Uwazi

The Taliban beat up female protestors at Badakhshan University and suppressed the demonstration.

A number of female students in Badakhshan protested on Sunday morning (October 30th) after they were prevented from entering the university campus by the Taliban.

The Taliban did not allow these students to enter Badakhshan University because they did not wear burqas and wore local clothes.

Sources added that the intelligence of the Taliban has also arrested another group of girls from the Badakhshan University dormitory who were chanting death slogans against the Taliban on the roads in Shahr-e Naw, Faizabad city.

The Taliban have already deployed more forces to prevent students from going to the university classes, according to sources.

This is while the protests of female students in Herat, Balkh, Kabul and Bamiyan were also suppressed by the Taliban and a number of students were arrested and tortured.

A prominent activist monk and four others were arrested at a monastery in Mandalay on Sunday, according to a member of a local strike committee.

The arrests were made at the May Ga Wun monastery in Mandalay’s Pyigyitagon Township, where Ven. Kalyana, a leader of an anti-regime monks’ association, was reportedly in hiding.

“I heard that they raided the monastery at around 5pm,” said the strike committee member, adding that one of the others who were arrested was detained earlier in the day.

The four youths who were also taken into custody were identified as Paing Nway Oo, Nay Ye, Hein Maung, and Kaung Khant Zaw, who is also known as Ngat.

“Ko Ngat was arrested first in the morning, and we lost contact with the others in the evening,” said the strike committee member.

According to Voice of Mandalay, a Facebook page that reports on local news, regime forces positioned at the northern and southern gates of the monastery were seen on Sunday stopping youths on motorcycles and beating one who was described as having long hair.

“I’m pretty sure the long-haired guy was Ngat,” said the strike committee member, who added that a hostel in Mandalay’s Maha Aungmyay Township was also raided at around 3am on Monday.

“Everyone’s trying to flee right now, including me. But I’m at a safe place now,” he said.

In a statement released on Sunday, the monks’ association said that Ven. Kalyana was in perfect health at the time of his arrest, and that his captors would bear full responsibility for any harm that befalls him.

On October 15, the junta raided two other monasteries in Pyigyitagon Township in a bid to capture Ven. Agga Vamsa, another prominent monk involved in the resistance movement.

Two youths, including a novice monk, were reportedly tortured in the raids on the Seittathukha and Thayetpin monasteries, but Ven. Agga Vamsa was not apprehended.

At least nine monks, including Ven. Kalyana, are currently in regime custody in Mandalay, according to activist sources.

Myanmar’s military junta has arrested more than a dozen healthcare workers since last week on suspicion of supporting anti-coup resistance groups, according to a regime statement and sources familiar with the situation.

In a statement released on Monday night, the junta said it detained several people, including a doctor, two nurses, and a midwife, during a raid on a bus station in Mandalay’s Aungmyay Thazan Township on Saturday.

A large quantity of medical supplies, which the junta accused the apprehended individuals of planning to send to members of the anti-regime People’s Defence Force (PDF), were also seized, the statement said.

The arrested healthcare workers were identified as Dr. Min Zaw Oo, of the Mandalay University of Medicine’s Surgery Department, nurses Zin Mar Win and Yoon Nandar Tun, and midwife Poe Thandar Aung.

All four were said to be taking part in a nationwide strike by healthcare workers against the regime that overthrew Myanmar’s elected civilian government in February 2021.

A woman named Kyi Thadar Phyu and three bus station employees were also detained in the raid, according to the statement, which also named more than a dozen other doctors and nurses described as being “still at large.”

The raid came two days after nearly 5 million kyat ($2,365) worth of medicine and other supplies, including an anaesthesia machine, were seized from a truck travelling on the road between the towns of Pale and Gangaw, west of Mandalay.

According to a source within Mandalay’s healthcare community, at least nine other medical workers have been arrested in the city in recent days.

One was Dr. Moe Thidar Linn, of Mandalay’s Otorhinolaryngology Specialist Hospital, who was among those the regime said in its statement were wanted by the authorities.

“I don’t want to say any more about it. It’s just sickening. I don’t think Mandalay has any more anti-regime doctors who are still free,” said the source, who declined to identify the others who were reportedly apprehended.

Employees of public hospitals were among the first civil servants to join the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) in protest over last year’s coup. Many prominent medical professionals joined the anti-regime movement, including Dr. Maung Maung Nyein Tun, a 45-year-old lecturer at Mandalay Medical University, who was arrested in June last year and who died of Covid-19 in detention about two months later.

As part of its crackdown on striking hospital employees, the regime has also revoked the licenses of medical practitioners taking part in the CDM.

The New Crossroads of the North (TNCN), the official student publication of the University of Caloocan City (UCC) – North Campus, suspended the online operations of its original page on October 29, following the decision of the university administration.

In their last online broadcast, they answered the questions behind the inactivity of the student publication for two months, underscoring that the closure of their social media platform was a decision of the administration to “streamline information” in one page.

The page the administration sought to utilize is the UCC The New Crossroads, the student publication of UCC – South Campus with a different set of editorial board and staffers.

Chris Agustin, a fourth-year Communication student and current editor-in-chief of the TNCN, said that the two publications are different.

“TNC of the North is progressive, critical, and pro-student. We ensure local, and national issues are discussed in our newsroom. The New Crossroads, however, remains stagnant and sometimes practices PR coverage,” Agustin said.

Asserting editorial independence

Upon hearing of the suspension of their original online page, Agustin faced the university administration and Caloocan City Mayor Dale “Along” Malapitan to appeal for reconsideration.

He asked for the formal memorandum of the decision, but the Vice President for Academic Affairs has yet to present a document as of this writing. The decision was only verbally communicated to the staffers last August.

“They said that we have to ‘fix’ our way of writing and the stories should be devoid of ‘personal attacks’ to any individual or politician. The administration also said that the editorial process should involve them,” Agustin said.

This attempt of the university’s administration to interfere pushed Agustin to continuously assert editorial independence.

A compromise was made wherein TNCN was made to promise to uphold responsible journalism, which they said they have been practicing since its establishment.

TNCN’s editorial board, however, continues to question the school administration’s decision to suspend their online page.

“I think there is a looming threat in merging two publications into one platform–it is easier for the administration to control or manage the stories that we are releasing, which may limit our coverage,” Agustin added.

He vows to continue their uncompromised reportage in TNCN with their migration to a new social media platform. They plan to communicate their values effectively and assert that publishing their stories are part of their fundamental rights and freedoms.

Challenges inside and outside the university

Agustin said that they started their online page during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the goal of informing students of UCC North campus.

“The publication started because there is a need for local coverage in the university and an agenda shift to bridge campus, local, and national issues for the students. It’s an initiative born out of student volunteerism,” the staff of TNCN explained in their last online broadcast.

However, their honest intentions and responsible newsmaking came into conflict with the University administration and some individuals.

They were also red-tagged for covering grassroots actions and socially relevant topics.

In addition, the publication faced other problems like lack of resources, funding, and technical support, primarily because of the non-collection of subscription fees because of the pandemic, explained Agustin.

This, however, did not stop TNCN from publishing stories of social relevance such as the opposition to the Anti-Terror Law.

Braving the crisis

In their online broadcast, TNCN took pride in its achievements such as launching different projects with Rappler’s civic engagement arm, MovePH, to combat disinformation and misinformation campaigns during the pandemic, and pre- and post-election.

They were also able to successfully network with other student publications through the College Editors Guild of the Philippines especially in promoting genuine campus press freedom.

They also started the Katigan Chronicles, the first online broadcast platform of their University, which they hope to continue in the new platform.

“We remain committed to serving the students with critical journalism. We hope the students and our fellow student journalists will continue to support us because the fight is not yet over. At the end of the day, the truth will prevail,” Agustin ended.

Twenty-nine workers from a garment factory in Yangon’s Shwepyitha Township were fired after they organised a recent strike, sources from within their labour union told Myanmar Now.

The walkout at Myanmar Pou Chen began on October 25, with 400 employees demanding a raise from the 4,800-kyat (US$2.27) minimum daily wage to 8,000 kyat ($3.78), as well as to provide local transportation for workers, bonuses for high performance and implement other amendments to factory policy.

The factory employs some 7,800 workers and is a supplier for global sportswear brand Adidas.

Officials from Myanmar Pou Chen notified the local military authorities of the protest on the afternoon of the same day it began, prompting the arrival of 10 soldiers and police officers in four army vehicles.

“They warned us not to continue the protest the following day,” a woman who was later fired told Myanmar Now. “They threatened to arrest us if we protested outside the factory area, or if factory equipment was damaged during our protest. They said they had been wanting to detain us for a while.”

The workers continued their strike on October 26 despite the threats, as well as on October 27, by which point more than 2,000 employees had joined.

One day later, factory officials fired 26 workers, including 16 members of Myanmar Pou Chen’s labour union who were believed to have led the strike. They recorded the three days of protest as unauthorised absences from work, and a violation of their employment contracts.

“We cannot enter the factory anymore. A team leader went inside to meet the officials, and he was given his salary and a termination letter,” another woman, who was a member of the union, said. “They confiscated his employee card. He didn’t sign the termination agreement or accept the salary.”

“We asked if it was lawful or if they had the right to fire us. They replied they had made a unilateral decision, regardless of whether it was illegal,” she added.

On October 29, three more employees were dismissed—all women—another worker told Myanmar Now.

“They also walked around the factory and yelled into megaphones that further action would be taken against the protesters for damaging the factory. If they saw two workers standing together, they would shoo them away like dogs,” she said.

The terminated workers filed a complaint with the Department of Labour Relations under the military council’s Ministry of Labour.

A seventh NagaWorld worker was summoned to court on Thursday in relation to a complaint filed by the casino corporation alleging a raft of crimes.

At least six NagaWorld workers have previously been summoned by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for questioning after NagaWorld filed a complaint with the charges of breaking and entering, intentional damage and even illegal confinement. There has been no clarity on what the workers actually did.

Mam Sovathin, another laid-off NagaWorld worker, said she went to court on Thursday after receiving a summons dated October 22. She submitted a letter asking for a delay because she did not have a lawyer.

“The court didn’t say anything, just took my document for a delay,” she said.

Sovathin said another worker had been called by the police and informed to appear in court for questioning but had not received an official summons letter. She did not recollect the worker’s name.

NagaCorp laid off more than 1,300 workers last year, igniting protests which have often turned violent when district security guards and police have attempted to block them. After months of being stopped at barricades on Sothearos Blvd. — after which they would be bused around the city and dropped off on the outskirts — they have been allowed to resume their protest outside NagaWorld 1.

In Kyrgyzstan, the authorities have increased efforts to control and censor mass media amid their recent crackdown on freedom of expression and civil society, Human Rights Watch said today.

On October 26, 2022, the Kyrgyz government ordered a two-month blockage of the websites of Azattyk Media, the Kyrgyz service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, because of a video covering the recent border conflict between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The order was based on the Law on Protection from False Information, which drew significant criticism when adopted in August 2021. The authorities claim the video used hate speech and false information that Kyrgyzstan had attacked Tajikistan, which the radio service’s Tajikistan-based correspondent referred to during a video segment featuring correspondents in both Bishkek and Dushanbe, the countries’ capitals.

“It is standard journalistic practice to provide information from both sides of the conflict,” said Syinat Sultanalieva, Central Asia Researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The blockage of Azattyk Media is a blatant attempt to control and censor independent journalism in Kyrgyzstan in violation of the country’s international human rights obligations, particularly with respect to freedoms of expression and of the media.”

The blockage of Azattyk’s websites followed a protest outside Azattyk’s office on October 13, saying it should be closed down, and an initiative by a member of the Kyrgyz Parliament, Nadira Narmatova, for people to sign a petition calling for closure of Azattyk Media and two other media – Kloop, and Kaktus.Media. On October 14, an open letter signed by 70 public figures called for closing these organizations, contending that they were foreign-funded entities working against the national interests of the country. At least seven people included in the list of public figures publicly denied signing the letter.

The Kyrgyz Ministry of Culture and Information, which is responsible for enforcing the Protection from False Information Law, had previously blocked websites of the ResPublica newspaper for two months, starting in June, and attempted to block the website of the 24.kg information agency in August over an anonymous complaint of false information. The website was subsequently unblocked.

On September 28, the Kyrgyz president’s administration submitted draft amendments to the Law on Mass Media, which would include penalties for “abuse of freedom of speech” (Article 4) for public consideration. The last day to submit comments on the draft amendments is October 28, after which the amendments will be submitted to parliament for consideration.

On October 27, dozens of representatives of Kyrgyzstan’s media community published an open appeal to the Kyrgyz government to immediately cease all pressure on freedom of speech and freedom of media and to withdraw the Protection from False Information Law.

Analysis by several mediagroups found that actions that constitute “abuse of freedom of speech” in the proposed amendments would include sending “subliminal messaging” to viewers, mentioning any organization that was legally liquidated or whose activities were prohibited in Kyrgyzstan, and distributing any information prohibited by law.

The draft law also would increase registration requirements for foreign-based and funded mass media organizations, including identifying their main thematic interests to be covered and their sources of funding. It would also require other media, including internet publications, to register.

Media experts have pointed out that the text of the draft amendments is very similar to passages of the Russian Law on Mass Media and have expressed concern that the law would be used to eliminate media outlets critical of the government.

“Kyrgyzstan should stand up for, not undermine, independent media,” Sultanalieva said. “Authorities should immediately cease their attempts at controlling this fundamental human right by withdrawing the proposed amendments and uphold its commitment to respect all freedoms and human rights in the country.”

Kyrgyz authorities should fully and swiftly investigate a recent attack on journalist Baktursun Jorobekov and hold the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.

On the evening of Wednesday, October 26, four unidentified men severely beat Jorobekov, a correspondent with the independent broadcaster Super TV, near his home in the capital Bishkek and stole his phone and wallet, according to news reports and Super TV editor-in-chief Elvira Karaeva, who spoke to CPJ by messaging app.

The attackers filmed the beating and forced Jorobekov to apologize to a man who was the subject of one of his reports before repeatedly kicking him in the head, Karaeva said. She said that Super TV is not disclosing the content of the report or the name of the subject at the request of the police who asked the broadcaster not to publicize the information while officers conduct an investigation. Karaeva said Jorobekov had previously received threats that he believed were related to the same report, but did not go into further detail.

The journalist lay unconscious in the street for almost five hours after the attack before regaining consciousness and returning home. As of Wednesday, he remains in a hospital undergoing treatment for a concussion and severe bruising to his head, she said.

“The brutal beating of journalist Baktursun Jorobekov cannot go unpunished,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Kyrgyz authorities must demonstrate their dedication to upholding journalists’ safety by swiftly and transparently investigating the attack on Jorobekov and holding all involved to account, including those who may have ordered the attack.”

Jorobekov told CPJ by messaging app that unidentified individuals had called him multiple times and threatened to kill him earlier this year, but was unable to respond to further questions due to his medical condition. Karaeva told CPJ that Jorobekov had stopped taking calls from the number from which the threats were issued, but the same number had repeatedly called Super TV’s editorial offices, including on the day of the attack, asking for Jorobekov.

In an interview with his employer, Jorobekov said he left home around 11:30 p.m. to go to a nearby pharmacy and was approached by four men who asked him for a cigarette. When he said he didn’t smoke, two of the men grabbed him, hit him, and took his phone and wallet.

One of the men looked through his wallet, took 3,500 som (US$42), and found a press card, saying, “Oh, you’re a journalist working at Super TV.” The same man then said, “Let’s kill him,” and three of the men repeatedly kicked the journalist in the head while the fourth filmed Jorobekov’s forced apology.

Jorobekov filed a complaint with police the following day, according to that interview; police have opened a case for theft, Karaeva told CPJ, and are awaiting medical results before opening a case for infliction of bodily harm.

Super TV broadcasts news and entertainment and is one of Kyrgyzstan’s most popular television channels, with 1.3 million subscribers on YouTube, the outlet’s director, Baktygul Sokushova told CPJ by telephone. Jorobekov covers social problems and court disputes, Sokushova said; she said that Super TV receives threats in relation to its coverage of these topics.

CPJ emailed the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan for comment, but did not immediately receive a reply. CPJ called the police station where Jorobekov filed his complaint but no one with knowledge of the case was able to immediately reply.

An analysis by independent outlet Kloop found that perpetrators of physical attacks against members of the press in Kyrgyzstan were caught in only a quarter of cases between January 2015 and July 2021.

Around 200 residents of Tibet’s capital Lhasa were detained in the wake of massive protests in the city last week against COVID lockdowns that left many restricted to their homes without adequate food or medical care, RFA has learned.

The Oct. 26 protest included both Han Chinese and Tibetans living in the city, and was Lhasa’s largest since a 2008 uprising, later crushed by Chinese security forces by Tibetans calling for greater freedoms under Chinese rule.

Chinese authorities have now detained around 200 Lhasa residents in the wake of last week’s protest, RFA learned from Tibetan sources speaking on condition of anonymity to protect their safety.

“Though many of these detainees are of Chinese origin, there are also a number of Tibetans coming from other parts of Tibet and from Chengdu,” one RFA source said, referring to the capital city of western China’s Sichuan province.

“They are currently being held inside buildings owned by development companies inside the Tibet Autonomous Region,” or TAR, the source added.

Also speaking to RFA, a second person said that it has been difficult so far for outside sources to identify the Tibetans currently being held. “But the main allegations against them appear to be that they took a lead role in organizing the protests. Most of them appear to be working-class residents of the city.”

“One of my friends is among those who were detained, and I have no information about what conditions are like for them now or even if they have adequate food,” the source said.

Most of the Han Chinese detained in the protest were later freed and allowed to return home, and though Tibetan detainees were told they would be freed by Oct. 29, there is no evidence that any have been released, he added.

China’s lockdown in Lhasa began in early August as COVID numbers there and throughout China began to climb. Lhasa residents have said on social media that the lockdown order came without leaving them time to prepare, with many left short of food or cut off from medical care.

As of Thursday, 18,667 Tibetans in the TAR have tested positive for COVID according to official Chinese records.

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force more than 70 years ago. Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity.

Vietnamese authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Le Manh Ha and stop treating independent journalists as criminals for merely doing their jobs of reporting the news, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.

On Tuesday, October 25, the People’s Court of Tuyen Quang province sentenced Ha after a two-day trial to eight years in prison to be followed by five years of house arrest for violating Article 117 of the penal code, an anti-state provision that bars “making, storing, distributing or spreading” news or information against the state, according to news reports.

The ruling said Ha produced 21 video clips and 13 articles that the court deemed as “propaganda against the socialist state of Vietnam” and posted them to his Voice of the People Le Ha TV (TDTV) YouTube-based news channel and personal Facebook page, according to the same reports.

Ha pleaded innocent to the charges at his trial and indicated he would appeal directly after the verdict was handed down, according to a U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Asia report that quoted his defense lawyers.

“Vietnamese authorities must free journalist Le Manh Ha, who was wrongly convicted and harshly sentenced to eight years in prison for merely doing his job as a journalist,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Vietnam must stop equating independent journalism with criminal behavior and release all the journalists it wrongfully holds behind bars.”

Ha was arrested by plainclothes police in Tuyen Quang City on January 12, 2022, after which police raided his house and seized 20 books, two laptop computers, and a cellphone, according to multiple news reports.

Days before his arrest, Ha posted a commentary on Facebook about the “unequal fight” in eliminating official corruption, according to a U.S. Congress-funded Voice of America report.

The report said Ha’s TDTV channel often discusses legal matters related to state land grabs, a politically sensitive issue in the Communist Party-ruled nation, and he airs interviews with state land grab victims.

CPJ’s email to Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security did not immediately receive a response. Vietnam is one of the world’s worst jailers of journalists, with at least 23 members of the press behind bars for their work at the time of CPJ’s December 1, 2021 prison census.

Police in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, have detained opposition activists who planned to hold a rally to challenge next month's early presidential election.

Bibigul Imanghalieva, a member of the unregistered Algha, Qazaqstan (Kazakhstan, Forward) party, told RFE/RL by phone that she and several of her colleagues were detained for several hours early in the morning in different parts of the city before they could hold the demonstration, which was to fall on October 25, Republic Day, which commemorates Kazakhstan's declaration of state sovereignty in 1990.

According to Imanghalieva, leading activists, Aset Abishev, Aidar Syzdyqov, and Qanatkhan Amrenov, were among those detained. She added that she and other activists were released three hours later.

Imanghalieva says she and other members of the unregistered party had officially filed a request with the Almaty city administration last week asking for permission to hold a rally on October 25.

Other activists told RFE/RL that the chairwoman of an independent group of election observers, Arailym Nazarova, was also detained by police. Her mobile phone has been switched off since the morning of October 25.

In the capital, Astana, police cordoned off a square near Zhengis (Victory) Avenue where activists had planned to gather, not allowing anyone to enter the site. At least two activists were detained there.

Opposition activist Amangeldy Zhakhin said on Facebook on October 25 that police did not allow him to leave the village of Shortandy on October 25 as they tried to prevent his trip to Astana, the capital, where he planned to organize a rally to question the election, scheduled for November 20, at which incumbent President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev will face off against five relatively unknown candidates.

Activists in the cities of Aqsai, Pavlodar, and Oskemen also said they were blocked from travelling to Astana to take part in a rally.

Toqaev, who has tried to position himself as a reformer, called the early presidential election on September 1 while also proposing to change the presidential term to seven years from five years. Under the new system, future presidents will be barred from seeking more than one term.

Critics say Toqaev's initiatives have been mainly cosmetic and do not change the nature of the autocratic system in a country that has been plagued for years by rampant corruption and nepotism.

Toqaev's predecessor, Nursultan Nazarbaev, who had run the tightly controlled former Soviet republic with an iron fist for almost three decades, chose Toqaev as his successor when he stepped down in 2019.

Though he was no longer president, Nazarbaev retained sweeping powers as the head of the Security Council. He also enjoyed substantial powers by holding the title of “elbasy” or leader of the nation.

Many citizens, however, remained upset by the oppression felt during Nazarbaev's reign.

Those feelings came to a head in January when unprecedented anti-government nationwide protests started over a fuel price hike, and then exploded into countrywide deadly unrest over perceived corruption under the Nazarbaev regime and the cronyism that allowed his family and close friends to enrich themselves while ordinary citizens failed to share in the oil-rich Central Asian nation's wealth.

Toqaev subsequently stripped Nazarbaev of his Security Council role, taking it over himself. Since then, several of Nazarbaev’s relatives and allies have been pushed out of their positions or resigned. Some have been arrested on corruption charges.

In June, a Toqaev-initiated referendum removed Nazarbaev's name from the constitution and annulled his status as “elbasy.”

Independent media outlet Konde.co was hit by a cyber-attack after publishing an article on sexual harassment within the Indonesian Ministry of Cooperatives and Small Medium Enterprises. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its Indonesian affiliates, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Indonesia and SINDIKASI, in condemning the attack and urging authorities to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation.

On October 24, Konde published an article about incidents of sexual harassment committed by four public servants at the Ministry of Cooperatives and Small-Medium Enterprises (MSME). The article detailed the long history of sexual harassment by MSME staff, including one incident where a victim was forced to marry their abuser to prevent legal repercussions for his behaviour.

At 4:31 pm the same afternoon, Konde.co’s website was reported as down after the article spread rapidly across social media platforms. Later investigation by Konde.co staff revealed the website had suffered a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, in which a party attempts to disrupt the normal functioning of an internet server by overloading it with traffic.

This is the second attack experienced by Konde.co after publishing an article on sexual violence. In May 2020, the Konde.co website was made inaccessible to the public and staff were locked from their official Twitter account.

In recent years, journalists and news outlets across Indonesia have been targeted by various digital attacks, including in 2020 against media outlets Tirto, Tempo, and Magdalene and in 2021, against alternative media outlet Project Multatuli. In late September 2022, 37 journalists and former staff from Narasiwere targeted in a social media hacking incident. Narasi’s website also suffered a DDoS attack.

Rights group Karapatan condemned the arrest of trade union activist Benjamin Cordero, the most recent in what they believed to be another round of attacks against trade union activists and workers’s rights defenders.

According to initial reports from Karapatan Metro Manila, Cordero was arrested at past 11:00pm on October 26, 2022 in his home in Quezon City. He was reportedly served with a warrant of arrest dated October 24 based on charges of frustrated homicide issued by Branch 77 of the San Mateo, Rizal Regional Trial Court. He is currently detained at Batasan Police Station 6, Quezon City. Recommended bail is at P72,000.

Cordero is the chairperson of the Labor Sector of the QC City Development Council, and member of Samahan ng Manggagawa sa Quezon City. He is also currently the campaign officer of the Urban Poor Coordinating Council - National Capital Region.

“We believe that Cordero’s case stems from another trumped-up charge maliciously filed in court by state agents who may have the possible motive to deter Cordero from conducting his activities as a trade union activist. Also, it should be noted that the charges of frustrated homicide against him were filed in San Mateo, Rizal, when he is obviously spending a large part of his work in Quezon City. Many similar trumped up charges against activists were filed elsewhere, far away from their work or residence,” said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay.

Karapatan Metro Manila also reported that Cordero did not receive a copy of the subpoena and complaint affidavit on the case, which is why they were unable to reply on the charges against Cordero. He was unable to participate in the preliminary investigation because he was not informed of any case against him. However, authorities were quick to serve the arrest warrant one day after it was issued, which means that authorities readily know Cordero’s address and information.

“We urge the court to look into the filing of charges against Cordero, and see whether his right to due process was violated. None of Cordero’s activities make him a criminal. Despite the previous dismissal of trumped up charges that were rendered baseless in the courts, state forces continue to file criminal charges against activists and rights defenders, taking away from them significant and productive time from their work and service to communities and in defense of people’s rights. We demand the release of Cordero, and the outright dismissal of charges against him,” Palabay said.

The arrest of Cordero comes after the arrest of KMU international officer Kara Lenina Taggaoa and Pasiklab Operators and Drivers Association-Piston president Larry Valbuena on October 10, on charges of direct assault. Both are out on bail.

Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) chief Manzoor Pashteen has been booked on charges of treason and terrorism by the Punjab police following his anti-military speech at the Asma Jahangir Conference on Sunday.

A first information report (FIR) registered on the complaint of citizen Naeeem Mirza on Monday stated that Pashteen hurled baseless allegations at the security agencies while his supporters chanted slogans against the institutions during the event held in Lahore at a private hotel.

Denouncing the FIR, the PTM chief said in a tweet, “The voices against oppression cannot be suppressed through FIRs, prisons or propaganda, but the only solution is to give justice”.

‘Ridiculous FIR’

Reacting to the FIR registered against Pashteen, Mohsin Dawar – a member of the National Assembly – wrote on his official Twitter handle: “The FIR filed against Manzoor Pashteen for his speech at the Asma Jahangir Conference is beyond shameful.”

Many others have said far more in recent protests than what Manzoor said in his speech, he added. “The ridiculous FIR should be withdrawn.”

'Unjustified sloganeering'

Earlier today, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the “unjustified sloganeering” against the Pakistan army at the Asma Jahangir Conference held in Lahore, saying it was unfortunate that such forums were being used to target the institutions.

The premier's condemnation has come after some people in the audience started shouting slogans against the army in the presence of key ministers, legal eagles and journalists on Sunday.

The prime minister said that the coalition government and his party are firmly committed to ensuring the freedom of expression of every citizen as per the Constitution but regretted that the conference was used for partisan political interests.

“It is unfortunate that such forums are being used to target state institutions, especially the armed forces, for partisan political interests,” PM Shehbaz said in a statement issued hours before he departed for Saudi Arabia to attend Saudi Future Investment Initiative Summit.

The premier said that the government itself provides the citizens with forums where they can freely express their differing views and opinions on matters of public importance but using a forum like Asma Jahangir Conference for unjustified sloganeering against the army was unfortunate when the “officers and men of armed forces are sacrificing their lives to save the country from internal and external threats”.

More than 20 people in Kyrgyzstan were detained on Sunday, October 23, and placed under arrest for 48 hours, after publicly disagreeing with the impending transfer of an important dam to Uzbekistan as part of a border demarcation deal with the neighboring country. Those detained included activists, human rights defenders, bloggers, and politicians.

The next day, courts ordered several of the detainees be held in pre-trial detention for two months while the investigation continues. All of the detainees were charged with preparation for and organization of mass unrest. The police also initiated an investigation over “evidence obtained from a special investigation,” which transpired to be a series of edited and excerpted wiretapped conversations between some of the detainees. The wiretapped montage was leaked to social media and had apparently been constructed to seem like some detainees called for a government overthrow because of the contentious border agreement.

According to a statement by Kyrgyzstan’s Ombudsman, before their arrests, authorities conducted warrantless searches of the activists’ houses and seized personal property. In most cases, including with human rights defender Rita Karasartova, police forced entry into their homes and attempted to prevent video documentation of the arrests. The activists were transferred to detention centers and some were not allowed access to their lawyers.

Twelve of the 23 detainees are members of a newly created group created to protect the Kempir-Abad water reservoir in south-west Kyrgyzstan. The group opposes Kyrgyzstan's plan, which includes transferring territory and the dam itself to Uzbekistan. The Kyrgyz government maintains the agreement benefits Kyrgyzstan and both countries will manage the reservoir and have access to its water.

The reservoir plan was signed on September 26 as part of an agreement that seeks to determine official borders for the 15 per cent of non-demarcated territory between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Protests in Uzgen, where the reservoir is located, began after residents worried about losing water access.

The agreement’s full text is still secret.

Protests demanding authorities release the activists and share information about the agreement took place on October 24 in Bishkek and Osh, Kyrgyzstan. Ahead of the protests Internet connectivity was severely limited, especially in Bishkek. Internet providers stated an accident on the channels of the upstream provider caused the failures.

Kyrgyz authorities should release the detainees and ensure that their rights, including due process rights, are strictly observed in any investigations going forward.

Four members of the defunct, pro-democracy, student-activist group, Student Politicism, were sentenced to up to three years in jail or detention Saturday under Hong Kong's national security law.

The activists had pleaded guilty in court in July for a joint count of conspiracy to incite subversion in acts between October 2020 and June 2021.

Group founder Wong Yat Chin was jailed for 36 months and group secretary Chan Chi-sum, was jailed for 34 months, while two spokeswomen for the group were also sentenced. Jessica Chu Wai-ying, 19, received a 30-month prison sentence, while Alice Wong Yuen-lam, 20, was ordered to serve up to three years at a vocational development training center.

Student Politicism was founded in May 2020 and advocated for pressing Hong Kong's “struggle” against the authorities. The group used street booths as a key method to garner support.

But after Beijing imposed the national security law in Hong Kong, activists and civil society groups rapidly began to close, either out of fear of repercussions from enforcement of the security law or because its members already had been charged.

Activists Wong and Chan, both 21 years old, were first arrested for ‘inciting subversion’ on September 20, 2021, and they have remained in custody since then. The following day, Student Politicism was dissolved.

Court allegations

Prosecutors alleged that when the group was active, it attempted to sustain the popular but banned anti-government slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times,” and said the activists called for support of the 12 youths who were arrested by the Chinese coastguard while trying to flee Hong Kong in a speedboat in Taiwan. The group also was accused of encouraging citizens not to download a government COVID-19 contact tracing app.

District court judge Kwok Wai-kin — who is one of the hand-picked judges to rule over national security cases — handed down the sentences. In his judgement, Kwok noted that because members of the group made few public statements and didn’t use much social media, their punishment warranted a lighter sentence.

The judge had been comparing the case of Ma Chun-man, nicknamed "Captain America," who was sentenced last year to nearly six years in prison for promoting Hong Kong independence.

Conspiracy to incite subversion is punishable by up to seven years in prison in Hong Kong’s district courts.

Chilling effect

Michael Mo, a former Hong Kong district councilor who is currently in Britain, said Judge Kwok set a “disturbing precedent” with the sentencing.

“He reinforced that posting political messages on social media would incite more people than on the streets, and mere posting of political views on social could make the nature of the so-called subversion severe, as defined by the National Security Law. It simply tells everyone in Hong Kong to voice no dissent against the regime on social media, or one would just be treated like the four students in this case.

"The fact that all defendants were remanded for over a year for a ‘speech crime’ before trial makes the chilling effect more chilling,” Mo noted.

At the start of 2021, things were different for Wong Yat Chin. He was one of the last remaining well-known activists in Hong Kong that hadn’t been charged by authorities following a massive crackdown on pro-democracy activists and the media.

The signs were growing, though, that he eventually would face charges. Wong had been arrested a couple of times in 2020 for unlawful assembly before he was warned about his activism by national security authorities.

Wong told VOA in January 2021 that authorities in mainland China also visited his family and warned them about his dissent.

Intensifying crackdown

Then in June, Wong was arrested by authorities in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park when he mourned the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing. The annual event in Hong Kong lasted for more than 30 years before authorities banned the mass gathering, citing the pandemic.

Kacey Wong, a visual artist, and activist from Hong Kong, who last year relocated to Taiwan, said the national security law is intended to spread fear among the younger generation of Hong Kong.

“I think the sentencing is totally unfair, which we can clearly see how the law has transformed into a weapon against the youth, to intimidate and to spread fear among them. The court message is that if you dare to revolt against us, we will lock you up indefinitely, [and] disregard what you have actually done,” Wong told VOA.

Following the widespread anti-government protests three years ago, Beijing enacted the national security law in Hong Kong to prevent political dissent in the city, allowing authorities to use the law to target dissidents. The legislation prohibits acts deemed as secession, subversion, foreign collusion, and terrorism, which carries a maximum punishment of life in prison.

As it stands, at least 130 people have been charged under the law, with dozens still in pretrial custody. More than 20 others have been sentenced to prison.

A 19-year-old activist was sentenced on Tuesday (22 November) to 2 years in prison after the Central Juvenile and Family Court ruled that the royal defamation law covers not only specific monarchs but also the monarchy as a whole.

Thanakorn (last name withheld) was charged with royal defamation for a speech given at a protest on 6 December 2020, in which they said that Thailand is not a democracy but an absolute monarchy and spoke about the role of the monarchy in military coups. They also called for a national reform. At the time, Thanakorn, who identifies as being part of the LGBTQ+ community, was 17 years old.

Activists Wanwalee Thammasattaya and Chukiat Saengwong were also charged for speeches given during the same protest, but since both were over the age of 20, Wanwalee and Chukiat’s cases are being heard by the Thonburi Criminal Court.

The complaint against the three activists was filed by Chakrapong Klinkaew, leader of the royalist group People Protecting the Institution.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that the Central Juvenile and Family found Thanakorn guilty on the grounds that the royal defamation law coves not only specific monarchs but the entire monarchy and sentenced them to 2 years in prison. Given that they were charged at the age of 17, Thanakorn is now the first minor to be charged and convicted for royal defamation.

The court said that, since it believes it would be more beneficial for Thanakorn to go through “training” to improve their behaviour than for them to go to prison, it commuted the prison sentence to a juvenile training centre under the Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection of the Ministry of Justice for a minimum of 1 year and 6 months or a maximum of 3 years, but not after they turn 24 years old.

The court prohibited representatives of human right organizations and anyone not related to the case to observe the trial, claiming that it cannot allow third-party observers because the case involved a minor. After Thanakorn told the court that they wanted trusted persons and rights groups to be present in the court room, the judge said that organizations wishing to observe the trial must request permission from the court.

However, after representatives from Amnesty International told the judge that they have already submitted a request to observe Thanakorn’s trial and presented their letter to the judge, they were told that their request is denied, claiming that Thanakorn was to be tried in secret.

Thanakorn then left the courtroom and filed a petition themself to have representatives from human rights organizations attend the trial so that they would feel safe, and said that it would be in their best interest to have observers in the room. However, their request was denied.

Following Thanakorn’s sentencing, Amnesty International issued a statement noting that at least 283 protesters under the age of 18 have been prosecuted for participating in the protests, the majority of whom were charged with violations of the Emergency Decree, which has since been repealed, while others face charges of defamation, sedition, and dissemination of false information.

The statement noted that Thailand is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), both of which guarantee children’s freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly. It said that during its Universal Period Review in 2021, Thailand received recommendations to uphold these freedoms for children and to avoid detaining or prosecuting minors who are exercising their rights. However, it also noted that the Thai government has always rejected these recommendations.

Amnesty International Thailand’s executive director Piyanut Kotsan said that Thanakorn’s sentencing sets “a worrying precedent” and creates “a chilling effect” for young people taking part in the pro-democracy movement, and while the prison sentence was commuted, Thanakorn should never have been charged to begin with, and they will still be held in official custody and take part in mandatory training for the duration of their sentence.

She noted that Thanakorn will still have a criminal record, which could affect their professional opportunities, and their sentence would deprive them of the time and resources they could use to pursue education like other young people.

“Young people peacefully expressing their opinions, views and thoughts about the future of the country should not face jail time or restrictive measures that limit their day-to-day activities. Thai authorities must stop intimidating and surveilling child protesters and end criminal proceedings against them,” Piyanut said.

Thanakorn was later granted bail in order to appeal the conviction on a security of 30,000 baht, which was covered by the Will of the People Find, a bail fund for pro-democracy protesters and activists.

A funeral for 55-year-old Kyi Myint, who was killed in a parcel bomb explosion and shooting incident at Yangon’s Insein Prison last week, was held at Kyi Su cemetery on October 21.

Her son is student activist Lin Htet Naing, commonly known as James, and is incarcerated at Insein, Myanmar’s largest detention facility. She was at the prison to deliver a package to him when two explosions went off, followed by gunfire from junta personnel.

Family members reportedly asked that the Insein Prison authorities allow James to attend his mother’s funeral, but permission was denied.

According to the junta, among the eight casualties in the attack were three prison guards, a 10-year-old girl, and several women. An urban guerrilla group called the Special Task Agency (STA) of Burma claimed responsibility for the controversial attack in a statement, saying that the bombs intended to targeted the prison superintendent “in retaliation against prison officers who are Min Aung Hlaing’s followers, for constantly oppressing comrades of the revolution.”

Though several witnesses told Myanmar Now that most of the victims were killed when soldiers opened fire from a nearby watchtower in response to the blasts, the guerrilla group was heavily criticised for planning an attack near the prison entrance where many civilians frequently visit in order to send parcels to their detained relatives. The National Unity Government, along with many resistance groups, condemned the bombing.

Two activists who were attacked last week filed a petition with UN representatives on Thursday (3 November) calling for the UN to pressure the Thai authorities into investigating the attacks, after no progress was made by the police.

“Oia,” a 13-year-old protester, said that he was attacked on 22 October near the Chitralada Royal Villa. He said that while he was on a motorcycle waiting at a red light at Ratchawithi intersection, a group of men on motorcycles rode toward him and stared at him. He felt unsafe, and so rode his motorcycle towards the palace, because there were likely to be officers stationed there.

The men then surrounded him, threatened him with a knife and punched his face. Oia said he noticed that all of the men were carrying firearms. He also said that he saw police officers stationed in front of the Chitralada Royal Villa, but that they did not help him.

On 25 October, Oia went to file a complaint with Dusit Police Station over the attack.

Meanwhile, activist Tanruthai Thaenrut, 22, a member of the indigenous rights group the Save Bang Kloi Coalition, said that the clutch cable on her motorcycle was tampered with, causing an accident.

Tanruthai said that on 21 October, she met other activists at the McDonald’s next to the Democracy Monument. When she arrived, she was told by a nearby crowd control police officer to park her motorcycle inside nearby Satriwithaya School, claiming that the road had to be cleared for an upcoming royal motorcade.

Afterwards, Tanruthai said she went to retrieve her motorcycle from inside the school, and rode pillion behind another activist towards Krung Thon Bridge. While on the road, the two activists found that they could not change gear and the motorcycle was acting strangely. It then skidded, throwing the two riders onto a busy road. Tanruthai said that her head hit the ground, but she was wearing a helmet; her friend had minor cuts and bruises on their legs.

The two activists then found that the clutch cable, which Tanruthai said had been changed on 17 October, was damaged, which is probably the reason why the wheel locked, leading to the accident. It seems like there was an attempt to pull the cable out but not to cut it because then the motorcycle’s engine would not start. Tanruthai’s friend said that they went back to ask the police stationed near Satriwithaya School if anyone had gone near the motorcycle, but the officer said they did not do it.

Tanruthai speculated that the damage happened while the motorcycle was parked at Satriwithaya School, since the vehicle was functioning normally until then. She said that she has never been in conflict with anyone, and is concerned that she being targeted because of her activism, noting that the brake cable on her motorcycle was also cut two months ago, so she had to change her motorcycle and check it every time she used it.

Tunruthai and Oia, along with Save Bang Kloi Coalition activist Anchalee Ismanyee, met UN representatives on Thursday (3 November). Anchalee said that the group wanted to petition the UN to protect the two activists and to pressure the Thai authorities to make progress in both cases, especially for Oia, who is a minor and a victim of physical assault.

Anchalee said that even though there is no evidence to identity the perpetrators, she speculated that state officials may be involved, since both activists regularly join protests and have said that they have been under police surveillance.

The two activitists have also filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Anchalee said that the NHRC has accepted their complaint, and has expressed concerns especially for Oia. She also said that she is concerned about the 13-year-old’s mental health.

Anchalee said following the meeting that the UN representatives said they will be contacting the NHRC to find out whether the commission has contacted the local police stations. If not, they will be following up on the case themselves.

The representatives also told the activists that, if they still feel unsafe, they can also contacted the Cross-Cultural Foundation, who would help them contact the UN office in Geneva, Switzerland. The UN may then contact the Thai authorities if there is a cause for concern.

She said that they feel safer after being able to discuss the attack with UN representatives and human rights officers, who show their concerns and paid attention to the activists' complaint.

The wife of Vietnamese prisoner of conscience Bui Van Thuan has filed a petition for help after a series of strangers visited her house, sometimes swearing and asking how she paid for her children’s meals.

Trinh Thi Nhung said the most recent incident was on Oct. 20, when a tall, young man wearing a mask drove to her house and asked to buy honey but ended up insulting her.

When the house’s owner asked the man to leave, he turned to Nhung and asked her how she paid for her children’s upbringing. He also claimed someone was giving her money while her husband was in prison. Finally, he told her to move out of her mother’s house and go to her husband’s hometown to live.

After the incident, Nhung filed a petition with authorities in Mai Lam ward, Nghi Son town, Thanh Hoa province but they said there was no basis to handle it.

Nhung was previously visited by a tattooed young man. She said he tried to break into the house when only she and her son were inside. She noticed that in the recent visit the car had the same registration plate as the one driven by the tattooed man.

Nhung filed two complaints to Mai Lam ward police to report being harassed, providing a video clip showing the second man with a clear shot of the car license plate.

“On Monday, Oct. 24, I filed a complaint with the commune police. The commune police chief saw the clip and said that because the man had not broken into my house, there was no basis to track him down,” she said.

The person in charge of local security in Mai Lam ward told Nhung if the man came back, she could defend herself or call the ward police.

RFA has not been able to contact Mai Lam ward police to verify the information that Nhung provided.

Nhung's husband, Bui Van Thuan, 41, was arrested at the end of August last year on charges of "making, storing, distributing or propagating information, documents and items aimed at opposing the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”

The former chemistry teacher is known for his series of Facebook posts, in which he wrote about the internal fighting of state officials in many Vietnam localities, which he dubbed the "dog fighting ring."

State media cited documents from the Investigative Security Agency that said Bui Van Thuan was "frequently using social networks to post articles and images with content that infringes on national security."

More than 12 months of interrogation ended last month. Thanh Hoa province police announced the end of the investigation into Thuan, and transferred the file to the Procuracy to propose prosecution.

Nhung said the family had signed a contract with two lawyers Dang Dinh Manh and Nguyen Ha Luan to defend her husband in the upcoming trial.

Lawyer Dang Dinh Manh met Thuan in prison last week to prepare his defense, Nhung said.

During the time Thuan was detained, Thanh Hoa police repeatedly threatened to arrest his wife because she often announced details of her husband's case on social networks, and wrote a letter of complaint to demand her husband’s rights were observed.

In March and July of this year, Nhung was summoned for interrogation by the Security Investigation Agency of Thanh Hoa province's police, asking her to limit the number of articles about her husband that she posted on Facebook.

The police asked Nhung to confirm her husband's Facebook account and also her social network accounts. When she refused, the police threatened to arrest her for "failing to cooperate with the investigation agency."

A group of activists in Nakhon Ratchasima were detained by police on Wednesday night (19 October) after they stood next to the road holding a protest sign while a royal motorcade went past.

At around 20.00 on Wednesday (19 October), KoratMovement, an activist group based in Nakhon Ratchasima, went live on their Facebook page while three activists stood on the side of Sueb Siri Road in Nakhon Ratchasima, along the route of a royal motorcade, while holding up a sign saying “Going anywhere is a burden”. They were then surrounded by plainclothes and uniformed police officers, who tried to seize the sign from them.

The activists were not immediately detained as the royal motorcade passed, but as they were leaving the area and were explaining their action on the live broadcast, two plainclothes officers followed them before approaching them and telling them to get out of the road. The officers also demanded the activists show them the message on the sign and told them that it was inappropriate to display the sign during a royal motorcade, even though the activists said they were exercising their constitutional rights.

The officers told the activists that, because they are civil servants, they have to respect the King, so the activists told them that they also need to respect the Constitution, which protects freedom of expression. The officers then forced them to go to the police station and to leave the road. The activists also said they were kept there for 40 minutes.

The activists said that they were arguing with the police about what they meant by “burden,” because the police asked them if the royal motorcade was the problem, but they said that the problem was that the road was closed, so the police told them that they did not close the road. The police then told them to go to the police station and that they will not be charged.

The officers also asked the three activists to present their ID cards, but one said they did not have their ID card with them. This led to a fine of 100 baht for not carrying identification. The group was released at 21.00 without other charges.

Last week, a man was arrested at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre for refusing to sit down and shouting “Going anywhere is a burden” as a royal motorcade of King Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida went past. He was charged with royal defamation and resisting officers.

Anti-death penalty and human rights lawyer, M Ravi is facing yet another round of police investigations over potential offences of Criminal Defamation and Contempt of Court by Facebook posts he made in April and May this year.

This was shared by freelance journalist and anti-death penalty activist Kirsten Han on her Facebook page. There she posted a screenshot of the police letter issued to Mr Ravi where it is stated that the police is conducting investigations upon him in regard to potential offences of Criminal Defamation under Section 499 of the Penal Code 1871 and Contempt of Court under Section 3(1)(a) of the Administration of Justice Act 2016, in relation to posts made in Mr Ravi’s Facebook page dated 20 April, 25 April and 5 May this year.

Mr Ravi has been ordered by the Police to turn up at the Police Cantonment Complex for an interview on 22 October at 9 am.

On top of this new investigation, Mr M Ravi is facing at least seven other investigations that have yet to be concluded and has had various disciplinary tribunals (DTs) held against him over the past couple of years.

The most recent DT to be convened against Mr M Ravi by the Singapore Law Society over the appeal by Mr Nagaenthran a/l Dharmalingam for leave to commence judicial review proceedings in respect of his impending execution and criminal motion for him to be assessed by an independent panel of psychiatrists and for a stay of execution of his sentence.

Nagaenthran who was assessed by a medical expert to have an IQ of 69, had subsequently lost his appeals and was killed by hanging at the Singapore Prisons on 10 November last year after spending 11 years on death row.

Arguing at a recent hearing on two contempt of court charges against him on 10 Oct, Mr Ravi told Justice Hoo Sheau Peng that both judges whom he has been accused of being in contempt of, have already filed disciplinary proceedings against him and he has been suspended from legal practice.

He told the court that since being confirmed to have suffered a relapse of his bipolar disorder in December 2021, the Attorney General had commenced five disciplinary proceedings against him.

Mr Ravi said that he had been stressed out throughout the months of his medical leave from December 2021 to May 2022, and he was not able to rest and recover from his illness. He said there were “enough ongoing proceedings against me.” Further, nothing that the allegation of bias was a fair comment.

The latest NagaWorld protester to be summoned to court was active during rallies, beating a wooden drum as workers sang labor anthems.

Sang Sophal, who received her summons this week, turned up to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday morning to ask for a delay. However, she was supposed to appear on Tuesday morning, though she had only received the summons later that evening. So the court said they could not accept her request for a delay, but would contact her about the next step, according to Sophal.

Sophal is the last among six NagaWorld protesters known to have been summoned to court over three charges: breaking and entering, intentional damage, and confinement. The last charge can carry prison sentences of up to 10 years.

Protests against the Phnom Penh casino began last December in response to mass layoffs of more than 1,400 workers that targeted union leaders and activists, which the protesters allege amounts to union busting.

Sophal said she had been active during the long-running protests, speaking on loudspeakers and beating drums during rallies.

Like the other five who have been summoned, Sophal said she had no idea what NagaCorp was accusing her of. A company representative on Wednesday hung up on a reporter when asked about the case.

The accusation of confinement was especially puzzling, she said, pointing out how protesters had been repeatedly forced onto buses and taken away from the casino site to a quarantine center on the outskirts of the city.

“During these 10 months the company has treated us badly and detained us at the quarantine center at Prek Pnov without providing food or water,” she said. “Who detained whom?”

The protesters are set to return to the casino on Friday. Their near-daily rallies have reduced to only Fridays and weekends, though authorities are now allowing them to stand in front of the casino rather than block them with barricades or remove them on buses.

Sophal said she would continue to seek the reinstatement of around 200 people, including top union leaders, who rejected last year’s layoffs.

The combined officers of the Tanjungpinang Police, Satpol PP, Kesbangpol and Tanjungpinang Immigration Detention again dispersed the demonstration of hundreds of asylum-seeking refugees from Afghanistan which was held at night in front of the shop complex, Jalan DI Panjaitan Tanjungpinang, Riau Archipelago, Tuesday (18/10/2022). The demonstration by hundreds of refugees was disbanded after previously the joint apparatus failed to negotiate so that the refugees would not take action in front of the shop complex because it disrupted traffic and public order. Tanjungpinang Police Chief Kombes Pol Heribertus Ompusunggu said, previously the police had sealed off their shelter at the Badra Bintan Hotel, so they could not hold an action in Tanjungpinang. "The Polres carried out insulation, but they left individually with the excuse of buying personal needs, after being traced it turned out that they had their gathering point, then they both headed to Tanjungpinang," said Kombes Pol Heribertus. Kombes Heribertus further said, the refugees went to Tanjungpinang on foot with the aim of the UNHCR and IOM representative offices. "They carried out the action on the road, but we have separated them earlier so they don't close the road, ended up in shophouses and it is now time for us to finally transport them and return them to the Badra Hotel where they are sheltering," continued the Head of the Tanjungpinang Police. Finally, Kombes Heribertus also said that he would coordinate with the Bintan Police and related agencies so that this refugee action does not happen again.

"Later, together with the Bintan Police, Kesbangpol, we will convey that there is guard in front of the Badra Hotel, so that this does not happen again. Because it disrupts the activities of the community and road users," explained the Tanjungpinang Police Chief. The demonstration was held late into the night by hundreds of refugees from Afghanistan This has been repeated many times in Tanjungpinang. Every action they take, often ends in an attempt to forcibly disband by the joint apparatus.

A Pulitzer-winning photojournalist from Indian-administered Kashmir has said that she was stopped from travelling to the US by immigration authorities at Delhi airport.

Sanna Irshad Mattoo was awarded the Pulitzer for her coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic and was on her way to attend the award ceremony.

Ms Mattoo said she was stopped "despite having a valid visa and ticket".

The Indian government has not made a statement yet on why she was stopped.

News agency PTI quoted Jammu and Kashmir police officials as saying that she had been placed on a no-fly list.

Ms Mattoo said this was the second such incident in four months. The journalist told the BBC she asked officials why she hadn't been allowed to travel but was not given a reason.

She said she was "heartbroken" at not getting the chance to attend the ceremony, describing the Pulitzer as a "dream for every journalist".

Several activists and journalists have been stopped from leaving or entering the country this year.

In March, journalist Rana Ayyub - who writes for the Washington Post - was stopped at Mumbai airport when she was about to board a flight to the UK to deliver a speech at the International Centre for Journalists.

Ms Ayyub was allowed to travel a few days later after she won an appeal against the decision in the Delhi High Court and got permission.

In April, former Amnesty India chief Aakar Patel was stopped twice from boarding a flight to the US at Bangalore airport.

This followed a federal investigation into Amnesty allegedly breaking India's foreign currency exchange laws during Mr Patel's tenure as its chief. The agency called him a "flight risk". He was later asked by a court not to leave the country without its permission.

In August, Angad Singh, an Emmy-nominated American journalist of Indian-origin, was reportedly deported to New York soon after he landed in Delhi.

While the Indian government did not comment on the incident, Mr Singh's family said his passport was confiscated at the airport before he was deported. His mother alleged his treatment was a response to the documentaries the journalist had made on India's Covid crisis and farmers' protests for Vice News.

Earlier this year, the federal government deported Professor Filippo Osella, an anthropologist at the University of Sussex, who had been visiting India for more than 30 years.

Prof Osella challenged his deportation in the Delhi High Court, calling it arbitrary and unconstitutional. He also said he was treated like "a hardened criminal" by Indian authorities without being given a reason for his deportation.

Last week, the Indian government defended its decision in court, saying that the academician had been placed in the "highest category of blacklisting" based on "sufficient material" against him.

A resistance group says that it used drones to launch two attacks on a junta column that decapitated a teacher and killed two others in Magway Region’s Pauk Township earlier this week.

In a statement released on Thursday, the Anonymous Special Task Force said that it dropped three explosives on around 80 troops stationed on a hill near Hpayar Taung, a village located about 15km southeast of the town of Pauk, the day before.

An officer of the group also claimed that a second attack was carried out against a junta base in Yae Pyar, a village about 2km south of Hpayar Taung, later the same day.

“We weren’t sure how many casualties there were from the first attack, so we decided to go after the base in Yae Pyar as well,” he told Myanmar Now.

The troops stationed near Hpayar Taung have reportedly been raiding villages in southern Pauk Township since October 12. On Monday, they targeted the village of Kyar Pyit Kan, where they abducted three men, including a teacher taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM).

According to locals, the teacher, 46-year-old Saw Moe Tun, taught mathematics at a school run by the National Unity Government (NUG) and was also on its township education committee.

“They captured him and took him to Taung Myint, another village near here. That’s where they killed him, right in front of the school. They cut three fingers off of his right hand and also beheaded him. They hung his head at the entrance to the school,” said a local who did not want to be named.

Another person living in the area confirmed this report, and said that the soldiers also set fire to the school.

A photo of the victim’s head hanging from a school door, with his headless body lying nearby on the ground, has circulated widely on social media.

The other two men, who have yet to be identified, were also killed, local sources said.

According to local groups, around 8,000 civilians from some 13 villages have been displaced by the recent junta raids in Pauk Township.

Last Thursday, a day after the attacks began, soldiers burned down the entire village of Thee Chauk, the Anonymous Special Task Force officer told Myanmar Now.

The village, which is about 20km west of Hpayar Taung, where the junta troops were stationed, had around 250 households, he said. Before setting fire to most of the houses there, the regime forces shelled and ransacked the village, he added.

On Tuesday, the Basic Education General Strike Committee and Basic Education Workers Union-Strike Committee released statements strongly condemning the military’s brutal killing of Saw Moe Tun.

Both groups also noted that on the same day that Saw Moe Tun was murdered, Ye Thiha, a middle school headmaster who was also taking part in the CDM, was fatally stabbed seven times at his home in Ayeyarwady Region’s Zalun Township.

The groups called on the public, as well as the NUG, to protect teachers and others taking part in the CDM.

A land activist from Tbong Khmum province was allegedly beaten in Phnom Penh on Sunday while attending a seminar in the capital.

Hoeun Sineat is a land activist for the Sre Praing community in Tbong Khmum’s Dambe district. He was in the capital attending a seminar and went to buy some food with two other people when he was beaten by unidentified assailants in Chamkarmon district, Sineat said on Monday.

The activist said he saw three men riding on two motorcycles in Boeng Trabek commune and they attacked him, leaving him with a gash on his left cheek and other injuries to his head.

“When they rode close to me, they got off the motorbike and attacked and got on the motorbike and returned without saying anything,” he said.

Sineat said he did not know the assailants and did not have any disputes with people, and had filed a complaint with the Phsar Doeum Thkov commune on October 17.

So Samban, Phsar Doeum Thkov police chief, said he was unaware of the complaint but if Sineat had told officers about the incident then they will not ignore it.

There has been a spate of violence against at least 30 activists and opposition party members in the last five years. A Candlelight official was hit on the head with a knife near the party’s Pur Senchey office in July. A former CNRP youth activist was killed last year in Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changvar, with police officials saying the murder was a result of a personal dispute.

Theng Savoeun, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community, was the organizer of the workshop and said Sineat was an active advocate for the land rights of people in his community. Savoeun said a company had been given a concession on land used by the community.

“We don’t want to see any use of violence against people,” he added.

Authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang have detained a dissident who openly supported the Oct. 13 "Bridge Man" anti-Xi Jinping banner protest ahead of the 20th party congress in Beijing, the rights website Weiquanwang reported.

"Dissident Wu Jingsheng has been arrested by Qujiang district police in his hometown of Quzhou city," the website said.

"Wu Jingsheng was called in to drink tea after he retweeted information about the heroic Sitong Bridge protest by Peng Lifa in WeChat groups and on Facebook," the website said, using a phrase referring to a summons from China's feared state security police.

"He was sent home in the early hours of the next day and posted the following on Facebook," it said. "He hasn't updated his Facebook page since."

In the Oct. 16 post, Wu repeated the slogans painted on two banners by Peng Lifa, who was detained after hanging them from the Sitong traffic flyover in Beijing's Haidian district, days before the ruling Chinese Communist Party convened its five-yearly party congress.

"I am posting Peng Lifa's slogans here," Wu wrote, in a reference to the banners, which read "Remove the traitor-dictator Xi Jinping!"

“Freedom, not lockdowns”

Video and photos of Peng's banners were quickly posted to social media, only to be deleted. A post linked from the account called for strikes and class boycotts to remove Xi.

"Food, not PCR tests. Freedom, not lockdowns. Reforms, not the Cultural Revolution. Elections not leaders," read the second, adding: "Dignity, not lies. Citizens, not slaves."

Wu said he was interrogated over his forwarding of social media posts about the protests on WeChat by district police chief Yang Fan, while his phone was scanned by police for photos and contacts.

"They also wanted the name of the circumvention software I used [to access Facebook]," he wrote. Like other overseas social media platforms, Facebook is blocked by China's Great Firewall of internet censorship, and users in mainland China need circumvention tools to access it.

"They asked me why I reposted those things," Wu wrote. "I told them I greatly admired Peng Lifa's righteous deeds."

Wu, who has been described in unconfirmed social media posts as a former university lecturer who lost his job for his pro-democracy views and started driving a pedicab to make a living, said he had refused to hand over access to his Facebook account when Yang asked him, citing his right to privacy.

“At risk of torture”

Han Yutao, a Chinese student studying in the U.S. whose family was threatened by local police after he made a video supporting the "Bridge Man" protest, said Wu is likely now at risk of state-backed violence and trumped-up charges.

"Wu Jingsheng is now incommunicado, which means he could be at risk of torture and ill-treatment, as well as fabricated charges," Han told RFA.

He said he could understand why Wu took the risk of showing public interest in the "Bridge Man" incident.

"It's pretty unbearable for anyone with a conscience to live in today's China," Han told RFA, citing the mass incarceration of millions of Uyghurs and other ethnic groups in camps, the discovery of a woman held in chains in the eastern province of Jiangsu, and the privations suffered by many under Xi Jinping's zero-COVID policy.

"Peng Lifa's righteous deeds can be said to have encouraged a lot of people,” Han said. “His heroic act was true selflessness. He gave up the life he had to spark hope for a lot of Chinese people."

Han said the treatment meted out to Wu was unlikely to be more lenient than the authorities' treatment of Peng.

"He could be facing the same kind of [situation] as Peng Lifa," Han said. "Wu ... could be tortured and subjected to various kinds of psychological pressure, and his family won't escape political scrutiny."

Police in Beijing contacted Han's family after he expressed support online for Peng, contacting his brother and parents and putting pressure on them to persuade him not to be a "traitor," and to distance themselves from him.

"My family ... will now definitely never pass a political evaluation, and won't be able to hold any government job in China," Han said.

"This could also have a huge impact on their daily lives, if [COVID-19 tracking] codes get linked to social credit in future," he said, in a reference to the use of the Health Code COVID-19 app to hinder the movements of protesters and government critics when the authorities wish to silence them.

Xing Jian, a dissident from the central province of Henan now based in New Zealand, said Wu did nothing wrong by reposting the "Bridge Man" content.

"Wu Jingsheng's support of the Sitong Bridge protester Peng Lifa in online communities is protected by law," Xing told RFA. "The arrest of Wu Jingsheng is all about currying favor now that Xi Jinping was given a new term in office by the 20th party congress."

"Mainland China has entered an era of imperial rule, and the power of the ruler trumps everything else," he said.

Unknown assailants broke glass doors to the office of the Elmedia television channel in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, and left a large inscription of the channel's name in red on the sidewalk in front of the office in what employees believe was a warning to independent media just weeks ahead of a presidential election.

Elmedia said in a Telegram post that the media outlet's reporters discovered the broken doors and the inscription early on the morning of October 14 as they arrived to work.

"Police arrived at the site, but it is clear now that it is not just hooliganism or a child's misdeed. It is a harsh warning to journalists. There is no doubt that it is a premeditated attack similar to many attacks carried out against media companies recently," Elmedia's statement said.

The Almaty-based journalists' right group Adil Soz (A Just Word) said in a statement that Elmedia's website had suffered a massive cyberattack in recent weeks, while the telephones for the office and its chief editor, Gulzhan Erghalieva, were also hacked and added to a phone-sex service.

Less than two weeks earlier, the online newspaper Orda.kz, which is based in Almaty, received a parcel containing a severed pig’s head with a torn photo of the media outlet's chief editor, Gulnara Bazhkenova, in its mouth.

Both Elmedia and Orda.kz focus on political, economic, and social developments in the Central Asian nation.

Attacks on independent media outlets in the country have been frequent for years, especially ahead of presidential or parliamentary elections.

Kazakhstan is holding an early presidential election on November 20.

Myanmar’s military regime must cease its harassment of The Irrawaddy and allow the independent news organization to report without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

On October 14, Myanmar’s junta announced on state television that it would take legal action against The Irrawaddy for reporting that military forces opened fire on Buddhist pilgrims during an October 12 firefight with anti-junta insurgents in eastern Mon State, according to news reports and The Irrawaddy’s editor-in-chief Aung Zaw, who communicated with CPJ by email and messaging app.

In the broadcast, the junta called The Irrawaddy “blatant liars” and said it would be suing the outlet under the Electronic Transactions Law, News Media Law, and the state defamation law, according to those reports. Aung Zaw said the junta has not formally contacted The Irrawaddy about the charges.

The BBC’s Burmese Service, which continues to operate a bureau inside Myanmar, was also mentioned in the junta’s legal threat, reports said.

The military regime banned The Irrawaddy and several other independent news outlets after staging a democracy-suspending coup on February 1, 2021, according to news reports and CPJ reporting. The Irrawaddy has defied the ban and continues to publish daily news online.

“The Myanmar military’s crude and constant harassment of The Irrawaddy is an abomination and must stop immediately,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “The Irrawaddy epitomizes the type of independent news reporting Myanmar’s junta is bidding to outlaw, but its growing abuse of arbitrary laws to target and jail journalists is ultimately a sign of its illegitimacy and weakness.”

The junta’s October 14 announcement was the latest in a series of actions it has taken to harass and intimidate The Irrawaddy and its staff.

On September 29, at around midnight, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials searched the home of a senior editor of The Irrawaddy in Yangon and interrogated his parents and siblings about his whereabouts, Aung Zaw told CPJ.

On the same night, police officers also visited the house of The Irrawaddy’s former director Thaung Win, who was taken to an interrogation center and is currently being detained at an unknown location, Aung Zaw said.

In April 2022, former Irrawaddy photojournalist Zaw Zaw was arrested and detained at Mandalay’s Obo Prison, Aung Zaw said. He was formally charged in June under Article 505(a) of the penal code, an anti-state provision that bans “incitement” and “false news” that has been used widely by the regime to detain, convict, and sentence journalists, the Irrawaddy reported.

Police and soldiers raided The Irrawaddy’s office in downtown Yangon twice in late 2021, even though it had ceased news operations there since being banned, Aung Zaw said.

In March 2021, the junta charged The Irrawaddy under the penal code’s Article 505(a) for “disregarding” the armed forces in its reporting on anti-coup protests, the Irrawaddy reported, and Aung Zaw confirmed to CPJ.

The police opened a case against The Irrawaddy as a whole rather than individual reporters, making it the first news outlet to be sued by the regime after the coup, according to the report and Aung Zaw, who was the recipient of CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award in 2014.

CPJ emails to Myanmar’s Ministry of Information and BBC Burmese did not receive a reply.

Myanmar was the world’s second-worst jailer of journalists in 2021, according to CPJ’s December 1 prison census. Several journalists have been jailed for incitement, an anti-state charge that Myanmar’s military regime has used broadly to stifle independent news reporting since the coup in 2021.

Reporter at Nayapatrika national daily Bibek Pokhrel was misbehaved while reporting in Chitwan on October 4. Chitwan lies in Bagmati Province of Nepal.

According to the media reports, reporter Pokhrel had reached Chitwan Media College to report on the ongoing clash among the locals and police in the hospital premises. The clash broke when the victim families started protesting against the hospital administration demanding strict action against the doctor for his alleged carelessness leading to death of one of their family members.

Police officers misbehaved with the reporter while he was interviewing the victim families.

Freedom Forum is concerned over the incident as it is sheer violation of press freedom. FF strongly urges the security authority to respect journalists’ right to free reporting and be aware not to harm the journalists and public while containing the protest.

Political prisoner Dang Dinh Bach‘s wife, Tran Phuong Thao, updated The 88 Project after a recent visit and phone call with Bach.

He has been transferred to a new prison; his wife did not find out until she went to the old prison to visit him. Political prisoners and their families commonly face this practice in Vietnam.

Bach is serving five years in prison on charges of “tax evasion.” In August, a court upheld the sentence.

---

Update, November 2, 2022:

On October 16, Dang Dinh Bach’s wife, Tran Phuong Thao, visited Hanoi Detention Center No. 1 and found out that Bach was transferred to Prison No 6 in Nghe An Province on October 14.

Prison No. 6 is 300 km away from Hanoi, so Bach’s family (Thao, Bach’s father-in-law, Bach’s brother-in-law, and Bach’s sister) departed on October 19 at 4 am so that they could register to meet with Bach within the day. According to Thao, the prison authorities made it difficult for the family to find out in which area of the prison Bach was held. It wasn’t until 10:30 am that they were able to register to meet with Bach. The family finally met with him in person at 4 pm. Only Thao and Bach’s sister were allowed to see Bach. Even though Bach’s father-in-law and brother-in-law prepared all of the required documents to submit to the prison authorities for the visit, they were denied.

Bach is reported to be pretty healthy. Thao told The 88 Project that she did ask Bach about the living conditions at Prison No 6., but Bach did not answer her question. “Perhaps they reminded him not to say anything about it,” Thao said. She also shared that she had sent warm clothes, necessities, and books for him.

On October 27, Bach called home for 10 minutes, asking Thao to continue her international advocacy for him, as he is innocent. He told his wife that he had not received any books, while Thao told him that she has not received the letter he sent.

RFE/RL President Jamie Fly has demanded an investigation into threats made against RFE/RL journalists during a demonstration on October 13 in Bishkek at the office of RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service.

Ilimbek Israilov, organizer of the demonstration, called for the closure of RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, also known as Radio Azattyk, Kloop, and another media outlet associated with it and said he would collect signatures from people who back its closure.

During the protest Israilov threatened to spray gasoline on RFE/RL reporters and use force against them.

"If I see you at the rallies, I will break one of you," Israilov said.

Most of the participants of the action covered their faces, avoided the camera, and refused to answer questions about their demands.

Fly responded by saying Radio Azattyk journalists will not be intimidated.

"I call on Kyrgyz authorities to investigate those responsible for these threats of violence against our staff and office," he said in a statement.

Israilov is known for his involvement in the organization of numerous rallies to support the former deputy chief of the Customs Service, Raimbek Matraimov.

In 2019, an investigation by RFE/RL, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, and Kloop implicated former deputy chief of the Customs Service Raimbek Matraimov in a corruption scheme involving the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars out of Kyrgyzstan.

Matraimov and his relatives at the time were at the center of an alleged corruption scandal. Matraimov was rearrested in February 2021 on corruption charges.

He was later released after a court in Bishkek convicted him on the charges but handed him a mitigated sentence that didn't involve incarceration because he had paid back around $24 million that disappeared through corruption schemes that he oversaw.

NagaWorld union members are alleging that ABA Bank blocked three transactions to their accounts from an overseas donor while giving various explanations about negative news of the union in the press or anti-money laundering measures.

The Labor Rights Supported Union of NagaWorld casino has been in dispute with the gambling corporation over the termination of 1,300 workers in 2021, out of which fewer than 200 workers are holding out for reinstatement. The protests have often taken a violent turn when district security guards and police officers use force to break up gatherings.

Three NagaWorld union members said they were expecting transfers from an overseas sender in October to support protesters without jobs or with babies, but were separately informed by a person saying they were from ABA Bank that the transfers were blocked.

Chhim Sokhorn and Klaing Soben told VOD they were expecting $5,050 each to be transferred into their ABA accounts. The two NagaWorld casino workers said they did not know where the money was coming from as union president Chhim Sithar was handling the grant application.

Sithar has been in pretrial detention since November when she was rearrested for allegedly breaking her bail conditions. Sithar, who was at a bail hearing at a Phnom Penh court last week, told VOD the grant was from the Urgent Action Fund in Australia, a feminist group in Australia that supports movements led by women and nonbinary activists.

VOD was unable to interview Sithar further in court.

Sokhorn and Soben both said they were separately contacted by an ABA staffer in October who questioned them on what they would do with the $5,050 transfers and raised the union’s ongoing dispute as the reason why the transactions had been blocked.

Sokhorn said an ABA employee named Sroy Mengty first contacted her on messaging application Telegram on October 13 and then on two other occasions on the 14th and 26th of the same month.

According to text and audio messages between the two of them on Telegram, Mengty informs Sokhorn on October 13 that the transfers will not be processed because of the “negative news about NagaWorld.” When he asks what the money will be used for, Sokhorn tells him it was to assist unemployed union members and for workers with children.

Mengty further says on the 14th: “The reason is because you don’t have proper documents for the money and have negative news about NagaWorld.”

Sokhorn continues to ask Mengty why the money was blocked, whether it was being sent back to the sender in Australia, and if her account had been frozen. He doesn’t reply until the 26th.

“It is because of the policy of the bank in case there is money laundering,” Mengty informs Sokhorn in a message on the 26th.

“From ABA, the money has been returned back. But I don’t know if an intermediary bank is involved. So it is out of our hands,” he adds, then stops replying to subsequent messages.

Sokhorn said she felt it was suspicious that the bank staffer would message her on Telegram, and not give her a single clear reason for blocking the money.

“The grant was to support protesting workers who don’t have jobs and those with babies. It was not for the protests but for those without jobs,” she said.

Soben, who was elected union treasurer last year, received similar text and voice messages from Mengty starting October 19. He asks her what the money is going to be used for, saying he needs to know before he can allow the “frozen” transaction to proceed.

“He said he needs to check if nothing bad will happen [with the money] and only then can he send it through,” Soben said in December.

Soben was first worried that her account would be frozen — a frequent conduit for small donations the union gets for supporting terminated workers. A week later, Mengty tells her that the money has been permanently blocked and sent back to the sender, but that her account is still active.

The two workers said they were unsure if the restrictions on their account were potentially because of bail conditions imposed on them following arrests related to the ongoing strike. Lawyers for Sithar have argued in court that jailed workers released on bail were not told the full conditions for their release.

VOD contacted Igor Zimarev, ABA’s chief marketing officer, and Khuon Pinoch, public relations supervisor, over the last two weeks, but they did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Emails sent to the Urgent Action Fund in Australia also went unanswered this week.

Terminated workers at the NagaWorld casino and represented by the union have said they are facing financial hardships as part of the prolonged labor action against the casino corporation.

The union’s registration has yet to be renewed by the Labor Ministry after elections last year for senior leadership because the ministry says the elected leaders, like Sithar, Sokhorn and Soben, are no longer employees of the casino. Soben said the union’s official bank account with Acleda bank had been frozen because the union’s registration was not renewed.

Separately, to raise funds for workers, Nop Tithboravy, a union member, started a $1 campaign encouraging donations to her personal Acleda bank account to support workers who were holding out against NagaWorld.

Last August, supporters of the union in Australia tried to transfer around $1,000 to her Acleda account but were unable to send the money. Tithboravy decided to ask Acleda why the transfers were blocked.

“The [senders] recommended I ask the bank and I went to ask them. But the banker said nothing was wrong with the back account. It was still running as normal,” Tithboravy said.

Unlike her colleagues, the bank staff did not ask about her union affiliation or why the money was being transferred. She was left confused because she had previously received transfers from overseas and continues to get domestic donations.

She also rued the lost opportunity to get support for workers.

“When people tried to send the money to support us again and again they couldn’t send it. So they also felt less interest to keep supporting us,” she said.

In Channy, the president of Acleda, asked the NagaWorld workers to contact bank staff because he cannot discuss these issues publicly.

“She should come to meet,” he said. “For these kinds of cases, we can’t put [the information] in public. She should come and they will explain it to her.”

ABA touts itself as one of the top three commercial banks in the country and has 2.1 million customers. The bank is also popular for the omnipresence of its branded QR codes that have become synonymous for bank transfers. ABA was also among a number of banks that last year blocked transfer attempts out of Cambodia to support the fighting in Ukraine.

In response to multiple news reports that a Myanmar court on Wednesday sentenced Japanese documentary filmmaker Toru Kubota to three more years in prison for allegedly violating the country’s immigration laws, bringing his total incarceration term to 10 years, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement calling for his immediate release:

“Myanmar’s latest action in adding three years to Japanese journalist Toru Kubota’s prison sentence for immigration violations is excessive, grotesque, and must be reversed,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Myanmar’s military junta is sending a deliberate and threatening message to all foreign journalists that they too could be imprisoned under arbitrary laws if they report on its crimes and abuses.”

Kubota, a freelance filmmaker who has contributed to international media outlets including Vice Japan, the BBC, and Al-Jazeera English, was sentenced last week to seven years for violating the electronic transactions law and three years for incitement, as CPJ documented. Those sentences are to be served concurrently, and Wednesday’s additional three-year sentence brings Kubota’s total prison term to 10 years, reports said.

Authorities arrested Kubota on July 30 while he filmed a small protest in Myanmar’s commercial capital of Yangon.

Myanmar was the world’s second-worst jailer of journalists in 2021, according to CPJ’s December 1 prison census. Several journalists have been jailed under Section 505(a) of the penal code for incitement and dissemination of false news, an anti-state charge that Myanmar’s military regime has used broadly to stifle independent news reporting since staging a coup in 2021.

Four activists who were allegedly planning to protest outside the Russian consulate in Almaty during Russian President Vladimir Putin's upcoming visit have been detained.

A reporter for RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported on October 12 that police took the four into custody as they approached the Russian consulate with a poster and a bouquet of blue and yellow flowers representing Ukraine's national colors.

Police have yet to comment.

Putin is scheduled to visit the Kazakh capital, Astana, from October 12 to October 14 for a regional summit. He is expected to hold meetings with several officials during his trip, including with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

The October 12 meeting comes a day after Turkey called for a cease-fire in fighting between Russia and Ukraine,

NATO member Turkey, which has stayed neutral throughout the conflict in Ukraine, has good ties with Kyiv as well as with Moscow.

National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) strongly denounced the recent attacks against one of its officers by rabid red-tagger Lorraine Badoy together with Jeffery Celiz and others in a program aired at Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) on Oct. 12.

In a show entitled “Laban Kasama ang Bayan,” NUJP secretary general and Bulatlat managing editor Ronalyn Olea was tagged as an “operatibong internet operator” for the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front.

The group said that this is not the first time that Badoy and others linked personalities, groups and members of the media to revolutionary groups.

In fact, they added, the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP), Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), Movement Against Disinformation (MAD) and Rappler chief executive officer Maria Ressa have all been accused of rebel links without basis.

“However silly the term ‘operatibang internet operator’ sounds, the attempt to link Ms. Olea to the CPP-NPA-NDF for her work in Bulatlat and in NUJP shows how hollow the claim made by Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla before the UN Human Rights Council that red-tagging is simple criticism that is ‘part of a democracy’,” the group said in a statement.

They added that the “The mischaracterization as well as the effects of that mischaracterization — in the case of Bulatlat and PinoyWeekly, of being blocked without even an opportunity to address the accusations by the National Security Council — show that red-tagging has actual effects and is part of government policy.”

Alipato Media Center Inc., publisher of Bulatlat, of which Olea represented, questioned the blocking of its website in the court. On Oct. 10, Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 306 denied motions for reconsideration filed by the National Telecommunications Communication and retired Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. against the temporary unblocking of bulatlat.com. This, after the court granted the preliminary injunction plea filed by Bulatlat against the blocking order of the NTC in August.

“In the face of the baseless accusations and desperate vilification, we stand with Ms. Olea and all others red-tagged by the government and by its mouthpieces,” the group said.

They added that in the light of the killing of commentator Percy Lapid and online threats against journalists Ed Lingao and Lourd de Veyra, they are “not taking red-tagging of journalists lightly and will hold authorities responsible should any harm come to fellow journalists.”

Nearly two decades of practicing journalism

Bulatlat expressed its alarm over the red-tagging of Olea.

“Her being red-tagged happened at a time when there are continuing attacks against journalists in the Philippines,” the online news website said in a statement.

It added that Olea has been a part of Bulatlat during its early days as contributor to becoming its managing editor today.

“She is a champion of human rights reporting, media workers’ welfare and journalists’ safety,” they added.

Olea won awards for her stories on human rights. In 2013, Olea’s story entitled, Killings unabated under Aquino, won third place in the Red Cross Award for Humanitarian Reporting. She was also among the finalists in the Save the Children Media Awards: Uncovering Child Hunger and Malnutrition in 2015 and the Chit Estella Journalism Awards in 2012.

Olea earned her degree of journalism at the Lyceum of the Philippines University. She finished her master’s degree in journalism at the Ateneo De Manila University under Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Media Programme.

Olea was the national president of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines from 2002 to 2004.

“In her fight for press freedom, Len is highly visible in the trial courts, in various fora and in the parliament of the streets. She fought those who dare to stifle press freedom and to curtail the people’s right to know. She stands in solidarity with fellow journalists and media workers under attack,” Bulatlat said.

Violation of legislative franchise

Meanwhile, the Movement Against Disinformation (MAD) asserts that the red-tagging of Badoy and others through SMNI is a violation of the 2007 Broadcast Code of the Philippines of the Kapasinan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) and violation of RA 11422, an act granting legislative franchise to SMNI’s corporate vehicle Swara Sug Media Corporation.

The group cited Badoy and Celiz’s attacks against Ressa after the Court of Appeals denied its motion for reconsideration in cyber libel conviction against her and former Rappler researcher Reynaldo Santos Jr., in the same program.

This time, Ressa was tagged as an operator for disinformation, misinformation, deception and giving a platform to the CPP-NPA.

Through these attacks, MAD said that SMNI and the presenters of the Laban Kasama ang Bayan show are using, misusing and abusing its legislative franchise.

“Mass media such as SMNI are highly regulated and are imbued with the public interest because they disseminate information and ideas to the public which ‘set the standards, ideals and aims of the masses,” the group said in a statement.

They added that Section 4 of RA 11422 states, “The grantee shall provide… at all times sound and balanced programming… and not use its stations or facilities for the broadcasting of obscene or indecent language, speech, act or scene; or for the dissemination of deliberately false information or willful misrepresentation, to the detriment of the public interest…”

The group said the influence of mass media could not be left unchecked and unregulated.

“Hence, legal and ethical standards are imposed to curb and control potential misuse and abuse,” the group said.

The group added that the SMNI and its presenters are not above the law in the exercise of their right to deliver information to the public. “They are legally, ethically and morally prohibited from red-tagging and putting in harm’s way the subjects of their news,” they added.

MAD also urged the KBP and all relevant government agencies to review and investigate the red-tagging involving SMNI and Badoy et al.

“It is time that the regulatory powers of the regulators be felt in full force to rein in and hold to account contumacious red-taggers and purveyors of disinformation and misinformation in the Philippines,” they added.

Chinese authorities have stepped up surveillance and harassment of government critics as part of a crackdown on dissent ahead of the Communist party’s upcoming 20th congress, its key political gathering.

Since mid-September, numerous activists and petitioners seeking to lobby the government have been detained or put under house arrest across China, while many human rights lawyers have been intimidated, harassed and followed by agents. They say authorities, wary that their criticisms of the government could lead to social discontent and threaten the regime, are pulling out all the stops to silence them ahead of the twice-in-decade event, set to start on Sunday.

Xi Jinping is expected to gain an unprecedented third term as a party leader at the congress, sparking the highest level of security to keep any potential disruption in check.

“Every morning, the police would call me to check my plan for the day. They order me not to go anywhere, see anyone or say anything to them,” said one lawyer who was disbarred and had his law firm closed for defending politically sensitive cases. “The message is clear: ‘We are watching your every move.’”

The lawyer, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, said Chinese social media platforms block all his posts and even when he skirts the firewall to post on Twitter, local police summon him and issue warnings on posting politically sensitive content.

On Wednesday, lawyer Yu Wensheng, who has spent four years in jail, was barred from going out by security staff at his housing compound. He said police warned him against going to foreign embassies, talking to journalists, or posting on Twitter ahead of the congress. “I guess they’re trying to scare us,” he said, insisting he would not back down.

Another rights lawyer, Wang Quanzhang, who was jailed on subversion charges for defending activists, said authorities had stepped up surveillance on his family in recent days. This week, more agents were deployed to watch and follow his family when they go out and police warned him against airing his opinions, he said. “I guess the surveillance will escalate in the next few days,” he said.

Veteran lawyer Li Heping also received the same treatment. His wife, Wang Qiaoling, said that since mid-September, plainclothes policemen had been guarding their housing compound and police cars follow them whenever they go out. “It is an intimidation strategy to frighten us,” she said. Lawyer Xie Yanyi said security cameras around his home had all been upgraded in recent days while police cars guard his compound. Lawyer Jiang Tianyong remains under tight surveillance in his home town in rural Henan with little means of communication with the outside world.

Prominent writer Gao Yu who is in fragile health, cannot be reached. Veteran activist Hu Ju said on his WeChat account on Thursday that he has been forced to leave Beijing for around 10 days and fears that the stringent Covid measures may delay his return to tend to his sick mother.

A number of petitioners across China who had planned to bring their grievances to Beijing have been forcibly taken from their homes and detained. Police detained many staying near Beijing and forcibly sent them back to their home towns for detention. One petitioner told Radio Free Asia that police set up checkpoints at railway stations and on roads to block them from entering Beijing. Once found, they would be sent back to their home towns, where they would be detained.

Minsheng Guancha (or Civil Rights & Livelihood Watch), a website that reports human rights violations in China, has documented dozens of cases of activists and petitioners being confined to their homes, forcibly repatriated and detained ahead of the party congress. Many have been detained for up to 15 days on the vaguely defined charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”.

The Chinese authorities have long used blanket charges such as “provoking trouble” to target those seen as a thorn in the side of the government.

Just two weeks before the congress, the Ministry of Public Security announced that its “100-day” crime busting operation, which started in June, had resulted in 1.43 million people being arrested.

The head of the operation, Qiu Baoli, said the campaign, implemented with a “heavy fist”, laid a “solid foundation” for safeguarding the political meeting.

Observers say the crackdown on dissidents and activists would have fallen under this campaign because they are often accused of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” for protesting.

But even such an extensive operation did not manage to completely eliminate voices of dissent. On Thursday, a rare protest in Beijing against the Communist party and its policies stoked political tensions just three days before the congress which will re-anoint Xi as the party leader for the next decade.

Photos and videos emerged on social media show two banners hanging from an overpass of a major thoroughfare in the northwest corner of the Chinese capital. Plumes of smoke could be seen billowing from the bridge. “We want food, not PCR tests. We want freedom, not lockdowns. We want respect, not lies. We want reform, not a cultural revolution. We want a vote, not a leader. We want to be citizens, not slaves,” reads one. A second banner called for a boycott of schools and strikes and the removal of Xi.

Although images and keywords related to the protest were censored by internet police, many people made oblique remarks referring to the incident on Chinese social media platforms. “It is strange when the word ‘brave’ has become a sensitive keyword,” said one on WeChat. On Twitter, which is unaccessible from China unless one skirts the firewall, the images and videos went viral and drew a large amount of supportive comments. It appeared to have also energised the exiled Chinese dissident community, with some holding an online seminar analysing the significance of the protest .

Meanwhile, internet censors have also pulled out all the stops to police cyberspace, barring many politically sensitive words and phrases, including nicknames of Xi, descriptions of the stormy weather, and even the bear head emoji – as Xi has been compared to the cartoon character Winnie the Pooh – according to Radio Free Asia.

Local authorities have been under extreme pressure to ensure a stable and positive environment in China for the meeting, but have been challenged by widespread outbreaks and growing frustration with the zero-Covid measures. Across China, some people who left Beijing for the Golden Week holiday have reported they have been blocked from returning.

Alerts sent by the mandatory healthcode app informed users they “may have a time and space relationship with the epidemic risk” and must delay their return until risks were ruled out or they had spent seven days in a “low risk” area. About 90% of the country is currently designated medium or high risk, according to China’s government.

Even the air is controlled. On Friday, Hebei province’s iron and steel industry was ordered to halve its output for a week. No reason was given for the order, but China’s government has often limited polluting industries around the time of major events to ensure clear blue skies.

Anti-death penalty and human rights lawyer, M Ravi is facing yet another round of police investigations over potential offences of Criminal Defamation and Contempt of Court by Facebook posts he made in April and May this year.

This was shared by freelance journalist and anti-death penalty activist Kirsten Han on her Facebook page. There she posted a screenshot of the police letter issued to Mr Ravi where it is stated that the police is conducting investigations upon him in regard to potential offences of Criminal Defamation under Section 499 of the Penal Code 1871 and Contempt of Court under Section 3(1)(a) of the Administration of Justice Act 2016, in relation to posts made in Mr Ravi’s Facebook page dated 20 April, 25 April and 5 May this year. Police orders journalist to turn up for interview without clarification

In a separate post, Ms Han shared that she has also been summoned by the Police for an interview over a Facebook post that she published on 10 May this year.

She is instructed to turn up at the Ang Mo Kio Division Headquarters on 21 October at 11am.

However, she shared that the Police has yet to confirm if she is being investigated for any offence. Ms Han was earlier called to an interview at Bedok Police Station on 24 June this year for allegedly participating in two ‘illegal assemblies’ outside Changi Prison earlier this year: once when she sat there with a few others the night before the execution of Abdul Kahar bin Othman, and another time when she and others took photos with the sign “END OPPRESSION, NOT LIFE”’ two nights before Nagaenthran was hanged.

Seven garment workers had contracts terminated at Puma supplier Eastcrown Footwear Industries in Phnom Penh after they tried to form a union.

Factory management denied the workers’ removals were related to the union activity, but would not elaborate.

An Yousa said this week that she had been dismissed from Eastcrown after five months working there. She was among 10 workers who moved to start a union at the factory as she had experienced what she considered to be exploitation and violation of workers’ rights.

Workers were forced to work overtime, denied requests to take leave, and made to sit through meetings during break periods, Yousa said.

The factory tried to get the unionists to join the factory’s own company union instead, but when the workers declined, their contracts were terminated on October 11, she said.

“They dismissed us because we formed a union at the factory. The factory didn’t continue our contract. They said if we resigned from our union and joined their union they would continue our work contract.”

Duong Sokna, another of the removed unionists, said the factory’s company union never helped the workers.

“They discriminated against the union. I want a real union representing the workers, not a union representing the factory,” Sokna said, adding that the dismissed workers had lodged a complaint with the Labor Ministry.

The seven unionizing workers who lost their contracts are Yousa, Sokna, Eam Sambath, Duong Soknang, Matt Vy, Sarem Tharim and Suong Sarin. The three others who tried to union have not yet reached the end of their contract periods.

Eastcrown administrative director Hy Hong said the factory’s reason for laying off the workers was not because they had formed a union, but would not elaborate.

Labor Ministry spokesman Heng Sour said the ministry was looking into the issue.

Ry Sethyneth, president of the Independent Trade Union Confederation, said the case showed discrimination against union workers and violated labor rights.

“If the Ministry of Labor uses the mechanism of the Labor Inspectorate effectively and promotes the implementation of the law, then union discrimination will no longer exist,” Sethyneth said. He considered union-busting to be a human rights abuse, he said.

Eastcrown Footwear Industries has about 3,000 workers, according to the dismissed unionists, and U.S. bills of lading show it has supplied shipments to Puma North America.

Earlier this year, the Coalition of Cambodia Apparel Workers Democratic Union said about 1,400 union leaders and active members have been laid off in cases of alleged union-busting in the last five years.

Workers fired from a Puma supplier after trying to start a union say two more colleagues have had contracts terminated since the weekend, and don’t know about a visit or settlement as claimed by the German athletics brand.

After seven garment workers spoke of alleged union-busting at Phnom Penh’s Eastcrown Footwear Industries, Puma’s corporate communications head Robert-Jan Bartunek said on Friday that an agreement had already been reached and overtime violations were not found as alleged.

“When PUMA learned about this case, we immediately engaged with the factory management. As of today, the factory management and the concerned workers reached an agreement on a financial settlement,” Bartunek said. “We have had no indication of unvoluntary overtime work through our social audit, grievance mechanism and our factory visit last week.”

However, two of the previously terminated unionists said on Monday that they didn’t know of any Puma visit nor a financial settlement.

Duong Sokna, 20, treasurer for the newly-created union, said she knew of an upcoming meeting at the Labor Ministry on Tuesday. But she didn’t know of any visit by Puma representatives or the brand’s mediation in the dispute.

Furthermore, two more workers who had tried to help form the union, Duong Tola and Horn Srey Neang, had received termination letters: Srey Neang on Saturday and Tola on Monday. They would lose their jobs at the end of their contracts, Sokna said.

“The factory strongly discriminated against the union and they still discriminate, and, frankly, in relation to those who were involved with voting for the independent union, all will be fired.”

Another unionist, Suong Sarin, 24, said only one of the 10 founding union members still had a job. Initially, 16 had joined to form the union, but six had withdrawn in the face of threats, Sarin said.

All the unionists would go to the Labor Ministry on Tuesday — some to attend a mediated meeting, and others to file a complaint.

Sarin said he also didn’t know about any Puma visit or settlement reached.

“I will still continue to do the union work because there is a lot of pressure on the workers inside the factory,” Sarin said, including being pushed to work overtime, and meetings held before work or during breaks. “No matter what the result will be, I will try my best to help our Cambodian workers.”

Eastcrown administrative director Hy Hong said last week that the factory’s reason for laying off the workers was not because they had formed a union, but would not elaborate.

Bartunek, the Puma communications official, said on Friday that the brand had started working with Eastcrown in March this year.

Puma has “multiple channels for factory workers to raise any concern directly with our sustainability team,” he said, and the company had “zero tolerance for freedom of association breaches, and it may lead to the termination of the business relationship with the factory.”

“PUMA commits to the right to freedom of association, to organize or join unions and to collective bargaining,” Bartunek said.

On 11 October 2022, human rights defender Kamil Ruziev’s acquittal was overruled by the Issyk-Kul Regional Court. The Court had found Kamil Ruziev guilty and fined him with 80,000 soms (916.02 Euros). The human rights defender reported that journalists covering the trial were forbidden to take photos and video recordings were prohibited both at the trial and at the halls of the Court. The human rights defender has appealed the overruling of the acquittal to the Supreme Court and he is now waiting for the date of the trial.

On 12 August 2022, human rights defender Kamil Ruziev was acquitted by the Karakol City Court, in Karakol. The human rights defender was previously wrongly accused of forging documents under Article 359, Part 2, of the Criminal Code by the State Committee for National Security (GKNB). The human rights defender stated that the Court’s decision was based on a lack of sufficient evidence. The acquittal was appealed by the prosecutor and the case was submitted to the regional court.

On 29 May 2020, human rights defender Kamil Ruziev was detained outside of a courthouse in Karakol, Kyrgyzstan. He was then interrogated and spent two days in detention, before being placed under two months’ house arrest on 31 May 2020 under charges of forgery.

The investigation agency of the Thanh Hoa Police Department concluded their investigation into Bui Van Thuan, a Vietnamese dissident blogger, and informed his family that the case had been consequently submitted to the provincial procuracy, according to Trinh Thi Nhung, Thuan’s wife. Bui Van Thuan, 41, was arrested on August 30, 2021, on the charge of “distributing anti-State propaganda” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code. Nhung wrote on her personal Facebook account that the investigation into her husband’s case concluded on September 10, but she only learned about the decision on September 20. In an interview with RFA, Nhung said that she’s hiring attorney Dang Dinh Manh as a defense lawyer for her husband while adding that Thuan’s family was still not allowed to visit him in detention. During the investigation process, the Thanh Hoa Police Department had summoned Nhung several times to their working sessions, demanding she limit the updates on social media regarding her husband’s case. The police also threatened to arrest Nhung if she refused to verify the authenticity of her and Thuan’s personal Facebook accounts.

Various groups denounced the arrest of two activists just after their arraignment at Quezon City Regional Trial Court today, Oct. 10.

Kilusang Mayo Uno’s International Officer Kara Taggaoa and transport leader Helari Valbuena, president of Pasiklab Operators and Drivers Association (PASODA) are charged with trumped-up cases of robbery and direct assault.

The charges reportedly stemmed from their reported involvement in the protest action on July 11, 2020 in front of the Commission on Human Rights in Quezon City. The protest was about their opposition to the enactment of terror law and the cancellation of ABS-CBN’s franchise. According to human rights group Karapatan, an alleged cop in plainclothes was surveilling the protesters at that time.

In a video posted on Facebook, Taggaoa said the arraignment on the robbery case had just ended when she was accosted by some police personnel on her way out, read her Miranda rights and then arrested for direct assault charges.

Taggaoa said the robbery case was already scheduled for a resolution in the next hearing.

Valbuena and Taggao decried the violation of their right to due process as they have yet to receive any subpoena from the Office of the Prosecutor in Quezon City. They were also not given a chance to participate in the preliminary investigation on the complaints against them, Karapatan said.

Valbuena and Taggao were able to post bail on the robbery case that is why their arrest for another charge caught them by surprise. They also denied any involvement in any of the charges against them.

The two were taken to Camp Karingal in Quezon City where the police reportedly showed the warrant of arrest against them.

Different groups immediately trooped to Camp Karingal denouncing the arrest of Taggaoa and Valbuena.

Karapatan demands the immediate release of Valbuena and Taggaoa.

“Exercising the people’s right to conduct assemblies and rallies and to express their opinions freely without threats, even during a public health emergency, are fundamental rights, which should not be criminalized in whatever way by authorities,” the group said in a statement.

International League for Peoples’ Struggle-Philippines (ILPS Philippines) also condemned the arrest of Valbuena and Taggaoa, who is also a member of ILPS Workers Commission 5.

“The police personnel’s justification of their arrests along with other human rights defenders, is a blatant manifestation of weaponizing the law to silence and repress those who criticize the government’s failed pandemic response, corruption and trade union and human rights violations,” the group said in a statement.

A donation drive is ongoing to raise funds for the bail of Valbuena and Taggaoa.

Former senator and chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines, Leila de Lima, should be released immediately and unconditionally, said the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) following a recent hostage-taking incident.

On 9 October, three convicts allegedly linked to local terrorist groups stabbed a police officer and held de Lima hostage inside her cell at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center. De Lima, a former senator and human rights lawyer, is being unjustly detained on trumped-up charges.

Responding police officers shot the three convicts, while de Lima, who suffered a mild stroke last year, was hospitalised for three days.[1]

‘De Lima should not even be in detention in the first place. We have received reports of her mistreatment while in detention including constantly being denied access to visitors, electronic devices, and adequate medical furlough under the previous regime,’ said FORUM-ASIA.

‘We strongly condemn the PNP breach of de Lima’s security protocol and failure to ensure her rights while in custody, despite threats to her life and health. The arbitrary detention and mistreatment of de Lima is evident in the Philippine government’s judicial harassment of human rights defenders and narrowing civic space in the country.’

De Lima, a staunch critic of Duterte’s gross human rights violations, was imprisoned in 2017 on politically-motivated charges following her senate investigation into the thousands of extrajudicial killings under Duterte’s war on drugs. Her case continues to move at a snail’s pace despite the lack of evidence supporting the allegations against her. In response to the recent hostage-taking incident, President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. offered to transfer de Lima to a different detention center but de Lima reported declined.[2]

‘President Marcos Jr’s offer to transfer De Lima to another facility is a mere band-aid solution. De Lima’s ill-treatment and prolonged detention over baseless, trumped-up accusations are unacceptable and clearly violate international human rights standards. The recent hostage incident underscores the urgency of her release. The Philippine government should immediately release her and dismiss the fabricated allegations against her,’ said FORUM-ASIA.

Per Luong's daughter, Nguyen Thi Xoan, Le Dinh Luong’s family went to visit him at Nam Ha Prison on October 7, they were told by a prison official that Luong did not want to see them because he did not want to wear the prison uniform. When the family pressed them to see a statement signed by Luong confirming that, the official only showed a piece of paper with Luong’s signature but did not let them read its content. When the official was asked how long Luong had refused to wear prison uniforms, he responded: “Today.” The family then remembered that Luong once told them that “If one day I cannot come out to see our family, know that something has happened to me in prison.” Luong’s family is asking for any help they can get to find out what has happened to him. The 88 Project encourages supporters to share the news and contact Nam Ha Prison for an official statement.

Responding to the prison sentence of two years and eight months handed to Hong Kong online radio DJ and political commentator Edmund Wan, better known as “Giggs”, after his conviction for sedition and money laundering, Amnesty International’s China Campaigner Gwen Lee said:

“With this reprehensible jailing of a DJ who dared to speak his mind and finance young protestors’ education, the Hong Kong authorities appear to be expanding the range of tools they use to target people whose views and actions they object to.

“In addition to becoming the latest government critic imprisoned on a colonial-era ‘sedition’ charge, Edmund Wan has also been convicted of money laundering despite the prosecution providing scant evidence against him.

“Activists in Hong Kong no longer only fear the draconian National Security Law; increasingly, they are also being targeted with a range of other charges that can be abused to punish them.

“Deprived of a jury and facing a curtailed legal aid system – within a judicial system increasingly tilting against the accused in ‘national security’ cases – Edmund Wan’s ability to defend himself has been severely compromised – just as it is for Hong Kong’s many other activists.

“Wan was an outspoken critic of the government on his radio shows and helped set up an education fund for youths who had fled Hong Kong for Taiwan. Today he has been sentenced in connection with both these things.

“Given the Hong Kong government’s zero-tolerance approach to dissent since 2019, it is difficult to believe that his imprisonment is anything other than politically motivated. The authorities must release Edmund Wan and drop all charges against him unless they demonstrate sufficient credible and admissible evidence that he has committed a criminal offence.”

Background

Edmund Wan, or “Giggs”, was today sentenced to two years and eight months on charges of seditious intention and money laundering.

Prior to his arrest, Wan was the host of four shows on an independent online radio station in Hong Kong. He was often critical of the Hong Kong and Chinese central authorities.

In February 2020, he started a fundraiser for sponsoring the education of a group of Hong Kong youths who had fled for Taiwan as the Hong Kong government arrested tens of thousands of young people who took part in the city’s 2019 mass protests.

On 21 November 2020, Wan was arrested under the Hong Kong National Security Law. On 8 February 2021, Wan was instead officially charged with four counts of “acts with a seditious intention” under colonial era sedition laws. He was then charged on 10 May 2021 with an additional five counts of money-laundering and one count of “conspiring to commit an act with a seditious intention”. The “seditious intention” charges concerned his criticism of the Hong Kong Chief Executive and the Chinese Communist Party on his online radio shows and posts. He has been detained for over 18 months.

In May 2022, the prosecution reached a plea deal with Wan, under which six of the 10 charges he was facing would not be prosecuted now, but kept on file if he pleaded guilty to the remaining charges and agreed to the prosecution’s application to confiscate the proceeds of his crowdfunding project.

Since 2020, the Hong Kong government has been using colonial-era sedition charges to stamp out dissent. People charged with sedition have faced some of the same draconian measures as those targeted under the National Security Law, which came into force on 30 June 2020.

In July this year, the United Nations Human Rights Committee expressed concern about the Hong Kong government’s use of colonial-era sedition charges to target people for exercising their right to freedom of expression. It called for the repeal of sedition offences and to end their use to suppress criticism or dissent.

Sithu Aung Myint a reporter and commentator for both local and international media, has just been sentenced to three years in prison in Myanmar after 14 months in pre-trial detention. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for his unconditional release and for tough international sanctions to prevent Myanmar’s junta from pursuing its vicious crackdown.

The latest victim of the military junta’s repressive machinery, which is trying journalists with increasing frequency, Sithu Aung Myint was convicted on 7 October by a special military court inside Yangon’s Insein prison, where he has been held ever since his arrest on 15 August 2021 at the end of manhunt reported by RSF at the time.

“The rate at which journalists are being sentenced to long prison terms in Myanmar is sickening,” said Daniel Bastard. “The world cannot watch Myanmar sink deeper into terror without doing anything. We call on Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, to take action so that the international sanctions on Myanmar’s generals are toughened.”

In the course of a long career as a journalist, Sithu Aung Myint has worked as a reporter for the Burmese magazine Frontier Myanmar and as a political commentator for the US broadcaster Voice Of America (VOA). Both media outlets were banned in Myanmar after the February 2021 military coup, which forced him to go into hiding.

Second prison sentence in two days

He was convicted of “inciting government employees to commit crimes” under penal code Section 505 (a), a vaguely-worded law that the junta keeps using as a pretext to convict journalists.

Japanese documentary filmmaker Toru Kubota was sentenced to ten years in prison just two days before Sithu Aung Myint’s trial. And less than two weeks before that, on 28 September, a sentence of three years in prison with hard labour was confirmed for Htet Htet Khine, a freelance woman journalist who was arrested at the same time as Sithu Aung Myint.

According to RSF’s press freedom barometer, Sithu Aung Myint is the 29th journalist to be convicted since the February 2021 coup. With at least 68 media workers currently detained, Myanmar is the world’s second biggest jailer of journalists, second only to China. Relative to population size, it is the biggest jailer of journalists.

Myanmar is ranked 176th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2022 World Press Freedom Index.

Radio broadcaster Flo Hervias was physically assaulted by four assailants on October 7, amid a growing number of violent attacks against journalists in the Philippines. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), in condemning the attack and urging the authorities to immediately investigate the incident and hold those responsible to account.

On the evening of October 7, Hervias was assaulted by four masked men as he exited the DYRI radio station in the Lapaz District of Iloilo City after his program ‘Banwa Binag-binaga’ aired. Hervis was beaten and sustained injuries to his eyes and mouth.

According to the NUJP, the assailants pretended to be garbage collectors as they waited outside the station for Hervias to exit the building.

On the day of the attack, Hervias reported on a controversial rehabilitation project of the city’s public market, which is currently underway. The broadcaster interviewed the contractor in charge of the project to discuss what was being done to help the market’s existing vendors transfer to temporary stalls.

Hervias has since requested temporary protection from the Philippine National Police.

The attack comes days after radio commentator Percival Mabasa, also known as Percy Lapid, was shot dead in his vehicle in Las Piñas City.The veteran broadcaster, host of ‘Lapid Fire’ on radio station DWBL 1242, was known to criticise the practice of red tagging, or the labelling of activists or organisations as supporters of communism, among other political issues.

Lapid is the second journalist to be killed under the administration of President Ferdinand Jr., with his death causing widespread fear within the journalist community in the Philippines.

At least 10 activists in Pattani are reported to have been visited by police and military officers ahead of King Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida’s visit to the province to attend the annual Quran recitation competition at the Pattani Central Mosque on Sunday (9 October).

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that at least 10 activists in Pattani and nearby Deep South provinces were visited by police and military officers on 7 – 8 October supposedly to monitor their activities, and that many of the activists said they did not know the King and Queen were to visit Pattani until the police came to see them.

Artef Sohko, an activist from The Patani, a civil society organization working in the Deep South to campaign for self-determination, said that he was informed of at least 10 activists being visited by the police on 7 October. On 8 October, he posted on his Facebook page that police officers also came to his house in the morning, after they came the day before and did not find him. Since Artef was not home during the weekend, he asked his wife to give the police his phone number. He then received a phone call from the Deputy Superintendent of Sungai Padi Provincial Police Station, who explained to him the purpose of the visit and told him that the officers were only following orders.

Sukriffee Lateh, former President of the activist group Federation of Patani Students and Youth (PerMAS), told TLHR that around 10 police officers and rangers carrying firearms came to his house during the weekend. He was not home when the officers came the first time, so they returned on Saturday (8 October). When asked why they came to his house, an officer who said he was the Deputy Inspector of Yaring Provincial Police Station said that they were ordered to visit him by their superiors, because a “VIP” was visiting Pattani.

Sukriffee also said that his friend, an activist in Narathiwat, was also visited by the police around the same time, and that officers were driving past his house on Monday (9 October), probably to monitor his activities.

Arifin Soh, another former PerMAS activist, said that 12 officers from Yaring Provincial Police Station came to his house on Friday (7 October). He said that the officers were carrying firearms, some were wearing bulletproof vests, while some covered their faces with balaclavas.

Arifin said he was not home at the time, so the officers spoke to his father for around 20 minutes, telling him that they were ordered to visit by their superiors. Arifin said that his father is familiar with officers who have previously visited the home, but the group of officers who came on Friday (7 October) seemed to be new and had just been transferred to the area, so the family and their neighbours were shocked by the visit.

Arifin told TLHR that he knew of at least four other activists who were visited by the police around the same time, two are based in Yala and two are recent graduates from the Prince of Songkhla University’s Pattani campus. Arifin and his friends believe that they were visited by the police because of the King and Queen’s 9 October visit, so political activists were being monitored. He also said that police officers went to his girlfriend’s house in Yala on Monday (10 October) and were asking for her, but he does not know why they went to see her since the King and Queen’s visit had already passed.

3 other activists in Pattani’s Yarang district were visited by the police between 7 – 8 October. One of the activists, Fee (pseudonym), said that 5 plainclothes officers from Yarang Provincial Police Station came to his house twice. He noted that one of the officers was carrying an M16 rifle, while the rest were carrying pistols and one was wearing a bulletproof vest.

The officers first visited Fee’s house on Friday afternoon (7 October), but he was not home at the time, so the officers asked his father whether he was home and what he was doing. Fee’s father, who Fee said knew one of the officers, asked the officers why they were asking for him, but the officers only said that they missed him.

The same group of officers returned on Saturday (8 October) and told Fee that they came because they missed him. Fee pressed them for a reason, and was then told that they came to his house because King Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida were to visit the Pattani Central Mosque on 9 October, and because Education Minister Trinuch Thienthong was also visiting a nearby school on the same day. Fee said he did not know about these visits before the police told him about them.

Fee said that it is common in the Deep South for armed police and military officers to visit political activists, noting that he was lucky not to be threatened or attacked but only told not to do anything during the visit of an important figure. He said that when an activist is visited by the police or military officers, they may be asked for cooperation, threatened, or taken for interrogation inside a military camp.

According to reports, the Indian police prevented the protest of Afghan citizens living in that country in response to the attack on the Kaaj Educational Center in west Kabul.

This protest was supposed to be held on Thursday, October 6, by a group of Afghan refugees and students living in India in New Delhi.

The protestors said that they had an official permit from the relevant departments to stage a protest, but the Indian police intervened and stopped it hours before it started.

The Indian police declared security concerns as the reason behind their decision on this matter.

After a cowardly and brutal attack on the Kaaj Education Center in west Kabul that killed and injured more than 100 innocent students, the “Stop the Genocide of Millennials” campaign has been launched in different countries by various groups of people across the world.

Several activists from the unregistered opposition Democratic Party of Kazakhstan (KDP) have detained during a rally in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, where they were demanding the immediate release of their jailed leader, Zhanbolat Mamai.

Dozens of KDP activists marched from a subway station in Almaty toward the headquarters of the ruling Amanat party on October 6 chanting "Down with Amanat (the ruling party) that served [former Kazakh President Nursultan] Nazarbaev," and "Free Zhanbolat!"

Police officers followed the activists as they marched.

When the activists reached Amanat headquarters, they unfolded posters saying "[President Qasym-Zhomart] Toqaev, release Zhanbolat!"

At that moment, police began detaining the activists and taking them away in police cars.

One of the detained activists, Aruzhan Duisebaeva, told RFE/RL by phone that police beat at least one of the activists while in custody.

The rally was held the day after a court in Almaty extended Mamai's pretrial detention until at least November 12.

Mamai, who was arrested in February, may face up to 10 years in prison on charges of organizing mass riots and knowingly disseminating false information during protests in January, which he and his supporters reject as politically motivated.

Mamai, known for his strong criticism of the authoritarian government, has been trying to register the KDP for years but claims he is being prevented from doing so by the government.

He says officials only permit parties loyal to the political powers to be legally registered.

Meanwhile, the ruling Amanat party at its congress on October 6 in Astana, the capital, officially proposed incumbent Toqaev as its candidate for an early presidential election scheduled for November 20.

About the Human Rights Defender: Mr. Kartik Mukhi, Mr. Rohit Mukhi and Mr. Krishna Mukhi are Dalit human rights defenders based in the Narwa hills in Jadugoda, East Singhbhum district. All three brothers are members of Bhim Army, an organisation fighting for the rights of lower caste groups and have been working to raise awareness on human rights and caste atrocities in the region for the past 3-4 years.

Mr. Dinkar Kachhap is the founder of Birsa Sena and has participated in struggles demanding justice for the victims of caste atrocities in East Singhbhum district.

Background of the Incident: On September 30, 2022, Ms. Geeta Beldar and Ms. Beena Beldar – both Dalit women who were working as cooks at the Shyamsundarpur Rajkiya Buniyadi Vidyalay in East Singhbhum district for 16 years – were dismissed from service by the Head Master Mr. Ashok Kumar Pal, saying that since they were lower castes, food prepared by them could not be eaten. On October 3, 2022, Ms. Geeta and Beena Beldar visited the Birsanagar police station in Jamshedpur – the designated police station under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act in East Singhbhum district – with a written complaint demanding registration of an FIR against school authorities. But the Officer in Charge of Birsanagar police station Mr. Prabhat Kumar refused to register any FIR, so they reached out to HRDs Mr. Kartik Mukhi and Mr. Bikash Hembram for support. At around noon on October 3, Mr. Kartik Mukhi, Mr. Bikash Hembram and other HRDs gathered in front of the police station and protested peacefully against the police inaction, but they were abused by the Officer in Charge and pushed and shoved around by police personnel. When Mr. Mukhi and Mr. Hembram pressed with the Officer in Charge to register an FIR, he called them pimps, grabbed them by the collar and pushed them out of the police station. An FIR based on Ms. Geeta and Beena Beldar’s complaint was finally registered in the evening on October 3 after the intervention of the Superintendent of Police, Jamshedpur City. Mr. Kartik Mukhi and Mr. Bikash Hembram also submitted a written complaint to the police regarding their assault and abuse at Birsanagar police station in the evening on October 3, but no FIR was registered based on their complaint. Details of the Incident: On October 5, 2022, at around 2 AM, when Mr. Kartik Mukhi was riding alone on his motorbike through the Sakchi roundabout in Jamshedpur, he was intercepted by 10- 12 uniformed policemen. Police personnel took away his bike key, shoved him into the police jeep, and took him to Sakchi Police Station, punching him repeatedly along the way. He was not told why he was detained or if he was arrested. Instead, his mobile was confiscated after reaching the police station, and he was repeatedly kicked and punched on his chest, back, legs and buttocks by police personnel throughout the night. Sub Inspector Deepak Maurya and the munshi of Sakchi Police station led the assault on the HRD. He was then detained at the police station. In the morning of October 5, 2022, at around 9 AM, Mr. Kartik’s mother Ms. Mamata Mukhi, his younger brothers Mr. Rohit and Krishna Mukhi and his sister Ms. Sunita Mukhi visited the Sakchi police station to inquire about Mr. Kartik. But the munshi and other police personnel refused to answer their queries, misbehaved with them, abused them and pushed them outside. While family members maintained vigil outside the Sakchi police station throughout the day, local HRDs including Birsa Sena founder Mr. Dinkar Kachhap joined them in demanding the release of Mr. Kartik Mukhi. At around 11 AM, they heard Mr. Kartik Mukhi cry out in pain from inside the police station premises.

Mr. Rohit and Krishna Mukhi entered the police station unopposed, and saw Sub Inspector Mr. Deepak Maurya repeatedly hitting their elder brother Kartik, with his baton in a separate room in the police station premises. Mr. Maurya assaulted Mr. Krishna and Rohit Mukhi when they asked why Mr. Kartik was being assaulted, and abused them in casteist terms. Mr. Maurya repeatedly kicked Mr. Krishna Mukhi on his chest and stomach till an old surgery (colostomy) in his abdomen was injured and his intestines spilled out in the open. Mr. Krishna Mukhi was crying out in pain after the assault, but despite the seriousness of his injuries, police did not take him for treatment and detained him and Mr. Rohit Mukhi inside the police station for over six hours. Mr. Kartik Mukhi was also detained inside the police station premises. Police also turned down pleas for the treatment of Mr. Krishna Mukhi and release of other HRDs from activists and family members who had assembled in front of the police station. At around 8 PM, Mr. Prabhat Kumar, Senior Superintendent of Police, Jamshedpur reached Sakchi police station. An ambulance was arranged to take Mr. Krishna Mukhi for treatment to the MGM Hospital in Jamshedpur, but he was referred from there to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences located 130 km away in Ranchi. As his condition was serious and his intestines were exposed, family members decided against taking him to Ranchi and admitted him at the Tata Main Hospital, where he underwent an 8-hour surgery. His final diagnosis as per hospital records was ‘Traumatic Colostomy Prolapse’, and the reasons for his admission stated, ‘Admitted with C/O Pain Abdomen due to A/H/O assault at 11 AM on 5/10/22 at Sakchi’. Meanwhile, the SSP assured the crowd outside Sakchi Police Station that Mr. Kartik Mukhi would be released the following day, and would not be assaulted in the interim, and asked them to go home. But soon after the crowd dispersed, the SSP asked police personnel to pin Mr. Kartik Mukhi down to the floor, and kicked him on his chest several times with his boots. He abused the HRD in casteist terms, saying ‘Ghasi hai, bada neta banta hai (You are a Scheduled Caste and strut around like a leader!)’. From 2 AM, October 5, 2022, - 10 PM October 6, 2022, Mr. Kartik Mukhi was kept under illegal detention at the Sakchi Police Station He was produced before the magistrate at around 10 PM on October 6, more than 40 hours after his detention, in violation of Section 57 of Cr.P.C.

An FIR (no. 212/2022) was shown as registered at 10:15 am on October 5, 2022. Under sections 143, 147, 149, 353, 186, 447, 506, 504 of the Indian Penal Code, by Assistant Sub Inspector Ms. Kamala Oraon. Mr. Mukh is currently lodged in Sakchi jail. Mr. Rohit Mukhi and Mr. Krishna Mukhi and local activist Mr. Dinkar Kachhap were also named as accused in the F.I.R. Other HRDs named as accused in the FIR fear they may be arrested and tortured too. The complainant, Assistant Sub Inspector Ms. Kamala Oraon, has claimed that police detained and questioned Mr. Kartik Mukhi and his relatives for violating traffic rules late in the night on October 4, but released them after obtaining an undertaking. But that claim is contested by Mr. Mukhi’s family. The complainant also claimed that Mr. Kartik Mukhi attacked the Sakchi police station at around 9 PM on October 5 along with Mr. Rohit Mukhi, Mr. Krishna Mukhi, Mr. Dinkar Kachhap and 15-20 others, and they were nabbed from the spot. But Mr. Kachhap and others were heading towards their homes at this time after the SPP assured them regarding Mr. Kartik Mukhi’s safety and Mr. Krishna Mukhi was sent for treatment.

Farmers in Malin Deman District, Mukomuko Regency, Bengkulu Province have experienced another arrest and suspicion of criminalization. As many as 5 farmers in the district were criminalized, on charges of theft of palm fruit by PT Daria Darma Pratama (DDP).

On October 5, 2022, Hamdi and three workers harvesting oil palm from the land he was cultivating, were summoned by the Mukomuko Police to be questioned in an alleged case of theft of palm fruit. This summons is based on Police Report Number: LP/B/556/IX/2022/SPKT/Polres Mukomuko/Polda Bengkulu, dated 20 September 2022.

At around 14.30 WIB the three harvest workers appeared before the investigator Aiptu Madyana in the Mukomuko Police Headquarters room and were immediately questioned as witnesses. Then at 16.15 WIB the Criminal Investigation Unit asked Hamdi to enter the investigator's room to be questioned as a witness on PT DDP's report.

A few hours later, at around 20.30 WIB, Hamdi, Randa Fernando, Muhtar and Dosi Saputra finished being questioned by investigators and were asked to wait outside the room because a case was immediately being held.

At around 22.30 WIB, the investigators summoned the four of them back into the room, this time along with their attorney, and in the room it was announced that the four of them had been named suspects. The lawyer for the farmers, Saman Lating, questioned the basis for naming the suspect against his client, as well as PT DDP's legal standing as a reporter to Madyana, but these questions received no answer.

"I see that investigators have hidden something from the determination of our client as a suspect, because investigators cannot explain the basis for determining the suspect and the legal standing of PT DDP as the reporter, because the land that was harvested belonged to Hamdi's brother who was cultivated from around 1989, before the existence of PT BBS. especially PT DDP," explained Saman Lating, in his written statement to Betahita.

Apart from arresting farmers and farm workers, six days earlier, the police also arrested Rahmad Sidi, another farmer from Talang Baru Village, on the same charge of stealing PT DDP's palm fruit. The determination of the suspect without clear reasons then prompted dozens of Malin Deman residents to come to the Mukomuko Police.

Chronology of Land Conflicts

Back in 1986, before the existence of PT Bina Bumi Sejahtera (BBS) HGU, the land that became the object of conflict was the customary territory of Malin Deman District. This is evidenced by land tenure by local indigenous peoples. The people use the land to grow rice, coffee and jengkol in Talang Arah Village, Malin Deman District.

One of the indigenous people who manages the area is Darmin (65). In 1991-1992 PT BBS started measuring the land and began unilaterally evictions, because the farmers who worked the land did not want to sell the land that they had managed for generations.

On August 1, 1995, the North Bengkulu Regency National Land Agency (BPN) issued an HGU certificate for PT BBS, with Number 34 with an area of ​​1,889 hectares, with the commodity type cocoa/chocolate. Certificates are issued based on the Decree of the Minister of Land Number: 42/HGU/BPN/95. dated June 12, 1995.

The planting process is carried out by PT BBS. Approximately 350 hectares are planted with cocoa/cacao and 14 hectares are planted with hybrid coconut. However, since 1997 PT BBS has stopped managing its HGU land. The cessation of PT BBS's activities has forced the community to work on abandoned land by planting oil palm, rubber, jengkol, durian and other plants.

In 2005-2012 PT DDP conveyed verbally to the community working on the ex-PT BBS land, that the company had purchased the ex-PT BBS land. At that time 24 farmers were forced to accept compensation. The PT DDP company then cleared the land cultivated by the farmers and planted oil palm -- different from PT BBS's HGU commodity.

In 2012, farmers who did not want to receive compensation from PT DDP had their land forcibly evicted. A number of farmers, namely Ali Martopo (40), Abdullah (43), Sendri (29) and Darmin (65) experienced intimidation during the process of confiscating their cultivated land.

The intimidation received from the police was also experienced by other farmers who until now have managed to control the land. The farmers have tried to write to the Mukomuko Regency DPRD and the MukoMuko Regency DPRD has followed up by summoning PT DDP, the Mukomuko Regency Plantation Office, and the Mukomuko Regency BPN.

The chairman of the Mukomuko district legislature, Arnadi Pelam, stated in a hearing that PT DDP's control over the ex-BBS land was illegal, so PT DDP was asked to stop all its activities on the status quo land.

Local sources in Ghazni province confirm the Taliban raided a protest gathering of Naw Abad residents in ​​Ghazni city, which was held with the aim of condemning the attack on Kaj institute, and arrested dozens of protesting boys and girls.

Sources said Tuesday that the Taliban scattered the march and took the protesting girls and boys to the 6th security district after being beaten.

The detainees have been released after being mediated by the local tribal elders, sources added.

According to local sources, the Taliban also canceled students’ protests at Ghazni University the day before.

Friday’s suicide bombing at Kaj institute in West Kabul reportedly killed 53 and injured 110 of which 16 victims were residents of Ghazni.

The Taliban meanwhile also prevented students’ march in Nangarhar and Kunar province Tuesday and did not allow them to hold a memorial ceremony for the victims of Kaj Educational Center.

On October 4 a video of local herders protesting the Erdeneburen hydroelectric power plant construction in Uvs Province’s Umnogovi sum was circulated online. It shows men, women, elderly and children preventing the passage of heavy machinery despite being harassed by several policemen. As predicted by human rights NGOs the population of Uvs Province’s Umnogov sum Ulyast Bagh have started to protest against the work of Erdeneburen HPP, which is threatening to deprive them of their ancestral lands.

As the video went viral, Ch. Gantulga, the project leader of the Erdeneburen hydropower plant project gave an interview in which he promised to use more force to suppress local protest. According to Gantulga, Erdeneburen HPP preparation work has been completed and the ground drilling work has started (Usually this activity is a part of the project preparation, helping to assess the feasibility of dam building -here and further RwB comment). Drilling took place in nine locations in Erdeneburen and Miangad Sum of Hovd Province over the last 45 days. As of October 3rd, the drilling work was set to start at the location “where the HPP dam tunnel will pass through the Ulyast Bagh area of ​​Uvs Province, Umnogov Sum”. The work requires a large drilling rig, excavators, bulldozers, etc., and includes the development of temporary roads. The project team, engineers and technical workers of the Chinese state-owned company that won an international tender, as well as members of the police department of Uvs province center, and the police of the Umnogov sum department were all moving to the site accompanying this machinery (Presence of police indicates that they expected to meet some resistance).

On October 4 the people of the area protested against the entry of equipment and experts into the Shizhigt Gorge (In 2011 Khovd River basin management plan WWF experts recommended that the area be protected as a biodiversity conservation area). The land for the construction of the HPP was taken by the Government of Mongolia for special needs of the state two years ago (without any free prior informed consent of the land inhabitants). The advance of the machinery has stopped as protesters did not yield to bulldozers and police.

From Gantulga’s perspective, those actions of “people who do not have certificates of ownership of land acquired for special needs of the state” are trying to disrupt important and strategic large-scale development and thus acting illegally. He claims that over the past year, his subordinates have negotiated with citizens, held meetings, and evaluated their real estate. In April 2022, the government made a decision to provide one-time cash compensation to each affected citizen within the framework of work to keep the livelihood of the citizens “normal”.

Gantulga claims that his project will “further the energy independence and independence of Mongolia” (An additional large debt to China is hardly a step towards “independence”). He laments that citizens are disrespecting the law and risking their lives organizing a riot. However, “12 policemen are not strong enough” to suppress the citizens, so, to push forward a major project under the government’s policy, they will request deployment of more force and take “appropriate measures”.

Having his own understanding of law, Gantulga accused locals of “illegal actions in the past” such as calling on the head of the government to deliberately stop or delay the project, writing letters “to create misunderstandings between the two countries”, or inviting the population of other affected areas to join the protest (All those actions are a manifestation of basic civil rights and thus cannot be considered illegal).

It is important to remember that two months ago the Minister of Justice Nyambaatar announced that anyone who expresses doubts, or acts or makes statements that result in delayed implementation of strategic development projects will be charged with sabotage under Mongolia’s Criminal Code Article 19.6. In addition, the government has established a task force to investigate and calculate cost of lost opportunity from those responsible for the delay in the implementation (see detailed account of earlier steps taken by the government).

On October 6, a press conference was held in Ulaan Baatar where project official Ch.Gantulga and Ts.Sosorbaram, a soviet-school water engineer responsible for the project EIA, tried to explain that the “project can proceed smoothly”.

Regarding the resettlement Ch.Gantulgaclarified what cash allowances are going to be given to citizens. He said, “According to Government Resolution No. 357 of 2019, 28 thousand hectares of land for the implementation of the Erdeneburen HPP project was taken for special state needs. Before the 2019 decree was issued, 270 households or 1241 citizens were registered in the affected area. In April 2022, the government decided to provide money to those citizens. Therefore, compensation of 15.2 million MNT will be provided to 1240 citizens of 270 registered households. This money has been included in the budget” (Thus each person will get roughly USD 4500 in a one-time disbursement, which may be not enough to restore their livelihoods). Map shows reservoir area (98 km2) and area expropriated by the GoM for this project (green contour 280 km2). We found no explanation why the government has confiscated almost 3 times more land than it needs for the project.

The official list includes 145 households of Bayan-Olgi province and 125 households of Uvs province. According to the EIA, a plan was made to relocate these families in 2022-2024. The government plans to make herdsmen move to neighboring soums and even to build some resettlement housing for them in one place. Compensation will be given to citizens who move.

Judging from available information it is a “Chinese-style” resettlement in which indigenous nomads are forced to concentrate in one place, while pasture for their livestock may be not available there. Further, emphasis on “registered households” makes one suspect that, as in many other cases, there could be a greater number of nomadic families who are using the area according to traditional hereditary rights, but do not have legal registration. As the sad experience with the recently built 11MW Taishir Hydro shows, many people may be forced to change their lifestyle dramatically and migrate to suburban ger districts of Ulaan Baatar or other towns, since without restoring their livestock economy they will have no means to survive in the countryside in the long term.

All in all, the situation is developing according to the worst scenario predicted by RwB and human rights groups: local people are coerced to give up their land, culture, and lifestyle with compensation that is likely insufficient to restore their livelihoods elsewhere. When they protest to protect their ancestral lands, the government criminalizes their act and threatens to bring in more police to suppress them. Anyone helping protesters to express their concerns is threatened by criminal investigation and exorbitant fines.

According to local sources 1 man and 3 women, who participated in October 4 events, have been officially accused of “organizing illegal protest” by police.

Authorities in Kazakhstan should thoroughly investigate recent threats against independent news website Orda and its chief editor Gulnara Bazhkenova, and ensure the outlet and its staff’s safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.

On October 5, unidentified individuals sent a severed pig’s head to Orda’s editorial offices in the southern city of Almaty, with a torn photo of Bazhkenova in its mouth, according to news reports and Bazhkenova, who spoke to CPJ by phone.

The incident is the latest in a series of threats, online harassment, and cyberattacks against Bazhkenova, her family, and Orda, following the outlet’s publication of an investigation into alleged lobbying practices by a company reportedly connected to Kazakhstan’s former president, Nursultan Nazarbayev. Bazhkenova told CPJ she believes these incidents are connected to this and other investigations into Nazarbayev-linked organizations.

CPJ emailed representatives of Nazarbayev for comment via an address provided on his official website but did not immediately receive any reply.

“The shocking and repulsive campaign of threats and harassment against Gulnara Bazhkenova and her outlet Orda are something no journalist ought to face for simply doing their work,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Kazakh authorities must swiftly and transparently investigate all incidents of harassment of Bazhkenova and her staff, hold the culprits accountable, and ensure that journalists can operate free from such odious forms of pressure.”

Orda’s July 13 investigation suggested that a London-based company allegedly controlled by Nazarbayev had employed a British lord to lobby on behalf of the former president’s U.K. business interests. A week later, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks began against the outlet’s website, forcing it offline for three weeks, Bazhkenova said.

While Orda has strengthened its cybersecurity, Bazhkenova said DDoS and other forms of cyberattacks have continued “incessantly” since July, with perpetrators constantly seeking “weak spots,” causing the site to go offline for short periods.

Bazhkenova said they do not believe the cyberattacks came from Kazakh authorities, who normally simply block websites, and that such attacks require considerable resources—experts have told her they cost up to $15,000 per day to carry out.

Alongside the website cyberattacks, she said, unidentified users have flooded Orda’s Telegram chat with indecent images and insults directed at Bazhkenova and Orda staff, orchestrated mass complaints that caused the outlet’s Instagram accounts to close, and posted Bazhkenova’s photo and number and the number of Orda’s editorial office in social media ads proposing sexual services, causing them to receive large numbers of unsolicited calls, among other forms of online harassment.

In recent weeks, the online insults have been replaced by threats against Bazhkenova and her seven-year-old son, the journalist said. Photoshopped, pornographic images featuring Bazhkenova and her son have been sent to the outlet’s Telegram chat, accompanied by the address of her son’s school and threats to kidnap him, she said.

On October 4, the day before the pig’s head delivery, threats against Bazhkenova and her son were graffitied in large letters on a square overlooked by Orda’s office windows, according to Bazhkenova and a post by the journalist. Bazhkenova said she filed a complaint with police following this incident and police are investigating both incidents together.

CPJ emailed Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs for comment but did not receive a reply. Information Minister Darkhan Qydyrali, whose ministry oversees the media, condemned the pressure on Orda on Facebook and offered the outlet legal support.

In October 2021, independent news website HOLA News was apparently blocked by Kazakh authorities for 10 days following reporting on Pandora Papers leaks concerning Nazarbayev’s wealth. Bazhkenova said Orda also was blocked for one day during that time over its coverage of the same story.

At the start of Kazakhstan’s mass anti-government protests in January 2022, Orda was one of two outlets blocked before authorities enacted a nationwide internet shutdown.

On 4 October, Lampang Provincial Court found Tiwagorn Withiton guilty of sedition for inviting netizens to cast votes in a campaign asking whether the Thai people wanted to have a referendum about having a monarch as head of the state.

According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), Lampang Court found Tiwagorn guilty under Section 116 of the Criminal Code, known as the sedition law, for his campaign message on 28 June 2021 on Change.org, a website known as an online space for starting social advocacy campaigns.

He was sentenced to 3 years in jail, but was later put on parole. Tiwagorn told TLHR, that he wanted to appeal as he finds that the ruling contradicts the Constitutional right to freedom of expression when it comes to monarchy issues. He believes that the ruling will be harmful to a democratic regime.

The campaign, aiming to ask people if they agreed to a referendum on whether Thailand should have a monarch as head of state, contained the sentence “We dream of a republican/federal state system that needs no monarch.” This led to a criminal complaint by Thawi Intha from the Network to Guard, Defend and Protect the Monarchy in Lampang.

He filed the case against Tiwagorn with Lampang police, accusing him of sedition and violating the Computer Crime Act. Tiwagorn, who lives in the northeastern province of Khon Kaen, had to travel to Lampang for the trial.

During the trial, Tiwagorn admitted that he posted the campaign message, but only asked if people wanted to have a referendum regarding that issue. Prosecution witnesses testified that the post amounts to an invitation to rally people to change the regime.

Kittipong Kamolthamwong, a prosecution witness, said Tiwagorn’s message implies a federal regime, which would cause conflict within the populace and affect the feelings of those who love the monarchy.

Pol Lt Col Wichian Chaisanklang, Investigative Officer at Muang Lampang Police Station, also viewed Tiwagorn’s action as one intended to change the form of government into one without a monarch. Despite no violence being involved, it amounted to incitement to make people violate the law.

On the defence side, Kitpatchara Somanawat, a law lecturer from Chiang Mai University, testified that a referendum itself is not something outside the concept of democracy and is allowed.

Section 258 of the 2017 Constitution also gives a mandate to the promotion of the people’s good understanding of the democratic regime with the monarch as the head of state, a regime like the United Kingdom, Japan, and Norway, which have held referendums on whether their people wanted to have a monarch or not.”

Kitpatchara also said the initiative on Change.org is only an expression of opinion on a public issue. No matter how many people agreed, it would not result in any practical change in the structure of the state or the law.

Chaiyapong Samniang, a history lecturer from Naresuan University, said as a defence witness that there have been conversations during the course of Thai political history over the country’s form of government after the change of regime in 1932. The question of whether the monarchy should “remain or be abolished” did not amount to an act of overthrowing the monarchy as such a change would require armed force.

Chaiyapong also said that questioning the form of government is a regular activity and that bringing this issue to the Court can be deemed as manoeuvring the monarchy down into a political debate. He also referred to a Facebook post of royalist MC Chulcherm Yugala which asked whether Thailand should be a “democracy” or “monarchy”. He saw this question as more radical than Tiwagorn’s.

The Court declared that Sections 1, 2, and 3 of the 2017 Constitution state that Thailand is a unified and inseparable Kingdom, governed under a democratic regime with the King as head of state. Despite freedom of expression being a constitutional right and freedom, it would have to be limited for the sake of the security of the state and the form of government.

Besides security restrictions, the Court mentioned that rights and freedoms can also be limited in order to protect the freedoms and rights of others and public morality. Moreover, it is a constitutional duty for Thais to protect the nation, religions, and monarchy.

Thus, Tiwagorn’s action went against the will of the Constitution and he was found guilty, but as multiple charges were filed over one offence, the Court found him guilty only of the charge with the heaviest punishment, and sentenced him to 3 years’ imprisonment for sedition.

Tiwagorn’s lawyer said after the ruling that the Court did not take the defence argument into consideration before making its judgement. The Court also only partially used Kittipong’s statement about Tiwagorn’s post being an unlawful exercise of rights but excluded the part where he said that Tiwagorn’s action did not amount to sedition and that violating the Constitution would only entail criminal punishment when there is a specific provision in law.

Tiwagorn is not new to being charged for speaking out about the monarchy. He has just been found innocent by Khon Kaen Provincial Court on 29 September of a royal defamation charge over him wearing a T-shirt reading “I have lost faith in the monarchy”.

The local news agency the Isaander reported that in the ruling given on 29 September, the Court found that the evidence did not prove that the defendant intended to defame or express hostility to the monarch.

He has been under close surveillance from Khon Kaen’s security forces after he posted on Facebook a picture of himself wearing the shirt, attracting online discussion.

On 19 June 2020, officers from the Internal Security Operations Command, the arm of the military dealing with civilian affairs, went to his house to convince him to stop wearing the shirt. He was later charged under Sections 112 and 116 of the Criminal Code for royal defamation and sedition, and also for a violation of the Computer Crime Act.

On 9 July 2020, he was forcibly taken from his house to Khon Kaen Rajanagarindra Psychiatric Hospital. He was given an injection in both arms as he was being taken to hospital. Tiwagorn’s mother said that after he was taken away in an ambulance, police officers searched the house and seized his computer, smartphone and the T-shirt. They also made his mother sign a document, the content of which is unknown.

He was discharged from hospital on 22 July 2020 after a public campaign calling for his release.

The period of trial of Guangxi human rights lawyer Qin Yongpei’s case on the “inciting subversion of state power” has been extended several times. Qin Yongpei has been detained for more than three years without a court hearing or being released on bail.

On October 4, the Nanning Intermediate People’s Court of Guangxi extended the period of trial again in Qin Yongpei’s case. According to Chinese law, “If there are special circumstances that require an extension, with the approval of the Supreme People’s Court, an extension of two months can be permitted.” In another situation, an extension of three months can be permitted. The case of Qin Yongpei was granted a three-month extension of the period of trial under the Supreme People’s Court’s Extension for No. 339’s period of trial.

“It’s been three whole years! This case is still repeatedly postponed in the name of the country, in the name of the regime, in the name of politics, but in reality, it is a case for the officials’ self-serving ends and a form of retaliation and framing!” Qin Yongpei’s wife, Deng Xiaoyun said.

Qin Yongpei was subjected to enforced disappearance and torture in retaliation for exposing officials’ fraudulent practices and fighting for justice for those who are marginalized.

A few years ago, a domestic violence dispute occurred in Guangxi. Hu Kai, a policeman from the Qixing Public Security Bureau who was in charge of handling the case, was accused of favoring one side of the party involved. The wife of the accused reported the case, but the police refused to accept it. Not only did Chou Zuhe, director of the Public Security Bureau in Guilin City, Guangxi, not punish Hu Kai, but he was also even promoted to the head of the security bureau’s other branch. Qin Yongpei decided to report the two officers after familiarizing himself with the case and uploaded the relevant materials to the Internet. Not long after, the police asked him to delete the materials and even threatened to arrest him.

“Qin Yongpei’s comments and the act of reporting are active responses to General Secretary Xi’s anti-corruption campaign; to maintain the credibility of the government, but was retaliated with fabricated charges. The relevant correction and monitoring mechanism is null and void! *The Mountains Are High and the Emperor Is Far Away, who can I reason with?” Deng Xiaoyun said.

Editor’s note: *Alludes to the lack of constraints on the local officials’ corruption because the central authorities are metaphorically far away from the rest of the people.

Deng Xiaoyun continued, “General Secretary Xi said that anything that concerns the people is not a trivial matter! If someone is in a position of power, one should fulfill one’s duties; therefore, the behavior of the corrupted officials is what truly undermines the government’s credibility and is an attempt to subvert the state’s power. Qin Yongpei’s remarks and acts of reporting are all active responses to General Secretary Xi’s anti-corruption campaign.”

In October 2019, Qin Yongpei was taken away by Nanning City’s police and was formally arrested two months later on suspicion of inciting subversion of state power. The court indictment document stated that since 2014, Qin Yongpei has published many remarks on Chinese social media Weibo and Twitter, and accepted interviews with foreign media, maliciously slandering national leaders, attacking the state power and the socialist system, distorting facts, and defaming the judiciary organs for judicial corruption and case officers for violating the law, and smearing the current judicial system.

The indictment letter also says: “The China Post-Lawyers Club, which was established after Qin Yongpei’s license was revoked, is an illegal organization and an outright challenge to the Chinese judiciary’s public authority.”

The “China Post-Lawyers Club” was founded in late September 2019 in Nanning City with a membership of about 30 legal professionals to provide legal counsel to major corporations as well as legal assistance to Chinese citizens and was established to continue the cause of repressed legal professionals.

Qin Yongpei was arrested by the Nanning Public Security Bureau, Guangxi, in October 2019 on the charge of inciting subversion of state power. Deng Xiaoyun expressed, “How could such a good person be charged with such a crime? I feel extremely puzzled.”

Qin Yongpei applied for release on bail pending further investigation but did not receive any notice from the judiciary department. The law clearly stipulates that “a written response shall be given within three days.”

Qin Yongpei and Hunan lawyer Xie Yang both were honored with the “China Human Rights Lawyers Award” jointly sponsored and presented by ChinaAid and Humanitarian China this year.

The UN recently released a letter sent to the Chinese government in February of this year, which also followed up on a number of cases of persecution of human rights defenders mentioned in last April’s letter, including Gao Zhisheng, Li Qiaochu, Xu Zhiyong, Ding Jiaxi, Chang Weiping, and Qin Yongpei.

The letter was sent to the Chinese government in December 2020, published by UN special procedures, concerning “the detention, arrest, and charging of human rights defender and lawyer Qin Yongpei and the alleged arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance of human rights defender and lawyer Chang Weiping in residential surveillance at a designated location.” The full text of the letter in English can be found here.

The Chinese authorities’ abuse of this vaguely defined charge to arbitrarily arrest human rights lawyers and defenders such as Qin Yongpei is a clear indication of the Chinese authorities’ distorted judicial system.

The Chinese government should immediately release human rights defenders and lawyers who have been arbitrarily detained for their human rights work and allow them to reunite with their families during the Christmas and New Year festivities.

Veteran radio broadcaster Percival Mabasa, more popularly known as Percy Lapid, was shot dead in his vehicle in Las Piñas City on Monday evening after receiving death threats, prompting the government, including the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), to launch probes into his death.

The family said Lapid received a lot of death threats before he was killed, and because of his brave commentaries on various issues, a lot of angles (on possible motives for the shooting) could be considered, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) Secretary General Ronalyn Olea told CNN Philippines' Balitaan on Tuesday.

Lapid was a staunch critic of the current administration and of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

"Medyo challenging din po 'yong magiging imbestigasyon pero from the looks of it, batay doon sa topics na kanyang tinalakay, ay malamang po work-related ito," Olea said.

[Translation: The investigation will be challenging but from the looks of it, based on the topics he tackled, the killing is probably work-related.]

Las Piñas City Police said Lapid was gunned down by two assailants at the gate of a subdivision along Aria St., Barangay Talon Dos. One of the attackers was on a motorcycle while the other was on board a white Toyota Fortuner.

"We are deeply saddened and angered by the brutal and brazen killing of fearless broadcaster, father and husband, brother and friend, Percy Lapid," a statement of Lapid's family posted on Facebook said.

"We strongly condemn this deplorable crime; it was committed not only against Percy, his family, and his profession, but against our country, his beloved Philippines, and the truth," added the statement posted by Lapid's younger brother, journalist and former National Press Club president Roy Mabasa.

Before his death, Lapid hosted a radio news commentary program on DWBL 1242 called Lapid Fire, where he delivered hard-hitting criticism of perceived abuses and irregularities by the government. He was also a former broadcaster of DWIZ radio station.

The NUJP said Lapid was the second journalist killed during the term of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The first was radio broadcaster Rey Blanco, who was stabbed to death in Negros Oriental last month.

Olea said Lapid was the first in recent years to be killed in Metro Manila. He was also the 196th journalist killed in the country since 1986, the year democracy was restored after the ouster of dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, the father of the current president.

Calls for justice over Lapid's killing have since flooded the comment section on his social media posts. PNP, CHR launch investigations into Lapid's death

The Philippine National Police vowed to hold the perpetrators accountable, saying the local police created a special investigation task force and that the probe is underway.

Meanwhile, Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Hubert Guevarra said he would meet with the Presidential Task Force on Media Security, as well as with the Southern Police District to ensure the conduct of the investigation "proceeds without any problem and submit to us, report to us hopefully within the next seven days."

The CHR, meanwhile, denounced the killing of Lapid, as it stressed journalists' role in "upholding democracy and demanding accountability in any society."

"Any threat or attack to press freedom is a direct threat to people's right to truth and information," it said in a statement.

The commission also noted it has started its motu proprio investigation into the killing of the broadcaster.

Lapid's last broadcast aired on Sept. 30 during which he tackled the dangers of red-tagging, among other political issues.

An ethnic Mongolian Chinese national who fled the country after his involvement in 2020 protests over a ban on Mongolian-medium teaching in schools has been released on bail by authorities in Thailand after being held by Chinese state security police in Bangkok, and remains at high risk of forced repatriation, RFA has learned.

Adiyaa, 34, who uses the Chinese name Wu Guoxing on his passport and ID card, fled China on Jan. 3, 2021, arriving in Thailand via Cambodia, after local police started following him and monitoring his movements in the wake of the language-teaching protests in the fall of 2020.

Adiyaa had obtained refugee status from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, and was waiting for the UNHCR to arrange for him and his family to start a new life in a third country.

On the morning of Oct. 3, he was in his rented apartment when the landlord knocked on his door with an immigration official who asked to see his documents, Adiyaa told RFA following his release on bail on Wednesday.

"Then they took me, without my documents, to the immigration office and told me China had me on a wanted list for repatriation to China," he said. "I was detained in the police detention center that night."

The following day, he was taken to a Thai immigration detention center, and told on Oct. 8 that Chinese government personnel were en route to bring him back to China.

"The next day, four people were sent from the Chinese Embassy, one of whom was from the Inner Mongolia police department, [two of whom were] from the ministry of public security," Adiyaa said. "They asked me to confess to the facts of my 'crime' in China, and to fill out an application form to return to China and plead guilty."

"They were physically and verbally threatening, and asked me to read out a confession they had prepared beforehand verbatim," he said. "I told them I was a refugee registered with the United Nations and had protection, and they said [that protection] only lasted 15 months, after which the Chinese Embassy could force me to go back to China."

"I told them I didn't want to, and that I wasn't going home."

Mongolian language ban

Adiyaa said the charges against him were related to "illegal business" activities after he set up a private Mongolian-language school in Horchin Right Middle Banner, a county-like administrative division, in the wake of the ban on Mongolian-language teaching in state schools.

"The government said I was strictly prohibited from continuing to operate ... so I refunded all of the tuition fees to the students and paid all of the teachers' salaries," he said. "The investors had made an agreement to share the risk of the company not being able to operate."

Calls to Thai immigration authorities for comment went unanswered.

Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping has imposed policies on ethnic minority regions in recent years aimed at "forging a national consciousness," and the "sinicization" of religious practice, ushering in a nationwide crackdown on Muslims, Christians and Tibetan Buddhists, as well as a ban on minority languages as a teaching medium in schools.

The ban on Mongolian prompted street protests and class boycotts by students and parents across Inner Mongolia, prompting a region-wide crackdown by riot squads and state security police in the fall of 2020.

Tibetan, Uyghur and Korean-language teaching is also being phased out of schools in ethnic minority areas, local parents and teachers have told RFA.

Adiyaa told RFA he believes he was targeted because he took part in a demonstration in Hohhot, the regional capital of China's Inner Mongolia region, which borders the independent country of Mongolia.

"We took part in a demonstration outside the high school affiliated to the Inner Mongolia Normal University; all in all I and a few friends went to three or four protests," Adiyaa said. "Then, the police came and searched my home, and confiscated my mobile phone, computer and external drive ... and the state security police had me under daily surveillance, monitoring when I went out and where I was going every day."

He fled China via Cambodia with the help of a people smuggler, and spent a while in Chiang Mai with his brother and family.

But it soon became clear that Adiyaa still wasn't safe.

"In Chiang Mai, four of us – me, my brother, sister-in-law and nephew – were hit by a car driven by a Chinese plainclothes operative," he told RFA.

Under Thai law, Adiyaa's bail conditions require him to report to the police station once a week, as well as barring him from leaving Thailand, but place him at risk of kidnap and rendition by Chinese agents, he said.

The Southern Mongolian Human Rights and Information Center quoted Adiyaa's sister Turgowaa as saying that her brother holds a UNHCR refugee identification card, but had been told nonetheless that the Thai authorities are actively cooperating with the Chinese Embassy to ensure he is forcibly repatriated.

"It is all too clear that the Thai immigration bureau is ganging up with the Chinese state security authorities, disregarding the United Nations conventions on refugees and human rights," she told the group.