Uwazi

Police will summon at least five Free Youth protesters during the Germany embassy rally in Bangkok on Monday after a court on Thursday turned down their request for arrest warrants.

Thung Mahamek police on Wednesday sought to arrest five protesters on sedition and other charges for their roles during the demonstration at the embassy where the protesters submitted a letter to the ambassador.
The five are Patsaravalee Tanakitvibulpon, 25, Korakot Saengyenphan, 28, Chanin Wongsri, 20, Cholathit Chote-sawat, 21, and Benja Apan, 21.

The South Bangkok Criminal Court dismissed the request, citing a number of reasons — the suspects are students, the rally was short, there was no proof they would flee and they have permanent residences.

The court also instructed police to summon them for questioning first.

Later on Thursday, deputy police spokesperson Pol Col Kissana Phathanacharoen said the protesters did not inform police of their rally on that day.

“Unlike the gathering by yellow-clad demonstrators at the embassy earlier on that day, the Free Youth group did not inform the police about their rally first [as required by law],” he said.

He dismissed criticism of double standard since no action had been taken against the yellow group.

On Free Youth planned protests on Thursday, Pol Maj Gen Jirasan Kaewsaeng-ek, deputy chief of Metropolitan Police, traffic might be affected in two locations — Pathumwan intersection, Silom Road (near Wat Kaek) and near NationTV on Bang Na-Trat Highway.

Police have opened a case against four students who were arrested on October 19 after staging a protest against the government and military in the Arakan State capital Sittwe.

“Police have opened a case against them under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code for committing sedition and causing public disturbances,” said lawyer U Kyaw Nyint Maung.

Section 505(b) criminalises statements “likely to cause fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public, whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquility.” It carries with it a maximum sentence of two years in prison.

Police Major Zaw Naing of the Sittwe Township Police filed a complaint against them on Tuesday and a court hearing is scheduled for November 3.

Dozens of people joined Monday’s protest, which was organised by the Arakan Students’ Union.

Prosecuting student protesters is no way to address their grievances, said the chairman of the Sittwe University Students Union, Ko Toe Toe Aung.

“Those who are doing the prosecuting should be aware that people have voiced criticisms because they [the targets of protest] are doing wrong. If they were not doing anything wrong, we wouldn’t need to stage protests and end up in police stations and prisons,” he said.

Two of the four detained students are also facing lawsuits under the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law for staging a demonstration against alleged human rights violations in Arakan State in early September.

Recently, two students from the All Burma Federation of Student Unions who staged an anti-war protest in Mandalay were each sentenced to a total of five years in prison and have another court hearing scheduled for October 21.

Beginning in September, more than a dozen people have seen charges brought against them under the Peaceful Assembly Law, the Natural Disaster Management Law and the Penal Code for staging demonstrations against armed conflict, human rights abuses and internet restrictions in Arakan State.

On October 27, Lin Qilei, attorney for Li Yuhan, a female human rights lawyer in her 60’s, announced that the supreme people’s court has rescheduled Li’s case for November 30. Li, who has been detained for more than three years at Shengyang No. 1 Detention Center, suffers multiple health concerns, including hypothyroidism, ischemic heart disease, and stomach problems, requiring daily medications. After a fall in 2018 which led to spinal damages, Li now has to walk with a crutch.

Authorities initially indicted Li for provoking troubles and picking quarrels, but later, added fraud to her charges. As evidence regarding her case has not proved to be sufficient, however, the court has repeatedly delayed hearing her case, blocking her release. After authorities transferred Li’s case to Shengyang Municipal Heping People’s Court on April 8, 2018, the court decided to host the trial on June 8, 2019, now scheduled for November 30. With no verdict after more than three years, supporters suspect officials have targeted and repressed her “simple" case.

During Li’s detention, police have hired the female cell head and other prisoners to torture daily her. Tactics include:

    Forcing her to take cold showers.

    Rationing her food to half of portions other prisoners receive.

    Placing her vegetable/s and fruit on the restroom floor to prevent her from eating it.

    Giving her the previous day’s vegetable/s and fruit after other prisoners intentionally urinated on them;

    Prohibiting her family members from depositing money into her prison account. 

After his last meeting with Li, Attorney Lin also announced that court officials have not addressed his nor Li’s application for bail and compulsory change. Li believes that authorities fabricated charges against her to persecute and suppress her previous work safeguarding other people’s rights.

The judicial department asked Li to write the “confession and acceptance of penalty” letter in exchange for her release, but she refused to compromise her stance. Attorney Lin relayed greetings and concerns from others to Li Yuhan, hoping that she can remain upbeat and able to confront conceivable challenges.

Mixed security forces violently broke up a protest outside the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh to mark the signing of the Paris Peace Agreement, with two former Cambodia National Rescue Party officials being detained on Thursday to prevent their attendance.

The protest was called by senior leadership of the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party to mark the 29th anniversary of the Peace Paris Agreement and to protest against China’s potential military presence in Cambodia.

About 30 protestors gathered outside the Chinese Embassy in the capital’s Chamkarmon district, where they were met by dozens of district security guards, uniformed police, and plainclothes security personnel.

“People who protest here with the banners, please leave this area in five minutes,” said an official on a loudspeaker. “If you don’t, we will use administrative measures.”

Protestors continued their protest and called for China to respect the peace agreement and refrain from having a military presence on Cambodian soil. Security personnel then started to drag and carry protestors away from outside the embassy, with these images and videos broadcast on social media platforms.

Three women were dragged onto the back of a flatbed truck used by district guards and another woman was carried away.

The Chinese Embassy did not respond to requests for comment.

Former CNRP members were also marking the peace agreement anniversary in different cities across the world, with Prime Minister Hun Sen warning Cambodians not to protest outside the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh.

The protestors were reacting to an increasing number of reports suggesting that Cambodia had allegedly signed a secret deal with China to allow a military presence at two likely locations: Ream Naval Base in Preah Sihanouk province and the Dara Sakor Resort in Koh Kong province.

Am Sam Ath, deputy director at rights group Licadho, said the government’s actions had effectively forbidden people from assembling and expressing their views.

“It has become involved with politics now. It affects the freedom of assembly and peaceful protests,” he said.

On Thursday, two former CNRP members were detained and prevented from participating in the protest outside the Chinese Embassy. Vann Sophat was detained by Tbong Khmum police officials at noon, without a warrant, and questioned till 5 p.m., he said. He was released only after signing an agreement promising to not partake in the protest.

“I just wanted to protest, and not start a coup to topple anyone,” he said. “We want people to understand about the Paris Peace Agreement on October 23.”

Vann Sophat was one of seven former opposition officials who was convicted by Tbong Khmum court last month and given a five-year suspended sentence. They were charged with “plotting” to overthrow the government and the case was linked to Sam Rainsy’s unsuccessful return to Cambodia in November 2019.

His former CNRP colleague, Sou Yean, was also detained by Tbong Khmum police on Thursday and remains in detention, according to his family.

Hong Kim Hoeun, Memot district police chief, said he was on a two-day mission to Preah Sihanouk province and refused to comment on the detention.

Pen Rath, Tbong Khmum provincial police head, and court spokespersons could not be reached for comment on Friday.

In a joint statement, journalists’ association CamboJA and the Cambodian Center for Independent Media, VOD’s parent organization, said at least six journalists had been “intimidated and threatened” at the rally.

They were told to give up their phones, stop shooting live video or had their camera taken away, the statement said.

Journalist Gerry Flynn said he was covering the protest for Thmey Thmey on Friday, and was being pushed back from observing the protesters when a walkie-talkie hit him in the face.

He turned around and an officer yelled at him, he said. A U.N. observer at the scene intervened, and told him that the guard had shouted, “Better watch out because you’re in the land of Cambodians,” Flynn said.

A freelance cameraman he was with also had his lens grabbed, and authorities tried to get into the cameraman’s bag, Flynn added.

Khan Leakhena, a VOD reporter, said she saw a protester fall on the sidewalk, and pulled out her phone to take pictures. A man in civilian clothes approached her, shouting and ordering her to stop shooting, and tried to grab the phone from her, Leakhena said.

Mech Dara, another VOD reporter, said he and several other reporters were repeatedly ordered to stop filming, including a journalist working for Reuters.

An Asia spokesperson for Reuters declined to comment. The Khmer Times has not responded to emailed questions. The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights also did not respond to questions.

Chanyada, the deputy governor, on Saturday denied knowledge of the incidents and referred questions to the City Hall spokesperson.

City Hall spokesperson Met Measpheakdey said he did not know the details of what happened on Friday and did not answer questions about the deputy governor being personally involved in the harassment.

“Generally, I can say that journalists have the right and ability to take pictures if it doesn’t affect or block authorities from implementing their duties,” Measpheakdey said.

CCIM’s media director, Ith Sothoeuth, said the work of journalists was supposed to be guaranteed under law. “These threats will further pressure and restrict the freedom of journalists in Cambodia.”

Nop Vy, CamboJA’s executive director, said the authorities’ actions were “unacceptable.”

“This is a sign of unacceptable intimidation as journalists were fulfilling their professional work,” said Vy, who was CCIM’s previous media director. “Authorities likely consider journalists to be an important observer who make it difficult for them to crack down on protesters.”

According to the Criminal Code, extortion — the act or attempt to obtain any asset by violence, threat of violence or coercion — is punishable by two to five years in jail.

Pinaki Bhattacharya is an online human rights and political activist who writes critically about the current Bangladesh Awami League government. He was forced to leave Bangladesh in 2018 fearing detention by the military intelligence agency Directorate General Forces Intelligence and he now lives in France where he is a refugee. He has written an article for Netra News about the censorship of a book he wrote critical of the country’s independence leader.

Earlier today he wrote a Facebook status concerning harassment which his family is facing in Bangladesh

With Pinaki's permission, we are publishing his Facebook

Yesterday, a group of policemen went to my father's residence in Bogura and interrogated my old mother and uncle. In Dhaka, another group of police, who said that they were from Mirpur Model Police Station, landed in our residence. After they failed to find my wife at home, one police officer called her up on her mobile yesterday and interrogated her.

During the interrogation in Bogura, the policemen sought to know if I own any property there, what I do in France, how I earn my living, or support my life, among other queries. They also took the contact details of many of my relatives.

The police officer, who called up my wife, asked her in which clinics or hospitals she worked as a doctor and if and how she maintained communication with me. The officer also said to my wife that he wanted to get some more info about me from her. However, because of poor connectivity the mobile conversation was disconnected halfway. I am sure, police will get back in touch with my wife again very soon and attempt to harass her.

I understand that the Bangladesh Police is trying to catch hold of me. But, why would they interrogate or harass the members of my family for that? I would like to tell the authorities, including the police, that if they want to get info about me they indeed have ways to reach me while I am in France. You may send a message to my Facebook inbox. Your embassy in France can reach me if you want. You may even contact the French government.

If you feel troubled with my activism, you may act against me, if you want. But my family members are in no way connected to my activism? Why are you harassing them? Are the family members of any activist harassed anywhere in the world the way as you are doing in Bangladesh? During the armed struggle, just before Bangladesh was born, the barbaric Pakistani forces kept the family members of the main leader of the Liberation War Sheikh Mujib safe.

I am a political refugee in France. I felt unsafe in Bangladesh and I left my country being scared of my life. I indeed have the right to raise my voice against enforced disappearances, cross-fire killings and other human rights violations perpetrated by the Awami League-led government. I have the political right to speak against the authoritarian rule of Sheikh Hasina. My voting rights have been robbed in Bangladesh- I have the right to be vocal against this. You have no right to stifle my voice. All my activities are in the interest of human rights. You are putting pressure on my family members in a mischievous manner to force me away from activism. This is persecution. This is unethical.

I hope the international community, including the human rights groups, will intervene to help my family stay safe in Bangladesh.

On October 24, Kazakh police officers assaulted Toiken, correspondent for Radio Azattyq, the Kazakh service of the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, while she was reporting on a peaceful rally in Nur-Sultan, the capital, according to the journalist, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app, and news reports.

“Kazakh authorities must immediately investigate the assault on journalist Saniya Toiken and should hold those responsible to account,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Toiken has been subject to many attacks for her work while doing an important job for the public. Law enforcement should be protecting her and other journalists, not attacking and harassing them.”

Toiken was covering a peaceful rally in support of political prisoners in Nur-Sultan where activists were also selling hand-made items to raise funds for prisoners’ families, according to news reports. Law enforcement officers arrived at the scene, announced that the rally was unsanctioned, and detained some participants, according to the reports. In a video interview with Current Time, a TV network affiliated with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Toiken said she was filming the event on her mobile phone when an officer pushed her to the ground, took her phone, and dragged her toward a police mini bus. She said that after she told the police officers she was a journalist, they released her.

After the assault, Toiken went to a hospital in Nur-Sultan, where doctors documented multiple injuries and bruises on her legs and arms, according to the medical report, a photo of which was posted on Facebook by Nazira Darimbet, the acting director of the Federation of Equal Journalists of Kazakhstan. Toiken told CPJ she filed a complaint against the police officers who attacked her.

In March 2019, police arrested Toiken after the journalist interviewed participants at a rally for better job opportunities in the southwestern city of Zhanaozen, as CPJ documented at the time. The journalist was held in detention overnight, found guilty of refusing to follow police orders, and fined 50,500 tenges (US$134). Toiken denied the charges, claiming that they were politically motivated and aimed at preventing her from reporting, CPJ documented.

CPJ emailed the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan for comment, but did not receive a response.

The Observatory has been informed by the Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) about the arbitrary and incommunicado detention of Mr. Chang Weiping, a prominent human rights lawyer known for taking on sensitive human rights cases and filling lawsuits against companies for discrimination in the workplace against women, LGBTQ+ persons, and individuals affected by HIV/AIDs.

According to the information received, on October 22, 2020, Mr. Chang Weiping was arrested at his home in Fengxiang County, Shaanxi Province, by police officers from Baoji City. Later the same day, Mr. Chang Weiping’s wife received a phone call from a police officer who informed her that her husband had been placed under “residential surveillance in a designated location” (RSDL), a form of enforced disappearance[1].

On October 26, 2020, the Baoji City Public Security Bureau denied two separate requests presented by Mr. Chang Weiping’s lawyers to meet with their client. Furthermore, one of the lawyers was informed that Mr. Chang Weiping was suspected of “subversion of State power” and that the case involved “State secrets”. At the time of publication of this Urgent Appeal, Mr. Chang Weiping had not been formally charged and his whereabouts remained unknown.

Six days before his arrest, on October 16, 2020, Mr. Chang Weiping published a video statement on social media denouncing the physical and psychological torture he had been subjected to while in detention in January 2020, including being tied to a “tiger chair”[2].

On January 12, 2020, Mr. Chang Weiping, was arbitrarily arrested by Shaanxi police and placed under RSDL in an unknown location on charges of “subversion of State power” (Article 105(1) of China’s Criminal Law), in connection to a private meeting organised by academics, human rights lawyers and activists in December 2019 in Xiamen, Fujian Province, to discuss the situation of the rule of law and human rights in China.

On January 13, Mr. Chang Weiping’s license to practice law was cancelled. Previously, in October 2018, the Baoji City Judicial Bureau had suspended his law license in retaliation for his human rights work.

On January 21, Mr. Chang Weiping was released on bail pending trial. Nonetheless, he was requested to leave his city of residence and was confined to his family home in Baoji, where he remained under strict police scrutiny, including daily phone calls and weekly meetings with the police. Furthermore, he was prevented from being reunited with his family.

The Observatory expresses its utmost concern over the arbitrary arrest and detention of Mr. Chang Weiping as it seems to be only aimed at punishing him for his legitimate human rights activities and urges the Chinese authorities to immediately disclose his whereabouts and unconditionally release him and all other human rights defenders, including labour rights defenders, arbitrarily detained in the country.

CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Front Line Defenders, FIDH, in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, the World Organisation Against Torture(OMCT), and the International Service for Human Rights strongly condemn the deliberate targeting of human rights defender Muhammed Ismail and his wife Uzlifat Ismail, the parents of woman human rights defender Gulalai Ismail. The authorities must halt the ongoing judicial harassment against Gulalai Ismail and her family, which is a direct reprisal due to her human rights work. Gulalai has multiple criminal complaints filed against her, including under regressive anti-terror laws. Since she was forced to leave Pakistan due to concerns for her safety, her parents have been targeted under the Penal Code, anti-terrorism laws and cyber security legislation. In the most recent incident, Pakistan authorities approached the Anti Terrorism Court in Peshawar, and filed a new case with charges that include sedition and terrorism. On 30 September 2020, the court charged the three defenders.

Muhammed Ismail is the Secretary-General of the Pakistan NGO Forum (PNF), an umbrella body of civil society organizations (CSOs) in Pakistan. He has been critical of human rights violations in the country, particularly the treatment of his daughter, human rights defender Gulalai Ismail. The woman human rights defender and her family have been targeted by Pakistani authorities in response to a speech she made in 2019, criticising the state/military response to the rape and murder of a minor girl. Since then, several First Information Reports have been subsequently filed against them, forcing Gulalai Ismail to leave Pakistan for her safety.

On 2 July 2020, the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Peshawar had acquitted Gulalai Ismail and her parents, Muhammad Ismail and Uzlifat Ismail, of charges related to financial terrorism. Two months since, the authorities moved the court and filed the same case with additional charges of terrorism, sedition and conspiracy against the State.

On 30 September 2020, the Anti-terrorism court in Peshawar heard the case and charged Muhammad Ismail, Uzlifat Ismail and Gulalai Ismail under Sections 11-N, 124-A, 120-B of the Pakistan Penal Code, which relate to sedition and criminal conspiracy, and 7(g)(i) of the Anti-terrorism Act of 1997. These charges carry heavy prison sentences. The defenders pleaded not guilty and are to appear for their next hearing on 26 October 2020.

Further to the court case, the Federal Bureau of Revenue has sent over ten letters to Muhammad Ismail and his wife, Uzlifat Ismail, asking them to file taxes for the past six years. However, Muhammad Ismail has not been running any business and does not have a regular monthly income and his wife is a home maker. The last date to file the tax was mentioned as 31 August 2020, however, the letters were only received on 1 September 2020. The family believe that this delay was intentional to further target them with additional legal proceedings.

Less than a year ago, on 24 October 2019, Muhammed Ismail was forcibly abducted from outside the Peshawar High Court by unidentified men. He was later found in the custody of Federal Investigation Agency’s Cyber Crimes Unit. He was charged under the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act for “hate speech” and “spreading false information against government institutions”. The defender was granted conditional bail after spending a month in detention. However, on 20 April 2020, the defender was summoned for a court hearing after the Federal Investigation agency filed an appeal at the Peshawar High Court to revoke the conditional bail that was granted to the defender on 25 November 2019.

Muhammad Ismail and Uzlifat Ismail have also been placed on a government Exit Control List (ECL), preventing them from leaving Pakistan. Uzlifat Ismail has been unable to renew her passport as a result of her being placed on an ECL. Both, Muhammad and Uzlifat Ismail, suffer from serious medical conditions including hypertension, diabetes and kidney issues.

The actions of the Pakistani authorities in its targeting of the family are an attempt to silence Gulalai Ismail and punish her for advocating on human rights in Pakistan. Front Line Defenders, CIVICUS, FIDH, the World Organisation Against Torture(OMCT) and the International Service for Human Rights urge the authorities in Pakistan to immediately drop all charges against Muhammad Ismail and Uzlifat Ismail, as we believe that the human rights defenders are being targeted solely as a result of their legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights. We urge the authorities to remove all restrictions on the free movement of Muhammad Ismail and Uzlifat Ismail, and cease all further forms of harassment against the defenders, as it is believed that these measures constitute a direct violation of their rights.

On 20 October 2020, the Court of Appeal in Phnom Penh denied the bail motion against the detention of three human rights defenders from Mother Nature Cambodia; Thun Ratha, Long Kunthea and Phoung Keorasmey. They were charged with “incitement to commit a felony or social unrest” on 6 September 2020. The charge is based on information they shared on social media about their plans to organise a one-woman march to the Prime Minister’s house to raise environmental concerns over the filling in of the Boeung Tamoke lake in Phnom Penh. The defenders are currently under pre-trial detention at Phnom Penh's Correctional Centres 1 and 2.

The Human Rights Defenders’ Alert (HRDA) on October 29, 2020 urged the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to ensure the physical safety of journalist S. K. Lenin his family from corrupt panchayat leaders in Nagaram village of Tamil Nadu.

The organisation requested the Director General of Police (DGP) to initiate an inquiry into the physical and verbal assault on Lenin by Panchayat leader Gopi Krishnan on August 2 whom the journalist had named in his report on corruption in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MNREGA) run by the Union Ministry of Rural Development.

Similarly, they also demanded an inquiry against District Collector Uma Maheshwari for ignoring corrupt activities practiced by local authorities under the MNREGA and for ignoring Lenin’s complaints about the same.

The undeterred journalist approached the local Vadakadu police station instead who arrested Krishnan. However, when nothing was done about the rest of the panchayat members, Lenin chose to go into hiding fearing the political power of those involved.

“Whatever scam they will do, we will share with you, you jobless reporter. You are a human rights activist; you are not a big shot. Even if you give a complaint to the district collector you can do nothing to me nor shake me,” Krishnan had said outside a local shop, while leaving blood marks around Lenin’s neck.

The HRDA condemned the incident as a criminal act that barred journalists and similar Human Rights Defenders from exercising their right to dissent against a public official enshrined within Article 19(a), Freedom of Speech and Expression, of the Indian Constitution.

“If journalists are physically assaulted when they criticise politicians and public officials, seldom journalists will dare to take a stand and the fourth pillar of the democracy will be crushed further,” they said.

On August 1, Lenin collected information about corruption in the MNREGA – a government scheme that aims to help underprivileged people find a job, especially during COVID-19. He said that these jobs are vulnerable to corrupt practices by some panchayat members who show fake accounts to manage salary transfers to people who have not done any work.

Lenin also mentioned that corruption within the MNERGA scheme has been happening at Nagaram village for some time as per panchayat leaders Mr. Ramaiah and Muthuraj Durai.

The members of Makkal Pathai, a not-for-profit organisation based out of Chennai, have been on a hunger protest against National Eligibility cum Entrance Examination (NEET) in their offices in Chennai over the past week. On Sunday, the seventh-day of protest in Chennai, the members were forcefully dragged away by the police. Members also allege that the police misbehaved with them. Koyambedu police have lodged about 30 members at a kalyana mandapam while six who were on the hunger-protest have been admitted to Kilpauk Medical College (KMC). No case has been registered.

Visuals shared on Makkal Pathai’s Facebook page shows police forcefully entering into the office premises following which members are dragged out. They can be heard condemning police brutality.

Sharing voice notes from KMC where about six of them are currently kep, member Chandra Mohan (41) says, “We have been continuing our hunger protest for six days. They have hit us and admitted here at KMC. Women’s clothes were lifted, they were shamed, we were shamed and we have been brought here. We condemn this brutality.”

In an audio note, Chandra Mohan says the members have rejected IV fluids and are still fasting in the hospital. "We gave our word to the people. We will continue our fasting until they tell us." He further alleges that the police have ransacked their office in Chennai taking away phones and computers.

Speaking to TNM, Koyambedu police station Inspector K Madeswaran says no complaint has been filed on the members but their protest had to be stopped since it was a health risk. “We have been asking them every day to stop their hunger protest. Moreover, groups of people gather there on a regular basis. Press is invited and this crowding of people is a risk especially due to the pandemic,” he tells TNM.

“We have not registered any case against them yet because they are giving us their details. They are requesting for the Chief Minister to come down in person to listen to their demands and scrap NEET,” he adds.

When asked about allegations of women being harassed the officer says, “We only tried to end their fasting. Even though they have not eaten in six-days, they put up a good resistance.”

Vignesh, the coordinator from Coimbatore says, “We are holding a one-day fasting protest here in Coimbatore office. Police have arrested our members who were holding hunger-protest for six continuous days in Chennai. We condemn this.”

A court in Ayutthaya on Saturday rejected a police request to detain three protest leaders currently in a Bangkok hospital after an eventful night that followed their temporary release from custody.

The court said the investigation was already done, so police could proceed with the case without having to detain them, and since they were in hospital they were not flight risks.

Doctors at Praram 9 Hospital said that the three — Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak, Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul and Panupong “Mike” Jadnok — would need two or three more days to recover from their recent experiences with law enforcement.

Police still have ample opportunity to make fresh arrests once the three are discharged. All told, there are 80 active warrants related to various offences connected with recent pro-democracy protests, according to Pol Maj Gen Piya Tawichai, deputy metropolitan police chief.

Pathumwan police, it turns out, were already on the case. Their officers were en route to the hospital around 6pm to charge Ms Panusaya, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (THLR). It said on Twitter that its lawyer, who represents Ms Panusaya, had been informed.

Six police oficers were standing guard near the three suspects' hospital rooms on Saturday.

Mr Parit and Ms Panusaya were taken to Praram 9 Hospital at around 4.45am on Saturday after they had been questioned by Ayutthaya police at the Pracha Chuen police station in Bangkok following their release from remand prison.

Mr Parit was injured with several glass fragments on his body and Ms Panusaya was exhausted. They joined Mr Panupong, who had been released at the same time and brought to the hospital earlier after fainting while in police custody.

At a briefing on Saturday, a team of doctors at the hospital said Mr Panupong suffered several minor cuts from glass fragments. He was very weak and physicians are checking what caused his blackout.

Mr Parit, who has asthma, also had cuts on his limbs and some glass fragments were found on his body. Ms Panusaya was suffering from severe dehydration and chronic sleep deprivation and was on a saline drip.

All three need at least two to three days to recover, the doctors said.

Pheu Thai MP Tossaporn Serirak and Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, a former MP of the now-defunct Future Forward Party and cofounder of the Progressive Movement, accompanied them to the hospital in the same van.

Their supporters who had been waiting at the police station left after the leaders told them to return home.

Ayutthaya police on Saturday morning visited Mr Panupong, who was suffering from a lack of oxygen, at the hospital, seeking to detain him. Mr Panupong refused to be held, saying the arrest began at the Bangkok Remand Prison, not at the hospital, and he had the right to be treated there, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR).

Late Friday afternoon, the Criminal Court had granted bail to the three student activists and Patiwat Saraiyaem, another protester, after repeated appeals by their lawyers. They had been in jail for 16 days.

Mr Panupong, Mr Parit and Mr Patiwat were detained at Bangkok Remand Prison and Ms Panusaya was at the Central Women’s Correctional Institution nearby.

Mr Patiwat walked out of Bangkok Remand Prison around 8pm to cheers from supporters waiting to greet him outside.

He frantically told the waiting crowd that the other three had been taken from their cells by three men in civilian clothes while prison officials did nothing.

The men were later identified as plainclothes police officers who acted on arrest warrants for the activists’ roles during rallies in Nonthaburi, Ayutthaya and Ubon Ratchathani provinces.

However, their lawyers, citing Section 68 of the Criminal Procedures Code, argued the warrants were no longer valid since they had already acknowledged and denied the charges while at the Border Patrol Police Region 1 and the Bangkok Remand Prison.

Pol Col Ittichet Wonghomhuan, the Pracha Chuen police superintendent, said his team acted on the warrants of Nonthaburi, Ayutthaya and Ubon Ratchathani police, who had not revoked them yet.

While the lawyers were still talking to some policemen at the prison, the plainclothes officers took Mr Parit and Mr Panupong away through a secondary gate without anyone knowing, according to TLHR. Another van took Ms Panusaya from the women’s prison.

The van, with broken windows, took Mr Panupong and Mr Parit to the station at 9.30pm. Police did not allow them to get out at first since around 50 of their supporters were gathering there. Mr Parit shouted that Mr Panupong needed an ambulance immediately.

At 10pm, an ambulance took an unconscious Panupong to Kasemrad Pracha Chuen Hospital. He was later transferred to Praram 9 Hospital.

At the police station, Mr Parit said he and Mr Panupong resisted arrest because the people who took them did not wear uniforms and tried to illegally detain them. However, they were dragged by the neck to the van. Mr Panupong passed out later in the vehicle, Mr Parit claimed.

He said the supporters who were following them tried to ask the police to stop the van so Mr Panupong could get medical help but the officials refused to do so.

According to Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw), some interviews and video clips showed what happened during the trip to the police station.

The van carrying Mr Parit and Mr Panupong stopped at a red light at the Pongpet intersection, followed by a few people on motorcycles believed to be their supporters.

Mr Panupong and Mr Parit shouted to them that they had been forcibly and illegally taken. Their supporters tried in vain to talk to the officials before attempting to break a window, allegedly to help the pair.

As the van driver tried to get away, the vehicle hit at least two other motorcycles nearby. One of the motorcycles fell in front of the van but the van driver ploughed on, dragging the smaller vehicle for around 200 metres. The owner of the damaged motorcycle, who was not a protester, later filed a complaint with police.

After their temporary release on Friday, four other protesters remained in jail as of Saturday.

At Bangkok Remand Prison, Ekkachai Hongkangwan has been imprisoned since Oct 12 on charges related to the royal motorcade, Arnon Nampha has been held since Oct 15 on sedition charges, and Somyot Prueksakasemsuk has been detained since Oct 16.

At Bang Kwang Prison, Suranart Panprasert has been held at since Oct 21 on charges in connection with a royal motorcade.

The Criminal Court on Monday denied bail for Panupong "Mike" Jadnok, Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak and Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul in a renewed attempt by their lawyers.

The court said there was no reason to change the previous order which denied the temporary releases of the trio due to concern they would repeat the alleged offences.

Mr Panupong and Mr Parit are detained at Bangkok Remand Prison and Miss Panusaya is at the Central Women's Correctional Institution nearby.

Mr Panupong was charged with inciting unrest or sedition under Section 116 of the Criminal Code. He also faces charges of violating the Act on Ancient Monuments, Antiques, Objects of Art and National Museums, and violating Sections 116 and 215 for his role in installing a new plaque to symbolise people’s power at Sanam Luang on Sept 19.

Mr Parit and Miss Panusaya — Thammasat University students — were also charged with sedition, as well as other charges for their roles in the Sept 19 rally at Sanam Luang.

Their lawyers tried to offer higher cash bond for their bail in the hopes of getting them out after the Court of Appeal on Saturday denied them bail.

In any case, their lawyers do not give up and will apply for bail again, starting from the lower court.

"Even though physically, I remain in jail, my heart goes wherever you are," the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights quoted Ms Panusaya as saying after the court decision.

Her statement is clearly directed at student-led protesters.

During a previous visit a few days ago, TLHR described the yong activist as "drastically changed", with her hair cut short and dyed black. The prison administration said later her hair was trimmed for hygiene reasons.

They called for the releases of all detained activists and resignation of the prime minister as a pre-condition for a proposal by Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha for all sides to take a step back.

The Court of Appeal has denied bail for anti-government protest leader Arnon Nampha, who is charged with sedition over the rally at Thammasat University’s Tha Prachan campaus and at Sanam Luang on Sept 19-20.

The court upheld the lower court's refusal to allow the temporary release of the human rights lawyer. The decison was read out at the Criminal Court on Wednesday, according to Thai media reports, but not made public until Friday.

Mr Arnon, 37, is charged with sedition under Section 116 of the Criminal Code in connection with the anti-government demonstration at Thammasat University's Tha Phrachan campus and Sanam Luang on Sept 19-20.

On Oct 27, Chana Songkram police took him to the Criminal Court and obtained permission to detain him. His lawyers applied for bail, but it was denied. They appealed.

The Court of Appeal denied bail on the grounds the alleged offences could lead to damage or disruption with a wider impact. In taking to the rally stage, the accused had persuaded people to destroy state property without respect for the law.

The court also took into consideration police investigators’ opposition to the suspect's release on bail because he also faced similar charges filed by other police stations.If he was released on bail, he might cause more damage or try to flee.

The court found the lower court's decision to refuse bail was justified.

Mr Arnon is being detained at Bangkok Remand Prison.

On Sept 20, pro-democracy protesters staged a ceremony to install a plaque at Sanam Luang declaring the people’s power and ownership of the country. It was removed by unknown people next morning.

The original plaque marked the 1932 Revolution, which overthrew the absolute monarchy and ushered in a constitutional monarchy, and was planted on the ground at the Royal Plaza.

It was removed without explanation in 2017, three years after the military took power in a coup, and no one in authority has ever said why or what happened to it.

Anon Nampa, a pro-democracy protest co-leader, has been detained in another case right after a court temporarily released him on bail in one.

The human rights lawyer was taken to Bangkok on Monday afternoon after the Chiang Mai Court approved a second round of his detention and released him on bail for a surety of 200,000 baht, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.

The money reportedly came from the fund raised by a network of academics.

Mr Anon was detained after the release by Chana Songkhram police for his involvement in the Free Youth rally on Sept 19 at Thammasat University and Sanam Luang.

He was brought to the capital in a van, accompanied by a lawyer. It remained unclear whether he would be held at the Chana Songkhram police station or at the Border Patrol Police Region 1 headquarters in Pathum Thani province.

Mr Anon was arrested during the crackdown of a rally near Government House in Bangkok in the early hours of Oct 15, shortly after the serious state of emergency was declared in the capital.

Police acted on a warrant by Chiang Mai police for his role during a rally at Tha Pae in the northern province on Aug 9. He was charged with sedition under the Criminal Code, the penalty of which is up to seven years in jail.

Mr Anon was the first who publicly spoke about the need for the reform of the monarchy in decades. He advocated the changes in line with democracy with the King as head of state.

A teenage Hong Kong activist was charged on Thursday with secession, the first public political figure to be prosecuted under a sweeping new national security law Beijing imposed on the city.

Tony Chung, 19, appeared in court charged with secession, money laundering and conspiring to publish seditious content, two days after he was arrested in a Hong Kong coffee shop opposite the US consulate.

Chung is a former member of Student Localism, a small group that advocated Hong Kong's independence from China.

The group disbanded its Hong Kong network shortly before Beijing blanketed the city in its new security law in late June but it has kept its international chapters going.

The legislation outlawed a host of new crimes, including expressing political views such as advocating independence or greater autonomy for Hong Kong.

Chung and three other members of Student Localism were first arrested by a newly created national security police unit in July on suspicion of inciting secession via social media posts.

However, Chung was arrested again on Tuesday morning by plainclothes police just metres away from the US consulate.

A little-known group calling itself Friends of Hong Kong put out a statement shortly afterwards saying it had been trying to arrange for Chung to enter the US consulate that day and apply for asylum.

Chung was held by police until his appearance in court on Thursday morning. He was denied bail.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) launched a major crackdown on terror funding in Jammu and Kashmir and conducted raids on NGOs and journalists across 10 locations in Kashmir and one in Bengaluru on Wednesday morning.

NIA sources have said terror operations were being funded by sourcing funds from foreign countries in the name of business, religious works and other social works by these organisations in Jammu and Kashmir.

The probe agency raided NGO Athrowt at Nawakadal, the Greater Kashmir office at Press Colony and the residence of activist Khurram Parvaiz, among other places.

Sources told India Today TV that the money came through hawala channels from different parts of the country and abroad and was being used to fund terror activities in Kashmir through NGOs.

"These NGOs were not registered. That means they did not have the FCRA license, yet they were getting funds from Pakistan and Europe, and even countries like Fiji and East Timor," the sources said.

The NIA sources said that the probe agency is looking at two aspects - terror funding and secessionist activities.

In a statement, NIA said, "This case was registered by NIA on 8/10/2020 u/s 120B, 124 A IPC and sections 17, 18, 22A, 22C, 38, 39 and 40 UA(P)A, 1967 on receipt of credible information that certain NGOs and Trusts are collecting funds domestically and abroad through so-called donations and business contributions, etc and are then utilizing these funds for secessionist and terrorist activities in J&K."

"Those whose premises have been searched include residence and office of Khurram Parvez (co-ordinator of J&K Coalition of Civil Society), his associates viz. Parvez Ahmad Bukhari, Parvez Ahmad Matta and Bengaluru-based associate viz. Swati Sheshadri; Ms. Parveena Ahanger, Chairperson of Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons ( APDPK) and offices of NGO Athrout and GK Trust," said the NIA.

The probe agency said that the raids were conducted after specific inputs and more NGOs are also under scanner. The documents and phones seized will be sent to the forensic lab, the sources said.

The NIA sources told India Today TV that the case was registered last week, but was not mentioned on the NIA website to maintain confidentiality. The NIA raids were led by the IG and DIG, who flew Srinagar specially for the raids.

Slamming the move, former J&K chief minister and PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti has said, "NIA raids on human rights activist Khurram Parvez & Greater Kashmir office in Srinagar is yet another example of GOIs vicious crackdown on freedom of expression & dissent. Sadly, NIA has become BJPs pet agency to intimidate & browbeat those who refuse to fall in line."

Authorities in Vietnam’s southern province of Dong Nai have arrested local resident Nguyen Quang Khai on the allegation of “Deliberate disclosure of classified information; appropriation, trading, destruction of classified documents” under Article 337 of the Criminal Code with potential imprisonment of between two and ten years.

According to the notice sent to his family dated October 21, the Security Investigation Agency of the Dong Nai province’s Police Department detained Mr. Khai in an urgent case for the act of copying and disseminating state secrets on his Facebook account Khai Nguyen.

Mr. Khai’s family said that the Dong Nai police detained him to a police station in the morning of October 20 for interrogation and kept him overnight. The next day, police came to his private residence and handed over a notice of arrest to his family. Currently, the 51-year-old freelance worker is held in a temporary detention facility under the authority of the province’s Police Department.

Mr. Khai’s wife has a small food outlet and he helps her run the facility. He often shares and comments on the statuses of other Facebookers, mostly focusing on the corruption of state officials at different levels. He has also participated in charity events to support vulnerable people in their locality.

It is unclear what information he has shared can be classified as state secret information.

Dozens of Vietnamese Facebookers have been arrested or convicted with lengthy imprisonment for their online posts since the communist regime passed the Cyber Security in early 2018, according to Defend the Defenders’ observation.

Authorities arrested on Sunday, Oct. 25, an Igorot woman leader who has been consistent in defending their ancestral land in Lubuagan, Kalinga.

According to the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA) and the Cordillera People’s Alliance (CPA), a composite team from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), Philippine National Police and Philippine Army came to the Western Uma and Lower Uma villages at 4:00 a.m. to search several houses, including that of Beatrice Belen, a leader of Innabuyog-Kalinga, the local chapter of Gabriela.

Belen, her husband and her two children were led outside of their home before the search was conducted. The police later claimed they found firearms and explosives, and proceeded to arrest and detain Belen at the Tabuk City Jail. The CHRA said Belen has been placed in a cell with male detainees.

In a statement, Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan, condemned the arrest of Belen. “Like other activists who were arrested on questionable legal bases, Belen has asserted that those allegedly seized in her home were not hers nor of any member of her family,” she said.

Palabay noted that before the incident, Belen was tagged as a communist by soldiers belonging to the Philippine Army’s 503rd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army.

The arrest of Belen, Palabay said, is a “very clear example of the dangers of red-tagging, resulting in violations to the right to life, liberty and security of human rights defenders, including indigenous women human rights defenders who are fighting for their communities’ land, resources and rights.”

Staunch defender of ancestral land

In a statement, the CPA said that for decades, Belen has shown strong leadership in her community against destructive projects.

In 2012, the CPA said that Belen led the campaign against Chevron Energy company’s geothermal power project in Kalinga, “citing detrimental effects of the said project to lives and health of the community members, especially women and children.”

In 2018, Belen was awarded Gawad Bayani ng Kalikasan (Environmental Hero) for her sustained defense of their ancestral land from destruction by private companies.

The CPA further said that as Belen has continued to oppose the geothermal project and human rights violations in their village, harassment and threats against her also persisted.

Palabay called for the immediate release of Belen. She added that placing Belen in a cell with other male detainees is in direct violation of the Nelson Mandela Rules or the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.

Palabay said that the overcrowded and unsanitary prisons in the country are among the “most vulnerable places for women, where numerous forms of sexual violence are most likely to happen.”

Karapatan said Belen is the most most recent among Gabriela’s regional leaders who have been arrested on “fabricated charges.” Last July 7, Gabriela’s national vice chairperson, Jenelyn Nagrampa was also arrested in Camarines Sur.

Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Arlene Brosas also expressed strong condemnation of Belen’s arrest.

“Facing a stinging rebuke of their red-tagging spree, the military has resorted to the use of state terror and naked force in silencing women’s rights defenders with the arrest of Manang Betty [Belen],” Brosas said.

Brosas appealed to the public to “strongly denounce Belen’s arrest in the same way that we stand for celebrities who are red-tagged by the military.”

Brosas lambasted the police and military “for once again planting evidence to detain another woman leader,” citing the cases of Reina Mae Nasino and Cora Agovida.

Based on Karapatan’s documentation, there are 102 women political prisoners, most if not all are women human rights defenders, who are languishing in various jails and detention centers in the country.

A group of slogan-raising men had assembled outside the residence of lawyer Deepika Singh Rajawat in Jammu late on Tuesday night, a day after a cartoon she posted on micro-blogging site Twitter stirred controversy.

Rajawat, who received limelight for representing the victim’s family in Kathua rape and murder case in 2018, told NewsClick that a mob gathered outside her accommodation, raised slogans and gave her death threat by chanting “Deepika teri kabar khudegi, Jammu Kashmir ki dharti pe (Deepika your grave will be dug in the land of Jammu and Kashmir).”

Narrating the sequence of events, Rajawat said that it was 12.30 am in the night when she heard few men shouting her name. “I was scared to death. I alerted my PSOs and phoned IG Jammu who responded immediately and sent police who later cleared the mob,” she said.

The cartoon posted by Rajawat, with a caption “Irony,” juxtaposed two paradoxical scenes: in one scene, a man touching feet of a female Hindu deity during the nine-day Hindu festival of Navratri; in the other scene, with the header “Other Days,” the same man is aggressively holding both legs of a woman, depicting sexual violence.

The cartoon was accused of hurting Hindu religious sentiments resulting in a section of social media users demanding Rajawat’s arrest. Since then, as per Rajawat, she and her family have been receiving calls threatening her to remove the cartoon and tender an apology.

“Don’t rapes happen? If they can prove that rapes don’t happen in India then I will tender a public apology. I have also not removed the cartoon as it was not meant to hurt religious sentiments but to highlight the hypocrisy of the society towards women,” Rajawat said.

Rajawat personally identified the mob as related to right-wing Hindu groups and said that it was an attempt to silence her. “At that time, I felt like Gauri Lankesh. Her image kept crossing my mind. I was shivering,” the lawyer said. Gauri Lankesh, a journalist known to be critical of the right-wing and accused of “outraging the sentiments of Hindus”, was shot dead by bike-borne assailant outsider her residence on September 5, 2017.

Much solidarity with Rajawat has also poured in from several sections including Bollywood actors, directors, lawyers, and opposition leaders who are tweeting using the hashtag #IStandWithDeepikaRajawat.

In 2018, Rajaswat faced a similar backlash when she took up the case of a minor Bakarwal girl who was raped and murdered in Kathua. She was then accused of being “anti-Hindu.” Later, the victim’s family had removed her from the case by accusing her of “not attending the court proceedings.”

Rajawat believes that she has been targeted for being vocal against policies of the present government. “They wanted to threaten to silence me as I am vocal against the Modi government and its policies.”

In Jammu, which has a prominent presence of right wing politics, it has become risky to voice dissent, especially after the abrogation of Article 370 last year. Last month, a young man popular as the Mask Man was taken away by the police and was released after being questioned for hours after he silently held a placard questioning the government and its promises.

A march to Government House on Wednesday night ended with an arrest of a pro-democracy activist, just hours after PM Prayut Chan-o-cha said on a live address that everyone should “take a step back” from the brinks.

Patsaravalee “Mind” Tanakitvibulpon, 25, was arrested at a cafe near Victory Monument while she was on the way from a protest close to PM’s office, fellow activists said. Police said there was an outstanding warrant for her arrest. Patsaravalee was released on Thursday morning.

“This arrest does not make me afraid. This is an unlawful arrest,” Patsaravalee said as she was being taken away by police. “I know this is the government’s game.”

The arrest was made by Police Lt. Col. Suriyasak Jirawat, who said Patsaravalee was wanted with 11 other suspects for leading a protest on Oct. 15 at the Ratchaprasong Intersection. She was charged with violating the emergency decree.

When reached for comment on Thursday, Lt. Col. Suriyasak said he does not know if the 11 others have been arrested yet.

Patsaravalee was released without having to post for bail, since the Pathumwan Circuit Court said she was a student studying for her finals and therefore is not considered a flight risk.

Prior to her arrest, Patsaravalee was one of the activists who marched to Government House from the Victory Monument in a bid to demand PM Prayut’s resignation. The crowd dispersed without incidents after submitting an ultimatum that called upon Gen. Prayut to resign within three days, or face another round of protests.

In a speech broadcast live on TV Thursday night, Prayut said the government is willing to make a compromise, but added that the protests should stop and let the Parliament debate their grievances.

“The only way to a lasting solution for all sides that is fair for those on the streets as well as for the many millions who choose not to go on the streets is to discuss and resolve these differences through the parliamentary process,” he said.

But Pannika Wanich, a co-leader of the opposition group called Progresive Movement, said an arrest of a student activist just after Prayut’s speech showed the government was being insincere.

“I thought you said we should take a step back and discuss in the Parliament instead. The PM’s words are just empty mouth air,” Panniwa tweeted. “You are stepping into and infringing on citizens’ rights.”

On September 11, the day after protesters distributed anti-war material in Mandalay, Chan Aye Thar-Zan Township police in Mandalay briefly detained and charged ABFSU member Myo Chit Zaw, 21, and filed charges against 12 others for failing to notify the authorities in advance of the September 10 protest. On September 13, police briefly detained and charged ABFSU Central Executive Committee members Soe Hla Naing and Kyaw Thiha Ye Kyaw on the same charges.

Prominent land rights defenders from the Southern Peasant Federation of Thailand (SPFT), Surat Thani Province, have faced another attempted murder and series of threats to life from intense land disputes that pitched communal peasant communities against the multinational companies and State agencies.

The latest threat occurred in the early morning of 20 October 2020, at about 01.00 am. Members of the SPFT reported the incident that in Santi Pattana Community a man believed to be employed by the company, Mr. Sompon Chimruang, pointed a firearm at the head of Mr. Dam Onmuang member of Santi Pattana community and attempted to kill him. Mr. Dam however avoided the shot causing the bullet to miss. The gunman Sompon Chimruang escaped by driving away.

7:30 am on 20 October 2020, Mr. Dam Onmuang and members of the Santi Pattana Community travelled to Bang Sawan Police Station in Bang Sawan Sub District, Phra Sang District, Surat Thani Province, to file a complaint on the attempted murder.

The police have gone to the scene while Mr. Sompon traveled to surrender himself at Bang Sawan Police Station.The police are trying to mediate the case between both parties.

The Southern Peasants Federation of Thailand (SPFT) was officially formed in 2008. The SPFT is an umbrella organisation comprised of 5 communities that inhabit and cultivate public land while advocating for land reform and self-determination over natural resources. The SPFT has repeatedly faced serious human rights violations: members have been murdered, attacked, threatened and criminalized.

Over the past ten years, Women / Human Rights Defenders of the SPFT have encountered different types of violence, including assassination, forcible eviction, arbitrary arrest and detention, destruction of properties and crops, intimidation, and judicial harassment. All communities reported that they have been threatened by unidentified armed groups which the community members believe are connected to some extent to palm oil companies, local influential groups and other business sectors. Apart from intimidation such as random gunfire into communities at night, destruction of houses and crops, and trespass by local influential groups with soldiers, four members of Klong Sai Pattana Community have already been assassinated, two of whom were women.

The Criminal Court today ordered broadcaster Voice TV to halt all online operations after finding it guilty of computer crimes and violating the state of emergency.

The court made its ruling, which affects the independent broadcaster’s website and social media, based on evidence presented by the Digital Economy and Society Ministry, according to ministry official Putchapong Nodthaisong.

“Its Facebook page will be closed within 3 to 4 days. There is no specific date,” he said, citing a provision that service providers must page content that is deemed to instigate the public.

He said the ruling only applied to online because broadcast was the purview of state telecom regulators.

“Television is the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission’s responsibility, so they have authority to revoke the license.”

Voice TV at 1:30pm said it had yet to receive the order and defended its commitment to fairness and a free press.

“Throughout 11 years, Voice TV has been a media outlet that upholds democratic values,” the station said via Facebook. “We openly, transparently provide a space for the public, and we are responsible to report every fact from all sides … We demand the authorities involved exercise their power fairly.”

Voice TV, founded by a son of an ousted prime minister, is a frequent target of the military-backed regime and has been ordered to cease broadcasting in the past. On Monday, it was one of four agencies the police ordered investigated and shut down in the face of swelling protests across the nation against the government.

Putchapong weighed in with his opinion that the channel had violated the emergency decree, put in place over the capital Thursday, because its broadcast persuaded people to join the mass gatherings.

The government has refused to back down in the face of protests it has been unable to contain and has moved to muzzle coverage it does not deem favorable.

Yesterday, police ordered that four news agencies – Prachathai, The Reporters, The Standard and Voice TV – be investigated and shut down, as well as the page of main student activist group Free Youth. However, today’s court ruling only applies to Voice TV.

Yesterday, a number of media associations lodged formal protests against the move.

Two key student activists were freed on bail last night only to be immediately detained again.

Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul and Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak were taken to the Border Police Bureau Region 1 in Pathum Thani province and, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, face another three to four charges each. The movement had demanded the release of all those detained last night, teasing a “big surprise” that turned out to be nothing more than a provocation to keep security forces on their toes.

At 10am this morning, protest organizer Free Youth was teasing the public again, this time that noon would bring an “important announcement.” The group also vowed “no tricks” this time.

While unprecedented displays of anger toward the monarchy have been displayed in the street, movement leaders maintain that they simply want reforms of the institution.

“The people’s demands are not to overthrow, but to offer a solution that brings Thailand back to a democracy where the kings are truly under the constitution,” Free Youth wrote this morning via Telegram.

One of their primary targets – Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha – said yesterday that the government’s primary responsibility is to “protect the monarchy.”

As to the controversial order for Voice TV to shut down, Prayuth asked the police to reconsider. However, he said any media agency found to spread “fake news” or have bad intentions should be censored.

Yesterday’s “big surprise” at 6pm was a fake out, but pro-democracy supporters at 6pm flashed three-finger salutes, sang the national anthem and denounced feudalism at BTS stations throughout the capital.

The country’s oldest hospital, Siriraj, announced that it would treat every patient equally and without discrimination “regardless of their political stance.” Its statement came days after police in full riot gear shot water cannons – believed to be mixed with a chemical irritant – to disperse the crowd on Friday.

With nearly 400 doctors nationwide signing in a joint statement demanding the authorities refrain from violence, at least one doctor was fired from Mongkutwattana General Hospital with the hospital’s director reasoning they he doesn’t tolerate employees “allied with the king’s enemies.”

The 17 October protests: 8 people were arrested. 6 were charged in Bangkok and taken for questioning at the Border Patrol Police Region 1 headquarters in Pathum Thani. 1 was charged over his participation in a 22 August protest in Ubon Ratchathani, and another was charged and questioned at Pattaya Police Station for violating the Computer Crimes Act.

By 18 October, 81 protestors, activists, guards, students and truck drivers have been arrested in connection with pro-democracy protests, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR).

TLHR records that as of 12.00 on 18 Oct, 80 people had been arrested and 1 more was added to the count after a voice amplifier truck driver was arrested later that night as he returned from the protest at Victory Monument. He was charged the next morning and his voice amplifier equipment and truck were seized.

76 have been charged, 27 are currently in temporary detention and 8 are still in police custody.

The 16 October protest at Pathum Wan intersection where the police dispersed protesters using riot control and high-pressure water cannon: 12 were officially arrested including a Prachatai reporter, Kitti Pantapak, whose Facebook live report was interrupted as police grabbed his device. Kitti was released with 300 baht fine for defying a police order.

Another 3 were arrested and/or charged on 16 October for an incident on 14 October. Boonkueanoon Paothong and Ekkachai Hongkangwan were charged with harming Her Majesty the Queen's liberty under Section 110 of the Criminal Code. They were accused of blocking the Queen’s royal procession. Another was Somyot Prueksakasemsuk for his participation in the 19 September protest.

Somyot and Ekkachai, former lèse majesté prisoners, were denied bail and remanded at the Bangkok Remand Prison. Boonkueanoon was allow bail.

The Thai authorities have issued an order under the Emergency Decree for the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) and the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DES) to investigate and possibly suspend four online media outlets: Voice TV, Prachatai, The Reporters, and The Standard, as well as the Facebook page of the student activist group Free Youth, for their coverage of the recent protests in Thailand.

The order, dated 16 October 2020, was issued by police chief Pol Gen Suwat Chaengyodsuk, who was appointed the chief official in the severe state of emergency, and states that “it appears that there was a broadcasting of content that affects state security, peace and order, or the good morals of the people”, and that the NBTC and the DES have been ordered to investigate and to stop the broadcasting or order the removal of such content.

However, as of 9.50 on 19 October, the order had yet to be published on the Royal Gazette website.

The Reporters reported at 10.40 today (19 October) that DES Minister Puttipong Punnakanta confirmed that there was an order for the Ministry to investigate the four media outlets and the Free Youth Facebook page.

Puttipong also said that he has tasked the DES Permanent Secretary with pressing charges against social media users who have broken the law between 14 – 18 October 2020, and that the DES is investigating at least 300,000 URLs.

At 12.36, The Reporters reported again that DES Deputy Permanent Secretary Putchapong Nodthaisong said that the Ministry has already requested a court warrant and is ready to shut down any media outlet that violates the Emergency Decree if it receives an order. He also said that the Ministry may request to check an outlet’s equipment, suspend it, or confiscate its equipment, but whether a journalist reporting the content in question would also face charges has to be decided based on the journalist’s intention.

However, assistant national police chief Pol Lt Gen Jaruwat Waisaya told the Reporters that the order to investigate the media outlets mentioned above is not currently enforced, but that the police have asked the NBTC and the DES to investigate some of the content published by Voice TV, Prachatai, The Reporters, The Standard, and Free Youth’s Facebook page, as there was a complaint that these outlets published content that affected national security, peace and order, or the good morals of the people. He claimed that the authorities are not trying to obstruct press freedom or shutting down media outlets, but are only notifying relevant agencies to investigate information that could violate the Emergency Decree.

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand (FCCT) issued a statement this morning (19 October) expressing concern about the order to investigate the media outlets and the threat to suspend these outlets.

“A free media is an essential element in any democratic society, and bona fide journalists should be allowed to report important developments without the threat of bans, suspensions, censorship or prosecution hanging over them,” says the statement, which also criticized the use of national security as a justification for such threat as “overly broad, and can easily be abused to silence reporting that is accurate but makes the government uncomfortable.”

The statement also says that such move is “likely to be ineffective and counterproductive in an age of social media” and that “it makes the government appear heavy-handed and unresponsive to criticism, and could stir up even more public anger.

“The professional membership of the FCCT urges the Thai authorities to reconsider censorship of media reporting, and drop the threats made against these particular media organisations,” concludes the statement.

The editorial board of Thai Enquirer, another Thai online media outlet, also issued a statement saying that “instead of dialogue, opening up discussion and press, the government has chosen to embrace its authoritarian roots and censor, shutdown, and intimidate journalists working to present the news” and called on the authorities to “rescind the gag order immediately and to engage in dialogue with the press, the opposition and the people.”

A former lawyer from the Arakan State capital Sittwe was charged at the township court under the Telecommunications Law’s Section 66(d), a notorious defamation provision, on October 7.

The accused, U Thar Pwint, said he had shared posts on social media about the deaths of civilians in Arakan State amid ongoing armed conflict in the region.

“I was sued without any reason. If I was sued for sharing posts, the person who put up the post should be the No. 1 accused,” said U Thar Pwint. “Secondly, I was not the only person who shared the post. If there are 20 who shared the post, all these people have to be sued. The reason for me is they don’t like me.”

Major Kyaw Zaw of a local Tatmadaw engineering unit filed the case as plaintiff under Section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law, which threatens up to three years in prison for anyone “extorting, coercing, restraining wrongfully, defaming, disturbing, causing undue influence or threatening to any person by using any Telecommunications Network.”

U Thar Pwint has been released on bail but will face his first court hearing on October 21.

Another Sittwe resident, U Soe Naing, was sued in August under 66(d) for allegedly making comments about the government on social media.

“There are things relating to the government and there are also things not relating to the government. I was not blaming the government but just commenting as a citizen on what they have said and done,” U Soe Naing said.

“Dear war victims, please honour the government for giving us a bar of soap to protect against coronavirus,” reads one of U Soe Naing’s Facebook posts. “We’d like to know whether the [Chief Minister] U Nyi Pu government, which said it has responsibility and accountability, has any plan to resign or not.”

“The government, the Tatmadaw, the leaders must bear political criticisms,” said Ma Thet Su Pyae Eain, a researcher for the freedom of expression advocacy group Athan. “We criticise the filing of lawsuits under such sections. All the cases filed against them should be withdrawn as soon as possible. Only then can we carry on with good democracy.”

In the first four years of the National League for Democracy (NLD) government’s five-year term, cases involving violations of free expression were filed against 1,051 people, according to a July report from Athan.

Charges brought under the Telecommunications Law topped the list.

Reporters Chitra Mijar, Anish Tiwari and Niroj Chaulagain were misbehaved while reporting in Sindhupalchowk on October 13. Sidhupalchowk lies in Bagmati Province.

Mijar and Tiwari are affiliated to Gorkhapatra and Kantipur National dailies respecively, while Chaulagain is associated with AP1 television.

Talking to Freedom Forum's monitoring desk, reporter Tiwari shared,"We were talking to the families who were forcefully displaced after a hydropower project started road construction without their consent. Meanwhile, a group of youth approached and shouted at us saying - Is this what you called journalism! Don't you have to listen to us?"

The reporters then talked to the youth and collected the voice of both sides.

"But again the youths in a group of 20-25 encircled us for at least two hours while we were heading towards the project site. Thereafter, we returned without reporting at the hydropower project site", said Tiwari. The youths had also threatened the driver for carrying journalists and vandalized their vehicle.

Further, claiming that people threatened and obstructed them while doing their job, Tiwari wondered, "Do we even have the right to report freely?"

They have also filed a complaint at the local police station. The case is under investigation.

Freedom Forum condemns the misbehavior meted out to the reporters. Reporting on the issues of public concern is the right of journalists guaranteed by the constitution. Hence, FF strongly urges the concerned authority to apologize for the misbehavior and respect journalists' rights.

Chinese authorities in the northern region of Inner Mongolia have arrested a human rights lawyer after he refused to send his child to school amid regionwide protests against plans to end Mongolian-medium education.

Police in Inner Mongolia's Tongliao city are have formally arrested Hu Baolong on charges of "leaking state secrets overseas," ethnic Mongolian scholar Khubis, who currently lives in Japan, told RFA on Wednesday.

He said he last had contact with Hu on Sept. 4.

"Hu Baolong protested because his kid was starting primary school this year," Khubis said. "As a father, he was protesting against [the ruling Chinese Communist Party's] 'bilingual education' policy."

"I was told that he was arrested for giving information to foreigners," he said. "But all his messages were on WeChat and were about regular stuff that most people know about."

Khubis said that, last time they spoke, he and Hu had avoided talking about the massive political resistance to plans to end Mongolian-medium education in the region's schools.

"We talked about everyday life; there was nothing secret or sensitive," Khubis said. "I think they are targeting him for taking part in the resistance movement among parents in Tongliao."

Class boycotts and street protests

Nomin, an ethnic Mongolian and former colleague of Hu's now living in the U.S., said she had tried to contact Hu's sister.

"I asked [his sister] if he had been detained and she said yes, he had," she said.

"The Tongliao authorities told some local parents that they detained [Hu] to encourage the local parents to settle down," Nomin said. "This was a couple of weeks ago."

"I learned via a group chat that Hu is being prosecuted and has been formally arrested."

Plans to end the use of the Mongolian language in the region's ethnic Mongolian schools have sparked weeks of class boycotts, street protests, and a region-wide crackdown by riot squads and state security police in the region, in a process described by ethnic Mongolians as "cultural genocide."

Since the start of the new semester, schools that previously offered Mongolian-medium teaching will start using Mandarin Chinese instead, phasing out any Mongolian-language teaching materials, according to local residents and overseas activists who spoke to RFA.

As well as Hu, the authorities have detained a further eight people on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," in connection with the schools protests.

Nine deaths so far

According to the New York-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC), at least nine people have died and thousands have been detained as the authorities launched a region-wide crackdown on the protest movement, which organized region-wide class boycotts and street protests in response to the policy change.

An estimated 300,000 students have boycotted class across Inner Mongolia since the end of August, with the authorities claiming the policy is a move towards "bilingual education."

Ethnic Mongolians in the region say it is a form of cultural genocide aimed at cutting off their remaining connection to their culture and heritage.

In several areas, the authorities dispatched SWAT teams, plainclothes state security police, and volunteers to strong-arm families into sending their children back to school, SMHRIC reported.

Parents who failed to enroll their children in school were threatened with having them expelled, while hundreds of ethnic Mongolians were forced to resign from public office after they resisted the changes to the curriculum, which were kept under wraps until the start of the new semester at the end of August.

Hu Baolong is the the founder of Tongliao's Menggali law firm, which mostly provides legal services for ethnic Mongolians, especially members of traditional herding communities.

The authorities had earlier imposed a travel ban on him after he represented a client in a politically sensitive legal case, and Hu was prevented from crossing the border into the neighboring country of Mongolia by border guards at Erenhot in 2010, on the grounds that his leaving would "endanger national security."

According to ethnic Mongolian Tara, Hu was also a veteran of the 1989 pro-democracy movement in China.

"He took part in the student movement in 1989, then went on to found his own law firm in Tongliao," Tara said. "He is a dissident, and advocate for freedom, and has been targeted all along; this time he explained the bilingual education policy to everyone in a WeChat group."

A journalist working with The Caravan magazine was on Friday allegedly assaulted by a senior police officer in North Delhi and detained for nearly four hours while he was reporting on protests against the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl in the area.

“Today [Friday] afternoon, the Delhi Police assaulted The Caravan India’s staffer Ahan Penkar while he was reporting,” the magazine tweeted. “ACP [Assistant Commissioner of Police] Ajay Kumar kicked and slapped Penkar inside the Model Town station premises. Penkar repeatedly told the police that he was a journalist and prominently displayed his press ID.”

However, the deputy commissioner of police, North West Delhi, on Saturday said that Penkar was seen protesting and was detained, after which he had said he was a journalist. The police have sent him a notice on the matter.

Penkar was reporting on a protest concerning the alleged rape and murder of a teenager in North Delhi, the magazine added. “Students and activists had gathered outside the Model Town police station to demand the registration of an FIR in the case,” it said. Caravan also shared a photo of the injuries on Penkar’s back.

Penkar later submitted a complaint to Delhi Commissioner of Police SN Srivastava. The journalist said that he saw a group of people gathered around the police station, demanding that the police file an FIR in the rape case.

Penkar said he was speaking to the 14-year-old girl’s aunt when the police began taking the protestors inside the station. He held up his press card and kept repeating that he was reporting the news, but the police took him inside too.

The journalist said that the police forcibly took his phone from him and deleted all the videos that he had recorded while reporting. “The police was abusing us the whole time and threatening us,” Penkar said in his complaint. “After a little time, the ACP Ajay Kumar came into the room holding a steel rod and threatened to beat us with the rod.”

Penkar added that Kumar kicked him in the face, back and shoulders. He also said that the police officer stamped on his ankle and threatened to register a case against him and others. The journalist added that he also saw the police beat up a Muslim man and a Sikh boy. He demanded an FIR against the police officers who assaulted him.

In August, three journalists from magazine were attacked by a mob in North East Delhi’s Subhash Mohalla neighbourhood while they were reporting on a story.

Journalists Prabhjit Singh, Shahid Tantray and their colleague were covering communal tensions that broke out in the area on the night of August 5, following the foundation-laying ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. In his complaint to the police, Singh said that had he not intervened, Tantray would have been beaten to death by the mob since he was a Muslim.

At a meeting organised by the Press Club of India on August 13, the journalists said that the Delhi Police had been helpless and scared of the mob.

Several journalists’ organisations had expressed outrage over the attack on Singh, Tantray and their colleague and demanded a first information report against the accused. The Editors Guild of India called the attack on the journalists “reprehensible” and demanded that the police take quick action against the guilty.

A Dalit writer and activist, Durai Guna, has been arrested in Tamil Nadu’s Pudukottai district for putting up sarcastic ‘recruitment’ posters — critical of the district administration in a circuitous way — across his native town. The posters are a way to protest against alleged administrative apathy and inaction against encroachment of a waterbody in his village.

The posters appeared as an advertisement and mockingly ‘invited’ candidates for posts ranging from tehsildar to district collector, leaving Revenue officials fuming, according to a senior police officer.

The waterbody concerned — Vettukulam water tank, spread on 3 acres of land — is in Karambakudi village of the district.

The police officer said Guna was arrested late on Tuesday based on an FIR registered under non-bailable charges under IPC Sections 170 (pretending to hold any post as a public servant) and 501 (printing any matter known to be defamatory), among others.

The officer said, “The posters defamed the administration. We received the complaint from a village official, and were told to file a case and arrest him.”

Maintaining that Guna had “motives” to defame the administration when he had proper methods to raise a complaint, District Collector P Uma Maheshwari said, “Now I have decided to book all encroachers (of the waterbody concerned) under Goondas Act.”

The poster — titled “Job Openings, People Needed” — invited honest and efficient candidates for the posts of collector, district revenue officer, tehsildar and village administrative officer in order to revive a waterbody by removing encroachment as per Madras High Court’s order. According to it, qualifications required were “common sense, self-respect and maturity.”

Asked about the arrest on serious charges for what was seemingly a harmless protest criticising the administration, District Collector Maheshwari said, “There were many complaints against him. He was arrested twice for different offences. I am told by the police that there are four FIRs against him and he was let out on bail after arrests on both occasions.”

Stating that Guna never approached her with a petition on the issue, Maheshwari said: “He petitioned the tehsildar. Our officials inspected the land and decided to give two months’ time since they (villagers) had already sown crops for this year.”

In Kyrgyzstan, a number of attacks on journalists and threats to media outlets have been reported since October 4 parliamentary elections, which were voided, followed by nationwide unrest and an ongoing political crisis and state of emergency, according to news reports, CPJ documentation, and a report by the Kyrgyz independent nonprofit organization Media Policy Institute. Yesterday, the Kyrgyz parliament held an emergency meeting and named Sadyr Japarov, a nationalist politician freed from prison by supporters, the country’s new prime minister, according to news reports.

Today, President Sooronbay Jeenbekov resigned, according to media reports.

“It is crucial that journalists can safely and freely cover the political crisis in Kyrgyzstan,” said CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Gulnoza Said. “Kyrgyz authorities must investigate reported attacks and threats targeting the journalistic community, and put a stop to hostilities toward reporters who are doing their work.”

Radio Azattyk, the Kyrgyz service of the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and its journalists have faced several attacks, threats, and other attempts to obstruct reporting since October 4, according to Venera Djumataeva, director of the service, who spoke with CPJ in a phone interview, and news reports.

Starting around October 6, Radio Azattyk’s website and its social media accounts have been targeted by thousands of messages, both signed and anonymous, ranging from insults to direct threats to the outlet and its Kyrgyz office, Djumataeva told CPJ.

One of the threats that CPJ reviewed–distributed through the messaging service WhatsApp and sent to Azattyk’s office phone via that app–stated, “Repost! Today, there is a threat of attack on the office @azattykmedia. Currently they only have one guard. Asking for a repost.” Other threats, posted as commentson Azattyk’s Instagram page, said: “Soon people will be destroying your office, Azattyk,” “People will destroy Azattyk very soon,” and “Let’s go to burn down Azattyk.” CPJ reviewed screenshots of all these messages. Azattyk reported the threats to Facebook, which said it is investigating, according to Djumataeva.

Djumataeva told CPJ that Azattyk had recruited volunteers to provide security at the outlet’s office in Bishkek.

CPJ emailed the Ministry of Internal Affairs for comment on the attacks on Radio Azattyk and its journalists, but did not receive a response.

In Kyrgyzstan, a number of attacks on journalists and threats to media outlets have been reported since October 4 parliamentary elections, which were voided, followed by nationwide unrest and an ongoing political crisis and state of emergency, according to news reports, CPJ documentation, and a report by the Kyrgyz independent nonprofit organization Media Policy Institute. Yesterday, the Kyrgyz parliament held an emergency meeting and named Sadyr Japarov, a nationalist politician freed from prison by supporters, the country’s new prime minister, according to news reports.

Today, President Sooronbay Jeenbekov resigned, according to media reports.

“It is crucial that journalists can safely and freely cover the political crisis in Kyrgyzstan,” said CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Gulnoza Said. “Kyrgyz authorities must investigate reported attacks and threats targeting the journalistic community, and put a stop to hostilities toward reporters who are doing their work.”

Radio Azattyk, the Kyrgyz service of the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and its journalists have faced several attacks, threats, and other attempts to obstruct reporting since October 4, according to Venera Djumataeva, director of the service, who spoke with CPJ in a phone interview, and news reports.

On October 9, a group of protesters assaulted another Radio Azattyk correspondent, Aybek Biybosunov, who was wearing journalistic protective gear and a marked vest, while he was covering a pro-Japarov rally near the Government House in Bishkek, the capital, according to news reports and Djumataeva. She told CPJ that a group of about five people pulled Biybosunov’s arms and kicked him in the legs, while yelling that Azattyk was not covering the events “correctly” and that they would “show them”; the journalist left the location due to these threats.

In Kyrgyzstan, a number of attacks on journalists and threats to media outlets have been reported since October 4 parliamentary elections, which were voided, followed by nationwide unrest and an ongoing political crisis and state of emergency, according to news reports, CPJ documentation, and a report by the Kyrgyz independent nonprofit organization Media Policy Institute. Yesterday, the Kyrgyz parliament held an emergency meeting and named Sadyr Japarov, a nationalist politician freed from prison by supporters, the country’s new prime minister, according to news reports.

Today, President Sooronbay Jeenbekov resigned, according to media reports.

“It is crucial that journalists can safely and freely cover the political crisis in Kyrgyzstan,” said CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Gulnoza Said. “Kyrgyz authorities must investigate reported attacks and threats targeting the journalistic community, and put a stop to hostilities toward reporters who are doing their work.”

Radio Azattyk, the Kyrgyz service of the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and its journalists have faced several attacks, threats, and other attempts to obstruct reporting since October 4, according to Venera Djumataeva, director of the service, who spoke with CPJ in a phone interview, and news reports.

On October 6, an unknown person hit Radio Azattyk correspondent Dastan Umotbai Uulu, who was covering a rally in support of then President Jeenbekov in Osh, Djumataeva told CPJ. The journalist did not say where on his body he was hit, or provide any more information on who hit him, according to Djumataeva. She said the journalist, who was wearing a vest marked “Press” and protective gear, was not injured, but due to the hostile attitude of the protesters he stopped his reporting on that rally and left the location.

Officials in Kyrgyzstan today voided the results of the October 4 parliamentary election after mass protests broke out in the capital of Bishkek and other cities. Members of several opposition parties announced plans to oust the president, according to news reports. Several journalists were attacked while covering the vote and the unrest that has followed, according to news reports and a statement today by the Kyrgyz independent nonprofit organization Media Policy Institute.

“Independent news is essential to the public during these chaotic and quickly moving events in Kyrgyzstan since the parliamentary elections,” said CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Gulnoza Said. “Kyrgyz authorities should ensure journalists can work freely and safely; law enforcement must stop attacking the press and ensure that protesters don’t target journalists either.”

Today, a law enforcement officer confiscated the phone of Ruslan Kharizov, a correspondent from independent news website 24.kg, while the journalist was using it to conduct a live broadcast of unrest in downtown Bishkek on the outlet’s Facebook page, according to news reports and Kharizov, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app. The officer came up to the journalist, cursed at him, told him that the unrest in the country was happening because of his filming, and forcefully took his phone, Kharizov said. He told CPJ that the officer deleted the last recording before the journalist got his phone back.

Later in the day, several filming crews, including Kharizov and crews from Kloop and Kyrgyz broadcaster 7 Kanal, were denied entry to the Dostuk hotel during an emergency session of the Kyrgyz parliament taking place there, according to Kharizov. Protesters organized to guard the entrance to the hotel and obstruct the journalists, Kharizov told CPJ.

Also today, during a live broadcast in front of Government House in Bishkek, a group of unknown men attacked Kloop’s film crew, according to Kloop, which published video of the attack on Facebook, and other news reports.

Also today in Bishkek, a police officer threw a stone at a journalist from Kyrgyz online broadcaster Vesti.kg, Eldos Kazybekov, according to news reports. The journalist was reporting from the scene of protests when a police officer told him to leave; when Kazybekov told the officer that he was a journalist, the former threw a stone at him, but missed, according to those reports.

As of today, hospitals in Kyrgyzstan have admitted 686 people with injuries of various degrees, according to news reports; it is unclear if there are any journalists among them.

CPJ emailed the Ministry of Internal Affairs for comment, but did not receive a response.

Officials in Kyrgyzstan today voided the results of the October 4 parliamentary election after mass protests broke out in the capital of Bishkek and other cities. Members of several opposition parties announced plans to oust the president, according to news reports. Several journalists were attacked while covering the vote and the unrest that has followed, according to news reports and a statement today by the Kyrgyz independent nonprofit organization Media Policy Institute.

“Independent news is essential to the public during these chaotic and quickly moving events in Kyrgyzstan since the parliamentary elections,” said CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Gulnoza Said. “Kyrgyz authorities should ensure journalists can work freely and safely; law enforcement must stop attacking the press and ensure that protesters don’t target journalists either.”

Yesterday, special forces in Bishkek, the capital, shot in the direction of journalist Aibol Kozhomuratov, a correspondent from Current Time, a TV network affiliated with the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, who later wrote about it on Twitter and spoke with CPJ via messaging app.

Kozhomuratov said a law enforcement officer shot in his direction even though he was wearing a special reflective vest designated for media workers and was clearly in the process of filming. The bullet flew a few millimeters above journalist’s head and he “felt it with his hair,” but was unharmed, Kozhomuratov said. Current Time released a video of the shooting on Twitter.

Officials in Kyrgyzstan today voided the results of the October 4 parliamentary election after mass protests broke out in the capital of Bishkek and other cities. Members of several opposition parties announced plans to oust the president, according to news reports. Several journalists were attacked while covering the vote and the unrest that has followed, according to news reports and a statement today by the Kyrgyz independent nonprofit organization Media Policy Institute.

“Independent news is essential to the public during these chaotic and quickly moving events in Kyrgyzstan since the parliamentary elections,” said CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Gulnoza Said. “Kyrgyz authorities should ensure journalists can work freely and safely; law enforcement must stop attacking the press and ensure that protesters don’t target journalists either.”

On October 4, two unidentified men attacked a filming crew of the independent news website Kloop in the southern city of Osh, according to news reports. As Kloop correspondent Aibike Adilet Kyzy and cameraman Khamidullo Uzakov were filming at polling station No. 5316 in a café, an unidentified man approached them, hit Uzakov, and unsuccessfully tried to take away the phone with which he was filming, while the police officers at the scene did not help the journalists, according to those reports. Later another man, who the journalists had seen with the first attacker, tried to take the phone from Adilet Kyzy, also unsuccessfully, according to those reports. The journalists filed a complaint with the Osh city police, which later detained and interrogated one of the assailants, and began an investigation into the attack as well as the refusal of the police officers at the scene to interfere, according to those reports.

CPJ tried to contact Kloop by email and through Facebook but did not immediately get a response.

On October 4, police officers–who have not been identified–prevented Radio Azattyk correspondent Ernist Nurmatov from entering polling station No. 5303 in the southern city of Osh, where the journalist went to cover the parliamentary elections, according to Djumataeva. Zamir Sydykov, press secretary of the Osh city department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, told Radio Azattyk over the phone that the police had the right to prevent a journalist from entering a polling station, Djumataeva said.

Police in full riot gear have used water cannons to crackdown on thousands of protesters gathering at the Pathumwan Intersection, defying the ban on mass gatherings imposed during the severe state of emergency.

The protest, which was scheduled to begin at 17.00 on 16 October, was originally planned to take place at the Ratchaprasong Intersection, where a mass protest also took place yesterday (15 October) following the crackdown on the protest at the Government House in the early morning of 15 October.

However, by 15.00, police officers have already set up barriers at the Ratchaprasong Intersection and the Pratunam Intersection, blocking off the area. They also blocked smaller streets and stopped pedestrians and vehicles from going into the area.

Police officers also raided the offices of the Progressive Movement, a group formed by banned members of the now-dissolved Future Forward Party, during Piyabutr Saengkanokkul’s press conference.

At 16.30, police in full riot gear were seen lining up at the Ratchaprasong Intersection, blocking off traffic. Officers carrying batons were also seen near the police headquarters.

The student activist group Free Youth then announced that the protest will be moving to the Pathumwan Intersection.

By 17.00, protesters have already occupied half of the intersection, and Phayathai Road was closed from the MBK shopping centre towards the Ratchatewi BTS Station.

Prior to the protest, the BTS Sky Train announced that the Ratchatewi Station and Ratchadamri Station have been closed. After the location change, the Siam Station and the National Stadium Station were also closed. The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority also announced that all public bus and van will not be traveling close to the protest area and will not stop at any stop within the 5-kilometre radius of the Ratchaprasong Intersection. The Samyan MRT Station was also later closed.

At 18.50, as it began to rain heavily, police officers in full riot gears moved into the area near the Siam BTS Station and fired water cannons at the protesters, as well as pushing into them with their shields. There were reports that the water contained chemical irritants and was stained blue with long-lasting paint, as well as reports of the police using a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD).

On Phayathai Road, a large crowd of protesters, many of whom were high school students in uniforms, ran out from the Pathumwan Intersection and into the nearby Chulalongkorn University, where the student group Nisit Chula Party have designated a safe zone and have been on standby in case of a crackdown. Student representatives stood by the gates with megaphones telling protesters to come inside the campus.

People gathered at the Faculty of Political Science, where student volunteers and several lecturers were handing out bottles of water and organizing people into groups so they can leave through the nearest gate to the closest BTS and MRT stations. They also provided ammonia and water for people who got sprayed with the blue paint to clean themselves, as well as handing out shirts for them to change.

At 18.57, police officers were ordered to drop their shield and arrest the protesters. There were also reports of officers preparing use tear gas on the protesters.

At 19.20, the police reportedly used tear gas in the Siam BTS Station area, according to a nearby Prachatai reporter and an observer from iLaw, who said they were hit with some kind of chemical irritant. A reporter from PPTV who was doing a live broadcast nearby also said that they felt some irritation on their face and in their eyes, and that the water the police fired at the protesters may have some chemical mixed in.

At 21.05, the police ordered all protesters and reporters to leave the Pathumwan Intersection area or be arrested. Five minutes later, they were firing water cannon at protesters on the Rama 1 side of the intersection and moving towards the National Stadium BTS Station.

At 22.25, shield-carrying officers marched to the Hua Chang bridge, near the Ratchatewi BTS Station, where a group of people are still gathering and announced that everyone must leave in 20 minutes. However, at 22.30, police officers fired water cannon at the group. Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) also reported there was an announcement for the protesters, who were pushed back to the Ratchatewi Intersection, to be arrested.

TLHR also said that officers were running after protesters who ran into Soi Phaya Nak and arresting them, and that they also arrested a number of protesters closest to the police line.

At 23.15, traffic resumed at the Pathumwan Intersection.

TLHR said that at least 12 protesters were arrested during the 16 October crackdown and were brought to the Border Patrol Police Region 1 headquarters in Pathum Thani, including student activist Tattep Ruangprapaikitseree, a leading member of Free Youth, activist Anurak “Ford” Jentawanich, and Prachatai reporter Kitti Pantapak.

One of those arrested was an employee at a restaurant near Hua Chang Bridge. He was arrested at around 22.00 and also taken to the Border Patrol Police Region 1 headquarters.

Under the severe state of emergency, the government imposed a ban on gatherings of more than five people, allows state officials to arrest people and detain them for 30 days without informing them of the charges against them, and banned the publication of information that “could create fear,” affect national security, or damage public morale.

The protest organisers issued a statement condemning the use of force against the protesters, and announced that there will be another demonstration on Saturday (17 October) at 16.00 at a location that is still unspecified.

Terai Human Rights Defenders Alliance (THRD Alliance) condemns the cold-blooded murder of an environmental rights defender in Dhanusha district of the Tarai region, Nepal. The 24year-old Om Prakash Mahato was crushed to death by a tipper owned by a crusher company on 10 January 2020 while protesting the illegal extraction of river materials from a river located near his village. We call on the authorities to set up a parliamentary inquiry into the illegal extraction of river materials, review of existing regulations and for the company to provide compensation to the family.

CASE DETAILS On 10 January 2020, Om Prakash Mahato, who goes by the nickname ‘Dilip’, 24, of Mithila Municipality-5, Dhanusha district, was killed while he was protesting the illegal extraction of the riverbed materials from Aurahi River located near his village Shreepur Tol. The night before the incident, someone had informed Dilip that aggregates (sand and stones) were going to be extracted illegally from Aurahi river. Before he left toward the river, at around 4 am, he did not inform his family but he informed the ward chairperson by mobile phone that he was going there to confront the crusher company. His friend, Roshan Yadav, accompanied Dilip. Dhanusha District Police Chief Ramesh Kumar Basnet told the media: “He was manhandled, stabbed in the right side of his stomach with an iron lever, his body was then laid on the river bed, and run over by a truck (number Na 7 Kha 6413). We are further investigating the matter.”1 Meanwhile, Dilip’s family members told THRDA monitors that the contractors intentionally killed him. They informed that Dilip had earlier arguments with local contractors – Janak Mahato, Lochan Mahato and Bipin Mahato – who had threatened to kill him for opposing river extraction.

BACKGROUND Aurahi River lies in Mithila Municipality. The municipality awarded a contract of NPR 40.51 million to local contractors to extract river materials from the Aurahi river. The locals and farmers opposed the extraction of river materials from the deep riverbed which was beyond the permissible limit mentioned in the contract. The contactors were illegally extracting the river materials. The local farmers, including Dilip, whose fields adjoin the river, had been protesting the illegal extraction of the river materials by the contactors since it started two years ago. Dilip had repeatedly received death threats from the contractors throughout this period. He had repeatedly gotten into disputes with the owners and employees of the Churiyamai Sand Processing Centre. When Dilip did not stop his campaign against the crusher company, contractors tried to bribe him but he continued to oppose the illegal mining. The death of Dilip, who was the eldest son, is a major loss to the family. He was expected to work as an engineer soon. He was an engineering student at a university in Bhopal, India and had recently taken the final exams. He had come home to spend his vacation with his family. His parents have worked hard to pay for his tuition in India.

INVESTIGATION AND ACTION Police moved the body of Dilip for the post-mortem without preparing a crime scene report. Irate locals halted vehicle movement on the Mahendra Nagar Highway to protest it. They also demanded a stringent punishment for the killers of Dilip. On 11 January 2020, Dilip’s family lodged the First Information Report (FIR) at the District Police Office of Dhanusha district. Police assured the family that they would investigate the incident impartially and punish those responsible for his death. In a press meeting organized on 11 January 2020, police said that they arrested four persons allegedly involved: 27-year-old Bipin Kumar Mahato (owner of Churiyamai Sand Processing Centre), 34-year-old Munindra Mahato (tipper driver), another driver Jitendra Kumar Mahato (24-years-old) of Bardibas Municipality, Mahato, and 27-year-old Roshan Kumar Yadav (his friend). In a meeting of the National Assembly held on 12 January 2020, lawmakers demanded legal action against the perpetrators2. The National Assembly members also urged the government to curb ongoing illegal extraction of riverbed materials. Meanwhile, Province 2 Government on 13 January announced the payment of an ex gratia of NPR 0.5 million to Dilip’s family. In a statement released on 12 January,3 the National Human Rights Commission called the authorities to carry out an impartial and effective investigation into the case.

CALL TO ACTION Given the contemporary political scenario, human rights defenders (HRDs) in Nepal are at risk while carrying out their work. The actions and controversial bills4 such as Media Council Bill, Information Technology Bill, Nepal Special Service Bill5 introduced by the government have created fear among HRDs. The government also proposed an amendment to National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Act 2012 which undermines the independence of NHRC as it gives the Attorney General powers to decide which cases recommended for prosecution by the NHRC are brought before the courts, and it also abolishes the power of the NHRC to maintain regional offices. About the situation of HRDs in Nepal, Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2020 mentions: The Home Ministry prepared draft legislation that will give the government powers to monitor and control the activity of all domestic and international organizations in Nepal. Human rights defenders feared that these powers will be used to harass activists, and to deny access to external funding for human rights work. As of now, Nepal does not have specific laws or policies on the protection of HRDs. In 2009, the human rights community had drafted a human rights defenders bill7. The bill is yet to be registered in the parliament. But the discussions on the bill are underway among human rights organizations. It is high time that the human rights community and national and international stakeholders lobby the government and policy makers to enact a law on HRDs’ security. The cold-blooded murder of the environmental rights defender sends a chilling message to those carrying out human rights work in Nepal. We urge the authorities to create a conducive environment for HRDs. Despite media reports and ongoing protests staged by locals, the illegal mining of river materials in the country continues unabated. Arguably, the nexus between the contractors and local government units and politicians is responsible for this. Once again, we call on the authorities to set up a parliamentary inquiry into the illegal extraction of river materials, review of existing regulations and for the company to provide compensation to the family.

Two journalists who are in hospital after been violently beaten up and threatened with death while investigating an illegal logging racket, fear for their safety as the assailants are roaming free with apparent protection from authorities.

On 12 Monday afternoon, Shanmugam Thavaseelan and Kanapathipillai Kumanan covering illicit felling in the Mullaitivu district were attacked by illegal loggers wielding clubs and an adze. Most of their photographic evidence was destroyed while they managed to save few video footage.

“The leader of the thugs who attacked us is roaming freely even though there are multiple complaints against him and several arrest warrants,” Thavaseelan who lost a couple of his front teeth had told fellow journalists visiting him in the Mullaitivu District Hospital.

“This shows the level of protection he enjoys. He had an adze in his hand which he threatened to use to cut me down to pieces. If some in the gang did not stop him, I would have been dead by now. If they are not arrested our lives are in danger.”

Four men on motorbikes

The two Tamil journalists were investigating a tip-off about an illegal logging operation in the Murippu forest reserve adjoining a cultivated teak range. While the teak was legally felled by a supplier to the State Timber Corporation (STC) the bordering forest reserve was illegally logged by another who was allegedly introduced to the supplier by the Beat Forest Officer (BFO) of the range. Locals are convinced that the illegal logger was running a timber racket in collusion with the licensed supplier and forestry officials under the guise of supplying legitimate timber to STC.

When Thavaseelan and Kumanan visited the nearby Kumulamuani east, they found a two-floor timber construction within a clearing enclosed in a bared wire fence with teak posts. The journalists estimate that at least 200 logs went to build the enclosure.

Four men on motorbikes confronted the journalists who were filming what they saw.

“We told them that we are hearing about illegal logging and what they have to say about it,” said Thavaseelan.

“Then they beat us up. Kumanan was from that village. They accused him of doing harm to the village and banged him heavily on the head. He started bleeding. I was attacked with an adze. I lost my teeth. The leader threatened to kill us.”

Attacked and robbed

The four forced them to the enclosure, their recordings were wiped off and memory cards were removed. Their money was stolen.

Once inside the enclosure, the attackers filmed the two journalists accusing them of illegal entry and theft.

“I told them that they can lodge a complaint with the police if we have committed any offence,” said Thavaseelan.

The assailants released the two journalists later who lodged a complaint at the Mullaitivu police station and were admitted to the Mullaitivu District Hospital.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has rubbished exposures of illegal logging in forest reserves as “fake news campaigns”. In contrast, Defence Secretary Major General Kamal Gunaratne who admitted in public that the ongoing illegal timber racket is a serious threat to the environment, pledged to take action against it with the assistance of the president’s sibling and State Minister for Internal Security Chamal Rajapaksa.

The Free Media Movement strongly condemns the attack carried out on the Derana TV journalist Indunil Wijenayake in Monaragala, while he was there to cover an incident of unauthorized sand mining in the Kumbukkan Oya.

According to reports we have received, journalist Indunil Wijenayake has gone to report an incident of illegal sand mining around the Kumbukkan Oya. At that time, he was attacked by a group of people who obstructed his attempt to report, and as a result of the assault, he had to be admitted to the Monaragala Hospital for treatment. A complaint has been lodged with the Monaragala Police regarding the incident, and it has been reported that the police have commenced investigations into the incident and arrested one suspect.

During the past journalist have reported on unauthorized sand mining in various parts of the country, and recently with the police media spokesperson stating that those reports were instrumental and extremely helpful in the police investigations, it has validated and acknowledged the importance of the role of journalists.

The Government of Sri Lanka has a responsibility to protect the country’s rare natural resources through local environmental regulations as well as through international conventions.

In such a context, in the past journalists who have been engaged in reporting on the environment have been harassed and threatened on several occasions by people suspected of engaging in crimes against the environment. If the law were enforced adequately concerning such incidents, journalists would not often have to fall prey to these environmental criminals. Therefore, the Free Media Movement calls on the authorities to immediately conduct an impartial inquiry into the incident and enforce the law regardless of the status of the suspects.

The Uttar Pradesh Police has booked Malayalam journalist Siddique Kappan and three others for sedition as well as under the stringent UAPA, a day after they were stopped on their way to Hathras, home to a Dalit woman who died after being allegedly gang-raped. Siddique from Malappuram, Atiq-ur Rehman from Muzaffarnagar, Masood Ahmed from Bahraich and Alam from Rampur have been booked by the Mathura police. Siddique Kappan is a senior Delhi-based journalist, doing freelance work for several Malayalam media houses, including azhimukham.com.

The FIR (first information report) copy, accessed by TNM, alleges that the four men had gone to disrupt the peace in Hathras and there is a big conspiracy behind their visit. The Uttar Pradesh police had earlier said that they had arrested them for having links with the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its affiliate in Mathura. However, the PFI link has not been mentioned in the FIR at all.

The FIR shows that the four have been booked under 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings) and 124A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code, as well as section 17 (punishment for raising funds for terrorist act) and 14 (punishment for unlawful activities) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

All the four have also been booked under section 65 (tampering with computer source documents), 72 (punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service) and 76 (punishment for violation of privacy) of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008.

The FIR also mentions the website, justiceforhathrasvictim.carrd.co, which had information on how to protest safely and avoid the police. The police have stated that the website incites violence and threatens the law and order situation. “The main intention of this website has been found to be to encourage communal hatred, cause unrest in the society and to spark riots on a large scale,” the FIR states, adding that the four have been arrested over “larger conspiracy”. The four accused have been accused of running the website and that it has been created under the garb of 'collecting funds' to incite violence. However, the PFI link has not been mentioned in the FIR.

The Uttar Pradesh police had on Monday said that it seized the mobile phones, laptops and some literature, which “could have an impact on peace and law and order”, from the arrested people. During interrogation, it came to light that the four arrested people had links with the PFI and its associate organisation Campus Front of India, the UP police had claimed.

The Delhi unit of Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath seeking his release, saying he was going to Hathras only to perform his duty as a reporter. Terming Kappan's arrest as illegal and unconstitutional, the KUWJ also filed a habeas corpus petition in the Supreme Court on Tuesday seeking his immediate production before the court and release from the "illegal detention".

Kappan is also the KUWJ's secretary and was proceeding to Hathras only to do his duty as a reporter, KUWJ's Delhi unit president Miji Jose told the Chief Minister in her letter, urging him to order his release.

"We understand that he was taken into custody by Uttar Pradesh police from Hathras toll plaza. Our efforts and the efforts by some advocates based in Delhi to contact him were not successful," KUWJ said.

Hathras has been in the news following the death of a 19-year-old Dalit woman who was allegedly gang-raped on September 14 in a village in the district. And her cremation at night, allegedly without the parents' consent, has triggered widespread outrage.

Elias Mia, a correspondent of Daily Bijoy, was hacked to death on October 12 by miscreants in the Narayanganj district for allegedly exposing a criminal nexus in gas line distribution. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns the brutal murder and urges the Bangladesh government to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Mia, a 52 year old journalist, was stabbed with a sharp weapon in the Geodhara area of Bandar whilst returning home. Despite the best efforts of passers-by, who took the journalist to Narayanganj General Hospital immediately after the incident, Mia died of his injuries around 9:00pm on October 12.

Bandar Police Station stated that three suspects have been arrested —Tusher, Minnat Ali and Mishir Ali — for their involvement in the killing. Police have presented them before a local court following the incident. The Daily Bijoy editor Sabbir Ahmed argues that there is a strong connection between the murder of Mia and his past reporting. Investigators said one suspect’s family had previously accused Mia of providing information that lead to Tusher’s earlier arrest and detainment for drug possession. Tusher was also allegedly involved in managing illegal gas connections.

The journalist had formerly voiced feelings of insecurity relating to his past news reports. Local media details that Mia had filed a general diary with Bandar Police Station seeking security arrangements.

Mia is the second journalist to be killed in Bangladesh during 2020. Julhas Uddin, a correspondent of Bijoy TV, was murdered on September 3, 2020 after being stabbed.

After police dispersed the protest at Government House earlier this morning (15 October), over 20 protesters, including several protest leaders, have been arrested.

According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), at least 27 known protesters have now been arrested after police invaded the protest site outside Government House and a severe state of emergency was declared this morning.

This includes protest leaders Anon Nampa, Prasit Karutarote, Parit Chiwarak, Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, and Nutchanon Pairoj, along with 22 others.

As of 14.50, 4 people have already been released, including photographer Karnt Thassanaphak, who was taken to the Border Patrol Police Region 1 headquarters, and 3 civilians who were taken to Chanasongkhram Police Station.

Karnt was arrested alongside Parit at around 04.30 while he and Parit were in his car with two other students at the Nang Loeng Intersection. He said that a group of officers surrounded the car and, after presenting the arrest warrant, took Parit and the two students away in a van. The officers then searched Karnt and his car, and escorted him to the Border Patrol Police Region 1 headquarters in his own car.

Anon and Prasit, who were arrested on charges relating to an earlier demonstration in Chiang Mai, were reportedly taken by police aircraft without their lawyer and were expected to be brought to Chiang Mai. TLHR said that onboard were 5 officers from Provincial Police Region 5, 2 pilots, 2 mechanics, and officers from the Crime Suppression Division.

At 15.00, they arrived at the Wing 41 air force base in Chiang Mai, but it is not clear where they will be taken next.

Parit, Panusaya, and Nutchanon were arrested on charges relating to a demonstration at Thammasat University and are still in custody.

Panusaya and Nutchanon were arrested at 08.45 at their accommodation in Khao San Road, after Panusaya read out the People’s Party statement on the crackdown at 07.00.

After being presented with an arrest warrant, Panusaya tore the warrant and she and Nutchanon sat down on the floor in an act of resistance. The officers then put them into wheelchairs and took them to the Border Patrol Police Region 1 headquarters.

18 other civilians are also still being detained at the same headquarters.

There are reports that many protesters were arrested at the protest site at the Misakawan intersection they had left and were on their way to their accommodation near the area.

Contrary to reports from earlier in the day, student activist Panupong Jadnok has not been arrested.

Parit, Anon, Prasit, and Panusaya were charged with sedition, among other charges, while the other 18 people were charged with violating the Emergency Decree.

Under the severe state of emergency, gatherings of five or more people are banned and state officials may arrest people without first informing them of their charges. The order also bans the publication of information that “could create fear,” affect national security, or damage public morale.

The government claimed that the protesters “invited and incited illegal public assemblies in Bangkok” and that they intercepted a royal motorcade and committed actions that affect national security, and therefore “an urgent measure” is necessary to control the situation and “maintain peace and order.”

Tattep Ruangprapaikitseree, a leading member of the student activist group Free Youth and one of the few protest leaders still free, said that the situation is almost no different from a coup and called for people to join the protest at 16.00 at the Ratchaprasong intersection.

Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns, also issued a statement saying that the “vague, drastic order” will lead to more unfair arrests, detentions, and prosecutions, and that the scale of the morning’s arrests “seems completely unjustified” as yesterday’s protest was “overwhelmingly peaceful.”

The statement also noted that the order was “clearly designed to stamp out dissent and sow fear in anyone who sympathizes with the protesters’ views,” and called for the immediate and unconditional release of the arrested protesters and for those arrested to have access to legal counsel.

“These arrests and sudden emergency measures, announced in the middle of the night, are just the latest escalation in Thailand’s current onslaught on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” said the statement.

“Instead of ruling by decree and mass arrests, the Thai authorities must reverse course. They must comply with their international obligations to respect the rights of anyone who simply wishes to peacefully speak their mind, on social media or in the streets.”

Charles Santiago, Malaysian MP and Chair of the ASEAN Parliamentarian for Human Rights (APHR), also said “This emergency decree issued by Thai authorities is nothing but an excuse to shut down the peaceful protests that have swept across the country in recent months. The thousands that have taken to the streets in Bangkok, and nationwide, have done so peacefully, and are fully entitled to raise concerns about the current state of democracy in Thailand.

“Instead of introducing measures to end the protests, and arresting its leaders, Thai authorities should listen to the concerns those demonstrating are raising. They might find that their suggestions could benefit the entire country, and not merely a select few, as Thailand’s politics has done for so long.”

Anti-government protesters settled into their new camp on Phitsanulok Road, outside Government House, on Wednesday night after police gave up trying to stop their march.

Thousands of anti-government protesters walked to Government House from the Democracy Monument in the afternoon, to press their demands for the departure of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and a new constitution.

They were briefly halted by police barricades, but when they insisted on moving forward, police finally backed off.

"Down with dictatorship. Long live democracy," the marchers chanted as they moved off from Democracy Monument, where they had assembled face to face with thousands of yellow clad royalist supporters.

The protesters walked from the Democracy Monument on Ratchdamneon Avenue to Government House via Nakhon Sawan Road as police blocked them from marching on Ratchadamnoen Nok Avenue.

Human rights lawyer Anon Nampha and other protest leaders promised there would be no violence during the rally.

Yellow-clad people had gathered along Ratchadamnoen Avenue, waiting for the motorcade of His Majesty the King, who was to go to the Grand Palace in the afternoon for a religious ceremony.

The protesters were blocked by four police buses at the end of Nakhon Sawan Road, in front of the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives office. The demonstrators in the front line started trying to push one of the buses out of the way, so they could continue. Their leaders told them to stop and to show restraint.

They then sat down along Nakhon Sawan Road waiting for the next move from their leaders.

Police later allowed them to move forward, and then set up a new barrier on Phitsanulok Road, closer to Government House.

The protesters insisted on moving forward and police eventually decided to let them go, by moving backwards.

A march leader said they planned to camp out on Phitsanulok Road, outside Government House.

The protest was organised by the "Khana Ratsadorn” (the People's Group), formerly known as the Free People movement.

Because the protesters moved off from Ratchadamneon Avenue, police cleared away traffic, and yellow-shirted people had a chance to glimpse the royal motorcade of HM the King as it went from Ambara Villa in Dusit Palace to the Grand Palace for a religious function.

City Hall workers restored plants at the Democracy Monument that had been moved by the protesters during their gathering there before the march.

The demonstration is the latest in three months of action that have put the greatest pressure in years on the establishment, long dominated by the army and the palace.

Political activist Jatupat "Pai Daodin" Boonpatararaksa who was detained along with 20 others during Tuesday's anti-government protest at Democracy Monument will remain in police custody after the Criminal Court yesterday approved a police request to detain him for 12 more days while investigating his alleged "wrongdoing".

He was yesterday brought from the Border Patrol Police Region 1's headquarters in Pathum Thani, where he was detained the previous night, to the Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road.

He was arrested on Tuesday when he and other protesters set up tents in front of a McDonald's restaurant close to Democracy Monument on Ratchadamnoen Avenue and Satriwithaya School, where His Majesty the King was to pass by in a royal motorcade heading to the Grand Palace, where royal ceremonies were to be held to mark the fourth anniversary of the passing of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej The Great.

Mr Jatupat and his group's refusal to make way for the motorcade prompted police to arrest him and other protest co-leaders.

Mr Jatupat faces 12 charges in connection with Tuesday's protest, while 19 other co-leaders and protesters are facing 10 charges, said Kritsadang Nutcharat, a lawyer from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.

The two additional charges Mr Jatupat faces are leading or ordering a gathering of more than 10 people causing public unrest, and jointly organising a public gathering without securing permission from authorities as required under the public gathering law, said the lawyer.

Mr Jatupat and the 19 other protesters are facing 10 other charges as well, including resisting orders by security authorities, using loudspeakers without permission, colluding to obstruct traffic, and violating public cleanliness.

Political activist Jatupat “Pai Dao Din” Boonpatararaksa was detained along with 20 others during Tuesday’s anti-government protest at the Democracy Monument. The veteran dissident will continue to be held in custody after the Criminal Court on Wednesday approved a police request to further detain him for 12 days while investigating his alleged misconduct.

Mr Jatupat is facing 12 charges in connection with Tuesday’s protest, while 19 others are facing 10 charges, said Kritsadang Nutcharat, a lawyer from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.

The activist was brought from the headquarters of the Border Patrol Police Region 1 in Pathum Thani, where he was detained the previous night, to the Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road on Wednesday.

One protester is yet to be charged because police first need to complete a process required under the Youth Act in dealing with an underaged criminal suspect, said the lawyer.

The two additional charges Mr Jatupat is facing are leading or ordering a gathering of more than 10 people that caused public unrest, and jointly organising a public gathering without securing permission from authorities as required under the public gathering law, said the lawyer.

The other ten charges levelled at Mr Jatupat and the other 19 protesters are: colluding to gather in a group of more than 10 people, colluding to cause public unrest, colluding to organise an activity that risks spreading a communicable disease, colluding to obstruct public thoroughfares, colluding to obstruct traffic, violating the law on public cleanliness, colluding to physically assault others, colluding to damage property, resisting orders by security authorities, and using loudspeakers without permission.

The Thai authorities should immediately drop all charges and unconditionally release democracy activists arrested for peacefully protesting in Bangkok on October 13, 2020, Human Rights Watch said today.

At approximately 3:40 p.m., police forcibly dispersed a pro-democracy protest organized by the People’s Group at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument. Police kicked, punched, and threw some protesters to the ground. Some protesters threw paint at police who were arresting them. The police charged those arrested with intent to cause violence, using loudspeakers without permission, and several other offenses.

“The Thai government’s breakup of a peaceful democracy protest at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument just proved the protesters’ point,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The charges against the protesters should be dropped and they should be immediately and unconditionally released.”

Police arrested 21 of the approximately 200 protesters, including the protest leader, Jatuphat “Pai Dao Din” Boonpattararaksa. The protesters were being detained for interrogation at the 1st Region Border Patrol Police Camp in Pathumthani province, north of Bangkok. The police have prevented lawyers from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights from meeting with the arrested activists. Since July 18, youth-led coalitions have organized peaceful protests across Thailand calling for the dissolution of Parliament, a new constitution, and an end to authorities harassing people who exercise their right to freedom of expression. Some of the protests later included demands for reform of the institution of the monarchy to limit the king’s powers.

Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-ocha recently dropped his previous pledge to listen to dissenting voices and adopted a more hostile stance toward pro-democracy protests. Thai Lawyers for Human Rights has reported that at least 65 protesters face illegal assembly charges for holding peaceful protests in Bangkok and other provinces. Some protest leaders have also been charged with sedition, which carries a maximum seven-year prison term, for making demands regarding reform of the monarchy.

International human rights law, reflected in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Thailand ratified in 1996, protects the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Thai authorities have routinely censored and halted public discussions about human rights, political reforms, and the role of the monarchy in society. Since the military coup in 2014, the authorities have prosecuted hundreds of activists and dissidents on serious criminal charges such as sedition, computer-related crimes, and lese majeste (insulting the monarchy) for the peaceful expression of their views.

The Thai government’s hostility to the exercise of civil and political rights has intensified over the past five months as authorities have imposed draconian state of emergency measures in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The authorities have increasingly used those measures as a pretext to ban anti-government rallies and harass pro-democracy activists, Human Rights Watch said.

“The Democracy Monument arrests raise serious concerns that the government will impose even harsher repression of people’s fundamental freedoms in Thailand,” Adams said. “Thailand’s international friends should call on the government to stop arresting peaceful protesters, listen to their views, and allow them to freely and safely express their visions for the future.”

Students at Maha Sarakham University, in Thailand’s northeastern province of Maha Sarakham, have complained that they were harassed by police, who tried to disrupt their pro-democracy rally at the university’s sports ground.

In a Facebook post today, a student leader said that plain clothes and uniformed police came to the protest site, to search for illegal or subversive publications and to notify the event organizers of the laws related to public gatherings.

He said that the police seized copies of a red book, containing a10-point manifesto for the reform of the Thai Monarchy, and collections of poetry, authored by members of the Free People Movement.

He admitted, however, that he was not surprised by the seizure of those publications, adding that the students had already downloaded the contents of the two publications in PDF format and that anyone who is interested can also download them.

He added that police blocked access to the protest site with metal barriers, but students, their supporters and red-shirt followers were unfazed and streamed into the site to join the rally.

An 83-year-old Jesuit priest has been arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the probe into the 2018 violence in Maharashtra's Koregaon-Bhima village.

Father Stan Swamy, an activist working with tribals, was picked up from his home in Jharkhand capital Ranchi by a team of NIA officials from Delhi. The officials reportedly spent around 20 minutes at his home before taking him away.

The arrest has sparked outrage. Author and historian Ramachandra Guha said Stan Swamy has spent a "lifetime fighting for the rights of adivasis."

"That is why the Modi regime seeks to suppress and silence them; because for this regime, the profits of mining companies take precedence over the lives and livelihoods of adivasis," Mr Guha tweeted.

Lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan tweeted, "...Now arrested by the NIA under UAPA! The venality of this BJP govt & NIA knows no bounds (sic)."

The probe agency claimed that Stan Swamy is a member of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) and was "actively involved in its activities".

"He also received funds through an associate for furtherance of the CPI (Maoist) activities," officials of the probe agency said.

The agency said documents and propaganda material of the CPI (Maoist) and literature were seized from Stan Swamy, adding that he was in contact with the other accused in the Koregaon-Bhima case.

"The NIA is after me. I'm being pressurised to go to Bombay... The NIA questioned me for 15 hours... I'm being called to the Mumbai office of the NIA. I refuse to go there. I am 83 and have health issues. I don't want to expose myself to the coronavirus. I have never been to Bhima Koregaon," Stan Swamy had said in a video on October 6.

"If NIA wants to question me, they can do so via video-conferencing," he said.

Several prominent activists, scholars and lawyers have been jailed for over two years while they await trial.

Stan Swamy, who has several health issues, is the oldest person to be in custody in the Koregaon-Bhima case. He has been questioned several times in the past in connection with the case. Originally from Kerala, Stan Swamy has been working for tribals in Jharkhand for over five decades.

The case relates to an event on December 31, 2017 in Pune which was followed by violence and arson in Maharashtra that left one person dead.

Investigators claim that the activists at the Elgar Parishad meet had made inflammatory speeches and provocative statements, which it said had triggered violence the next day.

Last month, the Supreme Court declined to entertain a plea for an interim bail on medical grounds by lawyer-activist Sudha Bharadwaj, who is among the accused in the case. Ms Bharadwaj, 58, has been in jail in Mumbai for over two years and is suffering from diabetes and comorbidities and wanted interim bail so that she could take a medical check-up, her lawyer had said.

The investigation also claimed to have uncovered a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

During the investigation, the NIA said, it was revealed that senior leaders of the CPI (Maoist), a banned organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, were in contact with the organisers of the Elgar Parishad event as well as the accused arrested in the case to spread Maoist and Naxal ideology and encourage unlawful activities.

Vietnam’s security forces have detained prominent human rights defender and democracy campaigner Pham Doan Trang as the communist government has tightened control to clear all political opposition while the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) is preparing for its 13th National Congress scheduled for early 2021.

Ms. Trang was arrested in the late night of October 6, few hours after the 24th Annual Human Rights Dialogue between the US and Vietnam held in Hanoi, when she was in a rent apartment in Ho Chi Minh City, the southern economic hub she has lived in the past three years while being chased by the Vietnamese security forces. According to her landlord, during the arrest, police officers showed the arrest warrant on which she was charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code with a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison if she is convicted.

The state-controlled media has yet covered the arrest. It is expected that the Ministry of Public Security will announce the information about her detention soon as she is among high-risk human rights defenders in the Southeast Asian nation.

Ms. Trang, 42, is a former journalist for the official streamlined newswire VietnamNet. She left the outlet and went to study in the US and involved in activism, becoming one of the leading figures working for human rights and multi-party democracy in Vietnam.

She is a prominent and outspoken journalist, activist, and blogger whose writing covers a wide range of topics including LGBT rights, women’s rights, environmental issues, the territorial conflict between Vietnam and China, police brutality, suppression of activists, and law and human rights. Her book, Chính trị Bình dân (Politics for the Common People), a kind of primer for budding activists, was published in samizdat form in September 2017. She has produced a number of political books such as Phản kháng phi bạo lực (Non-violent Resistance), Politics of Police State, and Cẩm nang nuôi tù (Handbook for Prisoners’ Families). She is one of the authors of Việ Nam & Tranh chấp Biển Đông (Vietnam and the Conflict on the East Sea), published by Tri Thuc Publishing House in Vietnam.

On September 25, she and Vietnamese American Willian Nguyen publicized the 3rd edition of Dong Tam Report, the comprehensive report about the bloody attack of Vietnam’s security forces in Dong Tam commune, Hanoi on January 9 this year and the first-instance hearing to try 29 land petitioners who were charged with “murders” of three police officers and “resisting on-duty state officials” during the raid. It is worth noting that three out of the five co-authors of the first and the second editions of Dong Tam Report, former prisoner of conscience Can Thi Theu and her two sons Trinh Ba Phuong and Trinh Ba Tu were arrested on June 24, also charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda.”

Trang is also a street activist who is committed to peaceful protest. She has joined demonstrations outside police stations and at airports when fellow activists were detained, participated in nationalist protests about China’s violations of Vietnam’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea), and pro-environmental marches. She has been beaten and detained many times in the past five years.

Trang is the editor for the website Vietnam Right Now, which aims to distribute “objective, accurate, and timely information on the current social and political conditions in Vietnam today.” She is also a co-founder and an editor of the Vietnam Legal Initiative, a US-based NGO working to promote human rights, civil rights, and democracy in Vietnam.

Her writing and activism have addressed a broad human rights agenda, from the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, and other rights, including the right to remain silent. As a journalist and blogger, she also focuses on the role of media in social and political life and remains especially concerned with freedom of information on the internet and freedom of the press.

In 2018, Trang was awarded the Homo Homini Award by the Czech-based human rights organization People In Need which considers her “one of the leading figures of the contemporary Vietnamese dissent. She uses plain words to fight the lack of freedom, corruption, and the despotism of the communist regime.”

Last year, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) presented her with Award For Work to Improve Journalistic Freedom. In March this year, the Liberal Publishing House under her leadership was honored with Prix Voltaire by the International Publishers’ Association.

Responding to her arrest, Phil Robertson, deputy chief of Southeast Asia Office of Human Rights Watch stated “Vietnam’s scorched earth response to political dissent is on display for all to see with the arrest of prominent blogger and author Pham Doan Trang. Despite suffering years of systemic government harassment, including severe physical attacks, she has remained faithful to her principles of peaceful advocacy for human rights and democracy. Her thoughtful approach to reforms, and demands for people’s real participation in their governance, are messages the Vietnam government should listen to and respect, not repress. Human Rights Watch strongly condemns Vietnam’s arrest of Pham Doan Trang. Every day she spends behind bars is a grave injustice that violates Vietnam’s international human rights commitments and brings dishonor to the government. Governments around the world and the UN must prioritize her case, speak out loudly and consistently on her behalf, and demand her immediate and unconditional release.”

The ruling Communist Party of Vietnam’s Central Committee is conducting the 13th Plenum in Hanoi on October 5-10 to prepare for the party 13th National Congress slated in early January. Months ahead of the congress which takes for every five years, Vietnam’s security forces have tightened social security and intensified crackdown on political dissidents, social activists, and human rights defenders.

So far this year, Vietnam has arrested 25 activists and 29 Dong Tam land petitioners, raising the number of prisoners of conscience to 258, according to the latest statistics of Defend the Defenders.

On 7 and 8 September 2020, human rights defenders, Sagar Tatyarao Gorkhe, RameshMurlidhar Gaichor and, woman human rights defender Jyoti Jagtap of the Kabir Kala Manchwere arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), in relation to the violence that broke-outat Bhima Koregoan on 1 January 2018. The three defenders are currently being held in NIAcustody in Mumbai.Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) is a Pune based cultural troupe formed by members of the youth in theBahujan community in the state of Maharashtra. Their performances speak out against the castesystem and the various atrocities committed against the community across the country. SagarTatyarao Gorkhe, Ramesh Murlidhar Gaichor and Jyoti Jagtap form part of a group of musiciansand poets in the cultural organisation. As part of the group, the three defenders performed at the‘Bhima Koregaon Shaurya Din Prerana Abhiyan’ on 31 December 2017,a celebration of the 200thanniversary of the Dalit victory over the Peshwas (upper caste rulers) in the Battle of Koregaon. On 7 September 2020, human rights defenders Sagar Tatyarao Gorkhe and Ramesh MurlidharGaichor were arrested at the NIA office in Mumbai. Almost two months previous, between 13 and15 July 2020, the defenders had been called in for interrogation by the NIA, under the pretence ofbeing witnesses to Maoist activity. On 2 September 2020, both defenders were issued a notice bythe NIA, asking them to appear again on 4 September 2020 for further questioning. During theinterrogation, both Sagar Tatyarao Gorkhe and Ramesh Murlidhar Gaichor were asked to implicatethose currently detained in the Bhima Koregaon case by making a false admission that thedetainees had been in touch with Maoists. Furthermore, the interrogation officials went on to statethat they would release the two defenders if they gave a such a statement under Section 164 of theCode of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which has a provision for witnesses to avoid arrest. Bothdefenders were then asked to go to the NIA office on a daily basis until 7 September 2020, at whichpoint they were arrested. The following day, the defenders were brought before a NIA SpecialJudge who ordered them to be held in NIA custody until 11 September 2020. The custody hasbeen extended until 19 September 2020.On 8 September 2020, woman human rights defender Jyoti Jagtap was arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad in Pune, and then later brought to the NIA in Mumbai. The previous day, on 7September 2020, the defender had gone to the NIA office in Mumbai after receiving a notice topresent herself earlier that day. She was briefly questioned but no statement was taken by theauthorities. When she was arrested the next day, she was brought before the NIA Special Judge on9 September 2020, who remanded her to police custody until 11 September 2020. The custody hasbeen extended until 19 September 2020.The three defenders have been targetted since their participation in the ‘Bhima Koregaon ShauryaDin Prerana Abhiyan’ in December 2017. Sagar Tatyarao Gorkhe, Ramesh Murlidhar Gaichor andJyoti Jagtap were all named in the initial First Information Report of the Bhima Koregaon case. On17 April 2018, the homes of all three defenders were raided by the Pune police, who seized all oftheir electronic devices, including mobile phones, CDs and hard disks. The defenders were notpresented any warrants authorising the search and neither was an inventory of items provided bythe police.The arrest of Sagar Tatyarao Gorkhe, Ramesh Murlidhar Gaichor and Jyoti Jagtap, and thecontinued incarceration of twelve others accused in the Bhima Koregaon case are a direct reprisal for their peaceful human rights work. The arrests take place during COVID-19, despite the risk thatimprisoned human rights defenders face in this context. Front Line Defenders has previouslyexpressed concerns over the continued detention and health of the accused in the context of thepandemic, seeing most of them fall in the ‘at-risk’ category, and in particularhas askedthatimmediate medical attention be provided toVaravara Rao.Front Line Defenders condemns the arrest of Sagar Tatyarao Gorkhe, Ramesh Murlidhar Gaichorand Jyoti Jagtap and the continued incarceration of Varavara Rao, Sudha Bhardwaj, VernonGonsalves, Gautam Navlakha, Arun Ferreira, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Shoma Sen, AnandTeltumbde, Mahesh Raut, Surendra Gadling and, Hanu Babu as it believes they are directly relatedto their peaceful human rights work on behalf of the most marginalised communities in India.

The Observatory has been informed by the Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability (MATA)[1] about the arbitrary detention of Mr. Gei Om, a member of MATA who works actively on environmental protection and conservation in Chin State. Mr. Gei Om is also a member of the Chin Aung Ta Man (a youth organisation of Chin people), the Chin Civil Society Network, and the Man Eain Working Committee (a community-based organisation).

According to the information received, on July 24, 2020, Mr. Gei Om was taken into custody after a local official in Ohn Village Tract sent a letter of complaint to authorities in Mindat Township, Chin State, on July 13, 2020. The complaint alleged that Mr. Gei Om had spread false news about possible illicit activities throughout Chin villages, was involved in an illegal land dispute settlement in 2016, and had been collecting taxes from villages.

Prior to his arrest, Mr. Gei Om helped local community leaders to monitor the impact of a project of model farms to harvest oil seed plants designed by the Management Committee of Mindat Township. They found out that the local government in charge of the model farms had engaged in illegal logging and that the farms had caused environmental damage to the Natma Taung National Park. On June 1, 2020, they had sent a previous complaint to the Environmental Conservation Department (ECD) of the Ministry of Natural Resource and Environmental Conservation (MONREC), which ordered the Forest Department in Mindat Township to carry out an investigation into the matter. During a meeting with Forest Department officials and two representatives of local communities, Mr. Gei Om, who acted as a negotiator and translator from Chin to Burmese and vice versa, advised the community leaders not to sign documents, which asserted that an investigation was carried out and no wrongdoing had been found. The above-mentioned July 13 complaint letter of the Ohn Village Tract official against Mr. Gei Om was sent to the Mindat Township authorities following this meeting, and led to his arrest.

On August 7, 2020, the Deputy Police Chief charged Mr. Gei Om under Section 5 (1) (F) (G) of the Restriction of Movement and Probation of Habitual Offenders Act of 1961 for his participation in the settlement of a land dispute in 2016. The fabricated charge stemmed from his participation as a community negotiator in the resolution of a land dispute under a customary dispute resolution mechanism after the destruction of a village by a landslide in 2015. At the time, the government authorities had authorized the land dispute to be settled according to local customs but they subsequently claimed that the dispute was not settled legally and that Mr. Gei Om should therefore be charged for his involvement in it, which the authorities claimed it amounted to inciting conflict.

After charges were pressed, Mr. Gei Om was offered a conditional release provided that he would not leave Mindat Township and he would report on a bi-monthly basis to the police for six months to one year, which he refused. If found guilty, Mr. Gei Om will be prohibited from leaving his township and, if he does not comply with this measure of restriction, he could be sentenced to one year in prison. He is currently detained in Mindat Township.

The Observatory expresses its utmost concern over the arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Mr. Gei Om, which seem to be only aimed at punishing him for his legitimate human rights work.

On television and in the courtroom, the young lawyer could be a force. Babar Qadri stood as a rare, pugilistic voice arguing on behalf of his native Kashmir, the rocky region long torn between India and Pakistan, on India’s combative and increasingly nationalistic talk shows.

Shouted at, he would shout back. More than once, an angry host kicked him off the air.

On Thursday, Mr. Qadri, 40, was shot to death in his home, making him one of the most high-profile casualties of the violence wracking Kashmir.

Family members said an assailant posing as a potential client shot him in the head and chest in the courtyard of his home in the old part of Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir. The identity of the assailant was not clear, the police said, according to local media. They declined to answer questions from The New York Times on Friday.

Kashmiris on Friday mourned Mr. Qadri as a rare public advocate for his home in a troubled time. One year ago, India tightened its hold on the Kashmir region, and local activists say speaking out has become increasingly dangerous.

“The lion was killed in his den,” said Majid Hyderi, a longtime friend of Mr. Qadri, citing a common nickname for him. “With his killing, we have lost a roaring voice for peace.”

Long volatile, the predominantly Muslim Kashmir region has suffered growing violence since the Indian government last year revoked the region’s semiautonomy and increased its security presence there. The move hardened the attitudes of militants who have fought for years for independence from India and sidelined moderate voices calling for ways to improve relations with the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has taken an increasingly hard line toward India’s Muslims.

Mr. Qadri’s death is part of a wave of political assassinations that have shaken the region in the last few months. It was the first killing of a prominent civil society member since the killing of Shujaat Bukahri, the editor of a local daily newspaper, two years ago. Editors’ Picks Nicole Kidman Leans Into the Pain The One Name the W.N.B.A. Won’t Say Buried in Salt, These Potatoes Are a Joy to Eat Continue reading the main story

Mr. Qadri had said in recent weeks that he had received death threats. On Twitter this week, he said the police should investigate people who had accused him of being a man of “agencies,” implying he worked secretly for Indian intelligence.

“The sense of tragedy is all the more because he warned of the threat,” Omar Abdullah, a former chief minister of the region, wrote on Twitter. “Sadly his warning was his last tweet.”

Mr. Qadri’s round, bespectacled face was famous in the region and throughout India for his vociferous criticism of New Delhi’s increasingly stronger hand in Kashmir. In person, he could be shy and retiring and would rarely interrupt others, unlike when he was on television. He also had sharp words for Pakistan, which India accuses of supporting pro-independence Kashmiri militants and other armed groups.

Both countries, Mr. Qadri said in an interview with The Times about a month before his death, “play with the dead bodies of Kashmiris.”

Mr. Qadri grew up in Srinagar speaking Kashmiri, Hindi and English, which later made him an effective spokesman in polyglot India. He studied law in the city and became a human rights lawyer. He was a common sight in Srinagar, driving around the city in a gray hatchback with his two young daughters.

He rose to prominence in 2012, when Indian police forces accused a number of children of attempting to murder officers and burning police vehicles. A photo of him wearing a gray suit, perhaps a size too large, while trying to comfort a terrified boy being led away by a police officer went viral on the Kashmiri internet. When the boy was set free, his family members said Mr. Qadri had argued in court on his behalf “like a lion,” giving the young attorney the nickname.

As security forces put more Kashmiris in prison, Mr. Qadri was widely sought after, and he became known for his ability to win the freedom of children in particular. He also became a frequent guest on Indian television, where he sharply criticized the Indian forces for their harsh oversight of Kashmir.

Mr. Qadri kept up his television appearances even as Indian media became increasingly nationalistic after the election of Mr. Modi in 2014. As Indian forces stepped up their enforcement efforts in Kashmir in the name of fighting terrorism, he faced an increasingly difficult reception. Other panelists often called him “Mr. Traitor.”

Late Thursday, as the dust settled in the city, Mr. Qadri’s body, covered by a red blanket, was put in an ambulance and taken to his ancestral home in north Kashmir, where family and friends lowered his body into the ground and bade him farewell.

Friends and relatives beat their chests. During the procession, one of Mr. Qadri's daughters — Zahera, 4 — asked her mother where her father was, according to Surat Shakeel, a family friend. Mr. Qadri’s wife told her that he had gone to perform the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. Kashmiri parents often tell their children that the dead have gone to hajj.

Burhan Ahmad Bhat, a university student who participated in the procession, said he wondered whether Mr. Qadri’s killers would be found and whether they would continue to be labeled “unidentified,” like the killers of so many other Kashmiris.

“All we know is that they are killed by unidentified gunmen,” Mr. Bhat said. “But we never come to know why.”

Four local online news journalists were attacked on September 28 by a group of men who they say were timber traders seeking revenge after the reporters had singled them out to police for committing forestry crimes.

The group of reporters from PMN news, Chakrapop news and Eysan Post filed a complaint at the Memot district police station in Tbong Khmum province against several suspects who they say threw a log through the window of their car and beat them with sticks and axes, injuring two.

Memot District Police Chief Hong Kim Hoeun confirmed receipt of the journalists’ complaint.

“Yes, we have received it and [we] are working on that case,” he said before declining to comment further.

One victim, Ren Samnang, a reporter at PMN news, said he was asleep in his car along with Muok Saren from Chakrapop news, and Ran Khorn and Teng Norin from Eysan Post news, when the attack occurred.

“I was traveling from Snoul district to Phnom Penh and upon arriving in Memot district, we pulled over to take some rest and fell asleep,” said Samnang, 29.

“We were sleeping [in the car] for about an hour when at about 12:30am, we heard a sound hitting the car,” Samnang said.

Upon realizing that someone had hurled a log through the front driver’s side window, he started the engine and began to drive away.

The group of about five suspects then returned to their truck to chase after the journalists, eventually crashing into their car and running it off the side of the road.

“I jumped out of the car and started to run away,” he said, adding that the log thrown through the window had injured his left rib, and that the timber traders had also smashed off one of the vehicle’s mirrors and dented the exterior.

Samang said he had recognized the attackers and realized the assault was in retaliation to the journalists’ investigation of forest crimes in the area. On September 26, the group had reported an incident of illegal logging to military police in Memot district, which resulted in the officials stopping a truck transporting timber through the area.

He said the journalists were present to report on the case when military police stopped the vehicle, but that the four or five men on board had gotten away.

“[Before running], the driver took a picture and said ‘Either your car will be damaged or we will cause you harm,’” Samnang recalled.

“I think that they wanted to kill us,” he added.

He called on police to take legal action and arrest the suspects so that they would not repeat their crime in the future.

Saren said his leg was slightly injured in the attack, and echoed Samnang’s assertion that the attackers were part of the group of timber traders that they had encountered two days prior.

“They [suspects] came to beat us up without even asking us anything and damaged our car,” he said.

“I think that it is a threat to all journalists not to report [forestry] crimes in the future,” Saren said, emphasizing that the attack would not deter his future work.

Sar Sina, director of the provincial information department said September 29 that his department has already forwarded the case to the Information Ministry.

“Police are working on that case, we have not yet investigated it,” he said, adding that those journalists had filed a complaint with the district police.

“It is a violent act that should not happen to journalists,” Sina said.

Nop Vy, executive director at Cambodian Journalists Alliance (CamboJA), said he was disappointed in the use of violence against the journalists, noting that reporters play an important role in monitoring and preventing illegal acts, including forestry crimes.

“We know that forestry crimes are continuing to happen, and some cases involve local authorities and people who are powerful and rich,” he said.

“It is dangerous and risky for journalists, so I think that local authorities have to take effective legal measures to arrest the culprits,” Vy said, adding that if authorities decline to take legal action, it will encourage the suspects and they may even attack other journalists in the future.

Vy said that the persecution of journalists “is a serious threat to their life and personal safety.”

In a separate case in Phnom Penh’s Pur Senchey district, Kouy Piseth, 24, a reporter for CBN TV Online, died in a traffic accident in the early hour of September 29.

Theng Kosal, Choamchao III commune chief, clarified that the death was caused by a road collision, and was not a murder, as public people had originally suspected.

The victim had driven his motorbike very fast up a hill and had been thrown off, hitting his head on a rock on the ground, Kosal said.

“It is not a murder case, but it was a traffic accident he caused himself,” the commune chief said, explaining that police were initially unsure because the body was found 40 meters away from the victim’s motorbike.

CBN TV Online General Director Chhai Sochet said he had not seen Piseth since the reporter had left the office at about 11:30pm, and that he was saddened to hear of his death.

Four Koh Kong villagers were detained for about 12 hours after camping outside the provincial hall in a group of about 60 land protesters since Monday, they said.

The group say they are in a 12-year-long dispute with the Union Development Group, or UDG, which has been developing the $3.8-billion Dara Sakor tourism resort in the province. The villagers said they were calling on the provincial administration to act on the case.

Chhay Kimthuch, one of the protesters camping outside the hall, said four villagers had been detained in the dark at about 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday after dozens of officers arrived to disperse the encampment.

“The authorities arrived quietly and grabbed [people] in the tents,” she said.

The four villagers, including a village representative, Preab Roatha, were held at Khemara Phoumin city police headquarters until their release around 3 p.m., Kimthuch said.

Saing Puy, from Koh Sdach commune, added that the tents outside the provincial hall were removed and authorities said they would not be allowed to stay there.

“The Koh Kong provincial authority should not have done this to the people,” she said.

Deputy provincial governor Sok Sothy told VOD that there were no arrests; authorities simply took an administrative measure to maintain public order.

The four villagers were “questioned to note down what their real intentions were in coming,” Sothy said.

UDG’s 45,000-hectare overall economic land concession, granted in 2008 and 2011, pushed families to abandon and dismantle more than 1,500 homes on 10,000 hectares of land, according to a 2012 report from the Community Legal Education Center.

Last month, the U.S. sanctioned the Chinese-owned company, alleging it “used Cambodian military forces to intimidate local villagers and to clear out land necessary for UDG to build the Dara Sakor project.” It also suggested that the resort could be converted to host military assets.

Cambodian officials and UDG have denied the claims.

Hour In, provincial coordinator for rights group Licadho, said people who had lost land were being further victimized by the suppression of protests.

“People became victims of losing land, and when they protested, they became victims even more because of the authorities’ actions,” In said.

Provincial governor Mithona Phouthorng said provincial officials and the Land Management Ministry were studying the dispute to clearly identify the people involved and make other clarifications in order to move toward a solution.

The complete freezing of Amnesty International India’s bank accounts by the Government of India which it came to know on 10 September 2020, brings all the work being done by the organization to a grinding halt. The organisation has been compelled to let go of staff in India and pause all its ongoing campaign and research work. This is latest in the incessant witch-hunt of human rights organizations by the Government of India over unfounded and motivated allegations, Amnesty International India said today.

“The continuing crackdown on Amnesty International India over the last two years and the complete freezing of bank accounts is not accidental. The constant harassment by government agencies including the Enforcement Directorate is a result of our unequivocal calls for transparency in the government, more recently for accountability of the Delhi police and the Government of India regarding the grave human rights violations in Delhi riots and Jammu & Kashmir. For a movement that has done nothing but raise its voices against injustice, this latest attack is akin to freezing dissent,” said Avinash Kumar, Executive Director of Amnesty International India.

Amnesty International India stands in full compliance with all applicable Indian and international laws. For human rights work in India, it operates through a distinct model of raising funds domestically. More than four million Indians have supported Amnesty International India’s work in the last eight years and around 100,000 Indians have made financial contributions. These contributions evidently cannot have any relation with the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010. The fact that the Government is now portraying this lawful fundraising model as money-laundering is evidence that the overbroad legal framework is maliciously activated when human rights activists and groups challenge the government’s grave inactions and excesses.

The attacks on Amnesty International India and other outspoken human rights organizations, activists and human rights defenders is only an extension of the various repressive policies and sustained assault by the government on those who speak truth to power. “Treating human rights organisations like criminal enterprises and dissenting individuals as criminals without any credible evidence is a deliberate attempt by the Enforcement Directorate and Government of India to stoke a climate of fear and dismantle the critical voices in India. It reeks of fear and repression, ignores the human cost to this crackdown particularly during a pandemic and violates people’s basic rights to freedom of speech and expression, assembly, and association guaranteed by the Indian Constitution and international human rights law. Instead, as a global power and a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, India must fearlessly welcome calls for accountability and justice,” said Avinash Kumar.

As part of the Nobel Prize winning movement, Amnesty International India holds itself to the highest evidentiary standards. Our work in India, as elsewhere, is to uphold universal human rights and build a global movement of people who take injustice personally. These are the same values that are enshrined in the Constitution of India and flow from a long and rich Indian tradition of pluralism, tolerance and peaceful dissent.

———

BACKGROUND: CHRONOLOGY OF ATTACKS AND HARASSMENT OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL INDIA:

On 25 October 2018, Amnesty International India endured a 10-hour-long raid as a group of officers from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), a financial investigation agency under the Ministry of Finance, entered its premises and locked the gates behind them. Most of the information and documents that were demanded during the search were already available in the public domain or filed with the relevant government authorities. The residence of a Director was also raided.

Immediately after the raid, the bank accounts were also frozen by the ED. As a result, Amnesty International India was forced to let go of a number of its staff, adversely affecting its work in India including with the marginalised communities. Despite the ongoing investigations and before the framing of charges, the Government of India started a smear campaign against Amnesty International India in the country through selective leaking of documents gathered by the ED, to government-aligned media outlets. This resulted in a malicious media trial against the organization.

In early 2019, the Department of Income Tax started sending investigative letters to more than 30 small regular donors. Apparently, the department did not find any irregularities but the process adversely affected the fundraising campaigns of Amnesty International India.

In June 2019, Amnesty International India was denied permission to hold the press conference launch in Srinagar to release its third ‘Lawless Law’ report on the misuse and abuse of Public Safety Act in Jammu and Kashmir. It was forced to digitally release it.

On 22 October 2019, Amnesty International testified at the US Congressional hearing on the situation of human rights in South Asia with specific focus on Jammu and Kashmir since the unilateral abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India.

On 15 November 2019, two weeks after the testimony and amid rumours of impending arrests of the organizations top officials, the offices of Amnesty International India and the residence of one of its directors were raided again by the CBI. The raids were conducted on the basis of a First Information Report filed by the Ministry of Home Affairs over unsubstantiated allegations of suspected violations of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. It suggested investigations be launched under other laws like Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

On 13 April 2020, Amnesty International India called on the Uttar Pradesh Government to stop its intimidation of journalists through use of repressive laws during a pandemic. On 15 April 2020, the Cyber Crime Police Station, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh notified Twitter to furnish information about Amnesty International India’s Twitter account @AIIndia which the organization uses to monitor and analyse developments in international human rights law and Indian constitutional and criminal law related to human rights issues.

On 5 August 2020, marking the first anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India, Amnesty International India released an update on the situation of human rights in Jammu and Kashmir.

On 28 August 2020, marking the six-month anniversary of the riots that took place in North-East Delhi in February 2020, Amnesty International India released an investigative brief on the complicity of Delhi police in the riots which claimed the lives of at least 53 people, mostly from the minority Muslim community.

The release of the two publications has provided fresh impetus to the establishment to harass and intimidate Amnesty International India through its investigative agencies.

On 10 September 2020 Amnesty International India came to know that all its bank accounts were completely frozen by the Enforcement Directorate bringing most of the work of the human rights organization to a grinding halt.

Lahan Municipality authority has been learnt to have decided to file a case against reporter Manilal Bishwakarma on August 24. Lahan lies in Province 2 of Nepal.

Talking to Freedom Forum, reporter Bishwakarma shared that he received a copy of municipality's executive committee meeting minutes three days back (September 29). The minute states the municipality had decided to file charge sheet under Electronic Transaction Act and public offense against him and a local Mahesh Chaudhary. The municipality had accused Chaudhary of distributing relief materials to the public without prior information to the municipality.

The decision came after his reporting on municipality's distribution of 'rotten raw foods as relief materials to the locals facing crisis' following lockdown to contain coronavirus pandemic. In the news published on April 14, he had also included photographs of the locals who had reached the ward office to return the distributed decayed food stuffs.

Reporter Bishwakarma further said that he was also issued several threats through social media pages and the municipality’s authorities following the publication of the news. He however said, “I am ready to face whatever the consequences but I will not stop writing on such serious of govenrment irresponsibility and irregularities.”

Freedom Forum is alarmed over the decision of the local authority against journalist. While most of the people lost their earning in this pandemic, government’s relief is the major support to live. But such irresponsible behaviour of the local government towards its citizens and to the journalist is condemnable.

Hence, FF strongly urges the concerned authority to correct the decision respecting journalists’ right to free reporting and cooperate with those for good governance at this time of crisis instead.

Saptari based reporter for the Kantipur national daily Abadhesh Kumar Jha was misbehaved by a police officer while reporting on October 5. Saptari district lies in Province-2 of Nepal.

FF’s representative at Province-2 Rajan Singh reported that Jha was making notes about a discussion among women representatives, advocates and chief of police at the district police office. Women leaders had reached the office to make aware police chief Rajendra Prasad Dhamala and draw attention of security authority on increasing violence against women in the district in the recent days.

Police chief Dhamala warned that journalist Jha could not report in the district police office without police permission and ordered him (Jha) to leave the office immediately.

Freedom Forum has serious concern over the statement of police chief for it severely violates press freedom and citizens' right to information. The journalists have every right to report on the issues of public concern. Hence, FF strongly urges the concerned authority to respect rights of journalists and press freedom.

It is appalling that violence against women as rape and murder are rising rapidly across the country of late.