Uwazi

Indian authorities must drop the charges against journalist Santu Pan, who was arrested live on air while reporting on allegations of abuse by West Bengal officials, and investigate the earlier assault of three journalists reporting on clashes related to one of those officials, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Thursday.

On Monday, police arrested Pan, who works for the privately owned news broadcaster Republic Bangla, while he was reporting from a woman’s home in the village of Sandeshkhali, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of West Bengal’s state capital, Kolkata, and remanded him in police custody for three days, according to news reports. Pan’s arrest was captured in a video by Republic World.

Pan, who was freed on bail on Thursday, was reporting on weeks of protests by local women over alleged rape and sexual assault by officials with West Bengal’s ruling All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). One of the alleged assailants has fled, while another was arrested.

On Thursday, Calcutta High Court ordered a stay on further proceedings in the police investigation into Pan for violating multiple sections of the penal code. If charged and found guilty of criminal trespass, Pan could face imprisonment for up to three months; for house trespass, imprisonment for up to one year; for outraging the modesty of a woman, imprisonment for up to three years; for voyeurism, imprisonment for up to three years; and for criminal intimidation, imprisonment for up to two years.

The unrest in Sandeshkhali started on January 5, when hundreds of supporters of an AITC official attacked federal officials with the Enforcement Directorate who had arrived to conduct a raid on the official’s house over an alleged scam regarding government-subsidized food distribution, according to news reports. Several officials were injured, their vehicles set on fire, and their laptops and phones were looted, those sources said.

Journalist Ayan Ghoshal of the privately owned news broadcaster Zee 24 Ghanta and reporter Sandeep Sarkar and camera operator Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya of the privately owned news broadcaster ABP Ananda were stoned, beaten with sticks, and kicked, during clashes between crowds and officials in Sandeshkhali, those sources said, as well as Ghoshal. Their cameras and other equipment were stolen and broken, and their vehicles were damaged, those sources said.

Sarkar said in an interview with his outlet ABP Ananda that he was beaten by the crowd and forced to unlock his phone. When the crowd saw the photos that he had taken, Sarkar and his driver were beaten again, their car was damaged, and their video live streaming equipment was stolen, he said. The crowd also beat his colleague Chattopadhyaya and snatched and broke his camera, Sarkar added.

In an article in The Telegraph an anonymous journalist said that they were chased and beaten by people who snatched their camera and destroyed it. They are undergoing medical tests after vomiting, they added. Ghoshal told CPJ that his vehicle was the first to be targeted and damaged by the crowd with stones, bricks, and sticks.

“It is disturbing to witness the growing intolerance of press freedom in West Bengal,” said Kunāl Majumder, CPJ’s India representative. “Authorities in West Bengal must drop all charges against journalist Santu Pan, investigate the violence meted out against reporters covering unrest in Sandeshkhali, and ensure that the media can do their jobs without fear or interference.”

Indian authorities must drop the charges against journalist Santu Pan, who was arrested live on air while reporting on allegations of abuse by West Bengal officials, and investigate the earlier assault of three journalists reporting on clashes related to one of those officials, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Thursday.

On Monday, police arrested Pan, who works for the privately owned news broadcaster Republic Bangla, while he was reporting from a woman’s home in the village of Sandeshkhali, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of West Bengal’s state capital, Kolkata, and remanded him in police custody for three days, according to news reports. Pan’s arrest was captured in a video by Republic World.

Pan, who was freed on bail on Thursday, was reporting on weeks of protests by local women over alleged rape and sexual assault by officials with West Bengal’s ruling All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). One of the alleged assailants has fled, while another was arrested.

On Thursday, Calcutta High Court ordered a stay on further proceedings in the police investigation into Pan for violating multiple sections of the penal code. If charged and found guilty of criminal trespass, Pan could face imprisonment for up to three months; for house trespass, imprisonment for up to one year; for outraging the modesty of a woman, imprisonment for up to three years; for voyeurism, imprisonment for up to three years; and for criminal intimidation, imprisonment for up to two years.

The unrest in Sandeshkhali started on January 5, when hundreds of supporters of an AITC official attacked federal officials with the Enforcement Directorate who had arrived to conduct a raid on the official’s house over an alleged scam regarding government-subsidized food distribution, according to news reports. Several officials were injured, their vehicles set on fire, and their laptops and phones were looted, those sources said.

Journalist Ayan Ghoshal of the privately owned news broadcaster Zee 24 Ghanta and reporter Sandeep Sarkar and camera operator Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya of the privately owned news broadcaster ABP Ananda were stoned, beaten with sticks, and kicked, during clashes between crowds and officials in Sandeshkhali, those sources said, as well as Ghoshal. Their cameras and other equipment were stolen and broken, and their vehicles were damaged, those sources said.

Sarkar said in an interview with his outlet ABP Ananda that he was beaten by the crowd and forced to unlock his phone. When the crowd saw the photos that he had taken, Sarkar and his driver were beaten again, their car was damaged, and their video live streaming equipment was stolen, he said. The crowd also beat his colleague Chattopadhyaya and snatched and broke his camera, Sarkar added.

In an article in The Telegraph an anonymous journalist said that they were chased and beaten by people who snatched their camera and destroyed it. They are undergoing medical tests after vomiting, they added. Ghoshal told CPJ that his vehicle was the first to be targeted and damaged by the crowd with stones, bricks, and sticks.

“It is disturbing to witness the growing intolerance of press freedom in West Bengal,” said Kunāl Majumder, CPJ’s India representative. “Authorities in West Bengal must drop all charges against journalist Santu Pan, investigate the violence meted out against reporters covering unrest in Sandeshkhali, and ensure that the media can do their jobs without fear or interference.”

A demonstration by Papuan students in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), turned violent. Dozens of students were beaten by a mob from one of the mass organizations, then they were arrested by the police.

The demonstration of Papuan students took place on Jalan Piet A Tallo, Friday (1/12/2023). They rallied there in commemoration of the West Papua independence declaration day.

While protesting, the students were approached by a group of mass organizations Garda Flobamora and Garuda. They were told to stop protesting. Chaos ensued until they were taken to the police station.

"We are temporarily at the police station. We were dispersed and beaten by the Garuda mass organization," said the coordinator of the mass action, Yeri Wali.

Yeri explained that the incident began when two people suspected of being intelligence officers arrived using a white car to conduct monitoring at around 09.07 Wita.

Then at 09.15 Wita, around 50 people from the Garuda mass organization came to the protesters angry, argued and ended up beating them blindly, causing the clothes of a number of protesters to be torn off.

In addition, a protestor named Ririn was beaten until she fainted. Another protestor, Jek, also received a blow on his lip that broke. They were then transported to the Kupang City Police Station.

"Currently, we all have injuries and many bumps on the head, face and lips," said Yerri.

Kupang City Police Public Relations Section Head Aipda Florensi Ibrahim Lapuisaly confirmed the arrest. However, he suggested that they go directly to the Kupang City Police Headquarters.

"There is indeed information (of arrests) but I don't know how many were secured. Because I and Mr. Kapolresta still have Friday Curhat activities in Oepura Village," he said.

detikBali monitored at the Kupang City Police Station that the protesters had not been released. Meanwhile, the masses from the Garuda Kupang mass organization had already dispersed at 10:40 Wita. There has been no official statement from the Garuda organization about the riot.

A Hong Kong court on Thursday rejected a fresh bail application for pro-democracy activist and lawyer Chow Hang-tung, whose subversion trial under a China-imposed national security law is expected to open in late 2024.

In making the latest in a series of so far unsuccessful bail applications, Chow’s lawyer, Cheung Yiu-leung, noted Chow had already served more than 2 years in detention after being arrested on suspicion of “incitement for subversion” over her ties to a group that organised an annual June 4 vigil.

High Court judge Andrew Chan, however, said he couldn’t grant bail because Chow might carry out acts that endanger national security.

A tentative trial date was provided for Chow’s case in the second half of 2024 at the West Kowloon court, Chan said. A case-management hearing was also tentatively expected to be held on Feb. 15, 2024, he added.

Chow, 38, a human-rights lawyer, was the vice-chairperson of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, a now disbanded pro-democracy group. Despite being jailed, she has continued to defy Beijing’s campaign to subjugate the city.

Chow is charged with “incitement to subversion”, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years imprisonment, alongside two former Alliance leaders Albert Ho and Lee Cheuk-yan under the national security law (NSL).

Chow has been detained since September 2021 at a maximum security women’s prison.

Hong Kong laws usually restrict reporting of full bail application proceedings to only key details, but Justice Chan lifted these restrictions over objections from the prosecution.

“I don’t see that anything you said, or I said, cannot be published. The press are free to publish whatever,” Chan said.

Chow was recently put in solitary confinement for 18 days for possessing “too many letters” from her supporters, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Hong Kong prison authorities said they wouldn’t comment on individual cases.

Chow has already finished two sentences for unauthorised assembly in relation to the banned Tiananmen vigils in 2020 and 2021.

The Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) and the Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) commemorated the independence of the Papuan nation on December 1, 1961.

The action, which was supposed to take place at Barito market in Gamalama sub-district, Ternate city, was dispersed by TNI and Polri officers in front of SMAN 3 Ternate city, Gambesi sub-district, South Ternate district, (1/12).

The field coordinator when confirmed, said that after the mass transportation vehicle left the gathering point to the action point, soldiers in full uniform about 7 people immediately blocked the action truck. Meanwhile, a soldier forced the truck driver to stop the car and forced the driver to get off and confiscate the truck keys.

"The truck left the gathering point, and was immediately blocked and sabotaged by soldiers in full uniform, totaling around 7 people. And a lot of plainclothes police," concluded Nando.

In addition, one of the Papuan Alliance Students said that the purpose of this action was to convey to the entire community that the Papuan nation is an independent nation and has been recognized de facto de jure.

"On December 1, everything was carried out. The declaration and submission of a political manifesto as a concrete form of the establishment of the West Papua state," he said.

He also said that the declaration of independence of the Papuan nation is clear evidence that the formation of the state was purely carried out by the Papuan people.

"It is not a country made by the Dutch, but it is a pure country founded by the people of the west Papuan nation," he said.

He also conveyed that the current situation in Papua is very concerning. Because the Indonesian state colonized and annexed an independent nation, this then led to various kinds of human rights violations that were increasing and massive, so this needs to be conveyed objectively what is happening in Papua.

"Many human rights violations and their escalation are always increasing and massive from year to year. And it leads to genocide of systematic racial extermination, so that today the indigenous Papuans are on the verge of racial extinction," he said.

Meanwhile, Lipantara, when confirmed, said that the forced dispersal carried out by the security forces was an act of suppression of democratic space, where restrictions on expressing opinions in public were carried out openly by the state through the power of the TNI / Polri apparatus.

Whereas the very nature of democracy is to provide the freedom to express opinions in public in full, without any restrictions.

"Because the freedom to express opinions is precisely the heart of democracy, if it is stifled then democracy will slowly die," he said.

Until now, the protesters are still securing themselves from the TNI / Polri sweep.

Chairperson of the University of Indonesia (UI) Student Executive Board (BEM) Melki Sedek Huang admitted that he received intimidation, including his family in Pontianak, West Kalimantan. He suspects that the intimidation is related to the student movement about the Constitutional Court (MK) decision regarding the minimum age limit for presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Since the beginning of the management of BEM UI in 2023, Melki admitted that he and a number of other students often received digital attacks and terror in various forms.

However, the intensity has increased since the frenzy of the Constitutional Court decision led by President Joko Widodo's brother-in-law, Anwar Usman.

"I don't know what the motive is, but I have confidence that this is quite closely related to the socio-political conditions that are currently in the air, one of which is about the frenzy of the Constitutional Court's decision," Melki said when contacted by CNNIndonesia.com, Wednesday (8/11).

Melki said his family in Pontianak, West Kalimantan was also visited by a number of parties claiming to be security forces a few weeks ago. Melki said the party did not mention the origin of the unit. They only claimed to be officers.

"The worst thing was that my mother was at home in Pontianak, visited by people in TNI and police uniforms. They asked about Melki's habits at home, what he used to do, what my mother did when she came back home, whether she came back at night or at what time. Yes, asking about the habits of people at home," he said.

In addition, Melki also admitted that he received news from his teacher at SMA Negeri 1 Pontianak that someone had asked about his habits while attending school. Until now, Melki has not reported the terror incident to the police.

"Until now, we are still waiting and seeing," he added.

The terror, said Melki, has been discussed within BEM UI.

CNNIndonesia.com has attempted to contact West Kalimantan Police Chief Inspector General Pipit Rismanto regarding Melki's claim. However, until this news was published, he had not yet responded.

Kapendam XII Tanjungpura Colonel Inf Ade Rizal Muharram admitted that he had not received information about the alleged terror of the authorities against Melki's family in Pontianak. He said he would immediately inform you if he received information about the alleged incident.

"I'll find out first," Ade told CNNIndonesia.com, Wednesday night.

The Constitutional Court has ruled on the minimum age requirement for presidential and vice-presidential candidates, which was originally 40 years old, to be 40 years old or have / are currently holding positions elected through elections, including regional elections.

The decision finally opened the door for Solo Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is still 40 years old, to run in the 2024 presidential election. It is known that Gibran is the eldest son of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) as well as the nephew of Anwar Usman, who at that time served as Chairman of the Constitutional Court.

The decision reaped pros and cons. There were a total of 21 reports of alleged violations of the ethics of constitutional judges filed by a number of parties. Anwar was the most reported party, namely 15 reports.

The Constitutional Court Honor Council (MKMK) finally declared Anwar proven to have violated serious ethics related to conflicts of interest in the Constitutional Court's decision on the minimum age requirement for presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Then, Anwar was sanctioned with the dismissal of Anwar Usman from the position of Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court. The verdict was read out by MKMK Chairman Jimly Ashhiddiqie at the MK Building, Jakarta, Tuesday (7/11) evening.

Jimly said this decision was made after MKMK conducted an examination of Anwar and collected facts and a defense from Anwar. Among the nine MK judges, Anwar was examined twice by MKMK in this alleged ethical violation.

Violence against journalists has occurred again. This time it happened to a senior journalist in the Bangka Belitung Islands Province named Ichsan Mokoginta.

According to the official statement from the press organization Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Pangkalpinang City, the violent incident happened to Ichsan Mokoginta who is a journalist from Trasberita.com.

The attack from an unknown person befell Ichsan at his residence on Jalan Kampung Baru, Petaling Banjar Village, West Mendo District, Bangka Regency on Saturday (25/11/2023, around 13.30 WIB.

When confirmed by AJI Pangkalpinang City, Ichsan explained the chronology of the attack he experienced. The incident began when he was approached by an unknown person wearing a black helmet, dark jacket and white and red checkered long-sleeved shirt.

"The perpetrator used language with a Palembang accent and asked about the house of someone named Mamad, to which I answered that I didn't know. However, the question about Mamad's house kept being repeated," said Ichsan, Sunday (26/11/2023).

Ichsan, who received the uninvited person, felt suspicious and then chose to keep his distance by going deeper into the living room of his house. Ichsan's actions were apparently followed by the perpetrator who also entered the house.

The perpetrator then took out a bottle similar to a vinegar bottle from his pocket and then, using both hands, immediately sprayed the liquid in the bottle at Ichsan.

"The perpetrator then fled on a motorbike after I shouted," he said.

The liquid spray, which was thought to be acid, did not cause significant injuries to Ichsan's body. It's just that the liquid spray made the skin around Ichsan's face, neck and stomach feel hot.

"I suspect that this incident is related to my reporting about the existence of illegal tin mining in Penagan Waters, West Mendo Village. I have been aggressively reporting on the mine. I even reported it when fishermen who rejected the mine sent a report to TNI Headquarters about the involvement of individuals in the mine," explained Ichsan.

Currently, said Ichsan, this incident has been reported to the authorities, namely the West Mendo Sector Police (Polsek), which investigators have followed up by visiting the crime scene (TKP) and asking for information.

"A few days before the physical attack, I was invited to meet by one of the individuals and asked me not to report on the Penagan mine. The day before, I found that I was being followed by people who then monitored activities around my house," he said.

The Papua Legal Aid Institute (LBH) has urged the Papua Police Chief to immediately order the Merauke Police Chief to release 20 participants of the Ampera South Papua (PS) peace rally. LBH Papua Director Emanuel Gobay said the arrests made by the Merauke Police occurred on Saturday (18/11) morning, when they were preparing for the Ampera PS peace rally.

Emanuel confirmed that his party had also sent a letter of notification of the peaceful action plan with the topic 'The Law is Dead for Awyu Indigenous Peoples in Boven Digoel' to the Merauke Police.

"The Merauke Police, who had received a peaceful action notification letter, instead came to the gathering point and dispersed the Ampera PS protesters and arrested 20 AMPERA PS protesters," he said in a written statement.

Emanuel said that of the total 20 peaceful protesters who were arrested and taken to the Merauke Police Station, one of them was a woman.

He also criticized the arrest steps which were considered arbitrary.

The reason is, the protesters have given a notification letter to the Merauke Police. Therefore, he called the arrest a form of violation of the right to freedom of speech stipulated in the Law.

On the other hand, Emanuel said that the Merauke Police Chief and his staff had also violated the existing authority as stipulated in Article 6 letter q of Government Regulation Number 2 of 2003 concerning Discipline of the Indonesian National Police.

"Evidence that the Police Chief and his staff have silenced democratic space and clearly violated National Police Chief Regulation Number 8 of 2009 concerning the Implementation of Human Rights Standards and Principles in the Duties of the Indonesian National Police," he explained.

Therefore, he urged the Papua Police Chief Inspector General Mathius D Fakhiri and the Governor of South Papua to immediately order the Merauke Police Chief to release all the protesters who had been arrested.

"Immediately release the 20 people of the AMPERA PS Action Period because the dissolution and arrest are contrary to the Principles of Perkap Number 8 of 2009 concerning the Implementation of Human Rights Standards and Principles in Police Duties," he said.

CNNIndonesia.com has attempted to contact Papua Police Chief Inspector General Mathius D Fakhiri and Head of Papua Police Public Relations Commissioner Ignatius Benny Prabowo. However, until this news was published, both of them had not yet responded.

At least 20 people were wounded when police used batons, water cannon and tear gas to disperse hundreds of people who joined rallies in Indonesia’s West Papua region on the 61st anniversary of an agreement that made the territory part of Indonesia, news agencies report.

The US-brokered 1962 New York Agreement allowed Indonesia to annex the Christian-majority region after the end of Dutch colonial rule, according to a report in the UCA News.

Riot police attacked peaceful demonstrators in three locations near the provincial capital Jayapura yesterday, alleged Emmanuel Gobay, a Catholic and an official of the Papua Legal Aid Institute.

The demonstrators called on the international community to review the agreement and take action to end ongoing violence and repression in the region, said the report.

“In fact, they only held peaceful demonstrations,” said Gobay, who joined one of the rallies.

He stated that more than 20 people were beaten, with one of them later being treated in hospital.

“One person was seriously injured and was immediately transported to the hospital for treatment,” he said.

Listening to speeches Videos and photos obtained by UCA News showed police attacked with water canons and fired tear gas while people were listening to speeches from leaders of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), the protest organiser.

Gobay said that although the authorities viewed the KNPB as a “separatist — pro-independence — group “they should have the right to express their opinion” as guaranteed in the nation’s constitution.

“Moreover, they submitted an official letter notifying police about the programme beforehand,” he added.

He condemned the use of water cannon and tear gas on demonstrators.

These should only be for anarchic demonstrations — “not peaceful demonstrations,” he said.

Gobay alleged that police committed criminal offences by torturing and beating protesters, and called on the Papuan police chief to immediately prosecute the perpetrators so that there was a deterrent effect, said the UCA News report.

Father Bernard Baru from the Jayapura Diocese’s Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission said that this repressive action was a repetition of the discriminatory treatment of Papuans by the state.

Brutal police action ‘normal’ “In Papua, police actions like this are considered normal. This only deepens discrimination against Papuans,” he said.

Police officials were not available for comment.

KNPB spokesman Ones Sahuniap issued a statement to condemn the police brutality and claimed those who were beaten suffered serious head injuries and bled profusely.

Suhuniap said the police used rattan and batons to beat and break up the demonstration.

The KNPB simultaneously held demonstrations in Papua and in other parts of Indonesia, asking the United Nations to review the 1962 New York Agreement.

During the rallies, KNPB leaders called the New York Agreement “a violation of human rights of Papuans” sponsored by Indonesia, the Netherlands and the United States and the United Nations.

Not party to agreement As per the agreement, later added to the agenda of UN General Assembly, the Netherlands agreed to transfer the control of West Papua New Guinea to Indonesia, pending an UN-administered referendum.

The Papuans were not party to the agreement and it paved the way for the 1969 Act of Free Choice, an independence referendum favoring Indonesian rule in Papua whuch was largely regarded as a sham.

Indonesia’s annexation of Papua and use to force to crush dissent sparked an armed pto-indeoendence movement.

Thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels have been killed and tens of thousands have been displaced due to the conflict in the easternmost region in the past decades.

On November 15, PCIJ, the Filipino non-profit and independent media agencyspecialising in investigative journalism, reported an active cyber-attack on its website which prompted it to take the site down temporarily to assess the incident and prevent further breaches. The hacking attacks began on November 13 and escalated around noon on November 15.

According to the PCIJ, the incident is the most serious cyber-attack in recent years. The motive behind the attack remains unknown, however a number of recent reports of breaches and cyberattacks on Filipino government websites and databases have been recently been recorded. At the time of publication, the PCIJ website remains inaccessible.

PCIJ's recent stories have included include a report on online communities of Filipinos who have been amplifying and supporting pro-Beijing narratives, which include the claims of the Chinese government in the West Philippine Sea. The PCIJ has also published articles on the alleged sale of votes in the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections, the killing of radio broadcaster Percy Lapid, and the issue of excessive profits at the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

The IFJ has documented an increase in cyberattacks against media outlets in the Philippines, and across South East Asia, in recent years. In February 27, 2022, the website of CNN Philippines was hit by a cyberattack that made the site inaccessible to users while the network was hosting a presidential debate ahead of the country’s May 2022 election. In December 2021, news outlets including ABS-CBN, Rappler, Vera Files, and Philstar, were targeted by Distribution Denial of Services (DDos) attacks.

On November 13, 2023, during a hearing at the East Jakarta District Court, the Public Prosecutor requested Fatia Maulidiyanti, former Coordinator of the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), FIDH Vice-President, and OMCT General Assembly member, be sentenced to three years and six months in prison and a fine of 500,000 Rupiah (30 Euros), and Haris Azhar, Executive Director of Lokataru, be sentenced to four years in prison and a fine of one million Rupiah (60 Euros).

The Observatory recalls that a defamation case against Fatia Maulidiyanti and Haris Azhar was initiated in August 2021, after Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs, and retired army general, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, sent them a subpoena in relation to a talk show video posted on Haris Azhar’s YouTube channel, in which the two human rights defenders alleged the Minister was involved in controversial gold mining activities in Papua Province.

As Ms Maulidiyanti and Mr Azhar refused to apologise, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan filed a police report on September 22, 2021, against the two human rights defenders alleging that both violated criminal defamation provisions, namely “attacking someone’s honour or reputation with accusations” and “defamation” (Articles 310 and 311 of the Criminal Code, respectively) and Article 45(3) of the amended Electronic Information and Transaction (EIT) Law. Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan asked for 300 billion rupiah (approximately 18 million Euros) in compensation. The trial of Ms Maulidiyanti and Mr Azhar began on April 3, 2023, before the East Jakarta District Court and 28 hearings have taken place since then. On November 27, 2023, the two human rights defenders are scheduled to submit their defence at the East Jakarta District Court.

The Observatory denounces the ongoing judicial harassment against Fatia Maulidiyanti and Harris Azhar, which seems to be only aimed at punishing them for their legitimate human rights activities and for exercising their right to freedom of opinion and expression, enshrined in international human right law, and particularly in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Indonesia is a state party.

The Observatory urges the Indonesian authorities to dismiss the case against Fatia Maulidiyanti and Haris Azhar, and to put an end to any acts of harassment – including at the judicial level – against them and all other human rights defenders in the country, and to ensure that they are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without any hindrance or fear of reprisal.

Several police officers dressed casually are suspected of intimidating and using violence against journalists while covering the forced return of protesters at the Grand Mosque of West Sumatra in Padang, West Sumatra. Three journalist organizations condemn the obstruction of journalistic work.

Chairman of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Padang Aidil Ichlas, Sunday (6/8/2023), said that at least four journalists were victims of intimidation or violence by the apparatus. The four journalists are Nandito Putra (Tribunnews), Fachri Hamzah (Tempo), Dasril (Padang TV), and Zulia Yandani (Classy FM).

"We condemn such actions. In fact, a female journalist has also become a victim. Some of the journalists who tried to break up and release their colleague who was about to be lifted were also threatened and their shirt collars were grabbed," said Aidil.

Tribunnews journalist, Nandito Putra, in a press statement, explained that he was grabbed by plainclothes police officers while recording the return of protesters and doing a live broadcast for his media on Saturday afternoon. Prior to that, he was also prohibited from taking photos and his cellphone was about to be confiscated by the authorities.

According to Nandito, around 3:30 pm, he was broadcasting live on Facebook Tibunpadang.com to record the situation of West Pasaman residents who were rejecting the national strategic project (PSN) in the courtyard of the West Sumatra Grand Mosque. After recording the condition of the residents for two minutes, he directed the camera towards the police who were pulling a woman.

“I followed the crowd to a distance of about 3 meters. However, when I was recording, suddenly some plainclothes people came and grabbed me. My cellphone was taken by force. Then the apparatus asked me what my purpose was and I explained that I was reporting," said Nandito.

Nandito was only released after two journalists protested against the police officer's actions. However, in that effort, the security forces also lifted Fachri Hamzah's shirt collar, a Tempo journalist, and made threats. The same officer also threatened Aidil Ichlas, Chairman of AJI Padang, who at that time was also trying to release Nandito.

The incident ended a few minutes later after several officers from the Padang City Resort Police intervened and apologized to Nandito, Fachri, and Aidil for the incident.

On another occasion, Dasril, a journalist from Padang TV, also experienced intimidation by police officers. At the time, Dasril was recording the arrest of a member of the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) Padang who was accompanying the protesters.

Suddenly, a police officer obstructed Dasril's camera from recording. "That's enough, don't record anymore," said the officer. However, Dasril continued to do his job.

Meanwhile, Zulia Yandani, a female journalist from Classy FM, also experienced violence during the chaotic mass repatriation incident. At that time, Zulia had just finished praying and heard the commotion on the first floor of Masjid Raya Sumbar.

Seeing the tense situation, Zulia then recorded the incident, but was approached by a number of police officers who then took her phone. "I have explained that I am a journalist, but they still pulled me and lifted both of my legs. They were going to take me to the car," she said.

Due to the police's act of intimidation and violence towards journalists, three journalist organizations in West Sumatra, namely AJI Padang, Pewarta Foto Indonesia (PFI) Padang, and Ikatan Jurnalis Televisi Indonesia (IJTI) Sumbar, issued a joint statement through a press release.

These three journalist organizations are of the opinion that the actions taken by the police have violated press freedom. However, Law Number 40 of 1999 concerning the Press has clearly regulated matters related to journalistic work.

Such intimidation action also violates Article 18 Paragraph (1) of Law Number 40 Year 1999. The article states, "Any person who unlawfully and intentionally performs actions resulting in obstructing or impeding the implementation of the provisions of Article 4 paragraphs (2) and (3) shall be punished with imprisonment for a maximum of 2 years or a maximum fine of IDR 500 million."

Therefore, AJI Padang, PFI Padang, and IJTI Sumbar condemn the acts of intimidation and violence by the police towards journalists on duty at the Grand Mosque of Sumbar. The three associations also urge the Chief of West Sumatra Regional Police to apologize for the incident of intimidation and violence.

The Chief of Police of West Sumatra is urged to process his members who intimidate and use violence against journalists in accordance with regulations. In addition, the Chief of Police of West Sumatra is requested to ensure that standard operating procedures for handling demonstrations always prioritize professionalism, persuasion, and respect for press freedom.

On the other hand, AJI Padang, PFI Padang, and IJTI Sumbar appreciate the actions taken by several police officers from Polresta Padang who prevented violence against several journalists and immediately apologized. Finally, the three journalistic organizations also urged journalists to continue to adhere to the journalistic code of ethics while working.

On Saturday afternoon, at the Masjid Raya Sumbar, one of the journalists who became a victim, Zulia Yandani, reported the issue to the Inspector General of Sumbar, Suharyono. Initially, Suharyono responded jokingly to the alleged behavior of his member who is suspected of being intel. "So the intel is still fond of you, Mom," he said.

However, after Zulia convinced that the police officer's actions were serious, Suharyono summoned the Director of Intelligence of the West Sumatra Provincial Police, Commissioner Sunarya, to apologize directly to Zulia for the incident.

Church bodies have joined advocacy groups to complain against alleged use of intimidatory measures by Indonesian police against villagers protesting a geothermal project in a Christian-majority province.

In a complaint submitted to the National Human Rights Commission in Jakarta on Oct. 20, they accused police of carrying out "intimidation and criminalization" against residents opposing the power project led by State’s Electricity Company (PT PLN) at Poco Leok in East Nusa Tenggara province.

The organizations, including Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission (JPIC) of the Franciscans and Divine Word, pointed out that the summons issued to seven residents earlier this month and 12 others this week were “an arbitrary act by the Manggarai Police.”

"The Poco Leok indigenous community does not know the reason why the police carried out this summons which was completely unreasonable," they said.

The Manggarai Police in the summons, a copy of which was obtained by UCA News, accused the residents of committing a crime "by deliberately obstructing or impeding the development of a geothermal business and by using violence against officials who were carrying out their legitimate duties."

Manggarai Police spokesman I Made Budiarsa said residents were "randomly summoned to ask for clarification regarding police officers' information reports” about an incident on Sept. 27.

Around 30 police and military personnel had gone to Poco Leok on that day to escort officers from the state-owned Electricity Company on a visit to the geothermal project site.

Syamsul Alam Agus, chairman of the executive board of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago said it is the duty of police to protect vulnerable people.

“Unfortunately, the police protect individuals or companies who come to destroy the land of indigenous peoples," he added.

Valens Dulmin, a lawyer from Franciscans’ JPIC Commission said the police action violated the 1945 Constitution which assures “equal treatment before the law.”

Meanwhile, Melky Nahar, coordinator of the Mining Advocacy Network, said that "in the name of a national strategic project that was created without prior consultation, small people are being evicted from their territory."

Hari Kurniawan, a commissioner at the National Human Rights Commission said they would convene a joint meeting before arriving at a decision on the complaint.

The Poco Leok geothermal project is an expansion of the Ulumbu Geothermal Power Plant, about 3 kilometers west of Poco Leok, which has been operational since 2012.

The government aims to hike the project capacity to 40 megawatts from the current 10 megawatts through the expansion.

However, the project funded by the Germany-based Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) continues to face opposition from local residents who fear it will take away their ancestral land and livelihoods across 10 villages.

Most of the affected residents, who are farmers and also raise livestock, are Catholics under the Ruteng diocese.

Flores Island was designed as a geothermal spot by a 2017 government decision.

It has a total geothermal potential of 902 megawatts, or 65 percent of the total capacity in East Nusa Tenggara province, according to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.

The conflict between the people of Nagari Bidar Alam and the people of Nagari Ranah Pantai Cermin with PT Ranah Andalas Plantation (PT RAP) in South Solok Regency led to the criminalization of 6 residents. All six were named as suspects by South Solok Police. The summoning of the six people in Bidar alam originated from police report Number LP/168/IX/2020/SPKT related to the crime of theft on September 14, 2020, which was reported by the company.

Responding to the criminalization of residents, Diki Rafiqi, Coordinator of the Advocacy Division of LBH Padang said that LBH Padang and Walhi West Sumatra West Sumatra made three demands. First, urging the South Solok Police to stop the criminalization of the Bidar Alam community. Second, urging the Regent of South Solok to revoke PT RAP's license. Third, the South Solok Police should investigate PT RAP's criminal allegations, including gardening without a permit, embezzlement of community revenue sharing money, and taxation crimes.

Diki explained that the problem stems from agrarian conflicts that are still unresolved in South Solok Regency. Even though PT RAP, which allegedly reported the community, no longer has any legality. "This is reinforced by the Decree of the South Solok Regent which revoked PT RAP's location permit on July 29, 2008. In addition, PT RAP also does not have Business Use Rights (HGU) in Nagari Bidar Alam and Nagari Ranah Pantai Cermin," he said in an official statement Monday, September 25, 2023.

Initially, said Diki, PT RAP was present due to an agreement between the ninik mamak and PT RAP that there would be a 60 percent - 40 percent profit sharing since the construction of the plantation, but until now the community has not received their rights at all from PT RAP. "Decades of people waiting for good faith from PT RAP to provide 40 percent profit sharing from the harvest have never been obtained," he said.

The impact of the 60 percent to 40 percent agreement, PT RAP has broken its promise to the community. In mid-2020, the community took over their land by harvesting on their own land. In addition, there is also no clarity on conflict resolution by the Regent of South Solok until now. The choice to reclaim rights by the community is based on the situation of economic needs that the company used to promise to prosper.

However, the South Solok Police responded to the reclaiming of land rights by naming a suspect in the alleged crime of theft. This condition certainly intensified the conflict in Nagari Bidar Alam and Nagari Ranah Pantai Cermin.

According to Diki, this is clearly one of the criminalization efforts carried out by the police that can silence the struggle for rights carried out by the community. This criminalization also gives fear to the community so that the company can regain control of the community's land. If the police read the agreements between the community and PT RAP in partnership to build oil palm plantations, it can be concluded that the oil palm plantations belong to the community and the company.

"Then how can a person who owns be accused of stealing on his own land and oil palm trees that are 40% capitalized by the landowning community. Don't think that the plantation was only built by the company because the mechanism built between the company and the community is a partnership and profit sharing," he said.

Before the South Solok Police accepted PT RAP's report, said Diki, the police should have questioned the legality of the company, because the company no longer has legal legality there. In addition, PT RAP not only harms the community but also harms the state by not paying taxes. The state should take action against things like this instead of punishing people who have long been cheated. "In addition, the issue of PT RAP and the landowners is not a criminal issue but a civil issue," said Diki.

Tommy, Head of Advocacy of Walhi West Sumatera, stated that the oil palm plantation cultivation activities carried out by PT RAP without having land rights and business licenses are illegal. Because, plantation cultivation business activities and / or plantation product processing businesses can only be carried out by plantation companies if they have obtained land rights and fulfill business licenses related to plantations from the central government (article 42 paragraph (1).

Furthermore, said Tommy, article 55 of Law 39 of 2014 concerning Plantations as amended by Law Number 06 of 2023 concerning the Stipulation of Government Regulations in Lieu of Law Number 2 of 2022 concerning Job Creation into Law also emphasizes norms that prohibit everyone (including companies) from unlawfully working on, using, occupying, and / or controlling plantation land (including on customary land), harvesting or collecting plantation products.

With the illegality of the activities of working on, using, occupying, and/or controlling plantation land by PT RAP, it does not have land rights and does not have a business license.

So, said Tommy, PT RAP can be subject to plantation crime, regulated in article 107 of Law 39 of 2014 concerning Plantations as amended by Law Number 06 of 2023 concerning the Stipulation of Government Regulations. Substitute for Law Number 2 of 2022 concerning Job Creation into Law which emphasizes that every person who unlawfully works, uses, occupies, and controls plantation land, community land or customary land rights of indigenous peoples.

"With the intention of the plantation business, cutting plants in the plantation area; harvesting or collecting plantation products as referred to in Article 55, shall be punished with a maximum imprisonment of 4 (four) years or a maximum fine of Rp. 4,000,000,000," he said.

Over the past weeks, innumerable protests – some impromptu, many by Muslim organisations and a few by rights organisations – have been organised across many big and small cities in India. These protests, largely peaceful, have raised citizen’s voices against what is seen as Israel’s siege and relentless bombing of Gaza. Indian law enforcement authorities from Mumbai to Uttar Pradesh (UP) to Delhi have however, in many cases taken “action.”

The issue at stake is the denial of permissions to several groups countrywide who have expressed a desire to protest this issue. Starting with the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, the violence in West Asia has so far claimed the lives of 1,400 Israelis and over 5,100 Palestinians. According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, about 40% of the Palestinians killed are children. And like in the rest of the world, Indians in several cities have been wanting to protest but have been denied the right. Where they have, in many instances, the protest has been criminalised.

October 23, 2023, Delhi

The Telegraph reported that students from JNU, Jamia Millia Islamia and Delhi University detained as they try to hold protest near Israeli embassy and police had erected barricades to stop them from reaching the embassy at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road. The report detailed that scores of students from JNU, Jamia Millia Islamia and Delhi University had gathered to take part in the protest. Police had erected barricades to stop them from reaching the embassy at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road. When some of the students tried to march towards the embassy, they were detained as they did not have the required permission to hold the protest, said a police officer, adding that “no one was allowed to violate law and order”. All India Students Association (AISA) Delhi unit president Abhigyan said several students were detained and taken to a police station.

First, in response to the Israel-Gaza war, several students of the Aligarh Muslim University took out a rally on October 9. This peaceful rally, organised as an expression of solidarity with Palestinians, saw four students in trouble as the police booked them under Sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, language, etc.), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), and 505(statements inducing public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The state chief minister, Ajay Bisht aka Yogi Adityanath, soon after the AMU protest, directed the police to take “stern action” against actions or social media posts in support of Palestine. According to a report in the Deccan Herald, senior district police officials have been told to speak to the Muslim clerics and make it clear that “any attempt to incite passion on social media or a similar call from the religious places will not be tolerated”.

A cop, belonging to the Muslim community, posted in Lakhimpur Kheri district in Uttar Pradesh, had merely shared a pro-Palestine post on social media. Within days, he was suspended from duty and an additional superintendent of police rank officer was appointed to carry out an inquiry about the constable and “his political inclination”.

In similar incidents, the police in Kanpur booked two young Muslim clerics, Suhail Ansari and Atif Chowdhary, for posting content in support of Palestine on social media. While Ansari was arrested, the police raided Chowdhary’s residence.

Background

Irrespective of which parties dominate the government is in power and what the political party’s stand has been on the ongoing conflict in West Asia, protestors in many states are facing criminal action for acts of “unlawful assembly” to promote “enmity between two groups”. India’s position on West Asia – reiterated by the Narendra Modi government – on the Israel-Palestine conflict is that it supports a “negotiated solution resulting in a sovereign, independent, viable and united State of Palestine, within secure and recognised borders, at peace beside Israel as endorsed in the relevant UNSC and UNGA Resolutions”.

It is the right to protest peacefully however which is guaranteed but appears in many instances to have been denied.

Ironically even in Congress-ruled Karnataka, the police’s actions were no different than UP, Delhi or Mumbai.

The police from the Cubbon Park jurisdiction in Bengaluru booked 11 persons, including a member of the Bahutva Karnataka (a citizen’s group), and other unnamed people for holding a solidarity gathering in support of Palestine on MG Road. While the police haven’t booked them for “promoting enmity”, the sections applied are largely for gathering without permission and for “public nuisance”.

A mainland Chinese student was imprisoned in Hong Kong for six months for “sedition” charges. Authorities recently released her on October 12th, when the Hong Kong government deported her to mainland China.

SEDITION 23-year-old Zeng Yuxuan was originally a PhD student studying law at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Zeng Yuxuan is the first mainland Chinese student to be imprisoned in Hong Kong over a sedition charge.

On January 1st this year, Zeng was accused of displaying a sketch of ‘The July 1 stabbing Incident’ suspect Leung Kin-fai outside the Sogo department store in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Police charged her with ‘committing acts with seditious intent’ for placing candles and flowers on the ground in mourning.

ARRESTED AGAIN After being granted bail, Zeng Yuxuan was arrested again on the eve of this year’s “June 4th.” She intended to unveil a giant banner featuring the “Pillar of Shame.” However, before the event, she was arrested and charged with “attempting to do an act with seditious intent.” The West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court sentenced her to six months.

PILLAR OF SHAME The “Pillar of Shame” depicts several twisted and tragic figures, symbolizing the casualties of the 1989 Tiananmen Square bloody crackdown. This copper statue was removed in 2021. Traditionally, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China would send people yearly to clean the “Pillar of Shame” on the eve of the June 4th massacre. The leadership of the alliance was arrested in 2021 as well.

Ms. Tonyee Chow Hang-tung, a jailed Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and former leader of the Alliance said, “When the court says that displaying the Pillar of Shame is a crime, it is nailing itself on the pillar of shame.”

ZENG YUXUAN’S ACTIVISM Zeng Yuxuan once expressed her wish to “make a little change” for Hong Kong, claiming that “it’s our duty” to participate in the protests. She also held up white papers at Victoria Park in Hong Kong, in response to the “White Paper Movement/A4 Revolution” launched in Mainland China in opposition to the COVID-19 lockdowns.

On October 12, Zeng Yuxuan was released after serving her sentence, and the Hong Kong government deported her to China declaring her “persona non grata.”

HONG KONG WATCH The London-based human rights organization “Hong Kong Watch” expressed deep concern about Ms. Zeng’s circumstances upon her arrival in mainland China.

Hong Kong Watch’s statement indicates that the expulsion of Zeng Yuxuan reflects Beijing’s increasing control over Hong Kong. With Hong Kong’s judicial independence steadily declining, Hong Kong authorities are seen as following Beijing’s demands to execute their political agenda, with little regard for the rule of law. The rule of law and judicial independence in Hong Kong are deteriorating.

Dozens of residents from a fishing area in north-central Vietnam this week have protested the building of a port project, despite police launching a criminal investigation of them for disturbing public order, demonstrators said.

On Wednesday, Thanh Hoa provincial authorities mobilized dozens of police officers to force protesting fisherfolk — mostly women — to leave the construction site where a dock is being built, one of the sources said. Though they stayed, police did not take any measures against them and left the area at noon.

About 300 residents of Hai Ha commune first took to the streets on the morning of Oct. 23 with banners and placards to show their opposition to the Long Son Container Port project, which they say will adversely affect their livelihoods and living environment.

“We don’t want the Long Son Container Port project because it is located in the coastal area we inherited from our ancestors, and it has been passed down from generation to generation,” said a villager on Wednesday who declined to be named out of fear of reprisal by authorities.

Fishing provides the only income to cover her family’s expenditures, including her children’s education expenses, she said.

“If the port is built, residents like us will be adversely affected by pollution, and there will be no places for our boats to anchor and no places for us to trade seafood,” she said.

Generating income

Long Son Ltd. Co. is investing more than US$30 million to build the 15-hectare (37-acre) project, which will have a 250-meter (820-foot) dock. It is expected to be operational in 2025.

The project will play a crucial role in the development of the first dedicated container port area at Nghi Son Port, according to state-run Vietnam News Agency. Once Dock No. 3 is built, it will serve as a dike against waves and winds and create a 10-hectare (33-foot) water area for local fishermen to safely anchor their boats.

The port is expected to generate revenue and jobs in Thanh Hoa province, including Hai Ha commune.

State media reported that Thanh Hoa provincial authorities conducted thorough studies and environmental assessments as well as consulted local people on the project. But the woman said representatives of the authorities only went around to people’s homes to try to persuade them not to oppose the project and its implementation.

The protest on Oct. 23 prompted Nghi Son town police to file charges against them for obstructing traffic and causing a kilometer-long (0.6 mile) vehicle backup.

Police at the scene took photos of the protesters, recorded videos and collected other information, some villagers involved in the demonstration said.

Police also issued an order requiring Hai Ha residents to adhere to the law and not to gather in groups to disrupt public order, incite others, or be enticed to obstruct the construction of Dock No. 3 of the Long Son Container Port project.

Threatened with arrest

Police threatened them with arrest for disrupting public order — which carries a sentence of up to seven years in prison — if they continued.

Hai Ha commune includes nearly 3,000 households with about 11,000 inhabitants, most of whom rely on fishing to make a living. The villagers say they fear that port officials will cut off their access to the waters where they fish and prohibit them from anchoring their boats.

Villagers ignored the police order and continued their protest on Tuesday and Wednesday, hoping to prevent the dock’s construction.

The woman quoted above said that the villagers are not afraid of going to jail because they don’t want to lose their home beach.

But if they have to relocate as a result of a loss of livelihoods, villagers will expect satisfactory compensation and a new living area with spaces to safely anchor their boats, she said.

“We staged a march and did not offend anyone or did not cause any harm,” she said. “None of us offended the police. We followed the traffic law, [and] we walked on the roadside and stayed in rows.”

The port will join four other industrial projects surrounding the 1,200-hectare (2,965-acre) commune. The others are a cement factory, a port for coal transportation in the north, a thermal power plant in the west, and a steel factory in the south.

Though the projects have created jobs for locals, they have also created serious environmental pollution, negatively affecting residents’ lives, a second woman said.

Hui Muslim poet Cui Haoxin, formerly a vocal critic of Beijing's treatment of Uyghurs and Hui Muslims, has been severely beaten by an unidentified man after lying low for nearly three years, according to an associate and an account of the attack posted to his personal blog.

The reports emerged after Cui, who lives in Shandong and goes by the pen name An Ran, disappeared from social media for nearly three years after being warned off speaking out publicly or talking to journalists – on pain of a prison sentence, Radio Free Asia has learned.

Cui was attacked by the man at around 4.00 p.m. local time on Oct. 29 after he went downstairs to pick up a parcel near the gates of his residential compound, a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals told RFA Mandarin.

"This man, whom An Ran had never seen before, was waiting for him on a motorbike near the shelves in his residential community," the person said.

"He didn't say anything but shoved An Ran to one side and started shuffling through all of the packages ... then he asked if he could move over [so An Ran could look for his package], and the guy immediately started yelling and cursing at him," they said.

According to Cui's blog post, the man then knocked him to the ground and started beating him.

"He was hitting so fast and so hard that I couldn't fight back – I just tried to block the blows," he said. "The punches hit home, and now my temples, eyes and the back of my head are swollen and painful."

Cui, 44, tried to get up after his attacker fell over, but the man started beating him again "knocking me to the ground, and not stopping until he was tired," he wrote, adding that his eyesight is now "significantly reduced."

Critical posts

The attack came nearly three years after Cui was held in criminal detention by police in January 2020 for "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble" after he made posts to Twitter criticizing China’s treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang.

Cui dropped off the radar of the overseas media and international activists after that, and made no more posts to his former social media accounts.

A friend of his told Radio Free Asia on Nov. 1 that he was actually released on "bail, pending trial" on Feb. 21, 2020, and warned off posting anything to social media or talking to foreign journalists.

"An Ran's father came to take him home, and from that point on, they lived in a situation where they were continually followed, warned and intimidated by the police," she said.

"The state security police warned his family that he would be sent to prison if he gave interviews to foreign journalists," the friend said. "That would have left An Ran's parents without anyone to take care of them, so An Ran said nothing for three years, not even a comment or a picture."

"He was depressed and almost at the point of mental collapse when he got out [from detention]," the friend said.

‘Big prison’

U.S.-based activist Sulaiman Gu said the blog post is the first news anyone has had from Cui in three years.

"An Ran really did disappear completely over the past three years," he said. "Nobody knew what had happened to him."

"All I know is that he had been warned many times and held for short periods of time prior to his detention [in 2021], and tricked into going for 'red' education in Jinggangshan," Gu said.

"He was in great danger at that time, but then he was released into the big prison," he said, referring to the tight surveillance and restrictions that are frequently imposed by Chinese police on former political prisoners long after their release from detention or prison.

"At least he's not in the small prison," Gu said.

Prior to his detention Cui was an outspoken critic of China's mass incarceration of Uyghurs and other Muslims in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, where authorities have placed as many as 1.8 million people accused of harboring “strong religious views” and “politically incorrect” ideas in a network of internment camps since April 2017.

He had also been detained and questioned by state security police in 2018 over critical tweets, and warned not to use overseas social media or to become a "tool" of hostile foreign forces.

In April 2018, Cui was sent on a week-long ideological "re-education" course in eastern China and was briefly detained in connection with his poetry and other writings that reference Xinjiang.

In one article published at the time, Cui describes Xinjiang as having left a "planet-sized impression" on him.

"Xinjiang, that massive presence that defies expression, left a planet-sized impression on me that is ineradicable," Cui wrote in an article that also referenced the Syrian conflict and the Arab Spring.

"This is a land of poetry and song ... when I headed out west to the Central Asian city of Kashgar, no sooner had I arrived than I made straight for the tomb of an ancient poet, and raised my hands in prayer for him beside the dusty tomb swathed in green silk."

Pakistan authorities must cease harassing journalists Fayaz Zafar and Amjad Ali Sahaab and immediately and impartially investigate Zafar’s detention and allegations that he was abused by police, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

On August 30, police arrested Zafar, a reporter for the U.S.-Congress-funded Pashto-language broadcaster Voice of America Deewa and Daily Mashriq newspaper, in northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s Swat District, according to news reports and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ.

Earlier that day, magistrate Irfan Ullah Khan ordered Zafar to be held in preventive detention for 30 days under the West Pakistan Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960. The order, which CPJ reviewed, accused him of using social media to spread “fake, offensive and hatred contents to defame and incite the public” against the government and law enforcement agencies.

Zafar said he was taken to Swat police chief Shafiullah Gandapur’s home, where six officers beat him for about 15 minutes with their guns and fists despite his telling them he had a heart condition. The journalist also said police brought his car to Gandapur’s home, damaged its doors and hood with their rifle butts, and held the vehicle until September 5. Zafar said Gandapur pressured him to sign an affidavit that he would stop his critical reporting about the police, but he refused and was taken to jail.

On August 31, Khan issued an order for Zafar to be released from jail, following requests from the District Bar Association and a local tribal assembly, and withdrew the previous day’s detention order. Interim Information Minister Murtaza Solangi told CPJ that he asked local authorities to release the journalist and ordered the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to investigate the incident.

In the case of Sahaab, editor of the local Urdu newspaper Daily Azadi Swat and the online blog Lafzuna, police in Swat District’s Mingora city opened an investigation on August 31, accusing the journalist of inciting violence against state institutions via social media and posting criticism of the district administration, according to a report by Radio Mashaal and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ.

Sahaab told CPJ that a dozen police officers came to raid his home on August 31 but did not enter because his brother said the journalist was not there and women were inside. Sahaab said he approached a local court on September 1 and secured pre-arrest bail to protect himself from detention in relation to the case until the next hearing on September 9.

The police report, reviewed by CPJ, accused Sahaab of defamation and intentional insult with intent to breach the peace in violation of the penal code, and causing annoyance or intimidation in violation of the The Telegraph Act, 1885.

“Pakistani authorities must swiftly and transparently investigate the arrest of Fayaz Zafar and the abuse he allegedly endured at the hands of the police, and hold the perpetrators to account,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “Police must also drop their investigation into Amjad Ali Sahaab and allow both journalists to report on matters of public interest in Swat District without interference.”

Zafar told CPJ that he feared for his life after the detention and beatings and received medical treatment for the injuries caused to his head, back, shoulders, legs, and right hand.

The journalist said he believed that he was targeted for his recent reporting and commentary on social media, including a video, which he said showed a student being abducted near a police station, and photographs, which he said were of militants patrolling in Swat after attacking a police post.

Sahaab also told CPJ that he believed he was being investigated because of his critical work that he posts to social media, including Lafzuna’s YouTube discussions about the alleged failure of local authorities to stop rising militancy and arrests of activists, as well as blogs on insecurity.

Police chief Gandapur told CPJ via messaging app on September 1 that Zafar’s allegations of abuse were “fake” and that the journalist was directly taken to jail following his arrest.

Gandapur did not respond to CPJ’s follow up queries about the investigation into Sahaab. CPJ’s calls and messages to magistrate Khan requesting comment did not receive any replies.

Pakistan authorities must cease harassing journalists Fayaz Zafar and Amjad Ali Sahaab and immediately and impartially investigate Zafar’s detention and allegations that he was abused by police, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

On August 30, police arrested Zafar, a reporter for the U.S.-Congress-funded Pashto-language broadcaster Voice of America Deewa and Daily Mashriq newspaper, in northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s Swat District, according to news reports and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ.

Earlier that day, magistrate Irfan Ullah Khan ordered Zafar to be held in preventive detention for 30 days under the West Pakistan Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960. The order, which CPJ reviewed, accused him of using social media to spread “fake, offensive and hatred contents to defame and incite the public” against the government and law enforcement agencies.

Zafar said he was taken to Swat police chief Shafiullah Gandapur’s home, where six officers beat him for about 15 minutes with their guns and fists despite his telling them he had a heart condition. The journalist also said police brought his car to Gandapur’s home, damaged its doors and hood with their rifle butts, and held the vehicle until September 5. Zafar said Gandapur pressured him to sign an affidavit that he would stop his critical reporting about the police, but he refused and was taken to jail.

On August 31, Khan issued an order for Zafar to be released from jail, following requests from the District Bar Association and a local tribal assembly, and withdrew the previous day’s detention order. Interim Information Minister Murtaza Solangi told CPJ that he asked local authorities to release the journalist and ordered the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to investigate the incident.

In the case of Sahaab, editor of the local Urdu newspaper Daily Azadi Swat and the online blog Lafzuna, police in Swat District’s Mingora city opened an investigation on August 31, accusing the journalist of inciting violence against state institutions via social media and posting criticism of the district administration, according to a report by Radio Mashaal and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ.

Sahaab told CPJ that a dozen police officers came to raid his home on August 31 but did not enter because his brother said the journalist was not there and women were inside. Sahaab said he approached a local court on September 1 and secured pre-arrest bail to protect himself from detention in relation to the case until the next hearing on September 9.

The police report, reviewed by CPJ, accused Sahaab of defamation and intentional insult with intent to breach the peace in violation of the penal code, and causing annoyance or intimidation in violation of the The Telegraph Act, 1885.

“Pakistani authorities must swiftly and transparently investigate the arrest of Fayaz Zafar and the abuse he allegedly endured at the hands of the police, and hold the perpetrators to account,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “Police must also drop their investigation into Amjad Ali Sahaab and allow both journalists to report on matters of public interest in Swat District without interference.”

Zafar told CPJ that he feared for his life after the detention and beatings and received medical treatment for the injuries caused to his head, back, shoulders, legs, and right hand.

The journalist said he believed that he was targeted for his recent reporting and commentary on social media, including a video, which he said showed a student being abducted near a police station, and photographs, which he said were of militants patrolling in Swat after attacking a police post.

Sahaab also told CPJ that he believed he was being investigated because of his critical work that he posts to social media, including Lafzuna’s YouTube discussions about the alleged failure of local authorities to stop rising militancy and arrests of activists, as well as blogs on insecurity.

Police chief Gandapur told CPJ via messaging app on September 1 that Zafar’s allegations of abuse were “fake” and that the journalist was directly taken to jail following his arrest.

Gandapur did not respond to CPJ’s follow up queries about the investigation into Sahaab. CPJ’s calls and messages to magistrate Khan requesting comment did not receive any replies.

Press organizations in Papua, including the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) of Jayapura City, the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) of Papua, and the Indonesian Television Journalists Association (IJTI) of Papua, lambasted what was reported to be intimidation against Abdel Gamel Naser, a journalist from Cenderawasih Pos. The incident occurred while he was covering the case of mangrove forest destruction in the Youtefa Bay Nature Park conservation area in Jayapura City on Tuesday (11/7/2023). Gamel, as he is commonly known, allegedly faced intimidation from two police officers who were present near the location. The officers approached Gamel and questioned his reasons for photographing the area. Despite explaining that he was a journalist, the officers insisted on deleting the photos, resulting in Gamel deleting three images from his reporting.

“To avoid further conflict so I can continue my reporting elsewhere, I deleted the photos. As I was leaving the location, they issued further threats,” Gamel stated in a press release issued by the press organizations on Wednesday, July 12, 2023.

Gamel was among a group of approximately a dozen journalists who were covering the halt of logging and material stockpiling in the mangrove forest area of Youtefa Bay Nature Tourism Park. The halt was carried out by the Papua Forestry and Environment Service, the Papua Natural Resources Conservation Center, and the Papua Police Special Crimes Unit.

According to Gamel, the intimidation occurred while he was capturing images near a location where police lines had been established, and several police personnel happened to be present nearby.

Lucky Ireeuw, chairman of the AJI Jayapura, strongly condemned the alleged intimidation faced by Gamel during his work. Such repressive actions hinder the exercise of press freedom in Papua.

“The intimidation suffered by Gamel obstructs press freedom and violates Law No. 40/1999 on Press,” Ireeuw asserted.

He further called on the Papua Police to take decisive action against the officers implicated in the alleged intimidation.

“We urge the police to ensure press freedom in Papua,” Ireeuw added.

Meanwhile, PWI Papua deputy, Ridwan Madubun strongly condemned the display of arrogance that resulted in the alleged intimidation of his fellow journalist Gamel. Madubun believes such actions are unjustifiable, especially when they occur while journalists are carrying out their responsibilities in the public domain.

He also expressed dismay at the ongoing repressive acts against journalists in Papua. It is important to note that journalists are safeguarded by the law in carrying out their coverage duties to inform the public.

Papua Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Ignatius Beny Ady Prabowo mentioned that efforts have been made within the police institution to educate police personnel about press freedom since their training at the National Police School.

“I have just been made aware of the alleged intimidation against Gamel. Journalists who encounter such incidents can report them to our Internal Division,” Prabowo added.

Security threats from conservative Islamic groups in Indonesia have forced organizers of a Southeast Asian LGBT event to move it from Jakarta to an undisclosed location.

The Indonesian capital was to host the five-day ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Queer Advocacy Week conference from July 17.

However, the organizing committee which received death threats from conservative groups decided to move the venue citing "security reasons after monitoring the situation very closely, including the anti-LGBT wave on social media.”

“The decision was made to ensure the safety and security of the participants and the committee,” the committee said in a statement.

Arus Pelangi, a Jakarta-based LGBT rights advocacy outfit and the local organizer, claimed in a July 16 statement that they received a barrage of death threats via social media like Twitter and Instagram.

Personal accounts of its activists and the identity of the organizers were disclosed on social media to tarnish its image, Arus Pelangi further claimed.

Hendrika Mayora Victoria, 35, a Catholic transgender and coordinator of Fajar Sikka, a same-sex advocacy group, said, "Indonesia is not ready to accept diversity and is increasingly homophobic."

This latest case was a worrying signal, Victoria added.

"What's sad is that hate speech, under the pretext of certain religious teachings, continues to be echoed," Victoria told UCA News.

"The event actually aims to unify the vision of an inclusive ASEAN region and strive for a safe space for civil society."

The Journalists Union for Diversity and the Alliance of Independent Journalists in a July 16 joint statement lamented local and national media coverage which fueled persecution of same-sex couples.

Most online media reports contain more statements from politicians, police, Ulema (religious) councils, and government officials calling for anti-LGBTQ laws “to increase hostility, hatred, discrimination and persecution against the group," they said.

The Human Rights Working Group, a coalition of NGOs, with the Secretariat for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation of the Franciscans as one of its members, urged the police to investigate and take action against perpetrators of hate speech.

Daniel Awigra, the group’s executive director, said the cancellation of the event in Jakarta was "a form of powerlessness and failure of the state in its constitutional obligation to guarantee a sense of security for everyone without exception to express and assemble peacefully."

"The state should actually take action against the perpetrators who have been spreading incitement and hatred," he said.

Same-sex couples are vulnerable to discrimination in Indonesia, the largest Muslim nation in the world.

Earlier this month, Garut district in West Java province passed a regulation criminalizing same-sex activities.

In December last year, a visit by US special LGBTQ envoy Jessica Stern was canceled after resistance from Islamic groups.

In December 2021, Bogor, a city in West Java province passed a regulation to prevent sexually deviant behavior.

Between 2006 and 2017, Arus Pelangi recorded 172 cases of persecution in Indonesia, including intimidation, physical and verbal abuse, and maltreatment against same-sex couples.

Police officials have forcibly returned more than a thousand residents of Pasaman Barat who had been demonstrating at the West Sumatra Governor's Office since Monday (31/7/2023). The process was marked by turmoil and the arrest of several residents, students, and non-governmental organization members who were accused of being provocateurs.

The forced repatriation of residents of Nagari Air Bangis, West Pasaman, consisting of adult men and women, children, and elderly residents, occurred at the Grand Mosque of West Sumatra, in the city of Padang, on Saturday (5/8/2023) afternoon. The incident took place while approximately 20 representatives of the masses were in a dialogue with the Governor of West Sumatra and members of the Regional Leadership Communication Forum (Forkopimda) at the Governor's Office of West Sumatra.

During the incident, the crowd who had been using the first floor of the Grand Mosque of West Sumatra as a place to stay during the demonstration were reciting prayers while waiting for the results of the dialogue with their representatives. However, the police dispersed the residents and some of them were lifted onto buses to be sent to Pasaman Barat.

"We were forced to leave the mosque. Our belongings were scattered. We didn't want to leave, but we were dragged away. As women, we are not strong enough to resist," said Rismawati (40), one of the protesters who were forced to leave by the authorities, while waiting for a bus in the courtyard of the Grand Mosque of Sumatra Barat, on Saturday afternoon."

Rismawati, who is a resident of Jorong Pigogah Patibubur, Nagari Air Bangis, explained that actually she and her husband have been participating in the protest since Monday and will not go home until their demands are met. However, their family cannot do anything.

"I don't know what will happen next," said Rismawati resignedly. This family is threatened with losing a hectare of oil palm land because it is affected by the 30,000 hectare oil and petrochemical refinery national strategic project (PSN) that has been proposed by the Governor of West Sumatra to the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment since 2021.

On Saturday afternoon, hundreds of remaining residents gathered in the courtyard of the Masjid Raya Sumbar. They were waiting for buses to take them back to their hometowns. Hundreds of police officers were guarding and overseeing the process of mass repatriation.

Samsul (35), a resident of Jorong Pigogah Patibubur, expressed the same thing. "We were forcibly sent home without any negotiation, while our friends were still in dialogue at the governor's office. Some residents were immediately put on the bus, how could we resist," he said.

Previously, around 1,500 residents of Nagari Air Bangis accompanied by students and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) held a demonstration in front of the West Sumatra Governor's Office since last Monday. The residents demanded that the national strategic project proposal be revoked as it encompasses their managed area.

The masses also demanded that the land they had managed for generations be removed from production forest status. They also demanded that members of the Mobile Brigade guarding the community plantation forest (HTR) program managed by the multi-business cooperative (KSU) in the area be withdrawn. HTR locations also overlap with community land.

In addition, the crowd also demands that two people detained by the West Sumatra Regional Police for purchasing farmers' harvest be released. They were detained for allegedly buying palm oil plantation products located in forest areas without permission.

Not only did the police forcefully return the residents, they also arrested dozens of citizens, students, and NGO members who accompanied the crowd. They were accused of being provocateurs who held the crowd back from returning to Pasaman Barat.

Director of Legal Aid Institution (LBH) Padang, Indira Suryani, in a written statement, stated that there were 4 citizens, 3 students, and 7 legal assistants who were arrested and forcibly taken to the West Sumatra Regional Police Office.

"The police's actions constitute an abuse of power and a violation of human rights as their use of force clearly violates the guarantee of protection and respect for freedom of expression in public, as regulated by the 1945 Constitution, the Human Rights Law, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Freedom of Expression in Public Act, and the Human Rights Law," he said.

Separately, the Head of the Operational Bureau of the West Sumatera Regional Police, Chief Commissioner Djadjuli, stated that there were indeed several individuals who were taken by the authorities, but he did not know the exact number. "Several are suspected of inciting residents to persist, so we detained them for questioning," he said.

Regarding the forced repatriation of protesters, Djadjuli explained that the authorities had previously invited and urged citizens to go home. Some citizens agreed, while some did not, and some provoked others to not leave. "We took those who provoked us, and those who did not want to go, we transported them (to Pasaman Barat)," he said.

According to Djadjuli, law enforcement officers cannot wait for the crowd to be sent home after the dialogue process is completed. Because it is feared that after the dialogue, the crowd will still remain at the Masjid Raya Sumbar and Padang City. "This is a place of worship and it disturbs the activities of other communities," he said.

Djadjuli added that during the last 5-6 days of holding protests, the residents also did not have permits. The mass action on Jenderal Sudirman Street in front of the West Sumatra Governor's Office disrupted traffic. "We are helping these Air Bangis residents to return home, so that they can continue their activities. Children can go to school, parents can work," he said.

Regime forces tortured and killed three leading members of a local student union in Sagaing Region’s Budalin Township last Friday, according to activist sources.

The three victims, who were all in their late teens, were captured during an early-morning raid on the village of Nyaung Kan, located some 10km west of the town of Budalin, the sources said.

“Their hands were tied behind their backs and they were stabbed in the chest with knives. After they were tortured, they were put to death,” a member of the Budalin Township branch of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) told Myanmar Now.

The victims were identified as student union chair Kyaw Win Thant, 18, vice-chair Kyal Sin Nyein Chan, 19, and information officer Thuta Nay, 19.

At least two other people, including a member of a local resistance team, were also killed, the ABFSU member added, citing villagers who had escaped the raid.

Student unions have played a leading role in organising anti-junta protests in the township. The unions represent not only university students, but also primary and secondary students.

According to pro-regime Telegram channels, a commando force recently overran and razed a camp run by “terrorists” in the township.

Some 150 regime troops based in Budalin have been attacking villages west of the town since July 25. Ywarthar, a village near Nyaung Kan, was also targeted on Friday. Both villages lost a number of houses to arson attacks, according to locals.

The junta has not released any information about its operations in Budalin, which is less 40km north of Monywa, Sagaing’s capital and largest city, where the headquarters of the Northwestern Regional Military Command is also located.

The arrest on treason charges of dozens of political activists in Papua will only add to the long list of human rights violations in the region, activists say. However, the police said it was in accordance with the law.

The West Papua National Committee (KNPB) claims there was no declaration of 'Free Papua' in its organisational activities in Tambrauw Regency, Southwest Papua.

Meanwhile, the police said they had two pieces of evidence related to three KNPB members in Tambrauw as treason suspects with a life sentence or a maximum of 20 years in prison.

The police denied that this was part of the suppression of civil and political rights.

On the other hand, a number of groups consider that the arrest of three KNPB members on treason charges will only add to the long list of civil and political rights violations in Papua.

KNPB's version of the arrest chronology

In a statement to BBC News Indonesia, KNPB national spokesperson Ones Suhuniap said, "There was no declaration whatsoever."

This refers to the arrest of 19 KNPB members in Tambrauw, Southwest Papua on Friday (09/06).

"There, the KNPB has a sector management, in this case, the community environment in the countryside. They were there to inaugurate the sector management," said Ones.

After the inauguration activities were completed and the participants were "sitting eating and drinking coffee" suddenly the police came with complete weapons, and made arrests.

"The activity did not interfere with residents' activities... It did not interfere with anything. Disrupting public activities, and disturbing other people, that doesn't exist," Ones continued.

He also dismissed allegations that his organisation was affiliated with TPNPB-OPM.

"Has the KNPB ever held a gun and killed the police? Did the KNPB shoot civilians, be it indigenous Papuans or non-Papuans in Papua?" Ones wondered.

According to Ones, the activities carried out by the KNPB are guaranteed in Law No. 9 of 1998 concerning Freedom of Expression in Public.

He urged the release of the three members because "There is no legal basis for detaining them."

According to Ones, his organisation still "exists", because the problems in Papua are "getting murkier".

Even though for more than a decade, the four roots of the Papuan problem have been clearly raised in the research, he said.

However, they have not been resolved, making the conflict in Papua protracted, Ones added.

He then explained what he called the "four roots of the Papua problem".

These are, among others, the issue of the history and political status of Papua's integration into Indonesia, and protracted military operations that only create collective wounds.

Then, what he called the "marginalisation of Papuans from the modernisation process, and the failure of Papuan development".

The Indonesian government under President Joko Widodo is trying to boost development in Papua, which consists of Papua Province and West Papua Province, mainly through infrastructure projects.

Since 2001, the central government has also implemented a special autonomy policy in Papua, which is characterised by, among other things, the disbursement of funds for the benefit of the Papuan people.

This special autonomy policy is claimed to be evidence of Jakarta's seriousness in solving problems in Papua, however, some experts say the funds have failed to be utilised properly and have been misused several times.

Police claim to have two pieces of evidence

Of the 19 arrested, three KNPB members were named as treason suspects. A total of 16 others have been released, police said.

It is said that the three suspects with the initials UK, YY and WY are threatened with life imprisonment or a maximum imprisonment of 20 years.

Tambrauw Police Chief, AKBP Bendot Dwi Prasetyo, said his party had pocketed two sufficient evidences.

"Here, we have obtained these evidence tools, witness statements that the suspects have committed the act," he said.

In addition, the KNPB's activities are under police supervision because the organisation is "not registered" with the National Unity and Politics Agency (Kesbangpol). In a report by the Antara news agency, a number of KNPB members were also suspected of carrying out an attack on Posramil Kisor in 2021.

"So, that is what grounds us that the KNPB is a banned organisation," said AKBP Bendot Dwi Prasetyo.

On 25 June 2023, human rights defender and union leader Shahidul Islam was attacked by a group of men at the Prince Jacquard Sweaters factory in Gazipur while resolving a worker payment dispute. He died the same day from the fatal inuries sustained during the attack. Shahidul Islam was the president of the Gazipur unit of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers’ Federation (BGIWF). He advocated for workers’ rights throughout his 25-year-long career as an organiser. As a former garment worker, Shahidul Islam noticed the lack of transparency regarding workers’ rights and began working as an organiser and later a union leader. From 1999 to 2002, he worked with the Bangladesh Independent Garment Workers’ Union Federation (BIGUF). From 2003 to 2006, the human rights defender worked for the civil society organisations Nari Uddog Kendro and Bangladesh Krishi Federation. In 2006, he joined the Bangladesh Centre for Workers’ Solidarity (BCWS) as a senior organiser and worked there until 2012. In the same year, he became a senior organiser at the BGIWF, and later became president of the Gazipur district committee. Throughout his career, Shahidul Islam successfully mobilised thousands of workers and factory-level leaders to join trade unions. He also supported thousands of workers to receive arrears and severance pay that they had been wrongfully denied by their employers. Shahidul Islam’s work and contributions to the labour movement were significant in raising awareness about the human rights situation of factory workers in Bangladesh. Shahidul Islam died after sustaining fatal injuries in an attack that took place outside the Prince Jacquard Sweaters factory in Gazipur on 25 June 2023. The human rights defender and his colleagues were resolving a dispute over salaries and the Eid bonus owed to the factory workers, when a group of men arrived and began violently beating them. Three other union leaders were severely injured in the attack which left Shahidul Islam unconsious. He was later taken to Tairunnessa Memorial Medical College Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The human rigths defender is survived by his wife and two sons. He was the sole breadwinner of his family. His wife is a former organiser battling cancer and her husband’s killing has added to their already challenging circumstances. On 26 June 2023, Kalpona Akter, president of the BGIWF, filed a case with the Tongi West Police Station, alleging that the attack was carried out on the orders of the factory owner. According to sources, the officer in charge stated that the police had already arrested the key suspect in the case, adding that the killing stemmed from a feud with another labour organisation. The killing of Shahidul Islam is indicative of the violations and unjust treatment faced by garment workers in Bangladesh. His death also reflects on the vulnerability and dangers faced by human rights defenders who raise their voices on the lack of transparency regarding workers’ rights and work to safeguard labour rights in Bangladesh. Front Line Defenders condemns the killing of human rights defender and union leader Shahidul Islam as it believes it is directly related to his work in defence of human rights, especially labour rights of people in Bangladesh. Front Line Defenders is gravely concerned about the mistreatment and threats facing human rights defenders working to improve the labour conditions of garment workers in Bangladesh. Front Line Defenders is also seriously concerned about the physical and psychological wellbeing of the human rights defender’s family and colleagues.

A demonstration by Papuan students commemorating 56 years of PT Freeport Indonesia in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar on April 7 was broken up by the Indonesian Muslim Brigade (BMI) and a biker gang as the protesters were marching towards the Mandala Monument.

Around 30 students from the Papua Student Alliance (AMP) initially took turns giving speeches in front of the Papua student dormitory on Jalan Lanto Daeng Pasewang.

They conveyed a number of demands aimed at the central government while they unfurled a banner with the message "Close PT Freeport Indonesia and all foreign companies in the land of Papua. Withdraw the military from the land of Papua. Papua is not an empty land. Stop land theft".

"Give [us] the right to self-determination as a democratic solution for the nation of West Papua", said action coordinator Miku on Friday.

The students also demanded that the revised Special Autonomy Law been revoked immediately and the cancellation of the recently created provinces of Southwest Papua, Central Papua, the Papua Highlands and South Papua.

"Then open up the widest possible access to both foreign as well as national journalists in West Papua. Withdraw all organic and non-organic military in West Papua", they demanded.

They also asked the Indonesian government to immediately and unconditionally release all West Papuan political prisoners.

"Close PT Freeport, BP, LNG Tangguh as well as reject the development of the Wabu Block and exploitation by PT Antam in the Bintang Highlands. Then arrest, try and imprison the human rights violating generals", said Miku.

After giving speeches, the demonstrators then moved off from the dormitory towards the Mandala or West Iran Liberation Monument on Jalan Jendral Sudirman under the close guard of police.

Half way through the march to the monument however, members of the BMI and a gang of bikers suddenly attacked the students using sticks.

Finding themselves under pressure by the BMI and biker gang, the Papuan students chose to disband and return to their dormitory.

The demonstrators who were members of the Papuan People's Solidarity Against Racism (SRPMR) were forcibly dispersed by the police when they wanted to speak freely in front of the Jayapura District Court (PN) office, Tuesday (11/4/2023) morning.

In previous hearings, the demonstrators held silent demonstrations in order to press for a decision on the case of Victor Yeimo, spokesman for the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), who was charged with treason during an anti-racism rally in 2019.

Ones Suhuniap, national spokesperson for the Central KNPB, explained that the masses began to gather around 07.00 WIT in front of the Jayapura District Court. At around 09.00 WIT, said Ones, the security forces immediately dispersed the demonstrators.

Because they were forcibly dispersed by being hit with rubber batons, the demonstrators then chose to move to the Abepura circle until they stopped at Jalan Biak. There they gathered and gave speeches. They also read out the attitude statement.

According to Ones, the forced dispersal of the silent mass was carried out by the police in a repressive manner so that several people were injured.

“Earlier the police dispersed the silent mass demonstration by force. We saw that someone was beaten until he bled. One person was arrested, but the police took him where we were looking for," Ones told suarapapua.com via cell phone.

Ones said nine people were beaten by the police when they were forcibly dispersed, including Ronald Mirin, Kurus Felle, Eko Passe, Kenias Payage, Kelaus Bay, Pumegen, Nodi, Anto and Awe Gobai. One person named Iman Kogoya was arrested.

“As a result of the beatings, some of them experienced swelling on their backs, hands and heads that were bleeding. All pamphlets and banners were also confiscated by the police earlier," he explained.

Kenias Payage, the person in charge of the silent action, said Victor Yeimo had undergone 33 trials. Of the 5 fact witnesses presented by the Public Prosecutor (JPU), there were no incriminating testimonies that even proved Victor Yeimo committed treason and incitement during the August 19 2019 action.

"Victor Yeimo and the KNPB were not responsible for the racist act on 19 August 2019 in the city of Jayapura. Victor Yeimo was present to deliver an oration at the request of the people. Victor Yeimo has never called for mass demonstrations to carry out anarchic acts," said Kenias.

It was emphasized that the four articles charged against Victor Yeimo had been broken with the testimony of expert witnesses presented by Victor Yeimo's legal advisory coalition.

"From all the facts at the trial it is clear that Victor Yeimo is being criminalized by the state with political sentiments to silence Victor Yeimo as an activist for the Free Papua movement," said Kenias.

Victor Yeimo, according to him, was criminalized with the target of facilitating the Indonesian government's intention to exploit natural resources (SDA) in the Land of Papua through the second special autonomy policy, the division of 6 new provinces and the division of districts/cities that are again being proposed.

At least 14 residents of Dingin Indigenous Village, Muara Lawa District, West Kutai Regency, East Kalimantan were arrested by the local police on Saturday (25/3). The reason, they are considered to hinder mining business activities. Of that number, all were named as suspects.

"One more was released because he was underage but remains a suspect," said Pokja 30 Director Buyung Marajo when confirmed by CNNIndonesia.com, Wednesday (5/4) afternoon.

Buyung said that actually the dozens of residents only wanted to protect their area from becoming a mining area. This is because their source of livelihood from the forest can disappear if it becomes a mining area.

It's not only Dingin Village that feels the impact, there's also Latoq Village. Both are areas of Muara Lawa District.

"However, when they wanted to defend their territory, 12 indigenous people from Tinggi Village were arrested and made suspects. Likewise one lawyer and a minor," said Buyung.

Dozens of indigenous people were charged with Article 162 of the Minerba Law because they were considered to be obstructing mining business activities. There are also those who are charged with Emergency Law No. 12/1951 concerning Sharp Weapons.

Responding to this, the Director of LBH Samarinda, Fathul Huda stated that this situation was tantamount to violating human rights. The reason is, these residents only want to defend their rights to land and rivers so that they are not mined.

"The struggle to defend land and rivers by the indigenous people of Dingin Village is not a crime, let alone hindering company activities. The police should be the party that facilitates the fulfillment of these citizens' rights," said Fathul.

"From the beginning this was their right (land), long before the mining company entered," he added some time ago.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) supports the statement of the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS) condemning all forms of repression and intimidation against civil society during the preparation and implementation of the ASEAN Summit in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara Province (NTT). Based on the information we received, one of the cases was the alleged criminalization attempt by West Manggarai Police officers against four Labuan Bajo residents, they are Mr. Ladislaus Jeharun, Mr. Dionisius Parera, Mr. Viktor Frumentus, and Mr. Dominikus Safio Sion by the West Manggarai Police on May 6 2023. They were summoned by the police concerning allegation of incitement. Meanwhile, journalists who report on the voice of the people become victims of hacking and intimidation. Most recently, four Mining Advocacy Network (JATAM) activists also experienced hacking.

Based on the information we gathered, the summons to the four residents was due to a demonstration that the local residents wanted to carry out. The reasons/demands behind a number of residents holding the demonstration are because until now the right to compensation related to the houses and land of residents who are suspected of having been evictioned for the construction of the Labuan Bajo-Golo Mori road ahead of the ASEAN Summit has not been received.

We regret that the action that will be held by a number of residents actually responded excessively by the police by summoning a number of residents on charges of alleged criminal acts of incitement. The police should be able to see this problem as a whole by looking at the construction of demonstrations by residents demanding the right to eviction compensation as part of freedom of expression.

We consider that the allegation of the incitement article as stated in the summons is of course very problematic. Because, in that article 2 there is an element of inciting to commit a crime. Even though demonstrations are legal and constitutional actions and are guaranteed by statutory instruments, for example Law no. 9 of 1998 concerning freedom of expression in public. In addition, voicing opinions related to the obligation to compensate for the land that was confiscated is a form of maintaining life and increasing the standard of living guaranteed by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Looking back, the various forms of repression that existed cannot be separated from the statement by the Chief Police of NTT Regional Police who banned the action at the end of April 2023. Thus, that the existing attacks from the police on the community can be classified as systematic violations.

Furthermore, the delay in providing compensation for evictions by the state has resulted in various forms of multi-layered violations of the basic rights of citizens, including the right to a right to live properly, the right to peaceful and secure, and the right to a proper job. Furthermore, this action not only violates the human rights guaranteed in the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia and Law Number 39 of 1999 concerning Human Rights, but also the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which the government has ratified through Law Number 11 of 2005.

This is not the first time the repression has been committed against the residents of Labuan Bajo. Previously, there were cases of arbitrary arrests of Labuan Bajo residents who blocked the road to refuse force eviction for a national strategic project. The allegation of arbitrary arrest experienced by Mr. Paulinus Jek, a resident of Racang Buka, because of his effort to stop an excavator which will be conducting force evictions on his land.

Moreover, repressive methods as part of the security approach at major events also occurred in the midst of the G20 at the end of 2022. At that time, excessive methods were used by security forces such as the use of facial recognition, spying, forcibly dissolving discussions, blocking activist activities and stigma against groups that refused. Ironically, the group that refused was also stigmatized as rioters. This is of course very dangerous if it continues and at the same time continues paradoxical practices. On the one hand, Indonesia wants to improve its image in the eyes of the international community, but on the other hand, it continues to silence people’s rights. The decline in democracy is again evident from the Indonesian democracy index published by Freedom House in 2023 which shows a decrease from the previous year from 59 to 58 point.

The situation is getting worse marked by digital attacks targeting against journalists who report on the other side of the ASEAN Summit. Media Floresa.co, which collaborates with the Mulatuli Project in making a report on a case where a road was made for a resident’s land, was hacked. This action is a clear violation of press freedom. In addition, the hack that was directed at four JATAM activists was not only a violation of the right to privacy, but also a serious threat to the work of human rights defenders.

Based upon above-mentioned situation, the AHRC urges that:

First, the security forces stop all forms of repression and intimidation of citizens at the ASEAN Summit and other major agendas in the future.

Second, the Central Government and related institutions are immediately responsible for fulfilling the obligation to pay compensation to the victims of the evictions.

Third, the security forces to immediately investigate the actors who hacked journalists and the four JATAM activists. The police must find the perpetrators of digital attacks and prosecute them under the fair trial principles in accordance with the provisions of the applicable laws and regulations.

Thai authorities should immediately drop charges and release a 15-year-old student activist detained for allegedly defaming the monarchy, Human Rights Watch said today.

On March 28, 2023, the police arrested Thanalop “Yok” Phalanchai in Bangkok and accused her of committing lèse-majesté (insulting the monarchy) offenses for criticizing the monarchy during a rally in October 2022 in front of the Bangkok City Hall. At the rally, protesters called for the release of political detainees and for the abolition of royal defamation prosecutions. Thanalop is being held in pretrial detention at the Justice Ministry’s Ban Pranee Juvenile Vocational Training Center for Girls in Nakhon Pathom province, west of Bangkok, for allegedly violating article 112 of Thailand’s criminal code, which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

“Thai authorities should immediately release Thanalop and drop the unjust case against her for criticizing the monarchy,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “By arresting a 15-year-old girl, the Thai government is sending the spine-chilling message that even children aren’t safe from being harshly punished for expressing their opinions.”

The number of lèse-majesté cases in Thailand has significantly increased in the past year, Human Rights Watch said. After almost a three-year hiatus in which lèse-majesté cases were not brought before the courts, in November 2020 Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-ocha ordered the authorities to restore lèse-majesté prosecutions, ostensibly because of growing criticisms of the monarchy. Since then, the authorities have charged more than 200 people with lèse-majesté crimes, primarily for actions at pro-democracy rallies or comments on social media.

Human Rights Watch and several United Nations human rights monitoring bodies, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, have repeatedly voiced concern over the Thai government’s use of arbitrary arrest and pretrial detention to punish critics of the monarchy for their views.

Holding those charged with lèse-majesté in pretrial detention violates their rights under international human rights law. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Thailand has ratified, encourages bail for criminal suspects. Article 9 states that, “It shall not be the general rule that persons awaiting trial shall be detained in custody, but release may be subject to guarantees to appear for trial.” Those whose charges have not been dropped should be tried without undue delay, Human Rights Watch said.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by Thailand, states that the arrest, detention, or imprisonment of a child “shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.”

Lèse-majesté prosecutions also raise serious freedom of expression concerns under the ICCPR. General Comment 34 of the UN Human Rights Committee, the international expert body that monitors compliance with the covenant, states that laws such as those for lèse-majesté “should not provide for more severe penalties solely on the basis of the identity of the person that may have been impugned” and that governments “should not prohibit criticism of institutions.”

“The Thai government should permit peaceful expression of political views, including questions about the monarchy,” Pearson said. “Thai authorities should engage with UN experts and others about amending the lèse-majesté law to bring it into compliance with international human rights standards.”

One of the demonstrators was secured by members of the police during the demonstration by the Free Women's Alliance. A man who took part in a demonstration in commemoration of International Women's Day which took place at the Saronde Roundabout, Gorontalo City, Wednesday (08/03) was considered provocative.

Monitored by the media, during the demonstration, several demands were issued, namely providing free education, scientific, and non-discriminatory treatment towards women, eliminating patriarchal culture, passing the PPRT Bill, rejecting the new Criminal Code, rejecting the Job Creation law, implementing the TPKS law in accordance with the expectations of protection for women, and eliminates discrimination in the rights of women in Papua.

Gorontalo City Police Chief, Kombes Pol. Dr. Ade Permana, S.I.K, M.H said that initially the demonstration was proceeding safely, but after 17.55 WITA, negotiations had been carried out by the Gorontalo City Police negotiating team, the Field Coordinator (Korlap) of the masses of action, to immediately disperse because the time allowed according to Perkap No. 7 of 2012, concerning procedures for providing services, securing and handling cases of expressing opinions in public, Article 7 paragraph 1 letter (a) that expressing opinions in public, in an open place, is allowed between 06.00 and 18.00 WITA.

"Until 18.15 WITA, the demonstrators did not disperse, so the police took persuasive action against the demonstrators, where the actions of the security forces were in accordance with Article 20 letter (d) and (e) of Perkap number 7 of 2012," he said.

The 2000 Police Academy alumnus continued, after being advised to return, the masses refused and one person who was considered provocative, was secured by the police so that nothing untoward would happen.

"So there was no mistreatment of one of the demonstrators like the issue that was circulating, we only secured one person who was suspected of provoking it. After the demonstrators dispersed, the person we secured have been handed back to the representatives of the demonstrators," he explained.

He also added that his party asked the demonstrators to prioritize good manners and comply with the rules, where the time limit that had been set when carrying out the demonstration was only until 18.00 WITA, considering that Gorontalo City is the Veranda of Medina, and it was time for Maghrib prayer.

"In the notification letter from the Free Women's alliance, there are many things that violate procedures. Among them, judging from the time the notification letter was sent, the day of implementation, and the name of the Korlap mass action, which was deliberately disguised, so that the principles of independence of expressing opinions in public that are transparent, are no longer fulfilled, "concluded the former Head of the Boalemo Police.

Cases of abuse against members of the press occurred again at the Keerom District Government office, Papua Province, on Thursday 09/03/2023, around 14:00 WIT.

This abuse occurred in the office area of ​​the Keerom Regency Border Area Management and Cooperation Agency, while carrying out his journalistic duties in the online media globalinvestigation.com, whose initials "N" were beaten by security officers (Police).

According to the victim's statement, the chronology of the incident of persecution allegedly occurred because of previously published reports regarding the beating of a member of the public against a Satpol PP officer who was on duty in the Deputy Regent's and Keerom Regional Secretary rooms.

Moments later, the police officer (perpetrator) came out of his room and looked for the victim (journalist) then shouted loudly reprimanding and hitting the victim while he was standing near the betel nut seller, next to the Border Area Management Agency office. The victim saw a security guard (police) with several of his colleagues walking quickly up to him, then the security officer (police) said

"I just got the news that was shared. Why bring down the Keerom Government?” he said.

Then the security guard (police) punched the victim, and the victim only tried to dodge and block the blows, but several punches were made to the victim's face resulting in bruises.

Then from that, the victim ran into the room of the secretary of the Border Agency office to save himself, but the security guard (police) continued to chase the victim and the victim fell down, then was beaten again by him ".

"When the victim was hit, it was suspected that there was a tone of threat to shoot the victim with a gun," said the person loudly to the victim "Don't you know me? person against the victim".

After that, the victim told the unscrupulous person that the news did not bring down the Keerom District Government.

The victim made this report spontaneously when an incident occurred when a member of the public beat a Satpol PP officer, besides the victim was not far from the TKP.

JLW, when confirmed by the media crew, confirmed that the victim's family had made a Police Report (LP) and a post mortem et repertum was being carried out at the Kwaingga Keerom Hospital.

He conveyed that he, as a family, deeply regretted the unethical behavior of unscrupulous members in the persecution of his younger sibling.

He asked that unscrupulous members be dealt with strictly according to applicable law and investigators must also apply the rules of the Press Law because at the time of the incident the victim was a journalist carrying out his journalistic duties. This has hindered his work as a journalist and the perpetrators must also be charged under Article 18 of the Press Law No. 40 of 1999 which carries a penalty of 2 years in prison or a fine of Rp. 500 million.

JLW continued, "there is no word of peace", the behavior of unscrupulous members also seriously injured our family's honor. If these unscrupulous members are not processed, then I as a family will complain about this to the National Police Headquarters, "said JLW.

Through this letter, I want to attract your immediate attention to a case of intimidation and harassment by the state agencies on a Human Rights Defender (HRD), Mr. Arkadeep Goswami aged about 28 years, S/o Mr. Madan Gopal Goswami, a resident of 158/2, Parui Kancha Road, Kolkata 700061 in the state of West Bengal. This intimidation and harassment by the state agencies upon the HRD is probable infringement of his right to liberty and freedom of expression.

Since 18 years of age, Mr. Arkadeep Goswami has been active in Socio-political movements. He was a student activist during his college days. He was an executive member of All India Council for Student Struggles. In 2017 he was a member of ‘All India University Students Fact Finding Team on Fake Encounters’ and few other national consolidations. In 2014 he associated in ‘Hok kolorob’ movement, From 2016 to 2018 he joined in the movement called ‘Justice for Rohith Vemula’. Mr. Goswami always stands for the human rights of the people in the country and raises his voice against the extremist and fascist politics.

In the year 2018 when Mr. Arkadeep Goswami did fact finding on the political prisoner in the West Medinipur district in the state of West Bengal, the state government charged him in a fabricated case vide Goaltore Police Station case number 220/2018 dated 13.11.2018 under section 149 (Unlawful assembly) /120B (Criminal conspiracy) /121 (Waging war against the Government) /121A (Conspiracy to commit offence u/s 121) /123 (Concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war) /124A (Sedition) of Indian Penal Code. It is a fact that after passing the four years’ time, the police failed to submit charge sheet against Mr. Goswami.

In the year 2022, when Mr. Goswami used to stay at Bolpur in Birbhum district of West Bengal with his wife, on 24th April, 2022, he was kidnapped by some officials of Special Task Force (STF) and Counter Insurgency Force under the instruction of the then-Superintendent of Police, CIF, Durgapur Range, and was taken illegally almost 200 KM far to the Barikul PS and slapped with a fabricated case vide Barikul Police Station case number 04/2022 dated 27.01.2022 under section 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon) /149 (Unlawful assembly) /120B (Criminal conspiracy) /121 (waging war against the Government) /121A (Conspiracy to commit offence u/s 121) /122 (Collecting arms with intent to wage war against the Government) /123 (Concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war) /124A (Sedition) of Indian Penal Code of sedition. During the time of apprehension no memo of arrest was prepared and no legal formalities were not followed by the personnel of that state agency. Till date no charge sheet was submitted by the police against Mr. Goswami in connection with this case.

Mr. Arkadeep Goswami is now working as a freelance journalist and also working with a reputed human rights organization in the country, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM). As his voice sometimes goes against the establishment, he has been systematically targeted and charged with fabricated cases. These repeated incidents are violating his Constitutional rights as a citizen and also as a Human rights Defender.

Now, On 18.04.2023, while he was at the office of Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), two suspicious people, one told his name as Sandipan Mondal, gave a visit to his house placed at 158/2, Parui Kancha Road, Kolkata, around 3 O'clock in the afternoon. They told his parents that they are the friends of Mr. Goswami and want to talk to him about some unspecified things. They asked his mother to call him and when his mother called Mr. Goswami, they questioned about his whereabouts incessantly. Upon asking their identity and address, they didn't come up with any satisfactory answer. Later, they repeatedly asked Mr. Goswami by which time he will return home. When Mr. Goswami refused to divulge any information to them, they said, "So you won't talk to us? Okay, we will see you.” The man identified himself as Sandipan Mondal. Mr. Arkadeep Goswami categorically doesn't have any friends or acquaintances by this name (Sandipan Mondal) but that person also told him that they met Mr. Goswami at Barikul Police Station, last year, when he was there in police custody on a fabricated charge. Mr. Goswami informed that he had not met anybody else during that time apart from officials from different state agencies.

The voice which he heard in phone call and physical appearance of the person which he was informed by his mother, from that Mr. Goswami identified that in yesterday's call was similar to one of those kidnappers associated with intelligence branches (state agencies) when he was fabricated with false charges in Barikul Police Station.

Mr. Goswami apprehended that the person from the state agencies tried to apprehend him and therefore they intimidate and harass him continuously without any reason. As he is now involved himself as human rights movement which raises voice against human rights violation by the state apparatus, he has been targeted planfully.

The incident also violates the rights guaranteed in Article 19 (i) (a) (Freedom of speech) and Article 21(Right to life) of Indian Constitution. The incident also violates the Govt. of India's obligation to adhere to the United Nations' declaration on Human Rights Defenders (General Assembly Resolution A/RES/53/144) that obliges the government to protect, promote and implement human rights within the country.

On 9 April 2023, human rights defender Pranab Roy was physically assaulted by officers of the Border Security Force (BSF) while returning from his agricultural land in North 24 Parganas District of West Bengal. The officers severely beat the defender, threatened to file false criminal cases against him and repeatedly said that he was being targetted due to his human rights work. The following day, 10 April 2023, Pranab Roy filed a complaint against the BSF with the Sutia Police out post Police recorded his complaint but refused to give him a copy of the First Information Report (FIR) as required by law. To date no action has been taken against those responsible and named in the FIR. Pranab Roy is a human rights defender, activist and farmer in the Barnaberia village of North 24 Parganas District in West Bengal. He is the organiser of Amra Simantabasi (“We, the border residents”) a community organisation that advocates for socio-political issues faced by people residing close to the India-Bangladesh border. The human rights defender Pranab Roy has been vocal for the rights of the local community and against the arbitrary restrictions imposed on them by the BSF. In 2023, the human rights defender organised a campaign to protest against the illegal land grabbing of approximately 600 acres of land in North 24 Parganas by the BSF. On 9 April 2023 around 5 PM, Pranab Roy and his father were stopped by BSF officers from the 105 Batallian posted at the Barnaberia Border outpost and two soldiers while returning from their agricultural land. The officers asked Pranab Roy a few questions and without warning started beating and slapping him. They kicked him and hit him with wooden rods and dragged him towards the river. The officers also threatened Pranab Roy with implicating him under false charges of smuggling items across the Bangladesh border or of being an undercover agent for Bangladesh. The BSF officer said that he was punishing Pranab Roy for his human rights work in the village against the interests of the BSF. The BSF is a paramilitary force posted at the India-Bangladesh border and is under the direct control of India’s Ministry of Home Affairs. They have been accused of widespread human rights violations against the local community and reprisals against human rights defenders. After severely assaulting Pranab Roy, the BSF officer forced him to sign a false confession stating that he was detained by the BSF for returning home late at night and was not tortured in any form. The human rights defender recieved treatment for his injuries at the local hospital and the doctor who examined him noted “traumatic bruises” on his body. The following day, on 10 April 2023, Pranab Roy submitted a written complaint at the Sutia Police outpost against the BSF personnel. While the police accepted the written complaint, they did not confirm whether a formal complaint has been lodged in the form of a FIR and did not give the defender a copy of the FIR as required by the Criminal Procedure Code. Front Line Defenders strongly condemns the violence inflicted on human rights defender Pranab Roy by BSF personnel as it believes it to be a reprisal against his legitimate and peaceful human rights work. It is also concerned that the police refused to provide a copy of the FIR, in violation of the provisions of India’s legal obligations. Front Line Defenders urges the relevant authorities in India to ensure the safety and security of Pranab Roy and bring the perpetrators to justice in accordance with international human rights standards.

On 4 March 2023, a Hong Kong government-designated national security judge at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court convicted woman human rights defender Chow Hang-tung and two other leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (the Hong Kong Alliance) for refusing to comply with the Hong Kong police’s request in August 2021 demanding disclosure of extensive information about its funding, activities, Board members, executives, and staff.

Sentencing is scheduled on 11 March 2023. The woman human rights defender and the two other Alliance leaders face up to six months in jail and a HKD100,000 fine (approximately EUR 11,919). Chow Hang-tung is also being prosecuted for “inciting subversion of State power” under the National Security Law in a separate case.

The police’s request for information was based on what it claimed were “reasonable grounds” for believing the Alliance was a “foreign agent”, and was issued under the Implementation Rules for Article 43 of the National Security Law in Hong Kong, which grant expansive investigative powers to the police. However, during the trial, the prosecution concealed the identity of the foreign organisation for which it accused the Alliance of acting as a “foreign agent”, and a key police officer who testified also refused to answer questions regarding the identity of the foreign organisation. The judge also sided with the prosecution’s and the police’s argument that disclosure of such information would damage “the public interest” and “jeopardise on-going investigations” into other individuals and organisations.

Chow Hang-tung (鄒幸彤) is a barrister and woman human rights defender in Hong Kong. At the time of her arrest on 8 September 2021 for refusing to provide data to the police, she was one of the vice-chairs of the Hong Kong Alliance. On 24 September 2021, as a result of the prosecution of the Alliance’s leaders and high risks of further prosecution, members of the Alliance voted to dissolve the organisation. On 26 October 2021, while the liquidation process for the Alliance was still on-going, then Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam issued an order for the Alliance be removed from the Companies Register on the basis that "the operation of the Alliance which seeks to end the Chinese Communist Party's leadership amounts to seeking to overthrow" the political system of the People's Republic of China and subverting state power.”

In his ruling, the national security judge also affirmed that the National Security Law itself as well as the decisions and actions of the National Security Committee, a new body created under the National Security Law, cannot be challenged in local court. The National S ecurity Committee, chaired by Hong Kong’s chief executive and supervised by the central Chinese government in Beijing, was responsible for developing the Implementation Rules for Article 43 of the National Security Law.

UN human rights experts have repeatedly raised concerns that the National Security Law and its Implementation Rules for Article 43 pose serious risks to the right to defend human rights and to freedom of expression, freedom of association, privacy, and a fair trial.

In September 2021, UN Special Procedures mandate-holders wrote to the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities about the detention of Chow Hang-tung. The experts said that detention and arrests of human rights defenders “form part of a broader operation to impose undue restrictions on the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly of pro-democracy movements in Hong Kong” and that such “a criminalisation of the exercise of human rights with reference to national security is incompatible with international human rights law.”

In July 2022, the UN Human Rights Committee, in its concluding observations on the implementation by the Hong Kong government of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), expressed concerns about the arbitrary arrests and detention of human rights defenders under the National Security Law and sedition law, calling for the suspension of enforcement of these laws and for their reform or repeal. The Committee stated that “Article 43(6) of the National Security Law and Schedule 6 of the Implementation Rules, which facilitate arbitrary intrusion into privacy for the purpose of public security or national security, are not compatible with article 17 of the Covenant.”

In February 2023, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights also criticised the use of the National Security Law to target human rights defenders in Hong Kong, and was concerned that the law “has de facto abolished the independence of the judiciary.” It has called for a review of the Law to bring it into line with international human rights standards.

Front Line Defenders believes the arrest and subsequent prosecution of Chow Hang-tung and other Alliance members under the National Security Law are reprisals against their legitimate and peaceful human rights work. Both the substantive and procedural inconsistencies with international human rights standards seen in this case illustrate the intention and capacity of the Hong Kong authorities to use the National Security Law and its Implementation Rules to punish and intimidate human rights defenders and organisations and deter them from communicating or collaborating with or receiving support from international partners, other governments, and UN human rights mechanisms.

Front Line Defenders calls on the Hong Kong authorities to quash the conviction against Chow Hang-tung and the other Alliance leaders, release them immediately, and drop the other criminal charges against them. It reiterates its call on the central Chinese government to repeal the National Security Law and its Implementation Rules in Hong Kong.

Mr Le Than, of Le Hieu Dang Club - members includes pro-democracy former high-ranked officials and former Party members - said his Club members planned to go to Bach Dang Wharf (HCMC) to light joss sticks, but only few whom the police didn't know managed to get there, other members were blocked from leaving their house as the local police guarded them since the early morning [of 13 Mar].

Dissident intellectual Dr Mac Van Trang and his wife - well known actress Kim Chi - were under guard at their home [in HCMC].

Mrs Duong Thi Tan, an activist from Saigon, said her home was under police guard for several days but she didn't know what the police's intention was.

In Hanoi, outspoken former teacher Mrs Tran Thi Thao told RFA, a local policeman and several plain clothes police stood guard near the bottom of the staircase of her apartment block and prevented her from going out.

An activist who preferred to remain anonymous said, at King Ly Thai To statue in Hanoi central, a number of police vehicles, district police, police and civilian guards were present but not as large in number as in previous years.

Poet Hoang Hung - of Independent Writers' League - opined that the regime determines to ban all independent activities showing signs that they are in any way organised, whether it's picking up rubbish or grow trees or reacting to China.

Mrs Tran Thi Thao opined that [this year], by allowing the state media to write about Gac Ma and name China as the culprit in the incident, the regime led by Party Chief Trong aims to mollify the people and deceive the West - pretending there is a shift in Vietnam's relations with China; however by suppressing dissidents and activists, the regime wants to prove to President Xi Jinping that those seen as anti-China are still subject to Vietnam's forceful treatment.

A human rights lawyer who represented Ai Weiwei against the Chinese government has "disappeared" after trying to board a train to the southern province of Guangdong, according to rights activists.

Liu Xiaoyuan was stopped by police on March 1 as he tried to travel to Zhuhai city from Ganzhou in the eastern province of Jiangxi, the Weiquanwang rights website reported.

"I was stopped by police from the Ganzhou West Railway Station public security station in Jiangxi province, en route to Zhuhai," Liu wrote in a WeChat post before going incommunicado.

"I asked for a written record [of this interaction], but they refused."

The incident comes as China has stepped up detentions of dissidents and religious figures ahead of the annual session of its rubber-stamp parliament, the National People's Congress.

Liu, a former member of the now-shuttered public interest law firm Beijing Fengrui, went incommunicado on the eve of the annual session in Beijing, a time when the authorities typically target critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

The lawyer previously represented Ai Weiwei when the globally renowned artist was detained in 2011. Ai once called him “the best lawyer in China”.

Other clients have included journalists and activists accused of subverting the Chinese Communist Party.

Stopped by rail police

Before going missing, Liu wrote that he had been stopped by rail police while attempting to travel.

The Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch website also reported concerns about Liu's whereabouts, tweeting a message from the lawyer on the day of his "disappearance."

"My ID card showed up as invalid when I went through the [automatic security] gates, and it wouldn't let me through with just a train ticket," Liu said in comments posted by the group to Twitter.

"Then four railway policemen surrounded me and wouldn't let me go, and the duty supervisor even wanted to confiscate my ID card," he wrote.

"[They said] they were assisting the state security police in my hometown of Suichuan county with their investigation," Liu said.

A fellow rights lawyer who asked to remain anonymous confirmed the rights groups' accounts.

"Liu [told me] last night that he didn't eat, because he was waiting for them to give him an explanation," the lawyer said. "I haven't been able to contact him since [Wednesday] afternoon."

"His mobile phone is switched on, but nobody is picking up," he said.

He said Liu has been repeatedly harassed and persecuted by the government since he was targeted in a 2015 nationwide police operation that saw hundreds of lawyers, law firm staff and rights activists detained, hauled in for questioning and even jailed for subversion.

Stripped of license

Authorities in Beijing stripped Liu of his license to practice as a lawyer in October 2019 after he published a photo of himself selling insecticide as a street vendor - an image that could be considered “a kind of art…[and] a complaint against the abuse of power” by authorities who had forced the shutdown of his law firm he told RFA at the time.

An employee who answered the phone at the Ganzhou municipal railway police department declined to comment when contacted by Radio Free Asia on Thursday about Liu’s disappearance.

Meanwhile, veteran journalist Gao Yu has been taken to the eastern province of Shandong under police escort, while police in the southwestern province of Guizhou have placed more than a dozen members of the banned Guizhou Human Rights Forum under detention or house arrest, activists told Radio Free Asia.

Prominent dissidents Zha Jianguo and Ji Feng are both under house arrest or close surveillance, as is rights activist Li Wei, who posted that he was "going out to walk around and shop, with personal carers alongside," in an apparent reference to state security police minders.

Guizhou rights activists Chen Xi, Li Renke, Liao Shuangyuan, and Shen Youlian have all been placed under close surveillance, while a local Protestant church member said Guizhou pastor Yang Hua is currently under travel restrictions that will likely end in mid-March, after the National People's Congress closes.

NagaWorld union leader Chhim Sithar and eight co-defendants appeared for their first day of trial in Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday. Sithar and all her colleagues, except for one, denied the incitement charges against them.

Prosecutors claim that Sithar and her fellow union members are guilty of incitement to disturb security for leading a union strike for more than a year after Phnom Penh authorities declared the labor movement illegal.

Over the course of the three and a half hour hearing, Presiding judge Soeung Chakriya focused on questioning Sithar about the union’s funding, especially from international donors.

Sithar acknowledged she had requested and received funds to support the union’s activities from three international donors: U.S.-based non-profit East West Management Institute (EWMI), feminist NGO JASS and North American union Unite Here.

The three organizations could not be reached for comment.

Sithar said the union received $10,000 from EWMI, $15,000 from JASS and $5,000 from Unite Here as “humanitarian funds” to aid members laid off during Covid-19.

“I made proposals for receiving funds to support the union’s operations and humanitarian funds in helping members during COVID-19, and layoff jobs,” Sithar said.

Deputy prosecutor Seng Heang said that Sithar had led the illegal protest without permission from Phnom Penh municipal authorities and that international funds support the union’s illegal activities.

“I have observed they [workers] have protested [from] morning till evening with no other job [to support their livelihood],” he said.

“They’re volunteers who come [to strike] and they’re willing to do so,” Sithar replied.

She said the strike was peaceful, legal and protected by the Cambodian constitution’s right to freedom expression.

Approximately 1,300 workers initiated the strike on December 18, 2021 to demand the reinstatement of 365 laid off NagaWorld employees following mass lay-offs and lack of full severance pay. More than one year later, 100 employees still protest their lay-offs.

Sithar, president of the Labour Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employee of NagaWorld (LRSU), has stated the union has followed all legal protocol for the strike. The union has said it only launched a strike after all viable efforts at mediation were exhausted.

But Sithar and her eight fellow union members — Chhim Sokhorn, Hay Sopheap, Kleang Soben, Ry Sovandy, Sok Kongkea, Sok Narith, Sun Sreypich, and Touch Sereymeas — were arrested in January last year and placed in pre-trial detention. They were released from Prey Sar prison on bail in March.

Sithar was re-arrested in November last year and detained for allegedly violating bail.

Only one defendant, Kongkea, accepted the charges of incitement in court but later declined to speak with reporters.

Senior Adhoc investigator Yi Soksan said the government, Ministry of Labor and NagaWorld had unfairly dismissed efforts to resolve the strikers demands by instead handing the issue to the system.

“I see that the Royal Government as well as the Ministry of Labor does not seem to care about this labor dispute, they are [Nagaworld staff] laid off unfairly by the company and then the court charges with accusing them of inciting unrest and undermining social security.”

Ministry of Labor spokesperson Heng Sour said in a Telegram message to CamboJA that labor conflicts between former employees of NagaWorld have been settled at the court stage.

“However, he ministry will continue to mediate through the mechanism of the strike and demonstration commission at the request of the conflicting parties,” he said.

NagaWorld could not be reached for comment.

President of Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions Yang Sophorn attended the trial and said she believed LRSU members had legitimate reasons and legal cause to strike but this was ignored by the court.

“Prosecutor questioned tried to place blame, it isn’t about finding justice for Sithar only protecting the interests of the company,” Sophorn told CamboJA News. “[The court] does not mean to find justice for parties involved.”

“I think that the incitement charge was exaggerated because Sithar has tried to explain the root cause of striking and workers’ demands that they have a right to disagree with the employer,” Sophorn added.

Laid off NagaWorld union member Nop Tithboravy and around 100 fellow union members protested outside the court on the day of the hearing.

Tithboravy said she and her colleagues had received numerous threats from the government and struggled to support their families financially after more than one year of striking, refusing to accept the company’s terms.

“I hope the court will bring justice to everyone because we are doing a strike to seek freedom at our workplace and want to go back to work,” she said. “ We don’t have income to support our family, we want to go back to work.”

Tithboravy said the strikers would not end their strike unless the company reinstated all workers and the court dropped all charges against the union members.

The trial is scheduled to resume on February 28.

Outside the court following the hearing, Sithar’s younger brother Chhim Pros said his sister had only followed the law in leading the strike.

“[Sithar] has always helped people from a young age,” he said. “She is just an ordinary girl, she has no ability to destroy the peace in our country.”

The DKI Jakarta High Prosecutor's Office stated that the case of defamation of the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Panjaitan had been declared complete. The case ensnared two human rights activists, Fatia Maulidiyanti and Haris Azhar, as suspects.

"It's already P21, dated February 3, 2023," said Head of Legal Information Section for the DKI Prosecutor's Office Ade Sofyansyah, Monday, February 20, 2023.

P21 is a code in the world of law which means that the prosecutor has considered the case file to be complete. Ade said the prosecutor's office was ready for the second phase of the suspect transfer. "The DKI Prosecutor's Office is ready for stage 2," said Ade.

This case began with a video uploaded on Haris Azhar's YouTube entitled "There is Lord Luhut Behind the Economic Relations-Military Ops Intan Jaya General BIN Also Exists" on August 20, 2021. The video shows a conversation between Fatia and Haris about the results of a research entitled "Economy- The Politics of Military Deployment in Papua: The Intan Jaya Case".

The report states that the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Panjaitan still owns shares in the Toba Sejahtra Group company. The Toba Sejahtra Group, through its subsidiary, PT Tobacom Del Mandiri, is suspected of embracing a portion of PTMQ's shares. West Wits Mining as PTMQ shareholder shares shares with Tobacom in the Derewo River Gold Project.

Not accepting his name being associated with a mine in Papua, Luhut through his subordinates sent a subpoena to Fatia and Haris. The subpoena led to a report to Polda Metro Jaya. Polda investigators named Haris and Fatia suspects of defamation in March 2022.

In his report, Luhut considered the statements of the two activists to be slander and fake news. Luhut also plans to sue the two for Rp 100 billion.

Luhut's move to police Fatia and Haris was flooded with criticism. Andalas University constitutional law expert, Feri Amsari, for example, considers that Luhut violated at least two laws when reporting. According to him, as a state administrator Luhut cannot report on people who give criticism or input to the government.

"There is a law order that states administrators are not allowed to report citizens participating in providing input," he said in a virtual IM57+ Institute discussion, Saturday, March 26, 2022.

Feri also stated that the public's right to express opinions was protected by article 28 of the 1945 Constitution. Article 28 F of the 1945 Constitution also gave the public the right to manage the information to be conveyed.

An Afghan women’s rights activist has been detained in Kabul without any information on her whereabouts from Taliban authorities, as another woman was detained and beaten in northern Takhar province for calling for women’s rights.

Nargis Sadat was arrested while travelling in Pul-e-Surkh area of west Kabul on Sunday afternoon. Mrs. Sadat’s relatives told Rukhshana Media that she was not in good health and she had gone to the hospital for treatment. While on her way from the hospital to her sister’s house, she was detained at a checkpoint by Taliban forces in Kabul city’s district three.

The Taliban took Mrs. Sadat’s phone and went through it, then detained her on the grounds that it contained videos and photos of women protesting. Her family have not been allowed any information of her whereabouts.

“After her husband heard the news of her arrest, he went to the local police district. Narges’ phone was in the hands of the police chief there and he told Narges’ husband that she was a leader of the women’s protests so the police called the intelligence department to come and investigate her,” a source close to the family said.

Her husband was not even allowed to see her and make sure of her health condition, a family member told Rukhshana Media, adding that the Sadat’s have a 10-year-old son who was not coping well mentally.

Narges Sadat, is a leading member of the Afghan Powerful Women Movement.

About the Human Rights Defender: Mr. Wahengbam Joykumar is a RTI activist based in Manipur. He was the former Ombudsman at Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment GuaranteeSchemeMGNREGS, Imphal; East District, and Former Co-Convenor of NationalCampaign for Peoples' Right to Information, NCPRI. Mr. Joykumar has consistently taken a public stand against corruption and collusion of Manipur government officials with armed opposition groups.

On December 7, 2022, Mr. Joykumar Wahengbam had submitted a complaint application to the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Manipur to take necessary action against (1) the Hon’ble Minister (CAF & PD), (2) the Commissioner, (CAF & PD) namely Bobby Waikhom, IAS and (3) the Deputy Secretary of Manipur (CAF & PD) namely T. Vei,MSS, Governtment of Manipur of Manipur for relating to support and criminal conspiracy with an Armed Opposition group/ proscribe group, In 2022, Mr. Joykumar Wahengbam was threatened by an insurgency group based in Manipur to withdraw the application which he had filed as a PIL to High Court of Manipur to ensure the distribution of rice under PMGKAY during the Covid-19 times.

On August 16, 2020, he was picked up from his residence at Wangkhei, Imphal East at by Imphal Police Station and detained him around two hours at the Imphal Police station for posting a comment on his Facebook. Background of the Incident: On January 24, 2023,two unidentified men in a white Mahindra XUV 300, shot dead Laishram Rameshwor Singh (55), in Thoubal District, Manipur.

Mr. Laishram Rameshwor Singh was a retired army personnel and also current member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the convener of BJP ex-serviceman cell. He was admitted to Raj Medicity in Imphal after the shooting but succumbed to bullet injuries.

According to the police,after a chase and search operation, the vehicle used in the crime and the driver of the vehicle was arrested. The man was identified as Naorem RickySingh alias Amu, son of N Kesho of Keinou Thongthak Maning Leikai, Bishnupur District, staying at Haobam Marak Irom Leikai. Imphal West District. The police also recovered one empty case of .32 bullet from the place of the crime.

Later, the main accused, Ayekpam Keshorjit, 46, surrendered himself before Inspector P Achouba Meitei.A licensed gun, a .32 pistol, two magazines and nine .32 bullets were seized from his possession. One mobile handset Samsung A70 belonging to the accused was also seized. Mr.Ayekpam Keshorjit’s wife claimed that her husband was a RTI activist, and he shot L Rameshwor in self-defence. Details of the Incident: On January 28, 2023, at round 8:10 pm, two gypsy vans filled with security personnel, led by Mr. W. Ibocha Singh MPS, reached the residence of Wahengbam Joykumar in Imphal East. The policemen reached the back door of the house, which was opened by the HRD’s wife, Ms. Wahengbam Purnimashi. The policemen asked her if this was Mr. Joykumar’s residence. His wife replied in the affirmative and requested the security personnel to come to the main gate. Some personnel got inside the courtyard and told her to call her husband. Mr. Joykumar came out from the house and the security personnel told him that they have come to arrest him in relation with a murder case. The security personnel did not allow Mr. Joykumar to change his clothesand one personnel stayed with him in his room as he changed his clothes. The security personnel also interrogated his wife and got her to sign an arrest memo which they bought according to which the time of arrest is 8:10 pm. An FIR was filed against him (FIR No. 17 (1) 2023 TBLPS) under Indian Penal Code sections 307; ( Attempt to murder);326, (causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapon)IPC 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention; IPC 25 (1-B) (in Arms ActWhoever—. (a) acquires, has in his possession, or carries any firearm or ammunition in contravention of section 3).

At around 8:21 pm, the security personnel took Joykumar to the Thoubal police station.He was detained in the police station for two hours during which time he was allowed to contact his lawyer. Mr. Joykumar was produced in front of the Judicial Magistrate Thoubal and has been remanded to police custody till February 02, 2023.

On February 2, 2023, Joykumar Wahengbam was produced in the court at around 3:30 pm. but the court rejected his bail, and his lawyer will apply for regular bail in future. HRD Mr. Joykumar continues to be in Central Jail at the time of writing.

Civil society groups in Manipur have condemned the arrest of Mr. Joykumar. HRDA believes that the arrest of Mr. Joykumar is an act of reprisal for frequently speaking up on issues related to the Right to Information and a misuse of powers by the Manipur police. The civil society groups also demanded that advocate Joykumar’s professional and legitimate action of advising his client cannot be construed in any way as criminal conspiracy and that he should be released immediately.

The police arrested 13 students from the Jayapura University of Science and Technology (USTJ) who raised the Morning Star flag during a demonstration at the local campus in Padang Bulan, Jayapura.

Jayapura Police Chief Kombes Victor Mackbon said that apart from raising the Morning Star flag, the dozens of students with the help of their colleagues carried out anarchic acts and threw stones at officers when the action was about to be dispersed.

In fact, the police were forced to fire tear gas to disperse the student anarchist action.

"Four police personnel were injured in the incident, so they were immediately ordered to receive an autopsy," said Kombes Mackbon quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, November 10.

The Kapolresta has yet to confirm the status of the 13 students who were secured, whether they are pure USTJ students or not. "Investigators are still examining the 13 students," he added.

Separately, USTJ Deputy Chancellor for Student Affairs Isak Rumbarar acknowledged that there were students who were secured at the Jayapura City Police.

"I can't say for sure whether they are all USTJ students or not because currently they are still being handled by the Jayapura City Police," said Isak.

Isak admitted that he was shocked when he learned that the demonstration by students on his campus was accompanied by the raising of the Morning Star flag, prompting the security forces to act according to applicable law.

According to him, USTJ provides space for students to express their aspirations, but student actions that violate the law by raising the Morning Star flag cannot be justified.

"There was an pelting action by a group of students and the police fired tear gas," explained Isak Rumbarar.

The Papuan Student Alliance of the Bali City Committee is planning a demonstration at the Renon Roundabout, opposing the G20 Summit and demanding that the government give the Papuan people the right to self-determination. Then there was a riot. It all started when the masses were going to the point of action, around 9.30. They also carried posters with their demands. “Prior to the action point, we were immediately intercepted by a large number of mass organizations, pecalang and Banjar Renon village officials. Then silenced and repressed the masses, and shouted racist words," said the spokesman for the action, Herry Meaga, to Tirto, Wednesday, November 16, 2022.

At 10 o'clock, the demonstrators were surrounded and pelted with stones, wood and bottles. Even mass organizations are said to have used slingshots to block them. "Then we couldn't stop the repression from the mass organizations because the number of mass organizations was increasing, they kept pushing and pushing back the comrades," said Herry. So the action coordinator ordered the masses to return to the dormitories. An hour later, the masses read out their position statements. In this incident, six students were injured due to the alleged assault and seizure of alliance flags and posters, and severing megaphone cables. The Head of Public Relations of the Bali Police, Kombes Pol Stefanus Satake Bayu, regretted this incident. At that time, pecalang were on guard around the student dormitory, there were no police. He also stated that there was no letter of action notification from the student alliance to the police. "There was no notification letter for the demonstration (of Papuan students). If they have a notification, we can help with security," he said to Tirto. "But we have appealed to organizations that want to demonstrate to postpone it, because Indonesia is currently having an international event. The TNI and Polri are focusing on securing the G20 Summit," Bayu continued. Today is the last day of the G20 Summit in Bali. With regard to Circular Letter Number 35425/SEKRET/2022 concerning Enforcement of Restrictions on Community Activities in the Context of Implementing the G20 Presidency, which was signed by the Governor of Bali Wayan Koster on October 25, 2022, it is only natural that students are prohibited from demonstrating. The circular letter emphasized that "Restrictions on community activities in the South Kuta District, Badung Regency, and South Denpasar will be implemented on 12-17 November 2022, covering education, government and private offices, traditional ceremonies, religious activities, except for health facilities."

The Alliance of Student Executive Boards (BEM) together with hundreds of students from all over Jayapura held a protest against the G20 Summit at the Lower Gate of Cenderawasih University (Uncen), Abepura Jayapura Papua, Wednesday (16/11).

The action against the G20 Summit began at 08.00 Papua Time. The demonstrators gathered at four points, namely Expo Waena, Upper Uncen, Jayapura University of Science and Technology (USTJ) Campus, Uncen Faculty of Medicine, and demonstrators from Lower Uncen.

The masses of action began to gather together at the Lower Uncen Gate. At around 11.30 Papua Time, the demonstrators from Uncen Atas descended and. Here there was a clash between the demonstrators and the demonstrators were forcibly dispersed by security forces from the police.

Around 12.00 Papua Time, the situation became chaotic when the police fired tear gas, removed and shot the demonstrators with rubber bullets, threw stones and arrested the demonstrators.

At that time the mass action started to heat up because the TNI/Polli entered the campus area and attacked students so that several students were hit, lost their cell phones, motorbike keys and noken.

The names of the students who were detained by the police were Gerson Pigai, an Uncen student, as the Public Field Coordinator. Both Yabet Lukas Degei, Uncen students.

Third, Abel Pauwok, Uncen student; fourth, Uncen's student Bayage Dictionary; fifth, Ayus Heluka, Uncen student, sixth Lukas Gane, Uncen student and seventh, Tinus Heluka, Uncen student.

The seven students are still at Jayapura Porlesta and are receiving assistance from the Papuan Legal Aid Institute (LBH).

The demonstrators could not proceed to the target location of the Papua Province People's Representative Council (DPR) office because the situation was getting hotter and impossible. Then at 12.30 the demonstrators were dispersed by TNI/Polri officers.

The West Papua Regional Police of Manokwari Police have arrested 15 people suspected of being involved in the treason act when dozens of residents commemorated the anniversary of West Papua New Guinea (WPNG) at the Wosi Manokwari terminal, Sunday (28/11).

Head of the Manokwari Police Station AKBP Parasian Herman Gultom confirmed that 15 people had been arrested and they were currently undergoing investigations at the Manokwari Police Headquarters to find out their role in the action.

"The action allegedly contradicts the ideology of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia but is covered with worship activities, because there are cries for an independent Papua to the display of symbols that are prohibited in our country," said the police chief.

The police chief said that based on the initial examination, the 15 people were identified as field coordinators, community liaisons and sympathizers who were present at the prohibited activities.

"At the time of the action, they said that their president was currently in the Netherlands. Therefore, after the investigation, we will hold a hearing to determine who should be named as a suspect in accordance with Article 106 of the Criminal Code on treason," said the police chief.

He explained that the action which was held around 11.30-12.00 WIT at the Wosi terminal began with worship activities and continued with speeches up to the unfurling of the Morning Star flag.

"Our members have made an appeal, but the appeal was not heeded, so law enforcement measures were taken to enforce the forced dissolution to secure the 15 people," said the police chief.

After the forced disbandment and the arrest of 15 people during the WPNG action at the Wosi terminal, the security situation for the Manokwari city area was under control, the Police Chief appealed to the people of Manokwari not to be provoked by provocative issues, and to continue their activities as usual "Until Sunday night the Manokwari situation was under control, the community could carry out their activities as usual and were not easily provoked by various provocative issues," said the police chief.

The police arrested five people suspected of being sympathizers of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB).

They were detained during a commemoration of International Human Rights Day in the Uncen Abepura campus area, Jayapura City, Papua, Saturday (10/12/2022).

Jayapura City Police Chief Kombes Victor Mackbon said the action did not receive permission from his party.

Firm action was forced to be taken because the masses put up resistance when given persuasive appeals.

"The action that was carried out today was not permitted, because there were several requirements that could not be met," he told a number of journalists, including Tribun-Papua.com.

Initially the police personnel called on the masses from the KNPB to disperse.

However, it is regrettable that there was resistance from the person who was suspected of being the provocateur of the action.

He said the five demonstrators who were detained were now taken to his headquarters for questioning.

The former Mimika Police Chief emphasized that his party always tries to open up space for the community to express their aspirations in a dignified manner.

"However, there are always provocateurs who take advantage of the situation to disrupt the smooth running of Kamtibmas, of course we always anticipate this," he said.

Meanwhile, Kombes Victor said the current situation in Jayapura City was safe and conducive.

Eight activists from the Indonesian People's Front for West Papua and the Papuan Student Alliance were arrested by the police in Ternate City, North Maluku, on Thursday (1/12/2022), during a demonstration commemorating the raising of the Morning Star flag at the Nieuw Guinea Raad Office ( NGR) or Dutch New Guinea Council in Holland on 1 December 1961. The eight activists were taken to the Ternate Police Headquarters, and were questioned there.

This was stated by the Head of the Department of Unification of the Indonesian People's Front for West Papua, Anton Trisno, to Jubi via the WhatsApp service, Thursday. Anton stated that the eight people arrested by the police were activists from the Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-WP), the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP), the Indonesian Student League for Democracy (LMID), and individuals.

Those arrested by the police were Jack (FRI-WP activist), Hengky (AMP activist), Dino (AMP activist), Susan (AMP activist), Malo (LMID activist), Kama (LMID activist), Rino (individual), and The (individual) wave. "Our friends were arrested by the police while holding a demonstration commemorating the embryonic independence of the West Papuan people on December 1, 1961," said Anton.

He said the December 1 commemoration action was held in Ternate since Thursday at around 10.46 WIT. During the long march, they met a group of motorcycle taxi drivers. "Shortly after, police and soldiers in plain clothes [came to] the location of the action, and opposed the action, because this is Ternate, not Papua," said Anton.

Moments later, the police came. At around 10.58 WIT, the demonstrators for the December 1 commemoration were dispersed by the security forces along with motorcycle taxi drivers, on the grounds that they were disturbing the activities of other residents.

“The mass action was dispersed by motorcycle taxi drivers, police and soldiers. [They said], 'if you want to say that Papua is free, look for another country'," Anton said, imitating the words of the group that broke up the demonstration.

When the masses moved in the Jatiland Mall Ternate area, clashes again occurred at around 11.00 WIT. “[A number of participants in] the action were injured, and eight people were arrested. They were secured at the Ternate Police for questioning," said Anton.

Anton Trisno expressed disappointment with the disbandment of the demonstration. "We are very disappointed with the arbitrary arrests by the police of FRI-WP, AMP, and Individual activists," he said.

Anton asked the police to immediately release the arrested activists. "We ask for solidarity so we can monitor and advocate for it," he said.

A number of students from Papua who are members of the Human Rights and Democracy Forum Alliance (Formasi) held a demonstration in front of the Widya Mandira Catholic University Kupang Campus on Jalan Ahmad Yani, Merdeka Village, Kota Lama District, Kupang City, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Thursday (1/12/2022). Dozens of students who are a combination of the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) of Kupang City, the Papuan Student Communication Forum (Fokmap) of NTT and the West Papua Indonesian People's Forum (FRI-WP), held a demonstration to voice human rights and democracy issues in Papua. During the action, students carried banners that read their demands. Starting from human rights and democracy issues in Papua, rejection of plans to exploit the Wae Sano geothermal in NTT and rejection of ticket increases and business monopoly in the Komodo National Park in NTT, as well as rejection of the RKUHP. During the demonstration, the students were disbanded by Community Organizations (Ormas). ) Guard Flobamora XXX. The police officers guarding the action then took the students to the Kelapa Lima Sector Police Headquarters for safekeeping. "That's right, our members have secured them (Papuan students) at the Kelapa Lima Police," said Head of Public Relations for the NTT Regional Police, Senior Commissioner Ariasandy to Kompas.com, Thursday (1/12/2022). After that, the student from Papua was taken to the Kupang City Police Headquarters for security reasons. Then, the Kupang City Police took steps to secure the dispute between the Ormas and the students. The police also appealed to both parties not to take actions that violate the law which affect stability, security and public order in Kupang City. "Members of the Kupang City Police then sent the students home using a bus belonging to the Kupang City Police to the Oesapa Village, Kelapa Lima District," he said.

A demonstration demanding the repeal of the Criminal Code (KUHP) in Bandung, Thursday (15/12/2022) afternoon, ended in chaos. The action, which was carried out by hundreds of masses from a combination of students from all over West Java, was dispersed by the police.

The action this time was the form of the umpteenth time rejecting the Criminal Code which was later passed by the DPR and the government some time ago. The masses carried the theme of the action "West Java Sues, Bandung Seas Anger".

One of the participants in the action, Audi, said that initially the action went smoothly. The students demanded that the Criminal Code, which contains problematic articles, be repealed immediately. They gave speeches voicing their demands in front of the West Java DPRD Building until 18.00 WIB.

The demonstrators had asked to have an audience with members of the West Java DPRD, but several people's representatives only stood at the door, not meeting the demonstrators.

After the sunset call to prayer, conditions began to become unfavorable. Allegedly there was a provocation that made the action heated up.

"And finally, right after the call to prayer, we started to break up," said Audi, to Bandungmoving.id when met at the Bandung Polrestabes, Thursday night.

In the midst of a chaotic situation, the masses asked members of the West Java DPRD to leave. But then the first water cannon shots started at around 19.30 WIB. This causes the masses to scatter.

After having retreated for a while, the masses returned to the fence area of the West Java DPRD Building. It was then that the students said they started receiving tear gas shots. The crowd scattered, some of them fainted.

Police armed with batons then chased and dispersed the demonstrators. As a result, a number of students were injured, several people were rushed to the hospital.

"We are advancing again, the tear gas was shot behind the (first) DPRD fence, only then the second tear gas was shot out. There the masses started to get upset, there started a lot of victims from students in West Java," said Audi.

Audi itself became one of the victims. The student from a private university in Bandung admitted that he was hit with a bat and was knocked unconscious. Two of his friends were even caught and taken to the Bandung Polrestabes.

Not only that, several other campus students also became victims of repression. Among others, from UIN Bandung. Preliminary data from the students noted that 17 people were arrested and taken to the Bandung Polrestabes. This data is still being updated.

Head of BEM Unpad, Virdian Aurellio regretted the repressive actions of the police in securing the action. He recorded how many students were examined and their devices were detained to be taken to the Bandung Polrestabes.

"We didn't do anything to point fingers, where here, we checked our wallets, checked our cellphones, then our friends were told to squat like criminals," he said.

On the other hand, a number of public defender activists from the Bandung Legal Aid Institute (LBH), the Indonesian Legal Aid Association (PBHI), and LBH Berani experienced difficulty accessing them when they tried to provide legal assistance to students who were arrested at the Bandung Polrestabes. New legal assistance can be given at 22.25 WIB.

"Like the previous pattern regarding entry, we provide access to legal assistance, of course we encounter difficulties. To be precise, they were prevented even though we had received complaints, we were carrying out legal aid work, but still (obstructed)," said Heri Pramono from LBH Bandung.

The commemoration of International Human Rights Day (HAM) December 10, 2022 was colored by mass actions in Papua. Action oration just about to start, police officers dispersed the masses of action. Several people were reportedly detained at the local police station.

Information gathered by the media from a number of sources, at least 85 people were arrested by the security forces at several points in the area when they were about to commemorate 74 years of world human rights day (10 December 1948-20 December 2022) with a peaceful demonstration, Saturday (10/12/2022).

Forced dispersal and mass arrests took place in Sentani, Jayapura district. Likewise in Wamena, Jayawijaya district. As well as in Abepura and Waena, the city of Jayapura.

According to Ones Suhuniap, spokesperson for the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), 108 protesters were arrested by security forces.

“Earlier there were arrests of 108 people. First in Wamena 30 people. Then in Sentani 51 people and in the city of Jayapura there are 4 people," he said in response to confirmation from suarapapua.com via WhatsApp, Saturday night.

Quoting field reports, said Ones, the silencing of democratic space by means of forced dissolution to arrests and beatings of peaceful demonstrators took place in various cities in the Land of Papua.

"Peaceful demonstrations to commemorate world human rights day were carried out in 9 cities in Papua. Among others, in the city of Jayapura, Jayapura district in Sentani, Gunung Bintang district in Oksibil, Jayawijaya district in Wamena, Tolikara district, Lanny Jaya district, Manokwari and Sorong.”

Outside Papua, Ones explained, peaceful demonstrations were carried out by Papuan students organized by the Indonesian Consulate which were centered in Manado and Gorontalo.

Sentani

The peaceful demonstration in Sentani, Jayapura district, was carried out at 6.15 WIT. With the action point at the eye of the Post 7 Sentani road.

"At 7.30 WIT, police from the Jayapura Police arrived at the demonstrators and forcibly dispersed them. Several action mobs were hit. There were also arrests. 51 people were arrested,” he explained.

Ones confirmed that the action was facilitated by the KNPB Sentani Region to commemorate 72 years of world human rights day and at the same time urged the Indonesian government to resolve various cases of human rights violations in the Land of Papua and demand an immediate referendum as a democratic solution.

Of the 51 people transported by the police from Post 7 Sentani, five of them were injured.

"The victims were injured on behalf of Agustina Darla Kobak (on the head), Zeth (on the head), Insu Ina Su (on the arm), Nodi Tepmul (on the hand), and Frangki Kogoya (on the hand)."

The names secured by the Jayapura Police: Agus Bahabol (person in charge), Sadrack Lagowan (General Coordinator), Demi Tabuni, Silis Uopdana, Nando, Agn, Malis Uopkulir, Dortius Tenget, Saugas Lokon, Oktovianus Wakel, Betok Uropmabin, Eleck Tepmul , Gaulin Balingga, Inzu Ina Su, Frengky Kogoya, Menis Siep, Agustina Darla Kobak, Yosua, Yopina Pahabol, Ance Yoku, Milka, Hinus Siep.

Ektam Kalakmabin, Melly Tepmul, Kurus DM Felle, Oviana Kha Websa, Meksi Taplo, Eiko Taplo, Yan Itlay, Imer Matuan, Elison Pahabol, Eco Passe, Bella Wesapia, Berto Taplo, Gerry Matuan, Steven Tengket (Wakorlap), Mario Kassar, Miles Itlay, Fehri Molama, Elli Sugun, Man Waker, Charles Kogoya.

"We have not recorded the other 10 people," said Ones.

"The demonstrators who were arrested have been transported to the Jayapura Police in Doyo," he continued.

Security forces also took a number of action devices. In the form of billboards, megaphones, pamphlets, command lines and seven KNPB flags.

In addition, 1 Readmi 05 handset belonging to Sadrack Lagowan was also confiscated.

Wamena

Forced dispersal of mass demonstrations and mass arrests also occurred in Wamena, the capital of Jayawijaya district. Apart from the gathering point at the Mission Wouma Market, police officers dispersed the demonstrators at the Jibama Market.

Reportedly, 30 people were taken to the Jayawijaya Police.

"12 people from the Mission Wouma market point, 13 people from the Jibama market, and from Potikelek 5 people were arrested and taken to Jayawijaya Police," he explained.

The protesters from the Wouma Mission Market point that were secured were Nopius Asso, Jhon Iksomon, Nahason Pahabol, Niel Asso, Wene Kabak, Niris Pahabol, Abet Kabak, Tolak Asso, Nikon Kabak, Wei, Sini Ulunggi, Alimos Pahabol.

From Jibama Market, namely Othen Gombo, Mau Iaba, Wilem Kenelak, Ima Alya, Pokemon Wantik, Masongan Endambia, Fakalis Kisa, Yalince Wandikbo, Lidia Wandikbo, Yos Logo, Yosael Gombo, Aten Jaga, Junani Sibak.

Meanwhile, from the Potikelek point, namely Erik Aliknoe, Wenealem Y Kabak, Aten Asso, Lani Yikwa, Rosyan Zine Kogoya.

"All of them are KNPB members," said Ones while adding that the 25 people were undergoing examination.

Before the security forces disbanded, Ones received a report that the mass demonstrations in the context of World Human Rights Day in Wamena had started to move since 08.00 at several points.

Apart from the three gathering points which were forcibly disbanded and dozens of people arrested, said Suhuniap, the mass demonstrations from other gathering points were blockaded.

"Meanwhile, the demonstrators from Sinakma moved at 09.56 to successfully march towards the Jayawijaya DPRD office, but the gate was closed. The masses occupied in front of the DPRD office on Jalan Yos Sudarso Wamena."

Student Action

The commemoration of World Human Rights Day held by the Jayapura Alliance of Student Executive Boards (BEM) at the Uncen Abepura campus was also disbanded by security forces.

The student action in front of the Uncen Auditorium was prevented until several students were secured by members of the Jayapura Police.

The identities of the demonstrators detained were: Engel AP You, Tayai Kotopa Keiya, Olison Pakage, Iso Pekei and Yosep Douw.

The report that Ones received from Francis Yobee, the General Coordinator, stated that a number of students were treated harshly and even injured.

Seven people were beaten, namely Nando Boma (hit in the head), Okto Mote (swollen spine, injured finger), Yoten Mirin (hand wound), Hendrik Muyapa (hand wound, cellphone confiscated), Yabet Degei (back swollen, his clothes were torn), X Dogomo (ear wound), Olison Pakage (head bleeding).

Meanwhile at the Uncen Perumnas III Waena campus, the police dispersed the peaceful student demonstration. The action is centered on the upper Uncen gate.

Forcibly disbanded, the students moved to Perumnas I to join the Waena Expo demonstration masses.

Again, the police blockaded the demonstrators until they were forcibly dispersed at the Expo Waena bridge.

The demonstrators from Expo Waena, Buper and its surroundings gathered at the Papua Museum from 09.30 to 10.30 WIT, and were again disbanded.

The mass of protesters who gathered at the Abepura Circle also shared the same fate. Disbanded the security forces.

At around 13.00 WIT, the demonstrators from the USTJ campus, the lower Uncen campus headed for the Mimi hostel. The mass of action that was dispersed from Abe's circle also joined.

Gathering at the Mimin Dormitory's volleyball court, the masses delivered speeches and read out their position statements.

Manokwari and Sorong

In Manokwari, a peaceful demonstration to mark World Human Rights Day aimed at blocking the West Papua DPR office from the Manokwari Police and the Amban Police.

The action started at 09.00 WIT.

Both Amban and other points have been blockaded since morning.

In Sorong, the plan for peaceful action was centered in front of Ellin Maranata. From 7.00 WIT, at the location of the action, the security forces were on standby before the masses arrived.

The security forces appeared in full gear. By using cars and motorbikes, the security forces were on alert while terrorizing the mass action.

The mass of the KNPB action continued to unfurl banners, pamphlets and put up two KNPB organizational flags.

Beginning with a prayer, orations were delivered alternately at 9.00 WIT.

Delivery of speeches for one hour until 10.00 WIT.

The apparatus then limited it because it had exceeded the time limit.

Several times the KNPB board led by Dengky Pagawak negotiated with the police because they had submitted notification letters about plans for peaceful demonstrations.

Plans for a long march to the DPRD office were canceled because officials did not allow it.

In a matter of two minutes the mass of action must disperse.

Avoiding various bad possibilities, the action was ended after members of the Polres began moving to remove the command lines, pamphlets, banners, and took the KNPB flag.

"The demonstrators were forcibly dispersed around 10.58 WIT."

Unable to survive due to the strength of the number of armed troops, the demonstrators dispersed safely.

Four Current Districts

Actions to commemorate Human Rights Day which were held in four other districts: Lanny Jaya, Tolikara, Gunung Bintang, and Paniai, went smoothly.

Human Rights Day commemoration activities in Tiom, the district capital of Lanny Jaya, were centered in front of the Nirigi Hotel, Tiom.

From the districts, the masses have been moving toward a central point since 08.00 WIT.

The demonstrators were intercepted by the security forces, finally all were able to gather at 13.10 WIT. Then deliver speeches alternately.

The reading of the statement ended the peaceful demonstration in Tiom.

The same action was carried out in Karubaga, the district capital of Tolikara.

Celebration of World Human Rights Day in Tolikara district starts at 09.46 WIT. In general, it runs safely and smoothly.

Likewise in Oksibil, the capital of the Bintang Mountains district. Attended by hundreds of people, the commemoration of World Human Rights Day took place from 09.00 WIT until finished.

In Paniai district, the action was centered on the Karel Gobay field, Enarotali, East Paniai district. Attended by residents from various districts. The masses moved from morning to where the pulpit was free.

The peaceful demonstration was escorted by police officers from the Paniai Police.

A veteran journalist known for covering rights abuses in Indonesia’s militarised Papua region says a bomb exploded outside his home yesterday and a journalists group has called it an act of “intimidation” threatening press freedom.

No one was injured in the blast near his home in the provincial capital Jayapura, said Victor Mambor, editor of Papua’s leading news website Jubi, who visited New Zealand in 2014.

Police said they were investigating the explosion and that no one had yet claimed responsibility.

“Yes, someone threw a bomb,” Papua Police spokesperson Ignatius Benny told Benar News. “The motive and perpetrators are unknown.”

The Jayapura branch of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) condemned the explosion as a “terrorist bombing”.

In Sydney, the Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) and Pacific Media Watch in New Zealand protested over the incident and called for a full investigation.

Mambor said he heard the sound of a motorcycle at about 4 am and then an explosion about a minute later.

‘Shook like earthquake’ “It was so loud that my house shook like there was an earthquake,” he told Benar News as reported by Radio Free Asia.

“I also checked the source of the explosion and smelt sulfur coming from the side of the house.”

The explosion left a hole in the road, he said.

The incident was not the first to occur outside Mambor’s home. In April 2021, windows were smashed and paint sprayed on his car in the middle of the night.

Mambor is also an advocate for press freedom in Papua. In that role, he has criticised Jakarta’s restrictions on the media in Papua, as well as its other policies in his troubled home province.

The AJI awarded Mambor its press freedom award in August 2022, saying that through Jubi, “Victor brings more voices from Papua, amid domination of information that is biased, one-sided and discriminatory.”

“AJI in Jayapura strongly condemns the terrorist bombing and considers this an act of intimidation that threatens press freedom in Papua,” it said in a statement.

‘Voice the truth’ call “AJI Jayapura calls on all journalists in the land of Papua to continue to voice the truth despite obstacles. Justice should be upheld even though the sky is falling,” said AJI chair Lucky Ireeuw.

Amnesty International Indonesia urged the police to find those responsible.

“The police must thoroughly investigate this incident, because this is not the first time … meaning there was an omission that made the perpetrators feel free to do it again, to intimidate and threaten journalists,” Amnesty’s campaign manager in Indonesia, Nurina Savitri, told BenarNews.

The Papua region, located at the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago, has been the site of a decades-old pro-independence insurgency where both government security forces and rebels have been accused of committing atrocities against civilians.

Foreign journalists have been largely barred from the area, with the government insisting it could not guarantee their safety. Indonesian journalists allege that officials make their work difficult by refusing to provide information.

The armed elements of the independence movement have stepped up lethal attacks on Indonesian security forces, civilians and targets such as construction of a trans-Papua highway that would make the Papuan highlands more accessible.

Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, has accused Indonesian security forces of intimidation, arbitrary arrests, torture, extrajudicial killings and mass forced displacement in Papua.

Security forces kill 36 Last month, Indonesian activist group KontraS said 36 people were killed by security forces and pro-independence rebels in the Papua and West Papua provinces in 2022, an increase from 28 in 2021.

In Sydney, Joe Collins of the AWPA said in a statement: “These acts of intimidation against local journalists in West Papua threaten freedom of the press.

“It is the local media in West Papua that first report on human rights abuses and local journalists are crucial in reporting information on what is happening in West Papua”.

Collins said Canberra remained silent on the issue — ‘the Australian government is very selective in who it criticises over their human rights record.”

There was no problem raising concerns about China or Russia over their record, “but Canberra seems to have great difficulty in raising the human rights abuses in West Papua with Jakarta.”

Protesters pushed to the brink by China's strict COVID measures in Shanghai called for the removal of the country's all-powerful leader and clashed with police Sunday as crowds took to the streets in several cities in an astounding challenge to the government.

Police forcibly cleared the demonstrators in China's financial capital who called for Xi Jinping's resignation and the end of the Chinese Communist Party's rule — but hours later people rallied again in the same spot, and social media reports indicated protests also spread to at least seven other cities, including the capital of Beijing, and dozens of university campuses.

Largescale protests are exceedingly rare in China, where public expressions of dissent are routinely stifled — but a direct rebuke of Xi, the country’s most powerful leader in decades, is extraordinary.

Three years after the virus first emerged, China is the only major country still trying to stop transmission of COVID-19 — a “zero COVID” policy that regularly sees millions of people confined to their homes for weeks at a time and requires near-constant testing. The measures were originally widely accepted for minimizing deaths while other countries suffered devastating waves of infections, but that consensus has begun to fray in recent weeks.

Then on Friday, 10 people died in a fire in an apartment building, and many believe their rescue was delayed because of excessive lockdown measures. That sparked a weekend of protests, as the Chinese public’s ability to tolerate the harsh measures has apparently reached breaking point.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered late Saturday in Shanghai, which experienced a devastating lockdown in the spring in which people struggled to secure groceries and medicines and were forcefully taken into centralized quarantine.

On a street named for the city in China's far west where the fire happened, one group of protesters brought candles, flowers and signs honoring those who died in the blaze. Another, according to a protester who insisted on anonymity, was more active, shouting slogans and singing the national anthem.

In a video of the protest seen by The Associated Press, chants sounded loud and clear: “Xi Jinping! Step down! CCP! Step down!” Xi, arguably China’s most dominant leader since Mao Zedong, was recently named to another term as head of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, and some expect him to try to stay in power for life.

The protester and another, who gave only his last name, Zhao, confirmed the chants. Both insisted on having their identities shielded because they fear arrest or retribution.

The atmosphere of the protest encouraged people to speak about topics considered taboo, including the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in which the ruling Communist Party had ordered troops to fire on pro-democracy student demonstrators, the unnamed protester said. Some also called for an official apology for the deaths in the fire in Urumqi in the Xinjiang region. One member of the Uyghur ethnic group that is native to Xinjiang and has been the target of a sweeping security crackdown shared his experiences of discrimination and police violence.

“Everyone thinks that Chinese people are afraid to come out and protest, that they don’t have any courage,” said the protester, who said it was his first time demonstrating. “Actually in my heart, I also thought this way. But then when I went there, I found that the environment was such that everyone was very brave.”

Initially peaceful, the scene turned violent in the early hours of Sunday. Hundreds of police surrounded the protesters and broke up the first more active group before they came for the second as they tried to move people off the main street. The protester said that he saw multiple people being taken away, forced by police into vans, but could not identify them.

The protester named Zhao said one of his friends was beaten by police and two were pepper sprayed. He said police stomped his feet as he tried to stop them from taking his friend away. He lost his shoes in the process and left the protest barefoot.

Zhao said protesters yelled slogans, including one that has become a frequent rallying cry: “(We) do not want PCR (tests), but want freedom.”

On Sunday afternoon, crowds returned to the same spot and again railed against PCR tests. People stood and filmed as police started shoving at people.

A crowdsourced list on social media showed that there were also demonstrations at 50 universities. Videos posted on social media that said they were filmed in Nanjing in the east, Guangzhou in the south, Beijing in the north and at least five other cities showed protesters tussling with police in white protective suits or dismantling barricades used to seal off neighborhoods. The Associated Press could not independently verify all the protests.

In Beijing, students at the nation's top college, Tsinghua University, held a demonstration Sunday afternoon in front of one of the school's cafeterias. Three young women stood there initially with a simple message of condolence for the victims of the Urumqi apartment fire, according to a witness, who refused to be named out of fear of retribution, and images of the protest the AP has seen.

Students shouted, “freedom of speech” and sang The Internationale, the socialist anthem. The deputy Communist Party secretary of the school arrived at the protest, promising to hold a schoolwide discussion.

Meanwhile, two cities in China’s northwest, where residents have been confined to their homes for up to four months, eased some antivirus controls Sunday after public protests Friday.

Meanwhile, Urumqi, where the fire occurred, as well as the smaller city of Korla were preparing to reopen markets and other businesses in areas deemed at low risk of virus transmission and to restart bus, train and airline service, state media reported.

One protester, who goes by the name Chuanchuan (川川) online, was forced into a police vehicle, with a dozen other protesters, guarded by 3-5 police officers in Shanghai, near Huaihaizhong Road on November 27. She managed to send out a few messages in WeChat groups from her phone before she could no longer be contacted.  A protester named Jin Jiawei (金嘉伟) was seen detained by police at Urumqi Road in Shanghai in the evening on November 27; they have not been heard from since their detention. A man, dressed in black, wearing dark-color gloves, short curly hair, who appeared to witnesses to be an ethnic Uyghur (name unknown), was seen being taken away by police at Wangping Road, Chengdu, the site of a protest on November 27, at around 10:00 pm, who has since gone missing.  Also in Chengdu, near Wangping Road, on November 27, at approximately 9:00pm, about 50 people at the scene of a protest were said to have been detained and taken to the Longquanyi police station. Friends of some of the detained said they still could not reach them more than 30 hours later. A person named Huang Tai (黃昊) who was apparently at the protests on Urumqi Road in Shanghai was taken away on November 26, whose whereabouts remain unknown, according to information posted on the Telegram Channel. The Channel also posted that demonstrators Xiu Di (修迪) and Wang Daiyue (王黛玥) were detained and put on a bus in Shanghai on November 27. They were said to have been taken to Xujiahui Police Station and they have been missing since.  On November 27, around 10pm, at the demonstration on Urumqi Road, Shanghai, Qin Cao (秦超), resident of Anhui province, was taken away by police. His whereabouts remain unknown.

A midwife who was arrested during a crackdown on healthcare workers in Mandalay late last month has died in regime custody, according to a doctor familiar with the situation.

Poe Thandar Aung, who was formerly employed at the Central Women’s Hospital in Mandalay, died on Monday night, said Dr. Soe Thura Zaw, who is taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against military rule.

“I heard the news from three sources. We learned this morning that Ma Poe was dead,” he told Myanmar Now on Tuesday.

Poe Thandar Aung was arrested in Mandalay on October 29 along with others accused of sending medical supplies to anti-junta forces.

Also arrested were Dr. Min Zaw Oo, of the Mandalay University of Medicine’s Surgery Department, nurses Zin Mar Win and Yoon Nandar Tun, a woman named Kyi Thadar Phyu, and three employees at a bus station in Aungmyay Thazan Township.

The arrests were part of a crackdown launched after regime forces seized nearly 5 million kyat ($2,365) worth of medicine and other supplies from a truck travelling between the towns of Pale and Gangaw, west of Mandalay, on October 27.

More than a dozen people were taken into custody in the first wave of arrests, and at least 16 more have since been detained, according to CDM sources.

“Our whole country is suffering because of a general who doesn’t want to retire. Myanmar is the only country where nurses are executed for doing their jobs,” said Dr. Soe Thura Zaw, referring to junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.

Myanmar Now has been unable to reach Poe Thandar Aung’s relatives to confirm reports of her death.

On Monday, another person taking part in the CDM named Hein Zaw Nyo wrote on social media that Dr. Min Zaw Oo had also been tortured while undergoing interrogation and was vomiting blood due to the beatings he had received.

“We don’t take up arms. We only provide medical service to the people. The military is targeting the healthcare community for defying the junta,” he wrote.

Hein Zaw Nyo’s allegations could not be independently confirmed at the time of reporting.

Since seizing power in February 2021, the military has killed 58 healthcare workers and arrested more than 700, according to Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG).

The regime has also destroyed more than 50 hospitals and clinics and at least 40 ambulances, the NUG reported last month.

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.

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.

A total of 10 students from a number of universities in the city of Bandung were arrested by the police during a demonstration against the increase in the price of fuel oil (BBM) which led to chaos, Thursday (23/9/2022). This was stated by one of the participants in the action who is also the spokesman for the West Java Student Alliance to Sue (AMJM), Agung Andrian.

According to him, the 10 students were arrested when the police tried to push back hundreds of students after the riots broke out. It is known that the riot in front of the West Java DPRD Building, Jalan Diponegoro, Bandung City, broke out after hundreds of students were desperate to force their way into the West Java DPRD Building, which was heavily guarded by the police.

The police, who tried to prevent the student action, finally fired water from a water cannon and tear gas into the crowd of students and pushed the students back towards Jalan Trunojoyo to Jalan Ir H Djuanda and Gedung Sate. "There were 10 participants in the action who were also arrested by the police after the rejection of fuel prices at the West Java DPRD Building," said Agung. The police themselves have not provided an official statement regarding the arrests of students from demonstrations against the increase in fuel prices.

The police released tear gas and forcibly dispersed a group of people consisting of students, labor organizations, fishermen, and civilian elements who took action against the increase in fuel prices in West Aceh Regency when they were about to enter the West Aceh District People's Representative Council (DPRK) office. As a result, 10 protest participants became victims of tear gas shooting and beatings by officers.

“Earlier we started the action at around 10.00 WIB in front of the DPRK office by giving speeches. Then at around 12.30 WIB we were forcibly dispersed by the police officers who carried out security," said Mullah Oges Cabuci, a participant in the action when confirmed by kompas.com, by telephone, Monday (12/09/2022).

According to Oges, the masses who are members of the Movement of the People's Alliance (AKAR) took to the streets to protest against the increase in fuel prices. In addition, rejecting the draft DKM Law and demanding the Government to increase labor wages by at least 15 percent initially went smoothly. However, their action was suddenly dispersed by the security forces.

"The crowd took action without friction in front of the DPRK office, but when they arrived at the DPRK gate, the police suddenly dispersed with tear gas," he said. Oges said that after the forced disbandment, 13 participants including the coordinator, students and leaders of mass organizations were arrested and taken to the West Aceh Police.

"13 participants in the action were arrested and dragged to the Resort Police, we have not received an explanation regarding the arrest, while two participants who are victims are currently being treated at the Teuku Umar Kesrem Hospital, West Aceh," he explained. Meanwhile, Kombes Pol Winardy, Kabud Public Relations of the Aceh Police, when confirmed by Kompas.com regarding the forced disbandment of the mass rejection of BBM, is currently preparing a confirmation release."It will be released soon," he answered briefly via WhatsApp message.

A total of 5 farmers who came from Kenagarian Aia Gadang, West Pasaman, were criminalized by PT Anam Koto in the case of land conflicts which were suspected to have been carefully planned.

“We suspect that the criminalization of 5 farmers was by design and planned by PT Anam Koto, which resulted in the five farmers being suspects and being put on trial. During the trial, LBH Padang also presented witnesses related to allegations of human rights violations over the existence of PT Anam Koto for the farming community of Aia Gadang," said Decthree Ranti Putri, a public advocate for LBH Padang to sumbarsatu, Wednesday (7/9/2022).

He conveyed, in several trials at the West Pasaman District Court, hundreds of people who were members of the Indonesian Peasants Union Basis Aia Gadang attended the trial in the hope that justice could be served fairly.

The five farmers were criminalized for the incident on May 28, 2022 at the location of the oil palm plantation between the farmers and PT Anam Koto due to the plasma issue that had reached the court.

The five were charged with violating Article 170 paragraph (2) of the 1st KUHP subsidiary Article 170 paragraph (1) or both of violating Article 351 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) of the 1st Criminal Code.

The trial with the agenda of examining witnesses from the Public Prosecutor, which was held on August 29, 2022, presented "DW" as a victim witness and security coordinator, "AZ" as a security guard, and AS as a plant sprayer.

In his statement before the trial, he added, the US admitted that it was indeed ordered to poison everything in the location and the security guard was asked to document the incident before entering the location.

Based on the statements of these witnesses, we suspect that the chaos that occurred was by design from PT Anam Koto," explained Decthree Ranti Putri.

The location of the incident is a land struggle area for farmers, which was originally ulayat land which was taken by force and allegedly violated human rights for PT Anam Koto's oil palm development. "The company promised to provide plasma but it has not been implemented until now," he explained.

Due to this situation, the Regent of West Pasaman issued a decree Number: 188.45/471/BUP-PASBAR/2022 on August 16, 2022 regarding the implementation of the obligation to provide plasma at least 500 hectares by PT Anam Koto to the Kenagarian community of Aia Gadang within a period of 30 calendar days.

In the facts of the trial, explained Decthree Ranti Putri, it was revealed that there had been several times of intimidation accompanied by damage to community plants and cottages as an effort to provoke public anger so that the situation was chaotic.

“This is even exacerbated by the attitude of the West Pasaman Police, which only processes company case reports but is slow to process cases reported by the public. Even though the community reported the alleged damage to plants in the police report number: LP/B/90/IV/2022/SPKT/Res Pasbar/West Sumatra Police dated April 13, 2022, which was later stopped at the investigation stage by the West Pasaman Resort Police, "said Decthree Ranti Putri.