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.

Eight people were injured when Chhatra League leaders and activists attacked a procession brought out by left-leaning student organisations on their way to Dhaka University from Shahbagh in Dhaka on 6 June. The students were protesting against a horrific explosion at a container depot at Sitakunda in Chittagong.

On 6 June 2022, workers of several garment factories, including Zuki, Loadstar, Saras, Vision, Polka and MBM in Mirpur, Dhaka, blocked roads in protest, demanding a salary increase. At that time, police baton charged and threw tear gas shells at the workers, injuring some. The workers said that although the factory authorities had promised to increase their salaries this year, it had not been done. Workers have been fired on various pretexts for demanding a pay rise.

Bangladeshi authorities should immediately reverse their decision to deregister prominent human rights organization, Odhikar, 11 organizations said today. Human rights defenders should be allowed to conduct their work without fear of reprisals, intimidation, and harassment from the authorities.

On June 5, 2022, Bangladesh’s Non-Governmental Organization Affairs Bureau sent a letter to Odhikar, denying the group’s application for renewal of registration. The letter said that Odhikar had published “misleading information” on extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in Bangladesh that has “seriously tarnished the image of the state to the world.” The bureau further claimed that Odhikar’s publications on such human rights violations were propaganda that “created various issues against Bangladesh.”

This latest development appears to be part of a pattern of reprisals by the Bangladesh government against human rights groups and defenders following the United States Global Magnitsky sanctions against Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion on December 10, 2021.

Odhikar has been documenting human rights violations in Bangladesh since 1994. Odhikar’s application for renewal with the Non-Governmental Organization Affairs Bureau was pending since 2014, severely inhibiting its ability to conduct human rights monitoring and reporting. But after years of inaction, in early February 2022, soon after the United States sanctions were passed, the bureau sent Odhikar a letter requesting specific information and documents, including the names and addresses of everyone killed extrajudicially and disappeared between 2009 and 2021.

In May 2019, in response to government inaction on its application for registration renewal, Odhikar filed a writ in the High Court. The court asked the bureau to provide an explanation for its non-renewal. The bureau’s decision to deny Odhikar’s application, without providing a reply to the High Court, even as the matter is pending there, shows its disregard for following due process.

Since the announcement of the United States Sanctions, members of Odhikar and their family members have reported facing increased surveillance and harassment by law enforcement officials. Bangladeshi authorities have previously targeted Odhikar’s members in an attempt to silence their work. In 2013, Odhikar’s Secretary Adilur Rahman Khan and Director ASM Nasiruddin Elan were arbitrarily detained for 62 days and 25 days, respectively, after publishing a fact-finding report on extrajudicial killings. They are currently facing ongoing delays and other forms of judicial harassment in a trial based on trumped-up charges at the Cyber Tribunal of Dhaka. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, has expressed her concerns on the court’s failure to uphold fair trial principles as well as attacks, smear campaigns, surveillance, and harassment against Odhikar.

The Non-Governmental Organization Affairs Bureau’s decision to deregister Odhikar demonstrates the government’s determination to stifle human rights work in the country. It is the authorities’ failure to ensure accountability for human rights violations rather than Odhikar’s exposure of those violations that has tarnished Bangladesh’s reputation, the organizations said.

The authorities should immediately renew Odhikar’s registration, allow them to conduct their human rights work without reprisals, and welcome their findings as an opportunity to improve the country’s human rights record. More broadly, the government of Bangladesh should end politically motivated persecution of human rights defenders and critics, allow human rights groups to do their work without fear, and ensure accountability for human rights violations.

Chinese authorities this month sentenced a university student to three years in prison for contacting Tibetan exiles, the latest in a series of arbitrary arrests of Tibetan intellectuals, artists and other community leaders, activists told RFA.

Nyima, from Shelian Township in Kardze (Ganzi in Chinese) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan province, was arrested unexpectedly in January this year on charges of spying.

He was a student at Sichuan’s Gehoe National University, concentrating his studies on Tibetan culture.

Fluent in Tibetan, Chinese and English, Nyima had always been around tourists and visitors, sharing Tibet’s unique language and culture prior to his arrest in January.

“[He] was sentenced on June 5 to three years in prison for allegedly disseminating state secrets, but the Chinese authorities have shared no details of what kind of state secrets Nyima has exposed,” a Tibetan source living inside Tibet told RFA.

“He could be seen sharing Tibet’s history and authentic Tibetan culture with the tourists, so I think that may be the reason for his arrest. His family has no idea where he is imprisoned at the moment,” said the source, who requested anonymity for security reasons.

Nyima’s arrest is very similar to the arrests of other influential Tibetans, Pema Gyal, a researcher at the London–based Tibet Watch advocacy group told RFA’s Tibetan Service.

“There have been a growing number of cases of arrests of Tibetan intellectuals inside Tibet by the Chinese government, and we have learned that in case of Nyima, he was arrested for communicating with the outside exile community, and also for his commitment to preserve Tibetan language and culture,” Pema Gyal said.

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

Responding to the arrests of at least two people and around a dozen people being taken away in the last two days for attempting to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director Hana Young said:

“The use of spurious charges of ‘sedition’ and ‘unauthorized assembly’ to arrest people attempting to peacefully commemorate the Tiananmen crackdown in Hong Kong is an attack on the right to freedom of expression and an insult to the memory of those who lost their lives on 4 June 1989.

“The harassment and indiscriminate targeting by the Hong Kong Police of people for peacefully honouring the memory of victims of the Tiananmen crackdown lays bare the dismal state of human rights in the city.

“The creativity and determination of those who came out to commemorate the Tiananmen crackdown, despite the threat of arrest and harassment, shows that the truth can never be completely silenced by repressive governments. Hongkongers continue to stand up for their rights and for the rights of those in mainland China.

“The Hong Kong authorities must end their politically motivated campaign to silence people daring to hold China to account over the horrific events of June Fourth.

“All those arrested merely for exercising their human rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly must be immediately and unconditionally released.”

Background

At least 12 people were taken away in the vicinity of Victoria Park in Hong Kong today for peacefully commemorating the Tiananmen Square crackdown. Others were harassed by the police for carrying flowers, handing out pieces of white paper, holding a toy tank or turning on the flashlights on their phones.

One man was arrested for suspected “unauthorized assembly” and on 3 June, an artist was arrested under “sedition” charges after he staged a street performance.

Every year on 4 June since 1990, up to hundreds of thousands of people joined a candlelight vigil in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park to remember those killed during the Tiananmen crackdown. They called on the Chinese authorities to reveal the truth about what happened and take accountability for the fatalities. The vigil has been banned for the past two years, ostensibly on Covid-19 grounds. This year authorities closed parts of Victoria part citing potential “illegal activities” and heavy police force patrolled the area.

The organizer of the vigil, the Hong Kong Alliance, was forced to disband in September 2021 after coming under increasing pressure since the enactment of Hong Kong’s national security law in June 2020. Several of its senior figures are currently in jail.

The Alliance is one of several prominent civil society organizations forced to close since last year after being targeted by the Hong Kong police on national security grounds.

Every year the vigil in Hong Kong featured a recorded message from the Tiananmen Mothers, family members of those killed, who are still seeking a full government account of the deaths, lawful compensation and investigation of criminal responsibility. Frequently harassed and prevented from mourning, this week key members of the group report they are being prevented from receiving international phone calls.

Hundreds – possibly thousands – of people were killed in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on 4 June 1989 when Chinese troops opened fire on students and workers who had been peacefully calling for political and economic reforms as well as an end to corruption. Tens of thousands were arrested across China in the suppression that followed. Many were charged with counter-revolutionary crimes and served very long prison sentences following unfair trials. Regularly since 1989, activists in mainland China have been detained and charged with “subversion” or “picking quarrels” if they commemorated those who were killed, called for the release of prisoners, or criticised government actions during the Tiananmen crackdown.

This year, Amnesty International and other groups have organized a series of global candlelight vigils and other events commemorating the victims of the Tiananmen crackdown, in solidarity with the Tiananmen mothers and with Hong Kong amid increased repression in the city.

Events are taking place this week in more than 20 cities including Bangkok, San Francisco, Washington DC, Seoul, Taipei, Ulaanbaatar, Sydney, Oslo, Paris, Amsterdam and London.

Papua Police Chief Inspector General Mathius D Fakhiri admitted that 17 people were arrested in connection with demonstrations against the establishment of new autonomous regions (DOB) in Jayapura and Merauke regencies. In Jayapura Regency, two people were arrested on Friday (3/6/2022). Meanwhile in Merauke, 15 people were arrested on Saturday (4/6/2022). "When we forced ourselves to hold a demonstration, we arrested several people, after we asked for their information, we sent them home," said Fakhiri in Jayapura, Sunday (5/6/2022) night. Fakhiri explained that the reason the security forces detained the 17 people was because their actions did not have a permit. The police's offer to facilitate vehicles for the demonstrators to their respective DPRD offices was rejected by the masses. "They wanted to hold a demonstration (but) we didn't give them permission because they couldn't fulfill the licensing procedures regulated by law in this country," said Fakhiri. According to Fakhiri, the masses on behalf of the Papuan People's Petition (PRP) have repeatedly held the same demonstrations and have always insisted on a long march to the Papuan DPR office. This wish cannot be granted because it will interfere with the activities of other communities. "Please also respect the interests of other people who want to be active. The police do not hinder the right to express their aspirations, but it must be done according to the applicable rules," said Fakhiri. Demonstrations against the plan to form new autonomous regions have been held four times in a number of regencies/cities in Papua. The last action was carried out in Jayapura City, Jayapura Regency, Mimika, Jayawijaya and Merauke, on Friday and Saturday.

Authorities in China have ordered dozens of pro-democracy activists and dissidents into house arrest or other forms of restriction ahead of the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre on June 4.

Dissident political commentator Zha Jianguo and veteran journalist Gao Yu are under house arrest at their Beijing homes, while rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang and his wife have been taken on a forced "vacation" out of town.

Security is tighter than usual for this year's anniversary of the bloody crackdown that ended weeks of student-led peaceful protests on Tiananmen Square, as the authorities tighten their grip ahead of the 20th congress of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) later this year.

"The police have set guard detail and a car [outside my home] to watch me," Gao told RFA on Friday. "If I want to go anywhere, they have to take me in their car."

"Also, my landline and mobile phone are no longer acceptable international calls, including calls from Hong Kong," she said.

Dissident commentator Zha Jianguo, who was among the founding members of the long-banned China Democracy Party (CDP), said he is in a similar situation.

"They're stationed [outside]," Zha told RFA. "They do this every year from June 1 to June 5."

"I went out on the morning of June 1 and saw them setting out stools and sitting themselves down outside our home," he said. "The district police department said they would be sending some people round today as well."

"As far as I know, about seven, eight, maybe 10 people are under house arrest like this in Beijing," he said.

Zha said police have also warned him not to speak about the anniversary in media interviews.

"They called me yesterday and said I wasn't to discuss June 4 with anyone, not in posts, nor in media interviews," he said. "I told them, it's been 33 years since June 4, and you're still doing this?"

Sources said fellow Beijing-based dissidents Hu Shigen, He Depu, massacre survivor Qi Zhiyong and others were also under some form of restriction.Noticeably tighter security

You Weijie, spokesperson for the Tiananmen Mothers victims group that campaigns for compensation, redress and transparency of information around the massacre, said she couldn't talk when contacted by RFA on Friday.

"It's not convenient for me to talk to you right now," You said, her response suggesting that the authorities were monitoring her communications.

Asked if she had been banned from giving media interviews, You replied: "Yes, yes."

She said she and the other Tiananmen Mothers members were being escorted to Wan'an Cemetery on Saturday to make offerings for those who died in the crackdown.

"I'll go tomorrow; the car has been arranged. It'll be the same families going," she said.

Zhou Xiang, a dissident scholar in the central province of Hunan, said security was particularly tight this year.

"Several people in Zhuzhou city have been contacted [by police]. He Jiawei was the first, and they have taken away his mobile phone," Zhou said. "I also got a call. They told me not to speak out, not to upload photos or text [relating to June 4, 1989], etc."

"As far as I know, maybe seven or eight people received these warnings in Zhuzhou city."

Dissidents in the southwestern megacity of Chongqing reported similar treatment.

Democracy advocate Xu Wanping, who served 23 years in jail for trying to set up an opposition party, said he is being taken out of town by police.

"They made a point of contacting me and emphasizing that I wasn't to speak out on anything today or tomorrow," he said.

"They're taking me out of town for a couple of days; I've just gotten ready to leave."

Hong Kong park closure

Asked if police were present as he spoke, Xu laughed and replied: "I wish you a healthy Dragon Boat Festival."

He said many others in Chongqing were also being escorted away from their homes.

According to Zhou, the moves are part of a nationwide coordinated effort by police to prevent any form of public commemoration of the June 4, 1989 bloodshed, whether through in-person meetings or online.

He said the level of security was "unprecedented" for a June 4 anniversary, and was likely linked to political jitters ahead of the 20th Party Congress later this year.

Meanwhile, authorities in Hong Kong, where a once-annual candlelight vigil for massacre victims is being banned for the third year running, announced the partial closure of Victoria Park, the venue where it once took place.

"In view of the police's observation that some people are using different channels to incite the participation of unauthorized assemblies in the Victoria Park and its vicinity which may involve the use of the venue for illegal activities, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) [is closing] part of the Victoria Park ... until 12.30 a.m. on June 5, in order to prevent any unauthorized assemblies in the Park," an LCSD spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday.

The closed area will include the soccer pitches where the vigils once took place, it said.

Police senior superintendent Liauw Ka-kei warned the public not to "test" the force's willingness to enforce the law on June 4.

He warned that solo candlelight vigils will be treated in the same way as gatherings, and that anyone wearing black clothing or carrying candles would be regarded as suspect.

He cited recent court precedents as establishing that people could be guilty of "illegal assembly" even if they weren't present at the scene, if it could be shown that they had in some way promoted such assemblies.

"If the purpose of the person's appearance at the scene makes it seem that he is inciting others to participate in an illegal assembly, the police will definitely search for evidence, and the specific law enforcement action will be determined depending on the situation," Liauw warned.

He said the police hadn't received any application for a public gathering on June 4 this year.

Former League of Social Democrats chairman Avery Ng said the police claim that they could tell the intentions of anyone turning up at Victoria Park on Saturday was questionable.

"This is very strange behavior on the part of the Hong Kong police," Ng told RFA. "They seem to know what everyone is thinking and what they are planning."

"If you join a crowd in Causeway Bay taking a lot of photos when a celebrity is visiting, that's OK, but if you are alone or in pairs, in black clothing, then you could be thinking about the students who died on June 4, 1989, so that's not OK," he said.

"By making statements like these, the police are absolutely trying to create an atmosphere of fear around the words June 4, which are very sensitive and must not be uttered," Ng said. "This city is now ruled by man, and we can't tell what's legal and what's not."

"You won't get a definite answer out of the police or the government," he said.

Indian police must immediately drop investigations into journalists Saba Naqvi and Mohammed Zubair in response to their social media posts criticizing right-wing Hindu politics and activists, and allow all members of the press to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.

On June 3, police in the Sitapur district in northern Uttar Pradesh state opened an investigation into Zubair, co-founder of the fact-checking website Alt News, after he tweeted that three right-wing Hindu activists were “Hate Mongers,” according to news reports.

On June 8, police in the capital New Delhi opened an investigation into Naqvi, a freelance journalist, after she shared a satirical meme on her Twitter account about a recent claim that a revered symbol connected to the Hindu god Shiva had been found in a mosque in the northern Varanasi city, according to various news reports. The meme was shared by several Twitter users, including a member of parliament, and republished by the financial newspaper Economic Times. However, only Naqvi, who is Muslim and known for her criticism of right-wing Hindu politics, was named in the investigation.

This is the second social media-connected investigation into Naqvi, and the fifth into Zubair, according to those reports. Both journalists use social media as part of their jobs, according to CPJ’s review of their social media accounts.

“Indian police need to stop targeting journalists who are critical of sectarian politics,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “Selective investigations into Mohammed Zubair and Saba Naqvi strongly suggest that they are being unacceptably targeted because of their Muslim religious identity and work as journalists.”

Police are investigating Zubair under Section 295(a) of the penal code for “deliberate and malicious acts” intended to create religious outrage and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act for “publishing or transmitting obscene material,” according to those reports. He faces three years imprisonment under Section 295(a) and an additional three years and a fine of 500,000 rupees (US$6,400) under Section 67, according to the law.

According to those reports, Bhagwan Sharan, who identified himself as the district head of Hindu right-wing group Rashtriya Hindu Sher Sena, filed the complaint against Zubair. On June 13, the Allahabad High Court declined Zubair’s plea to end the investigation, according to the independent news website Scroll.in. Zubair did not respond to CPJ’s text message asking for comment.

Police are investigating Naqvi for violations of the penal code under Section 153 for “promoting enmity” between groups, Section 295, and Section 505 for inducing others to commit offenses against the state or “public tranquility,” according to those sources. She faces six months imprisonment under Section 153, two years imprisonment under Section 295, and five years imprisonment under Section 505, according to the law. Each section also carries an unstated fine.

The complaint against Naqvi was filed by the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operation unit of the Special Cell of Delhi Police for “inciting various groups and creating situations that are detrimental to the maintenance of public tranquility in the country,” according to the independent outlet India Today.

“I was shocked,” Naqvi told CPJ by text message. “[This investigation has] implications for free speech in India, suggesting that there can be cherry-picking to target certain journalists.”

Suman Nalwa, New Delhi’s police spokesperson, and Uttar Pradesh police did not immediately respond to CPJ’s text message and email requesting comment.

As a result of the arrests, the simultaneous demonstration of the Papuan people against the division, revoking of Otsus volume II and holding a referendum by all Papuan people in Papua and Indonesia who are members of the Papuan People's Petition (PRP) on Friday (3/5/2022), in Nabire district, Papua cancel done. The action will be carried out by holding a free pulpit. It was reported that the action was canceled due to the arbitrary arrests of the joint TNI-Polri apparatus against the mass of action before the action took place at the Gizi park, Oyehe, Nabire. A total of 23 people were forcibly arrested. 22 people were arrested first and one from behind. The 22 people who were arrested were transported by police trucks and taken to the Nabire Police Headquarters for interrogation. Over 10 hours they were interrogated and released. “Initially, 11 of us came to the Gizi park to do a free pulpit action. We brought some pamphlets and a megaphone. At that time there was no security apparatus. But there are already two billboards that say thank you for DOB. One of them is from the Key harmony in Nabire," said a protester who was arrested to Suarapapua.com from Nabire, Saturday (4/6/2022), who declined to give his name. He said starting at 06.00, continued at 06:37. The police with full weapons along with about tens of intel arrived and went straight to them asking to disperse with the excuse that at the nutrition park there would be a joint rally in the morning. “We were lazy to know and stayed. At 06:40, another crowd was arriving. The police chief also arrived with some of his men, then again forced us to disperse with shouts and threatening words, while ordering his men within 10 minutes of the mass action to be disbanded.” At 07:12, the police managed to force them out of the Gizi garden (just behind the Nun Biru Gate monument). Not accepting the brutal actions of the officers, one of the masses took photos of the officers. “He was immediately chased by intelligence and police to the front of the road. After we were in front of the Gizi park main road, the police then pushed us into the Oyehe market and continued to push until we reached the end of the Oyehe terminal.” "We want to disband. But the Police Chief and his men forced us not to go home and had to get into the police truck. We are surrounded. The police chief also threatened us with words that he would take us to a faraway place. The police chief also asked us to take off all the masks we were wearing," he said. When they were surrounded, he said, a woman took a photo but the woman was shouted at and her cellphone was taken by the police. After the police truck arrived, he continued, at around 08:01, they were transported and taken to the Nabire Police Headquarters. At 08:14, they were interrogated. “They asked for our name, address, occupation, status, etc. by yelling at us one by one. Only our friend, Wakakorlap, Adiknas Pekei, was examined with the BAP," he explained. It was said, after the examination, at 16:20 accompanied by the Papua Talent LBH Nabire, they were removed from the Nabire Police Headquarters. Meanwhile, another mass protest from Kalibobo, which initially gathered at the Intan Jaya dormitory together with nine (9) BEM campuses in Nabire to conduct a free pulpit, was also forcibly dispersed by the authorities after the Nabire Police Station deployed hundreds of personnel with full weapons. However, before the officers came down and dispersed, they managed to hold a free pulpit on the street (reading poetry, singing and giving speeches). And also succeeded in reading out the statement of position read by the head of the general field coordinator (Korlap) for the action, Abia Pujau. Seeing the officers coming, all the masses of the action entered the dormitory. The officers broke down the gate and almost chaos ensued. No protesters were arrested. Regarding the assistance carried out by the Papua Talent LBH Nabire, Suara Papua has contacted the director of the Nabire Papua Talent LBH, Richar Danny Nawipa through his phone number twice to ask for information but was not picked up.

Ten members of the peaceful demonstration mass demanding the revocation of Otsus volume II and the rejection of the expansion of the New Autonomous Regions (DOB) for West Papua and Papua were injured as a result of the forced disbandment by police officers from the Sorong Regional Police, in the courtyard of the Sorong City DPRD Office, Friday (3/03/2020). 6/2022).

Three of them were hit by rubber bullets. Aves Susim, 25 years old, was shot by a rubber bullet in the leg. Subi Taplo, 27, was shot in the shoulder, and Agustinus Kamat, 27, hit other body parts.

Meanwhile, seven other people were injured as a result of the forced dispersal of the police and tear gas.

The following are the names of the injured and gunshot wounds of rubber bullets:

Aves Susim, 25 years old (He was shot by a rubber bullet in the thigh). Sriyani Wanane, 30 years old (Wounds on knee and big toe). Mama Rita Tenau, 50 years old (wound on temple) Betty Kosamah, 22 years old (Leg wound). Agus Edoway, 25 years old (Tear gas in the shoulder). Agustinus Kamat, 27 years old (He was shot by a rubber bullet). Subi Taplo, 27 years old (He was hit by a rubber bullet in the shoulder). Amanda Yumte, 23 years old (Swollen legs and tear gas). Jack Asmuruf, 20 years old (Toe wound). Sonya Korain, 22 years old (Leg wound)

Previously, at around 2:25 p.m. Papua time, a peaceful demonstration demanding the revocation of the second volume of Otsus and the rejection of the expansion of the new autonomous regions in Sorong came to the Sorong City DPRD office.

While giving speeches in the courtyard of the DPRD office, they asked the chairman of the DPRD of Sorong City to meet them, but this effort did not materialize. The crowd, disappointed, burned tires at around 15.12 Papua time. As a result, the authorities took action and forcibly dispersed the crowd using tear gas and rubber bullets.

One of the protesters who suffered an injury to the right temple was Mama Rita Tenau (50). He was part of the mass action that came to the Sorong City DPRD office.

During the long march to the Sorong City DPRD office at 11:00 Papua time, the mass of action raised a flag similar to the Morning Star or the Morning Star, but it didn't last long. Only three minutes flew between the masses of action, after that his party again secured the flag which had been the reason for the apparatus to detain Papuan activists.

Previously, the Head of the Ops Section of the Sorong Police, M. Nur Makmur, who had visited the mass of action, explained that his party had carried out the disbandment because the mass of action did not heed the instructions of the officers.

“They have secured the mass of the demonstration to the DPRD building. The DPRD representatives have already left, but the masses of the demonstration refused. We have emphasized that if we burn tires, we will not hesitate to disband them,” explained the Head of Ops.

So far there has been no confirmation from the police regarding 10 people injured.

A Right to Information (RTI) activist was allegedly shot dead by unidentified persons near the Public Works Department (PWD) office in Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha on the evening of Thursday, June 3.

Forty-two-year-old Ranjeet Soni had earlier worked as a government contractor.

District Superintendent of Police Monica Shukla said Soni was a resident of Ashoknagar district. “He was shot in the head from behind, from a close range, in the portico of the PWD office,” she said.

“CCTV cameras at the PWD office premises were not functioning, and police are looking for footage of cameras installed in the surrounding areas,” the SP said.

“The assailants escaped from the spot after the incident,” said Additional Superintendent of Police Samir Yadav.

Soni used to collect information, quite often related to government works, by using the RTI Act, he said.

The news agency IANS has quoted Yadav as having said that Soni had gone to the Janpad Panchayat office to collect some documents when he was killed.

More than 100 RTI activists or users have lost their lives since 2011, Aruna Roy, Mayank Labh and Meera M. Panicker noted in a piece for The Wire earlier this year.

By 2016, 311 instances of attacks on or harassment of citizens who sought information under the Act had been recorded.

In November last year, the discovery of the charred body of 22-year-old RTI activist Buddhinath Jha who had ‘exposed’ illegal medical clinics that were operating in a Bihar village led to outrage.

In September last year, Vipin Agarwal, a Bihar-based RTI activist who had raised the issue of illegal encroachment by land mafias in the district through his queries was shot dead in broad daylight.

Six months after Agarwal’s murder, his 14-year-old son died by suicide on March 25, this year. Family members had told The Wire that the teenager had been deeply disturbed with the fact that police had not taken action to arrest the main culprits in the case.

A month after an RTI activist in Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha was shot dead at a government office, a fact-finding team has released a report noting that he had been under severe pressure from local government contractors to stop his activities.

The team travelled to Vidisha on June 19 to meet the family of Ranjeet Soni, who was killed on June 2. It comprised Anjali Bhardwaj, Rolly Shivhare and Amrita Johri who are members of the working committee of the National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information; Ajay Dubey who is board member of Transparency International, India, and Santosh Malviya who works with Dubey in Madhya Pradesh.

The report states that Soni’s widow Gayatri said that he was most recently pursuing issues related to fake Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDRs) made by certain contractors in collusion with officials to bid for government contracts.

Soni himself was a contractor on government works but stopped working with two of those arrested for his murder – Jaswant Raghuvanshi and S. Kumar Choube – after a falling out. Police have arrested three others, including the shooter Ankit Yadav who was allegedly assigned the task.

Soni had been using the RTI Act to access details of public works and government expenditure and would file complaints against irregularities he had noticed. Local journalists told the fact-finding team that over 130 RTI requests had been filed by him.

Soni had not just been collecting information but also seeking redress.

Based on the RTI replies, he filed complaints to various authorities including the Lokayukta, public works department and the Chief Minister’s Office seeking appropriate action into the allegations.

“A perusal of the RTI applications filed by him show that in several cases he was seeking information which in any case should have been proactively disclosed by the concerned public authority as required under Section 4 of the RTI Act,” the fact-finders’ report notes.

The fact-finding report notes the discovery of several RTI applications made by Soni to unearth allocations and acquisitions at government hospitals, eligibility of persons appointed for government jobs, and details of road constructions. In 2016, Soni filed a police complaint alleging a physical attack by Raghuvanshi and his people over an RTI on road construction deals filed by him. Raghuvanshi allegedly also got a person, who Soni alleges he did not even know, to file a case under the SC/ST Act against him.

In April this year, S. Kumar Choube wrote to the Divisional Project Manager of Vidisha’s public works department, asking to be informed if information is provided to Soni under the RTI.

The family, even before Soni’s death, had made significant changes to their lives to accommodate the shift in Soni’s profession, even selling their house and moving when payments to Soni stopped due to “action by these contractors.”

Crucially, the day after Soni was killed was when the next hearing of a case arising from a dispute of a bounced cheque allegedly given by Soni was scheduled. Gayatri and Soni’s lawyer told the team that evidence of corruption against the contractors was to be presented on that day.

“In our view, the connection between Ranjeet’s murder and his use of the RTI Act to access information and expose alleged corruption/irregularities cannot be denied,” the team notes in the report.

In addition to the criminal investigation into the murder of Soni, other related aspects also need to be pursued strongly, the report says, especially stressing on his complaints to various divisions of the government.

“The family is in deep financial crisis and the government must provide immediate compensation to the family,” the report also says, noting his wife’s meagre earnings of Rs 2,000 per fortnight as a handicrafts trainer and the fact that that couple have two schoolgoing children.

The report also requests relevant public authorities to place in the public domain, on the website of the concerned public authorities, all the RTI applications filed by Soni in the last one year (including any pending applications) along with the information and replies.

Publicity to information being pursued by people who are killed potentially acts as a deterrent against such attacks in the future, the report observes.

It also recommends the setting up of an inquiry committee, headed by a senior PWD official from outside the district, to probe into the various complaints of corruption and financial irregularities filed by Soni to the PWD.

In addition to fast-tracking the Lokayukta complaints that had been filed by Soni and a thorough police probe into his death, the fact-finding team also asks for a policy or law to provide protection to whistleblowers and people exposing corruption.

“…[The] Whistle Blowers Protection Act which was passed by Parliament in 2014 but has not been operationalised till date as the Central government has not notified the requisite rules,” the report observes.

On 2 June, Sitanun Satsaksit, the sister of Wanchalearm Satsaksit and legal advisors sought an audience with the Cambodian ambassador to Thailand to request an update on an investigation into the political refugee’s abduction in Phnom Penh on 4 June 2020. Their request was denied before they could enter the Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok.

With the second anniversary of Wanchalearm’s disappearance a few days away, Sitanun and legal advisors went to the Cambodian embassy on Pracha Uthit Road to inquire about progress in a police investigation ordered by the Phnom Penh Court in 2020 after a disappearance case was filed.

They were not welcomed. The embassy’s front sign was fenced off and dozens of Thai police officers, in both plain clothes and uniforms, were waiting for them to arrive.

At the embassy, Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, a Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF) director and legal advocate against enforced disappearance and torture, asked if they could meet the ambassador to submit their request for an investigation update.

Instead, embassy staff ordered accompanying journalists to stop taking photos and shortly thereafter, Pol Maj Sarot Somhanwong, an inspector from the Wangthonglang police station that oversees the area, told the group that the Embassy advised them to submit their petition to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs instead, an action that they have already taken without effect.

It has been two years since Wanchalearm was grabbed by a group of unidentified men in front of Mekong Garden, a luxury condominium in the middle of Cambodia's capital city. Thus far, the investigation has made no progress. Buck Passing

Having filed numerous complaints and petitions with relevant authorities in Thailand and Cambodia, Sitanun questioned why both countries continue to pass the buck about Wanchalearm’s disappearance. After two years, she is angry and exhausted about how little progress has been made, but remains determined to discover her brother’s fate.

“Given what happened to Wanchalearm, don’t we have the right to ask for help? It has been two years. We have submitted so many documents that we no longer know who else to contact. Silence and inaction are all we have gotten from Thai and Cambodian authorities,” said Sitanun.

According a statement from CrCF that was meant to have been submitted to the embassy today, Thailand’s Office of the Attorney General issued a letter on 19 May 2022 asking for an update from the Cambodian National Police Headquarters and Phnom Penh Court via Thailand’s Department of Consular Affairs.

A response was received on 24 February 2022 that further testimony in the case was being acquired. The outcome of the process was reportedly secret and further information could not be immediately provided but the Thai Embassy in Cambodia was to be given further updates.

In Thailand, the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) issued a statement on 1 March 2022, saying that it had accepted Wanchalearm’s case for investigation, listed as case number 13/2564. The DSI also reported that it had received documents and requested additional information from relevant Thai and Cambodian authorities.

According to Montana Duangprapa, a Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) lawyer, although Wanchalearm case is under investigation by the Cambodian police as a result of a Phnom Penh Court ruling, his relatives have still not received any significant updates about the investigation. A plea for justice

Wanchalearm, a former civil society worker and staff member of Pheu Thai Party’s Bangkok gubernatorial election campaign team in 2013, went into self-exile three days after the coup in 2014. He flew out of Thailand, narrowly escaping military arrest.

He was summoned by the NCPO along with 28 other activists to report to a military facility in Bangkok on 1 June 2014. A week later, the junta issued a warrant for his arrest under the Computer Crime Act for political statements he allegedly posted to his Facebook page ‘I must have got 10 million baht from Thaksin’, a pro-Thaksin parody page.

After a short stay in Malaysia, Wanchalearm settled in Phnom Penh, where a sympathetic Cambodian official put him up in Mekong Gardens. Several other Thai dissidents lived there in self-imposed exile at the time.

On 4 June 2020, Wanchalearm, who had been living under the alias of ‘Sok Heng’, disappeared. His friends, family, the United Nations and human rights groups allege that he was abducted by a group of armed men that afternoon while buying food on the street outside Mekong Gardens.

Wanchalearm’s sister Sitanun says she was on the phone with him during the alleged abduction and that she heard him say “I can’t breathe” before the line went dead.

CrCF has issued a statement calling for the Cambodian government to conduct an effective investigation to determine Wanchalearm’s fate and provide information to his family members.

Pham Doan Trang’s mother, Bui Thi Thien Can, was detained at Noi Bai Airport for questioning by security police for four hours. She was detained as she returned to Hanoi from her trip to Geneva to accept the Martin Ennals Human Rights Award on behalf of her daughter on June 2. During the three-week visit, Mrs Bui met with more than 20 representatives from the EU, several international organizations, officials at Switzerland Foreign Ministry, representatives from the UNHCR, a number of UN Special Rapporteurs, the US ambassador to Geneva, and officials from Canada and the Czech Republic. According to one of her children, the octogenarian was finally released after midnight in a state of total exhaustion.

A factory refusing a Labor Ministry order to reinstate fired unionists has dismissed 10 more union members this week.

SYHJ Garment, a Chinese-owned factory in Kandal province’s Ang Snuol district, fired three leaders of a newly emerging union in April, leading to a Labor Ministry directive that the terminations violated Trade Union Law protections for shop steward and union leaders. But the factory has remained defiant.

Hul Sokhim, president of the new union — one of the three fired in the initial round of terminations — said on Wednesday that 10 other workers had been laid off this week. She said it was illegal union busting.

“The owner dismissed them without clear reason. They were voters who supported those who stood as my union’s representatives,” she said. “Frankly speaking, those who were involved with me … were dismissed.”

Ny Mao, one of the 10 workers fired this week, said the termination was unreasonable. He worked overtime and weekends like other workers, and had committed no transgressions of company policies, he said.

“During work, they called me to dismiss me. I did nothing wrong,” Mao said. “I don’t understand how my work was lacking?”

Prum Kosal, an executive assistant at SYHJ, said the factory had dismissed workers because they violated the company’s internal rules on several points. He said the company was not concerned about the union’s complaints.

“The company dismissed them because they had issues with our internal rules, including that they did not cooperate much and did not pay attention to the company’s work.”

Independent Trade Union Federation president Ry Sithinet said his federation would help the factory’s workers file a complaint to the Labor Ministry requesting reinstatement.

“[We] are translating them to English. When we are ready, we will submit them to buyers. We have found that three brands are involved with the factory SYHJ,” but the federation had yet to ascertain who they were, Sithinet said. On Thursday, Sithinet said the brands were Mango and Inditex’s Bershka, both Spanish, and Sinsay, from Poland.

The federation said in a statement that a similar case was ongoing at Walmart shoe supplier Qi Ming Xin, also in Kandal province. The factory had fired five union leaders earlier this year, and the Labor Ministry issued an order on March 16 to reinstate and compensate them. The company had not complied, the statement said.

Around 350 union leaders and active members have been unfairly dismissed since the start of 2020, the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union has estimated.

Around 100 indigenous residents gathered outside the Preah Vihear Provincial Court on Wednesday as five community members were questioned by court prosecutors for alleged threats to kill and damage property.

The five village residents — Thon Sot, Son Savon, Ngorn Him, Thab Sokkey and Rourng Khan — were summoned to court for questioning on Wednesday after Ly Kimsreng, who they have a land dispute with, filed a complaint.

Residents of the Preah Vihear’s Tbeng Meanchey commune have faced persistent issues with their traditional farmlands, first from five Chinese sugarcane companies that were granted around 40,000 hectares of the land in four provinces, often referred to together as Rui Feng. More recently, residents said they had reclaimed their land only to be harassed by alleged representatives of the company and newcomers who were claiming land in the district.

Village residents alleged Kimsreng had been trying to clear their land earlier this year and they only attempted to stop the destruction of their crops.

Savon said all five attended the court hearing and denied all the accusations. He said Kimsreng was attempting to scare the village residents away.

“Where should we do farming?” he said. “We request the court to end these charges against us. This is an injustice for us.”

Savon said he wouldn’t stop fighting for their land even if local authorities got involved in the case.

Am Sam Ath, from rights group Licadho, said the case was another example of the rich and well-connected using the courts to harass people and undermine their rights.

VOD could not reach Kimsreng on Wednesday.

Police briefly arrested three union representatives amid a demonstration of more than 1,000 shoe-factory workers in Kampong Chhnang, saying workers should be only allowed to submit letters, not protest.

At least 5,600 workers at Can Sports Shoe, a supplier for Adidas, gave thumbprints supporting a strike about 35 demands that have accumulated over several years, according to workers and labor rights groups.

Only a few hundred went into work on Tuesday as more than 1,000 workers gathered outside the factory in Samakki Meanchey district’s Sethei commune and blocked a road, they said.

Deputy provincial police chief Ear Bunthoeun said three union leaders had been arrested, but released after they agreed to stop organizing chaos.

“If workers want to demand benefits, just let them do it and submit letters. But we can’t allow inciters to provoke demonstrations and work stoppages,” Bunthoeun said.

Public order could be disrupted by demonstrations, he said. The workers had blocked National Road 5, which could suffer traffic jams even with short disruptions, he added.

Noem Sokhoeun, one of the arrested union leaders, said he had been accused of incitement to commit a felony.

“I think it’s a violation of my rights,” Sokhoeun said, adding that he had not organized the protest himself.

The contract he signed on Tuesday says he promises not to gather workers for protests or demonstrations that cause chaos in the factory, and not to commit any acts in the factory against the law.

According to labor rights group Central, the two other union leaders are Sean Sokleab and Pen Sophorn.

Patrick Lee, legal consultant at Central, said: “My view is that these union leaders have been arrested for the sole purpose of attempting to restrict workers’ fundamental right to peacefully strike. The authorities should be acting as mediators and not use their power to restrict workers’ rights and freedoms.”

A list of 35 demands from the workers details accumulated grievances related to payment schedules and methods, medical facilities at the factory, and the availability of food vendors and allowances.

Factory worker Kan Savy said more than 1,000 workers had protested on Tuesday, while another worker, Nou Sitouch, estimated that most of around 8,000 striking workers at the factory gathered outside from around 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Yang Sophorn, the president of Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions, said Can Sports Shoe had more than 10,000 workers in total, and some grievances stretched back two decades.

Two of the union leaders had been arrested Monday evening even before the protest was held, Sophorn added.

“It’s inappropriate as the authorities have the duty to give justice to people and workers,” she said, adding that the factory union had informed the employer about the peaceful demonstration.

“This is a means of threatening workers who are just peacefully exercising their legal rights as stated in the law.”

A woman who picked up on a number listed with the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia for the factory denied she was part of factory management.

Ward Chair at a rural municipality in Parbat issued threat of attack to journalist Laxman Sunar for news reporting on May 31. Parbat lies in Gandaki Province of Nepal.

Sunar is executive editor at https://nayannews.com/ (online news portal).

Editor Sunar shared with Freedom Forum that he had reported news about Mahashila rural municipality's ward chair Ram Bahadur Sunar cheating elder citizens in distribution of senior citizen's allowance. He had also recorded video of the complaint from victims.

"Ward chair Sunar then, threatened to cut my fingers and break hands and legs for writing news against him at the voting center on the day of election. He also accused me of defaming him during the election. Following his threat, I shared the incident with fellow journalists", he said.

"Today (June 2), I will file a complaint at the District Police Office, Parbat", he informed.

Freedom Forum condemns the incident. Threatening and abusing journalists at the public place is sheer violation of press freedom. The chairperson should have adopted legitimate ways, had he any dissatisfaction over published news.

Hence, FF strongly urges the concerned authority to apologize for his behavior and assure to respect journalists right to free reporting in future.

About the Human Rights Defenders: Mr. Somnath Dugga is a member of the Rowghat Sangharsh Samiti, an organisation fighting against the Rowghat iron-ore mining project in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district. He is also the Gram Patel (traditional village headman) of Anjarel village in Narayanpur, located on the edge of the mine, and has participated in numerous peaceful protests against the project in the past few years.

Background of the Incident: Anjarel village, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Bharanda Police Station in Narayanpur district, is home to about 25 Adivasi families. Located barely 50 metres away from the edge of Bhilai Steel Plant’s Rowghat iron-ore mine, Anjarel is not shown as displaced in the environmental and forest clearance granted to the project. Local authorities had also assured the gram patel Mr. Somnath Dugga and villagers that it would not be affected by mining activities. But blasting and digging activities that began six months ago have damaged farm lands and houses in the village. The Rowghat Sangharsh Samiti has organised several protests against these moves in the past six months.

Details of the Incident: On May 31, 2022, at 9:00 PM, around 15-16 District Reserve Guard (DRG) personnel led by Mr. Suku Nureti, Mr. Manu Ram Dugga arrived at Mr. Somnath Dugga’s residence on six motorbikes. The personnel – all men – were in civil dress and carrying arms, and some of them had their faces covered with cloth. They forcefully barged into the house, started thrashing the HRD with batons and boots, and dragged him out without giving any reason for their assault. They severely tortured Mr. Dugga in front of his house with batons, logs of wood and kicks till he lost consciousness. When Mr. Dugga’s mother tried to intervene, they put a gun on her chest and threatened to kill her. DRG personnel also assaulted other family members who tried to prevent them from torturing the HRD. They slapped his wife, hit his mother and other family members Mr. Kamlesh Dugga, Ms. Hembati Dugga and Ms. Lalita Dugga (who was carrying an infant) with batons on their back, waist and buttocks. The DRG personnel then abducted Mr. Somnath Dugga. They lifted him by his hands and feet, carried him till the foothills, where an official police vehicle (Bolero) was waiting, bundled him into the vehicle, and took him away to an unknown place. The HRD was unconscious at the time and wearing only an underwear, as his clothes were torn during the assault. The DRG personnel did not tell the family anything about whether there was a case against the HRD, or where they were taking him. At around 10.30 PM, Mr. Dugga’s family members and neighbours visited the Bharanda Police Station to inquire about him, but police officials said they did not know anything and asked them to check with the Narayanpur Police Station. When other HRDs called the Officer in Charge of the Narayanpur police station, he denied having any information in the matter. On June 1, 2022, at around 10 AM, Mr. Dugga’s family received a call from Narayanpur Police Station, informing them that the HRD had been released. They also showed the family a statement bearing Mr. Dugga’s signature claiming the police did not assault or torture him (Mr. Dugga stated he was forced to sign on the statement by police personnel). Family members then took the HRD for a medical check-up to the District Hospital, Narayanpur, where he was admitted, and where he underwent treatment for seven days. The admission ticket mentioned police assault and noted that Mr. Dugga was still unconscious at the time of admission, with swelling and blood clots on his back, legs and chest. After his release from the hospital, Mr. Dugga was treated for dislocation of his knee by a traditional healer in the village. On June 1, 2022, Mr. Dugga’s mother lodged a written complaint at the Bharanda Police Station regarding the torture and illegal detention, asking for the registration of an FIR against Mr. Manu Ram Dugga and other DRG personnel within five days. Though the complaint was received at the police station with a stamp, no FIR has been registered yet. Meanwhile, personnel from the Bharanda Police Station visited Anjarel and threatened to implicate Mr. Somnath Dugga and witnesses who signed the complaint regarding his torture if they pursued the matter any further.

Five teenagers suffered multiple injuries after regime soldiers plowed their vehicle into them following a flash mob protest in Yangon on Monday, according to activist sources.

Myat Min Khant, the Yangon district chair of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), said the incident occurred at around 11am on Thu Mingalar Street in South Okkalapa Township.

“Normally, people just run off on their own when they disperse after a protest, but they stayed together as a small group, which is what raised the military’s suspicions,” he said.

According to Myat Min Khant, four of the injured protesters were boys, and one was a girl. Further information about their identities was not available at the time of reporting.

After running into the teens with their Toyota Mark II, the soldiers beat them with the butts of their rifles, he added.

“We still don’t know how bad their injuries are as they were taken away right after they were hit,” he said. However, they were believed to have suffered serious abrasions to their heads, backs, arms and legs, according to the ABFSU.

“I have been told that they are being held at the South Okkalapa Police Station,” the ABFSU district chair added.

s.okkalapa_protest-2.jpeg Protesters march in Yangon’s South Okkalapa Township on May 30 (Supplied)

Around 30 people took part in Monday’s protest march, which began at the Zarli Taung housing complex on Thu Mingalar Street and ended at the intersection with Yadanar Road.

Three other protesters, all aged 15 or 16, were also pursued by the regime’s forces but managed to escape, according to the ABFSU.

A similar incident occurred last December, when soldiers drove into a crowd of protesters in Yangon’s Kyimyindaing Township, killing several people and injuring a number of others.

On April 20, junta troops riding in a double cab pickup truck smashed into a car carrying three women who had taken part in an anti-regime demonstration in South Okkalapa.

Despite facing such brutal tactics from the military, Myat Min Khan said that protests would continue, albeit in a different form.

“It would be too much for us if we kept running into these situation, so we will continue to protest in other ways,”he said.

On May 29, journalist Roman Karimi and his driver, Samiullah, were detained and beaten by a Taliban intelligence agent while covering a women’s protest at the Haji Yaqub roundabout in Kabul District 10 for Salam Watandar radio station.

Despite showing his journalist identification card, the agent forced Karimi inside a traffic booth and questioned him. Other officers took the journalists’ voice recorder and phone, and reviewed the phone’s content, including his social media accounts. When Karimi tried to protest the removal of his personal devices the agent slapped his face.

Karimi and his driver were both detained for seven hours and were eventually released at 5pm on the condition that they would no longer cover protest events.

Arbitrary detainments, arrests and attacks on media workers have continued to increase since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in 2021. In the latest South Asia Press Freedom report, the IFJ documented 75 media rights violations, including 12 killings and 30 arrests, in Afghanistan from May 2021 to April 2022.An estimated 1,000 journalists have fled the country since last August, with threats, harsh restrictions and economic collapse leading to mass closures of media outlets.

Once again, a number of women poured onto the streets of Kabul to protest against the closure of girls’ schools in the country. Unfortunately, the march was violently stopped by the Taliban fighters.

On Sunday, May 29, 2022, the protesting women held a protest rally over the growing rate of poverty, unemployment crisis, and the closure of girls’ schools in the 2nd district of Kabul.

According to protestors, instead of thinking about solving the problems of the people and finding a solution to poverty and unemployment, the Taliban senior members use all their power and energies to restrict women and interfere in the most private affairs of the citizens.

Unfortunately, the Taliban rebels suppressed the protest and forced the women to return back home.

The protesters have called on the world to pressurize the Taliban so that they may recognize women’s rights and work hard in order to reduce poverty and unemployment in the country.

Chanting “Bread, work, freedom,” some two dozen women took to the streets of the Afghan capital of Kabul on May 29 to protest against the Taliban's harsh restrictions on their rights.

The Taliban has rolled back women’s rights since returning to power in August 2021. Girls have been banned from school beyond the sixth grade in most of Afghanistan. In March, the Taliban ordered girls' high schools closed on the morning they were scheduled to open.

"Education is my right! Reopen schools!" chanted the protesters, many of them wearing face-covering veils, as they gathered in front of the Education Ministry.

Demonstrators marched for a few hundred meters before ending the rally as authorities deployed Taliban fighters in plainclothes, an AFP correspondent reported.

"We wanted to read out a declaration, but the Taliban didn't allow it," said protester Zholia Parsi.

"They took the mobile phones off some girls and also prevented us from taking photos or videos of our protest," she told the French news agency.

Since taking power in the wake of the withdrawal of international troops from the war-torn country, the Taliban has pledged to rule differently than during its brutal regime of the 1990s that saw women confined to their homes, most entertainment banned, and punishments including stoning and public executions.

But its promises are being treated with skepticism by many Afghans and governments around the world, especially since women have been forced from some government jobs and barred from traveling alone.

This month, Afghanistan's supreme leader and Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada ordered women to cover up fully in public, including their faces.

Police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of students trying to storm the Sri Lankan president's home Sunday as the government offered an olive branch to demonstrators demanding his resignation. Anti-riot squads used water cannon followed by tear gas, as protesters pulled down yellow iron barricades across a road leading to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's official residence in Colombo. Nearby, thousands of men and women demonstrated for the 51st straight day outside Rajapaksa's seafront office on Sunday, demanding that he step down over the country's worst economic crisis since independence. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe went on national television on Sunday evening offering young protesters a greater say in how the country is administered. "The youth are calling for a change in the existing system," Wickremesinghe said, laying out plans for 15 committees that would work with parliament to decide national policies. "I propose to appoint four youth representatives to each of the 15 committees," he said, adding that they could be drawn from the current protestors. Wickremesinghe is not from Rajapaksa's party, but was given the job after the president's elder brother Mahinda resigned as prime minister on May 9 after weeks of protests, when no other legislator agreed to step in. Wickremesinghe is the sole parliamentary representative of the United National Party, a once-powerful political force that was nearly wiped out in Sri Lanka's last elections. Rajapaksa's party, which has a majority in the legislature, has offered to provide him with the necessary support to run a government. Sunday's student action came a day after a similar clash when protesters tried to storm Rajapaksa's heavily guarded colonial-era official residence, where he has bunkered down since thousands surrounded his private home on March 31. An unprecedented shortage of foreign exchange to import even the most essential supplies, including food, fuel and medicines, has led to severe hardships for the country's 22-million population. The government last month asked the IMF for urgent financial assistance and talks are still underway. The country has also defaulted on its $51-billion foreign debt. Its currency has depreciated by 44.2 percent against the US dollar this year, while inflation hit a record 33.8 percent last month.

A group of women have staged a protest in Kabul against the continued closure of schools for girls above the sixth grade as a senior UN official has warned the Taliban's restrictions on women's rights are aimed at making women "invisible."

Girls have been banned from school beyond the sixth grade in most of Afghanistan since the Taliban's return to power in August 2021. In March, the Taliban ordered girls' high schools closed the morning they were scheduled to open.

The May 26 protest saw about 20 women and girls marched to the gate of Kabul's Maryam High School while calling on the Taliban to reopen schools.

"You took my bread and work, and I can't study," they shouted.

Some witnesses said that about 10 minutes into the protest, Taliban militants came and dispersed the women, firing shots into the air. One of the protesters told RFE/RL that three women were temporarily detained and then released after the Taliban verified their mobile phones.

Azir Ahmad Takour, a spokesman for he Taliban Interior Ministry, denied that the protest had been dispersed.

"This absolutely is propaganda. We have not stopped anyone from protesting today," he said.

Since taking power in the wake of the withdrawal of international troops from the war-torn country, the Taliban has pledged to rule differently than during its brutal regime of the 1990s that saw women confined to their homes, most entertainment banned, and punishments including stoning and public executions.

But its promises are being treated with skepticism by many Afghans and governments around the world, including Central Asia, especially since women have been forced from some government jobs and barred from traveling alone.

This month, Afghanistan's supreme leader and Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada ordered women to cover up fully in public, including their faces.

The restrictions show a "pattern of absolute gender segregation and are aimed at making women invisible in the society," Richard Bennett, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, told reporters during a visit to Kabul on May 26.

"The de facto authorities have failed to acknowledge the magnitude and gravity of the abuses being committed, many of them in their name," Bennett said.

On 26 May 2022, Ven. Wekandawala Rahula Thero, a human rights defender and Buddhist priest was arrested by Sri Lankan police in Weeraketiya (Hambantota District, Southern Province). He is falsely accused in seven separate incidents under the Sri Lanka Penal Code and the Public Property act, linked to violence that took place on or around 9 May 2022. Rahula Thero appeared before the Walasmulla Magistrate’s Court on 27 May 2022 and will be remanded in custody until 31 May 2022. The human rights defender has been targeted due to his support for peaceful protests calling for the resignation of the President and for a change in the system of governance in Sri Lanka in light of the ongoing economic crisis. The next hearing of the case before the Magistrate Court is scheduled for 31 May 2022. Ven. Wekandawala Rahula Thero is a human rights defender and environmental rights activist campaigning on issues of social justice, environmental rights, and human rights since 2005. He is an active member of the Centre for Environment and Nature Studies and has created space at his temple, Bodhirukkārāma in Kudabibula, near Weeraketiya for community members, professionals and civil society to engage on issues of human rights, justice and the environment. His human rights work and public support in solidarity with victims of violations including persecuted religious and ethnic minorities is especially significant given his location- the Hambantota district, a stronghold of the ruling Rajapaksa family. Ven. Wekandawala Rahula Thero has been vocal on several issues, including the construction of a road through the Sinharaja forest, the contamination of water and the shooting of civilian protesters in Rathupaswala. He has also been vocal against racist attacks on Muslim villagers during the Wilpattu conservation environmental crisis, and most recently, in the farmers in Hambantota’s struggle in seeking a resolution to human-elephant conflict. In the context of the economic crisis in Sri Lanka and nationwide protests against the current government, Ven. Wekandawala Rahula Thero has been supportive of the peaceful protests. He has been campaigning alongside and in support of those seeking genuine system change, transparency, accountability for violations and an end to corruption . Ven. Wekandawala Rahula Thero has been present from the outset at Galle Face, in Colombo, where protesters have set up the protest site ‘Gota Go Gama’, calling for the resignation of the President Nandasena Gotabhaya Rajapaksa among many other demands. He founded the ‘Gota Go Gama Environmental Unit’ and has initiated many public discussions on human rights, environment and justice at the protest site. On 9 May 2022, unarmed peaceful protesters at the ‘Gota Go Gama’ were attacked by an armed mob supportive of the current government. Ven. Wekandawala Rahula Thero was unable to reach Colombo due to an island wide curfew but spent the night at a temple in Matara town where he also delivered a speech condemning the attack. To date there have been no effective investigations against those responsible for the attack on unarmed protesters. Instead, the current government has begun a crackdown on protesters with several thousand arrested on charges of violence, arson, and destruction of property. A week following the violence on 9 May 2022, two unidentified persons visited Ven. Wekandawala Rahula Thero’s temple, while he was in Colombo and inquired about his whereabouts. On 26 May 2022, a fellow Buddhist priest from the same temple was summoned for questioning by the local police. Ven. Wekandawala Rahula Thero accompanied the priest and they were both arrested on accusations of arson, assault and destruction of public property. Seven cases have been filed against the defender, under provisions of the Penal Code and the Public Properties Act. The arrest was made, despite submissions by the human rights defender that he was not in Hambantota and that he was at a temple in Matara approximately 47km away at the time of the violence. Ven. Wekandawala Rahula Thero was produced before the Magistrates Court on 27 May 2022 and remanded until 31 May 2022 when the case is to be heard next, on which date lawyers will make an application for the defender to be released on bail.

The protest against the new NPO bill is now in its 4th day since it occupied the street in front of the United Nations headquarters on Monday (23 May), while concerns are being raised as the police try to convince them to move to make way for an upcoming royal motorcade.

After the activist and NGO network People’s Movement Against the Draft Laws that Undermine Freedom of Association staged a protest on 24 March and getting no response to the petition submitted to Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and Social Development and Human Security Minister Juti Krairiksh calling for the drafting process to cease, protesters gathered in front of the UN headquarters on Ratchadamnoen Road on Monday to demand that the government withdraw the bill. The network said that they will occupy the area until their demand is met.

The NPO bill has been criticized as a threat to freedom of association and giving state officials the authority to oversee, and possibly obstruct the work of a wide range of civil society organisations, since it defines NPOs as groups “that organise, in one form or another, to collectively pursue activities in society without seeking financial gain, exclusive of groups that stage ad-hoc activities of benefit to group members or political parties.”

The bill also gives state officials the authority to temporarily or permanently shut down any NPO seen as violating the bill’s provisions, which are vaguely worded and can be widely interpreted.

Under this bill, NPOs will be required to register with the government and to comply with all Ministry of the Interior regulations. Once the law is in effect, existing organisations will have 30 days to register. Those operating an unregistered organisation face punishments of up to 5 years in prison or a fine of up to 200,000 baht or both.

The bill prohibits organisations from engaging in activities that threaten national security, economic stability, foreign relations, public order, public safety and the rights and liberties of others.

It also attempts to control NPO funding, prohibiting groups from using foreign funding to pursue activities deemed inappropriate by the Ministry of the Interior. In addition, it gives state agents the authority to search NPO offices and make copies of their online communications. NPOs receiving overseas funding will need to provide authorities with bank records showing where funds are held and what purpose they serve.

After requesting that a government representative come to meet them at the protest site and getting no response, on Tuesday (24 May), the protesters marched to Government House to submit their petition calling for the bill to be withdrawn and for a government representative to also sign a written agreement promising that the bill will not be presented to the Cabinet.

During the march, the protesters faced multiple police blockades. They finally arrived at Chamai Maru Chet bridge next to Government House, which was blocked by razor wire and units of crowd control police. Anucha Nakasai, Minister of the Office of the Prime Minister, then came to receive the protesters' letter stating their demands.

After speaking with Anucha and receiving no answer or commitments, the protesters returned to their camp in front of the UN, where they will continue to stay until their demands are met.

Earlier on Thursday (26 May), police officers came to tell the protesters that there will be a royal motorcade passing through Ratchadamnoen Nok Road on its way to Thammasat University’s Tha Prachan campus for the university’s graduation ceremony on 27 – 29 May, and asked that the protesters move to another location for a few days.

The protest leaders insisted that they will not be moving until their demands are met. Activist Lertsak Khamkongsak said after several negotiations with police officers that they will continue to protest, and told the police to leave and to stop taking pictures of the protesters.

The police’s action caused concerns among protesters that they will be forcibly dispersed. Lertsak, along with activists Juthamat Srihatthapadungkit and Somboon Khamhang, gave a press conference as representatives of the protesters during the afternoon. He reported that police officers have claimed that the protesters are obstructing traffic or are creating a risk of spreading Covid-19. They said that they have explained to the authorities that other groups have used the space for protest, and that traffic can still move normally through Ratchadamnoen Nok Road. The protesters also wear face masks and take Covid-19 tests, while temperature screening points have been set up around the protest site.

According to the three activists, the police’s actions, including walking around the protest site and looking at how the protesters set up their camp, raised questions about what the authorities want with them.

Juthamat said that this is not the first time they have spoken out against the NPO bill, but the cabinet is refusing to consider their demands. She said that if the police are truly concerned about the women, children, and older people at the protest, they should be facilitating the activities, not harassing the protesters. She said that the protest is peaceful and unarmed, and that they have filed a complaint with the Civil Court for a temporary injunction protecting their right to protest, which the Court will give its ruling on Friday (27 May).

Lertsak said that the police might be preparing to forcibly disperse of the protesters. He told the protesters that, if they are dispersed, they will face any police violence without weapons, and anyone who is ready to face the police to come to the tent in front of the protest site. He said that they must be on watch all night, and that it is the police’s responsibility to manage traffic, but they did not do their job and are using it as a pretext to try to get the protesters to leave. He also said that no officer has ever shown up to see whether they have proper disease control measures, but they showed up on Thursday to try to legitimize any dispersal that might take place.

At around 17.00, several protesters dressed in kangaroo costumes went to the Siam shopping district and scattered leaflets about the need to protest against the bill near the Siam BTS station and Siam Square One shopping mall. They also stood on the Pathumwan Skywalk holding a banner saying “People’s Movement Against the Draft Laws that Undermine Freedom of Association” and gave out leaflets to passers-by.

According to the Facebook page No NPO bill, the activity is to show that the government is trying to issue a law to control all kinds of association, which would affect everyone, and to spread information about the bill, the rights to freedom of association and freedom of assembly, and why the bill should be stopped.

iLaw reported today (27 May) that police officers in riot gears lined up along Ratchadamneon Nok road in front of the UN headquarters at around 16.00, blocking the protesters from view as a royal motorcade went by. An officer made an announcement through a sound amplifier insisting that the police will not forcibly disperse the protesters.

After the royal motorcade has gone, Lertsak demanded that the police move to the traffic island and to line up again when the royal motorcade is returning. If not, he asked that they turn their backs to the protesters. He also told the protesters to continue their activities.

A Pakistani court on Monday dismissed a case filed by the Pakistan Army against a prominent human rights activist and lawyer after she allegedly used abusive words against Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, the daughter of former human rights minister Shireen Mazari, had allegedly hurled abusive words against General Bajwa after her mother was arrested from outside her house in a land ownership case last month.

A first information report (FIR) was filed against Mazari-Hazir on May 26 in Islamabad on a complaint filed by Lt Colonel Syed Humayun Iftikhtar, who was representing the Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch of the General Headquarters (GHQ).

She was booked under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code for inciting people against the armed forces and abetment of the act of insubordination by a soldier by making a "derogatory and hateful" statement on May 21.

Mazari-Hazir challenged the case in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), stating that the "FIR is ill-founded and allegations are absurd".

During the hearing, Mazari-Hazir's lawyer, Advocate Zainab Janjua, said her client had appeared for every interrogation on the court's order. Janjua said she had submitted a detailed reply to police the same day, the Dawn reported.

The counsel further said her client had expressed "regret" over her words and accepted that "what happened should not have happened".

The High Court, after hearing the argument, accepted the petition to dismiss the case against Mazari-Hazir.

During the hearing, the Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah remarked that Mazari-Hazir was a respectable officer of the court and should not have uttered the words even under "normal circumstances".

"If the petitioner asks for forgiveness, what is left in the case?" he questioned.

However, the counsel for the JAG branch argued that the word forgiveness was not mentioned even once in the reply submitted by Mazari-Hazir. "If she has to apologise, she should do so in front of the media," he added.

Human Rights Defender Aabid Shekh has been accused of planning to disrupt the Vice President’s visit to Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh by the local police on April 22, 2022. Rights groups like the Human Rights Defenders Alert (HRDA) say that authorities are misusing the law to harass Shekh and curtail his constitutional rights.

Shekh is a human rights activist who has been a participant in many peaceful citizenship protests in the past including anti-CAA protests and raised his voice on public issues. On April 25, two police officers handed a notice against Shekh issued by the Special Executive Magistrates of Varanasi. It demanded a surety of ₹ 1 lakh or property of the same amount from him. The accused refused to furnish the surety bond because he says he has not done anything illegal. He also rejected claims of him trying to disrupt peace.

The notice referred to an investigation report prepared by Chetganj Sub-Inspector Jagdeesh Ram, and asked Shekh to appear before the court on May 6 and explain why he should not pay the surety bond.

“We believe this notice is a way to stifle dissent and freedom of speech and expression. Shekh has no past criminal record and there is no valid reason for the police and district administration to ask him to provide a surety bond for breach of peace. The main purpose of the notice is to harass and silence the voices of law abiding HRDs, who exercise their constitutionally granted right to peaceful protest. However, despite being an innocent citizen Mr. Shekh is at risk of arrest for no reason of his making,” said the HRDA.

As such, it demanded strict action against the official who insisted that Shekh file the bond and thus pressured him from protesting against the government. Further, it asked the Director general of Police to ensure that Shekh is not harassed or arrested in the future and asked the Sub Divisional Magistrate to cancel the notice against the HRD.

“Put an end to all acts of harassment and intimidation against all HRDs in Uttar Pradesh to ensure that in all circumstances they carry out their activities as defenders of human rights without any hindrances,” said the HRDA.

Multiple media workers were attacked during protests by members of political party Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) on May 25 and 26 in several cities across Pakistan. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Pakistan affiliate, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), condemn the attack on journalists, media workers and media houses and urge the newly formed Pakistani government to apprehend the perpetrators and further protect journalists.

In Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, and other cities, numerous journalists, cameramen, and photographers were assaulted during the PTI demonstrations.

In Karachi's Numaish Chowrangi area, Asif Hassan, a 45-year-old photographer for Agence France Presse (AFP), was hit in the head by a stone intended for police officers. He was taken to Aga Khan University Hospital where he received five stitches to treat the wound. Hassan is said to be in a stable condition.

Reporters for Samaa TV were also attacked and harassed while covering the demonstrations in the Numaish Chowrangi area. Protestors abused female journalist, Zamzam Saeed, Yasir Hussain, and cameraperson Imran Khan while they were filming for Samaa TV.

The Samaa TV transmission van was also pelted with stones as the reporting team returned from interviewing PTI Sindh President Ali Zaidi.

In the capital city of Islamabad, several media vans were damaged. Protesters attacked an Aaj News and a Peshawar Neo News DSNG van with sticks and smashed the glass of a Hum News DSNG van. The Geo News office in Islamabad was also attacked with rocks.

A similar incident occurred in Lahore's Liberty Chowk, when the Aaj News DSNG van‘s windows were shattered and the assistant DSNG operator was physically assaulted.

Renowned photojournalist Amjad Hussain was also attacked during the protests.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has strongly condemned the violence against journalists during the PTI protests and the attack on the Geo News office. President GM Jamali and General Secretary Rana Muhammad Azeem have criticised the political party’s leaders and supporters for attacking media houses and staff.

According to the IFJ’s South Asia Press Freedom Report 2021-2022(SAPFR), Pakistani media practitioners faced several safety related challenges over the last year. These included a continuing spate of physical attacks that resulted in the murder of five journalists, including a citizen journalist; assault on and injuries sustained by at least six journalists; arrest or abduction of at least seven journalists; legal cases or notices faced by at least 15 journalists; attacks or intimidation of at least five media establishments; specific threats against journalists in at least four instances; and several instances of coordinated or violent online harassment and intimidation of journalists and other digital information practitioners, including women.

Karapatan condemns in strongest possible terms the attempt of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to disperse the peaceful indignation protest today at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) compound using violent force. According to health marshals, at least 10 individuals were reportedly injured after being hit with truncheons and shields while the protest was being bombed with water from a firetruck.

The right to peaceful assembly and protest is a basic right enshrined in our constitution; even our laws guarantee the exercise of this right, especially in a designated freedom park such the CHR’s Liwasang Diokno. Is the violent dispersal today a prelude of things to come under a Marcos-Duterte administration — where exercising our basic rights and freedoms are met with brazen State violence?

We will not take these violations sitting down, and in the face of the looming return of the forces of tyranny and fascism, all the more that we will protest and resist any and all attempts to unleash the horrors of Marcosian martial law and State repression. All the more that we should take to the streets and denounce a despotic tandem that has cheated their way to victory through lies, historical distortions, and mass deception.

We call on the CHR to investigate and condemn the PNP’s attempt to violently disperse a peaceful assembly right within their premises, and to hold the responsible PNP officials accountable for the incident. Above all, we call on all freedom-loving Filipinos to bravely stand to defend our hard-won rights and freedoms, and to reject the Marcos-Duterte tandem.

Do Le Na, the visually impaired wife of Le Trong Hung, took her two sons to visit their father on May 15 as scheduled. But when she got there she was told the schedule was changed, without being given a reason; she was told to come back the next day, which she did. Finally, after 411 days the children were able to see their father for the first time in a brief 30-minute visit. Hung reported he had contracted Covid earlier but was coping well; he said he was also suffering from back pain. Hung mentioned he was not eating food that she bought from the canteen out of concern that prison officials might spike it with drugs in an effort to send him to a psychiatric hospital.

RFA Viet 3 June reported that on 25 May, Mr Hung - currently serving 5 years jail for anti-state propaganda - has been transferred to a further away prison 350km in distance from his home, where his visually impaired wife lives with their two young children.

            Mr Hung's new prison is prison 6, Nghe An province.

            Mrs Le Na told RFA Viet, she wasn't informed of the prison transfer. Only when she came to temporary detention centre no 1, Tu Liem, Hanoi to bring him supplies on 1 June that she was informed of this.

            She said, during the time Mr Hung was transferred to the new prison, Hanoi police even sent people to her place to guard her and her two children, to intimidate them.



            '...My husband's only offence was being patriotic and trusting Party Chief Trong, thinking that he could help the Party Chief in his anti-corruption campaign by raising awareness about [officials'] wrongdoings and gifting copies of the nation's constitution to the people to raise their understanding.

'Yet, for that, my husband was jailed and transferred to a very remote prison, notorious for its harsh conditions, among the worst in Vietnam.' Mrs Le Na said.

A court in Hong Kong on Tuesday jailed democracy activist and former law professor Benny Tai for 10 months for "illegally" promoting a strategic voting scheme for the 2016 Legislative Council (LegCo) elections.

Tai, 57, was handed the sentence after pleading guilty to illegally incurring H.K.$253,000 in election expenses by placing six newspaper ads to promote scheme, which aimed to win a majority for pro-democracy parties in LegCo.

District Court judge Anthony Kwok said the sentence had been reduced by five months due to the guilty plea and by two months because of delays in prosecuting the case.

Kwok said the strategic voting scheme had affected the "fairness" of the election, although it was later postponed by the government and held under rules preventing any opposition candidates from standing at all.

Tai and 26 other activists and former pro-democracy lawmakers are also awaiting trial under the national security law for subversion for their role in an unofficial democratic primary held in the run-up to the main poll.

Onlookers shouted out "Hang in there!" and "Jesus loves you!" from the public gallery after the sentence was read out.The sentencing came as retired Catholic bishop and Cardinal Joseph Zen and five co-defendants pleaded not guilty to 'collusion with foreign forces' in connection with their trusteeship of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which offered financial, legal and psychological help to people arrested during the 2019 protest movement.

Zen's co-defendants, former pro-democracy lawmaker and barrister Margaret Ng, scholar Hui Po-keung, jailed former lawmaker Cyd Ho, Cantopop star Denise Ho and former fund secretary Sze Shing-wai, also pleaded not guilty to the same charge at West Kowloon Court on Tuesday.

At the hearing attended by the German consul Johannes Harms and other foreign diplomats, the six also pleaded not guilty to another charge of "failure to apply for registration or exemption from registration of a society within the specified time limit."

Their trial has been scheduled for Sept. 19, and all defendants barring Cyd Ho were released on bail after the national security police confiscated their passports.

The prosecution said it would call 17 witnesses, and present 10 boxes of documents and eight hours of video clips as evidence.

Onlookers called out in support of Zen and the others, calling him Peace Cardinal, and exhorting them to "take care," and offering Christian blessings.

Meanwhile, the Law Society said it would investigate the defense team for alleged "professional misconduct," prompting fears that the pro-China body will target defense attorneys in a similar manner to official lawyers' associations in mainland China.

The Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong said Tuesday said it will no longer hold masses for those who died in the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, citing fears of prosecution under the national security law.

Masses were held at seven churches last year to the June 4, 1989 anniversary.

On May 24, Mirza Hassani, the former owner and editor of Radio Aftab, was detained by Taliban agents at a checkpoint in District 12 of Herat city. Radio Aftab is a local station in the Daikundi province that was shutdown following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021.

Hassani was transferred to the 12th Directorate of the Taliban’s GDI in Herat after agents searched his phone and found news reports posted on his social media. The journalist has reportedly been beaten and tortured while in custody and is accused of working as a reporter for the anti-Taliban militant group, National Resistance Front (NRF), but has not been officially charged. Hassani’s family and the Herat’s Scholars Council called for his immediate release.

Sources in Daikundi province have confirmed that the Taliban have arrested the owner of Aftab Radio Station in Herat province, which is an active radio station in Daikundi.

According to sources, Mirza Hassani, the owner of Aftab Radio and the head of the network of civil society organizations in Daikundi has been detained and severely tortured by the Taliban in Herat province.

He has been in the Taliban’s custody for the last couple of days. Hassani’s family members and Herat Scholars Council have been trying to release him, but they have failed.

The promotion of freedom of speech is one of the major achievements that the international community has been proud of for the last 20 years. Millions of funds were invested in this sector, but with the rise of the Taliban in power, many achievements of the last 20 years are on the edge of dismissal and demolition by the Taliban. Freedom of speech promotion has been one of those achievements.

Taliban do not care about any value that is important to human social development. Any values that are not aligned with their extremist ideology or that can cause a barrier to their biased religious ideologies deserve to be demolished and removed.

Since the Taliban has returned to power, the group has arbitrarily arrested many journalists, media activists, and civil society members. In addition, the rebels have imposed strict restrictions on media outlets, censoring the content of the media and directly threatening any violator of their rules.

Karachi police on Tuesday briefly detained 18 people, including academic Nida Kirmani, for staging a protest against enforced disappearances of members from the Baloch community in the metropolis.

South Senior Superintendent of Police Asad Raza (Raza) told Dawn.com that the activists had announced that they would take out a rally from Karachi Press Club to Sindh Chief Minister House. He added that female police officers had asked the protesters to disperse as there was a ban on such gatherings on the orders of the home department.

SSP Raza said the police was forced to take action also because of the presence of international cricketers in the vicinity.

It is pertinent to mention that Sri Lanka's women's cricket team is currently in Karachi for a three-match Twenty20 series.

SSP Raza said the 18 individuals ⁠— 10 men and eight females, including Kirmani ⁠— were detained and brought to the Artillery Maidan police station after they tried to advance further. He added that they were later released.

Kirmani also said that she and others were released as there were no charges against them and their cellphones were also returned. However, she said that "information was recorded about everyone, and photos were taken of the Baloch men who were with us."

The Phnom Penh Appeal Court this morning upheld the baseless September 2018 convictions of four current and former ADHOC staffers - Ny Sokha, Nay Vanda, Yi Soksan, and Lim Mony - and National Election Committee official Ny Chakrya, all of whom were previously imprisoned and convicted on spurious charges of bribery.

Sokha, Vanda, Soksan, and Mony were convicted on 26 September 2018 for bribery of a witness under Article 548 of the Criminal Code. Chakrya, who was serving as deputy secretary-general of the National Election Committee at the time of his arrest, was convicted as an accomplice to bribery of a witness under Articles 29 and 548 of the Criminal Code. The arrests came during a broader crackdown on civil society and the political opposition in Cambodia. All five human rights defenders served 14 months in pre-trial detention before being released on bail in June 2017, and were later sentenced to five years in prison with the remaining time suspended.

Both the defendants and the prosecutor filed appeals, with the defendants seeking to be exonerated and the prosecutor appealing to have the five human rights defenders serve the full five years in prison. The Appeal Court rejected both appeals, upholding the original convictions and suspended sentences of all five defendants.

The five human rights defenders were all current and former staff of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) at the time of their arrest. They were accused of paying a woman to make false statements regarding another case linked to then-opposition leader Kem Sokha.

None of the witnesses named in the case appeared for the lower court proceedings, during which no credible evidence was presented by the prosecution. Requests by the defence to summons witnesses at the Appeal Court hearing were denied, as was a request to delay the hearing.

Hong Kong authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Eric Wu Ka-Fai, a reporter for independent news site HK Golden, and stop jailing members of the press for reporting the news, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.

On Monday, May 23, Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court sentenced Wu to one month in prison for behaving in a disorderly manner in a public place under the city’s public order ordinance for questioning police during a HK Golden live broadcast as he was covering a pro-democracy student event in central Hong Kong in April 2021, according to news reports.

“Hong Kong authorities should be embarrassed for jailing journalist Eric Wu Ka-Fai merely for asking tough questions of the police, as he had every right to do,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia coordinator, in Washington in D.C. “Hong Kong authorities continue to claim that press freedom prevails in the Chinese-ruled city, but cases like Wu’s prove otherwise.”

According to reports, Wu, who also reports under the name Gwanfolo, was detained on September 29, 2021 and released on bail the next day on charges of behaving in a disorderly manner in a public place, willfully obstructing a police officer on duty, and refusing to obey an order of a police officer. The charges stemmed from his questioning of police during his HK Golden livestream on April 15, 2021, of a pro-democracy street booth erected by student group Student Politicism. On Monday, the judge acquitted Wu of the latter two charges, the reports said.

In video of Wu’s April 15 livestream, police officers can be seen blocking Wu as he tries to film them questioning the student group. Wu raises his voice and asks the officers whether they intend to hit the crowd when an officer pulls out a stick, later revealed to be a selfie stick, from a bag. The officer says, “police don’t hit people,” and Wu confronts him, saying, “Police don’t hit people? Wasn’t Frankly Chu King Wai [who was jailed for hitting a bystander during Hong Kong protests in 2014] a police officer? Weren’t the seven officers [convicted of assaulting pro-democracy activist Ken Tsang in 2014] police?” Wu also cites cases of alleged police theft and sexual misconduct in the livestream.

According to the reports, the judge said Wu’s recounting of alleged police misconduct in a public place constituted a disorderly conduct offense because it could have incited collective hatred toward police at the scene resulting in violence.

CPJ emailed the Hong Kong police force and the Hong Kong department of justice as well as its prosecution division for comment but did not immediately receive any replies.

CPJ’s 2021 prison census found that China remained the world’s worst jailer of journalists for the third year in a row. It was the first time that journalists in Hong Kong appeared on CPJ’s census.

Chinese censors have deleted a social media post from a university professor who hit out at the blanket surveillance deployed against Chinese citizens as part of the zero-COVID policy.

The post from Tsinghua University law professor Lao Dongyan, who has long been a vocal critic of mass surveillance and facial recognition under the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was deleted from Weibo on Monday.

Undeterred, Lao posted further comments on Wednesday, calling on the highest judicial authorities in China to pay attention to the personal privacy risks posed by big data surveillance, and for laws to limit its scope.

Lao's initial post took issue with the widespread deployment of big data surveillance as part of the Beijing municipal government's attempts to deliver on CCP leader Xi Jinping's zero-COVID policy.

Lao said government promises that citizens' data "won't be used for purposes other than disease control and prevention" weren't enough, and that legislation was needed, otherwise victims of big data leaks or theft would have no channel for redress.

"I'm human, not a zoo animal," Lao wrote on Monday. "If you want to live in captivity, that's your choice, but I don't."

"There should be some dignity to a human life, which should be more than just existence."Limiting freedom

On Wednesday, Lao expressed concern in two fresh posts that technologies like facial recognition, voiceprint recognition, and even emotional recognition infringe on citizens' privacy, and called for legislation to limit their use.

In Beijing, a link had now been made between public transportation ticketing systems and the traffic light health code app that is mandatory for access to any public place under the zero-COVID policy.

She said the linkage gave the authorities instant access to individuals' identities, whereabouts and social connections, and that the health code app could be used indefinitely to limit citizens' freedom of movement.

She also warned that the move had greatly increased the risk of people's personal data being abused or leaked.

Lao tagged the Supreme People's Court and the highest-level state prosecutor, among other official accounts, in her post.

Tsinghua sociologist Li Zhen, who has campaigned for privacy in the face of big data, said such surveillance eventually gets used as a political tool to exert social control in China.

"Now, PCR-testing has been normalized in Beijing, with testing stations every mile, just like bus stops," Li told RFA. "The whole thing is controlled by the government, so it's totally about political control."

"This has totally destroyed the past 30 or 40 years of legal progress in China," he said. "We have moved forward, only to regress, because of technology."

Farmers targeted

The controls on people's movements aren't just limited to urban areas, either. Farmers in some areas now need to get a pass before they can work their own land.

"It's hard for me to imagine, as a farmer," Zhang Jianping told RFA. "When I was a kid in the Mao Zedong era, they would crack down on capitalism if we grew a cash crop on our private land."

"Fast forward several decades, and there are still restrictions on farmers wanting to work the land," he said. "I can't understand such disease control and prevention measures."

Beijing-based commentator Ji Feng agreed.

"Since the pandemic, our every action has been subject to government monitoring," Ji said. "The aim is simple: to bring everyone under government control."

"They are using the pandemic as a testing ground in the mass management of the population, the prevention of mass incidents [like protests], and the elimination of dissatisfaction and even resistance," he said.

U.S.-based legal scholar Teng Biao said it's entirely possible for the CCP to eliminate any public dissent through the use of high-tech surveillance.

"The high-tech system they have in China has exceeded the imaginations of political dystopia authors," Teng told RFA. "They can control every corner [of the country] and everyone in it."

"China is using the pandemic as a pretext to control the flow of information and the actions of its citizens, including the use of technologies mentioned by Lao Dongyan: voiceprint recognition; facial recognition and other biometric techniques," he said.

"This isn't just an infringement of people's right to privacy: the consequences will be far more serious than that, because people with different views [to the CCP line] will be unable to act and see no hope [for the future]," Teng said.

Teng said he is concerned for Lao's safety in the wake of her posts, and called on the international community to keep a close eye on her situation.

About the Human Rights Defender: Mr. Mrinal Kanti Shome is the General Secretary, Assam Majoori Shramik Union (AMSU). He is a retired school headmaster and who has been working to highlight the plight of tea garden workers since 2008.

Background of the incident: Since April 2022, there has been an ongoing protest by the Dolu tea estate workers against the illegal acquisition of land of tea estate for the new Silchar Airport and clearance of tea bushes which will affect the livelihood of more than 2000 tea workers of the Dolu tea estate. On May 11, 2022, CrPC 144 was imposed on Dolu and the protest gained momentum with more tea estate workers joining in. On May 12, the eviction was started and the tea estate surrounded by the police and the workers were asked not to leave the tea estate and leaders of tea workers were targeted and arrested. The tea workers are demanding that their concerns be heard and addressed which include, exploring alternative proposals for the new airport location, failing which the issue of re-employment, rehousing and rehabilitation must be addressed. Workers say that they must be heard through their legitimate representatives. They allege that the government has a memorandum of understanding with the tea estate company entered into with trade unions, who do not represent the workers nor can they demonstrate that they consulted the workers.

Amidst growing unrest among Doloo Tea Estate workers, Asom Mojuri Shramik Union (AMSU) General Secretary Mrinal Kanti Shome was detained by the Silchar police on May 22, 2022. Local democratic groups gathered in front of the District Magistrate’s office in protest of this detention on Monday.

On Sunday afternoon at around 3 PM, Silchar Sadar police officials picked up Shome from his house. Officers said that the Superintendent of Police (SP) wanted to meet him. However, after being taken to the SP’s office he was taken to the police station where he went through medical testing procedures.

Shome’s wife asked the SP about his condition but was only informed that Shome was being interrogated. According to AMSU member Arup Baishwa, as of Monday, “The police still haven’t stated the reason for his detainment nor confirmed his arrest.”

The local trade union leader was working with Doloo Tea Estate workers in opposing the Greenfield Airport project to be built on a part of the estate that could affect workers' livelihood. Recently, even other tribal groups like the All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP) and even the Bhoomi Adhikar Andolan voiced their support for the workers. Therefore, multiple democratic forces in Assam called for a mass rally in front of the Silchar District Magistrate's office on Monday afternoon to condemn police harassment.

“Arresting of engaged leaders is a tool to fracture the strength of mass movements,” said the AMSU in a press release.

Meanwhile, a Congress delegation led by Opposition leader Debabrata Saikia visited the tea estate on the day of Shome’s detention. Saikia claimed he wanted to understand the issue in the region. However, state police blocked the group from entering the area.

To this, Saikia reportedly said, “The manner in which the Opposition was obstructed is a bad omen for democracy! We the people of Assam are the evidence that the BJP is destroying democracy in recent times!”

Mr. Shome said that the SP also threatened him that his son’s visa will be affected if he continues his activism and that his pension will also be stopped. She also falsely accused him of taking money from a certain Mr Rajendra Agarwal. He alleges that Ms. Kaur also treated him discourteously in a manner not befitting a senior citizen.

Police in Vietnam’s capital on May 21 arrested Hanoi resident and human rights activist Truong Van Dung, charging him under Article 88 of Vietnam’s 1999 Penal Code with “conducting propaganda against the State,” Dung’s wife Nghiem Thi Hop told RFA the same day.

Dung, who was born in 1958, was taken into custody at around 7 a.m. at the couple’s home, Hop said.

“While I was out shopping, I received a phone call from a neighbor telling me he had been arrested, and I came back at 7:30 but they had already taken him away.”

Police in plain clothes then arrived and read out an order to search the house, taking away books, notebooks, laptop computers and protest banners, she added.

Dung had participated in protests in Hanoi including demonstrations against China’s occupation of the Paracel Islands — an island group in the South China Sea also claimed by Vietnam — and protests against the Taiwan-owned Formosa Company for polluting the coastline of four central Vietnamese provinces of Vietnam in 2016.

Public protests even over perceived harm to Vietnam’s interests are considered threats to its political stability and are routinely suppressed by the police.

Dung’s arrest under Article 88 of Vietnam’s Penal Code is the second arrest on national security charges reported since Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s May 12-17 visit to the U.S. Cao Thi Cue, owner of the Peng Lai Temple in southern Vietnam’s Long An province, was arrested on charges of “abusing the rights to freedom and democracy” under Article 331 of the 2015 Penal Code.

Both laws have been criticized by rights groups as tools used to stifle voices of dissent in the one-party communist state.

Dr. GN Saibaba who has been on a hunger strike since May 21, 2022 was sent to prison hospital yesterday. The former Delhi University professor is a human rights activist and political dissenter and has been behind bars after being convicted in a case related to his alleged involvement with left-wing extremist groups. He is currently under the care of the prison's Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and the Superintendent who have agreed to extend the medical treatment.

In a press release dated May 26, 2022, the Committee for the Defense and Release of Dr. GN Saibaba has said that the former DU Professor is suffering through serious health problems due to four days of hunger strike. They say that from the third day of the strike, Prof. Saibaba started passing blood motions spilling all over the bed. Moreover, the Committee states how his skin has loosened and is now hanging from the muscles.

This is not the first time that Dr. Saibaba has gone on a hunger strike for the sake of upholding his fundamental rights. Previously, during the pandemic, he had gone on a strike demanding the immediate handover of medicines supplied by his family members and advocates, as well as supply of books, letters, etc.

As for this hunger strike, he is fighting for his fundamental right to privacy, life, liberty and bodily integrity. The jail authorities installed a CCTV camera in front of his Anda Cell without providing any valid reason which records everything 24X7 including use of toilet, bathing, and all his bodily activities. The letter claims that this is against the basic human rights and that the rights, even of a convicted person, should be upheld. In a letter dated May 14, 2022, Saibaba’s wife Vasantha Kumari and his brother G. Ramadevudu wrote to the Maharashtra Home Minister, Shri Dilip Walse Patil urging him to intervene in the matter and to protect his rights.

In the letter, his family reportedly pleaded, “How can Dr G N Saibaba live in these circumstances? The helpers are also intimidated by the closely watching camera since their bodies are constantly exposed to the eye of the camera. This is clearly to intimidate and insult him.”

Two weeks ago, it was reported that the Nagpur Jail authorities have been denying Prof GN Saibaba a plastic water bottle for three weeks. The former Delhi University professor, who is ninety per cent physically disabled and wheelchair-bound, has been finding it difficult to lift the small pot kept in his cell or even a glass bottle, and has reportedly been unable to hydrate himself adequately amidst soaring temperatures due to this.

The Committee lists out the following demands:

Removal of CCTV camera’s focus on his Anda Cell that keeps his privacy, dignity and body integrity at risk.

Grant parole and enable him to get proper medical treatment for all his health issues. [His family members submitted applications several times to release him on parole.]

Immediately shift him out of Anda Cell as he is unable to withstand heat/cold waves and unable to move on his wheelchair as the cell is very small and compact.

Prison Transfer: He and his family members submitted letters to Jail Authorities and Maharashtra Home minister to transfer him from Nagpur Central Prison to Cherlapally Central Prison, Hyderabad.

Implementation of all other demands of his earlier hunger strike that were not so far addressed.

Advocate Aakash Sorde informed the Committee that the jail authorities are now ready to give him a water bottle and they have claimed that they will accept all other demands one by one in due course of time.

As reported by the Wire, Dr. GN Saibaba suffers from ailments like hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, hypertension, paraplegia, kyphoscoliosis of the spine, anterior horn cell disease, acute pancreatitis and a cyst in the brain. It is also reported that Prof. Saibaba's left hand is on the verge of failure and there is acute pain spreading in both his hands.

Brief background of the case

The Sessions Court at Gadchiroli on May 7, 2017 sentenced Prof. Saibaba to life imprisonment under the Unlawful Prevention (Activities) Act (UAPA), for alleged links with banned organisation Communist Party of India (Maoist). He had appealed against the Judgment of the Sessions Court before the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court, but his appeal has been pending for the last five years.

Dr. Saibaba, who has been a long-time defender of the rights of India’s minorities, especially Dalits, Adivasis and forest dwelling communities, against vested corporate interests, was first arrested in in May 2014, and eventually sentenced to life imprisonment in March 2017, for “waging war against the state”.

As an activist and rights defender, Dr. Saibaba has campaigned against a push to end reservations for lower castes, as well as against “encounter killings” of innocent people in Andhra Pradesh. He launched the Forum Against War on People, in response to the Indian government’s Operation Green Hunt in India’s tribal belt, which allegedly cracked down on Adivasis in the region. He organised a national campaign against the operation that reportedly led to investors pulling out. In July 2015, he told The Hindu that the authorities felt “the best way to stop me was to throw me in jail.”

About the Human Rights Defender: Professor Ratan Lal is an Associate professor of History at the Hindu college in Delhi University. He is also an Dalit activist and the founder and editor-in-chief of Ambedkarnama, a news portal focusing on Dalit issues.

Details of the incident: In May 2022, Professor Lal made a Facebook post on his Facebook wall, which referred to claims of a Shivling been found at the Gyanvapi mosque. On May, 17, 2022, an FIR was registered against Professor Lal following a police complaint by a Delhi-based lawyer. In his complaint, Advocate Vineet Jindal said Mr Lal recently shared a "derogatory, inciting and provocative tweet on the shivling". On May 20, 2022, the professor was called to the police station for questioning. And at 10:30 pm on the same day, the Delhi police arrested the Hindu College history teacher under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295A (deliberate act to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion) of the Indian Penal Code. Defending his post Prof Lal said he had simply posed a question as a student of history. ““People can be hurt by anything. Academic discourse cannot be side-lined on account of perceived hurt. I had asked a simple question to enquire if the so-called shivling was broken or cut. Mullahs and Pandits don’t need to comment on it. An art historian should answer this question,”

A Delhi court on Saturday granted bail to Delhi University professor Ratan Lal, who was arrested on Friday over a social media post allegedly intended to outrage reli­gious beliefs after the alleged discovery of ‘Shivling’ inside the Gyanvapi Mosque complex in Varanasi, on furnishing a bond of ₹50,000 and surety on the like amount. Lal was produced before the Tis Hazari Court, which granted him the bail.

The court, however, directed Lal to strictly refrain from posting any social media posts or interviews regarding the ‘shivling’ controversy.

An FIR was lodged against Lal, a Hindu College associate professor, on Tuesday night based on a complaint filed by a Delhi-based lawyer. In his complaint, advocate Vineet Jindal said the professor had recently shared a "derogatory, inciting and provocating tweet on the Shivling".

He was booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295A (deliberate act to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion).

On Saturday, Left-affiliated All India Students Association (AISA) activists staged a protest outside Delhi University's Arts Faculty against the arrest of the Hindu College associate professor.

The student activists held placards that read: "Stop attack on our teachers", "Stop curbing democratic voices" and "Release professor Ratan Lal".

There was a heavy deployment of police during the protest. Apart from the district police, four companies from an outside force, including women personnel, have been put in place, police said.

Lal had earlier said he had simply posed a question as a student of history. “People can be hurt by anything. Academic discourse cannot be sidelined on account of perceived hurt. I had asked a simple question to enquire if the so-called shivling was broken or cut. Mullahs and Pandits don’t need to comment on it. An art historian should answer this question,” said Lal.

An ethnic Ede Montagnard minority activist was sentenced to four years in prison on Friday for submitting three reports about human rights violations in Vietnam to “reactionary forces” overseas, another activist who followed his trial said.

A court in Cu Kuin district, Dak Lak province, sentenced Y Wo Nie on the charge of “abusing the rights to freedom and democracy” under Article 331 of Vietnam’s Penal Code, said activist Vo Ngoc Luc, who followed the trial developments as they were broadcast over a local loudspeaker.

The article prohibits citizens from abusing “the rights to freedom and democracy to violate the State’s interests and the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals.” Rights groups have criticized the statute as providing authorities widespread latitude to crack down on any criticism of the government.

Nie participated in several online training courses held by “reactionary forces.” The classes included lessons on religious faith, Vietnam Civil Law, international human rights law, the Montagnard experience in Vietnam, and how to document human rights abuses, according to the online news outlet Congly, the mouthpiece of the Supreme People’s Court of Vietnam.

“Learning about human rights is very good — that’s what I told security officers whom I met this morning,” Luc said. “You cannot convict [people] for taking online courses on human rights.”

Prosecutors failed to provide evidence to support a second accusation against Nie for “providing false information,” Luc said.

“They were all general and ambiguous accusations,” he said.

“Saying the sentence was too heavy is wrong,” Luc added. “I would say it was groundless. If we lived in a civilized world, then the court would declare his innocence, set him free right at the trial, and the investigation agency would apologize him.”

In its indictment, the Cu Kuin People’s Procuracy said that in 2020 Nie collected distorting and false information and composed three reports on human rights violations and sent them to “reactionary forces overseas” via the WhatsApp instant messaging service.

The indictment also said Nie met with the delegates from the U.S. Embassy and Consulate General in Vietnam when they visited the Gia Lai province in June 2020.

The judges concluded that Nie’s acts had affected social safety and order, political security and government administrative agencies’ activities, undermining confidence in the regime and at home and abroad.

When Nie was arrested in September 2020, Cu Kuin police officers said that they seized “many materials with false content and images slandering, insulting and defaming the prestige and dignity of the party, state, local authorities, the public security forces in Cu Kuin district and in Dak Lak province.”

Prior to the September 2020 arrest, Nie received a nine-year jail term for “sabotaging the national unity policy.”

In recent decades, many ethnic minority groups in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, including the Montagnards, have been persecuted for their religious beliefs and seen their land confiscated without adequate compensation. The crackdowns tend to ramp up on the groups when they try to fight back and report these human rights abuses, activists said.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for an immediate and independent investigation into the murder of Subhash Kumar Mahto, a 26-year-old reporter known for his reporting on mafia who was shot in the head outside his home in Bihar state, in East India. His murderers must be brought to justice without delay, RSF says.

Subhash Kumar Mahto had just returned from a wedding party on the evening of 20 May and was in front of his home in Sakho village when a gunman fired a single shot to his head at close range. Rushed to a local hospital, he was pronounced dead on arrival.

A stringer for Hindi-language newspapers and a local TV channel and active on Public App, an Indian local news sharing platform, Mahto was known for his investigative reporting on the liquor and sand mafias.

His father said Mahto reported receiving death threats to the police six months ago. But, before carrying out an investigation, the local police ruled out any link between his murder and his journalism, suggesting that it was probably the result of his support for a candidate in the recent local elections.

“We are horrified by this execution-style murder and call on the Indian authorities to order an independent investigation so that Subhash Kumar Mahto’s killers can be brought to justice as quickly as possible,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “In view of his reporting implicating local criminal groups, it is crucial that the investigation should continue to consider the possibility of a link to his work until the facts prove otherwise.”

India is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists, with an average of three or four killed in connection with their work every year. Mahto is the second to be killed since the start of 2022. The first was Rohit Kumar Biswal, a newspaper photographer in the eastern state of Odisha who was killed by improvised explosive device while reporting on 5 February.

Regime forces shot and killed a third-year medical student in Sagaing Region’s Myinmu Township on Friday, according to a source close to the victim’s family.

Kyaw Nyi Zin, 21, died after junta troops opened fire on the vehicle that he and other members of his family were traveling in on their way from Mandalay to Monywa.

“They were going to a wedding in Monywa and the military told them to stop. But then they started shooting before they even had a chance to slow down. Kyaw Nyi Zin was shot in the head,” the source said.

After the incident, the family took Kyaw Nyi Zin to Monywa to receive emergency medical treatment, but he later died of his injuries, the source added.

Kyaw Nyi Zin was a student at the University of Medicine, Mandalay, one of five universities in Myanmar dedicated to the study of medicine.

Since last year, however, he had stopped attending classes at the state-run university in order to take part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against military rule.

A funeral was held for him in Mandalay on Saturday.

“I’m getting used to the horror, but this still breaks my heart,” said a Mandalay-based doctor who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“They do as they please, just because they have weapons.”

Healthcare workers have been at the forefront of the anti-coup movement, making them frequent targets of arrest and regime brutality. An estimated 80% of the medical staff in Mandalay are currently taking part in the CDM.

Dr. Thiha Tin Tun, a Mandalay doctor, was among more than 100 people killed in crackdowns on anti-coup protests around the country on March 27 of last year.

The junta has revoked the licenses of medical professionals who refuse to work in hospitals under its control, and has also threatened to shut down private hospitals that hire doctors taking part in the CDM.

As a result of these moves, hundreds of doctors in Mandalay alone are believed to have lost their livelihood for resisting last year’s military takeover.

Christian human rights lawyer Wang Shengsheng traveled from Zhengzhou to Wuhan to attend a trial. Zhengzhou is not classified as a medium or high COVID risk city, but authorities still forced her to quarantine in Wuhan Railway Station for 21 hours.

In her opinion, the forced quarantine was utterly unreasonable, and it did not stand on any legal grounds. She tried various means to protect her rights. Wang reasoned with the COVID prevention staff, asked other lawyers for help, and posted her situation on social media. All of her efforts were in vain.

Wang exposed all the details on May 20 in an article she posted on her WeChat public account. She mentioned that government officials asked her to delete her articles and videos. WeChat deleted her article one day after it was published.

It was not the first time that Wang had traveled to Wuhan Railway Station from Zhengzhou East Railway Station. She rode the high-speed train to Wuhan on May 14. At the exit of Wuhan Railway Station, COVID prevention staff checked her itinerary and Wuhan’s policy about the Zhengzhou area. They told her it was fine for travelers from that area. They asked her to do a COVID test and allowed her to exit the railway station. She traveled back to Zhengzhou successfully the same day. However, she experienced a completely different situation when she traveled along the same route less than a week later.

Lawyer Wang Shengsheng’s health code was green (clear). There was no warning for her to travel to places on her itinerary. Her COVID test results were consistently negative for a few days in a row. She stayed in a low-risk zone for the past thirty days, but Wuhan marked the entire Zhengzhou Jinshui District and Zhengzhou Erqi District as high-risk zones. As a result, authorities made her register at the COVID prevention center in Wuhan Railway Station and quarantined her immediately for ten days. Even if she just needs to transfer to another train in Wuhan, she still must finish the quarantine first before she can get on another train.

Wang scolded Wuhan’s terrible COVID prevention policy. Her criticism irritated the staff. They confiscated her ID and openly challenged her: “I have the authority to deal with your ID before your information is registered.” Then a police officer came in and warned her that travelers must cooperate with the quarantine policy, or else they may be detained.

She immediately notified her client and the judge that she could not show up in court. Then she requested to go back to Zhengzhou because her two children were at home. She promised to get back home in the evening, but they denied her. She was told that Wuhan used to allow travelers to go back immediately, but the current policy no longer allowed it.

Authorities notified the COVID prevention staff in charge of the court’s area to take her to the quarantine site. She decided to stay at the railway station the whole night. Other travelers suggested that she post a video on douyin.com (the Chinese version of TikTok). She did not have an account, so she opened WeChat Channels and posted a video to share her situation and emotion with her friends. She also called the government hotline numerous times, but none of them allowed her to travel back home. They said that her situation has been escalated to higher-level authorities, but she did not receive any response until 1 AM.

A friend brought Wang a quilt and comforters. Her client was worried, so they called the government hotline several times. Wang Shengsheng wanted to sleep but was interrupted by the train several times.

The situation changed on the morning of May 18. COVID prevention staff bargained to take her the court and back if she stops posting on social media. Wang agreed.

Her incident drew a lot of attention on the internet. Authorities contacted her law firm when she just arrived home. Wang received phone calls from the Cyberspace Administration of Wuhan and the Wuhan Justice Bureau, requesting her to delete the online content. They said they would deal with other Weibo accounts after she removes her content. She promised to do something after she rested. Wang did not delete her videos, knowing the accounts that shared her content would be reported or removed.

She criticized and reflected on China’s covid prevention policy at the end of her article. She said:

We live in a society dominated by abused power. The Wuhan government won my respect because they did not force me to delete my content, but instead tried to convince me to delete my content. In addition, Wuhan's quarantine, all free of charge, is a civilized, non-discriminatory arrangement made by Wuhan to reach its prevention goals. They won respect for themselves. This characteristic also exists in many of my friends from Wuhan. They are smart, flexible, kind-hearted, decent, hardworking, and bold. But I am not sure about the negative effects of this incident. Will it make the Wuhan government more cooperative?

If the COVID prevention policy is not changed, the COVID prevention practice will not change, and the various madness to achieve the goals will not cease. The goals are critical to keeping government officials’ position and the huge profit behind covid prevention is also a significant driving force.

When I talked with the COVID prevention staff, none of them thought the China-style COVID prevention practice would ever end. They do not know what they will do if COVID prevention ends. They all think China is different and will keep enforcing its policies.

Of course, it is up to higher officials’ decisions.

I cannot see the far future either. Now that COVID prevention is part of daily life, when will the government produce laws about it? After all, we are all promoting the growth or death of civilization through our interaction.”

Wang Shengsheng is a renowned Christian Human Rights lawyer. Over the years, she has been promoting China’s human rights and rule of law through her frontline work. Because of that, she has been terminated by her previous employer and the Chinese government does not allow her to work for another law firm. Her legal license was once revoked. Her husband Chen Yixuan is also a renowned Christian human rights lawyer. He worked on multiple, sensitive cases. When faced with persecution, she said:

I try my best to uphold kindness, and dignity and seek rule of law, human rights, and justice. I believe in Jesus Christ. So many bold people who reject injustice are arrested, threatened, and have their personal liberty deprived. I will not stop paying attention and expressing my feelings. If I lose my personal liberty, I will fight until the end.

Four monarchy reform activists were again denied bail on 20 May, including Tantawan Tuatulanon, who has been on a hunger strike for the past 32 days to demand the right to bail, while a protest caravan visited the Ratchadaphisek Criminal Court and the Bangkok Remand Prison to demand the release of 11 detained activists.

The Ratchadaphisek Criminal Court on 20 May again denied bail to monarchy reform activist Tantawan Tuatulanon, who is currently held in pre-trial detention on a royal defamation charge and has been on a hunger strike for the past 30 days to demand the right to bail for detained activists.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that the public prosecutor requested the Court to continue detaining Tantawan for another 7 days, claiming that her case has to be forwarded to the Attorney General Commission to see whether she should be indicted and that this is standard procedure for royal defamation cases.

The Court subsequently approved the request, and scheduled a bail hearing for Tantawan on 26 May after Move Forward Party MP Pita Limjaroenrat posted bail for her using his MP status as security. The order was signed by judge Parit Piyanaratorn, Deputy Chief Justice of the Criminal Court.

Pita previously submitted a bail request for Tantawan on Tuesday 17 May, but his request was denied after the Court claimed that he did not submit a pay slip, even though he submitted a certifying letter from the Secretariat of the House of Representatives, which stated the amount of his salary as an MP.

He said today after filing a bail request for Tantawan that, according to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), anyone accused of breaking the law should be presumed to be innocent until they are tried and found guilty. He is also concerned about her health as she has been on a hunger strike for 30 days.

He also said that he was informed that his previous bail request was denied due to a documentation error. He said that he is not so naïve that he wouldn’t know the difference between a pay slip and a salary certification letter, but he believes that the difference is not a significant issue, that he was told by his lawyers that he may submit these documents, and that the matter of Tantawan’s health is more important than documents.

Pita said that the Move Forward Party has a list of activists currently in detention and that its MPs will be posting bail for them. The Party will also propose an amendment to the royal defamation law, but he is not sure when the proposal will go before parliament.

Tantawan, 20, was charged with royal defamation, resisting officers, and violation of the Computer Crimes Act for live broadcasting before a royal motorcade on 5 March, during which she questioned the priorities of the police and the King as farmers protesting in the area at the time were forced to move to clear the route.

She was detained at the Narcotics Suppression Bureau located inside the Police Club from 5 March to 7 March when she was granted bail on a 100,000-baht security on the conditions that she must not repeat her offense or participate in activities which damage the monarchy, and must wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.

She was also charged with royal defamation and sedition for conducting a poll on royal motorcades at Siam Paragon on 8 February 2022.

The Court revoked Tantawan’s bail on 20 April, claiming she had broken her bail conditions by going near a royal motorcade and posting about the monarchy on Facebook. She has been held in pre-trial detention at the Women’s Central Correctional Institution for the past 30 days and has been on a hunger strike throughout her detention to demand the right to bail for detained activists, raising concerns that her condition will deteriorate further if she continues to be detained.

According to TLHR, Tantawan has lost 4 kg, is severely fatigued, and has fainted several times a day. She has not been taking anything but milk and water, and has told her lawyers that she will drink only water until she is released if she is not granted bail this time. Three other activists denied bail

Three other monarchy reform activists currently in pre-trial detention on royal defamation charges were also denied bail on 20 May.

The police requested the court today to detain activist Sopon Surariddhidhamrong for 12 more days, claiming that they are still processing evidence in the case and have to interview another witness, even though they admitted that Sopon would not be able to tamper with the evidence and that the last time the Court approved a detention request for Sopon, the judge said that it would be the last time.

Nevertheless, the Court approved the request and ordered Sopon to be detained for another 7 days. His lawyers filed a bail request, which was subsequently denied on the ground that there is no cause to change existing court order. The order was signed by judge Parit Piyanaratorn.

Sopon, a 23-year-old radiological technology student, was arrested while he was leaving a Labour Day event in front of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre. He was charged with royal defamation and using a sound amplifier without permission for a speech he gave during a protest march in the Ratchadamnoen area on 22 April 2022. Anon Klinkaew, a member of the ultra-royalist group People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy who filed the complaint against Sopon, said the speech defamed Queen Suthida.

Sopon is facing two other royal defamation charges; one is for a speech given at the Chakri Memorial Day protest on 6 April 2022 and another for a speech given during a Labour Day rally in front of Government House on 1 May. He is also on a hunger strike to demand the right to bail and has been for 16 days.

Meanwhile, the South Bangkok Criminal Court denied bail again for Baipor and Netiporn, two activists from the monarchy reform activist group Thaluwang. The order was signed by Manas Phakphuwadol, Research Justice of the Supreme Court, serving temporarily as Deputy Chief Justice of the South Bangkok Criminal Court, and made on the grounds that the two have previously broken their bail conditions and that they are likely to commit other offense if released.

According to TLHR, Baipor, who is currently a 1st year student at the Puey Ungphakorn School of Development Studies, Thammasat University, is likely to be expelled from university if she continues to be detained, since she will miss 4 of her final examinations, which will cause her GPA to fall below the university’s requirement to remain enrolled. Keeping her in detention would therefore be an excessive deprivation of her rights and destructive to her future in a situation where she has not been judged guilty, and if she is found to be innocent, the court will not be able to remedy the damage to her education.

Meanwhile, the bail request for Netiporn said that her mother has a heart condition, and that Netiporn and her sister are responsible for paying for their mother’s medical treatment, since their parents are separated. Keeping Netiporn in detention would therefore mean that the family will struggle to cover their mother’s medical expenses. Netiporn herself is also at risk of developing a tumour in her uterus and has been prescribed hormonal therapy by a doctor at Ramathibodi Hospital. Being in detention and not being able to see a doctor would increase the risk to her health.

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

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

They have been detained since 3 May when their bail was revoked by the South Bangkok Criminal Court, which claimed that they violated their bail conditions by causing public disorder by participating in another poll on land expropriation on 13 March 2022 at the Victory Monument, during which a small altercation took place between Thaluwang supporters and members of a royalist group gathering nearby. Protest at court and prison demand the right to bail

To demand the right to bail for detained activists, the activist network Citizens for the Abolition of 112, which has been campaigning for the release of detained activists and the repeal of the royal defamation law, staged a ‘car mob’ protest. A caravan of cars and motorcycles carrying white flags saying “free our friends” and pictures of detained activists drove from the Democracy Monument to the Ratchadaphisek Criminal Court, and then to the Bangkok Remand Prison.

Activist Somyot Pruksakasemsuk said before the caravan took off from the Democracy Monument that the royal defamation law is being used to destroy democracy and human rights, and that activists like Tantawan are being denied the right to bail.

He noted that the 11 activists currently detained are still presumed to be innocent and are fighting for the people’s rights and freedoms, and questioned whether the courts are exercising their power for justice or the protection of the people.

In front of the Ratchadaphisek Criminal Court, protesters hung a banner saying “Free political prisoners, repeal Section 112” from an overpass in front of the Court and scattered papers containing various messages from the overpass. Representatives of the network then submitted a petition to the Criminal Court calling for the right to bail for detained activists.

The petition said that the right to bail is a fundamental right and stemmed from the principle of presumption of innocence, which is the most basic principle in criminal proceedings, and that denying or revoking bail on the grounds that a defendant is going to commit another offense or cause public disorder is not in accordance with legal principles.

The petition noted that the detained activists’ actions were an exercise of their freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and to deny them bail on the grounds that they are likely to repeat their offense or cause danger is not in line with the fact that their actions are not dangerous. The courts also have other means to use in place of detention, such as requiring a defendant to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet, and activists who were detained on the grounds that they are a flight risk have never tried to flee.

Somyot said after the petition was submitted that he is concerned about Tantawan, and asked why she was charged with royal defamation for conducting public polls. He said that defendants in cases relating to political expression should be granted bail and that the 11 detained activists should be released.

Labour rights activist Sripai Nonsi said that the detained activists did nothing wrong and that they were only asking questions about someone who is using taxpayers’ money.

“The world today has progressed so far that there is nothing you can hide. The court itself should consider and reflect upon itself how it could do its job well. I ask the court to have some dignity and consider the cases fairly, and I ask it to return our country’s future to society,” Sripai said.

The caravan then moved to the Bangkok Remand Prison, where protesters tied yellow and black ribbons, as well as flags containing images of detained activists to the razor wire barricade in front of the prison entrance.

Another group of activists also went to the Supreme Court on the morning of 20 May to submit a petition to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to demand that the detained activists be granted bail.

On Friday, Fahad Shah was arrested by the State Investigation Agency (SIA) for questioning in a case while he was detained under the Public Safety Act in the Kupwara Jail.

Shah’s custody was taken over from the Kupwara jail authorities for the investigation into the FIR number 01/2022 registered by the SIA at the Joint Interrogation Centre, in Jammu, against an op-ed written by a Kashmiri scholar Abdul Aala Fazili in 2011.

This is the fifth time Shah has been arrested consequently since 4 February 2022, or in the last 108 days.

As per FIR in this case, seen by The Kashmir Walla, Fazili has been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) sections 13 and 18 and sections 120B, 121, 124, and 153B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Unnamed editor of The Kashmir Walla and associates have been booked under sections 13 and 18 of the UAPA and section 120B of the IPC.

Shah was initially arrested by the Pulwama police on 4 February, under sedition and anti-terror law, after The Kashmir Walla reported the events of a gunfight between the government forces and militants in south Kashmir. On 26 February, he was granted bail by an NIA court in Srinagar. However, he was immediately re-arrested by the Shopian police in a case registered against the reporting in January 2021.

On 5 March, he was granted bail by a Shopian judicial magistrate – and was subsequently re-arrested again by the Srinagar police in a case registered for The Kashmir Walla’s reporting in July 2020. A day before the bail hearing in this case, on 14 March, Shah was detained under the stringent PSA and was lodged in the Kupwara Jail.

Shah, who founded The Kashmir Walla in 2009, is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in several reputed international publications, including Time, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and The Atlantic. He is also a correspondent for the US-based Christian Science Monitor.

For the team at The Kashmir Walla, it is yet another hard blow as we remain concerned about the health and wellbeing of Shah in the JIC in Jammu. We reiterate our appeal to Manoj Sinha-led Jammu and Kashmir administration to drop all the charges against Shah and The Kashmir Walla’s journalistic work and facilitate his immediate release