife, who had given birth just a few days before he was detained.
Neither of the two men who were taken took part in the underground movement against the dictatorship, the villager said.
Soldiers destroyed furniture and took computers, mobile phones and money from the house while arresting Ye Aung, locals said.
Myint Naing’s family are reportedly in fear for his life as they heard that he was also sent to the interrogation center.
Locals from Mattaya said that the military has conducted frequent raids on villages within the township since early November and arrested several teachers taking part in the Civil DIsobedience Movement (CDM).
Local resistance forces in the township have launched ambushes against military units.
On Friday a bomb exploded at a security checkpoint on the road leading into the township, killing a military captain, a private, and three police officers, said local news reports and the Madaya People's Defence Force (PDF).
Then on Saturday soldiers arrested a married couple, both teachers, who were taking part in the CDM. The couple were beaten at their home before being taken away to an undisclosed location.
“I think teachers have become their favourite targets lately. We still haven’t heard anything about the teacher couple,” said a Madaya local.
In early October 35-year-old Thein Zaw was detained by junta forces in Madaya and his body was found near his village three days later.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Death, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to life
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Nov 11, 2021
- Event Description
In 2020, residents of Suka Mukti village in southern Sumatra paid 10 million rupiah each, about $700, to a government agency to obtain titles to their land — a process that is officially supposed to be free. This year, the same agency declared the certificates illegal because, it says, the land falls inside a concession held by a palm oil company.
The fiasco has shone a light on the corruption and opacity that cloud the land-titling process in Indonesia, and the role of a “land mafia” in keeping it that way to serve the interests of big businesses.
“According to the regulations, land certificates are free,” says Roni Septian, head of advocacy at the Consortium for Agrarian Reform (KPA), an NGO. “From that alone, we can see how corrupt the practices of the land agency are. That’s concrete evidence of how sophisticated the land mafia is.”
He adds the Suka Mukti case is just the tip of the iceberg, with the land mafia operating throughout Indonesia.
“Millions of farmers have had their lands robbed from them because the government manipulated data,” he says. Land titles taken away — twice
The village of Suka Mukti, in Ogan Komering Ilir (OKI) district, South Sumatra province, was established by settlers from Java in 1981. They were part of the national government’s “transmigration” program, which aimed to entice people away from densely populated Java by offering them land in other parts of the archipelago.
From 1983-1985, the local government issued land ownership decrees for the 450 Suka Mukti families, but in 1991, the village chief rescinded the decrees for 191 of those families. The reason given was that their lands would be upgraded to “plasma” plantations, which meant they’d be cultivating oil palms and selling the crop to a palm oil company, essentially ensuring them a guaranteed buyer and price.
But the village head instead sold the land to various third parties, including palm oil company PT Treekreasi Marga Mulya (TMM).
Since then, the villagers fought to reclaim their land, and in 2019 applied to the Ministry of Environment and Forestry to carry out an assessment to determine whether they qualified to seek titles to the land. The assessment concluded that the lands didn’t overlap with any existing concessions, so the villagers duly applied for land certificates to the South Sumatra land agency in 2020.
In March that year, they finally obtained their certificates from the agency. But while the process is supposed to be free of charge, the villagers say they had to pay 10 million rupiah per certificate, for the 36 certificates issued.
Now, those certificates are gone. In June 2020, a signboard went up on the land declaring that TMM held the concession to the area, and listing the number for a right-to-cultivate permit, or HGU — the last in a series of licenses that oil palm companies must obtain before being allowed to start planting.
This year, in move reminiscent of how the villagers lost their ownership decrees the first time around, a land agency official visited the village and asked for the certificates back so that they could be “secured.”
“As a layman, I knew nothing,” says Abu, one of the villagers. “So we handed over our certificates.”
On July 9, the South Sumatra land agency sent the villagers a letter telling them their certificates had been revoked: their lands overlapped with TMM’s concession, and the company had obtained its HGU permit back in 1997, trumping the villagers’ 2020 title deeds. Maladministration
The agency’s flip-flop has raised a host of questions for the villagers and others scrutinizing the case, primarily over why it issued the certificates in the first place if the land was already part of an existing concession.
“When we came to the local land agency, they said there’s no HGU and thus the agency was ready to issue the land certificates [for us],” Abu said.
Pius Situmorang, a lawyer representing the villagers, says there’s a suspicion that TMM doesn’t actually have an HGU permit for the land in question. He notes that a sign on the same plot of land claims it’s owned by one Shodiq (likely the OKI deputy district head, Dja’far Shodiq, according to Pius). He adds another part of the contested area was recently acquired by the government for a planned toll road running through the area, and for which the government has paid compensation to some of the villagers.
“There’s no way there’s an HGU permit for that land if there’s already a plasma plantation there owned by an individual, and land procurement done by the state, in which the compensation money was paid out,” Pius says.
Julius Ibrani, secretary-general of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), says the land agency’s issuance and swift revocation of the villagers’ certificates points to gross negligence within the bureaucracy.
“Even if we ignore [the allegations about the land mafia], there’s still maladministration perpetrated not by the locals, but by the government,” he says.
This then raises the question of whether there will be any consequences for the maladministration, says Sandrayati Moniaga, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights.
“Are there any sanctions for the officials involved? If there are, does it mean [the villagers] will be compensated for the revocation of their land certificates?” she says.
Officials from the National Land Agency, to which the provincial land agency reports, have promised to carry out an investigation of the Suka Mukti case. ‘Make, manipulate and falsify’
The HGU permit ascribed to TMM has also raised questions, including over whether it even exists.
Pius, the Suka Mukti villagers’ lawyer, notes that three different permit numbers have been cited. In the land agency’s letter informing the villagers their certificates had been revoked, it gave the HGU number as 45. But the number on the signboard erected on the land after the villagers had obtained the permit is 11. And the number in a document sent by TMM to the villagers lists the permit number as 1.
“There’s clearly a scheme to blur the numbers of the permit,” Pius says. “What’s clear is that there are differing numbers of permit. This is proof that there’s no transparency from the land agency, resulting in this mess.”
Roni from the KPA says TMM’s HGU permit wasn’t registered in the land agency’s information system.
“So it’s very easy for the land agency to make, manipulate and falsify HGU permits that result in the loss of people’s rights over their lands,” he says.
The South Sumatra land agency has failed to explain the differing numbers. Firdaus, the director of land conflict at the National Land Agency, said that based on information gathered by the national government, the HGU permit owned by TMM was originally numbered 1, before it was changed to 45.
The National Land Agency has itself come under fire for refusing to make HGU data public — in flagrant and continued violation of a 2017 Supreme Court ruling ordering it to do so.
Each HGU permit includes details such as land boundaries, coordinates, and the size of the concession, as well as the leaseholder’s name.
In 2015, the NGO Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI) sued the National Land Agency to release the data. In 2017, the Supreme Court declared that HGU documents are public information and ordered the agency to make them publicly available. The decision was upheld on appeal in March 2021, yet the agency continues to hold out. It says it has discussed the matter with the office of the chief economics minister (who holds zero sway on judicial matters) and come to the conclusion that HGU data cannot be shared with the public because of the need to protect national interests.
Rights commissioner Sandrayati says cases like Suka Mukti could be prevented if the National Land Agency just does what the court ruled.
“The Supreme Court has already ruled that the [HGU] document is a public document,” she says. “So where’s the exact location of the [TMM] HGU? [Reveal it] so that we don’t have to debate endlessly.” Pro-investment mafia
A more transparent land-titling process would have prevented the palm oil company from claiming the land in the first place, Sandrayati says.
As part of the government’s transmigration program, the Suka Mukti villagers were not informal settlers; they would have arrived in 1981 with all the necessary documents ready, giving TMM no chance of obtaining an HGU in 1997.
Yet somehow, the land ownership decrees issued by the local government from 1983-1985 weren’t registered by the national government — and hence wouldn’t have been flagged in any application for an HGU permit for that particular area.
Sandrayati says that if those decrees had maps attached with them, the villagers could use them to reinforce their claim to the land.
“If not, then it’s going to be difficult to know where the overlaps [between the villagers’ lands and the concession] are without having the coordinates,” she says.
Roni of the KPA says this opacity in the process provide a space for the land mafia to operate, and that they’ve been by the government’s pro-investor policies, which include making it easy for companies to secure land — in many cases land that’s already occupied by local or Indigenous communities.
“President Joko Widodo [recently] said he would sack police chiefs who are not pro-investment,” Roni says. “So it’s the government itself that encourages the practice of the land mafia. These land mafia are protected by security personnel and the police because they’ve been ordered [by the president] to secure investments.”
The head of the National Land Agency, Sofyan Djalil, recently said at least 125 officials in his agency were believed to have been part of this land mafia since 2016. Some of these officials face criminal investigations; the rest have been slapped with administrative sanctions or simply moved to other positions. ‘Intimidation, terror, criminalization’
For the Suka Mukti villagers, the ordeal continues. Deprived of the titles to their land, they have since Oct. 29 occupied the disputed land in protest, and say they now face pressure from the police.
“There’s been a lot of efforts to intimidate us,” says Syahrul, a villager. “The Ogan Komering Ilir police have been safeguarding the company in its harvesting activities.”
The villagers have been reported to the police by TMM and the Suka Mukti village chief, Sutamar, who accuses some of them of falsifying his signature on documents needed to obtain their land certificates. TMM’s complaint to the police, meanwhile, is about the villagers’ occupation of the contested land.
On Nov. 11, four police officers came to the home of one of the villagers and demanded to see his land certificate, without producing a warrant. On Nov. 20, police summoned some of the villagers for questioning about how they were able to obtain the land certificates from the local land agency in 2020.
Prior to the questioning, a local police officer reportedly told some of the locals not to get involved in the conflict because any holders of land certificates would be arrested.
All these allegations, if true, constitute attempts to criminalize the villagers and silence them, another tactic of the land mafia, according to Gina Sabrina, a project manager with the PBHI, the legal aid association.
“There is intimidation, terror, physical occupation of land such as erecting boards, and efforts to criminalize [the villagers],” she says.
At the same time, TMM is harvesting palm fruit on the contested land in violation of an agreement made with villagers for both sides to not carry out any activities in the area, Syahrul says.
Barita Uli Lumbantobing, a lawyer for TMM, said the villagers don’t have a legitimate claim to the land and reiterated that the company obtained its HGU permit in 1997. He added that the villagers’ occupation of the land had disrupted TMM’s operations. 30 years disenfranchised
Sandrayati, the right commissioner, says all parties should refrain from doing anything that could further inflame the dispute.
“The National Land Agency has to declare that there’s a conflict [in the contested land] and they [the company] must therefore stop its activities first in order to create peace there,” she says. “The villagers also have to be calm first to cool the situation down. The National Land Agency can ask the police to create order and peace, and to not side with a particular party. We need to ensure the police are truly neutral here.”
Abu, the villager, echoed the call for not aggravating the tensions and for the police to not take sides.
“Don’t disturb the villagers who are at the location. The police have to be neutral, don’t side with the party that has money,” he says.
He says the government should work to resolve the conflict as soon as possible, given that the villagers’ lack of formal land ownership has now lasted for more than 30 years.
“We’ve been a victim for 30 years, yet we really want to cultivate our own lands,” Abu says. “I ask the president to solve our conflict with the company and the land mafia. Don’t let us, the common people, be victims of the land mafia. If this persists, our country will be destroyed. When will we be free of [the land mafia]?”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 10, 2021
- Event Description
Environmental activist Chhorn Phalla was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment by the Ratanakiri Provincial Court on Wednesday for illegally clearing forests.
Phalla, a long-time activist, previously raised allegations that local officials were encroaching on community forests and that they beat him. Officials then filed a court complaint that Phalla was “causing trouble” at a public forum.
He was arrested on September 20 after being called into the police station to update the address on his identification card. The arrest was based on a February arrest warrant that said he was accused of clearing forests in Lumphat district in 2019 and 2020.
On Wednesday, Keo Pheakdey, spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office, said Phalla had been sentenced by judge Chan Seiha to five years in jail under Article 62 of the Protected Areas Law.
Phalla was specifically found guilty of “clearing, encroaching, burning or clearing forest” to claim ownership, he said.
The crime is considered “fourth grade” and is punishable by five to 10 years in jail.
“He has the right to appeal according to the law,” Pheakdey said.
Phalla’s defense lawyer Sam Titseyha said the conviction was an injustice.
“It is very unfair for my client, because Chhorn Phalla is an activist helping to protect the forests, forestry land and the community, which is in the common interest,” he said. “He has been charged, while the loggers have been acquitted.”
Titseyha added that he was preparing to appeal.
“I have already prepared an application to file a complaint to the Court of Appeal,” he said. “For now, I am just waiting for what the Court of Appeal will do next.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: environmental defender arrested
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Nov 10, 2021
- Event Description
On 10 November, the Constitutional Court ruled that the calls for monarchy reform and monarchy-related activities organized by Anon Nampa, Panussaya Sitthijirawattanakul, Panupong Jadnok and associated organizations were, are and will be abuse of constitutional rights and liberties as they are intended to ‘overthrow’ the democratic form of government with the King as Head of State.
The complaint was filed by lawyer Natthaporn Toprayoon, who accused 8 activists who spoke at the 3 August and 10 August 2020 demonstrations of attempting to overthrow the “democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State,” as stated in Section 49 of the 2017 Constitution.
The Court ruled that Anon's speech and Panussaya's statement at the 10 August 2020 protest, and their participation in the protests afterward and other symbolic actions have the hidden intention of overthrowing the regime, which would cause public disorder and unrest in society.
Activities cited by the Court are part of Anon’s speech at the 10 August protest and the full statement read by Panussaya at the same event, which the Court recounted in full, and symbolic actions at many protests such as burning the King’s portrait and removing the blue stripe representing the monarchy from the Thai national flag.
The Court stated that the people’s constitutional rights and liberties come with the responsibility to protect the democratic regime with the monarch as its head. The word ‘overthrow’ can be inferred from actions that cause a serious threat to the constitution and regime in a decisive and irreversible manner that completely obliterates them.
The ruling continued by saying that exercising rights and liberties in public to call for a constitutional amendment regarding the status of the monarch or amendment of Section 112 of the Criminal Code (the royal defamation law) will diminish the respected status of the monarchy, which leads to unrest that affects public order and morality when people follow these practices.
The monarchy has existed and been cherished by the Thai people as an essential institution in governing and leading the armed forces in Thailand since the days of Sukhothai, Ayutthaya and the current Rattanakosin era, despite changes of regime, ruled the Court.
Thus, the actions of Anon, Panussaya and Panupong constitute an abuse of rights and liberties in order to overthrow the democratic form of government with the King as Head of State and the Court ordered that they and their network organizations stop such actions in the future.
Upon hearing the Court’s comment, the supporters of the pro-democracy activists in the front of the Court reacted with fury. Papers were scattered and a mock-up of the democracy monument was burned before the group dispersed. Landmark case to the reform movement
The Court’s decision raises questions over the direction and legal risks of the pro-democracy movement which has been calling for political and monarchy reform since its sudden surge in July 2020.
After the judgement was made, Yingcheep Atchanont, manager of iLaw, a legal watchdog NGO, told Prachatai that it is still unclear about what counts as prohibited actions and the network organizations of Anon, Panussaya and Panupong.
Yingcheep said the judgement may be used by those who hold the movement in contempt to prevent po-democracy activities. It would also be unthinkable for the protest organizers not to hold protests against the ruling. Because of these uncertainties, this ruling will exacerbate tensions within society.
In an interview with the STANDARD, Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, a former law academic and secretary-general of the Progressive Movement, said the ruling affects Thai society in 3 ways.
Firstly, the ruling’s broad interpretation of the law has closed the door for those who want to reform the monarchy.
Secondly, the ruling prohibits many acts, both those which have been done and those not done. This will allow those who oppose proposals for monarchy reform to flood the courts with petitions similar to the one today. Civil society organizations and political parties that rally for the amendment or abolition of the royal defamation law might be affected by this.
Thirdly, this order to gag people will not bring about reconciliation between those who think differently. It will exacerbate tensions between the old and the new generations who have different ideas about the monarchy.
“If you don’t want to enter the red zone, then don’t do it. Don’t speak. Don’t touch. Don’t do anything. Then, you will be in the safe zone. Your party won’t be disbanded. Your MPs can stay. Criminal charges won’t touch you. In public rallies, you mustn’t speak about this. Just talk about ousting Prayut. Don’t speak about these [monarchy] issues and you will be safe.”
Thalufah, a protest group, published a statement after the ruling, saying that Thai and global citizens should not accept the ruling. Criticism of individuals under the same constitution are constitutional.
“We insist and affirm that, according to the constitution, “Thailand is ruled by a democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State,” and in fact the monarch is only the “Head of State” [and] should not establish himself as a “regime of government” in this way.
“For the Constitutional Court to rule in this way is tantamount to their admitting that this country is governed by an absolute monarchy, not a democracy as is written in the constitution! And today’s ruling is a distortion of ‘what is written in the constitution’,” read the statement. No testimony from the accused
The complaint was originally filed against Anon Nampa, Panupong Jadnok, Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, Parit Chiwarak, Jutatip Sirikhan, Siripatchara Jungthirapanich, Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, and Atittaya Pornprom. The Court later accepted the complaint against Anon, Panusaya, and Panupong, but dismissed the complaint against the remaining 5 activists.
The Court decided that only Anon, Panussaya and Panupong were involved in the 3 August and 10 August 2020 actions stated in the petition.
Natthaporn, a staunch royalist, is a former advisor to the Chief Ombudsman and has previously acted as a lawyer for the PAD, the Thai Patriots Network and other right-wing groups. In June 2019, he filed a similar complaint against the now-dissolved Future Forward Party (FFP), claiming that the party was linked to the Illuminati, a fictitious secret organization believed by conspiracy theorists to be seeking world domination. The Constitutional Court ruled to acquit the party in January 2020, citing insufficient evidence.
A similar complaint was also filed on 2 September 2020 by former Palang Pracharath Party MP candidate Sonthiya Sawasdee, who accused activists and protesters participating in the 18 July and 10 August 2020 demonstrations of attempting to “use their rights or liberties to overthrow the democratic regime with the monarch as Head of State.”
The Constitutional Court later ordered him to provide more evidence before deciding whether to accept the complaint. Sonthiya then submitted an addendum to the complaint on 28 September 2020 specifying that his complaint is against Parit, Panusaya, Anon, and Panupong, and adding information about the 19-20 September 2020 protests at Sanam Luang. Nevertheless, the Court dismissed the complaint, citing insufficient evidence.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) stated that, despite a request by lawyers for the three activists for them to be summoned for an inquiry along with several other witnesses to give them the opportunity to defend themselves, the ruling was made without examining witnesses and based only on the complaint itself, the objection to the complaint, and documents that the Court requested from the Office of the Attorney General, Khlong Luang Police Station, the Royal Thai Police, the National Security Office, the National Intelligence Agency, and Thammasat University.
The Court then ordered the inquiry concluded, claiming that it has enough evidence to issue a ruling.
TLHR also said that, in addition to the three activists themselves, they had requested that several academics be summoned as witnesses. They had planned to summon historians Nithi Eoseewong and Charnvit Kasetsiri to testify on Thai political history, and legal scholar Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang to argue that the activists’ actions do not qualify as using their rights and liberties to overthrow the democratic regime with the monarch as Head of State.
They also planned to summon writer Sulak Sivarak to speak about the role of the monarchy in Thai politics and President of the 1997 Constitution Drafting Assembly Uthai Pimchaichon to speak on the intention of Section 49 of the Thai Constitution, which is modelled after the same section in the 1997 Constitution.
None of the aforementioned witnesses were given a chance to testify.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Nov 9, 2021
- Event Description
Two Greenpeace activists in Indonesia were reported to the police over their supposedly unfounded criticism of deforestation happening under the government’s watch.
The activists, Greenpeace Indonesia Head Leonard Simanjuntak and Indonesia Forest Campaign Head Kiki Taufik, were accused of spreading fake news and violating Indonesia’s Information and Electronic Transactions Act (UU ITE) for debunking President Joko Widodo’s deforestation claim.
At the COP26 summit in Glasgow earlier this month, Jokowi said deforestation in Indonesia has declined in recent years. Greenpeace Indonesia later challenged the president’s claim and called it “nonsense,” citing Forestry Ministry data that showed deforestation rising from 2.45 million hectares between 2003 and 2011 to 4.8 million hectares between 2011 and 2019.
The Committee for the Eradication of Mafia of Law Secretary General Husin Shahab took issue with Greenpeace’s criticism.
“Criticize if it’s based on truth. If not, then that’s fake news,” Husin said yesterday of his decision to file the police report against Leonard and Kiki.
The police have not issued any statements on whether or not they will process the complaint.
Husin reportedly registered to run for a legislative seat in East Java in 2019 with the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), which is now part of the government’s coalition of parties. Husin, however, was reportedly dismissed from the party in 2018 for being involved in a polygamous marriage.
Greenpeace Indonesia maintains that its criticism of Jokowi’s claim was based on factual data.
“We will face this complaint, even though we are in the middle of a climate crisis that requires real action from the government,” Greenpeace Indonesia campaigner Asep Komarudin said.
Greenpeace Indonesia forest campaigner Asep Komarudin said his side is ready to face a police report filed by the Cyber Indonesia forum for criticizing President Joko Widodo or Jokowi's speech about deforestation.
“We’ve heard about this report from our media partners, and there has been no call from the police. We will deal with this, even though we are now focusing on the climate crisis which requires concrete action from the government,” Asep told Tempo on Monday, November 15.
Leaders of Greenpeace Indonesia, Leonard Simanjuntak and Kiki Taufik, were reported to Jakarta Metro Police after criticizing the President's speech on deforestation at the World Leaders Summit at the United Nations Climate Change Summit (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland.
Both were reported for criminal acts under the Electronic Information and Transactions or ITE Law. Chairman of Cyber Indonesia Husin Shahab assessed that the environment watchdog submitted false and misleading data on deforestation.
In response to the report, Asep said that Greenpeace is ready to compete with data to prove the data validity. “Greenpeace uses valid, accurate data to the public. We are also ready to have an open debate with the Environment and Forestry Ministry regarding how we analyze it scientifically and intellectually,” he said.
According to Asep, making such a police report might destroy the democratic climate. Criticism of the government should not be responded to by a police report but an open dialogue or debate.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 8, 2021
- Event Description
Two journalists in Kampot were arrested as residents protested for the release of their family members amid allegations that police had detained a 4-year-old child.
According to a provincial police report from Tuesday, four suspects were arrested on Sunday in Chhuk district’s Trapeang Phlaing commune for violence against the owner of a property and incitement, calling it a red-handed crime.
The following day, residents protested outside the provincial hall demanding the four residents’ release.
A live video report by Los Seng News said the residents did not understand the arrests, and wanted the newly appointed provincial governor — who has held public forums vowing to solve people’s disputes — to step in.
“Please, provincial governor, find justice for me. … Please help us,” one interviewed woman said in the video amid rain. The woman, Ken Phon, alleged that the four taken to the provincial police headquarters were Dy Chroeun, Meas Khchai, Tuy Taing, and Taing’s 4-year-old son.
The Los Seng News reporter reiterates in the video that the residents were concerned for the child.
Licadho provincial coordinator Pen Vuthea said Tuesday night that he understood that a child was in custody alongside his mother, and they were being kept separate from the others.
Commune police chief Haem Kny would not answer repeated questions about whether there was a child in detention.
District and provincial police and the provincial governor could not be reached on Tuesday to clarify the claim.
The police report says two journalists from Los Seng News, Ing Thoeun, 27, and Say Sophea, 24, were arrested after they “came to report in front of the provincial administration, criticizing the competent local authorities without communicating with authorities to ask about the arrests of the four on November 7, causing people to misunderstand and become enemies of the competent local authorities.”
The two journalists are accused of incitement to disturb social security and malicious denunciation, the report says.
Los Seng, publisher of Los Seng News, said he had reached out to provincial governor Mao Thonin about the arrests but the governor had not been receptive.
“They are just reporters and covered the news,” Seng said. “They broadcast based on people’s interviews.”
“It is in [the interviewees’] hands, so they can make any accusation that they want to, but we need to look into live [broadcasts] — whether it is suitable for an accusation of incitement or not.”
He said the authorities could correct reporters’ information and should not arrest them like criminals.
“When any report is a crime, where is the freedom of the journalist? They could use the Press Law, but instead they use their power against the journalist,” Seng said. “Their action is to break the spirit of the journalist from daring to cover news in Kampot province.”
Los Seng said in July he was pressured to stop reporting on a contentious land dispute involving the new Phnom Penh International Airport, with the Kandal Stung district governor claiming the news outlet did not have permission to make live broadcasts about the dispute.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Nov 8, 2021
- Event Description
Villagers in a commune in north-central Vietnam are pushing back hard against a developer’s plans to build a cemetery and crematorium near their homes, saying they fear pollution and have not been consulted on the project, RFA has learned.
Residents of the Hung Tay commune in Nghe An province’s Hung Nguyen district posted a Facebook video on Monday showing police officers violently dispersing villagers who had gathered to protest at the entrance to the site.
The cemetery project at Dai Hue mountain is located uphill and only 1,200 meters (3,937 feet) from the nearest residential area, and villagers had already put up tents at the cemetery’s entrance to stop construction work from moving ahead, local sources said.
“The distance from the project’s fences to where we live is not great enough and it isn’t safe,” one resident said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “This will affect our lives, and especially our sources of water and wind,” he said.
Though developers say that area residents have already consented to the project, no papers exist to document their agreement, RFA’s source said. “We never signed anything saying we had been consulted, and without this document, the provincial government should never have approved this project.”
Claims by developers that VND 40 billion (U.S. $1,765) has already been paid in compensation for 32.5 hectares of land handed over by government authorities for the project are also false, the source said.
“In fact, we haven’t received any notification about the land that was acquired, about who will receive compensation for the land, or even how much they will receive,” he said. “Where is that VND 40 billion now, and who is holding it?” he asked.
Commune residents have asked provincial authorities and the project’s developers for answers to these questions, but have so far received no response, he said.
'Provoked to protest'
A video of Monday’s clash between residents and police circulated widely on social media this week, with many viewers commenting that villagers had been provoked into launching their protests. Speaking to RFA, one resident said their blockade of the worksite was not aimed at opposing government authority, however.
“All we did was to set up some tents to prevent construction and protect the land,” he said. “That’s all this was, there was nothing else.”
“However, the authorities did send some policemen in, and so a few minor clashes with the residents occurred,” he said, adding that no one had been arrested in the clash.
Attempts to reach Hung Tay commune authorities for comment received no response, and RFA was unable to independently verify reports from another source that police had used weapons to disperse the crowd.
According to state-run Nghe An Television, a majority of the province’s residents have agreed to construction of the cemetery and crematorium, though a few individuals may still oppose the plan due to a “lack of understanding” of the project.
While all land is ultimately held by the state, land confiscations have become a flashpoint as residents accuse the government of pushing small landholders aside in favor of lucrative real estate projects, and of paying too little in compensation.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Nov 7, 2021
- Event Description
Activists in Indonesia have called for a thorough investigation after an explosion outside the home of the parents of a prominent human rights lawyer who represents those involved in the West Papuan independence movement.
The blast occurred outside Veronica Koman’s parents’ house in Jakarta on Sunday morning. If it was a targeted attack, it would be the first instance of bombs being used to target those working on issues relating to West Papua outside of the region, according to human rights groups.
Police said they were investigating and did not confirm whether the explosion was caused by a bomb. A letter was left at the time of the explosion, according to Amnesty International, which claimed to be written by “a militant who defended the nation”.
“If the police and [security] forces in the country and abroad cannot arrest Veronica Koman … we were called to scorch-earth wherever you hide, including your protector horde,” the letter said.
Michael Hilman, a Papuan human rights activist, said at a virtual press conference that Koman’s family had been repeatedly subjected to intimidation and threats.
Separately on Sunday, another of Koman’s relatives was sent a package containing a dead chicken alongside a letter that said “anyone who helps to hide Veronica Koman will end up like this”. On 24 October, Koman’s parents’ house was subject to an arson attempt by unknown assailants.
The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) condemned the terrorism perpetrated against the family. It said: “We also recommend the Indonesian police immediately investigate the case and ensure the legal process can be carried out properly in order to break the chain of impunity and prevent recurrence.”
According to Komnas Perempuan, the families of female human rights defenders are often targeted with intimidation. “
At a certain point, the efforts that have been made, the attacks that have been carried out both online and offline, actually show a fairly severe level of torture, which can actually be anticipated by the state in the context of the state providing protection,” she said.
Koman’s case is the latest in a series of incidents targeting human rights defenders, the media were told. Other figures recently targeted include the activists Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti, who investigated politicians who have mining businesses in West Papua. Both are subject to criminal investigations after being reported to the police by the minister for maritime affairs and investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, one of the politicians who was mentioned in the document.
“This is evidence of discrimination and brutality on the Papua issue. Human rights violations, violence, crimes, are used to cover up other crimes in West Papua,” Azhar said.
Chief of the press division of the Bureau of National Police, Brig Gen Rusdi Hartono, said the explosion outside Koman’s parents’ home was being investigated, as were other incidents targeting human rights defenders.
“All incidents concerning citizens’ rights will be handled by the police,” he said.
Koman, an activist and lawyer, was appointed as the key advocate representing the National Committee for West Papua (KNPB), the most significant Indigenous youth movement in the Pacific region, focusing on nonviolent protest supporting independence.
In 2019, Indonesian police charged Koman for allegedly spreading provocation and fake news on social media after she reported police violence against anti-racism protesters in West Papua. Since then she has remained in exile due to safety concerns.
Koman continues to work on West Papua issues from abroad, helping Papuan human rights activists advocate for thousands of internally displaced people in the region who had to flee for safety due to the conflict between the Indonesian military and Papua liberation army.
West Papua, formerly Irian Jaya, is Indonesia’s easternmost province, annexed in 1965 through a controversial referendum. Since then, a low level of insurgency has arisen across the region. Thousands of people in the highland have been displaced. In recent violence, two babies were killed. The United Liberation Movement of West Papua blamed the Indonesian military; the police spokesperson Ahmad Mustofa Kamal accused the liberation army.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Death threat, Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to property
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Nov 6, 2021
- Event Description
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has started investigating the reported abduction of an organizer of the militant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) in Central Luzon last week.
Lawyer Leorae Valmonte, the CHR regional director, on Tuesday said his office received an urgent alert from rights group Karapatan about the “forced disappearance” of Steve Abua, 34, who helped KMP organize farmers and indigenous peoples.
Abua has been missing since Nov. 6, on the day he was heading to a meeting in Dinalupihan town, Bataan province, his wife, Johanna, 35, told the Inquirer by phone.
According to Johanna, the supposed captors of her husband contacted her thrice since he was forcibly taken either at a transport terminal in Lubao town, Pampanga province, or in Dinalupihan.
She said a motorcycle driver reported dropping off Abua in front of a terminal at Barangay Sta. Cruz, Lubao. NPA member?
Johanna recalled one of the abductors as telling her by phone that they were holding her husband and that she needed to cooperate with them.
The men described their group as a “different government,” she said, adding that they were asking her to convince Abuan to admit that he is a member of the New People’s Army (NPA).In response, Johanna said she had no reason to cooperate with them because Abua is not an NPA member.
A native of Parañaque City, Abua graduated cum laude at the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman with a bachelor of science degree in statistics in 2007. Blindfolded, gagged
Johanna said her third communication with the abductors was a video call, through a private chat using the account of one Michelle de la Cruz.
According to Johanna, a male caller sent a 10-second video clip showing Abua wearing a white shirt and sitting on the floor beside a double-deck bed.
She said Abua’s hands were tied. He was blindfolded and his mouth was stuffed with cloth, later removed to show his face.
Johanna said she refused the captors’ demands to meet with them, reveal her address or bring along their young daughter.
“My appeal is for them to surface Steve alive and well,” she said, noting that the abductors stopped sending her text messages when they learned that alerts for Abua’s forced disappearance went viral on social media on Monday.
Pia Montalban, Karapatan coordinator in Central Luzon, said the manner of Abua’s abduction and the negotiation that followed it was done differently but “nonetheless threatening to his liberty and rights.”
In a separate interview, Lt. Col. Eugene Garce, commander of the Philippine Army’s 70th Infantry Battalion based in Bulacan province, said none of the units under his command in the region was holding Abua.
All police units in the region did not have reports on any arrest involving Abua, said Police Lt. Col. Soledad Elefanio, public information head of the Central Luzon police.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Indigenous peoples' rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 5, 2021
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Appeal Court on Friday reduced the prison sentences of three jailed activists with the environmentalist group Mother Nature, theoretically making them eligible for release.
Long Kunthea, Thun Ratha and Phuon Keoraksmey were convicted in May and handed prison sentences of 18-20 months and fines of $1,000. They had been arrested in September 2020 and accused of incitement for planning a one-person march to advocate against the filling of Boeung Tamok lake in Phnom Penh. The group has been imprisoned since then and have since been hit with additional criminal charges of plotting.
The Appeal Court, which held a hearing for the three activists in late October, announced Friday morning a reduction in their sentences to 14 months, which would allow the trio to be freed on time served. Kunthea and Keoraksmey told a VOD reporter they expected to be released Friday evening, but they have not yet left prison as of publication of this article.
Their defense lawyer, Sam Sokong, said that while the activists have completed their reduced sentences for the earlier incitement charges, they’re now being held in pretrial detention for the plotting charges. Since the trio was already serving their prison sentences when those additional charges were filed, Sokong explained, the defense had not yet asked for bail but will do so next week.
If that request for bail is granted, the activists should be able to leave prison.
Despite their reduced sentences, the two activists said they were unhappy with the court’s decision to uphold their convictions and reasserting their innocence of any wrongdoing.
“We consider the court’s decision is still an injustice for us because we have not done anything wrong as we were charged,” Kunthea said.
Ratha said their advocacy was of national interest and he would consider appealing the guilty verdict after consulting with his lawyers.
“I am still strong because this is a matter for the whole country. I am not happy with the court’s decision because I have not committed [a crime] as I was charged,” Ratha said.
The three activists are also facing a plotting charge in a case that involves three other Mother Nature activists who were arrested in June. Sun Ratha and Yim Leanghy are charged with plotting and insulting the king, while Ly Chandaravuth is charged only for plotting.
The verdict coincided with the Friday morning release of five imprisoned activists from the officially banned opposition CNRP, as well as the youth activist groups Khmer Student Intelligent League Association and Khmer Thavrak.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Nov 4, 2021
- Event Description
Student activists Benja Apan and Nutchanon Pairoj have been sentenced to jail on contempt of court charges stemming from a protest at the Ratchadapisek Criminal Court on 29 April 2021 to demand the release of detained activists.
On 29 April 2021, a crowd gathered on the steps of the Ratchadapisek Criminal Court while lawyers went to file a bail request for 7 activists who were detained pending trial at the time on a royal defamation charge. 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, Benja 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 call on judges to grant justice to the people.
Benja was sentenced to 6 months in prison, which, according to a lawyer from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), is the highest possible sentence for the charge.
The court ruled that Benja’s action caused disorder on the court grounds, and that the poem she read insulted the judiciary. The court also said that as she showed no remorse for her action, there was no reason to reduce her sentence.
After leaving the trial, Benja met student activist and fellow United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration member Cholathit Chotsawat and gender equality activist Chumaporn Tangkliang, who were waiting outside the courtroom. She cried, asked Chumaporn “when will it end?” and questioned why the leaders of military coups never get prosecuted.
Benja then asserted that her legs were her own and she had the right to walk by herself or not. She told the correctional officers surrounding her that they already had power over her body and could do what they wanted but that they were going to have to drag her as she would not be moving from the spot on her own.
She then sat down on the ground. The correctional officers brought in a wheelchair, two women officers pulled Benja up and took her away. As she was being taken, Benja called out “Down with feudalism. Long live the people.”
Benja is currently being detained pending trial on a lèse majesté charge in connection with the 10 August 2021 protest. She has been denied bail at least 3 times.
Meanwhile, Nutchanon was sentenced to 4 months in prison, but was later released after posting a 50,000-baht bail. The surety was covered by Will of the People Fund, a charity established to help people facing charges for participating in the pro-democracy movement.
At the 29 April 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 is 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 at use a crowd to pressure the court, which violates the court’s independence in ruling on a case.
According to iLaw, during Benja’s trial, court police were stationed in front of the courtroom, and even though the judge did not order the trial to be held in secret, no observers were allowed into the room, ostensibly as a Covid-19 prevention measure. During Nutchanon’s trial, the court prohibited all recording devices and only allowed note-taking.
TLHR reports that since 18 July 2020, at least 26 people have been charged with contempt of court. Of this number, at least 14 have been charged for demanding bail rights for detained activists.
Other than Benja and Nutchanon, 4 other activists are facing contempt of court charges for participating in the 29 April 2021 protest: Pattarapong Noipang, Shinnawat Chankrajang, Elia Fofi, and Pisitkul Kuantalaeng.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Nov 3, 2021
- Event Description
Soldiers fatally shot the father of an anti-coup protest leader late last month as he drove his car home after closing an electrical goods shop he owned in Yangon, a family friend has told Myanmar Now.
Myo Lwin kept driving when the soldiers pulled up near him in a military vehicle on Bo Aung Kyaw Road on October 28. The soldiers then drove after him and shot him from their vehicle.
“He didn’t die on the spot,” said a friend of Kaung Sett, Myo Lwin’s 20-year-old son. “He was wounded and was taken by them. I don’t think they provided medical attention for his injury. They called the family the following morning saying that he had died.”
A few days later on November 3, Kaung Sett was arrested at a checkpoint on the way out of Yangon along with his friend, Wai Tun. His family have not heard from him since.
Junta forces also detained Kaung Sett’s uncle, Myo Thet Tun, at his home on November 1 even though he was said to have had no involvement in anti-coup protests.
“His uncle was not a part of any movement,” said Kaung Sett’s friend. “His arrest was announced on TV as well.”
Eleven others were arrested on the same day as the uncle on suspicion of being part of the armed resistance movement, while another person was arrested the following day.
The others who were arrested are: Naing Ye Tun, Lin Htet San, Nanda Aung Lin, Zin Min Htet, Min Hein Khant, Hsu Myat Htwe, Zin Ko Hein, Ye Lin Aung, Phan Mhue Eain, Maung Myo, Chit Pone and Aung Naing Oo.
Most of those detained were aged between 17 and 30. The junta said it seized weapons during the arrests and has accused those detained of carrying out bomb attacks and assassinations in Yangon as members of underground organisations including the 44st UG guerrilla group.
The group was formed after two people died and three were badly injured jumping from a third storey apartment on Yangon’s 44th Street in a bid to escape from junta soldiers in August.
With the exception of the uncle, those arrested were active in the anti-coup protest movement, said Kaung Settt’s friend.
Kaung Sett took part in regular flash mob style protests against the junta as part of the General Strike Committee and the Pazundaung-Botahtaung Youth Strike Committee. Such protests have continued on at least a weekly basis in Yangon despite murderous crackdowns by soldiers.
On October 31, Kaung Sett’s mother placed an announcement in a state-owned newspaper saying the family had disowned her son.
The junta has killed at least 1,252 civilians as of Wednesday, while 7,091 people remain in junta custody, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to life, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Nov 1, 2021
- Event Description
Myanmar’s junta has escalated its campaign against anti-coup opponents nationwide by stepping up its arrests, torture and killings, while ignoring calls from the international community to end all violence and release political prisoners.
In southern Myanmar’s Tanintharyi Region, over a dozen residents of Dawei and Launglon townships were reportedly arrested this week.
The most recent arrest included three relatives of Ko Lu Lu Zaw, an activist who is wanted by the military regime for his involvement in peaceful anti-regime demonstrations in Launglon Township. Early on Wednesday morning, junta forces arrested the activist’s wife, two-year-old child and uncle as they couldn’t find Ko Lu Lu Zaw at his home.
Earlier on Monday, the junta also raided the houses of two wanted anti-coup protest leaders in Launglon Township. The junta forces burned down the house of one activist after failing to find him and arrested the mother of another protest leader as a hostage.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Raid, Use of Excessive Force, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to housing, Right to liberty and security, Right to property, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Nov 1, 2021
- Event Description
A teacher from Sintgaing Township in Mandalay Region died on Tuesday after just 24 hours in a junta interrogation centre.
Win Lwin, 32, had worked at a government high school in Sintgaing, and was arrested on Monday morning, according to another resident of his home village of Ywar Bo.
“He died at the interrogation centre and his family was notified to come and collect his body. However, when they went there to get his body, they were told that he had already been cremated,” the villager told Myanmar Now.
The victim had been staying in Ywar Bo and had left his teaching post to participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) aimed at toppling the junta, which took power in a coup in February.
Another Sintgaing local said that Win Lwin was likely questioned about an explosion that took place in the village in late September.
“The soldiers stationed in the community hall in the middle of the village were attacked with a bomb and there were some casualties,” the local said. “[The junta’s forces] started arresting the teachers taking part in the CDM after the attack. He was one of the many that were arrested.”
On Monday, Win Lwin was among five people who were initially detained, but three were later released the same day.
Only Win Lwin and a private tutor, Yan Aung Win, were held overnight in detention.
Win Lwin is survived by his wife and a two-year-old son.
The Sintgaing local who spoke to Myanmar Now about Win Lwin’s death condemned his arrest and murder as “senseless,” and also denounced the junta’s brutal crackdown on resistance in the township.
On October 29, another 27-year-old teacher participating in the CDM and a 40-year-old betel nut vendor named Pho Wa were arrested and accused of involvement in the assassination of a junta-appointed ward administrator three days earlier.
The deceased, Aung Myint, was from Wun Htan Kwat Thut ward in Paleik town in Sintgaing, and an alleged military informant.
“We heard that they were torturing Pho Wa to get him to confess that he was the getaway driver for the assaillants that killed Aung Myint. The CDM teacher who got arrested along with him was also in danger, I heard,” another local from the township said.
Two more Sintgaing locals, Aye Wai, 50, and Chaw Su, 40, were arrested by the military council on October 30 and accused of supporting the anti-junta People’s Defence Force.
No one at the Sintgaing Central Police Station has answered Myanmar Now’s calls regarding the incidents.
According to data published on Tuesday by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 1,233 civilians have been killed by the military council since the coup.
U Win Lwin, a teacher at the Basic Education High School in Sintgine, Magwe Region, who was involved in the CDM, also died from injuries consistent with torture, AAPP stated in their report.
At around 3am on November 1 at around 3am, junta soldiers arrested five villagers including U Win Lwin for questioning. Three out of the five were released that evening, but U Win Lwin and U Yan Aung Win, a tutor, were kept in detention. On November 2 at 7am, U Win Lwin’s family were told to collect his body.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Torture, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Public Servant
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Oct 30, 2021
- Event Description
Around 100 Myanmar army soldiers raided a safehouse in Mandalay’s Chanayethazan Township on Saturday, arresting eight people, including two former student union leaders and two members of an education strike committee.
Among those taken into junta custody were Yan Soe Paing, the former chair of the Mandalay University Student Union and Naung Htet Aung, the former chair of the Yangon Education University Student Union.
Two members of the basic education staff’s general strike committee—Nine Thiha Kyaw and Thet Su Hlaing—were also arrested.
Aung Pyae Sone Phyo, the chair of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, said the identities of the remaining two detainees had not been verified.
“The house where they had recently been staying was raided. Six of our people were taken and we only managed to identify four of them. We still don’t know who the other two are, which group they are from or why they were arrested,” he told Myanmar Now on Sunday.
The victims’ families were worried for their safety and had received no information on their whereabouts, Aung Pyae Sone Phyo said.
“We heard that the military also kicked and beat a disabled woman at the house during the raid,” he added.
Locals who spoke to Myanmar Now on the condition of anonymity claimed that the troops who carried out the raid on the safehouse also later searched other homes in the neighbourhood and interrogated pedestrians.
The junta’s information team did not answer calls from Myanmar Now regarding the arrests.
Daily protests against the dictatorship are ongoing in Mandalay and have been met with brutal crackdowns by the military, whose troops have been known to open fire on demonstrators and hit them with cars.
According to documentation by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 9,000 people have been detained by the junta in the nine months since the February 1 coup. More than 1,000 have been killed.
The military council has declared the AAPP an unlawful organisation.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Public Servant, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Oct 29, 2021
- Event Description
The public prosecutor has decided to indict Noppasin Treelayapewat, 16, who was charged with royal defamation for participating in a “fashion show” during a pro-democracy protest on Silom Road on 29 October 2020.
At the “Ratsadorn Catwalk” fashion show, staged at the 29 October 2020 protest, Noppasin is alleged to have mocked the King by wearing a black crop top with the message “My father’s name is Mana, not Vajiralongkorn” written on his back. He was charged with royal defamation under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code after a complaint was filed against him by Waritsanun Sribawornthanakit.
Waritsanun also filed a complaint against Jatuporn Sae-Ung, 23, for participating in the same protest. Jatuporn is alleged to have ridiculed the Queen by wearing a pink Thai traditional dress to the fashion show and walking along a red carpet under an umbrella held by another protester.
The public prosecutor decided on 15 July 2021 to indict Jatuporn with royal defamation on 15 July 2021. She was released on bail using 200,000 baht as security. The court also set her conditions that she must not repeat her offences, participate in activities that damage the monarchy, or leave the country.
The ”Ratsadorn Catwalk” took place after it was reported that the Ministry of Commerce received a 13-million baht budget for the overseas exhibition of new products by Sirivannavari brand, a fashion label owned by the King’s younger daughter, Princess Sirivannavari.
The 29 October 2020 protest took place on the same day that Sirivannavari’s new collection launch event was being held at the nearby Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Although there were no speeches, protesters participated in the fashion show, performed, and exhibit artwork to support monarchy reform.
According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), at least 154 people have been charged with royal defamation for political expression since November 2020. At least 12 of the defendants are under the age of 18.
Several protest leaders are also facing multiple counts of the charge, including Parit Chiwarak, who is facing 21 counts; Anon Nampa, 14 counts; Panupong Jadnok, 9 counts; Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, 8 counts; and Benja Apan, 6 counts.
Five people are currently detained pending trial on royal defamation charges: Parit Chiwarak, Jatupat Boonpattaraksa, Anon Nampa, Panupong Jadnok, and Benja Apan.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Oct 29, 2021
- Event Description
On 29/10/2021, seven migrant workers from Cambodia were arrested and detained at Ministry of Labour(MOL) Thailand. This occurred whilst they were part of a Delegation submitting a Petition to the Minister of Labour demanding better welfare and rights of migrant workers working in Thailand, affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The arrests occurred despite announcement on official government websites regarding the Cabinets decision to give an amnesty on documentation requirements for migrants and whilst the migrants were exercising their human rights as Human Rights Defenders. One of the main duties of MOL is” to consider complaints or requests filled to Minister “. The Minister failed in his duty to the seven migrant workers who were making an official request. On 29/10/2021, at about 9 am, a delegation from the Taskforce to Monitor the Provision of Support to Workers in Construction Sector, which included the Workers ‘Union, the Labor Network for People’s Rights, the Migrants Working Group (MWG) and migrant workers, went to meet the Minister of Labour petitioning for that the MOL ensure better welfare and rights to migrant workers especially during this Covid-19 pandemic.
Their demands included, (1) the appointment of the Working Committee on the Management of Foreign Workers from the Three Countries(Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia) with representation from the workers, civil society and state; (2) the reduction of fees and expenses, particularly for those migrants with permission to remain in the Kingdom; (3) the provision of Mandatory Health Insurance for migrant workers from these 3 countries who are employed in the private sector to be at the same rate and benefits as provided in the health insurance scheme of the Ministry of Public Health or Social Security; and (4) the repeal of Social Security Office’s regulations which impede the migrant workers’ access to protection under the Workmen's Compensation Fund Act. Around 11am while negotiations were on-going between the representatives of the delegation and the authorities ; seven migrant workers who were waiting outside the Ministry of Labour were arrested by plainclothes police officers, Immigration officers and other unidentified officials wearing vests bearing the name “The Minister of Labour Suchart Chomklin”. The authorities barged in and demanded to examine the personal documents of the seven workers. Photos were taken. The seven Cambodian migrant workers (3 women and 4 men) were arrested and taken to the Din Daeng Police Station. One of them is a single mother, who had that morning told her children she would be out to process her work permit, but will come back in the evening. Now, her two children are left motherless having no idea where their mother is. Charges against the seven were for allegedly illegally entering the country, an offense punishable under the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (1979). Denial of access to lawyers and questionable investigations The seven allegedly were then pressured into rushing to sign the charge sheets, which can be taken as an admission of guilt. This was done before they were granted access to lawyers and/or legal representatives. There were no interpreters present. Access to lawyers was subsequently granted only at around 3 pm. The police then transferred the seven to the Immigration Detention Centre (Soi Suan Plu IDC), where they still remain in detention. Arresting these migrant workers, who are Human Rights and Labour Rights Defenders, who went to the Ministry to submit representations is wrong and a violation of human and labour rights. When Minister and Ministries Disrespect Thailand Cabinet’s Decision of 28/9/2021. It is shocking that this happens after the Thai Cabinet on 28/9/2021 had made and publicized a decision to allow undocumented migrant workers from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia to continue to stay in Thailand to enable time for employers and migrant workers to apply and receive official permits. This reasonable decision comes in response to the Covid-19 pandemic that has affected employers, workers and also government administration. Despite this government decision, the Ministry of Interior and/or the Ministry of Labour has still failed to put in place the necessary mechanisms and procedures to give effect to the government’s decision. This government decision will apply to two groups of migrant workers including (1) undocumented workers from the said three countries who have yet to obtain their work permits; and (2) migrant workers from the said three countries who have already applied for work permits pursuant to the earlier 29/12/2020 Cabinet resolution, but have yet to receive their permits. The reported government decision was that these 2 categories of workers shall be treated as follows - The undocumented migrant workers who have yet to apply for work permits shall remain in the Kingdom and continue to work legally, and their employers must apply for work permits on behalf of the workers within 30 days after the Notification of the relevant Ministry, being the Ministry of Labour and/or Ministry of Interior, is issued and published in The Royal Thai Government Gazette. Migrant workers will be allowed to continue staying and working in the Kingdom until 28 February 2023. Almost a month later after the government’s decision, the needed Notification from the relevant Ministry is yet to be issued. This procrastination and neglect of duty has also impacted on the ability of Public Health to successfully implement its Covid 19 prevention program The procrastination of Ministers and their Ministry is appalling as it will cause great suffering not just to migrant workers but also their employers. It has been reported on the Facebook Page of Labor Network for People’s Rights that on the evening of 29/10/2021, negotiations concluded that the said seven migrant workers will be placed under Covid-19 quarantine for at least 14 days or until the Ministry Notification pursuant the 28/9/2021 Cabinet decision is issued and despite the high risk of Covid infection at detention facilities.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Labour rights, Offline, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Oct 28, 2021
- Event Description
The Thai authorities should promptly and impartially investigate the alleged police torture of two pro-democracy activists in Bangkok and hold those responsible to account, Human Rights Watch said today.
On October 29, 2021, at about 6 p.m., police arrested Attasith Nussa, 35, and Weeraphap Wongsaman, 18, after violently dispersing a protest outside Bangkok’s Din Daeng police station. The two men allege that the police beat them while arresting them and then took them inside the police station, where officers beat and choked them, burned them with cigarettes, and threatened them with death.
“Attasith and Weeraphap’s accounts of their brutal mistreatment show that the Thai government has failed miserably to live up to its repeated pledges to end torture in police custody,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The fact that this abuse happened not in a remote provincial jail but in downtown Bangkok demonstrates how little the police fear getting punished.”
On November 1 Attasith told the media that he was filing a complaint with the House of Representatives’ Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights. He said that, after being taken to the police station, officers in uniforms and civilian clothes surrounded him in an interrogation room. One police officer in a white shirt accused him of setting fire to a shrine in front of the Din Daeng police station, and said it was “convenient” that he came alone to the demonstration so that they could say he “died in an accident.”
“[H]e dragged me on a wooden bench and slammed my head against it twice” Attasith said. “He asked me, ‘Why did you come here and make a mess? Did you set fire to the shrine? Do you know who shot that riot police officer [who was seriously wounded on October 6]? Were you involved in that shooting?’ He asked these questions again and again. Then he hit my ribs and stomach with a wooden baton. After that, he grabbed my neck and choked me until I almost passed out.”
Attasith said the police took turns choking him six or seven times, forcing him to tell them his mobile phone and chat passwords. Officers told him not to resist or the beating would get much worse. They beat him until 7 p.m. and kept him in the interrogation room until about 3 a.m. the next day, before taking him to the holding cells where they detained other protesters.
On October 30 Weeraphap gave a media interview describing his mistreatment by police in uniforms and civilian clothes at the Din Daeng police station.
“Those police officers punched and kicked me when they arrested me and brought me inside the Din Daeng police station,” Weeraphap said. “I was handcuffed behind my back. They put me on a chair in an interrogation room and took my pants off. They burned the areas around my genitals with cigarettes and kicked my testicles. One of the officers said, ‘You were lucky that I did not shoot you and dump your body in a river, because you set fire to the shrine [in front of the police station].’ They took turns beating me up, punching and kicking me.”
Weeraphap said they repeatedly asked him about the wounding of the riot police officer on October 6, and when he said he knew nothing about it, they beat him again. He said this went on until the next day at 3 a.m.
Attasith and Weeraphap were released by the court on October 30.
Torture and other ill-treatment in police custody have long been a problem in Thailand but the government has taken few steps to address it, Human Rights Watch said. In August, police tortured a drug suspect to death in the Nakhon Sawan provincial police station. Human Rights Watch has also documented numerous cases related to counterinsurgency operations in Thailand’s southern border provinces, in which police and military personnel tortured ethnic Malay Muslims.
The government’s Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Bill, which is currently being considered by parliament, does not meet international human rights standards, such as lacking definitions for cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Thailand is a party to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which obligates governments to investigate and prosecute acts of torture and other ill-treatment. Article 4 of the Convention states that a government should “ensure that all acts of torture are offenses under its criminal law. The same shall apply to an attempt to commit torture and to an act by any person which constitutes complicity or participation in torture.” The government should also “make these offenses punishable by appropriate penalties, which take into account their grave nature.”
“Attasith and Weeraphap’s cases should impress upon the Thai government the need to establish a credible and independent prosecutorial body to receive complaints of police abuse, conduct investigations, and bring cases for prosecution,” Adams said. “The government should also promptly act to fulfill past pledges to make torture a criminal offense.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Death threat, Intimidation and Threats, Torture, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Oct 27, 2021
- Event Description
A court in southern Vietnam on Thursday sentenced five independent journalists to long prison terms after a two-day trial, putting them behind bars for a total of 14 years and six months for writing articles authorities said had slandered government leaders.
The members of the now-shuttered Clean Newspaper Facebook group had been charged under Clause 2, Article 331 of Vietnam’s Penal Code with “abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to violate the State’s interests and the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals.”
Handed the heaviest sentence, journalist Truong Chau Huu Danh was sentenced to four years and six months, while Doan Kien Giang and Le The Thang received sentences of three years each, and Nguyen Phuoc Trung Bao and Nguyen Thanh Nha were each given two-year sentences.
The five will also be barred from working as journalists for three years after finishing their prison terms, the court in Can Tho city said.
“The sentence especially for Truong Chau Huu Danh was too severe, and the sanctions used under Article 331 are too harsh,” independent journalist Duong Van Thai told RFA following the trial. “Authoritarian countries will give someone a harsh verdict if they want to destroy them,” he said.
“In fact, the Communist regime doesn’t want to listen to any critical, dissenting voices,” Thai said. “They only like praise, hate criticism, and dislike any new ideas.”
“They are never lenient with political dissidents and always give them much harsher penalties. This is the easiest way for Vietnam’s Communist regime to get revenge,” he said.
Thai added that the group may have been given especially harsh sentences because of their reports on infighting among Communist Party leaders, including a series of stories they wrote about former Dak Lak provincial party secretary Bui Van Cuong.
Cuong, now the secretary general of Vietnam’s National Assembly, had been accused by two lecturers from Ton Duc Thang University of plagiarism in completing work for his PhD degree. The two lecturers were themselves later arrested.
Clean Newspaper journalists had also posted criticisms online of the Jan. 9, 2020 raid by security forces intervening in a land dispute at Dong Tam commune outside Hanoi in which a village elder was shot dead by police.
Other articles had criticized the widely unpopular build-operate-transfer (BOT) highway schemes adopted by Vietnam in recent years that have sparked rare protests over toll collections described by motorists as unfair.
'Not enemies of the state'
Vietnam's government should recognize that citizen journalists and independent media are "allies of good governance, not enemies of the state," Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson said in a statement on Tuesday, a day before the trial began.
"Throwing more citizen journalists into prison is not going to stop people from complaining, or demanding reforms in Vietnam," Robertson said.
In a statement following the trial, Daniel Bastard, head of the Asia-Pacific desk for Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF)—said that Vietnamese authorities have now given “new evidence of their determination to suppress any attempt to provide freely reported news and information.”
“Worse still, by banning them from practicing their trade altogether, [the judges] have shown what little account Vietnam’s leaders take of journalism. These five journalists have no place being in prison,” Bastard said.
Vietnam is ranked 175th out of 180 countries in RSF’s World Press Freedom Index for 2021.
Vietnam’s already low tolerance of dissent deteriorated sharply last year with a spate of arrests of independent journalists, publishers, and Facebook personalities as authorities continued to stifle critics in the run-up to the ruling Communist Party Congress in January. Arrests continue in 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Oct 27, 2021
- Event Description
Ven. Thawbita, a prominent Mandalay-based monk who was sentenced to two years in prison just a day after his arrest on February 1, has been given two more years behind bars on new charges, his lawyer said on Monday.
San Nyunt Wai, the monk’s lawyer, told Myanmar Now that the new sentence was handed down last Wednesday after the regime added charges of incitement under Section 505a of the Penal Code to the list of his client’s alleged offenses.
It was unclear if an appeal would be filed, but it appeared to be unlikely, as the court has denied the monk any formal representation, according to San Nyunt Wai.
“The prison authorities said his case would have to be submitted to the higher authorities as he was a well-known monk,” the lawyer said.
An outspoken critic of Myanmar’s military leaders, Ven. Thawbita first came to national prominence in 2007, when he emerged as one of the leaders of the monk-led Saffron Revolution.
The current case against him stems from remarks he made on social media in 2018 that were deemed defamatory to the country’s top general, Min Aung Hlaing.
He was initially charged with incitement under Section 505b of the Penal Code, but a court in Mandalay Region’s Amarapura Township dismissed that case last year.
Then, on February 2—a day after he was taken away from his monastery in handcuffs as the military seized power from Myanmar’s elected civilian government—he was found guilty of violating Section 66d of the Telecommunications Law and immediately sentenced to two years in prison.
Ywet Nu Aung, another lawyer who was involved in defending the monk before the coup, said that the sentence was handed down before the trial was even completed.
“We were still examining witnesses for the defence in connection with the Section 66d charges when he was arrested on February 1 and given a two-year sentence on February 2,” he said.
According to San Nyunt Wai, the additional charge under Section 505a was added at some point after Ven. Thawbita’s arrest.
He added that lawyers have been denied permission to visit the monk at Mandalay’s Obo Prison, ostensibly due to Covid-19 restrictions.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 26, 2021
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court today sentenced 10 currently detained political, social and youth activists to 20 months in prison and fined them 2 million riel each ($500) over charges of incitement under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code. They each must serve from 14 to 15 months in prison, with the remainder of their sentences suspended. The 10 activists, already detained for over one year, are each due to be released from prison in November 2021, however they were placed under probation for two additional years, requiring them to alert the court if they move, change jobs or want to leave the country, among other conditions. Four additional individuals were also sentenced in absentia.
The sentenced social and youth activists, many of whom were part of the Khmer Thavrak movement, include Chhoeun Daravy, Hun Vannak, Mean Prummony, Koet Saray, Tha Lavy, Moung Sopheak, and Eng Malai. Daravy and Vannak were each sentenced to serve 15 months in prison, while the others must serve 14 months. They were arrested in August and September 2020 in relation to their peaceful gatherings around the court to call for the release of jailed union leader Rong Chhun, who remains in prison after being convicted of incitement on 18 August 2021.
The trial mostly consisted of the activists being asked if they had obtained prior permission to gather, and if they had someone from outside the country encouraging or paying them to engage in the peaceful calls for Rong Chhun’s release. In their closing statements, many of the activists noted that they had only engaged in peaceful demonstrations, that the conditions in Cambodia’s overcrowded prisons were difficult, and that the trial lacked justice.
Three other detained individuals - Chum Puthy, Chhuo Pheng, and Kong Sam An - were also charged in the same case file and sentenced. The three are former activists or members of the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). Chum Puthy and Chhuo Pheng must each serve 15 months in prison, while Kong Sam An will serve 14 months. In addition, four individuals were charged in absentia, including Seng Meng Bunrong, Ho Vann, Ou Chanrith, and Kong Saphea. Meng Bunrong was found guilty of incitement, while the three others were found guilty of instigating incitement under Articles 28, 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code. They were each sentenced to two years in prison, as well as handed fines of 4 million riel each ($1,000). Charges against Hong Lim were dropped. Arrest warrants have been issued for the four who were convicted in absentia.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Oct 23, 2021
- Event Description
Veteran pro-democracy activist Ko Jimmy is in intensive care after he was detained during a raid on Saturday night in Yangon, according to a source close to the military hospital where he was admitted.
Ko Jimmy, whose real name is Kyaw Min Yu, has been sent to the Defence Services General Hospital in Mingalardon Township, the source told Myanmar Now on Monday on condition of anonymity.
“I am told his condition is not good and is worrying,” said the source, who was unable to give further details about Ko Jimmy’s injuries.
Ko Jimmy was arrested when regime forces raided a house where he was staying at the Pinlon Housing complex in Yangon’s North Dagon Township on Saturday night.
The pro-military news outlet People Media reported that several people, including Ko Jimmy, were arrested during the raid, but his wife Nilar Thein said only he was detained.
The military issued an arrest warrant for the 52-year-old activist on February 13, accusing him of inciting unrest and threatening “public tranquillity” for writing social media posts critical of the military’s coup earlier that month.
At the same time, the junta issued a warrant for Min Ko Naing, another prominent veteran of the student-led uprising of August 1988.
Since February, Ko Jimmy has moved from one place to another to avoid arrest while participating in the latest uprising, Nilar Thein said. She was not at the house during the raid and has not seen him since the coup, she added.
While trying to escape on Saturday, Ko Jimmy injured himself when he fell from a fence lined with barbed wire and another man who was also running from the junta’s forces fell on top of him, Nilar Thein said. The man who fell on Ko Jimmy managed to evade arrest, she added.
She believes junta forces inflicted even worse injuries on Ko Jimmy after he was detained and that this is the reason his condition is now so bad.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, Nilar Thein said she feared for her husband’s life and that the military council must take responsibility for everything that happens after his arrest.
Ko Jimmy, who is also a writer, was imprisoned in 1988 for his role in the uprising and remained behind bars until 1996. In 2007, following the Saffron Revolution, he was arrested again and held until 2012.
As of Sunday, Myanmar’s military junta has arrested a total of 9,175 opponents of the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Of these, 7,016 are still in regime custody.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Raid, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Oct 23, 2021
- Event Description
Three armed assailants killed a teacher who was part of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against the junta during a raid on her home in the Sagaing Region town of Homalin on Sunday evening.
The attackers shot May Hnin Aye, who was around 30 years old, in her arm, leg and chest while she was sitting on the balcony of the house, which she shared with several other family members.
May Hnin Aye lived at the house with her husband, their one-year-old son, her husband’s parents and her brother-in-law, a local protest leader named Kyaw Win Sein who was the only one not home at the time of the attack because he went into hiding in August.
During the attack, which started at around 6pm, the assailants shot the front of the house before storming inside and shooting at the family members as they ran away, Kyaw Win Sein said, adding that they did not hit anyone besides May Hnin Aye.
He told Myanmar Now that he believed the assailants were plainclothes soldiers as they seemed to be adept at handling their weapons. The attack on Kyaw Win Sein’s family home came just hours after an alleged military informant named Maung Mawt was shot dead in Homalin.
“I think they took out their anger on our family after their informant got killed,” Kyaw Win Sein said. “The problem is that we didn’t even know that person. We’ve only seen his photo online. Also, my family had already disowned me. This was just senseless and cruel.”
Kyaw Win Sein’s parents issued a public announcement in August that he had been disowned in a bid to prevent the family from being targeted. “Our family also received multiple threats before this incident,” Kyaw Win Sein said. “They even torched our family’s convenience store.”
The family’s shop in Homalin market was burned down on October 18.
An officer on duty at the Homalin central police station refused to comment on the killing of May Hnin Aye.
Fighting has been escalating across Sagaing Region as the junta deploys thousands of troops to upper Myanmar in preparation for what are expected to be large clearance operations aimed at wiping out resistance fighters.
Although Homalin is small, it is home to several military bases, including that of the 222nd Infantry Battalion, the 359th and 370th Light Infantry Battalions, and the Homalin Air Base.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Killing, Raid, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Public Servant, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Oct 23, 2021
- Event Description
Two Burapha University students have been charged with royal defamation for hanging a banner containing a message about the monarchy from their dorm room balcony.
Watchara (last name withheld), 19, was arrested on Saturday (23 October) at his dorm on an arrest warrant issued by the Chonburi Provincial Court. According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), he never received a summons before being arrested.
TLHR also reported that, according to the police report of the arrest, the police were told where Watchara lived by an informant who wanted a reward for assisting in his arrest. Acting on the information, the police arrested Watchara in front of his residence on Saturday afternoon (23 October). He was taken to Saensuk Police Station and held there overnight.
On Sunday (24 October), his roommate Wirachat (last name withheld), who was informed that an arrest warrant had also been issued for him, reported to the police. The inquiry officer informed both students that they were charged with royal defamation under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code for hanging a banner with an “inappropriate message” from their dorm room balcony. The inquiry officer also attempted to take DNA samples from both students, but their lawyer declined the request as there is no reason to do so in this case.
When Wirachat went to report to the police, a group of students came to show their support and were holding banners saying “Feudalism shall fall; the people shall prosper” and other messages demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha’s government, access to Covid-19 vaccines, repeal of Section 112, and monarchy reform.
A police officer attempted to stop them from showing the banners, but the students insisted on continuing their activities, saying that the messages are not illegal and that if the officer wanted them to stop, he had to tell them which law the messages violated. Another group of students also poured dog food in front of a group of police officers.
The two students were held at Saensuk Police Station for one more night, before being taken to court for a temporary detention request the next morning. The inquiry officer claimed that the police still needed the testimony of 6 other witnesses, and opposed to bail on the grounds that the charge has a severe penalty and is related to national security.
The students were later granted bail using a security of 150,000 baht each, which was covered by the Will of the People Fund, a bail fund for those facing charges for political expression. The court also set them the condition that they do not repeat their offense.
Previously, on 13 October 2021, Watchara and Wirachat, along with another student, were taken to Saensuk Police Station after they hung the banner from their balcony on the evening of 12 October 2021. They were questioned without a lawyer present before being released without being charged.
According to TLHR, at least 153 people are facing royal defamation charges in 157 cases since 24 November 2020, of which at least 38 cases are related to forms of expression that are not speech, such as hanging banners or displaying printed material or stickers, while 72 cases relate to opinions expressed on social media.
Several protest leaders are also facing multiple counts of the charge, including Parit Chiwarak, who is facing 21 counts; Anon Nampa, 14 counts; Panupong Jadnok, 9 counts; Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, 8 counts; and Benja Apan, 6 counts.
Five people are currently detained pending trial on royal defamation charges: Parit Chiwarak, Jatupat Boonpattaraksa, Anon Nampa, Panupong Jadnok, and Benja Apan.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Oct 23, 2021
- Event Description
Majelis hakim Pengadilan Negeri Ambon memvonis mahasiswa Universitas Pattimura Ambon Risman Soulissa yang menyerukan demonstrasi menurunkan Presiden Joko Widodo dan Gubernur Maluku Murad Ismail. Aktivis Himpunan Mahasiswa Islam (HMI) Cabang Ambon ini divonis selama delapan bulan penjara oleh majelis hakim yang diketuai Lucky Rombot Kalalo di Pengadilan Negeri Ambon pada Jumat (23/10/2021). Dalam sidang dengan agenda pembacaan putusan itu, majelis hakim menilai perbuatan Risman telah melanggar ketentuan dalam pasal 14 ayat (2) UU RI Nomor 1 tahun 1964 Undang-undang Informasi Teknologi Elektronik. Tanggapan penasihat hukum Menanggapi putusan hakim tersebut, salah satu panasihat hukum terdakwa, Hamid Fakaubun mengaku kecewa dengan putusan hakim yang memvonis kliennya 8 bulan penjara dipotong masa tahanan. Menurut Hamid putusan hakim tersebut tidak mempertimbangkan sejumlah fakta persidangan. “Kita kecewa dengan vonis yang diberikan, karena hakim tidak mempertimbangkan fakta-fakta persidangan. Tentu selaku penasehat hukum dengan melihat semua fakta persidangan kita berharap klien kita bebas dari segala tuntutan tapi faktanya dia dihukum,” kata Hamid kepada Kompas.com, Selasa (26/10/2021). Hamid menjelaskan, saat ini tim kuasa hukum sedang membahas masalah tersebut guna memutuskan apakah akan melakukan banding terkait putusan hakim atau tidak. “Sebentar ini kita akan rapat untuk membahas masalah ini karena kemarin saat ditanya hakim kita menjawab masih pikir-pikir. Kita juga sudah koordinasi dengan keluarga dan keluarga menyerahkan sepenuhnya kepada tim PH, jadi kita tunggu direktur LBH sebentar dan kita akan putusan langkah selanjutnya,” ungkapnya. Risman sendiri sudah tiga bulan menjalani penahanan di Lapas Ambon. Apabila tim kuasa hukum memutuskan menerima putusan hakim, maka hukuman yang harus dijalani Risman Solissa tersisa lima bulan. Karena status Risman saat ini mahasiswa semester akhir di Universitas Pattimura, maka pihaknya akan berkoordinasi dengan pihak Lapas untuk mempermudah studi kliennya itu. “Kita akan bicara dengan pimpinan lapas dulu karena Risman ini statusnya mahasiswa semester akhir agar dia bisa melakukan aktivitas studinya juga karena ada hal-hal yang urgen yang harus dilakukan di kampus,” ungkapnya. Diberitakan sebelumnya, mahasiswa di Ambon bernama Risman Soulissa ditangkap sejumlah polisi di kawasan Poka, Kecamatan Teluk Ambon pada Minggu (25/7/2021) malam. Dia ditangkap setelah menyerukan aksi unjuk rasa menolak Pemberlakuan Pembatasan Kegiatan masyarakat (PPKM) di akun media sosial. Saat itu Risman juga menggunggah seruan mencopot Presiden Joko Widodo, Gubernur Maluku dan Wali Kota Ambon. Risman kemudian diperiksa kurang lebih delapan jam dan akhirnya ditetapkan sebagai tersangka pada Senin pagi. Polisi menjerat tersangka dengan Pasal 45A sebagaimana dimaksud dalam Pasal 45 ayat 3 Undang-undang Nomor 19 Tahun 2016 tentang perubahan kedua atas UU nomor 11 tahun 2008 tentang Informasi dan Transaksi Elektronik dan atau Pasal 14 ayat 2 UU Nomor 1 Tahun 1946 tentang peraturan hukum pidana.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 22, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities pushed women protesters to the ground and confiscated banners from a group of around 20 demonstrators who gathered in front of the French Embassy this morning. Police and para-police outnumbered demonstrators and used excessive force to disrupt the protesters from holding banners and speaking to the media.
The group of women protesters, often called the “Friday Women”, have for months gathered in front of various embassies and state institutions to call for the release of their imprisoned family members, who are former members or officials in the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which was dissolved by Cambodian courts in November 2017. They have previously been harassed and pushed by security forces during peaceful demonstrations. Three of the demonstrators entered the French Embassy to deliver their petition, including Prum Chantha, the mother of a detained 16-year-old with autism spectrum disorder. Her son was arrested in June 2021 for incitement and insult of public officials, while her husband Kak Komphear, a former CNRP official, has been in jail since June 2020 on charges of conspiracy and incitement. The other petitioners were Seng Chan Thon, whose husband Sun Thun was a former CNRP activist, high school teacher and local union leader and was arrested in June 2020; and Out Chanthy, whose husband Yoem Sareth was a former elected commune councilor in Phnom Penh for the CNRP and was arrested in March 2020.
More than 50 political activists and former members of the opposition are currently imprisoned, while more than a hundred have been slapped with politically motivated charges in recent years.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 22, 2021
- Event Description
A representative of 241 families involved in a land dispute with a prominent developer in Phnom Penh’s Chbar Ampov district was arrested and sent to Prey Sar Prison on charges of trespassing and illegally destroying property.
The families have been locked in a dispute over 58 hectares for decades: initially with late tycoon Suy Sophan’s Phanimex, and in the past two years with developer Borey Peng Huoth.
They say they have farmed the area since the 1980s, and last month filed a complaint to the Land Management Ministry saying the gated-housing developer had begun filling in the disputed wetlands.
Po Rorn, 54, was taken away by officers in civilian clothes around 7 a.m. Friday while he was at a cafe near his house in Prek Thmey commune, said Chheun Phalla, another representative of the disputants.
Rorn was first taken to the Interior Ministry, then to the municipal court around around 3 p.m., and finally sent to Prey Sar Prison after about an hour of questioning, Phalla said.
“They arrested our representative, so almost everyone is afraid. We don’t know how to protest or what we can do. [We are] always scared and concerned of our own safety,” he said.
Rorn had been accused of trespassing and destroying property — the same charges as previously brought by tycoon Sophan when she was still alive in 2016, Phalla said.
Another representative for the families, Mao Sophearith, who was at the court questioning on Friday, said the accusations were related to the old dispute with Phanimex.
Chbar Ampov district police chief Mao Soeuth confirmed the arrest, but said he had no further details. “I do not know either. I implemented an arrest warrant with the criminal department.”
Rorn’s wife Nhev Savath, 42, said her husband farmed more than 0.16 hectares of land that he inherited from his parents.
Savath denied that her husband could have been involved in any recent property damage, as his health condition was not good and he had been staying at home.
She was concerned about her husband’s high blood pressure and diabetes, which required regular medication and had recently deteriorated, making it hard for him to walk.
“It’s an injustice. No warrant before arresting — they came to arrest and took him,” Savath said. “I’ve worried until my legs and my hands are weak, and I can’t do anything.”
Sou Sokchea, director of the Land Management Ministry’s inspections and complaints department, said he had helped mediate the 58-hectare dispute in 2019, but after two meetings the two sides failed to reach any agreement. He decided to let the parties settle the matter bilaterally or through the courts, he said.
“It had been silent until I heard the news,” Sokchea said.
The families have shown a Council of Ministers proclamation from February 2017 to suspend registrations and transfers of land ownership in the area until the disputes are resolved. But they claim Phanimex transferred its claims to the land to Borey Peng Huoth anyway two years ago.
The new developer began pouring sand into the area in early September, and showed residents land titles signed by the municipal administration in March, they have said.
A lawyer for Phanimex said he no longer represented the company since Sophan’s death, while a Borey Peng Huoth representative involved in sandfilling declined to be named.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Minority Rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Oct 21, 2021
- Event Description
Student activist Benja Apan has been denied bail for a third time yesterday (21 October), after she was arrested on 7 October 2021 on a lèse majesté charge in connection with the 10 August 2021 protest.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that Benja’s lawyer went to file another bail request for her yesterday morning (21 October), with politician Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit as her bail guarantor, using 200,000 baht as security.
However, the South Bangkok Criminal Court ruled to deny bail for Benja on the grounds that there is no reason to change previous court orders. According to TLHR, the order was signed by Deputy Chief Justice Manas Phakphuwadol.
Benja was arrested on 7 October 2021 after she went to meet the inquiry officer at Lumpini Police Station to hear a charge of violating the Emergency Decree for participating in the 3 September protest at the Ratchaprasong intersection. The police then found that there was an outstanding arrest warrant issued against her on a royal defamation charge under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code, as well as charges for violations of the Emergency Decree and the Communicable Diseases Act, for participating in the 10 August 2021 protest. However, she did not receive a summons before being arrested.
During the protest, Benja read out the second United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration Declaration, stating that the 2014 coup led by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha has led to a regime which benefited only the elite. The statement also criticised the government’s mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic and called for the government to properly handle the pandemic, revitalise the economy, repeal the 2017 Constitution which allows the junta government to prolong its stay in power, push forward reforms in state structures and the monarchy, and also return to the people their dignity.
Benja was taken to court on 8 October, and was later denied bail. Her lawyer filed another bail request with the Appeal Court, which was also denied on the grounds that the charges carry severe penalties and that Benja had violated her previous bail conditions.
The lawyer also requested bail for Benja on charges relating to the protest in front of the German Embassy in Bangkok on 26 October 2020, which was denied on the grounds that Benja violated her previous bail conditions, which required her not to participate in activities which cause damage to the monarchy, and is currently facing other counts of the same charges. The court therefore believed that she would repeat her offense if released.
According to TLHR, at least 1,458 people are now facing charges for participating in pro-democracy protests between July 2020 and September 2021. Of this number, at least 145 people are facing royal defamation charges under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code. At least 111 people are facing sedition charges under Section 116 of the Thai Criminal Code, while at least 1,171 people are facing charges for violating the Emergency Decree.
TLHR also said that, as of 14 October, 23 people are currently in detention for participating in protests: Parit Chiwarak, Jatupat Boonpattararaksa, Anon Nampa, Huad, Thawee Thiangwiset, Chitipat, Chakri, Panupong Jadnok, Nat, Nawapol Tonngam, Wachirawit Limthanawong, Pawaris Yaemying, Paitoon, Suksan, Naruebet, Pichai, Jittakorn, Tha, Sith, Thu, Benja Apan, Kachen, and Kajornsak.
Of this number, five people are being detained on royal defamation charges: Parit, Jatupat, Anon, Panupong, and Benja.
In protest of the denial of bail for Anon and Benja, Joseph (pseudonym), one of the protesters facing charges for reading a statement in front of the German Embassy on 26 October 2021, wore a shirt with pictures of Anon and Benja to attend an evidence examination hearing on 11 October 2021. He also cut his arm in front of the judge as an act of protest.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Oct 20, 2021
- Event Description
On October 20, the People’s Court of Ninh Binh province convicted Facebooker Tran Quoc Khanh of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code and sentenced him to six and half years in prison and two years of probation for his Facebook posting regarding the country’s issues. Mr. Khanh was likely forced to give up legal assistance and he had no lawyers during the trial. Unlike other political trials, his family was allowed to attend the trial and they reported that he did not confess guilty. Mr. Khanh was arrested in April prior to the parliament’s election shortly after he declared to run for a seat in the country’s highest legislative body but is considered as a rubber-stamp by international political observers.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
Case shared by Vietnam Human Rights Defenders
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Oct 18, 2021
- Event Description
On 18 October 2021, the indictment against woman human rights defender Pham Doan Trang was made public. She has been charged under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code for “propagandising against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam”. The indictment is dated 30 August 2021 but was only made available to the woman human rights defender and her attorneys merely two weeks before her case goes to trial on 4 November 2021.
Pham Doan Trang is a woman human rights defender, blogger and journalist. She is the founder of online law and human rights magazine Luật Khoa, and is a member of the editorial board of The Vietnamese, an independent news website which raises public awareness about human rights and political issues in Vietnam. She recently published “Politics for All”, a book promoting citizen participation, and authored a book in 2008 on the Vietnam’s LGBTIQ+ community’s demands for equal rights.
The indictment, which was made public on 18 October 2021, accuses Pham Doan Trang under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code for which she could face up to 12 years in prison. The indictment stated that the Investigation Unit of Hanoi City’s Police formally opened the investigation on 10 September 2020. The Department of Cyber Security and High Tech Crimes under the Ministry of Public Security and the Department of Information and Communications had petitioned the investigation department to pursue legal proceedings against Pham Doan Trang.
The ‘evidence’ against the woman human rights defender recorded in the indictment includes various reports authored by her on issues such as marine life disaster, right to freedom of religion and belief and human rights situation in Vietnam.
On 6 October 2020, at around 11.30 PM, Ho Chi Minh city police, Hanoi police and Ministry of Public Security (MPS) officials had jointly raided Pham Doan Trang’s rented apartment in Ho Chi Minh. After presenting her with an arrest warrant they brought her to an undisclosed location in Ho Chi Minh where she was not allowed contact her family or lawyers. Authorities also detained her landlord who was released later in the morning of 7 October 2020. The woman human rights defender’s arrest took place just a few hours after the 2020 US-Vietnam Annual Human Rights Dialogue.
Pham Doan Trang has come under frequent harassment, persecution, and physical assault by Vietnamese authorities in recent years. She walks with a pronounced and permanent limp caused by an injury she suffered when attacked by security forces during an environmental protest in Hanoi in April 2015. More recently, she was arrested in November 2017 after meeting the EU delegation in Hanoi and was again detained and beaten in August 2018.
Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned that Pham Doan Trang may face a heavy prison sentence for exercising her legitimate right to freedom of expression. Front Line Defenders believes that the woman human rights defender is being targeted solely for her peaceful work in defence of human rights in Vietnam.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Oct 18, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities in Myanmar have re-arrested at least 110 political prisoners freed earlier this week—some within hours of their release—suggesting that the amnesty was only a bid by the junta to appease the international community amid criticism of its rule, observers said Thursday.
Nearly nine months after the military’s Feb. 1 coup, security forces have killed 1,183 civilians and arrested at least 7,031, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)—mostly during crackdowns on anti-junta protests.
The junta says it unseated the National League for Democracy government because, they claimed, the party had engineered a landslide victory in Myanmar’s November 2020 election through widespread voter fraud. It has yet to present evidence of its claims and public unrest is at an all-time high.
On Monday, the junta released 1,316 prisoners from various facilities throughout the country as well as 4,320 detainees who faced ongoing cases for anti-junta activities, including well-known politicians, celebrities, film actors and journalists.
However, the release was ordered under Section 401 sub-section (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, which states that if a detainee commits another offense after their release, they will be made to serve the remainder of punishment as well as any sentence related to the new crime.
On Thursday, the AAPP said in a statement it had documented the re-arrest of at least 110 political prisoners over the past three days, noting that its list contained only the names of people it had verified and that the number was likely much higher.
RFA’s Myanmar Service was not immediately able to confirm the total number of people re-arrested, but determined that they included detainees from Yangon, Mandalay, Meiktila and Monywa.
Family members told RFA on Thursday that some of their loved ones were re-arrested “right at the entrance of the prison,” while others were taken back within hours of returning home. The detainees are now being held in police custody under Myanmar’s anti-terrorism law, sources said.
Lay Lay Naing, an 84-year-old woman who was arrested on May 21 and sentenced to three years in prison under Section 505 (a) of the criminal code for comments that spread “false news [or] agitates directly or indirectly a criminal offense against a government employee,” and 11 others were re-arrested at the entrance to Meiktila Prison shortly after they were released in a group of 38 people on Tuesday.
“We are devastated—our mother is 84 and her health is deteriorating,” said one of her relatives, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“We went to meet her at the prison, hoping that the whole family would be reunited and happy … We saw her from a distance, and she was taken away. We were not allowed to say anything. When we asked to see the prison officer, he would not see us.”
Four of the 11 detainees who were re-arrested were again released the next day, but seven remain in custody, the family member said.
Similarly, 60 detainees from Mandalay’s Pyin Oo Lwin township were released from Ohbo Prison on Tuesday, but three men and a woman from the group were re-arrested within hours by police.
Zaw Myo Htet, who was among those released from Ohbo Prison, confirmed the four were re-arrested under anti-terrorism laws.
“We were arrested on May 11 and charged under Section 505 (a), but we were released on Oct. 19 because the charges were revoked,” he said.
“Later, our lawyer called us and said one woman and two guys had been arrested again [in addition to a fourth man] … The lawyer said they were in custody for ‘violence.’ Actually, they were not involved in any violence as they claim.”
The four had been among a group arrested during a May 11 anti-junta protest in Pyin Oo Lwin, Zaw Myo Htet said, adding that some of those released under the amnesty are still being sought by police. Possible power struggle
Thet Paing Htwe was released from Yangon’s Insein Prison on Tuesday after also being charged under Section 505 (a), but a family member told RFA he was only home for 45 minutes before he was re-arrested.
“Now he is missing—he isn’t at the Insein Police Station, and I don’t know where to look for him, said the relative, who declined to be named.
“Only when the prison reopens on Oct. 22 will we be able to go there to find out. They said they were taking him back because he had been wrongly released. He was charged only with 505 (a).”
Thet Paing Htwe’s family members said he was arrested in Thingangyun township in May during anti-junta protests, as was his brother.
Khant Zin Ko, a member of the Monywa University Students’ Union, was similarly arrested after his release from Myoma Prison Camp No. 1.
A relative, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal, said his re-arrest suggests there is a power struggle at play between prison officials and the military.
“The higher authorities are saying one thing and those on the ground are doing what they want,” they said.
Attempts by RFA to reach Deputy Minister of Information Zaw Min Tun by phone went unanswered Thursday, although earlier in the week he said that he was unaware of the details pertaining to re-arrests.
International pressure
Amid nationwide turmoil, the military has stepped up offensives in remote parts of the country, triggering fierce battles with local PDF militias and some of the dozens of ethnic armies that control large swathes of territory along Myanmar’s periphery. On Sept. 7, Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government declared a nationwide state of emergency and called for open rebellion against junta rule, prompting an escalation of attacks on military targets.
The junta has also faced pressure to end its repressive rule from the international community, including sanctions by Western governments and condemnation from Myanmar’s fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members and the United Nations human rights agency.
The AAPP said in its statement Thursday that the military was reluctant to release political prisoners and only did so in a bid to alleviate pressure at home and abroad. The group slammed the move, saying that re-arresting people only hours after their release subjects them and their families to undue emotional stress.
Reports of the re-arrests came on the same day that New York-based Human Rights Watch issued a statement that called the amnesty, and an earlier one in late June that saw 372 detainees freed from detention, according to the AAPP, “limited in scope” and said they “do not reflect a broader change in the military’s respect for human rights.”
The group called for governments to increase pressure on the junta to “release all political prisoners, end abuses against protesters and others, and commit to promptly restore democratic rule.”
Linda Lakhdhir, the group’s Asia legal adviser, said the release should not distract from the junta’s abusive rule and noted that some of those freed had already been re-arrested.
“The junta should release all those unjustly held since the coup, including high-profile political figures, and end all arbitrary arrests,” she said.
Human Rights Watch urged concerned governments to impose tougher economic measures against the military to cut off its sources of foreign revenue and called on the United Nations Security Council to impose a global arms embargo on Myanmar.
“Governments should not mistake these releases as a sign that the junta is taking a new approach,” Lakhdhir said. “Instead, the releases appear to be a cynical gesture to blunt growing international pressure to sanction the junta and its generals.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Oct 15, 2021
- Event Description
Jerit tangisan ibu-ibu tak tertahan lagi, saat sejumlah anggota Brimob bersenjata AK 101 memborogol mereka. Para ibu dari Suku Adat Rendu di Desa Rendu, Kabupaten Nagekeo, NTT tersebut, menggelar aksi penghadangan petugas yang akan mengukur tanah adat mereka untuk Waduk Lambo.Masyarakat adat di Desa Rendu, masih belum setuju dengan rencana pemerintah membangun Waduk Lambo, karena bakal menenggelamkan tanah adat, makam keramat, dan tempat sakral untuk kegiatan ritual masyarakat adat.Para ibu rumah tangga yang bersikukuh melakukan penghadangan pengukuran tanah adat ini, kaget begitu melihat anggota Brimob yang mengendarai sejumlah motor trail, lengkap dengan senjata laras panjang, helm baja, dan rompi anti peluru menghampiri serta langsung memborogol tangan para ibu peserta aksi.Petugas pengukuran lahan langsung menyerobot masuk ke lokasi yang rencana akan dibangun waduk tersebut. Para ibu rumah tangga itu menangis histeris, menyaksikan petugas mulai mengukur tanah adat mereka dengan pengawalan ketat anggota Brimob.
Hermina Mawar, salah seorang ibu rumah tangga yang turut diborgol tangannya oleh anggota Brimob, mengaku sangat kecewa tanah adat yang secara turutn-temurun ditempati masyarakat adat Rendu bakal ditenggelamkan oleh pembangunan waduk. "Itu tanah ulayat. Tanah adat. Tanah leluhur kami. Di tanah itu ada makam leluhur kami yang selalu kami hormati. Tempat itu juga menjadi lokasi ritual adat kami. Sampai kapanpun kami akan menolak pembangunan waduk," tutur Hermina Mawar.
Hingah saat ini, masyarakat Adat Rendu masih terus berjaga-jaga di pintu masuk desanya. Mereka bersiap menghadang berbagai upaya untuk pembangunan waduk tersebut, karena sebagian tanah adat di lokasi yang akan dibangun waduk, mereka nilai sebagai tanah suci.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Oct 13, 2021
- Event Description
Demo sekelompok mahasiswa di depan Kantor Bupati Tangerang, Banten, berujung ricuh. Polisi membubarkan massa dan mengamankan 18 orang mahasiswa.
"18 orang (diamankan)," ujar Kapolresta Tangerang Kombes Wahyu Sri Bintoro saat dimintai konfirmasi detikcom, Rabu (13/10/2021).
Wahyu tidak memberikan penjelasan lebih detail soal identitas 18 mahasiswa yang diamankan itu. Belum diketahui juga apakah para mahasiswa itu sudah dipulangkan atau belum.
Sementara itu, Wahyu menegaskan pihaknya telah memberikan pengarahan kepada personel yang melakukan pengamanan. Dalam apel tersebut, Wahyu menekankan kepada anggota agar tidak melakukan kekerasan dan melaksanakan pengamanan dengan humanis.
"Sudah di-APP (beri pengarahan) tidak ada tindakan atau gerakan tambahan seperti memukul, tetap lakukan secara humanis," imbuh Wahyu. Polisi-Mahasiswa Sempat Dorong-dorongan
Demonstrasi tersebut berlangsung pada siang tadi di depan kantor Bupati Tangerang. Demo bertepatan dengan peringatan hari ulang tahun Kabupaten Tangerang ke-389.
Wakapolresta Tangerang AKBP Leonard M Sinambela mengatakan aksi mahasiswa tersebut hendak menuntut Bupati Tangerang atas beberapa persoalan. Namun saat itu Bupati sedang tidak berada di lokasi lantaran sedang ada beberapa kegiatan.
"Mereka itu menuntut Bupati menemui padahal kan tidak ada Bupati kan kegiatan paripurna dan kegiatan rangkaian lainnya," kata Leonard saat dihubungi terpisah.
Leonard juga mengatakan dalam aksi itu massa dan pihak kepolisian sempat terlibat dorong-dorongan. Hingga akhirnya polisi menangkap sejumlah peserta demo.
"Ya mereka yang mendorong-dorong, mereka yang maksa para petugas akhirnya kan diamankan, dibawa ke Polres sekarang dimintai keterangan," tambahnya.
Leonard menyampaikan, aksi tersebut tidak mengantongi izin dari pihak kepolisian, mengingat situasi saat ini masih pandemi COVID-19.
"Jadi gini, intinya dari Polresta Tangerang melakukan kegiatan pengamanan kegiatan penyampaian pendapat. Teman-teman ini juga pada prinsipnya kan tidak dikasih surat izin demo karena kan kita masih status PPKM level 3," jelas Leonard.
Brigadir NP polisi, pelaku smackdown mahasiswa di Tangerang diberi sanksi hukuman penahanan selama 21 hari. Ia juga mendapatkan teguran tertulis dan didemosi dari jabatannya di satuan Reskrim dengan tidak diberikan kewenangan untuk penyelidikan dan penyidikan.
Persidangan Brigadir NP dipimpin oleh Kapolresta Tangerang Kombes Wahyu Sri Bintoro dan mendapatkan supervise dari Promam Polri. Persidangan di Polda Banten dan dihadiri oleh Fariz selaku korban dan ditemani oleh ketiga rekanya.
"Terhadap saudara NP telah sah dan meyakinkan melakukan pelangagran aturan disiplin Polri. Dia benar secara fakta melakukan pelanggaran atura disiplin. NP diberikan sanksi terberat dan berlapis. Apa saja, mulai dari penahanan di tempat khusus selama 21 hari, jadi dilanjutkan sejak putusan ini, dia berada di tempat tahanan khusus Propam Polda Banten," kata Kabid Humas Polda Banten AKBP Shinto Silitongga di Serang, Kamis (21/10/2021). Sanksi demosi sebagai bintara di Polresta Tangerang adalah tidak diberikannya kewenangan tugas pada yang bersangkutan. Selain itu, ia diberi teguran secara tertulis. Teguran ini, oleh Kabid diklaim bisa mengakibatkan secara administrasi berimbas pada kenaikan pangkat dan jadi kendala mengikuti pendidikan lanjutan di kepolisian.
Dalam persidangan disiplin ini, Brigadir NP dinilai melakukan tindakan eksesif dan di luar prosedur. Ia juga dinilai tidak mengindahkan perintah atasan dan menimbulkan korban.
"Terakhir tindakan NP dapat menjatuhkan nama baik Polri," ujarnya.
Di putusan, katanya memang tidak ada kata-kata penurunan pangkat pada brigadir NP. Tapi, ia sebut teguran tertulis itu bisa menjadi kendala dalam pendidikannya ke depan. "Untuk penurunan pangkat tidak diberikan di putusan. Tapi sanksi teguran tertulis akan jadi kendala besar bagi yang bersangkutan untuk prosesi kenaikan pangkat pada jenjang lain," ujarnya.
- Impact of Event
- 18
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 12, 2021
- Event Description
An anti-logging activist was on Tuesday convicted of assault against an alleged timber trader, as rights groups linked the verdict to ongoing harassment and intimidation against environmentalists in the country.
The Kampong Thom Provincial Court sentenced Chan Thoeun, who is in hiding, to two years’ imprisonment, but suspended the sentence, according to his lawyer Sam Sokong.
Sokong said the judge had also downgraded the charge from attempted murder to intentional violence with aggravating circumstances.
Thoeun has previously said that he saw a timber trader hauling timber from a community forest in July last year, but was threatened at knifepoint when he pulled out his phone to capture footage, alleging that he was the victim, not the aggressor.
Sokong said that although the two-year sentence was suspended, he considered the court’s decision unfair because his client was the victim. “We see that [the court] has not yet been given justice to the client,” he said.
Thoeun, who is a member of the Prey Lang Community Network in Kampong Thom province, said he would appeal the conviction.
“It is an injustice against me. When it comes to many huge crimes of timber [trafficking], they do not prosecute them. But they sue me and accuse me, and it is unjust,” he said. “I do not accept it because I did not do anything wrong and they came to take my phone and prosecuted me. I will appeal to the Appeal Court. The decision is unacceptable since I am a victim.”
Cambodian Center for Human Rights executive director Chak Sopheap said members of the Prey Lang Community Network have been facing harassment as well as physical and legal threats. Environmentalists should not be facing such actions under a democracy, she said.
“I hope that the government should reconsider its commitment to the protection of natural resources, and that commitment can only be achieved with the participation of local communities,” Sopheap said. “As long as local communities that are active in protecting the environment remain under threat, it contradicts the government’s claimed commitment.”
The network, which works to protect the massive Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, has been banned from conducting patrols since last year. Environmentalists have been arrested in the protected area, and the U.S. this year pulled funding to the government for Prey Lang-related projects, citing continued logging, failure to prosecute timber traders and silencing of environmentalists. Other environmentalists have also been jailed and charged with plotting against the government.
Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for campaigns, said Thoeun should never have been charged or tried, and his conviction fit a pattern of silencing and intimidating environmental activists in Prey Lang and across Cambodia.
“Chan Thoeun and the PLCN have been standing up against powerful illegal logging interests for years,” Hah said. “They have defended the Prey Lang forest while the Cambodian authorities have turned a blind eye to the rampant destruction of this vital ecosystem, which is an essential part of the culture of indigenous Kuy communities.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to fair trial
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 9, 2021
- Event Description
Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered the arrest of a former monk and forestry activist living in exile who shared a disparaging poem about the country’s strongman on social media, RFA has learned.
Voeun Veasna currently resides in neighboring Thailand. A Khmer Times report on Oct. 11 described him as a 35-year-old activist affiliated with the banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
On Oct. 9, Voeun Veasna used his Facebook account under the name Kranhoung Preylang to post a poem titled ‘Hun Sen is a Traitor’ on the prime minister’s own Facebook page. The poem criticized Sen for amending Cambodia’s constitution, thereby “destroying the country.”
The poem also accused Hun Sen of allowing Cambodia’s forests to be destroyed during his rule.
Hun Sen quickly responded to Voeun Veasna’s poem, calling it an expression of “extremist theory,” and called for his arrest, according to the Khmer Times report.
“Now there are extremist rebels left that need to be eliminated for peace to be maintained,” the report quoted Hun Sen as saying.
Hun Sen said that he hoped the police would track Voeun Veasna down, whether he was inside or outside the country.
Speaking from exile in Thailand, Voeun Veasna told RFA’s Khmer Service that his opinion on Hun Sen remains unchanged.
“I commented on Hun Sen’s Facebook because ever since I was born, I have not seen Hun Sen do anything to benefit his country and his people,” he said.
“Hun Sen has looked the other way as his powerful friends… stole land from the people. People are crying throughout the country, but Hun Sen has ignored them.”
The former monk said that his poem reveals the truth of Hun Sen’s leadership, andthat he plans to continue speaking out against the strongman.
“I am concerned about my security, but I don’t know what to do when this regime likes bloodshed,” he said.
Even though Hun Sen ordered his arrest this week, Voeun Veasna said that the Phnom Penh Municipal Court had already charged him with incitement in May and ordered his arrest. He said he would be arrested if he were to return to Cambodia.
Hun Sen, as a public figure, is not immune from criticism, and the government’s role should be to educate the public rather than punish them for their political opinions, Soeung Sengkaruna, spokesperson for the local ADHOC NGO told RFA.
“Our country is not open to criticism and has taken many actions against expression,” he said.
Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP in November 2017, two months after arresting its president Kem Sokha over an alleged plot to overthrow the government. Scores of supporters of the group have since been incarcerated, awaiting a tortuous legal process made slower by COVID-19 restrictions.
The move came amid a wider crackdown by Hun Sen on the country’s political opposition, independent media, and NGOs that allowed the CPP to win all 125 seats in parliament in a July 2018 election and drew U.S. sanctions and the suspension of trade privileges with the European Union.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Online
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Oct 7, 2021
- Event Description
The Observatory has been informed about the arbitrary detention and ongoing judicial harassment of Ms. Benja Apan, a student and pro-democracy activist with the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration (UFTD) [1], on lèse-majesté charges in relation with the August 10, 2021 pro-democracy protest.
On October 7, 2021, Benja Apan was arrested at the Lumpini Police Station, Bangkok, where she had gone to hear a charge of violating the Emergency Decree for participating in a pro-democracy protest on September 3, 2021, at Bangkok’s Ratchaprasong intersection. The police arrested Ms. Benja on the basis of another outstanding arrest warrant issued against her under Article 112 of the Thai Criminal Code (“lèse-majesté”) [2], the Emergency Decree [3], and the Communicable Diseases Act. These charges stem from Ms. Benja’s participation in a pro-democracy protest on August 10, 2021, in front of the Sino-Thai Tower building on Asoke Road in Bangkok, during which she gave a speech that criticized the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and called for the reform of the Thai monarchy. Later on October 7, police took Ms. Benja to Bangkok’s Thong Lo Police station where she was detained overnight after being denied bail.
On October 8, 2021, Benja Apan appeared before the Bangkok South Criminal Court, which denied her bail arguing that the offenses of which she is accused carry a heavy penalty and that she previously committed the same offenses. Benja Apan was then taken to the Central Women’s Correctional Institution in Bangkok, where she was still being detained at the time of publication of this Urgent Appeal. Ms. Benja is currently facing a total of six charges under Article 112 of the Criminal Code and she could face up to 90 years in prison, if tried and found guilty on all counts.
The Observatory notes with concern that between November 24, 2020, and October 8, 2021, 150 people, including many human rights defenders, were charged under Article 112 of the Thai Criminal Code. Some of them - Anon Nampa, Parit Chiwarak, Panupong Chadnok, and Jatuphat Boonpattararaksa - remain detained pending trial.
The Observatory condemns the arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Benja Apan, Anon Nampa, Parit Chiwarak, Panupong Chadnok and Jatuphat Boonpattararaksa,which seem to be only aimed at punishing them for their legitimate human rights activities and the exercise of their rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly.
The Observatory calls on the Thai authorities to immediately and unconditionally release the five human rights defenders and to put an end to the judicial harassment against them and all other human rights defenders in the country.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Oct 6, 2021
- Event Description
Two more were arrested by combined elements of the police and military in Quezon province, yesteray, October 6, at around 2:00 am.
According to Karapatan-Southern Tagalog, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) Batangas Spokesperson Erlindo “Lino” Baez and Anakpawis Partylist Batangas Coordinator Willy Capareño were arrested in sitio Centro, barangay Manggalang 1, Sariaya, Quezon province by no less than 50 members of the Sariaya police and the Philippine Army’s 59th Infantry Battalion.
The arrest was made by virtue of a warrant of arrest on charges against Baez for illegal possession of firearms and explosives. A press release from the CALABARZON Police Regional Office meanwhile tagged Baez and Capareño as “high-ranking members” of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
Both Baez and Capareño are no strangers to red-tagging and state harassment. The warrant issued against Baez came from the March 7 raid of his home in Santo Tomas, Batangas, where police and military supposedly “found” firearms and explosives. The raid was part of “Bloody Sunday”, which resulted in the deaths of nine activists and the arrests of seven others.
No warrant was issued for Capareño; however, he was allegedly found to be in possession of one hand-grenade. It is not yet clear what the charges against Capareño are.
Baez is the head of a family of activists. His son, Ronilo, is a political prisoner currently detained since June 3, 2010 on charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. He was one of three activists arrested in Taysan while they were integrating in a farming community.
Another son, Edrean, was a member of Anakbayan before he was killed by state forces on May 26, 2021 near Padre Garcia, Batangas, in a supposed “encounter” between members of the New People’s Army.
In 2019, Capareño received a text message from someone he does not know, telling him to go back to his home in San Juan, Batangas or else he would be arrested. This threat was part of a series of harassment against known leaders and progressives in the province.
Baez and Capareño’s arrest come one day shy of seven months since Bloody Sunday. Progressives in Southern Tagalog have long since contended that Bloody Sunday marked an “intensification of crackdown” against activists and community leaders in the region.
Multiple reports of human rights violations have come to light since March 7, including the murder of labor leader Dandy Miguel on March 28; the disappearance of former Kabataan Partylist coordinator Kemuel Ian Cometa on May 21; the arrest of peasant organizers Dana Marcellana and Christian Relao on June 25, as well as multiple icidents of threats, harassment, and intimidation by state forces.
Youth organization Gabriela Youth Quezon has called the arrests “a manifestation that despite the crisis caused by the pandemic, there is a proliferation of harassment of silencing against progressive individuals who are fighting for people’s rights.” Other groups have similarly called for the immediate release of Baez and Capareño.
Both Baez and Capareño’s families have yet to make contact with their loved ones. Initial reports indicate that they were brought to the Sariaya Municipal Police Station but no confirmation has been made yet as of press time. Karapatan-Southern Tagalog is currently spearheading efforts to locate the two activists and ensure their safety.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Oct 5, 2021
- Event Description
Chiang Mai University student and performance artist Withaya Khlangnin is facing another royal defamation charge for staging a performance in front of the university on 1 May 2021 to demand the release of detained activists.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that, according to the police, Withaya’s performance amounts to royal defamation because it involved climbing onto the university sign, above which was a portrait of the King and a sign saying “Long live the King.” Withaya also poured red paint all over himself, which the police said was unsightly, and spilled paint over the university sign and the image of the King. The police also said that the gestures Withaya used during the performance, such as standing with a paint bucket over his head, and lying down with one foot pointing up at the portrait of the king, was disrespectful.
Withaya went to Phuping Rajanivej Police Station on Tuesday (5 October) to hear the charges. He was dressed as Luffy from the Japanese manga One Piece, and staged a short performance before going to meet the inquiry officer.
TLHR reported that at least 60 police officers were stationed in the area, while the police station was surrounded with metal fences. The police also tried to stop a small crowd of supporters from going inside the police station area. Officers were taking photos and videos of people, and repeatedly made announcements that gatherings are prohibited under the Emergency Decree. Withaya was released after his meeting with the inquiry officer. He has to report to the police again in 12 days, and has to submit further testimony in 20 days.
Withaya is currently facing 2 counts of lèse majesté under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code. Along with Yotsunthon Ruttapradid, another Chiang Mai University student, he was previously charged under Section 112 and the 1979 Flag Act for a piece of installation art during a protest on 14 March 2021, which featured a mannequin wrapped in plastic in the middle of two red and white strips, on which participants at the 14 March protest were invited to write down messages. The messages were seen as defaming the King, and since the piece looks like a Thai flag without the blue stripe, which represents the monarchy, it was taken to mean that the artist does not wish the monarchy to exist in the country.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline
- HRD
- Artist, Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Oct 5, 2021
- Event Description
Wai Yan Phyo Moe, the vice president of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), was charged with violating Section 505a of the Penal Code for incitement at the Mayangone Township court in Yangon this week, according to his lawyer.
Lawyer Thet Naung told Myanmar Now that they heard about new charges against Wai Yan Phyo Moe during his other hearings in the Kyauktada and Kamayut township courts on Tuesday.
“We haven’t seen him for a while as the offices and prisons have been closed. We only learnt briefly about this Section 505 charge during his court hearings at Kyauktada and Kamayut courts,” he said.
The lawyer said he has not submitted a power of attorney document for the new charge, which would allow him to represent Wai Yan Phyo Moe at hearings in Mayangone.
Wai Yan Phyo Moe was already facing charges for the violation of Section 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law in Kyauktada for allegedly breaking rules surrounding demonstrations, as well as for incitement in both Kyauktada and Kamayut.
If convicted, each incitement charge carries a three-year prison sentence and the Section 19 charge is accompanied by a three-month sentence and/or a fine.
Many detained anti-junta protesters have been charged in different townships where they led or participated in demonstrations on the pretext that they allegedly broke the law by taking part in rallies after the February 1 military coup.
Thet Naung said that Wai Yan Phyo Moe had been held in Insein Prison since his arrest in March.
He noted that his client was in good health but that he was concerned because Wai Yan Phyo Moe had initially been placed in a cell with violent offenders instead of other political prisoners.
“We’ve requested that the prison authorities move him and they agreed to, but they haven’t actually moved him yet. It’s been too long already,” Thet Naung explained.
Wai Yan Phyo Moe was one of around 500 civilians arrested during a crackdown on the General Strike Committee’s protest column in Yangon’s Tamwe Township on March 3.
Seven detained student activists including Wai Yan Phyo Moe were placed in solitary confinement for one week after they refused to read the prison rules out loud on April 22, a punitive measure typically demanded of inmates by prison officials. They were later sent to the prison ward where those convicted of violent crimes are held, and have reportedly been asked for bribes, forced to do hard labour, and have received death threats.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Minority Rights, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Oct 4, 2021
- Event Description
Vietnamese authorities on Monday arrested a Facebook user, charging him with “abusing freedom and democracy” for writing a series of online posts they said had defamed the country’s leaders, state media reported on Monday.
Vo Hoang Tho, 36 years old and a resident of the Ninh Kieu district of southern Vietnam’s Can Tho City, had published 47 posts on his Minh Long Facebook page criticizing government efforts to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19 in the one-party communist state, media sources said.
Containment efforts, including community lockdowns and other harsh restrictions, are widely unpopular in Vietnam, and Tho’s arrest was just the latest in a continuing crackdown on Facebook users who use the popular social media platform to voice dissenting views.
Can Tho City’s Investigation Agency said Tho had formerly worked as a journalist but did not identify the media organization for which he worked.
RFA has reported nearly 30 cases in which Vietnamese citizens have been arrested for political offenses over social media posts since the beginning of this year. Among those now serving sentences for Facebook posts are journalists, bloggers, and another citizen who had posted complaints about coronavirus policies.
On Sept. 10, Vietnamese authorities arrested and charged a woman with “carrying out activities to overthrow the government,” making her the third person apprehended this year for joining an exile Vietnamese organization called a terrorist group by Hanoi, according to state media reports.
Le Thi Kim Phi, 62, had used a Facebook profile under the name Phi Kim to connect with members of the Provisional Government of Vietnam, a U.S.-based opposition group, said the investigation division of southern An Gian province’s police department.
And on Sept. 8, authorities in Can Tho indicted five journalists from the Bao Sach (Clean Newspaper) Facebook-based news outlet for publishing reports and videos dealing with politically sensitive social issues.
Vietnam’s already low tolerance of dissent deteriorated sharply last year with a spate of arrests of independent journalists, publishers, and Facebook personalities as authorities continued to stifle critics in the run-up to the ruling Communist Party Congress in January. But arrests continue in 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Oct 3, 2021
- Event Description
Junta authorities arrested the teenaged president of the Basic Education Students’ Union of Naypyitaw’s Zabuthiri Township at his home earlier this week, according to the group.
Tun Aung Kyaw, age 15, was taken into detention by two police officers and two local administrators, a spokesperson for the Naypyitaw Students’ Union said.
It is said that the military units arrested Tun Aung Kyaw, the president of the basic education students’ union of Zabuthiri township, Naypyidaw, at his home on October 3 evening.
“He is technically a minor, so they said that they just had some questions to ask and that they’d let him go soon,” he told Myanmar Now.
At the time of reporting, the boy was still being held at the No. 3 police station in Zabuthiri and had not been allowed contact with his family, the student union representative said.
At 10pm on Tuesday, military troops reportedly ransacked his house.
Myanmar Now called the police station for comment on Tun Aung Kyaw’s arrest but the calls went unanswered.
Another Naypyitaw student leader, Yan Paing, was arrested by the military on May 2 and died on October 1 during an interrogation, according to a statement released by the Naypyitaw Students’ Union.
According to the statistics reported by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), there have now been at least 7,104 civilians detained by the junta since the February 1 coup and at least 1,158 civilians killed during that same period.
As they have been active in participating in anti-coup demonstrations, student union members have been frequent targets of military arrests, but the exact number of students in detention is not known.
Most recently, four students preparing to protest against the junta were arrested near the Pathi dam in Taungoo Township, Bago Region on the evening of September 19.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Oct 1, 2021
- Event Description
3 members of the activist group Thalufah were denied bail after 15 members of the group surrendered to the police yesterday (1 October) over an arrest warrant issued with regard to an incident on 3 August 2021 when they splashed paint in front of Thung Song Hong Police Station.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that the police initially said the activists would be granted bail on a security of 10,000 baht per person. However, Metropolitan Police Division 2 Deputy Commander Pol Col Saksit Meesawat later told the activists they would be taken to court for a temporary detention request. The police claimed that the temporary detention request was necessary because they have not finished the case report for submision to the public prosecutor.
12 activists were later granted bail on a security of 35,000 baht each, but 3 were denied bail. The three had previously been arrested during the 13 October 2020 protest at the Democracy Monument, and according to TLHR, the court denied them bail on the grounds that they had violated their previous bail conditions. However, TLHR noted that the bail conditions were set on 21 September 2021, which was after the incident on 3 August 2021.
TLHR said that they filed another bail request for the 3 activists today (2 October), but the request was once again denied.
On 3 August 2021, the activists splashed paint in front of Thung Song Hong Police Station following their release after spending a night in detention on charges relating to a protest at the Narcotics Suppression Bureau on 2 August to demand that the police return a speaker truck seized after the 1 August ‘car mob’ rally.
Activists Jatupat Boonpattarasaksa and Thawee Thiangwiset, who are also Thalufah members, had surrendered themselves at Thung Song Hong Police Station on 9 August 2021. They were charged with violating the Emergency Decree, damaging public property, and taking part in an assembly of more than 10 people which caused a breach of public peace. On the same day, activist Songpol Sonthirak, another Thalufah member, was also arrested.
The Criminal Court later granted bail to Tawee and Songpol on a security of 35,000 baht, but denied bail to Jatupat on the grounds that he faces other charges for similar offenses, had broken his bail conditions which prohibited him from repeating these offenses, and was likely to flee or cause danger if he is released. Jatupat has been repeatedly denied bail and is still in detention at the Bangkok Remand Prison.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Sep 30, 2021
- Event Description
Student activist Patsaravalee Tanakitvibulpon has been indicted on a royal defamation charge related to a speech she gave at a protest on 24 March 2021, in which she said that the monarchy must reform itself in order to survive.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said on Thursday (30 September) that the public prosecutor at the Southern Bangkok Department of Criminal Litigation has decided to indict Patsaravalee for royal defamation under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code, or the lèse majesté law, and a violation of the Emergency Decree charge resulting from her participation in the 24 March 2021 protest at the Ratchaprasong Intersection.
During the protest, Patsaravalee gave a speech calling for the King to conduct himself in a manner that befits the head of the state. She also said that the King’s expansion of power will endanger the institution of the monarchy, and that even though an absolute monarchy can be created, it can also fall in the next reign.
She made 3 demands to develop the institution of the monarchy: having a single, inseparable armed force, ending intervention in any political groups by the monarchy, and quickly returning public assets which have been transferred to the King’s personal ownership.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Sep 30, 2021
- Event Description
Aksi Peringatan Hari Oligarki dan G30S/TWK oleh Aksi Kamisan yang tergabung dalam Aliansi Semarang Raya di Kantor Gubernuran, Kamis (30/09) berakhir ricuh. Dalam Press Release yang dilaksanakan pada Kamis (30/09) pukul 19.30 WIB, disebutkan bahwa terdapat tujuh massa aksi yang mendapat tindakan represif dari aparat kepolisian, yakni:
G – Mahasiswa Undip RH – Mahasiswa Undip BG – Mahasiswa Undip G – Mahasiswa Undip MS – LPM Hayam Wuruk NC – Walhi Jawa Tengah CG – PBH LBH Semarang
Kericuhan ini dinilai karena pembubaran paksa oleh aparat, mengingat dalam Pasal 6 ayat (2) Perkap Nomor 9 Tahun 2008 telah diatur bahwa aksi di tempat terbuka dapat dilakukan pukul 06.00 – 18.00 WIB, lalu dilanjutkan Pasal 13 ayat (1) huruf b Undang-Undang Nomor 9 Tahun 1998 tentang koordinasi antara koordinator aksi dengan Polri apabila aksi dilaksanakan hingga larut malam. Dalam kericuhan tersebut, polisi menangkap mahasiswa yang dianggap sempat meneriaki polisi dengan kata-kata yang tidak pantas.
“Tadi mereka meneriaki kami dengan kata-kata tak pantas,” terang Wakasat Sabhara Polrestabes Semarang, Kompol R Justinus, dikutip dari TribunJateng.com.
Pernyataan ini mendapat tanggapan dari CG, salah satu massa aksi yang mendapat tindakan represif dari aparat. Menurutnya, mahasiswa tidak dapat dianggap sebagai penyebab kericuhan mengingat upaya pembubaran oleh aparat telah dilakukan sejak pukul 17.45 WIB.
“Sebelum jam berakhir, ancaman pembubaran sudah ada. Kalau disebutkan penyebabnya mahasiswa dan berakibat represif, tidak masuk akal. Kami juga tidak mengucapkan kata-kata kasar kepada polisi, melainkan kepada UU Ciptaker,” jelasnya.
Selain itu, polisi menuding kegiatan aksi ini tidak memiliki izin. Gusti sebagai salah satu massa aksi menyangkal tudingan tersebut dengan mengatakan bahwa dalam pasal 10 Undang-Undang Nomor 9 Tahun 1998 tidak disebutkan perlunya izin dalam aksi, melainkan pemberitahuan tertulis yang ditujukan kepada Polri.
“Kami sudah mengirimkan surat pemberitahuan pada 29 September siang,” ujarnya saat diwawancarai langsung oleh awak Manunggal.
CG menyayangkan tindakan aparat yang langsung membubarkan paksa massa aksi, alih-alih berkoordinasi dengan koordinator aksi. Padahal, dalam pasal 7 Undang-Undang Nomor 9 Tahun 1998 tentang Hak dan Kewajiban dijelaskan bahwa aparat pemerintah berkewajiban dan bertanggung jawab untuk melindungi hak asasi manusia, menghargai asas legalitas, menghargai prinsip praduga tak bersalah, dan menyelenggarakan pengamanan.
“Polisi membubarkan massa aksi dengan tindakan kekerasan. Beberapa di antaranya: pukulan pada pelipis mata, muka, kepala bagian belakang, tendangan ke arah perut dan bagian rusuk,” tutup CG.
Aksi yang dilakukan di Gubernuran Jawa Tengah tersebut bertepatan dengan pemecatan 58 pegawai Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (KPK) yang tidak lolos Tes Wawasan Kebangsaan (TWK).
Perwakilan Lembaga Bantuan Hukum (LBH) Semarang, Dhika, mengatakan aksi dimulai sekitar pukul 16.00 WIB dengan titik kumpul di patung kuda Pleburan.
“Lagi-lagi negara mengerahkan kekuatan berlebih untuk memberangus kebebasan berpendapat,” ucapnya dalam rilis yang dibagikan, dikutip Pikiran-Rakyat.com, Jumat, 1 Oktober 2021.
Setelah berkumpul, massa kemudian melakukan long march ke titik aksi di Kantor Gubernur Jawa Tengah.
Pada aksi ini, massa melakukan berbagai kegiatan seperti orasi, musikalisasi puisi, dan aksi teatrikal.
“Sekitar 17.45 WIB, sesaat sebelum aksi teatrikal dimulai, aparat Kepolisian keluar dari gerbang kantor Gubernur dan memaksa massa aksi untuk bubar, dengan alasan sudah lewat waktu yang ditetapkan Undang-Undang,” tutur Dhika.
Padahal, berdasarkan penjelasan Pasal 13 ayat (1) huruf b UU Nomor 9 Tahun 1998 tentang kemerdekaan menyampaikan pendapat di muka umum, anggota Polisi diwajibkan berkoordinasi dengan koordinator aksi.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- NGO staff, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Sep 30, 2021
- Event Description
Polisi membubarkan dan menangkap aktivis Papua yang akan melakukan aksi unjuk rasa di depan Kantor Kedutaan Besar Amerika Serikat di Jakarta Pusat, Kamis (30/9/2021) siang. Salah satu peserta aksi, Ambrosius Mulait, mengungkapkan bahwa massa aksi yang berjumlah 17 orang langsung diangkut paksa begitu tiba di depan Kedubes AS. "Kami belum aksi sama sekali, sudah dipaksa naik ke mobil dalmas (pengendalian masyarakat)," kata Ambrosius saat dikonfirmasi, Kamis. Ambrosius juga menyebutkan, polisi melakukan tindakan represif saat mengamankan peserta unjuk rasa dengan menyemprot gas air mata hingga terjadi bentrok fisik. "Ada teman-teman kami yang dapat pukul dari aparat," katanya. Kapolres Jakarta Pusat Kombes Hengki Hariyadi membenarkan ada 17 aktivis Papua yang diamankan. Hengki menyebutkan, petugas kepolisian tak membolehkan aksi unjuk rasa itu karena saat ini Jakarta masih berstatus pemberlakuan pembatasan kegiatan masyarakat (PPKM) level 3 untuk mencegah Covid-19. "Jadi intinya pada saat PPKM level 3 ini bahwa segala kegiatan yang berpotensi menimbulkan kerumunan itu dilarang, dalam hal ini penyampaian pendapat di muka umum ini dilaksanakan mereka tanpa izin, kemudian tanpa rekomendasi dari pihak pengamanan," kata Hengki. Adapun aksi unjuk rasa yang digelar para aktivis Papua ini bertujuan untuk menyampaikan enam tuntutan, yakni:
- Aksi dalam rangka memperingati Roma Agreement yang ke-59.
- Mendesak Presiden Joko Widodo menarik anggota TNI-Polri yang ada di Papua karena membuat situasi masyarakat Papua tidak nyaman
- Bebaskan tahanan politik Victor Yeimo yang mengalami sakit dan ditahan di Mako Brimob Jayapura
- Menolak perpanjangan otsus karena dianggap sudah gagal menyejahterakan masyarakat Papua
- Berikan hak untuk penentuan nasib sendiri (referendum)
- Menolak Rrasisme dan tuntaskan pelanggaran HAM di Papua.
- Impact of Event
- 17
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Sep 29, 2021
- Event Description
On September 29, citizen journalist Tran Thi Tuyet Dieu’s eight-year sentence under Vietnam’s Penal Code was upheld in the court of appeal in Danang. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns the use of the Penal Code to silence critical voices and calls for the immediate release of Tuyet Dieu.
Tuyet Dieu’s appeal was refused in Danang’s court, more than a year after her arrest and detainment on August 21, 2020. She was sentenced on April 23, 2021 for breaching article 117 of the Vietnamese penal code, which criminalises “creating, storing and disseminating information and materials against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam”. Reports indicate that Tuyet Dieu endured ongoing harassment by police in the years before her arrest.
Previously an employee of a state-run newspaper, Tuyet Dieu had managed a Facebook and YouTube account where she published 25 articles and nine videos considered ‘anti-state’ by authorities. During a search of Tuyet Dieu’s home, authorities found materials sympathetic to the imprisoned pro-democracy activist Nguyen Viet Dung on her laptop.
According to Tuyet Dieu’s lawyer, Nguyen Kha Thanh, she pleaded innocent at her trial earlier this year. Thanh said that his client’s sentence was harsh given she had an otherwise clean record.
“She did not accept the accusations as the trial failed to find a person harmed by her actions,” Thanh said.“But the court said her actions caused harm to the nation, a common tactic that allows them to not have to show any specific harmed individuals,” he added.
Tuyet Dieu’s communication with her lawyer and relatives was barred for the first three months of her imprisonment. Her original trial was postponed without justification, a change only announced upon her lawyer’s arrival in court.
Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code is a vaguely defined piece of legislation commonly used to silence criticism of the Vietnamese government. Journalists Pham Chi Thanh and Le Van Dung, both vocal critics of Vietnam’s single-party system, were sentenced under the article earlier this year.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Vietnam: Media worker sentenced to 8 years in prison
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 28, 2021
- Event Description
A journalist is being questioned by police after Defense Minister Tea Banh, head of the CPP working group for Koh Kong, apparently instructed local officials about taking legal action and countering the journalist’s criticism of a deputy governor.
Youn Chhiv, who runs the Koh Kong Hot News website, was purportedly part of the land dispute himself while reporting that authorities were evicting people from state land they had farmed for years.
In his reports, Chhiv said authorities were violating Prime Minister Hun Sen’s call last year to grant land titles to ordinary people who had long-standing claims on state land.
An audio recording, shared with VOD, appears to show Defense Minister Banh instructing Koh Kong officials to take action against Chhiv. Several government-aligned media outlets have reported on Banh’s instructions, including some that quoted from the recording. Koh Kong provincial information department director Mom Malika said the recording could have been shared in a group with provincial officials, but declined to elaborate. Banh could not be reached for comment.
Banh’s purported voice in the recording says he told provincial governor Mithona Phouthorng to pursue a lawsuit against Chhiv.
“Just a moment ago I told Mithona to check and to discuss with the provincial law expert to file a lawsuit against him. He twisted the truth and promoted bad ideas, and we need to clarify it,” it says. “We have to make urgent reports to send to all the places about the administration’s actions against encroachers of land.”
He would call on Fresh News staffers to help spread information that would correct Chhiv’s video reports, it adds.
“In there, there is a Fresh News representative, and [we will] send it to him to help disseminate that the video twisted the truth,” the recording says. “Take action quickly, and should not be silent, and they will disseminate it all over the place. It has caused a mess and issues, destroying reputations. [We’re] discussing it with a legal expert and handling it.”
Other media would also be enlisted to help, it says.
“[We] urgently need to discuss with the media in the province and attack him first, directly, with his name,” it says. “All media should publish it in advance, and [then] make a written letter and consult with the legal expert to send the case in time. [We] should not allow this. It is unacceptable.”
Chhiv had made a mistake when he “attacked the administration’s measures,” it says.
“He has violated and attacked the administration’s measures, and if we do not handle this carefully, we cannot control the state, and the state needs to take action against the violator through administrative measures,” it says, noting that villagers were told to leave but failed to follow instructions.
In one of Chhiv’s videos, he interviews three villagers who say they came to live on the land, in Botom Sakor district, in 2007. They say authorities have this year been destroying their cashew trees, sugarcane and cassava plants to try to evict them without compensation. About 130 officers from police, military police and local administrations had come to clear their land, they say.
“People survive through their farmland, but now they have cleared it all. So where can people plant their crops and rice?” one villager asks, pleading for help from Prime Minister Hun Sen and Defense Minister Banh.
“Our authorities have not followed samdech’s remarks. They might know that samdech would lose [power] one day, so they do this and they do not follow samdech,” the villager says in the video. “They do not look after the people and they only destroy people.”
Chhiv says in the video that villagers come to his office and ask for his help, telling him they’ve been threatened with arrest. “Do they not know where the provincial governor is?” he asks.
He also mentions sub-decrees that have privatized over 100,000 hectares of Koh Kong parks, ostensibly to give titles to villagers using the land. He asks why the villagers are not being given titles, but being evicted instead.
In one Facebook post, Chhiv directly criticizes deputy governor Sok Sothy, saying the official is breaking people’s hearts.
Botum Sakor district police chief Sok Phon said on Tuesday afternoon that Chhiv had come in that day for questioning at the police station.
“Our police, with the deputy provincial chief, are in the process of questioning. … We have questioned him for about four hours, and we do not know yet [whether to send him to court]. Wait until the work has finished,” Phon said.
The provincial administration, meanwhile, issued a statement on Sunday saying Chhiv had disseminated “baseless information that is not true.”
The statement highlights one video, “Koh Kong Provincial Deputy Governor Sok Sothy Is Cruel and Abuses Citizens.”
“The publication of this information is intended to tarnish the reputation of Mr. Sok Sothy, Koh Kong deputy governor, and hurts the reputation of the provincial administration, confuses the public and causes confusion and social unrest,” the statement says.
It says authorities went to Thma Sar commune on September 19 after issuing two prior warnings to people who had illegally encroached on state land and built huts. Authorities were “implementing administrative measures” against illegal encroachment, it says.
“Among those encroachers, there is Youn Chhiv, the journalist, the person who tried to disseminate the distorted truth,” the statement says, requesting all journalists to respect the law.
Sothy, the deputy governor criticized by Chhiv, said on Monday that he had submitted a complaint to provincial police and the case was now in their hands.
“The land is a national sanctuary … when he published such distortions of the truth like this — it damages reputations, and most importantly the public misunderstands, especially people who live outside and do not know that the land is a national sanctuary.”
Sok Sovan, a provincial reporter in Koh Kong, said that as far as he knew, Chhiv had a cashew farm on the land in question.
But the heavy-handed response from authorities was chilling, he said.
“It impacts other journalists. As you know, when a journalist posts on Facebook, they can charge [us] saying it is a red-handed crime,” Sovan said. “If the journalist published something wrong, they should pursue [the case] through the Press Law.”
“Journalists face high risks because in our world, publishing some wrong information often happens,” he added. “It’s a challenge when they file a case to court and we face imprisonment.”
Youn Chhiv, journalist and owner of website Koh Kong Hot News, was sentenced to a years imprisonment on September 30 for incitement under Cambodia’s Criminal Code, after reporting on a government land dispute. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate the Cambodian Journalists Alliance (CamboJA) condemn the imprisonment and intimidation of Youn Chhiv under the Criminal Code and call for the immediate cessation of all charges against him.
The journalist was charged with incitement to cause a felony over publishing alleged misinformation about a land dispute at Botum Sakor National Park. After two days of police questioning without a lawyer, the Chhiv was sentenced to one year in prison under Cambodia’s Criminal Code.
Chhiv claimed that authorities were unlawfully evicting citizens from land they had both farmed and inhabited for years, in direct contravention of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s call late last year to grant land titles to those who had long-standing claims on state land. According to Vey Pherom, deputy prosecutor at the provincial court in Koh Kong, Chhiv admitted that the above claims were false.
In a leaked audio recording, a voice, identified as Defence Minister Tea Banh, can be heard instructing Koh Kong officials and state media to act against Chhiv. “[We] urgently need to discuss with the media in the province and attack him first, directly, with his name,” it says. There have been multiple government-aligned media outlets that have reported on Bahn’s instructions, condemning Chhiv’s reports as baseless.
Provincial reporter in Koh Kong, Sok Savan said that the case had been kept extremely confidential, and only family members were admitted into the courtroom. Savan indicated that authorities ought to have used the Press Law, not the Criminal Code, or allowed Chhiv to apologise publicly and remove the videos. “This case is irregular and inappropriate. In a democratic country, when a journalist covers the news for the public interest and society, they should not be punished or imprisoned,” Savan said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Sep 27, 2021
- Event Description
The North Sulawesi Regional Police conducted an in-depth investigation to uncover and arrest the perpetrators of the shooting of a resident of Toruakat Village, Bolaang Mongondow.
The shooting occurred during the installation of boundary markers at the Bolingongot plantation, the mining location of PT Bulawan Daya Lestari (BDL).
"The police will continue to work professionally in handling this incident", said Head of Public Relations, Kombes Jules Abraham Abast, in Manado, quoted by Antara, Wednesday, September 29.
Jules Abraham said that the police continued to make various efforts to deal with the conflict which caused five victims, namely one was shot dead and four people were injured.
The Police also appealed to the public to maintain a conducive security and order situation.
"The public and both parties are advised to remain calm, not easily provoked by the situation, and to fully entrust the handling of this incident to the police", he said.
He explained that the conflict occurred on the afternoon of Monday, September 27, shortly after the installation of the stakes at the location. Allegedly involving the guards at the location of PT BDL with the community of Toruakat Village, Bolmong Regency.
Information was obtained, the injured victims consisted of three guards at the location of PT BDL and one resident of Toruakat Village. While one victim who died was a resident of Toruakat Village.
"Until now, the police have added security personnel around the scene to prevent further conflicts. Police personnel also carry out patrols around Toruakat and Dumoga", said Kombes Jules.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Sep 27, 2021
- Event Description
Sitanun Satsaksit, sister of missing activist in exile Wanchalearm Satsaksit, has been charged with violation of the Emergency Decree for giving a speech at a protest on 5 September 2021 at the Asoke Intersection.
11 other people have been charged with violation of the Emergency Decree for participating in the same protest and were summoned to Thong Lo Police Station on 27 September 2021 to hear the charges. However, according to the Cross-Cultural Foundation, Sitanun did not receive either of the summonses sent to her. She later contacted Thong Lo Police Station and found that the summonses were not delivered to her address, and that an arrest warrant might be issued if she does not report to the police. Her lawyer therefore contacted the police so that she can report to them to hear the charges.
Sitanun said that she feels hopeless that not only are the Thai authorities not helping her find her brother and bring the perpetrators to justice, they are also trying to silence her by filing charges against her, even though she is fighting for the rights of her brother and other victims of enforced disappearance. She said that she has no other option but to speak out about the failure of the justice system in investigating her brother’s disappearance, and asked whether expressing her support for the anti-torture and enforced disappearance bill is such a threat to national security.
“Is it such a threat to national security that I join the campaign for the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance bill that you have to file charges to silence a victim? I am just calling for justice for someone in my family, but the government sees me as an enemy,” Sitanun said.
Sitanun’s brother Wanchalearm went missing on 4 June 2020, while living in exile in Cambodia. His fate is currently unknown, and no progress has been made in the investigation into his disappearance. Meanwhile, Sitanun has been spearheading the search for her brother and became a vocal supporter for the anti-torture and enforced disappearance bill, which was recently submitted to parliament.
At the 5 September 2021 protest, Sitanun gave a speech on torture and enforced disappearance, during which she asked why dissenters are harassed and are not able to even stay in Thailand. She said that these people should have the right to stay in the country, but they are forced to go overseas and live in exile, and noted that her brother has been on a government “watch list” since 2014.
A “watch list” document was leaked in late August 2021, which included at least 183 activists, politicians, and members of civil society organisations, all of whom have been critical of the government.
“I don’t know why people with different opinions have to be a threat to national security. Are they the nation? As far as I know, they are soldiers who live off taxpayers’ money. Can’t we have different ideas from them?” she said during the speech.
Sitanun said that torture is not a phenomenon that takes place after a coup, but has long been taking place in the three Deep South provinces, where people are accused of being separatists. She said that what happened to Wanchalearm and 8 other disappeared activists in exile let people see who the country is being ruled by and who they are fighting, and that she is fighting because she does not want anyone else to suffer the same fate as her family.
She also said that, even though her brother disappeared over a year ago, government agencies has yet to decide who is going to be responsible for investigating his disappearance. She saw that the government is ignoring Wanchalearm’s case in the same way that it ignores the voices of people who are protesting, and said that everyone is at risk if we are still ignorant about things that are not right. She also called for people to support the anti-torture and enforced disappearance bill.
Under the State of Emergency declared in late March 2020, public gatherings are banned and many activists and protesters are facing legal prosecution for violation of the Emergency Decree. According to iLaw, at least 1171 people are now facing charges of violating the Emergency Decree for joining protests.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Sep 27, 2021
- Event Description
House committee on good government and public accountability chairman Michael Aglipay unceremoniously removed Rappler journalist Rambo Talabong from a Viber group with reporters on Monday, September 27.
Aglipay kicked out Talabong after the journalist wrote a story on the DIWA representative’s latest defense of the Duterte administration.
Aglipay's comment was about the Senate hearing's revelation that the production stickers on the face masks procured by the government from Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation were tampered. The tampering of the production stickers effectively also changed the expiry dates.
For Aglipay, the changing of expiry dates was not a problem, as he asked a Department of Health (DOH) official if the alleged expired face masks hurt or killed any of the health workers who used them. DOH undersecretary Carolina Taino said no.
This exchange was the subject of Talabong’s story, which included a video excerpt on Aglipay’s interpellation during the good government and public accountability panel hearing.
Aglipay then singled out Talabong during the hearing – even if CNN Philippines also published a similar article with the same angle.
The congressman argued Talabong’s article was “one-sided” as it did not include DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III’s remarks that the shelf life of face shields was 36 months.
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“So it is one-sided, and I’m calling him out to be balanced, because they are claiming to be a balanced organization, but this article of his never mentioned that Secretary Duque said that the shelf life is 36 months, and he only focused on my comment, making it appear that we are one-sided here, and covering up the government,” said the ally of Speaker Lord Allan Velasco. The House's line of questioning in its hearings veers at countering findings at the Senate, defending the Duterte government's deals with Pharmally.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to information
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Sep 24, 2021
- Event Description
Aksi mahasiswa yang tergabung dalam Gerakan Mahasiswa Nasional Indonesia (GMNI) dan Serikat Petani Indonesia (SPI) dibubarkan paksa aparat kepolisian. Sejumlah mahasiswa bahkan dipukul mundur saat berorasi di kantor Badan Pertanahan Nasional (BPN) Kabupaten Sukabumi.
Pantauan di lokasi aksi massa berjumlah puluhan orang itu awalnya berjalan kondusif, massa mulai berdatangan sekitar pukul 13.30 WIB menggunakan mobil komando yang dilengkapi alat pengeras suara.
Sekitar 20 menit aksi demonstrasi berjalan, aparat kepolisian kemudian mengeluarkan peringatan menggunakan pengeras suara. Polisi menyebut aksi demonstrasi tersebut tidak mengantongi izin. Sekitar pukul 14.00 WIB, polisi mulai tegas memukul mundur mahasiswa dan SPI.
Aksi saling dorong terjadi pada saat polisi memaksa mundur sehingga terjadi kericuhan antara massa pengunjuk rasa dengan polisi. Petugas dari Sabhara Polres Sukabumi terus memaksa massa untuk membubarkan diri sehingga massa dari pengunjuk rasa mundur memenuhi Jalan Suryakencana, Kota Sukabumi.
"Aksi gabungan SPI - GMNI, berkaitan dengan hari tani nasional 2021. Namun aksi dibubarkan, persoalan dibubarkan bukan persoalan polisi yang benar atau kita yang benar tapi yang pasti seharusnya polisi mengatur karena jumlah kita sedikit. Tinggal diatur tanpa harus pembubaran paksa," kata Rozak Daud, perwakilan SPI kepada awak media, Jumat (24/9/2021).
Rozak juga membandingkan aksinya dengan giat vaksinasi yang digelar di Gedung Juang, menurutnya aksi itu juga menimbulkan kerumunan. "Vaksinasi Gedung Juang, di dalam halaman Gedung Juang tertata tapi di luar itu bagaimana tetap kerumunan. Bagaimana polisi tidak adil dalam mengatasi persoalan ini, kalau memang jumlahnya sedikit polisi lebih mudah mengatur," ungkap Rozak.
"Soal tidak ada izin, saya tidak sepakat sejak kapan aksi harus ada izin, kita harus mengirim surat pemberitahuan kita sudah dua kali mengirim surat pemberitahuan tapi tidak diterima oleh pihak kepolisian, kalau izin itu untuk keramaian aksi ini kan bisa pemberitahuan bukan izin, pemberitahuan sudah sejak hari Senin," sambung Rozak.
Dalam aksi kali ini, Rozak menyoroti keberpihakan BPN kepada petani yang dinilai tidak ada terlebih kepada tanah-tanah bermasalah di Kabupaten Sukabumi. Pihak SPI juga menyebut BPN Kabupaten Sukabumi adalah sumber masalah.
"BPN menjadi sumber masalah pertanahan, selama ini yang kita alami, setiap persoalan lokasi perkebunan. BPN selalu berkolaborasi dengan pihak perusahaan kongkalingkong, jarang BPN berpihak ke petani," kata perwakilan SPI, Rozak Daud kepada awak media, Jumat (24/9/2021).
SPI dijelaskan Rozak menggelar aksi dalam rangka peringatan hari tani 2021 pihaknya mengusung isu persoalan adanya 137 lahan di daerah yang saat ini sarat dengan konflik.
"Kita tarik ke persoalan di daerah ada 137 lahan konflik, sudah berdasarkan surat dari staf presiden. Dari jumlah itu ada 3 lokasi di Sukabumi, kami aksi hari ini jangan sampai lokasi ini bermasalah lagi dengan yang di wilayah Kecamatan Warungkiara. Itu sih yang kami bawa untuk mengingatkan pemerintah," ujar Rozak.
Rozak menyebut sejumlah lokasi yang berstatus konflik, dari tiga lokasi itu persoalannya disebut Rozak tidak kunjung usai. Bahkan BPN dinilai tidak proaktif menyelesaikan konflik tersebut.
"Tiga lokasi lahan itu ada dj Kecamatan Caringin, Desa Pasir Datar, kemudian Kecamatan Jampang Tengah, perkebunan dan Lengkong, perkebunan PT Jaya. Ingin segera dituntaskan dipersiapkan sejak dini setelah surat dari SPI. Selama ini BPN tidak bisa menanggapi secara serius, padahal BPN tahu 3 lokasi itu dimana, tidak ada respon setelah surat itu makanya kita melakukan aksi," tegas Rozak.
Sejumlah awak media mencoba mengkonfirmasi tuntutan massa aksi ke pihak BPN, namun hingga petang tadi tidak ada unsur pimpinan maupun staf kantor tersebut yang bersedia memberikan keterangan kepada media.
Sementara itu Wakapolres Sukabumi Kota, Kompol Wisnu Pradana mengatakan pembubaran paksa dilakukan pihaknya karena saat ini kondisi Kota Sukabumi masih dalam PPKM. Ia juga menegaskan bahwa aksi demonstrasi yang dilakukan mahasiswa tidak mengantongi izin.
"Kita kedatangan mahasiswa unras di kantor BPN, dalam hal ini kami mengapresiasi, aspirasi adalah hak masyarakat. Namun ketentuan diatur dalam perundang-undangan dengan kondisi sekarang masa PPKM dimana kami sedang berusaha keras menekan laju peningkatan COVID-19. Oleh karena itu kami sudah sampaikan tiga peringatan kepada rekan-rekan kami, kepada mahasiswa untuk dapat membubarkan diri," kata Wisnu.
Wisnu juga menyampaikan terimakasih karena bantuan dan kerjasama peserta aksi demo untuk menjaga situasi kamtibmas dan keselamatan masyarakat.
"Untuk kejadian tadi sangat disayangkan, sudah 3 kali peringatan, kegiatan tersebut tidak memiliki izin, kedua kegiatan dilakukan pada masa PPKM dimana orang dilarang berkumpul atau berkerumun oleh karena itu kami mendorong keluar dari tempat unjuk rasa. Sifatnya pembubaran kerumunan massa karena memang kita utamakan keselamatan masyarakat," pungkas Wisnu.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Sep 24, 2021
- Event Description
Sedikitnya ada delapan orang tergabung dalam Front Perjuangan Rakyat (FPR) sempat diamankan polisi ketika melakukan aksi di depan Istana Negara, Jakarta Pusat. Namun, polisi mengklaim telah memulangkan mereka. "Terhadap mereka yang kami amankan adalah rekan-rekan dari FPR sejumlah delapan orang," ujar Wakapolres Metro Jakarta Pusat, Ajun Komisaris Besar Polisi Setyo Heriyatno kepada wartawan, Jumat 24 September 2021. Polisi telah memeriksa kedelapan orang tersebut. Kemudian, mereka dapat edukasi dari pihak kepolisian. Setelah itu, polisi memulangkan kedelapan orang tersebut. "Untuk saat ini mereka telah kami pulangkan dengan dijemput oleh orangtuanya," kata dia. Setyo berdalih pengamanan yang dilakukan terhadap mereka merupakan langkah antisipasi terjadinya kerumunan. Pasalnya, mereka demo tapi tak menyampaikan pemberitahuan dulu ke polisi. "Berdasarkan UU nomor 9 Tahun 1998 tentang kemerdekaan menyampaikan pendapat dimuka umum, Pasal 6 yaitu dalam penyampaian pendapat di muka umum berkewajiban mentaati hukum dan ketentuan peraturan UU yang berlaku. Selain itu juga diatur dalam Inmendagri nomor 43 tahun 2021 tentang PPKM level 4, level 3 dan level 2 melarang setiap bentuk aktivitas atau kegiatan yang dapat menimbulkan kerumunan," ujar dia. Maka dari itu, Setyo mengatakan kalau apa yang mereka lakukan tidak lain dalam rangka menegakkan protokol kesehatan COVID-19.
"Dengan berdasar aturan tersebut tindakan Polres Metro Jakarta Pusat lakukan dalam hal ini adalah untuk menegakkan protokol kesehatan COVID-19 mengingat saat ini jumlah masyarakat yang terkonfirmasi positif COVID-19 di wilayah DKI Jakarta masih fluktuatif. Oleh karena itu yang kami lakukan mengacu kepada Adagium Salus Populi Suprema Lex Esto yaitu keselamatan rakyat adalah hukum tertinggi," kata dia lagi.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 23, 2021
- Event Description
Police officers shot and arrested a 24-year-old political activist and detained his mother from their home in Bago on Thursday, according to local sources.
At around 10pm, junta police came to Zayar Aungmyay St in Bago’s Hinthagone 19th ward in two unmarked vehicles to arrest activist Sithu Kaung Myat, a well-known and active protester in local anti-coup demonstrations.
The policemen opened fire when it appeared that Sithu Kaung Myat was trying to run away, a local man said.
“They shot the young man three times in front of his mother when he was trying to escape. He was shot in his chest,” the man told Myanmar Now.
He added that Sithu Kaung Myat was on the second floor of the house when he was shot, while his mother was on the ground floor.
The police handcuffed the 50-year-old woman, who the source said has been in poor health, and raided the home.
"After the shooting, his mother was handcuffed and taken into a car. The young man had not been carried away at that time,” the man explained. “They ransacked the house and took their belongings, including a motorcycle that they wanted. Then the boy was taken into the car.”
Sithu Kaung Myat was admitted to the Bago General Hospital for gunshot wounds to the chest that he suffered when troops came to arrest him from his home on Zayar Aungmyay St in Hinthagone 19th ward at around 10pm.
Sithu Kaung Myat’s 50-year-old mother was also arrested on Thursday and was still in jail at the time of reporting. Police cordoned off the family’s home at around 2pm on Friday, around one hour after her son’s death, a local told Myanmar Now.
“They don’t have other relatives—it is only a mother and a son. She has no other relatives so nobody helped to get her released,” the local said. “People in that ward don’t know who they should ask for help. They don’t know where she has been detained.”
After locals visited the hospital and inquired about his condition, they learned that he had died on Friday afternoon.
It was not known at the time of reporting if or how a funeral would be held for Sithu Kaung Myat, who was an active protester in local anti-coup demonstrations.
Myanmar Now tried to contact the local police station to inquire about the shooting and the continued detention of Sithu Kaung Myat’s mother—who, it is believed, is in poor health—but the calls went unanswered.
Since the February 1 coup, the junta has frequently held the relatives of targeted politicians and activists hostage when troops have been unable to locate the individual they intended to arrest.
More than 1,000 civilians have been killed and nearly 7,000 continue to be imprisoned by the coup regime, according to data released by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) on Friday.
The junta has declared the AAPP an illegal organisation and rejected their data as exaggerated.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Killing, Raid, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to life, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Sep 23, 2021
- Event Description
Student activist Panupong Jadnok has once again been detained after being denied bail on a royal defamation charge filed against him by a royalist activist for a Facebook post about monarchy reform.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported on Thursday (23 September) that Panupong met with the public prosecutor in the morning. He was informed that the public prosecutor had decided to indict him and he was taken to court.
His lawyer later filed a bail request for Panupong, but the request was denied. The order was signed by judge Chanathip Muanpawong, Deputy Chief Justice of the Criminal Court, who earlier this year denied bail to several pro-democracy activists detained pending trial.
Chanathip is also the judge who sentenced Ampon Tangnoppakul, or “Uncle SMS,” to 20 years in prison on a royal defamation charge under Section 112 in 2011, after Ampon was accused of sending messages to Somkiat Krongwattanasuk, who was at the time the secretary of then Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, which were deemed offensive to the King and Queen. Ampon died in prison.
Panupong has been charged with royal defamation under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code, or the lèse majesté law, and with entering into a computer system data which is an offense to national security under Section 14 of the Computer Crimes Act. The charge is based on a complaint filed against him by Nangnoi Atsawakittikorn, member of the royalist group Thailand Help Center for Cyberbullying Victims, which has filed similar complaints against several other activists and netizens.
The complaint was based on a Facebook post on 8 November 2020 which said “Do you think that you will look dignified standing on the ruins of democracy or on the corpses of the people?” along with the hashtag #ปฏิรูปสถาบันกษัตริย์ (#MonarchyReform). The original post also reportedly refers to the King by name.
On 15 September, Panupong was released from the Thanyaburi Remand Prison, where he was detained on charges relating to a protest in front of the Border Patrol Police Region 1 headquarters on 2 August 2021 to demand the release of 32 detained activists. He is now being detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison.
According to TLHR, Panupong is currently facing 9 charges under Section 112; he has already been indicted on 3. He was previously detained pending trial on charges relating to the 19 September 2020 protest, and was in detention for 86 days before being released on 1 June 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Sep 23, 2021
- Event Description
A professor and popular Vietnamese dissident said Thursday that he has received death threats by phone after publishing a series of social media posts criticizing the use of China’s coronavirus vaccines in Vietnam.
Mac Van Trang, known for his critical voice on sociopolitical issues in Vietnam, said he received threatening calls after he posted stories on the Chinese vaccines on his Facebook page, including a letter he wrote to the Ho Chi Minh City leaders, advising them not to accept millions of doses of the Sinopharm vaccine.
“One recent evening, an anonymous man called me on the phone, saying that I shouldn’t keep talking about it and should behave myself; otherwise I would put my life in danger,” Trang told RFA. “He also said that people are dying, and it’s good to have vaccines, and it would be a crime to prevent it. Therefore, I should mind my tongue!”
Vietnam is experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases with the spread of the more contagious Delta variant, and large areas of the country of more than 98 million people have been under lockdown. Only about seven percent of Vietnamese adults have been fully vaccinated. On Thursday, Vietnam reported a total 728,435 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including nearly 9,500 news ones, and more than 18,000 deaths with 236 new fatalities.
Earlier this week, the Ministry of Health decided to allocate an additional 8 million doses of China’s Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine donated by the Van Thinh Phat Group to 25 cities and provinces, the country’s Tuoi Tre News reported.
But citizens throughout the country have expressed concern, fearing the Sinopharm doses might produce hidden side effects, Ngo Tri Long, former rector of the Ministry of Finance’s Price and Market Research Institute, told RFA in an earlier report.
Trang, 83, was a long-term member of the Communist Party of Vietnam, but he resigned on Oct. 26, 2018, when the party decided to discipline Chu Hao, a well-known intellectual who criticized the government. Trang currently lives in Ho Chi Minh City and posts critiques of sociopolitical issues on his Facebook page.
It was not the first time that he had received such calls, Trang said, adding that threats were made after he spoke out about sensitive incidents in Vietnam, including a deadly land-rights dispute in January 2020. At that time, about 3,000 security officers raided a hamlet in Dong Tam commune to intervene in a long-running dispute over a military airport construction site about 25 miles south of Vietnam’s capital Hanoi.
“In our society, there are many people who have been indoctrinated for a long time that whatever contradicts the [Communist] Party’s policy and guidelines is considered hostile,” he said of the threats he has received.
“From the general secretary, prime minister, and president to others in the government, they always talk about enemies and hostile forces,” Trang said. “This has created a dangerous mindset among party fanatics who exist when the party exists, and who see anyone who criticizes it as a hostile force.”
In addition to the 8 million new shots, Vietnam has received roughly 50 million vaccine doses, including 20 million Sinopharm doses — more than six million of which were donated by China and five million of which were purchased by Ho Chi Minh City, Tuoi Tre News said.
Before the new allocation, 5.5 million Sinopharm vaccine doses had been administered to people in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Quang Ninh province, Hai Phong city, Binh Duong province, and Dong Nai province, the report said.
Vietnam’s President Nguyen Xuan Phuc traveled to Havana last weekend for an official visit, where he met with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and finalized a deal for Vietnam to buy 10 million doses of Cuba’s Abdala vaccine.
Italy has also promised to donate 800,000 doses of the British-Swedish AstraZeneca vaccine to Vietnam, raising Rome’s commitment to Hanoi to over 1.6 million doses through the COVAX program co-led by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; the World Health Organization; and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death threat, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Academic, Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Sep 23, 2021
- Event Description
Sungguh naas nasib yang menimpa Hend, seorang jurnalis salah satu media online di Dumai, ia babak belur hingga alami lebam akibat diduga karena dihajar oleh anak buah salah satu pengusaha mafia BBM yang berada di pinggir jalan lintas perwira, kejadian Kamis (23/9/2021), sekitar pukul 11.20 WIB siang saat korban pulang liputan dari Gedung DPRD Kota Dumai, ia melintas di Jln. Perwira, Kelurahan Bagan Besar, Kecamatan Bukit Kapur.
Dari keterangan korban kepada wartawan menjelaskan, saat itu ia turun ke lokasi tempat kejadian peristiwa (TKP) dan saat itu, ia melihat Mobil Tangki bermuatan BBM, les Merah Putih bertuliskan Pertamina, di salah satu lokasi, diduga mafia penampungan BBM inisial EPH. Hend kemudian mengambil foto mobil tangki yang diduga sedang melakukan aktivitas ilegal (bongkar muatan/kencing BBM).
Saat pengambilan foto, Hend di hampiri 4 orang berpakaian preman penjaga gudang, dan spontan melakukan intimidasi/penyerangan, dengan memukulnya, akibatnya, pipi sebelah kanan memar, bibir sebelah atas kanan pecah luka, dan ada pukulan helm mendarat di kepalanya. Kemudian Foto barang bukti di hapus dan HP milik Hend pecah.
Selanjutnya kata Hend, ia dibawa ke belakang WC oleh oknum preman penjaga gudang dilokasi tersebut dan diminta untuk membuat pernyataan diatas kertas materai 10 ribu. Isi pernyataan, agar tidak menuntut di belakang hari dan akan dikenakan sangsi jika lakukan penuntutan.
“Kemudian saya diberi uang Rp 100 Ribu untuk biaya perobatan,” katanya.
Karena merasa tidak adil atas apa yang ia alami yang sudah babak belur akibat dihajar oleh oknum preman penjaga gudang mafia BBM, Hendri menolak dalam hati ia tidak terima di perlakukan seperti ini dan diberi uang Rp 100 tersebut untuk biaya perobatan.
“Saya kemudian kembali ke Kota dan menceritakan ke rekan-rejan Jurnalis atas kejadian yang menimpa saya. Rekan-rekan Jurnalis langsung merespon,” terang Hend.
Atas kejadian yang menimpa dirinya, Hend akhirnya melapor ke Polres Dumai dan dilakukan visum dan dimintai keterangan atas kejadian yang menimpa dirinya.
Sementata Ketua PWI Kota Dumai Bambang Rio saat di mintai tanggapan, ia mengaku masih fokus mendampingi korban.
“Nanti ya, masih mendampingi korban buat laporan,” ujarnya.
Untuk diketahui, sesuai UU Pers no 40 Tahun 1999, Pasal 4 Ayat 1 sebagai landasan hukum kegiatan jurnalistik, Kemerdekaan Pers dijamin sebagai hak asasi warga negara. Ayat 3, untuk menjamin kemerdekaan Pers, Pers Nasional mempunyai hak mencari, memperoleh, dan menyebarluaskan gagasan dan informasi.
Sementara, Pasal 18 ayat 1 mengatur Sanksi Pidana, berbunyi “Setiap orang yang secara melawan hukum dengan sengaja melakukan tindakan yang berakibat menghambat atau menghalangi pelaksanaan ketentuan Pasal 4 ayat (2) dan ayat (3) dipidana dengan pidana penjara paling lama 2 (dua) tahun atau denda paling banyak Rp.500.000.000,00 (lima ratus juta rupiah)”.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Sep 22, 2021
- Event Description
Chief Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan lodged a defamation complaint against rights activists Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti on Wednesday over a video alleging business motive behind current security operations in Papua with Luhut’s involvement.
Luhut himself came to the Jakarta Police headquarters to report the case and “defend my name and that of my children and grandchildren”.
The retired army general said he made the decision after his two attempts to demand public clarification and apology from the two activists went unanswered.
"They didn’t respond during the two occasions, prompting us to take legal action under both criminal and civil laws," Luhut told reporters.
"There is no such thing as absolute freedom, everything has a consequence. I have the right to defend my rights. I have asked them to present evidence [on the allegation] and there was none,” he added.
In the video published on Haris’ YouTube account last month, he interviewed Fatia, who is the coordinator of the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (Kontras), an NGO focusing on human rights issues.
Both discussed allegations that the current military operation in Papua was actually meant to protect mining businesses in the easternmost province.
Fatia implied that mining company Toba Sejahtera Group, in which Luhut is a shareholder, had mining projects in the district of Intan Jaya, Papua.
“It’s fair to say that Luhut has a role in mining businesses in Papua,” Fatia said in the podcast video.
“The core of human rights problems in Papua is militarism. And it turns out that behind the militarism approach – supposedly to restore security and peace in Papua – there are economic motives.”
At one point of the talk show, both activists called the minister “Lord Luhut”.
In an interview with Kompas TV earlier this month, Haris said he had responded to the reprimand by inviting Juniver Girsang, an attorney for Luhut, to become a guest in his podcast and present Luhut’s views to ensure a fair exchange of opinions.
In the same interview, Juniver said his client had no slightest interest in attending and increasing views and revenues of a podcast program that already insulted him in public.
The Jakarta Globe has reached Haris for comments.
In a separate news conference, a lawyer representing both activists said Luhut as a state official is not immune from criticism.
“If he cannot be criticized, there will be no voice of the people. Once we lost people’s voice, democracy is gone,” lawyer Asfinawati said.
“Fatia criticized Luhut in his capacity as a state official, nothing is personal,” she added.
Luhut’s attorney meanwhile said that in addition to the criminal suit, he also planned to file a Rp 100 billion ($7 million) civil case against the activists.
“If judges accept the lawsuit, the Rp 100 billion money will be donated to the Papuan people,” Juniver said.
It’s not the first time a close aide of President Joko Widodo involved in a feud with activists that led to legal motions.
On August 20, Presidential Office Chief of Staff Moeldoko filed a defamation complaint against two Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) activists over allegations that the former military chief had cashed in on the distribution of Covid-19 medication Ivermectin and misused authority to join in rice export program.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Sep 22, 2021
- Event Description
Student activist Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul was arrested on Wednesday (22 September) and charged with sedition due to her involvement with the Facebook page of the student activist group United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration (UFTD).
Panusaya was arrested at around 12.30 at her home. She went live on her personal Facebook profile and said that she was returning home and about to attend an online class when plainclothes officers from the Technological Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) approached her and presented an arrest warrant. She said that the officers had likely followed her car and ran up to her as soon as she got out.
The arrest warrant was issued by the Criminal Court and signed by judge Sakda Phraisan. It stated that Panusaya is charged with sedition under Section 116 of the Thai Criminal Code and with entering into a computer system data which is an offense to national security under Section 14 of the Computer Crimes Act.
Panusaya continued live broadcasting via the Facebook profile of student activist Watcharakorn Chaikaew, another UFTD member. During the live broadcast, she asked the officers if she could go inside the house to use the bathroom, but the officers refused and told her to wait for an inspector to arrive.
After an investigation inspector from Huai Khwang Police Station and other officers arrived to serve the warrant on Panusaya , she and her friends were taken to the TCSD headquarters in a police van. The officers told Panusaya and her lawyer, who was on the phone with her, that they have already filed a temporary detention request and wanted to bring her to the TCSD headquarters as soon as possible so that her lawyer has enough time to file a bail request.
Panusaya initially wanted to wait for the arrival of Boonlert Wisetpreecha, lecturer at the Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology, Thammasat University, before going to the TCSD headquarters. However, the officers tried to persuade her to leave quickly as her lawyer is already on the way to the TCSD headquarters, so Panusaya and her friends left in the police van without waiting for the lecturer.
She also asked why the police did not issue a summons before arresting her, but the officers said they did not know and are only doing their job by arresting her.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that the charges against Panusaya were the result of a complaint filed by Nopadol Prompasit, a member of the Thailand Help Center for Cyberbullying Victims, an online royalist group whose members have filed numerous lèse majesté charges against many netizens and activists, including Parit Chiwarak and Anon Nampa.
Nopadol accused Panusaya of running the UFTD’s Facebook page and inciting people to join anti-government demonstrations, which he said risked the spread of Covid-19 and were not peaceful.
TLHR also said that, according to the inquiry officer’s temporary detention request, the UFTD Facebook page contains what they consider to be seditious messages calling for people to rebel against the authorities, and accusations that police have used excessive force against protesters.
The request also stated that the inquiry officer is opposed to granting Panusaya bail, as the charges are related to national security and she might flee or tamper with evidence. Nevertheless, she was granted bail on 35,000 baht security.
The charges filed against Panusaya are the same as those filed against Niraphorn Onkhao, another UFTD member, who was arrested last Friday (17 September) during a police raid on the house she was staying with Panusaya and student activist Benja Apan. Niraphorn also never received a summons before being arrested.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Sep 21, 2021
- Event Description
Mao Hermitanio’s face was wet and red when she reached Liwasang Bonifacio this afternoon, Sept. 21, the 49th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law. She and her colleagues played cat and mouse with the Manila police. The chase, however, was not at all fun.
Hermitanio, deputy secretary general of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), and her companions assembled at around 1:30 p.m. on Carriedo street, where they were prohibited by the police from holding a program. The contingent, composed mainly of farmers, workers, youth and urban poor, decided to go to Sta. Cruz Church. After a short program, they started marching toward Liwasang Bonifacio. The police blocked them from setting foot on the bridge, and dispersed them with water canon.
Amid the chaos, former Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao and Kilusang Mayo Uno Secretary General Jerome Adonis tried to negotiate with the police, but the latter refused to even identify their ground commander. The protesters then dispersed, and found ways, literally, to get to the site of the protest.
A few meters away from Liwasang Bonifacio, former Gabriela Women’s Party Liza Maza was also blocked several times by policemen in fatigue. She tried to cross the underpass from the Metropolitan Theater but was prevented from proceeding. She walked along the Jones bridge, hoping she would be finally allowed to join the other activists. Policemen told her and her colleagues they could not pass through. Asked for a reason, a policeman just said, “That’s the order.”
Fuming, Maza told the media in Filipino, “I remember when I was still in college, when lighting rallies were still prohibited during Martial Law. The people were not allowed to express themselves freely just like what is happening now.”
“Everything came back to me. I was just waiting for someone to shout, ‘Marcos, Diktator! Tuta!Duterte at Marcos, parehong-pareho ang pakana,’” (Marcos, Dictator! Puppet! Duterte and Marcos have the same tactics.) she said.
Eventually, Maza and hundreds of other protesters managed to hurdle the obstacles.
“On the anniversary of Martial Law, they tried to suppress the rights of the people to peaceably assemble and to free expression,” Obet de Castro of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said in a Facebook post in Filipino hours after the protest. “Duterte is so much like Marcos. And just as how the Filipino people toppled the Marcos dictatorship, the corrupt and fascist in Malacañang failed to stop the militant action of the Filipino people earlier today.”
Marcos-level corruption, tyranny
Progressive groups denounced what they called as Duterte’s Marcosian tactics.
In his speech, Antonio La Viña, former dean of the Ateneo School of Government, said Duterte proves to be similar to Marcos when it comes to corruption and tyranny. He cited the purchase of overpriced pandemic items from Pharmaly, and the killings of activists and drug suspects.
Renato Reyes Jr., BAYAN secretary general, meanwhile, called on fellow protesters to make their choices clear in the coming elections.
“We reject everything that is destructive to the country. We reject those who act as dictators, the son of the dictator, and the lackeys of dictators. We reject corruption, killings, apathy and subservience to foreign interests,” Reyes said in Filipino.
Former ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio, who represented 1Sambayan, said the Filipino people should “unite in restoring democracy back.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 20, 2021
- Event Description
Environmentalist Chhorn Phalla has been arrested by Ratanakiri police after they called him in to update the address on his identification card, his lawyer said.
An arrest warrant against Phalla had been issued in February for allegedly clearing forest land for ownership, but both his lawyer and wife said he had been called in for an administrative update.
Phalla, 42, has previously told VOD that he has been involved in protecting forests since 2016, and since 2017 he has filed eight lawsuits against local officials and villagers he accuses of being involved in encroaching on community forests. He has said that authorities have taken no action on any of his complaints.
In July last year, he was beaten by a group of people at a public forum where he questioned how authorities were allowing forestry crimes to happen under their jurisdictions, he has said. Authorities accused him of disrupting the forum, then stood and watched as people beat him, he has alleged.
Kham Salong, Phalla’s wife, said her husband was arrested at Lumphat district’s Seda commune police station at 11:22 a.m. on Monday after the couple arrived to update the address on their ID cards.
“I feel really sad,” Salong said. “They previously beat him up, and now they come to arrest him. I want to ask the court to release my husband. He is not guilty of anything.”
Phalla’s lawyer, Sam Tith Seiha, said his client had been asked to go to the police station to update his ID, and that he would try to speak to him in prison.
Keo Pheadey, deputy prosecutor and spokesman for the Ratanakiri Provincial Court, could not be reached.
Ny Sokha, president of rights group Adhoc, said authorities must be clear before arresting anyone, and said he had doubts about the forestry charges against him.
“We ask the Ratanakiri Provincial Court to consider dropping or revoking the arrest warrant for Chhorn Phalla and release him, do not accuse him further and release him, do not detain him because he did not commit a crime like the one in the lawsuit or the charges.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 19, 2021
- Event Description
Activists say they fear for the life of a students’ union chairperson after she was detained by junta forces on Sunday afternoon while travelling on a long distance bus.
Aye Nandar Soe, 21, was stopped and arrested at the Yadanabon bridge connecting Mandalay and Sagaing regions. She leads the students’ union at the Sagaing University of Education, where she is in her fourth year of studies.
Her friends say her whereabouts are unknown and believe she was arrested because of her opposition to the military’s February coup. Her detention comes as the junta steps up its crackdown against student and youth activists across the country.
The junta has not made a public announcement about Aye Nandar Soe’s arrest or the grounds on which she is being detained. Many other student activists who were detained recently have been charged with incitement.
“Our comrade Aye Nandar Soe is being detained… but we still do not know where she is being held,” the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), of which Aye Nandar Soe’s union is a member, said in a statement.
“We fear for our comrade Aye Nandar Soe's life and safety,” the statement said.
An ABFSU spokesperson said he had no information about where she was travelling when she was detained.
The military has stepped up arrests of anti-junta student activists in recent weeks, but the exact number detained is unknown, the spokesperson added.
“Many students from the ABFSU and other students’ unions were arrested, but the ones who were not will continue to revolt against the military,” he told Myanmar Now.
On Sunday three young activists, including two members of the ABFSU, were detained in Yangon and accused of being involved in bank robberies to fund armed resistance against the junta.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 1,122 people have now been killed by the junta and 6,698 others are in detention.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Sep 18, 2021
- Event Description
Hari ini, Sabtu, 18 September 2021, sekitar pukul 05.00 pagi, kami mendapati salah satu bagian (sisi barat-pojok) teras kantor LBH Yogyakarta terdapat bekas seperti terbakar api. Bekas terbakar itu menyebar di beberapa sisi, yakni di lantai, tembok, kaca jendela, ventilasi hingga naik ke atas atap. Api sempat menyambar ke dalam kantor mengenai gorden. Di sekitarnya juga ditemukan serpihan kaca yang tampaknya adalah pecahan botol. Kami memperkirakan, kantor LBH Yogyakarta telah diserang dengan lemparan bom molotov oleh pihak yang tidak bertanggung jawab.
Terhadap peristiwa ini, kami ingin menyampaikan beberapa hal:
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Berdasarkan informasi sementara yang kami himpun, kejadian ini kemungkinan berlangsung di atas pukul 01.00 (dini hari). Namun kami belum mengetahui siapa pelaku dan apa motifnya. Hanya saja kami menduga serangan ini terkait dengan pembelaan LBH Yogyakarta terhadap kasus-kasus struktural dan perkara masyarakat miskin lain. Saat ini upaya advokasi perkara tersebut sedang berjalan secara intensif, kami menduga ada oknum yang tidak senang dengan aktivitas bantuan hukum LBH Yogyakarta yang selama ini aktif mendampingi masyarakat kecil.
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Kami menilai serangan ini adalah teror terhadap pembela hak asasi manusia sekaligus juga organisasi bantuan hukum, yang selama ini melakukan tugas-tugas konstitusional memberikan bantuan hukum kepada masyarakat miskin. Perbuatan pelaku bertentangan prinsip-prinsip negara hukum dan nilai-nilai hak asasi manusia.
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Kami mengecam keras serangan ini. Tindakan ini adalah kejahatan pidana yang melanggar Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Pidana (KUHP). Oleh karena itu kami akan melaporkan peristiwa ini ke pihak yang berwajib (polisi) maupun lembaga-lembaga terkait.
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Penting digarisbawahi, kami sama sekali tidak takut dengan teror. Kejadian ini justru menambah berlipat-lipat semangat kami untuk terus maju dan tidak pernah berhenti melakukan pembelaan serta memperjuangkan hak-hak dan kepentingan rakyat miskin korban ketidakadilan dalam kasus-kasus struktural.
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- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to property, Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer, NGO
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Suspected non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Sep 17, 2021
- Event Description
Police arrested a university student on charges of sedition and computer crimes during a raid on a house used by student activists in Pathum Thani on Friday.
The search of the house at the Nuantong housing estate in Khlong Luang district on Friday morning was carried out by officers from the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD).
Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul and Benja Apan, two key figures in the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration (UFTD), normally stay at the house. Niraphorn Onkhao, a third-year liberal arts student at Thammasat University, was the only person in the house when the officers arrived.
Police said Ms Niraphorn was wanted on an arrest warrant issued on Wednesday by the Criminal Court on charges of violating Section 116 of the Criminal Code, or sedition, and the Computer Crime Act. The officers seized computers and mobile phones for further examination.
Ms Niraphorn was subsequently taken to the TCSD in Bangkok for interrogation. Officers were preparing to take her to the Criminal Court to seek her detention and would oppose bail, said Pol Col Pichet Khampeeranon, chief of TCSD sub-division 3.
Thai media reported that Ms Niraphorn protested during the arrest and insisted she had never received a summons. She reportedly told officers that the warrant they showed her did not mention any specific incident to justify her arrest.
The UFTD has been one of the main groups involved in political protests that began in mid-2020. The activists have been demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, a full rewrite of the constitution and reform of the monarchy.
More than 1,100 people have been prosecuted for political protests between July 2020 and August 2021, with more than 400 charged in August alone, the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights reported recently.
The organisation said it knew of at least 1,161 people who were being prosecuted for alleged crimes related to political gatherings and expression since the movement began on July 18, 2020.
Of the total, 143 are minors, aged under 18.
Just over 900 people faced charges of violating the emergency decree that was imposed to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. The group said 124 people were facing charges of lese majeste or defaming the monarchy under Section 112 of the Criminal Code, and 107 faced sedition charges under Section 116.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 17, 2021
- Event Description
Seng Sary. who had clarified that he does not support forming a government in exile but merely laid out hypothetical conditions for one, told RFA’s Khmer Service Monday it was a good sign that Hun Sen is listening to the opinions of analysts and intellectuals, but he did not feel completely safe yet.
“I have not seen the court drop my case yet, so it is difficult for me to decide whether I should return to Cambodia, because it has to do with my safety,” Seng Sary said.
“I hope I can get my charges dropped soon,” he said.
Seng Sary said he was fortunate to be in Thailand when Hun Sen ordered his arrest. Otherwise, he would never have been able to escape or explain to Hun Sen the meaning of his analysis.
“I hope that in the future, the head of government will more carefully consider posts on social media… Let the government have a high understanding of contradictory views or political views that people want express.”
Political analyst Kim Sok, who lives in exile in Finland, said that Seng Sary is right to remain in Thailand and act with caution about anything Hun Sen says.
“He did request that the court revoke Seng Sary’s arrest warrant, but who knows? When Seng Sary returns to Cambodia and if he is arrested, Hun Sen could say he only made the request to cancel the arrest order, but it is up to the court because the court is independent. So be careful with this game,” Kim Sok said.
RFA was unable to reach Justice Ministry spokesman Chin Malin for comment on Hun Sen's stance. The spokesman for the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, Plang Sophal was also not available.
Chak Sopheap, the Executive Director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, welcomed the suspension of the arrest warrant and urged the government to be more open to intellectuals and political analysts.
“There must be a guarantee of full freedom of expression, and there should be no indictment or arrest just because citizens are expressing their opinions,” she said.
Some Facebook users wrote in support of Hun Sen’s change of heart, while others pointed out that the Cambodian leader has broken promises to activists in exile, saying they could return to the country without fear of arrest, but arresting them anyway.
The exchange with Seng Sary came a little than a week after Hun Sen Hun Sen crashed a Zoom strategy session of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, which Hun Sen had banned in 2017.
“I wanted to send a clear message to the rebels that there are people of Hun Sen everywhere,” the prime minister said of his intervention in the Zoom call.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death threat, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Academic freedom, Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Academic
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Sep 15, 2021
- Event Description
A citizen journalist and a protester who allegedly painted graffiti about monarchy reform at Din Daeng Intersection on 13 September were arrested by the police on Wednesday night (15 September).
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that Wiraphap Wongsaman was arrested and taken to Chaiyaphruek Police Station in Nonthaburi Province to file the report and then detained at Phaholyothin Police Station in Bangkok.
Student activist Wanwalee Thammasattaya posted on Facebook that she personally knew Wiraphap by the nickname ‘Reef’ and that he was arrested while eating noodles. He was accused of painting graffiti reading ‘The monarchy should be reformed to be under the constitution’.
She stated that Reef has been the target of Information Operations and a pro-monarchy group which tried to label him as a radical protester. A video of him shoving reporters’ cameras was criticized online. In fact he was trying to prevent reporters from recording the faces of protesters who were minors, and had later apologized to the reporters.
On the same night, a citizen was arrested for resisting the authorities. He was taken to Thakham Police Station before being detained at Phaya Thai Police Station. According to Voice TV, a citizen journalist was arrested while wearing a purple vest that identified him as a follower of Kathoei Mae Luk On (trans mom with an infant child), a YouTuber who has been live broadcasting the Din Daeng protests.
Similar to the case of Ratsadon News whose reporter was arrested on Monday night (13 September), Kathoei Mae Luk On is a citizen journalist with 300,300 followers on YouTube.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 15, 2021
- Event Description
Following the addition of two more names to the list of 54 journalists and media workers currently held in the military junta’s jails in Myanmar, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reminds the international community of the need for targeted sanctions against those responsible for the growing terror.
Mizzima News former editor-in-chief Myo Thant was arrested yesterday in Kangye Htaung, a township in southwestern Myanmar’s Irrawaddy River delta region. RSF has learned that the security forces went to the township after being told he was there, and threatened to take his aunt if he did not surrender. He was finally arrested at round 8 pm.
Officials from the Sintgaing central police station charged a detained ex-journalist with incitement on Wednesday for allegedly violating Section 505a of the penal code.
Thirty-five-year-old Win Naing Oo, who formerly worked as a chief correspondent for Channel Mandalay, was arrested along with his wife Thu Thu from a mango farm in Mandalay’s Sintgaing Township on August 31, according to a family friend. Thu Thu was reportedly released on Thursday evening.
Win Naing Oo stopped working in journalism after Myanmar’s February 1 military coup.
“He hasn’t done any journalism work during this time. I don’t know why he was arrested,” the friend told Myanmar Now.
Myanmar Now called the Sintgaing police station for further information on the case. The officer on duty said that Win Naing Oo was being held there and confirmed that he had been charged under Section 505a.
A Sintgaing local said that the couple had been living at the mango farm where they were arrested, but that they may not have been the junta’s initial target.
“The police were there to arrest their guest. They were arrested along with the guest,” said the local, who did not elaborate on the guest’s identity.
Win Naing Oo was previously charged with defamation in May 2019 after he was accused of violating Section 66d of Myanmar’s Telecommunications Law for broadcasting a news story on Channel Mandalay regarding military confiscation of farmland near Pyin Oo Lwin.
More than 100 journalists have been arrested since the coup, and many of them charged with violating 505a. Few have been released. Many have been sentenced in closed court hearings, with convictions for violating the statute carrying a prison term of up to three years.
At least 6,572 people have been arrested by the junta since the coup, according to a statement released by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners on Thursday.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Sep 15, 2021
- Event Description
Another peoples’ lawyer was killed Wednesday, Sept. 15.
Lawyer Juan Macababbad, Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM) vice chairperson and member of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyer (NUPL), was shot by two gunmen in front of his residence in Surrallah, South Cotabato.
Macababbad was the third member of the NUPL and 58th lawyer who was gunned down under President Duterte’s administration.
“While the case may go through the usual investigation, as with the other growing number of unresolved cases, it is clear that the murder of Atty. Macababbad is connected to his vocation of lawyering for the people,” said UPLM Chairperson Antonio C. Azarcon in a statement.
Azarcon said Macababbad had been receiving death threats prior to the incident.
Defender of indigenous peoples, environment
Macababbad handled several cases, particularly in defense of indigenous peoples and protection of the environment.
He served as the legal counsel of the Lumad victims in the Lake Sebu massacre in 2017.
Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan, said that Macababbad also joined several fact-finding mission and served as the legal counsel to indigenous peoples, teachers and community members in the SOCSKSARGEN.
“Such attacks against those in the legal profession, particularly against the committed and tireless human rights defenders among them, should stop. We demand justice for Atty. Macababbad and all lawyers killed under this administration,” Palabay said.
Macababbad was also one of those who opposed the coal mining applications of DM Consunji at the Daguma Mountain Range in the SOCCSKSARGEN region.
In 2015, Macababbad was slapped with Strategic Lawsuit Againt Public Participation (SLAPP) after “their local mass movements barricaded the aerial spraying facilities of Sumifru’s Banana plantation,” according to Leon Dulce, national coordinator for Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment.
“This is why it is urgent to enact policies such as House Bill 8170 or the Environmental Defense Bill that grants protection mechanisms and various remedies to human rights abuses against defenders. This is why we need to #DefendTheDefenders,” Leon added.
The groups demand justice for the slain lawyer.
“The climate of impunity pervades with the lack of serious investigation and prosecution over thousands of extrajudicial killings in the country. The legal profession is not spared, and our colleagues have become main targets especially those who resist tyranny and defend human rights,” Azarcon said.
Just last month, lawyer Rex JMA Fernandez was killed in Cebu City in broad daylight.
Different lawyers groups have been calling the Supreme Court to take action on the increasing attacks on the members of the judiciary.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Singapore
- Initial Date
- Sep 14, 2021
- Event Description
The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) has suspended the class licence of The Online Citizen (TOC) to run its website and its social media channels.
In a statement on Tuesday (Sept 14), IMDA said the socio-political website has repeatedly failed to comply with its legal obligation to declare all sources of funding since around the middle of last year.
TOC will be required to stop posting content on its website and social media channels immediately and disable them by 3pm on Thursday, IMDA said.
It added that if TOC continues to operate while in breach of the requirements, it may then take steps to block access to TOC in Singapore.
If TOC “does not provide further information to bring it into full compliance”, its class licence could be cancelled by Sept 28, said IMDA, adding that TOC’s officers may also be held liable for criminal offences under the Broadcasting Act.
“There is no reason for TOC not to comply, as other registered Internet content providers provide this information in order to be transparent about their sources of funding,” said IMDA.
TOC is one of two websites that are currently classified as registered Internet content providers (ICPs) by IMDA. The other is The Independent Singapore.
Past websites that had registered as ICPs include Six-Six News and The Middle Ground, both of which are no longer in operation.
Such websites, which provide content focused on political issues in Singapore and engage in online promotion or discussion of these issues, are required to declare their sources of funding.
"This is to prevent such sites from being controlled by foreign actors, or coming under the influence of foreign entities or funding, and to ensure that there is no foreign influence in domestic politics," IMDA said.
This requirement has been in place since 2013.
Mainstream news websites are not considered ICPs as they are regulated separately under the Broadcasting Act and the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act.
Under the regulations for ICPs, details on the sources of all funding must be declared by default and no foreign funding is allowed.
While subscription and advertising revenue from foreign sources are allowed if there is a clear commercial purpose, the sources must be declared and identified. IMDA said such sources of funding must not be used as a "loophole for foreign influence and funding".
It noted that TOC had offered a subscription framework under which those who paid a $120 yearly fee could have TOC write articles on a specified topic without having to declare their identity.
This is tantamount to allowing subscribers to commission content, which would require the full disclosure of the identity of the source, IMDA noted.
“This is a cause for concern as foreign actors can potentially use this mechanism to pay TOC to write articles that influence domestic politics,” it added.
IMDA said the legal entity TOC Pte Ltd first registered as an ICP in 2018 and declared its funding sources in accordance with the requirements. The Straits Times understands that the TOC website was operated by a different legal entity before 2018.
However, since 2019, TOC has not fully complied with this obligation, IMDA said.
The authority noted that TOC had failed to verify a donor and to clarify discrepancies in its foreign advertising revenue in its 2019 declaration, for which it was issued a warning on May 4 this year.
"For its 2020 declaration, TOC repeatedly failed to declare all its funding sources despite multiple reminders and extensions," IMDA said.
"TOC had also informed IMDA that it does not intend to comply with its obligations under the law."
TOC was then given a final opportunity to explain its non-compliance by Monday.
In its response to IMDA on Monday, TOC offered to make a declaration that it was not receiving foreign funding on the condition that the IMDA agrees not to seek further clarifications on its subscription framework and funding sources, the authority said.
But the requirement for TOC and other ICPs to declare their sources of funding is a legal one, and is not a matter for negotiation, said IMDA. It, therefore, rejected TOC's offer.
In a letter to IMDA posted on his Facebook page on Monday, lawyer Lim Tean of Carson Law Chambers, who represents TOC, said the discrepancies were "simple accounting mistakes".
He also accused IMDA of hypocrisy and inconsistency for allowing the Critical Spectator website and Facebook page to comment on Singapore affairs and politics despite it being run by a foreign commentator, Polish national Michael Petraeus.
Mr Lim added that TOC intends to challenge the suspension of its class licence by way of a judicial review.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Censorship, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Media freedom, Online
- HRD
- Media Worker, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 14, 2021
- Event Description
Soldiers on Tuesday evening arrested six students from Dagon University who were staying together in an apartment in downtown Yangon, a student leader has said.
Min Htet Han, chair of the university’s students’ union, told Myanmar Now it is unclear why the six were arrested, but that soldiers arrived at the 39th street apartment in Kyauktada saying they were inspecting overnight guest lists.
“They were staying on the top floor and it was the only apartment that was checked,” he said. “I think it’s safe to assume that they were looking for them in particular.” Informants may have told the military they were staying there, he suggested.
The six detainees are zoology student Wutyi Aung, chemistry student Thinzat Zaw, law student Sithu Aung Tin, archeology student Ye Lin Oo, geology student Myint Thein Naing, and Nay Htet Lin, who studies history.
Earlier this month the former chair of the Dagon University Students’ Union, Min Thukha Kyaw, was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a military court. He had taken part in anti-coup protests before his arrest more than three months ago. The military accused him of receiving combat training from the Kachin Independence Army.
Students have been among the most dedicated opponents of the military’s February 1 power grab, and have been repeatedly targeted in crackdowns in recent months.
Htet Aung, the 22-year-old former president of the Pyay University Students’ Union and vice president of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), was arrested by 10 plain clothed military personnel at a house in Paungde Township, Bago Region, where he was hiding on September 6.
“They took him saying they had some questions. We don’t know exactly why he was arrested,” said Nyi Nyi Zin, an ABFSU member.
Htet Aung had only been released from prison in February after serving several months of a one-year sentence for taking part in a protest against the war in Rakhine last year.
His family say they are worried for his wellbeing and do not know where he is being held.
In July, the junta detained nine students including Htet Wai Yan, the president of the Government Technical Institute Students’ Union in Letpadan, as well as Yan Naing Aung, an executive member of the Pyay Students’ Union.
Zin Ko Ko Khant, a 20-year-old student from Taungoo University, was detained a few days later.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 13, 2021
- Event Description
A citizen journalist was detained on Monday and later released after filming a police station and preparing to interview family members of 30 Kandal villagers arrested in a land dispute over Phnom Penh’s new international airport.
Chray Nim, who is also a land activist, said she was working as a citizen journalist for the community, though she would not elaborate on where she publishes her reports.
The airport development, in Kandal province’s Kandal Stung district, has in recent months become more aggressive about clearing the land of villagers, who are refusing the compensation on offer to relocate.
Villagers have tried to block roads in protest, while police and military police have increased their presence to stop them.
On Sunday, a confrontation between villagers and authorities turned violent, with villagers allegedly hurling rocks at officers before 30 were arrested.
Amid a downpour outside the Kandal Provincial Court on Monday afternoon, a man said he was there with his wife because their 22-year-old daughter, a garment factory worker, was arrested on Sunday. He added that “I will be arrested” if he was named in publication.
“I couldn’t sleep. I wanted to burst out crying,” the man said of the night after his daughter’s arrest. “It’s our land and we’ve been jailed for our land.”
The villagers were angry, he said. But he said he was also annoyed at the children who had hurled rocks at officers. “They couldn’t control their emotions,” he said. “The young were aggressive, and the older people got arrested.”
Two women said they had come from Phnom Penh after their 55-year-old mother was arrested. “I was very upset when I learned that she was arrested, and they prevented us from seeing her,” one of the women said, declining to be named. The two had been outside the police station since 7 a.m., she said.
Another woman said her mother, who was over 60 years old, was also arrested. “I don’t want to talk much because I don’t want to get in trouble,” she said, standing with a full bag of cooked rice and other food she hoped she could give to her mother.
The first man added, speaking to reporters: “I’m worried about you too.”
Chray Nim, 41, was arrested around 11 a.m. outside the police station, according to her daughter Reaksa Reasey. Reasey said she had come with her mother, and saw six officers drag her into the compound.
Nim was filming the police station’s gate as a citizen journalist, Reasey said.
Reasey was also questioned for an hour before being released, she said.
“They questioned where my mother came from and what she does. I told them that I don’t know because I’m just a student,” Reasey said. “I was very, very scared seeing her in handcuffs.”
In the afternoon, a guard at the police station also told VOD: “No pictures. If you continue to take them, I’ll get someone to take you.”
Nim was released in the evening. Nim told VOD after her release that she had only started filming, had not interviewed anyone yet, and had not broadcast live. She was questioned about who she worked for and whether she had sought permission to film. She would only say that she was a “community citizen journalist” and not where her reports were published.
“They asked whether I had asked permission from them or not and I told them that I go to take videos everywhere and I have never asked permission,” she said. “Anywhere people protest we go to cover it.”
“This is a threat and silences the freedoms and rights of independent citizen journalists,” Nim added.
Information Ministry broadcasting director Phos Sovan said he did not have clear information yet about Monday’s detention, and whether it was only for taking video.
“When we write a narrative, it can be too far from the truth, and sometimes the authorities think that it will incite or cause more violence … so they use their mechanism toward journalists who broadcast live,” Sovan said.
There were some challenges regarding citizen journalists not following ethics, he added. “The new group that we call citizen journalists has a lot of challenges,” Sovan said. “We have seen some challenges for online media occurring recently.”
Many small news outlets have appeared on Facebook in recent years — and several have faced trouble with the law over their video broadcasts.
Nim began as a land and women’s rights activist in 2012 after facing problems with her own land near the current Phnom Penh International Airport, according to the Cambodian Center for Human Rights and Transparency International.
Kandal officials have been heavy-handed in dealing with journalists covering the dispute. A VOD reporter was followed by two undercover police officers back to Phnom Penh after covering the story and another social media broadcaster was threatened and asked to stop covering the protest.
Nop Vy, executive director of the Cambodian Journalists Alliance, said Nim was a member of the association, though she had never done work for it.
The association would be offering her support as a member, he said.
“Citizens who can produce stories like articles and videos and photos are called citizen journalists. We have been working to build their capacity and ethics,” Vy added. “Some citizen journalists have good knowledge and can write stories. We encourage them and we can sign contracts with them.”
Many journalists in Cambodia were not formally trained, but have gained experience through working in newsrooms and with other journalists. “It is the same for citizen journalists. They are normal people, but they start working as journalists, then they learn and improve to be professional journalists,” he said.
Vy added that based on information he had, Nim had only been taking video. “I think this is part of people’s freedoms, including journalists’ freedoms,” he said, adding that authorities should respect those freedoms. “They have no weapons. They only have smartphones to interview and take photos and videos.”
Sokunthea Chhan, media development director at the Cambodian Center for Independent Media — VOD’s parent organization — said Nim was not a citizen journalist for CCIM. But CCIM would be providing a lawyer to support her, Chhan said.
CCIM, however, did have citizen journalists in the disputed airport area, and they were facing threats from police and local authorities, she said.
“CCIM supports CJs and professional journalists when they face challenges by providing legal support and safe houses if they need,” she said. “CJs are just gathering [information about] issues happening at the conflict area. The authorities should open the space for CJs and all journalists to exercise their rights freely.”
Kandal provincial police chief Chhoeun Sochet could not be reached. Pung Khiev Se, chairman of OCIC, which is developing the airport in a joint venture with the civil aviation authority, has not responded to questions.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Sep 13, 2021
- Event Description
Sureerat Chiwarak, mother of student activist Parit Chiwarak, has received a summons from Thong Lo Police Station on a violation of the Emergency Decree charge.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that Sureerat has to report to the police station to hear the charges on 20 September 2021. TLHR also posted a picture of the summons, which stated that the charge was filed by Pol Maj Ithithon Praosetsak, investigation inspector at Thong Lo Police Station, and that former Red Shirt leader Nattawut Saikuar also faces the same charge.
The student activist group United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration (UFTD) said that the charge is related to a protest at the Asoke intersection, organized by Nattawut. The UFTD also said that Sureerat only attended the protest.
This is Sureerat’s second summons for violating the Emergency Decree. According to TLHR, she previously received a summons from Thong Lo Police after a complaint was filed against her by Srisuwan Janya, Secretary-General of the Association for the Protection of the Constitution, who is known as Thailand’s “complainer-in-chief” for repeatedly filing police complaints against activists and politicians.
The UFTD said that Srisuwan’s complaint is related to the 3 September 2021 protest organized by the UFTD and the activist group Thalufah. However, TLHR said that the complaint is likely related to the 2 September 2021 protest at the Asoke intersection.
Sureerat has been active since the beginning of 2021 in the campaign for the release of activists detained pending trial, after her son was denied bail and detained in February 2021 along with 9 other activists. She became known, along with the mothers of other detained activists who spoke out to demand their children’s release, as the “Ratsamom,” a combination of “Ratsadon,” which means “people,” and “mom.”
Parit was released on bail on 11 May 2021, after being detained for 92 days. He was detained again on 8 August 2021 on charges relating to a protest in front of the Border Patrol Police Region 1 headquarters on 2 August 2021 to demand the release of 32 detained activists. The Criminal Court also revoked his bail on charges relating to the 19 September 2020 protest. He is currently detained at the Thanyaburi Remand Prison and has been denied bail at least 4 times.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Family of HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Sep 13, 2021
- Event Description
2 online reporters were arrested on the night of 13 September while covering the protest at Din Daeng intersection and charged with violating the curfew and the emergency decree.
Arrested were Nattapong Malee from Ratsadon News and Panida (surname withheld) from the Free Our Friends page. Live footage from Ratsadon News showed police asking Nattapong to produce written permission for him to work during the 21.00-04.00 curfew. He responded that his application was pending, and was taken in.
Ratsadon News is one among many online citizen journalists providing close coverage of the protests at Din Daeng through live broadcasts. These have occasionally exposed police brutality.
The two were detained overnight and taken to court the next day to request further temporary detention. The court released them on bail with no security.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights reported that 11 people were arrested on the same night. 5 were minors, one of whom was 12 years old, 2 were reporters, and one was a volunteer nurse. ‘Unaffiliated’ media barred from covering protests
On 14 September, Khaosod reported that Pol Col Kritsana Phattanacharoen, deputy police spokesperson, said in a press briefing that Youtubers and freelancers from Thai and foreign news agencies are not allowed to cover the protests if they cannot confirm their affiliation.
Prior to the arrests, Pol Maj Gen Piya Tawichai, Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, gave an interview to the Question Time programme on the Thai PBS channel that the police have received media reports about protesters or Youtubers disguising themselves as journalists.
Pol Maj Gen Piya said the police would remove unaffiliated journalists or Youtubers from the scene.
Reports of unaffiliated reporters and freelance journalists and photographers being blocked from reporting and assaulted have increased in the latter half of 2021 as police increased pressure on pro-democracy protesters.
Although official media carry press cards, they are often affected by police use of rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon, sometimes deployed indiscriminately.
Sirote Klampaiboon, a Voice TV reporter, tweeted on Monday night (13 Sep) that a group of reporters at Din Daeng had rubber bullets fired at them after the police picked them out with green lasers.
Somchai Homla-or, a human rights lawyer, in an interview with Backpack Journalist on 17 August after a freelance photographer was hit by a police baton that destroyed her camera lens, said that the authorities have no right to use violence to stop people and the media from taking photos or videos as they serve as tools for monitoring the protest situation.
Somchai cited a Court of Appeal Region 5 ruling, which said that people can take photos and videos when the authorities make an arrest or perform their duty at checkpoints as it is meant to increase transparency regarding the authorities’ actions. Citizens and journalists are able to record the situation as long as they do not interfere with the authorities.
The Thai Media for Democracy Alliance (DemAll), a group of pro-democracy media and content creators, published a statement after the arrest of the 2 citizen journalists, saying that it found many reports that reporters were asked to produce press cards, to stop live broadcasts and to leave the scene, with the curfew used as an excuse.
DemAll demanded that the police not restrict the definition of the media to only those affiliated with major press outlets and put a stop to threats against journalists.
“The press cards are not the main issue. Even citizen journalists are regarded as journalists with the duty of relaying information to the people,” stated the statement.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Sep 13, 2021
- Event Description
Kunjungan Presiden Joko Widodo ke Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) diwarnai penangkapan 10 mahasiswa, Senin (13/9). Mereka ditangkap setelah membentangkan poster di Jalan ir Sutami yang dilalui Presiden Jokowi.
Dalam rilis yang diterima CNNIndonesia.com, aksi tersebut digelar mewakili Presiden dan Wakil Presiden BEM se-UNS. Poster berisi kritik tersebut ditujukan kepada Presiden Jokowi yang akan menghadiri Forum Rektor se-Indonesia di Auditorium Fakultas Kedokteran UNS. "Dalam peristiwa tersebut setidaknya ada 10 mahasiswa yang ditangkap oleh aparat," demikian menurut rilis yang dikirim oleh Presiden BEM UNS, Zakky Musthofa.
Mahasiswa yang pertama ditangkap bernama Daffa. Ia membentangkan poster di halte bus di dekat pintu masuk UNS sekitar pukul 10.59 WIB. Sekitar 11.13 WIB, Daffa dibawa oleh aparat ke dalam mobil hitam.
Dua orang mahasiswa bernama Khanif dan Tekwo sempat menghampiri Daffa sebelum memasuki mobil.
"Mereka berdua dibawa pula ke dalam mobil," katanya.
Aparat juga menggeledah tas milik Afif, Prama, Tema, dan Ammar. Aparat bahkan sempat memberhentikan motor yang dikendarai Tema dan Ammar sebelum menggeledah isi tas mereka. "Empat mahasiswa tersebut dibawa oleh aparat dengan mobil putih," katanya.
Selain tujuh mahasiswa tersebut, polisi juga menangkap tiga mahasiswa lain. Mereka yaitu Mishbakh, Wicak, dan Raden yang ingin menyuarakan aspirasinya.
"Mereka bertiga turut dibawa oleh aparat," katanya.
Zakky mengaku heran dengan penangkapan yang dilakukan aparat kepolisian. Pasalnya, mahasiswa memiliki tanggung jawab membela aspirasi rakyat.
"Kami pertanyakan apa yang jadi kesalahan teman-teman? Kami sebagai mahasiswa punya tanggung jawab membela rakyat. Ternyata tidak diberi kesempatan," katanya melalui telepon.
Apalagi, Zakky menilai aksi yang dilakukan BEM cukup santun seperti yang diminta oleh Jokowi.
"Poster kita kan enggak barbar. Isinya sama sekali enggak kasar," katanya. Sebelumnya, Gabungan BEM se-UNS juga sempat meminta waktu melalui pihak UNS untuk menyampaikan aspirasi secara langsung secara tatap muka dengan Presiden Jokowi. Sayangnya, permintaan tersebut ditolak.
"Ternyata kami tidak diberi kesempatan, baik secara akademis maupun di jalanan. Padahal kami tidak membuat aksi yang besar yang menimbulkan kerumunan," katanya.
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 12, 2021
- Event Description
Cambodian authorities have arrested more than 30 villagers during a violent roundup of land protesters in Kandal province where they were protesting against an airport being built by a company owned by a tycoon with ties to the country’s autocratic leader, provincial police and villagers said.
The land at Kampong Talong village in Kandal’s Beung Khchang commune was taken three years ago by the Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation (OCIC), a private Cambodian firm, for construction of the U.S. $1.5 billion airport project.
Around 330 families living on the disputed land refused compensation for their fields, saying the amounts offered in payment by the firm were too low.
Police beat the protesters who rallied Sunday, and 31 were arrested for alleged involvement in violence against authorities during the demonstration.
The land dispute between 330 families and the Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation (OCIC) owned by Neak Oknha (honorific) Pung Khieu Se, an affluent business tycoon close to Prime Minister Hun Sen led to authorities to make the arrests.
Villager Nai Phon, who was monitoring the situation, said that authorities arrested three of his family members — his wife, Khim Chetra, and sisters Nay Phea and Nay Phol, and that police were still searching for and arresting other villagers.
“As a land grab victim, it has been three years since I begged the head of government to help solve this land dispute by giving us fair compensation so that we can accept it, Nai Phon said.
“And now we do not dare to claim the market price. We can accept a reasonable price to end the confrontation and have all the detainees released.”
RFA could not reach Kandal’s police commissioner, Chhoeun Socheth, for comment.
‘It is not a good way’
Am Sam Ath, deputy director of monitoring at Cambodian human rights group Licadho, said that this is the first time in the history of land disputes in Cambodia that authorities have arrested such a large number of people.
“We still insist on not choosing that way, and it is not a good way,” said Am Sam Ath, who condemned the resort to mass arrests.
“First, it affects both sides and draws more criticism over the issue of the land dispute as well as other allegations,” he said. “And if the people are imprisoned, their suffering will be doubled. This means that their families will face more problems.”
This arrest and violent crackdown erupted Sept. 12 after hundreds of authorities prevented farmers from accessing the land. They set fire to the rubbish in front of the security barricades used by local police and military police to block the road to their farmland now under the control of OCIC.
In response, Kandal Provincial Hall accused residents of causing acts of violence involving the use of sticks, stones, rubber bullets, and petrol bombs that injured 13 police officers.
Authorities called on residents to stop what they said were illegal activities and return to efforts to resolve the land dispute peacefully.
Acting on behalf of CIOC, Kandal provincial authorities have offered villagers U.S. $8 per square meter for their land, but villagers say that is much lower than the U.S. $70-80 per square meter estimated market price.
Van Sophat, land monitoring officer for the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, previously told RFA that OCIC had failed to conduct a proper assessment of their project’s environmental impact or to consult Kampong Talong villagers on the proposed development.
The villagers hold title to their land and deserve justice and fair compensation, he said.
Hundreds of police officers blocked villagers on Sept. 7 from visiting rice fields seized to build an airport, though no injuries were reported.
Villagers stopped cultivating their land three years ago, but had to start farming again because business shutdowns caused by the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in Cambodia have left them without other ways to survive, a villager told RFA in an earlier report.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Land rights, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Sep 10, 2021
- Event Description
On 10 September 2021, General Moeldoko, the Presidential Chief of Staff officially reported human rights defenders Egi Primayogha and Miftachul Choir to the Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Police of Jakarta for alleged defamation, related to article 27 of the Electronic Information and Transactions Law and articles 310 and 311 of the criminal code. If charged, the human rights defenders could be sentenced to 6 years in prison. Egi Primayogha is a human rights defender and member of Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), a prominent anti-corruption organisation in Indonesia. As a student, he was involved in various civil society movements in university, such as the student press and student co-operative movement. The human rights defender is currently working on various human rights issues such as freedom of information, access to health, and the right to natural resources. He is also vocal about the implication of politicians and business groups in human rights violations. Mifta chul Choir is a human rights defender and a short-term contract member of the Political Corruption Division of Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW). His research focuses on political economy of the coal mining industry, the party financing regime and the electoral system. Prior to joining ICW, Miftachul Choir was involved with the student press and various student movement groups. Currently, he is a postgraduate student at the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies (IHRP), Mahidol University. On 10 September 2021, General Moeldoko, the Presidential Chief of Staff, officially accused Egi Primayogha and Miftachul Choir of defamation and reported them to the Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Police of Jakarta. The accusations against the human rights defenders relate to a study published by the Political Corruption Division of ICW which alleges the involvement of various public officials, in promoting the circulation of the drug Ivermectin during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both human rights defenders were involved in the research and presentation of this study. On 29 July 2021, it was reported that the Presidential Chief of Staff planned to issue a subpoena against Egi Primayogha and Miftachul Choir regarding the study published by ICW. On the same day, 109 civil society organisations and community groups expressed solidarity with Egi Primayogha, Miftachul Choir and ICW and urged General Moeldoko to withdraw the subpoena. On 2 August 2021, the lawyer of the Presidential Chief of Staff sent a subpoena to ICW, specifically addressing Egi Primayogha and Miftachul Choir. The subpoena asked them to withdraw the claims made by their study and to apologise to the Presidential Chief of Staff within 24 hours. It also threatened to report the human rights defenders to the police if the demands were not met. Subsequently, two other subpoenas issued by Moeldoko were sent to Egi Primayogha and Miftachul Choir on 5 August 2021 and 20 August 2021, with similar demands and threats. In Indonesia, article 27 paragraph (3) of the Electronic Information and Transactions Law concerns defamation, and articles 310 and 311 of the Criminal Code concern attacking someone’s honor and reputation with accusations and defamation respectively. However, the Criminal Code also contains relevant justifications for the publishing of the study by the human rights defenders under Article 310 paragraph (3), which states, “it does not constitute defamation if the act is carried out in the public interest”. It has been observed by human rights defenders in Indonesia that government officials often abuse their power by using the Electronic, Information, and Transactions Law and defamation charges to silence activists or human rights defenders in the country.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Online
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 9, 2021
- Event Description
On an August morning at a wet market in Mandalay’s industrial suburbs, a 50-year-old man was selling noodles and cheerfully greeting fellow vendors and customers alike.
Win Ko Oo was well-known for his friendliness. But not everyone who had grown familiar with his smiling face knew that he had once had a very different life.
When the year began, Win Ko Oo was a train driver with 25 years’ experience. But then the army seized power, and everything changed. As someone who had lived through the aftermath of a similar coup in 1988, he knew he had to resist the return of military rule.
A month after Myanmar’s elected civilian government was overthrown, Win Ko Oo made up his mind to join the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) that was sweeping the country.
“I hesitated at first because I had to think about my family. We had nowhere else to go. But in the end, my hatred for the regime outweighed my concerns about the hardships we would have to face, so I quit,” he told Myanmar Now that August morning.
Mandalay’s railway workers were among the first to join the movement in large numbers. In the department that Win Ko Oo belonged to, 285 of 319 staff members walked off the job in an effort to deny the regime control over state mechanisms.
This resulted in hundreds of railway employees and their families being forced to leave the housing compound where most of the striking workers lived.
But as one of the leaders of the protesting workers, Win Ko Oo also had another reason to worry: a warrant for his arrest on charges of incitement.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Sep 8, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities in Vietnam on Wednesday indicted five journalists from the Báo Sạch (Clean Newspaper) Facebook-based news outlet on charges of “abusing democracy and freedom to infringe on state interests,” state media reported.
According to the indictment, issued by the Procuracy of Thoi Lai district, in the southern city of Can Tho, the Clean Newspaper staff posted anti-state and reactionary information and delved into information that was “inappropriate, distorting, against the country’s interests, and slanderous of the people’s administration” in violation of Article 331 of Vietnam’s Criminal Code.
The five indicted journalists are: Truong Chau Huu Danh, Nguyen Thanh Nha, Doan Kien Giang, Nguyen Phuong Trung Bao, and Le The Thang.
Thang has been released on bail and is barred from leaving his house while the others have been arrested and detained.
Danh, meanwhile, was also charged with posting stories that “generated bad interactions between internet users in the cyber environment” and “propagandized, distorted, defamed and seriously slandered Party organizations and local Party committees."
State media reports also said the Clean Newspaper group was paid by businesses to write and publish favorable stories.
According to the indictment, the group’s Facebook fan page, Facebook group, and YouTube channel were created in August 2019. Between the three platforms, the group had published 47 reports or videos dealing with hot-button social issues.
Article 331 and Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code have been criticized by human rights lawyers and organizations as having been used as “a tool to stifle dissenting voices.”
Dang Dinh Manh, a Vietnam-based lawyer, told RFA on Wednesday that the two articles are essentially the same, despite differing text.
“If you want to impose a lighter penalty, go with Article 331 and if you want a more serious one, go with Article 117,” said Manh.
Article 117 imposes penalties for “creating, storing, and disseminating information, documents, items, and publications opposing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” while Article 331 prohibits “abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to violate the interests of the state, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals.”
Manh said an investigator told him during a meeting that prosecutors will choose which article they want to apply to a case depending on how severe they want the punishment to be.
“In general, both articles are aimed at restricting people’s freedom of expression. These articles should not exist because they contradict Vietnam’s very constitution, which allows Vietnamese people to criticize the policies they deem as detrimental to the interests of the country and the people. What the Clean Newspaper group said should not be seen as anti-State,” Manh said.
In its Freedom in the World 2021 report, Washington D.C.-based Freedom House gave Vietnam an overall score of 19 out of a possible 100, a one-point drop from last year’s rating. Vietnam scored three out of 40 in political rights, and 16 out of 60 in civil liberties.
”Freedom of expression, religious freedom, and civil society activism are tightly restricted [and the] authorities have increasingly cracked down on citizens’ use of social media and the internet,” Freedom House said.
Vietnam’s already low tolerance of dissent deteriorated sharply last year with a spate of arrests of independent journalists, publishers, and Facebook personalities as authorities continued to stifle critics in the run-up to the ruling Communist Party Congress in January. But arrests continue in 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 6, 2021
- Event Description
Min Thukha Kyaw, the former chair of the Dagon University Students' Union, was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a military tribunal on Monday, a family member has confirmed.
“He called me during his appearance at the tribunal with the help of a prison staff member. He told me he had been sentenced,” said the relative, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Min Thukha Kyaw was arrested three months ago and charged with incitement under Section 505a of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison.
It was unclear at the time of reporting what additional charges had been laid against him that would account for the length of his sentence.
Min Thukha Kyaw was arrested at his home in Yangon’s North Okkalapa Township on June 6 and accused of receiving military and explosives training from the Kachin Independence Army.
He has been held in Yangon’s Insein Prison since his arrest and has been denied access to a lawyer. His family has also been unable to meet with him, the relative said.
“He lost that legal right [to hire a lawyer] because martial law was imposed,” said lawyer Thet Naung.
Myanmar Now called officials at the Prisons Department and Insein Prison for comment on Min Thukha Kyaw’s case, but did not receive a response.
Martial law was declared in several Yangon townships, including North Okkalapa, in March amid massive protests against the coup staged by the military the previous month.
A military tribunal with sweeping powers, including the power to impose the death penalty, has replaced the judiciary in the affected townships.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 1,000 people have been killed and nearly 8,000 have been detained since the military seized power on February 1.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Judiciary
- Source
[Myanmar Now](On 6 September 2021, Min Thukha Kyaw, pro-democracy student leader, was sentenced to 10-year jail on incitement charges for his involvement in the anti-coup protest, after an irregular trial held by a military court in Yangon, Myanmar,)
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 6, 2021
- Event Description
Myanmar’s junta has detained human rights activist Ko Kyaw Minn Htut, his two-year-old child, wife and younger brother in Monywa, Sagaing Region.
The Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability (MATA) said its member, his brother Ko Kyaw Minn Aung and a man who was living with them were detained on Monday afternoon in Nandawon ward.
Ko Kyaw Minn Htut’s wife Daw Khin San Hlaing and their son were also detained by junta forces on Sunday, MATA said in a statement on Tuesday.
MATA is the civil society alliance formed by over 400 organizations across the country for the implementation of transparency and accountability in the extractive industries.
Ko Kyaw Minn Htut had been working for environmental protection and human rights and participated in the non-violent movement for democracy after the military coup, MATA stated.
“We strongly ask for the freedom of Kyaw Minn Htut and all detained people who participated in the non-violent pro-democracy movement without [causing] any harm,” the group said, while calling for an end to military rule.
Killings, arrests and torture by regime forces continue daily across the country as the junta escalates its crackdown on dissidents and supporters of the shadow National Unity Government.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Family of HRD, NGO staff, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Sep 6, 2021
- Event Description
Two young activists from the gender equality activist group Feminist’s Liberation Front Thailand went to hear the charges against them at the Thong Lo Police Station on Monday (6 September), where the police attempted to take DNA samples and took them to court in a detention truck.
Paeng, 16, and Ton-or, 17, have been charged with violation of the Emergency Decree for joining the 10 August 2021 “car mob” protest organized by the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration (UFTD). During the protest, the caravan stopped in front of the Sino-Thai Tower, which houses a construction company where Anutin Charnvirakul, the Public Health Minister, is the 4th biggest shareholder. Student activist Benja Apan read out a declaration, stating that the government’s mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic has caused the people irreparable harm, and that this situation has its roots in the 2014 military coup, which led to a regime that so far has only benefited the elite.
The Feminist’s Liberation Front, which joined the protest on another truck, placed Japanese-style rain dolls in front of the Sino-Thai Tower and spray-painted the dolls.
Paeng and Ton-or went to Thong Lo Police Station at 10.00 on Monday (6 September) to hear the charges, along with 3 other activists. Paeng said that the process was moving much slower than the last time she had to report to a police station, and they did not leave the police station until almost 16.00.
Ton-or said that the police claimed that they have never handled a political case, and did not know what to do. She also said that the officers prohibited them from taking pictures during the process, even though officers at other police stations allowed them to do so and she was only taking pictures of the documents, not the officers. She asked which law she was violating by taking pictures, and the officers could not tell her.
Ton-or also said that the officers attempted to collect DNA samples from them. She said that one of the other activists sent a message to the rest of the group that the officers tried to get them to sign a consent form to have DNA samples taken. They were not told that this would be happening, and that officers just gave them the document to sign But they felt suspicious and asked the rest of the group whether this is appropriate. The activists then declined to have their DNA samples taken.
During Ton-or’s meeting with the officer, she was also given the consent form but refused to sign it. She said that she asked the officers whether this has to be done, and that she did not consent to having a sample taken. The officer accepted her refusal.
“It doesn’t follow international principles. It made me felt like I was a criminal, even though usually all you need to do is give your fingerprints,” Ton-or said.
After meeting the inquiry officer, the adult activists were released, but Paeng and Ton-or, who are both minors, were taken to the Central Juvenile and Family Court for a temporary detention request.
However, the police forced them to ride a detention truck to court, which both found unacceptable.
Paeng, for whom this is the second charge of violating the Emergency Decree, said that the last time she was taken to court, the police allowed her to travel by herself.
“In my heart, I was very angry, because why did they suddenly force us to take a detention truck. Usually, any car is fine. They even let you go with your parents. Suddenly, they are getting me to take a detention truck. I wasn’t okay with it and felt bad,” Paeng said.
Meanwhile, Ton-or, who is now facing 4 Emergency Decree charges, said that she initially refused to get into the detention truck and was trying to negotiate with her lawyer and the officer. She said that officers at other police stations allowed her to travel with her parents and to meet them at the court, but the Thong Lo police wouldn’t accept her refusal and tried to coerce her into the detention truck.
She said that they did not leave the police station until 15.30, half an hour before the court closes, causing her to become concerned that she would be detained if they could not file a bail request in time.
“I was made to feel like I was a convict, even though I haven’t gone to trial and found guilty. It caused me to feel uncomfortable and uneasy. As a minor, I felt that I was unsafe and that I was not being protected,” she said.
Ton-or said that, during her last hearing, the judge granted her bail but told her that she would not be granted bail if she committed another offense. The judge also shouted at her father, asking him whether he is capable of taking care of his daughter and why he let her repeatedly commit offenses.
She said that the same judge also oversaw her Monday hearing. She was granted bail with 15,000 baht as security, but the judge told her again that she would not be granted bail next time. The judge also spoke to her father and told him to take good care of his daughter and that next time she will not be granted bail.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that several other activists also went to hear charges relating to recent protests on the same day. Student activist Patsaravalee Tanakitvibulpon went to Pathumwan Police Station to hear charges relating to the 3 August 2021 Harry Potter-themed protest in front of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre. She was charged with violating the Emergency Decree and using a sound amplifier without permission.
20 other activists and protesters were also charged with violation of the Emergency Decree for joining the 3 August protest, while human rights lawyer and activist Anon Nampa was charged with royal defamation under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code. He is now being detained pending trial.
A 16-year-old protester has also been charged with violating the Emergency Decree and the Cleanliness Act, obstructing traffic, using a sound amplifier without permission, joining an assembly of more than 10 people and causing a breach of public peace, and not dispersing after receiving an official’s order.
The charges are in relation to the 16 August 2021 protest march from the Victory Monument to Government House, organized by the activist group Thalufah, which was blocked by crowd control police.
He was taken to the Central Juvenile and Family Court for a detention request, but was later granted bail without security. He must also report to the juvenile detention centre for questioning on 13 September 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline
- HRD
- SOGI rights defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Malaysia
- Initial Date
- Sep 5, 2021
- Event Description
Mr. Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani is a human rights defender and President of the Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organization Malaysia (MERHROM), a non-profit organization based in Kuala Lumpur. As part of this work, Mr. Abdul Ghani advocates for the human rights of refugees and asylum seekers, combating human trafficking, and promotes the rights of the Rohingya minority, and the establishment of democracy in Myanmar. Mr. Abdul Ghani sought refuge in Malaysia in 1992 and was recognized as a refugee in 2004.
ALLEGATIONS
On 16 April 2020, the Malaysian Navy allegedly denied entry to a boat with 206 Rohingya people into Malaysia, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following this, Mr. Abdul Ghani was contacted by local and international media for comments. On 21 April 2020, MERHROM issued a press statement in response to this incident, requesting the United Nations, ASEAN and world leaders to protect the rights of Rohingya minority and prosecute human traffickers in respective ASEAN countries. On the same day, the statement was posted on an unknown individual’s Facebook account, who allegedly urged the Malaysian Government to be stern with the Rohingya community and urged others to attack Mr. Abdul Ghani’s Facebook account. The account also reportedly stated that Mr. Abdul Ghani’s phone number was available.
On the same day, a picture of Mr. Abdul Ghani was uploaded on another unknown individual’s Facebook account, claiming that Mr. Abdul Ghani was demanding full citizenship rights for Rohingya living in Malaysia. Mr. Ghani’s social media account received almost 20,000 comments the same day, including threats and insults, including posts urging him and the Rohingya minority to leave Malaysia.
On the same day, an online petition was launched by unknown individuals, urging the Malaysian Government to send Mr. Abdul Ghani and all Rohingya minority back to Myanmar. On 22 April 2020, an open letter from Malaysian nationals was issued to MERHROM, demanding all Rohingya, including Mr. Abdul Ghani, be expelled back to Myanmar.
Since then, Mr. Abdul Ghani has reportedly received further threats and harassment, including death threats and threats of physical violence through phone calls, WhatsApp messages, SMS, Facebook and various other social media platforms. These attacks call for the killing and violent attack of Mr. Abdul Ghani, as well as for the Malaysian government to expel him and all Rohingya minority from Malaysia. Mr. Abdul Ghani’s family have also reportedly received threats and insults, with threats that they will find him, his wife and children and kill them all, and made serious threats against his mother.
On 23 April 2020, Mr. Abdul Ghani and his wife lodged a report at the Gombak police station based on the threats and harassment they had been receiving online. They were reportedly instructed to meet the Investigation Officer at Setapak police station, where they were allegedly confronted by three unknown individuals regarding Mr. Abdul Ghani’s alleged claim for Malaysian citizenship.
Mr. Abdul Ghani’s and MERHROM’s advocacy and community work has reportedly been increasingly affected following the harassment and threats against him. As a result of this harassment, he together with MERHROM’s committee members have had to cease their efforts in assisting Rohingya who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 5 September 2021, Mr. Abdul Ghani reportedly received a call from an unknown individual, believed to be a Myanmar national based on his accent, who told him to be careful, as the Myanmar Military Intelligence is allegedly following him. The caller told Mr. Abdul Ghani to stay at home and not leave.
Additionally, following the death of human rights defender and Chair of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH) Mr. Mohib Ullah on 29 September 2021, in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, Mr. Abdul Ghani has been receiving threats on social media platforms, urging him and Rohingya refugees in Malaysia to return to Myanmar. Although Mr. Abdul Ghani’s name is not always referenced, he is referred to on social media as the “President or Rohingya Leader in Malaysia”.
On 30 September 2021, the Sinar Harian Malaysian newspaper published an article on Mr. Ullah’s assassination. The article received over 1.3k comments, reportedly mostly negative and many targeting Mr. Abdul Ghani. Allegedly, some comments included threats of violence, including that Mr. Abdul Ghani should be shot, or that he should take Mr. Ullah’s place in the refugee camp where he was assassinated.
CONCERNS
In the communication, we expressed our deep concern at the death threats, harassment and intimidation against human rights defender Mr. Abdul Ghani, which appear to be directly linked to his legitimate work as a human rights defender in Malaysia, working on the protection of the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, combating human trafficking, the rights of the Rohingya minority, and promoting the establishment of democracy in Myanmar. Furthermore, we express our concerns regarding the targeting of Mr. Abdul Ghani for the legitimate exercise of his right to freedom of opinion and expression, as well as of peaceful assembly and of association. We express further serious concerns at the threats and intimidation against Mr. Abdul Ghani’s family members as well.
We also expressed concern with regard to the online targeting of, smear campaigns and xenophobia against refugees and migrants. We are concerned that such actions heighten the vulnerability of refugees, migrants and certain minorities, given the precarity of their status, and could result in the normalisation of xenophobia and discrimination against refugees and migrants in Malaysia. As such, this could also potentially inhibit human rights defenders in Malaysia from carrying out their legitimate work regarding minority, refugee and migrant rights, due to potential retaliation.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 4, 2021
- Event Description
A reporter for Voice of Democracy said he was harassed by authorities on Saturday while covering a land dispute between a new airport project and affected villagers in Kandal Stung district.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association said a second journalist was warned by villagers to stay away because police were threatening to arrest him.
Pok Kheuy, who is an intern at VOD, told CamboJA that he went to cover a press conference held by residents involved in a land dispute over the new Phnom Penh Airport in Kandal Stung district, Kandal province, on Saturday.
“When I interviewed the people, authorities dressed in civilian clothes took pictures of me and my motorbike,” he said. “After I finished my interviews, I drove my motorbike back to Phnom Penh and about 5 minutes later, I noticed that two people followed behind me.”
Kheuy said as he drove, five uniformed police in the street tried pulling him over but he continued driving.
“They still followed and said they were police and asked me to stop and talk to them, but I didn’t stop, and when I refused to stop, they shouted at me calling me ‘thief’,” he said.
Kheuy said he was frightened for his safety and considered it a threat against the freedom of press.
“I would like to express the sorrow that authorities are abusing the existing law on the press that ensures the safety for journalists and that the journalists have the right to report and cover news anywhere that they are not banned from,” he said. “But the authorities instead continue to restrict, and I think it is a bad thing and is persecuting journalists’ jobs.”
Kandal Stung district governor, Ouch Sao Voeun, said he did not know of the case. However, he said authorities in his area never ban journalists from covering news.
“I don’t know about this but if they are just covering news, nobody banned them, they can cover the news wherever they are allowed,” he said.
Kandal Provincial police chief, Chhoeun Sochet hung up the phone when a CamboJA reporter asked about the incident.
Information Ministry spokesman Meas Sophorn said he did not know about the issue and needed to check with the provincial information department first.
However, he said, in general, journalists are not allowed to enter places where the authorities are in operation.
“Those who have no obligation [to be there] including the journalists are not allowed to enter the place because it may cause an obstacle and obstruct the authority’s operation and also cause danger for authorities as well,” he said. “And authorities have the right not to allow journalists to enter.”
In July, the Ministry of Information gave local authorities the green light to take legal action against journalists that they deem to be unprofessional or spreading false information that obstructs law enforcement.
The ministry made its decision after Kandal provincial authorities wrote to the ministry in June asking it to take legal action against a number of journalists who live streamed a protest against the new airport development.
Luos Seng, the owner of online news station LSN News TV and one of the journalists targeted by provincial authorities, had been warned by authorities after live streaming the protest.
He told CamboJA on Monday that he did not cover the press conference on Saturday because villagers called him and told him not to come or he would be arrested.
A villager told CamboJA that the authorities had been deployed along the streets outside of the press conference. He said authorities chased after Kheuy while about 10 villagers also followed behind to help him in case he was arrested by authorities.
CamboJA Executive Director, Nop Vy said in a statement on Monday that the act represented a serious threat against a journalist’s rights.
“Intimidation of journalists and threats through various forms seriously affects press freedom, the state of freedom of expression in Cambodia, and both journalists’ and the public’s right to information.”
CamboJA has recorded 38 cases of harassment against 56 journalists since the start of the year.
Claiming compensation offers have been too low, for three years now hundreds of families have been locked in disputes over the $1.5 billion airport project developed by Overseas Cambodia Investment Corp (OCIC), which is owned by the well-connected Oknha Pung Kheav Se.
On September 1, the company cut off village roads, making it difficult for residents to access farmland. The Kandal provincial administration issued a statement on September 3, stating that road closures and road blocks are to drain water from the runway construction site.
However, villager Tuon Vannak, who owns 0.40 hectare of land directly affected by the runway project said: “We feel that the authorities have cut off roads to encroach on people’s land because people will not be able to access their land.”
Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association calls on authorities with clear measures against officials who harass and obstruct the work of journalists.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Sep 2, 2021
- Event Description
Police in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City have fined a local Facebook user for saying that local government has neglected city residents and let them go hungry amid lockdowns aimed at controlling the spread of COVID-19, sources said.
Nguyen Thuy Duong was fined VND 5 million (around $210) on Thursday after saying in a July 22 posting that lockdown measures enforced by authorities in the Binh Truong ward of Thu Duc City, an area under Ho Chi Minh City’s jurisdiction, had left residents unable to receive relief packages.
State media said the fine was imposed by Ho Chi Minh City police and the city’s Department of Information and Communications for violations of Government Decree 15, governing the use of postal services, telecommunications, and other information technologies.
Challenging her fine on Thursday, Duong said in a statement online that authorities told her in a meeting by phone that they had produced four witnesses who said people living in the area had not been left to starve.
“I told them that I had 40 witnesses who could prove that people had been forced to beg for food. And to prove my goodwill, and so as not to argue with them, I suggested they speak to people in the lockdown area in person,” she said.
At the same time, people in the affected area were still calling her to report their problems, she said.
“I turned on my phone speaker, and they agreed to go to the checkpoint to testify, but the police told me to turn off my phone and refused to say anything more,” Duong said. “The minutes of our meeting show that I denied doing anything wrong.”
The fourth wave of Vietnam’s COVID-19 pandemic beginning on April 27 has hit the country hard, as cities and provinces implement strict social distancing measures, restrict people from leaving their homes, and shut down factories and other businesses, leaving many out of work.
Photos and videos posted on Facebook and TikTok show widespread anger at food shortages, unemployment, and lack of government support, and authorities have imposed penalties on people posting allegedly “false information” on social networks about the pandemic’s spread.
When running stories on the penalties imposed for spreading false information, state media sometimes fail to point out which regulations have been violated, though, sources said.
Protecting each other, blaming others
Ordinary people are often left at a disadvantage, Ngoc Binh—a resident of Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Tan district—told RFA, adding that in any dispute involving government officials and ordinary citizens, it is the citizens who are first to be punished.
“Government officials often protect each other and blame others,” she said.
Authorities sometimes also issue documents and then recall them without explanation, said lawyer Dang Dinh Manh, also speaking to RFA.
“Obviously there is inequality between the government sector and the private sector,” he said. “People are immediately sanctioned and fined when allegedly violating the regulations. However, when making mistakes in the public sector, the authorities can withdraw their decisions, and no sanctions are announced.”
The inspection of travel permits and other documents at checkpoints in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and other locations has at the same time turned those places into congested areas, violating regulations that require social distancing, sources say.
COVID-19 could easily spread among the thousands of people waiting for their permits to be issued, said Vietnam-based journalist Nguyen Vu Binh, adding, “In communist countries in general, and in Vietnam in particular, governments never admit to being wrong, even if their policies have a lot of errors and shortcomings.”
If their policies show flaws, the authorities simply replace them with new ones and don’t admit their mistakes, he said. “When people violate those policies, they are treated harshly. But for the authorities and cadres, if they make mistakes, they only have to draw the lessons learned.”
“Things have always been this way,” he said.
As of 5:48 p.m. on Friday, Vietnam had recorded 501,649 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in the country, according to data tallied by the CDC, WHO, and other sources. The total number of deaths now stands at 12,446.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Sep 2, 2021
- Event Description
Kriminalisasi terhadap 2 petani yang tergabung dalam Koperasi Petani Sawit Makmur (Kopsa M) atas laporan PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) V dan proses tidak prosedural Polres Kampar, menunjukkan bahwa cara-cara lama perusahaan BUMN berkolaborasi dengan penegak hukum belum berubah.
"Praktik ini seharusnya menjadi masa lalu. Tetapi faktanya di lapangan masih banyak terjadi. Klaim bahwa PTPN V compliance dengan standar sustainability policy dan standar bisnis dan HAM dalam tata kelola perkebunan, ternyata hanya menjadi slogan untuk dagang Sawit ke dunia internasional," ungkap Ketua Setara Institute Hendardi di Jakarta, Selasa (14/9/2021).
Petani yang menjual hasil kebun sendiri, kata Hendardi, justru dituduh menggelapkan barang oleh PTPN V dan Polres Kampar dengan drama merampas truk milik koperasi dan melaporkannya kepada Polres Kampar.
Dalam sekejap, kurang dari 24 jam, Polres Kampar telah menetapkan tersangka. Kasus rekayasa dengan nomor LP/434/IX/2021/SPKT/POLRES KAMPAR/POLDA RIAU, tanggal 1 September 2021 ini, telah menjerat Kiki Islami Parsha (pada 2/9/2021) dan Samsul Bahri (pada 7/9/2021).
"Atas ancaman kriminalisasi tersebut, perwakilan 997 petani yang sedang memperjuangkan hak-haknya yang dirampas PTPN dan pihak swasta lainnya ini mendatangi Lembaga Perlindungan Saksi dan Korban (LPSK). LPSK telah menetapkan petani-petani Kopsa M berada dalam status perlindungan lembaga negara ini," kata Hendardi.
Petani-petani ini, lanjut Hendardi, adalah saksi dan korban dari tata kelola PTPN V yang tidak akuntabel dan memperdaya rakyat dalam skema kerja sama yang tidak setara.
"Penggunaan instrumen hukum untuk membungkam petani adalah tindakan indisipliner dan kesewenang-wenangan aparat yang tidak boleh dibiarkan," cetus Hendardi. Menkopolhukam Mahfud Md dan Kapolri Jenderal Listyo Sigit Prabowo, menurut Hendardi, harus menghentikan kriminalisasi yang memalukan institusi-institusi negara dan BUMN. "Komplonas dan Bareskrim Polri harus mengawasi secara langsung dan seksama atas peragaan kesewenang-wenangan aparat Polri. Visi Polri yang Presisi dari Kapolri harus dipatuhi jajaran kepolisian di level Polda, Polres dan Polsek di seluruh Indonesia," tandas Hendardi.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Singapore
- Initial Date
- Sep 1, 2021
- Event Description
Singapore's high court ordered two bloggers to pay Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong a combined S$210,000 ($155,994) in damages on Wednesday, over an article about the home of his late father and the city-state's modern-day founder, Lee Kuan Yew.
The premier sued writer Rubaashini Shunmuganathan and editor Xu Yuan Chen, also known as Terry Xu, over an August 2019 article on The Online Citizen (TOC) that included references to a Lee family disagreement about what to do with the property.
Judge Audrey Lim said the article "impugned Lee's reputation and character" by alleging he was dishonest.
"This struck at the heart of Lee's personal integrity and could severely undermine his credibility, not just personally but also as the prime minister, and call into question his fitness to govern with integrity," Lim said in a written judgement.
Xu, a Singaporean, and Malaysian Rubaashini were ordered to pay Lee S$210,000 and S$160,000 respectively. The judge, however, asked them to jointly pay S$160,000 in damages, as the lawsuits concerned the same defamatory article.
Rubaashini did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Xu on his social media said he was disappointed with the judgement and was assessing next steps he could take, such as an appeal.
Xu has also set up crowdfunding for the case, a move taken separately in April by an activist and a financial advisor, both of whom Lee had successfully sued for defamation.
Lee appeared in court in the case involving TOC in May, during which he said "sensational allegations" had been made.
His press secretary in a statement on Wednesday said the damages awarded would be donated to charity.
Senior figures in the ruling People's Action Party, including Lee Kuan Yew, have also sued foreign media and political opponents for defamation, calling it defence of their reputations.
Some activists, including the New York-based Human Rights Watch, say such moves are stifling freedom of speech and political opposition.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 1, 2021
- Event Description
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Ma Thuzar, a journalist held arbitrarily since her arrest for no clear reason in Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, a week ago after four months in hiding.
Her family and colleagues spent five days without any news of her after she was snatched by police as she left her home on the morning of 1 September. The police finally confirmed on 5 September that she had been arrested, but they have yet to give the judicial grounds for her arrest or say where she is being held.
Ma Thuzar, who worked for the Myanmar Pressphoto Agency and the Friday Times News Journal, told RSF before her arrest that she filmed many of the major street protests that were triggered by the military coup on 1 February. It was partly as a result of her videos, broadcast live on the Friday Times’s online networks, that this media outlet was closed on 16 April.
Two weeks later, on 1 May, around 40 police officers raided her home with the aim of arresting her under a warrant issued by the Yangon region military command. In her absence, they arrested her husband, a retired journalist, who was released five days later. It was this raid – which the Yangon region military command refused to confirm when reached by RSF – that forced Ma Thuzar to go into hiding.
51 journalists now detained
“We call for the immediate and unconditional release of Ma Thuzar, whose arrest and detention are completely arbitrary,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “The way she has been treated reflects the illegal, brutal and inhuman treatment to which the military junta has subjected all journalists in Myanmar for the past seven months. In so doing, Myanmar is violating the most elementary legal principles and, for this reason, we call on the international community to impose targeted sanctions against those responsible for these repeated abuses.”
According to a tally verified by RSF, Ma Thuzar’s detention brings the number of journalists currently detained in Myanmar to 51. Zaw Moe Oo, a journalist who freelances for the pro-military news agency Eleven Media, was also arrested at her home in the southern Myeik region on 1 September but was released two days later.
Last month, RSF reported that Sithu Aung Myint, a political commentor for the magazine Frontier Myanmar and radio Voice Of America, was arrested by police on 15 August at an apartment in Yangon’s Bahan Township, where he had been hiding. Htet Htet Khine, the presenter of programme called “Khan Sar Kyi” (Burmese for “Feel it”) for BBC Media Action, was also arrested in the same raid.
Myanmar is currently ranked 140th out of 180 countries in RSF's World Press Freedom Index.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 1, 2021
- Event Description
A former reporter who had been missing since September 1 is in detention at a Yangon police station and has been charged with violating Section 505a of the Penal Code for incitement, according to her family.
Relatives of 35-year-old Thuzar were notified on Wednesday night that she was sent to the East Dagon police station on Wednesday after spending nearly one month in an interrogation centre, during which time her family was unable to contact her or confirm her whereabouts.
Ye Ko Ko, Thuzar’s husband, said that they had been preparing to file an official missing person’s report on Friday, the day that would have marked one month since her disappearance.
“They contacted us at around 8pm last night. They said she was at the police station and that we could not see her in person yet,” he told Myanmar Now on Thursday.
He added that a police officer came to the family home on Thursday morning, delivered a letter from Thuzar, and allowed them to send basic medicine and sanitary supplies to her.
“She wrote us a letter saying that she was in good health and that she was worried about her family. She also asked for her mother not to be worried about her,” Ye Ko Ko said.
Thuzar had a warrant out for her arrest for incitement since May, and escaped a military raid on her house during the same month. It is believed that she went into hiding in Yangon’s Kamayut Township.
Ye Ko Ko said that the last time he had contact with his wife was a phone call on the afternoon of September 1.
When it was apparent that she was missing, Thuzar’s family contacted interrogation centres, police stations and even the notorious Insein Prison in their search for her, but received no confirmation that she was in junta custody.
She has been remanded to the East Dagon police station, with a court hearing scheduled for October 13. If convicted, she faces up to three years in prison.
During the raid on Thuzar’s home in May, junta troops arrested Ye Ko Ko when they were unable to find her, holding him in an interrogation centre until he was released on bail four days later.
“We all felt like it was the end of the world when we couldn’t find her for 29 days. We were really relieved when we found out that she was alive and that she was being held at the police station. We are going to take every legal step possible to get her back,” her husband said.
Thuzar was a member of the Myanmar Press Council formed during the National League for Democracy government’s tenure, and had previously worked as a reporter for RFA, Modern Journal, The Irrawaddy, 7 Days News, and Friday Times News Journal.
Following the February 1 coup and until May, Thuzar worked as a freelance reporter at the Friday Times and Myanmar Pressphoto Agency.
The military council has arrested around 100 journalists since the coup. Although some have been released, more than 50 were still in detention at the time of reporting, according to a September 16 report by Detained Journalists Information Myanmar.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping, Denial Fair Trial, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to fair trial, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Aug 30, 2021
- Event Description
Vietnamese police this week arrested a Facebook user for criticizing the government online, posing as medical workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic in order to gain quick entry to his house, sources said.
Bui Van Thuan, 40, was taken into custody on Aug. 30 by a large number of police officers after police cut power to his house in the Huu Nhan hamlet of Nghi Son town in northern Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa province, Thuan’s wife told RFA on Wednesday.
“The power went off at around 8:15 a.m., and the whole area was blacked out,” Trinh Thi Nhung said. “I then saw three people wearing medical clothes standing at our front gate, and they asked me to let them in to take a statement on our health because we are from another region and only have temporary registration in the area.”
“They said they were in a hurry and urged me to open the door quickly so that they could go to see others, so I invited them to come into the living room,” she said, adding that the disguised officers wanted to know how many people were living in the house and asked to see her husband, who was sleeping.
One of the male officers then asked to use the restroom, Nhung said.
“After I showed him the way to the restroom, he broke into the bedroom and restrained and handcuffed my husband just as he had woken up and was about to come out,” she said.
Thuan was then formally arrested for “using his Facebook account ‘Thuan Van Bui’ to store materials and publications against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Criminal Code,” Nhung said.
Police then carried out a search of the house, handcuffing both Thuan and Nhung and assigning an officer to comfort their daughter, who began crying when she could not find her parents after she woke, Nhung said.
Both knew that Thuan could be arrested at any time, and were not frightened when the moment came, she said.
“Those who raise their voices against what is bad and evil can be arrested at any time,” she said. “I knew that my husband often speaks out about human rights, so I was mentally prepared and am not afraid of any force sent against us.”
“I trust him and still hold my head high,” she said.
Many officers deployed
An unusually large number of police officers, both in uniform and in plain clothes, had been deployed to secure Thuan’s arrest, a nearby farmer who witnessed the incident told RFA.
“While working in the paddy field in front of my house, I saw three or four cars in front of Thuan’s home, and dozens of other cars were parked along the road. Nearly a hundred people surrounded the house, while those who stayed farther away rode motorbikes and didn’t wear uniforms, ” he said.
Thuan had never been affiliated with any political parties or groups, a friend said, speaking to RFA on condition of anonymity. “But because he spoke up so strongly, some people advised him to keep quiet for a while or to escape to another country.”
“However, he always said no,” his friend said, adding that Thuan felt he would lose his legitimacy as a dissident voice if he left. “He said, ‘I’d rather let [the authorities] hate me than have them look down on me.’”
“He raised his voice because he was upset with social injustices, and what made him special was his level of speaking up. Thuan is famous for his so-called ‘dog-fighting bulletins,’ which revealed many hidden stories from the [government’s] inner sanctums.”
In a Sept. 1 report, the Public Security newspaper of Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security said that police searching Thuan’s house had seized “six computers, three iPads, three mobile phones, and many documents and other items related to his criminal work.”
They also left with a jar of lime-flavored honey and a copy of The Handbook for Families of Prisoners, published by Pham Doan Trang, a human rights activist who was arrested by government authorities in October 2020, Nhung said.
“Our family refused to let them take the honey jar, as it had nothing to with their investigation. But the police said that they would take it anyway, and that was that,” said Nhung.
According to the California-based Vietnam Human Rights Network, Vietnam is currently holding around 300 political prisoners in the country’s prisons, jails, and detention centers.
As of 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Vietnam has recorded 473,530 cases of COVID-19 infection in the country, according to data tallied by the CDC, WHO, and other sources. Total number of deaths now stands at 11,868.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 30, 2021
- Event Description
The public prosecutor has decided to indict 19 members of the We Volunteer protest guard group, who face charges after being arrested on 7 December 2020 while clearing away razor wire left by the police at the Uruphong intersection.
During the night of 7 December 2020, the group went to the Uruphong intersection to collect razor wire left behind by the police following several protest marches, saying that they had received complaints from residents in the area that the razor wire made it hard for them to move about.
However, they were surrounded by several units of crowd control police and were arrested. They were then charged with participating in an assembly of more than 10 people and causing public disorder, not dispersing an assembly after receiving an official order, and resisting an official.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that, after the public prosecutor filed a case against the group, they were granted bail using a Move Forward Party MP’s position and 25,000 baht each as security. The court also set a condition that they do not repeat the offense.
We Volunteer also filed a lawsuit at the Civil Court last Thursday (26 August) against the Thai police for wrongful arrest. According to the Human Rights Lawyers Alliance, the police’s action was excessive and not proportional with the group’s action. They were arrested without a warrant, and members of the group were assaulted by the officers.
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Related Events
- Thailand: 19 arrested for removing barbed wire
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 30, 2021
- Event Description
Thanat Thanakitamnuay, an anti-Thaksin campaigner turned pro-democracy activist has been accused for Section 112 of the Criminal Code for wearing an outfit similar to one worn by the late King Rama IX. Police also brought charges against an individual in Nonthaburi for allegedly removing a royal portrait and treating it in a disrespectful manner.
On 30 August, Nangnoi Atsawakittikorn from the Thailand Help Center for Cyberbullying Victims and Jakkapong Klinkaew from the People's Centre for the Protection of Monarchy filed a royal defamation complaint against Thanat at the Samranrat Police Station on behalf of the “People’s Network for the Protection of the Royal Institution”.
The group contends that Thanat was intentionally mocking the late King Rama IX by wearing a suit, an eyepatch and a camera to a protest on 22 August. They also assert that a speech Thanat gave on 25 August calling for Section 112 to be abolished reflects his intent to overthrow the monarchy.
According to Nangnoi, Thanat’s costume and camera were props employed to ridicule a well-known photograph of King Rama IX. The late King often wore a camera around his neck when travelling upcountry.
This is not the first time that royalists have taken umbrage with the costumes of pro-democracy activists. Conservative netizens put up a storm of critical commentary after the 28 January 2021 posting of a picture in which Chaiamorn ‘Ammy’ Kaewwiboonpan, a lead singer in the Bottom Blues Band, dressed in an outfit similar to one worn by King Rama IX. Thanat’s ‘imitation’ may well have been unintentional. He claims he was wearing an eye patch because his right eye was injured during the police suppression of a 13 August protest. However, some royalists contend that he was making fun of King Rama IX, who lost the vision in his right eye as the result of a traffic accident in his youth.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 27, 2021
- Event Description
Two Svay Rieng land dispute representatives, previously fined $1,000 each under Covid-19 regulations for gathering people to rally, have now been charged for obstructing the enforcement of health measures and face up to three years in jail, according to a rights group.
En Soth and Yous Sophorn, representing families seeking compensation for land the Water Resources Ministry wants to turn into a reservoir, were summoned by provincial police on Friday and detained overnight, according to Soth’s husband, Mom Kosal.
They were then sent to the provincial court for questioning on Saturday, Kosal said.
Licadho spokesperson Am Sam Ath said they had since been charged under articles 10 and 11 of the Covid-19 Law. Infringement of administrative measures can be fined up to 5 million riel, or about $1,250, and obstruction of enforcement up to 10 million riel, or close to $2,500, and punished by up to three years in jail.
“This is a threat against the community for protesting, and secondly this move impacts other communities from protesting. If they dare to protest, they could face the same charges,” Sam Ath said.
Earlier this month, Soth and Sophorn were fined $1,000 each for posting photos of protesters holding up banners, as authorities deemed the rally a violation of Covid-19 measures.
Kosal, Soth’s husband, said the deadline for paying the fine was Monday, and Soth had planned to hand over the money on Saturday.
Provincial police chief Koeng Khorn would only say that the two land disputants had committed wrongdoing and police had taken action. “If you know, why do you keep asking?” Khorn said when asked about the case.
Provincial court spokespeople could not be reached on Monday about the land dispute, in Svay Chrum district’s Chhoeuteal commune.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 27, 2021
- Event Description
Panadda Sirimasakul, member of the activist group Thalufah, was immediately re-arrested on Friday (27 August), after she was released from prison.
Panadda is one of the three protesters granted bail the previous day (26 August), along with Sirichai Natueng and Sam Samat. She surrendered herself to the police on 9 August and was charged with joining an assembly of more than 10 people to create a public disturbance when they led a group to protest the arrest of 9 demonstrators and the seizure of a truck by police at a Car Mob rally on 1 August. She has been held at the Women Correctional Institution for Drug Addicts to complete her quarantine period for the past 19 days.
However, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that police officers from Bangkhen Police Station came to the Women Correctional Institution for Drug Addicts to arrest Panadda. TLHR said that the arrest warrant is no longer valid, as the inquiry officer already met with Panadda while she was in detention on 17 August and she has already testified. Nevertheless, she was arrested and taken to Bangkhen Police Station.
She was charged with violating the Emergency Decree, joining an assembly of more than 10 people to create a public disturbance, violating the Cleanliness Act, using a sound amplifier without permission, and obstructing a public way, for participating in the protest on 30 July 2021 demanding that political parties in the government coalition resign from the coalition. The protesters placed stickers on the gates of the Bhumjaithai Party headquarters and threw paint at the gates and party sign.
Four other members of the Thalufah group face charges for the same protest: Jatupat Boonpattararaksa, Nawapol Tonngam, Chitrin Plakantrong, and Songpol Sonthirak.
Panadda was granted bail at the inquiry level with a security of 35,000 baht and was released on condition that she does not participate in activities that cause public disturbance or tamper with evidence, and that she meets with the inquiry officer when required.
Seven other protesters remained in detention: Anon Nampa, Jatupat Boonpattararaksa, Parit Chiwarak, Phromsorn Weerathamjaree, Natchanon Pairoj, Panupong Jadnok, and Thatchapong Kaedam.
Seven of the protesters have tested positive for Covid-19 since their detention: Parit, Sirichai, Sam, Phromsorn, Panupong, Thatchapong, and Jatupat. Activist Thanapat Khapeng also tested positive for Covid-19 after he was granted bail. Meanwhile, Sam and Sirichai was transferred to a hospital after their release.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Aug 26, 2021
- Event Description
On August 26, 2021, human rights defender Haris Azhar and woman human rights defender Fatia Maulidyanti were issued one subpoena by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment concerning the posting of a talk show on Haris Azhar's YouTube channel. In the subpoena, Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidyanti were asked to explain the motive for posting the video to the Coordinating Minister. In addition, the two defenders were asked to apologize in five days to the Minister through Haris Azhar's YouTube channel, mass media, and online media and promise not to repeat the act. The subpoena mentions that if an apology is not made, legal actions will be taken against the human rights defenders. Haris Azhar is a human rights defender in Indonesia. He previously served as the Coordinator of Commission for the Disappeared and Victim of Violence (KontraS) a nation wide group and community of NGOs operating in Indonesia since 2010. Haris Azhar has contributed to human rights and public interest litigation cases, events, campaigns and publications for promoting and defending human rights in Indonesia and South East Asia. The human rights defender had also served as a member of the Executive Committee of FORUM-ASIA and has been the Deputy Chair of INFID-Indonesia, which are both prominent human rights organizations. Fatia Maulidiyanti is a woman human rights defender and the Coordinator of the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), a prominent human rights organization in Indonesia established in 1998. She has been involved in various civil society movements since she was in the university, namely student press, working on various human rights issues such as death penalty, business and human rights, unfair trial, human rights defenders and human rights in conflict. She is also the founder of a book donation community for death-row inmates called Books For Tomorrow. In the online video for which the human rights defenders are facing legal action, Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti discussed the research results of several human rights organizations, such as KontraS, Walhi, Jatam, YLBHI, and Pusaka, about the business of Indonesian Army officials and retirees behind the gold mining business and their plan to exploit the Blok Wabu area in Intan Jaya, Papua. The subpoena issued by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment has mentioned that Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti will face charges under Article 27 paragraph (3) of the Electronic Information and Transactions Law concerning defamation, and Articles 310 and 311 of the Criminal Code concerning attacking someone’s honor and reputation with accusations and defamation respectively. However, the Criminal Code also contains relevant justifications for the posting of the talk show under Article 310 paragraph (3), which states, “it does not constitute defamation if the act is carried out in the public interest”. Human rights defender Haris Azhar has been a target of similar reprisals in the past. On 28 July 2016, the human rights defender published an article on Facebook alleging the involvement of Indonesian police officials in corrupt activities, including the acceptance of bribes from an international drug trafficking network. On 2 August 2016, three government agencies, the BNN, the TNI, and the National Police, filed a joint defamation complaint against Haris Azhar under the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions Law. Following public pressure, on 10 August 2016, the National Police announced that they have set up an independent team to investigate the alleged involvement of security officials in drug trafficking. It has been observed by human rights defenders in Indonesia that government officials are abusing their power by using the Electronic, Information, and Transactions Law to silence activists or human rights defenders in the country.
Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the subpoena issued against Fatia Maulidiyanti and Haris Azhar as it believes that they are being targeted for their peaceful and legitimate work in defence of human rights.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Online
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Aug 26, 2021
- Event Description
A veteran lawyer, who recently held a “hunger strike” after the management of the condominium he was living in cut his water supply, was shot dead by a still unknown assailant along R. Duterte Street in Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City on Thursday, August 26.
Lawyer Rex Jose Mario Fernandez, 62, was on board his car when he was shot by the gunman who waited for him in a corner at around 4:10 p.m., according to Police Major Jonathan Dela Cerna, chief of the Guadalupe Police Station.
Fernandez’s driver, who police investigators have not yet identified, sustained gunshot wounds to his body and was taken to the hospital for treatment.
A woman in the back seat of the car survived although investigators have yet to determine her identity.
A closed-circuit television (CCTV) in the area showed that the lone gunman, who wore a red jacket, immediately boarded a getaway motorcycle driven by another person.
At least six empty shells of a .45 caliber pistol were recovered at the crime scene.
In a tally made by the Inquirer, at least 15 lawyers in Cebu had been killed since 2004.
Last November 23, 2020, lawyer Joey Luis Wee was also killed while he was walking from his car up to the stairs of his office in Barangay Kasambagan, Cebu City.
Lawyer Edre Olalia, president of the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL), decried the murder of Fernandez, who was a founding member of the group in 2007 and a counsel of human rights organization Karapatan.
“No words, indeed. Another colleague has fallen with his boots on. We had lost count. It has not stopped and every lawyer is a sitting duck,” he said in a statement.
Olalia described Fernandez as “passionate, intense and brave, even as he was unique in many ways.”
Fernandez, he added, handled many cases of activists.
“Even after he became inactive in NUPL later, he continued to collaborate with fellow human rights lawyers in public interest cases,” Olalia said.
“Before he was silenced, he castigated the present administration which he had hitherto placed his sincere hope on would bring change. He died disillusioned that it was not meant to be. Rest in peace already Rex. You fought a good fight,” he added. Hunger strike
Last August 13, 2021, Fernandez held a “hunger strike” after the management of the condominium he was living in cut his water supply even though he secured an injunction against the developer.
He placed a tent at the condominium entrance in Barangay Subangdaku, Mandaue City and expressed his sentiments through the media.
In an earlier interview, Fernandez said he conducted the hunger strike to send a message to Contempo Property Holdings Inc., who developed and managed the condominium, that their gesture of cutting his water supply for non-payment of condominium corporation dues deprived him of his right to live.
A representative of the developer claimed that the payment of condominium corporation dues was necessary as it helps sustain their operations.
Since Fernandez started occupying his condo unit in 2018, the lawyer said the management asked him for condominium corporation dues worth P90 per square meter or equivalent to P3,240 per month.
Fernandez questioned the management and asked them for the computation of his condominium dues. However, the management reportedly didn’t respond to his concern, prompting Fernandez to not pay the condominium dues since then.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 24, 2021
- Event Description
A group of residents in Oddar Meanchey’s Samraong city say they fear arrest and losing their land after the provincial court summoned 11 of them for questioning early next month over a land dispute.
The summonses come as four villagers were arrested on the land on Tuesday, only to be released that evening after a protest by what villagers said was hundreds of supporters. The land in question is said to have formerly been part of Angkor Sugar, a notorious site of alleged human rights violations that has led to a class-action lawsuit in Thailand.
May Pek, a resident of Konkriel commune, said 1,149 hectares of land were claimed by 293 families in five villages in both Konkriel and Samraong commune.
Pek said the residents had used the land for decades until 2007, when a sugarcane company received a government license for the land and evicted residents without compensation. But the company closed down in 2015, and people moved back on the land, he said.
Since the beginning of this year, a new company, San Heang, was claiming the land, he said.
He and 10 other residents had been summoned to appear at the court on September 1 and 2 over accusations that they falsified documents and encroached on the company’s land, Pek said. They would appear as they had not committed any wrongdoing, he said.
“My people, they support me. When I go in for questioning, they will come too because they are afraid,” Pek said. “I’m worried. It’s not that I’m not worried, but at this stage, if they want to arrest us, we don’t know what to do. But we also have to struggle — if we can’t struggle [and] just bear with it…”
Another summoned resident, Rath Sopheap, said it was not the first incident with San Heang. On Tuesday, a provincial forestry administration official and about 10 armed officers, including some from the company, arrested four farmers building huts in their rice fields, Sopheap said.
Sopheap said there were no arrest warrants, and the four farmers were held at the provincial forestry administration office as hundreds of villagers gathered outside in protest. They were released around 8 p.m.
Authorities tried to stop the people from protesting and taking photos, and confiscated three phones, she said.
“They kicked once, and put their feet while a person was on the ground, shoved into the ground and tied their hands behind their back,” she said. “They acted like this. It was so extreme against the people.”
Oddar Meanchey provincial forestry administration director Im Sao Varith said he had ordered the four arrests because the farmers had illegally encroached on state land, but denied that authorities had used guns to intimidate residents.
He declined to say whether the administration had brought a lawsuit against the 11 people summoned to court.
“We arrested them because they went to encroach on state land, invading state private land with a solid land title,” Sao Varith said.
Oddar Meanchey provincial governor Pen Kosal said he had already established a committee to investigate the dispute between San Heang and villagers. He had some results, and authorities planned to meet and make a decision soon, Kosal said.
“I organized a committee to check what the people have to rely on, and what the company has to rely on. The important thing is what evidence or proof they have so we can solve it,” he said.
San Heang could not be reached for comment. An Agriculture Ministry document dated July 13 gives San Heang a permit to clear forests and harvest byproducts on 1,500 hectares. According to OpenCorporates, the company was registered last year and has since changed its name to San Heang (Kampuchea) Aharon Niharon.
Adhoc official Srey Naren said the land in question formerly belonged to Angkor Sugar. Angkor Sugar was one of three sugar plantations in Cambodia under Thai sugar giant Mitr Phol, which is facing a class-action lawsuit from Cambodian farmers. Farmers’ homes were burned and razed, allegedly with the involvement of military forces hired by the plantation. Mitr Phol has said that it was not a participant.
- Impact of Event
- 14
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Aug 23, 2021
- Event Description
Security forces have detained more than 30 youths in Myanmar’s largest city Yangon as authorities conducted a series of raids in response to the country’s shadow government warning of a “D-Day” operation to oust the junta nearly seven months after it seized power through a coup.
Five people, including a couple that own a popular noodle shop, were arrested late on Monday in Yangon’s Sanchaung township, a resident of the area told RFA’s Myanmar Service, speaking on condition of anonymity citing fear of reprisal.
“They began the searches around 4:00 p.m., first near Thayettaw Road and Tayokekyaung Road, before moving to Zeyawaddy, Moe Ma Kha, and Gandamar Roads. They later searched the noodle shop on Ma Kyee Kyee Road,” the resident said.
“They conducted the searches from until around 3:30 a.m. I believe more than a dozen people were arrested. Every time they made an arrest, they would take the person to the police station and then come back again to make more arrests.”
Authorities also searched adjacent roads in the area and arrested several youths from New People’s Ward 4 during a check on household registration documents, residents said.
Other sources told RFA that more than a dozen people were also arrested Monday in Yangon’s Thaketa, Ahlone and Thingangyun townships.
“The military was searching for and arresting people last evening in Thingangyun township and other areas—about 20 people were arrested,” said a Thingangyun resident who declined to be named.
“What we heard was that they got information from one of those arrested about an online app that young people are using to communicate with each other. From that app, they found out the connections and made the arrests.”
RFA was unable to verify the exact number of arrests, but they come amid several in recent days that included the detention of four young men during a raid Monday morning in Yangon’s Tha-maing Myothit district. ‘D-Day’ operation
Authorities appear to be intensifying a crackdown on anti-junta activities that began soon after the military seized power from Myanmar’s democratically elected government in a Feb. 1 putsch. In the nearly seven months since the coup, security forces have killed 1,014 civilians and arrested at least 5,851, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
The junta says it had to unseat Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) government because the party engineered a landslide victory in Myanmar’s November 2020 election through widespread voter fraud. It has yet to present evidence of its claims and public unrest is at an all-time high.
The NUG recently announced plans to set a date for a “D-Day” operation to purge the country of the junta through a popular uprising supported by a network of People’s Defense Force (PDF) militia groups formed to protect the public from the military.
On Monday night, a bomb went off at a military-owned garment factory in Ward 7 of Yangon’s Hlaing Tharyar township where troops had recently set up camp, wounding at least two soldiers, according to a statement issued about 15 minutes after the blast by the Hlaing Tharyar guerrilla group (CGF).
In the statement, the CGF claimed responsibility for what it said was a remote-controlled explosion in retaliation for an attack by the military earlier on Monday.
A resident of Hlaing Tharyar township confirmed the bombing on Monday and said it was followed by what sounded like a short firefight.
“There was a bomb blast at about 10:00 last night … followed by about 20 gunshots and then another rounds fired,” the resident said.
“There were no arrests of civilians, but armed soldiers were patrolling the streets on motorcycles as well as on foot in civilian clothes … There are checkpoints everywhere.”
Situation intensifying
Shootings and bombings are on the rise after the NUG’s D-Day announcement, and the junta has responded by stepping up security measures in nearly every city. The military regime recently appointed police chiefs to replace the Minister for Transport and Communications in all states and divisions, including Yangon.
Sources told RFA that the junta has been using loudspeakers in major cities in recent days to warn people not to support the NUG government, demand that militia groups surrender, and offer rewards to those who provide information about the PDF.
Political analyst Than Soe Naing told RFA that the military’s efforts are unlikely to head off a challenge to its hold on power.
“Civil war is just beginning. The situation is becoming intense, and I believe the momentum will only get stronger after D-Day,” he said.
“In the meantime, we hear about fighting daily while the military is checking visitor lists in cities throughout the country and carrying out arrests … I think that as soon as the D-Day program begins, various movements will spring up nationwide.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Aug 21, 2021
- Event Description
Myanmar's military government has arrested two more local journalists, army-owned television reported on Saturday, the latest among dozens of detentions in a sweeping crackdown on the media since a February 1 coup.
Sithu Aung Myint, a columnist for news site Frontier Myanmar and commentator with Voice of America radio, and Htet Htet Khine, a freelance producer for BBC Media Action, were arrested on August 15, Myawaddy TV reported.
Sithu Aung Myint was charged with sedition and spreading false information that Myawaddy said was critical of the junta and had urged people to join strikes and back outlawed opposition groups.
Htet Htet Khine was accused of harboring Sithu Aung Myint, a criminal suspect, and working for and supporting a shadow National Unity Government.
BBC Media Action said in a statement it was concerned about Htet Htet Khine's safety and the charges against her and was closely monitoring the situation.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said the pair were being held incommunicado.
"We strongly condemn the arbitrary conditions of their detention, which reflect the brutality with which the military junta treats journalists," said its Asia-Pacific desk head Daniel Bastard.
Myanmar remains fraught with instability and opposition to army rule, under which more than 1,000 people have been killed, according to an activist group that has tracked killings by security forces.
The military, which has revoked the licenses of many news outlets, says it respects the role of media but will not allow news reporting it deems false or likely to create public unrest.
A report by the Committee to Protect Journalists last month said Myanmar's rulers had effectively criminalized independent journalism.
Human Rights Watch late last month said the army government had arrested 98 journalists since the coup and should stop prosecuting media staff. Of those arrested, 46 remained in custody as of the end of July.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 21, 2021
- Event Description
In August, police of various divisions approached activists and citizens at their houses due to political involvement or monarchy-related posts. The TLHR has received reports of such harassment in at least 27 instances.
Activists organizing the car mob activities or participating citizens in several locations were visited by police officers at their houses, and were warned against attending future activities. For example, in Kanchanaburi province, the leaders of “Seri Kan for Democracy” group were approached by at least 25 authorities, including police, soldiers, and administrative sector, at home, and asked them to refrain from organizing the car mob activity in the area.
In Nakhon Ratchasima, a female activist noted that several vehicles belonging to plain-clothed men were spotted around her village throughout the morning of 21 August 2021, after the car mob activity had been announced in the afternoon. In addition, authorities also inquired about her from the village’s market owner.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Malaysia
- Initial Date
- Aug 19, 2021
- Event Description
At 8 PM on 19 August 2021, Malaysian authorities arrested 31 protesters that attended a candlelight vigil organised by Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat under the #Lawan banner to mourn the lives taken by COVID-19. Less than one hour into the event at Dataran Merdeka, police obstructed the vigil, arrested 17 men and 14 women—who were mostly youths—and confiscated their identity cards and phones. This is not the first #Lawan gathering to be obstructed by authorities.
Police took all 31 individuals to Dang Wangi District Police Headquarters where the presence of lawyers was restricted. Police officers only permitted three lawyers to enter the station and represent the detainees. By midnight, all participants were ordered to pay a fine of RM 2,000 (approximately 500 USD) for violating regulations preventing demonstrations during the pandemic and were released. However, investigations are ongoing. Nalini Elumalai, ARTICLE 19’s Senior Malaysia Programme Officer said:
“The forceful and aggressive arrest of 31 protesters at a candlelight vigil demonstrates an alarming disregard for freedom of assembly. Authorities must stop treating peaceful protests as a threat to be neutralised and instead help ensure that the public can safely exercise their right to freedom of assembly, even during the pandemic.” “By obstructing the protesters’ access to legal representation, the authorities are compounding human rights violations and undermining the criminal justice system. Authorities must stop using COVID-19 as a false pretence for petty arrests and the harassment of government critics.”
- Impact of Event
- 31
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Access to justice, Freedom of association, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Aug 19, 2021
- Event Description
A resident of Yangon’s Hlaing Township known locally for providing oxygen concentrators for free was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of being a member of the anti-regime resistance movement.
Khine Lwin, 40, was in her home on Butaryone Street when it was suddenly raided by junta troops at around 2pm, according to her daughter.
“Twenty plainclothes forces stormed our home and went through our things. They took all the phones and laptops in our house,” the 15-year-old daughter wrote on Facebook.
A source close to the family said that those who carried out the raid shouted that Khine Lwin was being arrested for committing murder and terrorism.
It was unclear what charges would be laid against the mother of two, whose whereabouts since her arrest remain unknown.
The regime has stepped up its efforts to detain opponents of its rule since imposing new restrictions in June on the pretext of containing the spread of Covid-19.
The third wave of the pandemic has claimed thousands of lives in the country so far, mainly due to shortages of medical oxygen supplies.
On Sunday, well-known political commentator Sithu Aung Myint was arrested in a Yangon apartment during a nightly check of registered guest lists.
His lawyer and family members said they have had no contact with him since he was taken to an interrogation centre immediately after his arrest.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), at least 5,759 people have been arrested, charged or sentenced by the regime since it seized power on February 1.
As of August 19, the junta has also killed at least 1,007 people, according to AAPP figures.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 18, 2021
- Event Description
Rong Chhun, a long-time activist and unionist, was sentenced on Wednesday to two years in jail at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, and he and two other defendants were ordered to pay a total 400 million riel, or nearly $100,000, in damages to Cambodia’s border committee.
Chhun was arrested at the end of July last year after issuing a statement that Cambodia was ceding territory to Vietnam along the border in Tbong Khmum province, a racially charged and contentious issue. His arrest sparked weeks of small nationalist protests in his support, leading to several other arrests.
On Wednesday, Chhun was found guilty of incitement to disturb social security alongside Ton Nimol and Sar Kanika, who had protested in support of Chhun but told the court during a trial hearing in February that they were only a tuk-tuk driver and market vendor, not political activists.
Chhun was sentenced to 24 months in jail, while Nimol and Kanika were sentenced to 20 months. Together, the three were ordered to pay 400 million riel, almost $100,000, in damages to the national border committee. They were also handed court fines of 2 million riel each, or about $500.
The three defendants reacted to the court’s decision by shouting that the verdict was unjust.
“It is injustice,” Chhun spoke out in the courtroom. “It is implemented based on a plan and order from the ruler. The court is under the influence of a politician, so the court cannot find justice for me.”
Chhun repeatedly clashed with judges and prosecutors during his trial this year, frequently objecting to the legal basis of the case against him.
Government lawyer Koun Saroeun said by phone on Wednesday that the verdict had restored “honor” to the border committee, though it had asked for higher compensation.
“As the government lawyer representing the committee, we gained back our honor and with this. We can accept it is not a problem,” Saroeun said. “For me, the [award for] damages is not really suitable yet, but we will not oppose or be disappointed over the court’s decision.”
Choem Sophal, 58, the mother of Kanika, said outside the court that her daughter had simply been concerned about injustices in society.
“[We] are the same Khmer. There should be an understanding, and she has not committed any serious mistake. And the word ‘incitement, incitement.’ I hate that word the most, incitement,” Sophal said.
She asked the court to release her daughter so she can come back home and restart her business as before.
Ouk Chhayavy, president of CITA, told reporters outside the court that the verdict was politically motivated.
“The court’s decision to sentence Rong Chhun today is a threat to the younger generation to abandon their studies, stop being aware of the country’s social issues, because those who sacrificed for the nation and society were imprisoned,” Chhayavy said.
She condemned the court system and said these decisions make people lose their trust in the judiciary.
Defense lawyer Choung Chou Ngy said the court had ruled without sufficient evidence.
“There is no exact evidence showing that my clients had committed an incitement offense,” Chou Ngy said. “I will meet with my clients to discuss the right to appeal.”
In February, Khmer Win Party leader Suong Sophorn was also sentenced to 20 months in jail and ordered to pay 2 billion riel, or about $500,000, to the border committee for protesting in support of Chhun last year.
Chhun’s trial began in January, with two more hearings in February and a fourth and final session held after a Covid-19 delay on July 30.
On social media, U.S. ambassador Patrick Murphy said the conviction of “respected union leader Rong Chhun” raised serious questions about freedom of speech protected in the Constitution “and essential to the functioning of a democracy.”
“The judicial system should not be abused to silence peaceful activists,” he said.
British ambassador Tina Redshaw also said on social media that she was “seriously concerned and disappointed” about Chhun’s sentencing.
“Freedom of expression is protected in Cambodia’s constitution and the judiciary shouldn’t be used to curtail it. Strong governments are open to hearing and engaging with a range of views from all of society,” she said.
Updated at 2:15 p.m. with additional comments. Notable Arrests Jailed in 2020 VOD and rights groups have tracked at least 46 controversial arrests this year as of October 23 over a range of issues: alleged “fake news” related to the Covid-19 pandemic, protests and statements made about border demarcations with Vietnam, environmental activism, campaigning related to the outlawed opposition CNRP, and more.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 18, 2021
- Event Description
The activist group Thalufah have held a protest against the government’s mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic and calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha for the third consecutive day, despite previous protests being forcibly dispersed by crowd control police.
The group gathered on 18 August at the Democracy Monument, where they brought effigies representing those who died from Covid-19 and the government’s failure to manage the pandemic. The effigies were piled up in front of the Monument, as well as hung from the model of the palm-leaf manuscript representing the Constitution.
At 18.00, after a series of speeches, protesters held up the three-finger ‘Hunger Games’ salute while the National Anthem played, followed by a minute of silence in memory of those who died from Covid-19.
This was then followed by an open mic session where protesters are invited to speak and express their discontent about the government.
At 19.20, the protesters burned effigies of the cabinet as a symbolic act of protest against the failures of the Prayut administration, and then danced around the bonfire. The protest concluded at around 19.30.
Following the conclusion of the protest, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that activist Thanadet Srisongkhram, a leader of the vocational school student network Gear of Democracy: Vocational Protection of the People for Democracy, was arrested and detained at the Nang Loeng intersection after he spoke at the protest calling for vocational school students joining protests not to use violence.
TLHR said it is likely that Thanadet was arrested on charges relating to violation of the Emergency Decree, but it is unclear about the incident for which he was charged.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Aug 16, 2021
- Event Description
A youth leader from the Mandalay Protest Alliance Force, was arrested by the junta’s forces while driving near Mandalay University at around 5pm on Monday.
Plainclothes soldiers, arriving in domestic vehicles, stopped a motorbike driven by activist Kyaw Thiha—who is in his 20s—beat him, and took him with them at gunpoint, according to an eyewitness.
Thura Aung, a friend who had been staying with him and another leader of the alliance, said that over 20 troops later inspected Kyaw Thiha’s former home in Patheingyi Township at 8pm that night.
“They also raided the place where we were staying. We’re all on the run now. I still don’t know about our other comrades, but I’m in a safe place now,” Thura Aung told Myanmar Now.
The Mandalay Protest Alliance Force has been a frequent target of the brutal crackdowns by the military on anti-coup resistance.
Junta vehicles drove into the protest column in both May and June, injuring demonstrators. Six protesters including a university lecturer were arrested near Mandalay University on the morning of June 14 after the column was hit by a car driven by military personnel.
The Mandalay Protest Alliance Force formed when multiple Mandalay protest columns joined forces to revolt against the dictatorship. They include Daung Sit Thi (Peacock Warriors); All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU); Academics; Labourers; Farmers; Mandalay University Students; BEHS (7) Students; and Sein Pan.
Thura Aung said that they would not be stopping their resistance to military rule.
“They can arrest us all they want but they can’t break our revolutionary spirit. We’re not backing down, not by an inch. We will fight for the truth until the end,” he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 16, 2021
- Event Description
The activist group Thalufah returned in a third protest march to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, which ended again with police violence.
Protesters gathered at the Victory Monument on Monday (16 August) for a protest against the government’s mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic and to demand that Gen Prayut resign unconditionally. The group previously planned to march to the 1st Infantry Regiment headquarters, where Gen Prayut lives in free army housing despite having retired, but later changed their destination to Government House after Soi Paholyothin 2, part of the route they planned to take to the 1st Infantry Regiment headquarters, was blocked with a row of containers.
Before the march, police officers carrying a search warrant from the Dusit Municipal Court searched the residence of a Thalufah group member. The warrant stated that the police are looking for equipment “related to a violation of the Emergency Decree” and that they are searching for a black Isuzu pickup truck and sound amplifiers.
The group told the officers that they can only search the house once their lawyer arrived, so the officers said that they would wait outside but those inside the house must stay together and not wander around. The group later took the vehicle to Din Daeng Police Station to be searched.
Thalufah also posted on their Facebook page that a GPS device was found attached to one of their vehicles, which was confiscated by the police and taken to Thung Song Hong Police Station following the protest on 2 August 2021.
The GPS device appeared to be of the same model as the one former Future Forward MP Pannika Wanich said was found under her car last week.
At around 16.20, protesters gathered at the Victory Monument to burn effigies representing those who died from Covid-19, before starting their march to Government House.
They arrived at the Nang Loeng intersection at around 17.00 and found Phitsanulok Road blocked by a barrier of razor wire and containers, as well as a unit of crowd control police and a water cannon truck.
The protesters’ speaker truck stopped in front of the barrier, while a speaker asked the participants not to break down the barriers or throw objects other than plastic bags containing paint at the officers.
At 17.45, several protesters attempted to remove the razor wire. The police issued a warning for them not to do so, before firing water cannon at the protesters. Several protesters then threw firecrackers across the razor wire barrier, as the organisers called for the protesters to back away from the barrier.
At 17.50, Thalufah announced the conclusion of the protest, while the police continued to fire water cannon and tear gas at the protesters, some of whom were throwing firecrackers and other objects at the police.
The 17 August 2021 march to the Government House was the third protest organized by the Thalufah group. The group previously organized 2 marches to the 1st Infantry Regiment headquarters, both of which were forcibly dispersed by crowd control police.
The 11 August 2021 protest was dispersed before the protesters left their starting point at the Victory Monument, while the 13 August 2021 protest was blocked at the Din Daeng intersection. 13 arrested, 2 shot during clash at Din Daeng intersection
After the protest at the Nang Loeng intersection was dispersed, some protesters left for the Din Daeng intersection, where they once again clashed with crowd control police. Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that 13 people were arrested and charged with violating the Emergency Decree by being out after curfew and taking part in activities risking the spread of Covid-19. Some were also charged with carrying a weapon in public.
TLHR also said that two of those arrested were pizza delivery riders who were not participating in the protest. Another detainee was also a delivery worker living in a flat behind Din Daeng Police Station and was driving home after work. He was waiting until the situation died down before returning home at around 22.00, but was searched and arrested. He was charged with carrying a weapon in public after the police found a pocket knife in his car.
Five of those arrested were under 18 years old. They were released at around 3.15 after the inquiry officer made a record of their arrest. The remaining 8 people were taken to the Bangkok North Municipal Court for a temporary detention request earlier today (17 August).
The Court approved of the temporary detention request, but granted them bail without requiring security. The Court also set the condition that they do not repeat their offense.
Meanwhile, the 5 minors went to the Central Juvenile and Family Court, where the inquiry officer asked the court to detain them. However, the Court released them without requiring security. They also have to report to the Bangna Juvenile Detention Centre on 24 August 2021.
Two teenagers were also reported to have been shot with live rounds near Din Daeng Police Station. One person was shot in the neck and was taken to Rajavithi Hospital. The hospital issued a statement earlier today (17 August) that he suffered gunshot wounds with one bullet remaining in his brain, and that his cervical vertebrae were fractured. He is currently in the intensive care unit and is in a coma.
The protester was previously reported to be 20 years old. However, his mother told Voice TV that he is only 15 years old. She said that her son told her he was bringing clothes to his friends, and that it was his first time participating in a protest.
Another 14-year-old protester was shot in the shoulder and was taken to Chulalongkorn Hospital. He said that he was shot while riding a motorcycle past Din Daeng Police Station and did not see the person who shot him.
A video clip was circulated showing a person in Din Daeng Police Station shooting at protesters. The superintendent of Din Daeng Police Station claimed that no live rounds were used during the police operation. Protester returns after being shot with rubber bullet
Waranya, one of the protesters at the 16 August protest, said she was shot with a rubber bullet when crowd control police forcibly dispersed the 11 August 2021 protest at the Victory Monument.
She said that she was shot from around 100 metres away, and that the crowd control police were shooting indiscriminately at the protesters and bystanders. She also said she saw the police shooting at a nearby bus stop, where mainly elderly people were waiting and had to hide behind the bus stop sign.
Waranya was shot in the stomach, and still had a large bruise.
“Why do Thai officers shoot people like this? I have been saying that I’ve never thought of hurting crowd control police. I understand that they are low-ranking officers doing their duty. My job is to try to stop the kids, stop our children, but why is the result like this?” Waranya said.
Nevertheless, Waranya said she is not afraid. She continues to return to the protests because she is worried about the young protesters, and said she would like people to know that the protesters were not hired but were there of their own will.
“Even if they’re not my children, but my future is in their hands, not an old man who is the military’s slave. It’s not right if you’re a police officer but you’re under the heel of a dictator. I wanted to say that we have nothing against the crowd control police. Our aim is to oust Prayut,” Waranya said. Covid-19 has left musicians without income, says drummer performing at Victory Monument
A drummer named Pae came to perform while the protesters are waiting at the Victory Monument, placing a sign saying “unemployed musician” in front of his drums.
Pae is taking a stand by performing at the protest to show that artists are suffering under this government, and said he wanted to entertain his fellow protesters.
He said that he used to perform at various nightlife establishments and was hired to perform at events, but the Covid-19 pandemic took away all of his income as there is nowhere for him to perform. He used to earn around 40,000 – 50,000 baht a month, and said that some musicians could earn up to 100,000 baht, but since the start of the pandemic in 2020, he earned nothing at all.
Pae said it has been difficult to access government aid schemes, vaccines, or even Covid-19 tests. He himself is not vaccinated as he has not been able to get a booking.
“The government can’t do anything. I understand that this government can’t do anything. This is how it is. Everyone knows that this is how it’s going to be. I’m just praying that if they can’t do it, then they should leave so that people who can do better come in and do it instead,” Pae said.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Raid, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Aug 16, 2021
- Event Description
Indonesian security forces have used discriminatory excessive force and racially abused protesters peacefully opposing the renewal of the Papuan Special Autonomy Law, new research by Amnesty International has revealed.
Papuan protesters told how they were targeted with water cannons, kicked and punched, and beaten with guns and rubber batons in peaceful protests during the last month. At least one person was injured after security forces opened fire on protesters on 16 August. Three protesters reported being called “monkey” while being arrested during protests in July.
Amnesty International has analysed videos and photos which show police using unlawful force on peaceful protesters, and verified injuries suffered by protesters.
“The reports of assault – both physical and verbal – that we have gathered reveals the true contempt the security forces have for the rights of Papuans.
“The Indonesian authorities must immediately investigate the reports of use of discriminatory excessive force and racial abuse against protesters, and also ensure the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly is respected.”
To date, protests against the controversial renewal of the Papua Special Autonomy Law have taken place in several cities, from July 14 to August 16. Amnesty International interviewed 17 people who participated in protests in the cities of Jakarta, Jayapura, Sorong and Yahukimo, and verified their accounts using open source video footage.
The protests have also called for the release of Victor Yeimo, a pro-independence activist from Papua facing life imprisonment for his political views.
On August 16, security forces opened fire on protesters in Yahukimo, injuring one person. One protestor told Amnesty International he heard multiple gunshots, and that several bullets were also found close to where the protest took place.
In a protest in Jayapura on the same day, protesters confirmed the use of water cannons, and beatings with rubber batons and guns by security forces. Amnesty International has verified video showing the use of water cannons against peaceful protesters and security forces beating them with rubber batons.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Minority Rights, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest, Right to self-determination
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Aug 16, 2021
- Event Description
Peri Asso (29) korban penembakan di Dekai, Kabupaten Yahukimo, Papua, meninggal dunia pada Minggu (22/8) dini hari sekitar pukul 02.20 WIT di RS Polri Bhayangkara, Kota Jayapura.
Korban tertembak saat aparat keamanan membubarkan unjuk rasa di Dekai, Senin lalu (16/8). Peri sempat mendapat perawatan di RSUD setempat, sebelum dievakuasi ke Jayapura Jumat (20/8).
Jenazah korban sudah diserahkan ke pihak keluarga di Sentani untuk dimakamkan.
Kapolda Papua Irjen Pol Mathius Fakhiri kepada Antara, Minggu petang membenarkan meninggalnya korban penembakan di Dekai saat menjalani perawatan di RS Bhayangkara.
"Saya masih menunggu laporan lengkapnya dari Kabid Dokkes Polda Papua," kata Mathius.
Ia menyatakan berdasar laporan Kapolres Yahukimo, situasi kamtibmas di wilayah itu relatif aman. Meski demikian, Mathius meminta anggotanya untuk bersiaga dan melakukan patroli guna memberikan rasa aman ke masyarakat
Aksi demo yang dilakukan warga di Dekai, 16 Agustus lalu, menuntut aparat membebaskan juru bicara KNPB Viktor Yeimo yang hingga kini masih ditahan di Mako Brimob Kotaraja.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 13, 2021
- Event Description
Two journalists were stopped and harassed by Phnom Penh police and security agents on Friday while covering a land dispute between authorities and residents along Boeng Tompun lake.
That same day, dozens of Meanchey district authorities used bulldozers and other heavy machinery to clear the homes of about 11 families along the reservoir in the city’s Boeng Tompun 1 commune, one week after ordering the homes be dismantled to make way for a private development. Government officials say the southern Phnom Penh lake is state-owned, but the body of water has become a development hotspot due to large-scale infilling and leasing to outside firms.
An Vichet, a freelance journalist working with CamboJA who was covering the home demolitions, said police confiscated his smartphone and press card and ordered him to delete all images he’d taken of the site.
“I was asked to show a press card and delete all photos,” he said. “They took my press card away and asked me to leave the place immediately or there would be a problem, saying this is their area, so no photography was allowed.”
Vichet said the encounter was a serious violation of press freedom and a restriction on journalists’ work.
“This activity of authorities is not hidden, it is in public, so journalists just have the role to capture the images and disseminate information to the public,” he said.
VOA Khmer reporter Lors Liblib, who also covered the dispute, said about 50 authorities took part in demolishing people’s homes.
“I was taking pictures when people were angry with the authorities,” he said. “Then [police] pointed at me, ordered for me to be arrested and my cell phone confiscated, and deleted all the pictures.”
Liblib said then authorities ordered him to leave the place, otherwise they will take other legal action.
“For me, I think this is a threat to the freedom of the press and they may want to hide this from the public,” he said.
The Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association (CamboJA) denounces the Meanchey district police and security agents for confiscating the identification cards of the reporters and calls on authorities to immediately stop such violations.
CamboJA executive director Nop Vy said in a statement that “the use of any forms of restrictions is a violation of the press law and the Constitution — that is unacceptable”.
“We call on the authorities to immediately stop the acts of harassment, intimidation and threats against journalists, and instead cooperate and pay respect to the role of journalists in order to prove that the government truly pays attention to and respects the rights of citizens, especially the right to information,” he said.
However, Phnom Penh deputy Governor Keut Chhe said the authorities’ actions against the reporters had been legally permitted.
“If we look at the instructions of the Ministry of Information, in the operation locations of authorities, journalists do not have immunity to enter the location,” he said. “Professional journalists must follow the instructions and the law, because it does not mean journalists have the right to access during the operation. It is understandable that the authorities have just deleted the image.”
Families affected by the reservoir project
Friday’s conflict played out in a similar fashion to many land disputes in the capital, where space is at a premium and new construction a booming business.
On February 20, 2018, the Council of Ministers issued a decision to provide 35 hectares of Boeng Tompun to a private company, reportedly Phnom Penh Precast Plants, to prepare the area for commercial and residential development. The company also said it would provide green space and restore the reservoir, which is dwindling in size as developers fill it with sand and earth.
Some residents say they have lived there for more than 30 years with recognition from local authorities.
Sou Chetra, 42, told CamboJA he has lived there since 1991 and that the authorities destroyed people’s houses without providing them with compensation.
“We have sent papers to the commune, district and cadastral department but have received no response. I am so hopeless now,” he said. “Please give us our land and our home, don’t hurt us. Authorities don’t need to feed us, we can live our way, just give us back [our property].”
Sari Vannda, 34, who works as a food delivery driver in Phnom Penh, said he did not know why his home was being demolished but that authorities had given him one week to move.
“Authorities just come and destroy our house by showing one paper. It’s our land and houses that we have lived in since our grandmother,” he said. “They want us to move, I don’t know how to deal with it. My family will have no place to live during COVID-19.”
Keut Chhe said after the government gave the private firm the right to develop the land, the company was obligated to offer compensation to affected families. Since the affected land is along the reservoir, authorities say it is state property and do not provide any compensation for lost property. Chhe denied that the affected homes were there for as long as residents said they were.
“The houses near the lake were just built after 2018, while those families will not receive compensation as they live on the state property,” he said. “We need to restore the reservoir to avoid flooding in the city.”
Still, it is believed that past decisions from the government did require the private firm involved in the Friday demolitions to pay compensation to displaced people at a rate set to the square meter of land lost. It’s not clear how or when those payments will be made.
Information Ministry spokesman Meas Sophorn did not comment.
Am Sam Ath, deputy director of the rights group Licadho, said no one rejects infrastructure development under peaceful conditions, but that the impact of projects on citizens must be considered, particularly during the COVID-19 crisis.
“The best choice is peaceful negotiation rather than damage or violence that can affect people,” he said. “To evacuate people is not advantageous based on previous instances, especially during COVID-19. It is a high tragedy for people while they are affected by COVID-19 and then their home is destroyed.”
Sam Ath also said journalists should be allowed to cover without intimidation all public activities by authorities.
“Journalists have the right to report, take photos and video without any barrier,” he said. “[Raising barriers] violates freedom of press and it seriously abuses the rights of journalists.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Aug 13, 2021
- Event Description
Kepolisian Daerah (Polda) Sumatera Barat memanggil Direktur Lembaga Bantuan Hukum (LBH) Padang Indira Suryani terkait kasus dugaan ujaran kebencian, pada Jumat (13/8). Hal ini diduga berawal dari unggahan LBH Padang di media sosial.
Perwakilan Tim Hukum LBH Padang Dechtree Ranti Putri mengatakan pihaknya menerima surat pemanggilan itu pada 12 Agustus 2021, sebagai saksi atas dugaan tindak pidana ujaran kebencian.
"Iya dipanggil, namun LBH Padang tidak bisa memenuhinya dengan beberapa alasan," katanya kepada CNNIndonesia.com, Jumat (13/8).
Pihaknya menduga, kasus ini erat kaitannya dengan unggahan akun Instagram LBH Padang yang mengkritik penghentian penyelidikan kasus dugaan penyelewengan anggaran Covid-19 di Sumbar.
Pantauan CNNIndonesia.com, pada Selasa (29/6) lalu, LBH Padang mengunggah karikatur mengenai penghentian penyelidikan penyelewengan anggaran Covid-19 dengan dugaan kerugian negara sebesar Rp4,9 miliar.
Diketahui, Polda Sumbar menghentikan penyelidikan kasus karena tak menemukan unsur kerugian negara.
Ranti menyampaikan, tidak dipenuhinya panggilan tersebut karena sejumlah alasan, di antaranya pemanggilan berjarak hanya satu hari dari proses pemeriksaan.
Pemanggilan ini, lanjutnya di luar prosedur dan melanggar hukum sebagaimana ketentuan Pasal 227 ayat (1) KUHAP berbunyi "semua jenis pemberitahuan atau panggilan oleh pihak yang berwenang dalam semua tingkat pemeriksaan kepada terdakwa, saksi atau ahli disampaikan selambat - lambatnya tiga hari sebelum tanggal hadir yang ditentukan, di tempat tinggal mereka atau di tempat kediaman mereka terakhir".
Kemudian pemanggilan dilakukan secara tidak patut, karena dalam proses panggilan petugas mesti bertemu sendiri dan berbicara langsung kepada yang dipanggil sebagaimana ketentuan Pasal 227 ayat 2 KUHAP.
"Dalam Pasal 227 ayat 2 KUHP itu jelas tertulis petugas yang melaksanakan panggilan tersebut harus bertemu sendiri dan berbicara langsung dengan orang yang dipanggil dan membuat catatan bahwa panggilan telah diterima oleh yang bersangkutan dengan membubuhkan tanggal serta tandatangan, baik oleh petugas maupun orang yang dipangil dan apabila yang dipanggil tidak menandatangani maka petugas harus mencatat alasannya," ujar Ranti.
LBH Padang, kata Ranti, telah mengirimkan surat kepada Polda Sumbar C.q Penyidik karena tidak bisa menghadiri panggilan ini, karena kesalahan prosedur formal dan melanggar hukum.
Selain itu, Indira selaku yang dipanggil atas kasus ini juga kebingungan dengan permasalahan pemeriksaan terhadap LBH Padang.
Ia mengaku tidak tahu menahu soal kasus apa yang akan diperiksa oleh Polda Sumbar terhadap LBH Padang.
"Kami bingung dengan surat panggilan saksi dari Polda Sumbar ini. Saat ini kami menunggu informasi dari kepolisian," jelasnya.
Sementara Kabid Humas Polda Sumbar Kombes Pol Stefanus Satake Bayu Setianto mengatakan memang ada pemanggilan terhadap LBH Padang. Namun yang bersangkutan tidak datang.
"Secara tertulis dalam surat pemanggilan itu ketua LBH Padang, namun secara struktur organisasi beliau direktur, suratnya akan diperbaiki," kata Stefanus.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Online
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 13, 2021
- Event Description
What promised to be a peaceful march to Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha’s house by the Talu Fa (Pierce the Sky) group made no more headway than other protests earlier this week. The protesters withdrew after police used force to keep them from reaching their destination.
Early in the afternoon, around 100 people gathered at Victory Monument to demand Prime Minister Prayut’s immediate resignation. The organisers emphasised that the protest was a peaceful effort to bring their demands to the attention of the public.
Meanwhile, at least 6 activists from Mok Luang Rim Nam group were arrested while trying to place wreaths in the Royal Palace and submit a letter to the Privy Council. They were taken to the Phra Ratchawang Police Station.
The group sought to pay respect to those who have died from Covid-19. They also want to inform the King that individuals calling for reform of the monarchy were facing a police crackdown and severe legal consequences.
According to group member Sopon Suraritthamrong, the police charged them with violating both the Emergency Decree and the Maintenance of Public Sanitary and Order Act as soon as they put their wreaths on the ground.
The activists were later told that they would only be charged for the latter offence and fined 2,000 baht person, provided they deleted photos and a Facebook live video of the police and the event. They agreed and were released after paying 10,000 baht provided by the Ratsadon Prasong Fund, which makes use of public donations to support individuals accused of crimes while exercising their political rights. Attempting to move peacefully
At 15.00, cars from the Talu Fa group arrived at the Victory Monument. One contained protest supplies - piles of longan and mangosteen to be dumped in protest of falling fruits prices and cloth sacks to help protect protesters from police tear gas.
A poster urging people to throw bags of coloured water, not bottles and fireworks, was spotted. The hope was to avoid any escalation which might trigger a police crackdown.
In an opening speech, a protester blamed government incompetence for rising unemployment and a deepening economic crisis, adding that when people came out to protest, the government responded with force.
Shortly afterward, longan and mangosteen were poured on the street and then burned to protest sharp price declines.
At 17.00, protesters arrived at Din Daeng Intersection where a container barricade awaited. Some firecrackers were lit, but organisers again urged people to throw bags of coloured water instead. When some of the protesters tried to tear down the container blockade, police responded with tear gas, affected many of those marching.
At this stage, a number of marchers began throwing firecrackers. A small fire was also set under the tollway.
At 17.25, with the situation deteriorating, the Talu Fa group announced that the protest was over. However, many protesters chose to remain at the Din Daeng Intersection amidst the sound of small explosions. The clash and chase went into the evening.
Deputy Metropolitan Police Bureau Chief Police Major General Piya Tawichai told the media that the protesters were trying to bring down the container barricade. He also reported that protesters were not only firing stones and glass at police with sling-shots but also throwing Molotov cocktails and smoke bombs as well, obliging officers on the ground to use force to restore public order at 18.30.
According to Major General Piya, 14 motorcycles were seized and 1 protester was arrested.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Aug 11, 2021
- Event Description
Two pro-democracy activists died and three others were seriously injured in Myanmar when they jumped from a building in Yangon to avoid capture by junta authorities, witnesses said Wednesday, while the father of one of those killed said he was told his son survived the impact and was beaten to death by police.
Ye Min Oo and a woman, Wai Wai Myint, also called Pan Thee, lost their lives Tuesday night when they and three friends jumped from the roof of a building as junta forces stormed their apartment in Botahtaung township in Myanmar’s largest city.
The three who survived the jump—Wai Phyo Aung, Thiha Kaung Set, and Poe Kyaw Kyaw—were arrested by police and taken with the bodies of those killed to a military hospital in Mingaladon township in northern Yangon.
Tin Zaw—the father of Ye Min Oo, who died Tuesday—said he was told by witnesses that his son was still alive after the fall.
"Immediately after the fall, my son was dying, not dead. Then police officers beat them up, and my son died after the beating,” he told RFA in an exclusive interview. “I got that information from witnesses and residents.”
A neighborhood resident told RFA on Wednesday that two of those who jumped called out three or four times for water and then died, while the other three remained motionless after they hit the ground.
“Because they fell from a height, they must have broken their limbs,” he said.
The neighbor, who spoke on condition of anonymity for safety reasons, told RFA the fleeling activists apparently got trapped on the rooftops of the old buildings.
“You could climb up to the roof, and the kids must have thought they could run across the rooftops. But there were only four buildings you could run across like that,” he said.
“There was a five-storey building blocking their path on one side and an eight-storey building on the other, and they must have run this way and that, and finally when they couldn’t escape they must have jumped,” he said.
Dead and injured taken to hospital
Military forces ordered community service workers to take both the two who died and the three survivors to a 1,000-bed military hospital in Mingaladon, a member of the Lin Let Social Welfare Association told RFA.
“The two who died were dead when we got there,” the charity worker said.
“We were sure they were dead because we made all the necessary checks required to see if they were still alive,” she said. “One of the injured had a broken leg, and another had a head injury and had to be taken to the hospital’s neurology center.”
Soe Myat Thu, the husband of 29-year-old Wai Wai Myint, said he hopes the military will give him back his wife’s body so that he can bury her according to her own request.
“I’m trying to get my wife’s body back, but we are under the rule of a military coup, so what can I do?” he asked. “If they refuse to release her body, there is nothing we can do about it.”
“She always said, ‘Don’t cremate my body when I die. Please bury me in a grave,’ and I want to fulfill that last wish. I don’t care about anything else,” he said.
A police report now circulating on social media says the raid on the activists’ apartment was carried out by a team led by Tactical Commander Col. Soe Tun of the ruling Military Council, while a military press release on Wednesday confirmed that two had been killed and three injured in the operation, with hand grenades and bomb-making materials recovered during the raid.
An independent scout
Ye Min Oo, who was born in 1994, was not connected with Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG), People’s Defense Force (PDF), or any other formally organized group, his father said.
Instead, he had worked independently with friends in a scouting unit gathering intelligence on pro-junta informers and other military targets, Tin Zaw said.
“He never expressed any political opinions, but after the February coup, he became actively involved in anti-coup protests, and although I did not forbid this as a parent, I warned him to be mindful and careful,” he said.
“My son stood and fought for his beliefs, and now he has fallen in the fight,” he said.
Tin Zaw said Ye Min Oo’s fate was the outcome of the military overthrow of the country’s democratically elected government on unfounded claims of voter fraud in the country’s November 2020 election.
The junta has yet to provide evidence of its claims and has violently suppressed nationwide demonstrations calling for a return to civilian rule. According to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 948 civilians were killed by police and soldiers between Feb. 1 and Aug. 10.
“These kids were pushed into the struggle by the Feb. 1 coup. They were pure and innocent youths. I am very proud of my son,” Tin Zaw said.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Death, Raid, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to life, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 11, 2021
- Event Description
Activist and human rights lawyer Anon Nampa have been denied bail after he was arrested on a royal defamation charge due to his speech at the second Harry Potter protest on 3 August 2021 at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC).
Anon went to Pathumwan Police Station on Monday (9 August) after hearing that an arrest warrant had been issued for him on charges relating to the 3 August protest. Once he arrived, the police presented an arrest warrant issued by the South Bangkok Criminal Court, signed by judge Somchai Prukchaikul.
Anon is charged with royal defamation under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code, violating the Emergency Decree, and using a sound amplifier without permission. The charges are a result of a complaint filed by Nopadol Prompasit, a member of the Thailand Help Centre for Cyberbullying Victims, an online royalist group whose members have filed numerous lèse majesté charges against many netizens, over the speech Anon gave at the 3 August protest calling for monarchy reform.
Lawyers are not being allowed to meet with activist Jatupat “Pai Dao Din” Boonpattararaksa, who has been detained since Monday (9 August), claiming Covid-19 quarantine measures prevent it.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) filed a request yesterday (11 August) to the Director of the Central Special Treatment Centre to meet with Jatupat, after prison officers refused to let their lawyer meet with Jatupat, claiming that the Centre does not allow lawyers to meet their clients who are in quarantine to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
The letter stated that lawyer Supanat Boonsod has been appointed Jatupat’s lawyer by court order and therefore has the legal right to meet and consult with his client, and so he is requesting to be allowed to meet with Jatupat as allowed by the Thai Criminal Procedure Code.
Jatupat was arrested after he surrendered himself at Thung Song Hong Police Station on Monday (9 August), along with Thawee Thiangwiset, another member of the activist group Thalufah. They were charged with violating the Emergency Decree, damaging public property, and taking part in an assembly of more than 10 people which caused a breach of public peace.
The charges are related to an incident on 3 August, in which activists splashed paint in front of Thung Song Hong Police Station following their release after spending a night in detention on charges relating to a protest at the Narcotics Suppression Bureau on 2 August to demand that the police return a speaker truck seized after the 1 August ‘car mob’ rally.
Thalufah member Songpol Sonthirak, who was at Khlong Ha Police Station to show support for another group of activists turning themselves in, was also arrested and taken to Thung Song Hong Police Station, while Nawapol Ton-ngam and Chitrin Plakangtong, two other members of the Thalufah group, were notified of the same charges while at Thung Song Hong Police Station to show support for their friends.
The inquiry officers did not detain Nawapol and Chitrin, but filed a request to temporarily detain Jatupat, Tawee, and Songpol, all of whom have arrest warrants.
The Criminal Court later granted bail to Tawee and Songpol with 35,000 baht as security, but denied bail to Jatupat on the grounds that he faces other charges for similar offenses, has broken his bail conditions which prohibit him from repeating these offenses, and is likely to flee or cause danger if he is released.
The order to deny bail for Jatupat is signed by judge Chanathip Muanpawong, who previously denied bail to several pro-democracy activists detained pending trial earlier this year. Chanathip also sentenced Ampon Tangnoppakul, or “Uncle SMS,” to 20 years in prison on a royal defamation charge under Section 112 in 2011, after Ampon was accused of sending messages to Somkiat Krongwattanasuk, who was at the time the secretary of then Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, which were deemed offensive to the King and Queen.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 11, 2021
- Event Description
A protest march organized by the activist group Thalufah was dispersed by crowd control police armed with tear gas and rubber bullets even before they left their starting point at the Victory Monument.
The group planned to march to the Infantry Regiment headquarters, where Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha lives in free army housing despite being retired, to protest against the government’s mishandling of the pandemic, the use of violence against dissenters, arbitrary arrest, and the unfair judicial process.
Several speakers took turn giving speeches as the crowd began gathering at the Victory Monument ahead of the march at 16.00. During the speeches, they repeated that the protest will be nonviolent and that they will use only symbolic actions.
At 15.45, the protesters gathered on the street to burn spirit houses, the Thai word for which is the same as the word for ‘court,’ as well as an effigy of judge Chanathip Muanpawong, who previously denied bail to several pro-democracy activists detained pending trial earlier this year.
Chanathip also sentenced Ampon Tangnoppakul, or “Uncle SMS,” to 20 years in prison on a royal defamation charge under Section 112 in 2011, after Ampon was accused of sending messages to Somkiat Krongwattanasuk, who was at the time the secretary of then Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, which were deemed offensive to the King and Queen.
Around five minutes later, crowd control police lined up and moved towards the protesters, who linked arms and flashed the three-finger ‘Hunger Games’ salute as they faced the police. Several people also threw paint at the officers.
Another unit of crowd control police then surrounded the protesters and chased them onto the footpath next to the roundabout. Tear gas and rubber bullets were also used.
At 15.55, Thalufah announced on their Facebook page that they had called off the march due to police violence. In another post, they asked protesters to leave the area through the street next to the Center One Shopping Mall.
A protester told Voice TV on their live broadcast that she had been shot in the stomach with a rubber bullet. She was seen showing her injuries and the bullet casing to nearby reporters. More rubber bullet casings were also found around the Victory Monument.
Meanwhile, independent photographer Laila Tahe said that a crowd control officer hit her with a baton while she is photographing them as they walk past to arrest protesters who ran into a nearby alley. The baton hit her camera, breaking her lens filter. The end of the baton also hit her shoulder, but Laila said she was not injured. She also said that the officer gave no warning before hitting her.
Laila continued photographing the clash despite damages to her camera. She said that she felt she needed to continue photographing the clash as crowd control police are still arresting the protesters, and that the broken lens filter was not that much of an obstacle.
She also said that there was a moment when she got too close to the officers, and was told to stop taking pictures. As an independent photographer, Laila is not wearing a press armband, but she noted that another reporter who was wearing a press armband was also told not to photograph the officers.
Nevertheless, Laila said she is not afraid and will continue to photograph protests.
After the protesters at the Victory Monument were dispersed, groups of protesters still headed to Vibhavadi Rangsit Road. However, they found that the Din Daeng intersection was blocked with rows of containers while crowd control police were stationed on the Din Daeng Highway.
iLaw reported that protesters were burning car tires under the highway and smoke was floating up to the highway where the crowd control police were deployed. A police truck was also seen burning under the highway.
Tear gas and rubber bullets were continuously fired at the protesters gathered on the street amidst heavy rain until around 19.00 when the protesters retreated towards the Victory Monument, where crowd control police deployed tear gas and water cannon trucks against them.
The clashes ended at around 20.00. Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that at least 17 people have been arrested, including Worawan “Aunty Pao” Sae-aung, an elderly fruit vendor known at protests for her outspokenness and sharp tongue. TLHR also said that 1 of the arrested protesters is a minor.
The protesters are currently being detained at the Narcotics Suppression Bureau. TLHR said that it is likely that they will have to spend 2 nights in police custody before being taken to court on Friday (13 August), as Thursday (12 August) is a public holiday.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Media Worker, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Aug 10, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities in Vietnam have arrested a Facebook user for posting mild criticism of government COVID-19 policies, while a university fired a lecturer after a student shared on her comments faulting Hanoi’s pandemic response on the social media platform.
The Tien Giang People’s Procuracy announced Tuesday that it would prosecute Tran Hoang Huan, 33, on charges of making, storing and spreading or propagandizing information or documents against the state under in accordance with the Article 117 of the Penal Code, according state media.
Huan, a resident of My Tho city in the far southern province of Tien Giang, had used a Facebook account under the name Huan Tran to post content against the Vietnamese Communist Party and the state on 186 occasions.
His Facebook account remains active and many of his recent posts opposed the use of Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines, which many Vietnamese oppose because of their perceived low quality and because of longstanding animosity toward China over history and territorial issues.
Huan had earlier called on the government to provide relief to citizens by waiving electricity and water bills during the pandemic.
“The arrest and detention of Tran Hoang Huan marks yet another chapter in the grim tale of Vietnam’s crackdown on freedom of expression online,” Ming Yu Hah, the deputy regional director for campaigns at Amnesty International, told RFA.
“Huan had used his Facebook page to share information about COVID-19 vaccines, lockdowns and to call on the Vietnam government to subsidize electricity and water fees while many Vietnamese are facing economic hardships due to the pandemic. The Vietnamese authorities should listen to these calls, not repress them,” she said.
Ming Yu Hah said authorities had used Article 117 to detain Huan on “vague accusations” of causing public confusion or defaming the government so they could prevent dissent.
“Huan’s name now joins an ever-expanding list of Vietnamese activists detained merely for sharing peaceful criticism,” she said, and called for the release of Huan and other detainees.
“It is imperative that Vietnam’s leadership starts taking a radically different approach to human rights, and freedom of expression in particular,” she said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 9, 2021
- Event Description
The Criminal Court has revoked bail for activist Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak on charges relating to the 19 September 2020 protest, while the Thanyaburi Provincial Court denied him and 8 other activists bail on charges relating to the 2 August 2021 protest.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported last night (9 August) that the Criminal Court issued an order to revoke bail for Parit following a request from the public prosecutor.
Meanwhile, the Thanyaburi Provincial Court denied bail for Parit and 8 other activists arrested on charges relating to the 2 August 2021 protest at the Border Patrol Police Region 1 headquarters to demand the release of 32 detained activists. They were then taken to Rangsit Temporary Prison to complete a 14-day Covid-19 quarantine period, after which they will be detained at Thanyaburi Prison.
Parit was previously granted bail after he was detained pending trial on charges relating to his participation in the protest on 19 September 2020. He was in detention for 92 days.
Parit's bail revocation came a day before the "Car Mob" protest planned by the student activist group United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration (UFTD), which took place today at the Ratchaprasong Intersection.
Voice TV reported that Parit was likely assaulted while being forced into a detention truck last night (9 August), after the 9 activists refused to be taken to prison, and that he was heard shouting "I can't breathe" and "help me." A voice shouting "People's revolution" was also heard from the truck.
When his lawyer visited him today (10 August), Parit was found to have bruises and scratches on his body.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 9, 2021
- Event Description
Anon went to Pathumwan Police Station on Monday (9 August) after hearing that an arrest warrant had been issued for him on charges relating to the 3 August protest. Once he arrived, the police presented an arrest warrant issued by the South Bangkok Criminal Court, signed by judge Somchai Prukchaikul.
Anon is charged with royal defamation under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code, violating the Emergency Decree, and using a sound amplifier without permission. The charges are a result of a complaint filed by Nopadol Prompasit, a member of the Thailand Help Centre for Cyberbullying Victims, an online royalist group whose members have filed numerous lèse majesté charges against many netizens, over the speech Anon gave at the 3 August protest calling for monarchy reform.
Nopadol previously filed a complaint against activist Parit Chiwarak for Facebook posts he made about King Vajiralongkorn’s divorce from his ex-wife Sujarinee Vivacharawongse, and the use of Sanam Luang for funerals. He has also filed complaints against activists Piyarat Chongthep and Chonticha Jaengrew.
Anon spent 2 nights in police custody before being taken to court for a temporary detention hearing this morning (11 August). The court approved the temporary detention request and denied him bail on the ground that he was accused of committing a serious offense and had breached his previous bail conditions, and that the inquiry officers objected to bail as they believe he is likely to commit further offences.
Anon is now facing 13 counts of charges under Section 112. According to TLHR, at least 116 people are now facing charges under Section 112 in 115 cases, 58 of which are a result of complaints filed by members of the public, many of whom are members of royalist groups.
Jatupat was arrested after he surrendered himself at Thung Song Hong Police Station on Monday (9 August), along with Thawee Thiangwiset, another member of the activist group Thalufah. They were charged with violating the Emergency Decree, damaging public property, and taking part in an assembly of more than 10 people which caused a breach of public peace.
The charges are related to an incident on 3 August, in which activists splashed paint in front of Thung Song Hong Police Station following their release after spending a night in detention on charges relating to a protest at the Narcotics Suppression Bureau on 2 August to demand that the police return a speaker truck seized after the 1 August ‘car mob’ rally.
Thalufah member Songpol Sonthirak, who was at Khlong Ha Police Station to show support for another group of activists turning themselves in, was also arrested and taken to Thung Song Hong Police Station, while Nawapol Ton-ngam and Chitrin Plakangtong, two other members of the Thalufah group, were notified of the same charges while at Thung Song Hong Police Station to show support for their friends.
The inquiry officers did not detain Nawapol and Chitrin, but filed a request to temporarily detain Jatupat, Tawee, and Songpol, all of whom have arrest warrants.
The Criminal Court later granted bail to Tawee and Songpol with 35,000 baht as security, but denied bail to Jatupat on the grounds that he faces other charges for similar offenses, has broken his bail conditions which prohibit him from repeating these offenses, and is likely to flee or cause danger if he is released.
The order to deny bail for Jatupat is signed by judge Chanathip Muanpawong, who previously denied bail to several pro-democracy activists detained pending trial earlier this year. Chanathip also sentenced Ampon Tangnoppakul, or “Uncle SMS,” to 20 years in prison on a royal defamation charge under Section 112 in 2011, after Ampon was accused of sending messages to Somkiat Krongwattanasuk, who was at the time the secretary of then Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, which were deemed offensive to the King and Queen.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Aug 9, 2021
- Event Description
Vietnam has arrested and prosecuted eight people using Article 117 since the beginning of this year. Human rights groups say the provision allows the government to gag any dissent.
A university in the central coastal city of Danang has fired a lecturer for her “wrong statements” about Vietnam’s COVID-19 fighting measures.
Duy Tan University made the announcement Monday after a student posted on Facebook a video of the lecturer, Tran Thi Tho, part of the university’s English faculty, arguing with the student about government relief for those affected by the pandemic.
Tho said in the video that the government of Vietnam is letting people struggle with very limited help while the pandemic is raging all over the country.
She highlighted how thousands of people are fleeing the country’s southern provinces and Ho Chi Minh City on motorbikes to return to their hometowns thousands of kilometers away, just to escape the virus.
The student in the video accused Tho of disliking Vietnam and promoting negative stereotypes against Asian people.
The university has also reported the lecturer to the Ministry of Police, who said they are investigating the case.
Pham Minh Hoang, a former professor at Ho Chi Minh City Polytechnic, told RFA that dissent should be allowed in academia.
“People who dare to speak their criticisms at a university are a must. Schools, especially universities are obliged to train students into people who have their own opinions, not to become machines just acting on demand,” Hoang said.
“If we continue this way, when everything must be molded and any person who speaks their opinions differently from those of the government and state must face severe consequences, then it means Vietnamese will never strive for anything,” said Hoang.
‘Despicable’ firing
Nguyen Vi Yen, a Vietnamese student studying in Europe, wrote on Facebook that she felt Duy Tan University’s firing of Tho was “despicable.”
“Duy Tan does not deserve to be called a university, let alone its own name ‘Duy Tan,’ which means reform,” she said.
Tho declined to comment to RFA about her case.
Education Minister Nguyen Kim Son told the state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper before the firing that “the education system management needs to encourage criticism about social issues in general and educational policies in particular.”
Though the country struggles to effectively contain a fourth wave of the virus, Vietnam had been relatively successful compared to other countries during the first three waves. Of more than 224,000 confirmed cases during the pandemic, more than 220,000 were diagnosed since April 27, the start of the fourth wave.
With Vietnam’s media all following Communist Party orders, “the only sources of independently-reported information are bloggers and independent journalists, who are being subjected to ever-harsher forms of persecution,” the press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says in its 2021 Press Freedoms Index.
Measures taken against them now include assaults by plainclothes police, RSF said in its report, which placed Vietnam at 175 out of 180 countries surveyed worldwide, a ranking unchanged from last year.
Vietnam’s already low tolerance of dissent deteriorated sharply last year with a spate of arrests of independent journalists, publishers, and Facebook personalities as authorities continued to stifle critics in the run-up to the ruling Communist Party Congress in January. Arrests continue in 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Censorship
- Rights Concerned
- Academic freedom, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- Academic, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Aug 8, 2021
- Event Description
A doctor who was detained for taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against the junta died early on Sunday morning after contracting Covid-19 in detention, a colleague told Myanmar Now.
Dr Maung Maung Nyein Tun, a 45-year-old lecturer of surgery at Mandalay Medical University, was arrested on June 13 along with his wife, Dr Swe Zin Oo, while the pair were staying at a safe house in an attempt to evade capture by the junta.
He tested positive for the virus while being detained at the Mandalay Palace interrogation center on July 19, but instead of sending him to hospital, authorities held him for two weeks at a police station as his condition worsened, the colleague said.
Police only allowed him to get treatment, at the hospital in the city’s Obo prison, on July 28, when his blood oxygen levels plummeted to 84%.
“They kept him quarantined at the No. 9 police station for two weeks. He was sharing a cell with a person who had lost his sense of smell but the junta said he was negative,” the colleague said.
“They didn’t send him to the hospital even when his SpO2 level fell. No dexamethasone injection was given either,” the colleague said, referring to a lifesaving drug used to treat Covid patients. “They only gave him some oxygen in captivity. They only sent him to Mandalay General Hospital when it was too late.”
The colleague and others repeatedly petitioned the authorities to send him to a facility better equipped to treat him, rather than the prison hospital, but to no avail.
Dr Maung Maung Nyein Tun’s mother confirmed his death on her Facebook page. He died at the Mandalay General Hospital intensive care unit at 6:38am on August 8, she said in her post.
The junta accused the doctor of having connections to both Dr Htar Htar Lin, the detained former head of Myanmar’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout, and Dr Zaw Wai Soe, the health minister of the underground Nation Unity Government.
Photos of Dr Maung Maung Nyein published in state media after his capture showed him with several bruises on his face.
Dr Swe Zin Oo, his wife and the superintendent of Mandalay General Hospital, has also reportedly contracted Covid-19 in detention. She is still being held at Mandalay Palace.
Both doctors were charged under section 505 of the Penal Code for incitement, section 124 for sedition and section 17 for unlawful association on June 14.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Death
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Right to health, Right to life
- HRD
- Academic, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 8, 2021
- Event Description
Nine activists have been arrested on charges relating to a protest in front of the Border Patrol Police Region 1 headquarters on 2 August 2021 to demand the release of 32 detained activists.
Parit Chiwarak, Nutchanon Pairoj, Sirichai Natueng, and Phromsorn Weerathamjaree were arrested at the police headquarters on Sunday (8 August) on charges relating to the 2 August protest.
Parit announced on Saturday night (7 August) that, since he heard that the police were preparing to press charges against him for his participation in the 2 August protest, and as he noticed police officers following him, he would be going to the police headquarters on Sunday (8 August), and if the police would like to arrest him, they could do so there.
He then went to the police headquarters along with Nutchanon and Sirichai to show that they do not intend to flee or tamper with evidence, and were arrested. They were charged with violating the Emergency Decree, the Communicable Diseases Act, and the Sound Amplifier Act.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported they were taken to Khlong Ha Police Station, and then to the Border Patrol Police Region 1 headquarters.
The activist group United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration (UFTD) said that the entrance to the Border Patrol Police Region 1 headquarters was blocked with razor wire and a unit of crowd control police, as a crowd gathered to demand their release.
TLHR said that Parit, Sirichai, and Phromsorn requested to have a trusted person with them while they are questioned, but the police denied their request, so the three activists refused to take part in the inquiry process.
Thatchapong Kaedam and Panupong Jadnok also went to Khlong Ha Police Station and were taken into custody. Panupong said that he was not surrendering himself, but came to meet the police after he heard that the police would be issuing arrest warrants against the leaders of the 2 August protest, so he went to meet the police to show that he has no intention to flee.
Three other people were also arrested on charges relating to the same protest. According to TLHR, Thanapat (last name withheld) and Panadda (last name withheld), members of the activist group Thalufah went to Khlong Ha Police Station with Thatchapong and Panupong. Meanwhile, Sam Samat, a stateless man who was previously arrested for joining the 28 February 2021 protest and allegedly pretending to urinate onto crowd control police gathering below the containers used to block protesters, was also arrested on 7 August.
At 21.00 last night (9 August), the Thanyaburi Provincial Court approved the temporary detention request for the 9 activists, and later denied them bail on the ground that the activists act without fearing the law and without considering the society's safety, peace, and order during the Covid-19 outbreaks.
The Court also said that the activists are facing other charges and that they are likely to commit other offenses if they are released. The inquiry officer also object to granting them bail.
TLHR reported that the 9 activists were taken to the Rangsit Temporary Prison for a 14-day quarantine period, after which they will be detained at the Thanyaburi Prison.
There are also reports that the 9 activists refused last night (9 August) to be taken into a detention truck and were then forced onto the truck by police officers. TLHR also said that officers were taking pictures of the activists' family members.
Voice TV also reported that Parit was likely assaulted while being forced into the detention truck, and that he was heard shouting "I can't breathe" and "help me." A voice shouting "People's revolution" was also heard from the truck.
- Impact of Event
- 8
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 6, 2021
- Event Description
A protest on Saturday (7 August) against the government’s mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic was met with water cannon trucks and crowd control police armed with rubber bullets and tear gas, despite the target location being switched.
The protest was organized by the activist group Free Youth and partner organizations, who have made three demands: the resignation of Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the reallocation of the budget for the monarchy and military to Covid-19 assistance, and replacement of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine with mRNA vaccines.
Free Youth previously organized a protest on 18 July 2021 with the same three demands, which was also blocked by armed crowd control police.
Saturday’s protest began at the Democracy Monument with a plan to march to the Grand Palace. By 12.00, 2 hours ahead of the scheduled start time at 14.00, around a hundred protesters had begun gathering at the Democracy Monument but were faced by lines of crowd control police blocking Ratchadamneon Avenue.
At 12.25, the police ordered the protesters to end their gathering and crowd control police began to advance on the protesters. There were reports that rubber bullets were used and that 2 protesters were arrested.
A firecracker-like sound was heard at the scene. Protesters were also reportedly shooting slingshots and throwing glass bottles and rocks at the crowd control police marching towards the Democracy Monument.
Activist Thatchapong Kaedam then announced that the target of the march had changed to Government House. By 12.40, crowd control police had taken over Ratchadamneon Avenue, as protesters began marching towards Government House. Officers were seen wearing bulletproof vests and carrying cable ties, batons, and shields. Some are also carrying rubber bullet firearms.
The protesters arrived at the Nang Leong intersection at around 13.00 and found the road blocked with a row of containers. The organisers switched the target to the Victory Monument. Free Youth also announced on their Telegram channel for the protesters to meet at the Victory Monument before marching to the 1st Infantry Regiment headquarters.
At 13.45, protesters at the Nang Leong Intersection began marching to the Victory Monument and from there to the 1st Infantry Regiment headquarters, where PM Prayut lives in free army housing.
However, they once again found the Asok-Din Daeng Road closed by crowd control police between the Din Daeng intersection and the 1st Infantry Regiment headquarters, which the police declared a no-entry zone. The police ordered the protesters back to the Victory Monument.
During the clash, an order was heard that the officers were allowed to use rubber bullets if protesters approached the police lines.
The clash continued for another two hours, during which rubber bullets and tear gas were continuously fired at the protesters. At around 17.20, water cannon were also used.
The protesters were forced to retreat to the Victory Monument, while tear gas continued to be fired near Rajavithi Hospital. The organisers announced the end of the protest at 17.35.
However, clashes continued at the Victory Monument, as crowd control police continued to fire tear gas at remaining protesters. There were also reports that tear gas was fired from the skywalk above the monument, while water cannon blasts were reported as crowd control police moved into the roundabout. Clashes continued until around 21.00.
Meanwhile, at the Din Daeng intersection, crowd control police were still firing rubber bullets at remaining protesters at around 21.00.
Several National Human Rights Commissioners were observing the protest both from the protesters’ side and the police side. Commissioner Wasan Paileeklee said that the National Human Rights Commission wanted to see whether the event was orderly and whether police operations followed the proper guidelines. Regarding violations of the right to freedom of expression, Wasan said that even though there might be a legal framework supporting the police’s operation, their actions must be proportional. Activists harassed by officers ahead of protest
Police officers searched several activists’ homes ahead of the protest. Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported on Saturday morning (7 August) that 3 plainclothes officers and 1 uniformed officer searched activist Chukiat “Justin” Sangwong’s apartment at 7.30 on Saturday. Chukiat said that the officers also asked to see his computer, but he refused, and he was told that he would be charged if he shared images of the search warrant.
TLHR said that 3 plainclothes officers and 1 uniformed officer also searched the home of a Thammasat University student in Pathum Thani.
Activist Piyarat Chongthep said that at least 2 members of the We Volunteer protest guard group were followed by police officers who tried to search their houses ahead of this afternoon's protest. Officers also came to We Volunteer’s headquarters, and Piyarat later told TLHR that around 10 officers were stationed in front of the building and that he could be arrested if he leave to join the protest.
Piyarat also said that 2 members of the We Volunteer protest guard group had been arrested at a friend's house in Nonthaburi on Friday night (6 August). The house was also searched and the 2 detainees were later released after nothing illegal was found.
TLHR reported that over 15 police officers also raided the residence of a We Volunteer member on Saturday morning (7 August), claiming that they had received a report of illegal activities. They took them at least 3 people to the police station and confiscated their car and mobile phones. Police also tried to confiscate a styrofoam box containing palm fruit with syrup brought by one of the detainees for sale. No search warrant was presented.
Activist Parit Chiwarak also said on Friday night (6 August) that police officers were stationed in front of his house and did not seem to be leaving, therefore he might not be able to leave for the protest. Protest march route blocked with oil tankers
Shopping containers and oil tankers were placed across Sanam Luang on Saturday morning to block the original route of the march to the Grand Palace. A banner saying “The king’s soldiers and the police of the (good) people have joined forces, ready to protect Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace” was hung from the containers. Rachini Road and Ratchadamnoen Klang Road were also closed.
TLHR later published a letter from Assistant Police Commissioner Pol Lt Gen Kraiboon Suadsong to the State Railway of Thailand requesting the use of decommissioned train cars and oil tankers to prevent activities risking the spread of Covid-19.
The State Railway Workers’ Union of Thailand (SRUT) then issued a statement calling for decommissioned rolling stock not to be used as barriers, and for an investigation to be launched into how the train cars were taken. They also expressed their disagreement with the use of the train cars, as the right to peaceful assembly is enshrined in the Constitution and international human rights law.
The SRUT said that there is a risk that dangerous objects could be placed in the cars and oil tankers, potentially causing harm. The SRUT also expressed concern that the use of the rolling stock would lead the public to believe that the SRUT and the State Railway was complying with orders from politicians or acting voluntarily, causing conflict with those in opposition to the government.
The statement said that considering the history of popular movements, barriers would not be able to hold the tide of the uprising, and therefore the government should not try to cause more conflict, and that the government should try to resolve the situation by solving the issues which are the root cause of the protests. At least 18 people arrested
TLHR reported that at least 18 people were arrested before and during Saturday’s protest. 14 people were taken to the Metropolitan Police Headquarters, 4 to the Border Patrol Police Region 1 headquarters and 1 to the Khlong Ha Police Station.
TLHR also said that 2 protesters arrested at the Democracy Monument were taken to the Metropolitan Police headquarters. Their hands were tied with cable ties, and one of them has signs of being assaulted while in detention.
TLHR later reported that police officers also arrested the driver of a van carrying 4 speakers after the protest, pushing him to the ground before taking him to Provincial Police Region 1 headquarters. TLHR was later informed that the driver was not at the Provincial Police Region 1 and it is not known where he or the van is.
The van was also reported to belong to the We Volunteer protest guard group, who said that they lost contact with the driver since 18.45.
TLHR lawyers later found the driver detained at the Border Patrol Police Region 1 headquarters along with 2 other people.
At 23.20, TLHR reported that they have been notified that officers from Wang Thong Lang Police Station arrested the driver of a truck, along with 4 other people, who were returning from the protest.
Another person was also arrested around the Din Daeng Highway while driving past the protest site and was taken to Din Daeng Police Station. They were later taken to the Metropolitan Police headquarters along with 2 other people. As of 00.35, 14 people are being detained at the Metropolitan Police headquarters.
8 We Volunteer members arrested before the protest were charged with being members of a secret society under Sections 209 and 210 of the Thai Criminal Code, while the remaining 10 people were charged with violating the Emergency Decree.
The inquiry officer will be filing a temporary detention request via video conference today (9 August).
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid, Restrictions on Movement, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Freedom of movement, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to privacy, Right to property
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 4, 2021
- Event Description
Five people, including an Amnesty International staff member, have been summoned by the authorities to appear at a Bangkok police station today at 1pm and pay a fine.
The penalty was issued under the Road Traffic Act and the Act on the Maintenance of Cleanliness and Order as an administrative fine in response to their involvement at an in-person panel discussion on 4 July focusing on the enforced disappearances of Thai activists, including reportedly abducted Thai activist Wanchelearm Satsaksit.
The other four individuals are a panel moderator and three other panelist speakers: a protestor, an 18-year-old student, and a lawyer who was friends with an individual who was forcibly disappeared.
Wanchalearm Satsaksit is a Thai activist who was forcibly disappeared from Phnom Penh on 4 June 2020. His enforced disappearance corresponds to a deeply alarming pattern of abductions and killings since June 2016 of at least nine Thai activists in exile by unknown persons in neighbouring countries, namely Laos and Viet Nam.
The decision to fine an Amnesty International staff member along with four other human rights activists arrives amid ongoing efforts by the Thai authorities to silence criticism and repress freedom of expression.
On 29 July 2021, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha introduced a ban on the distribution of "fake news", which includes anyone sharing reports online that spur public unrest or fear, harm national security, or shed doubt on the state’s response to the coronavirus crisis, even if the information shared is factually accurate and in the interest of public health.
In April 2020, the Thai authorities proposed a draft law to regulate non-profit groups as part of efforts to pass repressive legislation that further muzzle civil society groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In the latest iteration, the bill would give the government the power to arbitrarily ban groups, invade organizations’ privacy and infringe on the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.
In response to the tens of thousands of Thais taking to the streets to demand democratic reforms throughout 2020 and into 2021 in Bangkok, the capital, and in provinces across Thailand, police have used excessive and unnecessary force to disperse peaceful protesters and arrested hundreds of demonstrators.
According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, from July 2020 to June 2021, at least 695 individuals (44 of them children) have faced criminal charges – including sedition, royal defamation, computer-related crime, violation of the Public Assembly – in 374 lawsuits for joining peaceful protests.
Furthermore, according to regulation no. 27, which came into force on 12 July under an Emergency Decree, violators of Thailand’s Covid-19 prevention protocols could face a maximum jail term of two years or a fine of up to 40,000 baht.
The UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the UN General Assembly with the consensus of Thailand and all other States, guarantees the rights of individuals to form, join and participate in civil society organizations, associations or groups to promote or defend human rights.
The Thai authorities must respect this accord. Issuing fines in response to rights workers and activists peacefully taking part in a panel discussion clearly violates the right to freedom of expression.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline
- HRD
- Lawyer, NGO staff, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 4, 2021
- Event Description
Two land dispute representatives have been fined about $1,000 each for Facebook posts showing a crowd of protesters in a Svay Rieng rice field, a gathering deemed by authorities to be a violation of Covid-19 measures.
“They came to gather more than 200 people in two places,” said Svay Chrum district governor Hem Sarith.
Action would be taken against any gathering that did not have the permission of authorities, Sarith said. “We wear face masks, practice social distancing and avoid gatherings,” he said.
Since late last week, the government has ordered a ban on gatherings of more than 10 people across the country for two weeks in a bid to prevent the spread of the Delta variant.
But a series of Facebook posts by Yous Sophorn on Monday showed villagers and children gathered in fields holding up banners, many without masks. A caption said: “On August 2, authorities came to ask people to give thumbprints to take 900 riel per square meter, but they didn’t accept. Where’s the place that has such a land price?”
The land dispute dates back to 2008, when the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, together with local authorities, decided to use the area to create a reservoir. Since then, residents — who say they have farmed the land since the end of the Khmer Rouge era in 1979 — have sought appropriate compensation so that they can buy new land for farming.
Sophorn was among the two representatives who received a 4 million riel fine on Wednesday.
She said local officials were refusing to solve the problem for residents, instead persecuting them for raising the issue. She did not thumbprint the document ordering her to pay the fine, and she would not stop resisting, Sophorn said.
“I would like to request the government, especially Samdech Hun Sen, to intervene with the subordinate officials to solve the problems for the people. Otherwise, it will be prolonged even more. And the authorities have always accused the people of anything. They have always thought of accusing us without finding any way to solve it for the people to survive,” she said.
En Soth, who was also fined, said authorities were only making people more angry. About 30 people gathered outside the commune hall as Sophorn, Soth and a third representative were summoned for questioning on Wednesday.
“Where is the suitable compensation?” she said. “They said they would not take the people’s land. … If it is development on the tears of people, please do not do so, I do not want it. I want development with a decent exchange. Do not use power to oppress the people. I totally disagree.”
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Land rights, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Malaysia
- Initial Date
- Aug 4, 2021
- Event Description
Yesterday, police visited the home or office of at least 15 individuals who participated in Saturday’s #Lawan rally in Kuala Lumpur. The #Lawan protesters, who faced police obstruction during their assembly, called for the resignation of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, a full Parliament sitting, and a moratorium on the repayment of all loans. Despite protesters fully cooperating with police investigating the rally, in recent days police have visited the homes of protest organisers and activists. Among those visited by police are SUARAM Executive Director Sevan Doraisamy, SUARAM Coordinators Muhammad Alshatri and Azura Nasron, Undi18 co-founder Qyira Yusri, and the Malaysia United Democratic Alliance co-founders Amir Abdul Hadi, Dr Thanussha Francis Xavier, and Dr Mathen Nair.
Matthew Bugher, ARTICLE 19’s Head of Asia Programme said:
“The home visits are a blatant and petty attempt by the police to intimidate peaceful protesters and their families. There is no reason to go to protesters’ homes when they have already shown their willingness to cooperate with authorities in their ongoing investigations. In the context of the pandemic and Malaysia’s lockdown, is not only harassment but also an infringement on individuals’ sense of safety and security.” “The police should stop wasting the protester’s time and their own resources. The home visits are pointless and arbitrary additions to an investigation that should never have been launched.” “The arbitrary harassment of those who ask for good governance and accountability by authorities is a further stain on Malaysia’s human rights record. The government has a duty to facilitate, not obstruct non-violent gatherings.”
- Impact of Event
- 15
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- NGO staff, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 2, 2021
- Event Description
A Cambodian court on Monday sentenced nine activists, including a lawmaker from the outlawed main opposition party, to prison terms ranging from 12 to 20 months on incitement charges for issuing pro-democracy petitions last year, the daughter of one of the defendants said.
Police arrested the seven opposition activists in October and December 2020 on incitement charges for staging a protest in front of the Chinese Embassy in the capital Phnom Penh last Oct. 23, the 29th anniversary of the singing of the Paris Peace Agreement, marking the official end of the Cambodian-Vietnamese War.
During the demonstration, they tried to submit petitions to the embassies of China, France, and the United States, saying that Cambodia had violated the democratic principles set forth in the Paris Peace Agreement.
Shortly after the arrests, Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly accused lawmaker Ho Van, an opposition official now living in California, of instigating the protests.
Shortly before the verdict was announced at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, one of the detained activists, Lim San, complained about the violation of detainees’ rights, lack of treatment for ill prisoners, and verbal abuse by guards in Prey Sar Prison where she is serving pre-trial detention, said her daughter Phan Sat.
The judge ignored her comments and read the verdicts for former Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) lawmaker Ho Vann and activist San Seihak, who is now living exile in Thailand, to 20 months in prison for instigating incitement to cause serious social unrest, Phan Sat said.
Four activists — Hong An, Lim San, Yoy Sreymom, and Ton Nimol — were each sentenced to 18 months in jail for incitement to commit serious social unrest, she said. The three other activists — Pai Ren, Sann Srey Neat, and Sat Pha, were sentenced to 12 months in prison on the same charges.
The judge told the seven activists, who were fined two million riel (U.S. $483) each, that they could file appeals if they were dissatisfied with the verdict.
Phan Sat, who attended the trial, said that the judge’s ruling was unfair. She maintains that her mother was acting legally during the protest and demanded that the court drop the charges and release all the activists.
“I want [her] to appeal because I do not agree with the verdict,” she said. “My mother is innocent. She had done nothing wrong.”
RFA could not reach defense lawyer Sam Sokong for comment.
He previously said that his clients’ protests are a guaranteed form of freedom of expression under Cambodia’s constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The multinational treaty states that everyone has the rights to hold opinions without interference and to freedom of expression.
Civil society groups say that those who participated in the peaceful protest in front of the Chinese embassy were expressing their opinion.
Heng Kimhong, head of the research and advocacy program of the Cambodian Youth Network (CYN), urged the court to reconsider the convictions and sentences and said that unjust detentions would seriously affect human rights.
“Perhaps because they [the defendants] understood that since China was an important signatory to the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement that upheld human rights, democracy, and freedom of expression, they had gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy to demand that [China recognize Hun Sen's violations of the pact],” he said. “Their protests and demands are not a crime.”
Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP in November 2017, two months after the arrest of its leader Kem Sokha for his role in an alleged scheme to topple Hun Sen’s government. The ban, along with a wider crackdown on NGOs and the independent media, paved the way for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party to win the country’s 2018 general elections.
Former CNRP lawmakers, political opposition activists, their relatives, and their supporters still face backlashes. Since early 2020, more than 80 political, environmental, and social activists, including a popular rapper, have been imprisoned on incitement charges as Hun Sen’s government seeks to silence its critics.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 2, 2021
- Event Description
Four protesters seeking compensation from Phnom Penh’s new international airport development have been put in Covid-19 quarantine without cause, allege their wives, who accuse authorities of trying to silence the protests.
A local official, however, says the men were quarantined because they were in contact with a Covid-positive person when they submitted a petition at Prime Minister Hun Sen’s cabinet office in the capital.
The dispute in Kandal province has been tense for months since bulldozers attempted to clear farmers’ land. Protesters have camped out on the disputed area to stand guard, and have held a cursing ceremony against the developers, Cambodia Airport Investment, a joint venture between the Civil Aviation Secretariat and the Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation, the prominent firm behind Phnom Penh’s Koh Pich island and several other projects. Last month, news publisher Los Seng said he was being pressured by authorities to stop reporting on the airport dispute.
Bat Sok Khoeun, 49, a resident of Kandal Stung district’s Boeng Khyang commune, said district police, commune police and commune officials arrived on Monday and gave the four protesters — including her husband — no choice but to enter Covid-19 quarantine for 14 days.
They had just returned from submitting a petition to Hun Sen’s cabinet, Sok Khoeun said.
She said the explanation for quarantine was unclear, and there was no documentation. “First, the doctor came and said that those who submitted the petition were positive. After talking longer and longer, the doctor said he came to take them to quarantine out of fear that they are positive.”
Hum Sokhem, 45, whose husband was also taken into quarantine, said she couldn’t help but feel suspicious. She demanded that authorities release the protesters and stop using Covid-19 as a way to prevent protests.
“They didn’t test anything. They came to accuse us of having Covid,” Sokhem said. “I’m just worried that they were being mistreated in connection with the land dispute with the company.”
Kandal Stung district governor Ouch Savoeun said the quarantine was purely for health precautions.
The four people were in contact with someone positive with Covid-19 when they went to file a petition at the Prime Minister’s cabinet office, Savoeun said.
“We did not arrest people. We followed administrative rules related to health work. We did not tie them up. We went to invite them to conduct quarantine because they had contacted a Covid-19 positive person,” Savoeun said. “We tested and took their sample. I’ve told them that in relation to gatherings, do not gather at all. Protests and settlements, it has been resolved.”
The protesters have been demanding compensation in line with market values — as much as $120 per square meter — rather than the offered $8, determined before the airport project was announced.
Van Sophat, a coordinator for the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said some authorities appeared to be using Covid-19 as an excuse to ban land protests.
“The company and the authorities have used the pretext or taken the opportunity of Covid-19 to disperse, to deprive the people of the right to assemble and the right of expression in protecting their land. It only makes them more vulnerable. It is a very serious human rights violation,” Sophat said.
The new international airport, spanning 2,600 hectares in Kandal and Takeo provinces including an associated satellite city development, is slated to open in 2023.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Land rights, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 2, 2021
- Event Description
Protesters were arrested at the Narcotics Suppression Bureau on 2 August after they took back a truck seized by the police. The court set 100,000 baht bail for each protester and disallowed the use of the MPs’ positions as security, saying that it was irrelevant to the arrested.
According to Thai Lawyers of Human Rights (TLHR), the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases granted bail on Tuesday to 31 protestors charged with using force against officials on duty and violation of the Emergency Decree by gathering in public.
In rejecting the use of MPs’ positions as security, court officials stated that only persons related to a detainee can qualify, such as family members, employees, employers or MP for the detainee’s constituency.
The 3,100,000 baht bail was provided by the Ratsadorn Prasong (People's Will) Fund, established by public donations to assist people charged in political cases.
The mass arrest took place as protesters led by the Talu Fa group (Pierce the Sky) confronted crowd control police standing guard at the Narcotics Suppression Bureau on Monday. After the protesters splashed and sprayed police shields with paint, the police suddenly moved in and broke up the protest.
In total, 31 members of Talu Fah and 1 from the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration were transferred to the Border Patrol Police Region 1 headquarters for detention.
2 women fainted due to the police use of force and were sent to hospital. A 17-year-old youth was also arrested but later released with no bail.
Talu Fa Facebook page shows the detention room defaced by detainees. Walls and windows are covered with graffiti in paint and coffee water.
The incident came after the Car Mob rally in Bangkok on Sunday. The police seized the vehicle used to carry sound equipment after the event was over and arrested 3 crew. The police also seized their phones, so that lawyers took about 5 hours to confirm their whereabouts.
8 other people arrested on Sunday before the event started and released after it was over.
Kanchanaburi police, a district chief and officers from the Internal Security Operations Command visited the house of an organizer of the Car Mob in Kanchanaburi. They tried to pressure the organizer not to hold the event. When asked what law would be violated by traveling in a group of vehicles, the officer replied that he did not know and would go back to find more information.
- Impact of Event
- 32
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Aug 2, 2021
- Event Description
Direktur Lembaga Bantuan Hukum (LBH) Bali Ni Kadek Vany Primaliraing dilaporkan ke Polda Bali atas tuduhan dugaan makar karena memberikan bantuan hukum kepada mahasiswa Papua.
Pelaporan tersebut menjadi tanda tanya karena advokat dianggap ikut melakukan upaya makar disaat menjalankan mandat konstitusi.
Permasalahan itu bermula saat LBH Bali mendampingi aksi damai Aliansi Mahasiswa Papua (AMP) pada 31 Mei 2021.
Pendampingan itu juga didasarkan dengan surat permohonan pendampingan hukum Nomor 09/AMP-KK-BALI/III/2021 tertanggal 27 Mei 2021.
Dengan demikian LBH Bali sedang menjalankan mandat konstitusi yakni Pasal 1 Ayat 3, Pasal 27 Ayat 1, Pasal 28 Ayat 1 dan Pasal 34 Ayat 1 dalam UUD 1945 dan UU Nomor 16 Tahun 2011 tentang Bantuan Hukum.
"Pada poinnya melindungi serta menjamin hak warga negara akan kebutuhan akses terhadap keadilan (access to justice) dan kesamaan di hadapan hukum (equality before the law)," kata Vany kepada Suara.com, Rabu (4/8/2021).
Akan tetapi, Vany justru dilaporkan ke Polda Bali oleh pelapor Rico Ardika Panjaitan pada Senin, 2 Agustus 2021 atas dugaan tindak pidana makar dan dugaan pemufakatan makar.
Vany lantas menjelaskan kalau saat mendampingi klien, advokat dilarang membedakan perlakuan terhadap klien berdasarkan jenis kelamin, agama, politik, keturunan, ras atau latar belakang sosial dan budaya. Itu tertuang dalam Ayat 1 Undang-undang Nomor 18 Tahun 2003 yang mengatur tentang profesi advokat.
Kemudian pada Ayat 2 UU 18/2003 dijelaskan kalau advokat tidak dapat diindetikan dengan kliennya dalam membela perkara klien oleh pihak yang berwenang dan/atau masyarakat.
"Sehingga LBH Bali sedang menjalankan mandat konstitusi dan UU 40 tahun 2008 tentang Penghapusan Diskriminasi Ras dan Etnis," ujarnya.
Lebih jauh, Vany menganggap kalau pelaporan advokat sekaligus aktivitas Hak Asasi Manusia (HAM) merupakan upaya kriminalisasi, sekaligus pelemahan kerja bantuan hukum serta rasisme terhadap teman-teman Papua.
Menurutnya hal tersebut juga menciderai konstitusi dengan melakukan pembatasan hak atas bantuan hukum.
Selain itu, pelaporan itu juga menjadi pertanyaan karena advokat yang tengah menjalankan mandat konstitusional tetapi malah dituduh makar dan menjadikan konstitusional RI sebagai korbannya.
"Bahkan logikanya LBH Bali sedang melaksanakan mandat konstitusi memberikan bantuan hukum, implementasi asas praduga tidak bersalah, asas persamaan di depan hukum, asas legalitas dan ini justru dapat menjadi Pelaporan Palsu sebagaimana di atur dalam Pasal 220 KUHP," tuturnya.
Vany juga menyayangkan aparat kepolisian yang tidak melakukan edukasi terhadap pelapor pada saat melakukan pelaporan. Sebagai tegaknya asas legalitas dan pendalaman pengetahuan konstitusi.
"Mengorbankan hidup orang lain khususnya orang miskin dan kelompok minoritas untuk kepentingan pribadi merupakan hal yang keji."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Suspected non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 1, 2021
- Event Description
The third ‘Car Mob’ has been held in at least 30 places around Thailand demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha. A variety of campaigns joined the protest.
The car protest was originally organized by veteran activist Sombat Boonngarmanong but this time more groups joined the movement, like the United People for Thailand, a group that campaigns for monarchy reform like Ratsadorn, the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship or the red shirts, and Seri Toey Plus campaigning on gender diversity issues.
Similar activities were held this weekend in Ubon Ratchathani, Sakon Nakhon, Khon Kaen, Nakhon Ratchasima, Chiang Mai, Lampang, Chiang Rai, Phrae, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Trang, Surat Thani, Kanchanaburi, Saraburi, Rayong, Chonburi, and elsewhere.
In Bangkok, different activist groups started from 5 main points: Don Muang Airport, Silom Soi 2, Ratchaprasong intersection, Democracy Monument and Ram Intra Road. All vehicles headed to Vibhavadi Rangsit Road to express their message.
The main communication channel for this movement was the Clubhouse application, where the organizers and coordinators usually urge vehicles to form up, not to honk while passing hospitals or field hospitals and to leave lanes open for emergency vehicles.
Student activist Parit Chiwarak a gave a speech criticizing the Prayut-led government’s incompetence which has resulted in the country’s misfortune. While the government was taking care of the elite, it ignored the people.
“Prayut is only interested in capitalists such as Tycoon Charoen (owner of ThaiBev) and Tycoon Thanin (CP). He’s only interested in being a dog and how to flatter his owner.
“Prayut is not here because the people, but because of the dog owner who looks after him. The people are left to their fate. The sick are lying down, waiting for death at home. Those who are not sick are lying down, thinking whether to be vaccinated.
“The tyrannical regime government with Prayut as PM and the King as Head of State must all take responsibility. Whether Prayut, Prawit, Anupong, Anutin, Jurin, they must take responsibility by giving up power, by not taking any position and by leaving the country,” said Parit.
Leading red shirt Nattawut Saikeur gave a speech before his group left the rally point at Ratchaprasong intersection, underlining the government’s failure in handling the Covid-19 pandemic which has caused many to die and brought many dissidents onto the street.
He also urged Gen Prayut, who was part of the Centre for Resolution of Emergency Situation (CRES) that took part in killing red shirt protesters in 2010, to resign from the Prime Ministership.
“Red buffaloes, the uneducated, the hired mob, those who were shot to death on the street more than 10 years ago, today have come back to tell Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and his cronies who were in CRES and who were in power during the crackdown on the people, to get out now, for the survival of the Thai people countrywide in the Covid-19 crisis,” said Nattawut.
Human rights lawyer Anon Nampa gave a speech opposing the idea of having a ‘royally endorsed PM’ to replace Gen Prayut. He said the change must be made to the root cause. The next leader must be democratically elected from the people. He urged the movement to progress with civil disobedience.
“Peaceful means is not sitting down and letting the police use their batons to hit you on the head. Peaceful means are all kinds of action that make the government and those in power so worried and agitated and uneasy that they cannot stay.
“Things that you have never seen, citizens will do them. It will happen in the heart of Bangkok. And what have you been worshipping, have been enchanted with, after this will not be there for you to see,” said Anon before promoting the next protest on 7 August. Arrests, clashes and commotion
Fully equipped riot control police were spotted at many places that the protesters intended to pass, like Ratchadamnoen Nok Avenue, Sutthisan intersection and behind the Veterans General Hospital on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road.
A container blockade was set up on Vibhavadi Rangsit outbound, blocking the entrance to Gen Prayut's house in the 1st Royal Infantry Regiment.
At 18.00, the police dispersed the remaining protesters on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, using tear gas, rubber bullets and force. The protesters could be seen retreating and retaliating by throwing fireworks and unidentified objects that caused fires.
At 12.30, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that 8 protesters had been arrested at Rattanathibet, Nonthaburi. They had been taken to Rattanathibet Police Station and charged with violating the Emergency Decree, causing a noise in public without proper reason and the use of unauthorized voice amplifiers before being taken to the Border Patrol Police (BPP) Region 1 Headquarters for detention. They were released at 18.30.
The BPP Region 1 Headquarters in Pathum Thani has been used to detain protesters during the State of Emergency declared in 2020. Although there is no legal provision allowing the police to investigate and detain people there, people have been sent to this distant office from time to time.
Clashes reportedly took place at Ratchadamnoen Nok Avenue and Nang Loeng at 15.30. About 8 people were seen throwing objects. 2 rubber bullets were reportedly fired. Fireworks were reportedly thrown at the front of 1st Regiment Infantry barracks by unidentified protesters according to communications on Clubhouse.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jul 31, 2021
- Event Description
A 22-year-old anti-coup protester who was shot and injured before being detained during a raid in Mandalay on Saturday morning has died in military custody, two protest organisers have told Myanmar Now.
Ye Yint was among nine protesters who were detained when about 30 soldiers and police raided a house they were staying in in Patheingyi Township’s Nan Oo Lwin neighbourhood.
He was shot in the pelvis while another young protester, 22-year-old Khaing Tun, was shot in the leg during the raid.
“Two kids tried to run in panic and one was shot in his leg,” said one of the protest organisers. “The other one got shot in the back and the bullet went cleanly through his pelvis.”
The detainees were brought to Mandalay Palace, which houses the military’s Central Command headquarters, and Ye Yint’s family was told at around 4pm that he had died, the second organiser said: “His wife told us.”
As of 8pm, the family still had not been able to retrieve his body, the organiser added. Myanmar Now was unable to reach his relatives for comment.
Three other protesters were detained in Mandalay on the morning that Ye Yint and Khaing Tun were shot.
They were captured in Mahar Aung Myay Township after a military-owned vehicle rammed into their motorcycles as they rode back from a march led by Mandalar University students. One of those detained, Zin Myo Khant, is 17 years old.
Late last month Thu Thu Zin, 25, was shot in the head and killed at a protest near the Mahamuni pagoda in Mandalay. Her family had to hold her funeral without her body because the military would not let them retrieve it.
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Killing, Raid, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to life, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Malaysia
- Initial Date
- Jul 29, 2021
- Event Description
An activist who is part of the #Lawan campaign has been arrested today for investigation under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948 while giving her statement at the Dang Wangi police.
According to Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat (SSR) who is organising the protest scheduled for this Saturday, Sarah Irdina Mohamad Ariff, 20, from the youth collective MISI: Solidariti has had her phone confiscated, and a search warrant has been issued to raid her home.
The SSR has previously claimed that the police had also harassed Sarah’s family when calling her into questioning today.
Sarah’s lawyer Goh Cia Yee said that police are planning to detain her overnight at the police station, Malaysiakini reported.
“They have arrested her now with the intention to detain her overnight Her house has not been raided yet and there is no confirmation on when they would like to do so.
“They intend to do so but the timeline of this is uncertain at the moment because they have some paperwork to sort out,” Goh reportedly said.
Section 4(1) handles act with seditious tendency which include uttering seditious words and distributing.
If found guilty, one is liable to a fine not exceeding RM5,000 or prison not more than three years, or both.
In a brief statement on social media, MISI: Solidariti has also demanded the authorities to release Sarah immediately.
“Seeing one of ours be silenced and harassed by the authorities is infuriating. We stand in complete solidarity with Sarah and we demand her immediate release,” it said
It also urged netizens to show solidarity and support to Sarah by using the hashtags #FreeSarah, #ActivistAreNotCriminals and #LawanIntimidasi in their social media posts.
This comes as three other SSR activists — Tharma Pillai, Afiq Adib and Muhammad Alshatri — were also questioned by the police today.
The trio are being investigated under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code which handles “making statements conducive to public mischief” and Section 233(1) of the Communications and Multimedia Act over sharing offensive content.
Today marks the fifth day straight that the police have questioned activists and participants related to the #Lawan protest this Saturday, and a convoy in support of it last weekend.
The protest planned in Dataran Merdeka this Saturday is calling for Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to step down, for Parliament to continue sitting, and automatic loan moratorium for Malaysians.
Civil society organisations working on freedom of expression stand in solidarity with and applaud the organisers of the #Lawan rally for a peaceful and organised protest on 31 July 2021. We condemn the investigation and arrest of protest organisers prior to the event, the authorities’ obstruction of the protest by setting roadblocks and barricades, and the police threats to take action against participants.
Freedom of assembly and expression are fundamental rights, and essential in ensuring government efficacy and accountability. These rights must be protected and upheld, and the pandemic cannot be used as a pretext to prevent people from exercising these important rights.
In recent weeks, Malaysia has experienced a soaring COVID-19 case load, overwhelmed hospitals and many deaths, while livelihoods have been threatened and lost. The government declared an emergency, imposed draconian laws and suspended Parliament. In a functioning democracy, and even during a pandemic, the people must be allowed to demand accountability from the government, including through peaceful protests adopting appropriate public health measures.
Representatives from our organisations, which work to promote freedom of expression in Malaysia, were on the ground during the 31 July 2021 #Lawan protest, scheduled to be held at Dataran Merdeka, to monitor the protest and document any rights violations. The protesters demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, a full Parliament sitting, and a moratorium on the repayment of all loans. Protesters highlighted the high death toll from COVID-19 during the protest. The protest ended peacefully around 12.35pm after organisers and the police instructed the crowd to disperse.
Our observers noted that all routes to Dataran Merdeka were cordoned off with barricades and protesters were not allowed to access the square. Protesters therefore improvised, conducting a march on the road near Dataran Merdeka and holding a sit-in protest.
Barring access to a public square constitutes a breach of the right to peaceful assembly. Protest organisers took proactive steps and issued detailed guidelines on COVID-19 SOPs, including requiring protesters to double mask, social distance, not share placards and sanitise their hands. To uphold the fundamental right of peaceful assembly while appreciating the gravity of the current pandemic, the police should have worked with the organisers to facilitate the protest. By barricading access to Dataran Merdeka, the police in fact made it more difficult to comply with COVID-19 SOPs by forcing protesters onto the road.
Our observers also noted excessive police presence in vehicles and on foot, including several armed police officers, the presence of a Black Maria vehicle and a low-flying helicopter. Police officers in uniform and in plain clothes were also taking photographs and videos of protesters. These constitute intimidatory tactics that inhibit protesters’ right to peacefully assemble and, again, serve to obstruct rather than facilitate their peaceful protest. Surveillance of protesters impacts their freedom of expression and may also deter others from exercising this right.
Open dialogue, transparency, and accountability from public authorities are especially important during public health crises. Scrutiny and critique of government approaches to managing the COVID-19 pandemic—whether by journalists, human rights defenders, or others—promote accountability and foster better responses.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jul 29, 2021
- Event Description
In Kanchanabhri on 29 and 30 July 2021, leaders of the “Free Kanchanaburi for Democracy” group who had announced the “Mueang Kan Tour” activity on 1 August 2021 received visits by more than 30 officers in total from the police, army, ISOC, and administrative sector at their houses and were asked to refrain from organizing the said event due to the spread of Covid-19.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jul 29, 2021
- Event Description
The website of human rights group Karapatan is being attacked, Sweden-based forensics experts revealed.
In its August 18 report, Qurium noted that the cyberattacks against the group’s website, in the form of distributed denial of service (DDoS), started on July 29, coinciding with the #StopTheKillingsPH online campaign led by Karapatan.
The campaign, participated by different groups and advocates here and abroad, reiterates the call to stop the killings in the Philippines and to prosecute President Rodrigo Duterte for his crimes against the Filipino people. It also marked the first year of the killing of human rights defenders Zara Alvarez and Randall Echanis.
In a statement, Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan, called the series of attacks on their website cowardly.
“It was obviously made to prevent the public from accessing our reports on the worsening state of human rights in the Philippines — and we know whose interests these attacks serve,” Palabay said.
Karapatan said that according to Qurium, “the attacks were composed of application layer web floods, a type of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), specifically against karapatan.org/resources, which contains the directory of Karapatan’s periodical monitors, year-end reports, policy position papers, and other public resources.”
“Specifically targeting Karapatan’s online resources only means that these attacks were clearly trying to suppress our documentation and human rights work, and of course, the people’s right to freedom of information,” Palabay said.
Qurium said that on July 29, after a one-minute attack on Karapatan’s website, “the attacker set up a monitoring using the online service ‘check-host’ for the specific URL, https://www.karapatan.org/resources, and then launches a second and long lasting attack.”
Qurium said that the geographical distribution of the bots (an application that automatically runs pre-programmed tasks over the internet) that flooded Karapatan’s website is global. However, they noted that almost half of the bots were traced from Russia, Ukraine, Indonesia and China.
Karapatan, as well as alternative media outfits Altermidya and Bulatlat, were also subjected to cyberattacks last May and June this year. Qurium traced these attacks to the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence of the Philippine Army, as well as the Department of Science and Technology.
Qurium first documented the first series of DDoS cyber attacks against Karapatan’s website on Dec. 28, 2018, lasting until Jan. 20, 2019.
“These attacks only benefit those who want to silence us and our human rights work amid a pervasive state of impunity in the country. We thank our friends from Qurium for documenting these attacks as we seek further investigations on the perpetrators of such attacks,” Palabay said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Censorship, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jul 28, 2021
- Event Description
On 28 July 2021, the admin of the Facebook page “Thonburi Citizens” was visited by 7 plain-clothed police officers at his house in Samut Sakhon to force him to cancel the Car Mob event scheduled to take place in the evening of the same day. The officers remained to monitor him at his house until late to prevent the Facebook page admin from joining the activity.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Restrictions on Movement, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Offline, Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jul 27, 2021
- Event Description
Regime forces shot three people, killing at least one, during a crackdown on an anti-coup demonstration in Mandalay on Tuesday, according to protesters who managed to escape.
Around 20 people were taking part in a flash mob protest near the east gate of Mandalay’s famous Mahamuni pagoda when they suddenly came under attack at around noon, witnesses told Myanmar Now.
Without warning, junta forces in plain clothes opened fire with live ammunition, shooting two men and a woman as they attempted to flee.
One of the victims, 25-year-old Thu Thu Zin, was shot in the head and died instantly. It was unclear if the two men, one of whom was shot in the neck, were still alive.
“The girl [Thu Thu Zin] fell down right before my eyes. I couldn’t save her, as I was running for my life, too,” said a protester who later returned to the scene to speak to other witnesses.
“According to some vendors in front of the pagoda who saw everything, it’s very likely that all three were fatally shot. They were dragged into the pagoda compound right after they fell,” the protester told Myanmar Now.
He added that police later confirmed Thu Thu Zin’s death.
The protesters were members of the Mya Taung protest column, which continues to stage peaceful demonstrations against the regime despite its routine use of lethal force.
The group’s protests are regularly joined by a wide cross-section of local people, including student activists, monks, and ordinary citizens.
Members of the group condemned the junta’s brutal violence against unarmed protesters.
“If they just wanted to break up the crowd, they could have done that by shooting into the air,” said one protester. “I hope that karma will catch up with them one day.”
He added that the military’s latest atrocity against civilians would have no impact on the group’s activities.
“We’re going to keep going until the end,” he said.
Tuesday’s crackdown was the third in Mandalay so far this month. On July 13, seven protesters were arrested when the regime broke up a joint march by the Mya Taung protest column and students from Mandalar University.
On July 20, two men were shot and a woman was arrested during a crackdown on a protest by a group called “Phoenixes from the Ashes”.
According to Mandalay residents, the army has stationed troops at public places, such as schools, hospitals, and pagodas, around the city to deter shows of resistance to military rule.
However, protests continue on a regular basis, even as the regime deploys plainclothes forces to launch surprise attacks, in some cases by plowing into crowds with civilian vehicles.
Meanwhile, surveillance has also increased, with pedestrians and cyclists being ordered at military checkpoints to show their phones, which are carefully scrutinized for evidence of involvement in anti-military activities.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 27, 2021
- Event Description
An online journalist says he received an anonymous call that he took to be a threat after reporting on land clearing in Siem Reap province.
Sous Chamroeun, head of CHR TV Online, claimed in a July 27 report that a local businessman had cleared hundreds of hectares of state-owned protected forest in Chi Kreng district’s Lveng Russei commune.
He said he received an anonymous call soon after telling him to remove the story and saying they would file a complaint against him. The caller said the land had been bought from citizens.
“They threatened me. First, he said that if you do not delete it, you will have a problem. Second, he said that he will file a complaint about this to the minister of information. He said that my name has not been properly registered as a journalist,” Chamroeun said.
Chamroeun said he had recorded the conversation, but declined to share it as he was waiting to see if there are further developments before filing a complaint to authorities.
A phone number for the businessman named in Chamroeun’s article, Kong Vun, who has a local electricity distribution business among his interests, was answered by a woman who would only say that she was an employee of the electricity firm.
Lveng Russei commune chief Loung Phorn said people had previously cleared land in the area before selling it to a company he could not remember, which then sold it to Vun.
Information Ministry spokesperson Meas Sophorn said he had not received information about the case.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Suspected non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jul 26, 2021
- Event Description
Protesters from Bicol progressive groups faced what they call an “intimidation” from police officers on Monday during a pre-State of the Nation Address (SONA) protest in this city.
The protest, involving members from Bicolana Gabriela, Youth Act Now Against Tyranny (Yanat) Bicol, Condor-Piston Bicol, Organisasyon ng mga Magsasaka sa Albay (OMA), and other progressive groups in Bicol were told by police officers that their protest were against Inter-Agency Task Force’s (IATF) omnibus guidelines.
“There were eight police officers who questioned the legitimacy of our protest,” Nica Ombao, Bicolana Gabriela coordinator told Inquirer. “The National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) has refuted that guidelines.”
Ombao is talking about NUPL’s statement in June saying that “no law, not even the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, prevents anyone from staging protests during the community quarantine.”
The progressive groups arrived in front of Philippine Coconut Authority in Legazpi City at 7:30 a.m. and were planning to march to Peñaranda Park, also in the city, carrying with them protest placards.
The march to the park was cancelled, but some of the protesters went to the park on their own to continue the protests calling yet again to junk the Anti-Terror Act and to allow all jeepney drivers back in Bicol streets.
The group also called for safer reopening of schools in all levels or, better yet, an academic freeze.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jul 26, 2021
- Event Description
Pria bernama Persada Bhayangkara Sembiring diduga disiram dengan air keras oleh orang tidak dikenal (OTK). Persatuan Wartawan Indonesia (PWI) Sumatera Utara (Sumut) mengatakan Persada merupakan pemimpin redaksi (pemred) salah satu media lokal di Medan.
"Mengecam tindak kekerasan kembali terjadi terhadap wartawan yang bertugas di lingkungan Kota Medan khususnya, dan Sumatera Utara umumnya," kata Ketua PWI Sumut Hermansjah kepada wartawan, Senin (26/7/2021).
Herman mengatakan peristiwa ini terjadi pada Minggu (25/7) pukul 22.00 WIB. Herman mengatakan pihaknya mendapatkan informasi peristiwa ini terkait pemberitaan tentang perjudian.
"Diduga sering menaikkan berita perjudian, lalu ditelepon, jumpalah di Simpang Selayang. Setelah jumpa, lalu tiba-tiba diduga Pemred Jelajahperkara disiram air keras ke wajahnya," tutur Herman.
Herman mengatakan pihaknya akan membentuk tim untuk mendampingi korban dalam menjalani kasusnya. Herman juga mengingatkan agar wartawan berhati-hati dalam menjalankan tugas.
"Apapun beritanya, wartawan harus mengutamakan keselamatan daripada jiwa jadi taruhan kawan-kawan saat menjalankan tugas di lapangan," ucapnya.
Rekan dari korban, Bonni Manulang, mengatakan dirinya dihubungi Persada usai peristiwa itu terjadi. Bonni kemudian membawa Persada untuk berobat ke RS Adam Malik Medan.
"Untuk kondisi korban setelah wajah disiram air keras, tampak sangat parah, mengerikan di sekitar wajah tersiram air keras, wajah langsung bengkak (tembem) dan menguning, tapi tidak sampai melepuh. Tetapi setelah ditangani tim medis, kondisi fisik sudah semakin baik dan bisa melihat," tuturnya.
Bonni mengatakan Persada saat peristiwa itu sedang menunggu seseorang di lokasi kejadian. Dari keterangan Persada, menurut Bonni, dia disiram dua orang yang menggunakan sepeda motor.
"Tiba-tiba datang dua orang pria mendekat dengan menggunakan sepeda motor. Tanpa berbicara apa-apa, satu orang pria itu turun dari motornya dan langsung menyiramkan sesuatu ke bagian wajahnya yang belakangan diketahui adalah air keras," jelasnya.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jul 25, 2021
- Event Description
Seorang aktivis mahasiswa Universitas Pattimura Ambon, Risman Soulissa ditangkap polisi. Aktivis Himpunan Mahasiswa Islam (HMI) Cabang Ambon ini ditangkap terkait seruan aksi unjuk rasa mencopot Presiden Joko Widodo, Gubernur Maluku, Murad Ismail dan Wali Kota Ambon yang diunggah di media sosial. Risman dijemput sebuah mobil lalu ditangkap oleh sejumlah Anggota Polresta Pulau Ambon dan Pulau-Pulau Lease di sekitar tempat tinggalnya di kawasan Poka, Kecamatan Teluk Ambon pada Minggu malam (25/7/2021). “Benar. Yang bersangkutan telah ditangkap dan saat ini telah resmi ditahan,” kata Kapolresta Pulau Ambon dan Pulau-Pulau Lease, Kombes Pol Leo Surya Nugraha Simatupang kepada Kompas.com via telepon seluler, Senin (26/7/2021). Ditetapkan tersangka ujaran kebencian Setelah ditangkap, mahasiswa tersebut langsung diperiksa oleh penyidik di kantor Polresta Pulau Ambon. Dia kemudian langsung ditetapkan sebagai tersangka dalam kasus ujaran kebencian.“Saat ini sudah ditetapkan sebagai tersangka. Nanti kalau soal teknisnya silahkan ke Kasat Reskrim saja,” katanya. Unggah seruan aksi di Facebook Kepala Sub Bagian Humas Polresta Pulau Ambon dan Pulau-Pulau Lease, Ipda Isack Leatemia menjelaskan, penangkapan terhadap Risman dilakukan setelah tersangka mengunggah dua gambar berisi seruan aksi unjuk rasa di akun Facebook miliknya pada 21 Juli 2021 lalu. Dalam unggahan itu ada seruan untuk mencopot Presiden Joko Widodo, Gubernur Maluku dan juga Wali Kota Ambon. “Tersangka memposting dua gambar berserta keterangannya yang memuat ujaran kebencian,” katanya saat dihubungi secara terpisah. Isack menerangkan, perbuatan tersangka itu telah menyalahi ketentuan Pasal 45A sebagaimana dimaksud dalam Pasal 45 ayat 3 Undang-undang Nomor 19 Tahun 2016 tentang perubahan kedua atas UU nomor 11 tahun 2008 tentang Informasi dan Transaksi Elektronik dan atau Pasal 14 ayat 2 UU Nomor 1 Tahun 1946 tentang peraturan hukum pidana. “Perbuatan tersangka menyebarkan ujaran kebencian sebagaimana diatur dalam undang-undang,” katanya.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jul 24, 2021
- Event Description
Safii Wakabiro Indo rubrik.com Kabupaten Asahan dan juga sebagai Ketua Pimpinan Anak Cabang (PAC) Pemuda Pancasila Kecamatan Sei Kepayang Timur bersama Hamdan Sinaga Wartawan Indo rubrik.com dan juga Sebagai Sekretaris PP mendapat perlakuan yang sangat keji dari Oknum berseragam bersama dengan rekan-rekannya para Preman berkisar pada Pukul 01.00 Wib Malam Sabtu 24/7/21.
Hal tersebut dikatakan Korban Safii dan Hamdan Sinaga pada Wartawan di klinik menteri Udin Jalan Tomat Minggu 25/7/21, yang mana Oknum berseragam dan para Preman yang melakukan penganiayaan datang dengan mengenderai Dua (2) unit Mobil dan Tiga (3) Unit Sepeda motor, yang mana oknum tersebut diketahui berinisial CDR Oknum TNi Al yang bertugas di Kabupaten Batubara.
CDR dengan rekan-rekannya para oknum preman meminta Kartu Tanda Anggota (KTA) dari kedua Wartawan tersebut dan berusaha untuk membakar KTA itu.
Dimana bermula Dua wartawan dan rekan-rekannya yang sedang melaksanakan tugas mengambil Fhoto sebuah Truk Tangki yang berada persis di depan Polres Asahan diduga membawa minyak Ilegal yang akan dibawa ke Kota Tanjungbalai.
Dan kedua Wartawan yang bertugas di Kabupaten Asahan tersebut ditegur oleh oknum-oknum tersebut dengan berkata mengapa kau Fhoto-fhoto itu dan dengan secara Spontan langsung mengejar serta menganiaya Safii dan Hamdan Sinaga.
Ke Dua Wartawan Asahan yang sedang bertugas tersebut dipukuli serta ditendang,dan tidak sampai disitu oknum-oknum tersebut juga melakukan penculikan dengan membawa kedua Wartawan ke dalam mobil.
Untuk selanjutnya Dua (2) Wartawan yang sudah diculik disekap pada sebuah Hotel yang ada di Kisaran,dan disana mereka diperlakukan secara tak manusiawi, setelah puas melakukan penganiayaan tersebut kedua korban dipaksa serta diintimidasi untuk menanda tangani sebuah surat perjanjian yang isinya sudah ada perdamaian antara kedua belah pihak, sekitar pukul 06.00 Wib kedua Korban yang sudah babak belur dilepaskan oknum-oknum tersebut.
Menanggapi hal tersebut Ketua Persatuan Wartawan Republik Indonesia (PWRI) Kota Tanjungbalai Yusman Kumis sangat menyesalkan hal tersebut dan mengutuk keras aksi yang dilakukan oleh Oknum TNI AL tersebut dan juga para Preman suruhan dari CDR.
Untuk itu kita meminta agar persoalan tersebut dapat diusut secara tuntas karena Indonesia adalah Negara Hukum jadi siapapun yang melawan Hukum harus dihukum,apa lagi Wartawan yang sedang melaksanakan tugas yang sudah dilindungi dan diatur dalam UU pokok Pers Nomor 40 Tahun 1999, Ungkap yusman dengan nada geram.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jul 22, 2021
- Event Description
The public prosecutor decided yesterday (22 July) to indict 13 protesters facing lèse majesté and sedition charges for their involvement in the 26 October 2020 protest in front of the German Embassy in Bangkok.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that 12 of the protesters reported to the Office of the Attorney General (Southern Bangkok office) yesterday morning (22 July) and were informed that the public prosecutor had decided to file a case against the protesters.
The remaining protester, activist Nawat Liangwattana, will be reporting to the public prosecutor today (23 July).
The lawyers requested bail using the positions of 7 academics and 3 MPs from the Move Forward Party (MFP) as security. The Bangkok South Criminal Court granted them bail with the condition that they must not commit another offense relating to the monarchy. They must also come to every court appointment and may not leave the country without permission.
The decision to indict the protesters came after the public prosecutor postponed their hearing 3 times. According to TLHR, this is the 33rd lèse majesté case in which the public prosecutor has ordered an indictment.
TLHR also reported that at least 111 people are now facing lèse majesté charges after the law began once again to be used against protesters involved in the pro-democracy demonstrations in November 2020.
The 13 protesters indicted are Ann (pseudonym), Nawat Liangwattana, Benja Apan, Athapol Buapat, Patsaravalee Tanakitvibulpon, Cholathit Chotsawat, Chanin Wongsri, Watcharakorn Chaikaew, Ravisara Eksgool, Suthini Jangpipatnawakit, Akkarapon Teeptaisong, Joseph (pseudonym), and Korakot Saengyenpan.
They face lèse majesté and sedition charges under Sections 112 and 116 of the Thai Criminal Code, as well as using a sound amplifier without permission under the Controlling Public Advertisement by Sound Amplifier Act for either reading a statement or giving speeches during the protest in front of the German Embassy in Bangkok on 26 October 2020, in which they submitted a petition calling for the German authorities to investigate King Vajiralongkorn’s use of power during his time in Germany.
- Impact of Event
- 13
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 21, 2021
- Event Description
Three environmental activists convicted earlier this year on incitement charges related to a planned protest have been handed a new charge of ‘plotting’ by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in connection with an ongoing case against four other activists.
The trio, members of the environmental group Mother Nature, have been in prison since September 2020, when they were arrested for planning a one-woman march to raise awareness of the impact of filling in lakes for development in the capital. In May, they were sentenced to 18 to 20 months.
Rights group Licadho said Thon Ratha, Long Kunthea, and Phuon Keoreaksmey were handed an additional charge of plotting and questioned by the Municipal Court this week. If found guilty, they could face up to 10 years in prison. Licadho said their lawyers were not informed ahead of time and so the activists appeared at court without representation.
Sam Chamroeun, who represented the three in their last case, said Ratha was questioned on Monday, Kunthea was questioned on Tuesday and Ms Keoreaksmey was questioned on Wednesday, but said they refused to talk without their lawyers present.
“I just knew that they were summoned to be questioned but they did not answer yet because they are waiting for their lawyer [to defend them],” Chamroeun.
Attorney Sam Sokong said that all three activists were summoned for questioning over the new charges, which are connected with a second case involving activists who were arrested in June and charged with plotting and insulting the king, after reportedly taking photos of sewage being released into the Tonle Sap River near the Royal Palace.
Environmental activists Sun Ratha and Yim Leanghy were arrested on June 16 and later charged with both plotting and insulting the king. Another activist, Ly Chandaravuth, was charged only with plotting. All three youths are now in pretrial detention at Prey Sar prison’s CC1 and CC2. Mother Nature co-founder and Spanish national Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, who remains abroad, was also charged with plotting and insulting the King. The case has been widely condemned as politically motivated, and represents just the latest in a series of cases against Mother Nature — which has long drawn the government’s ire.
Phnom Penh Municipal Court investigating judge Im Vannak, declined to comment, referring questions to the court spokesman, who could not be reached.
Am Sam Ath, deputy director of Licadho, said the charges were clearly aimed at silencing criticism among others.
“That additional charge for them is a threat and [aimed to] pressure environmental activists and other youths who want to join to protect the environment,” he said, adding that the government should support those trying to better Cambodia.
“We saw that the US and the US ambassador in Cambodia also requested the government to release them because they understand that it is not a crime and it is freedom of expression and activity to join the [fight to protect the] environment,” said Sam Ath.
Chak Sopheap, executive directive of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights said they strongly condemn the arrests and charges.
“The charges of plotting and lèse-majesté are a blatant illustration of the dangerous and restrictive environment in which activists in Cambodia operate and of the RGC’s [Royal Government of Cambodia] relentless efforts to stifle critical voices in the country,” she wrote in a message.
“CCHR deplores that imprisonment is an increasingly common price to pay for speaking out for human rights in Cambodia. We, therefore, urge the RGC to immediately release all the activists jailed for conducting their legitimate work, including members of the Mother Nature environmental group, and to unconditionally drop all the charges against them.”
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jul 20, 2021
- Event Description
Courts in Vietnam on Tuesday handed down prison terms to two Facebook users charged with posting articles opposing the country’s one-party communist state and calling for violence against judicial officials and police officers, according to state media reports.
In north-central Vietnam’s Nghe An province, Nguyen Van Lam, 51, was sentenced to nine years in prison for posting anti-state writings and sharing videos and other content, including broadcasts by RFA, considered politically subversive.
He was charged under Article 117 of Vietnam’s 2015 Criminal Code for “creating, storing, disseminating information and materials against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” a provision of Vietnamese law frequently used by authorities to stifle government critics and other peaceful voices of dissent.
Persons convicted of crimes under the law can be sentenced to from five to 20 years in prison.
According to the Nghe An Police Investigative Agency, Lam had posted numerous stories, images, and videos violating Vietnamese law from 2017 to November 2020, including livestream videos and stories from RFA and other online sources, and 18 stories written by himself on his mobile phone.
Among Lam’s posts available online, several mock authorities with sharp comments on news reports by RFA or other outlets.
On Oct. 26, 2020, Lam wrote: “The Vietnamese people do ask the international organizations, (and) Interpol to monitor the political and economic mechanism (of Vietnam).”
These comments had “smeared the regime, insulted Party and State leaders, called for a multi-party and pluralistic government, and distorted the actual situation in Vietnam,” state media reports said.
News reports did not mention the date of Lam’s arrest or whether he was assisted by a defense lawyer at his trial.
At least 14 Vietnamese people have been imprisoned following conviction on charges filed under Article 117 since January 2021. Pham Chi Dung, president of the Vietnam Independent Journalists Association has drawn the heaviest term so far this year at 15 years, followed by Nguyen Tuong Thuy, vice president of the Association, who was jailed for 11 years.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jul 19, 2021
- Event Description
Two doctors were arrested in Mandalay last week, offering further evidence of the regime’s targeting of healthcare workers despite a spiralling public health crisis.
Dr. Thet Htay, 41, and Dr. Kyaw Kyaw Thet, 21, were both viciously beaten as they were arrested for taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against military rule, witnesses told Myanmar Now.
Dr. Thet Htay was on his way home from a charity hospital where he volunteered his services when he was detained by police and soldiers in Mandalay’s Chanmyathazi Township at around 2pm on July 16.
Later that night, he was taken back to the hospital, where soldiers confiscated some of his belongings, including his laptop.
“His face was beaten to a pulp,” said Dr. Soe Thura Zaw, a fellow CDM participant who spoke to witnesses at the hospital.
Dr. Thet Htay previously worked at Mandalay General Hospital but practised exclusively as a volunteer surgeon after joining the CDM following the February 1 coup.
Among his patients were victims of the junta’s brutal crackdowns on protesters, according to other members of Mandalay’s medical community.
Dr. Kyaw Kyaw Thet was arrested three days earlier, on July 13, when around 20 soldiers and police stormed his home in Mandalay’s Maha Aungmyay Township.
His brother was also detained at the time but was later released.
Dr. Kyaw Kyaw Thet was teaching medical students online as part of a program organized by the shadow National Unity Government (NUG). He was also providing online medical consultations for Covid-19 patients until his arrest.
Dr. Soe Thura Zaw speculated that Dr. Kyaw Kyaw Thet was targeted for his role in the NUG’s medical training program, which mainly features lectures by instructors based in the UK. The regime likely saw his involvement as a provocation, he said.
Both men are currently being held in an interrogation centre, according to family members who spoke to Myanmar Now on condition of anonymity.
They added that attempts to contact them have so far been unsuccessful.
The arrests come as Myanmar is facing a major public health crisis resulting from the junta’s mismanagement of the response to the third wave of Covid-19 in the country.
On Monday, military officials pretending to be Covid-19 patients arrested three doctors who responded to a request for emergency treatment in Yangon’s North Dagon Township.
Meanwhile, doctors in Mandalay say that the junta is spreading misinformation, accusing doctors taking part in the CDM of causing more Covid-19 patients to die.
“They’re raiding oxygen plants. They’re arresting doctors. And then they say that doctors taking part in the CDM are killing patients? It doesn’t even make any sense. Doctors have been saving lives by volunteering everywhere that they can. The real killers are the military council,” said Dr. Soe Thura Zaw.
On Monday, the Mandalay Health Society released a statement condemning the arrests of doctors amid the Covid-19 crisis, demanding that they be released as soon as possible.
Around 900 CDM doctors have been treating Covid-19 patients by telephone under the NUG’s supervision, according to Dr. Zaw Wai Soe, the NUG’s health minister. Around 2,000 final-year medical students have also volunteered to assist, he said.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to property
- HRD
- Public Servant
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jul 19, 2021
- Event Description
Indonesian security forces have used discriminatory excessive force and racially abused protesters peacefully opposing the renewal of the Papuan Special Autonomy Law, new research by Amnesty International has revealed.
Papuan protesters told how they were targeted with water cannons, kicked and punched, and beaten with guns and rubber batons in peaceful protests during the last month. At least one person was injured after security forces opened fire on protesters on 16 August. Three protesters reported being called “monkey” while being arrested during protests in July.
Amnesty International has analysed videos and photos which show police using unlawful force on peaceful protesters, and verified injuries suffered by protesters.
“The reports of assault – both physical and verbal – that we have gathered reveals the true contempt the security forces have for the rights of Papuans.
“The Indonesian authorities must immediately investigate the reports of use of discriminatory excessive force and racial abuse against protesters, and also ensure the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly is respected.”
To date, protests against the controversial renewal of the Papua Special Autonomy Law have taken place in several cities, from July 14 to August 16. Amnesty International interviewed 17 people who participated in protests in the cities of Jakarta, Jayapura, Sorong and Yahukimo, and verified their accounts using open source video footage.
The protests have also called for the release of Victor Yeimo, a pro-independence activist from Papua facing life imprisonment for his political views.
A protestor who participated in the demonstration in Sorong on July 19 told Amnesty International that police officers beat him as he was arrested. He said: “I was kicked in the stomach and on my head. I was arrested because I only asked the National Police Chief for help to free the protesters who were arrested by the police.” The arrest and beating were corroborated by another protestor and video footage.
A protestor in Sorong criticized the excessive use of force by security forces. He said: “They just want us Papuans not to speak out about our rights. That’s why every time we take action, it’s always forced to disband like that.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Minority Rights, Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jul 18, 2021
- Event Description
Three reporters were injured during the protest on Sunday (18 July), after being hit with rubber bullets, despite wearing visible press armbands and ID cards.
Thanapong Kengpaiboon from the online magazine Plus Seven was hit in the hip with a rubber bullet while covering the clash between protesters and crowd control police at the Phan Fa Lilat intersection at around 15.50.
Thanapong said that he was taking pictures of protesters trying to remove the razor wire used as blockade. He said that the police issued no warning before firing 3 – 4 rounds of rubber bullets into the area where he was standing, and that they announced only that they would be firing water containing dye.
He also said that was standing next to a wall with a group of other reporters, and that he was wearing the press armband issued by the Thai Journalists Association (TJA), which has been used to identify field reporters covering protests since 2020, as well as a press ID card.
Thanapong said he was lucky that he was wearing thick jeans, but there was still bruising where he was shot. He has been covering the protests since 2020 and has previously been hit with tear gas and water cannon blasts.
“I don’t know if it’s bad that I feel like I’m used to it, but I’m tired of it. Without notice, they fire into a group that they should know are reporters, because it wasn’t just me who was a reporter and was standing there, and they fired without any warning,” Thanapong said, adding that he wants to press charges against the officers and is looking for a way to do so.
Matichon TV photographer Peerapong Pongnak was also shot with a rubber bullet in his left arm. Matichon reported that Peerapong was shot at the Phan Fa Lilat Bridge, while he was covering the march to the Government House via Ratchadamneon Avenue, which was blocked by crowd control police and water cannon trucks.
Peerapong said that the police began firing water cannon blasts at the protesters and announced that they would be escalating their operation, but he did not hear the police announce that they were going to use rubber bullets.
A photographer from The Matter was also shot with a rubber bullet in the left arm and was taken to a hospital for treatment. The Matter later posted a picture showing the bruise on the photographer’s arm and stated that they were visibly wearing a press armband when they were covering the protest.
At the protest at Sanam Luang on 20 March 2021, during which crowd control police deployed rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannon indiscriminately against the crowd, Prachatai reporter Sarayut Tangprasert was shot in the back by a rubber bullet while livestreaming from the Kok Wua Intersection. He was also wearing the TJA’s press armband. Journalists from Channel 8 and Khaosod were also injured by rubber bullets during the same protest.
Sarayut later filed a lawsuit with the Civil Court against the Royal Thai Police and Police Chief Pol Gen Suwat Jangyodsuk for unlawful dispersal of the protest by firing rubber bullets, blocking the route to the nearest hospital and using excessive force on working journalists. He also asked the court for an emergency inquiry for an injunction. However, the court dismissed the case on the ground that they cannot issue an order controlling the police’s action at future protests, while the investigation into the officers involved is under the authority of the police headquarters.
The protest on Sunday started at the Democracy Monument, before marching to Government House to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the reduction of the budget for the monarchy and military to increase Covid-19 assistance, and replacement of the Sinovac vaccine with mRNA vaccines. However, protesters were met with crowd control police armed with rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannon trucks. They were blocked from reaching Government House and gathered at the Nang Loeng intersection to burn mock body bags and a figure of Gen Prayut before announcing the conclusion of the protest.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jul 18, 2021
- Event Description
Police officers searched a van belonging to We Volunteer, which was delivering equipment for the protest, including effigies, and bottles of fermented fish . They also checked We Volunteer member Rattaphum Lertpaijit’s ID card.
The officers wanted to take picture of Rattaphum’s ID card, claiming that they have to check whether he has an outstanding arrest warrant. They asked to search the car, but were refused. No one at the scene was found to have an arrest warrant, and the police did not present a search warrant.
The officers claimed that they had to check whether there was anything illegal in the van, and asked for the identity of the owner of the content. During the search, an officer asked whether the fermented fish was for throwing at the officers.
Piyarat said that because the officers opened the packages of bottled fermented fish, they had to buy the entire lot. He also claimed that the officers told them that they wouldn’t let them go if they didn’t sell them the fish.
Sunday’s protest took place at the Democracy Monument at 14.00 and was organized by Free Youth and its partner groups. The protesters planned to march to Government House to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, a reduction in the budget for the monarchy and military to increase Covid-19 assistance, and replacement of the Sinovac vaccine with mRNA vaccines. However, they were blocked from reaching the Government House by crowd control police armed with rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannon trucks.
On 18 July 2021 prior to the #18July rally at the Democracy Monument, authorities confiscated “straw dolls”, protest items by the #WeVolunteer group at a dormitory in Nontaburi province. The dormitory owner was also seized for allowing the dolls to be stored for interrogation at the Plaibang Police Station. Police claimed that they had been notified of hidden drugs there. When the police asked the dormitory owner how she got the items, she said she had been asked to keep them. The interrogation took around 2 hours without the presence of any lawyers and trusted persons.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jul 16, 2021
- Event Description
Activist Shinawat Chankrajang and another protester were arrested in front of the Ministry of Public Health on Friday (16 July) during a protest over the Covid-19 vaccination programme, while two other protesters and one police officer were injured.
On Friday afternoon (16 July), people gathered near the Ministry of Public Health to demand an explanation of the Covid-19 vaccination programme and to demand that the government provide the public with mRNA vaccines. They called on Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to respond by 17.00.
During the protest, police officers lined up in front of the entrance to the Ministry and told the protesters that their gathering as an offence under the Emergency Decree and the Communicable Diseases Act. In response, Shinawat asked whether it is also illegal that Anutin is negligent and allowing Thai people to die every day, and demanded that Anutin answer whether the government will be able to supply the public with mRNA vaccines.
At around 15.10, Shinawat announced that they would be staying until 17.00, and the officers must bring them Anutin’s explanation about the vaccines in a voice clip or any other form of recording. The protesters also put up body-like figures on a table in front of the police line, while activist Thanadet Srisongkhram announced that the people need the Pfizer vaccine, not the Sinovac vaccine, which is ineffective. He also said that people are not lab rats and that they want vaccines they can choose.
At 17.00, the protesters marched up to the Ministry gates which were blocked by policewho announced that anyone breaking into the Ministry would be taken to the police station , and that if they do not comply, the police may use force. Officers began to surround the protesters, who were pushing and kicking the officers’ shields.
Police officers then tried to arrest Thanadet, so protesters tried to pull him away. During the clash, one of the plainclothes officers arresting Thanadet fell to the ground. After the clash, Thanadet was found to have an injury to his head. The officer was also reportedly injured
It was later reported that Shinawat was also arrested. He was taken inside the Ministry, so the protesters were not able to follow him. Another protester was also reported to be injured and was taken to an emergency room.
Shinawat and one other protester who was arrested were taken to the Khlong Ha Police Station in Pathum Thani. Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that they were charged with sedition, holding a gathering of more than 10 people and causing a breach of peace, violating the Emergency Decree, assaulting an officer, and obstructing by force an official in the execution of their duty.
Both denied all charges. On Saturday morning (17 July), they were taken to the Nonthaburi Provincial Court for a temporary detention request. The Court approved the request, but granted them bail without requiring a security.
Police officers also confiscated the keys to the protesters’ speaker truck and refused to give them back despite demands from the remaining protesters, who pushed the truck to the gates. An officer then came to negotiate with the truck’s owner, who asked for his truck key back as his house key was attached to the truck key and he had to use the truck that night.
By 19.20, crowd control police joined the officers in front of the Ministry, while protesters were still gathering in the area to wait for the truck keys to be returned. The police said they wanted to search the truck, but the owner consulted a lawyer and was told not to let the police search the truck.
At 19.45, with the 21.00 curfew approaching, the police still had not returned the truck key and had brought a tow truck from inside the Ministry, so the protesters lay down in front of the truck and demanded that the police wait for a lawyer to arrive.
At around 20.20, following negotiations with the lawyer, the truck was towed away. TLHR later reported that the truck’s owner received a fine of 100 baht under the Sound Amplifier Act before he was released. His hand was also injured when an officer reached into the truck to pull the keys out.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jul 16, 2021
- Event Description
The two Caraga-based activists arrested in Quezon City on Friday, July 16, are not members of the New People’s Army.
This is the assertion of the human rights group Karapatan-Caraga adding that the firearms and flag of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) confiscated from the two are all planted by the authorities.
Arrested were Julieta Gomez, a Lumad-Manobo from San Luis, Agusan del Sur and currently a council member of Kahugpungan sa mga Lumadnong Organisasyon sa Caraga (KASALO Caraga), and Niezel Velasco, formerly the project coordinator of Bread for Emergency and Development, Inc. (BREAD, Inc.) until 2017. Bread, Inc. is a relief and rehabilitation institution in Caraga.
The two were presented before the media last Friday as high-ranking members of the NPA.
“Such claims are preposterous and at the height of implausibility as who in their right mind would attempt to purchase and transport such, at a time when checkpoints and lockdowns are in effect, let alone store such munitions in the house where you were staying? And why would they bring a CPP flag and education materials?” the group said in a statement adding that Philippine National Police Chief Guillermo Eleazar should look into the arresting officers for planting evidence.
Karapatan-Caraga said that Gomez and Velasco are both engaged humanitarian work over the years. In fact, the group said that “officers and personnel of some of government agencies in the region know them personally as they have coordinated activities particularly with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and local government units in the Surigao and Agusan provinces and several municipalities.”
The group believes that this is but another attack against those who are critical of the government as the two are constantly red-tagged in Caraga region. Their photos and names were posted in tarpaulins together with church people, teachers, peasant and labor leaders and humanitarian advocates, tagging them as members of the NPA.
They also added that both Gomez and Velasco, along with several activists, have been charged with trumped-up cases of murder and attempted murder related to NPA actions in different courts in Caraga despite evidence disproving their involvement.
“The arrest of Gomez and Velasco are but attempts to silence activists in Caraga and the country. Unable to destroy the revolutionary movement in Caraga they attack those in the progressive movement and pass them off as members of the CPP-NPA-NDFP. They vilify, red-tag, file trumped-up charges, kill or arrest and plant evidence,” the group said.
Leading relief work and organizing fellow Lumad
According to Karapatan, Gomez has devoted her time in organizing the local Lumad communities and led campaigns in exposing the plight of the Lumad in Caraga. She is also at the forefront in defending their ancestral lands against large-scale plunder through mining and plantations.
“In 2010, she actively campaigned for the 1 percent royalty from mining profits for the Lumad affected by large-scale mining in Caraga, particularly in Surigao del Norte. In the same year she was elected by the general assembly of KASALO as secretary general and in the succeeding years remained as one of its council members,” the group said.
Gomez also led the Manilakbayan of the Lumad people from Mindanao in 2015 and 2016 where they exposed the dire situation and grave human rights violations committed against the Lumad in Mindanao.
In July 2017 to June 30, 2018, Gomez became the provincial focal person of the National Anti-Poverty Commission, Local Affairs Coordinating and Monitoring Services (NAPC-LACMS) for Agusan del Sur.
Velasco on the other hand has led the implementation of marine sanctuary protection and livelihood projects for fisherfolk in Siargao Islands in coordination with the local government unit of General Luna from 2007 until 2014.
She also led and joined relief projects in communities in the region affected by floods and devastation brought about by Typhoon Sendong in 2011, Typhoon Pablo in 2012, Typhoon Seniang in 2014, Tropical Depression Auring in 2017 and Basyang in 2018, and in Leyte at the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda.
She was also designated as the provincial focal person of the NAPC-LACMS for Surigao del Norte also in July 2017 to June 30, 2018.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Indigenous peoples' rights defender, NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jul 15, 2021
- Event Description
Sebanyak 50 mahasiswa Papua yang sempat ditangkap aparat kepolisian saat menggelar aksi unjuk rasa menolak pengesahan Revisi Undang-Undang Otonomi Khusus (RUU Otsus) Papua, di depan MPR/DPR, Senayan, Jakarta sudah dibebaskan.
"Sudah diperbolehkan pulang tapi masih menunggu barang-barang [yang disita]," kata pendamping hukum mahasiswa dari PBHI Julius Ibrani kepada CNNIndonesia.com, Kamis (15/7).
Julius mengatakan mahasiswa tersebut ditangkap aparat dengan alasan telah melanggar ketertiban protokol kesehatan di tengah pandemi virus corona (Covid-19).
"Sekitar 50 orang yang ditangkap dan ditahan secara sewenang-wenang saat melakukan aksi," ujarnya.
Secara terpisah, Koalisi Kemanusiaan Papua mengecam keras penggunaan kekerasan yang diduga dilakukan aparat saat menangkap massa unjuk rasa.
Koalisi Kemanusiaan Papua merupakan kemitraan sukarela yang terdiri dari sejumlah organisasi seperti Amnesty International Indonesia, Imparsial, Biro Papua PGI, dan lain-lain.
"Kami memandang tindakan tersebut melanggar hak atas kebebasan berekspresi serta hak atas kebebasan berkumpul warga yang sedang menyampaikan aspirasi mereka secara damai," kata Koalisi Kemanusiaan Papua melalui keterangan tertulis.
Koalisi menyatakan unjuk rasa yang dilakukan mahasiswa merupakan aksi damai sebagai respon atas kebijakan pemerintah. Menurut mereka, seharusnya negara menjamin keamanan para demonstran.
Hak atas kebebasan berekspresi dan berkumpul, kata mereka, seharusnya dijamin melalui UU No. 12 Tahun 2005 tentang Pengesahan Kovenan Internasional tentang Hak-hak Sipil dan Politik.
Sementara tindakan aparat dinilai melanggar Pasal 11 ayat (1) huruf b dan Pasal 13 ayat (1) huruf a Peraturan Kapolri No. 8 Tahun 2009 yang menegaskan larangan melakukan intimidasi, ancaman dan siksaan fisik.
Sebelumnya, salah seorang mahasiswa yang turut mengikuti aksi, Ambrosisus Mulait mengatakan puluhan mahasiswa Papua yang menggelar aksi di MPR/DPR ditangkap polisi.
Ia mengatakan aparat mengamankan mahasiswa dengan alasan melanggar protokol kesehatan. Ambrosius bersama massa aksi lainnya sudah berkumpul di Senayan sejak pagi.
CNNIndonesia.com sudah menghubungi Kabid Humas Polda Metro Jaya Kombes Yusri Yunus dan Direktur Reskrimum Polda Metro Jaya Kombes Tubagus Ade Hidayat terkait penangkapan ini, namun belum mendapat jawaban.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 14, 2021
- Event Description
A journalist working for Siem Reap Breaking News and arrested on Wednesday was charged with incitement and violations of the Covid-19 Law, the latter punishable by up to three years in prison.
Kouv Piseth, 32, was arrested by provincial military police in Battambang city on Wednesday for alleged incitement. The military police said the arrest was linked to Facebook posts from Piseth, but did not specify exactly what the journalist had said or done on the social media platform to warrant the arrest.
Duong Saron, a spokesperson for the Battambang court prosecutor’s office, confirmed on Friday that Piseth has been charged with incitement, under Article 495 of Criminal Code, as well as Article 11 of the controversial Covid-19 law for “obstruction of measure enforcement.”
While incitement carries up to two years in prison, the Covid-19 law violation carries a six-month to three-year prison sentence for intentionally obstructing or deterring the implementation of measures taken to curb the spread of the virus. It also carries a potential fine of about $500 to $2,500.
Chea Chanreaksmey, a spokesperson for the Battambang Provincial Court, did not say exactly how Piseth obstructed Covid-19 measures.
“Regarding the case, the investigating judge decided to place him in pretrial detention yesterday. Regarding the crime, I did not get more detail about the charges because it is in the process of investigation,” Chanreaksmey said.
In a June 27 Facebook post, Piseth questioned whether Chinese vaccines had been evaluated by the World Health Organization and if the vaccines should be used in Cambodia.
“Have the Chinese vaccines been evaluated by the WHO yet? If it has not, it should not be brought to inject because it has not been recognized,” the post said.
In May and June, the WHO approved the emergency use of the Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines. The Cambodian government started using both vaccines before their formal approval.
Piseth had other Facebook posts accusing Prime Minister Hun Sen of acquiring assets in the country by betraying the nation — an accompanying image has mansions and arrows pointing to forests, a gold mine, an island and other resources.
Rights groups have criticized the Covid-19 Law for being broad and for having severe prison sentences for violations. The incitement charge has been used by the judiciary as a catchall to prosecute any expression of dissent.
Phnom Penh police said last month that 11 people had been charged and jailed in the city under the law at the time, mostly for obstructing the implementation of lockdown rules.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jul 14, 2021
- Event Description
Sekitar 23 mahasiswa Universitas Cenderawasih (Uncen) ditangkap oleh polisi saat menggelar unjuk rasa menolak Otonomi Khusus Papua Jilid II di beberapa lokasi berbeda, Selasa (14/7).
"Berdasarkan jumlah keseluruhan, yang ditangkap ada 23 orang massa mahasiswa yang ditangkap masing-masing dari 3 tempat yang berbeda," kata Direktur LBH Papua, Emmanuel Gobay saat dikonfirmasi, Selasa (14/7).
Gobay menyebut penangkapan juga dibarengi aksi represif aparat kepolisian sehingga mengakibatkan lima mahasiswa terluka. Para mahasiswa yang ditangkap langsung dibawa ke Mapolres Jayapura.
Aksi represif terhadap lima mahasiswa Papua terjadi di kawasan Uncen Bawah, Abepura, dengan jumlah korban 3 mahasiswa. Lalu satu orang lain mengalami kekerasan di Unecn Atas Waena dan yang lainnya di sekitar wilayah Dok 8.
"Alasan penahanan massa aksi mahasiswa dan Pemuda ini dikarenakan mereka tidak membubarkan diri saat diminta bubar sehingga pihak kepolisian mengamankan masa aksi ke Mapolresta Jayapura," jelas dia.
Gobay menyebut pihaknya sudah meminta keterangan dari Polda Papua atas penangkapan 23 mahasiswa Uncen tersebut.
Dikatakan dia bahwa polisi menyatakan tidak ada pelanggaran hukum lain yang dilakukan oleh massa aksi. Penangkapan dilakukan karena massa tak mau bubar saat diminta membubarkan diri.
"10 orang diangkut dari Uncen bawah, 10 orang diangkut dari Uncen atas dan 3 orang diangkut dari Dok 9," tukasnya.
Kabid Humas Polda Papua, Kombes Ahmad Musthofa Kamal mengonfirmasi penangkapan sejumlah mahasiswa Uncen tersebut.
Para mahasiswa itu masih berada di Polres Jayapura. Namun Kamal belum bisa merinci jumlah mahasiswa yang ditangkap. Alasan penangkapan, menurutnya, karena mahasiswa mengabaikan arahan kepolisian.
"Sudah diingatkan untuk tidak keluar kampus (saat unjuk rasa). Dan izin tidak diberikan karena situasi Kota Jayapura zona merah," jelas Kamal.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jul 13, 2021
- Event Description
A local protest leader from Mogok in Mandalay Region said on Tuesday that his wife and daughter have both been sentenced to three years in prison for incitement.
The two women, who were arrested exactly one month ago, were accused of violating Section 505a of the Penal Code for allegedly inciting riots. Their sentences were handed down by a prison court in Mogok, protest leader Soe Htay said.
Writing on Facebook soon after learning about their sentences, Soe Htay said that his wife and daughter had taken part in protests against the junta’s numerous abuses, including arbitrary arrests, human rights violations, inhumane treatment of women and children, and killing of its own citizens.
Junta authorities in Mogok were attempting to arrest Soe Htay, who is a striking schoolteacher and local anti-regime activist, when they took his 44-year-old wife and two daughters into custody on June 13.
The younger daughter, Su Htet Wine, was still in detention when she turned five two weeks later. She was released on June 30, two days after her birthday.
Earlier this month, Soe Htay expressed concern about the health of his older daughter, 17-year-old Theint Sandi Soe, who was reportedly suffering from a potentially life-threatening condition.
According to Soe Htay, she was receiving weekly treatment for rheumatoid arthritis before her arrest. He said a person with connections to the place where she was being held had told him that she was mistreated while under interrogation.
Myanmar’s military routinely targets the families of individuals opposed to its rule, in some cases detaining the children or elderly relatives of those who manage to evade arrest.
According to figures compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), 76 people have been held hostage by the junta, with the youngest being just two years old.
The military council, which has designated AAPP as an illegal organization, has not commented on those cases.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to health, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jul 13, 2021
- Event Description
Two doctors were arrested in Mandalay last week, offering further evidence of the regime’s targeting of healthcare workers despite a spiralling public health crisis.
Dr. Thet Htay, 41, and Dr. Kyaw Kyaw Thet, 21, were both viciously beaten as they were arrested for taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against military rule, witnesses told Myanmar Now.
Dr. Thet Htay was on his way home from a charity hospital where he volunteered his services when he was detained by police and soldiers in Mandalay’s Chanmyathazi Township at around 2pm on July 16.
Later that night, he was taken back to the hospital, where soldiers confiscated some of his belongings, including his laptop.
“His face was beaten to a pulp,” said Dr. Soe Thura Zaw, a fellow CDM participant who spoke to witnesses at the hospital.
Dr. Thet Htay previously worked at Mandalay General Hospital but practised exclusively as a volunteer surgeon after joining the CDM following the February 1 coup.
Among his patients were victims of the junta’s brutal crackdowns on protesters, according to other members of Mandalay’s medical community.
Dr. Kyaw Kyaw Thet was arrested three days earlier, on July 13, when around 20 soldiers and police stormed his home in Mandalay’s Maha Aungmyay Township.
His brother was also detained at the time but was later released.
Dr. Kyaw Kyaw Thet was teaching medical students online as part of a program organized by the shadow National Unity Government (NUG). He was also providing online medical consultations for Covid-19 patients until his arrest.
Dr. Soe Thura Zaw speculated that Dr. Kyaw Kyaw Thet was targeted for his role in the NUG’s medical training program, which mainly features lectures by instructors based in the UK. The regime likely saw his involvement as a provocation, he said.
Both men are currently being held in an interrogation centre, according to family members who spoke to Myanmar Now on condition of anonymity.
They added that attempts to contact them have so far been unsuccessful.
The arrests come as Myanmar is facing a major public health crisis resulting from the junta’s mismanagement of the response to the third wave of Covid-19 in the country.
On Monday, military officials pretending to be Covid-19 patients arrested three doctors who responded to a request for emergency treatment in Yangon’s North Dagon Township.
Meanwhile, doctors in Mandalay say that the junta is spreading misinformation, accusing doctors taking part in the CDM of causing more Covid-19 patients to die.
“They’re raiding oxygen plants. They’re arresting doctors. And then they say that doctors taking part in the CDM are killing patients? It doesn’t even make any sense. Doctors have been saving lives by volunteering everywhere that they can. The real killers are the military council,” said Dr. Soe Thura Zaw.
On Monday, the Mandalay Health Society released a statement condemning the arrests of doctors amid the Covid-19 crisis, demanding that they be released as soon as possible.
Around 900 CDM doctors have been treating Covid-19 patients by telephone under the NUG’s supervision, according to Dr. Zaw Wai Soe, the NUG’s health minister. Around 2,000 final-year medical students have also volunteered to assist, he said.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Public Servant
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jul 12, 2021
- Event Description
Saharat Sukkhamla, a novice monk who has often attended protests, has received a summons from Pathumwan Police Station on a royal defamation charge relating to a speech he gave at a protest on 21 November 2020.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported on Monday (5 July) that Saharat received a summons on a royal defamation charge under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code. The summons states that the complaint against him was filed by Ratthanaphak Suwannarat, and that Saharat must report to Pathumwan Police Station on 12 July at 10.00.
TLHR said that the charge was related to a speech Saharat gave at a protest organized by the students’ rights group Bad Student on 21 November 2020.
Voice TV reported that on 25 February 2021, special branch police officers tried to disrobe Saharat, claiming a consensus of the Sangha Supreme Council of Thailand, the main governing body of the Buddhist order in Thailand, and an announcement from the National Office of Buddhism. The officers claimed that Saharat’s actions insulted the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand, who is the head of the order of Buddhist monks, and that he caused conflict within the order.
According to Voice TV, special branch police officers and a representative from the National Office of Buddhism were waiting for Saharat in front of his residence, and left after they were unable to find him.
At least 103 people have been charged under Section 112 in 100 cases since November 2020, 8 of whom are under 18 years old. According to TLHR, 46 of the cases resulted from complaints filed by members of the public. Saharat is apparently the first monk charged under Section 112.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jul 10, 2021
- Event Description
Aung Mya Than, a reporter for the Ayeyarwady Times, was arrested at 11:00pm on July 10 at his home in Maubin following his reporting of a bombing by unidentified perpetrators in his home town. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns the military junta’s continuous abuse of the media and calls on the military to release Than immediately.
Than was one of 14 journalists released on June 30 from detention across Myanmar. He was arrested on May 25 on charges under Article 505(a) of the Penal Code and held for 36 days. He is currently being held at the Maubin City Police State, according to the Ayeyarwady Times’ editor-in-chief, Salai Thant Sin.
On the morning of his arrest on June 10, Than was reporting on a bombing by unidentified perpetrators in Maubin.
It is unclear when Than was released from detention and whether the Section 505(a) charges against him were officially dropped. Radio Free Asia reports that 26 reporters are currently in hiding due to warrants being put out for their arrest. Many others have been forced to leave their homes and seek asylum with friends or family because the military have allegedly raided their homes.
Section 505(a) of the Penal Code is a broad and vague law that effectively allows the military to arrest journalists for doing their jobs. The law criminalises all attempts to “hinder, disturb, damage the motivation, discipline, health and conduct of the military personnel and government employees” and these subjective phrases can and have been used to quell dissent during Myanmar’s civil war.
Since the start of the military coup in February 2021, 89 domestic and international reporters have been arrested and 37 are still detained, according to Reporting ASEAN. Out of the all the arrests, 28 of them have been charged under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code. The media have been explicitly targeted by the military junta for reporting on the frontlines throughout the coup.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jul 9, 2021
- Event Description
On July 9, the People’s Court of Hanoi found political blogger Pham Chi Thanh (aka Pham Thanh) guilty of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Criminal Code for his online posts criticizing the country’s authoritarian regime.
After two and half hours, the first-instance hearing ended with the final judgment of five and half years imprisonment followed by five years of probation, his lawyer Ha Huy Son said on his Facebook page.
According to the indictment, Mr. Thanh’s writing including a book titled Thế thiên hành đạo hay Đại nghịch bất đạo (Holder of Mandate of Heaven or Great Immoral Traitor) and other posts on his blog Bà Đầm Xoè contains the information defaming the authoritarian regime’s leaders and distorting the regime’s policies.
In his defense statement, lawyer Son pointed out a number of shortcomings of the state agencies involved in the case, including the Hanoi City’s Department of Information and Communication which verificated the content of Mr. Thanh’s writing. However, the judge did not pay attention to the lawyer’s defense statement.
Mr. Thanh is a retired reporter and editor of the state-controlled Voice of Vietnam Radio (VOV). He has written several books critical of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam and its leaders, including late President Ho Chi Minh and incumbent General Secretary cum President Nguyen Phu Trong. His posts on his blog Bà Đầm Xoè are mainly critical of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam and its leader Trong. His latest book Holder of Mandate of Heaven or Great Immoral Traitor talked about activities of incumbent General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam, which according to the author are harmful for the nation and beneficial for the red China.
On his blog Bà Đầm Xoè, Thanh also posted his writings on politics and social issues, including China’s violations of Vietnam’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea) and the weak response of the Vietnamese Communist regime, systemic corruption, widespread environmental pollution, human rights violations, etc.
His arrest on May 21 last year is part of Vietnam’s intensified crackdown on local dissent before and after the 13th National Congress of the ruling party.
One day before the trial, the New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement calling on Vietnam’s authoritarian state to release Mr. Thanh immediately and unconditionally since Mr. Thanh peacefully exercised his right to freedom of expression.
Mr. Thanh is the 17th activist being sentenced in 2021, according to Defend the Defenders’ statistics. Among others are President Pham Chi Dung and Vice President Nguyen Tuong Thuy of the unregistered professional group Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam who were also convicted of “conducting anti-state propaganda” and sentenced to 15 years and 11 years in prison, respectively.
According to Amnesty International, Vietnam is the largest jailer of prisoners of conscience with 170 activists being jailed while the latest statistics of Defend the Defenders shows that Hanoi is holding at least 258 prisoners of conscience. Reporters Without Borders regularly ranks Vietnam among the worst five countries on press freedom withhigh number of jailed bloggers. Vietnam’s communist government always denies it has any prisoners of conscience, saying it imprisons only law violators.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jul 8, 2021
- Event Description
A five-year-old girl whose father helped organize protests against Myanmar’s junta was forced to endure stress positions during more than two weeks in detention, according to her father, making her what observers say was the country’s youngest known political prisoner under the military regime that seized power in February.
On June 13, security forces in Mandalay region raided the home of Soe Htay, a local activist who had led demonstrations in Mogok city against the junta following its Feb. 1 takeover of Myanmar’s democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government.
Soe Htay had already gone into hiding with his two sons, and when authorities failed to locate him, they arrested his wife Nan Kyi Kyi Khine and their daughters Theint Sandi Soe, a 17-year-old third-year law student, and Su Htet Waing, a five-year-old girl. Arresting relatives of wanted protesters has been a common practice.
The protests Soe Htay had organized in Mogok were part of a nationwide backlash against the military following its coup, which it said was necessary because the NLD’s landslide victory in the country’s November 2020 elections was the result of widespread voter fraud. Regime leaders have yet to produce any evidence of their claims, while soldiers have violently cracked down on the demonstrations.
According to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), the military has killed 898 people and arrested 5,127 in connection with the anti-junta protests. Of those, 2,269—including Su Htet Waing—were freed from prisons across the country as part of a general amnesty on June 30, although observers say the release was little more than a stunt by the military to gain international recognition.
Soe Htay, who was reunited with Su Htet Waing and remains in hiding, recently told RFA’s Myanmar Service that his daughter was left “traumatized” because of the poor treatment she was subjected to during her 18 days in detention.
He said Su Htet Waing told him that she and others were regularly forced to assume the “ponzan” posture—a half-sitting, half-standing stress position—during roll call, and that she “hated the people” who ordered her to do it.
Su Htet Waing “knows nothing about politics” and had only called for the release of NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained along with several other party officials shortly after the military takeover, Soe Htay said.
“She doesn’t understand the politics we were discussing,” the NLD member and leader of the Mogok Township Peace and Open Society told RFA.
Soe Htay said he recently learned from staff at the Mogok Prison that his older daughter is enduring “serious health problems” while she remains in detention. He said that he has had no direct contact with his family members since the day of their arrest.
“My eldest daughter was on medication, suffering from rheumatism when she was arrested. On the day of her arrest, she was taken away with the only clothing she had on, and she didn’t have any of her medicine,” he said.
“She had to kneel down, handcuffed, on the concrete floor for two or three hours during questioning … and now she is in critical condition, according to what a friend in the prison told me.”
Attempts by RFA to contact junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun for comment on the arrest of Soe Htay’s family members went unanswered Friday.
Su Htet Waing reunites with her father, Soe Htay, following her release from detention, June 30, 2021. Family photo Su Htet Waing reunites with her father, Soe Htay, following her release from detention, June 30, 2021. Family photo
‘Illegal’ detention Speaking to RFA this week, lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said arresting a five-year-old is “illegal.”
“Even if children under the age of 18 commit crimes, they are not allowed to go to jail. They are not allowed to be held behind bars,” he said.
“Arresting a five-year-old is totally unlawful. It’s a violation of human rights, too. There is nothing this military regime wouldn’t hesitate to do if their hold on power was threatened. Not even children will be spared.”
Naw Susanna Hla Hla Soe, Minister for Women, Youth and Children for Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG), said Su Htet Waing will be recorded as the youngest political prisoner under the military regime.
“Such arrests constitute war crimes and those responsible must be held accountable,” she said.
“This arrest and detention are a violation of childrens’ rights and the law. The child is too young and can be left deeply traumatized. We are working with professional counselors.”
Naw Susanna Hla Hla Soe also condemned what she called “hostage-taking” by the junta, adding that by NUG’s count there are around 80 minors currently in detention.
Soe Htay told RFA he is determined to fight to the end against the military, even though his family has been arrested.
“I am determined to root out this dictatorship,” he said.
“I see the suffering of my daughters and wife as a sacrifice to this revolution. It is from these feelings that I get the strength to fight for a speedy end to the revolution.”
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jul 8, 2021
- Event Description
Aksi mengeluarkan paksa alat berat yang ada di lokasi galian C tepat di area Bendung Wae Cebong yang dilakukan warga Desa Compang Longgo, Kecamatan Komodo, Kabupaten Manggarai Barat, Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) berbuntut panjang.
Dua warga Compang Longgo yang ikut dalam aksi yang menyuarakan kekhawatiran munculnya dampak lingkungan seiring aktivitas galian C itu malah dilaporkan ke Polres Manggarai Barat.
Dua warga tersebut adalah Leonardus Suhardiwan dan Heronimus Taji. Keduanya akan diperiksa oleh Satreskrim Polres Manggarai Barat pada Kamis (8/7/2021) besok.
Jajaran Satreskrim Polres Manggarai Barat menerbitkan surat Undangan Klarifikasi dengan Nomor B/1336/VII/2021.
Rujukan yang dipakai polisi adalah a) Pasal 184 Ayat (1) huruf a Undang-Undang No.8 Tahun 1981 tentang KHUAP, b) Undang-undang Nomor 2 tahun 2002, tentang Kepolisian Negara Republik Indonesia, c) Undang-Undang Nomor 3 Tahun 2020 Tentang Perubahan Atas Undang-undang Nomor 4 Tahun 2009 Tentang Pertambangan Mineral dan Batubara.
Dalam undangan tertuang Unit Tipidter Satuan Reskrim Polres Manggarai Barat sedang melakukan penyidikan terhadap dugaan Tindakan Pidana “Menghalang-halangi kegiatan Pertambangan Galian C di Wilayah Desa Compang Longgo yang memiliki ijin”.
Tokoh pemuda setempat, Leonardus Suhardiwan menyayangkan kriminalisasi aksi yang merupakan bentuk keprihatinan terhadap lingkungan. Hal ini dinilai kian menegaskan arogansi pengusaha galian C dalam merespon aksi keprihatinan warga. Sebelumnya, warga juga beberapa kali mengupayakan mediasi dengan pengusaha galian C milik Kelompok Handel Berseri itu. Namun selalu berakhir buntu.
“Dan tiba-tiba mereka (pengusaha galian C) malah membuat laporan ke polisi. Ini yang kita sayangkan, berhadapan dengan masyarakat tapi caranya seperti ini,” kata Leo sapaannya saat ditemui Baranewsaceh.com di kediamannya pada Rabu (7/7) malam.
Sebelumnya, penolakan dilakukan warga dengan cara mediasi. Tak sampai di situ, warga juga berkirim surat penolakan galian C ini terhadap pemerintah kabupaten, provinsi dan pusat yang ditanda tangan ratusan warga Compang Longgo.
“Itu aksi spontanitas warga. Karna dua minggu terakhir ini tidak ada aktivitas disana (seputar lokasi Bendung Wae Cebong). Tiba-tiba kemarin pagi, muncul eksa dan mobil lagi”, ungkap Leo.
Kalau begini ceritanya, besok kami siap hadir memenuhi panggilan itu, tutup Leo dengan nada santai.
Diberitakan sebelumnya, Puluhan warga Desa Compang Longgo Kecamatan Komodo, Kabupaten Manggarai Barat, Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT), mengeluarkan paksa alat berat yang ada di lokasi galian C tepat disamping area Bendung Wae Cebong. Aksi warga yang sempat memanas ini merupakan bentuk penolakan warga terhadap penambangan tersebut.
Warga menilai, dampak dari penambangan di lokasi tersebut akan merusak lingkungan dan mengganggu aliran air yang masuk ke Bendung Wae Cebong berakibat fatal pada lahan pertanian milik warga di persawahan Walang. Pasalnya, sebagai besar merupakan petani yang menjadi mata pencarian warga.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Extractive industries
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jul 6, 2021
- Event Description
Vietnam’s authoritarian regime continues its crackdown on the local dissent even after the country’s new leadership for the next five years has been formed and the latest victim is former prisoner of conscience and democracy campaigner Do Nam Trung.
According to his girlfriend, Mr. Trung was caught by security officers of Nam Dinh province when he was on his way to a workplace in the morning of July 6. Later, police used his keys to break into his rent apartment in Hanoi which he shares with his girlfriend when she was sleeping. She reported on Facebook that around 20 police officers broke into their private residence, conducting house searches and confiscating some personal items.
Like in other political cases, Mr. Trung will be held incommunicado for at least four months. During the investigation period which may last two years or longer, he will not be permitted to meet with lawyers or his relatives.
According to the police notice, the 40-year-old human rights advocate and democracy campaigner is charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code with potential imprisonment between seven years and 12 years, even to 20 years in prison.
Trung is among active participants in peaceful demonstrations in Hanoi in the last decade to protest China’s violations of Vietnam’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea) and demand human rights and multi-party democracy in the Southeast Asian country.
In 2014, while visiting southern provinces during the anti-China demonstration wave, Trung and two other activists was arrested and charged with “causing public disorder.” Later, he was convicted and sentenced to 14 months in prison.
Trung is a member of Brotherhood for Democracy, an organization co-founded by prominent human rights activist Nguyen Van Dai, who was forced to live in exile in Germany in 2018 after being sentenced to 15 years in prison. The organization was the main target of the persecution of the authoritarian regime in 2015-2020, with a dozen of key members being arrested and convicted of subversion and later were sentenced to between seven and 15 years in prison.
In the past few years, Trung was under constant harassment of security forces both in Hanoi and his home province of Nam Dinh.
Trung has been the 18th activist being arrested since the beginning of this year. Seven of them, including prominent human rights advocate Nguyen Thuy Hanh, were charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda.” The remaining 11 were alleged of “abusing democratic freedom” under Article 331 of the Criminal Code, with potential imprisonment up to seven years.
According to Defend the Defenders’ latest statistics, Vietnam is holding at least 259 prisoners of conscience. Hanoi always denies holding prisoners of conscience but only law violators.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to property
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Malaysia
- Initial Date
- Jul 2, 2021
- Event Description
The Government of Malaysia must end its intimidation of artists and human rights defenders and protect the freedom of expression, the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) said in a statement today.
On 2 July 2021, filmmaker Anna Har and cartoonist Amin Landak were questioned over an animated short film titled ‘Chili Powder and Thinner’, produced by the Freedom film Network (FFN), of which Anna Har is co-founder. The film depicts police brutality and torture in police custody in Malaysia.
Shortly after questioning, the police raided the FFN office and the home of Amin Landak,[1] confiscating desktop computers, a router and a laptop from Amin Landak’s house. They had earlier taken possession of Anna Har and Amin Landak’s mobile phones. The police also raided the office of human rights organisation and FORUM-ASIA member Pusat Komas, which shares an office with FFN, and seized a modem and router.
The two are being investigated under Section 500 for defamation; Section 505 (b) of the same code which makes it a criminal offence for ‘whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, rumour or report with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquility’; and Section 233 of the Communication and Multimedia Act (CMA) for improper use of network facilities or network service.
‘These laws are a part of a slew of repressive legislation frequently used to restrict the freedom of expression and information. These laws have also been increasingly used to intimidate critics and human rights defenders in Malaysia. The investigation of Anna and Amin, along with the police raids on FFN, Pusat Komas and on Amin’s home are clear forms of intimidation and harassment. Amidst a deteriorating civic space in Malaysia occurring at an alarming rate, these actions send a chilling message that anyone seeking to question the police will face reprisals,’ said Shamini Darshni Kaliemuthu, Executive Director of FORUM-ASIA.
Allegations of the use of torture in detention by police are rife in Malaysia. A report by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia noted that at least 10 percent of detainees interviewed alleged that they had witnessed, heard or been victims of torture or other types of violence.[2]
Human rights organisation and FORUM-ASIA member Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM), the co-creator of ‘Chili Powder and Thinner’, has documented allegations from detainees who had suffered beatings, sexual assault, solitary confinement and other forms of cruel and inhumane treatment.[3]
Malaysian civil society organisations have also long called on the government to establish an independent commission to investigate cases of police misconduct including abuse and torture in police custody, to no avail.
‘Instead of addressing these grave allegations and taking steps towards holding perpetrators accountable, the government has instead chosen to crack down on defenders and artists who have spoken out. Laws such as the CMA and Sections 500 and 505 of the Penal Code criminalise expression, silence victims and reinforce a culture of impunity where acts such as police brutality remain unpunished,’ said Shamini.
FORUM-ASIA calls for the repeal of repressive legislation, and for the government to end the intimidation of artists and human rights defenders.
‘We condemn the government’s harassment and intimidation against the Freedom Film Network and its artists. We stand in solidarity with them and all human rights defenders who have continued to find ways to raise human rights violations despite an increasingly repressive environment in Malaysia. They amplify the voices of the most vulnerable, and ensure victims of State violations are not forgotten,’ Shamini said.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Artist, NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jul 2, 2021
- Event Description
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for the immediate release of Mai Phan Loi, a Vietnamese journalist who once ran an official law magazine but who, for the past five years, has provided his fellow citizens with reliable, independent information about economic, social and environmental issues. All charges against him must be dropped, RSF said. Hanoi police officially announced the investigation against Mai Phan Loi on 2 July, one week after he was initially arrested on 24 June, on a warrant with the extremely vague charge of “tax evasion,” which carries a possible seven-year prison sentence under article 200 of the penal code. It did not specify the nature of the alleged crimes or the amount supposedly evaded.
Loi made a name for himself in the Vietnamese blogosphere thanks above all to a series of interviews he conducted with experts on economic, social and environmental issues in Vietnam. Before that, he was the deputy editor of Phap Luat (The Law), a state-controlled magazine covering legal issues.
The authorities refused to renew Loi’s press card five years ago after he investigated the mysterious circumstances in which CASA 8983, a Vietnamese air force reconnaissance plane, disappeared in June 2016.
“We are not fooled by the tax fraud accusation brought against Mai Phan Loi,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “Everything indicates that it is just a pretext to silence a journalist who tried to do his job to inform his fellow citizens properly. We demand his immediate release and the withdrawal of this clearly trumped-up charge.”
Editorial freedom
The same charge of tax evasion was also used to arrest another expert on legal issues, Dang Dinh Bach, on the same day as Loi’s arrest.
As well as a journalist, Loi also made a name for himself as a defender of editorial freedom in the Vietnamese media. It was as such that he was included in a group of six civil society representatives who met then US President Barack Obama during Obama’s visit to Hanoi in May 2016.
Loi joins the growing list of Vietnamese journalists who began working for the state media and were arrested after later choosing to work freely and independently. The victims of the wave of arrests of such journalists, which began more than a year ago, include Pham Doan Trang, a recipient of the RSF Press Freedom Prize in 2019.
Vietnam is ranked 175th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2021 World Press Freedom Index.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jul 1, 2021
- Event Description
An independent Vietnamese journalist hunted by police for online writings called “anti-State” by authorities has been arrested after evading capture for more than a month, RFA has learned.
Le Van Dung, also known as Le Dung Vova, was taken into custody on Thursday by Hanoi police, state media reports said on July 1, adding that Dung had not resisted arrest and had shown a “cooperative attitude” when taken by police.
Speaking to RFA, Dung’s wife Bui Thi Hue confirmed news of Dung’s arrest, saying she had been informed of his capture by an acquaintance.
“I received the news from someone I know that my husband was arrested this morning,” Hue said. “They only told me about the arrest, though, and did not say they had seen it happen with their own eyes. I am just saying what I was told.”
Dung, also known as Le Dung Vova—owner of the Facebook-based online CHTV news channel—was away from home when police tried on May 25 to place him under arrest on charges under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code for reporting on corruption, land disputes, and other issues deemed politically sensitive by authorities.
Unable to arrest Dung, police left instead with a laptop computer and two mobile phones belonging to his wife Bui Thi Hue, Hue told RFA’s Vietnamese Service on May 25. Vietnamese authorities later issued a special warrant calling for Dung’s arrest, placing notices in major media outlets around the country.
Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code imposes penalties for “creating, storing, and disseminating information, documents, items, and publications opposing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” and is frequently used by authorities to stifle peaceful critics of the country’s one-party communist state.
Harsh forms of persecution
With Vietnam’s media all following Communist Party orders, “the only sources of independently-reported information are bloggers and independent journalists, who are being subjected to ever-harsher forms of persecution,” the press freedoms watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says in its 2021 Press Freedoms Index.
Measures taken against them now include assaults by plainclothes police, RSF said in its report, which placed Vietnam at 175 out of 180 countries surveyed worldwide, a ranking unchanged from last year.
“To justify jailing them, the Party resorts to the criminal codes, especially three articles under which ‘activities aimed at overthrowing the government,’ ‘anti-state propaganda’ and ‘abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to threaten the interests of the state’ are punishable by long prison terms,” the rights group said.
Vietnam’s already low tolerance of dissent deteriorated sharply last year with a spate of arrests of independent journalists, publishers, and Facebook personalities as authorities continued to stifle critics in the run-up to the ruling Communist Party Congress in January. But arrests continue in 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jun 30, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities in Vietnam’s central province of Quang Ngai have arrested three local Facebookers on the allegation of “abusing democratic freedom” under Article 331 of the Criminal Code for their posts on the social network most popular in the Southeast Asian nation.
Citing the information from the province’s Police Department, the state-controlled media reported that 34-year-old man Bach Van Hien, 38-year-old Phung Thanh Tuyen, and 41-year-old Le Trung Thu were detained on June 30. Their private residency was also searched by the local police.
The three men will be held in the next two months at least for investigation on the allegation of posting statuses with content criticizing the regime’s agencies including the People’s Court, the police, the army, the inspectorate, the Vietnam Central Television (VTV), and the Propaganda agency as well as the regime’s leaders.
Recently, Vietnam’s authoritarian regime has arrested many Facebookers with charges of “conducting anti-state propaganda” or “abusing democratic freedom” in a bid to silence the regine’s critics. The first charge may take the convicted ones to between seven and 12 years in prison while the second allegation would take the convicted ones to stay imprisoned up to seven years.
Last month, within a week, Vietnam’s authoritarian regime convicted two Facebookers named Dang Ngoc Minh and Cao Van Dung of “conducting anti-state propaganda” for their posts and sentenced them to seven and nine years in prison, respectively.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jun 30, 2021
- Event Description
Puluhan mahasiswa perwakilan Badan Eksekutif Mahasiswa (BEM) Universitas se Eks Karisidenan Surakarta turun ke jalan di Kartasura. Para mahasiswa yang mengatasnamakan “Aliansi Soloraya Menggugat” menuntut Ketua KPK cabut SK Pimpinan KPK Nomor 652 Tahun 2021.
Aparat Kepolisian sebelum aksi dimulai sudah melakukan penyekatan dan menghalau peserta aksi disejumlah titik masuk Kartasura. Meski sudah dihalau, massa dari sejumlah BEM universitas ini tetap berdatangan. Titik kumpul yang sedianya di lapangan Ngabeyan Kartasura lalu menuju Tugu Kartasura, berubah di halaman sebuah ruko di Jalan Slamet Riyadi Kartasura, atau sekitar 1 km dari lokasi sebelumnya.
“Kami hanya ingin menyerukan save KPK, selamatkan KPK, pecat Filry dan cabut UU nomor 19 tahun 2019,” ungkap Widi Adi Nugroho selaku Koordinator umum dari UMS dalam orasinya, Rabu (30/6).
Dalam aksi itu, setidaknya 50 an mahasiswa dari BEM UMS, UNS, Uniba, Unisri dan Universitas Raden Mas Said (IAIN) turun ke jalan. Dengan mengenakan almamater masing tampak mengusung keranda bertuliskan RIP KPK.
Setidaknya, ada lima tuntutan yang dibacakan, yakni mendesak Ketua KPK Firli Bahuri untuk mencabut SK Pimpinan KPK Nomor 652 Tahun 2021, Mendesak Presiden RI untuk mengganti ketua KPK Firli Bahuri, Menuntut DPR untuk mencabut UU No. 19 tahun 2019 tentang KPK, Menuntut KPK untuk segera menyelesaikan kasus korupsi yang ada di Indonesia. Dan mengajak kepada seluruh elemen masyarakat untuk mengawal dan melawan pelemahan tindak pidana korupsi.
Aksi para mahasiswa tersebut mendapat pengawalan ketat dari Polres Sukoharjo yang di backup Polresta Surakarta dan Polres Karanganyar, dibawah kendali Kapolres Sukoharjo AKBP Wahyu Nugroho didampingi Dandim 0726/Sukoharjo Letkol Inf Agus Adhy Darmawan.
“Tidak diperkenankan ada kegiatan berkumpul jadi wajib dibubarkan. Kami minta mahasiswa pulang kembali kerumah masing-masing,” ungkap KBO Polres Sukoharjo Kompol Agus Pamungkas, mewakili Kapolres Sukoharjo, AKBP Wahyu Nugroho.
Selang 30 menit dibubarkan, mendadak ada massa susulan dari HMI dengan membawa bendera dan berorasi di seberang jalan. Aparat pun dengan sigap membubarkan mereka dan menghalau masuk ke dalam kampung untuk diminta pulang ke rumah masing-masing juga.
“Mengingat situasi Sukoharjo tidak aman, kita tidak akan menoleransi apapun kegiatan yang menimbulkan potensi kerumunan,” tegasnya.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jun 28, 2021
- Event Description
Petugas kepolisian membubarkan aksi demo mahasiswa di depan gedung DPRD kota Batam, Senin, (28/6/2021).
Para mahasiswa itu sudah dihadang oleh kepolisian didepan pagar gedung DPRD sebelum sempat menyampaikan aspirasinya.
Imam Tohari, tim gugus tugas kota Batam meminta agar mahasiswa tidak melakukan aksi ditengah kondisi covid yang menanjak naik.
Sementara itu, Mahasiswa masih memaksa bisa masuk ke gedung DPRD untuk dapat bertemu anggota DPRD menyampaikan aspirasi mereka. Karena melakukan perlawanan saat akan dibubarkan, seluruh mahasiswa yang melakukan aksi itu digelandang menaiki mobil Satpol PP untuk di bawa ke Polresta Barelang.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jun 26, 2021
- Event Description
Two activists were shot by the police while they were painting words on Banao bridge in Guinobatan, Albay on June 26 at 1:00 a.m., just hours before President Duterte’s last State of the Nation Address.
A photo by Bicol.PH shows an unfinished text which read, “DUTERTE IBAGS” on the bridge where Jemar Palero, 22 and Marlon Naperi, 38 were killed by by the police.
Palero was a member of Organisasyon ng mga Magsasaka sa Albay (OMA) while Naperi was part of human rights group Albay People’s Organization (APO).
Defend Bicol Stop the Attacks Network said the killing is “a brazen attack on human rights.”
“Dissent may take on many forms but to kill innocent unarmed civilians in the dead of the night for painting the people’s call is purely fascist and brutal,” the group said.
According to the report released by the Police Provincial Office of Albay, Palero and Naperi shot the roving police patrol car. Some firearms and ammunition were reportedly recovered from the two. Police said the two were brought to the hospital but later on died.
Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan said that the police narrative of nanlaban and that weapons recovered from the two are not only ludicrously false but “unbelievable tall tales because both unarmed activists and they surely do not bear arms while doing graffiti.”
Concerned Artists of the Philippines and Karapatan also denounced the killing of Palero and Naperi.
“This regime reeking with brutality and impunity has to end now!” CAP said in a statement.
“Karapatan strongly decries this latest killing as yet another damning evidence of the bloody state of the nation under Duterte, where the right to life and freedom of expression, among other basic rights and liberties, are not only brazenly violated but violently suppressed,” Palabay added.
In his last SONA, Duterte again ordered state forces to shoot communists and drug suspects dead.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jun 26, 2021
- Event Description
Rektorat Universitas Indonesia (UI) memanggil pengurus Badan Eksekutif Mahasiswa (BEM) UI terkait postingan "Jokowi: The King of Lip Service" di Instagram, @bem_official, Sabtu (26/6). Dalam surat yang ditandatangani Direktur Kemahasiswaan, Tito Latif Indra, terdapat 10 mahasiswa yang dipanggil pihak rektoriat pada hari Minggu ini. Kepala Biro Humas dan Keterbukaan Informasi (KIP) UI, Amelita Lusia membenarkan adanya pemanggilan tersebut. "Ya, betul," ujar Amelita kepada Kompas.com, Minggu sore.
Amelita menyebutkan, pemanggilan tersebut sebagai langkah urgen akibat permasalahan yang timbul sehari setelah postingan BEM UI mulai ramai dibicarakan. Amelita menegaskan, pemanggilan itu merupakan bagian dari langkah pembinaan. "Pemanggilan ini adalah bagian dari proses pembinaan kemahasiswaan yang ada di UI," ujar dia. BEM UI mempublikasikan postingan berjudul Jokowi:The King of Lip Service di akun media sosialnya. Dalam postingan tersebut, BEM UI mengkritik Presiden Joko Widodo yang kerap kali mengobral janji.
Postingan itu juga menyindir sejumlah janji dan keputusan Jokowi, mulai dari rindu didemo, revisi UU ITE, penguatan KPK, dan rentetan janji lainnya. Pihak kampus menilai, postingan BEM UI tersebut kurang tepat. Amelita menyebut postingan tersebut telah melanggar beberapa peraturan yang ada. "Hal yang disampaikan BEM UI dalam postingan meme bergambar Presiden Republik Indonesia yang merupakan simbol negara, mengenakan mahkota dan diberi teks Jokowi: The King of Lip Service, bukanlah cara menyampaikan pendapat yang sesuai aturan yang tepat, karena melanggar beberapa peraturan yang ada," ujar Amelita. Amelita menegaskan, kebebasan menyampaikan pendapat dan aspirasi pada dasarnya dilindungi undang-Undang (UU). Akan tetapi, penyampaian aspirasi tersebut seharusnya sesuai aturan yang ada.
"Perlu kami sampaikan bahwa kebebasan menyampaikan pendapat dan aspirasi memang dilindungi undang-Undang. Meskipun demikian dalam menyampaikan pendapat, seyogyanya harus menaati dan sesuai koridor hukum yang berlaku," ujar dia.
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jun 26, 2021
- Event Description
Kapolres Jayapura Kota Kombes Pol Gustav Urbinas memastikan melarang ada demonstrasi di masa pandemi covid-19.
Larangan ini mengugurkan wacana Koalisi Rakyat Papua untuk menduduki kantor Gubernur Papua menuntut Sekda Papua Dance Flassy meletakkan jabatannya.
"Kami sudah menerima surat ijin keramaian dari pihak Koalisi Rakyat Papua, namun kami menolak ijin tersebut," kata Urbinas kepada Tribun-Papua.com, Sabtu (26/6/2021) melalui gawainya.
Dikatakan, pihaknya telah mengeluarkan Surat Tanda Terima Pemberitahuan (STTP), dan pihaknya sudah membalasnya.
"Kami sudah keluarkan STTP dengan penjelasan tidak merekomendasikan aksi unjuk rasa tersebut," ujarnya.
Ia menegaskan akan membubarkan secara paksa apabila tetap melakukan aksi tersebut.
"Sudah jelas, ada surat pemberitahuan penolakan aksi, apabila memaksakan diri, kami bubarkan," tegasnya.
Kata dia, perintah pembubaran apabila ada titik kumpul masa sudah disampaikan di Polsek Jajaran.
"Kami akan bubarkan," tegas Gustav kembali.
Untuk personil Polresta Jayapura Kota nantinya akan diperkuatan dari Polda dan Kodam XVII/Cenderawasih.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jun 25, 2021
- Event Description
Peasant organizers Dana Marie Marcellana and Christian Relao were arrested by elements of the police and military, June 25 in barangay San Gabriel, San Pablo, Laguna, according to human rights watchdog Karapatan Southern Tagalog.
According to initial reports received by the group, elements of the Philippine National Police Regional Mobile Force Battalion – Region 4A, PNP San Pablo, and the military arrived at Marcellana and Relao’s house approximately 1 a.m. and arrested the two individuals. No warrants were issued for the two, but they were charged with kidnapping, murder, rebellion and illegal possession of firearms.
Marcellana and Relao are peasant organizers under the Katipunan ng Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan (KASAMA-TK). According to KASAMA-TK, they are both active in peasant communities around Laguna and Quezon provinces. Additionally, Relao was a volunteer for Anakpawis Partylist Quezon in the last 2015 elections.
Dana is the eldest daughter of Orly and the late Eden Marcellana. Eden was the secretary general of Karapatan-TK and a staunch human rights defender. She was slain alongside KASAMA-TK Chairperson Eddie Gumanoy in April 2003 by soldiers under then-Colonel Jovito Palparan Jr. as part of Gloria Arroyo’s counterinsurgency plan codenamed Oplan Habol Tamaraw.
Orly, meanwhile, is the former spokesperson of KASAMA-TK and an active peasant organizer. He has been the target of multiple threats since his wife’s death. Dana herself was the victim of these threats: as a child, she was told by soldiers that she would be killed “once she turned 18.”
Marcellana and Relao’s arrests mark the sixth and seventh instance of an activist arrested in Laguna since March 2021. It is also the third time an organizer was arrested in the city of San Pablo, following the March 4 arrest of COURAGE organizer Ramir Corcolon.
Laguna has also experienced a marked increase in killings and enforced disappearances since March this year. Notably, labor leader Dandy Miguel was shot dead last March 28 on his way home in barangay Canlubang, Calamba, while another incident on May 21 in barangay Macabling, Santa Rosa resulted in the deaths of three individuals and the disappearance of former Kabataan Partylist Southern Tagalog coordinator Kemuel Ian Cometa. A June 9 incident in barangay Dela Paz, Luisiana also resulted in the slaying of Francisco Oblepias, Jr. at the hands of elements of the 202nd Infantry Battalion.
Progressive organization Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) Laguna has initially called the arrests as “proof of the Duterte regime’s desperation to silence its critics.” Karapatan ST, meanwhile, is calling out the irregularity of the arrests and demands the immediate dismissal of the charges filed against the two.
Marcellana and Relao are currently inside the BJMP facility in San Pablo, Laguna
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jun 25, 2021
- Event Description
Human rights watchdog Karapatan decried the arrests of Farmers Development Center’s (FARDEC) program coordinator for Bohol Carmilo Tabada and United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) Pastor Nathaniel Vallente in Bohol and in what the group said is “a continuation of the crackdown in Southern Tagalog along with signs that these same dirty tactics are now being replicated for a crackdown on Bol-anon activists and human rights defenders.”
“The arrests of Carmilo Tabada and Pastor Nathaniel Vallente in Bohol and of Dana Marie Marcellana, and Christian Relao in Laguna today continue the alarming patterns we have raised before the Supreme Court — and these patterns in Gestapoesque raids, which have proven to be deadly especially during the ‘Bloody Sunday’ raids in Southern Tagalog, are now being replicated in Bohol. Clearly, their arrests are part of a systemic and desperate crackdown on dissent under the guise of the Duterte government’s brutal counterinsurgency campaign,” Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay said.
Tabada, also a barangay councilor, was arrested in his home in Trinidad, Bohol around 1 a.m. today. His family asserted that firearms and explosives were planted by the police and the military during the raid on his home. He is currently detained at the Trinidad Municipal Police Station. Tabada had been previously visited and threatened by intelligence agents to stop working for FARDEC, which was listed by Department of National Defense as a “communist terrorist front organization” along with other humanitarian organizations in a House panel briefing last November 5, 2019.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jun 24, 2021
- Event Description
Aksi Demonstrasi Mahasiswa Islam Indonesia (HMI) Komisariat STKIP Taman Siswa, di depan kantor Bupati Bima. Kamis (24/6/2021), dibubarkan Polisi.
Pembubaran itu sempat membuat ricuh suasana dan terjadi keributan antara masa dengan petugas yang berusaha membubarkan aksi tersebut
Atas kejadian itu Kapolres Bima AKBP Gunawan Tri Hatmoyo, S.I.K menyesalkan adanya insiden itu, dalam keterangan persnya, Jumat (25/6/2021), dia meminta maaf kepada peserta demonstrasi atas kejadian itu dan dia akan menindak anggotanya apabila terbukti melakukan tindakan kekerasan kepada massa.
“Tindakan yang dilakukan oleh anggota di lapangan saat mengamankan massa aksi yang menyampaikan tuntutannya. Saya sangat menyesalkan hal tersebut terjadi, Saya akan menindak lanjuti dan lakukan pemeriksaan serta proses sesuai ketentuan yang ada,” ungkapnya
Dikatakan, pihaknya telah memanggil anggotanya yang diduga melakukan kekerasan terhadap para demonstran
“malam ini kami langsung melakukan pemeriksaan terhadap personel kami terkait kejadian tersebut,” jelasnya
Gunawan mengaku bahwa dia sangat dekat dengan HMI dan hubungan silaturahmi dengan OKP yang ada di Bima pun baik-baik semuanya.
“Mereka adalah mitra kerja kami semuanya, mungkin situasi dilapangan yang membuat anggota lepas kontrol sehingga menyebabkan adanya insiden tersebut. sekali lagi saya sangat menyesalkan hal tersebut terjadi,” pungkasnya.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jun 23, 2021
- Event Description
Kontributor TV One Ilham Zulfikar diintimadasi dan mendapat ancaman oleh oknum humas PT.Brahmakerta Adwira selaku pelaksana proyek pembangunan jembatan lintas nasional Idi Rayeuk, Aceh Timur, Aceh, Rabu (23/06).
Saat itu, Ilham bersama wartawan monologis.id Ihsan dan Koordinator LSM LAKI Aceh Timur Saiful Anwar tengah mewawancari warga Desa Keude Blang, Idi Rayeuk terkait badan sungai akibat proyek tersebut. Tiba-tiba didatangi seorang pria.
Oknum yang kerap disapa Tekong itu lalu menyanyakan identitas wartawan sambil marah-marah. Lalu dia mencoba menendang Ilham sebanyak dua kali, namun Ilham berhasil mengelak.
“Sambil marah-marah dia mengayunkan kaki sebanyak dua kali namun tidak mengenai karena saya mengelak sambil merekam kejadian itu,” kata Ilham.
Usai melakukan hal itu, Tekong meninggalkan lokasi sambil menghina dengan memaki-maki wartawan.
Sementara itu, Koordinator Taslim Wilayah PT. Brahmakerta Adwira sebagai rekanan pelaksana pemenang tender duplikasi Jembatan Idi Rayeuk dari Kementerian PUPR melalui Balai Pelaksana Jalan Nasional (BPJN) Sumatera 1 menjelaskan secara teknis jumlah item kegiatan yang sedang mereka lakukan.
Taslim juga menyebutkan bahwa pekerjaan mereka sebenarnya sudah sesuai spesifikasi.
“Jika anda ingin melihat lebih rinci, kita ada gambar,” tegas.
Terkait permintaan RAB dan spesifikasi yang diminta LSM LAKI Aceh Timur, tidak bisa ditawarkan jika tidak kepada auditor eksternal BPK RI.
Pihak LAKI Aceh Timur sendiri merasa tidak puas atas penjelasan dari pihak rekanan.
"Sebenarnya perusahaan telah mencoba untuk mengungkapkan informasi yang menjadi hak publik dalam melaksanakan proyek Pemerintah dan ini bertentangan dengan Undang-Undang No.14 tahun 2008 tentang informasi publik karena proyek jembatan tersebut akan digunakan oleh masyarakat sebagai pengguna jalan," kata Koordinator LSM LAKI Aceh Timur Saiful Anwar.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 21, 2021
- Event Description
Three Mother Nature environmentalists were charged on Monday and placed in pretrial detention at Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison, as the mother of one of the activists said she was in shock but buoyed by support on social media, including from celebrities.
Sun Ratha and Yim Leanghy were charged with plotting, which carries a jail term of five to 10 years, and insulting the king, punishable by one to five years. Ly Chandaravuth was charged with plotting, according to municipal court spokesperson Y Rin.
Ratha was placed in pretrial detention at Correctional Center II, and Leanghy and Chandaravuth at Correctional Center I, Rin said.
A fourth activist was also arrested in Phnom Penh but has been released.
Ly Chanavy, Chandaravuth’s mother, said she could not see her son’s face at the court on Monday as he had been brought in through a back entrance. But she had earlier seen all three smiling as they were transferred to and from the court, she said.
“They smiled with tears,” Chanavy said.
She was uplifted by seeing strong support for them on social media, she added.
Thierry Chantha Bin, a France-born footballer on the Cambodian national team, shared a post about the activists with emoji of an upheld fist, Cambodian flag and a sproutling. Comedian Peypey Dy also shared the post.
Singer Kesorrr said: “Hope to get further information and hope that nothing bad happens to them.” Singer Jenny Vee added a message: “Can we join hands together one more time?” #justice4all #justice4Rotha #justice4Daravuth #justice4Leanghy”
“Although I’m upset and shocked, I get power from them, because people who have never paid attention to the environment before and never shared [about it], this time they’re sharing and posting, including singers and a footballer,” Chanavy said.
She said the three arrested environmentalists, including her son, had shown bravery.
“He told me that what he has done for society is [for] a clean environment, no polluted water and no impact on biodiversity, and for people’s health and to keep the forests — he thought this was not wrong,” Chanavy said.
The activists were filming sewage discharge on Phnom Penh’s Riverside at the time of their arrest. On Facebook, Mother Nature posted photos of the activists advocating for environmental issues.
Am Sam Ath, deputy director at rights group Licadho, said Mother Nature’s deported co-founder, Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, was also charged with plotting and insulting the king.
The charges against the environmentalists were severe, Sam Ath said. “We see these charges as a serious threat and intimidation for youth that love and protect the environment and natural resources — this is to break their spirit.”
Interior Ministry spokesperson Khieu Sopheak alleged last week that the group was using environmental issues to try to topple the government.
Three other Mother Nature activists were arrested for incitement last September and sentenced to 18-20 months in jail last month. The latest arrests came just a week after the U.S. ambassador met with Interior Minister Sar Kheng over previous prosecutions against environmentalists.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Malaysia
- Initial Date
- Jun 21, 2021
- Event Description
A Malaysian timber certification authority has halted its review of a conflict between Sarawak Indigenous communities and a forest license holder after the plywood company Samling Group filed a $1.18 million defamation lawsuit against a Sarawak-based green group that has campaigned against the company.
SAVE Rivers, an Indigenous-led civil society group, and four of its leaders are facing a defamation suit from Samling Group alleging the company’s reputation has been maliciously damaged by SAVE Rivers’ online posts.
Speaking on behalf of SAVE Rivers, Simon Siah, partner in Sarawak state law firm Simon Siah, Chua and Chow Advocates, said the group would contest Samling’s claims, but he couldn’t provide more information about the group’s defense before it’s filed publicly.
Siah said his clients would file their defense publicly before Sept. 6, and predicted Samling would likely respond before the case reaches trial.
“Of course, we will definitely challenge this suit,” he said. “We will fight all the way together with SAVE Rivers and all its directors.”
In its lawsuit, Samling took issue with seven articles published by SAVE Rivers between June 2020 and March 2021, which allege the company failed to consult Indigenous communities in and around two concessional forests and had further logged in areas that were part of Indigenous land. The company says SAVE Rivers was acting with malice against its two of its subsidiaries, Samling Plywood (Miri) Sdn Bhd and Samling Plywood (Baramas) Sdn Bhd, which have licenses for logging in the Gerenai and Bakia areas respectively.
Samling Group argued that SAVE Rivers intended to “humiliate, degrade and disparage” its two companies and put them under “baseless, unjustified and unwarranted scrutiny by the world at large” that harmed its business, without detailing specific losses. The company is seeking 5 million ringgit ($1.18 million) in damages.
In its court filing, Samling further said that SAVE Rivers “caused a complaint to be issued on its behalf” to MTCC against the company in May, while Samling was demanding the Indigenous-led organization apologize and take down its stories.
Samling did not respond to questions provided by Mongabay, instead sharing a response to the media from August 13. Within it, the company emphasizes that it has “satisfactorily fulfilled the requisite certification requirements” and says that it made efforts to reach an amicable solution with Peter Kallang, SAVE Rivers’ director, before filing the suit.
The company also says the timing of the suit is not indicative of bad faith on its part. “The date for the filing of the suit was a result of a one-year process undertaken by Samling to find an amicable solution to the issue,” Samling said in a statement. “It was a culmination of our continuous efforts to reach out to SAVE Rivers – efforts that were rebuffed by Mr. Peter Kallang.”
Siti Syaliza Mustapha, senior manager of forest management units for the MTCC, said the council had been trying to organize a mediated conversation between Samling and SAVE Rivers. The council held one meeting between the parties amid on-and-off COVID-19 restrictions, but Samling decided to file its lawsuit on June 21; under Sarawak law, parties must file a defamation suit within one year of an allegation being published, and the first article that Samling contested was posted June 23, 2020.
“It’s really unfortunate we were not able to prevent such matters to escalate to this level, but we understand it’s the right of the company to protect their own interest,” Syaliza Mustapha said.
Samling’s decision to file a lawsuit against SAVE Rivers further forestalled complaints against the company filed with the MTCC by two other NGOs.
In their complaints to the MTCC, Keruan and the Generai Community Rights Action Committee, both Indigenous-led groups, alleged Samling’s method of disclosing impact assessments did not allow for their communities to be properly informed. According to a statement released Aug. 13, the MTCC had sought response to these complaints from Samling as well as from SIRIM QAS International, the auditor responsible for certifying the project. According to the MTCC, SIRIM QAS responded while Samling requested an extension because of the lawsuit.
The MTCC’s dispute resolution committee decided the concerns raised by the two Indigenous organizations were too close to the claims about Samling that are to be argued in the defamation suit, the statement continued.
Keruan CEO Komeok Joe, who received a letter from the MTCC Aug. 7, would not comment on it yet, saying he was working with the organization to write an official response.
In regard to Keruan’s complaint relating to Samling’s Ravenscourt plantation, the MTCC’s Syaliza Mustapha, said the organization couldn’t comment on the company’s operations, in part because of the lawsuit and also because it’s the auditor, rather than the MTCC itself, that can flag issues with a certified plantation’s operations.
However, Syaliza Mustapha noted the organization could address at least one aspect: the mechanism by which Samling disclosed its environmental and social impact assessments to the Indigenous communities.
SIRIM QAS had also flagged this as a “nonconformity” in its assessment, so the MTCC will monitor this issue as auditors reassess Samling’s Ravenscourt and Gerenai forest management units, which will happen later this year barring COVID-19 restrictions, Syaliza Mustapha said.
“Auditors will have to go and check and ask other communities if they feel they were consulted,” she said. “They’re not the only people there, which is why we have to be fair and let the auditors who are doing fieldwork meet all the different people.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jun 18, 2021
- Event Description
The student activist group Bad Student staged a protest at the Ministry of Education to call for gender equality and LGBTQ rights in the school system. The protest took place at 15.45 on Friday (18 June) and was broadcast live on Bad Student’s Facebook page. The group staged a performance symbolizing discrimination against LGBTQ students in Thai schools, and wrapped a rainbow Pride flag around the statue of King Vajiravudh in front of the Ministry building.
Police officers stationed in the area then pulled down the flag and pushed the group and reporters covering the event off the lawn in front of the building. Voice Online reported that the participant who climbed up the base of the statue to wrap it with the Pride flag was detained by two officers, who tried to take them away. However, the rest of the group stopped the officers and told them that they must state the charges before they can arrest the participant. The officers were not able to state the charges, and the participant was released.
On Saturday (19 June), Ministry spokesperson Kesthip Supawanich said that the group’s action has angered many people, and that the Ministry has communicated with other relevant agencies and found that the participant who wrapped the flag around the statue was 22 years old and is therefore not a minor and no longer in the school system. Kesthip said that the Ministry will be proceeding with the next steps against the group, and said that the students will not be allowed to hold another event inside the Ministry grounds.
Bad Student then issued a statement on their Facebook page condemning police officers for using excessive force against the participants and the Ministry for caring more about a statue than school safety, as the event was held to demand that the Ministry solve the issue of gender-based discrimination and violations of human rights against LGBTQ students in Thai schools.
“Gender diversity is no harm to anyone. If the Ministry of Education does not understand this principle, and even sees that gender diversity as a threat, it means that the Ministry of Education does not support gender diversity. If even the Ministry of Education is like this, how could there be gender equality in schools?” said the group. The group faced some obstacles before the beginning of the event. After group representatives met in front of the Ministry at 15.45, Ministry security personnel closed the gates, preventing the rest of their team from entering the Ministry grounds. Around 15 minutes later, around 20 uniformed police officers from Dusit Police Station began lining up in front of the Ministry.
Dusit Police Station Superintendent Pol Col Jatuphon Phonphakdi came to negotiate with the group and asked them to take their activities outside, telling them that they have to ask for permission before organizing an event on Ministry grounds. A representative of the group said that they have already communicated with Education Minister Trinuch Thienthong, who allowed the gates to be open. However, a Ministry official said that the group is still not allowed to hold their event inside the Ministry. After the group refused to leave, Pol Col Jatuphon threatened them with legal prosecution. Meanwhile, plainclothes officers took pictures of the participants. They were finally allowed to stage their performance after they spoke to the Education Permanent Secretary, who allowed them to stay on the Ministry grounds until 18.30.
The event concluded at 18.45, while around 10 police officers were still surrounding King Vajiravudh’s statue.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 17, 2021
- Event Description
Four members of the Mother Nature environmental group – Sun Ratha, Ly Chandaravuth, Yim Leanghy and Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson – were charged on Sunday, according to pro-government local media, with plotting and insulting the king (lèse majesté) under Articles 453 and 437(bis) of the Criminal Code, which carry maximum sentences of 10 years and 5 years, respectively.
Ratha and Chandaravuth were arrested alongside another activist, Seth Chhivlimeng, in Phnom Penh. The three were arrested on Wednesday morning, apparently in relation to their activities documenting runoff draining into the Tonle Sap river in the capital’s Daun Penh district. Chhivlimeng was later released from detention after being detained for 24 hours at the Police Private Security Management department of the Ministry of Interior, while Ratha and Chandaravuth remained in detention.
Also on Wednesday, police in Kandal province’s Koh Thom district summonsed environmental activist Yim Leanghy for questioning and he was arrested after arriving at the police station. He was later transferred to Phnom Penh and was sent to court along with Ratha and Chandaravuth. Leanghy, Ratha and Chandaravuth face between 1 and 5 years in prison for insulting the king as well as a fine of between 2 and 10 million riel ($500 to $2,500), and they also face between 5 and 10 years in prison for plotting. Also charged with the same crimes was Spanish national Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, who was deported from Cambodia in 2015 in relation to his activities as the co-founder of the Mother Nature Cambodia environmental movement.
Leanghy is a 32-year-old student who obtained a scholarship to study for a Master’s degree at the Royal University of Phnom Penh’s Institute of Foreign Languages. Ratha is a 26-year-old accountant who graduated from the University of Cambodia, where she was also studying on a scholarship. Chandaravuth is a 22-year-old law student in his 4th year of studying law at the Royal University of Law and Economics.
Last month, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced three other imprisoned environmental activists associated with the Mother Nature movement to between 18 and 20 months in prison for organising a peaceful, one-woman march to highlight the filling-in of Phnom Penh’s Boeung Tamok lake. Two other Mother Nature members, Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson and Chea Kunthin, were also sentenced in absentia at the time.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 17, 2021
- Event Description
A community representative in a Preah Sihanouk land dispute was arrested in a case in which three Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community members were also sentenced to jail last year, and which has previously been reported as involving Deputy Prime Minister Yim Chhay Ly.
Sam Sophat, who the coalition said had represented 68 families in a dispute in Prey Nob district, was arrested on Sunday based on a court warrant from March, said district police chief Hour Yay.
According to a Supreme Court document, Sophat was found guilty by the provincial court on June 17 last year, alongside Sam Samol, Svay Sareth and Nhek Sara. The verdict was upheld by the Appeal Court and Supreme Court last year.
Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community director Theng Savoeun said the three others were members of the coalition, but had not been sent to jail.
He said they had all been sentenced under Article 97 of the Forestry Law, which lists 10 different crimes carrying jail terms of five to 10 years.
According to Savoeun, the case involved the Than Sour company and one of its developments in the area. The company could not be found on Commerce Ministry records, but the Phnom Penh Post reported in 2016 that the company was managed by Deputy Prime Minister Yim Chhay Ly.
Preah Sihanouk Provincial court spokesperson Yem Bunareth declined to comment on the case and arrest.
Cheap Sotheary, provincial coordinator for human rights group Adhoc, said she had attended last year’s court trial, where Sophat and the others were accused of removing trees from land claimed by Than Sour. But Sophat had argued that he owned the land and that he had planted trees, not removed them. The case had been brought to court by the Forestry Administration, she said.
Sotheary added that Than Sour was involved in several land disputes in the area.
Long Lun, Sophat’s lawyer, said his client was also involved in several lawsuits, and he was not clear on the arrest.
Sophat’s brother Sam Sopheap said Sophat had been called into the commune police station then arrested by district officers.
“Five criminal police officers came to arrest him. They took him to the district police office and one hour later sent him to the provincial police and to the prison yesterday at 11 a.m.,” Sopheap said on Tuesday.
Savoeun, the CCFC director, said the dispute was about people living on forestry land, and the Forestry Administration should grant land to them rather than prosecute them.
Chhay Ly, the deputy prime minister, is also chair of the Council for Agriculture and Rural Development, a governmental body established in 1998.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 16, 2021
- Event Description
Kea Sokun, a young Siem Reap rapper jailed for incitement over his nationalist lyrics, had his yearlong prison sentence upheld by the Appeal Court in Battambang on Wednesday.
Sokun was arrested last September in relation to his song “Dey Khmer,” or Khmer Land, which now has more than 4 million views on YouTube. The song spoke about “the bravery to stand up,” while also warning that “the other race is encroaching” — an apparent reference to long-standing, racially tinged fears related to the Vietnamese border that sparked protests and arrests last year. He was found guilty in late December.
Am Sam Ath, monitoring manager for rights group Licadho, said the NGO provided a lawyer for Sokun at the Appeal Court, which upheld the earlier Siem Reap Provincial Court verdict.
“There were a lot of challenges [made] — the key thing that the lawyer raised about this was the freedom of expression of people, including composing songs and singing songs, and that there was no intention to incite chaos in society or serve anybody’s interest. His intention was to earn money on YouTube,” Sam Ath said.
Sokun was talented, and officials should educate him rather than jail him so he can be an artist that contributes to society, Sam Ath said.
“The prosecutor still kept their stance that the song has an inciting nature and is a crime,” he said. “As civil society, we do not see it as a crime as charged. But we see that he has talent in composing songs and expressing his views.”
Sokun’s sister, Kea Channa, said the family was disappointed by the decision.
“He was just expressing his view about his country and the nation, but instead he was given heavy punishment,” Channa said.
Teang Sambo, spokesperson for the Appeal Court in Battambang, confirmed that the court upheld the verdict.
Earlier this week, the American Bar Association issued a report on the case, in which it said that “[t]he charge of incitement is so broad that the government can apply it in a variety of cases.”
“Together, Articles 494 and 495 form a vague charge that some say is left open to politically motivated misuse,” the association said.
In Sokun’s case, he was “held for an excessive period of time prior to his trial,” the prosecution did not “present any concrete evidence” that his songs actually incited crimes, and it failed “to prove Sokun’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt,” it said.
“The prosecution and court have failed in their legal obligations to perform their roles in finding the truth and providing justice duly in line with Cambodian law and the ICCPR,” or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the association said, and suggested bail for Sokun during the appeal process, among other recommendations.
The association’s senior staff attorney Waris Husain said the ABA had followed some trials in Cambodia over the past two years, including an espionage trial against two Radio Free Asia journalists and prosecutions against six top labor leaders.
“What we have seen recently is the use of Article 495 incitement to violence/crime being used against human rights defenders and those critical of the government. As the case involving Kea Sokun involved a charge like this, we decided to monitor and analyze the case leading to our fair trial report,” Husain said.
The Justice Ministry has repeatedly defended the courts’ independence and due process, and officials have said that free expression is restricted if it is ill-intended or harms society. The Culture Ministry has previously said in the context of Sokun’s case that it works to educate artists who produce improper works but takes stronger action if they do not listen.
“When it comes to arrests and such, it means that you’ve gone beyond the redline, and it’s come to affect social order and public order,” Culture Ministry spokesperson Long Bunna Sireyvath previously said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jun 16, 2021
- Event Description
Tindakan tegas pembubaran aksi demo mahasiswa Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta (UMS), dilakukan gabungan Polisi, TNI dan Satpol PP Sukoharjo, Rabu (16/6/2021) sore.
Pembubaran dilakukan sewaktu-waktu massa peserta aksi keluar dari kampus UMS di Pabelan, Kartasura, menuju titik aksi di pertigaan Jl Ahmad Yani, Pabelan, Kartasura. Jarak kampus dengan titik aksi sekitar 200 meter.
Belum sempat menggelar orasi, massa langsung dihalau ratusan petugas gabungan untuk diminta kembali ke dalam kampus. Pembubaran dilakukan untuk mencegah terjadinya serta mengantisipasi kemacetan arus lalu lintas yang akan ditimbulkan.
Kapolres Sukoharjo AKBP Bambang Yugo Pamungkas yang turun langsung memimpin dilapangan bersama Dandim 0726/Sukoharjo Letkol Inf Agus Adhy Darmawan mengatakan, tindakan tegas mencegah melonjaknya penyebaran Covid-19 di Kota Makmur yang oleh.
"Kemarin kami rapat luar biasa di Pemkab bersama jajaran instansi terkait lainnya. Bahwa melihat situasi Solo Raya saat ini, angka kasus Covid-19 meningkat. Termasuk Sukoharjo juga meningkat dengan adanya (Covid-19) varian baru,".
Dengan adanya peningkatan kasus corona, maka seluruh jajaran yang terlibat dalam penanganan Covid-19 harus waspada terhadap segala kegiatan masyarakat untuk menurunkan angka penyebaran virus.
"Seperti kegiatan (aksi demo) ini, melibatkan orang dari luar daerah. Maka harus diingatkan untuk tidak berkumpul. Kami akan memulai dengan himbauan, jika masih membandel akan diberikan sanksi. Kami angkut untuk selanjutnya diberi sanksi," tegas Kapolres.
Pantauan hariankota.com dilapangan, aksi demo dilakukan oleh puluhan mahasiswa, mendesak Presiden Joko Widodo (Jokowi) mengeluarkan Perppu UU No.9 Tahun 2019.
Selain itu, menuntut dikembalikannya marwah dan independensi Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (KPK. Cabut SK Pimpinan KPK No. 652 Tahun 2021, dan demo massa aksi juga menuntut Ketua Umum KPK Firli Bahuri diberhentikan.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jun 15, 2021
- Event Description
Student activist Parit Chiwarak is now facing 20 counts under the lèse majesté law, after complaints were filed against him for Facebook posts he made about King Vajiralongkorn’s divorce from his ex-wife Sujarinee Vivacharawongse, and the use of Sanam Luang for funerals. Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that Parit went to the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) on Tuesday (15 June) to hear the charges, after complaints were filed against him by Nopadol Prompasit, a member of the Thailand Help Center for Cyberbullying Victims, an online royalist group whose members have filed numerous lèse majesté charges against many netizens, claiming in one post that they have filed complaints with the TCSD against 90 people for posts made on Queen Suthida’s birthday which they see as insulting against the Queen.
The complaints against Parit were filed on 11 January 2021 and are related to two Facebook posts he made in December 2020. The first was on 8 December 2020 about King Vajiralongkorn’s divorce from his ex-wife Sujarinee Vivacharawongse, who now lives in the United States in exile with her four sons.
He also called for Princess Sirivannavari, the King's younger daughter, not to use taxpayer’s money to promote her fashion brand, and included in the post a link to a voice clip rumoured to be that of the king saying “I know I’m bad.”
The second post was on 31 December 2020 and mentioned how funerals are allowed to be held at Sanam Luang but people are not allowed to sell shrimp, referring to the shrimp sale organized by the volunteer protest guard group We Volunteer on 31 December 2020 which was dispersed by police.
Since the reign of King Rama I, which began in 1782, the area now known as Sanam Luang has been used as cremation sites for the funerals of kings, queens, and high-ranking members of the royal family.
Parit faces charges under the lèse majesté law, or Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code, and the Computer Crimes Act. He denied all charges and requested that Sujarinee and her sons be brought in as witnesses and to have them testify on why they had to leave the country, who is involved in their exile, and whether they wish to return to Thailand.
This is Parit’s 20th count under the lèse majesté law. According to TLHR, at least 100 people are now facing lèse majesté charges since November 2020, 8 of whom are less than 18 years old.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jun 14, 2021
- Event Description
A woman from Yangon Region’s Hmawbi Township who was beaten by soldiers after they found protest photos on her phone has had a miscarriage, according to local residents.
The woman, who was two months pregnant, was one of more than 40 people arrested in connection with a fire that broke out at a primary school in the village of Sein Shwe Kone on June 14.
She was arrested and beaten later the same day when a photo of her at a protest was discovered on her mobile phone.
“They found that picture and took her away. They used a device to check her phone, so that even deleted pictures were recovered,” a resident of the village said.
“She took photos during protest rallies. The authorities asked for the home addresses of those in the pictures. They used the phone to hunt the protesters,” the villager added.
The woman was released on June 16 and is currently receiving medical treatment, residents said. Myanmar Now was unable to contact her directly at the time of reporting.
A female resident said that the soldiers arrived a few hours after the fire broke out and demanded to know who in the village had ties to the National League for Democracy (NLD).
“The soldiers came and rounded everyone up. They asked a few people about the arson attack. When the villagers said they didn’t know anything about it, the soldiers wanted to know who in the village was associated with the NLD and who participated in protests. The soldiers beat the villagers until they got the answer,” the woman said.
Residents said that 10 people were arrested on the day of the fire and more than 30 others were taken into custody two days later. Anyone who was found to have liked posts about the NLD on Facebook was arrested, according to residents.
Many others in the village of roughly 1,000 people were also subjected to questioning.
“They said they would interrogate everyone until they found out who the arsonist was,” said one young resident who was among those who were temporarily detained.
“They said that if we tried to evade arrest, they would give our parents trouble. At night, I just had to sit at home and wait for my turn,” she said.
Another resident said that soldiers also examined the list of households in the village to see which ones had children who were not enrolled in school.
“Whenever they found a child who was not enrolled in the school, they beat the child’s parents,” said the villager.
Most of those who were detained were also subjected to beatings, residents said.
“First they hit them five times with a bamboo stick and asked them who the arsonist was. If they said they didn’t know, they were beaten 10 times with the stick. Then 15 and 20 times if they still said they didn’t know,” said one villager.
An activist in Hmawbi said that he could not confirm how many people had been released because some were reluctant to share information out of fear of re-arrest.
A state-run newspaper reported on June 18 that 56 textbooks, three dozen notebooks, and several pieces of furniture were destroyed in the fire.
Junta-controlled media has accused alleged terrorists with links to the NLD of bombing schools and carrying out attacks against teachers and students.
Local People’s Defence Forces loyal to the ousted NLD government have denied targeting civilians in their campaign to pressure the regime to give up power.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Offline, Right to health, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jun 13, 2021
- Event Description
Direktur Lembaga Bantuan Hukum (LBH) Semarang, Eti Oktaviani menceritakan, proses nonton bareng (nobar) film ‘The End Game’ sempat mengalami gangguan dari sejumlah pihak yang mengaku ‘intel’ sehingga harus dibubarkan. Kejadian ini, menurutnya, terjadi saat LBH Semarang bersama Gerakan Rakyat Menggugat (Geram) melakukan kegiatan nobar film ‘The End Game’ pekan lalu. “Memang saat itu pada saat pelaksanaan ada distraksi-distraksi ya, yang itu berasal dari intel. Karena yang bersangkutan mengaku intel, kemudian memaksa agar penayangan atau diskusi untuk review film End game ini tidak dilaksanakan saat itu,” kata Eti dalam konferensi virtual, Minggu (13/6/2021). Eti menjelaskan, protokol kesehatan Covid-19 menjadi isu utama untuk membubarkan kegiatan nobar tersebut. Karena besarnya pemaksaan agar kegiatan nobar dibubarkan, Eti mengatakan, akhirnya pihak LBH Semarang pun membubarkan kegiatan tersebut. “Dengan proses yang cukup panjang dan kemudian ada pemaksaan-pemaksaan oleh aparat sehingga sekitar 15 atau 10 menit sebelum film itu selesai, akhirnya dengan sangat terpaksa kami memberhentikan, karena sudah cukup panas situasinya saat itu,” ucap dia. Padahal, apabila aparat mengkhawatirkan penerapan protokol kesehatan, Eti menyebut, seharusnya mereka tidak perlu sampai membubarkan kegiatan nobar. Menurut Eti, pihak aparat penegak hukum dapat memantau dan memastikan protokol kesehatan Covid-19 bisa terlaksana “Nah kemudian di sini seharusnya menjadi satu hal yang cukup sangat terlihat atau terpampang nyata ya bahwa memang ada hal yang dicapai itu bukan hanya sebatas menghindari penyebaran Covid-19 tetapi ada hal lain yang memang agar diskusi atau pemutaran film ini tidak bisa terlaksana saat itu,” ucap dia. Eti pun menegaskan, pihaknya berkomitmen untuk melakukan nobar film ‘The End Game’ 10 kali setelah sempat dibubarkan aparat. Menurut dia, banyak mahasiswa dan organisasi non-pemerintah yang mengikuti kegiatan nobar tersebut. “Dengan adanya pembubaran itu, kawan-kawan merespons dengan satu kali proses nobar dibubarkan maka kami berkomitmen untuk menyelenggarakan 10 kali lagi, apa, layar atau menancapkan layar nobar film End Game,” ungkapnya. Diketahui, tidak lolosnya 75 pegawai KPK dari Tes Wawasan Kebangsaan (TWK) yang merupakan alih status kepegawaian menjadi aparatur sipil negara (ASN) menjadi polemik di masyarakat. Sebagai bentuk perlawanan dan upaya menyelamatkan KPK, WatchDoc merilis film dokumenter berjudul The End Game. Film dokumenter ini bercerita soal kesaksian para pegawai KPK yang dinyatakan tak lulus TWK. Sejak dirilis, kedua trailer film ini telah ditonton puluhan ribu orang di YouTube. Trailer pertama menceritakan kesaksian sejumlah pegawai yang dinyatakan tak lulus wawasan kebangsaan. Mereka yang tak lulus berasal dari sejumlah kelompok dan latar belakang agama yang berbeda. Sementara, trailler film kedua menceritakan kesaksian 16 penyidik dan penyelidik, terkait sejumlah kasus yang mereka tangani di KPK. Mereka antara lain, Novel Baswedan, Kasatgas Penyelidik KPK Harun Al Rasyid, Ketua Wadah Pegawai KPK Yudi Purnomo, dan sejumlah nama lain.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Censorship
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 10, 2021
- Event Description
The Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM) and the Cambodian Journalists Alliance (CamboJA) are deeply concerned that VOD reporters have been repeatedly stopped and intimidated by authorities while they are carrying out their professional duties.
On June 18, 2021, Prek Pnov district authorities with more than 10 members led by the district governor stopped and threatened a VOD videographer from the Cambodian Center for Independent Media who had gone to capture a temporary stopping place for Vietnamese people’s floating houses and fish farms after they were evacuated by authorities from a number of locations in Phnom Penh. In addition, the authorities also took photos of the videographer and his press card, and made a threat that he would be in trouble if any photos or videos were published.
This case came just a week after VOD reporters were blocked and threatened in a separate incident. On the morning of June 11, a VOD reporter and a videographer went to report the delivery of petitions by about 10 women, all wives of former CNRP activists, to the European Union. Daun Penh district authorities, with about 60 guards and officials, banned the reporters from taking photos and videos, warning that their equipment would be confiscated and they would be sent to the district hall if they dared to do so.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jun 10, 2021
- Event Description
The Observatory has received information about a wave of arbitrary arrests targeting lawyers in Myanmar. According to the information received, between May 24 and June 10, 2021, the military junta’s security forces arbitrarily arrested and detained five lawyers who provided legal defense to protesters and other individuals arrested following the February 1 coup d’état. Four of the five lawyers have been charged with “incitement”, under Article 505(a) of the Penal Code [1].
On June 10, 2021, Nilar and Hpone Myat Thu, were arrested in the border town of Myawaddy, Kayin [Karen] State, while they were attempting to cross into Thailand. They appeared in court a day after their arrest and, at the time of publication of this Urgent Appeal, were being held at Myawaddy’s central police station. The next hearing in their case is scheduled for June 25, 2021. The “incitement” charges against the two stem from their defense of political prisoners, including Kayin State’s ousted Chief Minister Nan Khin Htwe Myint and Hpa-An Technical High School Principal Cho Yu Mon, who were arrested after the February 1 coup for taking part in peaceful anti-junta protests.
The Observatory condemns the arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of lawyers, which is inconsistent with international human rights standards, including the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, [2] which guarantee the protection of lawyers in the course of their work and prohibit their prosecution in relation to cases they defend. The Observatory expresses grave concern over the high risk of torture, enforced disappearance, and summary execution the five lawyers are facing while in custody. The Observatory remains concerned by the ongoing actions by the military junta to curtail fundamental rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly, and to a fair trial.
The Observatory urges the military junta of Myanmar to immediately and unconditionally release the five lawyers and all other human rights defenders who have been arbitrarily detained. The Observatory also urge the military junta to immediately halt the ongoing repression of civil society.
Action requested:
Please write to the members of the military junta asking them to:
i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical integrity and psychological well-being of Thein Hlaing Tun, Ayeyar Lin Htut, Thet Htun Oo, Nilar, and Hpone Myat Thu;
ii. Immediately and unconditionally release Thein Hlaing Tun, Ayeyar Lin Htut, Thet Htun Oo, Nilar, and Hpone Myat Thu, as their detention is arbitrary and only aims at punishing them for their legitimate human rights activities;
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jun 10, 2021
- Event Description
The Observatory has received information about a wave of arbitrary arrests targeting lawyers in Myanmar. According to the information received, between May 24 and June 10, 2021, the military junta’s security forces arbitrarily arrested and detained five lawyers who provided legal defense to protesters and other individuals arrested following the February 1 coup d’état. Four of the five lawyers have been charged with “incitement”, under Article 505(a) of the Penal Code [1].
On June 2, 2021, Thet Htun Oo, a pro-bono lawyer and Central Executive Committee member of the Independent Lawyers’ Association of Myanmar, was arrested while in court inside Myitkyina Prison, Kachin State, where he was assisting individuals who had been detained under Article 505(a). The charges against him are not known at the time of publication of this Urgent Appeal.
The Observatory condemns the arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of lawyers, which is inconsistent with international human rights standards, including the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, [2] which guarantee the protection of lawyers in the course of their work and prohibit their prosecution in relation to cases they defend. The Observatory expresses grave concern over the high risk of torture, enforced disappearance, and summary execution the five lawyers are facing while in custody. The Observatory remains concerned by the ongoing actions by the military junta to curtail fundamental rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly, and to a fair trial.
The Observatory urges the military junta of Myanmar to immediately and unconditionally release the five lawyers and all other human rights defenders who have been arbitrarily detained. The Observatory also urge the military junta to immediately halt the ongoing repression of civil society.
Action requested:
Please write to the members of the military junta asking them to:
i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical integrity and psychological well-being of Thein Hlaing Tun, Ayeyar Lin Htut, Thet Htun Oo, Nilar, and Hpone Myat Thu;
ii. Immediately and unconditionally release Thein Hlaing Tun, Ayeyar Lin Htut, Thet Htun Oo, Nilar, and Hpone Myat Thu, as their detention is arbitrary and only aims at punishing them for their legitimate human rights activities;
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jun 10, 2021
- Event Description
Kapolres Kampar AKBP M Kholid dilaporkan ke Divisi Propam Polri terkait dugaan kriminalisasi petani sawit yang tergabung dalam Koperasi Petani Sawit Mandiri (Kopsa M) dalam perkara sengketa lahan dengan PTPN V. Pelaporan dilakukan Setara Institute.
"Sejak 2017 petani melalui Ketua Kopsa M Pak Antony Hamzah melakukan perlawanan melaporkan ke Bareskrim dan KPK, sejak itu kriminalisasi terjadi terhadap Pak Antony, dan itu dibiarkan oleh Polres Kampar," kata Disna Riantina, Pengacara Publik, Koordinator Tim Advokasi Keadilan Agraria-Setara Institute, di Jakarta, seperti dilansir dari ANTARA.
Antony Hamzah adalah Ketua Kopsa M yang sejak 2017 melakukan upaya-upaya hukum membela hak 979 anggota koperasi atas pengelolaan lahan perkebunan sawit yang dikerjasamakan dengan PTPN V, di Desa Pangkalan Baru, Siak Hulu, Kabupaten Kampar, Riau.
Sebuah media massa di Pekanbaru Riau, Kamis (10/6) menuliskan berita Ketua Kopsa M Antony Hamzah ditetapkan sebagai tersangka dalam perkara sengketa tanah dengan PTPN V.
Namun, ketika dikonfirmasi ke Polres Kampar, berita tersebut dinyatakan sebagai kabar bohong (hoaks). Hanya saja, Polres Kampar dalam hal ini Kapolres dan penyidik Satreskrim Polres Kampar tidak menganulir berita yang beredar tersebut atau tetap membiarkan berita tersebar tanpa ada penyataan resmi polisi yang menyatakan berita tersebut kabar bohong.
"Tindakan-tindakan jajaran Polres Kampar bukan hanya bertentangan dengan peraturan perundang-undangan, tetapi mencoreng citra Polri dan menjadi ukuran keseriusan Polri memberantas mafia tanah," kata Disna.
Disna mengatakan Antony bersama petani sawit sedang memperjuangkan hak-haknya melalui jalur hukum, dan saat ini mendapat ancaman kriminalisasi melalui skenario peristiwa hukum yang melibatkan PTPN V, PT Langgam Harmuni, akibat peristiwa tindak pidana perusakan yang dilakukan oleh sekelompok preman di lahan milik anggota Kopsa M, sehingga saat ini Ketua Kopsa M menghadapi ancaman menjadi tersangka.
Atas tindakan perusakan di lahan saat ini menjadi objek pelaporan ke Bareskrim Polri dan Satgas Mafia Tanah Polri, jajaran Polres Kampar sejak Januari 2021 terus melakukan pemeriksaan terhadap sejumlah petani dengan cara-cara yang tidak prosedural, disertai tekanan dan ancaman, katanya lagi.
Menurut dia, Polres Kampar menutup mata atas ketidakjelasan pelaporan yang tidak memiliki 'legal standing', laporan polisi Nomor LP/332/X/2020/Riau Res Kampar tertanggal 16 Oktober 2020 adalah persekongkolan pihak-pihak untuk melemahkan dan membungkam petani Kopsa M guna menutupi penyerobotan lahan dan hilangnya kebun-kebun petani serta dugaan tindakan korupsi di PTPN V.
"Perilaku jajaran Polres Kampar yang secara insinuatif dan menyudutkan Kopsa M melalui media-media massa termasuk mendramatisir peristiwa perusakan secara hiperbolik adalah tindakan tidak profesional dan menggambarkan obsesi mengkriminalisasi Ketua Kopsa M tanpa dasar," kata Disna.
Aliansi Keadilan Agraria-Setara Institute dan Kopsa M melaporkan dugaan korupsi di PTPN V yang menyebabkan kebun gagal dan 979 petani tidak memiliki lahan.
Selain laporan dugaan korupsi ke Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (KPK) pada 25 Mei 2021, aliansi juga melaporkan dugaan tindak pidana penyerobotan lahan ke Bareskrim Polri pada 27 Mei 2021. Kopsa M juga telah melaporkan peristiwa perampasan hak ini kepada Presiden Joko Widodo pada 23 Februari 2021.
Antony Hamzah yang juga Dosen Universitas Riau saat ditemui di Kantor Setara Institute, di Jakarta, mengatakan pada tahun 2003 Kopsa dan PTPN V membuat perjanjian kerja sama pembangunan kebun sawit pola Kredit Koperasi Primer Anggota (KKPA) untuk anggota koperasi yang direncanakan 2.000 hektare. Nota kesepahaman waktu itu ditandatangani oleh Kopsa M dan Mardjan Ustha selaku Direktur SDM PTPN V.
Perkebunan dibangun dengan memakai pinjaman dari bank dengan PTPN V sebagai avalis. Nominal pinjaman saat itu Rp115 miliar.
Pada tahun 2017, saat Antony dipilih menjadi Ketua Kopsa M, meminta kejelasan luas lahan perkebunan saat ini yang telah dihibahkan petani seluas 4.000 hektare.
"Dari hasil penelusuran dan pengukuran luas lahan menyusut menjadi 1.400 hektare," kata Antony.
Dari 1.400 hektare tersebut, lanjut Antony, hanya 300 hektare lahan yang bisa dipanen, sisanya gagal, satu hektare hanya bisa panen kurang dari satu ton. Petani hanya mendapatkan hasil Rp50 ribu per bulan dalam hasil panen.
Di bawah kepemimpinan Antony, Kopsa M menolak menandatangani surat pengakuan utang, karena belum jelas hak petani atas lahan perkebunan.
Kopsa M juga memiliki bukti ada lahan hibah petani yang diperjualbelikan oleh oknum di PTPN V.
"Yang kami perjuangkan, lahan petani yang dicaplok ini, utang tumbuh lahan hilang," kata Antony.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jun 9, 2021
- Event Description
Vietnam’s state media has reported that on June 9, the People’s Court of Quang Ngai province found a local resident named Cao Van Dung guilty of “Making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the State of Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code.
Mr. Dung, 53, was reportedly sentenced to nine years in prison and three years of probation as the judge decided that from February 2019 he used his Facebook account “Dung Caovan” for writing and sharing many statuses with the content harmful for the regime and affects social orders.
He was said to have formed an online secret group named “Brotherhood for democracy and human rights for Vietnamese.” His hard sentence was likely also due to his participation in the mass demonstration on June 10, 2018 where tens of thousands of people gathered on streets in Ho Chi Minh City and other localities in the southern and central regions to protest the Cyber Security and the Special Economic Zones bills.
It is unclear when Mr. Dung was arrested. It is unknown Mr. Dung had legal assistance during his pre-trial detention and the first-instance hearing.
His conviction is the second within a week. One week earlier, the People’s Court of the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang sentenced Facebooker Dang Hoang Minh to seven years in prison followed by two years of probation. Mr. Minh was said to have posted numerous statuses on his Facebook account with the content harmful for the regime.
Vietnam’s authoritarian regime strictly controls the media and persecutes independent journalists and bloggers. Dozens of Facebookers and bloggers have been imprisoned while others are under regular harassment. The country has been placed in the groups of the countries in the bottom of the Press Freedom Index of the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) for many years. In 2020, it was ranked 175th among 180 countries in the index.
In early 2021, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Vietnam is among the world biggest prisons for journalists, with 12 journalists and Facebookers being imprisoned.
According to Defend the Defenders’ latest statistics, Vietnam is holding at least 262 prisoners of conscience. Hanoi alway denies, saying it has jailed only law violators.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jun 8, 2021
- Event Description
Soldiers shot a local protest leader and environmental rights defender in the leg as he rode on the back of a motorcycle in Sagaing Region on Tuesday morning before arresting him and taking him to an interrogation center, a source close to the activist said.
Man Zar Myay Mon was trying to escape from the village of Shanhtu–where he had been hiding–after regime troops arrived and carried out a raid at around 6am.
“The village school was set on fire at night, and the next morning the military showed up,” said a local source who is close to the activist and requested anonymity.
“He was leaving the village to go into hiding again but met with the military’s troops. They shot him in the thigh and he fell off the bike,” the source added.
The driver of the bike managed to escape, as did two others who were riding another motorcycle along with them.
Man Zar Myay Mon received treatment for his wound but was sent to the Monywa interrogation center in legcuffs, the source said.
“It seems he was targeted because of his reputation and leadership in the local civil disobedience movement and protests against the military,” a source close to the Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability (MATA)—of which Man Zar Myay Mon is a member—told Myanmar Now.
The 28-year-old has been wanted by the regime since April, when he was charged with incitement under section 505a of the Penal Code after becoming a prominent leader of anti-coup protests in Chaung-U Township.
His family learned of his arrest at 7am on Tuesday and they have been unable to talk to or meet with him since. He is the son of the writer Myay Mon and has previously worked as a freelance journalist. In his work as an environmental and land rights defender, Man Zar Myay Mon carried out extensive research on the country’s notorious mining sector. He was also active in the protests against the Letpadaung copper mine in Sagaing.
In addition to being a member of MATA, a leading civil society network focused on the extractive sector, Man Zar Myay Mon also belongs to the Sagaing Region coordination unit of the Myanmar Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jun 8, 2021
- Event Description
Court sentenced “Bright Shinnawat” to four months’ imprisonment for Contempt of Court for delivering a speech in front of the Criminal Court on 29 April 2021 without revoking his bail for the 19 September Rally case
8 June 2021 – the Ratchada Criminal Court scheduled an examination hearing for the case against Shinnawat “Bright” Chankrajang, a young activist from Nonthaburi province. He was charged with Contempt of Court for participating in the protest on 29 April 2021, demanding the Court to uphold the right to bail for Ratsadon Group leaders detained while awaiting trial for alleged violations of Article 112 of the Criminal Code (lèse-majesté).
Chawannat Thongsom, director of the Administrative Office of the Criminal Court, was the accuser in this case. The accusation report explains that on 29 April 2021, around 300 members of the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration joined an activity in which they submitted the letter of “royal injustice” to the Court and staged a public reading of the poem “Judicial Activism” on the staircase of the Criminal Court. During the event, they occasionally used an amplifier to shout out “Release our friends” among other phrases, thereby causing a disturbance inside the Criminal Court.
Shinnawat participated in the said demonstration and delivered a speech through the amplifier. In summary, he said that he would no longer respect the Court because Thai courts are murderers who fail to serve justice for democracy supporters. He further cursed those involved in incarcerating his fellow activists. Directly addressing the President of the Supreme Court, he stated that she must serve as the national guarantor of justice with the responsibility to ensure that the monarch governs Thailand’s democratic rule as the head of state within the remit defined by the constitution. The Court must recognize people’s rights and liberties and grant bail at the initial stage rather than authorize detention or postpone the consideration of bail requests. He questioned how the Court could be regarded as fair when those who carried out public activism for protecting national interests are put into jail, whereas those engaged in blatant corruption are still on the loose.
Meanwhile, the accused had filed a petition to the Court, denying all charges. The defense argued that Shinnawat only delivered the speech and participated in the rally at the Criminal Court’s staircase near the police’s fence. He did not use any force nor caused harm to the lives, liberties, or properties of the Court or anyone else. Moreover, his act of delivering the speech constituted a legitimate exercise of his freedom of expression; he merely criticized the use of judiciary powers that contradict the legal principle concerning temporary release in good faith. He was only arguing that the refusal of bail shall only occur for reasons laid out in Section 108/1 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Moreover, the demonstration was not organized in a manner that intends to delay the Court’s proceedings. On the contrary, the activity’s objective was to call for the Court to approve the bail requests from defendants in the case against activists involved in the “19 September: Return Power to the People” demonstration. On that day, there was no court trial either. The accused’s actions, therefore, did not constitute Contempt of Court.
Shinnawat further testified that he was also facing another charge of “insulting the Court” at the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct for the same action. Like the case against him currently examined by the Criminal Court, this charge could result in criminal punishments. As the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct has not yet delivered its decision, it could be said that the accused is facing double jeopardy.
Notes from the examination for the “Contempt of Court case” in Trial Room No. 805 At 10:00 am, Shinnawat and his lawyer arrived at Trial Room No. 805. The young activist was wearing a t-shirt screen-printed with the number “112” crossed out. The Court began the trial at 10:16 am by examining the accused and showing the videos capturing the demonstration to the accused. Then two witnesses were asked to take the stand, including Chawannat Thongsom, director of the Administrative Office of the Criminal Court (The accuser), and Shinnawat “Bright” Chankrajang (The accused).
The Court asked the accused if he had seen the videos of the demonstration recorded in the CDs submitted as evidence. Further, the Court inquired whether the videos were edited to distort the accused’s actions. Shinnawat admitted that he was the man in the videos and that they were not edited. However, they only captured some parts of what happened, not the entire activity.
The Court requested to confirm whether the videos recorded what really happened. Therefore, Shinnawat reiterated that the videos captured only some specific parts of what happened. Many other relevant activities were not present in the CD.
Then the Court inquired whether Shinnawat went on stage to give a speech or not. Shinnawat admitted that he really delivered the speech. His words quoted in the accusation report were also accurate. However, they were not all that he said on that day. The Court responded to Shinnawat, “The Court only cares about your insults, so the accusation report did not quote the entire speech.”
Shinnawat asked the Court back, “I would like your honor to ask about my feelings and motives driving me to say those things.” The Court replied that if Shinnawat disagreed with the ruling, he could file for an appeal at the Appeal Court or Supreme Court. Later, the Court showed Shinnawat the videos and turned on a high volume to help him identify the parts that were not his speech.
After watching the video, Shinnawat told the Court that the video only captured some sections of the activity. The Court then interrupted his statement and said Shinnawat should find a recording of the entire activity to show the Court his side of the story. Shinnawat then noted that even if the existing videos showed the actual occurrences, the Court should still be fair with him and incorporate complete footage into the list of evidence for this case.
The Court answered that the case is only concerned with insults and actions against the Court. However, if the accused wanted to object to the accusation, he must find evidence to show to the Court by himself. The accused’s failure to provide such proof prevents the Court from carrying out its duty as requested, and the Court would not allow the postponement of the trial on that day. The Court asserted that the examination must be carried out on that day only and the accused needed to secure evidence that demonstrates what happened. The Court’s only responsibility is to assess and rule whether the accused committed Contempt of Court while disorder took place in the Court’s premise.
Upon consultation with the accused, the defense lawyer affirmed the Court that the accused’s behavior did not constitute Contempt of Court. The Court then responded that the accused could exercise his full right to defend himself in court. Still, the Court would continue carrying out the examination to determine whether disorder took place in court. Meanwhile, Shinnawat attempted to request the Court to examine the motive behind his actions, not just the facts about what he did.
The defense lawyer also asked the Court for an opportunity for the accused to clarify his motive because he could face criminal punishment if found guilty. The Court, however, insisted that the accused needed to find his own evidence to demonstrate his sides of the story about what happened on that day. Then the Court of Justice’s Director-General will provide their opinions about the next steps and potential punishment for the accused. Finally, the Court compared the Director-General to a house owner and the judge to a homemaker. It further revealed that the director of the Administrative Office of the Criminal Court was the one who filed an incident report about the demonstration to the Director-General of the Criminal Court.
First witness: Chawannat Thongsom, Director of the Administrative Office of the Criminal Court, (The accuser) At 11:04 am, the Court began examining Chawannat Thongsom, Director of the Administrative Office of the Criminal Court, as the first witness. Chawanat stated that the incident took place during the day on 29 April 2021. On that day, the bail applications were filed for defendants charged for alleged violations of Article 112 (Black Criminal Case No. Aor 287/64), including Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak, Panassaya “Rung” Sitthijirawattanakul, and Chai-amorn “Ammy” Kaewwiboonpan. The United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration posted on their social media accounts about this event and invited the followers come to the Court to give the three activists moral support. They planned on hosting activity to submit the letter of “royal injustice” to the Director-General of the Criminal Court and staged a public reading of the poem called “Judicial Activism.”
At around noon, a group of approximately 300 people gathered in the zone adjacent to the Criminal Court’s ground floor. Later, they started to use an amplifier to create deafening noises. As a result, Pol. Lt. Col. Sakchai Kraiweeradechachai, Deputy Superintendent for Crime Suppression at Pahon Yothin Police Station, intervened and informed the protestors about the current situation of the COVID-19 outbreak and legal requirements under the Emergency Decree. However, the protestors refused to listen to the authorities.
Later, Pol Col Prasopchok Iampinij, Superintendent of Pahon Yothin Police Station, made another announcement, asking the protestors to maintain order and only exercised their freedom within the scope of the Court’s permission. Still, the protestors denied cooperation with the authorities and continued their demonstration using the amplifier to give political speeches.
After a series of disorderly events took place, the inquiry team of Pahon Yothin Police Station carried out an investigation and remarked in their inquiry report that the perpetrators violating the laws on that day included Benja Apan, Shinnawat Chankrajang, and Natchanon Pairoj.
The Court asked the witness about what each of the accused did. The witness said that Benja threw pamphlets on the Court’s floor, ran up and down the Court’s staircase, and delivered a speech recorded in the videos and the police’s inquiry report.
The witness stated further that Shinnawat was one of the accused persons in this case. He was standing among the crowd of protestors in front of the Criminal Court, using a loudspeaker to say vulgar words, according to the inquiry report of Pahon Yothin Police Station, as well as the existing video recordings. The Court asked what Shinnawat said about the Court on that day. The witness then referred to Shinnawat’s statement documented in the accusation report, which writes, “On 30 April 2021, I will visit this Criminal Court and will no longer have any respect for the Court.” She added that he insulted the Court by calling it a “murderer,” according to the inquiry report of Pahon Yothin Police Station and the video recordings.
After receiving the report from Pahon Yothin Police Station, the witness informed and showed to the Director-General of the Criminal Court some photographs and two CDs with video recordings of this incident: one with a video recorded by Pahon Yothin Police Station and the other with another clip from the Criminal Court. Then the Director-General of the Criminal Court issued an order to call for an investigation into this case and initiate Contempt of Court charges.
The witness asserted that she had an obligation to inform the Director-General of the Criminal Court about this incident. After examining the inquiry report of Pahon Yothin Police Station, together with recordings inside the two CDs, she concluded that the accused caused a disturbance for the Court. She is directly responsible for taking care of this matter; therefore, she reported to the Director-General about what happened. She also noted she pressed Contempt of Court charges against six people involved in this rally. The examination hearings for some of the accused have been postponed. At the time, none of the hearings for Contempt of Court cases linked to the demonstration on that day has finished.
In response to the defense’s cross-examination, the witness acknowledged that the video recordings showed that the accused remained outside the Court’s premise while delivering the speech because an iron fence was guarding the venue. However, she argued that he was standing next to the iron fence near the Court’s pillars without walking up the staircase. Furthermore, according to the video recordings inside the CDs and the police’s inquiry report, the accused used vulgar language in his speech and stood with a group of around 300 protestors. Furthermore, even if the bail requests were not considered in trial on that day, the Court was administering other trials at the time of the rally.
The witness admitted to the defense lawyer that the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration came to the Court to submit its letter with a list of signatures to request the Court to grant bail for Parit and Panussaya. She also heard news reports about Parit’s symptoms that his stomach began to digest his body tissue due to his decision to go on hunger strike to call for the Court to grant bail for pro-democracy activists. However, she said she did not know whether the reports were accurate.
When the lawyer asked of the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration’s letter to the Court, which states that Parit might pass away if the Court continues to deny bail, the witness responded that she had not seen the letter. She further remarked that she did not know what the letter said because the Court did not send any representative to accept the letter. Later, the lawyer showed her the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration’s letter of “royal injustice” and a list of signatures to ask her if it was the document that Ms. Benja was throwing or not. Again, the witness said she did not know because the documents were not attached in the inquiry report, and she was not present at the incident.
The defense lawyer asked whether it was true that Parit’s mother went up to the fence and was told by court officials that she had to tell other protestors to leave the Court’s front area. Otherwise, the Court would not read its verdict. The witness said she was unsure whether the court officials received an order to do so because she did not speak with the Director-General about this matter. The lawyer followed up, asking whether Parit’s mother was requested to negotiate with the protestors. The witness said the authorities made such a request because of the disorder that took place at the time.
On the evening of that day, the witness added that she was not in the court area because she was working from home. Therefore, she did not know that there was any turmoil. However, there are video recordings in the CDs that could confirm that. When she arrived at the Court at 4:00 pm, the situation in front of the Court had de-escalated and become calm. The protestors were only waiting to hear whether the Court would grant bail. Meanwhile, some were still using the amplifier to deliver speeches outside the fenced area of the Court. Thus, she asked Parit’s mother to negotiate with them. According to her, once Parit’s mother did so, these protestors stopped their activity, and the peace was restored.
The witness informed the defense lawyer she did not notice whether Shinnawat was outside the fence when she arrived at the Court. She was doing work at her desk and did not walk to the front area of the Court. Therefore, she could not see what was going on in the rally. However, she saw his speech from the videos taken by Pahon Yothin Police Station and the Criminal Court.
The lawyer asked why the witness charge him in two separate cases with Contempt of Court and insulting the court for the same action. As the director of the criminal court’s office, the witness said that she has no power to initiate a Contempt of Court charge. Her only responsibility was to report to the Director-General. It was the Director-General’s decision to order the Court to press this charge.
Upon examining case documents, the lawyer shared that the defense found that Pahon Yothin Police Station submitted its inquiry report to the Office of the Court of Justice. Therefore, the witness was asked whether the police submitted the report with the intention to prosecute those involved in the incident with Contempt of Court. The witness admitted that the Deputy Superintendent of Pahon Yothin Police Station submitted an inquiry report to the Office of the Court of Justice. However, the witness said she was unsure whether the Office of the Court of Justice had previously filed a Contempt of Court charge to Pahon Yothin Police Station or not because it was not within her realm of responsibility.
Witness No. 2: Shinnawat Chankrajang (The accused) Before the accused begin testifying, the defense lawyer requested the Court to examine two witnesses, including Shinnawat (the accused) and Sureerat Chiwarak, Parit’s mother. Nonetheless, the Court denied the request and asserted that it only wanted to examine Witness No. 2 about the facts of what happened on that day. The Court only wanted to assess whether there was a disturbance of peace and report back to the Director-General, who would decide whether the defendant was guilty. The Court has no actual authority to rule on this case.
The Court asked Shinnawat if he was the person captured on camera in the videos on the CD and if he delivered a speech on that day. If so, the Court also wanted to know why he took those actions. Shinnawat admitted that he was in the incident, and the recordings were real. However, what appears in the videos on the CD does not capture the entire event. They lacked many factual elements that could have explained how the event unfolded. Before the witness began using vulgar language to curse at the Court, several incidents stirred the frustrations and anger of the protestors. Still, they were missing from the videos.
The witness further contended that the Court should have sent a representative to come down from the office and accept the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration’s letter. That hypothetical decision could have prevented the crowd from using insults against the Court or engaging in disturbance of the peace. He claimed that he used vulgar language because he did not want anyone to weaponize the Court. He would like the Court to uphold its gracious independence. When the witness spoke of the Court, he would often say that the Court need not take his side. The Court only should serve justice and carry out the legal proceedings properly.
When the witness was standing with other protestors on that day, they remained outside the Court and did not break into the fenced area. The amplifier used on that day was a small, portable one. Their size was not big. The witness did not know that it was prohibited to deliver political speeches and stage an assembly outside the Criminal Court. Therefore, he did not anticipate that his speech delivery outside the court building would constitute Contempt of Court.
He continued explaining that he got angry because he saw Judge Chanatip Muanpawong walked down to the ground floor of the Criminal Court. The judge also got into arguments with the protestors, thus escalating tension and leading to turmoil during the demonstration. The lack of clarity on whether the three activists would receive bail led to even greater disorder.
Judge Chanatip had an infamous record of denying bail requests and arguing with protestors. Therefore, the witness viewed his appearance as an attempt to escalate the situation and disturb the peaceful demonstration. The witness said he yelled out, “Murderer Court” because he saw a recent news report about Parit’s health conditions before attending the rally. Reportedly, Parit had fallen sick because of his hunger strike that caused his stomach to digest his own body tissue, leading to rectal bleeding. There were also news reports about the spread of COVID-19 in prison. The witness was concerned that if Parit did not receive bail, he might die in prison.
The witness asked the Court to examine the video clips thoroughly, and the Court would realize that his speech was well-intended. He insisted that he did not want the Court to receive more negative criticisms.
The witness answered the lawyer that he arrived at the Court at around 1:30 pm. At that time, the Court’s gate on the Ratchada Road side did not have any fence, and the authorities did not block anyone from entering the building. Around 100 people were waiting inside the Court, not 300 people as claimed by the accuser during her testimony. When he arrived at the Criminal Court, some protestors were already using the amplifier. He did not know to whom it belonged.
The witness spoke about the causes of the turmoil during the demonstration. He told the defense lawyer the protestors were not simply angered by Chanatip’s presence in front of the Criminal Court. There was another incident taking place simultaneously. At around 2:00 or 3:00 pm, a court official approached and told the protestors that the Court would not deliver its ruling if they did not leave the area. This order angered the crowd deeply.
Normally, the Court would send a representative to accept any petition letters from external parties. Thus, the defense lawyer asked the witness whether it was true that no one agreed to receive the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration’s letter. The witness said that he heard that a representative would come down from their office to receive an external letter to the Court in other cases. However, this time, nobody agreed to do so.
In response to the lawyer’s question about the charge of insulting the Court from the same incident, the witness said that this case remains in the remand stage, and he has denied all charges.
Lastly, the witness said that he knew Parit’s mother and saw her exiting the Criminal Court on the evening of that day. When the crowd got smaller, she told the protestors to leave the area in front of the Court, move outside the Court’s, and return home. The protestors agreed to follow the request from Parit’s mother.
At 12:30 pm, the Court finished examining both witnesses and scheduled for delivering the verdict at 2:00 pm.
Court sentenced the defendant to four months’ imprisonment without any suspension, stating that his references to the Court were vulgar and showed defiance of the law At around 2:20 pm, at Trial Room No. 805, Shinnawat was waiting to hear the Court’s verdict. Somyot Pruksakasemsuk also observed the trial in that afternoon because he was also one of the defendants charged with Contempt of Court from the same demonstration. Therefore, he would like to know how the procedures were. The trial room officials requested all observers to sit apart from one another as part of the Court’s social distancing measures.
Later, at 2:40 pm, the Court delivered its ruling, which indicated that the defendant used vulgar language to express contempt against the Court, and his actions showed defiance of the law. Therefore, the Court found him guilty of Sections 30 – 33 of the Criminal Procedure Code and sentenced him to four months’ imprisonment without any suspension.
The Court asked the Department of Corrections to immediately prepare to detain the defendant before bringing him to Trial Room No. 703 to consider whether to revoke his bail for another case.
Court decided not to revoke the defendant’s bail for the “19 September: Return Power to the People Demonstration” case, citing no impact from his conviction on the factual elements of the other case. However, a bail condition was added to prohibit him from participating in activities causing public disorder
At Trial Room No. 703, the Court only permitted Shinnawat’s family members, including his wife and toddler son, lawyer, and other observers, to attend the trial. Inside the room, there were four court police officers and one security guard. The Court began the trial at 3:23 pm. The lawyer started by informing the Court that the defense will appeal the Court’s decision to sentence Shinnawat to four months’ imprisonment for Contempt of Court, mainly because the defendant is facing double jeopardy from another case in which he was charged with insulting the Court. Moreover, the defendant said that he did not violate any bail conditions for the “19 September: Return Power to the People Demonstration” case because he had already paid the surety of 35,000 THB without agreeing to any additional requirements. This case also has nothing to do with the Contempt of Court case.
Later, the Court decided not to revoke Shinnawat’s bail for the 19 September 2021 case. It assessed that even though the defendant was found guilty of Contempt of Court, the decision to revoke bail must follow the rationales laid out in Section 108/1 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Notably, the defendant’s commission of Contempt of Court is not related to the judicial proceedings in the other case, therefore not impeding its trial. The offenses in both cases are also different, so it could be determined that the defendant may cause another danger of a similar nature. For these reasons, the Court decided not to revoke his bail.
The Court maintained its decision to allow for Shinnawat’s provisional release for the “19 September: Return Power to the People Demonstration” case. However, it added one condition prohibiting him from participating in any rallies that may cause public disorder.
For the Contempt of Court case, the defense lawyer filed for bail while the case remains pending appeal. Shortly after, at 4:00 pm, the Court granted bail for him upon providing the surety of 10,000 THB from the Ratsadonprasong Fund.
This is Shinnawat’s second Contempt of Court case. Previously, on 31 May 2021, the Court sentenced him and “Ford Red Path” Anurak Jentawanich to 15 days’ imprisonment and a 500-THB fine per person. Nonetheless, their sentences were suspended. In this case, their alleged violations occurred when they took photos of the courtroom while waiting for the judge to begin the indictment trial of the “19 September: Return Power to the People Demonstration” case on 8 March 2021.
According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) ‘s documentation record, from the beginning of the Free Youth Group’s demonstration to May 2021, at least 13 people have been charged with Contempt of Court in 13 cases, and at least 20 people with insulting the Court in three cases. Among these cases, seven Contempt of Court cases stemmed from the demonstrations on 29 and 30 April 2021, which called for the right to bail for Ratsadon leaders held in pre-trial detention. Today, the Court finished the examination and delivered its ruling for only one case against Shinnawat.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 8, 2021
- Event Description
The Observatory has been informed about the denial of bail to Rong Chhun and Sar Kanika amid a COVID-19 outbreak in many Cambodian prisons. Mr. Chhun, a prominent labour rights defender, is the President of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), and a member of the Cambodian Watchdog Council (CWC) [1]. Ms. Kanika is a member of the youth group Khmer Thavrak [2] and an ex-member of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
On June 8, 2021, Rong Chhun and Sar Kanika were denied bail by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, which claimed that the crime for which they have been detained affects social security and is therefore unbailable. Rong Chhun and Sar Kanika were not present at the bail hearing as prison officers requested the court to suspend the transportation of inmates to tribunals due to public health concerns. Since mid-May 2021, many Cambodian prisons have been affected by an outbreak of COVID-19. These prisons include Phnom Penh’s Correction Centre 1 (CC1) and Correction Centre 2 (CC2), where the two human rights defenders remain detained, respectively. Rong Chhun and Sar Kanika have been denied access to their lawyers for over four months, raising concerns over their current health condition.
The Observatory recalls that Rong Chhun was arbitrarily arrested at his home in Phnom Penh on July 31, 2020. On August 1, 2020, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court charged him with “incitement to commit a felony or cause social unrest” (Article 495 of the Cambodian Criminal Court) and ordered his pre-trial detention in CC1. Rong Chhun’s detention came following several public statements he made on behalf of the CWC in which he reported community land loss as a result of the demarcation of the Cambodia-Vietnam border.
Sar Kanika was arbitrarily detained in August 2020, amid a wave of arrests of human rights defenders and activists in relation to their planning of peaceful assemblies that were to take place at Freedom Park in Phnom Penh in September 2020 in order to demand the release of Rong Chhun. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court charged Sar Kanika with “incitement to commit a felony or cause social unrest” and placed her in pre-trial detention in CC2.
The Observatory further recalls that Hun Vannak, Chhoeun Daravy , Tha Lavy, Koet Saray, and Eng Malai (aka So Metta), members of Khmer Thavrak, as well as Muong Sopheak and Mean Prommony, member and Vice-President of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association (KSILA), respectively, remain detained under the same charges in relation to the same acts. Their bail application was likewise rejected by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on May 18, 2021.
The Observatory strongly condemns the ongoing arbitrary detention of the above-mentioned human rights defenders and reiterates its deepest concern about the Cambodian authorities’ systematic legal harassment to target all critical voices, and about the serious deterioration of the human rights situation in the country, including through increasing obstacles to the exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly in Cambodia.
The Observatory is further concerned about the risks for the health of all human rights defenders arbitrarily detained in the overcrowded Cambodian prisons and calls on the authorities to immediately take all necessary measures to ensure their access to adequate healthcare and protective equipment, and reduce the prison population through the adoption of non-custodial measures.
The Observatory urges the Cambodian authorities to guarantee the physical integrity and psychological well-being of Rong Chhun, Sar Kanika, Hun Vannak, Chhoeun Daravy, Tha Lavy, Koet Saray, Eng Malai (aka So Metta), Muong Sopheak, and Mean Prommony. The Observatory also calls fortheir immediate and unconditional release, along with all other human rights defenders arbitrarily detained in Cambodia, in order to protect their right to health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Actions requested:
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, NGO staff, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jun 7, 2021
- Event Description
Chaiamorn “Ammy” Kaewwiboonpan, lead singer of pop band The Bottom Blues, is facing another royal defamation charge for singing a modified version of his song “1 2 3 4 5 I love you” at a protest in front of the Thanyaburi Provincial Court in January 2021. Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported yesterday (7 June) that Chaiamorn and activist Phromsorn Weerathamjare face royal defamation charges under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code for their participation in the 14 January 2021 protest in front of the Thanyaburi Provincial Court to demand the release of student activist Sirichai Natueng, who was arrested in the middle of the night on 13 January 2021 on a royal defamation charge for spray-painting portraits of members of the royal family.
During the protest, Chaiamorn and Phromsong sang a modified version of Chaiamorn’s song “1 2 3 4 5 I love you,” which has become one of the songs most commonly used in protests, often with the “I love you” in the refrain replaced with “Fuck you Too [Prayut Chan-o-cha]” or “Free our friends.”
TLHR reported that according to the police, participants during the 14 January 2021 protest replaced “I love you” with “Fuck you […].” TLHR did not disclose what the final word was, but said the police deemed that the modified lyrics were insulting to the king.
Phromsorn reported to Thanyaburi Police Station yesterday (7 June) and denied all charges, while Chaiamorn said he was unavailable and instead reported to the police today (8 June).
TLHR reported later today (8 June) that the public prosecutor has filed a case against the two activists. This is the 17th royal defamation case in which the public prosecutor has ordered an indictment since the law began to be used against pro-democracy protesters in November 2020.
The Thanyaburi Provincian Court granted bail for Promsorn and Chaiamorn with a security of 300,000 baht each. The court also required them to sign a letter promising not to run or tamper with evidence.
Chaiamorn posted on his band’s Facebook page yesterday (7 June) that this is “the first pop song to be charged under Section 112” and that he was notified of the charges while he was still being detained pending trial in another royal defamation charge at the Thanyaburi Remand Prison. He was in detention for 69 days before he was released on 11 May 2021 on condition that he does not participate in activities which are damaging to the monarchy – the same condition imposed on several activists charged under Section 112 and released on bail.
Phromsorn is facing a total of 3 counts of royal defamation relating to political expression, while Chaiamorn is facing 2.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Artist, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 4, 2021
- Event Description
The wives of Cambodian opposition activists jailed on “incitement” charges were roughed up by police as they staged a protest Friday outside the U.N.’s human rights office in Phnom Penh, demanding that the government drop the charges against their husbands and release them.
The group of about 10 women — known as the “Friday Wives” for their weekly rallies on behalf of their husbands from the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) — demanded the release of their spouses following reports that the men had been infected with the coronavirus in prison.
Several police officers roughly manhandled the women as they tried to pry large posters with their husbands’ images from their hands during the protest in the capital’s Chamkar Mon district, the women said.
Prum Chantha, one of the protesters, said it was beyond belief that police resorted to manhandling them while breaking up the group in front of the U.N.’s office.
“They dared to abuse us in front of the U.N office… This is very unjust for the family members of politicians,” she said.
The women submitted a petition to the U.N.’s human rights office to intervene, saying that they were concerned about the health and safety of their husbands because they have been banned from communicating with them for the last three months while the pandemic has spread rapidly in Cambodia.
They complained that their husbands are at risk for contracting the virus because they are being held in overcrowded prison cells and don’t have enough food to eat.
The women have said that authorities should allow them access to their detained spouses during the COVID-19 pandemic so that they can monitor their health.
Dos Kimteang, another protester, told RFA that the women did not violate any laws by gathering because they did not impede traffic or disrupt social order, and that they adhered to the Health Ministry’s guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
“We never provoked any social chaos,” she said. “Please don’t abuse us and then accuse us of violating the law.”
‘They gathered without permission’
A coronavirus outbreak has surged unabated through Cambodia’s prisons in recent weeks amid a nationwide outbreak. As of Friday, the government reported a total 33,075 confirmed coronavirus cases, including 886 news ones, and 242 total related fatalities.
San Sok Seiha, spokesman for the Phnom Penh municipal police, said police prevented the women from gathering because they did not request official permission to assemble.
But when RFA asked him to cite the regulation that requires people to ask for permission to hold public gatherings, he refused to elaborate.
“They gathered without permission,” he said. “This county has laws, so authorities are obligated to implement them. We can’t let a few people to provoke problems in Phnom Penh city.”
On Friday, 20 civil society organizations and unions issued a statement repeating a call for the government to release all prisoners of conscience in light of the growing number of COVID-19 infections.
“In view of the reports of mounting COVID-19 cases within Cambodian prisons, compounded by prison overcrowding, we call on the RGC [Royal Government of Cambodia] to release all nonviolent prisoners of conscience as a mitigation measure to minimize the risk posed by the spread of the virus,” the statement said.
Soeung Sen Karuna, spokesman for the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) who monitored the Friday Wives protest, said that the police crackdown on the women in front of the U.N’s human rights office indicates a further decline of human rights in the Southeast Asian nation.
“This is yet more evidence showing that … the authorities should consider their actions and coordinate them, so that people can express themselves and their demands,” he said. “It would give the government a better image.”
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 3, 2021
- Event Description
Soldiers fired bullets at land protesters on Thursday in Kandal province, hitting one man in the shoulder, as a group of about 100 Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) soldiers faced off against villagers involved in a land conflict in Kandal province, about five kilometres from Phnom Penh. The injured man remains hospitalised, while some local villagers resumed protesting on Friday morning.
The shooting occurred in Tuol Prich commune, Angk Snuol district, in an area that houses several military bases and outposts and has seen a boom in development in recent years. Villagers reported that the soldiers were from the nearby Thmat Pong military school. Videos of the incident show an excavator digging up land while local villagers try to stop it and block National Road 51. Uniformed soldiers can be seen advancing on the villagers and firing dozens of live rounds from handguns and assault rifles into the air, at the ground, and into the crowd of villagers, hitting one man in the shoulder.
The land conflict involves more than 150 hectares that have been farmed for many years by more than 300 local families from at least seven villages. Satellite data shows that the land around the location of the shooting has been farmed continuously since at least 2008, which is the earliest satellite imagery available on Google Earth. Government-produced maps dating from 2001 also mark the area as containing farmland. The Kandal provincial government issued a letter on Thursday saying that all of the land was state land, while some villagers have said they have farmed on the land since 1979.
There have been several shootings of land protesters by mixed forces including military soldiers in recent years. In January 2019, a man was shot in Preah Sihanouk province and left paralysed after mixed forces descended on protesters and opened fire during the enforcement of a Supreme Court decision over a land conflict in the province. In March 2018, three people were shot in Kratie after mixed forces fired into a crowd of 300 villagers protesting a violent eviction.
Several protesters captured the improper deployment of soldiers and excessive use of force using smartphones, and videos of the shooting were posted to Facebook.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Use of Excessive Force, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jun 3, 2021
- Event Description
The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has ordered the freezing of bank accounts of a peasant organization red-tagged by the government.
The order was made based on a claim by “witnesses” that the Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women is involved in the financing activities of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army.
Amihan is an organization of peasant women and federation of peasant women’s organizations which brings to the fore the call for genuine agrarian reform, national industrialization, and an end to all forms of exploitation and discrimination especially against women in the countryside.
Zenaida Soriano, Amihan national chairperson, denounced the freeze order saying that it was arbitrary and they were not given a chance to answer the allegations against them.
Soriano related that when one of their staffs went to the bank on June 3, she was informed that their account has been frozen for undisclosed reasons. Then on June 8, Tuesday, they received a letter from the bank with an attached notice from the AMLC. On the same day, they received a notice from the Court of Appeals informing them of an extension of the freezing of their accounts for six months.
The freeze order was issued by the AMLC on May 5, under Resolution No. TF-38, Series of 2021, pursuant to Section 11 of Republic Act 10168 or the Terrorism Financing and Suppression Act of 2012.
The freeze order included two bank accounts of Amihan, including that of its chapter in Northern Mindanao Region, and bank accounts of eight other non-government and civil society organizations based in Mindanao.
“This action of the AMLC is a big mistake and not fair,” Soriano said in a statement, adding that the decision did not go through the proper legal process as they were not given the opportunity to explain and answer the allegations.
Soriano asserted that the resolution was “based on the unfounded allegation given by two witnesses claiming to be surrenderees that we are involved in financing the activities of the CPP-NPA.”
“We do not know the witnesses and they have no connection in Amihan’s national office,” Soriano added.
Soriano said that group was established on October 26, 1986 to address the issues faced by peasant women. It currently has 19 provincial chapters in nine regions nationwide.
“For 34 years, Amihan has led and joined campaigns for free land distribution and against land grabbing, production support for farmers and fisher folk, relief and rehabilitation for victims of calamities, food security and self-sufficiency and against militarization and other forms of rights abuses in rural communities, among others,” Soriano said.
The group believes that they were targeted by President Duterte’s administration for criticizing government policies affecting the people.
Amihan, along with rice watch group Bantay Bigas, led the campaign against the Rice Liberalization Law by holding discussions and consultations with rice stakeholders, petition signing, lobbying in Congress and protest actions.
They also conducted a series of donation drives last year to help peasant families affected by the lockdown in Rizal, Bataan, Isabela, Bicol and Cagayan as well as areas gravely hit by Typhoon Rolly and Ulysses. They also conducted ‘Suplay Pang-suhay sa Kabataan sa Nayon’ which distributed school supplies to peasant and fisher folk children in Eastern Visayas, Rizal and Cavite.
Despite the services that they have extended to marginalized groups in rural areas, Amihan leaders, organizers and members have fallen victim to rights abuses including extrajudicial killings, illegal arrest and detention, red-tagging and other forms of harassment and vilification, prompting the group to launch the #DefendPeasantWomen campaign last May.
As of March this year, the group claims that of the 300 farmers killed, 42 were peasant women like Nora Apique, Lucresia Tasic, Julie Catamin and Ana Mariz Evangelista.
Because of these attacks, the group drafted a House Resolution with the office of Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Arlene Brosas to look into the said rights violations. On May 31, the Makabayan bloc filed House Resolution No. 1812 to look into the intensifying attacks and human rights violations committed against peasant women in the country.
Meanwhile, the group vow to challenge the freeze order up to the Supreme Court and will also question the constitutionality of section 11 of RA 10168.
Soriano said this “deprives legitimate organizations like Amihan the right to due process of law especially since it grants AMLC unbridled discretion and power to freeze bank accounts on the basis of the mere say-so of individuals who are used by the government through the NTF-ELCAC in targeting red-tagged organizations, without giving the latter opportunity for notice, hearing and to confront the supposed witnesses whose testimonies were the only basis of the freeze order.”
Before Amihan, the AMLC had ordered the freezing of bank accounts and assets of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines-Haran and the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines. The AMLC also froze the accounts of peace consultant Vicente Ladlad after he was designated as a “terrorist” by the Anti-Terrorism Council.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to access to funding, Right to property, Right to protect reputation, Right to work
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, NGO, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jun 2, 2021
- Event Description
A court in southern Vietnam’s southern Hau Giang province on Wednesday sentenced a Facebook user to seven years in prison for posting writings said by prosecutors to have misrepresented state policies, Vietnamese sources said.
Dang Hoang Minh, 28, had been charged with “creating, storing, and disseminating information, items, and materials opposing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s 2015 Criminal Code, state media reports said.
Reports by local media did not say when Minh—a resident of the Phu Khoi hamlet in Hau Giang’s Phung Hiep district—had been arrested or whether he had been represented by a lawyer at his trial.
Citing the provincial People’s Procuracy indictment against him, state media said Minh had posted several “untrue stories” concerning current and former leaders of Vietnam’s one-party communist government on his Facebook page from June to December 2020.
Former Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, founder of the country’s communist party, was among the leaders Minh had defamed, prosecutors said, adding that Minh’s postings had been aimed at opposing the national government and ruling party and had caused “confusion and anxiety” to his readers.
Reporting by RFA shows that at least 21 Vietnamese citizens have been charged with political offenses involving social media posts since the beginning of the year, with 21 now serving prison terms following convictions under Article 117.
Among those jailed this year, former RFA blogger Nguyen Tuong Thuy, now in his 70s, was sentenced on Jan. 5 by a court in Ho Chi Minh City to an 11-year prison term following his conviction on charges under Article 117.
On Friday, April 23, a court in coastal Phu Yen province sentenced an independent journalist, Tran Thi Tuyet Dieu, to an eight-year prison term for writing “anti-state” stories and sharing them on social media.
And on May 5, a court in northern Vietnam’s Hoa Binh province sentenced land-rights activist Can Thi Theu and her son Tring Ba Tu to eight years in prison each for posting online articles and livestream videos criticizing the government for its handling of a deadly land-rights clash last year.
Harsh forms of persecution
With Vietnam’s media all following Communist Party orders, “the only sources of independently-reported information are bloggers and independent journalists, who are being subjected to ever-harsher forms of persecution,” the press freedoms watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says in its 2021 Press Freedoms Index.
Measures taken against them now include assaults by plainclothes police, RSF said in its report, which placed Vietnam at 175 out of 180 countries surveyed worldwide, a ranking unchanged from last year.
“To justify jailing them, the Party resorts to the criminal codes, especially three articles under which ‘activities aimed at overthrowing the government,’ ‘anti-state propaganda’ and ‘abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to threaten the interests of the state’ are punishable by long prison terms,” the rights group said.
Vietnam’s already low tolerance of dissent deteriorated sharply last year with a spate of arrests of independent journalists, publishers, and Facebook personalities as authorities continued to stifle critics in the run-up to the ruling Communist Party Congress in January. But arrests continue in 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jun 2, 2021
- Event Description
Two reporters working for independent media outlets in Myanmar were jailed for two years on Wednesday for reporting on the demonstrations against the February takeover by the military junta, a family member of one of them and other sources said.
Aung Kyaw, a 32-year-old Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) reporter, was charged by the military regime with violating Section 505(a) of the Penal Code and sentenced by a court in Myeik Prison in the southern Tanintharyi region, his wife Nay Chi Moe told RFA.
The section pertains to the circulation of statements, rumors, or reports with the intent to cause military officers to disregard or fail in their duties, and carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison.
“I don’t know why he was sentenced to two years in prison under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code,” Nay Chi Moe said. “Our family was not allowed to hear the case held at the prison court.”
Junta forces arrested Aung Kyaw when they stormed his home on March 1. He streamed his arrest live on Facebook, and the arrest video has been watched millions of times since then, according to a statement issued Wednesday by DVB.
The day before his arrest, the journalist broadcast live news that soldiers raided and destroyed some houses in Myeik township.
Because Aung Kyaw’s attorney was under threat by the junta, he decided not to hire another lawyer and instead defended himself in court during his last two hearings, DVB’s statement said.
Aung Kyaw argued that non-criminal charges should have been brought against him under Myanmar’s Media Law, rather than the Penal Code, and that he subsequently would have been found not guilty because he was doing his work as a journalist. The judge refused to accept the argument, however.
“I have no confidence in the judiciary under the military council, so I will not appeal,” Aung Kyaw said after the verdict, according to his wife.
Nay Chi Moe said she would not submit an appeal.
“The 505(a) charge should not have been used against a journalist,” she said. “He did not want to file an appeal because he does not believe in the law. He said his case was meant to create a news blackout. It is totally unfair that he was given a two-year sentence under 505(a).”
Aye Chan Naing, DVB's executive director and chief editor, called the sentence “total injustice.”
“There is no reason our reporter Aung Kyaw should be jailed,” he said. “The legal system is so flawed, and it was an unlawful arrest.”
Situation is ‘deteriorating’
Aung Kyaw’s jailing followed that of Min Nyo, a DVB reporter based in Pyay, Bago region, who was sentenced to three years in prison on May 12.
“The military junta is illegally detaining Aung Kyaw and Min Nyo, and there is not a single reason to keep them in prison,” DVB said in its statement. “The junta has currently 57 journalists detained for doing their work. This is a clear violation of both national and international laws by the Burmese junta.”
In another sentencing Wednesday in Myeik, Zaw Zaw, a freelance journalist who works for the outlet Mizzima, was sentenced to two years in prison for violating Section 505(a) of the Criminal Code. RFA could not reach his lawyer or family for comment.
Myint Kyaw, a former Myanmar Press Council member, says the current situation of the press in Myanmar is at its worst under the military regime.
“The situation of the press is deteriorating,” he said. “It is likely to become even worse. No one can say for sure whether it will lead to a censorship regime as existed under the previous junta, but we can say it’s heading in that direction.”
“There had been no such situation like this for a decade with putting more than 50 journalists in jail in Myanmar,” he said. “Press freedom is in a free fall at the worst rate.”
More than 80 journalists have been arrested since the Feb. 1 coup, and over 50 of them face criminal charges wile detained in prisons across the country.
“Myanmar’s junta started with zero respect for independent journalism and has gone downhill from there as the military tries to stop any reporting on the atrocities it's committing every day against the people,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch.
“The military’s move to go after journalists from respected Burmese media outlets like DVB and Mizzima is all about strangling any independent narratives about what’s happening in Myanmar, and trying to drag the people of the country back to the dictatorially imposed isolation that characterized the rule of previous military regimes in the country,” he said in a statement from Bangkok.
Correspondents say many journalists now are fleeing the country because of the junta’s crackdown on the media, with some going abroad to continue their reporting and others out of jobs and struggling to make ends meet.
Following the coup, the junta banned 11 independent news outlets, including DVB and Mizzima, from operating.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 30, 2021
- Event Description
For Hong Ly, the dispute over her family’s hectare of farmland in Kien Svay district was frustrating, but it became personal on Monday when authorities arrested her 40-year-old brother.
As the woman recounted his unexplained arrest on Wednesday, dozens of people huddled in the shade of her stilted house, discussing how authorities have disappointed them in their response to a yearlong land dispute and to the residents blocking National Road 1 in protest, and now for a new offense: the arrest of Hong Sok.
“He’s a gentleman. He never hurt anybody,” said Ly, 52.
A Kandal province land dispute that was supposed to be solved in 2017 has continued, as residents of three villages say they’ve been forcefully stopped from using their land, leading residents to block roads in protest of the dispute and one man’s arrest.
In less than an hour after reporters arrived, more than 60 people were murmuring to each other, occasionally raising their voices to explain the two-day protest and vent about the land they feel they’re losing to neighbors.
The dispute ignited on Sunday, when residents of Kien Svay district’s Banteay Dek commune decided to block National Road 1 in order to garner attention to their dispute, over about 3,000 hectares of farmland distributed among three villages.
The residents who were gathered under Ly’s house told VOD that they were awarded 1 hectare of land per family a few years ago, when Prime Minister Hun Sen intervened in their dispute with Lok Hour, a CPP lawmaker, and granted the area back to residents of Prek Pol, Kandal Krom and Samrong Thom villages. However, villagers said they never received titles for the area.
About 3 km away from their homes, past fields of rice, eggplants and other crops, the residents constructed a number of farm shacks to guard their land, marked with Cambodian and Buddhist flags. At the intersection of two dirt motorbike paths, residents hung large laminated posters of Hun Sen, deputy prime minister Sar Kheng and Hun Sen’s wife Bun Rany.
But since that government intervention, residents of another nearby village, Chong Ksat, have been trying to stop their community from using the farmland, explained resident Cheang Sinoun, 48. She said she had been able to clear and plow her land but wasn’t able to cultivate it, and some of her neighbors had been attacked with slingshots while trying to clear the land.
When asked why people would be attacking others for their land, Sinoun said she did not know, later adding, “I think someone hired the people to claim this land.” Powerful people have been interested in the area, she said.
Sinoun said a group of villagers — she couldn’t remember how many — gathered at the Kien Svay district office on Sunday at 8 a.m. to meet with officials, alleging that residents from another village were trying to prevent them from using land that was granted to them. They were ignored by district officials, so instead they went to block the national road at about 10 a.m. to demand attention. Sok, the arrested man, was with them during this protest.
“They threatened us to stop blocking the road. Police told us they could arrest us for blocking the road,” Sinoun said, saying this was the first time the frustrated residents took this action.
Recounting what she learned later from peers, Ly said her brother Sok had gone for a meal and coffee early Sunday evening, and was arrested at about 6:30 p.m. He participated in the protest, but Ly said she did not know why he was targeted, saying he wasn’t a community leader.
“We do not know whether someone called him [for a meal] to target him or not,” she said.
The residents then gathered again that night, blocking the road a second time, now to demand Sok’s release as well as for a solution to their dispute, Sinoun said.
“Only this way can break through to them,” she argued, saying authorities ignored their concerns before. “We are ignorant, but we don’t think it’s illegal.”
Sok’s 24-year-old daughter, Sok Kakada, said she saw her father briefly on Monday morning, when the residents reported to the Kien Svay district hall for a discussion. While others were worried about Sok’s health because he has diabetes, he told the crowd he was okay.
“We wanted to ask authorities” what Sok was charged with, Kakada said. “But they wouldn’t talk.”
Sin Siphoeun, another resident who joined the roadblock protest, said the authorities had promised protestors they would release Sok on Monday morning, but they had not. She called Sok’s short visit with the protestors an attempt by authorities to appease the angry residents, but she warned that they could block the road again. Siphoeun said she and her neighbors just wanted an explanation for his arrest.
“He has not killed anybody nor stolen anything from anybody, and what he has done was for all the people to find a solution, but [authorities] accused him of being a bad person and arrested him,” she said. “We’re not scared because we have not done anything illegal. … Why did they arrest [him] and what kind of offense did he commit?”
When asked about the dispute, Kandal’s deputy provincial governor, Nouv Peng Chandara, told reporters to check the provincial administration’s Facebook post from Monday, which said that residents who blocked the road had accepted the government’s mediation.
According to a Phnom Penh Post report from 2017, the Council of Ministers ordered the Land Ministry to return 2,997 hectares of land in Kien Svay and Sa’ang districts to villagers, with some 2,391 hectares taken from CPP lawmaker Hour.
Mao Phirun, a Kandal provincial councilor and former governor, said the land was returned to residents via a sub-decree in 2017 after Hour had taken the land illegally from residents. Hard titles from this area were made, he said, but people who were not granted land by the government could be jealous.
“People know it, and they have no land and they see other people’s land. … They have been provoked by other people,” he said.
“There are brokers behind this … the one who is behind it, they have been known [by the people], and the one who is being detained pushed the cyclo only to be crushed by the car,” he said. “[The protestors] will be the ones to bear the blow.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- May 28, 2021
- Event Description
A 14-year-old girl (name withheld) has been summonsed by the police in Phitsanulok on a royal defamation charge under Section 112 of the Criminal Code.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported last Friday (28 May) that the girl received a summons from Mueang Phitsanulok Police Station on a Section 112 charge and is required to report to the police on 1 June.
The complaint was filed against her by former Action Coalition for Thailand (ACT) MP candidate Nangnoi Assawakittikorn, who has previously filed complaints under Section 112 against activists Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, Anon Nampa, Panupong Jadnok, and Parit Chiwarak. She has also filed a libel complaint against a Facebook user for calling her a “slave of the dictator”.
The girl told Voice Online that a police officer delivered the summons to her house and it was received by her father. She said she does not know why the complaint was filed and does not know Nangnoi personally.
She also said that during the protests in Phitsanulok in 2020, she made comments about the royalist groups who were against the protests. One of her friends then commented about Nangnoi, who saw the comment. Even though she said the comment was not directly to do with Nangnoi, the girl was told by Nangnoi to meet at the police station.
Police officers then contacted her and told her that a Section 112 complaint had been filed against her, but did not show her an arrest warrant or a summons, so she decided not to speak to the officers until she received the summons last Friday (28 May).
Special Branch police also contacted the girl’s mother on 23 February, asking to discuss with her about sharing Facebook posts about the monarchy. The officers wanted the girl to delete the posts, saying that she would face no charges if she did so.
The girl said that she is surprised that an adult would press a politically motivated charge against a minor, and even use Section 112. However, she said that she will enter the judicial process and has already contacted a lawyer. She is likely to ask to postpone her appointment with the police, as her lawyer is unavailable on that day.
Accord to TLHR, the girl is the 7th person under the age of 18 to face charges under Section 112.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Online
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Malaysia
- Initial Date
- May 28, 2021
- Event Description
A timber company operating in Malaysia’s Sarawak state has threatened to take legal action against Penan and Kenyah Indigenous communities that are campaigning against the company’s certified-sustainable production plantations.
For more than a year, the Indigenous communities have been speaking out against Malaysian timber, plantation and construction conglomerate Samling Group and its subsidiaries. They allege the company has encroached on community land, has withheld key documents about the certification process, and failed to obtain free, prior and informed consent of affected communities during the certification process.
Samling has consistently refuted these allegations, saying it has followed all due and lawful processes in its certification process, and has met all document disclosure requirements.
Sarawak-focused environmental justice NGOs Bruno Manser Fund and the Borneo Project call the recent legal threats an attempt to silence the Indigenous communities who have spoken out.
In a letter dated May 26 and seen by Mongabay, Samling subsidiary Syarikat Samling Timber warned the Long Moh village community in Sarawak’s Miri division that it reserved the right to take legal action against parties alleging the company was involved in trespass, damage or destruction. According to Syarikat Samling, such allegations were “astonishing” given that the community is aware the company has the correct permits to operate in the disputed area, and has already accepted payments for a share of the timber harvested.
The threat of legal action comes after the Penan community complained through news articles that Samling, whose subsidiaries operate a certified-sustainable timber plantation in the area, was crossing into an area that was within their demarcated village.
Earlier this month, Penan and Kenyah communities filed complaints with the Malaysia Timber Certification Council, accusing Samling of failing to properly consult the communities and disregarding the way they use the land.
The Borneo Project and Bruno Manser Fund have partnered with grassroots groups like the Penan community NGO Keruan, whose CEO, Komeok Joe, is visiting communities bordering and within the Samling forest management units or FMUs (government-granted concessions that aim to use funds from timber production in parts of a concession to conserve forest in other parts of the concession) to take reports from the communities. The residents around two of Samling’s certified FMUs were nomadic up until the 1970s, Joe said. Now, the remaining untouched forest is vital to their lives.
“They tell me, ‘Even if they offer us millions in money [for the forest], we won’t accept, we want our land,’” he said of the Penan communities. “They want to fight for their rights.”
Samling Group operates three FMUs in Sarawak, in which 60% and 76% of the granted land is designated for timber production. The concessions are certified as sustainable timber producers by Malaysia’s Timber Certification Council, but critics of the program say that Malaysian Borneo’s decentralized governance and history of corruption make sustainable certification programs illusory.
Representatives of the Penan and Kenyah communities in May filed formal letters of complaint to the MTCC over its decision to certify the 117,941-hectare (291,439-acre) Ravenscourt FMU in Sarawak’s Limbang division and the 148,305-hectare (366,470-acre) Gerenai FMU in Miri division.
In their complaints, the communities, represented by grassroots Indigenous NGOs, allege that full environmental and social impact assessments for the timber projects have not been made publicly available; that Samling failed to properly consult them on the project; and that projects don’t consider how Indigenous communities use the land for their livelihoods.
However, filing an actionable complaint about an FMU is difficult, requiring an in-depth understanding of the certification process and its many players.
When asked about the legal warnings against Indigenous communities, Siti Syaliza Mustapha, senior manager of FMUs for the MTCC, called for open dialogue between parties over legal action whenever possible, adding that good communication is key to the certification process.
“We maintain that the best method for dispute resolution would be through open communication, mutual respect and understanding between the concerned parties,” Mustapha said. “Legal proceedings would be the least preferred option.”
According to Mustapha, the timber certification council she represents does not have the ability to grant or revoke FMUs, nor does it have the final say over whether to certify FMUs. Instead, the MTCC responds only to complaints about the standard-setting process.
Complaints regarding the decision to certify specific FMUs should be sent to the certifying body, Mustapha said. Under Sarawak law, these bodies are hired by the company that holds the concession for an FMU to conduct audits of the areas and eventually certify the planned FMU. For the Ravenscourt and Gerenai FMUs, Samling hired the Selangor-based testing, inspection and certification firm SIRIM QAS International.
Mustapha added that the MTCC encourages people to “make full use of the complaints mechanisms,” and that the council could provide assistance. She said the council in general takes complaints very seriously, without clarifying whether the MTCC was looking into this case after receiving the May complaints.
SIRIM QAS International’s audit of the Gerenai FMU says the concession follows the criteria set for forest management bodies, but the audit — conducted in 2019 and published in 2020 — flagged nine major and minor issues with the management. Among the problems, SIRIM QAS found via conversations at Indigenous community meeting houses that residents were not sufficiently consulted, and that most were not aware of a community relations committee that’s supposed to be established for communication on the FMU.
Thorsten Arendt, head of communication for the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification, an international group for sustainable forest certification boards that counts the MTCC among its members, said the body had met with the MTCC, Indigenous communities and NGOs over Samling’s FMUs to discuss the certification process and their concerns. He noted that complaints against a national member like the MTCC could be appealed to the PEFC if it can’t be resolved at the country level, and could result in suspension or termination of PEFC endorsement if upheld.
While the Penan communities near the Ravenscourt FMU were informed about their new corporate neighbor from the village’s government-appointed leaders, Joe, the Penan community NGO leader, said Penan and Kenyah residents near the Gerenai FMU only found out about it after its certification.
Joe said community representatives came to him with a document informing local people of plans for an agricultural development, but when he looked into the case further, he found that it was actually an approval for the Ravenscourt timber production plantation.
“The logging companies and FMU [holders], they don’t do right by the communities. This is why the situation is worldwide,” he said, referring to the global attention raised by campaigns against the company. “It’s very simple to solve this issue if everyone respects the [Penan community’s] area.”
Peter Kallang, chairman of Sarawak-based environment and land rights NGO SAVE Rivers, says it’s clear the company had limited knowledge of the land when an auditor came to check Samling’s documentation of the Gerenai FMU. He says the auditor asked to see one salt lick — a place where animals go to lick salt and other essential minerals in a natural habitat — in Tanjung Tepalit village, but a Kenyah community member had to explain there are actually three salt licks within the village’s area.
“It means to say the [environment impact] assessment was not done correctly, so for the audit process, it puts a big question mark there,” he said.
Kallang also noted that the audit process is diluted by the fact that Samling pays the auditor, calling it a “conflict of interest” that would push the auditor to approve the company’s claims.
Joe, the Keruan CEO, emphasized how important the forest was to the Penan people, of which he is part. The untouched patches of forest in Sarawak are troves for food and medicine for Penan communities, and though many have adopted Christian beliefs, the forest still holds spiritual significance for their communities.
“We treat the forest as ourselves,” he said. “Before we go into the forest, we pray to our elders, so the spirits of the forest will protect us and give us what we want.”
Joe said he was bothered by the company’s claim that Penan people don’t use the forest. He said Samling probably drew this conclusion because the few community consultation meetings it had were held with English-speaking representatives in the city of Miri, but if company officials came to the forested villages, they would see differently.
“If there is a consultation, they need to make it proper,” he said. “Maybe the big boss from Samling or MTCC [should] go to the forest, sit down with the people, talk to the people, explain [their plans] to the people nicely.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- May 28, 2021
- Event Description
Three journalists from the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) were sentenced to seven months in jail and fined for entering Thailand illegally on May 28. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urges Thai authorities to not deport the journalists and to support their efforts for political asylum.
The Democratic Voice of Burma was one of the first news organisations to be shut down by the military coup in March, following the military coup in Myanmar on February 1. The three journalists fled the country, but were consequently arrested during a police search in the northern city of Chiang Mai on May 9.
The three DVB journalists, along with their two other associates, were sentenced to seven months imprisonment and a 4,000 baht (USD 128) fine each.
Nadthasiri Bergman, a lawyer with the Human Rights Development Foundation (HRDF), told AFP that "By law, they can be deported within 72 hours." However, Bergman quickly added that because of the appeal letter the HRDF sent, immigration authorities could not deport them immediately.
On April 24, an ASEAN Summit on Myanmar took place, where the leaders of eight Southeast nations congregated to discuss the Myanmar political crisis but Thailand’s Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-O-Cha, was not in attendance. News reports suggested this was linked to the Royal Thai Army’s close relations with the military establishment in Myanmar.
ASEAN has continued in its principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of its members. Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and thus there is no legislation governing the treatment of refugees.
Since the February 1 coup, more than 80 journalists are among the more than 5,500 people arrested or detained by Myanmar’s security forces. Many remain in detention, amongst widespread accounts of torture and extrajudicial killings.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- May 28, 2021
- Event Description
Venerable Yazina’s robes did not protect him when the army trucks appeared. Despite his status as a member of Myanmar’s revered Buddhist monkhood, he was fair game for the soldiers who opened fire the moment they arrived on the scene.
The teaching monk from Mandalay’s New Masoeyin Monastery was among those who were hit that day. But it wasn’t a bullet that took him down—it was one of the vehicles that had sped into the crowd as protesters scattered in an effort to escape.
“We had just left the monastery when they arrived and started shooting,” he recalled. “Everyone was running in a panic. I tried to hop onto a motorcycle to get away, but that was when they struck me with a car.”
Knocked to the ground, Ven. Yazina was helpless as three soldiers began beating his shaved head again and again.
Now in the junta’s custody, the monk was forcibly disrobed and dragged off to the notorious interrogation centre at Mandalay Palace to be tortured as just another layperson who had dared to challenge the military’s hold on power.
By May 28, the day of his arrest, Ven. Yazina had been protesting against the coup for more than three months. Hundreds had already been killed in crackdowns around the country, and thousands more arrested. Many of those who found themselves behind bars did not come out alive.
He did not expect mercy. He knew that even monks were routinely subjected to unimaginable cruelty at the hands of regime forces.
For the next six days, from 9am to 3pm, two interrogators took turns inflicting as much suffering as they could, not caring if they killed him in the process. He and the other detainees captured at the same time were beaten almost constantly as they were questioned about their participation in the protests.
When the junta’s henchmen tired of hitting the prisoners with truncheons, they would force them to assume painful and humiliating positions in a further effort to break their spirits.
“First they made me squat down. Then they told me to put my hands on my head and hop around like a frog. After that, I had to kneel down on the hot pavement with my hands still on my head,” he said.
“The pain was unbearable. They made me ‘walk’ like this back to my cell. It took about 30 minutes, and if I slowed down, they would hit me again from behind.”
But at some point, he became defiant, telling his tormentors that they could beat him all they liked, because he could no longer move on his shattered knees.
“That’s when I told them that I wanted a humane government. At this, the officer just pointed his gun at me and said, ‘How dare you?’”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 27, 2021
- Event Description
Senior NagaWorld union leaders all received dismissal notices amid the casino’s plan to lay off more than 1,000 employees, a union official said, in what some labor and civil society observers labeled an attempt to eliminate the active union from the workplace.
NagaWorld has begun a process of laying off 1,329 employees, which it has explained is due to declining revenues, according to the union. But the workers targeted for dismissal have been long-time union members, and on Thursday the union’s top leadership all received notice, said NagaWorld union vice president Chhun Sokha.
Sokha said on Friday that she and other leaders, including union president Chhim Sithar and more than a dozen core activists, received a dismissal message from the company on Thursday.
As of Friday, more than 600 employees — mostly union members — had received notice, she added.
Sokha said the company wants to eliminate protests, which the union has led. She said recent protests were about protecting workers rights.
“It is a violation of the freedom of association. We have the right to be an independent union, which has been registered and recognized by the Ministry of Labor. And now the company is terminating the leaders as well as the union activists, to make the leaders and activists unable to fulfill their obligations on behalf of workers,” she said.
She added that NagaWorld should not be allowed to do whatever it wanted, and the union was preparing a legal complaint to file to the Labor Ministry.
She said most workers had declined the redundancy compensation offered by the company so they could fight the dismissals together.
“They are also waiting to see what Naga wants to do to the union. They said as they already cut [the leaders], they might as well cut all 8,000 employees in the company. Then let’s wait and see how the company will operate without any employees working for them.”
Labor Ministry spokesman Heng Sour said he hadn’t received any complaint from the union yet, but any dismissals of union leaders needed to be justified.
“In principle, union leaders cannot be fired unless they have made serious mistakes or violated any of the company’s internal regulations, or [due to] the actual financial situation of the company. We need to look at the facts and the root of the problem first,” Sour said.
NagaWorld chief operating officer Mike Ngai could not be reached.
International Labor Organization national coordinator Sophorn Tun, when asked if the ILO would be taking action in the case, said: “It will, as soon as it receives from the union of the workers affected a request detailing the circumstances of the case.”
He added that ILO staff have no authority to pronounce whether the case was a violation of labor rights or Cambodia’s Labor Law — “only its competent supervisory bodies, including the Committee on Freedom of Association [can do that].”
Ath Thorn, president of the Cambodian Labor Confederation, said he believed NagaWorld’s layoff plan was not about Covid-19 economic disruptions, but a way to eliminate union activities. The NagaWorld union had been unafraid to strike and protest.
“I can say that there can be some discrimination against the union, and [the company] wants to take advantages of workers’ rights. For example, dismissing old workers, recruiting new workers, eliminating unions, et cetera,” he said. “Laying off unionists in particular sets a bad example for other employers.”
Pav Sina, president of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers, said the company was taking advantage of the Covid-19 outbreak to “crush” the union.
“There is nothing other than intent to destroy the union,” Sina said. Dismissals due to genuine financial difficulties were fine, but “dismissals focusing on union activists, union leaders — these show that the real intention is to discriminate against the union.”
Cambodian Center for Human Rights executive director Chak Sopheap said mass layoffs amid Covid-19 went against the Labor Ministry’s advice to support workers during the crisis.
“If the termination refers to active individuals like union representatives, it means that the company has violated and harassed the union representative,” Sopheap said, calling it “revenge against active individuals.”
The casino and hotel company reported a net profit of $102 million in 2020 despite the Covid-19 crisis, down from more than $521 million in 2019.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Offline, Right to Protest, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- May 27, 2021
- Event Description
The Observatory has received information about a wave of arbitrary arrests targeting lawyers in Myanmar. According to the information received, between May 24 and June 10, 2021, the military junta’s security forces arbitrarily arrested and detained five lawyers who provided legal defense to protesters and other individuals arrested following the February 1 coup d’état. Four of the five lawyers have been charged with “incitement”, under Article 505(a) of the Penal Code [1].
In the evening of May 27, 2021, Ayeyar Lin Htut was arrested at the Hinthada District Court and charged with incitement under Article 505(a). At the time of publication of this Urgent Appeal, she was being held in Hinthada Prison in Ayeyarwady [Irrawaddy] Region. Ayeyar Lin Htut was representing political prisoners arrested following the coup.
The Observatory condemns the arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of lawyers, which is inconsistent with international human rights standards, including the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, [2] which guarantee the protection of lawyers in the course of their work and prohibit their prosecution in relation to cases they defend. The Observatory expresses grave concern over the high risk of torture, enforced disappearance, and summary execution the five lawyers are facing while in custody. The Observatory remains concerned by the ongoing actions by the military junta to curtail fundamental rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly, and to a fair trial.
The Observatory urges the military junta of Myanmar to immediately and unconditionally release the five lawyers and all other human rights defenders who have been arbitrarily detained. The Observatory also urge the military junta to immediately halt the ongoing repression of civil society.
Action requested:
Please write to the members of the military junta asking them to:
i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical integrity and psychological well-being of Thein Hlaing Tun, Ayeyar Lin Htut, Thet Htun Oo, Nilar, and Hpone Myat Thu;
ii. Immediately and unconditionally release Thein Hlaing Tun, Ayeyar Lin Htut, Thet Htun Oo, Nilar, and Hpone Myat Thu, as their detention is arbitrary and only aims at punishing them for their legitimate human rights activities;
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- May 26, 2021
- Event Description
Police in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi tried on Tuesday to arrest an independent journalist charged with reporting on corruption and other issues deemed politically sensitive by authorities, but missed him at home, taking away a laptop computer and two mobile phones instead.
Le Van Dung, also known as Le Dung Vova—owner of the online CHTV news channel—was not at home when officers from the Hanoi Police Department’s Investigation Agency arrived at around 1:30 p.m., Dung’s wife Bui Thi Hue told RFA on Wednesday.
“Around 20 officers came to our house and read a warrant to search our home and to charge and temporarily detain my husband Le Van Dung in accordance with Article 117 [of Vietnam’s Criminal Code],” she said.
Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code imposes penalties for “creating, storing, and disseminating information, documents, items and publications opposing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” and is frequently used by authorities to stifle peaceful critics of the country’s one-party communist state.
Dung was away from home when the police arrived and is now “temporarily safe,” Hue said, adding that officers searching the house found nothing belonging to her husband, but left with a laptop computer and two mobile phones of her own.
Hue said that she had not touched or looked at the warrant that was read to her and had to stand back from the officers because of COVID concerns.
“They documented their search, but I didn’t sign the document, and therefore they didn’t leave me with any papers,” she added.
Dung’s CHTV channel has used Facebook’s live-broadcast feature to transmit information on social issues such as land disputes and corruption, and to give ordinary citizens a chance to discuss matters of concern, drawing the attention of law enforcement and security agencies.
'Useful and good'
Writing on his Facebook page on May 25, Dung said he had received repeated calls since January to report to local authorities for questioning concerning a denunciation filed against him by the government’s Cybersecurity Department, alleging he had created videos with “anti-State” content.
Half of the 12 videos used by police investigators to accuse him showed signs of outside editing, though, Dung said.
“I think that I’ve done is useful and good for other people and for our country. We need to join hands and work to create a better society,” Dung said, writing on his Facebook page. “What I have done is in line with my responsibilities as a citizen.”
“I understand that by telling the truth, my family and I may suffer. But I will always do this, even if I am imprisoned for doing what my conscience tells me to do,” he said.
With Vietnam’s media all following Communist Party orders, “the only sources of independently-reported information are bloggers and independent journalists, who are being subjected to ever-harsher forms of persecution,” the press freedoms watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says in its 2021 Press Freedoms Index.
Measures taken against them now include assaults by plainclothes police, RSF said in its report, which placed Vietnam at 175 out of 180 countries surveyed worldwide, a ranking unchanged from last year.
“To justify jailing them, the Party resorts to the criminal codes, especially three articles under which ‘activities aimed at overthrowing the government,’ ‘anti-state propaganda’ and ‘abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to threaten the interests of the state’ are punishable by long prison terms,” the rights group said.
Vietnam’s already low tolerance of dissent deteriorated sharply last year with a spate of arrests of independent journalists, publishers, and Facebook personalities as authorities continued to stifle critics in the run-up to the ruling Communist Party Congress in January. But arrests continue in 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- May 25, 2021
- Event Description
The Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) action to demand the release of Papuan political prisoners in front of the East Jakarta District Court was repelled by a mob from Pemuda Cinta NKRI. The atmosphere got heated when the AMP masses remained at the location and did not disperse. Luckily, the riots between the two groups were managed by the police who were on guard at the location.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, Student
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- May 24, 2021
- Event Description
Thai authorities should immediately and unconditionally drop insulting the monarchy and other politically motivated charges against children who peacefully express their opinions, Human Rights Watch said today.
On May 24, 2021, the Central Juvenile and Family Court informed 17-year-old Thanakorn Phiraban that he has been indicted on lese majeste (insulting the monarchy) charges related to his speech at a pro-democracy rally on December 6, 2020, in Bangkok. Under Thailand’s draconian article 112 of the Criminal Code, Thanakorn faces 3 to 15 years in prison if found guilty.
“By punishing outspoken children with lese majeste charges, the Thai authorities are seeking to intimidate peaceful critics by demonstrating that they will all be harshly punished regardless of their age,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “These senseless, rights-abusing charges should immediately be dropped against Thanakorn and all others peacefully expressing their views.”
The number of lese majeste cases in Thailand has significantly increased in the past year. After almost a three-year hiatus in which lese majeste prosecutions were not brought before the courts, in November 2020 Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-ocha ordered the authorities to resume lese majeste prosecutions because of growing criticisms of the monarchy. Since then, officials have charged at least 82 people with lese majeste crimes in relation to various activities at pro-democracy rallies or comments on social media. Six of them are children, under age 18.
In a February 8 statement on the situation in Thailand, United Nations human rights experts said that lese majeste laws have “no place in a democratic country.” They also expressed serious concerns about the growing number of lese majeste prosecutions and harsh prison sentences the courts in Thailand have meted out to some defendants.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Thailand has ratified, protects the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. General Comment 34 of the Human Rights Committee, the international expert body that monitors compliance with the covenant, specifically states that laws such as those for lese majeste “should not provide for more severe penalties solely on the basis of the identity of the person that may have been impugned” and that governments “should not prohibit criticism of institutions.”
Children from middle school and high school have become commonplace at most pro-democracy rallies across Thailand, even giving speeches onstage. Groups such as the Bad Students have held their own rallies on school grounds and occasionally conducted street protests. But despite concerns publicly raised by the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and human rights groups, the Thai authorities continue to punish children for expressing views, participating in peaceful public rallies, and otherwise taking part in activities to demand democratic reforms.
The Thai Lawyers for Human Rights has reported that at least 41 children have been charged for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly since the youth-led pro-democracy rallies started in July 2020. Many other children have faced various forms of intimidation by the authorities to try to stop them from taking part in political activity or making critical comments about the government and the monarchy. The government’s actions violate Thailand’s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which ensures children’s rights to participate in peaceful protests and to express their opinions.
“Thai authorities should not be suppressing the voices of Thailand’s children expressing their views and demanding democratic reforms,” Adams said. “Instead of responding to children’s appeals with prosecutions, the authorities should listen to their views, and protect their rights to express their opinions without fear or intimidation.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- May 24, 2021
- Event Description
The pro-democracy activist brother of a high-ranking official in Myanmar’s military junta died under suspicious circumstances while in custody of the junta’s security forces this week, their family told RFA.
Soe Moe Hlaing, 55, also known by his alias Mae Gyi, was the younger brother of Lt. Gen Than Hlaing, who was appointed the country’s chief of police and deputy home affairs minister on Feb. 2, one day after the military ousted the country’s democratically elected government and seized control.
Authorities arrested Soe Moe Hlaing and eight others on May 22 in the central city of Bago for running a charity school. Two days later, his family received a notice to retrieve his body.
His wife, Myat Muyar Win, told RFA’s Myanmar Service Tuesday that the military planned to cremate his remains at Mingaladon War Cemetery that day.
“We didn’t have to see or do much. It was as if we were attending a funeral they were holding. We wanted to take his body back to Yangon but they refused. We asked them to postpone the funeral for a day, but they refused that, too. We are on our way to Mingaladon right now,” she said.
Local outlet Myanmar Now quoted Myat Muyar Win as saying a regime official told her that he died of “some disease,” but she asserted that her husband was healthy. She also said that she heard reports that the 901st Artillery Operations Command beat Soe Moe Hlaing with the butt of a gun during his arrest. Than Hlaing reportedly went to see the body at the cemetery prior to the cremation.
In the report, Myat Muyar Win said the brothers had not seen each other in many years and they never contacted each other.
RFA attempted to contact the junta’s spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun but he was not available for comment.
Soe Moe Hlaing, an honors chemistry student at Yangon University, was active in the 1988 pro-democracy uprising. After the 1988 coup he joined and served as a battalion commander in the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF), a pro-democracy armed group.
After returning home in 1991, the previous junta arrested him and sentenced him to 15 years in prison for his involvement in the ABSDF. He spent 10 years in Insein and Thayarwaddy prisons. Since his release, he had dedicated his life to charity work.
After Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) came to power in the 2015 elections, Soe Moe Hlaing founded a community-based tourism network for local development, leading the development of the Zalon Taung Pagoda, a religious facility on a scenic mountaintop in the northwestern Sagaing region.
Over the past few years, he established and taught at the Winkabaw Ex-Political Prisoner Education Network, which has a mission to educate family members of political prisoners.
“Even though his brother had a high position in the military, he never took advantage of that,” a friend of Soe Moe Hlaing told RFA on condition of anonymity.
“The local military authorities in Bago did not know he was related to the sitting deputy home affairs minister during his arrest or detention,” Soe Moe Hlaing’s friend said.
According to Myanmar Now, the two brothers have nine other siblings. The invitation for Soe Moe Hlaing’s memorial service mentioned his ties to Deputy Minister Than Hlaing, and said he was survived by his wife, three daughters and two sons.
According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 21 people, including two women, have died since the coup after being arrested and tortured at interrogation camps.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Death
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- May 21, 2021
- Event Description
The demonstration of students and workers who are members of the Makassar People's Faction, in the Flyover area of Jalan AP Pettarani, Friday (21/5/2021), was forcibly dispersed by a group suspected of being a community organization (ormas).
The forced dispersal of the demonstration was observed in an amateur video that was widely circulated on social media. The video, which lasts 1 minute 37 seconds, shows a number of members of mass organizations arriving and dispersing the demonstration.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Minority Rights, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, Student
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Suspected non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- May 21, 2021
- Event Description
Sejumlah mahasiswa yang tergabung dalam Front Pejuang Reformasi Total (FPRT) menggelar aksi di Jalan AP Pettarani, Kota Makassar, Sulawesi Selatan, Jumat (21/5). Mereka memperingati Reformasi atau tepatnya 21 Mei 1998 ketika Soeharto menyatakan berhenti dari jabatan presiden.
Dalam aksinya, mereka menyuarakan Reformasi jilid dua di masa kini. Namun, unjuk rasa berujung pembubaran oleh pihak kepolisian.
Mulanya, aksi unjuk rasa berjalan kondusif. Setiap orator bergantian bicara menggunakan pengeras suara. Mereka menyuarakan sejumlah tuntutan sambil membentangkan spanduk.
Berikut tuntutan massa aksi yang mendambakan Reformasi Jilid dua.
- Turunkan Presiden Jokowi
- Cabut UU Cipta Kerja Omnibus Law
- Tolak politisi Orba dan reformis gadungan
- Usut tuntas penculik aktivis
- Cabut Perpres No.32 tahun 2018
- Tolak Soeharto jadi pahlawan Nasional
- Tolak utang luar negeri
- Tolak investor asing dan majukan BUMN
- Wujudkan pendidikan gratis yang berkualitas dan sekolah tatap muka
- Tolak pelemahan KPK
"Kami menuntut pemerintah mewujudkan pendidikan gratis yang berkualitas dan melaksanakan pendidikan tatap muka dengan tetap mematuhi prokes," kata Koordinator Lapangan, Riang Egi Saputra dalam orasinya.
Di tengah-tengah unjuk rasa, massa lalu membawa ban bekas. Mereka membakarnya di tengah jalan. Api menyala. Asap membubung. Polisi lalu gusar.
Aparat kemudian menghampiri massa dan membubarkan unjuk rasa. Massa lantas lari tunggang langgang berhamburan. Polisi tak tinggal diam. Mereka mengejar massa yang berupaya menyelamatkan diri dari penangkapan.
Dua orang diamankan petugas. Hingga saat ini, belum ada keterangan resmi dari pihak kepolisian ihwal unjuk rasa yang berujung pembubaran. Identitas pengunjuk rasa yang diamankan pun belum dirilis kepolisian.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- May 19, 2021
- Event Description
The mother of student activist Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul has received a police summons on a charge under the Emergency Decree, after she joined a protest demanding her daughter’s release
Panusaya posted a picture of the summons on her Facebook page yesterday (19 May). The summons states that her mother violated the Emergency Decree by organizing an unauthorised gathering of more than 20 people at risk of the spread of disease, after she joined the “Stand Against Detention” protest in front of the Supreme Court on Ratchadamnoen Avenue on 28 April 2021 to demand the release of Panusaya and other activists who were detained at the time.
The “Stand Against Detention” protests were organised by the activist group Resistant Citizens to demand the release of activists being detained pending trial on charges relating to the recent pro-democracy protests and have been held continuously since 22 March 2021 at various locations across Bangkok. Similar events have also been held in other provinces.
According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), no other participants in the “Stand Against Detention” protest have so far been charged with violating the Emergency Decree.
However, TLHR reported today (20 May) that two other people have received a police summons for participating in one of the “Stand Against Detention” protests: activist Punsak Srithep, a member of Resistant Citizen and whose son Samapan was killed during the the military crackdown on red shirt protesters in May 2010; and another protester named Napatsorn Boonrey.
Panusaya said in her post that participants in the protest kept a distance from each other. Resistant Citizen also required registration for each protest and only 20 participants were allowed.
Panusaya was granted bail and released on 6 May, after she had been in detention for 74 days. 7 people are currently still detained pending trial on charges relating to political expression.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- May 19, 2021
- Event Description
Nearly 50 people in Ayeyarwady Region initially charged with violating Section 505a of the Penal Code for incitement were hit with additional charges on Wednesday for treason.
The new charges—violating Sections 122 and 124a of the Penal Code—carry the death penalty or a lifetime prison sentence.
The plaintiff in the case is the chief of the Pathein District police station. He has directed the charges against 31 activists and 17 current and formerly elected National League for Democracy (NLD) parliamentarians, one of the affected MPs said.
“They’ve already opened cases against us under 505a. I heard they’re adding more charges to those who are part of CRPH [Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw] or close to them. I also heard we are facing more charges in our township as well,” Ni Ni Moe, a former NLD regional parliamentary representative for Nyaungdon Township’s Constituency 1, said.
Ni Ni Moe went into hiding after being charged with Section 505a for incitement, and is now facing the two additional charges in Pathein.
Since the February 1 military coup, 12 people including four NLD lawmakers have been detained in Ayeyarwady.
Thein Tun, a Lower House representative for Tharpaung Township; Aung Aung Oo, a regional parliamentarian for Tharpaung’s Constituency 1; and Than Htut, a regional representative for Pathein District’s Constituency 1, were arrested on March 31 and charged with incitement.
Dr. Tin Min Htut, a lawmaker from Pantanaw Township and secretary of Ayeyarwady Region’s NLD office, was arrested on the night of May 15. He is among those facing additional charges for treason.
Ni Ni Moe told Myanmar Now that while many NLD MPs are facing persecution by the junta, some have opted to side with the coup regime and have given up their elected posts.
“Before, they filed charges against almost all of the representatives under 505a and now there are additional charges. However, some representatives are casually relaxing at home. I heard some of them have already resigned [from the legislature],” Ni Ni Moe said.
After seizing power, the military amended Section 505a of the Penal Code, increasing the prison sentence for those convicted from two to three years.
Like Section 505a, Section 124a was also amended by the coup regime. It carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years for inciting “disaffection towards the Government [...] or the Defence Services.”
Conviction of high treason under Section 122 is accompanied by the death penalty or 20 years’ imprisonment.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 18, 2021
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday denied bail to five members of activist group Khmer Thavrak and two members of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association, as the defendants urged that they had already been in jail for as long as nine months.
Khmer Thavrak members Hun Vannak, Chhoeun Daravy, Tha Lavy, Eng Malai and Koet Saray were arrested in August and September amid protests in support of jailed unionist Rong Chhun; KSILA’s, Muong Sopheak and Mean Prom Mony were arrested in September for their involvement in the same protests.
On Tuesday, Malai, with a visible swollen leg, held hands with Daravy as their lawyers made their arguments for bail.
Vannak spoke out that even though the courts had not found them guilty, it had already jailed them for many months.
Judge Tith Sothy Borachat tried to cut him off, telling him that only lawyers would be permitted to speak.
“Please release us. We have clear home addresses and we are prepared to show up when the court needs to do any interrogation,” Vannak said.
Sam Chamroeun, one of three defense lawyers, argued that the pretrial detention had continued too long. The crime for which they had been charged — incitement to disturb social security — carried a potential jail sentence of six months to two years.
The seven defendants had already been in jail for longer than the low-end of the potential sentence, he said.
Pretrial detention of more than six months also breached the requirement for a quick and fair trial, Chamroeun argued, citing the Criminal Procedure Code.
“The court needs to consider this case as urgent and necessary,” he said.
Bail would reduce challenges for the defendants, including the risk of Covid-19 and mental health pressures, as they could be in the care of their families, Chamroeun said.
Deputy prosecutor Sam Rithy Veasna said the defendants had already had two trial hearings, and their release now would obstruct the court process.
The trial had been delayed due to Covid-19, he added. “We will continue the procedure when the Covid-19 situation is better,” he said.
Prum Mony was questioned during a trial hearing in February, when he was asked about links to a Cambodian-Australian former member of parliament in Victoria, Hong Lim.
Sopheak, the other KSILA member, said on Tuesday that he was chronically ill and he was not getting the care he needed.
“It is very difficult to endure this and it is very difficult to live there,” especially without money to spend in prison, Sopheak said.
He did not want to stay in prison as he was afraid that he would have mental health issues, he said.
During a 15-minute break, the defendants talked with each other and visiting family members. Some family members could be heard asking about their health and seen handing over bundles of 20,000 riel notes, worth about $5 each.
After the break, Sothy Borachat, the judge, said there was not enough evidence to release the defendants on bail, and rejected the defense’s arguments.
“To guarantee their presence for the charges at the upcoming trial, [the court] does not allow their release on bail,” he said.
A specific trial date was not announced.
Chamroeun, the defense lawyer, said he would discuss appealing the decision with his clients.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- NGO staff, Student, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- May 18, 2021
- Event Description
A recent clash between Indigenous community members in Sumatra and workers from a pulpwood plantation company has marred ongoing efforts to resolve a decades-long land conflict.
At least a dozen members of the Natumingka Indigenous community in North Sumatra province were reported to have been injured during a clash that broke out on May 18 when they blocked some 400 workers and security guards of PT Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL) from entering the disputed area. They had staged the protest to defend what they say is their ancestral land. Police officers were present at the scene at the request of the company.
Among those injured was Jusman Simanjuntak, 75, who had to receive multiple stitches after being struck in the head when the clash turned violent and rocks were being thrown.
“The defeat of Natumingka on May 18, 2021, is not a regret for me, but that became a moment of resurgence of the Natumingka community,” he said at an online press conference on June 3.
The two sides have been locked in dispute over the land in North Sumatra’s North Tapanuli district since 1992. Twenty-three Indigenous communities, including the Natumingka, claim ancestral rights to some 20,754 hectares (51,284 acres) inside the concession granted to TPL, an affiliate of pulp and paper giant Royal Golden Eagle.
The company, previously known as PT Inti Indorayon Utama, was initially granted a 269,060-hectare (664,862-acre) concession, but this was reduced in 2020 to 167,912 hectares (414,920 acres) by the environment ministry as it overlapped with Indigenous lands. The Indigenous communities contend much of the concession is part of their ancestral territory, but TPL has already planted half of the disputed area with eucalyptus.
In August 2019, the environment ministry ordered TPL to halt its activities pending a resolution between all sides.
At the same time, the Indigenous communities have been working to receive state recognition for Indigenous land certification. Since 2013, when a landmark Constitutional Court ruling struck down the state’s claim to Indigenous peoples’ forests, the government has recognized the rights of dozens of Indigenous groups to forest areas across Indonesia.
But the communities in North Tapanuli say the Indigenous land recognition process for them is taking much longer than needed. Jusman said that some 300 million rupiah ($20,800) that was allocated to fund the process has been requisitioned for efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19.
“The communities were ready to help funding if that’s what it takes, but the government declined saying that it has no legal basis,” Jusman said.
In the wake of the recent clash between the Indigenous communities and TPL, Indonesia’s national parliament has called for the police to investigate and press charges against the company for the violence against the communities.
“The fact is that the land concession is overlapping with Indigenous lands, creating a rooted agrarian conflict that has been going on for so long and unresolved up to this day,” Bambang Soesatyo, the parliamentary speaker, said in a statement.
Jandres Silalahi, an executive at TPL, said the company regretted the clash that broke out at a time when dialogue between all stakeholders was ongoing to try and resolve the conflict.
While a resolution is still far from being achieved, many members of the Indigenous communities defending their claims against TPL have been met with violence and imprisonment. In 2000, a university student and a high school student were killed defending the area against TPL.
The Indigenous communities have since the early 1900s claimed ancestral rights to a large swath of forest in what is today North Tapanuli district, where they still practice subsistence farming today. In 1913, the communities loaned part of the land to the Dutch colonial authorities for a pine plantation. After Indonesia declared independence from the Dutch in 1945, the new government claimed the pine forest, among other Dutch-run assets and properties at the time, as belonging to the Indonesian state.
“If the district leader doesn’t care about the Natumingka community, we will keep on fighting,” Jusman said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Land rights, Offline
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- May 17, 2021
- Event Description
A recent series of cyberattacks to temporarily block access to the websites of two alternative news organizations and the human rights group Karapatan were traced to computer networks of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Philippine Army, according to a Swedish digital forensic group.
In its report, “Attacks against media in the Philippines continue,” published on Tuesday, Qurium Media Foundation said it recorded “brief but frequent” distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks against bulatlat.com, altermidya.org, and karapatan.org.
Bulatlat, Altermidya, and Karapatan have been red-tagged or vilified by state agents as fronts for the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army.
The three groups denounced the cyberattacks.
Bulatlat said these were “politically motivated and state-sponsored” attacks after the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict had “consistently labeled us as communist fronts for pursuing journalism for the people.”
Karapatan said the “attacks against the people’s freedom of information” were conducted by “cowards” who “hide behind the online cloak of anonymity.”
‘Flooding’
In a DDOS attack, the perpetrators “flood” the targeted machines or resources with superfluous requests to overload the host and disrupt its services, rendering them inaccessible to others, including the general public, for the duration of the attack.
Qurium found at least five attacks against the three groups — on May 17, May 18, May 20, and two on June 6.
In simultaneous attacks at 2:24 a.m. on May 17 against Bulatlat and Karapatan, Qurium said the attacker used several means to verify whether the attacks were successful.
The following day, at around 7:30 a.m., Qurium saw a “vulnerability scan” being conducted against Bulatlat’s website, which is one way to assess computers, networks, and applications for possible weaknesses.
Qurium said “one machine from the Department of Science and Technology” (DOST) launched the vulnerability scan, identifying its internet protocol (IP) address as 202.90.137.42.
“The IP seems to belong to the Philippine Research, Education, Government Information Network,” or Preginet, which is billed as the “only REN (research and education network) in the Philippines.”
It is a unit under the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (Asti) of the DOST, which is located at the University of the Philippines Diliman campus.
Zooming in, Qurium found that the Sophos firewall behind the DOST’s IP address had a certificate under “IP Solutions Inc.”
The company that signed the digital certificate was found to be a supplier of hardware and services to the Philippine government, it said. Army statement
Qurium said another unit in the same IP address was also registered to a certain “[email protected],” which is under the official domain and website of the Philippine Army.
IP Solutions could not immediately be reached for comment.
Army spokesperson Col. Ramon Zagala said the Philippine Army “respects freedom of expression and per policy, will never infringe that freedom.”
“We take these accusation of cyberattack seriously and we will not condone or tolerate it if such occurred against media entities. Rest assured we are servants of the people and protector of freedom of expression,” Zagala said. ‘Already in touch’
The Inquirer reached out to the chief of staff of Science Secretary Fortunato dela Peña for comment but he only replied that they were “already in touch” with Asti about the matter. There was no response from Asti as of press time.
According to Qurium, from 10:50 p.m. on June 6 to 3 a.m. the following day, Bulatlat and Altermidya were under a DDOS attack and subjected to “pen testing,” also to check for vulnerability.
Bulatlat said it was “angered that taxpayer money is being spent to bring down our website and to deny our readers access to our reportage.”
It was during the May 17 attack that Bulatlat published reports on the designation of 19 individuals as terrorists by the Anti-Terrorism Council and the arrests of activists and elderly peasant leaders in Northern Mindanao.
On June 16 and June 22-23, Bulatlat journalist Len Olea said they were updating their stories about the possible investigation of President Rodrigo Duterte’s alleged crime against humanity involving murder by the International Criminal Court (ICC), the death of a political prisoner and the low capacity for mass testing for COVID-19. ICC probe story
Altermidya noted that the attacks happened after it published a story also on the ICC prosecutor’s request to investigate Mr. Duterte.
Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan, said the May 17 attack on its website, which was overwhelmed by 350,000 hits in less than five minutes, was also when it posted a statement calling for the immediate release of two elderly Mindanao peasant leaders—Marcela “Silay” Diaz, 59, and a stage 4 cancer patient, and 70-year-old Virgilio “Yoyong” Lincuna, a former political prisoner and stroke survivor with partial paralysis.
“We believe that this attack is meant to keep our website down,” Palabay said.
She said the May 20 attack might have been “meant to track down” visitors of the Karapatan website.
“On that day, we posted materials related to our submission of cases and recommendations to the Supreme Court on search warrants and trumped-up charges against activists and on the rules on the petition for the writ of amparo and habeas data,” she said.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Censorship, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker, NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- May 15, 2021
- Event Description
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's lawyer has filed a report with the police against Suthipongse 'Heart' Thatphithakkul under the lèse majesté law and the Computer Crime Act. Suthipongse, a famous Thai singer with a political profile, is one among many who have been charged for speaking out against the government's vaccine policy.
Seksakon Atthawong, also known as Rambo Isan, assistant to the Minister of the Office of the Prime Minister, threatened on 15 May that the matter could be withdrawn if Suthipongse truly loves the monarchy and wants to help the country.
According to the Thai legal system, a criminal charge cannot be withdrawn unless a suspect is proven innocent. Suthipongse’s case was reported on 13 May at Nang Loeng Police Station, together with evidence of his Facebook post criticizing the government's Covid-19vaccine policy.
“The medicine of the boss is not selling. The stock is not moving. The lackeys have to come out to help with the marketing (I copied this from someone else) #vaccine monopoly, unless you are really ruthless, cannot be done," said one of the Facebook posts which made him a suspect under the lèse majesté law and the Computer Crime Act.
Apiwat Kantong, the Prime Minister’s lawyer, said that the term “boss” might refer to the monarchy and even if it was copied from someone else it might still constitute disinformation and lèse majesté.
After Suthipongse was reported to the police, he posted on Facebook asking ”how come that the Prime Minister sues the people?”
In a separate Facebook post, Suthipongse asked the government to drop the charges because he ran out of money to hire lawyers. Suthipongse also said that he was not interested in entering politics and the government may even get his help if it talks to him nicely.
Who is Heart? Suthipongse ‘Heart’ Thatphithakkul was a famous singer in Thailand. After he earned a Bachelor of Economics from the University of California at Los Angeles, and a Master of Economics from the University of Southern California, he returned to Thailand not only as a singer, but also as an economic analyst and famous TV host on many channels and programmes.
Suthipongse entered politics briefly in June 1997 when he became an executive committee member of the Prachakorn Thai Party under Samak Sundaravej as the party leader. However, he was disqualified from the party only 6 months later.
At the time, Prachakorn Thai was an important player in the Thai political landscape. After Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh resigned from the premiership because of the financial crisis in 1997, Prachakorn Thai defected from Chavalit’s New Aspiration Party coalition and forged a new government led by the Democrat Party with Chuan Leekpai as the Prime Minister.
In 2015 (one year after the military coup by Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha), Suthipongse invited Anutin Charnvirakul to sing a song in his show “Byrd & Heart” which he made with his old colleague Kulpong “Byrd” Bunnag. Anutin became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health in the current government after the election in 2019.
In 2018, Suthipongse revealed that he had 3 wives and 7 children.
When the protests erupted in Thailand, he became more vocal against Prayut Chan-o-cha’s government. In 2019, Narisroj Fuangrabil, former Thai ambassador to Argentina who posted on Facebook against the pro-democracy protesters, filed a report with police against Suthipongse for defamation after Suthipongse criticized him in a comment on the Facebook page of political exile Pavin Chachavalpongpun.
Suthipongse gave Narisroj flowers and apologized so the case was withdrawn.
Not the only one Suthipongse is not the only one to criticize the government’s vaccine policy who now faces legal charges.
On 18 January, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit of the Progressive Movement went Live on Facebook with a presentation on “The Royal Vaccine: Whose benefit, Whose loss?” Thanathorn was charged with violating the lèse majesté law and the Computer Crime Act on 21 January by the Prime Minister’s lawyer Apiwat.
On Facebook Live, Thanathorn said that although there were many vaccine providers, the Thai government bought only from AstraZeneca and Sinovac and in insufficient quantities because the government wanted to support Siam Bioscience Co. Ltd. Nikkei Asia reports that King Vajiralongkorn owns all but 2 of the company’s shares.
On 25 January, student protesters led by Benja Apan and Parit Chiwarak held an activity at the Srijulsup Building, where Siam Bioscience’s registered office is located, to publicize the problems surrounding the government’s vaccine policy. They too face 4 charges under the lèse majesté law, the Emergency Decree, the Communicable Diseases Act, and the Advertisement by Using Sound Amplifiers Control Act.
On 25 January, 5 students and citizens in Lampang Province were also served with summons as suspects under the lèse majesté law for displaying a banner which said “Budget for monarchy > Covid-19 vaccines.” The suspects were named as Phinit Thongkham, Wannaphon Hutakowit, Phattharakan Khaengkhan, Yupadee Kulkittanon), and Wan (alias).
In February 2021, a female student from Rajabhat University, Chiang Rai, and an admin of the page “Free Youth - CEI” was arrested under the lèse majesté law and the Computer Crime Act for sharing the “budget for monarchy > Covid-19 vaccines” banner on Facebook. Police believe that she was involved in hanging the banner near to King Vajiralongkorn’s portrait.
On 3 March, Piyarat Chongthep, a leading activist of the We Volunteer group, was detained in Kalasin Remand Prison on charges under the lèse majesté law and the Computer Crime Act for 7 protest signs against the government’s vaccine policy and for his social media posts of the protest signs. After 33 days in detention, he was allowed bail with a security of 200,000 baht.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online
- HRD
- Artist, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- May 14, 2021
- Event Description
A pro-democracy activist in the Sagaing Region town of Monywa was murdered on Friday after being set on fire in an unprovoked attack, according to a witness to the incident.
Factory manager Taing Aung said that he was talking to the victim, 60-year-old Sein Win, on Friday morning when a factory worker poured gasoline over his head and set him alight.
“I saw him pour the gasoline and then immediately set him on fire. I shouted and tried to put out the fire on Ko Sein Win,” said Taing Aung, who was a friend of the victim.
“He poured the gasoline on him just like we do with water during the Thingyan water festival,” he told Myanmar Now.
Sein Win was immediately admitted to the Monywa General Hospital, but died at around 11pm on Friday, he added.
“He had severe burns on his legs, hands, and head—almost his entire body. His face was burned black. The skin on his legs and hands peeled off,” said Taing Aung.
The assailant was identified as Aung Ko, a resident of Monywa’s Myawaddy ward. At the time of reporting, he was still at large.
Officials at the Monywa police station could not be reached for comment when contacted by Myanmar Now on Saturday.
Sein Win’s family will hold a funeral for him on Sunday afternoon.
A longtime supporter of the National League for Democracy (NLD), Sein Win had been active in politics since the 1988 pro-democracy uprising and campaigned for the party in the 1990 election.
According to his daughter Thin Thin Nwe, his political activism often made life difficult for him and his family, including his three adult children.
“None of us ever applied for jobs that required documents or references from ward administrators or the police,” she said, explaining that the regime actively discriminated against those known to oppose its rule.
She added, however, that she understood her father’s position because he shared his political beliefs with his children and educated them about the nature of the dictatorship.
As a veteran pro-democracy activist, Sein Win joined anti-regime protests in Monywa soon after the military seized power on February 1. He was also close to youth activists and supported the anti-coup activities of Generation Z protesters in the town.
“He believed this revolution would win. He saw rays of hope, and so do we. I am very sad that my father will no longer be able to see our victory,” Thin Thin Nwe said.
Sein Win was also a charity worker and a lover of poetry whose poems have been published in a number of magazines.
A fellow poet in Monywa who spoke to Myanmar Now on condition of anonymity said that it was unlikely that the motive for the attack was personal.
“He was an honest and active charity worker and political activist,” he said.
At least nine civilians, including poet Kay Za Win and writer Kyi Lin Aye, have been murdered in brutal crackdowns on anti-coup protesters in Monywa.
Monywa-based poet Khet Thi died last week in the regime's custody a day after he was arrested in Shwebo, another town in Sagaing about 100km from Monywa.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- May 14, 2021
- Event Description
MANILA – Peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas is calling for the release of their two elderly and ailing leaders who were arrested on “trumped-up charges” in separate incidents in Caraga region on May 14.
Police arrested Marcela “Silay” Diaz, 59, who was taken at 4:30 A.M. on May 14 from her home in barangay Bayan, Marihatag, Surigao del Sur; and Virgilio “Yoyong” Lincuna, 70, who was taken at 11 A.M. in barangay Banza, Butuan City, Agusan del Norte.
Diaz, a member of Mag-uuma sa Surigao del Sur-Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KAMASS-KMP) is a stage 4 cancer patient who is in remission, while Lincuna is a former political detainee and a stroke patient who suffers from partial paralysis, said KMP.
The two elderly and sickly activists were charged with murder and attempted homicide.
The arrests happened on the same day of the burial of KMP national vice chairperson Joseph Canlas who died after contracting COVID-19 in jail. Canlas, who died on May 11, was arrested on March 30 in Pampanga on trumped-up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. Although he had hypertension and diabetes, Canlas was well and stable when he was arrested. He was transferred from one detention facility to another, and was denied medical attention when he complained of feeling ill. He was rushed to a hospital only when his condition worsened.
“The brutality of the Duterte regime is boundless,” said KMP in a Facebook post, as it denounced the arrest and detention as “a form of silent extra-judicial killing via COVID.”
The group said that Diaz and Lincuna both faced constant red-tagging and harassment from government forces. “Both are veteran peasant leaders campaigning for farmers’ right to land and against the militarization of peasant and indigenous communities in Caraga region,” KMP said.
Diaz is charged with attempted homicide, while Lincuna is accused of two counts of murder. The case against Diaz was in connection with a shooting on 29th infantry soldiers on combat patrol in Santiago, Agusan del Norte on Nov. 21, 2020, said PNP Region 13.
Lincuna, who has been an activist since the 80s, was first arrested in October 2019 on a trumped-up case of attempted murder. He was released on bail after several days in detention. He later suffered from stroke, and now “can barely walk and needs constant assistance in his daily chores,” said KMP.
The Philippine National Police Region 13 said the arrest warrant for Diaz was issued by the municipal circuit trial court, 10th Judicial region, Tubay-Santiago, Agusan del Norte. The arrest was made by a combined force of the Regional Intelligence Unit 13, Butuan City Police Intelligence Unit, Butuan City Mobile Force Company, Surigao del Sur Police Provincial office Intelligence unit, 1st Surigao del Sur Provincial Mobile Force Company, and 7th Special Forces Company of the Philippine Army.
Diaz is detained in Camp Rafael Rodriguez in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte, while Lincuna is in PNP-Lianga, Surigao del Sur.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to health, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 13, 2021
- Event Description
Two digital news journalists reported harassment by authorities Tuesday while covering villagers protesting two separate land disputes.
Though government officials dismissed the confrontations with reporters from outlets VOD and TN Hot News as a matter of enforcing public order, media advocates are again sounding the alarm of ever-tightening restrictions of press freedom in Cambodia.
VOD reporter Khut Sokun, 33, said he had arrived at about 11 a.m. at the scene of a dispute in the Krakor district of Pursat province when an armed man in military uniform approached and seized his smartphone, recorder and notebook.
“I parked my motorbike and rushed to report,” Sokun told CamboJA of the day’s work in Ansar Chambak commune. “I turned on my recorder, and wrote what they were saying, but after that one official came to ask my identity, and where I had come from.”
Authorities had come to tell villagers mostly from the nearby Boribor district of Kampong Chhnang province to stop cultivating paddy rice in a location deemed state land, an area that authorities are measuring to reserve as a social land concession. They had come on Tuesday with military police, at least one of whom eventually focused on Sokun.
“I told him that I am a reporter at VOD, and I came to report something related to land issues, and he asked me to delete the pictures I’d taken from my smartphone,” Sokun recalled. “A man with a RCAF uniform and an AK-47 confiscated my recorder and notebook. They also tore up my notes of what I wrote and [deleted] audio from the recorder.”
Sokun said authorities returned his equipment more than a half-hour after talking with Pursat province Deputy Governor Cheng Lai, who had led the meeting to resolve the dispute.
“I tried to ask him why they didn’t allow pictures and reporting, but they did not tell me the reason,” Sokun said. “I think that it was threatening, intimidation, and it has restricted the right of press freedom because I did nothing wrong. I just went down to report and listen to what [the villagers] were saying.”
A VOD colleague who interviewed Cheng Lai after the incident told Sokun the deputy governor had claimed informally that his reporting on Tuesday had caused incitement among the villagers, a potentially serious charge often used to silence dissent. After hearing of this allegation, Sokun said that he is now scared to report land disputes in that area.
“Now, I dare not report this story because I am afraid of the accusation. I am also living near that area,” he said. “And yes, I am worried about my security and safety.”
Lai denied the accusation of harassment to CamboJA, saying officials had confronted the journalist only to learn who he was. Though he confirmed Sokun’s recorder had been confiscated and later returned, he denied that anyone had destroyed the reporter’s notes.
“Our authorities were working [to resolve the land dispute] and we did not know who he was, and at that time there were military police, police and soldiers accompanying me,” he said.
“We just asked what he was doing,” Lai said, adding that any claim otherwise was subjective. “It is just their opinion, because no one threatened him.”
As for the land dispute, Lai said people who have cultivated the area for a long time will be excluded from government action but that newcomers will have their access revoked. He said a directive was issued in 2017 to prepare a 5,400 hectare social land concession to benefit 3,000 families in the Ansar Chambak commune.
Though the deputy governor described the encounter with Sokun as benign, at least one witness described it otherwise.
“In fact, I saw they [authorities] scuffled with him, seized his phone and deleted pictures, and checked his press card,” said Pen Phol, 43, who attended Tuesday’s meeting and said authorities had not allowed photography and reporting. “I feel pity for him because he is a journalist that comes to help villagers who are suffering.”
After the confrontation, Phol said she didn’t see anything else, as authorities then dispersed the gathered villagers.
Phol is now concerned authorities will take her land away, noting that her family has been cultivating about 2 hectares since the 1980s.
“I am worried because I heard that they will revoke our land and provide it to other villagers,” she said.
When asked about the incident at Ansar Chambak, Information Ministry spokesman Meas Sophorn said local authorities had only implemented the law in their jurisdiction to maintain security and public order.
“Authorities and police have their duty to fulfill too,” he said, declining to comment further.
But Sokun wasn’t the only reporter to face a confrontation Tuesday from authorities while reporting on a land dispute case.
Keo Ratana, 36, journalist and publisher of TN TV, or TN Hot News Online, said that he suffered harassment while covering villagers protesting that same day against a decision of the Kampong Chhnang Provincial Court in favor of a wealthier landholder.
The protest was complicated when a bodyguard named Lon Leng intervened apparently on behalf of the landholder and, according to Ratana, physically confronted the journalist at the event. Ratana said Pheng ordered police to detain the reporter, but the officers did not due to the many villagers around him.
“He came and pushed me away and attempted to use violence, and I pushed his hand back,” Ratana said of the bodyguard. “As a journalist, I think it is a threat to press freedom as we carry out our professional journalism.”
Ratana was previously arrested in July 2019 by military police for his role in covering a long-running land dispute in Sihanoukville between local villagers and the Thai Boon Roong development company.
Ith Sothoeuth, media director at the Cambodian Center for Independent Media, condemned the harassment against working journalists who amplify important viewpoints for the public to hear.
“For me, it seriously threatens press freedom because journalists have just gone to fulfill their duty in reporting land disputes between villagers,” he said of the Tuesday incidents.
Sotheouth, whose center produces VOD, said the media plays a significant role in a democratic society by providing voices for those who can’t express their concerns by themselves to the government or the general public.
“It is an extreme violation of press freedom in Cambodia, while it has already narrowed its space,” he said, pointing to the confrontation in Ansar Chambak.
Nop Vy, executive director at CamboJA, said that any activities that obstruct the work of journalists run directly against government policy to cooperate with the press.
“It is a message of warning and intimidation to the duty of journalists,” he said, urging officials and the head of state to review law enforcement policies of lower authorities and advise them on correct implementation.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 13, 2021
- Event Description
Police detained an informal-workers union official and placed him in two-week quarantine in Banteay Meanchey province as he was gathering names of members facing economic difficulties amid the nation’s ongoing Covid-19 outbreak.
Poipet city deputy police chief Born Seiha said on Wednesday that Kang Nakorn, an official for the Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association, or IDEA, was brought in after he went to a noodle shop that had previously been visited by people who tested positive for Covid-19. Nakorn had collected as many as 170 names, Seiha said.
Officers had yet to question Nakorn, as he was placed in quarantine at Nimit High School in the city, Seiha said.
“[We] have not arrested him. We called him in for questioning, called him in for questioning for collecting [names], of 170 people. For what purpose?” the deputy police chief said. “People complained to us.”
Seiha said he could not say whether the authorities would release Nakorn after 14 days of quarantine, as authorities were still investigating.
Vorn Pov, the union’s president, said there were others at the noodle shop, so it did not make sense to only detain and quarantine Nakorn.
“A lot of people,” Pov said. “Why was only he taken in?”
Nakorn had collected names and ID numbers of members linked to or facing challenges in relation to Covid-19 cases, Pov said.
“It is just a matter of charity — purely charitable activities, not political incitement,” he said. “So I think it is unusual to call him in for questioning. Yes — it’s regretful.”
He asked for Nakorn’s release, saying he suffered from health problems like high blood pressure.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- May 12, 2021
- Event Description
It has been nearly one month since Dr Htet Lwin Win, the Kachin State project officer for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), was arrested and charged with sedition and incitement.
He was arrested on May 12, and is believed to be detained in Myitkyina Prison.
The 34-year-old has been working with the IOM, a related organisation of the UN, since late 2018. He has been charged with violating Section 124a and Section 505a of the Penal Code. The regime authorities accused him of putting a picture of coup leader Min Aung Hlaing in a demeaning position on his doorstep and compiling a list of health workers who were not involved in the anti-coup Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) on his mobile phone.
Section 124a—for sedition—carries either a 7- or 20-year prison sentence and/or a fine.
Section 505a for incitement was amended by the junta soon after the February 1 military coup, and carries a maximum prison sentence of three years.
“In close cooperation with the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office, IOM has been trying its best to have access to Dr. Htet Lwin Win and to secure his release. IOM has requested the military to respect the privileges and immunities of the UN staff,” a spokesperson for the IOM’s regional office for Asia and the Pacific told Myanmar Now by email on Friday.
A family member Htet Lwin Win said his third hearing was held on June 9, and that the prosecution had filed a request to suspend the charge under Section 124a. At the time of reporting, it was not known if the charge would be dropped.
The family member also told Myanmar Now that the case against Htet Lwin Win is based on Facebook photos unintentionally kept on his phone. It was alleged that the photos were being collected to carry out public shaming, or what is known as “social punishment,” against health workers not involved in the CDM.
Htet Lwin Win’s lawyer was also arrested for allegedly violating Section 505a, but the reason for his arrest was not known at the time of reporting.
In the four months since the coup, the military junta has killed 858 people and arrested nearly 6,000, according to figures compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners as of June 9.
The military junta has repeatedly said the death toll is around 300.
Editor’s Note: This article was updated to include comments from the IOM’s regional spokesperson.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to work
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- May 11, 2021
- Event Description
Two Chiang Mai University students reported to the police yesterday (11 May) after being summoned on a royal defamation charge over an art installation piece, while an artists’ network has called on the University to defend their freedom.
Withaya Khlangnin and Yotsunthon Ruttapradid went to Phuping Rajanivej Police Station at 9.00 to answer charges under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code, or the lèse majesté law, and the 1979 Flag Act. They were summoned by the police after Srisuwan Janya, Secretary-General of the Association for the Protection of the Constitution, filed a complaint against them for an art installation piece they exhibited during a 14 March 2021 protest at Chiang Mai University.
The installation piece was also shown during an event on 25 March 2021, when students from the Faculty of Fine Arts gathered in front of the University’s Office of Strategy Management to demand an explanation from University and Faculty management for an incident on 22 March 2021, when the Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts and several other faculty personnel attempted to remove students’ art projects from the Media Arts and Design Department building without first informing the students, claiming that some pieces could violate the law.
The art piece features a mannequin wrapped in plastic in the middle of two red and white strips, on which participants at the 14 March protest were invited to write down messages. Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that, according to the police, the messages violated Section 112. The police also said that, since the art piece looks like a Thai flag without the blue stripe, which represents the monarchy, it means that the artist does not wish for the monarchy to exist in the country.
Withaya and Yotsunthon denied all charges. Their lawyer requested that they be released at the inquiry stage on the ground that they are not likely to flee and are not able to tamper with the evidence. They were released after police officers took their fingerprints, and were not taken to court for a temporary detention request as they were initially told by the inquiry officer. They are required to report to the police again on 31 May 2021.
Before he went into the police station, Withaya staged a performance during which he used a razor to cut the number “112” into his chest. Police officers tried to stop him, but were not successful.
Police officers also used metal fence to block the entrance to the police station, while around 15 uniformed officers and at least 20 plainclothes officers were stationed around the building as a group of around 40 supporters gathered.
Somchai Preechasinlapakun, lecturer from the Faculty of Law, Chiang Mai University, who came to the police station with the students, said that he is very concerned that this is happening to the students, as the university should be protecting their freedom of expression, and that the students’ way of expression is not unusual among those who are interested in freedom of expression and those who are involved in the arts. He questioned how the evidence in the case ended up in the hands of the police, and that it would be very bad if it was sent to the police by university personnel.
Meanwhile, the Art and Cultural Activist Network for Democracy (ACAND), a network of artists, activists, and academics, issued a statement signed by 518 people, calling for the university to protect academic freedom and support the students.
ACAND demands that the Faculty of Fine Arts defend the students’ creativity and expression, and that Chiang Mai University must grant the students’ right to legal protection and moral support. They also called on the Thai authorities to respect the students’ right to bail.
“We, the Art and Cultural Network for Democracy, will monitor this case to inform the international art and cultural communities. We will watch the Chiang Mai University Administration’s response to the role in defending artistic and academic freedom and its response to the use of legal action against artistic and academic freedom too,” says the statement.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- May 9, 2021
- Event Description
Myanmar poet Khet Thi, whose works declare resistance to the ruling junta, died in detention overnight and his body was returned with the organs removed, his family said on Sunday.
A spokesman for the junta did not answer calls to request comment on the death of Khet Thi, who had penned the line "They shoot in the head, but they don't know the revolution is in the heart." His Facebook page said he was 45.
Khet Thi's wife said both of them were taken for interrogation on Saturday by armed soldiers and police in the central town of Shwebo, in the Sagaing region, a centre of resistance to the coup in which elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi was ousted. "I was interrogated. So was he. They said he was at the interrogation centre. But he didn't come back, only his body," his wife Chaw Su told BBC Burmese language news in tears from Monywa, around 100 km away by road.
"They called me in the morning and told me to meet him at the hospital in Monywa. I thought it was just for a broken arm or something ... But when I arrived here, he was at the morgue and his internal organs were taken out," she said.
She had been told at the hospital he had a heart problem, but had not bothered to read the death certificate because she was sure it would not be true, Chaw Su said. Reuters was unable to reach the hospital for comment. Chaw Su said the army had planned to bury him but that she pleaded with them for the body. She did not say how she knew her husband's organs had been removed.
"He died at the hospital after being tortured in the interrogation centre," the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group said in a bulletin that put the toll of civilians killed since the coup at 780.
The group, which monitors details of killings, did not identify the source of its information.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Killing, Torture, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to life
- HRD
- Artist, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- May 9, 2021
- Event Description
Indonesian authorities should drop politically motivated treason charges and unconditionally release an activist detained for peacefully advocating Papuan independence, Human Rights Watch said today. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo should publicly direct security forces involved in counterinsurgency operations in Papua to act in accordance with international law or be held to account.
On May 9, 2021, a special police unit, Satgas Nemangkawi, arrested Victor Yeimo, a spokesman for the West Papua National Committee (Komite Nasional Papua Barat, KNPB) in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province. Police charged him with treason for a 2019 statement, made during anti-racism protests and ensuing riots in Papua and West Papua, calling for a referendum on independence. Papua’s police chief, Mathius Fakhiri, said that the police are still “digging up” cases against Yeimo: “Let him get old in prison.”
“Indonesian police should investigate the deadly violence and arson attacks in Papua in 2019 but not use that as a pretext to crack down on peaceful activists,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “An independent investigation is still needed into the role of the security forces, and the authorities need to prosecute those responsible for wrongdoing.”
For decades, successive Indonesian governments have discriminated against the Indigenous people of Melanesian origin in the resource-rich and isolated provinces of Papua and West Papua, Human Rights Watch said.
Yeimo, 38, is a prominent activist who helped set up the KNPB after the fatal shooting of Opinus Tabuni, a Papuan celebrating International Indigenous People’s Day on August 9, 2008. No one was ever arrested for his killing.
Yeimo and others were arrested in 2008 and 2009 for advocating a United Nations-administered independence referendum in Papua and West Papua provinces. On his Facebook page, Yeimo has repeatedly written about racism against Papuans and called for negotiations between the West Papuan independence movement and Indonesia’s government. He has spoken at conferences in Indonesia and internationally about Papua’s environmental and human rights problems.
In August 2019, Papuans took part in protests across at least 30 cities in Indonesia in response to a racist attack by Indonesian militants and soldiers on a West Papuan student dorm in Surabaya. Videos showed some Indonesian soldiers repeatedly banging on the dormitory’s gate while shouting words such as “monkeys.” Police shot teargas into the dormitory and arrested dozens of Papuan students. Videos of the attack circulated widely and triggered widespread protests, including looting and arson attacks in Jayapura, Manokwari, Sorong, and Wamena.
At least 43 Papuan protest leaders and KNPB activists were charged with treason and sentenced despite the fact that they were not involved in violence. The activists included Surya Anta Ginting, the coordinator of the Front of the Indonesian People for West Papua, who was convicted along with five other Papuan activists, in April 2020. They were sentenced to between eight and nine months in prison.
In Balikpapan, seven KNPB activists and Papuan student leaders were sentenced to between 10 and 11 months for treason in June 2020. These included Buchtar Tabuni, another KNPB founder, and Agus Kossay, the KNPB chairman, who were jailed for their pro-independence speeches. The police then also put Yeimo, who had given interviews to international media, on their “wanted” list, though they took no further action at the time.
Human Rights Watch takes no position on Papuan claims to self-determination, but supports everyone’s right, including independence supporters, to express their political views peacefully without fear of arrest or other forms of reprisal.
Yeimo’s May 9 arrest came as Indonesian military operations in Papua intensified in response to the April 25 killing in an ambush of I Gusti Putu Danny Nugraha Karya, a Special Forces (Kopassus) brigadier general, in the Central Highlands. Nugraha is the first general to be killed in five decades of low intensity conflict in Papua. Yeimo called the death of General Nugraha a “sacrifice” caused by the reluctance of the Indonesian government and parliament to find a political solution in Papua.
President Jokowi responded to the killing by ordering the army and police to hunt down and arrest every member of the group responsible for the general’s death. The Jokowi administration later declared an unnamed “armed criminal group” a terrorist organization, apparently referring to the West Papua National Liberation Army.
The national police have dispatched an additional 12 companies (about 1,200 officers) from Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and the Moluccas, while the military has sent 400 troops from the 315/Garuda Battalion from Bogor, south of Jakarta. Human rights groups in Indonesia have expressed concerns that the government’s labeling the armed group “terrorist” could encourage serious abuses by the security forces in Papua.
“Papuan opposition to Indonesian rule and military and police oppression has often been met with further abuses,” Adams said. “The Indonesian authorities should ensure that all security force operations in Papua are carried out in accordance with the law and that peaceful activists and other civilians are not targeted.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- May 6, 2021
- Event Description
Detained protest leader Arnon Nampa has fallen ill with Covid and been moved for medical treatment, his Facebook page and news reports said Thursday.
The protest leader is in Bangkok Remand Prison awaiting trial on charges of sedition and lese-majeste for organizing and making speeches at pro-democracy rallies.
The Facebook post said he has been moved to Medical Correctional Institution. An earlier post on Wednesday said Arnon had a fever and has been feeling nauseated for the past three days.
Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch in Thailand also posted on his personal social media accounts that Arnon has contracted the virus.
A call to his lawyer went unanswered.
If confirmed, Arnon would be the second protest leader to have contracted coronavirus in jail while awaiting their trial after Chukiat “Justin” Sawangwong tested positive for the virus last month.
Arnon had been tested for Covid-19 and the results were pending, according to a local news report.
In addition from Arnon, who was detained February 9, there are 22 other pre-trial detainees charged with violations related to political protests. Of those, 10 are being charged with lese-majeste.
Arnon was one of the first protest leaders to break the taboo of making speeches about the need to reform the royal institution last year. He is facing now 12 lese-majeste cases.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Right to health, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- May 6, 2021
- Event Description
A pro-democracy defender Mr. Sirapob Phumphengphut was charged by a public prosecutor alleging him for violating Sedition and lèse-majesté offences following his involvement in pro-democracy gathering on 18 November 2020. The police alleged that he involved in throwing paints to Police Headquarter signage. The already detained defender, Mr.Saengwong, was also an alleged offender in the same case. Mr. Phumphengphut’s bail request was rejected by the court citing severity of the case
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- May 6, 2021
- Event Description
a public prosecutor decided to charge Ms. Chonthicha “Lookkate” Jangreaw for violating Emergency Decree following her involvement in two pro-democracy protests on 18 and 21 October 2020 in Bangkok. The court later granted bail with a total of 40,000 Baht security for two alleged cases. The court set 9 August 2021 as the next hearing schedule.
ที่ศาลแขวงดุสิต พนักงานอัยการพิเศษฝ่ายคดีศาลแขวง 3 ได้มีคำสั่งฟ้องคดีของ “ลูกเกด” ชลธิชา แจ้งเร็ว ด้วยข้อหา ฝ่าฝืนประกาศสถานการณ์ฉุกเฉินที่มีความร้ายแรง ตาม พ.ร.ก.ฉุกเฉินฯ ใน 2 คดี ได้แก่ คดีจากการชุมนุม #ม็อบ18ตุลาไปอนุสาวรีย์ชัย ที่บริเวณอนุสาวรีย์ชัย และ คดีจากการชุมนุม #21ตุลาไปอนุสาวรีย์ชัย ซึ่งมีการเดินขบวนจากอนุสาวรีย์ชัยไปที่บริเวณหน้าทำเนียบรัฐบาล
หลังศาลรับฟ้อง ทนายจำเลยได้ยื่นประกันตัวระหว่างพิจารณา ศาลให้ประกันโดยวางหลักประกันเงินสดคดีละ 20,000 บาท รวมเป็น 40,000 บาท โดยเป็นหลักทรัพย์จากกองทุนราษฎรประสงค์ และกำหนดวันนัดพร้อมเพื่อสอบคำให้การทั้งสองคดีในวันที่ 9 ส.ค. 64 เวลา 09.00 น.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- May 6, 2021
- Event Description
With the retirement of Police Chief Gen. Debold Sinas and with his birthday today, May 8, human rights group Karapatan believes that the recent series of arrests of activists is the general’s despedida.
Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan, made this statement after four individuals were arrested on May 6 in the Southern Tagalog region. The day before, Karapatan alerted the public after receiving information that another series of police and military raids in Southern Tagalog is in the offing.
According to information received by Karapatan, on the night of May 5, search warrants were issued against 15 individuals. These search warrants were first denied by the courts prior to the May 7 incident, said Palabay. But these were eventually reapplied in different local courts and may have been approved resulting in the arrest of four people on Southern Tagalog on May 6.
These individuals, according to Palabay, are among the 15 people.
Among those arrested on May 6 were Gary Doroteo, a Dumagat from Tanay, Rizal who is opposing the Kaliwa/Kanan Laiban Dam and was arrested in his home in barangay Sta. Ines, Tanay, Rizal; Benito Lucio, president of the Integrated Association of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries and former president of the Anakpawis chapter in Rodriguez, Rizal, who was arrested together with his wife; and Loreto Balino was also arrested in his home in General Nakar, Quezon.
Prior to this, on May 2, Pastor Dan Balucio, secretary general of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Bicol, and Maria Jesusa “Sasah” Sta. Rosa, Jovenes Anakbayan spokesperson, were also arrested in simultaneous police raids in Bicol region.
According to Karapatan, the police used search warrants issued by Legazpi City Regional Trial Court Vice Executive Judge Edgar Armes on May 1 for the said raids and arrests.
Karapatan said it was 3:30 a.m. on May 2 when combined elements of the police and the military forcibly entered the Shannan Christian Academy in Brgy. San Isidro, Sto. Domingo, Albay, where Balucio, his wife and two children, and a staff of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines were staying. Balucio serves as the administrator of the said school.
The police forcibly brought out all the occupants including Balucio from the house and the police and military operatives went through their belongings inside.
“After 30 to 45 minutes, the barangay captain and a kagawad arrived — it was only then that search warrants were shown to Balucio — and the police and military conducted their so-called search for another 30 minutes after which they allegedly found guns, ammunitions, a grenade, and a red flag,” Karapatan said.
The same happened with the arrest of Sta. Rosa. State agents also forcibly entered her house and the residents were brought outside. Initially the authorities did not present search warrants. The police and the military began the search when barangay officials came after an hour. Afterwards, the authorities alleged they found guns, ammunition, a grenade, a book, a black t-shirt, a green envelope with documents, a wallet and a pack of panty-liners.
Witnesses in these raids assert that the firearms and explosives and other supposed evidence obtained from the search were planted.
The house of Justine Mesias, in Daraga, Albay, a second year Bicol University student and Youth Act Now Against Tyranny – Bicol spokesperson was also raided on the same day at 4:00 a.m. Afterwards a gun and explosives were allegedly found in his house. The group said Mesias was not in the house at the time of the raid.
Nica Ombao of Defend Bicol Stop the Attacks said there is no truth to the allegations made against the three activists. She said their weapon is only a megaphone as they are often present in protest actions held in the region.
Based on initial accounts of witnesses, Karapatan said that the patterns in the police raids are similar to the operations conducted in Negros, Iloilo, Metro Manila, Central Luzon and the Bloody Sunday raids in Southern Tagalog.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to property
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender, Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 5, 2021
- Event Description
Three Mother Nature environmentalists were sentenced to jail for 18 to 20 months for incitement over their activism, while two others, including the group’s founder, were also found guilty in absentia.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court announced the verdict on Wednesday morning in a courtroom newly equipped with transparent screens and other Covid-19 preventative measures. Judge Li Sokha, wearing a mask, read out the verdict as the three defendants, Phuon Keoreaksmey, Long Kunthea and Thun Ratha, stood up holding hands.
Sokha said that based on the evidence, witnesses and the answers of the defendants, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court concluded that the three were guilty of incitement.
Ratha was handed 20 months in jail and a fine of 4 million riel, or about $1,000, for incitement to disturb social security. Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, the group’s co-founder who has been deported from Cambodia, was given the same sentence for being an accomplice.
Keoreaksmey, Kunthea and another activist tried in absentia, Chea Kunthin, were given 18 months and the same 4 million riel fine.
The court also issued arrest warrants against Gonzalez-Davidson and Kunthin and ordered the confiscation of materials belonging to them.
Ratha said aloud to reporters as he departed the courtroom: “This is very unjust. Sentencing people who just care about nature … they are very eager for trials.”
“The Khmer court is like this. Please tell people that we are still strong,” he said.
Defense lawyer Sam Chamroeun said he would discuss the verdict and a possible appeal with his clients.
Kunthea, Ratha and Keokeaksmey were arrested in September while planning a one-woman march by Kunthea to raise awareness about the infilling of Boeng Tamok, one of Phnom Penh’s last lakes.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- May 5, 2021
- Event Description
Vietnam’s security forces have arrested Mr. Nguyen Bao Tien, a shipper and a collaborator of the unregistered Liberal Publishing House (LPH), and charged him with “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code.
According to the state-controlled media, the Police Department of the central province of Phu Yen publicized the arrest and the criminal probe on May 5. The security forces were said to conduct a house search and confiscated dozens of books printed by LPH but considered harmful for the authoritarian regime in Vietnam.
According to the Phu Yen police, Mr. Tien, 35, participated in distribution of books illegally printed by LPH in August-October 2019. He was said to have received 68 postal boxes containing the illegally-printed, of which he handed over 24 to readers.
Phu Yen police said he was arrested recently while tried to send the books in a post office in Phu Yen province.
One day after the Phu Yen province’s police announced the arrest of Mr. Tien, LPH issued a statement confirming that Tien was among its collaborators, once time distributing its books when Vietnam’s authorities launched a campaign to halt activities of the unsanctioned publisher. It lost contact with him since early October 2019 while his Facebook and Whatsapp accounts were likely locked. The publisher suspected that the Phu Yen police arrested Tien in early October two years ago and kept him in police custody without informing his family.
Similar to other political cases, Mr. Tien will be held incommunicado for at least next four months.
LPH was established in February 2019 by a group of activists including prominent human rights defender and political blogger Pham Doan Trang who wrote a series of dissident books. It printed a dozens of books considered harmful to Vietnam’s authoritarian regime as their content is about human rights and democracy as well as bad nature of communism and communist regimes worldwide. Its uncensored products met great interest of Vietnam’s public. Due to its great work, in 2020, it was honored with Prix Voltaire of the International Publishers’ Association.
However, it met strong persecution from Vietnam’s security forces which detained several contributors of the publisher for interrogation. Some of them were brutally tortured in police custody and they were forced to relocate after being released or escaped from police. In October 7, Vietnam’s police arrested Ms. Pham Doan Trang on charges of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the Penal Code (1999) and Article 117 of the Criminal Code (2015).
Tien’s arrest may be linked to the detention of Ms. Trang who may face imprisonment of between seven to 12 years in prison, even to 20 years. Due to fierce suppression of the Vietnamese government and its internal issues, LPH was forced to suspend its operation in 2020.
If Tien was truly arrested on May 5 as the Phu Yen police said, he would be 11th activist being detained so far this year and the 5th alleged with “conducting anti-state propaganda” while other six were charged with “abusing democratic freedom” under Article 331 of the Criminal Code, according to Defend the Defenders’ statistics. As of May 5, Vietnam’s regime has convicted 14 activists and sentenced them to a total 106 years in prison and 21 years of probation.
With his arrest, the number of prisoners of conscience in Vietnam rose to 261, the latest statistics of Defend the Defenders showed.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- May 5, 2021
- Event Description
Vietnam’s authoritarian regime has convicted land rights activists and human rights defenders Can Thi Theu and her second son Trinh Ba Tu of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the country’s Criminal Code for their peaceful activities which aim to protest illegal land seizure in their locality and human rights advocacy for other victims of legal miscarriage.
The conviction was made by the People’s Court of Hoa Binh province in the first-hearing instance on May 5. The conviction was made by the People’s Court of Hoa Binh province in the first-hearing instance on May 5. The court sentenced them to eight years in prison and three years of probation each.
The province’s government deployed large numbers of riot policemen, police, plainclothes agents and militia to block all roads leading to the court areas. Only Theu’s daughter and daughter-in-law were allowed to enter the courtroom while her husband Trinh Ba Khiem and dozens of other land petitioners were kept in streets far from the court areas.
According to Saigon-based human rights lawyer Dang Dinh Manh who provided legal assistance for the mother and the son, when the judge asked their identity, both answered that they are victims of land grabbers and the communist regime.
Tu, 33, said he was insulted by procuror Vu Binh Minh during the pre-trial detention while Mrs. Theu said she was placed in a 7-square-meter cell with 9 others some of them are infected with HIV in the Hoa Binh temporary detention facility operated by the province’s Police Department.
The procuracy representative in the trial said Theu and Tu posted a number of video clips on their Facebook accounts with the content causing confusion among the public, however, the two activists said any ordinary people have been confused but only the regime’s officials who were involved in land grabbing. Their posts aim to tell the truth about illegal land seizure in Vietnam and the regime’s persecution against farmers who protest the land grabbing so the general public and the international community understand the ongoing situation in the country.
This will be the third time Mrs. Theu was convicted of controversial allegations. In 2014-2018, she was twice imprisoned for a total 35 months for protesting Hanoi’s authorities to grab farming land in Duong Noi commune, Ha Dong district where her family lives. She was imprisoned for “resisting on-duty state officials” or “causign public disorders.” Her husband Khiem was also jailed for “resisting on-duty state officials.”
After her release in 2016, Theu and her family including two sons Tu and Trinh Ba Phuong involved in advocacy for other land petitioners nationwide whose number mounts to thousands and gather in Hanoi to daily go the government agencies to submit their petitions. Before and after the bloody attack of 3,000 riot policemen in Dong Tam commune on January 9, 2020, the trio provided great support for Dong Tam land petitioners, including posting news on the case, meeting with foreign diplomats to update information, and calling for financial supports for the families of detainees after the raid.
In order to suppress the support of local activists given for land petitioners in Dong Tam, Vietnam’s authorities arrested a number of people, including prominent political blogger and world-recognized human rights defender Pham Doan Trang, human rights advocate Nguyen Thuy Hanh who set up and managed the 50K Fund, and four human rights campaigners Theu, Phuong, Tu, and former prisoner of conscience Nguyen Thi Tam, all the four from Duong Noi commune, Ha Dong district, Hanoi.
Mrs. Theu and Mr. Tu were arrested on June 24, 2020 by the police of Ha Son Binh province while Mr. Phuong was detained by the Hanoi Police Department on the same day. The mother and the younger son were held incommunicado since their arrests until a few months ago when they were permitted to meet their lawyers to prepare for defense while Mr. Phuong has yet to be allowed to meet with his relatives or lawyers.
Since their arrests, many foreign governments and international human rights organizations have condemned the Vietnamese government’s acts and urged Hanoi to release them immediately and unconditionally. However, Hanoi claims that they were not arrested for their human rights activities but crime activities harmful for the regime. Two days ahead of their trial, Human Rights Watch issued a statement urging Vietnam’s authoritarian regime to free them, saying Hanoi should not imprison those who tell the trust like Theu and her sons.
The ruling Communist Party of Vietnam conducted its 13th National Congress on January 25-February 1 this year to select the country’s leadership for the next five years. With many conservative figures of the regime such as General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, former Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc now becoming state president, and Minister of Public Security To Lam, it is likely the crackdown on the political dissidents, social activists and human rights defenders which has been intensified since late 2015 will continue. Vietnam’s human rights records are unlikely to be improved in coming years after former police general Pham Minh Chinh gained power to become the government leader while other former police generals continue to hold leading positions in the procuracy and the court systems.
Since the beginning of this year, Vietnam has arrested at least ten activists, mostly on controversial allegations in the National Security provisions of the Criminal Code. So far, it has convicted 14 activists and sentenced them to a total 106 years in prison and 21 years of probation. The toughest imprisonment of 15 years in prison and three years of probation was given to PhD. Pham Chi Dung, the president of the unregistered professional group Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam who was convicted of “conducting anti-state propaganda.”
According to Defend the Defenders’ latest statistics, Vietnam holds at least 261 prisoners of conscience. Hanoi always denies holding prisoners of conscience but only law violators.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 4, 2021
- Event Description
Cambodia’s Ministry of Information said local and foreign media coverage of the red zone has “confused the public and provoked social chaos that will lead to more COVID-19 spreading.”
“In order to protect social security and prevent COVID-19 from spreading, the Ministry of Information is advising journalists to halt all actions immediately,” it said in a statement issued Tuesday. “In the event that people continue to ignore this notice, [we] will take legal action.”
Ministry spokesman Meas Sophorn told RFA that journalists who went to “red zone” areas and broadcast live via social media made comments without any medical foundation that might risk the spread of the highly contagious virus. He also said that some reporters chased ambulances during live broadcasts.
“If they comply with the law, then they can continue their work,” he said.
Journalist Leng Det said even though he supports the ministry’s order, he wants the media to work with authorities so reporters can provide accurate news.
“In order to get accurate news, we need many sources,” he said. “We don’t have to chase ambulances and police to tell the news.”
Nop Vy, executive director of the Cambodian Journalists Alliance, said preventing the media from covering news in red zones will not be in villagers’ best interest, and he insisted that those who have received training on reporting on the coronavirus pandemic be allowed to cover news freely.
“I am very concerned that the ministry will completely ban journalists [from covering the red zone],” he said. “So far, journalists have broadcast about food shortages and people’s appeals to get food aid into the red zone. This has shown that journalists have contributed to disseminating news.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Censorship, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- May 4, 2021
- Event Description
Thai authorities should immediately investigate the killing of Somsak Onchuenjit, a lawyer and land rights activist, in Trang province in southern Thailand, Human Rights Watch said today. Successive Thai governments have failed to prevent or adequately respond to attacks against human rights defenders who represent landless farmers.
On May 4, 2021, at about 7:40 a.m., an unidentified gunman fatally shot Somsak, 54, while he was working in a rubber plantation near his home in Trang province’s Wangviset district. Somsak had recently told his family that he had been followed and was receiving death threats. But local authorities had neither investigated the threats nor arranged any measures to protect him.
“Thai authorities should not just stand by while grassroots activists in southern provinces are being murdered for standing up for their communities,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The Thai government should urgently conduct a credible and impartial investigation and bring those responsible for Somsak’s death to justice.”
Somsak had led a campaign for the right to agricultural land for poor villagers in his district. Over the past five months, conflicts in the area have intensified between local villagers who occupied oil palm plantations that no longer have valid leases with government agencies and private companies backed by local politicians. Community members told Human Rights Watch that police investigations into Somsak’s murder so far appear half-hearted and ineffectual.
During the past decade, at least five land rights activists in southern Thailand have been killed. All were leaders in campaigns seeking community ownership of agricultural land used by palm oil companies in which the lease with the government for the land had expired. The police have not made any serious progress in any of these cases. Meanwhile, the remaining activists constantly face harassment, physical intimidation, and a barrage of lawsuits filed by palm oil companies.
The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders calls on governments to take all necessary measures to protect human rights defenders against violence, threats, retaliation, and other abuses because of their work. International law recognizes government accountability for failing to protect people from rights abuses and violence by private actors. According to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, governments must not only protect people from violations of rights by government officials but “also against acts committed by private persons or entities that would impair the enjoyment” of their rights. A government may be violating human rights by “permitting or failing to take appropriate measures or to exercise due diligence to prevent, punish, investigate or redress the harm caused by such acts by private persons or entities.”
“The Thai government is failing in its obligation to seriously and effectively investigate deadly attacks against human rights advocates and hold those responsible to account,” Adams said. “With each new killing, Thailand slides further into lawlessness, and the government’s frequent claims to be protecting rights defenders ring hollow.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Land rights defender, Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- May 4, 2021
- Event Description
Aksi demo di depan rumah dinas Gubernur Sumatera Utara, Jalan Sudirman Medan, berakhir ricuh, Jumat (7/4/2021) sore. Massa terlibat keributan dengan Satpol PP dan Polisi.
Informasi yang dihimpun, unjuk rasa digelar massa yang tergabung dalam Aliansi Mahasiswa Peduli Kesejahteraan Sumatera Utara (AMPK Sumut).
Mereka menuntut Pergub No 1 Tahun 2021 tentang PBBKB yang menjadi penyebab naiknya harga BBM di Sumut, dicabut.
Tak lama massa melakukan orasi, personel Satpol dan kepolisian yang melakukan penjagaan langsung membubarkan aksi unjuk rasa.
Sekitar enam orang mahasiswa dibawa masuk ke mobil Sat Sabhara dan selanjutnya diboyong ke kantor polisi.
"Kami dibubarkan karena gak boleh demo di rumah dinas," kata salah seorang pengunjuk rasa Irham.
Koordinator Aksi Irwandi P Sembiring mengatakan, rencana unjuk rasa itu sudah diberitahukan melalui surat yang dikirim ke Polrestabes Medan pada 4 Mei 2021.
Dalam surat yang dilayangkan itu, mereka akan menggelar demo selama 6 hari berturut-turut, mulai Jumat hingga Rabu (7-12/5/21).
"Kita meminta Edy mencabut Pergub No 1, karena telah menyebabkan kenaikan harga BBM di Sumut, ditengah kondisi ekonomi masyarakat sedang sulit akibat pandemi seperti sekarang ini," ujar Irwandi.
Sementara itu, seorang jurnalis detikcom bernama Ahmad Arfah Fansuri Lubis disebut dipukul saat sedang melakukan tugas jurnalistik.
Saat itu, Arfa merekam kericuhan yang terjadi tersebut. Tiba-tiba ada yang menghalangi Arfah merekam video itu.
"Tadi awalnya aku ambil video (massa diamankan), ada yang pukul bagian belakang kepalaku, cukup keras. Pelaku dari satpol PP yang berjaga," kata Arfa saat dikonfirmasi.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- May 3, 2021
- Event Description
The Advocacy Team for democracy reported allegations of procedural violations, unlawful acts committed by Polda Metro Jaya in the 2021 National Education Day Action (Hardiknas). Quoted from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) website, aid Hukum.or.id, Saturday (29/5/ 2021), during the Education Day Action (Hardiknas), last May 3, 2021, the police force dispersed the mass of action consisting of students, students and workers. The dispersal was carried out at 17.00 WIB when student representatives were having an audience with the Director General of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education and Culture. “Police officers dispersed by means of violence and intimidation to the participants of the action. At that time, 9 participants in the action were arrested and named as suspects.
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- May 2, 2021
- Event Description
Two progressive leaders were arrested by state forces in simultaneous early morning raids in the provinces of Camarines Sur and Albay in Bicol region.
Sasah Sta. Rosa, spokesperson of youth group Jovenes Anakbayan was arrested at her home in Villa Obiedo, Cararayan, Naga City, Camarines Sur.
Anakbayan Naga City said in a Facebook post that at least 10 armed men came to Sta. Rosa’s house at 3 a.m. supposedly to serve a search warrant. They forced the family outside the house, then after 40 minutes, came out with a grenade, guns and a red flag.
In the same manner, in Albay, a team who identified themselves with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) served a search warrant to Pastor Dan Balucio, 61, of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines and spokesperson of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Bicol. The warrant was issued by Judge Edgar Armes, vice executive judge of the Regional Trial Court of Legazpi City. Karapatan Bikol said the Balucio family were made to lie on their stomach on the ground, while the police entered the house.
The Philippine National Police claimed they found a Remington .45 caliber pistol, seven bullets, two M-14 rifle magazines, a hand grenade, and a red flag at Balucio’s home.
Sta. Rosa is currently detained at the Naga city police substation 2. Balucio is detained at CIDG-Albay.
Police also raided the house of Justine Mesias, senior editor of student publication Cassipi Online and Youth Act Now Against Tyranny-Bicol spokesperson, in Daraga, Albay. at least 40 operatives from the PNP and CIDG forcibly entered the residence, pointed their guns at members of the Mesias family, and went through their belongings for two hours. A gun and explosive were allegedly found by the police and military in the said house. Mesias was not in the house at the time of the incident.
The arrests came just two weeks after two other Bicol activists were freed and acquitted of trumped-up murder charges. Jenelyn Nagrampa-Caballero, Gabriel’s national vice chairperson, and Pastor Dan San Andres, also of the UCCP and Karapatan-Bicol’s spokesperson, were arrested in July last year.
Human rights group Karapatan likened the incidents to the pattern of police raids in the operations conducted in Negros, Iloilo, Metro Manila, Central Luzon and the Bloody Sunday raids in Southern Tagalog.
Karapatan called on the Commission on Human Rights to conduct an investigation and the Supreme Court and the Department of Justice to immediately act on what it calls “disturbing pattern of use of the courts to judicially harass human rights defenders.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to property
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- May 2, 2021
- Event Description
College students altogether with the element of civil society organised a demonstration to express their notion in front of the Ministry of Education and Culture of Indonesia to commemorate Indonesia’s Educational Day on 2 May.
The rally was giving the oration and the symbolic action of giving ‘red card’ to the Ministry. The ‘red card’ expresses dissatisfaction with the mass action to the Ministry of Education and Culture which had been failed to errands their duty of educational services during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The rally went well and orderly until 16.52. Yet, the rally was dissolved forcefully by the police officer around 16.52, when the mass action was waiting for their friends who were having negotiation with the member of the Ministry of Education and Culture inside the ministry building.
The police officer continuously using excessive excuse to dissolve the mass action. Noticeably, they were using a water cannon and aim the mass action, also the other things, such as, forceful arrest and seize the sounding commando’s car of mass action which belongs to FSBN-KASBI (The Congress Alliance of Labour in Indonesia). It hasn’t stopped yet, the police were intimidating with violence to the mass action who were taping the dissolving scene and the violation act by the police.
The police officer continuously using excessive action to dissolve the mass action. Noticeably, they were using a water cannon and aim the mass action, also the other things, such as, forceful arrest and seize the sounding commando’s car of mass action which belongs to FSBN-KASBI (The Congress Alliance of Labour in Indonesia). It hasn’t stopped yet, the police were intimidating with violence to the mass action who were taping the dissolving scene and the violation act by the police.
For the record, the demonstration is considered as one of the human rights which allow us to express our notion in front of the public, freely. It is written and protected by the Law and Article 9 of 1998, also in the other regulation of law. For that reason, the excessive power of action, the violation and the forceful arrest by the police officer are being charged as the violation of the law. Eventually, it will reveal the repressive actions of the government who ought to protect their people that conduct mass action in the public.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
Shared by FA member
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- May 1, 2021
- Event Description
Twelve activists including youth leaders and a campus journalist have been released two days after they were arrested in Castillejos, Zambales on their way to a Labor Day protest.
Youth activists from the League of Filipino Students (LFS) Zambales and a journalist from College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) Central Luzon, along with their driver, were detained on Monday for “lack of social distancing.”
According to CEGP, the police threatened to expose the victims’ personal information and posted their photos on a Facebook page called “Makatarungan Battalion.” In its post, Makatarungan Battalion labeled the activists’ placards with calls such as “Stop the attacks” and “Solusyong medikal, hindi militar” as “anti-government slogans.”
“Even with legitimate calls and demands for a systematic solution to the pandemic, these organizations and the people involved are still branded with hostility,” CEGP said.
CEGP added that posting photos of the victims and their vehicle’s plate number without their consent violates their right to privacy.
The police and military also forced the victims to sign a document linking them to the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), CEGP said.
Kabataan Partylist said the Duterte government has chosen to address calls for a safe return to school, economic aid and a comprehensive Covid-19 plan with violence and repression.
LFS-Zambales called the arrest a “manifestation that the police and the military, who are fascist and mercenary in nature, shouldn’t be relied on to interpret terrorism.”
CEGP said, “As legitimate organizations are red-tagged and members are silenced and arrested, the point becomes clearer: that the Duterte administration cannot take truthful criticism and is hiding behind the state forces to stifle and arrest those who dare to speak up.”
The activists have been released on bail amounting to almost P72,00 collected through donation campaigns.
In a Facebook post, Free Zambales 12 Network said they will continue to campaign for the release of many other victims of illegal arrest and detention in the “government’s militaristic pandemic response.”
“As long as the current administration considers it a crime to forward the people’s demands during a pandemic, it only proves that its pandemic response is a failure and its only way of addressing it is attacking critics and progressives,” Kabataan Partylist said
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Online Attack and Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to privacy, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- May 1, 2021
- Event Description
Mr. Mongkol Thirakot was arrested at his home by police officer citing new arrest warrant alleging that he violated Computer Crime Act and lèse-majesté offences following his two Facebook posts related to monarchy from 8 – 9 April 2021. He was brought to police station for detention and the officer later denied his bail request วันที่ 1 พ.ค. 64 เวลาประมาณ 13.30 น. ศูนย์ทนายความเพื่อสิทธิมนุษยชนได้รับแจ้งว่า นายมงคล ถิระโคตร หรือ “บาส” พ่อค้าขายเสื้อผ้าออนไลน์และนักกิจกรรมจากจังหวัดเชียงราย ได้ถูกเจ้าหน้าที่ตำรวจ เข้าจับกุมจากบ้านพักในอำเภอพาน จังหวัดเชียงราย ตามหมายจับในข้อหาตามประมวลกฎหมายอาญามาตรา 112 และ พ.ร.บ.คอมพิวเตอร์ฯ ก่อนถูกนำตัวมายัง สภ.เมืองเชียงราย
ก่อนหน้านี้เมื่อวันที่ 14 เม.ย. 64 มงคลเคยถูกเจ้าหน้าที่ตำรวจจับกุมดำเนินคดีในทั้งสองข้อหานี้ หลังจากเดินทางไปนั่งอดอาหารประท้วงที่หน้าศาลอาญา เพื่อเรียกร้องสิทธิในการประกันตัวแกนนำราษฎร เขาถูกพนักงานสอบสวน สภ.เมืองเชียงราย แจ้งข้อหาจากการแชร์และโพสต์ข้อความ รวมทั้งคลิปเกี่ยวกับสถาบันกษัตริย์ในเฟซบุ๊กจำนวน 25 โพสต์ ในช่วงระหว่างวันที่ 2-11 มีนาคม 2564 ต่อมาศาลจังหวัดเชียงรายอนุญาตให้ปล่อยตัวชั่วคราวโดยใช้หลักทรัพย์จำนวน 1.5 แสนบาท
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- May 1, 2021
- Event Description
A total of 97 people were arrested during an action to commemorate International Labor Day at the Horse Statue area and the Office of the International Labor Organization (ILO), Central Jakarta, Saturday (1/5). This amount was obtained from a summary of statements submitted by the police until the May Day action ended at 17.05 WIB.
Police arrested 15 Papuan students who were about to hold a demonstration to commemorate International Labor Day at the Arjuna Wiwaha Statue, Central Jakarta. Head of Public Relations of Polda Metro Jaya, Commissioner Yusri Yunus said his party was securing it for administrative reasons. He said the students did not give notice before the action. Furthermore, the police arrested 22 Anarko. Yusri said the group was arrested when they were about to join the labor masses at the ILO Office. The arrests were also made to 30 students who are members of the Indonesian Catholic Student Association (PMKRI). Finally, the arrests were made to 30 students who had joined the Confederation of the Indonesian Trade Union Alliance Congress (KASBI) and the People's Labor Movement (Gebrak).
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 30, 2021
- Event Description
Kandal provincial authorities have told farmers to stop posting photos of vegetables spoiling in their fields without a market amid lockdowns as they were affecting morale, an official said.
Hor Sophal, deputy director of the Kandal department of agriculture, said his department had visited farmers in Sa’ang district on Friday. There were in fact vegetables that farmers could not find a market for due to the Covid-19 crisis and lockdowns in the major markets of Phnom Penh and Takhmao city, he said.
But the officials had told the farmers to stop posting pictures publicly because it affected the morale of other farmers and affected society, Sophal said.
“This is his second time, so we went to instruct him, and now he took note and said [he would] stop posting in public,” he said about Tai Song, one farmer who had been posting photos to Facebook.
Song has uploaded pictures about having to clear and throw away his vegetables amid the lockdown’s closure of markets.
Song told VOD that he had been pressured to sign a contract saying he would stop.
“I’m very disappointed and have nothing to say to them,” Song said. “I asked them to go take a look at the vegetables in my village, but they didn’t go to look. Hundreds of hectares of sugarcane will be plowed in the future as well, and there’s no less than thousands of tons of vegetables that they did not help to find a solution for. They just ordered me.”
“They no longer allowed me to post and use Facebook extensively. Me!” he continued. “I’m just a normal farmer. … I don’t know what they think that they ordered me like this.”
Another farmer, who gave his name only as Bunly, said several farmers had posted the photos so that authorities are aware of problems and can help find solutions.
“They came down to hide the difficulties of the farmers, so we don’t know what to say when they spoke those words. We are discouraged because we give them information so that they can help solve it, but instead they say that [our] posting is [intended] to pollute society,” he said. “There should be encouragement to farmers who are smart in urging superiors to help find a market. But they turned on us to tell us to end the sharing, and not say that there is no market. But every day, there really is no market.”
The letter Song signed says the farmer must first provide information to local authorities, not post it publicly. This is to avoid sharing incomplete information, misleading the public and undermining the efforts of officials, the letter says.
Photos showing the destruction of vegetables affect public morale and feeling, and the photos can incite discrimination, the letter says.
Incitement to discriminate is a criminal charge that applies to inciting malice or violence against a particular ethnicity, nationality, race or religion, and carries a prison term of up to three years.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Apr 29, 2021
- Event Description
The Criminal Court has once again denied bail for 7 activists detained on royal defamation charges under Section 112, one of whom is Parit Chiwarak, whose health is reported to be rapidly declining due to his hunger strike.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that its lawyers went to the Criminal Court today (29 April) to request bail again for Parit Chiwarak, Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, Anon Nampa, Chukiat Sangwong, and Parinya Cheewinkulpatom, who are detained pending trial on royal defamation charges under Section 112.
Parit, who has been detained for 80 days so far, has been on a hunger strike for the past 45 days to protest against the denial of bail for detained activists.
Lawyer Kritsadang Nutcharat said that one of the reasons for requesting bail is concern over the spread of Covid-19 in prisons, because even the court is concerned that the virus will spread among court officials. He also said that there is no more reason to keep the activists in detention, and that it would be acceptable if the court set a condition related with their trial. He also mentioned that the court previously granted bail for activists Jatupat Boonpattaraksa and Somyot Pruksakasemsuk.
He also said that he visited Parit on 28 April and spoke to him through teleconference. During the visit, Parit told Kritsadang that he has not been able to sleep, his skin is dry, and that he suffers from nausea and fatigue. Blood was also found in his stools, but he has not been sent to the Medical Correctional Institution to have his condition assessed.
Kritsadang said that, in addition to the bail request, they have also requested that the court allow Parit to be taken to Rama 9 Hospital for 30 days, because the hospital is better equiooed than the Medical Correctional Institution, and that the court may continue to detain him after the 30-day period, but the court has already dismissed that request.
Parit’s mother Sureerat Chiwarak also told reporters after she filed the bail request for her son that, while the Department of Corrections has denied that Parit's condition has worsened, she learned about his condition from what Parit said and Parit knows his own condition best.She also said that she does not want him to be treated at the Medical Correctional Institution, where many inmates with Covid-19 are being treated. She would like her son released so she can care for him herself, and asked how the authorities will take responsibility if anything happens to him.
"I will fight to the very end. I will not lose my son," Sureerat said.
Meanwhile, a crowd of supporters started forming in front of the Bangkok Criminal Court building on Ratchadapisek Road at 12.00. At 13.45, student activist Benja Apan and a group of other students came to the Criminal Court to submit an open letter demanding the release of detained activists, signed by over 10,000 people.
Benja said during a speech in front of the court building that the students acted because they would like society to improve and for the monarchy to co-exist with society under the law. They are not a threat to national security. They are living humans and are students in their 20's.
Benja called on the court to grant bail to the detained activists and release them, because they have not yet been declared guilty and should have their humanity returned to them.
At 15.02, since judge Chanathip Muanpawong did not come to receive the letter, Benja scattered pieces of paper printed with the names of 11,035 people who signed the letter on the steps to the court building, but was blocked from going inside by court officials.
The crowd waited in front of the court building throughout the afternoon. At 16.50, Benja announced to the crowd that the court has postponed the decision on the bail requests to Friday morning (30 April), and that the hearing will be held online.
She demanded that the court read the ruling in person that evening, and said that the student activist group United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration (UFTD) will also be moving their 'Stand Against Detention' event to the Criminal Court.
At 17.00, riot control police were seen lining up behind the Criminal Court building. They were seen arriving in several buses at around 16.30. However, their buses were blocked by the crowd and left the court after being stopped for around 5 minutes.
At 18.05, TLHR reported that the court denied bail for the activists on the ground that there is no reason to change existing court order.
The ruling was signed by judge Tawan Rodcharoen. Judge Tawan delivered the verdict in the Joe Gordon lèse majesté case in 2011. The Thai-born dual Thai-US citizen was convicted for translating parts of a banned book about the late King Rama IX and posting them on the Internet while in the United States. After repeated bail requests were denied, he pleaded guilty and was given a 5-year sentence, reduced by half because of his guilty plea.
The crowd then moved to the footpath in front of the Criminal Court, where they lit candles and gave speeches to protest against the denial of bail for detained activists and said they will stay until the activists are released.
However, the UFTD announced at around 22.00 that the activities have ended for the day and for people to return tomorrow (30 April).
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 29, 2021
- Event Description
About 100 residents in a Phnom Penh lockdown zone protested for food on Thursday night, according to a witness, as the local commune chief labeled the protesters an “opposition group” who are “not poor” and “give the authorities headaches.”
Stung Meanchey II commune chief Touch Sam Ol, in Meanchey district, said the protest was in Phneat village, and authorities would be distributing food to the residents on Friday morning.
“We hadn’t been able to [distribute food] in time for them because there have been too many and the supplies have not arrived on time, and there has been only rice so we couldn’t distribute just rice,” Sam Ol said late Thursday.
However, he said there was a “mastermind” behind the protest.
“In short, they are an opposition group and they are not poor,” he said. “The majority are rich, and firstly they were angry with us because we blocked the road … and they could not earn money to support their living.”
A few of the protesters had even received gifts of food from the state already, he added. “It gives the authorities headaches,” he said.
He also denied that the residents were hungry.
“The most important issue is the blocking of the road, which means they cannot do their business,” he said. “So they linked the blocking of the road with starvation.”
Stung Meanchey II is part of Phnom Penh’s red-zone restrictions due to high numbers of Covid-19 cases linked to garment factory workers living there. The government shut down markets and initially said the Commerce Ministry would take over all food sales in red zones, though local authorities have since allowed some vendors to sell in open, outdoor areas. The government has also set up a Telegram group so people in need can ask for donations for food, and it has been flooded with thousands of messages.
Mao Thora, a restaurant worker near Thursday’s protest, said about 100 people had gathered on the street, some carrying banners saying “My village is starving.”
The protesters had said the village had yet to receive food donations from the state, and without the ability to run their businesses they couldn’t pay rent, according to Thora. Some were workers who could not get to their workplaces, while others were small business owners who had been forced to suspend their operations, she said.
“It was crowded so I did not go very close to them since I am afraid of infection since I am in the red zone. They gathered and protested to demand that the authorities quickly provide food donations for them,” she said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Offline, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Apr 27, 2021
- Event Description
Student activist Wanwalee Thammasattaya has been detained pending trial on a royal defamation charge relating to a protest on 6 December 2020.
On Tuesday (27 April), the public prosecutor filed a case against Wanwalee and activist Chukiat “Justin” Saengwong in a royal defamation charge relating to speeches given during a protest at Wongwian Yai on 6 December 2020.
Thanakorn (last name withheld), 17, is also facing charges in the same case, but as he is a minor, his case is being processed by the Central Juvenile and Family Court. He will have to report to the prosecutor on 24 May 2021 to hear whether the prosecutor will file a case against him.
Meanwhile, Chukiat is currently being detained pending trial on another Section 112 charge. He has been in prison since 23 March.
The complaints against them was filed by Chakrapong Klinkaew, leader of the royalist group People Protecting the Institution.
The Thonburi Criminal Court ordered Wanwalee to be detained pending trial, and denied her request for bail with a security of 200,000 baht on the ground that the plaintiff objected to granting her bail and that she is likely to flee, since she is facing several counts on the same charge.
Wanwalee is facing 2 other counts under Section 112 for a speech given at a protest in front of the Siam Commercial Bank headquarters on 25 November 2020 and for posting a picture of a protest banner containing a message about the monarchy on her Facebook page on 21 November 2020.
Wanwalee is being detained at the Thonburi Women Correctional Institution, making her the 17th person to be detained pending trial in cases relating to political expression.
Of these 17 people, 10 are being detained pending trial on a Section 112 charge. Other than Wanwalee and Chukiat, Parit Chiwarak, Anon Nampa, Chaiamorn “Ammy” Kaewwiboonpan, Parinya “Fort” Cheewinkulpatom, Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, Panupong Jadnok, Piyarat Chongthep, and Phromsorn Weerathamjaree are currently in detention.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Apr 27, 2021
- Event Description
The Thai police came to the Bangkok Remand Prison and additional filed lèse-majesté and Sedition charges against Mr. Chiwarak and Mr. Nampa following their involvement in the peaceful gathering on 29 November 2020
27 เมษายน 2564 เวลา 10.30 น. ที่เรือนจำพิเศษกรุงเทพฯ พ.ต.ท.สราวุธ บุตรดี รองผู้กํากับการ (สอบสวน) สน.บางเขน ในฐานะคณะพนักงานสืบสวนสอบสวนตามคำสั่ง บก.น.2 ที่ 101/2564 เดินทางเข้าแจ้งข้อกล่าวหากับ “เพนกวิน” พริษฐ์ ชิวารักษ์ และ อานนท์ นำภา จากการจัดขบวนแห่และขึ้นกล่าวปราศรัยให้กำลังใจ 8 ผู้ต้องหา ผู้ได้รับหมายเรียกในความผิดตามประมวลกฎหมายอาญา มาตรา 112 และมาตรา 116 ในคดี #ม็อบ29พฤศจิกา ซึ่งทั้ง 8 คนเดินไปทางไปรับทราบข้อกล่าวหาที่ สน.บางเขน เมื่อวันที่ 21 ธันวาคม 2563
ในวันนี้เป็นการแจ้งข้อกล่าวหาผ่านวิดิโอคอนเฟอเรนซ์ในห้องเยี่ยมของทนาย โดยมีทนายความ และผู้ไว้วางใจเข้าร่วมรับฟังด้วย
บันทึกแจ้งข้อกล่าวหาระบุว่า คดีนี้เริ่มมาจากการชุมนุมที่หน้ากรมทหารราบที่ 11 เมื่อวันที่ 29 พฤศจิกายน 2563 โดยมีวัตถุประสงค์ในการปราศรัยเรื่อง การปลดอาวุธศักดินาไทย ซึ่งเกี่ยวข้องกับสถาบันกษัตริย์ มีแกนนําที่ถูกดําเนินคดีในการชุมนุมในคราวนั้นรวม 8 ราย ได้แก่ อานนท์ นำภา, พริษฐ์ ชิวารักษ์, ชินวัตร จันทร์กระจ่าง, สมยศ พฤกษาเกษมสุข, พรหมศร วีระธรรมจารี, พิมพ์สิริ เพ็ชรน้ำรอบ, ณัฏฐธิดา มีวังปลา และอินทิรา เจริญปุระ ทั้งหมดถูกหมายเรียกให้มาพบพนักงานสอบสวนเพื่อรับทราบข้อกล่าวหาที่ สน.บางเขน ในวันที่ 21 ธันวาคม 2563 เวลา 10.00 น.
ต่อมา เมื่อวันที่ 21 ธันวาคม 2563 อานนท์และพริษฐ์ได้เดินทางมาถึงที่บริเวณลานจอดรถด้านหน้า สน.บางเขน หลังจากนั้นแกนนําในกลุ่มผู้ชุมนุมนี้ได้ผลัดเปลี่ยนกันขึ้นเวทีปราศรัย โดยอานนท์ได้ขึ้นปราศรัยมีเนื้อหาพาดพิงสถาบันกษัตริย์ รายละเอียดคำปราศรัย ในบันทึกแจ้งข้อกล่าวหาตอนหนึ่งระบุว่า
“…เขาบอกว่าการต่อสู้ของพวกเราครั้งนี้ อันนี้เรียนตามตรงมันเลี่ยงที่จะโดน 112 ไม่ได้ เลี่ยงไม่ได้เพราะอะไรก็เพราะว่าพวกเรา มาชี้ข้อบกพร่องของสถาบันกษัตริย์ มันเลี่ยงไม่ได้ที่จะพูดถึงข้อดีมันต้องพูดถึงข้อเสีย เพราะอย่างนั้นจะไม่มีการปฏิรูป ทรงพระเจริญ ทรงพระเจริญ อย่างเดียว แล้วจะเอาข้อมูลอะไรไปปฏิรูป ….ถ้าผมไม่พูดถึงสถาบันกษัตริย์แล้วท่านจะปรับตัวได้อย่างไร ในเมื่อมีแต่คนสรรเสริญเยินยอ วันนี้เรามาพูดแทนพี่น้องทั้ง ประเทศ เพื่อให้สถาบันกษัตริย์ปฏิรูปมันไม่ใช่การล้มล้าง ผมเรียนตั้งแต่ต้นมันไม่ใช่การล้มล้าง อย่ามากล่าวหากัน แต่ถ้าท่านไม่ยอมปฏิรูปปีหน้าเจอกัน”
“ทําไมเราต้องมาเรียกร้องให้ปฏิรูปสถาบันกษัตริย์ เพราะว่าเรายังเห็น ณ วันนี้ ว่าบ้านเมืองเรามันเป็นประชาธิปไตยที่มีกษัตริย์เป็นประมุขยังทําได้ เราจึงเรียกร้องให้มีการปฏิรูป… นอกจากหลักธรรมของกษัตริย์แล้ว การละเมิดต่อกฎหมายที่เราคิดว่าท่านทำผิดท่านต้องปรับปรุงตัว การเอากองกำลังทหารเป็นของตัวเองอันนี้คือเรื่องผิด และการเอาทรัพย์สินซึ่งเป็นสาธารณะไปเป็นของตนอันนี้ก็ขัดหลักการเต็มๆ…”
“…ใครก็ตามที่ไม่ทรงพระเจริญ ใครก็ตามที่ไม่ใส่เสื้อเหลืองมีโอกาสโดนทุกคนถ้าพูดความจริง และถ้าไม่ยกเลิก 112 ไม่มีทางปฏิรูปสถาบันกษัตริย์ได้ เพราะเราจะไม่สามารถบอกว่าอันนี้มันมีอะไรบกพร่อง ถ้าติไม่ได้ ชมอย่างเดียว มันพาเราลงเหวรถคันนี้ นั่นคือเหตุผล จะแจ้งจับก็เชิญ เราก็พร้อมสู้คดี ขอบคุณดังๆ ไปยังศาลยุติธรรมด้วยที่ตํารวจไปขอออกหมายจับแล้วศาลไม่ออกให้ บอกว่าไอ้คนพวกนี้มันเป็นคนมีวินัย ออกหมายเรียกเราก็ไปเจอ ใช่ไม่ใช่ แล้วเจอกันที่ศาลครับพี่น้องตํารวจ เราจะเอารูปทุกรูปเกี่ยวกับสถาบันกษัตริย์ ข้อมูลทุกอย่างไปนําเสนอที่ศาล แล้วเจอกัน ท่านอย่าอ้าปากหวอเมื่อเจอรูปเหล่านั้น”
ความเห็นโดยสรุปของพนักงานสอบสวนระบุว่า จากคําปราศรัยของอานนท์มีเนื้อหาเป็นการวิพากษ์วิจารณ์พระราชอํานาจของพระมหากษัตริย์ ทําให้ผู้ที่ได้ฟังเข้าใจว่า ผู้พูดกําลังพูดถึงรัชกาลที่ 10 รัชกาลปัจจุบัน โดยเนื้อหาทั้งหมดเป็นการกล่าวพาดพิง ให้ร้ายต่อองค์พระมหากษัตริย์ ว่าเป็นการยักยอกเอาทรัพย์สินซึ่งเป็นสาธารณะไปเป็นของตนเอง มุ่งให้ผู้ฟังเกิดความเข้าใจผิดพลาดคลาดเคลื่อน สร้างความเสื่อมศรัทธาให้เกิดขึ้นในหมู่ชน จึงเป็นการร่วมกันหมิ่นพระบรมเดชานุภาพ ดูหมิ่น หมิ่นประมาท รัชกาลที่ 10 ทําให้สถาบันพระมหากษัตริย์ได้รับความเสียหาย
ส่วนบันทึกแจ้งข้อกล่าวหาของ “เพนกวิน” พริษฐ์ ระบุเช่นเดียวกันว่า คําปราศรัยของพริษฐ์ มีเนื้อหาเป็นการวิพากษ์วิจารณ์พระราชอํานาจของพระมหากษัตริย์ ทําให้ผู้ที่ได้ฟังเข้าใจว่า ผู้พูดกําลังพูดถึงรัชกาลที่ 10 รัชกาลปัจจุบัน เนื่องจากมีการใช้คําว่า “พระวชิรเกล้าเจ้าอยู่หัว” โดยมุ่งชี้ประเด็นการโอนกําลังพลราบ 11 รักษาพระองค์ และราบ 1 รักษาพระองค์ ไปสังกัดภายใต้บังคับบัญชาของพระองค์ เป็นการวิพากษ์วิจารณ์ก้าวล่วงพระราชอํานาจของพระมหากษัตริย์โดยตรง
ทั้งมีการกล่าวหาว่าทรงเป็นฆาตกร หรือผู้อยู่เบื้องหลังกรณีการอุ้มหายของบุคคลต่างๆ โดยมีการพูดเพื่อให้ผู้ฟังคล้อยตามโดยขาดพยานหลักฐาน มีการเปรียบเทียบให้เป็นกองกําลังของฮิตเลอร์ โดยเนื้อหาทั้งหมดเป็นการกล่าวพาดพิง ให้ร้ายต่อองค์พระมหากษัตริย์ ทั้งเป็นการกล่าวหาที่มุ่งให้ผู้ฟังเกิดความเข้าใจผิดพลาดคลาดเคลื่อน สร้างความเสื่อมศรัทธาให้เกิดขึ้นในหมู่ชน จึงเป็นการร่วมกันหมิ่นพระบรมเดชานุภาพ ดูหมิ่น หมิ่นประมาท รัชกาลที่ 10 ทําให้สถาบันพระมหากษัตริย์ได้รับความเสียหาย
พ.ต.ท.สราวุธ บุตรดี จึงได้แจ้งข้อกล่าวเพนกวินและอานนท์ รวม 5 ข้อหา คือ
ร่วมกันหมิ่นประมาท ดูหมิ่น หรือแสดงความอาฆาตมาดร้ายพระมาหกษัตริย์ ตามประมวลกฎหมายอาญา มาตรา 112
ร่วมกันเป็นผู้จัดการชุมนุมสาธารณะโดยไม่แจ้งการชุมนุมฯ ฝ่าฝืน พ.ร.บ.การชุมนุมสาธารณะฯ มาตรา 10 ร่วมกันชุมนุมสาธารณะโดยกีดขวางทางเข้าออกหรือรบกวนการปฏิบัติงานของหน่วยงานของรัฐ ฝ่าฝืน พ.ร.บ.การชุมนุมสาธารณะฯ มาตรา 8 ร่วมกันใช้เครื่องขยายเสียงโดยไม่ได้รับอนุญาต ฝ่าฝืน พ.ร.บ.ควบคุมการโฆษณาโดยใช้เครื่องขยายเสียงฯ มาตรา 4 ร่วมกันกระทําการหรือดําเนินการใด ๆ ซึ่งอาจก่อให้เกิดสภาวะที่ไม่ถูกสุขลักษณะ ซึ่งอาจเป็นเหตุให้โรคติดต่อแพร่ออกไป ฝ่าฝืน พ.ร.บ.โรคติดต่อฯ มาตรา 34 (6) อานนท์และพริษฐ์ให้การปฎิเสธตลอดข้อกล่าวหา และจะให้การเป็นหนังสือภายใน 30 วันเพนกวินยังได้บันทึกหมายเหตุด้วยปากกาไว้ท้ายบันทึกแจ้งข้อกล่าวหาว่า “ข้าพเจ้าขอยืนยันว่าปัจจุบันข้าพเจ้าถูกควบคุมอยู่ที่เรือนจำพิเศษกรุงเทพมหานคร ไม่ได้มีเจตนาจะหลบหนีหรือจะไปยุ่งเหยิงกับพยานหลักฐาน หรือจะไปก่อเหตุภยันตรายประการอื่น หากพนักงานสอบสวนจะสอบสวนเพิ่มเติมหรือกำหนดนัดอื่น ข้าพเจ้าก็พร้อมที่จะเดินทางไปพบพนักงานสอบสวน และหากพนักงานสอบสวนมีหมายจับก็ขอให้แสดงต่อข้าพเจ้าในวันนี้”
ทั้งนี้ การจัดกิจกรรมหน้า สน.บางเขน เพื่อให้กำลังใจนักกิจกรรม ที่เดินทางเข้ารับทราบข้อกล่าวหาตามมาตรา 112 ในวันที่ 21 ธันวาคม 2563 นี้ พ.ต.ท.อนันต์ วรสาตร์ รองผู้กำกับสืบสวน สน.บางเขน ได้แจ้งความให้ดำเนินคดีนักกิจกรรมรวม 7 ราย ได้แก่ อานนท์ นำภา, “เพนกวิน” พริษฐ์ ชิวารักษ์, “ไมค์” ภาณุพงศ์ จาดนอก, “ฟ้า” พรหมศร วีระธรรมจารี, ชินวัตร จันทร์กระจ่าง, วรรณวลี ธรรมสัตยา และพิมพ์สิริ เพชรน้ำรอบ โดย 5 ราย เป็นผู้ที่เข้ารับทราบข้อกล่าวหาในวันดังกล่าวและถูกดำเนินคดีอีกคดี ได้แก่ อานนท์, พริษฐ์, พรหมศร, ชินวัตร และพิมพ์สิริ
โดยเฉพาะอานนท์, พริษฐ์ และชินวัตร ถูกดำเนินคดีตามมาตรา 112 ซ้ำอีกคดี จากการจากการหยิบยกเนื้อหาคำปราศรัยในประเด็น “ปฏิรูปสถาบันกษัตริย์” ที่หน้ากรมทหารราบที่ 11 เมื่อวันที่ 29 พฤศจิกายน 2563 ซึ่งเป็นเหตุให้ถูกดำเนินคดี 112 และต้องเข้ารับทราบข้อกล่าวหาในวันนั้น
สวนภาณุพงศ์, พรหมศร, วรรณวลี และพิมพ์สิริ ถูกดำเนินคดีใน 4 ข้อหา ตาม พ.ร.บ.การชุมนุมสาธารณะฯ และอื่นๆ
ก่อนหน้านี้ ชินวัตร, วรรณวลี และพิมพ์สิริ ได้เดินทางเข้ารับทราบข้อกล่าวหาตามหมายเรียกแล้ว ขณะที่ผู้ถูกออกหมายเรียกอีก 4 ราย ถูกคุมขังอยู่ในเรือนจำ ได้แก่ ภาณุพงศ์, พรหมศร, อานนท์ และพริษฐ์ พนักงานสอบสอนได้ทยอยเข้าแจ้งข้อกล่าวหาจนครบแล้ว
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender, Student, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Apr 27, 2021
- Event Description
Ms. Chonthicha Jaengreaw and Ms. Chokechai Rompreuk were summoned to acknowledge the charges against them following their involvement in peaceful rally and gathering on 6 March 2021 in front of the Bangkok Criminal Court that called for the release of lèse-majesté detainees. They were alleged for violating Emergency Decree and Road Traffic Act
วันนี้ (27 เม.ย. 64) ที่ สน.พหลโยธิน 2 นักกิจกรรม ได้แก่ “ลูกเกด” ชลธิชา แจ้งเร็ว และ “อาเล็ก” โชคชัย ร่มพฤกษ์ ได้เข้ารับทราบ 2 ข้อกล่าวหา ฐานฝ่าฝืนข้อกำหนดตาม พ.ร.ก.ฉุกเฉินฯ และเดินขบวนกีดขวางการจราจร ตาม พ.ร.บ.จราจรทางบกฯ จากกรณีร่วมกิจกรรม #ม็อบ6มีนา ที่หน้าศาลอาญารัชดา
ที่มาของคดีนี้เกิดจากการชุมนุม กิจกรรม #ขยะในพระปรมาภิไธย หรือ #ม็อบ6มีนา ในวันที่ 6 มี.ค. 64 จัดขึ้นโดยกลุ่ม REDEM ซึ่งนัดรวมตัวกันบริเวณห้าแยกลาดพร้าว เพื่อเดินขบวนไปยังศาลอาญา รัชดาฯ จุดประสงค์เพื่อทำกิจกรรมเชิงสัญลักษณ์ นําขยะไปทิ้งหน้าศาลอาญา พร้อมเรียกร้องให้ปล่อยตัว 4 แกนนำราษฎรซึ่งถูกคุมขังระหว่างพิจารณาคดีมาตรา 112 จากการชุมนุม 19 กันยาทวงอำนาจคืนราษฎร ก่อนยุติการชุมนุมในเวลา 21.00 น.
ก่อนหน้านี้นักกิจกรรมทั้งสองราย ได้รับหมายเรียกในคดีที่มี พ.ต.ท.ธเนศ ศรีจำปา เป็นผู้กล่าวหา โดยทราบว่าพนักงานสอบสวนมีการออกหมายเรียกผู้ชุมนุมสามราย นอกจากชลธิชาและโชคชัยแล้ว ยังมีการออกหมายเรียก “พรชัย” ผู้ถูกดำเนินคดีมาตรา 112 ซึ่งเพิ่งได้รับการปล่อยตัวจากเรือนจำกลางเชียงใหม่ เมื่อวันที่ 23 เม.ย. ที่ผ่านมา และพบว่าตนเองติดเชื้อโควิดจากเรือนจำ ทำให้ไม่สามารถเดินทางมาตามนัดได้
พ.ต.ท. ศักดินาถ หนูฉ้ง สารวัตร (สอบสวน) สน.พหลโยธิน เป็นผู้แจ้งข้อกล่าวหาและพฤติการณ์ในคดี มีเนื้อหาโดยสรุปว่าเมื่อวันที่ 6 มี.ค. 64 ผู้ชุมนุมของกลุ่ม REDEM ได้รวมตัวกันบริเวณแยกลาดพร้าว มีการจัดกิจกรรมแสดงดนตรี กระทั่งเวลาประมาณ 16.00 น. กลุ่มมวลชนดังกล่าวได้ลงพื้นผิวจราจร ทําให้ประชาชนเกิดความไม่สะดวกที่จะใช้ทางสาธารณะ โดยตั้งแถวเดินขบวนจากห้าแยกลาดพร้าวมุ่งหน้าสี่แยกรัชโยธิน เดินไปตามถนนรัชดาภิเษก ไปยังศาลอาญา และผู้ชุมนุมของกลุ่ม REDEM ประมาณ 1,700 คน ได้มีการชุมนุมอยู่หน้าศาลอาญา และทํากิจกรรมนําขยะไปทิ้ง และเผาขยะเป็นเชิงสัญลักษณ์
การร่วมกันชุมนุม หรือทํากิจกรรมดังกล่าวข้างต้น เป็นการทํากิจกรรมที่มีการรวมคนที่มีความแออัด ในลักษณะที่เสี่ยงต่อการแพร่ระบาดและอาจเป็นสาเหตุที่ก่อให้เกิดโรคโควิด-19 ซึ่งมีผู้เข้าร่วมจํานวนมาก และมีโอกาสติดต่อสัมผัสกันโดยง่ายในพื้นที่กรุงเทพมหานคร อันเป็นการเสี่ยงต่อการแพร่ระบาดของเชื้อไวรัส ซึ่งการร่วมกันชุมนุมที่ไม่เป็นไปตามมาตรการป้องกันโรคที่ทางราชการกําหนด เป็นความผิดตามประกาศหัวหน้าผู้รับผิดชอบในการแก้ไขสถานการณ์ฉุกเฉินใน ส่วนที่เกี่ยวกับความมั่นคง (ฉบับที่ 5) เรื่องห้ามการชุมนุม การทํากิจกรรม การมั่วสุม ตามข้อกําหนดออกตามความในมาตรา 6 แห่ง พ.ร.ก.ฉุกเฉินฯ พ.ศ. 2548 ซึ่งผู้ต้องหาได้เข้าร่วมการชุมนุมในการจัดกิจกรรมดังกล่าวข้างต้น
พนักงานสอบสวน สภ.พหลโยธิน จึงได้แจ้งข้อกล่าวหาแก่ผู้ต้องหาหาทั้งสอง ทั้งหมด 2 ข้อหา ได้แก่
ฝ่าฝืนข้อกำหนดตาม พ.ร.ก.ฉุกเฉินฯ ร่วมกันจัดให้มีกิจกรรมซึ่งมีผู้เข้าร่วมเป็นจำนวนมากในลักษณะมั่วสุมกัน หรือมีโอกาสติดต่อสัมผัสกันง่าย ชุมนุมทำกิจกรรมหรือมั่วสุมกัน ณ ที่ใดๆ ในสถานที่แออัด หรือกระทำการดังกล่าวอันเป็นการยุยงให้เกิดความไม่สงบเรียบร้อย หรือในลักษณะที่เสี่ยงต่อการแพร่เชื้อโรค โทษจำคุกไม่เกิน 2 ปี หรือปรับไม่เกิน 40,000 บาท หรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ ฝ่าฝืน พ.ร.บ.จราจรทางบกฯ มาตรา 108 ร่วมกันเดินเป็นขบวนแห่ หรือเดินเป็นขบวนใดๆ ในลักษณะที่เป็นการกีดขวางการจราจร ต้องระวางโทษปรับไม่เกิน 500 บาท เบื้องต้นทั้งสองรายให้การปฎิเสธตลอดทุกข้อกล่าวหา โดยชลธิชาไม่ได้ลงลายมือชื่อในบันทึกแจ้งข้อกล่าวหา และทั้งคู่จะให้การเพิ่มเติมเป็นหนังสือภายใน 20 วัน
พนักงานสอบสวนได้นัดส่งตัวผู้ต้องหาให้กับพนักงานอัยการต่อไปในวันที่ 21 พ.ค. 64 เวลา 10.30 น.
ทั้งนี้น่าสังเกตว่าผู้ถูกออกหมายเรียกทั้งสามคนไม่ได้เป็นผู้จัดกิจกรรมการชุมนุมดังกล่าวแต่อย่างใด ขณะเดียวกันรูปแบบการชุมนุมของกลุ่ม REDEM ก่อนหน้านี้ก็ไม่ได้มีแกนนำที่ชัดเจน ทำให้ไม่ทราบแน่ชัดว่าเจ้าหน้าที่อาศัยหลักเกณฑ์ใดในการกล่าวหาหรือดำเนินคดีบุคคล ในกิจกรรมซึ่งมีผู้เข้าร่วมจำนวนมาก
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Apr 26, 2021
- Event Description
Myanmar’s military junta should immediately stop threatening the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a leading human rights monitoring group, Human Rights Watch said today. The group has documented security force abuses since the February 1, 2021 coup, including killings of protesters, arbitrary arrests and detentions, enforced disappearances, and unjust court convictions.
On April 26, the Home Affairs Ministry of the ruling State Administration Council (SAC) accused the AAPP of operating illegally because it was not registered as an organization. The junta’s announcement threatened “severe action” against the group for causing “State service personnel and public panic” that will “incite the occurrence of more riots” and “harm State stability, rule of law and restoration of law and order.” “While the world’s media and diplomats regularly cite the AAPP’s daily updates on the military crackdown, Myanmar’s generals are desperately trying to silence the group to keep the truth from getting out,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The threats are part of the junta’s shroud of silence and censorship, targeting frontline groups like AAPP, arresting journalists, and shutting down the internet.”
The junta’s efforts to target the AAPP are illustrated in the 115-page briefing paper, obtained by Human Rights Watch, that the junta leader, Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, presented to leaders at the ASEAN summit in Jakarta on April 24. Min Aung Hlaing claimed, without providing evidence, that the AAPP uses “data” that “appeared in fake and hoax news.” He added that the junta was “very upset” that “world media and international organizations restated” that information.
Responding to the allegations, AAPP Secretary-General Bo Kyi, a recipient of the Human Rights Watch Alison des Forges Defender Award in 2009, told The Irrawaddy magazine that: “I think it is just a political move as international governments, media and UN are referencing our data … The key issue is the violence they have committed, their killing and arrests. Instead of solving those problems, they are targeting a group like ours which is revealing the true events.” The AAPP told Human Rights Watch that the military’s threats have forced them to close their office in Yangon and compelled their staff to go into hiding and work from undisclosed locations. The junta has also arbitrarily arrested journalists to prevent reporting on the opposition Civil Disobedience Movement’s broad-based resistance to the coup and the security force abuses. UNESCO reported that the junta has arrested at least 71 journalists since the coup. The AAPP says that 48 journalists are currently known to be in detention, most in undisclosed locations without access to their families or legal counsel. Many other journalists have fled to border regions controlled by ethnic groups, or to neighboring countries.
The junta has brought charges against numerous journalists and activists under revised penal code provisions adopted on February 14. The State Administration Council inserted a new provision, section 505A, that could be used to punish comments regarding the illegitimacy of the coup or the military government, among others. The new section would criminalize comments that “cause fear,” spread “false news, [or] agitates directly or indirectly a criminal offense against a Government employee.” Violation of the section is punishable with up to three years in prison. The law arbitrarily interferes with the exercise of rights protected under international law, including freedom of expression.
The junta has also increased pressure on independent media outlets by revoking their operating licenses. On March 8, the State Administration Council announced that it had cancelled the licenses of Mizzima, Myanmar Now, 7Day News, Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), and Khit Thit Media. While these media groups have continued to report on events, they do so at great risk since journalists working for these outlets face immediate arrest if they are discovered doing their jobs as reporters.
“Groups like the AAPP and the independent media are playing a critical role holding Myanmar’s junta accountable, and they need to be able to continue their work,” Robertson said. “Governments concerned about the deteriorating human rights situation in Myanmar should be offering public support for these organizations and their brave staff members.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- NGO, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Apr 25, 2021
- Event Description
On April 25, union officers from manufacturing company Sun Logistics, Inc. were visited by police officers to “urge” them to disaffiliate their union from the labor federation Organized Labor Associations in Line Industries and Agriculture (OLALIA-KMU). According to the police, the unionists will be “arrested like Nedo” should they fail to comply.
Arnedo “Nedo” Lagunias was an officer in Honda Cars and a current officer of Alyansa ng Manggagawa sa Engklabo (AMEN). On March 4, police officers conducted a raid in his home and charged him with illegal possession of firearms and explosives. He is currently detained in Camp Vicente Lim in Calamba.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Apr 24, 2021
- Event Description
The junta’s forces raided a monastery in Sagain Region’s Yinmabin township on Saturday afternoon in search of a monk who has led anti-coup protests in the area.
Soldiers destroyed a bamboo building in the compound and confiscated 20 computers that were being used to teach students IT skills during the raid at Thabyay Aye village.
The monk they were searching for, Thaw Pa Ka, was not at the monastery at the time.
“The compound is covered with military boot prints,” Thaw Pa Ka told Myanmar Now. “A load of them showed up and started searching the place, even in the toilets.”
They also searched through boxes where novice monks kept their belongings, he added.
Thaw Pa Ka took part in the Saffron Revolution in 2007. He has lived in Thabyay Aye for about 10 years.
Saturday’s raid was the second time this month that the regime’s forces have tried to capture the monk.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Apr 24, 2021
- Event Description
Chukiat ‘Justin’ Sangwong, a leading figure in the Thai pro-democracy protests, has tested positive for Covid-19 while in detention as a suspect under the lèse majesté law, the Department of Corrections confirmed on 24 April.
According to the Department, Chukiat was taken to the Medical Correctional Institution on 24 April for treatment and his contacts have been isolated.
Thawatchai Chaiwat, the Department spokesperson, said that 9 officers and 26 detainees had been in contact with Chukiat. However, they have all tested negative according to results released on 25 April.
The detainees in close contact with Chukiat include leading figures in the democratic movement such as Parit Chiwarak, Anon Nampa, and Chai-amorn Kaewwiboonpan. Had they been infected, they would have added to the total of 1 officer and 9 detainees infected in Bangkok Remand Prison.
Among people at risk, Parit Chiwarak is of special concern. He was reaching the 42nd day of a hunger strike to demand the release of political activists on bail.
Sureerat Chiwarak, his mother, said before her son’s test result came out that she was consulting with his lawyer to immediately request bail again. Bail for Parit has already been rejected 10 times for what the court claims to be the possibility of re-offending against the sedition and lèse majesté laws.
Another leading figure of the democratic movement, Jatupat ‘Pai’ Boonpattararaksa, slept near to Chukiat before he was released on bail on 23 April. He and the court officers who processed his bail were ordered by the Department to report their health status and refrain from travelling.
Even though all others have tested negative, Thawatchai said that they will be put into 14-day quarantine just to make sure they are safe. To step up control measures, the Department will check a new detainee twice before and after a 3-day quarantine, seek vaccines for correctional officers, and check them every 14 days to ensure their safety.
In the wake of Chukiat’s infection, the Department said on 24 April that they will also prepare a field hospital to isolate those infected with mild or no symptoms.
Chukiat Sangwong, also known as Justin for his love of the style of Justin Timberlake, was arrested on 23 March under the lèse majesté law. Police claimed that he committed a lèse majesté offence when the student group REDEM held a protest on 20 March.
Concern over the outbreak in Bangkok Remand Prison was raised when Anon Nampa told his lawyer to spread the news on social media on 22 April. Anon’s lawyer also said on social media that Chukiat’s friends were also worried that he might be infected.
In response, Bangkok Remand Prison released a statement saying that Chukiat had a high fever on 18 April. However, it was found on 21 April that he had an abscess at the nape of his neck and was treated accordingly.
There was no mention of Chukiat being infected except that he, like other new detainees, was already under 14-day quarantine and examined medically twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays. Bangkok Remand Prison said that the measures were in compliance with orders of the Department of Corrections and the Ministry of Justice. However, the situation changed when the Chukiat’s positive result came out.
In Thailand, Chukiat is one among many who have been infected in the third outbreak. According to the government’s daily reports, Thailand saw an exponential increase from 26 new cases on 1 April to 2859 on 24 April. This time the outbreak is more worrying due to the severity of new variants and the government’s delay in delivering vaccines. Among the first cases in the third outbreak was Minister of Transport Saksayam Chidchob, who allegedly became infected in contact with female entertainers at a night club in Thong Lor.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Right to health, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Apr 23, 2021
- Event Description
A court in Vietnam sentenced a journalist to eight years Friday for writing anti-state stories and sharing them on social media, her lawyer told RFA.
The People’s Court in the south-central coastal province of Phu Yen convicted Tran Thi Tuyet Dieu of violating article 117 of the Vietnamese penal code for “creating, storing and disseminating information and materials against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”
“The trial lasted three hours, which is quite fast. The prosecution carried a sentence range of five to 12 years and I think the 8-years is pretty harsh,” Nguyen Kha Thanh, Dieu’s lawyer told RFA’s Vietnamese Service.
“Ms. Dieu had a clean criminal record. This is her first offense,” Thanh said.
A former employee of a state-run newspaper, Dieu was arrested in August 2020, for managing a Facebook profile called “Tuyết Babel” and a YouTube account under the name “Tuyết Diệu Trần." According to the Vietnam News Agency, which cited the indictment, Dieu had used the websites to disseminate 25 news stories and nine videos deemed to be against the state.
She also stored seven other anti-state stories on her laptop and had published online written materials in support of democracy activist Nguyen Viet Dung, currently serving a six-year sentence for disseminating anti-state materials, including photos of himself in military garb in front of the flag of South Vietnam, defeated when the communist North unified the country in 1975.
After Dieu’s arrest, she was not allowed to contact anyone for months and could not meet her lawyer until November 2020.
“She pleaded innocent, saying that there were no victims of what she did. She did not accept the accusations as the trial failed to find a person harmed by her actions,” said the lawyer.
“But the court said her actions caused harm to the nation, a common tactic that allows them to not have to show any specific harmed individuals,” he said.
Thanh said as a regular citizen, Dieu’s writings were not done with the intention of opposing the government, and an individual’s writings are not strong enough to topple an entire government.
“In my view what she was doing was not in opposition to the authorities. I guess Ms. Dieu wrote those things because she was upset or something. She should have been charged with an administrative violation or for insulting an organization,” Thanh said.
Harsh forms of persecution
With Vietnam’s media all following Communist Party orders, “the only sources of independently-reported information are bloggers and independent journalists, who are being subjected to ever-harsher forms of persecution,” the press freedoms watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says in its 2021 Press Freedoms Index.
Measures taken against them now include assaults by plainclothes police, RSF said in its report, which placed Vietnam at 175 out of 180 countries surveyed worldwide, a ranking unchanged from last year.
“To justify jailing them, the Party resorts to the criminal codes, especially three articles under which ‘activities aimed at overthrowing the government,’ ‘anti-state propaganda’ and ‘abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to threaten the interests of the state’ are punishable by long prison terms,” the rights group said.
Vietnam’s already low tolerance of dissent deteriorated sharply last year with a spate of arrests of independent journalists, publishers, and Facebook personalities as authorities continued to stifle critics in the run-up to the ruling Communist Party Congress in January. But arrests continue in 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Apr 23, 2021
- Event Description
On April 23, the People’s Court in Phu Yen province convicted Dieu under Article 117 of the penal code, an anti-state provision that bans “creating, storing and disseminating information and materials” against the state, and sentenced her to eight years in prison, according to news reports.
Dieu, a former state newspaper reporter who as an independent journalist posted news and commentary on Facebook at “Tuyet Dieu Babel” “and “Tran Thi Tuyet Dieu Journalist” (which has been taken down), and the YouTube channel “Tuyet Dieu Tran,” was convicted in relation to 25 news stories and nine videos deemed to be anti-state, news reports said.
“Vietnamese authorities should reverse this outrageously harsh sentencing of independent reporter Tran Thi Tuyet Dieu and immediately and unconditionally set her free,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Vietnam must stop treating journalists as criminals and allow them to report freely without fear of cruel and unusual punishment.”
Dieu was first arrested on August 21, 2020, and held in pretrial detention until her court hearing, according to CPJ research. Her lawyer, Nguyen Kha Thanh, said she pleaded innocent to the charges and that the trial lasted only three hours, news reports said. It was not immediately clear from the reports if Dieu plans to appeal the conviction. CPJ could not immediately locate contact information for Thanh.
Dieu’s reports on Facebook and YouTube covered socio-economic topics including corruption, the environment, and human rights, according to The 88 Project, an advocacy group that monitors the status of Vietnamese political prisoners.
The Ministry of Public Security did not immediately respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment on Dieu’s conviction sent through its website.
Vietnam is among the worst jailers of journalists worldwide, with at least 15 behind bars at the time of CPJ’s annual prison census on December 1, 2020.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Apr 22, 2021
- Event Description
A court in southern Vietnam’s Can Tho City on Thursday sentenced a Facebook user to two years in prison for posting articles and livestream videos criticizing Vietnam’s communist government online, family members and media sources said.
Le Thi Binh, born in 1976, was arrested in December and charged with “abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to threaten the interests of the state” under Article 331 of Vietnam’s 2015 Penal Code. Her elder brother, Le Minh The, had completed a two-year jail term on the same charge in July.
Binh’s lawyer argued at trial for a reduced sentence of 12 months, Binh’s son Nguyen Chi Thanh told RFA after the trial, “But the prosecutor recommended two and a half years, and my mom was finally sentenced to two years in prison.”
Quoting the indictment against her, state media said Binh had used her Facebook page from October 2019 to November 2020 to livestream, post, and share posts “conveying bad and reactionary viewpoints and ideas” aimed at opposing and defaming Vietnam’s Communist Party and party and state leaders.
Binh had also “seriously insulted” Communist Vietnam’s founding leader Ho Chi Minh in her posts and called for a multiparty and pluralistic state to replace the current political regime, state media said.
Binh’s arrest and jailing is only the latest in a continuing series of arrests of independent journalists, publishers, and Facebook personalities after authorities began last year to stifle critics in the run-up to the ruling Communist Party Congress in January.
With Vietnam’s media tightly controlled by the country’s ruling Communist Party, “the only sources of independently-reported information are bloggers and independent journalists,” the press freedoms watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in its 2021 Press Freedoms Index.
Measures now taken against them include jailings under vague charges in the criminal code and assaults by plainclothes police, RSF said in its report, which placed Vietnam at 175 out of 180 countries surveyed worldwide, a ranking unchanged from last year’s.
Also ranked low in this year’s survey were Vietnam’s neighbors Laos at 172, Cambodia at 144, and Myanmar, whose ranking at 140 represents a one-point drop from last year’s score, RSF said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Apr 21, 2021
- Event Description
Victor Mambor, journalist and editor of the Papua-based Tabloid Jubi, has become the target of a terrorist act this week.
A car that he owns which was parked on the road near his home in the Papuan capital of Jayapura was vandalised by unknown individuals between 12 midnight and 2am on Wednesday, April 21.
The windscreen of Mambor’s Isuzu Double Cabin DMax was smashed by a blunt object. The rear and left-side windows were also damaged by a sharp instrument.
The left-side front and back doors were also spray painted with orange paint.
The Jayapura branch of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) chairperson, Lucky Ireeuw, suspects that the vandalism act was committed over reporting by Tabloid Jubi which a “certain party” disliked.
Tabloid Jubi and its website are known for consistently presenting the public with reports on human rights violations in Papua.
“This act of terror and intimidation is clearly a form of violence against journalists and threatens press freedom in Papua and more broadly in Indonesia,” said Ireeuw in a press release on Thursday, April 22.
‘Terrorism suffered’ “It is strongly suspected that the terrorism suffered by Victor is related to reporting by Tabloid Jubi which a certain party dislikes.”
Prior to the vandalism of his car, Mambor has suffered a series of attacks.
“Digital attacks, doxing, and disseminating a flyer on social media the content of which painted Tabloid Jubi and Victor Mambor in a bad light, playing people off against each other and threats of criminal attacks on the media and Victor personally,” Ireeuw said giving examples of the attacks.
The incident has already been reported to the authorities and Ireeuw is calling on the police to immediately investigate and arrest the perpetrators.
Ireeuw slammed the attack against Mambor and Tabloid Jubi and urged whoever committed it to stop such actions immediately.
“We appeal to all parties to respect the work of journalists and respect press freedom in the land of Papua,” he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to property
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Apr 20, 2021
- Event Description
Yesterday, police in the southern city of Can Tho arrested the three journalists as part of an ongoing investigation into Truong Chau Huu Danh, founder of the independent Bao Sach (“Clean Newspaper”) Facebook-based news outlet, according to news reports. Authorities also seized documents relating to their work during the arrests, those reports said.
Nha, Giang, and Bao worked as reporters for Bao Sach before its Facebook page was deactivated following Danh’s arrest in December 2020, according to those reports and CPJ documentation from the time.
Danh is accused of violating Article 331 of the penal code, which bans “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State” and carries potential seven-year jail terms, according to CPJ’s coverage from the time, which called for his immediate release.
CPJ could not immediately determine whether Nha, Giang, and Bao are also accused under Article 331 of the penal code.
“Reporters Thanh Nha, Doan Kien Giang, and Nguyen Phuoc Trung Bao should all be immediately and unconditionally released,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Vietnamese authorities must stop jailing journalists for their work, and should ensure that members of the press are able to work for independent outlets without fear of arrest and legal harassment.”
Bao Sach had more than 100,000 followers on Facebook at the time of Danh’s arrest last year; it covered topics including protests over alleged illegal toll collectors on local highway systems, and posted images of government officials arrested over their suspected involvement in such a scheme, as CPJ documented at the time.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security did not immediately respond to CPJ’s request for comment on the reporters’ arrests and the status of Danh’s case, filed through its website.
Vietnam is among the worst jailers of journalists worldwide, with at least 15 behind bars when CPJ conducted its annual prison census on December 1, 2020.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Apr 19, 2021
- Event Description
Filipino netizens are up in arms over what appeared to be harassment as police officers were seen roaming near community pantries, a growing mutual aid movement in the country as many experience hunger and subjected to poor social protection amid the pandemic.
In a now-deleted Facebook post, one of the organizers of the community pantry in Pandacan shared that two police officers approached their community pantry, asked them to answer a profiling sheet, and took a photo of them.
Faith-based humanitarian worker Patis Mungcal, in a tweet, said two cops also visited their community pantry, pointing out that they should quickly replenish their supplies for everyone in the queue and abide by health protocols.
In a statement, urban poor group Kadamay said police presence is “definitely not needed” in the community pantries, adding that their atrocious record will scare away people who badly need food.
“The fear of being jailed and harassed is a legitimate one,” Kadamay Secretary General Mimi Doringo said.
On Labor Day last year, 10 relief workers providing warm meals in Marikina were arrested. Also last year, a former lawmaker and several peasant activists were also arrested while on their way to provide much-needed relief goods to Bulacan farmers who lost their livelihoods due to the lockdown. Community pantries are being set up in many parts of the country, as part of a mutual aid initiative among the poor. The movement adopted the phrase, “magbigay ayon sa kakayahan, kumuha batay sa pangangailangan” as their rallying call.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Apr 18, 2021
- Event Description
The Myanmar military detained Japanese freelance journalist, Yuki Kitazumi in Yangon on April 18 for allegedly disseminating ‘fake news’. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemn the continued threat to journalists across Myanmar and calls for the immediate release of all detained journalists.
Yuki Kitazumi, a freelance journalist and owner of Yangon Media Professionals, a media production company, was arrested at his home in Yangon and transferred to Insein prison overnight.Myanmar state television stations reported, Kitazumi was charged with spreading ‘fake news’ under article 505(A) of the Penal Code.
While not providing a name, the Japanese government confirmed a journalist in his forties was detained on April 18. Japanese Embassy officials said they are unable to visit him in detention, and chief cabinet secretary, Katsunobu Kato asked ‘Myanmar authorities to explain the arrest and release him as soon as possible.’
Article 505(A) of Myanmar’s penal code is a new amendment made by Myanmar’s State Administrative Council, a body set up by the military after the coup on February 1. The amendment was announced on February 14 and criminalises comments which “cause fear”, spread “false news, (or) agitates directly or indirectly a criminal offense against a government employee.”
Kitazumi was previously detained and released the same day on February 26 while covering protests. According to Reuters, Kitazumi was the first foreign reporter to be detained since the military-coup on February 1.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Apr 17, 2021
- Event Description
Two anti-coup protesters were killed in northern Myanmar over the weekend as the military continued its push to crush resistance to its rule. One person was reported dead in the northern Shan State town of Kyaukme on Saturday, Aung Ko Ko Phyo, a 25-year-old government employee who had joined the Civil Disobedience Movement, was shot in the head as he was leaving the monastery where he had temporarily ordained as a monk during the Thingyan holidays.
According to local sources, Aung Ko Ko Phyo, who worked for the Department of Electrical Power, was shot near Kyaukme’s Wailuwun monastery at around 9pm on Saturday.
“He was on his way to his teacher’s home. He had just left the monkhood because it was the end of Thingyan,” a Kyaukme resident told Myanmar Now.
There were numerous witnesses to the incident, the source added, noting that it occurred in the centre of town.
A doctor who treated him said he died from a bullet wound and would be cremated on Monday.
The troops who killed him removed his body from the scene soon after the shooting. Family members were told they could collect it on Sunday. However, according to a local news agency, his mother was forced to sign a release before she was allowed to claim his body stating that her son had been stabbed to death and that the military was not involved in his killing.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Public Servant
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Apr 15, 2021
- Event Description
About 11:30 a.m., workers’ rights activist Daw Myo Aye, director of Solidarity Trade Union of Myanmar (STUM), was abducted from her office in Shwepyithar Township. Four military vehicles with around 40 soldiers surrounded the office during the arrest. Her daughter wrote on her Facebook page that the troops also confiscated the phones of the staff in the office.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Apr 15, 2021
- Event Description
Plainclothes regime officials detained one of the country’s most prominent anti-coup protest leaders on Thursday after ramming him with a car while he rode a motorbike during a rally in Monywa, Sagaing Region.
A group of armed men emerged from the vehicle after hitting Wai Moe Naing and beat the 26-year-old Muslim man before taking him and another protester away, a local relief worker told Myanmar Now.
“There were about five motorbikes riding in front of his to protect him,” he said. “The vehicle crossed over those bikes and smashed into Wai Moe Naing’s motorcycle from the opposite direction,” he said.
“Wai Moe Naing tried to run as he stood up after his motorbike fell,” he added. “Some armed plainclothes individuals came out of the vehicle and arrested him at gunpoint.”
Video footage that circulated on social media appeared to show the moment his motorbike was hit.
A female protester was arrested with him and both were reportedly taken to the city hall and then the northwestern regional military command base, the relief worker said.
Other protesters who participated in the rally have gone into hiding, he added.
The Swedish embassy in Yangon issued a statement saying that it is following Wai Moe Naing’s case closely.
Wai Moe Naing rose to prominence for his role organising daily anti-coup protests in Monywa, which sits on the eastern bank of the Chindwin River, since February 6.
He is also a member of Monywa’s General Strike Committee and the Sagaing Regional Youth Committee.
He was among those who first suggested the idea of banging pots and pans as a symbol of opposition to the coup regime, The Irrawaddy reported. The noise protest is derived from a traditional ritual to drive out evil from one’s home.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Apr 15, 2021
- Event Description
On April 15, the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City convicted Mr. Quach Duy of “abusing democratic freedom” under Article 331 of the Criminal Code and sentenced him to four years and six months in prison for his anti-corruption efforts.
Mr. Duy, 38, was an official of the city’s People’s Committee. He was arrested in September last year after posting on Facebook about corruption and wrongdoings of senior officials of the committee, including Vice Chairman Le Vinh Tuyen.
The court judged that his posts have defamed the local leaders and undermined the regime.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Public Servant
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Apr 15, 2021
- Event Description
Urban poor advocates and human rights defenders are grieving over the killing of Negros-based community organizer who was gunned down by motorcycle-riding assailants last week along a busy road in Silay City.
Jesus Pason Jr., a tricycle driver and a member of their local homeowners association, was shot on April 15, 2021. He was brought to Teresita Jalandoni Provincial Hospital. Responders were told, however, that the hospital is not equipped to deal with the gunshot injury at the back of Pason’s head. He died while being given emergency treatment.
Urban poor group Kadamay said the 33-year-old community organizer spearheaded the occupation of idle government housing in 2018. This was inspired by the same Occupy movement in Pandi, Bulacan. Since then, the group said they have since become “regular targets” of the Duterte administration.
Pason’s killing, too, came amid the intensified human rights abuses in the Negros island under the Duterte administration. Among these include the extrajudicial killings of human rights lawyer Benjamin Ramos, activist Zara Alvarez, scores of farmers and other human rights defenders.
Resourceful, generous
Pason’s family hailed from the municipality of Toboso. Their family later moved to Silay City, where he took on all jobs possible to make ends meet. As a dedicated uncle, he sent his nieces to school.
“Madiskarte ‘yang tao,” (He was very resourceful) Clarizza Singson of Karapatan-Negros told Bulatlat in a phone interview.
Singson said he drove a passenger tricycle to make a living. He would also occasionally get hired to deliver goods and vegetables, or as school service for young children. Sometimes, he would also work as a construction worker.
Pason, known to many as a kind-hearted and cheerful person, would always bring local delicacies to their office.
“Where’s my Otap? Where’s my Biscocho?” Singson would jokingly greet him whenever they would see each other.
Pason’s remains would be transferred to his hometown in Toboso, where he would later be interred.
Kadamay’s Mimi Doringo said Negros island has turned bloodied in the hands of President Duterte with the rampant killings. She added, “people are either dying out of poverty or of killings. This will not stop until Duterte is not out of power.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Apr 14, 2021
- Event Description
On April 14, authorities in Thu Duc city arrested former police captain Le Chi Thanh on the allegation of “resisting on-duty state officials” under Article 330 of the Criminal Code for his efforts to monitor traffic police forces.
Mr. Thanh, 38, was a police officer of Thu Duc Prison camp. Last year, he was dismissed from the forces after filling denunciations accusing the prison camp’s senior managers of corruption and wrongdoings.
In recent months, he and his friends went on streets to film works of traffic police teams in many places. His activities are considered by the authorities disrupting the works of the traffic police which is seen as one of the most corrupted groups in Vietnam.
The Police Department of Ho Chi Minh City is considering to additionally charge him with “abusing democratic freedom” under Article 331 of the same code for his numerous Facebook livestreams on which he talked about bribery of traffic policemen.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Apr 14, 2021
- Event Description
A man who has been on hunger strike in front of the Criminal Court for the past three days to demand the release of detained activists has been arrested on charges under the lèse majesté law and the Computer Crimes Act.
Mongkhon Thirakot, 27, came from Chiang Rai on 12 April to join the hunger strike while sitting in front of the Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road, Bangkok, to demand the release of activists currently detained pending trial and denied bail. He said that he felt it was unfair that the court has yet to issue a verdict on the activists’ case but has already detained them, so he wanted to demand their release so that they would have the chance to fight their case.
Mongkhon said that when he arrived at the Criminal Court at around 5.00 – 6.00 on 12 April, court officials came to place metal barriers in front of the Criminal Court sign and told him that his action might be considered contempt of court, so he went to sit just next to the sign. Several officers also came to ask for his personal information, as well as questioning him on whether he is involved with drugs, what his intentions are, and how long he intends to stay. They also asked to search his belongings. An officer also later told him that a ‘higher-up’ in the Court is unhappy and would like him to go away, but he insisted on staying where he was and told the officers that they could arrest him if he is doing anything wrong.
He also said that later that morning, a group of uniformed and plainclothes police officers from Phaholyothin Police Station, along with some officers dressed like a commando unit, arrived to question him for another hour. He said that police and court officers periodically came to ask him the same questions over and over. Some officers offered to buy him food and drink, and some offered to find him a place to stay so that he would leave the area in front of the court.
A large number of officers also returned the next day as a few people began to gather at the Criminal Court to support Mongkhon, along with members of the press who came to cover his hunger strike. Mongkhon said that both court police and officers from Phaholyothin Police Station were present in the area, and that 5 police trucks and a number of motorcycles were parked near where he was staying, which caused him concern.
Mongkhon said he went to ask the police why they had to bring so many officers and whether it was because there were reporters in the area. The officers told him that they were “keeping people safe.” He then told the officers that this is unnecessary, as they were treating his activity like a protest even though there were only three people and they were not doing anything but sitting there.
At 13.20 on 14 April, Mongkhon was arrested by police officers from Phaholyothin Police Station. The officers presented an arrest warrant from Phan Police Station in Chiang Rai, which stated that he was being charged under Section 112, or the lèse majesté law, and the Computer Crimes Act.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that, at 14.00, after he was taken to Phaholyothin Police Station to record his arrest, Mongkol was taken to Chiang Rai.
TLHR later reported that police officers from the Muang Chiang Rai Police Station went to search Mongkhon’s house this morning (14 April). The officers presented a search warrant to Mongkhon’s parents, but Mongkhon, who was also with the officers during the search, did not see the warrant and did not know whether anything was confiscated.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Apr 13, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities in southern Vietnam’s Dong Nai province arrested and later released an ethnic Khmer Krom youth and labor activist after he released a book about indigenous rights, drawing condemnation from a Khmer Krom advocacy group.
Yoeung Kaiy said in a post to his Facebook account following his release on Wednesday morning that he had been arrested a day earlier by “around 100 police officers” who raided his home allegedly without a warrant and confiscated some 100 books detailing the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, his cellphone, and his computer.
He said the police returned his cellphone and computer but kept the books and charged him with “publishing without permission” and “tax evasion.”
RFA’s Khmer Service was unable to reach Yoeung Kaiy on Wednesday for further comment but he told the Khmer Krom News outlet that despite his release he remains concerned about his security.
Yoeung Kaiy’s father told RFA on Tuesday that his son had been arrested “because of his activism” and discrimination by Vietnamese authorities. He said that his son has advocated for better working conditions for Khmer Krom workers in Vietnam.
The Khmer Krom—ethnic Khmer who live in what was historically southeastern Cambodia, but now controlled by Vietnam—face serious restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly, association, information, and movement in Vietnam, despite being recognized as one of 53 ethnic minorities in the country, according to U.S.-based Human Rights Watch.
The Vietnamese government has banned Khmer Krom human rights publications and tightly controls the practice of Theravada Buddhism by the minority group, which sees the religion as a foundation of their distinct culture and ethnic identity.
‘Contrary to international obligations’
Venerable Son Yoeng Ratana, information department director for the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Federation rights group, condemned Yoeung Kaiy’s arrest, which he said was ordered because authorities in Vietnam want to bar Khmer Krom from advocating for self-determination.
“This arrest is very unjust for Khmer Krom people because the young man simply disseminated the U.N.’s declaration on indigenous rights, which Vietnam has recognized,” he said.
“The Vietnamese authorities acted contrary to their international obligations. This shows they are continuing to abuse the human rights of Khmer Krom, who are an indigenous people.”
Yoeung Kaiy had recently launched a Facebook page to educate Khmer Krom workers on their labor rights. He also provides pro bono advice to Khmer Krom involved in labor disputes and hopes to set up unions for Khmer Krom factory workers.
Yoeung Kaiy told RFA in March that Khmer Krom workers in Vietnam were being forced to work overtime and refused time off for Khmer national holidays such as the Khmer New Year and the Pchum Ben Festival.
To date, the governments of only two of the 21 provinces Vietnam has claimed from Cambodia since the 17th century allow Khmer Krom workers to take days off during the Khmer New Year.
More recently, Yoeung Kaiy told RFA that that he has been regularly followed by Vietnamese authorities demanding that he stop his advocacy on behalf of the Khmer Krom and assaulted when he refused.
“When we express our views, they threatened to imprison us,” he said.
Recent harassment
At least three Khmer Krom youths were recently fined up to U.S. $300 for posting comments on Facebook about their indigenous history.
Another Khmer Krom youth, To Hoang Chhuong, was fined U.S. $300 for wearing a T-shirt marking the anniversary of the loss of Khmer territory to Vietnam. He recently told RFA that he plans to publish a guide to self-determination and distribute it for free to members of his ethnic minority.
“I am disseminating information on indigenous rights to raise awareness among the Khmer Krom of the laws governing indigenous people,” he said.
The latest harassment follows a March 29 raid by Vietnamese authorities on the printing house of a Khmer Krom man named Thach Sang who had created T-shirts declaring the ethnic group’s support for International Women’s Day on March 8, based on a customer’s order.
Thach Sang told RFA that he is seeking intervention from NGOs and human rights groups against the authorities, whose actions he said had disrupted his business.
“This was a threat and they tried to force me to ‘accept my mistakes,’” he said, noting that police demanded that he thumbprint a document at the time of the raid, but did not allow him to read it, so he refused to do so.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, Minority rights defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Apr 8, 2021
- Event Description
As Covid-19 infections spread in pubs and bars, 9 people who gave speeches at the 24 March protest at Ratchaprasong intersection have been charged with violating the Emergency Decree.
Patsaravalee Tanakitvibulpon, one of the leading pro-democracy protest figures who gave a speech addressing monarchy reform on that day was also charged with violating Section 112 of the Criminal Code, the royal defamation law.
10 people were summoned to Lumpini Police Station on 8 April to hear the charges: Patsaravalee Tanakitvibulpon, Chatchai Kaedam, Yingcheep Atchanont, Chinnawat Chankrachang, Thanaporn Wichan, Benja Apan, Chumaporn Taengkliang, Khanaphot (surname withheld by request), Atthapol Buapat and Natthida Meewangpla.
The investigator stated that the 10 were engaged in an activity that caused a crowd to gather, posing a threat of Covid-19 infection, which constitutes a violation of the Emergency Decree. All suspects denied the charges and will submit documentary evidence on 23 April. They were released without bail.
Atthapol did not report to the police station with the others as he had to attend court for his trial regarding his involvement in the 19-20 September 2020 protest at Thammasat University and Sanam Luang.
Patsaravalee said she understood that the authorities would use every measure to undermine protests, which may not succeed because the people have heard the reason why they [the protestors who gave speeches] came out. The speakers insisted that what they said was correct.
Patsaravalee said that the ongoing enforcement of the Emergency Decree and Communicable Diseases Law is not meant to solve the Covid-19 problem but to suppress people who think differently. The new surge of infections is also not from the common people.
The new wave of infections appears to stem largely from pubs and bars in the Thong Lo area of Bangkok. Saksayam Chidchob, Bhumjai Thai Party Secretary-General and the Minister of Transport, Lt Gen Sansern Kaewkamnerd, Public Relations Department Director General and 2 high-ranking soldiers reportedly tested positive.
Current infections are spreading among celebrities and the political and military elite. Some are suspected of enjoying the nightlife at bars in Thong Lo without announcing to the public after they tested positive, or meeting those who have been there. Saksayam denied that he went to a bar in Thong Lor and provided a timeline for his whereabouts from 24-31 March.
Since the surge of pro-democracy protests in July 2020, no cases of Covid-19 infection from the protest sites has been reported.
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Apr 7, 2021
- Event Description
On 7 April 2021, police officers in Hanoi city arrested woman human rights defender Nguyễn ThúyHạnh under Article 117 of the Criminal Code, which relates to conducting anti-state propaganda.Nguyễn Thúy Hạnh has been the target of judicial harassment since 2016 and arbitrarily detained multiple times for her human rights activities. The woman human rights defender is currently being detained at Prison Camp 2 in Thuong Tin district.Nguyễn Thúy Hạnh is a woman human rights defender and an active advocate for Vietnam’s prisoners of conscience, as well as victims of land appropriation. She frequently visits the families of prisoners of conscience and accompanies them to the detention facilities, and until recently assisted in the collection of funds for their support through the ‘50K Fund’ that she set up for this purpose in 2018. She was forced to shut down the fund just a few months ago, under mounting pressure from the authorities. The woman human rights defender is also active on social media,where she regularly voices her opinions on human rights issues in the country.On 7 April 2021, a group of about 30 police officers arrested woman human rights defender Nguyễn Thúy Hạnh at her home in Hanoi and cordoned off her apartment. She was taken to the Hanoi police department’s Security Investigation Agency and then later moved to Prison Camp 2 in Thuong Tin district. The defender was arrested on charges under Article 117 of the Criminal Code for “making, storing, or spreading information, materials or items for the purpose of opposing the State of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam”, a charge that could carry a potential prison sentence of up to 20 years. Nguyễn Thúy Hạnh has requested the prison authorities grant her access to a lawyer, however the authorities have not responded to the request and so the woman human rights defender is yet to meet any lawyer or family member.Nguyễn Thúy Hạnh has come under frequent judicial harassment and persecution by Vietnamese authorities in the past several years for her human rights work. Following her efforts to raise funds for the family of a community leader who was killed in a police raid in Dong Tam village in January2020, Nguyễn Thúy Hạnh’s bank accounts were frozen, upon the instruction of the police. In March2018, following her participation in a peaceful protest against the Law on Cybersecurity and the Law on Special Economic Zones, the woman human rights defender was arrested and severely beaten during the interrogation, which resulted in injuries to her face.The woman human rights defender’s arrest comes after the recent sentencing of four other human rights defenders, Nguyen Tuong Thuy, Le Huu Minh Tuan, Pham Chi Dung and woman human rights defender Đinh Thị Thu Thủy, under the same charges under Article 117 of the Penal Code.On 14 January 2020, UN experts condemned the recent arrests in Vietnam and the dangerous and blatant usage of Article 117 of the Penal Code to silence critical voices and further restrict the right to freedom of expression in the country. Front Line Defenders condemns the arrest of woman human rights defender Nguyễn Thúy Hạnhand is seriously concerned by the shrinking space for freely exercising the right to freedom of expression in Vietnam without fear of consequence or retaliation, and the ongoing judicial harassment of human rights defenders. Front Line Defenders believes that Nguyễn Thúy Hạnh,like other human rights defenders recently arrested, is being targeted solely for her peaceful work in defence of human rights in Vietnam.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Apr 7, 2021
- Event Description
Regime forces killed at least 20 people in Sagaing and Bago regions on Wednesday, pushing the death toll from two months of crackdowns on anti-coup protests past a new threshold.
Added to figures compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, the latest deaths confirmed by Myanmar Now late Wednesday night bring the total number of civilians killed by the regime since it seized power on February 1 to 606.
Most of the fatalities reported on Wednesday were in the Sagaing region town of Kalay, where local medical teams confirmed that a day-long crackdown on the town’s Tarhan protest camp had left at least 11 people dead.
This figure is up from eight reported dead earlier in the day and is expected to continue to rise.
“They were shooting at every shadow, positioning themselves on every corner and every street that led to the protest camp,” a Kalay resident said of the junta’s armed forces.
“They were hiding in ditches and lying in ambush,” he added, noting that non-protesters were likely among those killed.
Local media reported that three of the 11 people killed were not involved in protest activities.
An unknown number of arrests were also made. Photos circulating on social media show several people with their eyes blindfolded and their hands tied behind their backs in the custody of soldiers.
Meanwhile, in another part of Sagaing, seven men were shot dead by regime forces in the town of Taze on Wednesday afternoon, according to a member of a local relief group who spoke to Myanmar Now.
The relief worker said he was unable to provide further details about the situation in the town because his team was still trying to rescue wounded people from the protest site at the time of reporting.
A Taze local said that three of those killed were in their 30s.
According to local sources, it was the first time that the town’s anti-coup rallies, which routinely attracted tens of thousands of protesters, had come under attack by junta forces.
The sources said that around 100 troops arrived in the town in six military vehicles earlier in the day to carry out the crackdown.
“At the entrance to Taze, people used sandbags to block three military trucks coming from Ye-U township. Then the fighting broke out,” a resident of the town told Myanmar Now.
Another local said the junta’s armed forces had a variety of weapons at their disposal, including sniper rifles, while the town’s residents were armed only with homemade guns.
At least 20 people, including a monk, were injured in the clash, he said.
There were also two reported deaths in Bago, where armed troops entered the city’s Kyauk Gyi Su ward and opened fire in a residential neighbourhood, according to local sources.
The two victims were identified as 20-year-old Chan Myae and 48-year-old A Nge Lay, both of whom were shot in the head. The latter individual’s body has not been retrieved.
Meanwhile, a series of small blasts was reported in Yangon on Wednesday, while a Chinese-owned factory was set on fire in the city’s western industrial outskirts.
The blasts occurred at seven locations around the city, including near government offices and a military compound, and caused only minor damage. No injuries were reported.
The fire at the JOC Galaxy (Myanmar) Apparel factory in Hlaing Tharyar township started at around 5:35am and was put out by 6:55am, the township’s fire department reported. No details about the extent of the damage from the blaze were released.
The fire and the blasts came as the regime claimed on state TV on Wednesday that a suspect had been arrested in connection with an incident that took place outside the US embassy’s American Centre on March 27.
The regime alleged that Aye Thaw Kaung, a member of the family that owns the famous Shwe Puzun bakery in Yangon, had purchased a high-pressure air gun online for 190,000 kyat and used it to fire lead balls at the centre in order to “create political complications” in relations between the United States and Myanmar.
Aye Thaw Kaung was also identified as a supporter of the National League for Democracy, the party of ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained since the military seized power.
Pro-democracy demonstrations have taken place around the country almost continuously since the coup, resulting in a steady escalation of violence by the regime in an effort to crush popular resistance to its rule.
On Tuesday, the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a body consisting of lawmakers from the ousted civilian government, released a statement claiming that it had collected 180,000 pieces of evidence that show “wide-scale abuses of human rights” by the military.
The CRPH said it has directed its international legal counsel at the Volterra Fietta law firm to communicate with different international human rights bodies of the United Nations to share evidence of the Myanmar regime’s crimes. The fire at the JOC Galaxy (Myanmar) Apparel factory in Hlaing Tharyar township started at around 5:35am and was put out by 6:55am, the township’s fire department reported. No details about the extent of the damage from the blaze were released.
The fire and the blasts came as the regime claimed on state TV on Wednesday that a suspect had been arrested in connection with an incident that took place outside the US embassy’s American Centre on March 27.
The regime alleged that Aye Thaw Kaung, a member of the family that owns the famous Shwe Puzun bakery in Yangon, had purchased a high-pressure air gun online for 190,000 kyat and used it to fire lead balls at the centre in order to “create political complications” in relations between the United States and Myanmar.
Aye Thaw Kaung was also identified as a supporter of the National League for Democracy, the party of ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained since the military seized power.
Pro-democracy demonstrations have taken place around the country almost continuously since the coup, resulting in a steady escalation of violence by the regime in an effort to crush popular resistance to its rule.
On Tuesday, the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a body consisting of lawmakers from the ousted civilian government, released a statement claiming that it had collected 180,000 pieces of evidence that show “wide-scale abuses of human rights” by the military.
The CRPH said it has directed its international legal counsel at the Volterra Fietta law firm to communicate with different international human rights bodies of the United Nations to share evidence of the Myanmar regime’s crimes.
The fire at the JOC Galaxy (Myanmar) Apparel factory in Hlaing Tharyar township started at around 5:35am and was put out by 6:55am, the township’s fire department reported. No details about the extent of the damage from the blaze were released.
The fire and the blasts came as the regime claimed on state TV on Wednesday that a suspect had been arrested in connection with an incident that took place outside the US embassy’s American Centre on March 27.
The regime alleged that Aye Thaw Kaung, a member of the family that owns the famous Shwe Puzun bakery in Yangon, had purchased a high-pressure air gun online for 190,000 kyat and used it to fire lead balls at the centre in order to “create political complications” in relations between the United States and Myanmar.
Aye Thaw Kaung was also identified as a supporter of the National League for Democracy, the party of ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained since the military seized power.
Pro-democracy demonstrations have taken place around the country almost continuously since the coup, resulting in a steady escalation of violence by the regime in an effort to crush popular resistance to its rule.
On Tuesday, the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a body consisting of lawmakers from the ousted civilian government, released a statement claiming that it had collected 180,000 pieces of evidence that show “wide-scale abuses of human rights” by the military.
The CRPH said it has directed its international legal counsel at the Volterra Fietta law firm to communicate with different international human rights bodies of the United Nations to share evidence of the Myanmar regime’s crimes. The fire at the JOC Galaxy (Myanmar) Apparel factory in Hlaing Tharyar township started at around 5:35am and was put out by 6:55am, the township’s fire department reported. No details about the extent of the damage from the blaze were released.
The fire and the blasts came as the regime claimed on state TV on Wednesday that a suspect had been arrested in connection with an incident that took place outside the US embassy’s American Centre on March 27.
The regime alleged that Aye Thaw Kaung, a member of the family that owns the famous Shwe Puzun bakery in Yangon, had purchased a high-pressure air gun online for 190,000 kyat and used it to fire lead balls at the centre in order to “create political complications” in relations between the United States and Myanmar.
Aye Thaw Kaung was also identified as a supporter of the National League for Democracy, the party of ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained since the military seized power.
Pro-democracy demonstrations have taken place around the country almost continuously since the coup, resulting in a steady escalation of violence by the regime in an effort to crush popular resistance to its rule.
On Tuesday, the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a body consisting of lawmakers from the ousted civilian government, released a statement claiming that it had collected 180,000 pieces of evidence that show “wide-scale abuses of human rights” by the military.
The CRPH said it has directed its international legal counsel at the Volterra Fietta law firm to communicate with different international human rights bodies of the United Nations to share evidence of the Myanmar regime’s crimes.
The fire at the JOC Galaxy (Myanmar) Apparel factory in Hlaing Tharyar township started at around 5:35am and was put out by 6:55am, the township’s fire department reported. No details about the extent of the damage from the blaze were released.
The fire and the blasts came as the regime claimed on state TV on Wednesday that a suspect had been arrested in connection with an incident that took place outside the US embassy’s American Centre on March 27.
The regime alleged that Aye Thaw Kaung, a member of the family that owns the famous Shwe Puzun bakery in Yangon, had purchased a high-pressure air gun online for 190,000 kyat and used it to fire lead balls at the centre in order to “create political complications” in relations between the United States and Myanmar.
Aye Thaw Kaung was also identified as a supporter of the National League for Democracy, the party of ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained since the military seized power.
Pro-democracy demonstrations have taken place around the country almost continuously since the coup, resulting in a steady escalation of violence by the regime in an effort to crush popular resistance to its rule.
On Tuesday, the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a body consisting of lawmakers from the ousted civilian government, released a statement claiming that it had collected 180,000 pieces of evidence that show “wide-scale abuses of human rights” by the military.
The CRPH said it has directed its international legal counsel at the Volterra Fietta law firm to communicate with different international human rights bodies of the United Nations to share evidence of the Myanmar regime’s crimes.
The fire at the JOC Galaxy (Myanmar) Apparel factory in Hlaing Tharyar township started at around 5:35am and was put out by 6:55am, the township’s fire department reported. No details about the extent of the damage from the blaze were released.
The fire and the blasts came as the regime claimed on state TV on Wednesday that a suspect had been arrested in connection with an incident that took place outside the US embassy’s American Centre on March 27.
The regime alleged that Aye Thaw Kaung, a member of the family that owns the famous Shwe Puzun bakery in Yangon, had purchased a high-pressure air gun online for 190,000 kyat and used it to fire lead balls at the centre in order to “create political complications” in relations between the United States and Myanmar.
Aye Thaw Kaung was also identified as a supporter of the National League for Democracy, the party of ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained since the military seized power.
Pro-democracy demonstrations have taken place around the country almost continuously since the coup, resulting in a steady escalation of violence by the regime in an effort to crush popular resistance to its rule.
On Tuesday, the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a body consisting of lawmakers from the ousted civilian government, released a statement claiming that it had collected 180,000 pieces of evidence that show “wide-scale abuses of human rights” by the military.
The CRPH said it has directed its international legal counsel at the Volterra Fietta law firm to communicate with different international human rights bodies of the United Nations to share evidence of the Myanmar regime’s crimes. The fire at the JOC Galaxy (Myanmar) Apparel factory in Hlaing Tharyar township started at around 5:35am and was put out by 6:55am, the township’s fire department reported. No details about the extent of the damage from the blaze were released.
The fire and the blasts came as the regime claimed on state TV on Wednesday that a suspect had been arrested in connection with an incident that took place outside the US embassy’s American Centre on March 27.
The regime alleged that Aye Thaw Kaung, a member of the family that owns the famous Shwe Puzun bakery in Yangon, had purchased a high-pressure air gun online for 190,000 kyat and used it to fire lead balls at the centre in order to “create political complications” in relations between the United States and Myanmar.
Aye Thaw Kaung was also identified as a supporter of the National League for Democracy, the party of ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained since the military seized power.
Pro-democracy demonstrations have taken place around the country almost continuously since the coup, resulting in a steady escalation of violence by the regime in an effort to crush popular resistance to its rule.
On Tuesday, the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a body consisting of lawmakers from the ousted civilian government, released a statement claiming that it had collected 180,000 pieces of evidence that show “wide-scale abuses of human rights” by the military.
The CRPH said it has directed its international legal counsel at the Volterra Fietta law firm to communicate with different international human rights bodies of the United Nations to share evidence of the Myanmar regime’s crimes.
- Impact of Event
- 19
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Killing, Use of Excessive Force, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to life, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Apr 5, 2021
- Event Description
Human rights defender Genelyn Dichoso and her daughter Jennifer were arrested by suspected elements of the 201st Infantry Brigade, Philippine Army on charges of attempted homicide, in Calauag, Quezon province, April 5.
Dichoso is the secretary general of human rights group Karapatan Quezon. The group stated that Dichoso has been the victim of black propaganda and red-tagging for years before the onset of the Duterte administration.
“There is a clear and systemic pattern of vilifying human rights defenders as ‘terrorists’ or ‘subversives’ that has started even before the Duterte regime,” said Kyle Salgado, spokesperson for the group. “Tita Jen’s illegal abduction only proves that Duterte is no different from the fascists that came before him.”
According to initial reports, Dichoso and her daughter were taken while undergoing a routine medical check-up. Karapatan is currently organizing a fact-finding mission to ascertain further details.
Dichoso was charged with attempted homicide last year, with claims that she was involved in a previous encounter between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the revolutionary New People’s Army.
Despite the charge, Dichoso continued performing her duties as secretary general of the organization, assisting in human rights cases such as the murder of Armando Buisan, chairperson of CLAIM in General Luna, Quezon, and the arrest of two CLAIM organizers in Atimonan.
Dichoso’s arrest comes as the latest in a series of attacks against activists and human rights defenders across the Southern Tagalog region. Quezon, in particular, has been the target of focused military operations since February 2021.
Since March this year, no less than nine activists were arrested in Southern Tagalog on charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. Dichoso marks the tenth.
The Department of Justice has since committed to creating a task force to investigate the spate of arrests and killings in Southern Tagalog, by virtue of Administrative Order 35. However, justice remains elusive for the victims.
Karapatan ST insists that Dichoso’s arrest is another instance of the “state proving its insincerity.”
“While the Department of Justice drags its feet on fulfilling its mandate, state forces continue to act with impunity,” said Salgado. “How can we expect justice from the state when the state blatantly denies it from us?”
Karapatan is demanding that the 201st Infantry Brigade surface Dichoso and her daughter immediately, and to drop all charges against her.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD, NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Apr 3, 2021
- Event Description
The junta’s police force raided The Hakha Post, an ethnic media outlet based in Chin State, on Saturday, the publication’s editor said.
Police officers broke into the organisation’s office in the state capital of Hakha at around 10am on April 3, editor Pu Thawng reported. He added that no staff members were present at the time of the raid; they had cleared out after Myanmar’s February 1 military coup.
“We had predicted the raid since early February so we managed to escape in advance. We took over half of our [office] property,” he said. “Two computers were taken [in the raid], I heard. But only one of them was in good condition. They also took a pile of documents in a white sack.”
The raid of the Hakha Post comes amid an intensified crackdown by the regime’s armed forces on anti-coup movements in neighboring Sagaing and Magwe regions, where many ethnic Chin communities have been defending themselves against the junta’s violence.
The Hakha Post focuses on producing regional news and publishes articles in the Hakha Chin language. While it has ceased printing daily newspapers, it has continued online publication.
“Since the last week of March, we have not been able to publish newspapers safely. It was not safe for our reporters [to gather news], so we stopped the print edition. We have arranged to continue producing news online from a safe place,” Pu Thawng told Myanmar Now.
Chin State is home to multiple local media outlets, including Chin World, The Hakha Times, The Hakha Post, Khonumthung News, and Zalen Media.
According to Detained Journalists Information Myanmar, a Facebook group run by journalists and writers, more than 56 journalists have been arrested or targeted for arrest since the coup.
Around 28 reporters have been released from regime custody, but, at the time of reporting, the rest remained in prison. Many have been charged with violating Section 505a of the Penal Code, which carries a prison sentence of up to three years for causing fear, spreading fake news or agitating against government employees.
The junta has also brought a case under the same law against Yangon-based media outlet The Irrawaddy News for showing “disregard” for the armed forces in its reporting of anti-regime protests.
Five publications, including Myanmar Now and Mizzima, had their offices raided and their publishing licences revoked in early March by the ruling junta.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Apr 3, 2021
- Event Description
At least six civilians were killed by Myanmar’s military regime on Saturday, sending the death toll in the crackdown on anti-regime protests to at least 555 across the country.
Despite violence at the hands of the military regime, thousands of civilians in Sagaing, Mandalay regions, and Mon, Kayah and Kachin States took to the streets to take a stand against military rule.
Three civilians were shot dead when police and soldiers opened fire into crowds of protesters with live ammunition early Saturday morning in Monywa, Sagaing region.
Ko Wai Moe Naing, a leading member of the Monywa general strike committee told The Irrawaddy, “When police and soldiers sprayed bullets into the crowd, young people from the defensive team fought back. They tried to deter them from entering our neighborhoods. But we lost three people in the early morning.”
He said two were shot dead in head and another one was shot dead in neck by the security forces. Many at the protest were also wounded, he added.
Soldiers and police have been patrolling around the neighborhoods in the city where people have shown strong support for the anti-coup protesters. Since the Feb.1 coup, at least 20 people in Monywa have been killed by security forces during the crackdown on pro-democracy supporters.
Another two civilians were also killed by the military regime during an attack on an anti-coup protest in Thaton, Mon State. Residents said that at least 20 young people were also arrested by the regime at the protest event.
A local medic said that one person was shot dead in the chest while another was shot dead in the head by the security forces.
A 26-year-old Chin ethnic man, Salai Than Gang, died at this home Saturday afternoon from an abdominal wound suffered when he was shot by security forces in Kale, Sagaing, on March 1 during an assault on an anti-coup protest.
Moreover, a bystander was shot when the regimes’ forces opened fire randomly from a monastery compound where they have established a base near Shwe Maw Daw Pagoda, in Bago. An 18-year-old, Ko Aung Myat Mon, was in critical condition after he was shot in the abdomen.
“He was on the way to see his friend. It has been ten days that they have occupied the monastery. Four were already shot dead by them,” a resident in Bago told The Irrawaddy.
“We don’t dare to walk near the monastery. They shoot randomly as soon as they see people on street,” he said.
In the early morning, an unidentified woman was found dead with her hands tied behind her back in a ditch in Thamine No.1 ward, in Yangon’s Mayangone Township. Police took her body away, and the cause of death is still unknown.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to life, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Apr 3, 2021
- Event Description
Vietnamese authorities should immediately release journalist Nguyen Hoai Nam, drop any pending charges against him, and stop jailing journalists on trumped-up anti-state allegations, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
On April 3, authorities in Ho Chi Minh City detained Nam, an independent journalist who publishes commentary and reporting on Facebook, according to news reports.
On April 10, authorities announced that he was being investigated under Article 331 of the penal code, an anti-state provision that penalizes “abusing democratic freedoms,” and carries maximum seven-year prison terms for convictions, those reports said.
On his personal Facebook page, which has about 7,800 followers, Nam recently wrote about alleged government corruption, and frequently posted criticism of Communist Party officials, according to the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Asia and CPJ’s review of his page. CPJ could not immediately determine which specific posts authorities cited in their allegations against Nam.
“Vietnamese authorities should immediately release journalist Nguyen Hoai Nam and drop any pending charges against him,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “If Vietnam’s government wants to be viewed internationally as a responsible actor, it must stop treating journalism as a crime, and must stop harassing members of the press over their work.”
Nam, who previously reported for state media outlets including Phap Luat (Law Journal), Thanh Nien (Youth Newspaper), and Voice of Vietnam Radio, will be held in pretrial detention at Ho Chi Minh City’s Chi Hoa Detention Center while authorities investigate his case, those news reports said.
CPJ emailed the Ministry of Public Security for comment, but did not receive any reply.
CPJ’s latest prison census found that Vietnam imprisoned at least 15 journalists for their work as of December 1, 2020, making the nation the second-worst jailer in Asia, trailing only China.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Apr 2, 2021
- Event Description
Activist Piyarat “Toto” Chongthep was immediately re-arrested on a royal defamation charge under Section 112, Thailand’s lèse majesté law, after he was granted bail on a criminal organization charge and released from Bangkok Remand Prison.
Piyarat was arrested on 6 March along with another 47 members of the We Volunteer (WeVo) protest guard group by an armed police SWAT team, who used force and did not produce an arrest warrant, while they were at a shopping mall, eating and waiting to attend the protest at the judicial court complex on Ratchadapisek Road. He was detained pending trial on a criminal organization charge, while the rest of the group were granted bail.
On 2 April, the Criminal Court granted bail for Piyarat using 45,000 baht as security, on the ground that the inquiry officer cannot present enough evidence to confirm that he was guilty, as when he was arrested, he was with 2 – 3 other people and did not resist arrest.
However, after he was granted bail, Piyarat was immediately detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison and taken to Prachachuen Police Station, as the Kalasin Provincial Court had issued an arrest warrant for him on a royal defamation charge under Section 112.
The arrest warrant was issued on 2 April and was requested for by an officer from Yang Talad Police Station. However, the reason the warrant was issued was not stated.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported at 20.40 on 2 April that Piyarat was then taken to Yang Talad Police Station and would be taken to Kalasin Provincial Court on 3 April for a temporary detention request.
According to TLHR, Piyarat is being charged with royal defamation for printing banners criticising the government’s Covid-19 vaccine programme and hanging them from trees, electricity poles, and a commemoration arch for the king along a road in the Yang Talad District area.
The banners contained messages such as “Giving the spotlight to the palace,” “Vaccine company monopoly,” “conflict of interest,” and “royal favour.” Pictures of the banners were also posted on Piyarat’s Facebook page and the We Volunteer Twitter account.
In addition to the royal defamation charge, Piyarat is also being charged with importing into a computer system data relating to an offence against national security under Section 14 of the Computer Crimes Act.
At 11.00 on 3 April, the Kalasin District Court ruled to have Piyarat temporarily detained on the ground that the charge under Section 112 is severe, that he is likely to repeat the offence and tamper with evidence. The court denied him bail and he was taken to be detained at Kalasin Remand Prison.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Mar 31, 2021
- Event Description
45 protest guards from the We Volunteer group have gone to hear additional charges after being arrested by armed police before a protest on 6 March. Despite being released from detention by other protesters while under a police escort, they took the decision to walk to the nearest police station to turn themselves in and demonstrate that they were not trying to escape. The police have nevertheless charged them with resisting officials.
The latest charge hearing took place on 31 March at Phaholyothin Police Station. They had previously been charged for violating the Covid-19 control Emergency Decree, forming a criminal organization and forming a secret society), according to Matichon.
Pawinee Chumsri, a lawyer from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said the WeVo members face different charges, ranging from resisting or fighting back against the authorities, possessing unauthorized military equipment (vests) to possessing unauthorized walkie talkies. The accused will have to report to the prosecutor on 9 April at 10.00.
Originally, 46 were arrested at the scene, including Piyarat Chongthep, the leader who has been in prison since March 9. They were arrested by an armed police SWAT team while they were at a nearby shopping mall, eating and waiting to attend the protest at the Criminal Court on 6 March.
According to their testimony to TLHR, they were rounded up by the police commandos, forced to lie on the ground, had guns pointed at their backs, had their hands tied with cables and had their belongings seized.
They were put into 3 different detention vehicles, 1 of which, containing 18 people, was able to make it to Border Patrol Police Region 1. The other 2 were intercepted by the protesters on Ratchadapisek Road. The cage padlocks on the second vehicle were broken and the WeVo members got out. Another 14 who were sitting in the third vehicle remained inside for 2 hours in total.
At 21.10, a lawyer from TLHR came to see the remaining WeVo members in the third vehicle and took them to Phaholyothin Police Station to present themselves out of fear of being charged with escaping. Those from the second vehicle later followed them to the station, 28 in total.
Pawinee said the charge of resisting the authorities was filed by the police despite the fact that they had voluntarily presented themselves at the police station, where the incident was recorded in the daily log. The charge reflects the abnormal reaction of the authorities to people who express their political views, resulting in unfair treatment right from the beginning of the judicial process.
“They were eating at the time. They were still eating and had not gone to the protest and had not caused any disorder. You may charge them with forming a secret society or whatever, but you still have no evidence to prosecute them. They had not done anything as has been claimed. I think it is an unfair prosecution,” said Pavinee.
The TLHR lawyer said the police should return to the principle where a person charged has committed an offence and the elements of the offence exist. The prosecution for political purposes against those who have different opinions cannot change their opinions. The discriminatory treatment that people receive will alienate them from the judicial system and the state’s system.
- Impact of Event
- 45
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Mar 30, 2021
- Event Description
Elements of the Philippine National Police conducted a search operation at the office of labor alliance Alyansa ng Manggagawa sa Engklabo (AMEN) in barangay Market Area, Santa Rosa, Laguna, March 30, and claimed to have found firearms and explosives.
According to police reports, joint elements from CIDG National Capital Region, CID Region 4A, PNP Regional Mobile Force Battalion 4A, RACU4A, and PNP Santa Rosa issued a search warrant for Marites Santos David. The report identified David as a member of AMEN, as well as labor federation Organized Labor Associations in Line Industries and Agriculture (OLALIA-KMU) and labor center Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Timog Katagalugan (PAMANTIK-KMU).
The report labeled David as a member of the revolutionary organization Revolutionay Council of Trade Unions (RCTU), one of the organizations comprising the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
According to AMEN, there was no one in the office at the time of the raid. “The office has not been used for over a year, since the first declaration of a lockdown in Luzon,” the group said in a statement sent to Bulatlat.
Progressive labor groups quickly condemned the operation, citing it as the latest in a “series of attacks against labor leaders and organizations.”
In a statement, Kilusang Mayo Uno stressed that workers need “aid, vaccines, an emergency allowance, paid pandemic leave, and a comprehensive medical solution,” not “fake arrests and planted firearms.”
OLALIA-KMU also stressed that Marites David is not a terrorist. “Teacher Laly is a member of OLALIA-KMU’s education and research staff,” said the group. “That she is in possession of any firearm, much less an entire armory’s worth of it, is simply impossible.”
The PNP claimed to have retrieved at least five rifles, three pistols, nine explosives, 14 landmines, and other accessories. They asserted that the office was used as a “firearms depot” for “members who will join the armed group in red areas and those who will stage violent actions against government troops.”
PAMANTIK-KMU debunked such claims. “PAMANTIK-KMU and AMEN have stood side-by-side to defend the rights and welfare of workers in Southern Tagalog,” the group said.
They stated that based on the surrounding facts, “it becomes clear that the PNP and NTF-ELCAC are simply looking for targets to raid.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Raid, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 30, 2021
- Event Description
Vietnam’s communist regime has convicted four activists named Mr. Vu Tien Chi, Ms. Nguyen Thi Cam Thuy, Ms. Ngo Thi Ha Phuong, and Mr. Le Viet Hoa of “Making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the State of Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under Article 117 of the country’s Criminal Code for their online activities.
In two separated trials held in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong and the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa on March 30, the four activists were sentenced to a combined total 31 years in prison and six years of probation. The People’s Court of Lam Dong gave Mr. Chi 10 years in prison followed by three years of probation while the People’s Court of Khanh Hoa sentenced Ms. Thuy to nine years in prison and three years of probation, Ms. Phuong- seven years and Mr. Hoa- five years in prison.
According to the indictment, from the beginning of 2018, Mr. Chi shared 338 articles and conducted 181 livestreams on his Facebook page with content distorting the regime’s policies and defaming senior communist leaders, including late President Ho Chi Minh, who founded the communist regime. These online posts are harmful for the regime and affected the people’s beliefs in the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam and its government, the trial panel of the People’s Court of Lam Dong concluded.
The People’s Court of Khanh Hoa province concluded that Ms. Thuy, a former school teacher fired for her political opinion, was responsible for 181 livestreams and many posts on her Facebook accounts “Nguyễn Cẩm Thúy” and “Cẩm Thúy Cô” to defame the regime. She was also accused of burning the red flags of the ruling party and the regime as well as cutting portraits of senior leaders, including the regime founder Ho Chi Minh.
On March 29, the Khanh Hoa newspaper, the mouthpiece of the province’s Party Committee reported that the province’s People’s Court will hold the first-instance hearing on March 30-31 to try Ms. Thuy and two others named Ngo Thi Phuong Ha and Le Viet Hoa, however, the state-controlled media has not reported their activities which can be used for their conviction.
The state-run newspapers also reported that Mr. Chi and Ms. Thuy know each other, having a joint plan to expand a network of people sharing the same thoughts to establish a political opposition.
Both Chi and Thuy were arrested on June 24 last year. There is no information about their pre-trial detention. It is unclear whether the four activists have their own lawyers during their trials or not.
They are among 51 activists being imprisoned on the charge of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code 2015 (or Article 88 of the Penal Code 1999) which is condemned by the international community as an effective tool to silence government critics. President of the unregistered professional group Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN) PhD. Pham Chi Dung and his deputy Nguyen Tuong Thuy as well as world-recognized human rights defender and well-known political blogger Pham Doan Trang were also arrested on this charge. Mr. Dung and Mr. Thuy were sentenced to 15 years and 11 years in prison, respectively, in early January this year while Ms. Trang is still held incommunicado in pre-trial detention after her arrest on October 7 last year.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 29, 2021
- Event Description
Ko La Raw from Kachin Waves and Ma Chan Bu, from the 74 Media, were arrested by the military while reporting in the city of Myitkyina on March 29. Witnesses said the journalists were both beaten and detained by authorities while reporting on a crackdown on anti-regime protestors.
The arrests coincide with escalating violence across the region, with reports of more than 114 people killed across Myanmar on Saturday, March 27, including several children. Police also opened fire on a funeral crowd in the city of Bago for Thae Maung Maung, a 20-year-old killed March 27. Myanmar’s annual Armed Forces Day on March 27 was the bloodiest single day since the coup began on February 1. As the anti-regime protests entered their seventh week, the UN released a statement condemning the violence and calling on the military “to immediately stop killing the very people it has the duty to serve and protect”.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 29, 2021
- Event Description
Myanmar security forces killed 14 people Monday during demonstrations in towns across the country following the deadliest weekend since the February military coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
The group, which has been monitoring the violence, said Monday’s toll brings the total number of deaths since the February 1 coup to at least 510.
Eight of the deaths that took place Monday occurred in Myanmar's main city, Yangon, according to AAPP.
Protests took place Monday throughout the country, including in Sagaing Region, where hundreds of mourners lined the street to pay tribute to a 20-year-old nursing student who was shot and killed Sunday while helping provide aid to injured protesters.
- Impact of Event
- 14
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Mar 29, 2021
- Event Description
A Tempo journalist in the East Java was assaulted and threatened for investigating a case of alleged bribery involving the former director of investigations and tax collections at Indonesia’s Finance Ministry. The IFJ and its affiliate AJI condemn violence and intimidation of journalists in Indonesia and implore all authorities to respect press freedom.
On March 29, the journalist Nurhadi is reported to have entered the wedding of the daughter of the former director, Angin Prayitno Aji, to collect information for his report on bribery when two men believed to be Angin’s personal bodyguards accused him of trespassing, despite him showing his press card.
Nurhadi said that the bodyguards then assaulted him. The journalist “had his hair pulled, was slapped in the face and ears, punched and trodden on” and was held captive for two hours inside a hotel room in Surabaya. During his detainment, Nurhadi’s mobile phone was seized and smashed and the bodyguards reset the memory on his computer, which contained information regarding the corruption case.
The assault raises fresh concerns over violence against journalists in Indonesia. The case has been reported to East Java regional police with the assistance of Surabaya Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and other civil society groups.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Mar 28, 2021
- Event Description
SANTA ROSA, Laguna – Exactly three weeks after the Bloody Sunday killings, another labor leader was shot dead, March 28.
Dandy Miguel was the vice president of Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Timog Katagalugan (PAMANTIK-KMU) and the president of the Lakas ng Nagkakaisang Manggagawa sa Fuji Electric union (LNMF-OLALIA-KMU). According to PAMANTIK-KMU, he was on his way home from work when he was shot at least eight times near Asia 1, Brgy. Canlubang, Calamba.
“While Duterte was having his birthday party, his minions were busy following his order to kill Leftists,” KMU said in a statement in Filipino.
On March 5, Duterte ordered the police and military to kill all communists.
Miguel was among those who filed a complaint on March 15 before the Commission on Human Rights, a week after the so-called Bloody Sunday. On March 7, nine activists were killed in simultaneous police operations conducted with the support of the military and six were arrested on charges of illegal possession of firearms and/or explosives.
Miguel is the tenth activist killed in the Southern Tagalog region in one month.
Among those killed were Emmanuel Asuncion of Solidarity of Cavite Workers. Two of those arrested were Mags Camoral, former president of Nagkakaisang Lakas ng Manggagawa sa F. Tech (NLMF-OLALIA-KMU), and Steve Mendoza, executive vice Ppresident of OLALIA-KMU.
Two more labor leaders were also arrested this month; on March 4, Arnedo Lagunias of Alyansa ng Manggagawa sa Engklabo (AMEN) and Ramir Corcolon of Water System Employees Response (WATER) were both arrested on illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
PAMANTIK-KMU has stated before that the Duterte administration is specifically targeting labor activists and unionists. These attacks, the group claims, intensified since the start of lockdown due to COVID-19 on March 17, 2020.
Several labor leaders have also received threats and harassment from unknown perpetrators. These include Hermenegildo Marasigan, president of OLALIA-KMU, and Efren Arante, an organizer for the same labor federation. Both of them. Arante, in particular, received threats through text messages sent to his son.
Red-tagging against workers and union-busting also intensified under the lockdown. In Coca-Cola Santa Rosa, batches of workers were repeatedly forced to “surrender” as members of the New People’s Army. In Fuji Electric, where Miguel worked, barangay Canlubang officials once tried to summon workers to “have a talk,” roughly a week following Bloody Sunday.
Miguel is the latest victim of these attacks against workers in the Southern Tagalog region. He is the second in Laguna under the Duterte administration, following the murder of Reynaldo Malaborbor in Cabuyao under similar circumstances.
As of press time the assailants are still unknown. PAMANTIK-KMU is currently investigating the situation.
Canlubang, Calamba.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Mar 28, 2021
- Event Description
In the morning and evening of 14 March, protesters at the ‘Through the Sky Village’ set up near Government House were rounded up with no warrants shown. The Prime Minister denied any connection with the group photo of the new cabinet.
In both incidents, protesters in the makeshift village observed by peaceful methods by sitting or lying down, raising the 3-finger salute and letting the police take them into custody.
Those arrested were divided into 2 groups: 61 people who were arrested at 06.00 on Sunday and 31 who re-established the village in the afternoon and were arrested in the evening. Before being taken to court for a temporary detention order hearing, the first group were detained and charged at the Border Patrol Police Region 1, Pathum Thani, and the second at the Narcotics Suppression Bureau on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road.
On Monday night, all 92 were released on bail with 20,000 baht each as securities.
99 were arrested in total, but 6 were youths and earlier given bail by the court earlier while one other was allowed bail by the police.
92 were sent to Dusit Court for a temporary detention order hearing on Monday morning. They were charged with violating the Emergency Decree, causing traffic disorder and public dirtiness. Lawyers were waiting to submit bail requests.
On Monday, people gathered at the Pathumwan Skywalk to protest against the arrests. A protest was called for 14.00 on Tuesday 30 March at Government House to coincide with the cabinet photo shoot. The gathering perhaps is a symbolic action of resistance as the real photo shoot has been taken at Tuesday morning.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 28, 2021
- Event Description
Taking a stand
Thinzar Hein’s parents told her not to go, but she went anyway.
Her father was reportedly a member of the Union Solidarity and Development Party, the army-backed party that had suffered a humiliating defeat in last year’s election. He disapproved of the protests against the February 1 coup, but she was determined to join others who opposed the regime. She left home because she wanted to stand on her own two feet.
She said as much during a speech that she delivered in front of Monywa’s clock tower on February 22, the day of the “five twos” (22/2/2021) general strike that marked the start of an effort to turn weeks of protests around the country into a nationwide uprising.
By this time, public employees had already launched the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) that aimed to cripple the regime’s capacity to rule. Thinzar Hein said she had lost respect for teachers at her nursing school who did not join the CDM.
“You should be ashamed if you can’t say in the future that you were a part of the revolution,” she said.
Aye Aye heard this speech and was impressed. But their friendship began when Thinzar Hein started giving her rides to the protests on her motorcycle.
Since Thinzar Hein had nowhere to live after leaving her parent’s home, Aye Aye let her stay at her hostel. That’s when Thinzar Hein taught her how to provide basic emergency medical care, she said.
At first it was just the two of them who went wherever they were needed to help the wounded. That meant anywhere they could hear the sound of gunshots that had become a feature of everyday life in Monywa and cities all over Myanmar since the coup.
Then, on March 3, they saw a man who had been shot in the leg die right before their eyes. Thinzar Hein knew he might have been saved if they had been better prepared to deal with his injuries. And so they decided to form an emergency medical team, raising funds to buy proper medical equipment through their network of fellow protesters.
Facing death
Thinzar Hein used her formal medical training to teach others how to tend to the wounded. In a small room, she instructed 20 people at a time in the first-aid techniques that would make the difference between life and death for victims of a regime intent on terrorizing the country into submission.
“She was very passionate,” Aye Aye said of her friend, recalling Thinzar Hein’s reaction to the death of the man who had been shot in the leg.
“She said she knew there were going to be more shootings,” she added, speaking to Myanmar Now soon after undergoing surgery on her shoulder.
That certainty fuelled Thinzar Hein’s determination to be prepared for any eventuality, including her own death.
In her final message to friends and family, she asked for the forgiveness of those she would have to leave behind if she didn’t survive her dangerous mission.
“I hope my loved ones will forgive me for embarking on a path that doesn’t guarantee a safe return,” she wrote on her Facebook page two days before she was murdered by Myanmar’s terrorist junta.
While regime forces go on a state-sanctioned killing spree, medics and other volunteers around the country continue to put their own lives on the line in the hope that they can save even one injured civilian.
Even when they know there is no one left to save, they return to protest sites day after day to collect the bodies of the dead before they can be taken away and disposed of by their killers.
After a night of bloodshed, people like Thinzar Hein will arrive at a scene of carnage before dawn to attend to both the living and the dead. If they are caught off-guard, they, too, will become casualties of the regime’s war on human decency.
“This is not okay. Even in international wars, medics are not targeted. But here, they’re worried their actions will be exposed, and so they fire at everyone,” said one doctor in Mandalay, describing the behaviour of the junta’s forces.
Dying in agony
Often, medical volunteers will wait for hours for soldiers to leave, knowing that that many victims won’t live long enough to be rescued in the morning.
These are agonizing hours, when they have to listen to people in need of immediate attention moaning in pain. In Monywa, one team spent three hours like this, blocked by soldiers who stood ready to shoot them on sight, until the victim finally fell silent. By the time they were able to reach him, the 30-year-old man had bled to death.
“There was a big cement wall we used as cover, but we couldn’t get to him. We could only pick him up after he was dead,” said a member of the team that attempted to rescue the man.
“Every time we are forced to watch someone die from nearby, it hurts. Every second is important for a bleeding patient,” said the doctor in Mandalay, where many volunteers have had similar experiences.
A member of one rescue team in Myanmar’s second-largest city said he once spent six hours in this situation, as multiple gunshot victims slowly died from their injuries.
“The worst time was in Aung Pin Lal, where they even shot at ambulances and medics had to run for their lives, leaving patients behind,” he said. “Some died of blood loss, and there was nothing we could do about it. It was just a really sad sight.”
Another member of the team was killed at the same time, and his body was never recovered, he added.
Often, he said, family members of people who have gone missing will turn up at emergency clinics in tears, hoping to find them still alive. In many cases, however, the rescue workers can’t even manage to bring back their dead bodies.
And then there are those who somehow escape on their own, but don’t dare seek treatment because of the heavy military presence. Only when their condition becomes truly dire will they come out of hiding.
When Thinzar Hein was shot, her expressed wish to be abandoned to avoid further death was ignored by another member of her team, who crawled to her body under heavy fire and rolled it to a side street so that he could pick it up and carry it to a clinic, where she was declared dead on arrival.
Like others inspired by Thinzar Hein’s example, her friend Aye Aye vowed to continue her work as soon as she recovered from her injuries.
“I will keep fighting,” she said. “I will always be a part of her team.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Death, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 28, 2021
- Event Description
On Sunday afternoon, a 38-year-old ethnic Chin woman, Ah Khu a leader of civil society group Women for Justice based in Sagaing Region’s Kale township, was slain by security forces during a crackdown against an anti-regime protest in the town. Another three men were also killed by the junta’s forces.
A resident told The Irrawaddy on Sunday that Ah Khu was deliberately shot by two security forces dressed in civilian clothes.
The Women's League of Burma described her as "a woman with a dedicated spirit and hopeful mind".
"We salute her courage, her commitment and her cause," it said.
On March 28, longtime activist Ah Khu was shot dead at a protest in Sagaing Division. While security forces started out by policing protests with non-lethal weapons, by mid-March they were armed with assault rifles, sniper rifles and submachine guns, according to Amnesty International, which said troops had adopted “shoot to kill tactics to suppress the protests”. Of those who were shot, about a quarter were shot in the head, according to the AAPP data. A military spokesman had no comment on Amnesty’s report. The women’s rights leader and activist
In Kale, a small town perched on the mountainous India-Myanmar border, many knew Ah Khu, an activist who promoted the rights of women.
For over a decade the 37-year-old had been a director of Women for Justice, a nonprofit that campaigned to stop violence against women and help victims, especially from the ethnic Chin, mostly Christian, minority group she belonged to. She led workshops on gender equality and traveled across the country to collaborate with other organizations and raise funds, sometimes going to India to help refugee Chin women.
“So many people knew her name as women’s rights activist Ah Khu,” said her colleague Ju Jue.
After the coup, Women for Justice – like many civil society groups across the country – turned to organizing protests. Ah Khu was a regular at demonstrations in Kale, often alongside her husband, Lahphai Laseng. Naturally shy, he said he had gained confidence by marrying her.
“I have lost everything,” he said.
On March 28, Ah Khu was at a protest with her friend and colleague Ju Jue when at around 3 pm, soldiers began opening fire. Explosions resounded around them; they thought the security forces were throwing grenades.
As the two women were urging others to flee – small children were among the crowds – Ah Khu fell to the ground. “At first I thought she fell accidentally, so I tried to pick her up, but she said she had been shot in the chest,” Ju Jue said. “She couldn’t believe it. How was it possible? We were too far from the place they were shooting. She could only say, ‘I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.’”
They took her to hospital on a motorbike, but doctors were unable to resuscitate her. Fearful of retribution for treating a protester, the doctors urged her family to take her body away quickly. Her husband and friends drove 15 hours to her birthplace deep in the Chin hills. On the way, questioned by security forces three times at check points, they gave an alternative name for Ah Khu and said she had died of high blood pressure.
Kale police did not answer phone calls from Reuters seeking comment.
On arrival, villagers greeted them with revolutionary songs and the anti-coup movement’s signature three-finger salute, Ah Khu’s husband said. But the family was not allowed to put her name on her grave because locals were afraid the soldiers would cause trouble over it. On a cold morning, a small crowd gathered in a clearing in the forest as her coffin was lowered, video of the funeral showed. A priest read from the Bible, and a colleague at Women for Justice read out a declaration releasing her from her work on earth.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- NGO staff, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 27, 2021
- Event Description
Myanmar’s military regime marked its Armed Forces Day on Saturday by slaughtering more than 100 people across the country, making it the bloodiest single day since the generals seized power on Feb. 1.
As of evening, The Irrawaddy has recorded at least 102 people, including at least four children ranging in age from 5 to 15, killed on Saturday in 41 locations in 10 out of Myanmar’s 14 states and regions.
Most of the victims were shot dead by trigger-happy soldiers and police during crackdowns on anti-protesters. One child was hit with a randomly sprayed bullet while playing.
Since early February, the junta has staged fatal assaults on protesters across the country who are opposed to military rule. A total of 429 have been slain so far.
While Saturday marked the seventh week of protest against the regime, it was also the 76th anniversary of Armed Forces Day, an annual celebration for the military to mark Myanmar’s resistance against the Japanese fascists in 1945.
However, protesters across the country viewed Saturday as “Revolutionary Day” against the regime and poured into streets. True to form, the regime’s soldiers and police responded with a burst of bloodshed, as if the heightened violence was a way of commemorating their special occasion.
The bloodshed came to Dala Township, a small town across the Yangon River, just after midnight. Eight people were shot dead about 12:30 a.m. Saturday as a crowd besieged a police station demanding that security forces release two women detained after a protest on Friday morning.
“They [security forces] kept shooting until 3 a.m. Several people were injured. Some of them are still critical condition,” a witness said.
A woman mourns for her family member killed by the regime’s troops on Saturday. In northern Yangon’s Insein Township, residents took to the streets at 2:30 a.m. to set up roadblocks, taking advantage of the absence of security forces in the small hours. Deadly crackdowns came about 6 a.m. and continued on into the day, resulting in four deaths.
A nurse from a local professional medic team that provided medical assistance in the area throughout the day said that not only protesters were slain. People like a drinking water deliveryman and other bystanders were either shot dead in the head and abdomen or wounded as attacks continued in neighboring areas and townships.
“They are devils. How can a human being behave like this? I can’t even find any proper words to describe their brutality,” said the nurse who gave her name as “Soe” for security reasons.
While Insein residents ran for their lives and fought back with whatever they could find—from broken bricks to slingshots to Molotov cocktails to burning piles of tires—coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing celebrated Armed Forces Day on a grand scale in the capital 200 miles away.
In his lengthy and cliché-ridden speech to a gathering of troops, he said the military has historically prioritized the safeguarding of the nation and its people and repeated his worn out excuse on staging the takeover by saying, “There was massive electoral fraud.”
A few hours after of his boast about how the military safeguards the nation and its people, his troops killed four civilians, including a 13-year-old girl, in Meiktila in Mandalay Region. The deaths occurred when security forces fired shots into a housing estate in an effort to disperse protesters.
It’s worth asking why the people of Myanmar are still taking to the streets, risking their lives to the violence of the regime’s troops.
A 26-year-old protester in Yangon’s Thaketa Township said he keeps protesting because he’s afraid of losing his future in the regime’s hands.
“We are not lambs to the slaughter. But if we stayed quiet, it would be the same as dying. So we fight for our hope and our future,” he said.
In northern Shan State’s Lashio, three more protesters including a lawyer were killed. They were shot in the head and chest when police and soldiers opened fire on anti-coup demonstrators, according to a local charity group. It also reported that several people were wounded during the crackdown.
“We could not retrieve the dead bodies. They dragged the bodies and the injured people onto a military truck,” a volunteer from the charity group told The Irrawaddy.
Coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing inspects troops during the Armed Forces Day parade in Naypyitaw on Saturday. ( Commander-in-Chief Office) Not surprisingly, the record-breaking killings by soldiers and police on Armed Forces Day have shocked diplomatic missions in the country.
The European Union in Myanmar said, “This 76th Myanmar Armed Forces Day will forever stay engraved as a day of terror and dishonor.”
“The killing of unarmed civilians, including children, is indefensible,” the EU statement said.
US Ambassador Thomas Vajda condemned the security forces for “murdering unarmed civilians, including children, the very people they swore to protect” while calling for an immediate end to the violence and the restoration of the democratically elected government.
“This bloodshed is horrifying. These are not the actions of a professional military or police force,” he said in a statement released on Saturday.
For the nurse Soe in Yangon, the regime’s brutality prompted her to question one of her professional ethics: neutrality.
“As professional health workers, we are supposed to help anyone whoever they are. But they even killed kids! They shot people living in their homes,” she said.
So, would she save a dying soldier or wounded policeman now?
“I would surely do it in the past. But, not now!” she vowed.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 27, 2021
- Event Description
On 27 March, authorities in Ha Noi arrested Le Trong Hung under Article 117, who had applied to be an independent (or ‘self-nominated’) candidate for a National Assembly seat in Ha Noi city. Le Trong Hung is a citizen journalist and a member of Chan Hung TV, a media group which broadcasts Facebook livestreams about social and political issues. According to his family, Le Trong Hung was arrested while walking in his neighbourhood and taken to his home by police who then searched the house. It is unknown where he is currently being detained.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 27, 2021
- Event Description
A jailed student protester from Magway who had his hand amputated after a brutal attack by soldiers in late March applied for bail on Thursday, his family has said.
Hlyan Phyo Aung, a 22-year-old civil engineering student who faces an incitement charge, was expecting to be freed along with more than 2,000 others on Wednesday.
Instead he had his first court hearing on Thursday after it was postponed eight times. His family said they hoped the request would be granted on medical grounds because of his serious injuries.
“I just want to ask them to be reasonable and stop this madness,” said a relative.
The student was hospitalised after a soldier shot and destroyed his right hand at a rally in Magway on March 27. After the hand was amputated he was sent to Magway Prison, even though doctors said he urgently needed eye surgery.
“It doesn’t matter if one is educated or wealthy or not, a person is a person and should be treated as such,” the relative said. “Would they treat him the same way if he was their blood?” Thirty-six detainees who were still under police investigation and facing court hearings for protesting were released from Magway Prison on Wednesday.
Two of them were Hlyan Phyo Aung’s cellmates, who were detained at the same protest as him and facing the same charge under the same lawsuit, the relative said.
The cellmates had been helping Hlyan Phyo Aung, who has limited mobility, with his daily routine.
“Now he’s alone in his cell,” the relative said. “He had already packed his stuff thinking he would be released along with his cellmates. We just met with his friends who were released in front of the prison today.”
In addition to losing his right hand, Hlyan Phyo Aung was hit in his right eye with a blast of gunpowder. Both of his thighs and his left arm were perforated by rubber bullets. After receiving two months of treatment at a military hospital, doctors said he would still need physical therapy as well as surgery for his eye.
The relative said they feared the attention Hlyan Phyo Aung’s case has received was the reason the regime has not yet released him.
The underground National Unity Government has publicised his treatment as part of plans to submit evidence against the regime to the International Criminal Court.
“Every single word of support for him turns into poison for the military since this information has seeped to the international community, making it a ‘famous’ case,” the relative said.
“That’s probably why they’re not releasing him yet.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Malaysia
- Initial Date
- Mar 25, 2021
- Event Description
(Bangkok, 24 March 2021) – Attempts to intimidate Malaysian lawyer and human rights defender (HRD) Charles Hector for his work amount to harassment with the ultimate aim of silencing the people he represents, the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) and Front Line Defenders said in a joint statement today.
Human rights lawyer Charles Hector, along with eight defendants he is representing against logging companies, may face contempt charges for seeking clarifications over details contained in a letter sent by the Jerantut Forestry office.
The proceedings to initiate contempt charges are scheduled to take place tomorrow (25 March 2021) at the Kuantan High Court in the Malaysian state of Pahang, following a letter Hector had sent on behalf of his clients to an officer of the Jerantut Forestry office on 17 December 2020. In that letter, Hector sought further explanations on an earlier letter sent by the forestry officer in February 2020.
The plaintiffs behind the contempt proceedings are logging firms Beijing Million Sdn Bhd and Rosah Timber & Trading Sdn Bhd. They claim that Hector’s letter is a violation of a temporary injunction order obtained in November 2020, which, among others, stops the defendants from blocking the plaintiff’s workers from accessing a contested area in the Jerantut Permanent Forest Reserve.
The logging firms were appointed by the General Manager of Yayasan Pahang (Pahang Foundation), the license holder allowed to carry out logging in this forest. Yayasan Pahang is a statutory body of the Pahang State government.
‘The use of legal proceedings to curtail the crucial role of human rights lawyers highlights the continuous risk and intimidation they face in their work, particularly when they defend individuals in cases involving powerful businesses,’ said Shamini Darshni Kaliemuthu, Executive Director of FORUM-ASIA.
The eight defendants represented by Hector are from communities affected by potential logging activities in the Jerantut Permanent Forest Reserve.
In February 2020, the logging firms accused the defendants of preventing their workers and contractors from accessing and carrying their work in the forest reserve, and for allegedly disseminating false information about them. The defendants have denied these allegations.
The defendants, a part of the community who have been protesting logging of the Jerantut Permanent Forest Reserve since 2013, argue that the relevant authorities are still considering their objections and have not yet given permission to commence logging. The defendants, along with their communities, depend on the forest reserve for clean water and their livelihood. They also assert that their protest activities have been legal and peaceful.
‘Apart from intimidating lawyers, these actions by businesses result in disempowering vulnerable communities who depend on the forest reserve for their survival,’ said Shamini.
Malaysia has faced widespread deforestation and forest shrinkage in years. Despite attempts to revise laws to ensure protection for the forests, deforestation and infringement on ancestral lands have continued. Human rights lawyers and environmental defenders fighting against these are increasingly being targeted by corporations.
Charles Hector is a human rights lawyer who has extensive experience defending the right to fundamental freedoms, and the rights of indigenous peoples, migrants and refugees, and workers. He has been instrumental in improving mechanisms for access to lawyers and legal representation for the vulnerable.
‘Targeting a human rights defender like Charles Hector, who defends other human rights defenders, is certainly a strategy to weaken the morale of the community protesting the harmful logging,’ observed Olive Moore, Deputy Executive Director of Front Line Defenders.
In Malaysia, without a legislation to define contempt of court offences and penalties, sentences are arbitrary and can range from fines, prison terms and can lead to the revocation of one’s lawyer certificate.
‘Amidst allegation of collusion between regional state authorities and corporations, the Government of Malaysia must prove that it is able to prioritise the rights of its citizens over the interests of these corporations, and that it is able to protect the human rights lawyers who continue to defend the rights of vulnerable communities,’ said the groups.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 25, 2021
- Event Description
Police in Hanoi at the weekend summoned Trinh Ba Khiem—the husband of detained Dong Tam land-rights activist Can Thi Thieu and father of their two sons—ordering him to remove live-stream postings on Facebook they said were defaming the Communist Party.
“They said that the communist regime would arrest me and punish me harshly if I kept putting videos up on social media,” Khiem told RFA, adding that it’s likely now that he will be jailed following the arrests of his wife and sons.
“My wife and children are already in prison, so I’m not frightened at all, even if they jail me for 20 years or if I die in prison,” he said.
During his meeting with police, Khiem asked to see his son Trinh Ba Phuong, who was transferred from a detention center to a state-run psychiatric hospital in early March for “evaluation” after refusing to speak to police investigators – the third prisoner of conscience known to have been sent for psychiatric treatment.
A well-known land-rights activist in Hanoi, Phuong was arrested on June 24, 2020 with his younger brother, Trinh Ba Tu, and his mother, Can Thi Theu, on charges of “creating, storing, and disseminating information, documents, items and publications opposing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”
The three family members had been outspoken in social media postings about the Jan. 9, 2020 clash in Dong Tam commune in which 3,000 police stormed barricaded protesters’ homes at a construction site about 25 miles south of the capital, killing a village elder.
'Mentally strong'
Can Thi Theu meanwhile met on Tuesday with a defense lawyer for the first time since her arrest in June, her attorney, Le Luan, wrote on his Facebook page, describing his client as “mentally strong.”
Speaking to RFA on Wednesday, Theu’s daughter Trinh Thi Thao confirmed the meeting, adding she had given Le Luan a letter she had written to her mother, along with photographs of her mother’s four grandchildren.
“The lawyer said that we would meet with Trinh Ba Tu on another day,” she said.
Can Thi Theu had earlier served a 20-month prison term after being convicted in 2016 of “disturbing public order” for joining protests with others over their loss of land which was taken by the government to give to private companies without payment of adequate compensation.
While all land is ultimately held by the state, land confiscations have become a flashpoint as residents accuse the government of pushing small landholders aside in favor of lucrative real estate projects, and of paying too little in compensation to farming families displaced by development.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 25, 2021
- Event Description
Almost two months after the military seized power, people across Myanmar doggedly continued the fight to topple the regime on Thursday with protests in towns and cities across the country.
Once again, the military responded with murderous attacks, killing at least six. Fatalities were confirmed in Shan State’s Taunggyi, Kachin state’s Mohnyin and Sagaing region’s Khin-U.
The regime has now killed 320 people, including 20 children, in its bid to crush the democratic uprising, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Thursday’s renewed protests came a day after the country observed a “Silent Strike”. Businesses closed and people stayed in their homes as streets remained empty of pedestrians and cars.
The action was a show of strength and unity in response to the military’s hamfisted efforts to resume business as usual and force the economy to reopen after weeks of devastating strikes. It was also aimed at allowing people a chance to rest.
Here is a roundup of Thursday’s violence by region, as well as some additional details from Wednesday night that have now been confirmed:
Taunggyi, Shan state
Four people were killed and several, including a pregnant woman, were injured when soldiers opened fire on protesters in Taunggyi, locals said. The troops also used tear gas and rubber bullets during the attack.
Photos taken by locals and circulated on social media showed the regime’s forces beating residents and destroying their properties.
Residents said the army used drone cameras to watch over residential areas but Myanmar Now was unable to verify this.
Sources from the town said nearly 60 people were arrested during Thursday’s attacks and several people had their mobile phones seized.
Mohnyin, Kachin state
Forty-year-old Win Swe was shot in the abdomen and killed in Mohnyin when the junta’s forces opened fire on a crowd that had gathered in front of the police station to demand the release of nine protesters who were arrested on Thursday morning.
“At first, the police just said to disperse. Later a truck full of soldiers arrived and opened fire,” said a member of an aid group that is helping the injured.
Win Swe was a gasoline seller and a resident of the Aung Thabyay ward in Mohnyin.
Two other people in their 30s were severely injured during the attack, Mohnyin locals said.
hin-U, Sagaing region
In Khin-U, Sagaing region, troops from a battalion in nearby Shwebo attacked a pro-democracy demonstration and killed a 19-year-old demonstrator named Zaw Win Maung.
Two others were injured, according to a Khin-U resident.
“We had blocked main roads in town and troops from Shwebo came on foot to where we were at around midday. They started shooting as soon as they arrived,” the resident said.
Zaw Min Maung passed away at around 6pm while being treated at a local monastery. Soldiers then came and took his body as well as an injured teenager, whose whereabouts and condition is unknown.
On Wednesday night police arrested a group of 14 volunteer night guards in Aung Chan Thar ward. Residents then surrounded the police station to demand their release.
Police shot at the crowd outside the station but later released the night guards, a local said. Mandalay
A junta crackdown on a nighttime protest in Mandalay’s Kyaukpadaung township on Wednesday night left one person dead and three severely injured, a local rescue worker said. The protest was held to mark the end of the day’s Silent Strike.
Soldiers attacked the protest at around 8pm. Kyi Sett Hlaing, 23, was shot in the thigh and bled to death at around 11pm after he was unable to access medical treatment.
The rescue worker said his charity was delayed trying to reach injured protesters because there were soldiers patrolling the main road in the town in search of people who had left broken glass out to slow the advance of military vehicles.
“They were looking for those who shattered glass on the road, so we couldn’t go freely,” he said.
Also on Wednesday night, in Mandalay’s Chanmyathazi township, a 16-year-old boy was killed during an attack on residents who were banging pots at Sein Pan street near the intersection of 66th and 67th streets, a doctor who helped treat the injured told Myanmar Now.
The victim was identified as Phoe Hti. He was shot in the back by the junta’s troops, according to his relatives.The shootings started at 8:30pm and at least five other residents were injured, a rescue team said.
Before the shooting, soldiers shouted: “If you have courage, come out now!” a resident said.
“After we banged pots, they came in shouting ‘Who has the courage? Who was banging pots? Come out now!’ They then went around shooting. I’ve heard that some night watchmen were shot,” the resident added.
One person was shot in the abdomen and the other in the leg, she added.
“No rescue team has arrived, they have been left just like that,” she added, speaking at around 9pm on Wednesday. “We don’t dare to go out to look either.”
Ambulances were able to enter the area around 9:30pm that night and took the injured people to a clinic, a doctor said.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Killing, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to life, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 25, 2021
- Event Description
A jailed Vietnamese blogger serving an 11-year prison term for writing articles criticizing Vietnam’s government is being denied family visits after being transferred to a new prison following his refusal to appeal his sentence, his wife said on Friday.
Nguyen Tuong Thuy, an independent journalist and former RFA blogger, was recently moved from a Ho Chi Minh City Police Investigation Agency detention center and sent to the Bo La prison in Binh Duong province, Thuy’s wife Nguyen Thi Lan said.
“Yesterday I went to the Bo La detention center to visit my husband. I arrived at 11:00 a.m. but couldn’t see him as the doors had been locked, and I had to wait until 1:30 p.m. to send him some food,” Lan said, adding that prison staff accepted her delivery of food but refused to let her visit or speak with Thuy.
“They explained that they were not allowed to do this, as they had to follow instructions from the Ho Chi Minh City police,” she said.
Lan said she was shown a February 2021 police notice suspending prison visits and consular contacts due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19, but insisted that this was still against the law. “The law stipulates that anyone temporarily detained is still allowed to see their family at least once a month.”
Even with concerns over COVID-19, the guards should have allowed her to see her husband at a distance or speak to him on the phone, Lan said.
“However, I had no choice but to accept their decision, as [the detention officers] are the ones who have the authority,” Lan said, adding she had heard that a prisoner being held on a drugs charge at the same facility had been allowed to call and speak to their family.
“I think the guards were just making excuses,” she said. “I don’t know why they would say what they did, but I believe they were just following their superiors’ instructions and not the law.”
Calls seeking comment from the Bo La detention center were not picked up on Friday.
Civil rights, freedom of speech
Nguyen Tuong Thuy, who had blogged on civil rights and freedom of speech issues for RFA’s Vietnamese Service for six years, was sentenced on Jan. 5 with two other bloggers—like Thuy members of the Vietnam Independent Journalists’ Association—who were handed lengthy jail terms at the same time.
Arrested in May 2020, Thuy was indicted along with Pham Chi Dung and Le Huu Minh Tuan on Nov. 10 for “making, storing, and disseminating documents and materials for anti-state purposes” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code.
Sentenced with Thuy, Pham Chi Dung was given a 15-year prison term, while Le Huu Minh Tuan was jailed for 11 years.
Thuy later refused to appeal his sentence, tearing up a petition form given to his after prison guards told him what to write on it, Thuy’s lawyer told RFA in an earlier report.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Vietnam 175 out of 180 in its 2020 World Press Freedom Index. About 25 journalists and bloggers are being held in Vietnam’s jails, “where mistreatment is common,” the Paris-based watchdog group said.
Vietnam’s already low tolerance of dissent deteriorated sharply last year with a spate of arrests of independent journalists, publishers, and Facebook personalities as authorities continued to stifle critics in the run-up to the ruling Communist Party Congress in January.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 24, 2021
- Event Description
An appeals court in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi on Wednesday upheld the 12-year prison sentence handed to dissident writer Tran Duc Thach in December, sending him back to prison to serve his full term without hearing any arguments from his lawyer.
Thach, 69 and a founder of Vietnam’s online Brotherhood for Democracy, had heard only on Monday that the trial would be held, attorney Ha Huy Son told RFA on Tuesday.
Thach’s appeals hearing lasted just under two hours and was held without arguments between Thach’s defense attorney Ha Huy Son and government prosecutors, Son told RFA’s Vietnamese Service following the trial.
“It seems that the court had arranged its verdict ahead of time, as it was clearly made without any consideration being given to what Thach had actually done,” he said.
Arrested on April 23, 2020 Thach had been charged with “activities aimed at overthrowing the People’s Government” under Article 109 of Vietnam’s Criminal Code for Facebook postings exposing government corruption and human rights abuses.
The Brotherhood for Democracy is not recognized by the Vietnamese government, and many of its members have been imprisoned since its founding in 2013.
Speaking at Wednesday’s trial, a government prosecutor called Thach’s actions “dangerous to society,” saying they had threatened national security and undermined public trust in Vietnam’s political system.
Thach’s first trial had been compromised by “serious violations of legal proceedings,” Thach’s defense team said in a closing statement, noting that Thach had been tried on charges under the 2015 Criminal Code, which came into effect in early January 2018, well after his alleged offenses.
Prosecutors on Wednesday had also enjoyed full access to Thach’s case file, while defense lawyers were not allowed to have a copy of it, attorney Ha Huy Son said.
Thach had previously served a three-year jail term after being convicted in October 2009 of “conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” and his return to prison now comes amid a new surge of jailings and convictions following a spate of arrests last year in the run-up to a top-level Communist Party conference in January.
'I'm not frightened at all'
Separately, police in Hanoi at the weekend summoned Trinh Ba Khiem—the husband of detained Dong Tam land-rights activist Can Thi Thieu and father of their two sons—ordering him to remove live-stream postings on Facebook they said were defaming the Communist Party.
“They said that the communist regime would arrest me and punish me harshly if I kept putting videos up on social media,” Khiem told RFA, adding that it’s likely now that he will be jailed following the arrests of his wife and sons.
“My wife and children are already in prison, so I’m not frightened at all, even if they jail me for 20 years or if I die in prison,” he said.
During his meeting with police, Khiem asked to see his son Trinh Ba Phuong, who was transferred from a detention center to a state-run psychiatric hospital in early March for “evaluation” after refusing to speak to police investigators – the third prisoner of conscience known to have been sent for psychiatric treatment.
A well-known land-rights activist in Hanoi, Phuong was arrested on June 24, 2020 with his younger brother, Trinh Ba Tu, and his mother, Can Thi Theu, on charges of “creating, storing, and disseminating information, documents, items and publications opposing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”
The three family members had been outspoken in social media postings about the Jan. 9, 2020 clash in Dong Tam commune in which 3,000 police stormed barricaded protesters’ homes at a construction site about 25 miles south of the capital, killing a village elder.
'Mentally strong'
Can Thi Theu meanwhile met on Tuesday with a defense lawyer for the first time since her arrest in June, her attorney, Le Luan, wrote on his Facebook page, describing his client as “mentally strong.”
Speaking to RFA on Wednesday, Theu’s daughter Trinh Thi Thao confirmed the meeting, adding she had given Le Luan a letter she had written to her mother, along with photographs of her mother’s four grandchildren.
“The lawyer said that we would meet with Trinh Ba Tu on another day,” she said.
Can Thi Theu had earlier served a 20-month prison term after being convicted in 2016 of “disturbing public order” for joining protests with others over their loss of land which was taken by the government to give to private companies without payment of adequate compensation.
While all land is ultimately held by the state, land confiscations have become a flashpoint as residents accuse the government of pushing small landholders aside in favor of lucrative real estate projects, and of paying too little in compensation to farming families displaced by development.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 24, 2021
- Event Description
Six youth activists were detained for a night for collecting thumbprints — despite the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak — for a petition calling on the government to ease citizens’ costs of living, the Phnom Penh governor said.
“What they are looking for — thumbprints — that is against the Covid-19 rules,” Khuong Sreng said.
The activists had admitted their guilt and were released, he said, adding that such actions could lead to legal action if they were infected with Covid-19 and had transmitted the disease to others.
The governor added that they were focusing on the wrong issue at the wrong time.
“At this time, they should be holding banners and telling all people to wear masks to protect themselves from Covid-19,” Sreng said. “That would be the most appropriate.”
Keo Tith Lida, president of the Women’s Association for Society, said three of her members had been arrested on Wednesday while making copies of their petition to deliver to Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday.
She and two other members went to the Stung Meanchey 1 commune police station to try to secure the others’ release, but they were also detained, Tith Lida said.
The group has been collecting thumbprints for a petition calling on the government to ease people’s financial burdens. The petition suggests suspending payments to microfinance institutions and banks, halting water and electricity bills, reducing the price of gasoline, or halving businesses’ rent for three to six months.
Tith Lida said the six activists were detained overnight and released around 5 p.m. on Thursday.
“We were asked to make a contract … to not gather youths, to not collect thumbprints during Covid, and to not make any propaganda,” she said.
The campaign had now been suspended, she said.
Am Sam Ath, rights group Licadho’s monitoring manager, said everyone should be following the Health Ministry’s Covid-19 guidelines.
“There should be a discussion about solutions, and, in the future, they will follow the measures of the Ministry of Health and of the authorities about preventing the spread of Covid-19. That would be good,” Sam Ath said.
Tith Lida previously said the group had collected more than 200 thumbprints for its petition.
The Covid-19 pandemic has led to tens of thousands of job losses in Cambodia, with tourism having plummeted amid disruptions to global travel, and garment factories losing orders due to suppressed worldwide consumer demand.
More than 700,000 households, or about 2 million people, have received emergency cash handouts as part of the government’s IDPoor program, the Planning Ministry said last month.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 24, 2021
- Event Description
On the night of March 24, police raided the media outlet’s office and two of its employees’ homes in Taunggyi, the capital of Shan state, and detained editor-in-charge Nann Nann Tai, reporter Nann Win Yi, and publisher Tin Aung Kyaw, according to a Facebook post by the outlet and a report by The Irrawaddy.
Kanbawza Tai News editor-in-chief Zay Tai told The Irrawaddy that the outlet had not received any warning or legal action before the arrests, and he did not know where the staffers were being held.
CPJ emailed and called Kanbawza Tai News, an independent news outlet which posts stories on its website and social media, but did not receive any responses. The outlet’s news website was still posting updates as of today, and has recently covered strikes and demonstrations against the country’s military government, which took power in a February coup.
“The jailing of Kanbawza Tai News staffers Nann Nann Tai, Nann Win Yi, and Tin Aung Kyaw is the latest in a lengthening list of crimes against the press by the Myanmar junta,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “They must be immediately and unconditionally freed along with all other journalists wrongfully detained in Myanmar.”
Zay Tai told The Irrawaddy that authorities had previously tried to arrest him in mid-March in a separate house raid, but he escaped.
Also on March 24, Myanmar authorities released hundreds of political prisoners, most of whom had been detained in clampdowns on anti-military protests, including Associated Press journalist Thein Zaw and Polish freelance photographer Robert Bociaga, according to news reports.
At least 23 other journalists remain in detention, including the Kanbawza Tai News staffers, according to data shared with CPJ by the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners, an independent rights group.
Twelve of those journalists have been charged under the penal code, with at least 10 facing charges under Article 505(a), a broad criminal provision that penalizes the dissemination of information that could agitate or cause security forces or state officials to mutiny, that data shows.
CPJ emailed the Ministry of Information for comment, but did not receive an immediate reply.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Mar 24, 2021
- Event Description
Yayasan Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Indonesia (YLBHI) said that 2 legal assistants for residents of Pancoran, South Jakarta, were detained by the South Jakarta Metro Police. "Two legal assistants for the residents of Pancoran, Safaraldy from LBH Jakarta and Dzuhrian from Paralegal Jalanan were arrested for no reason by the South Jakarta Police on Wednesday, March 24, 2021. Both were detained while delivering a letter regarding the refusal to investigate the Pancoran residents
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 23, 2021
- Event Description
Saw Lin Htet, an ethnic Karen student from Myanmar currently studying at Mahidol University, has been arrested in Myanmar after joining an anti-coup protest while conducting research, and has not been heard from since.
Saw Lin Htet is a student in the Human Rights and Democratisation master’s degree programme at the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies (IHRP), Mahidol University. IHRP lecturer Bencharat Sae Chua said that he returned to his home country to conduct research for his thesis. While in Myanmar, he also joined anti-coup protests after the Myanmar military took power on 1 February 2021.
Bencharat said she was informed that Saw Lin Htet was arrested on 23 March 2021, while driving home in Hpa-An, the capital city of Karen State, with his 4-year-old daughter. He was stopped by military officers, who searched his car without presenting a warrant and arrested him after they found anti-government material.
He was accused of inciting violence against the state under Section 505 of Myanmar’s Criminal Code, which carries a prison sentence of up to 3 years.
He was taken to court on 6 April 2021, but his trial was not heard as there were too many cases. However, that evening, his wife noticed that he was not in the prisoner bus returning to prison, so she went to search for him both at the prison and at the police station, but no officer was able to tell her where he is. He has not been heard from since.
Saw Lin Htet’s family and friends are now concerned for his wellbeing. Bencharat said a petition has been filed with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, and that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights received the petition on 9 April. Meanwhile, his wife and daughter are in hiding out of fear that they are in danger from state officials.
His classmates at Mahidol University have also set up the Facebook page “Free Saw Lin” to call attention to his arrest and disappearance. On 9 April, they also issued a statement raising concerns about Saw Lin Htet’s wellbeing and calling on the Myanmar government to guarantee the rights Saw Lin Htet and other political detainees, as well as to allow them the right to be represented by a lawyer and to have a fair trial.
“We gravely fear for the condition of Saw Lin, who as of this moment remains under incommunicado detention,” says the statement. “Saw Lin’s current physical health is fragile since he is a survivor of childhood tuberculosis. His lack of consistent access to lawyers and his family clear violates his rights as an accused and person deprived of liberty.
“We appeal to the Government of the Union of Myanmar to allow Saw Lin, along with other political detainees, to have their rights guaranteed under the law. We request that they are granted access to justice, be represented by their counsels, and have a fair trial.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Mar 22, 2021
- Event Description
Chukiat ‘Justin’ Saengwong, a pro-democracy protester, was arrested at night on 22 March on a charge of royal defamation and taken into police custody awaiting a court decision on bail. The court then allow the police request for temporary detention.
At 13.01 of 23 March, he was waiting for a court decision on his bail application via a teleconference hearing, according to Bencha Saengchantra, the Move Forward Party MP requesting bail for Chukiat. Bencha also said the police were going to transfer Chukiat to court in the morning, but suddenly changed to a teleconference hearing.
At 17.12, the court denied bail, giving as reasons the seriousness of the charge, the heavy penalty, and the fact that the accused committed similar offences after previously being allowed bail, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR). The offence that resulted in his arrest was from his part in the 20 March protest at Sanam Luang, although the offending action has not yet been identified exactly.
Chukiat posted on Facebook at 20.15 on 22 March “The police are taking me to Chanasongkram Police Station. Arrest warrant [Section] 112”. But supporters who went to Chanasongkram Police Station could not find him until he appeared at Huai Kwang Police Station at 23.00.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), whose lawyer was able to meet Chukiat at 00.54 on 23 March, tweeted that the police tried to interrogate Chukiat with a lawyer that they assigned to him and confiscated his phone. Because he objected to this, the police had him handcuffed and detained.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Mar 22, 2021
- Event Description
KHON KAEN: Sixteen core members of the Khon Kaen faction of the anti-government Ratsadon group reported to police on Monday morning to hear charges in connection with three anti-government rallies.
The first rally was held at Khon Kaen University on Feb 12, when the protesters lowered a national flag from the pole. The second was in front of the Muang police station on Feb 20 and the third on March 1 in front of a police office at Khon Kaen University.
At the rallies, the protesters reiterated three demands of the Ratsadon group - the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, the amendment of the constitution and the reform of the monarchy.
Summonses were issued for the 16 to report to Muang police on Monday to hear three charges - lowering the national flag, a violation of the Thai National Flag Act, violating the emergency decree, and breaking the Disease Control Act.
The 16 were: Vachiravich "Safe" Thetsrimuang, who is leader of Khon Kaen faction of the Ratsadon group, Atthapol "Khru Yai" Buapat, Chaithawat Nammaroeng, Nitikorn Khamchu, Kornchanok Saenprasert, Pachara Santhiyakul, Thanasak Potemi, Veerapat Sirisunthorn, Panupong Srithananuwat, Sarawut Nakmanee, Jatuporn Sae Ueng, Chettha Klindee, Siwakorn Namnuad, Jetsarit Namkhot, Issaret Charoenkhong and Wisalya Ngnamna.
Four companies of police, from Khon Kaen and nearby provinces, were deployed in front of the police station to block supporters of the 16 from entering the premises.
A large number of Ratsadon supporters turned up and set up a tent on Klang Muang road in front of the station, giving moral support to their leaders and applying pressure on the police.
The protest leaders were accompanied by counsel from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.
Mr Vachiravich said the lawyers had prepared to file requests for their release on bail after they were formally charged.
Before reporting to the police, Mr Vachiravich burned his summons and ground the ashes under his foot, in a symbolic show of defiance.
- Impact of Event
- 16
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Mar 22, 2021
- Event Description
Police officer from the Jayapura City Police arrested five students demonstrating carrying the Bintang Kejora flag on Monday (22/3/2021). The police also disband a demonstration demanding that Government of Indonesia open access for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Papua. The rally was initiated by students of the students of Universitas Sains dan Teknologi Jayapura (USTJ) on campus. Initially, the protesters had time to postpone their action, because they saw that the police were already on campus.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Mar 21, 2021
- Event Description
MANILA – Human rights group Karapatan is calling for the release of their Lumad colleague who was arrested by police in Cagayan de Oro City early morning Sunday, March 21.
Renalyn Tejero, 25, a Karapatan Caraga paralegal and a Manobo, has turned up under arrest at the Camp Col. Rafael Rodriguez, the Philippine National Police (PNP) Caraga regional office 13 in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte.
Tejero had been missing for half a day, having lost contact with her colleagues after she was last seen being taken by armed men at 5 A.M. in another province, in barangay Lapasan, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental.
It turned out a joint police and military team arrested her on charges of murder and attempted multiple murder, as announced by the PNP Caraga late this afternoon. They flaunted having nabbed Tejero, who they claimed is the region’s “top 1 most wanted NPA (New People’s Army).”
The PNP Caraga also claimed that Tejero is “one of the primary suspects” in the killing of Zaldy Acidillo Ybañez and Datu Bernandino Astudillo Surigao del Sur last year.
This was the same charge against Rogelio de Asis, Pamalakaya Caraga chairperson, and auditor of Pamalakaya National. De Asis was arrested on Feb. 11 at his home in Buenavista, Agusan del Norte.
The arrest warrants issued by the Regional Trial Court branch 34 recommends no bail for the murder case, and a fixed bail of Php120,000 for the multiple attempted murder case, the PNP Caraga said.
Tejero is the second activist from Caraga who was arrested in four days. On March 17, a similar joint police and military operation arrested Rosanilla “Teacher Lai” Consad, ACT secretary in Region XIII, a special education teacher and an assistant principal of San Vicente National High School in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte.
Also in the region just last February, four prominent activists were arrested on murder charges, which their organizations denounced as trumped-up cases.
The PNP Caraga said Tejero was arrested by a composite team of the PNP regional intelligence units from Region 13 and Region 10, the Philippine Army’s 402nd Brigade under the 4th Infantry Division, the 23rd Infantry Battalion and the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Progressive groups denounced Tejero’s arrest and called for her release. The Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) in a Facebook post said Tejero is an “IFI active youth member.” Katribu Youth called the arrest “an attack on indigenous peoples and people’s rights.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 21, 2021
- Event Description
Police in north-central Vietnam’s Nghe An province arrested the owner of a private clinic on Monday, accusing the physician of undermining people’s trust in the Communist Party in a series of articles posted on social media, state media sources said.
Nguyen Duy Huong, a 34-year-old medical doctor and owner of the Duy Nhi clinic in the Yen Thanh district’s Vienh Tanh commune, was charged under Article 117 of the Criminal Code with “creating, storing, or disseminating information and documents against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”
Security services said that articles posted since 2018 on Huong’s Facebook page included a Feb. 20, 2021 story called “Why Should We Criticize Nguyen Phu Trong,” which criticized the ruling Communist Party general secretary, now serving his third term in office, for turning the party into “a swamp.”
Huong had written in the same article that he was willing to sacrifice even his family and job in order to change the Party and the country, according to a report in the Ministry of Public Security’s official newspaper.
“I have devoted my life to this [cause],” Huong wrote, quoted in the Ministry paper. “Reforms must be carried out so that our people can really be their own masters, the party can be cleaned up, and the country can move forward.”
Huong’s writings had undermined the Vietnamese people’s trust in their ruling party and the socialist regime and had harmed political and ideological unity in the country, and should therefore be “handled strictly,” the ministry paper said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 21, 2021
- Event Description
The junta’s armed forces shot and killed a protester in Monywa, Sagaing Region, on Sunday morning as a crowd of people set up preparations for an anti-coup demonstration.
Twenty-three-year-old Min Min Zaw was shot in the head while setting up street barricades on the frontline, a local doctor on strike told Myanmar Now.
Nine people were injured when police and soldiers shot live ammunition into the crowd, with four in critical condition at the time of reporting, according to the doctor.
As the regime’s forces took over the main roads in Monywa to deter civilians from protesting, locals instead used side streets to hold their rallies against the February 1 military coup, building makeshift barricades in the roads for protection.
Min Min Zaw was shot dead at the Bo Tayza Street in Monywa when the armed forces came to destroy these barricades.
Despite the killing of Min Min Zaw, Monywa residents continued to hold their rally against the regime for the 43rd day since February 7.
Twelve people have been killed in total in Monywa by police and soldiers.
Nationwide, the regime has killed at least 247 people since the military coup, according to advocacy group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
However, medics and rescue workers believe that the actual number of protest-related deaths may be much higher than the AAPP’s estimates, as there are multiple reports of missing persons, and family members who say they have been unable to claim the bodies of their loved ones from the regime.
Despite the ongoing deadly crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations by the armed forces, defiant protesters in Myanmar continued to take to the streets on Sunday in towns and cities across the country.
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 20, 2021
- Event Description
On 20 March, protesters gathered at Sanam Luang demanding that the power of the monarchy be limited under the constitution. The police responded by setting up a long barrier of containers. The people faced retaliation after removing the blockade. Rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannon were deployed broadly and indiscriminately.
As of Sunday morning, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights reported that 32 people were arrested. 30 people were taken to Border Patrol Police Region 1 headquarters in Pathum Thani for detention and investigation.
The Erawan Medical Centre reported on Sunday that 33 people were injured and transferred to hospital.
The protest was scheduled after a popular vote in the REDEM communication group. Protesters gathered at Sanam Luang at around 17.50 to face a long barrier of containers stacked two-high barring them from accessing the Grand Palace walls. The blockade was reportedly put in place at around 07.00 on Saturday. As more people arrived, some protesters were seen pulling down part of the wall of containers. At around 19.00 a path opened up after a row of containers was removed. Crowd control police behind the blockade began to warn the protesters not to cross the line otherwise they would be arrested.
At 19.02 water cannon opened fire from behind the blockade as the police were preparing arrest teams. 8 explosions were heard. The protesters retreated to Phan Phipop Lila Bridge before re-entering Sanam Luang, waving large white banners, only to face more water cannon fire. The water was reportedly infused with a tear gas agent. At around 19.30, the protesters were flanked by crowd control police who marched from Ratchadamnoen Road toward the protesters. The police on both sides then started forcibly dispersing protestors. Tear gas and rubber bullets were widely used at this stage as the protesters made a retreat to Phra Pinklao Bridge, the only major exit that remained open.
Doi, a 15-year-old young woman, was injured in the left chest by a rubber bullet. She said she was at the Mother Earth Statue across Sanam Luang when the police announced that they would arrest people who were lingering on the street. However, the police shot her after a couple seconds without allowing her to run. Doi said she was terrified and hurt. She said her family is not against her coming to the protest. However, getting hurt is not what she wanted as she was afraid of missing a test because of her injury.
The standoff at Phra Pinklao Bridge went on for around 1 hour. Tear gas and explosions were observed several times. The media around Ratchadamnoen Road were restricted in a designated area by the police.
At 20.43, crowd control police opened a path to Atsadang Road, allowing protesters to leave. Police asked the media to lead the people out of the area. Afraid of an ambush by a pro-monarchy vigilante group, the protesters urged the police to lead them out to a safe place. 2 units of police were deployed to lead the protesters out.
At 21.45, a person was attacked by an unidentified group of men around Wat Mahannapharam with some sort of flag pole. He was injured in the head and taken to hospital.
At 21.53, the Coalition of Salaya for Democracy posted on Facebook that a person was shot with live ammunition by unknown men around the Giant Swing.
At 22.24, Prachatai journalist Sarayut Tangprasert was shot in the back by a rubber bullet while livestreaming the crackdown at Kok Wua intersection, leading to Khao San Road. He was wearing a media armband provided by the Thai Journalists Association (TJA). During the night, journalists from Channel 8 and Khaosod were injured by rubber bullets, one to the head and one to the leg.
The police set up a line at Kok Wua intersection, moving back and forth to disperse protestors. People who were sitting in Khao San Road booed them before the police moved away from the famous tourist destination which is now less crowded due to the pandemic. Deputy Police Spokesperson Pol Col Kritsana Pattanacharoen said the police responded to the protest in accordance with legal provisions, noting that the protest was not allowed according to the restrictions of the Emergency Decree to control the spread of Covid-19. The police had warned the protesters not to trespass beyond the blockade. Protesters still came forward and some attacked the police with marbles or bolts fired by slingshots.
“In carrying out their duty this evening, police officers have used restraint, acting according to the steps of the law, acting strictly according to regulations in political science and legal principles,” said Kritsana.
At 21.15, the Medics and Nurses for the People volunteer group estimated that at least 30 people had been injured from tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannon blasts and assaults.
At around 23.00 a clash broke out at Wan Chat Bridge, 400 meters from the Democracy Monument when protesters seized a police van and used it as a shield. The Tempo News reported men were caught throwing a home-made explosive at the police from the lines of media. Molotov cocktails were used but quickly put out. Police returned fire with tear gas and rubber bullets.
According to the Reporters Facebook live feed, crowd control police staged a crackdown at around 23.00, resulting in 9 arrests. 1 police officer and 1 other person were injured and taken away from the scene.
On 23.30, the Dao Din activist group gathered in front of Khon Kaen University Police Station to protest against the violence in Bangkok.
Calm before the storm The Free YOUTH Movement, one of the protest organizers formed in 2020, published a statement demanding limits to the power of the monarchy, the demilitarization of politics and universal social welfare. Activities began peacefully. The protest on Saturday was meant to send messages via paper planes to address the issue of limiting the power of the monarchy under the constitution. People were seen flying kites, raising banners and spraying the ground with graffiti.
The artists' network Free Arts were also organising activities during the protest. Earlier in the evening, they were spray-painting pictures of activists currently imprisoned for charges relating to political activities, as well as messages such as “Free our friends” and “Abolish Section 112” onto kites, which can then be seen flying above Sanam Luang. A representative of the group said that the idea behind the event is that several of the imprisoned activists are facing charges because of the protest at Sanam Luang on 19 – 20 September 2020, so the group decided to paint their pictures onto kites to show that they are thinking of those who are imprisoned.
The representative also said that one of the activities they think of when they return to Sanam Luang was flying kites, and that the event is also symbolic of how Sanam Luang used to be a public space where anyone can organize an event.
Free Arts also planned to use the space for dancing, and said that there is also a plan for participants to read out Anon Nampa’s speech on monarchy reform. However, these activities did not take place as the protest was cut short due to police violence.
Eak, joining the protest wearing a T-shirt with a parody of the Naruto manga, changing the name to Narutu, a reference to the nickname (Tu) of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha. He said he wanted to express his anger at Thai politics. “I am angry at the senators who rejected the draft constitution. I am angry that our friends were ordered to be detained by the court without a verdict. It is against international principles, against every theory, against everything.”
Eak wants the government to step down for the good of Thai children and the future.
BANGKOK — At least 20 people were taken into custody after riot police broke up a protest calling for a monarchy reform at Sanam Luang on Saturday night, police said Sunday.
The rally outside the Grand Palace was organized by the REDEM group, who had said they planned to have demonstrators throw paper planes with messages over the palace walls.
The protesters, who numbered close to 1,000, gathered at Sanam Luang, where they were met with a massive barricade made of shipping containers to defend palace grounds. They proceeded to dismantle the obstacle installed by the police, to which the police retaliated with water cannons, tear gas, and rubber bullets as they moved in to clear out the remaining protesters in the vicinity.
Protesters pull down a shipping container used as a barricade near the Grand Palace on Mar. 20, 2021. Protesters pull down a shipping container used as a barricade near the Grand Palace on Mar. 20, 2021. “Demonstrators began the violence,” deputy Bangkok police commander Piya Tawichai said. “The police were on the defense, since we were tasked to enforce laws and defend public property. Although the protesters claimed that they are leaderless, our investigation found that they actually have leaders, but they are not coming forward.”
Police said a total of 20 people were arrested during the crackdown on protesters last night, though the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights group reported as many as 32 people, including seven minors, were taken into custody.
They faced six charges, which include breaking the Emergency Decree’s ban on mass gatherings, causing public disturbance, and resisting arrests, police said.
Khaosod English correspondents at the scene said police appeared to rely heavily on rubber bullets than any crowd control measures on Saturday night, especially during smaller clashes that flared up at multiple locations along the historic Ratchadamnoen Avenue as demonstrators hurled objects, including devices believed to be firecrackers, and set fires to deter riot police.
Bangkok’s emergency medical service center said a total of 33 people were injured. Twenty of them were civilians, while 13 of them were police officers.
At least three reporters, including Khaosod’s Thanyalak Wannakote and Prachatai’s Sarayut Tangprasert, were hit by rubber bullets. Police said they were hit by stray bullets as officers had already warned them to leave the area.
“We instructed police officers to use riot control measures in accordance with the regulations,” Maj. Gen. Piya said. “We insured warnings to journalists, volunteer medical workers, and civilians to disperse. However, not all of them left, so some were hit by stray bullets during the commotion. The metro police chief has already acknowledged and will visit the victims.”
Thai media guilds issued a joint statement Sunday asking every party to show tolerance, though it did not condemn police use of force on journalists on the frontline.
“Journalists working at protest sites must strictly observe the guidelines for reporting during a crisis to prevent loss of lives and properties,” the statement wrote. “Journalists working at protest sites should wear an identification armband every time, however it is not guaranteed to protect them from violence.”
The REDEM group, short for Restart Democracy, claims to have no leaders and relies on opinion polls on the Telegram messaging app to make key decisions. The group said they will call for another rally on Sunday after the majority voted for, though they have yet to announce the venue.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Media Worker, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 19, 2021
- Event Description
A BBC journalist and a former Mizzima News reporter were arrested by men believed to be plainclothes officers in Naypyitaw on Friday afternoon, a family member confirmed.
BBC Burmese journalist Aung Thura was in front of the Dekkhina District court to report on a hearing for National League for Democracy patron Win Htein when he was arrested. Former Mizzima correspondent Than Htike Aung was with him at the time of the arrest.
No further details of the arrest or the reporters’ detention were known at the time of reporting, according to Aung Thura’s relative.
“I saw some plainclothes officers dragging away a person in trousers into a car,” lawyer Min Min Soe, who was near the court at the time, told Myanmar Now. The man she saw is believed to be Than Htike Aung.
“Two other officers in plainclothes were hassling another individual in a paso [traditional sarong for men] and glasses,” she said, referring to Aung Thura. “It was quite a scene so I don’t know what happened next.”
BBC News issued a statement on Friday afternoon saying that they are "doing everything [they] can" to find Aung Thura, who they described as being taken away by unidentified men.
“We call on the authorities to help locate him and confirm that he is safe,” the statement said.
As of March 16, a total of 38 journalists had been arrested or targeted for arrest since the February 1 coup. The latest arrests of the BBC and former Mizzima journalists push this number up to 40.
Only 22 of these reporters have been released. Ten journalists have been charged with violating Section 505(a) of the penal code, which has been used against people who are seen as causing fear, spreading fake news, or agitating government employees. Under recent amendments to the law, the charges come with a three-year prison sentence if convicted.
Online news website The Irrawaddy has also been charged by the junta as violating the same statute for showing “disregard” for the armed forces in their reporting of the ongoing anti-regime protests.
Five publications, including Myanmar Now and Mizzima had their offices raided and their publishing licenses revoked earlier this month by the regime.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Mar 17, 2021
- Event Description
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) condemned the arrest of a union leader in Butuan City and called for her immediate release.
Rosanilla “Teacher Lai” Consad, ACT secretary in Region XIII, a special education teacher and an assistant principal of San Vicente National High School, was arrested yesterday, March 17, at around 4:30 pm in Butuan City by Regional Intelligence Unit 13 of National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), the police and military.
Consad is also a member of ACT’s National Council.
Consad is being charged with attempted homicide in relation to a New People’s Army ambush in Sitio Manhupaw, Brgy. Poblacion 2, Santiago in Agusan del Norte last November 21.
ACT secretary-general Raymond Basilio said that Consad had been a victim of state vilification and repression since 2018.
In November 2019, she reported about intelligence agents visiting her school to inform her that she and her husband are part of a certain hit list supposedly for being activists.
“Teacher Lai’s case only proves that terrorist-tagging serves as a prelude to worse, more fascist attacks on rights, freedoms, and lives. All of which are part of the Duterte regime’s systematic attack on the Filipino people as it desperately seeks to silence all dissent and establish its tyrannical rule,” Basilio said.
ACT Teachers Party slams DILG memo
Meanwhile, ACT Teachers Party Rep. France Castro said that teacher Lai has been a victim of harassment, threats and red-tagging by state security forces for standing up for the rights and welfare of her fellow public school teachers in Caraga.
“The arrest came days after the DILG release a memorandum tagging ACT and other progressive groups in the public sector as a communist terrorist groups. These are the real threats of red-tagging to the safety, security and freedoms of activists, human rights defenders and union leaders who have been vocal about the failure of the Duterte administration in addressing the perennial crisis of the country’s health system, education system and economy,” Castro said.
ACT Teachers Party will file a house resolution in Congress to investigate Consad’s arrest, Castro added
Consad is expected to file a petition today to be allowed post bail.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Mar 17, 2021
- Event Description
On 17 March, Phromson Wirathammachari, a protester well-known for his speeches, went to hear a charge of lèse majesté at Thanyaburi Police Station but the police suddenly handed him over to the court, with a request to detain him.
According to TLHR, the court denied Phromson bail, citing the gravity of the charge, the severe penalty, and the likelihood that he would either flee or repeat the offence. The decision led to him being detained at Thanyaburi prison even though was seriously injured from a traffic accident,.
Sasinan Thamnithinan, a TLHR lawyer who went to the police station with Phromson, posted on Facebook an account of the police haste. The post stated that although Phromson came to the station with his injuries to prove that he had no intention to flee, the deputy superintendent (investigation), after the regular investigation stage, suddenly decided to take him to court before the court closed.
Sasinan doubted the police decision because for a detention request, the appointment at the station would be for the morning instead of the afternoon. The police also expressed uneasiness at her attempt to consult with Phromson over this sudden turn of events. The station superintendent gave them 2 minutes to consult in private.
Without being prepared, Sasinan wrote the bail request as fast as she could. However, the court denied bail, giving similar reasons to those in Chukiat’s case.
TLHR reported on 22 March that at least 76 people have been prosecuted under the royal defamation law in 66 cases. 27 cases were filed by ordinary citizens, 5 by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society and the rest by the police. 4 of the accused are under the age of 18.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 16, 2021
- Event Description
Chaunggyi, a village in Mandalay region’s Thabeikkyin township, was in a state of fear on Tuesday as regime forces continued to pressure residents a day after inflicting a deadly crackdown.
At least five people were reported dead in the village, located about 100km north of Myanmar’s second-largest city Mandalay, following Monday’s brutal assault.
The attack began in the afternoon, when soldiers in five army trucks heading south from the town of Thabeikkyin opened fire in Chaunggyi and other villages in the area.
“They mainly hit Chaunggyi and two nearby villages as they were passing through,” a member of a local aid group told Myanmar Now.
One of the five who died instantly was a 15-year-old girl.
“The girl was shot in the chest. She was killed in her own home,” said the aid worker, adding that around 25 others suffered injuries, some of them life-threatening.
Reinforcements sent
The soldiers who carried out the initial attack were soon joined by reinforcements sent north from Singu, according to local sources.
Residents of Nweyon, a village in Singu township, attempted to block the military vehicles as they headed towards Chaunggyi, but soon came under fire themselves, the sources said.
Those who had been shot in Chaunggyi remained in the village overnight without medical care amid fears of facing further violence.
“We were afraid to send the injured to the hospital last night. We were also afraid to go to Mandalay. We didn’t send them to a hospital in the city until this morning,” a resident of Nweyon told Myanmar Now on Tuesday.
“One person who was shot in the groin was in terrible condition,” she said, adding that the victim’s family had no money to pay for hospitalization.
There were also around 14 arrests in Chaunggyi and an unknown number in neighbouring villages, local sources said.
Threats and intimidation
A day after their unprovoked attack, the soldiers returned to Chaunggyi on Tuesday to recover some lost property.
“They said they came back to search for a gun and some bullets they left behind yesterday,” said a Chaunggyi villager.
“They found the gun, but not the bullets. They told us we had five hours. If we didn’t find the bullets in that time, they said they would shoot the entire village,” he added.
They found the bullets at around 5pm on Tuesday and returned them to the soldiers, who were stationed just outside the village.
Meanwhile, the villagers said that a monk who negotiated with the soldiers for the release of those who had been detained has not returned since he was sent to collect them.
“Our monk spoke with them and they promised to release those they had arrested from the village. But the car that went to fetch them hasn't come back,” said Chaunggyi resident Cho Tuu.
Although Singu and Thabeikkyin both have military bases, voters in the two townships overwhelmingly supported the National League for Democracy in last year’s election.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Killing
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Mar 16, 2021
- Event Description
After freeing two activists and clearing them of charges, a Mandaluyong judge was red-tagged in a tarpaulin along the busy EDSA thoroughfare in Shaw.
Photos showed a tarpaulin "thanking" Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 209 Judge Monique Quisumbing-Ignacio for her "quick action" in freeing "mga kasama (our comrades)." The logo of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) appeared on the tarpaulin.
"Hindi natin alam kung sino ang naglagay, pero alam naman natin sino ang mahilig ngayon sa tarpaulin. At kung sino ang mahilig sa ganyang tarpaulin na hayagang nangre-redtag," Bayan Muna Representative Ferdinand Gaite told Rappler.
(We don't know who put it there, but we know who is fond of doing tarpaulins. And who is fond of putting out tarpaulins that brazenly red-tag.)
Ignacio cleared journalist Lady Ann "Icy" Salem and trade unionist Rodrigo Esparago of charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. Ignacio also voided the search warrants of Quezon City Judge Cecilyn Burgos Villavert, who is notorious to activists for issuing search warrants that resulted in dozens of arrests over the last two years.
Ignacio freed the two a month after her initial resolution, despite opposition from the local prosecutor.
A photo of the tarpaulin in daylight, unfurled fronting EDSA, was sent to Rappler late Tuesday afternoon, March 16, while a photo at nighttime showing the tarpaulin inside a different footbridge was tweeted by Gaite late Tuesday night.
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Gaite said his photo was taken by members of indigenous peoples group Sandugo.
"The tarps speak for themselves. Independent, fair minded judges are under attack. Who has the motive to produce such inanity other than those extremely fond of red-tagging. Their handiwork will boomerang on them," said Fides Lim, spokesperson of prisoners' rights group Kapatid.
Marco Valbuena, who tweets as CPP's chief information officer, said, "CPP disowns tarp found in Metro Manila in w/c CPP/NPA/NDF purportedly thanks judge who dismissed case against 2 HRDay polprisoners."
This recent development adds up to a string of incidents that threaten members of the legal profession. Calbayog police intelligence chief Lieutenant Fernando Calabria Jr earlier asked their local court for a list of lawyers representing alleged communists.
Calabria was relieved after the Philippine National Police disowned the move. The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that a month before this, police in Luzon had been digging around for archived cases and warrants against alleged communists.
"The courts are under attack," said Gaite.
National Union of Peoples' Lawyers president Edre Olalia said this latest incident sends "a very chilling effect on judges."
"It sends a very chilling effect on judges who would stand up for truth and is an open attack on the independence of the judiciary. They want everyone to be on their side of the ring with a two-dimensional thought process: If you are not for us, then you are against us," said Olalia.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation, Right to work
- HRD
- Public Servant, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 15, 2021
- Event Description
At least 25 people were shot dead Monday as anti-coup protesters in multiple cities braved increasing violence by security forces following a bloody weekend that killed scores of protesters in Myanmar’s largest city, witnesses said.
The junta that overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government on Feb. 1 also imposed a 24-hours shutdown of mobile internet service in an attempt to cut off lines of communication among protesters and other members of a nationwide civil disobedience movement (CDM) that has opposed military rule for six weeks.
The suspension of internet service forced court officials in the capital Naypyidaw to postpone the videoconference trial hearing of the 75-year-old deposed leader, who has been under house arrest since the coup and is facing a handful of what supporters say are spurious charges.
Aung San Suu Kyi faces charges of alleged incitement, violation of telecommunication laws, possession of “illegally” imported walkie-talkie radios, violation of the Natural Disaster Management Law for breaching COVID-19 pandemic restrictions during the 2020 election campaign, and corruption.
Eleven of the protesters killed Monday were slain in violent crackdowns in the cities of Mandalay, Yangon, and Magway, and in Shan state, witnesses said.
In Myingyan, a town in central Myanmar’s Mandalay region, five protesters died and 13 were seriously injured when police and soldiers sprayed tear gas and shot live rounds at crowds.
RFA has recorded at least 170 deaths as of Monday, including 60 deaths across the country on Sunday, the bloodiest day since the coup.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres is "appalled by the escalating violence in Myanmar at the hands of the country’s military," his spokesman said in a statement.
"The killing of demonstrators, arbitrary arrests and the reported torture of prisoners violate fundamental human rights and stand in clear defiance of calls by the Security Council for restraint, dialogue and a return to Myanmar’s democratic path," said spokesman Stéphane Dujarric.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a watchdog group, said that as of Monday, 2,175 people had been arrested, charged, or sentenced in relation to the military coup, with 1,856 still being held or with outstanding warrants. More than 70 people are in hiding, it said.
In Myanmar’s second-largest city, Mandalay, two men died when police and soldiers fired at anti-junta protest column, witnesses said. Rallies were held in other parts of the city, with schoolteachers staging a sit-in protest and attorneys riding motorbikes on town streets in defiance of the military.
One column of about 3,000 protesters set out around 9 a.m. Monday from Thonzu Pagoda, but were confronted and shot at by 50 police officers and soldiers an hour later near the Electric Power Corporation office, said a protester in Mandalay’s Myingyan township.
“Three people died at the private clinics we sent them to,” he said. “An elderly Muslim woman from a nearby house who opened her doors to protesters to hide them also was killed by gunfire. The other two were middle-aged men.”
At least five people in all died amid the violence, including two from a university student union, and four of the many wounded protesters are in critical condition, he said.
Violence in Yangon townships
In Hlaingthaya township, a factory zone west of Yangon, a bystander died at a road intersection when police and soldiers fired indiscriminately, witnesses said. At least 50 people died near the same site on Sunday when police and soldiers positioned on a flyover fired at civilians on the streets below with live rounds.
In Yangon’s Tamwe township, groups of young people held an anti-junta rally on Kyaikkasan Road, where one man died by police gunfire Sunday afternoon. Similar protests were reported in three other townships in Yangon, the country’s former capital and commercial center.
In one a video that went viral on social media, policemen on Sunday were recorded dragging away Khant Nyar Hein, an 18-year-olf first-year medical student who was shot in the street during a protest in Tamwe. Authorities asked his family to retrieve his body Monday morning, said his father.
The military regime has declared martial law in six Yangon satellite townships — North Okkalapa, North Dagon, South Dagon, Dagon Seikkan, Hlaingthaya, and Shwepyitha — areas overseen by the Yangon region military commander.
The Chinese Embassy in Yangon said in a statement Monday calling for legal action after Chinese workers were wounded and trapped a day earlier when Chinese-funded garment factories were set ablaze in an industrial zone.
In Shwepyitha township, local residents tried to extinguish a fire at the Solamoda Garments Co. Ltd. factory and spread to a nearby backpack factory. But the buildings were still burning at the time of publication Monday.
RFA was unable to obtain first-hand details about the fires because of the growing number of arrests of or threats against journalists by local authorities.
Sunday’s factory zone protest deaths prompted an appeal for pressure on apparel manufacturers to support workers from Simon Billenness, executive director of the International Campaign for the Rohingya.
“The young, mostly female, garment workers are the forefront of the civil disobedience movement” and had launched a general strike on March 8 to support restoring democracy, he wrote.
“But the apparel factory owners are intimidating and even firing workers for going on strike and taking part in pro-democracy protests,” added Billenness.
He said major textile buyers sportswear maker Adidas, Zara clothing brand owned by Indetex Group, and Lidl supermarket chain are among the global brands that have “significant market power” to “support the garment workers by demanding that the factory owners stop intimidating workers who join CDM protests.”
Germany-based Adidas, the only one of the three firms to respond to an RFA request for comment, said on March 12 that six of its 525 suppliers are located in Myanmar.
“We are in close exchange with other brands, industry associations and civil society organizations about the current situation,” said Stefan Pursche, senior manager for media relations at Adidas.
Rubber bullets, live rounds
Also on Monday, two men were killed and four others were injured when security forces opened fired on a group in Aunglan township, Magwe region, a resident said.
“When people fled the scene, police took away five motorcycles left on the roads,” the local said. “A huge crowd later surrounded the police station and that was when they started shooting. They used both rubber bullets as well as live rounds, and six people got hit.”
In Pathein, the capital of Ayeyarwady region, police and military attacked residents as they prepared for nighttime protests, killing three people and critically injuring another five, a witness told RFA.
In Aungban, a major trading town in the southern Shan state, one protester died and two others were injured during a crackdown by police and soldiers, witnesses said.
The Naypyidaw hearings for detained State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, who faces similar charges, were rescheduled for March 24 because of the internet service shutdown.
The police notified Yuyu Chit and Min Min Soe, two junior attorneys from Aung San Suu Kyi’s defense team, that they would receive a signed transfer of power of attorney to represent the state counselor at the hearing, said defense attorney Khin Maung Zaw.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s legal team submitted applications for seven attorneys to represent her at court, but only two were approved, he added.
Now that military authorities have extended the internet service shutdown from nighttime to around-the-clock, companies and ordinary residents say they are having problems conducting business.
Phone lines and internet service were first shut down on Feb. 1, but available the next day. The services were suspended gain on Feb. 6-7, but resumed the following day. As of Feb 15, internet service has been cut off daily between 1 a.m. and 9 a.m.
Monthly internet service subscribers with fiber optic lines said they were able to go online Monday morning, but that Wi-Fi services provided by the companies Ooredoo and Telenor were not available.
An Ooredoo spokesperson said she did not know when the company would be able to make the service available. A computer-generated reply to phone queries said that internet service had been suspended temporarily in accordance with instructions from the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
“The military authorities want to control the communications between protesters of the Spring Revolution,” said a man from Yangon’s Insein township who declined to give his name. “Wi-Fi is not available everywhere, but with the mobile data, they can communicate very easily.”
Rural residents, women stuck
Others said they believed it was an attempt by the junta to stop people live-streaming violent acts committed by soldiers and police during protests.
Rural residents who depend on mobile internet service to transfer money and conduct business online said they were stuck, especially since nearly all banks have remained closed for weeks. Women whose husbands are migrant workers and routinely transfer remittances online also are in a bind.
“There are many women here who need to go to hospital for various reasons, and some of their husbands who are in Thailand, China or Malaysia now find it impossible to send money home,” said a man who works at a money transfer services in Yinmabin, Sagaing region.
RFA could not reach military regime spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment on the shootings or internet shutdown.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Killing, Use of Excessive Force
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 15, 2021
- Event Description
The number of civilians killed by regime forces on Monday has now reached at least 20, according to the latest information received by Myanmar Now.
The week started with a fresh outbreak of deadly violence that came after the worst weekend so far in the junta’s efforts to crush opposition to its February 1 coup.
Killings were reported around the country, with the highest concentration occurring in Yangon, where at least 63 people died on Sunday after soldiers opened fire in several townships.
In Hlaing Tharyar, the scene of some of the deadliest violence over the weekend, six people were murdered, including a man in his 50s who was collecting trash near the Aung Zeya bridge when a soldier approached him and shot him in the head.
Two women in their 60s were also killed when they were hit by bullets fired into their homes on Da Bin Shwe Htee road.
A night of terror
Indiscriminate shooting continued well into the night, resulting in at least two more deaths in the township, according to local residents.
The night of terror began at around 4:30pm, when the military sealed off main roads between the Aung Zeya bridge and the fire station about 2km away and started shooting.
“They were on trucks and shot at anything that moved. They shot anyone they saw,” said one resident, describing the scene on Monday night.
“There were two crab sellers in the area that night. When the trucks came by, they poked their heads out for a look and got shot. Both of them died,” the resident said.
On the other side of Yangon, a crackdown on a peaceful vigil for fallen protesters in Dawbon township left two men dead and four others seriously injured on Monday, a member of a township-based aid group told Myanmar Now.
There was also another death on Monday in South Dagon, one of six townships in Yangon placed under martial law since the weekend as the regime moves to clamp down on protests.
The killing continued in South Dagon on Tuesday, with reports that a man in his 40s had been shot in the head by junta forces. No further details were available.
Shooting at ambulances
Monday’s death toll also rose outside of Yangon, as more of the injured died and earlier figures were revised to reflect the latest available information.
In Myingyan, a town in Mandalay region, six people, including three boys in their teens and a 20-year-old woman, were confirmed dead, doubling the previously reported death count.
At least 17 others were injured during the crackdown, including five who are in critical condition, according to a member of a team that is caring for the wounded protesters.
“We’ve had to hide the dead bodies because we’re worried [the military] might take them away,” the medical support worker said late Monday evening.
He added that soldiers shot into the houses of local people who hid the injured protesters and also at ambulances that transported the dead and wounded to a makeshift clinic.
There were also two confirmed deaths in Chanmya Tharzi, a township in downtown Mandalay, as well as at least five others in smaller centres to the north of the city.
A total of four deaths were also reported in Aunglan in Magway region, Gyobingauk in Bago region, and Monywa in Sagaing region, according to local aid groups.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, Myanmar’s military has killed at least 183 people in the six weeks since it seized power.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Killing
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 15, 2021
- Event Description
The military regime has seized control of the bank accounts of billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundation (OSF) in Myanmar and announced that it will take legal action against the foundation, which is accused of violating restrictions on the activities of such organizations.
On Monday, military-controlled MRTV announced that the military had issued arrest warrants for 11 staff members of OSF Myanmar, including its head and deputy head, on suspicion of giving financial support to the civil disobedience movement against the military junta.
The regime also claimed that the world’s largest private funder for justice, democratic governance and human rights had failed to obtain approval from the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM)’s Foreign Exchange Management Department for a deposit of US$5 million (7.04 billion kyats) with the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank (SMED) in Myanmar in 2018.
The foundation is also accused of illegally withdrawing $1.4 million from its account at SMED a week after the military takeover in Myanmar, as the civil disobedience movement was gaining momentum among civil servants across the country.
The military junta also took control of assets totaling $3.81 million and 375 million kyats in OSF bank accounts at four private banks—Kanbawza Bank (KBZ), Ayeyarwady Bank (AYA), SMED and Co-operative Bank (CB), according to MRTV.
The military said it had begun taking control of all illegal flows of money to OSF Myanmar, saying the foundation had breached the law that lays downs the rules and regulations for organizations in the country.
It said it would take legal action against SMED for allowing OSF to deposit $5 million and withdraw $1.4 million without obtaining approval from the CBM.
On March 12, the CBM notified all international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that they would be required to report all financial transactions involving international organizations or individuals from abroad, with relevant bank account information, since April 1, 2016. The order indicates that the military regime intends to investigate the financial transactions of organizations since the National League for Democracy (NLD) took office in early 2016.
The regime said the opening of the OSF Myanmar office came about after George Soros met ousted Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi four times between 2014 and 2017. It said OSF deputy chair Alexander Soros met Daw Aung San Suu Kyi six times from 2017 to 2020.
Military-aligned groups including the Union Solidarity and Development Party have accused Soros of manipulating Myanmar’s politics by supporting civil society organizations in the country. In 2017, lawmaker U Soe Thane, who served as President’s Office minister under U Thein Sein’s administration, objected to a ministerial appointment by the NLD government on grounds that the appointed minister had failed to disclose his previous work for the George Soros Foundation. He said that making the official a national security adviser could hurt Myanmar’s relations with China.
OSF has been supporting Myanmar’s democratic transition and promoting human rights, including those of marginalized groups, since 1994. The foundation said it had awarded more than 100 grants each year, mostly to grassroots civil society organizations including exile, ethnic media and educational organizations.
Following the coup, the military regime launched an investigation into the finances of the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation, a charity founded by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The move is believed to be a pretext to file more charges against the country’s de facto leader.
- Impact of Event
- 12
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to property, Right to work
- HRD
- NGO, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 15, 2021
- Event Description
Prison wardens in southern Vietnam unleashed a hunting dog on a political prisoner serving an 11-year sentence for subversion to silence his complaints about solitary confinement in a cramped cell, his family told RFA.
Democracy advocate Nguyen Van Duc Do has been incarcerated since late 2018 at the Z30A detention center in Xuan Loc district of Dong Nai province for “activities aimed at overthrowing the government.”
Arrested in November 2016, Do and four other activists were convicted on Oct. 5, 2018 in a Ho Chi Minh City court after being found guilty in a one-day trial of involvement in the Vietnam National Self-Determination Coalition, a group that authorities deemed to have challenged Vietnam’s Communist one-party system.
Do’s inability to exercise in the small eight-square-meter (about 87 square feet) cell resulted in his physical condition deteriorating to the point where he often had chest pains and difficulty breathing, his brother said.
“My brother told me that yesterday, March 15, he banged on the door of his cell to call for help because he had pains in his chest and back that made it hard for him to breathe,” Do’s younger brother, Nguyen Van Duc Hai told RFA’s Vietnamese Service.
“He said that the prison was very large, so no one can hear you if you don’t shout. This is why he banged on the door shouting ‘Prisoners of conscience also need to live!’” said Hai.
This is when Do said the guards brought in a hunting dog to silence him.
“My brother said the dog was about to pounce on him, so he jumped back inside. Though it didn’t bite him, the dog barked loudly at him while standing at the door,” Hai said.
RFA attempted to contact the prison for comment but telephone calls went unanswered.
Do’s group had been charged under Article 79 of Vietnam’s Penal Code, one of a set of vague provisions in the law used to detain writers, activists, and bloggers, and had been held without trial for almost two years.
The group had previously been active in protesting the government’s handling of a massive chemical spill in April 2016 that devastated the country’s central coast, leaving fishermen and tourism workers jobless in four central provinces.
Group leader Luu Van Vinh was given 15 years. Nguyen Quoc Hoan was sentenced to 13 years, Tu Cong Nghia to 10 years, Phan Trung to 8 years, and Nguyen Van Duc Do to 11 years.
Nguyen Van Duc Hai said his brother Do had been in solitary confinement since May 2020, and since then had not been allowed to go out, even for exercise.
Hai also said that Do was being pressured by prison staff to plead guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence.
“My brother Do said they often bring him papers to file a guilty plea and asked him to sign, but he responded ‘I am innocent. The verdict was wrong. Am only a patriot!’” Hai said.
“They told him that if he pleads guilty, they can reduce his sentence by two months for every five years. But my brother said ‘I am innocent. How can I plead guilty? I was convicted wrongfully,’” said Hai.
Do also told Hai that prisoners at Xuan Loc are often beaten to the point of serious injury.
RFA reported in June 2020 that Do’s family had filed a petition demanding better treatment at Xuan Loc after he told them he had been physically assaulted, spent two days shacked in solitary confinement, then fed prison rations mixed with feces.
In October 2019 RFA reported that Do had joined other prisoners of conscience held at Xuan Loc who had also stopped eating to call for beater treatment at the facility.
According to a friend interviewed in that report, political prisoners at Xuan Loc were being charged four or five times higher for food than other prisoners there.
According to the 88 Project, an Illinois-based NGO that tracks political prisoners, Vietnam is currently holding 240 prisoners of conscience.
Trial for journalist
Authorities have set a trial date for detained journalist Tran Thi Tuyet Dieu on charges of “creating, storing, disseminating information, documents, items and publications against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” as stated in Article 117 of the 2015 Criminal Code.
Dieu, also known by her pen name Dieu Anh, will stand trial at the Phu Yen People’s Court on March 22.
Dieu was arrested on Aug. 21, 2020 for posting on social media hundreds of stories, images, and video clips that authorities say were “content that opposed the Party, State and People, smearing President Ho Chi Minh and many other leaders of the Party and State.” The People’s Public Security Newspaper accused her of posting the content using multiple accounts on Facebook and other social media websites.
She was also accused of writing stories that ““distorted Vietnam’s Revolutionary history, inciting the overthrow of the people’s government, demanding multi-party pluralism, disseminating wrong information about the activities of law-enforcement bodies, showing uncooperative and opposing attitude when being invited to work with responsible authorities.”
If convicted Dieu could receive a sentence ranging from five to 12 years.
Dieu’s lawyer Nguyen Kha Than told RFA that Dieu will plead innocent and had refused to sign interview records compiled by investigation agencies.
“These days it seems Facebook users who post words that are different than the normal thinking of others are often prosecuted on this charge. Ms. Dieu said she was arrested after having quit Facebook for several months,” Than said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to health, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Mar 15, 2021
- Event Description
Prison guards attempted last night (15 March) to take activists Jatupat “Pai Dao Din” Boonpattarasaksa and Panupong Jadnok out of the wing where they are being held, claiming that they needed to be tested for Covid-19, says human rights lawyer Anon Nampa in a petition filed with the Criminal Court. Anon’s petition said that the guards came into their cell at 21.30 to try to take Jatupat and Panupong away, but the others refused to let them be taken away, so the officers returned at 23.45 with more people and batons, and twice more at 00.15 and 2.30 on 16 March. During the last two attempts, guards in dark blue uniforms and with no name tags were also present.
Anon said that the guards claimed that Jatupat and Panupong had to undergo a Covid-19 test, but the others refused to let them be taken due to concerns about their safety. He also said that it is unusual to take inmates out of the wing in the middle of the night, and that he fears for their lives as there have been rumours that they would be harmed while in prison.
“I did not sleep all night because I was afraid we would be in danger. Please help save our lives,” said Anon’s petition.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that Anon also wrote another petition for the lawyers to file with the chief of the Bangkok Remand Prison for an investigation into the identity of the officers involved and the agencies they belong to, as well as for CCTV camera footage of the incident to be released.
Anon’s petition also asked that the prison chief explain whether officers are allowed to take inmates out of the cells after midnight.
Jatupat and Panupong were previously held at the Thonburi Remand Prison, but they were moved to the Bangkok Remand Prison after their lawyer filed an inquiry request with the court on 11 March, as on 8 March the court ordered them to be detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison, but they were taken to the Thonburi Remand Prison instead.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 14, 2021
- Event Description
At least 59 people were killed and 129 injured in Sunday’s crackdown by security forces in Yangon’s suburban and industrial townships, according to sources at three area hospitals.
The junta’s armed personnel used live ammunition against civilians at demonstrations in what is being described as an effort to terrorise the population to submit to and accept military rule.
An official at a public hospital in Hlaing Tharyar Township told Myanmar Now on Monday morning that 34 people who had been brought to the hospital were pronounced dead, and 40 others had been admitted with gunshot wounds during a brutal weekend assault on unarmed protesters.
According to a senior official at the Yangon General Hospital, seven of the 56 people brought to the hospital were pronounced dead.
The casualties were from Hlaing Tharyar, Kyimyindaing and South Dagon townships, he added.
“Three people among the injured are in critical condition. There will be more casualties arriving from Shwepyitha and Hlaing Tharyar,” the official told Myanmar Now.
Meanwhile, Thingangyun Sanpya Hospital had received around 70 injured people. Medical staff declared 18 dead, according to a doctor who had been participating in the general strike, but stepped in to provide treatment to injured protesters.
She added that more doctors were needed on different rescue teams to attend to people injured by security forces during crackdowns.
Doctors and rescue workers said the actual death toll may grow as more injured people were sent to other hospitals throughout the city. Some others who were killed at the scene of protests have been immediately returned to their families instead of being brought to local morgues.
“We brought in four dead bodies of people who lived in South Dagon Township from Thingangyun Sanpya hospital this morning,” a labour rights activist in South Dagon told Myanmar Now on Monday.
“There were some people who were killed last night, but we can’t retrieve their bodies from the crackdown site. I saw two people had been shot and fell down, one male and one female. We can’t retrieve their bodies. It was already dark, too,” he added.
He said that he witnessed around 24 people getting injured during the security forces’ crackdown in South Dagon and believed the actual number of those wounded was much higher than what could be confirmed at the time of reporting.
A striking doctor treating injured civilians with an emergency team at Hlaing Tharyar’s hospital told Myanmar Now that four men he attempted to help had later died from their injuries. Three were shot in the head with live ammunition, and another in the chest.
The doctor said that he had transferred three bodies to the morgue at the North Okkalapa General Hospital and sent the fourth body to the respective family’s home.
Myanmar Now was still awaiting further information from North Okkalapa and Insein hospitals at the time of reporting.
Three protesters were also killed on Sunday night in Shwepyitha Township, north of Insein.
At least three factories in Hlaing Tharyar’s industrial zone were set on fire during the confrontation, but further details, including who started the fires, were unavailable.
According to a report published by China's state-run CGTN on Sunday evening, two of the factories in question were owned by Chinese nationals.
The weekend’s assault on protesters marks the deadliest crackdown by the junta’s armed forces on public resistance since the military seized power in Myanmar on February 1.
The regime also imposed martial law in Hlaing Tharyar and Shwepyitha townships on Sunday night, and in South Dagon, North Dagon, Dagon Seikkan and North Okkalapa on Monday morning.
Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar appealed to the UN member states to cut off supplies of cash and weapons to the Myanmar military.
“Heartbroken/outraged at news of the largest number of protesters murdered by Myanmar security forces in a single day. Junta leaders don’t belong in power, they belong behind bars,” he said on Twitter on Monday morning.
British Ambassador to Myanmar Dan Chugg also called for “an immediate cessation” of violence and for the military regime to hand back power to democratically elected civilian leaders.
“We have seen the violence today in Hlaing Thar Yar Township and in other places across Yangon and Myanmar. The British Government is appalled by the security forces’ use of deadly force against innocent people,” the ambassador said in a statement.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Killing, Use of Excessive Force, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 14, 2021
- Event Description
A Siem Reap-based journalist says he fears he is being targeted by illegal loggers after being beaten at night as he slept in a hammock outside Beng Mealea temple.
Pran Sean, the publisher of Anachak Khmer, a digital news outlet and quarterly newspaper, said he was driving a car to his home after covering news in Preah Vihear province on Sunday when he became tired and decided to sleep outside the temple in Siem Reap’s Svay Loeu district.
“I was too tired and started to tie up a hammock to rest. Later, around 12 o’clock, two men came out of the forest and attacked me,” Sean said.
A cut on his head required 20 stitches, and the attackers broke two of his teeth, he said.
Sean said he thought the attack was premeditated, and retribution for writing articles about illegal timber trading. “As a journalist, I write a lot of information related to crimes,” he said.
Svay Loeu district police chief Sun Eng said police were working on the case.
“It is difficult, brother. The victim went to sleep in the middle of the forest,” Eng said. “So far, we have not yet identified or arrested any suspects. All in all, we are monitoring and investigating.”
Cambodian Journalists Alliance executive director Nop Vy said he hoped the attackers would be found, as journalists in the country often faced the risk of violence.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Mar 12, 2021
- Event Description
An indigenous peoples’ group assailed the freezing of accounts of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) – Haran Center in Davao del Sur.
The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), in a resolution dated March 12, ordered the freezing of UCCP Haran’s three bank accounts and a real property under the name of Brokenshire Integrated Health Ministries, Inc. The AMLC allegedly found that “the assets are used to finance terrorism” which is in violation of the Republic Act 10168 or Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act.
Sandugo – Movement of Moro and Indigenous Peoples for Self-Determination condemned the action, saying it is ironic that amid massive corruption and the non-disclosure of President Duterte’s statement of assets, liabilities and networth, human rights advocates are the ones whose accounts are being investigated.
“For decades now, UCCP-Haran Center has been a known sanctuary for Lumad people in Southern Mindanao, whose communities have repeatedly been terrorized by the Philippine Army and paramilitary groups. The UCCP Haran is simply performing their calling to ‘participate in the establishment of a just and compassionate social order,’” the group said in a statement.
They added that the UCCP compound in Haran also served as shelter for the displaced Lumad due to intense militarization of their communities.
“That is not a crime. It is an act of faith and kindness,” the group said.
Constant target
In the past years, the UCCP-Haran has been subjected to a series of harassment as the Lumad continue to seek refuge in their compound.
In 2015, the police forcibly entered the compound hurting a number of elders. In 2016, there was a fire incident in the Lumad sanctuary that resulted in the injuries of five people. This was followed by several incidents of raids and attempts to break in the sanctuary by state forces.
In September last year, 48 church workers of the UCCP and their advocates were charged with trafficking, child abuse and violation of international humanitarian law.
In a report by Davao Today, Bishop Hamuel Tequis of UCCP maintained, “The Church’s mission is to help the marginalized and the oppressed such as the Lumad. It is sad that we are being persecuted for doing God’s mission.” http://davaotoday.com/main/human-rights/uccp-bishop-to-ntf-elcac-no-abuse-and-child-trafficking-at-haran-shelter/
Meanwhile, Sandugo assailed the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) for its moves to eject the Lumad in the premises of UCCP-Haran. “This is because the said sanctuary has exposed the military’s atrocities against Manobo communities in Mindanao,” the group said.
“By exposing their real situation, the struggling Lumad have earned the solidarity, not only of the religious, but of other institutions, organizations and individuals that advocate for peace here and abroad. It has also spurred support for the protection of the imperiled Pantaron Mountain Range, one of the few remaining virgin rainforests in the country currently threatened by destructive projects such as corporate mining and logging,” Sandugo said.
Sandugo added that the NTF-ELCAC aims to cut support for the Lumad “in order to open the floodgates for these money-making projects.”
“With the Anti-Terror Law, the NTF-ELCAC can simply tag the New People Army as a terrorist organization, easily link the Lumad to the NPAs and justify all kinds of repression versus Lumad civilians and their supporters. In this way, the NTF-ELCAC shows that it is protecting corporate interests, and not the people’s welfare,” the group said.
The UCCP-Haran is not the first institution to suffer freezing of assets. The AMLC also ordered a 20-day freeze on Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) bank accounts due to allegations of financing the NPA. On Oct. 7, 2020 the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 37 also issued an Asset Preservation Order against several bank accounts of the RMP over alleged charges of financing terrorism.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to access to funding, Right to protect reputation, Right to work
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 11, 2021
- Event Description
Six people were shot dead by security forces during a brutal crackdown on protests against the military coup in the town of Myaing in upper Myanmar’s Magwe Region at around 11:00 a.m. on Thursday.
While the regime’s armed personnel attempted to detain a group of demonstrators, a struggle broke out between them and the protesters. The scuffle was followed by live gunfire, killing six of those present.
“One of the protesters was shot near the groin. Another was shot in the head. The right side of his head was blown apart due to the impact of the bullet,” a protester who witnessed the shootings told Myanmar Now.
All six people killed were men, the oldest of whom was 36 and three of whom were under 30, according to residents who viewed their bodies at a local public hospital’s morgue. Two were from the town of Myaing, and four were from nearby villages.
Protests against the military dictatorship started in Myaing Township in early February, as they did throughout Myanmar. Locals noted that Thursday’s crackdown marked an escalation in security forces’ response tactics, and the first time since the resistance began that they had opened fire on the public.
“In previous days, the police negotiated with the protesters, [asking them] to not go out and protest today,” a Myaing resident told Myanmar Now. “They warned them that they were given the order to shoot. This is the first time there has been a crackdown with shooting in Myaing. They didn’t shoot or arrest anyone in the days prior,” the resident added.
He also said that immediately following Thursday’s fatal shootings, locals had been informed that military trucks were arriving in Myaing from Pakkoku, where Light Infantry Division (LID) 101 is based, along with Light Infantry Battalions (LIBs) 235 and 251.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 11, 2021
- Event Description
Violent suppression of Myanmar demonstrations killed 15 people Thursday, raising the death toll from five weeks of street protests to 73, as the military junta announced a corruption investigation of leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other top officials from the deposed civilian government.
Accusations by the military regime that Aung San Suu Kyi had accepted U.S. $600,000 and more than 25 pounds of gold, swiftly dismissed as “totally baseless” by an MP from her National League for Democracy (NLD), add to a list of charges imposed on the 75-year-old leader since she was ousted and detained on Feb. 1.
While the military pressed its case against Aung San Suu Kyi and other top NLD figures at a news conference in Naypyidaw, violent crackdowns by police and soldiers killed at least 15 protesters in the cities of Yangon, Myaing, Mandalay, Myingyan, and Bago. The confirmed death toll tis now 73, according to an RFA tally.
In Yangon’s North Dagon township, 25-year-old Chit Min Thu died instantly when police shot him in the head while defending fellow protesters with a homemade shield witnesses said. Two others were hit by gunfire, one of whom is in critical condition.
“We had to run because they were using live rounds, and he was shielding us from the front to protect other protesters behind,” said a demonstrator at the scene.
Supporters held an impromptu vigil for Chit Min Thu, who left behind a wife who is two months pregnant.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 11, 2021
- Event Description
Violent suppression of Myanmar demonstrations killed 15 people Thursday, raising the death toll from five weeks of street protests to 73, as the military junta announced a corruption investigation of leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other top officials from the deposed civilian government.
Accusations by the military regime that Aung San Suu Kyi had accepted U.S. $600,000 and more than 25 pounds of gold, swiftly dismissed as “totally baseless” by an MP from her National League for Democracy (NLD), add to a list of charges imposed on the 75-year-old leader since she was ousted and detained on Feb. 1.
While the military pressed its case against Aung San Suu Kyi and other top NLD figures at a news conference in Naypyidaw, violent crackdowns by police and soldiers killed at least 15 protesters in the cities of Yangon, Myaing, Mandalay, Myingyan, and Bago. The confirmed death toll tis now 73, according to an RFA tally.
Police and soldiers in Myanmar’s second-largest city Mandalay killed one man and wounded 30 others when they cracked down on protesters near the Koe Lone Dagar Pagoda, witnesses said. At least 20 protesters were arrested in the incident.
In Myingyan, in central Myanmar’s Mandalay region, residents said a man shot during a protest Wednesday died of his injuries Thursday.
In Bago region, one man died by police gunfire and another was hit in the leg, though his wound was not life-threatening, a witness said.
Residents in Kalaymyo, Sagaing region, continued protest marches despite a police crackdown on Wednesday. Five people there already have been arrested, including one who was taken from his home during the night, locals said.
The Myanmar junta’s response to peaceful protests likely meets the legal threshold for crimes against humanity, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar told the Human Rights Council on Thursday.
“The people of Myanmar need not only words of support but supportive action,” said Tom Andrews in a statement. “They need the help of the international community, now.”
The appeal came a day after the U.N. Security Council issued its strongest statement since the Feb. 1 coup.
“The Security Council strongly condemns the violence against peaceful protestors, including against women, youth and children,” the statement said.
It also called for the “immediate release of all those detained arbitrarily” in a statement that was agreed after accepting the objections of China, Russia, and Vietnam to language calling the takeover “a coup.”
On Wednesday, U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the two adult children of coup leader and commander-in-chief of the military forces, Min Aung Hlaing, as well as six companies of his two adult children. Min Aung Hlaing was placed on the U.S. blacklist on Feb. 11.
“The indiscriminate violence by Burma’s security forces against peaceful protesters is unacceptable,” said Andrea Gacki, director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, in a statement.
“The United States will continue to work with our international partners to press the Burmese military and police to cease all violence against peaceful protestors and to restore democracy and the rule of law in Burma,” she added.
- Impact of Event
- 31
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to life, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Mar 11, 2021
- Event Description
The Director of LBH Makassar Muhammad Haedir revealed that two protesters at the commemoration of International Women's Day in Makassar, South Sulawesi were detained for 24 hours at the Makassar Police Headquarters. He said the chronology of the arrests began when the protesters demonstrated their voices on various women's issues last Monday (8/3). When the masses were preparing to disperse, continued Haedir, suddenly there were community organizations that accused them of supporting the Papua issue
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to Protest, Women's rights
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 10, 2021
- Event Description
Defend the Defenders, March 10, 2021
Authorities in Vietnam’s northern province of Ninh Binh have arrested local Facebooker Tran Quoc Khanh and charged him with “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the country’s Criminal Code for his online posts criticizing the communist regime on various issues.
According to the state-controlled media, Mr. Khanh, 61, was detained by the Ninh Binh police on March 10 and taken him to a provincial detention center. He will be held incommunicado for at least four months and not allowed to meet his defense lawyer and relatives in the pre-trial detention. He will face imprisonment of between seven and 12 years even 20 years in prison if is convicted, according to the current law.
Mr. Khanh has posted his own writings, carrying out many livestreams and sharing numerous articles on his Facebook account Trần Quốc Khánh with the content related on serious human rights violations, systemic corruption among state officials, the Vietnamese communist regime’s weak response to China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea) and widespread environmental pollution. The state-controlled media reported that he was arrested due to his posts which defaming the communist regime and distorting its policies.
Recently, Khanh has announced that he would run for a seat in the country’s highest legislative body National Assembly in the general election scheduled in May as an indipendent candidate.
He has been the third Facebooker being arrested for online posts so far this year. One month ago, the authorities of the central province of Quang Trị arrested state newspaper’s journalist Phan Bui Bao Thy and his partner Le Anh Dung and charged them with “abusing democratic freedom” under Article 331 of the Criminal Code for their online posts to denounce corruption of state officials in the local projects.
In January this year, Vietnam convicted three independent journalists Pham Chi Dung, Nguyen Tuong Thuy and Pham Minh Tuan, members of the Independent Journalist Association of Vietnam, and environmentalist Dinh Thi Thu Thuy to between seven years and 15 years in prison on the allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda.”
Vietnam’s already low tolerance of dissent deteriorated sharply in recent years with a spate of arrests of hundreds of independent journalists, publishers, and Facebookers. With many conservative figures of the ruling Communist Partybeing re-elected to the country’s leadership in the next five years in the 13th National Congress which ended on February 1, more arrests are expected in future.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 10, 2021
- Event Description
Police and soldiers arrested between 100 and 200 people and shot at least one during another vicious attack on peaceful protesters in North Okkalapa on Wednesday morning.
The attack came a week after the coup regime’s forces murdered at least 1o in the Yangon township and badly injured dozens of others, according to local aid group estimates.
The demonstrators were gathered near the Kantharyar park at around 10am when the security forces attempted to surround them while firing rubber bullets and tear gas.
A young female protester suffered severe injuries to the bladder after being shot with live ammunition during the attack; she is receiving treatment and is in a serious but stable condition, according to a fellow protester who witnessed the incident, which was also captured in videos shared on Facebook.
The protesters fled into the park and to the nearby Sein Gay Har shopping mall to hide. But they were chased and caught, said a woman who later joined a crowd facing off with security forces to demand the release of the protesters.
“They made the kids kneel down and slapped them,” she told Myanmar Now.
The detained protesters were lined up in rows inside the park, footage shows. They were later taken away in prison trucks to a barracks in Shwepyitha township, witnesses said.
Soldiers and police also raided homes on a street next to the park to arrest protesters who were hiding there, as well as homeowners who sheltered them. They beat the protesters after detaining them, a resident said.
In some cases, local informers seeking favour with the authorities betrayed the location of hiding protesters to security forces, according to residents who assisted the protesters.
“So many people got arrested, even inside homes, because of the snitches,” said the woman who joined the crowd calling for the release of the protesters.
About 150 soldiers and police were involved in the crackdown in the morning, then another 100 showed up as reinforcements later, local residents said.
As the protesters were put into trucks, a group of supporters showed up to demand their release, raising their hands and even kneeling to show they were unarmed and peaceful, a video posted to social media showed.
Soldiers aim guns at protesters in Yangon’s North Okkalapa township on March 10.
“They took so many,” said a man who filmed the scene, referring to the detained. “Our comrades, brothers and sisters, please think about how much danger they are in now.”
Soldiers and police attacked that group with tear gas, stun grenades, and smoke bombs, a livestream of the crackdown showed.
Tensions remained high until around 2pm, when the junta’s forces threw more tear gas into the crowd before taking away the protesters.
Later, a group of protesters showed up outside a military intelligence interrogation center near the Aung Mingalar bus station to demand the protesters’ release, according to local residents. Soldiers fired guns to disperse the crowd, but no injuries were reported.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Use of Excessive Force, Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Mar 10, 2021
- Event Description
The Isaan Record, an online media organization based in Khon Kaen Province, is under surveillance by police officers. This is not the first time, and it occurs after they report on monarchy reform and anti-dictatorship activities which other media find distasteful.
On 10 March, Hathairat Phaholtap, the Isaan Record editor, told Prachatai English that police officers came to their office 4 times in one day. She was informed by vendors close to the office that police had asked them about the agency. The police did not approach staff directly.
This took place after the agency reported on an activity organized on 8 March by Femliberate, a feminist activist group, who shrouded the statue of Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat with women’s sarongs with a banner reading “Justice died 8 March 2021,” a symbolic action against the oppression of women and the court decision to keep in detention Parit Chiwarak, Panusaya Sitthijirawattanakul and Panupong Jadnok ,3 leading pro-democracy activists.
Prachatai English contacted Pol Col Chatchai Kengsarikit, Superintendent of Khon Kaen Police Station, but received no response. Pol Lt Col Wirot Nanongkham, the Deputy Superintendent (Investigation), said he was not informed about the police operation as he had just finished 4-month training in Bangkok.
“Them snooping around like this is harassing us. If they came in the normal way, then come along and have a coffee. If they come and ask what we do, come along. We are not afraid because we feel that we have not done anything wrong.
“We are not afraid that they will come to arrest us. If you come, then tell us what we’ve done wrong and give us the documents, don’t arrest us out of the blue or kidnap us. ... We know that we use our freedom, but we feel that we use freedom of the press,” said Hathairat.
In September 2020, Isaan Record interviewed Anon Nampa, a human rights lawyer who is now in detention pending trial for royal defamation and other offences, about his ideas on monarchy reform. Later, Hathairat said an officer told her that officers from Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) came around looking for the office as well. Targeted by pro-monarchy people and mainstream press
Manager Online, a well-known media agency, also reported the event at the monument on its local branch Facebook page MGR Online Isaan Ban Hao but in a different tone.
“A great number of Khon Kaen people and Thai people who have seen this photo, have put their hands on their chests, not thinking that they would dare to do anything like this. They also wrote obscene messages that civilized people cannot accept (C-U-N-T Wins)” stated in the post which referred directly to the Isaan Record’s coverage, using its photos. But the photo of the message was not taken by Isaan Record.
Hathairat believes the coverage is another reason for the police action as it originally referred to Isaan Record’s coverage.
Out of concern for possible misunderstanding, she had to ask the Page administrator to remove the photo not taken by the agency. The admin deleted it, but also sent her a comment ‘If staying in the homeland causes you suffering, then go and stay in another country’.
The row did not stop there. On 13 March, Manager Online for the northeast region reported news with the headline “Don’t stand for it! Khon Kaen people love the institution [of the monarchy]. Attack KKU, ask its position on whether they want the monarchy or not after allowing gangs who want to abolish the monarchy to hang out there,”.
The news item reports that a pro-monarchy group blames the Progressive Movement, from the now-dissolved Future Forward Party, for being the mastermind behind the student movement in Khon Kaen in the past year. They also questioned Khon Kaen University for letting public figures who spoke about democracy and monarchy reform give lectures to the students.
The piece also mentioned the activity at the statue of Field Marshal Sarit on 8 March and used photos taken by Isaan Record.
As pressure increases locally and countrywide, Hathairat said Isaan Record is planning to launch a series of reports about the lèse-majesté cases in northeast Thailand.
“When there are arrests of people for lèse-majesté, it will make people more afraid. But we think it is our freedom. The more the mass media is afraid, the more people dare to speak”, said Hathairat.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Mar 10, 2021
- Event Description
Chairman Kongres Aliansi Serikat Buruh Indonesia (KASBI), The General Chairman of Congress of Indonesia Unions Alliance, Nining Elitos, was summoned by the police regarding allegations of sedition and violations of health quarantine. This case is being handled by Direktorat Reserse Kriminal Umum Polda Metro Jaya. In the police report number: LP / 235 / III / YAN.2.5 / 2021 / SPKT PMJ dated 9 March and the Inquiry Letter Number: SP.Lidik / 777 / III / 2021 / Ditreskrimum dated 10 March, the police scheduled Nining's request for clarification on Monday , March 15. The charges were filed after Nining Elitos organised a rally on International Women's Day on 8 March.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Mar 10, 2021
- Event Description
For union leader Roselle Eugenio, it only took one government-issued memorandum for her life to change.
On March 10, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) released a memorandum advising government agencies to initiate an investigation of employees who are members of the umbrella organization of labor unions COURAGE.
“It is advised further, to fend off and discourage existing employees association or organization in your office to affiliate with known Communist Terrorist Group (CTG) organization,” the memorandum read.
Eugenio, president of SENADO, the union of government employees in the Philippine Senate, is among those accused by state forces as alleged leaders, recruiters, or members of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA).
At 54, Eugenio has dedicated almost half of her life in service to SENADO. It is apparent that the red-tagging against her is also an attack on unionism in the government sector.
Facing the fear
Eugenio was named by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) Spokesperson Lorraine Badoy as among the “operatives” of the CPP and NPA.
To Eugenio, there are baseless accusations that do not even have proper research. She was identified as a male in Badoy’s column, calling her a “he”.
“She does not even know me…She claimed that I am the eyes and ears ng CPP-NPA,” Eugenio told Bulatlat in an online interview.
Eugenio could not help but feel scared.
“Of course, I was afraid. At that time, I was also in quarantine. I have not yet surpassed my health problem when the red-tagging intensified,” Eugenio said.
The red-tagging incident also affected her family. Upon hearing the accusations hurled against her, Eugenio’s mother insisted that she stop joining the union.
Eugenio told her family it is part of her job as president of the union. “Of course they continue to worry about my safety but in the end, they cannot stop me,” she said.
Unionism
With a union to lead, and members to look after, Eugenio said that she decided to keep going because she knew she was fighting for the truth.
“Who would not feel afraid when you are wrongfully accused? But of course, I have no choice but to assert the legitimacy of what we are fighting for, of our principles which do not violate the law,” Eugenio said in Filipino.
Eugenio was once president of SENADO back from 2010 to 2013. Two years ago, she was again elected as president.
It was during Eugenio’s term that the union gained victories. They were able to raise employee benefits such as transportation and education assistance, increase the salary grade of drivers, provide free mass testing to Senate employees, and have Civil Service Commission (CSC) review classes for the employees who will take the CSC test, among others.
Courage Secretary General Manuel Baclagon also said that red-tagging affects the unions. He said that there were times when some of their members became hesitant in joining their activities due to the red-tagging.
But when members experience doubts or fears, Baclagon said that they talk and explain to their members that what they are doing is legal and just.
“We are fighting for jobs, salaries and rights as workers. There’s nothing wrong with what we’re doing,” said Baclagon.
Courage has about 200 affiliate unions and employees’ associations from government agencies, local government units, state colleges and universities and government-owned and controlled corporations in the country.
Under the Philippine Constitution, workers have the right to self-organize, collective bargain and negotiate and have peaceful concerted activities like the right to strike. But despite these constitutional assurances, unions like SENADO and Courage still experience attacks like red-tagging that affect their rights as workers.
Eugenio could not agree more with Baclagon. “I need to remind our officers and members that the attacks against me is also an attack on SENADO, aiming to silence unionists, activists, and to prevent us from airing our grievances,” Eugenio said.
Inspiration
Amid all the forms of attacks that were made to discredit and stain her name, Eugenio said she continues to stand tall because of her main source of inspiration— her union mates.
“Fear is still there, but the need to stand by our principles always wins. We also need to continue campaigning for the welfare of our fellow government workers,” said Eugenio.
On one hand, there is also a need to make the workers understand that their union struggle branches out to the other struggles faced by the nation and other sectors in the country, Eugenio said.
“This is not a local concern but part of the larger issues faced by other sectors, that this [red-tagging] is part of a national policy,” the union leader said.
The female union leader said the red-tagging she experienced still could not compare to the lives sacrificed by other activists.
“This is nothing compared to the martyrs who gave up their lives. They are among our inspiration,” said Eugenio.
Criminalize red-tagging
Both Eugenio and Baclagon support the moves to criminalize red-tagging.
The Makabayan bloc filed a bill in the House of Representatives that seeks to penalize and criminalize red-tagging.
“The victims live in constant fear for their lives, liberty and security. Adding insult to injury, even their families suffer the same. They deliberately singled out as the public is conditioned that they must have done something wrong to justify an extrajudicial punishment,” the bill read.
For a red-tagging victim, Eugenio said it is just rightful that a bill penalizing the act of red-tagging is passed into law.
She also maintained that the Anti-Terrorism Law (ATL) of 2020 legitimizes the attacks and accusations towards progressive groups and individuals.
The law allows government-appointed Anti-Terrorism Council to tag any person or group they suspect as “terrorist” without any solid basis, she said.
Baclagon said that he believes there is nothing wrong with being leftist. What is wrong, he said, is that the red-tagging itself violates the constitutional rights of the people to organize, to express their grievances, and to voice out their beliefs.
Courage is hopeful that the Supreme Court would strike down the law as unconstitutional.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Labour rights, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 9, 2021
- Event Description
“They took turns, beating us relentlessly. We couldn’t stay on our knees for long. Every time we fell, they would start beating on us again. So many of us were beaten up,” said a 30-year-old man from Myeik, in southern Myanmar’s Tanintharyi region.
The man is one of more than 70 protesters arrested during anti-coup demonstrations in Myeik on Tuesday.
He recalled how soldiers and police closed in on them from both ends of D street in the city’s Kat Thit ward at around 9am. There were around 45 men and 25 women in the group, he said, ranging in age from their early teens to their thirties.
All of the men were whipped repeatedly with strips of iron or beaten with wooden rods. Some were even hit with heavy chains, he said.
Photos received by Myanmar Now showed the extent of the damage inflicted on them: their backs, buttocks and chests were covered with painful-looking injuries.
While they were being tortured in this way, the protesters were also forced to sing the famous anti-dictatorship anthem “Kabar Ma Kyay Buu” over and over again and repeat protest slogans.
“They said, ‘What is it you chant and sing in marches and protests? How many fingers do you hold up?’ and beat us up. Anyone with a tattoo of Amay Suu was treated even worse,” he said, referring to Aung San Suu Kyi, long regarded as the leader of Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement.
“And they said, ‘You called us military dogs. Well, military dogs bite.’ And they just kept beating us,” the man said.
Around 10 soldiers made the men take off their shirts, put their hands behind their heads, and kneel down for one long, continuous session of beatings.
“If we raised our heads, they’d tell us to keep it down. They were afraid we’d see their faces. We kept falling down because we couldn’t stay on our knees while we were being beaten up. We were in a line and they would go back and forth, beating us constantly while we were in the room,” he said.
Of those arrested, only one woman who was injured by a rubber bullet was taken to a military hospital, while the rest were transported to the air force base near Myeik airport to be brutally tortured.
The majority of those arrested were students, who received the same treatment as the adults, even though the Myeik police told the soldiers not to be so hard on them, another detainee told Myanmar Now following his release.
“When we were arrested, there were police from Myeik who told the soldiers not to beat up the students. But the soldiers beat them anyway, saying that this was what they had come here all the way from Naypyitaw for,” he said.
A bystander is arrested by security forces in Yangon’s Tamwe township on March 8.
One arrested woman said the youth protesters were arrested after soldiers fired guns inside the houses they ran into to escape the crackdown.
Another woman who had been hiding inside a house said soldiers kicked down a door to get in and shot her repeatedly with rubber bullets from just three feet away.
“They kicked the door open, aimed and shot me twice in the neck,” she wrote on her Facebook page. “The bastards even arrested the homeowners,” she added.
“When they arrested the girls, they said, ‘We can do whatever we want with you. We can jail you for six months,’” one of detained girls told Myanmar Now.
“They hit one girl with the butt of a gun. She got four stitches. And another girl was kicked in the face. It’s all swollen up,” she said, adding that they were also taunted for their age.
“They said, ‘You’re pretty young. Do you even know what democracy is?’ And when we were released, the soldiers said, ‘Young people have nothing to do with politics. If you are involved again, we will put you in jail,’” the girl said.
“Once I recover, I’ll continue to protest wherever I can. We can’t lose this battle or give up,” said added defiantly.
“From the start of this dictatorship, they’ve done whatever they wanted to do. The law is whatever they say it is. I loathe this system. Even the internet is restricted. Not even Covid was this bad. The dictatorship is way worse,” she said.
According to the girl, around half of the detained protesters—29 men and six women—are still in custody and have been sentenced to one month in prison without charges.
However, Myanmar Now was unable to confirm the exact number of protesters who were arrested or how many remain in custody.
Among the arrested, some have been sent to Myeik prison. Others were released after they were bailed out by their parents, teachers, or ward administrators.
“We had to sign a release saying that we wouldn’t do this again. They said if we’re arrested again, all they will return to our families is our bodies,” said one man who vowed to continue fighting after he had recovered from his injuries.
“Once you get arrested, they will beat you up. Hard. They have no humanity,” he said.
“They can be so inhumane because they have weapons. We had to put our heads down because we don’t have weapons. I will never forgive and forget. My own parents have never hit me this much, this relentlessly. I’ve only seen this kind of torture in movies before. This is terrible. I’m not okay with it at all and we must win this revolution,” he added.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Torture, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Mar 9, 2021
- Event Description
On 8 March, the criminal court ordered the detention pending trial of Panusaya Sitthijirawattanakul, Jatupat Boonbattararaksa and Panupong Jadnok, leading figures in the pro-democracy protests, on sedition, royal defamation and several other charges. Piyarat Chongtep, leader of the We Volunteer protest guard group also detained for criminal organization
The first 3 reported along with another 14 people as scheduled on 8 March morning to be charged over the 19-20 September 2020 protests at Thammasat University and Sanam Luang. In total, they were charged with sedition, organizing more than 10 people to cause disorder, unlawful procession, emergency decree, vandalism and destroying antiquity site. Only the 3 had additional charge on royal defamation. 14 were allowed bail.
There were actually 15 people summoned to the court in this set of lawsuit. Only 14 were able to made to the court as the another one, Chaiamorn ‘Ammy’ Kaewwiboonpan has already been detained in prison.
Piyarat was arrested along with another 47 We Volunteer (WeVo) members by a SWAT police team who used force and did not produce an arrest warrant on 6 March prior to the protest at the judicial court complex. All but Piyarat were allowed bail. The WeVo case process is still in the police stage.
Movement supporters expressed disappointment and anger after bail was again refused by gathering at the Victory Monument on the evening of 8 March to protest. They asked people to dress in black as a symbolic show of resistance before dispersing at around 21.00.
Amnesty International released a statement claming that the mass prosecutions, amount to 382 protest leaders and demonstrators in 207 cases since 2020, tantamount to systematic suppression of freedom.
“It is profoundly worrying that the Thai authorities are systematically prosecuting a large number of protest leaders and demonstrators. In certain cases, the suspects may face up to 15 years of imprisonment. This is a severe and disproportionate punishment. Given the normally protracted period of trial, the prosecution of dissenters or critics of the government is being weaponized to silence and retaliate against those who dare to challenge the state power.” said Piyanut Kotsan, Director of Amnesty International.
“Mass prosecutions and denial of bail demonstrate how the justice process is being used as a tool to brazenly attack the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. People are entitled to legitimate rights to express themselves and participate in activities concerning social issues.
“The Thai authorities must stop treating critics as if they are criminals or a threat to national security. They must be released and the charges against them must be immediately dropped in the condition where there is an insufficient evidence under international criminal standard.” said Piyanut.
The detentions increase the number of pro-democracy protesters detained pending trial over demonstrations since the beginning of 2020 demanding the resignation of the prime minister and his cronies, constitutional amendments and monarchy reform.
As of 8 March, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that 18 people are now detained pending trial:
7 leading figures of Ratsadorn, one of the protest organizing groups: Anon Nampa, Parit Chiwarak, Patiwat Saraiyaem, Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, Panusaya Sitthijirawattanakul, Jatupat Boonbattararaksa and Panupong Jadnok. The first 4 have been detained since 9 February. 5 people who have been charged with damage to police vehicles in October 2020: Nathanon Chaimahabut, Thawat Sukprasoet, Sakchai Tangchitsadudi, Somkhit Tosoi and Chaluai Ekasak. They have been detained since 24 February. Chaiamorn ‘Ammy’ Kaewwiboonpan, lead singer of the The Bottom Blues band, detained for allegedly burning a portrait of King Rama X in front of Klong Prem Central Prison. Parinya ‘Port’ Cheewinkulpathom, a member of the self-exiled band ‘Faiyen’, charged under the lèse majesté law over his Facebook post in 2016 and detained since 6 March. 3 people detained since 29 January for allegedly throwing a homemade ‘pingpong’ bomb at the protest at Samyan Mitrtown on 10 January. . Piyarat Chongtep, arrested on 6 March and detained 2 days later. TLHR also reported that 5 people have been sentenced to prison after being found guilty of lèse majesté:
Anchan, sentenced on 19 January 2021 to 43 years. Wichai, sentenced on 24 December 2015 to 30 years and 60 months by a military court. Burin, sentenced on 30 April 2016 to 10 years and 16 months by a military court. Pratin, sentenced on 23 November 2015 to 8 years and 4 months. Prapan, sentenced on 11 May 2021 to 2 years.
Three anti-government leaders have been moved from Bangkok Remand Prison to Thon Buri Remand Prison, where they are being held in quarantine.
Corrections Department chief Ayut Sinthoppan said on Tuesday that Panupong “Mike’’ Jadnok, Jatupat “Pai Dao Din’’ Boonpattararaksa and Piyarat “Toto’’ Chongthep were transferred to Thon Buri on Monday to ease overcrowding at Bangkok Remand Prison.
Prison officials took the three suspects for records and health checks before taking them to the prison’s reception centre for 14-day quarantine as part of Covid-19 prevention measures.
The suspects were put in separate detention rooms. However, there were other prisoners in their rooms, the department chief said.
Mr Panupong and Mr Jatupat are charged with lese majeste and other offences and Mr Piyarat with violating the emergency decree. All charges stem from their roles in anti-government rallies. They have been denied bail
During their trial, prison officials from Bangkok Remand Prison would go to Thon Buri and then escort the defendants to the court, Mr Ayut said.
Asked if there were any worries about supporters of the protest leaders gathering at Thon Buri Remand Prison, he said there was tight security in the area around the prison 24 hours a day.
Prison authorities were not allowing the suspects to have visitors, because they were quarantined under Covid-19 measures, he said.
Another protest leader Panusaya “Rung’’ Sithijirawattanakul had been sent to the Central Women's Correctional Institution, the department chief said.
Soraya Rit-aram, director of the women's prison, said on Tuesday that Ms Panusaya was also in 14-day quarantine. Only lawyers were allowed to visit her, Ms Soraya said.
Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin on Tuesday confirmed he has plans to expand the Bangkok prison compound for political prisoners, to ease overcrowding when relatives and fellow demonstrators come visiting.
However, he had to look further into the details first.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Mar 9, 2021
- Event Description
Dozens of Papuan students from dari Front Mahasiswa Peduli Papua (Formalipa) admitted to being victims of police violence in Denpasar. The alleged incident occurred when they held a demonstration in the Renon area, Denpasar, Tuesday (9/3/2021). This was revealed by representatives of Formalipa in a press conference held at the LBH Bali office, Denpasar, Wednesday (10/3/2021).
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Mar 8, 2021
- Event Description
BACOLOD CITY: Negros Island-based leaders of human rights group Karapatan on Thursday said they received death threats recently.
In a Facebook post, the group reported its public information desk received on Monday a text message, which listed names of some militants, believed to be the “next target” of a “kill kill kill” program.
The text message was received a day after multiple raids by authorities in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) resulted in the killing of nine activists and arrest of six others.
Karapatan identified those on the “next target” list as Iver Lavit of Kadamay Negros; John “Butch” Lozande, secretary-general of National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW); Ereneo Longinos, spokesman for Bayan Negros; Clarissa Singson, secretary-general of Karapatan Negros; Christian Tuayon of the NFSW; Felipe Gelle of the September 21 Movement and Rolando Rillo, also of the NFSW.
Karapatan did not identify a certain “Alyas Tatay Ogie” and “Berting” who were also included in the list.
In a separate text message received also on Monday, the unidentified sender also threatened Bayan Negros media liaison Julius Dagatan, husband of Clarissa Singson who was among those included in the first text message.
In the message, the sender said Negros was “next.”
Karapatan said the sender was referring to the multiple Calabarzon killings last Sunday, March 7.
“Oh ano takot na kayo noh? Susunod namin Negros. Humanda na asawa ni Clarissa na si Jules! Matataymingan din yan,” the message read.
In a statement, Karapatan-Negros said: “The horrible crackdown in Southern Tagalog was patterned in the ‘Tokhang-nanlaban’ style that was first executed here in Negros through Oplan Sauron that resulted in the death of six during Synchronized Enhanced Managing of Police Operations (SEMPO) and the arrest of more than 100 farmers and activists.”
“These brazen attacks and intimidation against human rights defenders is a clear manifestation of how cowardly Duterte’s government is. His desperate tyrannical approach to sow fear among the people failed tremendously, he proved that he cannot silence the struggling people, and he is now trembling in fear because of the continued growing resistance of the Filipino people,” the group said.
“After the series of mass murders led by State forces, the whole island still suffers from relentless fascist attacks. W ith these recent incidents of threats directed against our fellow human rights defenders, it is imperative that we push and fight back against this reign of tyranny.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Death threat, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 8, 2021
- Event Description
The Myanmar military continued to terrorize peaceful anti-coup demonstrators with lethal force across the country on Monday, killing at least three protesters and severely injuring many others.
The attacks came after soldiers and police came out in force in Yangon on Sunday night in anticipation of another day of mass protests.
Security forces stationed themselves inside hospitals, pagoda compounds and universities in Yangon and other major cities.
Gunfire and stun grenade explosions were heard at night in numerous Yangon townships in what appeared to be a bid to terrorize the city’s population.
But anti-military demonstrators still took to the streets on Monday morning, rallying around yet another call for a general strike, this time to coincide with International Women’s Day.
At a women-led anti-coup demonstration in Sanchaung township, protesters used htameins as flags.
Many superstitious soldiers believe that walking beneath the sarong-like garment - or anything else worn by a woman below the waist - diminishes a man’s power.
Protesters have been hanging htameins above roads to delay the advance of security forces, a strategy that uses the military’s own misogyny against them.
At many protest sites in Yangon, security forces broke up demonstrations using teargas and stun grenades.
Protesters once again avoided confrontations with a cat and mouse strategy, retreating when security forces approached but gathering again whenever they had the chance.
Elsewhere in Myanmar, things were more violent.
Myitkyina, Kachin
Two were shot dead by security forces in the Kachin capital of Myitkyina, residents and a protest organizer said.
The two victims have been identified as 63-year-old Ko Ko Lay, also known as Cho Tha, and 23-year-old Zin Min Htet. They were both shot in the head.
Pyapon, Ayeyarwaddy
Thiha Oo, 30, was killed during a crackdown by security forces in Ayeyarwady region’s Pyapon township. Six others were injured, including two severely, during the attack, according to residents.
Thiha Oo was shot in his lower chest. “We don’t know if it was a live bullet or a rubber one,” a resident told Myanmar Now. “He died before arriving at the clinic.”
Aung Myat Lin, 23, was shot dead by security forces on Sunday night in northern Magway region’s Htilin township, according to a resident who witnessed the killing.
A group of Htilin residents, including Aung Myat Lin, gathered in front of the local police station on Sunday night demanding the release of a protest organizer before security forces fired live ammunition into the crowd, the resident told Myanmar Now.
Aung Myat Lin was shot in the chest and killed at the scene.
“They fired two rounds of bullets first and then threw stun grenades. And then they started shooting. The boy was shot. The bullet penetrated through his chest. He died near the police station,” the Htilin resident said.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 8, 2021
- Event Description
At many protest sites in Yangon, security forces broke up demonstrations using teargas and stun grenades.
Protesters once again avoided confrontations with a cat and mouse strategy, retreating when security forces approached but gathering again whenever they had the chance.
Elsewhere in Myanmar, things were more violent.
Myitkyina, Kachin
Security forces also used stun grenades and tear gas while attacking protesters in front of the Saint Francis Xavier Catholic church. At least ten people were arrested and five severely injured in the attack, he added.
Myitkyina residents sought to avoid being attacked by organizing different protest columns around the town as security forces cracked down on the demonstration at the church.
“When tensions rose between the security forces and the protesters in front of the church, we organized another protest column at another area. But they focused on cracking down on the group in front of the church,” another organizer said.
Mandalay
A security forces truck rammed into protesters who were fleeing from a crackdown on motorbikes near 57th Street in Mandalay on Monday morning, injuring at least 6 people.
Two of them – Mya Thway Chel, 22, and Han Lin Aung, 15 – are in a critical condition, according to a volunteer rescue team.
We are still gathering more details about the incident.
Pyapon, Ayeyarwaddy About 100 anti-coup protesters, including school teachers and young people, were arrested during the crackdown, he said.
Pyapon residents rallied in the town to demand their release, and security forces began releasing 10 people at a time starting from 3pm.
Htilin, Magway
Six other people were injured in the attack. Three of them were shot with live bullets and three with rubber bullets.
- Impact of Event
- 28
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Use of Excessive Force, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 8, 2021
- Event Description
The military government placed a major curb on media coverage of the crisis. It announced that the licenses of five local media outlets — Mizzima, DVB, Khit Thit Media, Myanmar Now and 7Day News — have been canceled.
“These media companies are no longer allowed to broadcast or write or give information by using any kind of media platform or using any media technology,” it said on state broadcaster MRTV.
All five had been offering extensive coverage of the protests, often with livestreaming video online. The offices of Myanmar Now were raided by the authorities Monday before the measure was announced.
DVB said it was not surprised by the cancellation and would continue broadcasting on satellite TV and online.
“We worry for the safety of our reporters and our staff, but in the current uprising, the whole country has become the citizens’ journalists and there is no way for military authorities to shut the information flow,” Executive Director Aye Chan Naing told The Associated Press.
The government has detained dozens of journalists since the coup, including a Myanmar Now reporter and Thein Zaw of AP, both of whom have been charged under a public order law that carried a penalty of up to three years in prison.
The night’s street protests began after police cordoned off part of Yangon’s Sanchaung neighborhood and were believed to be conducting door-to-door searches for those who fled attacks by security forces to seek shelter in the homes of sympathetic strangers.
News of their plight spread quickly on social media, and people poured into the streets in neighborhoods all over the city to show solidarity and in hopes of drawing some of the pressure off the hunted protesters. On some streets, they constructed makeshift barricades with whatever was at hand.
Kamayut Media’s co-founder, Han Thar Nyein, and editor-in-chief, Nathan Maung, were arrested by the Myanmar military on March 8 during raids of their offices in Yangon. Witnesses reported seven military trucks were involved during the raid on the independent media organisation. The arrests follow the death of a second National League of Democracy (NLD) figure since the military coup began. Zaw Myat Linn, an official from deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party died on Monday 8 in custody in Yangon, following his arrest on Tuesday.
Footage posted to social media showed further raids on Mizzima News and the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) offices after nightfall, also on March 8. The raids followed a raid earlier in the day on Myanmar Now’s offices and extensive media shutdowns ordered by the military, with the five major media outlets’ licenses cancelled, all of which have provided extensive coverage of the ongoing coup. In its announcement, the military said that five news outlets – including both Mizzima News and the Democratic Voice of Burma - were “no longer allowed to broadcast or write or give information by using any kind of media platform or using any media technology”. Despite this, many continue their coverage online.
Media sources have told IFJ that journalists are continuing to perform their professional duties in covering the military coup despite the continued documented aggressive attempts to silence media workers and media operations.
- Impact of Event
- 8
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Mar 8, 2021
- Event Description
A demonstration to commemorate International Women's Day which was held in front of the office of the Governor of the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY), Monday (8/3/2021) afternoon, was dispersed by a group of people. A number of participants in the action also experienced violence, such as being beaten and pushed.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Women's rights
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Mar 8, 2021
- Event Description
Kepolisian Resor Kota (Polresta) Jogja wouldn’t allow the International Women's Day demonstration by the Front Perjuangan Rakyat (FPR). The Rally is planned to take place around Jalan Malioboro on March 8, 2021. This policy is suspected to be the impact of the local regulation regarding the prohibition of demonstrations in Malioboro. FPR spokesperson Anna Mariyana Ulfa said, on March 1, 2021, they sent a letter notifying the rally to the Police. But on that same day, they received a reply to a letter regarding the refusal of the protest notification.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Women's rights
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Mar 7, 2021
- Event Description
The Observatory has been informed by Karapatan Alliance Philippines about the extrajudicial killing of nine human rights defenders and the arbitrary detention of four others in four provinces in Calabarzon region.
On March 7, 2021, the Philippines National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Army (PA) carried out raids into the houses and offices of several human rights defenders in Calabarzon region, southern Philippines as part of a joint operation against alleged members of “communist and terrorist groups”.
During the raids, the PNP and the PA killed Emmanuel “Manny” Asuncion, labour leader and Secretary-General of BAYAN-Cavite, in Dasmariñas, Cavite Province; fisherfolk leaders Ana Marie “Chai ”Lemita-Evangelista and Ariel Evangelista, in Nasugbu, Batangas Province; Melvin Dasigao, Mark Lee “Makmak” Coros Bacasno, Abner Esto, and Edward Esto, all members of the urban poor group Sikkad K3 in Montalban, Rizal Province; and indigenous rights defenders Dumagats Puroy and Randy de la Cruz in Tanay, Rizal Province.
Furthermore, the PNP and the PA arbitrarily arrested Esteban “Steve” Mendoza, Vice-President of the trade union Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU - May First Movement)-Olalia and Elizabeth “Mags”Camoral, spokesperson of BAYAN-Laguna, in Cabuyao, Laguna Province. Nimfa Lanzanas, paralegal of Karapatan and member of Kapatid-Families and Friends of Political Prisoners was arbitrarily arrested in Calamba, Laguna Province. Eugene Eugenio, member of the public sector union Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE)-Rizal was arbitrarily arrested in Antipolo City, Rizal Province.
At the time of publication of this urgent appeal, Mr. Mendoza and Ms. Lanzanas remain detained at Camp Vicente Lim in Calamba; Ms. Camoral at Canlubang City Jail, Laguna Province; and Mr. Eugenio at the Antipolo Police Station. All of them are being detained on charges of “illegal possession of firearms and ammunition”.
According to the information received, two other individuals were arrested during the raids. However, at the time of publication of this urgent appeal, their identities had not been disclosed by the PNP. Many more human rights defenders are in fear of being arrested or killed.
Two days before the above-referenced events, on March 5, 2021, President Duterte had ordered the PNP and the PA to “ignore human rights” and “kill” and “finish off” communist rebels in any armed encounter with them.
- Impact of Event
- 13
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Killing, Raid, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to life
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Indigenous peoples' rights defender, NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 7, 2021
- Event Description
Aung Myat Lin, 23, was shot dead by security forces on Sunday night in northern Magway region’s Htilin township, according to a resident who witnessed the killing.
A group of Htilin residents, including Aung Myat Lin, gathered in front of the local police station on Sunday night demanding the release of a protest organizer before security forces fired live ammunition into the crowd, the resident told Myanmar Now.
Aung Myat Lin was shot in the chest and killed at the scene.
“They fired two rounds of bullets first and then threw stun grenades. And then they started shooting. The boy was shot. The bullet penetrated through his chest. He died near the police station,” the Htilin resident said.
Six other people were injured in the attack. Three of them were shot with live bullets and three with rubber bullets.
The recent deaths add to more than 50 killed by police and soldiers so far while resisting the military regime. The UN said last week the actual number of deaths is likely to be much higher than the toll it has been able to confirm.
An Assistance Association for Political Prisoners report on Sunday said nearly 1,800 people have been arrested, charged or sentenced following the February 1 coup.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Mar 6, 2021
- Event Description
On 6 March, protesters marched to the judicial court complex on Ratchadapisek Road to express their anger at the lengthy and questionable detention of pro-democracy protesters and political prisoners.
The protest, designated by the Free YOUTH movement under the theme Restart Democracy (REDEM), was one among at least 4 pro-democracy protests held in Bangkok and nearby province, and 1 pro-establishment protest at the Central World, Ratchaprasong.
The protesters started the march at Lat Phrao intersection at around 17.40. 46 were arrested at the scene, including Piyarat Chongthep. They were arrested by an armed police SWAT team while they were at a nearby shopping mall, eating and waiting to attend the protest.
According to their testimony to TLHR, they were rounded up by the police commandos, forced to lie on the ground, had guns pointed at their backs, had their hands tied with cables and had their belongings seized.
They were put into 3 different detention vehicles, 1 of which, containing 18 people, was able to make it to Border Patrol Police Region 1. The other 2 were intercepted by the protesters on Ratchadapisek Road. The cage padlocks on the second vehicle were broken and the WeVo members got out. Another 14 who were sitting in the third vehicle remained inside for 2 hours in total.
At 21.10, a lawyer from TLHR came to see the remaining WeVo members in the third vehicle and took them to Phaholyothin Police Station to present themselves out of fear of being charged with escaping. Those from the second vehicle later followed them to the station, 28 in total.
- Impact of Event
- 46
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Mar 5, 2021
- Event Description
87 members of the Bang Kloi indigenous Karen community, who travelled back to the location of their former village in the Kaeng Krachan forest, have been forcibly taken out of the forest and arrested by park officials, police, and military officers.
The community members were taken by helicopter flights down from Chai Phaen Din, the former location of their village from which they were forcibly evacuated in 2011, on Friday morning (5 March).
Waraporn Utairungsee, a lawyer from the Human Rights Lawyer Association (HRLA), said that of the 87 people arrested, 36 are minors, but the authorities did not press charges and have released them. 29 others were arrested and received a fine, while 22 were taken to Khao Kling Prison.
Waraporn also said that the team from HRLA asked to meet the community members at 14.00, but were prevented from seeing them for around 4 hours, until the police held a press conference at around 18.00 to say that the community members were informed of their charges and were taken into temporary detention. She said that the authorities claimed that a lawyer from the Lawyers’ Council was already present during the inquiry, but she was not sure if the community members consented to this, as community representatives have already filed a request for a lawyer with HRLA on 25 February 2021.
According to Waraporn, it was too late to request bail on Friday (5 March). Later, on Saturday morning (6 March), HRLA announced on their Facebook page that they will be requesting bail for the 22 detained community members, and that they are arranging for 8 other community members for whom the police have an arrest warrant to turn themselves in on Monday (8 March). HRLA said that they will have to request bail for a total of 30 people, requiring a security of 60,000 baht each.
As they will need at least 1,320,000 baht in security, HRLA is requesting that any academic or university lecturer willing to use their position as bail security for the detained community members contact them. They will be requesting bail for the community members on Monday (8 March) at the Phetchaburi Provincial Court.
Transborder News reported that remaining community members at the Pong Luek-Bang Kloi village went to the park administration office after they learned of the arrest earlier on Friday morning (5 March), but were not allowed to see their relatives.
Kriangkrai Cheechuang, co-ordinator for the Karen network for Culture and Environment in Tanao Sri (KNCE), told Transborder News that the authorities began the inquiry without waiting for the community members’ lawyer and without a representative of the community being present to act as an interpreter.
There were also reports that No-ae Meemi, son of Ko-i Meemi, the community’s late spiritual leader, has also been arrested and sent to prison, and that at least two of the women currently detained have young children.
Reports of No-ae’s arrest caused concerns among the community, as he has said on several occasions that he would commit suicide if he is forcibly evacuated from Chai Phaen Din again.
The Bang Kloi community has already been forcibly evacuated from their ancestral home twice: in 1997, and once again in 2011, when park and military officials burned down their houses and rice barns, and forced them to relocate to the Pong Luek-Bang Kloi Village.
For the past 25 years, the community has constantly faced unresolved community rights issues. They were not allocated land for agriculture as the authorities promised them, and the land they did receive was not suitable for growing crops, while they are not able to practice their traditional rotational farming method. Many members of the community are also still in the process of getting Thai citizenship, and missed out on land allocation and welfare.
Community leader and indigenous rights activist Porlajee “Billy” Rakchongcharoen also went missing in 2014 after he was last seen in the custody of park officials. In September 2019, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) announced that they had found charred bone fragments in an oil drum in the Kaeng Krachan Dam, DNA evidence from which matches Billy’s mother. However, even though the DSI laid charges against four suspects, including the then-national park chief and two other officials who took Billy into custody, the public prosecutor decided in January 2020 to drop all but one of the charges, that of official misconduct, against the park officials, citing lack of evidence that Billy had died.
The Covid-19 pandemic has also worsened their situation, as many community members employed outside the village began to lose income. Around 70 – 80 members of the community therefore decided to leave the Pong Luek-Bang Kloi village in mid-January 2021 and returned to Chai Phaen Din to live according to their traditional way of life.
The community would also like to perform the final funeral rites for Ko-i, who passed away in 2018 at the age of 107. The ceremony requires his descendants to grow rice on the land at Chai Phaen Din and use the rice to feed people who participated in the ceremony.
Since the start of February 2021, the community have faced intimidation from state officials. Park officials, police, and military officers were stationed in the Pong Luek-Bang Kloi Village and have been patrolling the area every day, while food donations are blocked at park checkpoints and prevented from being delivered to the community members who returned to Chai Phaen Din. Community leaders faced pressure from the authorities, while phone signals in the Pong Luek-Bang Kloi village were periodically cut.
Despite the signing of an MOU with community representatives promising to allow the community to return to Chai Phaen Din to live according to their traditional ways and to end intimidation against the community, there were reports on 22 February 2021 of helicopter flights taking military units up into the Kaeng Krachan forest, as well as reports that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment had ordered all community members to be forced out of Chai Phaen Din by 18.00 of that day. By the end of that day, it was reported that 13 community members had been detained and taken back down to Pong Luek-Bang Kloi.
Thailand, along with 143 other countries, is a signatory to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), Article 10 of which states “Indigenous peoples shall not be forcibly removed from their lands or territories. No relocation shall take place without the free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples concerned and after agreement on just and fair compensation and, where possible, with the option of return.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to housing, Right to liberty and security, Right to property
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Indigenous peoples' rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Mar 5, 2021
- Event Description
A group of Papuans staged a rally to protest the Special Autonomy for Papua in Semarang, Central Java, on Friday (5/3/2021). The demonstration against Papua Special Autonomy was violently be disbanded by the Police from Polrestabes Semarang. Deputy city police chief of Semarang, AKBP I.G.A. Perbawa Nugraha, argued that the dispersal of the demonstration was carried out because it violated the rules for imposing restrictions on community activities which are currently being implemented in the city of Semarang to prevent the spread of the corona virus. 30 participants were arrested as result of the dispersal.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 3, 2021
- Event Description
On Wednesday afternoon, soldiers and police carried out a violent crackdown on anti-coup protests in North Okkalapa. Using live gunfire, they killed at least seven people, including bystanders, according to confirmations from two area hospitals.
During the attack by security forces, emergency response teams from FFSS helped treat those who had been injured, according to photos posted by the organization on social media.
Security forces also assaulted three medics from the Mon Myat Seikhtar rescue team who had also been working in the township to treat those injured in the shootings.
CCTV footage that went viral on social media on Wednesday showed several police officers brutally beating the medics with batons and the butts of their shotguns. The police also shot at the windows of the rescue team’s ambulance.
Hla Kyaing, the chair of Mon Myat Seikhtar emergency rescue team, said that four members of his team, including the driver of their ambulance, went missing after the incident and, as of Thursday, were being detained at the notorious Insein Prison in Yangon.
He told Myanmar Now that he is trying to secure their release.
According to an Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) report released on Wednesday, at least 50 people had been killed and 1,498 arrested nationwide since demonstrations began against the February 1 coup.
Estimates for Wednesday’s death toll vary, and Myanmar Now has been unable to independently verify the total numbers across the country.
The AAPP reported that at least 20 people were killed and around 800 arrested throughout Myanmar on March 3.
Christine Schraner Burgener, the UN Special Envoy for Myanmar, said in a virtual press conference on Wednesday that 38 people had been killed on that day alone.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Raid, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to property, Right to work
- HRD
- NGO, NGO staff, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Mar 3, 2021
- Event Description
A blue and yellow screwdriver was still embedded in the left temple of human rights lawyer Angelo Karlo “AK” Guillen when paramedics took him to a hospital in Iloilo City following what the largest lawyers’ group in the country on Thursday denounced as a “brazen and bloody assassination attempt.”
The police said the near-fatal stabbing on Wednesday night could have been a botched robbery, but they were looking into other possible motives.
But Guillen’s colleagues and the human rights community believe the assailants had intended to kill the 33-year-old lawyer who has been Red-tagged and represents 16 members of the indigenous Tumandok who were arrested in Capiz and Iloilo provinces on Dec. 30, 2020, for illegal possession of firearms and explosives, and for alleged links to communist rebels.
Terror law petitioners At least nine Tumandok were killed in last year’s Rizal Day raids by the military and police on the indigenous group, which opposes a government dam project that they said would inundate their ancestral lands.
The brutal attack follows the Feb. 28 assassination of Barangay Roosevelt Chair Julie Catamin, a key defense witness for the Tumandok represented by Guillen.
Guillen is also a legal counsel in one of the 37 petitions questioning the constitutionality of the Anti-Terrorism Act in the Supreme Court.
The young lawyer, whom colleagues describe as soft-spoken and unassuming, also took part in a fact-finding investigation and reported on the coordinated police operations in Negros Oriental in 2019 that led to the deaths of 14 people, mostly farmers.
Rene Estocapio, National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers vice president for Visayas, said Guillen was attacked at 9:15 p.m. on Wednesday by two men in ski masks who stabbed him in the head and neck as he walked from his car toward his boarding house in Barangay Villa Anita in Iloilo City.
Two other men on two motorcycles arrived moments later and fled with the assailants who took his bag that contained his laptop and some documents, he said.
Doctors on Thursday said he was in stable condition after they removed a 25-centimeter screwdriver from his left temple, a few centimeters of which had been jammed into his skull by one of the assailants.
At the hospital, Guillen told a friend on Thursday that he ran when he saw two men going after him. He said the men stabbed him repeatedly after he tripped, according to his friend who spoke with the Inquirer.
Guillen heard one of the assailants shout, “Get the bag!” before they fled, his friend said, adding that the men did not get his wallet, cell phone and other valuables.
Pro bono cases In a statement, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) said it “condemns the brazen and bloody assassination attempt on human rights, public interest, and indigenous peoples lawyer Atty. Angelo Karlo Guillen.”
IBP national president Domingo Egon Cayosa said Guillen handled “pro bono cases for the poor and the marginalized” and had been “Red-tagged and threatened many times.” “Inflicting violence on those who seek justice is criminality in the highest degree,” Cayosa said.
He pointed to “the primary role of government to secure its citizens and its international obligation to ensure that lawyers can do their job without fear, harassment or retribution.”
Police Maj. Mark Evan Salvo, chief of the Iloilo City Police Station 1, said that based on an initial investigation, robbery could have been the the motive for the attack.
But he said they were also looking at the possibility that it was work-related because the lawyer’s laptop and files were taken.
“We still need to talk with [Guillen] to determine what was taken and the cases that he is handling,” Salvo told the Inquirer.
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas said he was “very much alarmed” about the attack and decried that it took place just half a kilometer from the Iloilo City Police Office.
“Lawyers only do their function to protect their clients. As a lawyer myself, this is doubly important for me to be solved,” Treñas said in a statement.
He called on the Philippine National Police “to do everything possible to resolve this at the earliest possible time.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Mar 3, 2021
- Event Description
On 3 March 2021, West Papuan human rights defenders Roland Levy and Kelvin Molama, wereforcibly taken from their respective student dormitories in East Jakarta and Central Jakarta, by agroup of plain-clothes individuals. It was only later confirmed that the individuals who had detainedthem were part of the Criminal Research Unit of Polda Metro Jaya regional police. Both defendersare currently detained at the Polda Metro Jaya police station.Roland Levy is a West Papuan student human rights defender. As a coordinator of the AlliansiMahasaswa Papua - AMP (West Papua Student Alliance) for Jakarta, he leads discussions ondemocracy, human rights violations and the rights of freedom of the press, and is involved in mediaoutreach for the Alliance. He has also coordinated initiatives focused on the State’s responsibility toresolve tribal conflicts in Timika in 2017, and West Papua’s right to self-determination. KelvinMolama is a West Papuan student human rights defender and an active member of the AMP. Hehas been actively involved in the group’s human rights activities including the organisation ofdiscussion forums and protests against the human rights violation in West Papua.On the morning of 3 March 2021, fourteen plain-clothes individuals in four vehicles entered thepremises of Yahukimo student accommodation and forcibly removed human rights defender KelvinMolama. The individuals, believed at the time to be police or intelligence officials, did not presentany warrant for detaining the defender. Other residents of the dormitory witnessing the detentionwere prevented from taking photos of the incident. At about the same time, fellow student humanrights defender Roland Levy was also taken away by plain-clothes individuals from his studentdormitory in the Senen area of Central Jakarta. No warrant was presented for his arrest.Later that day, individuals close to the human rights defenders were able to confirm that bothdefenders had been detained by officials from the Criminal Research Unit of Polda Metro Jaya.Roland Levy and Kelvin Molama have both been threatened with formal arrest under Article 170and Article 365 of the Criminal Code, which relate to of violence and theft. The exact reason fortheir arrest has yet to be provided to the human rights defenders, yet they remain detained at thePolda Metro Jaya police station, where they have had access to their lawyers.Human rights defenders on the ground believe that the arrests were made as a pre-emptivemeasure, to slow the momentum of the growing protest movement in West Papua, and intimidateand discourage those involved in the movement. Since the peaceful demonstrations led by WestPapuan student human rights defenders in August 2019, many of these defenders have beensubjected to relentless threats, intimidation and harassment by Indonesian officials. VeronicaKoman, a lawyer and woman human rights defender who worked closely with the defenders hasbeen targeted with various forms of harassment, such as the inclusion of her name on the country’swanted list and threats that an Interpol red notice would be issued in her name.Front Line Defenders is extremely concerned for the safety of Roland Levy and Kelvin Molama, asit believes they are being targeted for their legitimate and peaceful work for the protection of humanrights. Front Line Defenders condemns the increasingly hostile environment for human rightsdefenders in Indonesia, specifically those from West Papua, working on the rights of West Papuansand human rights issues more broadly.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 3, 2021
- Event Description
At least 18 people were shot dead and dozens more injured in cities across Myanmar during lethal crackdowns by soldiers and police on anti-coup protesters on Wednesday, making it clear that the military regime is waging an all-out war against its own people in an effort to restore the full-blown Orwellian state it existed as for many decades.
It is tied with Sunday as being the deadliest day of demonstrations since protests began after the February 1 coup.
Myanmar Now spoke to sources in five cities, but there were also reports of shootings and arrests in towns and cities around the country.
Mandalay
In Mandalay, security forces killed a 37-year-old man and 19-year-old woman in a crackdown on demonstrations that used live ammunition and stun grenades.
The victims have been identified as Myo Naing Lin, who suffered a gunshot wound to the chest, and Kyel Sin, who was shot in the side of her head, emergency workers and family members told Myanmar Now.
At least 11 people were also injured in the shootings by security forces, according to medics on the ground. Of those injured, two are in critical condition, having suffered gunshots to the forehead and to the back.
Monywa
In the town of Monywa in Sagaing Region, seven people were killed and an estimated 70 were injured after security forces attacked them with live ammunition, stun grenades and tear gas.
The identities of four of the casualties were known at the time of reporting: 26-year-old Kyawt Nandar Aung, 23-year-old Moe Aung, 37-year-old Myint Myint Sein and 17-year-old Min Khant Kyaw. There was also a 45-year-old man who was shot and killed but whose name had not been released.
Two of the victims were shot in the head: Kyawt Nandar Aung and Moe Aung.
Further details of the victims were unavailable, as well as the identity of the remaining two.
One of the protesters told Myanmar Now in a phone interview that security forces in a police truck took away two bodies of people who had been shot dead in the attack.
“Two other dead bodies soaked in blood were taken away by dogs,” he said, referring to police and soldiers.
Myingyan
In the town of Myingyan in central Myanmar, 22-year-old Zin Ko Ko Thaw died from a gunshot wound to the head and at least 15 other people were injured during the crackdown on a protest of tens of thousands of local residents.
A Myingyan local told Myanmar Now that around 150 soldiers and police had violently broken up the demonstration without any warning.
“It was so sudden, like a military operation. No warnings for the crackdown at all,” he said.
Mawlamyine
The Mawlamyine-based Than Lwin Times reported that 19-year-old bystander Htet Wai Htoo was killed this afternoon after being shot in the head with a live bullet by security forces who entered his neighbourhood.
He was pronounced brain-dead and died of the injury, according to the Than Lwin Times.
Yangon
Meanwhile in Yangon, police and soldiers killed at least seven protesters with live ammunition during a crackdown in North Okkalapa township, some 18 kilometers from downtown Yangon.
Wednesday marked the first deadly crackdown in this area of the city by the security forces after similar attacks were carried out at other major protest sites, including Hledan and Sanchaung.
Two of the victims have been identified as 19-year-old Htet Aung and 20-year-old Min Oo, according to a doctor from a nearby private hospital who helped treat those wounded in the crackdown.
Htet Aung was pronounced dead from a gunshot to the chest upon arrival at the hospital, while Min Oo, who was shot in the lower abdomen, died of his injuries later in the afternoon. Four people were pronounced dead upon arrival at the North Okkalapa public hospital, and another person died after being admitted for treatment, according to an emergency room doctor from the hospital.
The doctor said that there had been a total of 16 people injured and admitted to the public hospital.
No further details were available at the time of reporting.
Even though there are reports of more deaths in Yangon, at the time of reporting, Myanmar Now could independently verify only seven deaths.
- Impact of Event
- 19
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 2, 2021
- Event Description
At least 20 people were shot, including one whose condition is critical, as security forces opened fire at protesters on Tuesday in Kale, northwestern Sagaing region, a medic has said.
Tens of thousands of anti-coup protesters gathered in the town from around 10am. About half an hour later, a soldier who was positioned inside a building nearby shot into the crowd, an emergency worker who witnessed the incident told Myanmar Now.
“The police advanced towards the protesters with water cannon and a police truck to break up the crowd with force,” he said. “A soldier behind them shot two rounds of bullets, but into the air according to what I saw.”
“At the same time, a soldier shot from inside a building nearby with what appeared to be live bullets,” said the medic, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals.
Of those shot in Kale, one was in a “critical condition” after being hit in the abdomen, the medic added. “The patient is not ready to operate on because he had eaten recently and we are waiting for a surgeon from Tedim.”
Tedim, a town in neighbouring Chin state, is nearly 70km from Kale.
Two others - one who was hit in the chest and another who was hit in the thigh - were severely injured but now in a stable condition. “Doctors found the bullets,” he said.
Striking doctors and medics are treating the injured at a private hospital.
A video posted on social media showed a line of riot police in Kale advancing at protesters with a police truck following behind them. The protesters, equipped with homemade shields, then began repelling the police, forcing them to retreat.
At around 2pm, tensions had subsided but security forces were fanning out around the area, the emergency worker said.
“Confrontations between protesters and police are normal. It happens in many countries. But targeting them from a place and shooting into the crowd purposely is sickening,” he said.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners estimates at least 30 people have been killed in attacks by security forces against anti-military protesters since the February 1 coup.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 1, 2021
- Event Description
Vietnamese land-rights activist Trinh Ba Phuong is being held in a state-run mental hospital after being transferred from his former detention center, according to his wife, who was informed of his whereabouts on Monday.
After visiting Hanoi police on March 22 to ask about her husband, Phuong’s wife Do Thi Thu was told he had been sent to the hospital in Hanoi’s Thuong Tin district for “evaluation” after refusing to cooperate with investigators, Thu told RFA on Monday.
“It was [investigating officer] Le The Bac who told me in person that my husband had been sent to the National Psychiatric Hospital No. 1 on March 1,” Thu said, adding she was told that her husband had been “uncooperative” with police, refusing to look at his interrogators or answer their questions.
“Because of this behavior, prosecutors asked that an assessment of Phuong’s health be carried out for around four to six weeks,” Thu said she was told.
Investigators had previously summoned Phuong’s family members on Sept. 3, 2020 to ask about Phuong’s behavior at home and whether there was a history of mental illness in the family, Thu said. “I told them that when he was at home, Phuong was healthy and loved his wife and children, and that there is no one in my family with mental health problems.”
“Then, in December, Phuong asked someone to call me, and that person told me that Phuong had said he would uphold his right to silence until he could see his lawyer. That person also said that Phuong wanted to remind us not to say anything to police ourselves, as we too have the right to silence.”
Calls seeking comment from the National Psychiatric Hospital No. 1 were answered by a receptionist who said she did not know of any patient there named Trinh Ba Truong and that there were over 600 patients in the hospital.
Calls to the hospital’s General Planning Department were not picked up on Monday.
The right to maintain silence
Speaking to RFA, Phuong’s defense attorney Dang Dinh Manh said his client was within his rights under Vietnam’s Criminal Code “not to give testimony against himself or to plead guilty,” adding that he plans to file a complaint in the case with prosecutors and the Hanoi Security Investigation Office.
“The Criminal Code stipulates that defendants have the right to maintain silence,” the lawyer said. “Thus I was very surprised to hear that not giving responses [to investigators] should be taken as a sign of mental illness and that ‘assessments’ are needed.”
“Because I got this information from Phuong’s family and not in an official notice given to me as his lawyer, I’ll ask the Security Investigation Office to confirm it," he said.
"And if they do, I’ll take further legal steps which could include filing a complaint about Phuong’s transfer for health assessments without legal justification."
A well-known land-rights activist in Hanoi, Trinh Ba Phuong was arrested on June 24, 2020 with his younger brother, Trinh Ba Tu, and his mother, Can Thi Theu, on charges of “creating, storing, and disseminating information, documents, items and publications opposing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”
The three family members had been outspoken in social media postings about the Jan. 9, 2020 clash in Dong Tam commune in which 3,000 police stormed barricaded protesters’ homes at a construction site about 25 miles south of the capital, killing a village elder.
They had also offered information to foreign embassies and other international figures to try to raise awareness of the incident.
While all land is ultimately held by the state, land confiscations have become a flashpoint as residents accuse the government of pushing small landholders aside in favor of lucrative real estate projects, and of paying too little in compensation to farming families displaced by development.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 28, 2021
- Event Description
At least 18 were killed and dozens injured and arrested on Sunday as Min Aung Hlaing’s regime intensified a brutal crackdown on peaceful protests across the country, marking the deadliest day since the start of the uprising against the February 1 coup.
Even after days of steadily escalating attacks by police and soldiers, protesters in Yangon, Dawei, Mandalay, Bago and other cities took to the streets in their tens of thousands.
The demonstrators, many of whom were in their 20s and 30s, have braved gunfire, stun grenades, water cannon and vicious beatings in recent weeks.
Myanmar Now has independently confirmed at least 10 of Sunday’s deaths but Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office, said in a statement that at least 18 had been killed so far.
“Deaths reportedly occurred as a result of live ammunition fired into crowds in Yangon, Dawei, Mandalay, Myeik, Bago and Pokokku,” the statement said. Thousands poured into the streets even as the junta intensified its deadly attacks against protesters. (Myanmar Now)
Thousands rallied at Yangon’s Hledan junction on Sunday morning around 9am, with frontline protesters wearing goggles and gas masks. Within minutes police began attacking the crowd with stun grenades, and then began shooting their guns.
At least two protesters were killed in the morning in the area, which has been a major rallying point during three weeks of daily demonstrations.
Three Myanmar Now reporters witnessed one of the killings while sheltering in a building across the street.
They saw a young man get shot in the chest and fall to the ground, where he lay in a pool of blood until he was carried away by other protesters. He passed away at a nearby hospital.
He has been identified as 23-year-old Nyi Nyi Aung Htet Naing. The man’s blood-stained shirt had the words "Spring Revolution" printed on it, a reference to the Arab Spring and a name that many protesters have given to this month’s uprising.
Protesters in Yangon erect barricades to protect themselves against attacks by police and soldiers (Myanmar Now)
Another young man named Zin Lin Htet died from a gunshot wound during the attack at Hledan.
In Yangon’s Kyimyindaing neighbourhood, security forces broke up a protest led by school teachers and shot a female middle-school teacher dead.
Myo Thu, one of the teachers who joined the protest, told Myanmar Now security forces threw tear gas and shot live ammunition as the teachers were preparing to march.
“We were in front of the education office from 8am and people were still gathering to start marching,” he said. “We hadn’t even done anything yet, but they just came at us and did the crackdown.”
Mya_5856.Jpg
A protester was beaten up and detained by police on Bargayar Road in Sanchaung township in Yangon on February 28. (Myanmar Now)
Defiant
The middle school teacher was shot in her elbow and lost consciousness, her friends said.
“She had heart disease,” Myo Thu said. “She fainted after getting shot. An emergency team in the area helped us bring her to a place where she could receive treatment. But she died on the way.”
Her body was taken to the morgue at the Yangon General Hospital, he added.
Another death and five other injuries were reported in Thingangyun, but Myanmar Now was unable to confirm further details.
Security forces opened fire on the protesters on Bargayar Road in Sanchaung township on February 28.
Even as attacks against protesters intensified, thousands remained in the streets and regrouped wherever they were able to. Some blocked off roads with makeshift barricades.
Footage broadcast by Mizzima TV showed one man who appeared to have been shot in the leg flashing a three-finger salute as he was carried away by medics on a stretcher.
The Yangon General Hospital emergency department, which had been closed for weeks amid a nationwide general strike aimed at crippling the junta, was back in operation “out of necessity” on Sunday, a doctor said.
A man seen at a hospital in Mandalay after being shot in the head. He was pronounced dead shortly afterwards
Medics, who have been at the forefront of mass work stoppages, made a collective decision to reopen the hospital to treat Sunday’s wounded while continuing to disobey any orders from the military regime.
In the southern city of Dawei, three male protesters were killed during numerous attacks by police. One was shot in his lower right ribs, Dawei Watch reported.
Video footage showed security forces repeatedly shooting at protesters who were off screen.
At least 12 were injured by gunfire and admitted to different clinics and hospitals in the city, said Pyae Zaw Hein, an emergency worker there.
“At certain points we were trapped amid the crackdowns,” he told Myanmar Now. “It was terrible.”
2.Jpg
A woman with blood pooling around her head is seen lying dead on a street in Mandalay
Residents detain police
In Mandalay, at least three were killed, including two who were shot in the head. At least 10 others were shot by security forces and injured.
About 1,000 healthcare workers were preparing for a march inside a hospital in the city in the morning when they were trapped inside by security forces.
Residents who came to support the healthcare workers were attacked with tear gas. Doctors managed to escape from the hospital later in the afternoon.
At one point in the afternoon, residents detained five police officers who were riding in an unmarked car that was loaded with ammunition. Soldiers later showed up and took the officers away.
A man was injured after security forces shot protesters in the town of Dawei in southern Myanmar. (Myanmar Now)
No deaths have been confirmed so far in the capital Naypyitaw despite a heavy presence of police and soldiers and at least four arrests.
Those arrested on Sunday included at least six journalists. Shin Moe Myint, a 23-year-old freelance photojournalist, was beaten by several police officers before being taken away.
A reporter from the Myay Latt Voice news outlet in Pyay was injured by rubber bullets before being arrested.
At least seven journalists, including Myanmar Now’s multimedia reporter Kay Zon Nway, were arrested across the country on Saturday.
Two of them were briefly detained and later released. Another reporter from 7Day went missing on Saturday afternoon and it was later reported they had been arrested.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Killing, Use of Excessive Force, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Media Worker, Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 28, 2021
- Event Description
During the protest at the 1st Infantry Regiment headquarters, 23 people were arrested, 4 of whom were minors. They were charged with violating the Emergency Decree and the Communicable Diseases Act, and resisting arrest, among other charges, and were reportedly assaulted during the arrest.
Sainam, 16, was arrested at the Shell gas station opposite the 1st Infantry Regiment, and was also assaulted.
Sainam said that he arrived at around 21.00 and was trying to get to the protest side from the Din Daeng side, but the road was blocked by riot control police, so he tried to get through to the other side by catching a ride with another protester. When he got to the Veterans General Hospital, the riot control police were already trying to take control of the area, so he crossed over to the gas station.
He said he doesn’t know why the riot police were using rubber bullets and assaulting protesters, and that there were many people gathered at the gas station, including volunteer medics and injured people. He also said that the protesters were not obstructing the roadway as they were all on the footpath.
Sainam said that he was shot by a rubber bullet as he was helping another protester up, and that the riot police then pushed him to the ground, kicked him, and beat him with batons.
“A while after that, they held onto me and tied my arms up behind my back, and then they kicked me a bit more, and then they asked me ‘Why did you hurt my friends? Why did you hurt my friends?’ I said I didn’t do anything, because I just got there, but they didn’t care, and they continued to stamp on me and repeatedly asked me ‘Where are your friends?’ Sainam said.
Sainam said that a plainclothes police officer who knew him came by after that, and told the riot police to back down. Sainam was then carried off to another location. He was held to the ground and searched.
He said that he was being held along with a few other protesters by the Veterans General Hospital, and that he saw the other protesters beaten and all were tied up. He also said that everyone who was being held with him was assaulted.
Sainam and three other minors were then taken to Sutthisan Police Station, while 18 others were taken to the Border Patrol Police Region 1 headquarters. He was charged with assaulting an officer, joining an assembly, and violating the Emergency Decree. Everyone was later released on bail.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Use of Excessive Force, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Feb 28, 2021
- Event Description
Motorcycle-riding gunmen shot dead a village chief of an indigenous people’s community in Tapaz town in Capiz on Sunday, two months after nine tribal leaders were gunned down in a police operation.
Julie Catamin, village chief of Roosevelt, died from multiple gunshot wounds.
Catamin, 49, was driving a motorcycle on his way home around 8:45 a.m. when two assailants wearing helmets on board a black motorcycle repeatedly fired at him at Barangay Malitbog Centro, according to an initial report of the Calinog police station.
The police launched pursuit operations against the gunmen who fled towards the town proper.
Investigators are still determining the identity of the assailants and the motive for the attack. They recovered four .45-caliber empty shells at the crime scene.
Pamanggas, a farmers federation in Panay decried the attack on Catamin accusing state forces of being behind the attack.
“(Catamin’s killing) is meant to silence him and sow fear among residents to stop them from telling the truth on the killing of nine Tumandok (indigenous people’s group) leaders and the arrest of 16 others,” according to a statement in Filipino.
In a post on his Facebook page on Dec. 30, Catamin accused policemen, who arrested four residents of his village, of planting firearms and explosives.
“They were arrested and handcuffed. Bullets and firearms were planted and their houses were destroyed. Where is justice? I am appealing for help from any government agency that can help me,” Catamin said in his post.
The nine tribal leaders, including three village council members, died when operatives from Metro Manila and Calabarzon of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police (PNP) served search warrants for firearms and explosives in two villages in Calinog and six villages in Tapaz.
Police and military officials alleged that the nine died after they fired at the policemen. They also accused those who died and were detained, as leaders or supporters of the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army.
But relatives of those who died and were arrested and several village officials, including Catamin, have belied the police and military claims. They accused the police operatives of planting firearms and explosives and shooting those who died while they were begging for their lives.
Church leaders, including eight Catholic bishops in Western Visayas and Romblon Island, have called for impartial and transparent investigation.
The Jaro Archdiocese has assisted the families, including providing legal counsel.
Academics, researchers, artists, writers, and other cultural workers have called for an independent investigation and raised concern over the impact on the tribe.
The Regional Internal Service of the PNP and the Commission on Human Rights are conducting separate investigations on the incident.
Members of the tribe, also known as Panay Bukidnon or Sulodnon by scholars, are among those at the forefront in opposing an ongoing P11.2-billion mega-dam project in Calinog, which the tribe said would displace residents in at least 16 out of 17 indigenous communities.
The tribe, the biggest indigenous people’s group in Panay, is known for its rich oral tradition that provides insights into the history, psyche, and culture of the prehispanic Panay Bisayan, according to scholars.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 27, 2021
- Event Description
Myanmar's military authorities have charged an Associated Press photographer and five other journalists over their coverage of anti-coup protests, their lawyer said on Wednesday.
AP photographer Thein Zaw, 32, was arrested on Saturday as he covered a demonstration in Myanmar's commercial hub Rangoon.
The country has been in uproar since February 1, when the army detained Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian leaders, ending Myanmar's brief experiment with democracy and sparking protests far and wide.
Thein Zaw's lawyer said he and five other Myanmar journalists had been charged under a law against "causing fear, spreading false news or agitating directly or indirectly a government employee".
The junta amended the law last month, to increase the maximum sentence from two years to three years in jail.
"Ko Thein Zaw was simply reporting in line with press freedom law -- he wasn't protesting, he was just doing his work, the lawyer, Tin Zar Oo, said, adding that all six were being held at Insein prison in Rangoon.
The other five journalists are from Myanmar Now, Myanmar Photo Agency, 7Day News, Zee Kwet Online news and a freelancer, according to AP.
AP's vice-president of international news Ian Philips called for Thein Zaw's immediate release.
"Independent journalists must be allowed to freely and safely report the news without fear of retribution," he said.
"AP decries in the strongest terms the arbitrary detention of Thein Zaw."
Since the coup, authorities have steadily stepped up their tactics against anti-military protesters, deploying tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets, as well as isolated incidents of live rounds.
Sunday was the bloodiest day since the military takeover, with the UN saying at least 18 protesters were killed across the country. AFP independently confirmed 11, adding to five killed in earlier incidents.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) monitoring group, more than 1,200 people have been arrested since the coup, with about 900 still behind bars or facing charges.
But the real number is likely far higher -- state-run media reported that on Sunday alone more than 1,300 people were arrested.
AAPP says that 34 journalists are among those detained, with 15 released so far.
"This repression is obstructing the flow of accurate information and news," AAPP said, adding that journalists were being subjected to "violent attacks" despite having clear credentials.
The most recent confirmed arrest came Monday, when a Myanmar journalist with broadcasting service Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) live-streamed a late-night raid on his home.
The footage -- posted on DVB's Facebook page -- appeared to show loud bangs outside his apartment building as he pleaded with authorities not to shoot.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 26, 2021
- Event Description
A Japanese freelance journalist in Myanmar said Friday he was detained by security forces while covering anti-coup protests in the country's largest city Yangon, but he was released hours later and he did not suffer any injuries.
Local media showed pictures of Yuki Kitazumi, with a camera around his neck, walking out of the gates of the Sanchaung township police station after 4 p.m. Kitazumi was detained around noon Friday.
The former reporter for the Tokyo-based Nikkei business daily who lives in Yangon, told a group of reporters and others outside the gate, "Thank you very much (and) for all of your friends who tried to help me....I'm OK, I'm safe."
He said that one of around six protesters still detained inside the station asked him to convey to friends and family waiting outside that they too were safe.
"I hope all the prisoners will be released, not only me," he said.
As for the reasons given for his detention, Kitazumi said in English, "They said they did not know I'm journalist. That is their explanation. But I had a helmet with sticker of the press, so I don't think their explanation is right."
Although the military has banned gatherings of five or more people, demonstrations are continuing in various places in the country.
State TV news said that 31 people were arrested in Yangon and 39 in the second-largest city Mandalay on Friday and that legal action would be taken against them. It said the protesters were violent and attacked riot police.
The security forces fired shots and tear gas to disperse protesters in Yangon.
Further raising tensions in the city, thousands of supporters of the military marched in the downtown on Thursday morning.
After locals banged pots and pans to register their displeasure with the apparently organized march, some of them were attacked by pro-military protesters with slingshots and stones.
During the series of demonstrations than began on Feb. 6, three protesters have been shot dead by security forces in the capital Naypyitaw and Mandalay.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 25, 2021
- Event Description
Ms. Supriya Jaikaew, pro-democracy WHRD and administrator of Free Youth student group from Chiang Rai (the capital city of the eponym province in northern Thailand) was charged with lèse-majesté and Computer Crime Act and subsequently arrested, before being granted bail at around midnight. According to TLHR, this marked the 60th lèse-majesté case filed against pro-democracy defenders since late November 2020.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 24, 2021
- Event Description
Police and soldiers in Naypyitaw’s Pyinmana township tried once again to arrest journalists covering anti-coup protests on Wednesday, forcing them to flee to avoid capture.
A group of about five reporters were covering a protest march in front of a public high school when security personnel told them to stop filming. “A [police truck] came, and while we were filming it another one arrived and they asked us what we were filming,” said one of the journalists.
One person from within the vehicle shouted “arrest them!” added the journalist, who requested anonymity. “We had to run.” One journalist dropped his video camera and had to leave it behind as he fled, while another cut himself when he fell over.
“I was able to run into a house nearby,” another journalist told Myanmar Now. “We heard them say, ‘What are you shooting? Arrest them!’”
In a similar incident on Monday security forces in the city aimed their guns at a group of journalists who were reporting on the massive 22222 general strike, in which millions participated across the country. The journalists ran away to evade arrest.
Wednesday’s protests - which were relatively subdued compared to Monday’s enormous turnout - were the 19th consecutive day of demonstrations against the military regime.
The day passed with little violence against protesters despite recent threats broadcast on MRTV that people out on the streets could “suffer the loss of life”.
Min Aung Hlaing’s regime, which has been hobbled by nationwide work stoppages, has threatened to withdraw publishing licenses from media outlets that refer to his illegal February 1 power grab as a coup.
Twenty-four of the 26 members of the Myanmar Press Council have resigned since the coup, saying they were unable to protect press freedom and uphold media ethics under a military regime.
Japanese_embassy_.Jpg Security forces block the road in front of the Japan Embassy on Wednesday (Myanmar Now) Security forces block the road in front of the Japan Embassy on Wednesday (Myanmar Now)
In Yangon on Wednesday police charged with their shields raised at a crowd of around 20 protesters who were demonstrating in front of the Japanese embassy on Natmauk road in Tamwe township, forcing them to flee.
A police officer had earlier warned reporters covering the protest that “the situation is not good - you shouldn’t stay around here.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 22, 2021
- Event Description
Nearly two dozen anti-coup protesters were reportedly arrested by military personnel and police on Monday morning after tens of thousands of anti-military regime protesters joined the nationwide “22222” general strike in the nation’s capital, Naypyitaw, according to witnesses.
Anti-coup protesters were forced to disperse by security forces in Pyinmana while the protesters were en route to the capital Naypyitaw, home to the top Union government offices and the headquarters of the military.
Currently, major entry points to Naypyitaw and the major streets in Pyinmana are heavily guarded by military personnel and police forces.
In some quarters of Pyinmana Township, police violently dispersed anti-coup protesters and forcibly pushed them into prisoner transport vehicles and police trucks, according to live broadcasts by residents.
According to the residents, security officials arrested at least 10 people in Naypyitaw’s Ottara Thiri Township, five in Zabu Thiri Township and at least five in Pyinmana Township. Hundreds of protesters are currently hiding in nearby houses and monasteries.
A person who participated in the rally told The Irrawaddy he saw five police trucks packed with protesters.
A reporter who escaped the scene said security forces also tried to seize cameras from journalists and targeted them for arrest. She said, “An army officer even shouted to his subordinates to arrest the journalists, and to take our cameras from us, while chasing anti-coup protesters.”
Millions of people across the country have joined the “22222” general strike in opposition to the military regime since Monday morning.
- Impact of Event
- 20
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Use of Excessive Force, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Media Worker, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 20, 2021
- Event Description
At least four people—three anti-coup protesters and a member of a civilian neighborhood protection group—had been killed by security forces as of Saturday night and more than 100 wounded in nearly two dozen crackdowns by Myanmar’s military regime on demonstrations across the country over a two-week period beginning Feb. 7
The nationwide protests gain momentum each day.
During the crackdowns, police and military personnel have used water cannon, tear gas, slingshots, rubber bullets, live ammunition and deadly air guns firing lead pellets.
Several journalists covering the anti-coup protests have been deliberately attacked by police with batons and slingshots.
Crackdowns against peaceful anti-coup demonstrations have been launched in many cities, including Mandalay, Myitkyina, Bago, Myawaddy, Thandwe, Naypyitaw, Mawlamyine and Myaungmya.
Last night, a civilian from a quarter vigilante group was shot dead by police in a civilian van in Yangon’s Shwe Pyithar Township while the man tried to enquire why the vehicle was traveling during the nighttime curfew.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Feb 18, 2021
- Event Description
The spokesperson of West Papua National Committee (KNPB) in Timika area, Emanuel Dogopia, was taken from his parents’ house in Timika, the center of Mimika regency in Papua, by the police. He was released nine hours later, after the police ordered him to sign a statement that he would not post anything opposing “NKRI” or the United State of Republic of Indonesia.
KNPB headquarters’ spokesperson, Ones Suhuniap, told Jubi that the police took Dogopia’s personal belongings when he was “relaxing” at his parent’s house at 2:30 pm.
On Thursday evening, Dogopia, who was just released at 11 pm, told Jubi that the police returned his laptop, handphone, arrows, knife, and other personal belongings except for his KNPB flag. He said although returned, his computer could not start anymore.
“The police accused me of uploading the recruitment of native Papuans as police officers on my Facebook account. I said, I never uploaded that video. He asked the police, why did they arrest him while the video was already circulating widely on social media.
Dogopia said when he was at the police precinct, an officer slapped him and asked him to give the officer his cell phone. I told them when they arrested me, my cell phone fell on the front yard.
Before he was released, the police made him sign a statement that he would not post anything on social media that opposed “NKRI”. Dogopia agreed to sign. He said he did not object to the request as long as the police did not make him sign a statement that he had to stop his political activities with the KNPB. “I would rather be in jail if they asked me that,” he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 17, 2021
- Event Description
The Thandwe protesters, who had been demonstrating against the February 1 military takeover for eight days, were engaged in a sitting protest after a major road they planned to use for an anti-coup march was blocked by police.
“We were sitting and protesting peacefully when two or three guys in plain clothes arrived with the township administrator and the police and started arresting people,” said one woman who took part in the Thandwe protest.
“At first, the plainclothes officers pretended they were just taking photos, but then they started pushing people into a police truck,” she added.
Three people—a 17-year-old girl, a student in his 20s, and a man in his thirties—were arrested, she said.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 17, 2021
- Event Description
Soldiers and police fired into a housing compound for railway staff in Mandalay at around 9:45pm on Wednesday, according to a resident of the compound.
“They fired approximately 15 rounds of bullets,” the resident told Myanmar Now.
“We found live bullets and they also used tear gas. I don’t know who got injured. I am still hiding to protect my family,” he said.
Before the start of the nightly curfew at 8pm, a crowd of about 300 protesters gathered near Mandalay train station was dispersed by police without incident.
“We had already returned to our homes because of the curfew. They are doing this on purpose,” the source added.
Myanmar Now has been unable to confirm how many people, if any, were injured in the incident. A reporter was beaten and briefly detained, but released when he explained that he was a journalist
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 17, 2021
- Event Description
Members of the Bang Kloi indigenous Karen community and the activist Save Bang Kloi Coalition have gathered at the Chamai Maruchet Bridge for the past three days to demand protection for members of the Bang Kloi Community who returned to their ancestral home.
In early January 2021, 60 – 70 people from the Bang Kloi community travelled back to the former location of the Chai Phaen Din village, the community’s ancestral home in the Kaeng Krachan forest. The community was forcibly evacuated from Chai Phaen Din in 1996, and for a second time in 2011, when park officials burned down their houses and rice storage barns.
At the time, the authorities promised the community that each family would be allocated 7 rai of land in Pong Luek-Bang Kloi village, where they were relocated. However, they were not allocated the promised amount of land, and the land they were given is not suitable for agriculture. The Covid-19 pandemic has also made their situation worse, as many community members who leave the village to work lost their income, leading to the decision to travel to Chai Phaen Din to live according to their traditional ways.
Kriangkrai Cheechuang, coordinator for the Karen Network for Culture and Environment in Tanao Sri region (KNCE), said that in recent weeks, the authorities had been blocking the transportation of food to Chai Phaen Din, and that during the past few days, the phone signal in Pong Luek-Bang Kloi village was periodically cut. Park officials, police and military officers were also stationed at Pong Luek-Bang Kloi village, and had been patrolling the area every day. Officials were asking for names and whereabouts of community leaders, and tried to block community members from coming to Bangkok to join the protest.
The community members and their supporters therefore gathered in front of Government House to demand that the authorities stop intimidating the community and immediately remove the police and military officers stationed in the village. They also demanded that the authorities allow food to be transported to community members at Chai Phaen Din, and to speed up the negotiation process to solve the problems facing the community.
They are also calling for the authorities to end the legal charges against 10 people who have been charged with joining a gathering in front of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on 5 February 2021, during which a small clash occurred between the participants and riot control police, who attempted to seize the participants’ banners and tried to arrest one of the participants.
Thammanat Prompao, the Agriculture and Cooperatives Deputy Minister, came to receive the petition and promised to make sure that the demands were met, and that the authorities would not press charges against people who join the protest at Government House. He then made a phone call to the Natural Resources and Environment Minister, Varawut Silpa-archa, to ask him to order park officials, police, and military officers stationed at Pong Luek – Bang Kloi village to leave the area.
The protesters continued staying by the Chamai Maruchet Bridge and built a traditional Karen house as a symbol that they would continue protesting until they receive concrete answers from the government.
During the protest, a team from the Cross Cultural Foundation and iLaw set up a table where people can support the Council of Indigenous Peoples in Thailand bill, which proposes to set up a formal indigenous peoples’ council to give Thailand’s indigenous population the opportunity to resolve community rights issues in ways that are suitable to their way of life.
Thai citizens over 18 years old who would like to back the bill can still do so by sending the necessary documents along with a copy of their ID card to the Council of Indigenous Peoples in Thailand (CIPT) in San Sai District, Chiang Mai, before 15 March 2021.
The community members and their supporters also wrote an MOU on the issues facing the community at Bang Kloi and Chai Phaen Din, and asked to have it signed by Thammanat, Varawut, and the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment.
In addition to the three urgent demands made at the protest, the MOU also proposed that, in order to solve the issues facing the community in ways that would develop the community’s quality of life as well as preserve the environment, the government must allow the community to return to Chai Phaen Din to live according to their traditional ways and must protect their rights to do so.
The government must also follow the policy guideline stated in the 2010 cabinet resolution on the recovery of the Karen people’s way of life, especially ending the legal prosecution of community members and protecting rotational farming land.
The MOU states tha, for community members who wish to stay at Pong Luek-Bang Kloi village, the authorities must allocate enough land to live and farm so that they can live securely. The authorities must also order officers stationed at the village to stop patrolling and setting up checkpoints, which is intimidating to community members, and must ensure community members’ safety.
The MOU was signed and returned to the community members on Tuesday (16 February), the second day of the protest. Those who came from Bang Kloi left the next morning (17 February).
However, it was reported at 17.00 on Wednesday (17 February) that community members returning from Bangkok were stopped at a checkpoint by military and park officials, and were told to register their personal details or they would not be allowed to enter the Pong Luek-Bang Kloi village.
The Northern Development Foundation reported that, according to community members, military officers have not previously been present at checkpoints, and they had never been asked to give personal details before returning to their village.
This caused concerns as the group has to travel for 3 hours to get to Pong Luek-Bang Kloi village from the checkpoint, during which there is no phone signal. At 20.45, it was reported that every community member had arrived safely at Pong Luek – Bang Kloi village.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Feb 17, 2021
- Event Description
A Vietnamese blogger held in a mental hospital while awaiting trial for criticizing Vietnam’s one-party communist state was refused a visit from supporters on Wednesday, with authorities saying he is being kept in isolation as a “political case.”
Le Anh Hung, a member of the online Brotherhood of Democracy advocacy group who blogged for Voice of America, was arrested on July 5, 2018 on a charge of “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state” under Article 331 of Vietnam’s criminal code.
He was later transferred in April 2019 from jail to Hanoi’s Central Mental Hospital No. 1 for “observation and treatment.” If convicted at trial, he could serve up to seven years in prison.
Fellow activist Vu Hung and a group of friends attempted on Feb. 17 to bring gifts to Le at his hospital to celebrate Tet, the start of the Lunar New Year, but were denied permission to visit, Vu told RFA on Thursday.
“Yesterday was the day that the hospital re-opened after Tet, and so we went to see our friend Le Anh Hung and tried to give him New Year gifts,” Vu said.
“But a hospital official told us that Le Anh Hung had been involved in politics, and therefore we were not allowed to meet with him.”
The officer told Vu and his friends that Le was in good health but was being held under “extremely strict conditions,” Vu said, adding, “So we left our gifts for Le Anh Hung and left the hospital.”
Also speaking to RFA, Le’s mother Tran Thi Nhiem said on Thursday she had received a phone call from her son the previous day and was assured he was in good health.
“Yesterday, my son borrowed a cell phone and called me from the hospital to tell me was doing well. He is still completely lucid,” Tran said.
“My son had previously been severely beaten and tortured by the hospital’s officials, but now he does not argue with them anymore. At the same time, I’ve recently been able to send him some money, so his situation is better now,” she said.
Beaten, forcibly injected
Le had been forced in his first years in hospital to take drugs to treat his supposed mental illness, and had once been beaten with a metal folding chair, tied to his bed, and injected with a sedative that left him unconscious, sources told RFA in earlier reports.
Tran called on authorities in June 2019 to release her son from his forced stay in the mental hospital, where she said he was being forced to take medicine and was suffering “both mentally and physically.”
Le, in his mid-30s, had lost weight and looked ragged, gaunt, and depressed, Tran told RFA following a May 2019 visit to her son in the hospital, adding that he had undergone psychiatric assessments twice between October 2018 and April without his family being informed.
Vietnam’s already low tolerance of dissent deteriorated sharply last year with a spate of arrests of independent journalists, publishers, and Facebook personalities as authorities continued to stifle critics in the run-up to the ruling Communist Party Congress in January.
Reporters Without Borders ranked Vietnam 175 out of 180 in its 2020 World Press Freedom Index. Around 25 journalists and bloggers are being held in Vietnam’s jails, “where mistreatment is common,” the Paris-based watchdog group said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 17, 2021
- Event Description
The public prosecutor has yet to rule on whether to file a case against 18 people involved in the 19 – 20 September 2020 protests and has postponed the hearing to 8 March 2021; meanwhile four activists detained last week pending trial were once again denied bail.
Panupong Jadnok (left) and Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul (centre) walking from the Office of the Attorney General to the Criminal Court, as the lawyers will be posting bail for the four detained activists
18 people reported to the Office of the Attorney General on Ratchadapisek Road this morning (17 February). Of this number, three were charged with royal defamation under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code: Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, Panupong Jadnok, and Jatupat “Pai Dao Din” Boonpattararaksa. The others were charged with sedition under Section 116 of the Criminal Code and with holding an assembly of 10 or more people under Section 215 of the Criminal Code.
Jatupat did not report to the Office of the Attorney General, as he is currently participating in the People Go Network’s walk from Nakhon Ratchasima to Bangkok to demand the release of Anon Nampa, Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, Patiwat Saraiyaem and Parit Chiwarak, who were detained last week pending trial on Section 112 charges.
Chukiat “Justin” Sangwong, one of the activists who reported to the Office of the Attorney General today, told Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) that he is prepared for the public prosecutor to file charges against him and the possibility that he might be detained, and that while he does not feel particular pressured, he thinks that it is unfair for them to be facing charges.
Anon, Somyot, Patiwat, and Parit were also charged under the lèse majesté law for their speeches at the 19 – 20 September 2020 protest. The public prosecutor filed charges against them on 10 February, and they are now being detained pending trial. They were denied bail, meaning that they will be imprisoned indefinitely until the trial is over or unless they are granted bail.
TLHR reported that the four activists’ lawyer requested bail again today, but the request was once again denied on the ground that there is no reason to overrule the last court order. All four activists have been detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison for the past 9 days.
According to TLHR, at least 358 people are facing charges for involvement in the pro-democracy protests between 18 July 2020 – 16 February 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to fair trial, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 15, 2021
- Event Description
Yesterday, on 14 February the coup government passed the “Law Amending the Penal Code’ and the ‘Law Amending the Code of Criminal Procedure’. The recently passed Acts amend multiple articles of the colonial-era Penal Code. The Penal Code was already the most common legislation used to target political prisoners prior to the coup. Civil society had wanted the archaic legislation reformed, it has now become more arbitrary.
The recent amendments will be aimed at the civil disobedience movement, changing the definition and charge of high treason as well as further persecuting public assembly and disseminating information.
Some of these amendments include Section 121 which essentially could criminalize requesting international aid and/or support. Also Section 124A was substituted to cover ‘spoken and written signs’ which bring ‘contempt’ and such to the Union. This could now include pamphlets calling the military an illegitimate ‘coup’, ‘junta’ ‘regime’. Amendments to Section 124C now cover the ‘sabotage or hinder the performance’ of military or police acts. This could be used against recordings of “Drumming out of Evil” peaceful protestors when night-time raids are conducted, or when community groups try to protest arbitrary detentions, or when groups support public servants striking and taking part in demonstrations.
Amendments to Section 505A add several offences, such as spreading ‘fake’ news, or ‘fear’ amongst the public, as well as ‘agitate’ directly or indirectly a criminal offence towards a government employee. Also detailed was imprisonment terms, with Section 124A and C covering a maximum 20 year sentence and fine and Section 505A with a maximum three-year imprisonment and fine.
Today, protests against the coup erupted across Burma where people from respective regions peacefully demonstrated. Civil servants across the country including in Yangon, Mandalay cooperated increasingly with the civil disobedience movement (CDM). Despite tanks and military vehicles roaming the streets, demonstrations went on.
On 15 February from 1:00am to 9am, internet connection was shut down under military directives. There is suspicion this blackout was to commit unjust activities including arbitrary arrests. Also today, in front of the NLD headquarters, the police attempted to raid the offices and blocked roads. However, they withdrew after a two hour-long demonstration by the people.
On February 15, the police force dispersed with violence, threats, and arrests, peaceful protestors in Mandalay City, the security forces beat, arrested and shot gunfire towards peaceful protestors demonstrating in front of Myanmar Economic Bank 1. Six people including two girls aged 17 were arrested. Subsequently, the reporters reported at the event were brutally beaten by security forces.
For detentions in relation to the coup. As of February 15, a total of (426) people have been arrested and detained in relation to the military coup on February 1. Of them, (3) have been sentenced, 2 to two years imprisonment, 1 to three months, (35) were released. A total of (391) are still under detention, including the (3) sentenced.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment, Use of Excessive Force, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 15, 2021
- Event Description
Yesterday, on 14 February the coup government passed the “Law Amending the Penal Code’ and the ‘Law Amending the Code of Criminal Procedure’. The recently passed Acts amend multiple articles of the colonial-era Penal Code. The Penal Code was already the most common legislation used to target political prisoners prior to the coup. Civil society had wanted the archaic legislation reformed, it has now become more arbitrary. The recent amendments will be aimed at the civil disobedience movement, changing the definition and charge of high treason as well as further persecuting public assembly and disseminating information. Some of these amendments include Section 121 which essentially could criminalize requesting international aid and/or support. Also Section 124A was substituted to cover ‘spoken and written signs’ which bring ‘contempt’ and such to the Union. This could now include pamphlets calling the military an illegitimate ‘coup’, ‘junta’ ‘regime’. Amendments to Section 124C now cover the ‘sabotage or hinder the performance’ of military or police acts. This could be used against recordings of “Drumming out of Evil” peaceful protestors when night-time raids are conducted, or when community groups try to protest arbitrary detentions, or when groups support public servants striking and taking part in demonstrations. Amendments to Section 505A add several offences, such as spreading ‘fake’ news, or ‘fear’ amongst the public, as well as ‘agitate’ directly or indirectly a criminal offence towards a government employee. Also detailed was imprisonment terms, with Section 124A and C covering a maximum 20 year sentence and fine and Section 505A with a maximum three-year imprisonment and fine. Today, protests against the coup erupted across Burma where people from respective regions peacefully demonstrated. Civil servants across the country including in Yangon, Mandalay cooperated increasingly with the civil disobedience movement (CDM). Despite tanks and military vehicles roaming the streets, demonstrations went on. On 15 February from 1:00am to 9am, internet connection was shut down under military directives. There is suspicion this blackout was to commit unjust activities including arbitrary arrests. Also today, in front of the NLD headquarters, the police attempted to raid the offices and blocked roads. However, they withdrew after a two hour-long demonstration by the people. On February 15, the police force arrested and detained 14 high school students of Nay Pyi Taw B.E.H.S (14) who were peacefully protested, who were thereafter released in the evening due to a collective demonstration by the general public. For detentions in relation to the coup. As of February 15, a total of (426) people have been arrested and detained in relation to the military coup on February 1. Of them, (3) have been sentenced, 2 to two years imprisonment, 1 to three months, (35) were released. A total of (391) are still under detention, including the (3) sentenced.
- Impact of Event
- 14
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Singapore
- Initial Date
- Feb 15, 2021
- Event Description
Civil rights activist Jolovan Wham was fined a total of $8,000 on Monday (Feb 15) after he pleaded guilty to three charges over an illegal public assembly held on MRT trains more than three years ago.
The gathering of nine people was held to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Operation Spectrum - an internal security operation in 1987 that ended with the detention of 22 activists in what the Government called a Marxist conspiracy.
During their rides on northbound and southbound trains, which went on for about two hours on June 3, 2017, the protesters put on blindfolds fashioned from trash bags and held up copies of a book about the operation.
Wham and another protester also placed sheets of paper, printed with messages protesting the detentions, on their laps.
He later uploaded photographs of the gathering in social media posts.
Wham, 41, was fined $4,500 for organising the assembly without a permit, $1,000 for vandalising a train by pasting two sheets of paper with printed messages onto a panel, and $2,500 for refusing to sign a statement he gave to the police on the case.
He told the court through his lawyers from Eugene Thuraisingam LLP that he intends to pay the $2,500 fine but will go to jail in lieu of paying the fines for the illegal assembly and vandalism charges.
He started serving the default term, totalling 22 days, immediately. Stern warnings were issued to the other protesters.
This is Wham's second conviction for organising a public assembly without a permit and for refusing to sign his police statement.
In 2019, he was fined a total of $3,200 over an indoor event he organised in 2016 that featured Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong delivering a speech via a video call.
On Monday, district judge Marvin Bay noted in his sentencing remarks that there was a degree of escalation from Wham's previous offence.
"The escalation is pronounced in the prolonged nature of his offending of some two hours, which involved the described activities on a number of MRT trains on different lines," said the judge.
Judge Bay said while there was largely no "demonstration of belligerence or overt antagonism" on the part of the protesters, their actions would have caused "confusion, consternation and possibly a degree of anxiety among MRT commuters".
However, the judge added: "I am mindful that the protesters did remove their signs, did not cause damage to property and left no mark other than their transient presence (on the train)."
Prosecutors had sought a total fine of at least $9,500, arguing that Wham's "recalcitrance and continued disobedience of the law must be met with a sufficiently deterrent sentence".
In written submissions, deputy public prosecutors Ng Yiwen and Dillon Kok said the use of MRT trains could have caused public order issues. "Such public facilities are not meant to cater to the accused's mode of civil disobedience and social media publicity stunts," they said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to fair trial
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 15, 2021
- Event Description
“Doctor Soe” was alone in his room on the afternoon of February 15 when police attempted to raid the housing compound for doctors at the Sao San Htun hospital in Taunggyi. He saw about 30 officers coming towards his room. He quickly locked the door and hid inside the bathroom, terrified.
Keeping perfectly still, he listened as they banged on the door for several minutes. Apart from the sound of his heartbeat, there was complete silence in the room. The banging seemed to get louder and louder.
After about 10 minutes, the police left.
“It was the first time the police came for us. Previously, they were just patrolling around the hospital,” Doctor Soe told Myanmar Now.
That night, Doctor Soe and other doctors at the hospital left the compound and went into hiding.
The 28-year-old is one of over 100 doctors and nurses at the hospital who have been on strike since the military seized power on February 1.
According to Thiha, another doctor who works at the hospital, no operations have been performed there since nearly the entire medical staff, except for the hospital’s superintendent and deputy, stopped going to work.
Doctors said they didn’t know who the authorities wanted to arrest that day, but they seemed to be targeting one specific person, as the police didn’t knock on the doors of any of the other doctors’ rooms.
They are among thousands of civil servants in Myanmar who chose to go on walkout rather than work under the country’s new dictatorship. This growing civil disobedience movement aims at toppling the regime’s government mechanism.
Photo_2.Jpg Doctors march in Yangon on February 22 as part of the nationwide general strike to demand an end to military rule. (Myanmar Now) Doctors march in Yangon on February 22 as part of the nationwide general strike to demand an end to military rule. (Myanmar Now)
Abandoning government hospitals
At least one doctor who joined the movement has been arrested, while many others around the country have been intimidated by police or pressured by their superiors to return to work.
A few others, including Prof Zaw Wai Soe, the vice chair of Yangon’s Covid-19 task force and rector of the University of Medicine (1) Yangon, have been charged with incitement for supporting the movement.
Doctors and other healthcare workers were among the first in Myanmar to join the nationwide movement to resist the return to military rule.
They have also been at the forefront of the country’s battle against Covid-19 since the deadly pandemic struck last year. Praised as heroes for risking their own lives to treat Covid-19 patients, they are now seen as champions of a very different fight.
“We were so exhausted all last year. At the start of 2021, we were hopeful because people were going to start receiving Covid-19 vaccines and we wouldn’t have to fear the pandemic anymore,” said May Yamone, a 31-year-old general practitioner.
“The military coup has ruined all our hopes,” she said.
Photo_3_doctors.Jpg Health workers in Mandalay protest against the military regime on February 18. (Myanmar Now) Health workers in Mandalay protest against the military regime on February 18. (Myanmar Now)
Since the military takeover, the same healthcare workers who were on the frontline of the country’s health crisis have been blasted by the ruling military council for “abandoning” their patients.
May Yamone said the authorities and those who call doctors “unethical” for going on strike are hypocrites, because the generals are the ones who have failed to uphold their real responsibilities.
“We have no reason to work under a military dictatorship that tries to govern the country, because that is not the military’s job,” she said.
“If the military returns to where it belongs and performs its own duty, which is defending the country, we doctors will also go back to our places.”
Photo_6.Jpg Healthcare workers from a private hospital in Yangon greet protesters from medical universities with a three-finger salute on February 22. (Myanmar Now) Healthcare workers from a private hospital in Yangon greet protesters from medical universities with a three-finger salute on February 22. (Myanmar Now)
May Yamone said that only doctors can truly understand how hard it is for them to leave their jobs, but added that initiating the civil disobedience movement was “essential” for the future of the country.
The doctors who joined the movement left the hospital facilities that are now controlled by the military with the purpose of defying the military’s orders, not because they don’t want to work, said 29-year-old Aung Thu, who used to work at Yangon General Hospital.
“We abandoned the government hospitals, not our patients,” he said, adding that they are coordinating with other medical practitioners to ensure that their patients continue to receive treatment.
Photo_4_nurses_.Jpg Nurses in Mandalay take part in a protest against the military regime on February 18. (Myanmar Now) Nurses in Mandalay take part in a protest against the military regime on February 18. (Myanmar Now)
No turning back
Nearly 12,000 health workers, including May Yamone and Aung Thu, joined the nationwide general strike on Monday to demand that the military regime restore power to Myanmar’s elected civilian government.
Millions of protesters came out into the streets across the country, from the northern mountain towns of Chin state to the coastal regions of Tanintharyi. The movement that started on Monday has been dubbed the “five twos” general strike because of the date, 22.2.2021.
Doctors who have joined the movement say they fear that a return to military rule could do irreparable harm to Myanmar’s public health sector.
While the past five years could not completely undo the damage of decades of military mismanagement, they say that the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi had made some headway in improving the country’s long-neglected public health sector.
“During the old days, people were urged not to go to public hospitals. But the NLD government was able to change that situation. We can’t go back to the previous situation,” said a doctor who used to work at a township hospital in Mandalay.
Photo_5.Jpg Medical imaging technologists take part in the nationwide general strike to demand an end to military rule on February 22. (Myanmar Now) Medical imaging technologists take part in the nationwide general strike to demand an end to military rule on February 22. (Myanmar Now)
Another doctor from a 300-bed hospital in Mandalay said that that Myanmar could not afford to have another dictatorship.
“We can’t accept another one. We can’t serve the junta, either,” he told Myanmar Now.
According to data from the website cdm2021.com, more than half of the 22,597 civil servants who have joined the civil disobedience movement across the country are from the public health sector.
Doctors who have joined the movement said they will continue fighting until the country’s elected government is allowed to take office.
Vowing never to kneel down to the regime, they insist that the civil disobedience movement is the only weapon that can succeed against the military’s might.
“We will resist until the very end. The military can’t force us to return to work by pointing guns at us,” said Thiha.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 14, 2021
- Event Description
MYANMAR'S security forces fired to disperse protesters outside a power plant in the northern state of Kachin, footage broadcasted live on Facebook showed, although it was not clear if they were using rubber bullets or live fire.
Hundreds had gathered late on Sunday outside a power plant that soldiers had occupied in the city of Myitkyina. As darkness fell, riot police accompanied by soldiers arrived to drive away the crowds, the footage showed.
The security forces doused the crowds with a water cannon and shots were heard.
"A few minutes ago the Tatmadaw reinforced with military tanks and now they started shooting," said one resident who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, using the Burmese term for the armed forces.
The US embassy in Myanmar had also warned of military troop movements and possible "telecommunications interruptions" in Yangon. "There are indications of military movements in Yangon and the possibility of telecommunications interruptions overnight between 1:00 am and 9:00 am" on Monday morning local time, the US embassy tweeted on its official American Citizen Services account on Sunday night.
These developments come as the military regime warned the public not to harbour fugitive political activists on Sunday after issuing arrest warrants for veteran democracy campaigners supporting massive nationwide anti-coup protests.
Security forces have stepped up arrests of doctors and others joining a civil disobedience movement that has seen huge crowds throng streets in big urban centres and isolated frontier villages alike.
Police are now hunting seven people who have lent vocal support to the protests, including some of the country's most famous democracy activists.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Use of Excessive Force, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 14, 2021
- Event Description
Shots Fired in Northern Myanmar City Amid Signs of Deeper Crackdown on Protests An armored vehicle drives pasto the Sule Pagoda, following days of mass protests against the military coup, in Yangon, Feb. 14, 2021.
Security forces fired guns to disperse protesters at a power plant in northern Myanmar on Sunday, as tanks and armored vehicles patrolled the streets of the country’s largest city and an overnight internet shutdown kicked in after days of nationwide mass protests against the two-week-old military junta.
The gunfire, livestreamed by protesters on Facebook, came after forces had turned a water cannon on hundreds of mostly young men who were chanting and beating oil drums outside a power plant in the Kachin state capital Myitkyina. The barrages lasted several minutes at a time, but it was not clear if the bullets were rubber or live ammunition or if any protesters were hurt.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Use of Excessive Force, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 13, 2021
- Event Description
Arrest warrants have been issued for seven people — including veteran student leaders as well as social influencers — accusing them of incitement against Myanmar’s military regime. The warrants were announced Saturday evening by Myanmar’s military.
Those facing arrest are U Min Ko Naing and Kyaw Min Yu (a.k.a. Ko Jimmy) who are the veteran democracy activists and leaders of the 1988 uprising; singer Linn Linn, who is a former bodyguard of detained leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi; Insein Aung Soe; Myo Yan Naung Thein, the director of Bayda Institute for a Just Society; presenter Maung Maung Aye and Facebook cele Ei Pencilo. They are charged with incitement, under Article 505 [b] of the Penal Code.
The military is alleging that the accused made and circulated a statement on social media intending to undermine the peace and order of the state.
The charge has been widely used to stifle political dissent under previous military regimes. If found guilty, the accused face up to two years in prison.
Since the pre-dawn coup on Feb. 1, the military has detained more than 300 people. Veteran leaders went into hiding but put out messages online daily to anti-coup protesters. Their social media messages also called for civil servants to take part in the civil disobedience movement (CDM).
Since last week, U Min Ko Naing also urged the public to boycott the businesses run by the military.
The accused actively support the CDM and are organizing to financially support those government staff, who take part in the CDM. Started by healthcare workers, the CDM movement is gaining momentum with some police, teachers, engineers, railways staff, as well as news announcers from the ministry of information boycotting the coup.
The military attempted to arrest the cele Ei Pencilo during the coup day, but have been unsuccessful.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist, Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 13, 2021
- Event Description
A protest took place at the Democracy Monument yesterday (13 February) to demand the release of four activists detained last week pending trial, as well as demanding the resignation of the prime minister, a new constitution, and monarchy reform.
A sign saying "Repeal 112" and "Free our friends" was put up in front of the Democracy Monument
The protest began at the Democracy Monument at around 15.00. Participants arrived with cooking utensils for making a noise, as well as signs calling for the repeal of Section 112 of the Criminal Code, Thailand’s lèse majesté law. The protest organizers also prepared a piece of red cloth, which was placed on the street in front of the Democracy Monument for people to write down messages.
Protesters clearing away the plant around the Democracy Monument
At 17.30, protesters began clearing away the decorative potted plants around the Democracy Monument. Around half an hour later, the piece of red cloth was wrapped around the monument.
“This is not an ordinary flag, but a flag on which the people have written down the problems they are facing in the country,” said a speaker on the nearby sound amplifier truck, “but these problems will never be solved if the government does not see them, so if you don't know what problems there are in this country, you can look here."
The speaker also said that the red cloth is symbolic of how they will not back down anymore, and that it represents struggle and the blood of those who fight for democracy.
The Democracy Monument being wrapped in red cloth
At 18.28, activist Atthapol Buapat spoke on the truck, which doubled as a stage, and said that there will be another protest if the four detained activists are not released within 7 days. He then announced that they would march to the Bangkok City Pillar Shrine.
At 19.00, units of riot control police were seen behind barriers and razor wire near Sanam Luang. Two water cannon trucks were also seen. As the procession arrived at the police barricade on the way to the City Pillar Shrine, a speaker on the truck asked the police to turn off the spotlight. Meanwhile, objects were seen thrown over the barricade. Firework like explosions were heard at the scene and smoke was also seen, at which point the police moved the water cannon trucks forward.
At 19.48, Atthapol asked the protesters to move back from the frontline, as the police had agreed to turn off the sound amplifiers and spotlights and to let them remove the razor wire as demanded. He also asked the police to be allowed to visit the City Pillar Shrine to ask for protection for the people.
Meanwhile, at the Democracy Monument, police officers and an explosive disposal team were seen in the area and were removing the red cloth from the monument.
The protest concluded at 20.25. Protesters began leaving the area, but groups of protesters remained by the police barriers. Activist Piyarat Chongtep announced through a speaker that the protest had ended, but some still remained. At 20.48, several protesters broke through the barrier, and the sound of fireworks was heard.
At 20.57, the police ordered the remaining protesters to leave by 21.30, or face arrest. They also asked reporters to leave the frontline. Meanwhile, at the Shrine of Mae Thorani on Ratchadamnoen Nai Avenue, flares were reportedly lit. The sound of fireworks was heard continuously from 21.00 on. At around 21.20, smoke was reportedly seen around the Rattanakosin Hotel while people were shouting for others to watch out for tear gas.
It was later reported that 7 – 8 people were arrested. A police spokesperson told reporters that they were taken to Chanasongkram Police Station, but lawyers from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) who went to the station found that they were not there. Meanwhile, Pol Col Attawit Saisueb, Deputy Chief of Metropolitan Police Division 1, said 11 people were arrested and taken to the Border Patrol Police Region 1 headquarters.
At 00.28 on Sunday (14 February), TLHR said the lawyers who went to the Border Patrol Police Region 1 headquarters were not allowed inside to meet with those who were arrested. They were finally allowed into the headquarters at 1.14. At 9.00, they reported that of the 11 people who were arrested, 3 were charged with causing a disturbance and received a fine of 100 baht each. They have now been released, while the remaining 8 people were charged with assembling in a group of 10 or more people and causing a breach of peace, not dispersing when ordered by an official, violating the Emergency Decree, and harming an official. They were denied bail and are being held at the Border Patrol Police Region 1 headquarters to be brought to the Criminal Court for a temporary detention order request on Monday (15 February).
TLHR also said that the people who were arrested also included a medical volunteer, a homeless person in the area, and a person who was waiting for a car in the area. Meanwhile, the medical volunteer group Doctor and Nurse Association said one of their members was reportedly beaten by riot police and detained, despite all members of the team wearing a vest identifying them as rescue workers.
Another member of the group told Khaosod English that the police didn’t believe he was a medic, so they beat him, searched his belongings, and took him away in a police car.
According to the Erawan Medical Centre, 20 people were injured during the protest. Piyarat also tweeted that one volunteer protest guard was shot near the Democracy Monument, likely by an anti-protester group.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 13, 2021
- Event Description
Seven well-known activists, including Min Ko Naing and other leaders of the four-eights pro-democracy uprising of 1988, have been charged with inciting unrest against the state.
In a statement released late Saturday, Myanmar’s newly installed military junta said that it had issued arrest warrants for the wanted activists and urged members of the public to report them to the authorities.
According to the statement, former 88 generation student leaders Min Ko Naing and Jimmy, singer Lin Lin, writer Insein Aung Soe, think tank director Myo Yan Naung Thein, and social media influencers Maung Maung Aye and Ei Pan Sel Lo have all been charged with incitement against the state under section 505b of the penal code.
The statement accused them of “using their popularity to incite the people with their writing and speeches through social media and social networks to destroy the state’s law and order.”
Aung Myo Min, the director of the rights group Equality Myanmar, said that the statement shows the regime’s total disregard for freedom of expression.
“We cannot accept this way of denying all expressions of dissent,” he said, noting that the accused had all spoken out against last week’s coup.
The military arrested State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other leading members of the civilian government in predawn raids on February 1, just hours before parliament was set to convene for the first time since last year’s election.
Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, won the November 8 election in a landslide, but the military alleged that it had found widespread voting irregularities.
In the weeks before the coup, it accused the government and the Union Election Commission of failing to resolve these issues.
The military takeover has sparked mass protests and a civil disobedience movement by public service workers. In recent days, the regime has carried out a series of late-night raids targeting resistance leaders.
Poet Maung Saung Kha, the executive director of the Yangon-based free-speech advocacy group Athan, condemned the military’s statement and warned that worse was yet to come.
“The military coup-makers will use all means available to them to arrest and imprison anyone who tries to oppose them. There is no chance to enjoy human rights under a military dictatorship. I think worse rights violations will come,” he said.
According to figures compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 326 people were arrested in the first 12 days of the coup, including 23 who have since been released.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist, Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 13, 2021
- Event Description
BANGKOK — A number of reporters said Thursday they were prevented from witnessing riot police’s crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators during a protest on Saturday.
Several journalists who were covering the Feb. 13 rally near the Grand Palace told Khaosod English that officers ordered them to stay behind the police line while they dispersed the protesters. They also said police intervention was the reason why only a few reporters were able to capture the outburst of violence on that night.
“I didn’t see what was happening in the frontline,” said Sirote Klampaiboon, who was covering the protest for Voice TV. “All I could see was there were clouds of smoke behind the police and I heard several bangs. I was only let go when the police managed to take control of the situation.”
Read: Police, Military Deny Knowledge of Mysterious Men at Protest
A photo widely shared on social media also shows members of the press being confined between rows of riot police facing each other in front of the Supreme Court building – a police tactic known in Western countries as “kettling.”
“I can’t do my job properly because I am strucking behind the police line with several other reporters,” BBC Thai’s Paris Jitpentom said in the caption. “Please follow news from other channels. I’m sorry.”
Sirote from the Voice TV said there was no explanation from the police as to why journalists were prevented from leaving the police’s encirclement. He said he and his crew got there in the first place because police instructed them to do so.
“There was a commotion when we were told to get behind the police line,” Sirote said. “There were several bangs at that moment, so I thought it was safer to follow what the police said. But once we got inside, police set up a formation that appeared to deliberately prevent us from leaving.”
He also said that a man who appeared to be a commanding officer threatened to detain reporters should they refuse to comply with police orders.
“They said something like we will also arrest reporters if they don’t listen to police orders. I can’t remember the exact word they used,” Sirote said.
A riot police officer runs with a rifle during a crackdown in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021. Sirote said he attempted to leave, but it was difficult since he came with a TV camera crew that would have caught the attention of police officers.
Erich Parpart, a correspondent for Thai Enquirer news agency, confirmed Sirote’s account that police were threatening reporters with arrest.
“I was in front of the Supreme Court when they ordered us to get behind the police line. It was understandable since there was a commotion and there was no sign that they would prevent us from leaving,” he said in a phone interview. “Some reporters argued with the police and they were threatened with arrest.”
Erich said he was briefly held back behind the police line for a few minutes. He was able to escape when riot police fell out of line to arrest demonstrators, hence avoided being kettled any further by the police.
“It’s definitely deliberate,” he recalled. “It’s also against the Constitution, which protects freedom of the press. We should be able to film the arrests, but police attempted to block our view. The public deserves to know what is happening.”
Police disputed the allegations, saying they just want to make sure that everyone is safe.
“We have no intention to prevent the media from reporting,” metro police spokesman Piya Tawichai said by phone. “We are trying to accommodate the media and ensure that they are safe. Normally, we would designate a location where reporters can do their job safely without interfering with police operations.”
Khaosod English correspondents at the scene heard the police’s loudspeaker ordering reporters to move away.
“Reporters, go to the side for your safety,” the voice said. “Reporters, I ask for your cooperation. I give you 10 seconds.”
Pro-democracy protesters form a line as they try to march forward during a rally in Bangkok, Thailand Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit) Another reporter, Yiamyut Sutthichaya, who was on the ground covering for Prachatai English, said he believed what the police did could either be an innocent intention to protect reporters, or a deliberate tactic to prevent reporters from capturing violent arrests.
A total of 11 people were arrested during a crackdown on remaining demonstrators near the Grand Palace, some of them, including a volunteer health worker, could be seen being repeatedly hit by riot police with truncheons.
“It could mean either way,” Yiamyut said. “But since there is no official explanation from the police, I don’t know what was their intention. They used to do this in the past when they made arrests.”
Journalists can be seen being told by police to stay behind the police line in this Facebook Live by Prachatai at 2:11:00 mark.
Khaosod English correspondents were further away from the police line and therefore were able to continue reporting the crackdown as it unfolded, but riot police still attempted to block their view when making arrests.
Khaosod English was also the only news media agency to have filmed police beating of a medic volunteer on the night of Feb. 13 while other journalists were being kettled by the rows of riot police.
Spokesman Piya said the media can record police operations as long as it does not interfere with the officers.
“We can’t really prevent the media from doing their job,” Maj. Gen. Piya said.
Journalists were generally free to cover the series of anti-government protests that broke out in July, though police arrested and briefly detained a reporter for Prachatai during a crackdown on protesters on Oct. 16. The journalist, Kitti Pantapak, was later released without charges after several media organizations protested his arrest.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 12, 2021
- Event Description
Today was the 74th Union Day as well as day 12 of the military coup. Protests against the coup continued to escalate across the country including in ethnic areas amid rising arrests along with violent crackdowns on demonstrations by the junta government.
Today across Burma videos have been circulating on social media and news agency’s which show arbitrary detentions and the use of force against peaceful protestors. The detentions defy domestic law and international standards. The rule of law is not being followed and the human rights of people in Burma is being suppressed.
In Mawlamyine, Mon State, While peacefully demonstrating at the Student Union in Mawlamyine Township on 12 February, riot police force cracked-down on the demonstration by firing rubber bullets. 5 students were injured and 9 students were abducted. There is a video of the police force charging at a protest, disproportionate to the actions of these demonstrators, they then violently detained one demonstrator in the clip. In another video in Mawlamyine, police are seen interrogating a demonstrator before abruptly taking them away.
Family members are left with no knowledge of the charges, location, or condition of their loved ones. These are not isolated incidents and night-time raids are targeting dissenting voices. It is happening across the country.
These actions are also against domestic law, if someone breaks Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, they must be arrested under Section 188 of the Penal Code. For allegedly breaking Section 188 they must be accused at the court, not arbitrarily taken away to undisclosed locations from the street and from in their homes. It is also not the authority of the police, the courts decided whether to detain, charge, and take away an individual’s liberty.
- Impact of Event
- 16
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping, Judicial Harassment, Use of Excessive Force, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 10, 2021
- Event Description
About one thousand joined a protest at Pathum Wan Skywalk in a bid to address economic hardship and demand the release of detained activists. They also underlined their original 3 demands: resignation of the PM, constitutional amendment and monarchy reform.
Protesters descending to the BACC forecourt at dusk.
After a hiatus of a month because of the resurgence of Covid-19 infections in January, the Ratsadorn protest group and the Labour Network for People’s Rights joined hands to organize a ‘banging pots against dictatorship’ protest, an activity inspired by the pot-banging in Myanmar as an anti-dictatorship message.
People started to gather at 15.00, an hour prior to the designated time. The police could be seen setting up checkpoints to search people’s belongings before joining the protests. Over 100 crowd control police, fully equipped with defensive gear, batons and shields, were deployed along with 2 water cannon trucks.
Protesters gathered on the Skywalk for an hour before descending to the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre forecourt.
Sriprai Nonsee of the Rangsit and Area Labour Union Group gave a speech about the hardship of workers, demanding that the government have a comprehensive relief policy, instead of picking some groups of people and leaving others behind. In Thailand, migrant workers do not receive any kind of relief from the government.
She said inequality in Thailand must be solved. The budgets for the military and monarchy are too high. They should be cut in order to pay for social welfare. People’s taxes should be used to alleviate the people’s hardship.
Protesters with drums joining the pot-banging activity.
Panupong Jadnok, a leading protest figure from Rayong Province, said police tactics today were against universal principles in dealing with protests. A crackdown can only be authorized by the courts, not someone’s order.
His message to the government and the King was that people are now starving to death in poverty. They cannot wait for the King to smash his crown into pieces with the pieces distributed to the people.
Tossaporn Serirak, a doctor and former MP, attended the protest as usual. He was seen drawing portraits and bringing first aid kits to deal with emergencies. He said he was there out of concern for the protesters’ safety.
“I want to say ‘keep fighting’, but there must be awareness. The most important thing is experience. Our young brothers and sisters have power and knowledge but what they lack is experience.
Tossaporn Serirak showing the bandages he brings along.
“I say to the government, the Prime Minister or all the great people, stop creating the conditions for protests. It is better to quickly stop everything and start negotiating,” said Tossaporn.
Many people could be seen with the banners calling for the abolition of Section 112 of the Criminal Code and also with banners protesting the Myanmar coup.
March to police station
As the protest went on, at least 9 people were arrested at the protest and taken to Pathumwan Police Station, where all but two were released after paying a fine.
At 16.45 a woman was arrested while she was spraying “No Ju” on a bulletin board near the BTS train station. Cleaning staff were immediately summoned to remove the message.
Panussaya Sitthijirawattanakul from the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration (UFTD), another leading protest figure, announced that the protesters would march to Pathumwan Police Station, located about a kilometre away, where at least 4 people from today’s protest were detained .
Before the march, Panussaya said the government has underestimated the people's movement. The people have not forgotten the three main demands of the movement that started in 2020: the resignation of Gen Prayut, a new constitution from the people, and reform of the constitutional monarchy.
Chaos as tear gas thrown
At 19.50 the protesters arrived at the police station. Some protesters could be seen holding banners supporting a republic.
Panupong said the police had until 20.30 to release those arrested, or protesters would break into the station.
At 20.28 a commotion took place behind and beside the police station. Protesters clashed with crowd control police who had just arrived. The sound of explosions could be heard and the use of tear gas was reported.
Panupong encouraged people who were ready to deal with the clash to go to the front line. People could be seen passing water to the front in order to counteract the effects of tear gas.
At 20.48, the two remaining arrested protesters were released on 5,000 baht bail each. A tear gas canister was found behind the police station at the clash site, but police denied the use of tear gas.
However, many people who were residing and eating in a community there dispersed in chaos as they felt the tear gas sensation.
At 21.03 the protests dispersed. 16 and 19 February are designated as the next protest dates with a 'street no-confidence motion' to parallel the no-confidence motion in parliament on the same dates.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Use of Excessive Force, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Feb 10, 2021
- Event Description
On 10 February 2021, environmental rights defenders Samsir and Syamsul Bahri were arrested by the Tanjung Pura Police for their alleged involvement in the physical assault of an individual on18 December 2020. Both defenders are currently being held at the Langkat Police detention centre in Stabat.Samsir and Syamsul Bahri are environmental rights defenders and chairpersons of the Tani NipahGroup. The group works on the restoration and rehabilitation of the natural environment, by planting Rizophora and Nipah mangroves, and opening up water channels to better irrigate areas habited by the local communities. As environmental rights defenders, both have been actively involved in the preservation of the local environment and the fight against exploitation of the area.On 10 February 2021, the Tanjung Pura Police called in Samsir and Syamsul Bahri to record their statements in relation to their alleged involvement in an incident of assault that took place on 18December 2020. Later the same day, an arrest warrant was issued against the two defenders charging them under Article 170 of the penal code with ‘committing violence against persons or property’, in conjunction with Articles 55 and 56 of the Indonesian Penal Code which concerns‘giving order/influence to a crime’ and ‘assisting to commit a crime’. Following the issuing of the warrant, Samsir and Syamsul Bahri were arrested at the police station and sent to the Langkat Police detention centre for 20 days. The Tani Nipah Group believes that the case against the defenders has been fabricated as a form of intimidation for their environmental protection work.On 18 December 2020, the complainant in the assault case, along with another person, both of whom are believed to be affiliated to a palm oil company, approached and photographed the Tani Nipah Group while they were planting mangroves and cleaning up the areas managed by the community. Noticing the outsiders, Syamsul Bahri approached them and asked why they were documenting of the group’s work. The environmental rights defender was reportedly met with arrogant responses from the complainant. The commotion attracted other members of the Tani Nipah Group group to the scene, prompting the complainant to walk away. The complainant was then overheard informing an unknown individual on a call that he had been assaulted. After making the call, the complainant jumped into the nearby river. For fear that he might drown, members of the group immediately took a boat out to save him. They then questioned the complainants claimthat he had been attacked, after which the complainant immediately retracted his statement. The Tani Nipah Group has a video of the complainant retracting the assault accusation. The palm oil company that the complainant is believed to be affiliated with owns 65 hectares of land in the region. It is suspected that the company also has illegal palm oil plantations in the area.The Tani Nipah group and environmental defenders believe that the intimidation is being directed by the company because of the group’s work in protecting the mangrove forest environment.Samsir and Syamsul Bahri and the Tani Nipah group have been the target of threats and harassment in the past for their environmental protection work. In 2016, Syamsul Bahri was shot byan unknown individual just after he started working with the Tani Nipah Group. In 2017, Syamsul Bahri and his wife were hit and badly injured by an unknown motorcyclist. On several occasions,trees planted by the Tani Nipah Group group have been cut down. While formal complaints have been registered with the police, no action has been taken to find perpetrators of the aforementioned harassments.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Feb 10, 2021
- Event Description
Two journalists employed by official media are being held by police in central Vietnam’s Quang Tri province on charges of “abusing press freedoms” for posting articles online criticizing provincial leaders, state media and other sources say.
Phan Bui Bao Thy, 56 and bureau chief of the online magazine Age and Education, and an associate, Le Anh Dung, 50, were taken into custody on Feb. 10 after articles appeared on Facebook pages the two men operated accusing provincial officials of corruption, police said.
One article posted in August on Thy’s Facebook page accused Le Quang Than—deputy chairman of Quang Tri’s Huong Hoa district, and a member of the Huong Hoa Communist Party Committee—of falsifying his educational credentials.
State media did not report the contents of the pair’s other allegedly defamatory online postings. Online access to Age and Education is now blocked.
Press freedoms group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) noted on Feb. 16 that on one site, Quang Tri 357, Thy had posted reports of alleged corruption involving the province’s president, Vo Van Hung, and deputy minister of culture, tourism and sports, Nguyen Van Hung.
Thy will now be held for questioning for the next two months, RSF said, adding, “The police, who carried out searches of his home, claim to have found a great deal of information related to this activities as an online reporter.”
In a statement, Daniel Bastard—head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk—called for Thy’s immediate release, saying “he was just trying to serve the general interest in his work as a journalist.”
“His fate highlights the straitjacket enclosing public media journalists in Vietnam, who are persecuted as soon as they stray from the official line imposed by the ruling Communist Party’s propaganda department.”
“In so doing, the Vietnamese authorities violate article 25 of their own constitution,” Bastard said.
Thy’s arrest came five weeks after the sentencing by a Ho Chi Minh City court of three independent journalists—Pham Chi Dung, Nguyen Tuong Thuy, and Le Huu Minh Tuan—on charges of carrying out propaganda against the state.
Other journalists jailed
Nguyen Tuong Thuy, who had blogged on civil rights and freedom of speech issues for RFA’s Vietnamese Service for six years, was sentenced on Jan. to an 11-year prison term for “making, storing, and disseminating documents and materials for anti-state purposes” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code.
Sentenced with Thuy, Pam Chi Dung was given a 15-year prison term, while Le Huu Minh Tuan was jailed for 11 years.
Reporters Without Borders ranked Vietnam 175 out of 180 in its 2020 World Press Freedom Index. Around 25 journalists and bloggers are being held in Vietnam’s jails, “where mistreatment is common,” the Paris-based watchdog group said.
Vietnam’s already low tolerance of dissent deteriorated sharply last year with a spate of arrests of independent journalists, publishers, and Facebook personalities as authorities continued to stifle critics in the run-up to the ruling Communist Party Congress in January.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 10, 2021
- Event Description
Security forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas at anti-coup protesters in Myanmar's capital on Tuesday (Feb 9), as demonstrators around the country defied a military ban on rallies.
Protests erupted for a fourth straight day against last week's coup to oust civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, despite a warning from the new junta that they would take action against demonstrations that threatened "stability".
In Naypyidaw, the remote capital purpose built by the previous military regime, witnesses said police fired rubber bullets at protesters after earlier blasting them with water cannon.
"They fired warning shots to the sky two times, then they fired (at protesters) with rubber bullets," a resident told AFP, adding that he saw some people injured.
An AFP reporter on the ground confirmed that shots had been fired.
In Mandalay, the country's second-biggest city, police fired tear gas to disperse protesters.
After watching hundreds of thousands of people rally in opposition to last week's coup, junta chief General Min Aung Hlaing made a televised speech on Monday evening to justify seizing power.
The military has banned gatherings of more than five people in Yangon, the nation's commercial hub, as well as Naypyidaw and other areas across the country where major rallies have erupted, including the second biggest city Mandalay.
A nighttime curfew has also been imposed at the protest hotspot sites.
But on Tuesday, fresh protests emerged in various parts of Yangon, including near the headquarters of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained by the military.
On Tuesday, Myanmar's authorities extended areas where gatherings are restricted to more parts of the country, the military's information unit said
The areas where public gatherings of more than five people are banned and a curfew has been imposed include the commercial hub of Yangon, the capital Naypyidaw, as well as some towns in the Magwe region, Kachin state, Kayah state, Mon state and Shan State, the Facebook page of the military's True News information unit said.
One witness told Reuters that demonstrators ran away as guns were fired into the air, but not in the direction of the crowd.
The witness said police had initially used water cannon and tried to push a large crowd back, but demonstrators responded with projectiles.
Footage on social media showed people running, with the sound of several gunshots in the distance.
At least six anti-coup protesters were injured in police shooting in Naypyitaw on Tuesday and two of them are in a critical condition. A volunteer medic with the protest told The Irrawaddy that a man who was shot in the chest and a 20-year-old woman was shot in the head, the most serious injury.
Police shot 19-year-old student Mya Thwe Thwe Khine, also known as Myat Thet Thet Khaing in the head while she positioned herself with other protesters behind a protective barricade. A family member confirmed her death online.Mobile-phone footage of the incident shows police firing weapons in the direction of protesters, and a gunshot rings out as Myat Thet Thet Khaing drops to the ground. She was taken to a hospital in Naypyidaw where a doctor confirmed to Fortify Rights that she sustained an imminently fatal gunshot wound to the head with live ammunition. A doctor on the scene told Fortify Rights she was brain dead. Brain death is the complete loss of brain function and in most jurisdictions is regarded as legal death.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Killing, Use of Excessive Force, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 9, 2021
- Event Description
Police in Myanmar have fired rubber bullets and used teargas against protesters defying a ban on large gatherings, in an escalation of the military government’s response to demonstrations against last week’s coup.
Witnesses in Naypyidaw, the remote capital purpose-built by the previous military regime, said police fired rubber bullets at protesters after earlier blasting them with water cannon. A doctor at a clinic in the city told Reuters three people were being treated for suspected rubber bullet wounds.
Earlier, officers had used water cannons to beat back the crowd, and demonstrators had responded by throwing projectiles. Footage on social media showed people running, with the sound of several gunshots in the distance.
Opponents of the 1 February coup gathered in towns and cities across the country for a fourth day of protests on Tuesday, including in Yangon and Mandalay, where evening curfews have been instituted and gatherings of more than five people are banned.
Teargas was used against crowds in Mandalay, where police arrested at least 27 anti-coup demonstrators, including a journalist, media organisations said. A journalist from the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) said he was detained after filming the rally. He said people were beaten. Two media organisations also confirmed the arrests.
The military takeover followed an election in November decisively won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) that army leaders claim was fraudulent. The detention of Aung San Suu Kyi sparked outrage across the south-east Asian country of 53 million, and a growing civil disobedience movement affecting hospitals, schools and government offices.
Demonstrations were also held on Tuesday in other cities, including Bago - where city elders negotiated with police to avoid a violent confrontation - and Dawei, and in northern Shan state.
In Magwe in central Myanmar, where water cannons were also used, unconfirmed reports on social media claimed several police officers had crossed over to join the protesters’ ranks. A police officer in Naypyidaw was also said to have switched sides.
As large crowds again gathered near Sule Pagoda in downtown Yangon, one witness estimated there were tens of thousands on the streets by mid morning. Martial law and rumours of incoming soldiers had created an atmosphere of unease, but protesters were determined. Myanmar coup protests grow – in pictures
Pyae Phyo, 33, was gathered with his friends from the Myanmar Seamen Union under the shade of a tree near Sule Pagoda.
“Because of last night’s martial law announcement I thought people may not come,” he said. “But they have come. I am so proud of my people. Every day we will come here. Every day we aren’t free we will protest peacefully for our real leaders, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and president U Win Myint.”
Earlier Win, 37, a street food vendor, said “Today I heard troops were on their way from Naypyidaw, but that won’t stop the protests.”
The protesters carried anti-coup placards including, “We want our leader”, in reference to Aung San Suu Kyi, and, “No dictatorship”.
Pockets of ambulances manned by a network of volunteer doctors and medical workers were stationed near Sule Pagoda.
Myat Moe Lwin, 25, a graduate doctor, and his colleague Kaung Pyae Sone Thin, 25, were waiting near the ambulances and were prepared to aid protesters injured by water cannon.
“We need to be ready,” he said. “So many people are protesting against the coup. We had to help if there are any problems. It is our professional duty.”
In San Chaung township in Yangon – where large gatherings were banned – scores of teachers marched on the main road, waving a defiant three-finger salute that has become the trademark of resistance to the coup.
“We are not worried about their warning. That’s why we came out today. We cannot accept their excuse of vote fraud. We do not want any military dictatorship,” teacher Thein Win Soe told AFP.
There was confusion over the reach of section 144 of the penal code, which bans gatherings of five or more people. State newspaper The Global New Light of Myanmar announced that two townships in Yangon and others in Mandalay, Sagaing and Kayah state would be subject to the curfew but some believed it was nationwide.
The US embassy said it had received reports of an 8pm to 4am local time curfew in the two biggest cities, Yangon and Mandalay.
Promises on Monday from junta leader Min Aung Hlaing to eventually hold a new election have drawn scorn. In his first address since seizing power, he repeated unproven accusations of fraud in last November’s election. He promised “true and disciplined democracy,” different from previous eras of military rule which left Myanmar in isolation and poverty.
“We will have a multiparty election and we will hand the power to the one who wins in that election, according to the rules of democracy,” he said.
Min Aung Hlaing gave no time frame for the proposed vote, but the junta has said a state of emergency will last one year.
The military also released a statement on state TV on Monday warning that opposition to the junta was unlawful Western governments have widely condemned the coup, although there has been little concrete action. The UN security council has called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other detainees. The UN human rights council will hold a special session on Friday to discuss the crisis, at the behest of Britain and the European Union.
- Impact of Event
- 27
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Media Worker, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 9, 2021
- Event Description
A crowd of around 500 gathered at the Pathumwan Skywalk yesterday evening (9 February), after the Criminal Court denied bail for activists Parit Chiwarak, Anon Nampa, Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, and Patiwat Saraiyaem, who are being detained in prison pending trial and have been taken to the Bangkok Remand Prison.
A spokesperson for the state prosecutor has announced that cases has been filed against Anon Nampa, Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, Patiwat Saraiyaem and Parit Chiwarak under Section 112 of the Criminal Code for giving speeches about the monarchy in protests during 2020, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.
The cases stem from 2 separate events. The first is the 19-20 September protest at Thammasat University and Sanam Luang for which all four have been charged under the lèse majesté law, the sedition law (Section 116 of the Criminal Code), and the Act on Ancient Monuments, Antiques, Objects of Art and National Museums.
The second is the ‘mobfest’ protest at the Democracy Monument on 14 November for which only Parit has been charged. Sulak Sivaraksa, a Thai historian and Somchai Homlaor, a human rights lawyer are reportedly listed as witnesses.
iLaw reports that bail has been denied by the court, which ruled that the cases carry heavy sentences and the four have a tendency to repeat the offences. They will be detained in prison pending trial.
The detention during trial means they will be imprisoned indefinitely until the trial is over unless the bail would be granted at some point along the way.
The sedition and lèse majesté charges relate to their speeches, and the Act on Ancient Monuments has been invoked with regard to their installation of the 2021 People’s Party Plaque, a small metal plaque inspired by the People’s Party Plaque, a material symbol of the 1932 revolution which marked the change of regime in Siam from absolute monarchy to democracy.
The 2021 People’s Party Plaque was installed on Sanam Luang, which is recognized as an archaeological site.
These are the first lèse majesté cases to have finally made their way to the courts since the mass arrests and prosecutions after Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha vowed in November 2020 to use ‘every law’ to deal with the pro-democracy protesters who have been rallying for political and monarchy reform.
All other cases are still under police investigation.
According to THLR, at least 58 people have been charged under Section 112 in 44 cases. 23 cases were filed by ordinary citizens, 3 by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society and the rest by the police.
Human rights lawyer Anon, activist Somyot, student Parit and mor lam singer Patiwat are well-known political activists who have been rallying for monarchy reform and Thai democratization.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to fair trial
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 9, 2021
- Event Description
A 22-year-old Chin student activist is among five young people who were arrested on Tuesday night for taking part in a protest in Rakhine against last week’s coup.
Police came to Mai Yadanar Aung’s home in Ann township at 9.30pm and took her away without a warrant, according to the woman’s mother, Tin Tin Aung.
“They came and asked her to come along with them to the police station. But since she didn’t do anything wrong, I asked them why she had to. Then they said she was involved in the protest,” Tin Tin Aung said.
“I couldn't sleep the whole night. At first I considered not letting them take my daughter, but I was concerned she would be arrested forcibly, so I let them take her thinking they might release her on bail,” she added.
Police were due to bring her to the township court on Wednesday to be remanded in custody. Family members went to the police station on Wednesday morning to try to see her but police wouldn’t let them inside, citing Covid-19 regulations.
Ann township is where the Myanmar military’s Western Command is located.
Four other young people were being detained at the station for protesting, Tin TIn Aung said. Myanmar Now was unable to verify their names.
Mai Yadanar Aung is a third year student studying Chemistry at Sittwe University and secretary of a group called Chin University Students in Rakhine State (CUSR).
Young people and students began protests against the new military dictatorship in Ann township yesterday for the first time, said Mai Khaing Zin May Than, CUSR’s chair. The arrests began within hours.
“They are finding and arresting the protesters. Some of my sisterhood friends are still hiding,” she said.
Because of the arrest, parents in town told their children not to join the protests on Wednesday, Mai Khaing Zin May Than said.
“This is a human rights violation,” she added. “In Ann, not all the people are involved in the protests. The participants are mostly Chin ethnic girls.”
About a thousand mostly young people joined Tuesday’s protest in Ann, Tin Tin Aung said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Feb 9, 2021
- Event Description
Government prosecutors are blocking the release of journalist Lady Ann Salem and labor organizer Rodrigo Esparago despite the local court’s dismissing the charges against them last Feb. 5.
The City Prosecutor Office of Mandaluyong, on behalf of the Philippine National Police, filed on Feb. 9 an opposition to the urgent motion for release filed by Salem’s lawyers from the Public Interest Law Center (PILC).
The prosecutors claimed that the decision of the Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court Branch 209 is not yet final, thus, Salem and Esparago could not yet be released.
Salem’s lawyers disagreed, saying that “the rules on criminal proceedings require that a judgment of acquittal, whether ordered by the trial or the appellate court, is final, unappealable, and immediately executory upon its promulgation.”
“The dismissal of the cases, drawn upon the quashal of the search warrant and consequential declaration that the seized evidence is inadmissible as evidence, is one tantamount to an acquittal,” PILC said in its reply.
“The Order of the Honorable Court, being an adjudication on the merits, is final and executory,” Salem’s lawyers asserted.
Salem, editor of Manila Today and communications officer of the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT), and Esparago were arrested on December 10 last year. They were charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
On Feb. 5, Judge Monique Quisumbing-Ignacio dismissed the charges, noting “numerous inconsistencies and contradictions” in the sworn statements and testimonies cited in the search warrant.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to fair trial
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending