- 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
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Mar 28, 2021
- Event Description
A local court in Karachi has directed the police to file a First Information Report (FIR) against the organizers of the Islamabad Women’s March.
The court’s order comes a day after a local Peshawar court ordered the registration of an FIR against the organizers of the march for allegedly making insulting posters with degrading words.
Karachi Additional District and Sessions Judge South passed the order on an application to the Station House Officer (SHO) City Courts Police Station against Advocate GM Arain under Section 22A of the Pakistan Penal Code against the SHO of the same police station, who allegedly refused to grant application for an FIR against the organizers of the Aurtat march.
Section 22A gives the courts the power to make orders under Justice for Peace and may order the filing of an FIR for failure to register a case.
Petitioner said he and other members of the Karachi Bar Association watched the march on a TV channel that was being broadcast from the federal capital.
He said that during the march, inappropriate words were used against religious saints and their spouses and provocative slogans were chanted.
The petitioner added that obscene and anti-Islamic slogans were raised during the march.
He said that the members of Karachi Bar Association had passed a resolution condemning such measures in the name of women’s emancipation and women’s rights by the organizers and participants.
A local court in Peshawar ordered the registration of a first information report (FIR) on Thursday against organisers of this year's Aurat March in Islamabad for allegedly making "derogatory remarks" against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and Hazrat Aisha and displaying "obscene posters".
Judge Syed Shaukatullah Shah passed the order on a petition filed by five lawyers — Ibrar Hussain, Israr Hussain, Kashif Ahmed Tarakai, Siyad Hussain, and Adnan Gohar.
The petition was filed under Section 22-A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which empowers the court to act as 'Justice of Peace" and order the registration of an FIR against an offence in case of the police's failure to do so.
In their petition, the lawyers alleged that during the Aurat March 2021 which was held on March 8, "derogatory remarks were used in respect of Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) and Bibi Aisha beside display of un-Islamic and obscene posters on the instructions of organisers which hurt the feelings and sentiments of all Muslims including [them]."
They claimed they had watched the "derogatory and un-Islamic material" while they were on the court's premises in Peshawar and had later filed an application with the SHO East Cantt but he was "reluctant" to register an FIR.
The judge stated that the petitioner's arguments were heard and the record was examined. He directed the SHO East Cantt to "register FIR of the occurrence as reported by the petitioners under the relevant law".
Doctored videos Earlier this month, a video from the demonstration held in Karachi was doctored to falsely show participants raising blasphemous slogans and widely shared online.
The organisers of Aurat March clarified that the participants of the march did not raise such slogans and their video was edited to defame their struggle.
People also mistook flags of the Women Democratic Front (WDF) at the Islamabad March for the French Tricolour after which the organisers issued a clarification.
After protests in the capital calling for registration of FIRs against organisers and participants of the Aurat March, Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri had said that "controversial material" shared on social media concerning the march was being investigated.
Aurat March has become an annual feature since 2018 and every year faces backlash from certain religio-political parties, who have been opposing the event.
The marches are organised in major cities to highlight issues facing women and condemning incidents of violence against them as well as gender discrimination, economic exploitation and misogyny.
Following this year's march on International Women’s Day, heated debates were once again seen on social media for and against the march.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Women's rights
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- 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
- 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
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Mar 27, 2021
- Event Description
A judge in the Pakistani city of Peshawar ordered police on Friday to open an investigation into the organisers of a march marking International Women’s Day over allegations they committed blasphemy.
Police in Islamabad had previously refused to open a case, saying the allegations were based on fake social media posts after doctored images and video from the March 8 event went viral.
The petition, lodged by a group of lawyers in Peshawar, alleges slogans and messages on placards and banners on display during the march in Islamabad were “un-Islamic and obscene” and insulted the Prophet Mohammad and one of his wives.
The organisers of the march said in a statement: “These lies and the outrageous allegations of blasphemous slogans and banners in particular have been definitively debunked many times over.”
Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan, and although no executions have been carried out, suspects are often killed by vigilantes.
Protests calling for vigilante violence against the march organisers followed the social media storm and on March 12 the Pakistan Taliban issued a statement threatening the activists.
The march organisers called on the government to provide protection for the activists in the wake of the court order.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- 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
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
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 25, 2021
- Event Description
A court in the central Chinese province of Henan has handed down a 14-month jail term to performance artist and online influencer Chen Shaotian after he posted a number of critical comments about life under the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Twitter.
Chen was sentenced to one year and two months' imprisonment by the Fugou County People's Court in Henan, which found him guilty of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge frequently used to target critics of the regime.
Chen's sentence, which was issued on March 25, was based on more than 50 posts he made to Twitter that were deemed to be "hype about major sensitive events in China" and "political attacks."
One video still visible on Twitter shows him astride a moped, speeding down a road wearing a face-mask blazoned with the words "evil" and "understand," and yelling: "Understand this! Our evil government is far worse than any virus, for f*ck's sake!"
Chen's tweets had "attacked China's political system, insulted employees of the state, caused serious damage to China's national image and endangered its national interests," as well as "creating serious disorder in a public place," the court judgment said.
Dissident activist Ji Feng said Chen isn't a dissident in the strict sense, as he doesn't advocate any political or philosophical alternative to CCP rule.
"He lacks a systematic politics, and he has no deeply held position," Ji said. "It's all about dissatisfaction with the current reality."
He said Chen's jailing would likely have a chilling effect on people who feel the same way.
"There are many, many people like him, and eventually, they will probably be too scared to speak out any more," he said.
Hebei-based lawyer Pan Shaomin said Chen had become an online celebrity precisely because his posts exuded a general and profound sense of dissatisfaction.
"The social topics he cares about were very popular with the general public," Ji said. "He cursed the way things are in a funny way, and made people laugh and feel happier."
"That was how he became a celebrity, but that phenomenon is going to cause fear in certain quarters," he said.
Chen, originally a long-haul truck-driver, first started cursing out the government after travel bans and rural roadblocks at the start of the pandemic left him unable to do his job.
He was banned from social media platforms including WeChat and Douyin after his videos on the death of whistleblowing Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang went viral.
"What [Chen] was doing was anathema to the authorities, who shut down his China-based social media accounts," Pan said.
In December 2020, authorities in the Beijing district of Haidian jailed Li Guibao, who was known online as Fat Pig Full Circle Lao Li, to one year's imprisonment for "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble" after he criticized the authorities handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Li was detained two days after posting a 7,000-word article on April 9, 2020, in which he mostly talked about government's handling of the pandemic.
He was tried on Dec. 3, 2020 and sentenced on Dec. 24, 2020.
- 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
- Artist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- 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
- 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
- India
- Initial Date
- Mar 22, 2021
- Event Description
On March 22, 2021, the Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court in Mumbai rejected Mr. Swamy’s bail petition, arguing that there was sufficient evidence to prove his involvement in "deep-rooted conspiracy". His application for bail had been pending since November 2020.
The Observatory recalls that Mr. Swamy has been arbitrarily detained in Taloja jail since October 9, 2020, following his arbitrary arrest on October 8, 2020 by NIA officials for his alleged involvement in the Bhima Koregaon case. The case relates to caste-based violence that broke out on January 1, 2018, during Elgar Parishad, a Dalit commemoration of the anniversary of a battle the Dalits won 200 years ago against the Peshwas (upper caste rulers), at Bhima Koregaon, Maharashtra State.
On November 26, 2020, the NIA Court in Mumbai rejected Mr. Stan Swamy’s request for a straw, a sipper bottle, and winter clothes, which had been allegedly confiscated by the NIA at the time of his arrest. Mr. Swamy had lodged his request on November 6, 2020, as he is unable to hold a glass due to having an advanced stage of Parkinson’s disease. Furthermore, Mr. Swamy suffers from a hearing impairment, has fallen in the jail on multiple occasions, and suffers from severe pain in his lower abdomen as a result of two surgeries. On November 29, 2020, the Taloja jail authorities provided Mr. Swamy with a sipper bottle, following widespread outcry over the refusal to provide him with adequate medical care.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to health, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, 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 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
- 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
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Mar 17, 2021
- Event Description
Sri Lankan Police have arrested freelance journalist, Sujeewa Gamage, for allegedly making 'false claims that he was abducted, tortured and abandoned on a road in Colombo by armed men on 10 March 2021,
While receiving treatment for burns and injuries in the hospital, Gamage told the press that the attack was to obtain information, containing his news sources and of his affiliations with opposition politicians, that was in his possession at the time of the incident.
On 17 March, police officers of the Colombo Crime Division (CCD) detained and investigated the journalist soon after he released from the hospital. According to Attorney-at-law, Namal Rajapaksha, whose representation was retained by Gamage’s relatives, he was denied entry into the custody and was told by a police officer that his client will not be released for putting the government “in a difficult position.”
The CCD is also reportedly going to interrogate former Minister Rajitha Senaratne and former MP Chathura Senaratne in connection with the case. According to Police Media Spokesperson Ajith Rohana, Gamage had visited an office of Chathura Senaratne in Thimbirigasyaya, where he had met with Rajitha Senaratne at the office. The suspect has also admitted that he had made a false complaint through a confession, Rohana added.
On Friday Gamage was granted bail.
Media freedom continues to be under significant threat as an increasing number of attacks against journalists continue to be reported under the Rajapaksa regime. Last month, a Tamil Guardian correspondent, who went to report on a Tamil landowner dispute in Mullaitivu, was threatened and harassed by Forest Department officers.
As the two have not returned for hours, family members have retained the service of attorney at law Namal Rajapaksha. Police have intimidated him and threatened that Gamage will not be released “because a lawyer has come on behalf of the journalist”.
“Relatives of my client told me that he is been interrogated under duress for hours,” lawyer Rajapaksha told JDS.
“Not only I wasn't allowed to provide legal assistance, police threatened me saying that he wont be released as a lawyer coming to the police station on behalf of him is an offence. I was not even allowed to pass the gate although I explained that he is a torture victim who was just discharged from hospital. An Assistant Superintendent of Police named Anuranga told me that my client will not be released as he has put the government in a difficult position.”
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Access to justice, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Lawyer, Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Sri Lanka: media worker abducted, tortured
- 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
- 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
- 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
- India
- Initial Date
- Mar 9, 2021
- Event Description
On 9 March 2021, woman human rights defender Hidme Markam was arrested by Chhattisgarhpolice on several charges, including charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA)anti-terrorism law in relation to her alleged involvement in Maoist activities. The woman humanrights defender was arrested during an event in Dantewada in the State of Chhattisharh to markInternational Working Women’s Day, and to protest the custodial torture and sexual violence bypolice against Adivasi women in the State. Later that day, following her arrest, Hidme Markamappeared before a Magistrate and was remanded for 14 days in Jagadalapur prison. Hidme Markam is an Adivasi woman human rights defender advocating for indigenous rights,against police and state violence, and the impact of mining in the State of Chhattisgarh. She is theconvenor of the Jail Bandi Rihai Committee, a platform which advocates for the release ofthousands of Adivasi persons, particularly youths, criminalized and branded as Naxals and held inpre-trial detention. Hidme Markam is an anti-mining campaigner, focusing on projects led by largecorporations such as Adani Pvt Ltd., which threaten to destroy a sacred Adivasi hill, considered alocal deity by the community. She also campaigns against the detrimental ecological impact ofmining for the local area, resulting in the degradation of land and large bodies of water, and thedestruction of forests in the region. The woman human rights defender has also criticised theexpanding presence of military, police and para-military in the State. In 2019, she participated in apublic campaign against the establishment of a police camp in Potali by the Special Task Force andDistrict Reserve Guards. Advocating for the promotion of women’s rights and against physical andsexual violence against women by police and military officers is central to Hidme Markam’s work.Women in the State, especially from Adivasi communities, have been disproportionately affected byviolence and discrimination by officials. On 9 March, Hidme Markam participated in an event at Sameli, Dantewada to mark InternationalWorking Women's Day and to commemorate the death of two young women, one of whom wasconfirmed to have died whilst in police custody, in Chhattisgarh. The two women were reportedlysubjected to torture and sexual violence by officials whilst detained. Police officers arrested thewoman human rights defender at the event where approximately 300 villagers, community leadersand other women human rights defenders from the Jail Bandi Rihai Committee and ChhattisgarhMahila Adhikar Manch were present. The Sub-Divisional Magistrate also witnessed the arrest,having arrived at the event to engage with those attending. Fellow human rights defenders andcommunity members who attempted to oppose the woman human rights defenders arrest wereviolently pushed aside by the police officers. Multiple cases have been filed against Hidme Markamon charges under the regressive Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and others, a law that isroutinely used against human rights defenders in India response to their legitimate human rightsactivities. The exact charges against Hidme Markam are not yet known, and she remains inJagadalapur prison, and has been allowed access to her lawyer since her arrest.The woman human rights defender has engaged directly with high ranking state officials includingthe Chief Minister, Governor and Superintendent of Police of Chhattisgarh to seek redress, realisebasic fundamental rights and protection from harm for local communitiesaffected by the miningactivities in the region. She has worked peacefully with local authorities to address violationsagainst these vulnerable and oppressed communities, and represent the voices of members of thecommunities. Her arrest is in direct reprisal for her work, challenging powerful forces within theState, such as police, military and corporate interests. As a result of this work, the woman humanrights defender has faced threats and harassment in the past, culminating in her arrest on 9 March. Front Line Defenders condemns the arrest of woman human rights defender Hidme Markam as itbelieves she is being targeted as a result of her human rights work, advocating for the protection ofthe rights of Adivasi communities, especially Adivasi women in Chhattisgarh. Not only her arrest,but also the decision to carry out the arrest during an event marking the custodial torture of andsexual violence against two young Adivasi women, is particularly concerning. Front Line Defendersreiterates its concern regarding the use of the UAPA against Hidme Markam and other humanrights defenders in India, aimed at silencing them and their efforts to promote and protect humanrights in the country.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- 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
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 5, 2021
- Event Description
On 8 March 2021, the Linyi Municipal Procuratorate in Shandong province informed Ding Jiaxi's lawyer that it has sent the human rights defender's case back to the Linyi Municipal Public Security Bureau for supplementary investigation. Under the Criminal Procedure Law, the public security bureau must complete supplementary investigation within a month, and only two rounds of supplementary investigation are permitted.
- 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
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Mar 4, 2021
- Event Description
A court in southern Kazakhstan has handed parole-like sentences to two women for their links with the banned organizations Koshe (Street) Party and the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement amid an ongoing crackdown on individuals supporting the two opposition groups.
On March 4, a city court in Taraz sentenced both Nazira Lesova and Nazira Lepesova to two years of "freedom limitation" after finding them guilty of organizing and participating in the activities of the groups. Lepesova was also sentenced to 100 hours of community work.
Both women rejected the charges, calling them politically motivated. They also said they would the rulings.
Two days earlier, the same court sentenced another activist, Zhazira Qambarova, to two years of "freedom limitation" on the same charge.
Several activists across the Central Asian nation have been handed "freedom limitation" sentences for their involvement in the activities of the Koshe Party and DVK, as well as for taking part in rallies organized by the two groups.
The DVK is led by Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank and an outspoken critic of the Kazakh government. Kazakh authorities labeled the DVK extremist and banned the group in March 2018.
Human rights groups have said that Kazakhstan's law on public gatherings contradicts international standards as it requires preliminary permission from authorities to hold rallies.
It also envisions prosecution for organizing and attending unsanctioned demonstrations even though the nation's constitution guarantees its citizens the right of free assembly.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- 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
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 28, 2021
- Event Description
Nearly every main voice of dissent in Hong Kong is now in jail or exile, after Hong Kong police charged 47 pro-democracy campaigners and politicians with conspiracy to commit subversion. All face life in prison if convicted.
The group comprises most of the 55 people arrested last month, over primary polls held last year, in a dawn raid that marked the single biggest operation conducted under the controversial and draconian national security law.
On Sunday, the police force said all but eight had been charged with a single count, and would be detained ahead of court mentions on Monday morning.
The European Union’s office in Hong Kong said the charges made clear that “legitimate political pluralism will no longer be tolerated in Hong Kong”, and called for the immediate release of the detainees. Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International accused authorities of using the national security law to silence critics, called for all charges to be dropped.
Those arrested include young campaigners, activists, and local councillors, as well as established politicians such as Claudia Mo, Eddie Chu Hoi-dick and Ray Chan. The activist and former politician Joshua Wong is already in jail, serving 13 months on protest-related charges.
The mass charge had been feared since the individuals were told on Friday to report to police a month earlier than previously instructed. Many began making preparations on the expectation they would be charged and denied bail, including spending time with family, arranging care for their pets, and buying comfortable clothes for prison.
Local media reported the Democratic party legislators James To and Roy Kwong, and the American lawyer John Clancey, were among the eight not charged on Sunday. Clancey told reporters his bail was extended to 4 May, and said Hong Kong was increasingly like living in a detention centre, “with the freedoms and rights of people being constrained more and more”. Speaking outside the police station before going inside, Jimmy Sham, a key organiser of the 2019 protests, said they would remain strong and continue fighting. “Democracy is never a gift from heaven. It must be earned by many with strong will,” he said. “We can tell the whole world, under the most painful system, Hon
Many of those charged left messages to their supporters on social media.
The charge is the first for Claudia Mo, 64, a former journalist and outspoken pro-democracy legislator who resigned with colleagues in protest last year. “I maybe physically feeble, but I’m mentally sturdy,” she wrote on Facebook on Sunday.
“No worries. We all love Hong Kong yah.”
Chu said he was grateful to the people of Hong Kong for the opportunity to contribute, and was “deeply honoured” to be charged over their common ideals.
The former legislator Kwok Ka-ki said: “Prisons can isolate us, but they cannot stop us from connecting with each other and taking care of each other; chains can lock our bodies but can’t hold our minds and souls!
“Stay calm and carry on. This too shall pass! Remember: it is not hope to hold on, it is persistence to have hope!”
The charges stem from unofficial primaries held last year by the pan-democrat camp in an attempt to find the strongest candidates to run in Hong Kong’s election and win a majority in the legislative council. The mass protest movement of 2019 and the brutal crackdown by authorities had driven greater support towards the pro-democracy side of politics, and in district council elections in late 2019 they won the vast majority of seats. More than 600,000 Hongkongers turned out to vote in the polls.
But at the time of the arrests, the Hong Kong security secretary, John Lee, told local media those arrested had aimed to “paralyse” the city’s government with their plan to win the election and block legislation. He referred to an earlier published editorial by the organiser of the primaries, the legal scholar Benny Tai, as evidence of a premeditated and “vicious” plan to “sink Hong Kong into an abyss”.
In an earlier social media post on Sunday, Tai wrote: “My chance of bail won’t be too great.”
The election was ultimately postponed for a year, ostensibly because of the pandemic. Since that time, the Beijing and Hong Kong governments have introduced numerous new impediments to opposition candidates winning, or even running in the elections. Last week, they announced rules requiring all politicians and candidates pledge an oath of loyalty to the rule of the Chinese Communist party and swear not to act against the government, or face disqualification.
Officials said the new laws would ensure that only “patriots” could govern Hong Kong, with one spelling out that patriotism meant loyalty to the Communist party.
The laws are the latest efforts by authorities to wipe out dissent in Hong Kong, using the sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing last June, with the blessing of the Hong Kong government. At least 99 people have been arrested under the law so far, which is broadly defined to outlaw acts of subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorism.
- Impact of Event
- 47
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Feb 28, 2021
- Event Description
People have taken to the streets in cities and town across Kazakhstan to press for democratic reforms.
Police were reported to have detained dozens of people at the rallies on February 28, nearly all of which were not officially sanctioned by authorities.
The ruling Nur Otan party has dominated the political scene in Kazakhstan for almost three decades while opposition movements, sidelined and with no seats in parliament, mostly make themselves heard through public protests.
Rallies were held in several cities including the capital, Nur-Sultan; Almaty, the country's biggest city; as well as Atyrau, Aqtobe, Semey, Oral, and Shymkent.
Several hundred people gathered in Oral, which was the only demonstration permitted by authorities.
Elsewhere, police detained many who turned out. A Reuters correspondent reported seeing police detain at least 50 people near a park in central Almaty.
Dozens of people who rallied in another location in Almaty could be seen completely surrounded by police in black balaclavas and riot gear.
"Nazarbaev, go away," chanted some protesters, referring to influential ex-President Nursultan Nazarbaev, who has retained sweeping powers after resigning almost two years ago and helped to ensure the election of a hand-picked successor.
The rallies were organized by two opposition groups, the Democratic Party and Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, who said among their demands would be land reforms.
President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev on February 25 proposed a ban on the purchase and renting of farmland by foreigners ahead of the expiration of a moratorium on land sales.
Toqaev said that "in order to stop rumors" he had ordered the drawing up of an outline of a law "banning the buying and renting of Kazakhstan's farmlands by foreign persons and companies."
"The land issue has always been very important for our nation. It is a fundamental and sacred symbol of our statehood.... I also ordered to form a commission on land reform by March 25," Toqaev said.
The government's moratorium on farmland sales to foreigners is set to expire later this year.
The five-year moratorium was introduced in 2016 after thousands demonstrated in unprecedented rallies across the tightly controlled Central Asian state, protesting the government's plan to attract foreign investment into agriculture by opening up the farmland market.
The protests stopped after the government withdrew the plan, but two men who organized the largest rally in the western city of Atyrau, Talghat Ayan and Maks Boqaev, were sentenced to five years in prison each after being found guilty of inciting social discord, knowingly spreading false information, and violating the law on public assembly.
Ayan was released on parole in April 2018, and Boqaev was released earlier this month.
- 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
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Feb 28, 2021
- Event Description
A court notice published in The Daily Jang newspaper on February 28 has levelled allegations of criminal conduct against the secretary general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ). The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Pakistan affiliate the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) express concern at attempts to silence the voice of the union leader.
The Karachi-based Urdu newspaper published the warrant notice against Rana Muhammad Azeem, which according to the daily newspaper was a paid notice by the court. The notice also detailed the personal address and telephone number of the leader.
The PFUJ strongly condemned the alleged registration of a case against its secretary general and urged the concerned authorities to look into the “allegedly false case made in an effort to silence the leaders’ voice for the rights of the media workers”. It also said that Rana Azeem had been tagged with some other renowned persons for criticism on the national media channel during a talk show.
The notice with the signature of second Additional District and Sessions Judge, Ashraf Hussain Khawaja, alleges that Rana Azeem committed a crime or is believed to commit a crime ‘punishable’ under Pakistan Penal Code yet fails to detail the alleged crime. The notice also refers to the leader as a guest and analyst of the television show “Kahra Sach”, which he has been a regular commentator on over several years.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Pakistan: unionist subject to smear campaign, doxxing
- 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
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Feb 26, 2021
- Event Description
Hundreds of people in Bangladesh took part Saturday in a second day of demonstrations sparked by the death of a writer at a high-security prison in a case that has drawn international concern.
Protesters marched at the University of Dhaka chanting slogans condemning the government's treatment of Mushtaq Ahmed as well as other dissident writers, journalists and activists.
Another protest was staged at the National Press Club.
Demonstrators demanded the scrapping of Bangladesh's hardline Digital Security Act (DSA) under which Ahmed was imprisoned. The law has been used to crack down on dissent since it was enacted in 2018.
Security forces clashed with students in Dhaka on Friday night. Police said six people were arrested while activists said at least 30 were injured.
Ahmed collapsed and died at Kashimpur High Security Prison late Thursday. He was first detained in May after criticizing on Facebook the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 53-year-old, a crocodile farmer and a writer known for his satirical style, was charged with spreading rumors and conducting "anti-state activities."
Protesters have called his death a "custodial murder" after he was denied bail six times in 10 months.
"Mushtaq Ahmed's death was not a normal death. We'll say it was a murder," said Manisha Chakraborty, a protester with a left-wing group.
Demonstrators said they would march to the office of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina carrying a coffin later Saturday.
Facing international questions on the case, authorities have ordered a probe into Ahmed's death, senior government official S.M. Tarikul Islam told AFP.
"We formed a committee to probe whether there was negligence by jail officials or procedures in his treatment," Islam said.
Thirteen ambassadors from countries including the United States, France, Britain, Canada and Germany have expressed "grave concern."
"We call on the government of Bangladesh to conduct a swift, transparent and independent inquiry into the full circumstances of Mr. Mushtaq Ahmed's death," the ambassadors said in a statement released late Friday.
They said their countries would be following up over "wider concerns about the provisions and implementation of the DSA, as well as questions about its compatibility with Bangladesh's obligations under international human rights laws and standards."
Rights groups have also raised concerns about the case.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called for "a swift, transparent and independent investigation", while PEN America said authorities should drop charges against Kabir Kishore, a cartoonist who was detained along with Ahmed.
The CPJ said Kishore passed a note to his brother during a hearing this week stating that he had been subjected to severe physical abuse in police custody.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- 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
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- 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
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Feb 26, 2021
- Event Description
Ruhul Amin, Coordinator of the Shramik-Krishak-Chhatra-Janata Oikya Parishad(Workers-Peasants-Students-People’s Unity Council), was picked up from his home in Khulna on26 February 2021 by some members of a law enforcement agency in plainclothes, for posting on Facebook, criticising the government over the death of Mushtaq Ahmed. Later, a case was filed against him under the Digital Security Act, 2018 with Khalishpur Police Station in Khulna. The case alleged that he was spreading propaganda on Facebook in order to cause confusion and tarnish the image of the state and the government’s reputation;to try to create animosity, instability and chaos among the people and to disrupt law and order.The court granted him two-day remand in police custody for interrogation.59It is to be noted that there are widespread allegations of torture by members of law enforcement agencies in the name of interrogation during remand.
- 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 healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- 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
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 23, 2021
- Event Description
A court in Hong Kong on Tuesday denied an application for bail from jailed democracy activists Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam pending their appeal against their sentence on charges related to "illegal assembly" during a mass siege of police headquarters on June 21, 2019.
Chow, who looked thinner and paler than in previous court appearances, wiped away tears in court as High Court judge Andrew Chan said he would be referring the case to the Court of Appeal, effectively denying the application for bail.
Some supporters shouted out encouragement to Chow, while Lam made the five-finger gesture of the 2019 pro-democracy movement representing five demands made by protesters, including fully democratic elections, an amnesty for jailed protesters, and accountability for police violence.
The hearing was also attended by outspoken Cardinal Joseph Zen. Police officers cordoned off the area around the court entrance with traffic barriers, and journalists weren't allowed to get close enough to take photos.
Lawyers for Lam and Chow later said the pair will both serve out their sentences, with Lam due to be released in April and Chow in June.
Chow, 24, was sentenced to seven months' imprisonment in Dec. 2 after pleading guilty to charges relating to "illegal assembly."
She was taken after sentencing to the medium-security Lo Wu Correctional Institution near the border with mainland China, but was later transferred to the Tai Lam Women's Correctional Institution, a Category A facility.
Category A prisoners, of whom there are only a few hundred in a city of seven million, are often people who have been convicted of murder or drug trafficking.
Fellow activist and former 2014 student leader Joshua Wong, who co-founded the now-disbanded political party Demosisto with Chow, is also believed to have been placed in Category A.
Fellow activists Joshua Wong, 24, and Lam, 26, were jailed for 13-and-a-half-months and seven months respectively by the West Kowloon District Court on Dec. 2, 2020.
All three defendants pleaded guilty to charges of "inciting others to take part in an illegal assembly" and "taking part in an illegal assembly," and their sentences were reduced in recognition of the guilty plea.
Oaths of allegiance
Meanwhile, the Hong Kong authorities are gearing up to require sitting members of the District Council to take an oath of allegiance to Hong Kong.
Secretary for mainland and constitutional affairs Eric Tsang said politicians whose oaths were deemed "insincere" would be stripped of their seats on the council.
Pro-democracy candidates swept to a landslide victory in the last District Council elections in November 2019, which came after several months of mass protest over Hong Kong's vanishing freedoms.
"The law will fulfill the constitutional responsibility of the government," Tsang said.
"You cannot say that you are patriotic but you do not love the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party or you do not respect it - this does not make sense," Tsang added. "Patriotism is holistic love."
The move came a day after a top ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official in charge of Hong Kong said that only patriots should be allowed to hold public office.
Under the draft legislation, any district councilor who fails the loyalty test will be sent to court for formal disqualification, and banned from taking part in elections for five years.
Mass disqualifications
Political commentators have warned that the authorities are gearing up for the mass disqualification of opposition politicians from the council, who currently hold nearly 90 percent of seats.
Tsang said four district councilors -- Lester Shum, Tiffany Yuen, Fergus Leung, and Tat Cheng -- have already been earmarked for disqualification.
“The returning officers at the time have already concluded that the four do not genuinely uphold the Basic Law. So theoretically speaking, they won’t be qualified to stay on as district councillors," Tsang told reporters in comments reported by government broadcaster RTHK.
A recent poll by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI) found that several different measures of freedom in Hong Kong were at their lowest level since the handover.
Academic freedom, freedom of association, and freedom of movement all dropped to their lowest ebb in a survey carried out in early February 2021, while press freedom and freedom of speech also returned low scores.
HKPORI deputy chief executive Chung Kim-wah said the freedom of movement figure reflects people's concerns over growing entry and exit controls at Hong Kong's borders, particularly after China said it would no longer recognize the British National Overseas (BNO) passport.
"First they were talking about countermeasures and non-recognition, and then we had the announcement that the BNO wouldn't be accepted as a travel document any more," Chung told RFA. "There were also rumors that there would be restrictions on people trying to leave."
"Our survey conducted at the beginning of this month reflects people's feelings on the BNO [issue]," he said.
Following the imposition of the national security law in Hong Kong, the U.K. launched an immigration scheme for BNO passport-holders that offers a potential pathway to work, study, and eventual citizenship to around five million of Hong Kong's seven million residents, drawing Beijing's ire.
Crackdown on dissent, opposition
The CCP imposed the draconian National Security Law for Hong Kong on the city from July 1, 2020, ushering in a crackdown on peaceful dissent and political opposition.
The law was described as "one of the greatest threats to human rights and the rule of law in Hong Kong since the 1997 handover" by legal experts at Georgetown University's Asian Law Center.
The report found that the authorities "have made vigorous use of the [law] over the past seven months, with over 100 arrests by the newly-created national security department in the Hong Kong police force."
"The vast majority of initial ... arrests would not be considered national security cases in other liberal constitutional jurisdictions," the report said.
It said there are "serious concerns" that the law is being used to suppress the basic political rights of Hong Kong residents.
"Prosecution of individuals for exercising their rights to free expression, association, or assembly ... violate Hong Kong and Beijing’s commitments under international human rights law," it said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Feb 23, 2021
- Event Description
Kazakh activist Qanat Zhaqypov has gone on trial in the Almaty region for having links with the banned unregistered opposition Koshe (Street) party.
Zhaqypov told the court after the trial began on February 23 that he was one of the organizers of the Koshe party and actively participated in its activities until it was officially banned in May 2020.
"After the ban, I stopped any connection with the party and continued to propagate democratic values by other means not linked to the party," Zhaqypov said.
Journalists were not allowed in the courtroom due to coronavirus restrictions, and were provided with an opportunity to follow the trial online.
Zhaqypov's supporters, who also were not allowed to attend the trial, protested inside the court's hall, but left the site after officials promised them that they would be able to follow the trial online when its resumes on March 3.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Offline
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- 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
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Feb 22, 2021
- Event Description
On 22 February, a court in the central city of Qaraghandy sentenced Kazakh activist, Asqar Nurmaghanov, to 18 months of "freedom limitation" -- a parole-like restriction -- after a court found him guilty of having ties with the Koshe party.
Kazakh authorities banned the party for having links with another outlawed grouping, the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement.
DVK is led by Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank and an outspoken critic of the Kazakh government. Kazakh authorities labeled DVK extremist and banned the group in March 2018.
Several activists across the Central Asian nation have been handed "freedom limitation" sentences for their involvement in the activities of the Koshe Party and DVK, and for taking part in rallies organized by the two groups.
Human rights groups have said that Kazakhstan’s law on public gatherings contradicts international standards as it requires preliminary permission from authorities to hold rallies and envisions prosecution for organizing and participating in unsanctioned rallies even though the nation’s constitution guarantees its citizens the right of free assembly.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of movement, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Feb 22, 2021
- Event Description
Police have arrested 6 right activists on the charge of protesting for the justice of Nirmala Pant in Kanchanpur on February 22. Among the arrested were Sarada Chand, Anandi Rana, Laxmi Malla, Nirmala Joshi Bhatt, Khadak Bisht, and Mina Bhandari.
Right activities staged a symbolic protest demanding justice for Nirmala Pant, who was killed after being raped while Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was laying the foundation stone of Daiji Chhela Industrial Area in Kanchanpur. They protested wearing a t-shirt with the caption " where is the murder of Nirmala Pant?".
- Impact of Event
- 6
- 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
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Feb 21, 2021
- Event Description
Barkha Dutt, who often reports for the Washington Post and runs a YouTube local news channel called MoJo Story, told RSF that she regards the accusation brought against her, in the form of a police “First Information Report” (FIR) on 21 February, as a “harassment attempt” and “pure intimidation.”
The accusation concerns Dutt’s coverage of the death of two teenage girls who are Dalits (members of the Indian group formerly known as “untouchables”). They were found poisoned in a field in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district after going missing on 17 February.
The FIR names Dutt’s Twitter account, @themojostory, along with seven other Twitter accounts, including those of several politicians who claimed the girls were sexually assaulted. The MoJo Story report never claimed this, but the FIR says it did. Dutt’s request for a copy of the FIR has been refused by the police, thereby preventing her from legally disputing the accusation.
Lumped together “The police are deliberately lumping together unverified comments by politicians with the MoJo Story’s rigorous journalistic reporting,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “This is clearly a case of judicial harassment aimed at silencing any independent investigative coverage of this case. We urge the Uttar Pradesh prosecutor’s office to immediately dismiss this accusation, which is not based on any credible evidence, and furthermore violates the criminal procedure code by denying Barkha Dutt access to the case.”
According to the police, Dutt is accused under criminal code article 153 of “wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot,” which is punishable by up to a year in prison. The police were almost certainly annoyed that her reporting included interviews with members of the family of the two murdered girls, who said the police pressured them to quickly cremate their bodies.
This is a highly sensitive claim coming just five months after the alleged gang-rape and subsequent death of a 19-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras, another Uttar Pradesh district, in September – a case that received a great deal attention throughout India, as RSF reported at the time.
Blocked access After the young woman died of her injuries in hospital, the police quickly cremated her body the next day, fuelling speculation that they wanted to destroy evidence. The police then blocked access to the district to prevent reporters from interviewing the family.
As she reported in a tweet at the time, Dutt tried to circumvent the police roadblock by walking several kilometres across fields but the police caught her, put her in a police van, and deposited her back on the road, outside the sealed-off area.
India is ranked 142nd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2020 World Press Freedom Index.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 18, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong have hauled in a rights activist for questioning after he started a signature campaign in support of mass popular protests against the military coup in Myanmar.
State security police in Guangdong's Huizhou city summoned activist Xiao Yuhui for repeated interrogations starting Feb. 18 and continuing into this week, RFA has learned.
The summons came after Xiao posted to a number of groups on the social media app WeChat condemning the Myanmar military coup.
"Xiao Yuhui was summoned to the police station ... he was there about half an hour [that time]," a person familiar with the matter who declined to be named told RFA.
"He's back home now, but the state security police have him in their sights, and they call him in at random," the person said.
Xiao, who was interrogated by police from the Luoxi district police station in Guangzhou, Hengli district police station in Dongguan, and Huizhou municipal police department, is now being pressured to remain in or near his home.
While in Huizhou city, some 30 kilometers away from his home in Hengli district, on Monday night, Xiao received repeated phone calls from officers at his local Yuantongqiao police station asking him to report to them.
Xiao made the trip home, eventually arriving in the early hours of Tuesday, where he was forced to write the guarantee before being released.
Dissident Wang Aizhong, who is based in Guangdong's provincial capital, Guangzhou, said she had heard similar news of Xiao.
"It was about supporting the people of Myanmar [against the coup]," Wang said. "I didn't see it personally."
Targeted before
She said Xiao has been targeted by state security police before.
"He was detained and held under criminal detention for several months at one point, so he's no stranger to being asked to 'drink tea'," she said, in a slang reference to being summoned by state security police.
Xiao, who was called back in by police on Tuesday morning, declined to comment when contacted by RFA following his release.
"Sorry, it's not convenient right now," he said, using a phrase often used by activists to indicate pressure from the authorities.
Rights activists said a number of WeChat users across China, including Qingyuan, Shenzhen, Jieyang, and other Guangdong cities, have been treated similarly since Feb. 18, for adding their names to Xiao's signature campaign.
A friend of Xiao's who asked to remain anonymous said the authorities had responded very quickly to Xiao's posts.
"He posted to the group calling for solidarity with Myanmar and the protests against the military coup," the friend said. "He got the call [from police] ... within hours [of posting]."
Xiao's earlier detention was linked to his online support for the Hong Kong protest movement.
He was detained by Guangdong police alongside an unnamed woman after he retweeted a WeChat on May 27, 2020 referring to an online letter-writing campaign by Hong Kong's pro-democracy newspaper the Apple Daily, in opposition to the national security law.
The draconian law was imposed on the city on July 1, 2020, and outlaws sedition, subversion, foreign interference, and activities supporting independence for Hong Kong.
It is currently being enforced by a newly established state security branch of the Hong Kong police, alongside a branch of China's feared state security police.
The woman was subsequently released on bail pending trial, but Xiao was held under criminal detention at the Huicheng district police station in Huizhou.
A veteran activist, Xiao has also previously helped vulnerable groups to defend their rights, as well as families targeted by family planning officials under the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s "one-child" policy.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy 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
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
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Feb 16, 2021
- Event Description
Kazakh activist Kenzhebek Abishev, who was jailed for being linked to a political movement founded by a fugitive tycoon, was not released from prison on February 16 as expected.
On February 1, the Qapshaghai City Court in southern Kazakhstan's ruled that Abishev can be released on February 16, more than three years early, for good behavior while in prison, a procedure allowed by Kazakh laws.
However, the Almaty regional prosecutor’s office appealed the ruling at the very last moment, arguing that the 53-year-old activist's good behavior in custody is not enough to warrant his early release since he still has more than three years to serve.
Abishev's lawyer, Gulnara Zhuaspaeva, told RFE/RL that the prosecutor's appeal was "baseless," since all inmates are entitled to benefit from early release for good behavior.
"Abishev was officially praised five times for his good behavior while in the penal colony, he received several letters of thanks from the colony's administration. His medical condition is also a serious reason for an earlier release," Zhuaspaeva said, adding that she will continue to fight for her client to be set free ahead of schedule.
Abishev was sentenced to seven years in prison in December 2018 after he and two other activists were found guilty of planning a "holy war" because they were spreading the ideas of the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement. His prison term was later cut by eight months.
Abishev, whom Kazakh rights groups have recognized as a political prisoner, pleaded not guilty, calling the case against him politically motivated.
The DVK was founded by Mukhtar Ablyazov, an outspoken critic of the Kazakh government who has been residing in France for several years.
Ablyazov has been organizing unsanctioned anti-government rallies in Kazakhstan via the Internet in recent years.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- 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
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Feb 16, 2021
- Event Description
Two youths were arrested from the protest against the government in Pyuthan district on February 16 . Pyuthan lies in Lumbini Province of Nepal.
As per the information received at Freedom Forum, cadres of the student wing of Nepali Congress party Tuna Ram Khatri and Sagar GM were arrested for protesting against the government. They have been reported that they chanted slogans against Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, decrying his move to dissolve parliament.
Lately, political parties, leaders and their student wings have been protesting against the dissolution of the House of Representatives in Nepal. The case is currently in sub judice in court.
Freedom Forum has recorded many other incidents of violation of freedom of speech in different parts of country. A week back, a female youth leader was briefly detained for her speech. She was released after severe criticism.
Freedom Forum shows concern over the arrest of citizens for exercising their right to speech. It urges the concerned security agency to release them and respect their fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution.
- 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
- HRD
- Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- 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
- India
- Initial Date
- Feb 14, 2021
- Event Description
A 22-year-old Indian climate activist has been arrested after sharing a document intended to help farmers protest against new agricultural laws.
Police said Disha Ravi was a "key conspirator" in the "formulation and dissemination" of the document.
The "toolkit", which suggests ways of helping the farmers, was tweeted by prominent activist Greta Thunberg.
Activists say Ms Ravi's arrest is a clear warning to those who want to show support to anti-government protests.
Tens of thousands of farmers have been protesting for more than two months over the laws, which they say benefit only big corporations.
The new legislation loosens rules around the sale, pricing and storage of farm produce which have protected India's farmers from the free market for decades.
The farmers' protests mark the biggest challenge India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has faced. His government has offered to suspend the laws but the farmers want them replaced altogether. What do we know about Disha Ravi's arrest?
Ms Ravi, one of the founders of the Indian branch of the Fridays for Future climate strike, was arrested by Delhi police.
In a statement posted on social media on Sunday, police said she had "collaborated" to "spread disaffection against the Indian State".
It said she was an editor of the document and had shared it with Swedish climate activist Ms Thunberg.
Officials said Ms Ravi would be held in custody for five days. No formal charges have been announced.
Police have said the toolkit suggested a conspiracy in the run up to a huge rally on 26 January, which saw protesting farmers clash with police.
"The call was to wage economic, social, cultural and regional war against India," Delhi Police Special Commissioner Praveer Ranjan said earlier this month.
"We have registered a case for spreading disaffection against the government of India - it's regarding sedition - and disharmony between groups on religious, social and cultural grounds, and criminal conspiracy to give shape to such a plan," he added.
Jairam Ramesh, a former minister and lawmaker for the opposition Congress party, called Ms Ravi's arrest and detention "completely atrocious".
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending