Uwazi

A Kyrgyz blogger known for his critical reports of authorities has been detained for 48 hours before a pretrial hearing to decide on whether to place him in detention or under house arrest.

Adilet Ali Myktybek, known on social media as Alibek Baltabai, faces charges of calling for social unrest on the Internet, allegations he says are politically motivated.

Myktybek was detained late on June 30 after he was questioned by Bishkek police for a third time since late May, the Birinchi Mai district court said.

Opposition politician Ravshan Jeenbekov told RFE/RL that Myktybek's supporters are currently looking for a lawyer to defend the noted blogger.

After questioning earlier by police, Myktybek said that the case against him is the authorities’ retaliation for his numerous reports on Facebook criticizing them.

"This is, I am confident, pressure being put on me for my opposition stance and my criticism of the authorities. What they are using against me is my own reports, in which I expressed my social and political stance, my activism," Myktybek said.

Myktybek is also known for actively covering anti-government rallies and pickets in the Central Asian nation.

He is also a freelance correspondent of the Next television channel, whose director, Taalai Duishembiev, is currently in pretrial detention over the airing of a controversial report in which an interviewee alleged the existence of an agreement between Bishkek and Moscow to send troops to assist Russian armed forces in the ongoing war against Ukraine.

Domestic and international human rights groups have urged Kyrgyz authorities to release Duishembiev, who was arrested on March 24.

A digital artist was arrested at her home on Thursday (30 June) on a royal defamation charge, after charges were filed against her for a portrait of King Vajiralongkorn published on Instagram in September 2021.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that 11 police officers from the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) raided the home of 27-year-old Thopad Atanan, an independent digital artist who often posted artwork about the pro-democracy movement, and arrested her for royal defamation under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code and for importing into into a computer system data which is an offense against national security under Section 14 of the Computer Crimes Act. TLHR noted that Thopad never received a summons in the 9 months since the alleged offence before being arrested.

The police presented an arrest warrant and a search warrant, and confiscated a computer, a painting, and a mobile phone. They declined to let anyone photograph the arrest warrant and the search warrant.

According to the TCSD inquiry officer, the charges are related to a portrait of King Vajiralongkorn which was posted on Instagram on 16 September 2021. The police said that the portrait defamed the King, and that their investigation shows that the Instagram account is likely to belong to Thopad, so they requested the Criminal Court for an arrest warrant. Thopad denied all charges and said she will submit her testimony at a later date.

The inquiry officer then took Thopad to court for a temporary detention request via a teleconference system, claiming that the police still have to interview 4 additional witness, check her computer and mobile phone, and her criminal record. The Court approved the request, but granted her bail on a 90,000-baht security, covered by the Will of the People Fund, a bail fund for people facing charges for participating in the pro-democracy movement.

The Court ordered Thopad to appoint a supervisor and required her to present a letter of consent from her supervisor by Friday (1 July). The Court also set the conditions that she must not repeat her offense and must report to her supervisor every 15 days. She must also report to the court on 17 August 2022.

According to TLHR, at least 208 people has been charged with royal defamation since November 2020, more than half of whom has been charged for their online political expression.

An appellate court in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh upheld a lower court’s decision not to return the passport of Yeang Sothearin, citing an ongoing investigation into the former RFA editor and reporter, he told RFA.

Yeang Sothearin, who also worked as a news anchor for RFA’s Khmer Service, was taken into custody in November 2017 along with Uon Chhin, who was an RFA photographer and videographer.

They were charged with “illegally collecting information for a foreign source” after RFA closed its bureau in the capital in September that year amid a government crackdown on independent media. They have since been charged with additional crimes.

If convicted of the first charge, they could face a jail term of between seven and 15 years. They remain out on bail but in legal limbo after a series of appeals have been rejected by courts.

Yeang Sothearin said the court’s decision would prevent him from visiting his ailing father, an ethnic Cambodian living in southern Vietnam, or participating in NGO activities outside of Cambodia.

“I told the court that it has been five years, it is a long time and I don’t know when it will end,” Yeang Sothearin told RFA’s Khmer Service.

“There is no indication from the judge of when the investigation will end and they won’t tell me when my passport will be returned, so how can I live? I will use my rights to demand [my passport],” he said.

He said that he will appeal again by taking the case to Cambodia’s Supreme Court.

The decision not to return the passport violates Yeang Sothearin’s rights because the case has been delayed for many years and has not yet reached conclusion, Ny Sokha, president of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (Adhoc) told RFA.

He said the delay affects both Yeang Sothearin and Uon Chhin.

“We don’t see any indication that they want to avoid the court or flee overseas. They have houses here and they want the freedom to travel to make a living. I don’t see any reason to restrict their freedom,” he said.

Sharjeel Imam, who is in judicial custody in connection with the February 2020 Northeast Delhi riots case, has now moved court alleging that he was assaulted by convicts at Tihar Jail and called a terrorist during a search inside his cell.

An application was moved before a link judge of Karkardooma Court in New Delhi by Sharjeel Imam’s lawyer Ibrahim to issue a show case notice to jail authorities for the “illegal assault and search committed upon the applicant” and to direct authorities to take immediate steps to protect him from any “further assault/ harassment”, reported the Indian Express.

In his application, Imam has reportedly claimed that the Assistant Superintendent along with “8-9 convicts came to the cell of the applicant in the name of carrying out a search” and during this “illegal search, the petitioner’s books and clothes were thrown away and he was assaulted and called terrorist and anti-national when he prevented them from throwing stuff.”

According to the Indian Express, Imam even “requested the AS to prevent them from doing the assault as the AS was present there during the entire episode, but to no avail… he was further assaulted by the convicts.” He further alleged that “no contraband was recovered.” Instead, the convicts suggested to “place some contraband to put him in trouble.”

The application also sought directions to jail authorities to preserve the CCTV footage of the jail from 7:15 P.M to 8.30 P.M on June 30, when the said incident took place.

Ibrahim told the Indian Express, “I moved the application to secure his safety. This is the first case of an assault that was disclosed by a riot accused. Search operations are regularly carried out inside his cell and they have never found contraband. This time, jail staff came with convicts which is illegal. Only jail staff can check the cells.”

The Koh Kong Provincial Court placed seven Botum Sakor residents under court supervision for alleged incitement and occupying state land, after the group returned to land they used to live on before it was given to a sugar plantation.

The court summoned seven people — Pheap Teng, Noy Sok, Ton Lay, Touch Ngann, Khung Roch, Long Moeun and Chhorm Nern — on Wednesday and placed them under court supervision, according to court documents. Only the first five attended the hearing.

They are facing charges of incitement, under articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code, and infringement of state property related to articles 17 and 259 of the Land Law.

The group returned to land in Botum Sakor’s Kandol commune in January, which was given in 2006 to a sugar plantation owned by business tycoon Ly Yong Phat. The group said they had not received compensation for the land and were reclaiming it by building small shelters.

The court order states that investigating judge Lor Krem placed them on bail to ensure they would not interfere in the investigation, would attend future hearings and would not change their address without informing the court.

Pheap Teng, a village representative and one of the seven people, said the court’s decision was an attempt to thwart their protests, and was a biased decision.

“I think that the court makes decisions with a bias for the powerful and rich person, because we are victims and really lost the land and they use the judicial system to pressure us,” she said. “Especially when our community heard that they were being sued in court, they worried. They don’t dare to protest even though they unfairly lost their land.”

Koh Kong court spokesperson Vei Phirum could not be reached for comment.

Botum Sakor district governor Hak Leng said officials had repeatedly said they would not find a solution for the group, but the residents kept protesting.

Noy Sok, who is also under court supervision, said authorities had not helped them with a resolution. The disputants were given no compensation and have instead been threatened with violence, he said.

“They said if I dared to protest on that land, they would shoot, they would arrest and imprison [me]. So our people dare not to protest,” she said.

Junta authorities arrested three more Mandalay-based lawyers representing political detainees on Wednesday as they returned home from court hearings inside the city’s prison, according to sources within the local legal network.

The detainees—identified as Tin Win Aung, his wife Thae Su Naing, and Thuta—were reportedly leaving Obo Prison after attending hearings for their clients within the closed court there.

Three of their local colleagues spoke to Myanmar Now on the condition of anonymity and confirmed their arrests to Myanmar Now. At the time of reporting it was not known where they were being held in junta custody or why they had been specifically targeted.

“We still don’t know the details of their arrests. I only heard that Thuta’s vehicle was also seized,” one of the lawyers said.

Following the February 2021 military coup, lawyers representing jailed activists and political opponents of the military have also faced threats to their personal security for challenging the practice of arbitrary detentions in a junta-controlled judiciary.

While the number of lawyers detained across the country is unknown, attorneys in Mandalay said that at least 10 of their colleagues had been arrested since the coup and dozens more are wanted by the military authorities.

Among the detainees is 43-year-old Ywet Nu Aung, a prominent lawyer arrested on April 28. She was representing jailed Mandalay chief minister Zaw Myint Maung and other leaders of the ousted National League For Democracy (NLD) government at the time of her arrest. She was later charged with violating the Counterterrorism Law for allegedly providing funding to an armed resistance group, and was transferred to the Obo Prison in May.

Days before Ywet Nu Aung’s arrest, Si Thu, another lawyer known for helping farmers in land disputes with the military, was beaten by soldiers in front of his wife and children before being taken away from his home in Chanayethazan Township.

Last December, attorney Lwin Lwin Mar and three other lawyers—all women—were also jailed by junta authorities.

Following the series of arrests, lawyers representing junta opponents have reportedly become hesitant to go to their clients’ hearings inside Obo Prison.

Lawyers have been targeted outside of Mandalay as well. In the military’s administrative capital of Naypyitaw, Thein Hlaing Tun—who was representing Myo Aung, the ousted mayor under the NLD—was detained after leaving a court hearing in May 2021. Similarly, two lawyers for deposed Karen State chief minister Nang Khin Htwe Myint were arrested and charged with incitement in June.

The military council has placed a gag order on the lawyers of incarcerated State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and the NLD’s chief ministers in an effort to restrict information released concerning their trials and charges.

As of Friday, Myanmar’s military council had detained more than 14,000 people since the coup, of whom 3,000 had been released.

Raimundos Oki, chief editor of news portal Oekusipost.com, has been accused of breaching judicial secrecy following an investigative report concerning the detention and forced virginity testing of 30 underage girls in 2020. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns the charges and calls on the Timor-Leste government to immediately rescind the case.

On June 29, Oki received a telephone call from an officer at the Criminal Investigation Scientific Police (Polícia Científica de Investigação Criminal), instructing him to appear before police the following day. The journalist exercised his right to silence during the minute meeting.

Oki faces charges for allegedly breaching ‘judicial confidentiality’ under Article 291 of Timor Leste’s Timor Code, with a penalty of one to six years imprisonment, for a report that argued several virginity tests were forcibly conducted on inmates at the Topu Honis Shelter in Kutet, Oecusse.

The report centered on evidence-gathering practices during the trial of Richard Daschbach, an American priest in Timor-Leste, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison in December 2021 for sexually abusing children under his care.

According to Oki’s report, the public prosecution ordered several local NGOs and police to detain around 30 underage girls for two weeks and performed forced virginity tests in June 2020.

Speaking to UCA News on July 1, Oki said, “When almost all media, including international media, focused on the former priest, I tried to bring up the other side, about the forced virginity test... I happen to be from Oecusse and I found those 30 girls. I spoke to them, and they admitted to being forced to undergo a virginity test.”

In 2017, the Oki faced a year imprisonment for defamation following an article published by the Timor Post published in 2016, which referred to the then Prime Minister of Timor Leste, Rui Maria de Araujo, in his previous role as advisor to the Minister for Finance. According to the article, Araujo recommended the winning bid for a project to supply and install computer equipment for the new Ministry of Finance building in 2014. In June 2017, a Dili judge dismissed all charges against Oki at the Dili Court.

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has declared that a false allegation by President of the Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners (CPRP) Attorney-at-Law Senaka Perera that some prisoners were used to attack anti-government protesters outside Temple Trees and at Galle Face on 09 May triggered violence in many parts of the country.

The HRCSL also faulted Sudesh Nadimal Silva also of the same organisation for propagating unsubstantiated allegations.

Justice (ret.) Rohini Marasinghe, in her capacity as the Chairperson of the HRCSL, said that both Senaka Perera and Sudesh Nandimal had failed to substantiate their allegations made at the Galle Face protest site on 10 May.

The HRCSL, in a statement issued yesterday (29) quoted Justice Marasinghe as having said: “False propaganda as well as misinformation of the alleged use of Prisoners to have attacked the innocent protesters is both a diabolical lie and a deceitful action.”

The HRCSL has recommended that Attorney General Sanjaya Rajaratnam conduct a further investigations into allegations made by Senaka Perera and take necessary action

The HRCSL has requested Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, PC, to take note of the detrimental statements made by Attorney-at-Law Senaka Perera and take due action.

The HRCSL consists of Ven. Kalupahana Piyarathana Thera, Dr. M.H. Nimal Karunasiri, Dr. Vijitha Nanayakkara and Ms. Anusuya Shanmuganathan.

The HRCSL dealt with the issue in a statement titled ‘The HRCSL condemns the false media broadcast made by the President of the Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners’.

The HRCSL issued the statement after the conclusion of a special investigation by an appointed committee of investigators (Col).

CoI consisted of Sanjeewa Weerawickrama, Attorney -at- Law, Miss. lmasha Senadeera, Attorney-at-Law and Dr. Dilshani Bogollagama.

Referring to allegation that prisoners had been used to attack protesters at protest sites at Galle Face and Temple Trees, the HRCSL said that the CoI determined that no prisoners had been used in perpetrating any attack on the peaceful protesters.

The HRCSL asserted that the unsubstantiated allegations caused an irreversible damage to the country.

The HRCSL said that a group of prisoners had been seriously assaulted and subjected to mental and physical torture by an unidentified group on 09 May.

The HRCSL stated: “The unprecedented ruthless nature of the attack on prisoners and officials resulted in injuries and hospitalization of many inmates.” Since the incidents, eight prisoners hadn’t been accounted for so far, it has said.

The prisoners had been made available to the private sector enterprises in terms of an agreement endorsed by the Cabinet of Ministers in Oct 2021. On the day of the incidents, a group of prisoners had been taken to a designated work place and were on their way back when gangs intercepted them.

“Attorney at Law Mr. Senaka Perera, the convener of the conference identified himself as a Human Rights Activist. The COI provided the CPRP president Mr. Senaka Perera with the opportunity to justify his statements that caused an outrage in both Sri Lanka and the World at large. For the purpose of submission of any evidence, in either oral statements or picture documentation in support of his statements, Mr. Perera was extended a justifiable time period. However, he expressly affirmed before the Committee that at the time of the statement or even thereafter he did not have any tangible evidence in favor of his expressed views in regard to the alleged incident. Mr. Sudesh Nadimal Silva was also summoned to give evidence before the COl. The Committee explaining the paramount importance of the maintenance of professional ethics provided Mr. Sudesh Nadimal Silva with the opportunity to provide a justifiable explanation for his expressed allegations. However, he was unable to provide any acceptable evidence in support of his statements.

The COI observed that the press conference which was chaired by M. Senaka Perera had dispensed totally false statements without any sustantive evidence.

“Following the above-mentioned facts, the COI has identified the grave consequences of the negligent attitude of making unfounded statements. Inciting agitation in the general public against state departments and personnel has inadvertently led to disruptions to the law and order of the Country.

“The COI further observed that these inaccurate declarations conveyed by the above speakers directly contributed to the series of violent activities and right violations, reported island wide. The combined result of the atrocities that occurred within a mere 48 hours resulted in the loss of 12 human lives with several hundred injured casualties. In addition, intentional damage and arson to both public and private properties surmount to the loss of billions of rupees.

“After a thorough and diligent inquiry, the COI has arrived at the following conclusions. The highly irresponsible misconduct by the Attorney-of-Law Senaka Perera, with his speculative allegations with no substantiated evidence, resulted in disastrous consequences.

“Hence, it is of paramount importance that members of professional bodies need to be guided by the code of conduct or the professional ethics as set out by the respective professional bodies for the due conduct of the members. These conditions of misconduct from individuals of representation and influence should be held accountable by the respective professional bodies.

It is the view of the COI that national media institutions must consciously adhere to responsible reporting and promote journalism with integrity, especially during this volatile period of both political and economic instability. This tantamount to avoidance of direct reporting of incidence without due assessment of this veracity and credibility. The Committee further advocates promotion of investigative journalist practices with the objective of strengthening the democratic fabric of the Country.”

On the last two days of President Rodrigo Duterte, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an order affirming one more time its decision to revoke the certificates of incorporation of Rappler.

“The company registration and monitoring department is hereby directed to effect the revocation of the certificates of incorporation in the records and system of the Commission,” read part of the order dated June 28, and signed by SEC chairperson Emilio Aquino; and Commissioners Javey Paul Francisco, Kelvin Lester Lee, Karlo Bello, and McJill Bryant Fernandez.

What does this mean? “We have existing legal remedies all the way up to the highest court of the land. It is business as usual for us since, in our view, this is not immediately executory without court approval,” said Rappler in its statement on Wednesday, June 29.

In a statement on Wednesday, the SEC said: “In this light, the latest order issued by the Commission En Banc merely puts in effect its earlier decision and those of the Court of Appeals.”

This comes after the National Security Council (NSC) blocked news websites, including Bulatlat.com, using the feared anti-terror law. Reasons

In July 2018, the Court of Appeals (CA) issued a decision siding with the findings of the SEC that Rappler’s issuance of Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs) to foreign investor Omidyar constituted some amount of foreign control that was prohibited by the Constitution. The Constitution requires that media companies should have zero foreign control.

But in the same decision, the CA said that when Omidyar donated its PDRs to Rappler’s Filipino managers, “the negative foreign control found objectionable by the SEC appears to have been permanently removed.” The CA remanded the case to the SEC to reevaluate, with a nudge to the Corporation Code’s clause allowing companies to have a grace period to cure their alleged defects.

The SEC stood by its findings in February 2021. Rappler filed a motion for reconsideration before the SEC. This latest order is an action to that motion.

SEC said in this latest order: “Considering that the object of the Donation (the Omidyar PDRs) was void for being contrary to law, the Donation itself was void under Article 1409(1) of the Civil Code for being contrary to law and public policy.”

SEC said that when the CA remanded the case, the appellate court did not order to reinvestigate but only to reevaluate. Rappler asked the SEC to receive additional evidence.

“The Commission’s compliance with the said directive could not have violated the due process rights of Rappler and RHC because, by the very nature and essence of the directive, Rappler and RHC were not entitled to participate in the said legal evaluation,” said the SEC.

In February 2019, the CA affirmed its 2018 decision. By September 2019, the Supreme Court issued a resolution declaring the case closed and terminated. The CA registered its books of entry of judgment, declaring it had attained finality in March 2019.

“Public interest will be served if the revocation of the Certificate of Incorporation of Rappler and Rappler Holdings Corporation is sustained because it will implement the policy of respecting and fully complying with the provisions of the Constitution, to which every Filipino owes allegiance,” said the SEC in its order.

Rappler told its staff in an internal memo sent late night Tuesday: “Clarity, agility, sobriety. Review our drills and the tasks assigned to you.”

“Meantime, it is business as usual for us. We will adapt, adjust, survive and thrive.”

Following 131 days of extrajudicial detention, on June 28, 2022, Mongolian citizen, human rights defender, writer, journalist and a member of the Confederation of Mongolian Journalists Mr. Munkhbayar Chuluundorj was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Primary Criminal Court of Bayanzurkh, Chingeltei and Sukhbaatar Districts in the country’s capital, Ulaanbaatar. The charge read out by the court, according to Chuluundor’s attorney, Ms. Baasan Geleg, was “10 years in prison for collaborating with a foreign intelligence agency.”

When asked by the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center which country’s intelligence agency Chuluundorj was allegedly collaborating with and which country he was accused of working against, Geleg said, “In order to cover up their treasonous acts they have been committing, the intelligence, court and the prosecutors of Mongolia are all shamelessly claiming that Chuluundorj had been collaborating with an Indian intelligence agency, namely the Research and Analysis Wing of the Embassy of India to Mongolia, against the People’s Republic of China.”

“What this is telling us is that the independent country of Mongolia has already become a province of the People’s Republic of China,” Geleg said in front of the courthouse after the trial, “because no article or clause of the constitution or any other laws of the independent country of Mongolia has ever stated to criminalize the citizens of Mongolia to defend the interest of China.”

“I am not just defending Chuluundorj. I am defending the sovereignty and independence of Mongolia. I am defending the entire Mongolian people from Chinese oppression,” Geleg said in an earlier statement sent to the SMHRIC.

“Today, we came to know that the Government of Mongolia is shamelessly and openly serving the interest of China!” said Chuluundorj’s other attorney, Mr. Batdorj Altan. “The court’s act of criminalizing its citizen without a single piece of evidence is an act of betrayal to the people and nation.”

Pointing to the court building behind him, attorney Altan continued, “This Sukhbaatar District Court is occupied by traitors, traitors to the people of Mongolia, who are sucking the blood of Mongolia, squandering the wealth of Mongolia, but betraying the nation of Mongolia and oppressing the people of Mongolia.”

Munkhbayar Chuluundorj's brother, Munk-Erdene Chuluundorj, told the SMHRIC that his brother’s health has suffered due to his imprisonment.

“My brother told us not to worry about his health. But what worries us is that he was hospitalized for two weeks recently. He did not tell us much about the prison conditions, but what we know is his meals consist mostly of animal organ stew, which certainly is considered an inferior quality food in Mongolia,” he added.

As a staunch advocate for freedom and human rights for the six million Southern Mongolians under the Chinese colonial regime, Chuluundorj organized and attended numerous conferences, meetings, protests, and other events in his home country of Mongolia and elsewhere, including the United States and Japan. Critical of the Mongolian Government’s unusually close ties with the Chinese regime in persecuting and deporting Southern Mongolian political refugees, he once said in a conference held in Japan by the Inner Mongolian People’s Party that “two governments in the world are most hostile towards Southern Mongolian exiles and [violate] their rights the most: the Government of China and the Government of Mongolia.”

Most recently, Chuluundorj had been active in demanding the resignation of Mr. Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene, Prime Minister of Mongolia, for kowtowing to the Chinese and failing to safeguard the sovereignty and independence of Mongolia.

Responding to the arrest of Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of ALT News, an independent fact-checking website by the Delhi Police late on Monday night for allegedly ‘hurting religious sentiments’ and ‘promoting enmity’ on Twitter, Aakar Patel, chair of board for Amnesty International India, said:

“The Indian authorities are targeting Mohammed Zubair for his crucial work combatting the rise in fake news and disinformation and calling out discrimination against minorities. The arrest of Mohammed Zubair shows the danger facing human rights defenders in India has reached a crisis point.”

“The fact that he was not provided a copy of the First Information Report (FIR) and was detained incommunicado during the initial hours following his arrest shows just how brazen the Indian authorities have become. Harassment, intimidation, unlawful and arbitrary arrests, and imprisonment of human rights defenders for tirelessly seeking truth and justice has become alarmingly commonplace in India.”

“We call on the Delhi Police to immediately and unconditionally release Mohammed Zubair and end their relentless harassment of journalists, human rights defenders, and activists. His arrest is a clear violation of the right to freedom of expression, abuse of power by the authorities and sends a message that dissent is not tolerated in the country.”

Background

On 27 June, Mohammed Zubair was taken into custody for “promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language etc. and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony” and “outraging religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs” under the Indian Penal Code for his satirical tweets criticising the rising censorship and calling out discrimination against minorities during the tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Pratik Sinha, another co-founder of ALT News who was present at the police station with him tweeted that they had not been given a copy of the FIR and the Delhi police was taking Mohammed Zubair to an undisclosed location.

NagaWorld protestors were met with violence by security personnel on the streets of Phnom Penh Monday afternoon, after weeks of their protests proceeding relatively subdued.

Police and district guards pulled and shoved about 100 workers Monday afternoon at the intersection of Sothearos and Sihanouk boulevards, as they attempted to make their way to NagaWorld casino to resume their protests.

The workers walked north on Sothearos Boulevard, arms locked together, when they were met with dozens of police officers and security guards. The protestors resisted as police tried to break through the workers, only managing to pull away one or two at a time. They were shoved into waiting city buses, according to Facebook livestreams taken by the workers.

“I am a woman, I have nothing. We are all women, we have nothing,” one of the workers could be heard saying.

Police continued to pull at the workers and shove them, with people in plain clothes and deputy Phnom Penh governor Mean Chanyada yelling orders at security personnel. In the background of the livestream, district security guards could be seen blocking U.N. observers.

The police officers and city officials could be seen pointing to the pavement and asking the workers to move off the street.

Suddenly, the plainclothes officials ordered police and security guards to retreat behind a barricade and after a few minutes the bus that was being filled with workers was also driven away empty.

The worker stayed behind the barriers, chanting slogans and calling out to Hun Sen to intervene in the case. They left just before 5 p.m. and said they would continue the protest on Tuesday.

The workers have been protesting since December 2021, with recent protests seeing workers reach the casino complex and compliantly board buses. The buses normally drive around the city before workers are let off at the new Freedom Park in Russei Keo.

Keut Chhe, Phnom Penh municipality spokesperson, denied officials used violence against the protestors. He said​​ it was illegal to protest on the streets because it caused traffic and that protestors had been asked to continue their protest at Freedom Park.

Authorities have regularly blocked traffic with barriers to seal off the major intersections to apprehend the protestors, often closing the major roadway for hours at a time.

“The authorities never [used] violence with protestors. But the protestors did not listen to the authorities’ orders,” Chhe said. “The authorities also got small injuries too and lost some of their equipment as well.”

Sin Sreynich, one of the workers, said plainclothes officials were the ones hitting and shoving workers, and were reluctant to listen to the workers.

“They were not listening to us. We tried to compromise with them and talk kindly,” she said.

Has Rithyratana, another worker at the protest, said she was scared but that the workers were united in continuing the strike.

The union, Labor Ministry and NagaWorld have gone through multiple rounds of negotiations, all ending in no resolution. The union’s key demand is for reinstatement of about 200 workers who have refused to accept compensation. The casino company has been more willing to negotiate other demands.

Workers were terminated last year sparking near-daily protests in the capital. Nine union leaders and workers were arrested earlier this year but released on court supervision.

Responding to the crackdown and violent dispersal by police on Tuesday morning against protestors demonstrating against 14-hour long power cuts in Lyari in the city of Karachi, Rimmel Mohydin, Pakistan campaigner at Amnesty International said,

“The authorities in Pakistan must not use unnecessary or excessive force to disperse protesters who take to the streets to voice legitimate grievances against the power shortage crisis as they continue to suffer the consequences of climate change. People need to be protected from the searing temperatures, not baton-charged and tear-gassed by the authorities for exercising their right to protest.”

“Blocking traffic and causing disruption is no justification to disperse a protest or to otherwise suppress the right to freedom of peaceful assembly. The authorities have an obligation to facilitate this right and ensure people are able to express their grievances safely and without fear of reprisals.”

“At a time when Pakistan’s most at risk communities are facing the brunt of heatwaves and unmitigated climate change, authorities must genuinely listen to their demands and take human rights-consistent measures to help them adapt. Their response today is not only deplorable but marks the latest episode in a concerning escalation in the suppression of dissent.”

Background

Pakistan has been facing an acute power shortage during some of the hottest months that the country faces. The people residing in Lyari area of Karachi city have reported 14-hour power cuts, with some semi-urban areas like Jacobabad receiving electricity for only six hours in the day. A water shortage has also been afoot, demonstrating the impact of climate change.

People in Karachi began protests against the lack of water and electricity supplies early evening on 27 June 2022, but according to media reports, the police violently dispersed the protest with the use of batons and teargas when they refused to unblock an arterial road to the port.

Amnesty International has recently published a new briefing setting out how and when batons can be deployed to disperse protestors in accordance with international human rights law, highlighting the guiding principles of legality, necessity, proportionality, and accountability.

Pakistan ranks as one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world. To learn more about how climate change has impacted one city, please read our report Unliveable for Humans: A Visual Documentation of Life in One of the World’s Hottest Cities.

On 25 June 2022, prominent woman human rights defender Teesta Setalvad was arbitrarily detained by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Gujarat Police on charges under the Indian Penal Code including forgery, fabricating evidence and criminal conspiracy. ATS officers forcibly entered her home in Mumbai, and detained the woman human rights defender without producing a warrant or complaint. This action comes a day after the Supreme Court of India dismissed a petition seeking justice and accountability for the 2002 Gujarat riots filed by Teesta Setalvad and Zakia Jafri, the widow of a person killed in the riots. Teesta Setalvad was driven to Ahmedabad (State of Gujarat) in the intervening night of 25 June 2022 and 26 June 2022, and was formally arrested on the morning of 26 June 2022 at around 10:30 AM by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch. She was presented before the Metropolitan Magistrates Court in Ahmedabad, and has been remanded for five days in the custody of the Ahmadabad Crime Branch. Teesta Setalvad is a woman human rights defender, activist and journalist. She is the co-founder and Secretary of Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), an organization formed in 2002 to advocate for justice for the victims of the Gujarat Riots in 2002. CJP has litigated in Indian courts seeking justice and accountability for victims of the riots, and to hold those in power accountable, including then Gujarat Chief Minister, and current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. Teesta Setalvad has spoken out on behalf of victims and families despite severe pressure and reprisals including multiple legal cases brought against her and CJP. On 25 June 2022, at around 3 PM, ATS officials from the Gujarat Police forcibly entered Teesta Setalvad’s residence and detained her without a warrant. At around 1 PM, the woman human rights defender’s office landline received a call from a person claiming to be from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Noida, who was asking questions regarding the personnel employed for the security of the woman human rights defender. Shortly after this call, two armed officers from CISF arrived outside Teesta Setalvad’s residence and aggressively started asking the same question. Around 8-10 Gujarat police’s ATS officials barged into her residence within minutes of this development, forcibly detained her and took her to the Santa Cruz police station in Mumbai. On the same day, around 5:30 PM, Teesta Setalvad filed a complaint at the Santa Cruz police station regarding her wrongful detention. She accused ATS officials of being aggressive and assaulting her when she demanded to speak with her lawyer, as a result of which her left hand was badly bruised. She also stated that the police did not show her the First Information Report (FIR) until her lawyer arrived and that she feared for her life in the custody of Gujarat Police’s ATS. Forcing a woman human rights defender to undertake an 8 hour journey from the State of Maharashtra to the State of Gujarat during the night is an extremely concerning action taken by the ATS. Front Line Defenders is also concerned by reports of abuse and ill-treatment of the woman human rights defender while in custody including a bruise on her forehead. The FIR against Teesta Setalvad, filed on the basis of a complaint by a police inspector in the Ahmadabad police’s crime branch, covers alleged offences over a period of 22 years and includes sections 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using a forged document or electronic records as genuine), 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), 194 (giving or fabricating false evidence with the intent to procure conviction of capital offence), and 211 (false charge of offence made to injure) of the Indian Penal Code. Two former Indian Police Service (IPS) officers from Gujarat, Sanjeev Bhatt and R.B. Sreekumar who had also made formal submissions related to Narendra Modi’s alleged involvement in the Gujarat violence of 2002, have also been accused in the FIR along with other unnamed persons. It is believed that the purpose of the FIR and the action against Teesta Setalvad is a reprisal for her pursuing justice and to present her campaign as a conspiracy to harm the current Prime Minister. Shortly before a FIR was filed against Teesta Setalvad, Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, in a media interview, openly named the woman human rights defender and accused her of providing baseless information about the Gujarat riots and misleading Zakia Jafri to file the petition by feeding her this false information. This is not the first case of reprisal faced by Teesta Setalvad. On 31 December 2016, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a charge sheet to the Mumbai special court against Teesta Setalvad, her husband and human rights defender Javed Anand, and their publishing company Sabrang Communications and Publishing Private Limited (SCPPL) for an alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). On 16 June 2016, the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued a notice to cancel the registration of Sabrang Trust under the FCRA. Teesta Setalvad’s office has previously been subjected to raids by the CBI and other forms of judicial harassment. In March 2013, a FIR was filed against Teesta Setalvad for allegedly embezzling funds intended for the construction of a memorial to the victims of the 2002 Gujarat riots. On 11 August 2015, the Bombay High Court granted anticipatory bail to the woman human rights defender and ruled that the actions of the woman human rights defender did not pose a threat to the sovereignty and integrity of the state, nor to its security, strategy or economic interest. Front Line Defenders is extremely concerned for the safety of Teesta Setalvad. Her detention, arrest, and treatment since 25 June 2022 is in violation of her rights, and purports to punish the woman human rights defender for her human rights work. In a climate of oppression, especially against minorities, human rights defenders such as Teesta Setalvad are an important source of support to victims of the 2002 Gujarat riots and their families in holding those responsible to account, and deterring further violence. Teesta Setalvad is paying for her commitment to justice with her freedom. Targeting her in this manner sends a chilling message to human rights defenders and victims, especially those who seek justice through the courts by exercising and defending their constitutionally guaranteed rights. We stand in solidarity with Teesta Setalvad and all Indian defenders promoting and protecting human rights in India in this climate.

A Karachi-based social media activist, Arsalan Khan, has reportedly gone missing from the city's Clifton area. His friends claim he was picked up by law enforcement agencies.

However, Senior Superintendent of Police South, Asad Raza, refused any connection with the alleged abduction. He told Dawn.com that the police had not detained the activist. His family has not approached the police yet to lodge any complaint, the officer added.

Later, the activist's wife Ayesha told Dawn.com that she had visited the Clifton police station to register a first information report but officials had refused to do so.

Khan's residence is located in Clifton, which falls in the District South jurisdiction.

Arsalan — known as AK-47 on Twitter — has worked as a journalist for different broadcasters in the past, including Geo News. He has also been active on Twitter and is currently associated with a civil society organisation called Karachi Bachao Tehreek (KBT).

Amnesty International South Asia also issued a statement, expressing concern about his alleged disappearance.

"We are deeply concerned about the abduction of journalist Arsalan Khan from his home in Karachi today at 4am. Pakistan must end this abhorrent practice of punishing dissent by wrenching people away from their loved ones," the statement said.

It noted that the newly formed Inter-Ministerial Committee on Missing Persons must take note of the "jarring disconnect between what they are saying and what is actually happening on the ground."

PPP Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said he saw a video message of Arsalan's wife, adding she was told that her husband "speaks and writes a lot on social media".

"Speaking and writing is not a crime but forcibly abducting and disappearing a citizen is," the senator said.

Senior journalist Hamid Mir also condemned the alleged disappearance of the social media activist, asking whether Arsalan had initiated a trend against any state institution.

Activist Ammar Ali Jan was of the view that countrywide unity was needed to "fight against [the] odious policy of enforced disappearances".

Meanwhile, KBT — an alliance of several political and civil society organisations — also expressed concern about what they called the "abduction" of its activist and announced a protest against his disappearance on Friday evening.

KBT Convener Khurram Nayar told Dawn.com that Arsalan was a volunteer. He claimed that some law enforcement personnel allegedly took the activist away from his apartment in Clifton during the wee hours of Friday.

Nayar alleged that the activist's family also experienced an "unpleasant attitude", claiming the wife was told by men picking up Arsalan that her husband "speaks a lot".

According to the KBT representatives, the whereabouts of the activist were still not known. He said the men who took away Arsalan also allegedly confiscated his laptop and cell phone. KUJ demands immediate recovery of activist

The Karachi Union of Journalists condemned the "arrest" of the social media activist and termed it a serious attack on freedom of expression.

In a statement, KUJ General Secretary Fahim Siddiqi and President Shahid Iqbal also alleged that Arsalan was "detained" by law enforcement agencies. They said law enforcers conducted a raid on his residence in Clifton and took him away.

Quoting a statement from Arsalan’s wife, the KUJ representatives said Arsalan was "arrested" for being a social media activist.

They urged the army chief, the chief justice of Pakistan, the prime minister and the interior minister to take immediate notice of Arsalan’s "illegal detention" and ensure his immediate release.

Several people, including activists Kirsten Han and Rocky Howe, are under investigation for three public assemblies held outside Changi Prison Complex and in nearby Mariam Walk.

In a statement on Sunday (June 26), the police said Ms Han and Mr Howe were interviewed on Friday (June 24) as part of investigations into the assemblies.

T-shirts with anti-death penalty slogans that Ms Han and Mr Howe wore on the day of the interview were relevant to the probe, the police added in response to queries.

Both Ms Han and Mr Howe had agreed to hand them over after they were told the T-shirts would be required for investigations, the statement said.

In addition, the police said they were also advised by the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) to investigate if any further offences had been committed by Ms Han and Mr Howe, who are both Singaporean.

"In response to specific media queries, the police can confirm that the AGC, having reviewed the facts, has advised that Ms Han and Mr Howe did not commit any offences, by reason of the T-shirts they wore, when they came for the police interview," the police added.

When asked, the police declined to say who else is being investigated for the three public assemblies, citing the ongoing inquiry.

The police also did not say when the assemblies were held.

In several online posts last week, Ms Han, who is a freelance journalist, said she and Mr Howe were questioned over allegations that they had taken part in two public assemblies without a permit between March 29 and April 25.

Taking part in a public assembly without a police permit is illegal in Singapore and is an offence under the Public Order Act. First-time offenders can be fined up to $3,000, while repeat offenders face a fine of up to $5,000.

According to Ms Han, police said the first alleged illegal assembly was when she and three others had gathered outside Changi Prison the night before 68-year-old Singaporean Abdul Kahar Othman was hanged for drug trafficking on March 30.

The second alleged illegal assembly was when Ms Han and three others had posed for photos outside Changi Prison two nights before the execution of Malaysian Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam on April 27, she added.

For these alleged offences, Ms Han, who is in her 30s, and Mr Howe, wh

Ms Han said the anti-death penalty T-shirts she and Mr Howe wore to the interview were confiscated by the police, who allegedly claimed that the pair had participated in an illegal procession because they walked across the street to the police station while wearing them.

Writing in her online newsletter on Saturday (June 25), Ms Han added: "I was made to call our friend Soh Lung, who was waiting for us in the foyer, to get her to go to the market to buy us new shirts, so that we could change and surrender our T-shirts."

She was referring to Ms Teo Soh Lung, a former political detainee who has also been posting updates about the investigation into Ms Han on social media.

In her post, Ms Han also took issue with a police officer who had asked that she surrender her social media accounts and provide the police with the passwords to access them.

This was after Ms Han had agreed to surrender her phone, but not before she had logged out of, or uninstalled, her social media applications.

Ms Han said when she refused, she was warned that Section 39 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) "might come into play".

The police, in their statement on Sunday, said only that Ms Han's and Mr Howe's mobile phones were seized for forensic examination as part of investigations.

Under Section 39 of the CPC, police officers have the power to access, inspect and check the operation of a "computer" used in connection with an arrestable offence.

The police officer may also order persons using, or who have used, the computer to assist the police in gaining access to it, including providing any username, password or other authentication information required.

Any person who obstructs the lawful exercise of any power under the section by a police officer, or fails to comply with an order under it, can be fined up to $5,000, jailed for up to six months, or both.

Still as usual, agrarian conflicts that never met the bright spot again led to criminalization and the arrest of a number of people.

The latest agrarian conflict in Talisayan, Berau Regency, East Kalimantan involving the Dayak Marjun indigenous community and a palm oil plantation company named PT Tanjung Buyuh Perkasa Plantation (TBPP) which has been going on since 2004 led to the criminalization and arrest of a number of residents by the police.

In a statement released by the National Committee for Agrarian Reform (KNPA) on June 24, 2022, the arrest of Talisayan residents was based on a PT TBPP report accusing residents of harvesting and stealing palm oil belonging to PT TBPP, 6 residents were subject to Article 363 of the Criminal Code regarding theft.

KNPA also spoke loudly through its release which was received by the media crew. KNPA noted in its release that the harvesting of palm oil by the indigenous Dayak Marjun community on their ulayat lands cannot be called a case of theft using a criminal law approach.

Because if you look back, the reason behind the action of harvesting palm oil by the community is because PT TBPP has planted oil palm outside its HGU boundaries and has confiscated the Marjun customary area of ​​​​approximately 1800 hectares.

The struggle of the Dayak Marjun indigenous people has been going on with various attempts to protest and reject the operational activities of PT TBPP which have confiscated customary land and damaged the environment. However, their efforts actually got a bad response.

They were directed to criminal charges. Whereas Article 66 of Law No. 32 of 2009 concerning Processing and Protection of the Living Environment (UU PPLH) explicitly states "Everyone who fights for the right to a good and healthy environment cannot be prosecuted criminally or be sued in a civil manner."

Responding to this incident, the Head of the Indonesian Human Rights Committee for Social Justice (IHCS) Jambi Province, Ahmad Azhari, requested that the indigenous Dayak Marjun community who had been arrested by the police be released immediately.

“It is not relevant to criminalize the efforts of the police against the Marjun indigenous people, they are not only subjects that have been regulated and protected by law but also constitutionally the Constitutional Court 35 gives respect, meaning that for social justice there is the right to control the state over objects of agrarian conflict. We ask that our brothers be released," said Ahmad Azhari, Saturday, June 25, 2022.

Regarding the conflict that afflicted the Dayak Marjun indigenous people, KASBI, KPA, Aman, Walhi, and IHCS who are in coalition with the KNPA demanded that the Prosecutor's Office, Polres and Berau Regency Government immediately release 6 residents who were criminalized and arrested by the police and also for legal proceedings against indigenous peoples. Dayak Marjun immediately stopped.

Then, the President immediately instructed the Ministries and related institutions to accelerate the resolution of the agrarian conflict in the Marjun customary area as part of the commitment to implementing agrarian reform and recognizing and restoring the rights of indigenous peoples.

Sources in Balkh province have reported that the Taliban arrested Mohammad Saber Bator, head of Hamnawa Social Organization in Balkh, along with four others from Sholgara district of this province Thursday last week, and took them to an unknown place.

Relatives of Bator have confirmed that the Taliban raided his residence on Thursday last week. According to them, the Taliban first beat Bator and then took away his brother, one of his relatives, and two of his guest with him.

Bator’s family says there is no news about his fate and his companions so far.

Saber Bator had gone to Iran after the fall of the former government, and had returned home about two months ago, his relatives said.

On 22 June 2022, Sri Lankan journalist, media rights campaigner and human rights defender Tharindu Uduwaragedara was served a notice requiring him to appear at the Criminal Investiga- tion Department (CID) in Colombo for inquiry on 28 June 2022. Tharindu Uduwaragedara was not given clear reasons for the inquiry except that it relates to the content of his YouTube channel, and that a complaint had been made against him by the Intelligence Division of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF). Tharindu Uduwaragedara is a well known independent journalist and media rights campaigner who has been reporting on the ongoing citizens protests across the country against government corrup- tion, mismanagement and the lack of basic resources including medicines, food and fuel. He is the former president and active member of the Sri Lanka Young Journalist Association (SLYJA) and an Executive Committee member of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA). He has worked at several Sinhala language newspapers including Ravaya and Anidda, known for their in- vestigative journalism and open critique of the government. Tharindu Uduwaragedara has his own YouTube channel Satahan Radio, dedicated to independent reporting on social issues and human rights violations. Tharindu Uduwaragedara has been actively documenting the citizen’s protest since March 2022 and his YouTube channel is a tool to voice the messages of those (mostly youth) who are protest- ing against scarce resources, governmental corruption and mismanagement. He has been present from the outset at Galle Face, in Colombo, where peaceful protesters have set up a protest site, Gota Go Gama calling for the resignation of President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. Tharindu Uduwaragedara set up the International Media Center-Colombo tent at Gota Go Gama, to support journalists reporting from the protest site. Tharindu Uduwaragedara has been openly critical of the current government and its policies, lack of transparency and the crackdown and reprisals against peaceful protesters. Sri Lankan authorities have reacted violently to the protests. Reprisals including physical violence against peaceful protesters, surveillance, intimidation and arrest/detention on baseless charges are ongoing in an attempt to quash legitimate dissent. On 20 June 2022, 9 protesters were arrested by Sri Lanka police in one night alone1. Many others have been called for questioning, arrested and later released on bail. There has been no accountability to date for violence by security forces and government supported mobs against peaceful protesters, most notably on 9 May 2022. On 22 June 2022, the CID served summons to Tharindu Uduwaragedara’s mother’s home in Ban- darawela, Badulla District, ordering him to appear for an inquiry at the CID headquarters in Colombo on 28 June 2022. The summons contained the name and number of a sub-inspector of the police to be contacted for further information. Tharindu Uduwaragedara telephoned this officer and asked why he was being called for questioning. The officer refused to share details, stating only that the inquiry was related to the content of his YouTube channel and that a complaint had been filed against him by the Intelligence division of the Sri Lankan Air Force. Tharindu Uduwaragedara filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka on 22 June 2022 against this treatment which he believes is linked to his reporting and human rights work.This is not the first time Tharindu Uduwaragedara faces reprisals for his work. He has been sub- jected to harassment and surveillance, including during the current protests. Uniformed officers and unidentified individuals suspected to be intelligence officers have routinely visited the Media Center tent and inquired about his whereabouts. Those protesting and reporting are photographed continuously by security and intelligence officers. The recent summons issued to Tharindu Uduwaragedara is part of a pattern of persecution against those raising their voice against the cur- rent regime. Front Line Defenders is concerned regarding the summons issued to Tharindu Uduwaragedara as we believe this is directly linked to his legitimate journalism and peaceful human rights work. All cit- izens and especially journalists and human rights defenders must be safe from reprisals when car- rying out peaceful protests and expressing legitimate dissent against Government policies.

The Observatory has been informed by the Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) about the acts of torture and ill-treatment while in detention against Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi, as well as about the closed-door trials against them. Mr. Zhiyong and Mr. Jiaxi are two human rights lawyers and prominent members of the New Citizens Movement, a civil society movement focused on promoting the implementation of civil and human rights embedded in China’s Constitution, Chinese laws, and regulations.

On June 22 and 24, 2022, respectively, Mr. Xu Zhiyong and Mr. Ding Jiaxi were subjected to closed-door trials at the Linshu County Court on the trump-up charge of “subversion of state power” (Article 105, Section 2 of the 1997 revision of China’s Penal Code). Relatives and diplomats were strictly prohibited from attending both trials. The two defendants’ lawyers were forced to sign non-disclosure agreements prohibiting them to share information about the trial to any source, including the media. The Court did not issue a verdict in either case, and announced verdicts would be issued at “a later date”, without providing further details. The indictments against Mr. Xu Zhiyong and Mr. Ding Jiaxi accused them of forming the “Citizens Movement”, creating a Telegram group chat, and organising a private meeting together with academics, activists, and other human rights lawyers in Xiamen, Fujian Province, to discuss the situation of the rule of law and human rights in China.

On December 26, 2019, Ding Jiaxi was taken away by police officers from Yantai City Public Security Bureau in Shandong Province as part of a large-scale crackdown targeting human rights lawyers and citizen activists – labelled the “1226 crackdown”. The authorities placed Mr. Ding Jiaxi under Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL), a form of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance, for six months without being able to contact his family nor access to lawyers. Mr. Ding Jiaxi was held incommunicado, without his family being unaware of his whereabouts and condition. During this period, he was subjected to various forms of torture and other ill-treatment, including prolonged sleep deprivation, exposure to loud noises, and repeated interrogation while being tied to an iron “tiger-chair” [1]. Furthermore, he was not allowed to have showers, brush his teeth, or change his clothes for days at a time, as well as food and water deprived.

On February 15, 2020, Xu Zhiyong was arbitrarily arrested by police officers from Beijing Municipal Police Security Bureau. Without any legal notification to his family, Mr. Xu Zhiyong was placed under RSDL, initially in Beijing and then in Yantai, Shandong Province, where Mr. Ding Jiaxi was being detained. Mr. Xu Zhiyong was denied access to his family and lawyers for four months, during which he was subjected to torture and ill-treatment. On February 4, 2020, before being arrested, Xu Zhiyong wrote an open letter calling for President Xi Jinping to resign, citing his mis-handling of various crises, including the Hong Kong protests and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan. Mr. Ding Jiaxi and Mr. Xu Zhiyong have been arbitrarily detained for nearly two years, which constitutes an abuse of due process, in violation of China’s Criminal Procedural Law. They should have been tried within three months after their transfer to the court. Both human rights lawyers were formally arrested on June 19, 2020.

The Observatory expresses its grave concern over the high risk of torture and ill-treatment Mr. Ding Jiaxi and Mr. Xu Zhiyong are facing while in detention and urges the Chinese authorities to immediately and unconditionally release them and to put and end to the judicial harassment and unfair trial that they are facing. The Observatory expresses further concern over the systematic use of RSDL in the country and urges China’s authorities to put an immediate end to it.

The Observatory strongly condemns the alleged acts of torture and ill-treatment to which Mr. Ding Jiaxi and Mr. Xu Zhiyong were subjected while in detention and urges the authorities to carry out an immediate and thorough investigation into these allegations and to bring to justice those responsible.

The Observatory strongly condemns the closed-door trial of Mr. Xu Zhiyong and Mr. Ding Jiaxi, and urges the authorities to immediately release them, to put an end to the judicial harassment against them, and to guarantee that their right to due process will be upheld during the remainder of their trials.

On June 21, 2022, Mr. Javed Mohammad’s wife, Ms. Parveen Fatima, went to visit him at the Naini Central Jail in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh State. Upon her arrival, she was told that Mr. Javed Mohammad was not in that jail anymore but was not provided further information. Later on the same day, she and Mr. Javed Mohammad’s lawyers learned from media sources that he had been transferred from Prayagraj’s Naini Central Jail to Deoria District Jail, which is 270 kilometres away from Prayagraj. At the time of publication of this Urgent Appeal, neither Mr. Javed Mohammad’s lawyers nor his family members had received official confirmation about his place of detention nor the reason of his apparent transfer. Moreover, should the family of Mr. Javed Mohammad be allowed to visit him, they will face significant challenges given the time and economic resources needed to travel from the city of Prayagraj to Deoria District Jail.

The Observatory recalls that on June 10, 2022, members of Muslim communities across India protested against anti-Islamic public statements made days earlier by two senior members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). According to Uttar Pradesh officials, the separation of more than 300 individuals, who were arrested in the aftermath of the June 10 protests, across several jails in Uttar Pradesh State is a deliberate measure adopted to avoid riots in prison.

On the same day, police officers went to Afreen Fatima’s house and arbitrarily detained her father, Mr. Javed Mohammad. The officers did not present an arrest warrant and refused to inform Javed Mohammad and his relatives about the place he was being taken to. It was only on the following morning his relatives learned he was being held at the Crime Branch.

On June 11, 2022, another group of police officers went to Afreen Fatima’s house and arbitrarily detained her mother and younger sister, Mses. Parveen Fatima and Sumaiya Fatima. They were released without charges on June 12, 2022 on condition that they would not return to their own house. At around midday, two bulldozers reached Afreen Fatima’s house under heavy police presence and demolished it. The family was not allowed to take their personal belongings before the house was bulldozed.On the same day of the demolition, the Prayagraj Senior Superintendent of Police stated in a media interview that Javed Mohammad had been arrested and claimed that Afreen Fatima was involved in “notorious activities” and that the “father duo propagate[d] propaganda”.

The Observatory expresses its utmost concern over the ongoing arbitrary detention of Mr. Javed Mohammad and urges authorities to grant him immediate access to his family and lawyers, and to immediately and unconditionally release him. Moreover, the Observatory underlines that his transfer to a prison placed 270 km away from his house is inconsistent with Rule 58 of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. The Observatory urges the competent authorities to take all necessary measures needed to ensure that Mr. Javed Mohammad can receive visits from his family.

Furthermore, the Observatory urges authorities to end all and any acts of harassment and reprisals against Afreen Fatima and her family, and to provide them with adequate housing and comprehensive reparation for the illegal demolition of their house.

The Observatory expresses its concern over Mr. Javed Mohammad’s safety and health, and stresses that his arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention are apparent reprisals against his daughter Afreen Fatima for her legitimate human rights work and advocacy. The Observatory recalls that the above-mentioned human rights violations and acts of reprisals against Afreen Fatima and her family take place in a context of ongoing crackdown against the Muslim minority and those who defend their rights in Uttar Pradesh State.

The Observatory has been informed about the conviction, sentencing, and ongoing arbitrary detention of Nguy Thi Khanh, a prominent environmental activist, winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2018 and a symbol of the campaign against Vietnam’s reliance on coal power.

On June 17, 2022, Nguy Thi Khanh was sentenced to two years of imprisonment for tax evasion under the Article 200 of Vietnam’s 2015 Criminal Code, after being prosecuted and convicted for failing to pay a 10% tax on her Goldman Prize money, which is equivalent to an amount of VND 456 million (around 18,252 Euros).

Ms. Khanh was arrested on January 11, 2022 and detained for investigation at the Police Detention Centre No. 1 in Hanoi, where she remained detained pending trial. The acts of harassment against her began after she had repeatedly raised concerns on Vietnam’s heavy reliance on coal. In October 2021, Nguy Thi Khanh along with several NGOs alerted Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on the necessity to revise Vietnam’s Draft National Power Development Plan for the 2021-2030 period. In October 2019, she had joined 12 Vietnamese NGOs, including Oxfam - Vietnam, in signing the “Hanoi Statement” (Tuyến bố Hà nội), which called on the government to stop funding coal-fired power stations and to conduct a democratic consultation with the Vietnamese people.

At the time of publication of this urgent appeal, Nguy Thi Khanh remains in the Police Detention Center No 1.

Ms. Khanh is the fourth and most prominent environmental activist denouncing Vietnam’s continued heavy reliance on coal-fired power to be arrested this year on charges of tax evasion. On January 24, 2022, Dang Dinh Bach, director of the Law and Policy of Sustainability Development Research Center, was sentenced to five years in prison. On January 11, 2022, Mai Phan Loi, founder and leader of the Center for Media in Educating Community (MEC) and Bach Hùng Duong former director of the MEC were sentenced to our years and two years and six months respectively.

The three environmental rights defenders were accused of corporate tax evasion, although non-profit organizations are exempt from corporate tax in Vietnam. Tax laws regarding NGOs receiving funds from international donors are particularly vague and restrictive. The organisations of the three defenders, along with the VCHR, believed that their arrests were prompted by their work to promote civil society engagement in monitoring the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) which came into force in 2021.

The Observatory expresses its deepest concern about the Vietnamese authorities’ use of legal harassment, especially the use of tax-related charges against environmental activists, as a strategy to criminlise them.

The Observatory strongly condemns the judicial harassment and arbitrary detention of Nguy Thi Khanh, Dang Dinh Bach, Bach Hung Duong, and Mai Phan Loi, as it seems to be only aimed at punishing them for their legitimate environmental and human rights activities.

The Observatory urges the Vietnamese authorities to put an end to all acts of harassment against the above-mentioned human rights defenders and immediately and unconditionally release them.

On June 21, Bulatlat obtained from a reliable source a copy of a government order for all internet service providers to block the website of Bulatlat and 26 others, including fellow alternative news outlet Pinoy Weekly and progressive organizations.

Bulatlat has condemned this move as prior restraint against protected speech, adding that this is based on hearsay of National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr.

“We raise the alarm that such arbitrary action sets a dangerous precedent for independent journalism in the Philippines,” the country’s longest-running online news said in a statement.

This report revisits what the public needs to know about the DNS blocking and what it means for press freedom in the Philippines.

1. How was DNS blocking on Bulatlat and 26 other websites discovered?

On June 17, 2022, Bulatlat received queries from its readers asking why its website was inaccessible. These were forwarded to its web host, Qurium Media Foundation, which confirmed that users of Smart Broadband as their internet service provider were faced with returning errors related to failing DNS resolution. In its initial investigation, Qurium found out that the last DNS request coming from Smart Broadband was recorded on the 16th June at 6:24 UTC. Simply put, the ISP deliberately blocked access to the website.

This prompted Bulatlat to write to PLDT/Smart, the National Telecommunications Commission, and the Department of Information and Communications over the apparent DNS blocking on June 20. A day after, on June 21, Bulatlat was able to get, through a reliable source, a copy of the NTC memorandum and the letter of National Security Adviser and retired general Hermogenes Esperon Jr. requesting the blocking of Bulatlat and 26 other websites of independent media and progressive organizations over allegations that they are “affiliated to and are supporting terrorists and terrorist organizations.”

2. What is DNS blocking?

A DNS (domain name server) block is a mechanism to prevent users from accessing suspicious websites. In this case, however, DNS blocking is being used for internet censorship, similar to what is implemented in Vietnam and Myanmar.

3. What did the NSC “request”?

In its letter, the National Security Council cited as basis for the DNS blocking three resolutions of the controversial Anti-Terrorism Council designating revolutionary organizations and alleged members of the Communist Party of the Philippines Central Committee as terrorists.

Esperon, in his capacity as National Security Adviser, “requested” for the blocking of the 27 websites (28 were listed because perhaps for emphasis, Bulatlat was listed twice), without laying the grounds nor presenting evidence.

4. What did NTC order?

Responding to the so-called request, the National Telecommunications Commission issued a June 8, 2022 “for strict and immediate compliance” order directing the immediate blocking of the reported websites. The NTC gave internet service providers no later than five days upon receipt of the order to carry out the blocking.

Bulatlat and the groups in the NSC list were never informed of the said blocking “request.”

5. Why is it questionable and unconstitutional?

There is no provision in the Anti-Terror Act nor in the Cybercrime Prevention Act which provides authority for the NTC to order the blocking of websites.

The NTC memo violates the right of Bulatlat and other groups to publish, and the people’s right to freedom of thought, free speech and free expression.

6. What does it mean for the Philippine independent news?

In a statement, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines has denounced the blocking, adding that while reporting may be critical of the government, “it is dangerous to equate this with affiliation or support that the government now claims.”

“Blocking access to these sites leave a gap in discourse and in flow of information and highlights and threats posed by the Anti-Terrorism Act on the freedom of expression and on freedom of the press,” the NUJP said.

Reporter at Himalaya Television Prince Mishra and his cameraperson Ashvit Magar were obstructed from reporting in Kathmandu. Kathmandu is the federal capital of Nepal.

According to the information received at Freedom Forum, newly elected Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Balen Sah misbehaved with the reporters while they were reporting on waste management at Environment and waste management division, Teku.

Mayor Sah also asked his subordinate to delete the recorded footage and ordered reporters to leave the KMC premises immediately.

Freedom Forum is concerned over the incident. Obstructing reporters from doing their duty and threatening them to delete their reporting is the sheer violation of press freedom and authoritarian move of the municipal chief.

A Kazakh activist who said he was tortured and beaten while in custody earlier this year has been sent to pretrial detention on a charge of taking part in "mass disorders."

Qosai Makhanbaev was taken into pretrial detention late on June 16 after serving a 15-day sentence for picketing the Almaty city prosecutor's office without permission, according to Ainara Aidarkhanova, one of his lawyers.

Makhanbaev was one of dozens of people who claimed they were tortured by police and jail guards after they were arrested during and after anti-government protests in Almaty and other towns and cities in the Central Asian nation in January.

Weeks after his arrest in January, Makhanbaev was rushed to the hospital with severe bodily wounds and bruises and later released but ordered not to leave the city while the prosecutor's office investigated his claims of torture.

The Almaty city prosecutor’s office said at the time that it had launched 87 probes into alleged torture of inmates, but it appears to have made little headway.

Frustrated with what they believed was a deliberate attempt to quash the investigations, dozens of people who claimed they were beaten while in custody began rallying outside the city prosecutor's office in April.

Makhanbaev was detained in early June for taking part in one of the rallies and sentenced to 15 days in prison.

His lawyers said they only learned he was sent to pretrial detention the following day.

Protests in the remote town of Zhanaozen in Kazakhstan's southwest over a sudden fuel-price hike in early January quickly spread across the country and led to violent clashes.

Kazakh authorities say at least 230 people, including 19 law enforcement officers, were killed during the violence. Human rights groups say the number of those killed is much higher.

Authorities said about 800 people have been arrested for involvement in the unrest, while dozens have been sentenced to various prison terms.

There have been numerous reports that many of those in custody were tortured by the police.

The activist group 24 June Democracy has demanded that the Ministry of Justice investigate a prison doctor’s alleged harassment of Nutthanit (last name withheld), or “Baipor,” a monarchy reform activist currently detained pending trial on a royal defamation charge, while the Department of Corrections claims no harassment took place.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said last week that Natthanit told her lawyer that she was threatened by a prison doctor named Chatri, who was performing a physical exam on her and Netiporn, another detained activist. She said that the doctor said to her “If I had a gun, I would…” and imitated a gun with his hand, pointing it at his chin while laughing, and that he told her that prison officials should separate her and Netiporn. She also said that Dr Chatri asked her about personal matters and criticized her on things unrelated to the physical exam he was performing.

On Wednesday (22 June), members of the 24 June Democracy group, led by activists Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, Jetsada Sripleng, and Shinawat Chankrajang, went to the Ministry of Justice to submit a petition calling for the Ministry to investigate Dr Chatri’s behaviour, to release the evidence related to the reported harassment, and for women doctors to be employed to treat inmates in the women’s prison.

The activists also demanded that legislation be amended to prevent judges from ordering the detention of defendants who should be considered innocent until the court has issued a verdict, and that the royal defamation law be amended as it is being used to restrict freedom of expression.

Their petition was received by Deputy Permanent Secretary Sahakarn Petchnarin, who said that the Ministry must make sure that prisons meet global standards, and that the Department of Corrections will not neglect inmates or allow them to die while in detention. He also met and spoke to representatives of the group about their demands.

Meanwhile, the Department of Corrections’ Public Relations Department issued a press release saying that Nutthanit went to see the prison doctor on 16 June for a physical exam and to receive medication for a stomach ache since she is on a hunger strike, and that the doctor on call at the time was Dr Chatri Chongsiriloet.

According to the press release, Dr Chatri spoke to Nutthanit and examine her symptoms, but Nutthanit told the doctor that she will not be receiving treatment and refused medication. The Department of Corrections also said that Dr Chatri claimed that he was testing Nutthanit’s intelligence and cognitive abilities and was asking her why she is on a hunger strike, and that he claimed he did not threaten or harass her. He also told the Department of Corrections that a nurse was present during the examination.

The Department also said that Dr Chatri has been working at the Women’s Central Correctional Institution for 15 years, during which there has never been a complaint against him.

Nutthanit and Netiporn are both monarchy reform activists from the activist group Thaluwang and have been held in pre-trial detention since 3 May when their bail was revoked by the South Bangkok Criminal Court, which claimed that they violated their bail conditions by causing public disorder by participating in another poll on land expropriation on 13 March 2022 at the Victory Monument, during which a small altercation took place between Thaluwang supporters and members of a royalist group gathering nearby.

Nutthanit and Netiporn have been charged with royal defamation, sedition, and refusing to comply with an officer’s order after they conducted a poll on royal motorcades at Siam Paragon shopping mall on 8 February 2022. They were arrested on 28 April 2022 along with activist Supitcha Chailom and charged with royal defamation for conducting a poll on whether people agree with the government allowing the King to use his powers as he pleases.

In addition to the above charges, Nutthanit was arrested on 22 April 2022 and charged with royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act for sharing a Facebook post about the monarchy budget.

To demand the right to bail for detained activists, Nutthanit and Netiporn have been on hunger strike for the past 22 days. TLHR reported on Wednesday (22 June) that Netiporn was taken to the prison infirmary on Tuesday night (21 June) after her conditions deteriorated. According to TLHR, Nutthanit told their lawyer during their Wednesday morning visit that Netiporn had a stomach ache, and that she was fainting and throwing up.

Nutthanit also told their lawyer that Netiporn has not eaten anything for over a week and has only been drinking water, and that she wanted Netiporn to be released to receive treatment since she has lost 11 – 12 kg in weight and her condition has deteriorated.

TLHR said lawyers requested bail for Nutthanit and Netiporn again today (23 June), but their request was denied. The South Bangkok Criminal Court said that there is still no reason to change existing court order and that, even though the two activists said they suffer from stomach ache and fatigue, the prison infirmary is capable of treating their symptoms. The order was signed by judge Netdao Manotamkij, Deputy Chief Justice of the South Bangkok Criminal Court.

TLHR notes that keeping Nutthanit in detention would affect her education. She is currently a student at Thammasat University’s Puey Ungphakorn School of Development Studies and has already missed her final examinations, but has filed a request with her department asking to take the exams at a later date after she has been released. Meanwhile, Netiporn was previously found to have a uterine cyst, and keeping her in detention would deny her medical treatment, possibly affecting her long-term health.

On 16 June 2022, woman human rights defender and environmental activist Saltanat Tashimova was sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest. The woman human rights defender was arrested by the Specialised Inter-district Administrative Court of Almaty as per part 6 of article 488 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Kazakhstan for “participation in an illegal meeting” for events that took place on 9 April 2022. On 21 June 2022, the case against the woman human right defender was appealed, and the Almaty City Court reduced her sentence from 15 days to 5 days. Saltanat Tashimova has now been released and she is planning on seeking termination of the case against her. Saltanat Tashimova is a woman human rights defender and environmental activist. She is the chairwoman of the public association "Let's Protect Almaty" which actively defends the rights of citizens, advocates for the environment, protects architectural historical heritage from destruction and pollution. The woman human rights defender has been using social media to create environmental social media groups, including “Tengriism” and “Let’s Protect Kok-Zhailau”. On 16 June 2022, woman human rights defender and environmental activist Saltanat Tashimova was sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest by the Specialized Inter-district Administrative Court of Almaty. The woman human rights defender was arrested as per part 6 of article 488 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Kazakhstan for “participation in an illegal meeting” for the events that took place on 9 April 2022. According to the woman human rights defender’s lawyer, the trial had numerous violations. For instance, the trial did not last more than 15 minutes, the judge refused to watch a video clip provided by the defence, and refused to hear testimonies of the residents, witnesses and officials of the Bostandy District Akimat who took part in the meeting. Saltanat Tashimova’s lawyer intends to appeal the case. On 15 June 2022, around 11.30 am, the police arrived at the woman human rights defender’s apartment with a warrant for her arrest which included an online court case at 12.30 pm that day. The warrant showed that Saltanat Tashimova was charged under Article 790 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is noted that her trial was scheduled in an hour after the registration of the protocol of administrative violation and the protocol of detention. The woman human rights defender arrived at 12.00 pm to the Bostandyksky District Court, however there was no one there and the offence was not registered. On 9 April 2022, residents of Bostandyk district of Almaty in Kazakhstan gathered at a meeting against construction taking place on an area of wasteland by the BI Group on which the residents had proposed a park be built. Almaskhan Akhedzhanov, head of the Department of City Planning and Urbanism, Altai Rakhimbetov, akim of the Bostandyk District, and a representative of the Prosecutor's Office were also present at the meeting. Saltanat Tashimova was invited in order to document this meeting and events. This is not the first instance that the woman human rights defender Saltanat Tashimova experiences retaliation for her work. On 3 January 2020, three unknown individuals broke three windows in the woman human rights defender’s apartment by throwing large stones. Two days later, the woman human rights defender’s apartment was attacked. During the night of 5 January 2020, a Molotov cocktail was thrown through the window of Saltanat Tashimova’s apartment in Bostandyk district. The perpetrator was never identified. The woman human rights defender attributes these attacks as a retaliation for her activism. Together with other environmental activists, Saltanat Tashimova spoke out against the construction of a ski resort in the Kokzhailau Gorge – this project was stopped in 2021 by President Kassym-Jomart Tokaev. Front Line Defenders condemns the sentencing of woman human rights defender Saltanat Tashimova and is seriously concerned about the fabricated charges against her, which it believes are in connection with her peaceful and legitimate work defending human rights. Front Line Defenders expresses its grave concern regarding the repressive legislation that is being interpreted and utilised to stop all collective meetings.

The Supreme Court this morning upheld the conviction of land community representative Hoeun Sineath from Tbong Khmum province. Sineath was convicted by the Tbong Khmum Provincial Court in December 2020 of intentionally causing damage with aggravating circumstances of acting as a co-perpetrator under Articles 410 and 411(1) of the Criminal Code. He was sentenced to two years in prison, a decision upheld by the Tbong Khmum Appeal Court in August 2021 and the Supreme Court this morning.

Multiple communities in Dambe district, Tbong Khmum province have faced a decade-long dispute over community farmland with Harmony Win Investment Co. Ltd., a Chinese-owned rubber company. Sineath, along with eight other villagers who are not in detention, were convicted after they protested the company blocking access to and clearing their land. Sineath was the only one to appeal the verdict to the Supreme Court. He has spent more than 1 year and 10 months in Tbong Khmum prison since his arrest in August 2020.

Sineath was also convicted in a separate case following his arrest. In that case, he was convicted alongside 14 other people for obstructing public officials with aggravating circumstances under Articles 503 and 504 of the Criminal Code after they filmed authorities implementing a court order related to the disputed land. He was sentenced to spend one year in prison and fined 1 million riel (US$250). The other 14 people received fully suspended six-month sentences. Sineath has also appealed that case to the Supreme Court, with proceedings ongoing.

Around 30 members of Tbong Khmum’s Sre Prang community travelled to Phnom Penh and gathered outside the Supreme Court in support of Sineath during the trial hearing last Wednesday. Daun Penh security guards blocked them from gathering in front of the court and from walking to the National Assembly to follow up on a petition they had previously submitted.

The community of Rejecting the Sangihe Mine was repressed by elements of the joint TNI and POLRI officers who were suspected of protecting PT TMS, which had unloaded heavy equipment to enter the mining location in Bowone Village, Kec. Tabukan South Central, Wednesday, June 15 2022, at approximately 15.00 WITA.

The action of the Community Rejecting the Sangihe Mine by closing the road access is a form of protest against the mining company PT. TMS which has been defeated based on the TUN court decision, to be able to respect the court's decision and the existing legal process, including the prohibition for companies to bring heavy equipment into the building. mine site. Heavy equipment belonging to the company, which was under the direct supervision of the TNI and POLRI, resulted in a conflict between the Sangihe Reject Mining Community and the TNI and POLRI which even led to repressive actions by the apparatus.

It is known that on Thursday, June 2, 2022, the Manado State Administrative Court has won the Sangihe Mining Community's lawsuit with case number 57/G/LH/2021/PTUN.Mdo, namely the Cancellation Decision and the Revocation Order. 503/DPMPTSPD/IL/IX/2020, concerning the Granting of Environmental Permits for PT. TMS Gold Mining Activities in Sangihe Regency, North Sulawesi Province.

That after the decision of the Manado Administrative Court, PT TMS should be able to show a law-abiding and respectful attitude to the court's decision and temporarily stop all forms of mining activities until a court decision has legal force, instead of ignoring and straddling the court's decision. The attitude and actions of PT. TMS are a form of disobedience to the law and harm to us as a state of law.

The protest form of the Community Rejecting the Sangihe Mining has given rise to threats from the Sangihe Police, as can be seen from the video spread on various social media with a duration of ± 58 seconds. The video shows how an individual from the Sangihe Resort Police gives an appeal by using several provisions of the Articles in the Criminal Code that must be obeyed by the community against mining.

In response to this, YLBHI-LBH Manado as the Institute for Human Rights Observer considers that the appeal from the police is a form of real and serious threat and has the potential for criminalization for the people who have consistently defended their living space. The criminal provisions conveyed by the police officers cannot be snared or imposed on the Sangihe community who refuse to mine, because the actions taken have been guaranteed and protected by law. So that the appeal is considered a form of partiality given to PT. TMS, and has tarnished the image of the police as protectors, protectors and law enforcers.

In a press release from YLBHI-LBH Manado received by CYBERSULUT, the treatment of the TNI and POLRI against the community rejecting the sangihe mine has straddled and violated various regulations that have guaranteed the rights of every citizen or community in defending their land rights and living space. Article 28A of the 1945 Constitution guarantees that "Everyone has the right to live and has the right to defend his life and life", Article 28D paragraph 1 "Rights to recognition, guarantees, protection and fair legal certainty and equal treatment before the law", Article 28J paragraph 1 "everyone is obliged to respect the human rights of others", and Article 66 of the PPLH Law explicitly states that "everyone who fights for the right to a good and healthy environment cannot be prosecuted criminally or be sued in a civil manner".

TNI and POLRI as law enforcement officers should be able to act professionally by enforcing the rule of law, in this case providing protection to people who are maintaining their living space as guaranteed and protected in laws and regulations, instead of threatening the community by using Articles of the Criminal Code which have the potential for criminalization. for the community to refuse mining and provide protection for PT. TMS to be able to return to mining activities.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government conditionally approved the report on the use of Seoul Plaza for the Queer Parade. It is only open for one day, but conditions such as excessive exposure of the body are restricted. The organizers of the event argue that conditional approval itself is discrimination against LGBTI people. The Citizens' Committee for Open Plaza Operation (hereinafter referred to as the 'Square Management Committee') announced on the 15th that the Seoul Queer Culture Festival Organizing Committee (hereinafter referred to as the 'Organizing Committee') will hold the event on the 12th-17th of next month. After deliberation of the report that the queer parade would be held at Seoul Plaza on the 16th, it was decided to allow the use of Seoul Plaza for only one day during the reporting period, on the 16th of next month. In addition, conditions were added to limit excessive exposure of the body and display and sale of pornography. Lee Gye-yeol, head of the general affairs department of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said, “Considering the purpose of creating Seoul Plaza, which is the healthy use of leisure and cultural activities, and the fact that there is a strong public opinion for and against the event, there was a consensus that a specific group cannot be allowed to occupy the plaza for six days.”

Seoul Plaza operates through a reporting system. However, after listening to the opinion of the plaza management committee, there was an exception rule that does not have to accept the report as it is. According to the ordinance on the use and management of Seoul Plaza, 'if the purpose of the plaza is violated or use is restricted under other laws, etc.' In case of overlap, etc., the Seoul Metropolitan Government was able to present an agenda to the plaza operation committee.

The fact that the report on the use of the Queer Parade Seoul Plaza was handed over to the Plaza Management Committee means that the Seoul Metropolitan Government has determined that the use of the plaza is in violation of the purpose of the plaza or restricted in accordance with other laws and regulations. The purpose of Seoul Plaza is to ‘wholesome use of leisure, cultural activities, public interest events, assemblies and demonstrations, etc.’

On the other hand, those who support the queer parade see it as a healthy and public interest event that exposes the existence of sexual minorities and expands their rights. This means that it is regarded as an event that meets the purpose of creating a plaza. Yang Seon-woo, chairman of the Seoul Queer Culture Festival Organizing Committee, argued in a phone call with the <Hankyoreh>, “Seoul Plaza operates under a reporting system, but giving conditional permission itself is discrimination.”

From 2016 to 2019, the Seoul Metropolitan Government had submitted reports on the use of the Queer Parade Seoul Plaza as an agenda for the Plaza Management Committee. After the Queer Parade was held in Seoul Plaza for the first time in 2015, public opinion against the event arose, and the city handed over the decision-making authority and burden to the committee instead of directly accepting reports of use. The Seoul Metropolitan Government explains that from 2016 to 2019, when the Organizing Committee reported the use of 1 to 6 days, it allowed 1 to 3 days every year. This decision is not an unusual one. In 2020 and last year, the event was not held at Seoul Plaza due to the spread of Corona 19.

However, the Human Rights Commission of Seoul has judged that there is a problem with this kind of administration in Seoul. In September 2019, the Human Rights Commission of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, regarding the submission of the Plaza Steering Committee’s agenda, said, “Delaying the process due to an unfair delay (without notifying whether or not it was repaired within 48 hours) is a discriminatory measure against LGBTI people,” and provided guidance and guidance to prevent recurrence. recommended the director.

Meanwhile, the plaza steering committee consists of a total of 10 members, including lawyers, professors, architects, civil society activists, Seoul city councilors, and Seoul city officials. On this day, two city councilors were absent.

The Kampong Thom Provincial Court has put an indigenous Kuy community representative in pretrial detention for violence against a property owner following a complaint from a local company.

Heng Phen, second deputy of the local Kuy community in Sandan district, was arrested on Tuesday and charged under the Land Law with committing violence against a property owner for alleged illegal encroachment on the company’s land, said provincial court spokesman Say Veasna.

The community has long been in dispute with Sambath Platinum, which received nearly 2,500 hectares in 2011 for a rubber plantation in Boeng Per Wildlife Sanctuary.

Hean Hiek, first deputy of the Kbet Changho Khnar community, rejected the accusations against Phen.

“She has done nothing wrong. She did not do anything affecting the company’s benefit, and her arrest violated the rights of indigenous people because there was no clear reason,” Hiek said, adding that they had seen no arrest warrant.

Hiek said that the company had begun clearing the community’s farmland in 2011. In 2014, the provincial administration told the company to cut off 130 hectares of its concession for the community and stay 100 meters away from a canal they used. But, according to Hiek, the company had not complied. The community alleges the company has cleared about 700 of 1,000 hectares of the community’s land.

A letter issued by the Kampong Thom land management department in August last year ordered Sambath Platinum to stop planting boundary poles, clearing crops, and removing the community’s markers. It also ordered the company to compensate the community for crop damage.

Another community member, Um Bunthorn, alleged that on May 18, eight armed officers had used violence against residents and confiscated their tractors. Now, the company had unfairly filed a court complaint against them, he argued.

“Our indigenous people would like to appeal to the court and national authorities to intervene for the release of Heng Phen,” Bunthorn said.

Chheng Phann, a company representative and the case’s plaintiff, could not be reached on Thursday.

Ngoan commune chief Seth Phouy said the dispute was long-standing, but the matter was resolved.

“Previously, the people feared using land within the map of the company, forests that they had used for many years. [But] the company has never done anything to affect the people,” Phouy said.

Ngoan’s commune police chief, who only gave his name as Sopheak, said he had also not received a court order for the arrest, and instructions had come down from higher levels.

Four protesters who took part in the commemoration of the death of Mako Tabuni which took place at Perumnas 3, Waena, Jayapura City, on Tuesday (14/6/2022) were injured when the police broke up their demonstration. The four people were injured by rubber bullets. The four protesters who were injured were Aris Nepsan and Jon Kadepa, Benedict Tebai and Natan Pigai. They were injured on the forehead, head, hands, and buttocks. The head of the Freedom of Association and Expression Team for the Legal Batuan Institute or LBH Papua, Aristoteles Howay said announcing the death of Mako Tabuni was dismissed by the police at around 13.00 WP. During the dispersal, the police released tear gas, and were expected to fire rubber bullets. “They were dispersed with tear gas and shot [rubber bullets]. There were four people hit by rubber bullets," Howay told Jubi on Tuesday. Howay said Tuesday's demonstration was a commemoration of the death of Deputy I of the Central West Papua National Committee (KNPB), Mako Tabuni. According to him, the police dispersed the flag after the protesters raised the KNPB. Howay said that at least six demonstrators were arrested by the police and taken to the Jayapura City Police Headquarters. "[Besides], four motorbikes and action attributes were also confiscated," he said. Howay said Tuesday afternoon they had not been able to meet the demonstrators until they were arrested by police. According to Howay, the disbandment of the demonstration violated the provisions of the Regulation of the Chief of the Indonesian National Police Number 16 of 2006 concerning Guidelines for Crowd Control. "Everyone has the right to express their opinion," he said. The Director of LBH Papua, Emanuel Gobay asked the Papuan Regional Police Chief in charge of the Profession and Security Sector to arrest the police who used rubber bullets to disperse the demonstration commemorating the death of Mako Tabuni. He assessed that the Jayapura City Police (Polresta) officers tended to carry out repression during demonstrations. Police institutions regulate the implementation of human rights standards in police duties,” said Gobay.

The military has intensified efforts to locate and capture participants in anti-junta flash demonstrations in Yangon, arresting more than 30 young adults on Monday and Tuesday alone, according to a source close to the city’s student activists.

Leo, the on-ground officer for the General Strike Committee, told Myanmar Now that the youth were detained from townships including Kyimindaing, Sanchaung, Tamwe and Yankin.

“Over 30—almost 40—youth were captured. They forced people who had connections with the victims to guide them to the victims at gunpoint,” he said.

A member of the Yangon Revolution Force (YRF) said that two of the people arrested had hung banners on Strand Rd in Kyimindaing on Monday morning condemning the military-led education system and encouraging people to commit to the anti-dictatorship movement.

“One of them was captured first and the military found out about the other one’s whereabouts from the first one,” the YRF member said. “Although we knew that the first one had been taken, the second one couldn’t get away as it was already 1am when he was captured.”

A member of a youth strike committee from Kyimindaing who had gone into hiding at the time of reporting confirmed that several youth from the township were arrested on Monday.

Soldiers and police officers were searching apartments and blocking roads in order to search vehicles and increasing their patrol in an effort to apprehend protesters, according to a recent statement by the online community the Yangon scout group, which warns members of the public of junta surveillance.

A protest leader and student union member told Myanmar Now that junta troops had been checking household registration lists at night for unregistered guests, as part of a push to identify and arrest youth who had participated in recent demonstrations.

“We get really scared at night as we are all at risk of getting arrested. I can’t afford to pay rent alone, so I’m sharing a room with a colleague from the strike committee,” he explained.

Soldiers reportedly beat and arrested two men in Tamwe and three in Sanchaung in addition to the several people apprehended in Kyimindaing, among whom were four protest leaders, another activist said.

“A boy and a girl were taken in Alatt Chaung ward in Kyimyindaing last night and they’re forcing them to guide them to their team members” he added, noting that some 35 junta personnel were present.

Acknowledging the risk of punishment by the military council, Leo, from the General Strike Committee, called on area residents to help shelter protesters in hiding in order to show support for the anti-dictatorship movement.

“We request that, when it is necessary, the public protect the youth who are fleeing,” he said.

Angered by the regime’s ‘bulldozer-raj’ the All India Students’ Association (AISA) on June 13, 2022 called for a citizens’ protest against police brutalities on Friday, and targeted demolitions of Muslim homes. Some students protesting near UP Bhawan were detained by the police.

Last week, on the afternoon of June 10, a Friday, Muslims across India engaged in huge protests to demand suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma’s arrest for her insulting remarks about Prophet Mohammad and Islam. Although the protest ended within hours, what followed were widespread arrests in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal as well as illegal demolitions in parts of UP. Notedly, the Prayagraj (Allahabad) police illegally detained Javed Mohamad, local activists and father of anti-CAA activist Afreen Fatima. Later his wife and younger daughter were also illegally detained. On June 12, their house was brazenly demolished without following any due process, for allegedly “encroaching”. This act has now been challenged through a letter petition in the Allahabad high court.

It was against this state-sponsored violence of the Muslim community that the AISA students rose in protest and called for a demonstration at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Members demanded that the government:

Stop police brutality in Ranchi, Allahabad and various places in India
Cease witch-hunting of Afreen Fatima's family
Stop targeting Muslims and bulldozing their houses

In a press release the AISA made a call for peace and appealed to people to end the BJP’s “vicious divisive rule”. In their statement, students condemned the government for failing to prosecute Sharma but attacking protesters with guns.

“Unsurprisingly, while no action has been taken against Sharma and Naveen Jindal, the police forces have come down heavily on those who protested against them,” said the AISA.

Further, the UP police arrested and penalised many prominent anti-CAA voices, active in late 2019-early 2020 against what was perceived to be an unjust amendment to the Citizenship Act. The AISA called this a deliberate act of harassment that reflects the BJP’s communal agenda.

“The practise of using bulldozers against Muslims has become a recurring tactic of the ruling government to curb dissenting voices. This is nothing but a state-sponsored attack on the minority communities and is against the secular ethos enshrined in our constitution,” said the AISA.

Aside from students from other parts of Delhi, Jamia Millia Islamia University students also joined the call to condemn the bulldozer-raj in India. However, heavy police was deployed outside the university campus. Barring entrance aspirants and PhD students, the police refused to allow protesting students.

The act of using bulldozers has become a disconcerting move by the ruling regime since the anti-CAA protests in 2019. This tactic has now been significantly used in Uttar Pradesh where many Muslim protesters now face the threat of forced eviction. In 2022, Khargone (Madhya Pradesh) Muslim residents were the first to suffer the ‘bulldozer raaj’ soon followed by Muslim communities in Delhi, Bengaluru and Assam.

Journalist and right to information (RTI) activist Kailash Majhi was held in police custody for four days for his critical reporting about local leadership in Saptari. Saptari lies in Madhesh Province of Nepal.

Talking to Freedom Forum, a reporter at Mountain Television, Majhi said that he had been reporting on the irregularities and malfeasance of local authorities for long. He also uses RTI to collect information on the ongoing issues in the district. Recently, he had sought information on the activities of a construction consumer committee in the district using RTI.

Following this, the committee members abused him seeking information. On June 13, Nepal police arrested Majhi and charged him with indecent behavior. The case is registered at District Administration Office (DAO) under the Local Administration Act 2016 BS, Majhi informed.

"I am a journalist and RTI activist but they treated me like a criminal while in detention. I even do not know what crime I committed. Is reporting on irregularities a crime?", argued Majhi.

Majhi was released on June 17 with Rs.1,500 bail amount.

Senior Officer at Chief District Office, Saptari however refused to speak on the case with FF reasoning the case was sub judice at DAO.

FF condemns the harassment meted out to the journalist. The arrest and prosecution under the Local Administration Act, 2016 with intention to discourage journalists and RTI activist is sheer misuse of the Act and violation of the notion of press freedom and right to information.

The incident depicts state's authoritarian move against a citizen and a journalist which has direct impact on free exercise of his fundamental rights. Hence, FF strongly urges the concerned authority to present the case in the court of law rather than an executive body.

arachi police on Monday manhandled and detained 28 protesters, including females, who were demonstrating near the main gate of the Sindh Assembly against the alleged abduction of two Baloch students of the University of Karachi (KU) by law enforcement agencies.

The two students of KU’s Philosophy Department — Doda Baloch and Ghamshad Baloch — were allegedly taken away from their home near Maskan Chowrangi in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on June 7 and their whereabouts are unknown since then.

Their relatives and members of civil society organisations had set up a camp outside the Karachi Press Club (KPC) for the last four days. On Sunday night, they managed to reach the Sindh Assembly's main gate where they staged a sit-in for the release of the missing students. Police and district administration held talks with them, persuading them to vacate the place as the provincial legislature’s budget session was scheduled to be held on Monday (today).

South-SSP Asad Raza told Dawn that the police detained 19 men and nine women as they tried to enter the assembly building on Monday. The officer denied that protesters were treated roughly. He added that woman police officers had detained female protesters.

The SSP said that all detained protesters were later released.

Meanwhile, the protest organisers accused the police of manhandling women and children. They said the Sindh police had retracted from their promise of arranging a meeting of the missing students’ relatives with Counter Terrorism Department officials on Monday. Therefore, they said, they again staged a sit-in near the Sindh Assembly building where the police manhandled and arrested protesters.

Earlier, around 120-130 relatives and members of different organisations, including activists Seemi Din Baloch, Abdul Wahab Baloch, Aamna Baloch, Naghma Sheikh and others, had resumed their march around 4:50pm from the KPC towards the assembly building where the budget session was ongoing. Passing through Sarwar Shaheed Road, they had staged a sit-in at the assembly's gate.

Speaking to the protesters there, Seemi said that taking away students was equal to the "character assassination" of the educational institutes. She said Doda and Ghamshad were students but they were taken away because "being Baloch was a crime". If they had not been Baloch, they would not have been taken away, she said.

Seemi urged Karachi Administrator Murtaza Wahab to recover the two students. She announced that the protesters would continue their demonstration outside the assembly till the release of the missing students.

Sheikh alleged that people from the Baloch community were being taken away from Quetta, Panjgur and Karachi. She said if two missing Baloch are released, then in return, "10 others are whisked away".

Meanwhile, footage shared on social media showed the police treating the protesters in a rough manner and dispersing them. 'Barbarism at its peak'

PPP Secretary General Farhatullah Babar criticised the "use of disproportionate force and arrest of women", adding that such treatment was "highly disturbing".

Former human rights minister Shireen Mazari termed the situation as "barbarism at its peak".

MPA Sanaullah Baloch strongly condemned the Sindh police's "heavy-handedness and inhuman act of violence against innocent and peaceful Baloch women and students".

He said the Sindh government should investigate the incident.

Qaumi Awami Tehreek president Ayaz Latif Palijo said that Sindh's land should not be used for violence against the Baloch community.

Amid heavy police deployment, two JCB bulldozers reached Mohammad’s residence in the afternoon. The bulldozers, after taking down the front and the back gates, took out personal belongings from inside the house and dumped them onto an empty plot next to Fatima’s residence.

Representing Mohammad Javed, advocate KK Roy and a team of lawyers have filed a writ petition. Roy explained, “The demolition has taken place on dubious grounds. “The house is not in the name of Javed Mohammad, it is in the name of his wife Parveen Fatima. However, the notice served to the family has been served in the name of Javed. Another key point being that the notice served to the family is dated. No previous notice was given to them. Therefore, we have challenged this and have also written to the CJI demanding a compensation for the family and reconstruction of their home.”

The demolition began with the walls of their home before the entire structure was levelled.

Over 60 people have been arrested amidst a crackdown on protestors in Prayagraj (Allahabad) in connection with the violence on June 10, which saw stone pelting, the torching of vehicles and a subsequent lathi charge by the police.

Javed Mohammad, a prominent face in the anti-CAA protests, was named as a key conspirator by the Uttar Pradesh police alongside 10 others, and was taken into custody from his Kareli based residence on Friday.

Later that day, his wife and daughter were also detained, family members say, but the were subsequently released.

The police claim Javed Mohammad gave a call for the Friday protest against the controversial statements BJP leaders made on the Prophet.

A notice to demolish his residence had been handed over to the family on June 11 after which the police reportedly made efforts to get the family to leave the home, as several female members of his family were staying in the house.

Mohd. Umam Javed, the brother of Afreen Fatima, told The Wire that a team of policemen had reached their home and threatened the family with ‘bulldozer action’.

“A team of different officials reached us again tonight (June 11). They harassed us and warned us to leave our home immediately. We have been told that they will be back at 2 am to get us to empty our home,” he said.

The notice served refers to illegal construction of the family’s home and reads, “In a case pertaining to the matter a notice was sent to the family on the 10th of May and a hearing was to take place on the 24th of May. However, no response was given from the family.” As per the notice, the house is scheduled for demolition on Sunday at 11.00 am.

Mohd. Umam told The Wire that the notice is completely baseless, saying, “We did not receive anything and we had no information about construction pertaining to five floors or upwards.”

According to a letter released by activists, the action is illegal and highly dubious.

The letter states. “The fact that the notice was not even delivered in the name of the actual property holder (the property is in the name of Afreen Fatima’s mother) makes its authenticity highly dubious, as even basic proceedings would have uncovered this fact. Further, the notice was dated June 10 but pasted only late at night on June 11, a Saturday, even though police has continuously been present at the house since June 10. It seems clear that the notice was hastily issued on a weekend night to ensure that the family has no opportunity for legal recourse.”

On June 11, student activist Afreen Fatima had put out an appeal on social media, writing to the National Commission of Women highlighting safety concerns regarding her father.

Speaking to The Wire previously, Afreen Fatima said that two days prior to the violence a case was filed against her father under Section 107 (abetment) of the Indian Penal Code. She said, “Essentially, it meant that if anything was to happen in the city, my father would be held responsible for abetting it.”

Fatima’s brother told The Wire on Sunday that his mother and sister have been released from custody from Roshan Bagh area. As of noon, he said that bulldozers have reached their locality.

Police teams have reportedly raided locations to nab 10 of the “main accused.”

The list of accused persons issued by the police includes names of people who had been prominent in the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests of 2019. Others are leaders of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, student activists and Left party workers.

Among those named are Imam Ali Ahmed of the Atala Badi Masjid, AIMIM district president Shah Alam and leader Zeeshan Rahmani, an activist who was active in the anti-CAA protests, Sara Ahmed, and Left leaders Ashish Mittal and Ali Ahmad.

Prayagraj ADG Prem Prakash, in a statement to the press, mentioned these names, and said that many others have been identified as having been behind this “well-planned” violence.

Samajwadi Party leaders have also reportedly been named by the police.

BJP MLA Shalabh Mani Tripathi posted a video on Saturday showing uniformed policemen mercilessly beating a group of young men in an undisclosed location, presumably a police station.

He captioned it, ‘Return gift to rioters’.

On Friday, UP chief minister Adityanath also called for unspecified exemplary ‘action’ against rioters so that those with ‘anti-social thoughts’ never again think of disturbing the peace.

On June 12, reporter Zhang Weihan was detained and mistreated by police in Tangshan, in the Hebei province, while reporting on an assault at a local restaurant. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns the journalists’ detainment and urges authorities to immediately cease the censorship of local media in China.

Zhang, a reporter for state-run broadcaster Guizhou Radio, was at a local barbeque restaurant in the north-eastern city of Tangshan to conduct interviews about an assault incident on June 10, for the program Common People Watch.

CCTV footage outside the restaurant showed a group of men attacking four women after they rejected the men’s advances. Two women were admitted to hospital, and two others sustained injuries. The incident has reignited debates over gendered violence in China, as the local police have been accused of improperly investigating the assault.

In a video, Zhang said that police initially arrived at the restaurant due to an unrelated report of a man publicly urinating. However, after confiscating his identification card and searching his phone chat history, officers instead detained Zhang.

Zhang was held at Airport Road police station for eight hours and was eventually released at 9pm after being searched twice. Whilst detained, a police officer yelled at Zhang, held his neck with his elbow, pushed his head to the ground and forced him to kneel while he was searched.

When Zhang showed his press card, an officer reportedly called him “unqualified and ignorant.” Zhang said that he never received any explanation or documentation for his detainment.

Journalists arriving at Tangshan railway station to report on the recent attack, and the following public backlash, have also been interrogated and instructed not to leave their hotels or places of residence whilst in the city due to Covid-19 protocols. “It’s worth discussing whether it’s a normal disease prevention measure or an excuse to block outsiders, such as journalists, from entering the city,” said Zhang.

Additionally, on June 16, the Hebei provincial state prosecutor, internet regulator, state-run journalists’ association and radio, film and television bureau adopted a national campaign targeting “fake news, fake media and fake reporters”. Local journalists believe that the campaign is a likely attempt to limit independent reportage of the restaurant attack and to control public expression.

According to the former editor of the Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper, Cheng Yizhong, authorities will typically instruct local news organisations not to independently report on events and only publicise government-approved information, after an incident such as the restaurant attack in Tangshan.

Chinese authorities sentenced a young Tibetan language activist arrested in October 2021 to four years and five months in prison, although his friends and family members remain in the dark about where he was taken, a source in Tibet told RFA on Monday.

Thupten Lodoe, also known by his pen name Sabuche, is in his 30s and hails from Seshul county (in Chinese Shiqu), part of the Garze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan province.

“He was actually arrested in October of last year and 2021 [and] convicted of ‘separatist acts and creating disorder in society’ on June 13 or 14,” said a friend of his in Tibet, who declined to be identified for safety reasons. “We don’t know where he is imprisoned at the moment.”

Lodoe was reportedly taken to Sichuan’s capital Chengdu following his arrest, according to an earlier RFA report.

Lodoe’s arrest comes as part of a larger crackdown by the Chinese government on Tibetan writers, intellectuals and cultural leaders who are arbitrarily imprisoned in undisclosed locations, usually for long periods. In most cases, authorities do not provide information about their charges and sentencing details to their families.

Fluent in Chinese, English and Tibetan, Lodoe is known to have studied at a school established by the Panchen Lama, a Tibetan spiritual leader. After his graduation, Lodoe taught in a school in his town.

The Chinese government previously offered Lodoe 10,000 yuan (U.S. $1,500) for a job, which he turned down to advocate for the preservation of the Tibetan language, sources told RFA earlier.

“Lodoe was sentenced to four years and five months in prison for allegedly writing about the real situation of Tibetans inside Tibet under the Chinese government and sharing them on social media,” said his friend.

Chinese police had warned Lodoe once before to stop writing such articles, but he kept doing so, he added.

Lodoe also translated many works from Chinese and English into Tibetan for which the Chinese government considered him a threat, which was another reason for his arrest, the Tibetan said.

Now, the Chinese government has erased Lodoe’s social media posts and blocked his accounts, he said.

Reliable sources confirm that Abdul Hanan Mohammadi, a journalist for Pajhwok news agency, who has been in Taliban custody for almost three months, is being tortured every day.

A source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Hasht-e Subh on Thursday that Mohammadi is being brutally tortured by Taliban intelligence in Kapisa prison daily.

According to the source, the Taliban rebels took this journalist to the 40 Intelligence Directorate in Kabul on Thursday.

The Taliban arrested Mohammadi while preparing a report on June 12th this year.

Since then, the institutions supporting journalists could not figure out to get him out of the Taliban prison.

The Taliban have not yet provided details on the motive behind his arrest.

Myanmar law students are reporting for JURIST on challenges to the rule of law in their country under the military junta that deposed the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. Here, one of our correspondents reports the suicide of a young Myanmar pro-democracy lawyer whose brother and sisters were taken hostage after junta agents came looking for her. The text has only been lightly edited to respect the author’s voice.

Myanmar lawyer Daw Phyu Phyu Khaing (age-29) took her own life Sunday after military junta troops arbitrarily abducted her family members and held them as hostages.

According to a neighbour, a group of junta armed forces raided her home in Ohn Chaw Village, Patheingyi Township, at 1 pm on 8th June. The military initially intended to arbitrarily arrest her based on reports from their on-ground informants who said that she was actively involved in protest groups in which lawyers protest against the military junta and that she financially supported People’s Defence Force (PDF) members. However, when they found out she had already fled away, the junta severely tortured her family members who remained at home. Junta agents subsequently abducted a total of three of her family members – her brother and her two sisters – to hold them hostage instead of her. According to informants, her siblings were sent to the interrogation centre inside the Mandalay Royal Palace compound where the junta military has a base.

Even after four days of their detention [yesterday, 12th June], there was no further news about her family members. On that day, Phyu Phyu Khaing tried to take her own life by taking pesticides. A neighbour saw the scene and tried to save her, but due to lack of adequate medical support in the area where she was, she passed away, according to the Mandalay Free Press (MFP).

Can you imagine what a 29 year old lawyer could have done to support the rule of law and social justice for her country?

Before doing all those great things, here in Myanmar, lawyer Phyu Phyu Khaing succeeded in taking her own life before Myanmar people succeed in getting Democracy. At least she was able to end her suffering now while we all continue. And maybe she did that in the hope of having her family released.

Once again, the Myanmar juntas have successfully proven their excellence in being the cruelest TERRORISTS.

Even though this news is not published on local or international media, there are many Myanmar lawyers who have been arbitrarily arrested for many absurd accusations. The reason why these stories are not more broadly publicized is a fear, uncontradicted by the junta, that media attention will makes the life of hostages worse. But we desperately need media attention to shine light upon this continuous torture while we risk everything just to tell the world about this.

This is not the first time a lawyer has been chased like prey. This is not the first time that the family members of someone on the junta’s “wanted list” have been held as hostages. I hope no one ever forgets how last year a 20 year old third year Myanmar law student, her mother and her 5 year old younger sister were held as hostages.

And Myanmar is not the only place where we are continuously failing to bring peace and justice. Myanmar’s trouble should be considered the world’s trouble because the Myanmar junta is committing crimes against humanity. It’s going on two years since the coup, but where is our democracy, and how many innocent people are going to get murdered before we get it back? All of us do not have a tomorrow. I wonder what the point of having a tomorrow is when every tomorrow comes with misery.

Progressives denounced the arrest of 68-year old environmental defender Daisy Macapanpan who was arrested on June 11, Sunday.

Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan, called for the immediate release of Macapanpan who, she said, is “a victim of warrantless arrest and unjust detention based on false charges, which are seen as reprisals on her advocacy work for the environment and her community.”

Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment described Macapanpan’s arrest as overkill.

Macapanpan was arrested in her home in Pakil, Laguna reportedly by 24 policemen.

In an online press conference on June 12, Macapanpan’s relative, Ryan, Macapanpan just came from a meeting in a church in their town in Pakil when the police came to their residence.

According to Kalikasan, Macapanpan has been leading the opposition against the construction of Ahunan Pumped-Storage Hydropower Project on top of the mountain in Pakil, Laguna.

Leon Dulce, national coordinator of Kalikasan, said that there is nothing wrong with airing disapproval and explaining opinions on why the Ahunan Hydropower Project should be shelved.

“The purpose of such discussions that locals have is to raise awareness and discourse over the matter at hand. Is there something that the proponents are trying to hide that Daisy has probably discovered,” Dulce said.

The said project, according to Dulce, will be constructed in Mt. Inumpong of the Sierra Madre mountain range along Pakil, Laguna. He said that the biodiverse area also has water resources flowing from the Dakil river ecosystems, including the Sirena Falls.

He said that the Ahunan Power Inc., a joint venture of tycoon Enrique Razon’s Prime Metro Power Holdings Corp. and JBD Water Power Inc., is one of the proponents of the hydropower project that will affect 300 hectares of land.

The project will result in more flooding brought about by larger typhoons in floodplains along the shores of Laguna de Bay. The location of the said project is also prone to landslide, said Dulce.

Agham (Advocates of Scientist and Technology for the People) said the proposed project is envisioned to produce 1,400-MW electricity. The group said that the water from the Laguna Lake will be pumped into a reservoir on top of the Sierra Madre in Pakil which will be dropped thereafter to produce hydroelectric power.

They said that the residents fear that the hydropower dam will affect their source of drinking water as well as religious practices in the natural pools in Pakil.

“The construction of the Ahunan hydropower dam will also involve the destruction of trees in Sierra Madre, which will also affect wildlife. The destruction of forests will also increase the likelihood of landslides and heavy flooding,” the group said in a statement.

The group recognizes that the Ahunan hydropower dam is seen as a renewable energy source that could become an alternative to coal-fired power plants. “However, the development of such renewable energy sources should not be at the expense of the environment and people. Additionally, such renewable energy would still be under the control of a private corporation, thus cheap electricity prices are still not guaranteed,” the group added.

More arrests foreseen

Ryan denounced the ill-treatment of her aunt by the arresting officers.

“Some of the policemen who did not have name patches and were carrying firearms, forcibly entered the house of my aunt Daisy. She was alone then. I tried to run to her because I was afraid they might kill her and say that she fought back. The police won’t let me. They were able to get my aunt. Male police officers carried her through her arms and feet and forcibly took her to their mobile,” Ryan said.

He added that the police did not wear body cameras and did not present any warrant of arrest.

Karapatan said it was only when Macapanpan was at the Quezon Provincial Police Office in Camp General Nakar, Lucena City when she learned that she was charged with rebellion for an incident in Infanta, Quezon.

Karapatan added that the charges against Macapanpan and other activists in Southern Tagalog were filed in 2008.

“The rebellion case filed before the Regional Trial Court Branch 65 in Infanta, Quezon was the same case levelled against peasant organizer Dana Marcellana, daughter of peasant leader Orly Marcellana and slain human rights worker Eden Marcellana, who was arrested last year,” Palabay said in a statement.

“At this rate, this rebellion charge may be used repeatedly against activists in Southern Tagalog as the government continues its harassment against activists and government critics,” Palabay added.

Agham meanwhile expressed their alarm over the increasing number of rights violations against environmental and land rights defenders as the President Duterte’s term is about to end.

“Prior to Daisy’s arrest, at least 90 agrarian reform beneficiaries and peasant advocates were illegally arrested in Tarlac. With the worsening global climate crisis, it is imperative that the government afford protection on environmental defenders who serve as frontliners in protecting and conserving the environment,” the group said.

Palabay meanwhile said that they believe that the policy of repression and terror will continue under the new government following the mass arrests of farmers and supporters in Tarlac as well as the preparations for president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s inauguration including restrictions on rallies and mass actions.

“Nevertheless, we will continue to call and work for Macapanpan’s release and that of all political prisoners who face trumped up charges and other forms of attacks,” Palabay said.

The commander of the Bangkok police force on Wednesday rejected allegations that its officers endangered anti-government demonstrators by aiming baton rounds at their upper bodies during a recent confrontation.

Metropolitan Police Bureau commander Pol Lt Gen Samran Nualma said in a statement that the use of rubber-tipped bullets complied with all appropriate safety guidelines, a day after he told a group of media representatives that citizen journalists and independent media are free to operate from protest sites, provided they do not encourage violence or break the laws.

“The shoulder firing position is a basic pose and complies with standards in using firearms, because it allows the officers to take [accurate] aims at the targets, and it is less dangerous than firing without aiming at all,” the statement quoted Police Lt. Gen. Samran as saying. “Firing the weapon from other positions, without aiming, may cause injuries to vital organs.”

Samran was responding to images and videos that appear to show riot police aiming their rifles directly at protesters near Din Daeng Intersection on the night of 11 June.

Police critics say such action may cause serious injuries to those struck by the projectiles. They also point to police guidelines on the use of non-lethal weapons, which state that the rubber bullets should only be aimed at non-vital organs and lower parts of the bodies.

Samran said the images don’t tell the whole story since an elevated firing position alone does not indicate where an officer is aiming.

“Furthermore, the environment is also important. Were the demonstrators above or below where the officers were standing?” Samran said in the statement. “Focusing on the firing position and assuming that the officers were aiming high simply lacks sufficient evidence for a conclusion.”

Police were seen firing multiple rounds of tear gas and rubber bullets at the protesters on 11 June after they tried to march from Victory Monument to PM Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha’s official residence on Vibhavadi Road, sparking the first violent confrontation between police and anti-government demonstrators in months.

The organisers said they were marching to demand the ousting of PM Prayut, who has been in power since the 2014 coup.

Some of the demonstrators responded by throwing fireworks at the officers. Two government vehicles were also torched. There were no official figures on injuries.

Videos taken by bystanders that night also show a group of plainclothes police detaining a citizen journalist who was reportedly filming the protest on Facebook Live.

Comments on social media identify the person as a staff member of a popular Facebook page called “Katoey Mae Look Orn,” which routinely broadcasts live commentary from protest areas. It is unclear why the person was detained and whether he was charged with any offence.

Attempts to reach “Katoey Mae Look Orn” were unsuccessful on Wednesday, but a person familiar with the group said the citizen journalist was released without charges after being searched by plainclothes police officers .

The incident sparked concerns that citizen journalists who report on social media would face further repercussions or arrests from police at protest sites. Police officials have in the past attempted to paint citizen journalists and independent reporters as “unsanctioned media” that need to be controlled or regulated.

In a Monday meeting with the representatives of six media associations, Samran stated that he respected the rights of professional and citizen journalists to report or broadcast news of political demonstrations, provided they obey the law.

A summary of the meeting published by the Thai Journalists Association, one of the organisations present at the discussion, quoted Samran as saying that he “maintained that citizen journalists and members of the public can definitely publish or broadcast the news and images from the protests.”

“But at the same time,” Samran was quoted as saying. “I’d like to ask for cooperation from the citizen journalists and members of the public to refrain from using words that lead to sedition or incitement of violence, or engaging in any unlawful acts.”

A police summary of the meeting did not include Samran’s remarks, noting instead that both parties discussed ways to ensure that the police will not “obstruct or harass the operations of the media other than in instances when a reporter is encouraging or participating in the protest, or in cases where it is necessary for police officers to defend themselves.”

The charred bodies of five members of the anti-coup movement were found by members of a local resistance force amid military raids on villages in northern Yesagyo Township in Magway Region on Tuesday evening.

The township’s People’s Defence Force (PDF) chapter announced that two local guerrilla fighters, as well as three people who had been participating in the general strike associated with the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), were discovered slain near Peik Thin Kat village.

They were burned beyond recognition and buried in a shallow grave, the PDF statement said.

U Naing, a leader of another guerrilla force active in northern Yesagyo described the individuals to Myanmar Now as having been “murdered in a cruel manner.”

“All five bodies were found and accounted for. They killed them, burned the bodies and buried the remains,” he said, noting that the victims were found after the handcuffed hands of one of the bodies was left uncovered by soil.

Among those killed was 54-year-old headmaster Win Kyaw, 27-year-old nurse Zarli Naing, and Khin Hnin Wai, 28, a teacher who was five months pregnant at the time of her murder. Also murdered with them were two armed resistance force members in their 20s: Htay Min Oo and Thae Ei Ei Win.

All five victims were in Myaing Township’s Dan Pin Kan village, located next to Peik Thin Kat, and captured on the evening of June 10, according to U Naing. He added that a bullet was found amongst the bodies, and that the abdomen of Win Kyaw appeared to have been perforated by a sharp object.

Both Khin Hnin Wai and Win Kyaw had been participating in the education program launched by the civilian National Unity Government after refusing to return to work in the junta-controlled school system.

The site where they were killed is located two miles west of the Sin Phyu Shin bridge, where PDFs from Yesagyo, Myaing and Salingyi townships ambushed a junta checkpoint on June 9, killing three military personnel, taking one soldier prisoner, and seizing multiple weapons.

In the days that followed the attack, hundreds of Myanmar army soldiers began raiding the surrounding villages in northern Yesagyo Township, torching homes and abducting civilians.

On June 10, hundreds of villagers were forced to flee into the area’s western forests when junta troops fired indiscriminately towards Dan Pin Kan after encountering explosives planted by the northern Yesagyo guerrilla group in an attempt to stop their advance.

Zarli Naing, the nurse who had been supporting the resistance movement, was working between Yesagyo and Myaing townships after fleeing her home in Pakokku, 30 miles to the south. She was among the fleeing Dan Pin Kan locals at the time she was captured.

“One of our members who attacked the military with explosives got injured after falling down a cliff, so we sent him to the CDM nurse to get his injuries treated,” guerrilla leader U Naing explained. “Another member of our group accompanied him and all five of them were arrested together by the military.”

He told Myanmar Now that Zarli Naing and Win Kyaw had been located in the area by a junta informant, who then guided the troops to the place where she was providing first aid to the injured resistance fighter, at a distance from the other displaced civilians.

“The victims might have thought the junta soldiers were PDF members because they were wearing shorts just like PDF members do,” he said.

Instead, they are believed to have been killed by their captors later that day.

Indian authorities must immediately put an end to the excessive use of force in response to large scale protests in the country that has resulted in the death of at least two people, including a child, and in many others suffering injuries since last Friday, Amnesty International India said today. The organization also called for the immediate and unconditional release of those arbitrarily arrested solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

In the last few days, thousands of people took to the streets in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir and Telangana calling for the arrest of Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal, the former spokespersons for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), India’s ruling political party, for making statements deemed insulting of Prophet Mohammed in a prime-time TV news debate.

“The Government of India is selectively and viciously cracking down on Muslims who dare to speak up and peacefully express their dissent against the discrimination faced by them. Cracking down on protesters with excessive use of force, arbitrary detention and punitive house demolitions by Indian authorities is in complete violation of India’s commitments under international human rights law and standards,” said Aakar Patel, chair of Amnesty International India Board.

On 10 June, media reported an incident where, police personnel can be seen striking batons, pelting stones and shooting bystanders during protests in Ranchi, Jharkhand. Another bystander was shot six times by the police while returning from the market. Two protesters including a 15-year-old child was fatally shot in the head by the police. Under the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, police may only use force for a legitimate law enforcement purpose and may not use more force than needed to achieve this objective. Moreover, police may use firearms only as a last resort and when strictly necessary to protect themselves or others against the imminent threat of death or serious injury; the intentional lethal use of firearms is only permissible if strictly unavoidable in order to protect life.

In another video reported by multiple media outlets and shared by many on Twitter including the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, a police officer is repeatedly hitting detained male protesters with batons in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh while they cry in fear and pain and one protester complains of a fractured arm. Instead of criticizing the use of force, it was celebrated by former police officers and BJP politicians on social media. Baton strikes while a subject is under control are unnecessary and disproportionate, and amount to using batons punitively – which amounts to torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, a violation of international law.

“Presenting and treating all protesters, including peaceful ones, as a threat for public order is deeply worrying and is part of an alarming escalation of the states’ measures targeting Muslims. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister and various state chief ministers have done little to show that they disapprove of any statement portraying Muslims as a risk for public order or embedding other stereotypes and prejudices that may contribute to justifying discrimination and violence against Muslims. They should publicly show their opposition for any such statement” said Aakar Patel.

Instead, in a continuing blow to human rights, the authorities carried out the unlawful and arbitrary demolition of houses belonging to Muslims suspected of being “key conspirators” of the violence that erupted during the protests in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. On 10 June, activist Javed Mohammed, his wife and younger daughter were detained along with many others by the police. On 11 June, a backdated notice was pasted on the wall of the family’s house at 11pm in the night before the planned demolition. Javed Mohammed and his elder daughter Afreen Fatima, a student activist, have been vocal in their criticism of the government specially against the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act. While the authorities cited illegal construction as the reason for demolition, the notice was issued in the name of Javed Mohammed who did not even own the demolished property. On 12 June, the authorities demolished the two-storey house amounting to a punitive measure and a violation of the right to adequate housing. Houses of many other protesters were similarly demolished in Uttar Pradesh.

It is evident that in the absence of any genuine consultation and a complete departure from due process of law, these demolitions stand in absolute violation of the right to adequate housing as enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which India is a state party and has been done to inflict punishment on the community for raising their voices against injustice.

“The State’s response to current protests is not only deplorable but also marks the latest escalation in the suppression of dissent. The Indian authorities must carry out a prompt, thorough, effective, impartial and independent investigation into all the human rights violations allegedly committed by law enforcement officials and other public officials against protesters and human rights defenders. Law enforcement officials who used the force excessively should be charged, whenever there is enough evidence. Victims should also have access to reparations including compensation,” said Aakar Patel.

A Vietnamese court on Thursday sentenced a Facebook user to five years in prison for posting stories criticizing government authorities, with an additional five years of probation to be served following his release, state media and other sources said.

Nguyen Duy Linh, a resident of the Chau Thanh district of southern Vietnam’s Ben Tre province, was jailed following a 3-hour trial in the Ben Tre People’s Court. He had been charged with “creating, storing, disseminating information, materials, publications and items against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code.

Linh’s wife Nguyen Ngoc Tuyet was present at his trial as a witness, but friends and other political dissidents were barred by authorities from attending and Linh had waived his right to a defense by lawyers in the case, sources said.

Commenting on the outcome of the case, Phil Robertson — deputy director for Asia for the rights group Human Rights Watch — told RFA by email that posting criticisms of government policies and authorities online should not considered a crime.

“All that Nguyen Duy Linh did was exercise his right to freedom of expression, which is a core human right that is explicitly protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that Vietnam ratified,” Robertson said.

Vietnam’s one-party communist government “seems intent on proving that it is one of the most rights-repressing governments in the Asian region,” Robertson added. “The authorities in Hanoi have completely lost any idea of how to rule a modernizing, 21st century country with intelligence and respect for the people.”

State media reporting on the case said that Linh from March 2020 to September 2021 had posted on his Facebook page 193 stories with content “offensive to the Party and State’s leaders or against the government.” Linh had also posted what state sources called false stories about socio-economic issues and the spread of COVID-19 in Vietnam, according to media reports.

Linh is the fifth person accused in Vietnam since the beginning of this year of “spreading anti-State materials” under Article 117 of the 2015 Penal Code or “propagandizing against the State” under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code. Both laws have been criticized by activists and rights groups as measures used to stifle voices of dissent in Vietnam.

Four people were hurt in clashes with police as hundreds of mostly female protesters wrapped themselves in Vietnamese flags to rally against a cemetery and crematorium project in central Vietnam, villagers said Friday.

The protest on Thursday targeted Vinh Hang Eco-park and Cemetery, an 80-ha, 500 billion dong ($21.8 million) project in the Hung Nguyen district of central Nghe An province.

Approved by local authorities in 2017, the cemetery has encountered strong objection by local residents due to environmental and water resource concerns.

“There was a clash among the police and local residents. One woman was seriously injured and was sent to Nghe An provincial hospital for emergency care. Two others were sent to a district hospital with less serious injuries,” local resident Phan Van Khuong told RFA Vietnamese.

“They arrested three or four people but released them on the same day,” he added.

A Facebook page titled “Hạt lúa Kẻ Gai” showed dozens of police officers in uniform knocking down protesters’ tents.

“The Commune People’s Committee sent some people to plant markers on a road where local residents put up tents [to block the project] and we all rushed up there to stop them,” Nguyen Van Ky, a resident from Phuc Dien village, told RFA.

“In response, district and commune police officers were deployed and they removed the tents and shoved us down, injuring four people,” said Ky.

The injuries were caused when police officers kicked and stomped on protesters. A fourth protester had a leg injury that did not require hospital treatment.

RFA called authorities from Nghe An province and Hung Tay commune to seek comments but no one answered the phone.

While all land in Communist-run Vietnam is ultimately held by the state, land confiscations have become a flashpoint as residents accuse the government of pushing small landholders aside in favor of lucrative real estate projects, and of paying too little in compensation.

Groups condemned the violent arrest of 93 individuals, including agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), in Hacienda Tinang, Concepcion, Tarlac on Thursday, June 9.

According to the report of the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA), the ARBs together with peasant advocates were peacefully holding a bungkalan or collective farming when members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and regional mobile group patrol came to the area, some bearing long firearms.

Authorities forcibly took peasant leaders of agrarian reform beneficiaries group, Malayang Kilusang Samahan ng Magsasaka ng Tinang (Makisama-Tinang) namely Ophelia Cunanan, Alvin Dimarucot and three others members along with volunteers, supporters, peasant advocates who were members of Sama-Samang Artista para sa Kilusang Agraryo (SAKA, Artists’ Alliance for Genuine Agrarian Reform).

UMA said that those arrested are in police custody and reportedly charged with malicious mischief and obstruction of justice.

Cathy Estavillo, secretary-general of women peasant group Amihan said that the mass arrest and harassment faced by farmers and advocates at Hacienda Tinang showed “the uselessness of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).”

“Deprived farmers are faced with violent reprisal when they assert their rightful claim to land. This exposes CARP as instrumental to landlords while the majority of our farmers remain landless, poor, and hungry,” Estavillo said, adding their call for the immediate release of the farmers and their supporters and holding the police accountable.

Non-installation of agrarian reform beneficiaries

Farmers who are beneficiaries of agrarian reform have made their calls clear when they trooped to the Department of Agrarian Reform office in Quezon City on Tuesday, June 7, demanding the installation of some 236 legitimate ARBs who are all holders of Certificate of Land Ownership Awards (CLOAs).

They also submitted a manifestation opposing the DAR’s proposal for what they described as a tedious revalidation process, which they said will only favor the family of Tarlac Rep. Noel Villanueva.

The group said Villanueva is claiming ownership of the disputed land.

They added that Villanueva is reportedly attempting to install some 468 members of a local farmers cooperative, half of which already sold their rights to the family of the Tarlac solon.

UMA said that the disputed land is a 200-hectare sugarcane landholding which is part of the more than 1,200-hectares of land formerly owned by Benigno Aquino Sr. and inherited by the Aquino siblings including Antonio Urquico Aquino who later sold the land to Dominican priests.

“In 1988, the said landholding was placed under voluntary land transfer (VLT) by the Dominican Priests of the Phils. Inc. under Cory Aquino’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL). The farmer-tenants then applied to become beneficiaries. They were awarded their CLOAS in 1998,” the group

In an earlier statement, Abby Bucad of Makisama-Tinang said the farmers decided to collectively cultivate the land in 2016 due to decades of non-installation (of land reform beneficiaries).

The following year, they filed a petition for installation and in 2018 and 2019, DAR issued a writ of execution and ordered with finality the distribution and installation of the ARBs. However, Bucad said that the order did not take effect.

“President Duterte’s term and that of DAR Secretary Bernie Cruz are ending but the farmers still do not have their land. DAR and Sec. Cruz only have less than a month to proceed with the installation of farmers in their land, Bucad said in Filipino.

“DAR has been remiss of its duty and obligation to implement a comprehensive and genuine agrarian reform. More than three decades after CARP was enacted, nine out of ten farmers remain landless. ARBs on the other hand, still cannot pay the land amortization under CARP,” UMA said.

Members of the NPA?

Supporters were also accused of being members of the New People’s Army, said SAKA in a statement.

When they asked for the basis of their arrest, one police officer replied: “NPA kayo.”

SAKA is a peasant advocate group whose members are artists.

The group said that “the police cornered them in a hut, dismantled its doors, then forced themselves into it to drive the others out. It was the local police chief, at the time wearing civilian clothes, who ordered that everyone be rounded up and brought to the Concepcion police station.”

“Such land cultivation, called ‘bungkalan,’ is a form of protest in which peasants—usually ARBs—assert ownership of land by planting agricultural products that primarily address their immediate need for food. It is a method of guaranteeing a peasant community’s own food security,” the group said in a statement.

“In the case of MAKISAMA, they aimed to grow rice and vegetables on land granted to them by DAR as early as 1998, but whose collective CLOA was seized by a cooperative run by a local family of bureaucrats, including the incoming Mayor,” they added.

Meanwhile, Agham Advocates of Science and Technology for the People called for the immediate release and dropping of all charges against the 87 persons arrested by the police. They also called on DAR and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to conduct an immediate and impartial investigation on such human rights violations against the ARBs and peasant advocates.

“We also challenge DAR to immediately resolve the chronic problem of landlessness among peasants in the country by fast-tracking the granting of lands. As we face another economic crisis brought by increasing fuel and food insecurity, we demand the government to provide more support to our farmers who provide food to our tables,” the group said.

Protesting against the proposed central status for Panjab University, student bodies alleged police used lathicharge to stop them from entering Chandigarh near the YPS roundabout in Mohali on Thursday.

As many as nine student organisations from Punjab, including Punjab Students Union (PSU-Lalkaar), Punjab Students Union (Shaheed Randhawa), Student Federation of India (SFI) and Students For Society (SFS), had gathered at Amb Sahib Gurdwara in Phase 8, where student leaders also addressed the protesters.

The protesting students later marched towards Chandigarh to reach the Punjab Raj Bhavan, but were stopped by police near YPS roundabout with the help of barricades.

Here, students alleged police used lathicharge, leaving several of them injured. When they managed to cross the barricades, they were stopped by Chandigarh Police from proceeding further.

Aman of PSU-Lalkaar said some students were injured while crossing the barricades and others due to police lathicharge. “A female student also fell unconscious and was taken to the hospital,” he said, adding that they gave a representation to the police officials for a meeting with a representative of the Punjab chief minister.

DSP (City 1) Sukhnaaz Singh said there was no lathicharge at the YPS roundabout. “Police only stopped the students from entering Chandigarh. Police managed to pacify the students and they returned amicably,” he said.

Last month, the Punjab and Haryana high court had directed the central government to consider the conversion of PU into a central University, evoking opposition from student bodies.

At 2 pm, they started a march from Mohali towards the Governor House and the house of the Chief Minister of Punjab against the centralization of Punjab University. When they entered the Chandigarh border, a large contingent of Punjab Police tried to stop them at the YPS roundabout and lathi-charged them without any provocation. Several students were injured in the lathi charge. After the lathi charge, senior policemen started a dialogue with the students and the officer on special duty (OSD) to the chief minister reached out to the protesting student leaders and called the nine representatives for a meeting at CM's residence. A student said that some students were injured while crossing the barricades and others were injured during the lathi-charge. He also said that they submitted a report to police officials for a meeting with a representative of the Punjab chief minister. Mr. Sukhnaz Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Chandigarh city said that there was no lathi-charge and the police only stopped the students from entering Chandigarh.

Filipino environmentalist groups have assailed the new wave of surveillance, harassment, and red-tagging of their members in the past five days..

The Center for Environmental Concerns-Philippines (CEC) and Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) said men believed to be police officers in plainclothes knocked on their office on Thursday, June 9, and took photos of their staff.

The groups said their staff did not consent to being photographed and that no search warrant was also presented.

Earlier today, men believed to be police officers were once again seen taking photos of their office, the green groups added in their joint statement.

The wave of harassment and red-tagging happened following the mass arrests of 93 farmers and land reform advocates in Hacienda Tinang in Concepcion, Tarlac, and the recent arrest of an anti-dam activist in Pakil, Laguna.

Apart from the two environmentalist groups, they also noted the spate in red-tagging incidents on progressive partylists.

“We fear that this is the beginning of a crackdown against land and environmental defenders under the incoming authoritarian Marcos-Duterte regime,” the group said.

This is not the first time that Kalikasan and CEC were subjected to red-tagging. In 2018, there was an attempt to raid their office, they said, citing their then collaborations with the Commission on Human Rights and international groups such as the United Nations Human Rights System, Global Witness and the International Union for Conservation of Nature for their work on the issues and challenges being faced by environmental defenders.

They said, “We call on the CHR and the various UN human rights and environmental offices we have worked with in the past years to undertake preventive interventions against these human rights abuses and threats.”

Every time someone gets "picked up", reports are published in media. After being "picked up", whereabouts of some become known, while the unlucky ones are never found. What is never known, however, is the way someone gets "picked up" and who does the "picking up".

Mizanur Rahman, who became the latest person to be "picked up", was fortunately found and released several hours later. He spoke to The Daily Star, detailing the chronology of events that happened on that day.

Mizanur, an activist and resident of Dhaka's Jurain area, was picked up by law enforcers from Shyampur Police Station on June 9, 2022, from a market near Jurain Rail Gate.

When the incident was reported, Shyampur police and Detective Branch did not clear the air, while Mizanur's family members and friends panicked.

The day before, police lodged a case in connection with an attack on a police sergeant in Jurain, accusing 450 persons including three named individuals.

Besides talking to media in this regard, Mizanur published a post on social media after the incident, saying: "It can be said that two things will happen. One is trade involving the cases filed, and the other being bribes demanded through threatening to sue people. We are living in a country where it is not at all possible to expect an impartial and fair investigation into the incident that happened." ONE HOUR AT THE POLICE STATION

According to Mizanur, he came to know that DB was looking for him before he would be picked up from Jurain later in the day on June 9. A close junior in the area had alerted him in this regard and suggested him to go into hiding.

"I, however, thought that I did not have a reason to be on the run. Firstly, I did not commit any crime. Secondly, there are many unnamed accused in this case, the meaning of which is not unknown to us. It will be all about arresting any and all, leaving mostly common people harassed and with no one to stand by them. Considering this, I gave up the thought of going into hiding," Mizanur told The Daily Star.

On the day he was "picked up", Mizanur went to a market named Bikrampur Plaza, where he noticed a police inspector nearby calling him.

"It occurred to me that they may detain me, so I tried to get inside the market but the policemen ran to catch up with me and asked my name. 'Our DC sir will have a word with you,' they then said," Mizanur recounted.

Meanwhile, he somehow managed to inform his daughter in this regard over mobile phone. Soon afterwards, several other police personnel arrived on the spot and surrounded him before "picking him up" in a car. Mizanur told a friend at the time that he was being taken to Shyampur Police Station.

"In the car, they misbehaved with me and snatched away my mobile phone," he said.

The family members and near ones began to panic from this point on. As his family contacted Shyampur police, they denied picking up Mizanur straight away. Then who picked him up? What had happened to him? There were so many questions that his family members were imploring to find answers to while looking for information on his whereabouts.

"In Shyampur OC's room, there was a female police official, possibly the ADC. There they misbehaved with me, used abusive words. They asked why I said that [social media post] about bribery demanded by policemen. I tried to explain, but they hardly let me speak properly," Mizanur narrated.

"At one point, the female officer ordered to beat me up. A policeman was standing there with a stick. Once ordered, he beat me hard several times," he said.

"I have so far fought a lot to live with self-respect. Being beaten like this was unacceptable to me. Yes, I was beaten up before on the road while protesting some cause. But being beaten up like this just for saying something really hurt my self-respect. I could hardly speak. I never felt so helpless. I was also enraged by this," he said.

"After a while, another senior official came. He spoke casually with me, did not misbehave. 'What you said is alright, but you could have said this through a proper channel,' he told me," Mizanur said.

Mentioning that he was kept standing the whole time at the police station, Mizanur said, "One police personnel was telling an officer there, 'Sir, he is in the BNP committee.' Another said angrily, 'Sir, his whole family are protesters. Even his daughters are also involved in protests.' 'Go pick them up too,' an official said in response."

While this was going on at the police station, Mizanur's wife, daughter and friends could not even be sure whether he was in the station.

The Daily Star also tried to contact Mizanur over phone, but no one received it.

Contacted, Shyampur OC Mofizul Alam had said, "We did not pick up Mizanur Rahman. However, we came to know that he has been taken to Detective Branch (DB). He is one of the suspected instigators in the attack on police sergeant in Jurain. Higher officials are looking into the matter." ON THE WAY TO DB HEADQUARTERS, BLINDFOLDED!

Around an hour after being taken to the police station, Mizanur along with another arrestee were handcuffed, blindfolded and taken in a car for DB headquarters, where they reached half an hour later.

"They did not talk to me much on the way, rather were speaking among themselves. One, however, remarked, 'Old man, why bother doing things like this? Now you will suffer from pain for the rest of your life!'"

Mizanur also said the blindfold was removed after he was taken to a "high official's" office at the DB headquarters.

"After being quizzed by all present in the room, the senior-most person there spoke to me, asking my name first. This was not like quizzing. Around 5-6 persons were present there. While he was talking to me, the junior officers were getting angry at me and misbehaving with me. The senior person made them stop. 'These should be present in democratic practice. We also make mistakes many times. When people like them [referring to me] speak up, it gives us scope to rectify our mistakes too,' he had said," Mizanur recalled.

"The official also said, 'Let's say you were accused in a case. A case can be lodged in many ways. Suppose someone framed you with 10-20 yaba pieces and filed a case against you. Then the verdict may be delivered in the case after 20 years, proving you not guilty. Those who filed the case also knew that you were innocent. However, can you imagine the journey you'd have to make during these 20 years till that verdict?'" Mizanur recounted.

Meanwhile, three hours went by. No one, family or friends, yet knew where Mizanur was taken to. The Daily Star also tried to contact DB and police alongside other relevant sources, but nothing could be known. ASKED FOR WATER, TOLD "KEEP FASTING"

After some time, Mizanur was taken to another room and for the first time was allowed to sit after three hours.

"During this time they tried to discuss with me and tried to make me realise that learned men should not speak a lot, by giving references of Dr Zafar Iqbal and Prof Anu Muhammad. I requested for water. They told me to 'keep fasting'," Mizanur said.

"One of them sarcastically remarked that I had taken water from the drain to get Wasa MD to drink it."

"Then I was taken to another room where I was asked if I had anything to eat. They gave me rice, water and coffee. After the meal, one officer came and asked for someone I wanted to be my custodian. I asked for my wife to be informed," Mizanur said.

The official during that time tried to convince Mizanur that he has a family and their future is important, so he should not be involved in any activities like this. 'NOT EVEN BIRDS WILL KNOW IF PICKED UP SECRETLY'

Mizanur's wife Shamim Hashem Khuki was contacted from DB headquarters after 3:30pm, more than four and half hours after he was picked up. Informed, his family went to the DB headquarters on Minto Road.

According to Mizanur, some time after 4:00pm his wife and daughter entered the DB headquarters. They stayed there for around 20-25 minutes.

"When my wife entered, someone told her in front of me, 'We brought him in broad daylight before everyone. If we picked him up secretly, not even birds would come to know'," Mizanur said.

Later he was released after signing an undertaking that said, "I shall not get involved in any illegal or anti-state activities." "After considering a lot of things, I decided to sign," Mizanur said.

"My daughter was also asked to try to make me understand that I should not speak up. One official said if things like this continue, my daughters will not be considered for government jobs, while warning me of risks," he also said.

"They also asked me about my political identity and views. They did not ask whether I support Awami League or BNP, though. I wanted to say I want a society free of exploitation, repression. One that upholds peoples' dignity. They did not let me speak, instead changed the topic."

A former journalist from Mandalay who was arrested nearly two months ago has been charged with incitement for a Facebook post, according to lawyers familiar with his case.

Zaw Zaw, a photojournalist who quit his job with news outlet The Irrawaddy after last year’s coup, disappeared after he was taken into custody on April 9.

Last month, it was learned that he had been transferred to Mandalay’s Obo Prison after being held at the notorious Mandalay Palace interrogation centre for more than a month.

He was formally charged with incitement under Section 505a of the Penal Code during a court appearance inside the prison on Wednesday, a lawyer told Myanmar Now.

“They couldn’t find any dirt on him even after interrogating him, so they just found one Facebook post and laid the charge against him based on that,” said the lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The content of the post had not been disclosed at the time of reporting.

Zaw Zaw attended his first court hearing through an online conferencing system on Monday, and the charge was filed at the prison court with him present two days later, according to lawyers.

His former employer, The Irrawaddy, has also been charged with incitement for its post-coup news coverage. Zaw Zaw resigned from his job shortly after the regime forced the outlet to close.

A number of journalists have been convicted on incitement charges. In January, a court in Sagaing Region handed two-year prison sentences to an editor and a reporter from the now defunct Zayar Times.

According to figures compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, there are a total of 10,962 political prisoners currently being held in regime custody, including at least 50 journalists.

Myanmar’s junta charged The Irrawaddy’s former photojournalist Zaw Zaw with incitement on Monday, according to his lawyer.

Zaw Zaw was detained in Mandalay in April and later sent to the city’s Obo Prison. He stopped working for The Irrawaddy last year.

His lawyer U Myo Min Zaw said that the police submitted the case to the court on Monday, charging Zaw Zaw with incitement under Article 505(a) of the Penal Code.

Zaw Zaw appeared in court for the first time on Wednesday.

“He looks fine and in good health,” said his lawyer.

He added that his client thought that he had been charged for a Facebook post in which he denounced the junta.

But U Myo Min Zaw declined to confirm the exact reason for the charge as he was still waiting for access to the police file submitted to the court.

Another court hearing for Zaw Zaw is set for next Wednesday.

Since last year’s coup, the military regime has arrested over 140 media workers, of whom around 60 remain behind bars.

Jailed Kazakh opposition figure Zhanbolat Mamai faces up to 10 years in prison after authorities additionally charged him with organizing mass disorders and distributing false information in an emergency situation.

Mamai's wife, Inga Imanbai, told RFE/RL on June 8 that investigators are now accusing her husband of organizing anti-government protests that shook the Central Asian nation in early January, leaving at least 230 people dead.

President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has positioned himself as a reformer who aims to open up the country to new voices, but Mamai, the 33-year-old leader of the unregistered Democratic Party of Kazakhstan was arrested in mid-March on charges of insulting an authority and distributing false information. Those charges carried a penalty of up to one year in prison.

Mamai, known for his harsh criticism of the nation's authoritarian government, has been trying to register the Democratic Party of Kazakhstan, but claims he is being prevented from doing so by the government. He says officials only permit parties loyal to the political establishment to be legally registered.

Kazakhstan was ruled by authoritarian President Nursultan Nazarbaev from when it gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 until Toqaev succeeded him in 2019.

Over the past three decades, several Kazakh opposition figures have been killed while many have also been jailed or forced to flee the tightly controlled former Soviet republic.

Toqaev recently broadened his powers after Nazarbaev and his clan left the tightly controlled oil-rich nation's political scene following the unprecedented deadly anti-government protests in January.

The protests started over a fuel price hike and spread across Kazakhstan because of discontent with the cronyism that has long plagued the country.

The Mondulkiri Provincial Court questioned four Bunong environmentalists for several hours on Tuesday over alleged defamation and incitement based on a developer’s complaint.

Kroeung Tola, Ploek Phyrom, Ploek Nary and Kloeung Tum were summoned to appear on allegations leveled by Kak Ratana, director of Villa Development, according to one of the accused.

Phyrom said the case was a result of the foursome earlier filing a complaint against the company for deforestation, clearing state land and destroying resin trees in the Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary. The area of forest in question, in Sen Monorom’s Sokdum commune, had been used by the local indigenous community for a long time before the company brought in heavy machinery to clear it, she said.

On Tuesday, court officials questioned them for several hours but they made no immediate decision on the case and let them go home, Phyrom said. The accused requested that the case be dropped, she added.

The company director, Ratana, could not be reached on Tuesday.

“We are protecting our land. They are planning to clear 100 hectares,” Phyrom previously said after receiving the court summons. “We make a living on that land.”

The community had already lost around 1,000 resin trees in the area, she said. “If we lose all of them, what can we do?”

Tola, another of the accused, is a prominent activist and coordinator for the Mondulkiri Indigenous People Network. He has faced previous legal actions against him, including fines for defamation.

On 7 June 2022, Kanapathipillai Kumanan, a human rights defender and independent journalist based in Mullaitivu, was intimidated by the Sri Lanka Police and Sri Lanka Navy personnel while he was covering a protest against forcible acquisition of land by the Sri Lanka Navy in Vattuvakkal, Mullivaikkal. Kumanan was blocked from covering the protest, threatened with arrest and physi- cally removed from the protest site. Kanapathipillai Kumanan is a Tamil journalist and human rights defender based in Mullaitivu, Sri Lanka. He is a photo journalist and an activist covering violations against Tamil civilians by security forces in the heavily militarised North and East Sri Lanka. Following the end of the armed conflict in May 2009, Kanapathipillai Kumanan has played a key role in covering issues including enforced disappearances, military land acquisition and environmental crimes. He also supports the cam- paigns of survivor defender communities for truth, justice and redress. On 7 June 2022, Kanapathipillai Kumanan was covering a local protest against forced land acquisi- tion in Vattuvakkal, Mullivaikkal by the Sri Lanka Navy. The land is planned to be used for the ex- pansion of the Gotabhaya Naval Camp in the area. While he was covering the protest on 7 June 2022, Sri Lankan security officers harassed and grabbed him in an attempt to prevent him from taking photographs of the protest. A Sri Lanka Navy officer in uniform threatened him to stop taking photographs. Sri Lanka police officers grabbed Kanapathipillai Kumanan and attempted to seize his official media card. During the incident the Navy officer repeatedly asked the intelligence and police officers to arrest Kanapathipillai Kumanan. The human rights defender was undeterred and continued to document the protest and intimidation against him and others by security forces. Kanapathipillai Kumanan repeatedly asked “why are you laying your hands on me?” when officers attempted to manhandle him. The human rights defender was eventually forced to leave the site by security officers. In July 2021, the Sri Lanka navy deployed dozens of troops in response to a peaceful protest against a mass land-grab in the Vattuvakal area, following heavy local opposition and protest. Ef- forts were stepped up to permanently seize 617 acres of Tamil-owned land for the Gotabhaya Navy Base, a process that began with a gazette in 2017 but has stalled due to heavy local opposi- tion and protest. Mullivaikkal is one of the highly militarised areas in Sri Lanka. Militarisation in this particular area continued even after the end of the civil war, and local communities have been campaigning for several years for the return of land acquired forcibly by the Sri Lankan military. This is not the first time Kanapathipillai Kumanan has faced reprisals. The human rights defender has been threatened and physically assaulted previously due to his work. Journalists and human rights defenders in Sri Lanka have faced violence and repression as a result of their work, espe- cially in the North and East. There is a culture of impunity for attacks against activists in the North and East, and those who continue to work do so under extremely hostile conditions at great per- sonal risk. There is limited attention to the crimes against them and perpetrators are not held to ac- count. In October 2021 Kanapathipillai Kumanan and another journalist were assaulted by timber smug- glers while reporting on illegal deforestation and timber smuggling in the Murippu forest area in the Mullaitivu district. In June 2019, Kanapathipillai Kumanan was physically assaulted and verbally abused by the officer in charge (OIC) of the Kokkilai police station in Mullaitivu district, while report- ing on the failure of law enforcement to implement a court order relating to a dispute between a Hindu and Bhuddist temple at the Neeraviadi Pillayar Kovil in the Mullaitivu district. Front Line Defenders is extremely concerned about continuing reprisals against Kanapathipillai Ku- manan and human rights activists and journalists, especially in the North and East. There are daily reports of harassment of human rights defenders, peaceful protesters and journalists in the country as reprisal for their work. Tamil and Muslim human rights defenders, especially those working in heavily militarised war affected areas are particularly vulnerable to reprisal.

On June 6, police in Nepal killed an 18-year-old woman when they opened fire on protesters using tear gas and live ammunition. Villagers in Bardiya district had blocked a highway to demand the government do more to protect them from wild animals from a nearby national park, media reports said. It is the latest instance of police using excessive and lethal force against demonstrators.

The woman killed in the latest shooting, Nabina Tharu, was a member of a marginalized ethnic community in Nepal’s Terai region. Following the incident, Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand told parliament that officials were meant to “resolve the dispute[s] … using the least amount of force. There was no order to shoot.”

As in previous cases, the government responded by appointing a committee to investigate the incident. However, the committee, comprised of police and officials from the Department of National Parks, lacks independence. Nepali authorities have previously used such committees to deflect allegations, and failed to hold police to account for the use of excessive force against protesters and for other abuses, even after the country’s human rights commission has found them responsible.

The protest began after a tiger attacked a local woman who was collecting firewood. Since 2019, media reports say tigers have killed nine people and wounded several others in the area, which is adjacent to a wildlife corridor.

While Nepal’s national parks are frequently hailed as a conservation success story, the Department of National Parks has also displaced indigenous people. Park wardens have draconian powers to arrest people without a warrant on suspicion of violating conservation laws. Wardens and soldiers guarding the parks, have been accused of arbitrary detention, torture, rape, and killing people from neighboring communities. National Park authorities also frequently fail to adequately protect or compensate people living nearby from loss and damage caused by wild animals.

Instead of forming yet another committee, Nepali officials should credibly investigate security officials and prosecute them where there is clear evidence of abuse. And Nepal’s national park authorities need to end their abusive practices and work in partnership with local people to promote conservation while upholding their rights.

The residence of a monk living in a Kampong Speu has been burned down amid a land dispute with soldiers.

Prom Thomacheat, living in Oral district’s Metta forest, said the small hut where he had slept was burned to the ground on Monday. It followed a pattern of violence from soldiers laying claim to the land, he said.

“They’ve fired shots over my head” in the past, he said. “If I die, I die. What can I do in this situation? … People ask me to leave and no one would hurt me. But I won’t go.”

Community members say they were protecting Metta forest for years before the state handed the land to soldiers in August last year. The transfer sparked protests of hundreds and locals camping out in the forest to protect the woods, which is part of the Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary.

But satellite imagery shows land clearing ramping up in the past two months, leaving broad scars through the forest. Residents have said they can no longer approach the clearings due to incidences of violence.

A community member, Khorn Khern, said she believed it was soldiers who had burned the monk’s hut, though she provided no evidence.

“Soldiers are now clearing and cutting the forest of the monk,” Khon said. “This is not right. This forest is a place that people and monks have been protecting for a long time. Now the sound of machines cutting down trees is close to the big pagoda.”

Trapeang Chhour commune chief Tep Nem said he had not received any report or information about the burning of the monk’s hut.

Attorney-at-law Senaka Perera who heads Sri Lanka’s People’s Lawyers Association (PLA) was summoned by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Monday (06) morning.

Perera has been an active participant at the ‘aragalaya’ anti-government protests that have been held continuously at Galle Face, Colombo, demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over Sri Lanka’s worsening economic crisis.

“I will only know [the reason for the summons] when I go inside. It would’ve been better if they had communicated the reasons to me, so I could’ve come prepared,” Perera told reporters outside the CID premises.

“I stood for the people and their problems and for the ‘aragalaya’. We haven’t done anything [wrong]. It is very unfortunate if that is being used as a reason to victimise us,” he said.

Perera was the latest in a number of activists and media personalities summoned by the CID. Among the others were journalist Dharshana Handungoda.

“We cannot be silenced with stunts like this. We will be more active tomorrow than we are today,” said Perera.

A protest against the CID summons was held outside its premises Monday morning

Bulatlat condemned the National Telecommunications Commission’s (NTC) latest memorandum targeting alternative media sites and organizations, calling it a “dangerous precedent for independent journalism in the Philippines.”

In a statement released Wednesday, June 22, Bulatlat expressed its shock and rage against the NTC’s memorandum instructing all internet service providers to immediately block access to 28 websites, including Bulatlat.

“Bulatlat […] condemns this brazen violation of our right to publish, and of the public’s right to free press and free expression,” the media outfit said in its statement.

The NTC cites in its memorandum a June 6, 2022 letter from the National Security Council (NSC) listing down over two dozen websites “found to be affiliated to and are supporting terrorists and terrorist organizations.” However, the NSC failed to provide basis for the inclusion of several independent and alternative media outlets in their list.

The letter was written and signed by National Security Advisor Hermogenes Esperon Jr., who is also the Anti-Terrorism Council Vice Chairperson.

Following reports that Bulatlat could not be accessed by readers since June 17, 2022, the news site also wrote a letter on June 20, 2022 addressed to the NTC and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) urging them to investigate Esperon’s claims. Bulatlat has not yet received any reply as of writing.

Bulatlat deplored this most recent state-sponsored cyber attack in its statement and called it “prior restraint against protected speech.”

“It is downright unacceptable as it is based on Esperon’s mere hearsay,” Bulatlat said.

The alternative media organization is no stranger to red-tagging and cyber attacks. Exactly one year ago, June 22, 2021, Qurium released a forensic report linking a 2021 cyber attack on Bulatlat to the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Philippine military.

Bulatlat called on the public to “stand against attempts to muzzle legitimate sources of information” as it continues its coverage.

“No matter who is in power, we have remained fearless in our truth-telling. We will continue our work while we also consider all legal remedies available to question, and stop yet another state-sponsored repression,” it said in its statement.

Meanwhile, the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines denounced what they call as arbitrary inclusion of Bulatlat, Pinoy Weekly and other news websites in the said list.

In a statement, the group said Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly have existed for years and have built a track record of reporting on people’s issues.

“Sometimes, that reporting has been critical of the government and its policies, but it is dangerous to equate this with affiliation or support that the government now claims,” the group said.

“Blocking access to these sites leave a gap in discourse and in the flow of information and highlights the threats posed by the Anti-Terrorism Law on the freedom of expression and on freedom of the press,” the group said adding that what’s even more concerning is the danger that labeling puts the staff and correspondents of the listed websites in.

“We have repeatedly warned against the dangers of red-tagging and how the practice paints groups and people as legitimate targets for threats, harassment and physical attacks. This labeling, in the form of an official government document, magnifies that danger even more,” the group said.

FIR Filed Against 8 People for Alleged 'Inflammatory' Tweets on Kanpur Violence Four FIRs have been lodged and 38 people have been arrested so far in connection with the violence, the police said. The Quint Published: 06 Jun 2022, 5:58 PM IST India 2 min read FIR Filed Against 8 People for Alleged 'Inflammatory' Tweets on Kanpur Violence i

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A First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against eight persons on Monday, 6 June, for their alleged inflammatory tweets in connection with violence in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur following Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nupur Sharma's remarks against Prophet Muhammad.

One of the accused is Shams Tabrez Qasmi, the editor of news outlet Millat Times, who had tweeted videos of the clashes in Kanpur. Taking to Twitter, Qasmi had called the allegations against him "baseless."

The Press Club of India also took to Twitter in support of the journalist, and demanded the FIR against him be withdrawn.

"The Press Club of India is concerned and dismayed over an FIR filed against Shams Tabrez Qasmi, editor of Millat Times by the UP Police over a tweet. We demand withdrawal of FIR against the journalist." Also Read Kanpur: 24 Arrested, 3 FIRs Filed After Violence Erupts Over BJP Leader's Remark Kanpur: 24 Arrested, 3 FIRs Filed After Violence Erupts Over BJP Leader's Remark

The FIR was filed in Kanpur's Kotwali Police Station under Sections 505 (statements conducing to public mischief), and 507 (criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication) of the Indian Penal Code as well as Section 66 of the Information Technology (IT) Act.

"Including this FIR, a total of four FIRs have been lodged in connection with the violence in Kanpur, and 38 people have been arrested. The social media posts written by the accused included inciteful comments. We are investigating more posts regarding the incident, and will take action accordingly," said Kanpur Joint Commissioner of Police, Anand Kulkarni.

The Incident

The Kanpur police commissionerate has set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the violence that took place in the city.

The violence had broken out in Pared, Nai Sadak, and Yateemkhana areas of Kanpur on 3 June when some people tried to force shopkeepers to bring down shutters to protest against Sharma’s derogatory remarks.

The identities of over 100 more accused have been established, DCP (East) Pramod Kumar said.

On 5 June, the BJP suspended spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled Naveen Jindal from party's primary membership, after widespread outrage from middle-eastern countries over Sharma's comments.