Uwazi

The Hanoi People's Court on Sept. 16 sentenced Phan Van Bach, a democracy activist and former contributor to the independent YouTube channel CHTV, to five years in prison on charges of “distributing anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the Penal Code.

Bach, 49, who requested his lawyers allow him to defend himself, was convicted in a trial that lasted just about one hour. The procuracy charged the former activist under Section 1 of Article 117, which prohibits activities such as “making, storing, disseminating or propagandizing anti-state information,” “sowing confusion among the people,” and “committing psychological warfare.”

Bach was arrested last December after the police alleged he had produced and published articles and video clips on social media that contained anti-state content. According to the indictment, between 2018 and 2022, Bach had used a Facebook account under his name to post 12 articles and six video clips that allegedly “distorted the policies of the party and the state,” “denied the leadership role of the Vietnamese Communist Party,” and “defamed state leaders and incited the masses to oppose the government.”

Le Van Luan, one of Bach’s defense lawyers, said that although his client admitted what he did, he knew that what he published on social media could violate the Penal Code. Furthermore, according to Luan, Bach proposed that Article 117, under which he was prosecuted, be amended. The democracy activist does not plan to appeal the conviction, the lawyer added.

Before Bach's trial on Sept. 12, Human Rights Watch called on the Vietnamese authorities to “drop all charges and release” him. The rights group noted that Bach is an active campaigner for democracy and human rights and has participated in numerous demonstrations to protest the Law on Cybersecurity and the maritime pollution disaster caused by Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co. in 2016.

Nguyen Thi Yeu, Bach’s wife, also informed the public on social media that her husband had suffered from scabies and intestinal illnesses while in custody, making him lose nearly 25 kg (55 pounds) since his arrest. In a statement published on X after the trial, Freedom House, a watchdog for freedom of expression, urged the Vietnamese government to provide Bach with “necessary medical care” and “facilitate his immediate and unconditional release.” The Washington D.C.-based nonpartisan watchdog group also called the sentencing “unjust” and said they are “deeply concerned” about his health.

On 18 September 2024, human rights defender Zhoomart Karabaev reported receiving threats, including death threats, while in Pre-Trial Detention Center #1 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. He also reported that law enforcement authorities are pressuring him to refuse the services of his lawyer.

Zhoomart Karabaev is a human rights defender, academic, and whistleblower from Kyrgyzstan. In 2024, he systematically exposed how the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan signed expert reviews that became the primary basis for sentencing state critics, pre-drafted by the State Committee for National Security. In May 2024, Zhoomart Karabaev provided witness testimony during the trial of writer Olzhobai Shakir regarding the evidentiary support presented by state authorities. He has also spoken out on social media about these practices, calling for an end to the unjust persecution of state critics.

On 18 September 2024, woman human rights defender Aziza Abdirasulova published a letter she received from Zhoomart Karabaev’s lawyer. In this letter, Zhoomart Karabaev, currently detained in Pre-Trial Detention Center #1 in Bishkek, details threats—including death threats— that he has been receiving from law enforcement officials. Specifically, these threats are related to the visibility of the malicious actions of law enforcement officers in the criminal case against him. Zhoomart Karabaev also stated in his letter that law enforcement officers are constantly asking him why he claims that he “will die in pre-trial detention,” indirectly threatening the human rights defender, alleging that he has claimed that he is ready to take his own life. In response, Zhoomart Karabaev asserts that he has never made such statements and is not planning to take his own life; thus, he views these comments from law enforcement officials as death threats.

On 2 July 2024, State Committee for National Security officers in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, arrested Zhoomart Karabaev, brought him in for questioning, and detained him for 48 hours. On 4 July 2024, the Pervomaiskii District Court of Bishkek ruled to place him in pre-trial detention. The accusations against him stem from his social media posts, in which he discussed the current wave of persecution against civil society actors and the authorities' failure to acknowledge corruption in the National Academy of Sciences. The authorities argue that Zhoomart Karabaev's posts constitute "incitement of mass public discord," a criminal offense under Part 3 of Article 278 of the Criminal Code of Kyrgyzstan.

Front Line Defenders is gravely concerned about the pressure and threats, including death threats, against human rights defender Zhoomart Karabaev, as it believes these actions constitute retaliation for his legitimate and peaceful human rights work in exposing state corruption. The organization is alarmed by the wave of repression faced by human rights defenders and journalists in Kyrgyzstan. Front Line Defenders believes that targeting human rights defenders has a harmful effect on the peaceful and legitimate work of human rights defenders in the country.

Responding to the 14-month prison sentence handed to Hong Kong man Chu Kai-pong for wearing a “seditious” T-shirt and mask, Amnesty International’s China Director Sarah Brooks said:

“Just when you thought the human rights situation in Hong Kong couldn’t get any bleaker, a man is condemned to more than a year in prison just because of the clothing he chose to wear. This is a blatant attack on the right to freedom of expression.

“The conviction and sentencing of Chu Kai-pong over his choice of clothing also highlights the sheer malice of Hong Kong’s new Article 23 law, which expands the government’s powers to punish so-called ‘seditious’ acts.

“Chu Kai-pong is the first person convicted under this legislation, but its vague wording, vast scope and repressive nature leaves Hong Kongers fearing that he will not be the last. We once again urge the Hong Kong authorities to repeal this law.

“The government must also end its use of ‘sedition’ laws to crack down on dissent under the pretext of protecting ‘national security’. Chu Kai-pong has committed no internationally recognized crime and he must be released immediately.”

Background Chu Kai-pong was today sentenced to one year and two months in jail for “doing with a seditious intention an act or acts that had a seditious intention” under section 24 of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO), the new national security legislation enacted in March 2024 based on Article 23 of the city’s Basic Law.

He is the first person charged, convicted and sentenced under the SNSO. He was arrested on 12 June 2024, the anniversary of the 2019 anti-extradition protests, for wearing a T-shirt bearing the 2019 protest slogan, “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times”, and a yellow mask printed with the letters “FDNOL”, the abbreviation of another protest slogan, “Five Demands, Not One Less”. He has already been detained for more than 3 months and denied bail.

He was also charged with two other offences – loitering and failure to produce proof of identity for inspection – but these were dropped after he pleaded guilty to the sedition charge.

According to section 24 of the SNSO, a person convicted of sedition can be imprisoned for seven years. If the sedition is conducted in collusion with an “external force”, the maximum sentence rises to 10 years. The offence was previously punishable by up to two years.

Hong Kong’s Legislative Council voted unanimously on 19 March 2024 to pass the SNSO under Article 23 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution. The SNSO increases penalties for acts relating to sedition and contains many troubling provisions, such as the vague and broadly worded crime of “external interference”.

According to Amnesty International’s records, 12 people have been arrested for sedition – and three charged – under the SNSO since its enactment.

Suchart Sawadsri, a well-known 79-year-old Thai writer, has been accused of sedition for sharing a video clip concerning the royal defamation law.

Thai Lawyers for Humans Rights (TLHR) reported that former national artist Suchart Sawadsri faces a sedition charge in connection with a Facebook post on 29 October 2022 where he shared a video clip titled “10 things people do not know about Section 112 (royal defamation law)”, originally posted by iLaw. He also included a message with the shared video clip, saying “Why we have to revoke Section 112. We will choose a political party that has a clear policy about ‘revoking Section 112’ #ReleaseOurFriends”.

The lawsuit against Suchart was filed at the Srinakarin Police Station, Phatthalung Province, by Songchai Niamhom, leader of the ultra-royalist King Protection Group, which is active in the southern provinces. Members of the group are reported to have filed complaints, especially royal defamation charges, against several people, including a former Move Forward Party MP.

Suchart was charged with sedition, an offence related to national security, and violation of the Computer Crime Act. In August 2024, he received a summons from the police station in Phatthalung. The authorities claimed that it was the third summons, though the writer insisted that he had never received any prior summons.

Despite his advanced age, Suchart, along with his lawyer, had to travel the long distance to the southern province to acknowledge the case on 11 September. The writer denied all allegations and plans to provide further testimony.

It was also reported that on Thursday (19 September) Suchart and his legal team will hold a press conference concerning this case.

The sedition law stipulates that anyone who publicly makes statements by words, writings, or any other means which are not in accordance with the Constitution or for expressing an honest opinion or criticism, in order to change the country’s law or the government by the use of force or violence, or to raise unrest and disaffection among the public in a manner likely to cause a disturbance, or to cause the people to violate the laws of the country, shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding 7 years.

Suchart, who was awarded the title of National Artist for Literature in 2011, was stripped of his title by the National Culture Commission (NCC) and the Ministry of Culture. He is one of many public figures who support pro-democracy protests and political reforms, and publicly criticise the military junta. His national artist title was revoked due to his social media posts that were deemed defamatory towards the monarchy.

Sedition is one of the most frequently used charges against political activists and demonstrators. According to TLHR, since the mass protests in 2020, at least 154 people have been charged with sedition, with 29 cases also involving charges of royal defamation.

About the Human Rights Defenders: Mr. Bappi Ray, Mr. Pawan, Mr. Shivendu Trivedi, Mr. Dharmendra Singh, and Mr. Manish Singh are local journalists who are working for different news channels. • Mr. Bappi Ray has been working with Zee TV Chhattisgarh for last eight years and then with Bharat 24 TV Channel. For the last 2 years he has been working with YouTube Channel Main Bastar. • Mr. Pawan was working with Bharat TV. • Mr. Shivendu works with Bappi Ray as his cameraperson. • Mr. Manish Singh was working with Aaj Tak TV Channel.

Background of the incident: Konta is a town located on the border of the states of Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. Illegal sand mining is rampant in Shabri river in Konta town. This illegal sand mining is done by politically powerful people called the sand mafia. Five journalists-- Mr. Pawan, Mr. Bappi Ray, Mr. Shivendu Trivedi, Mr. Dharmendra Singh, Mr. Manish Singh working for local tv channels decided to investigate this illegal sand mining activity.

on august 09, 2024, all the five journalists mr. pawan, mr. bappi ray, mr. shivendu trivedi, mr. dharmendra singh, and mr. manish singh went to konta town in chhattisgarh, where they were investigating illegal sand being smuggled to the state of andhra pradesh in collusion with the police department. at 3 pm, the journalists saw a truck carrying sand going towards the chhattisgarh-andhra border and they asked the truck driver to show his government pass to transport sand from chhattisgarh to andhra pradesh. however, the truck driver didn’t have relevant papers. at around 4:00 pm, station house officer (sho) of konta, mr. ajay sonkar, along with a sand contractor, reached there on a motorbike and started arguing and threatening the journalists. mr. ray phoned the dig, mr. kamal lochan kashyap, and told him about the illegal mining and the dig told him to report it to the mining department. the station house officer mr. sonkar took the truck to konta police station and all the journalists followed the truck to the police station. meanwhile, they received a phone call from sho sunil singh of phool bangdi sukma district who told mr. bappi ray not to interfere in the matter as sho ajay sonkar is his friend. the journalists left the truck at the police station and went to murli lodge in konta town where the police station in-charge ajay shankar and his staff checked the lodge and surroundings. at around 11:30 pm, the journalists went to have dinner at raju dhaba in konta and returned to their hotel at 1 am. meanwhile, the journalists sent a photo of the sand transport pass to mr. vijay sharma, the home minister of chhattisgarh. later, mr. bappi ray alleged that a video clip went viral in which sho ajay sonkar is seen with another cop standing near his parked car outside his hotel at night. he said that his car is very old and can’t be locked from outside, so it always remains open. the next morning at 10 am all four journalists went to have breakfast at andhra pradesh chatti village and drove back towards konta town. suddenly, five plainclothes policemen on three bikes stopped the journalists’ car. they asked them where they were coming from and then asked them to open the boot of the car. the plainclothes policemen snatched the car keys and mobile phones of all the journalists and asked them to open the boot. according to mr. ray, when he opened the boot of the car, he saw some well-made packets lying in the car boot chamber. a policeman tore one of the packets and declared that it was ganja (marijuana). the police asked mr. ray to sit with them on a bike and the rest of the three in his car, which was being driven by a plainclothes policeman. they all were taken to chinturu police station in asr district, andhra pradesh. the police asked the journalists to hold those packets. mr. ray refused to touch those packets but his two colleagues held them. all the journalists were locked in the police lock-up. after one hour, they were taken out and beaten up with a leather belt (called ‘pataa’). mr. ray was hit by the pataa three times, while the other three colleagues were hit twice. the police told them to rub themselves against the wall to remove the pataa marks. the police threatened mr. ray that they would kill him in a fake encounter (extra-judicial killing). the scared journalists tried to explain that they didn’t know about the ganja. the sho took the journalists in his car and went to murli lodge konta and saw a cctv recording. then sho chinturu went to konta police station in chhattisgarh and met sho konta-ajay sonkar. later the journalists were taken back to chinturu police station in andhra pradesh and were given a blanket. the next day, some journalists came and met mr. ray and others at chinturu police station. the additional superintendent of police in sukma district came and talked to the journalists and enquired about the whole sequence of events. on august 12, 2024, at 2 am, the sho of chinturu came and woke up the journalists and asked them to come with his police team. the journalists feared that they were going to get killed in a fake encounter right then. the police took their car and another car and took them to chetti village. there they were told to say that they were arrested the same day at 2 pm and not three days earlier. the police carried a weighing machine. they weighed the packets and an officer took their signatures. the journalists were then taken back to chinturu police station. on august 12, at around 10 am, all four journalists were taken to chinturu government hospital for a medical check-up and then to rampasodawaram sub-division court. at around 3 pm, they were taken to rajmendri court. at rajmendri court, they were sent to judicial custody until august 23. at 10 at night, they were taken to rajmendri jail. on september 3, 2024, all were granted bail. the journalists allege that on september 11, sho konta ajay sonkar, along with p vijay, a local politician, went to murli lodge and threatened them and took the hard drive of the cctv recorder, and then the sho konta destroyed these two hard drives. later, an fir was lodged against sho konta mr. ajay sonkar for destroying the cctv footage, and he was arrested and sent to jail. all the journalists have to report at chinturu police station every week.

In a decision dated 10 September 2024, the Guangdong Provincial High Court rejected human rights defenders Wang Jianbing’s and Huang Xueqin’s appeal and upheld the original verdict. However, the court failed to give advance notice to the lawyers of both human rights defenders regarding its decision to not convene a trial to consider their appeal, and its plan to announce the verdict on 10 September.

The verdict was delivered to Guangzhou Municipal No. 1 Detention Centre on 12 September. On 13 September, one of Huang Xueqin’s defence lawyers found out about the verdict when he met the woman human rights defender at the detention centre. In the afternoon of 12 September, one of Huang Xueqin’s lawyers telephoned the responsible judge at the Guangdong High Court to request for an open trial to consider the appeal, on the basis that new testimonies from new witnesses have been collected and submitted to the court. However, during the phone call the judge did not inform the lawyer that a verdict had already been reached.

Article 202 of China’s Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that verdict announcements are all to be conducted publicly, and that verdicts must be delivered to the defendants and their defence lawyers at the same time. In an official notice issued in 2019, the Supreme People’s Court and the Ministry of Justice have instructed courts to inform defence lawyers in a timely manner of important procedural decisions, including decisions to not convene a trial to consider appeals and to announce verdicts. The Supreme People’s Court’s 2021 interpretation of the Criminal Procedure Law further clarifies that if a court decides to announce a verdict at a set time, it must notify all parties, including defence lawyers, the time and location of the announcement ahead of time. Once the announcement is completed, the written verdict must be immediately sent to the parties.

19 September 2024 marks three years since Wang Jianbing and Huang Xueqin were arbitrarily detained.

Environmental groups have condemned the killing of a staunch antimining advocate and his companion in Surigao del Sur on Sunday.

Alberto Cuartero, village chair of Barangay Puyat in Carmen town, and Ronde Asis were shot dead by still unidentified assailants in the nearby municipality of Madrid.

The Madrid police called on people who may have witnessed the shooting in Barangay Linibunan to help investigators identify and track down the perpetrators.

‘Deep void’ Cuartero, who was in his late 40s, was one of the local voices protesting the wanton destruction of Carmen’s natural environment by mining operations.

He once helped expose bogus documents brandished by a mining proponent claiming to have earned the community’s consent to be affected.

Civil society leader Chito Trillanes described Cuartero as “a faithful servant of the people and a strong defender of the environment.Most dangerous “We are enraged that another environmental and human rights defender has been felled and now joins the ranks of hundreds of activists killed in the country,” said a statement from the antimining group Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM).

ATM cited the recent Global Witness report that again ranked the Philippines as “the most dangerous country in Asia” for environmental activists.

From 2012 to 2023, a total of 298 environmental activists in the country were killed, accounting for 64 percent of the 468 total across Asia, according to the report.

“The abduction of land and environmental defenders in Southeast Asia has emerged as a critical issue, reflecting broader systemic efforts by power holders to suppress dissent and maintain control over land and resources,” the report, titled “Missing Voices,” noted.

ATM called on authorities to conduct “a serious investigation on the murder of the victims and bring the perpetrators to justice.”

“We demand that police officials undertake all efforts to resolve this brutal killing. We further call on the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Commission on Human Rights to (also) investigate the matter,” ATM said.

Town in mourning Since Monday, the Philippine flag had been at half-staff at the Carmen local government center as a sign of mourning for Cuartero’s death.

“The local government unit of Carmen strongly condemns and deeply mourns the unjust death of Hon. Alberto O. Cuartero, Barangay Captain of Puyat,” the municipal government said in a statement.

“As government officials, serving the people is our top priority. However, it saddens us to realize that there are individuals who seek to hinder the plans aimed at the welfare and development of our community,” it added.

“His death left a deep void in our community and in each of our hearts,” Trillanes said in a social media post.

Rajkumar Rajeevkanth, an activist from the People's Struggle Alliance—a breakaway group from the Aragalaya—was arrested in Trincomalee by Sri Lankan police. He was participating in protests organized by the Tamil Families of the Disappeared, who were staging demonstrations across the North-East to mark the International Day of the Disappeared.

Despite being alone and unarmed, Rajeevkanth was forcibly escorted by police, including members of the riot squad.

Footage shows Rajeevkanth being forced into a police jeep from the occupying Trincomalee Police Station before being taken away. Posting on his personal Facebook account in Tamil, Rajeevkanth expressed his long-standing support for the Families of the Disappeared. "When this protest crossed 2000 days, I joined many who marched from Colombo. I even participated in last month’s protest," he wrote. "Arrests are not uncommon, and I have been facing legal cases for more than two years."

Rajeevkanth also shared his negative experiences in prison. Regarding today’s arrest, he noted that he had a verbal confrontation with the police when he asserted his right to protest. "When they tried to attack me, I stepped back. They later arrested me, claiming that I was the one who tried to attack them."

He highlighted that this is not the first time false allegations have been made against him in an attempt to secure his arrest. He credited his mother for preventing him from being jailed for 14 days, as she refused to leave his side until he was released. He also thanked his lawyers, Aishwariya and Prashanthini, who supported him during his ordeal.

Unknown assailants, arriving on motorbikes, vandalised Pradeepan Thambithurai's property, including setting fire to his motorbike and damaging his three-wheeler. Leaflets were left at the scene with a message about transgender representation.

The damage caused is estimated to exceed Rs. 1 million. Police have launched an investigation, recovering fingerprints from a gas container used in the arson and obtaining CCTV footage of the attackers fleeing the scene. Four police teams are currently involved in the investigation.

Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) MP Selvarajah Kajendren visited Thambithurai's home to express concern and demand swift legal action from the Sri Lankan government. “It is very unfortunate that this incident happened,” he said. “The assailants have not only destroyed Thambithurai's belongings but they’ve also damaged the three-wheeler which is owned by his relation and wholesale items belonging to him which were meant for sale. These were worth lakhs and have been all destroyed.”

Kajendren highlighted that Thambithurai, a veteran journalist with over 15 years of experience, had recently been barred from covering the President's visit to the North. Thambithurai informed fellow journalists and several diplomatic missions, "which may have motivated the attack". "Although leaflets were left behind, it was an attempt to camouflage the actual reason behind the attack," said Kajendren.

Kajendren also added that during a previous occasion, Thambithurai was summoned by the Special Crime Office of the Deputy Inspector General of Police in Kilinochchi for recording an incident where TNPF leader Gajendrakumar Ponnamblam was threatened by state intelligence officers. “Ever since this incident, he has been under surveillance. He now finds it hard to do this job or work as he fears for his life and is traumatized by the incident. The government needs to take responsibility. This could not have happened without their knowledge.”

Jaffna Media Association President K. Selvakumar condemned the attack and called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of those responsible. C.V.K. Sivagnanam, Chairman of the Northern Provincial Council, echoed this sentiment, urging a peaceful resolution and swift justice for the perpetrators.

Sri Lankan police arrested Kamaleswaran Themila, Kamaleswaran Vijitha, Kalirajah Sujani and the Tamil National People's Front Muttur organiser, Hariharakumar for distributing Mullivaikkal Kanji in Sampur, as part of commemorations of the 15th anniversary of the Tamil genocide. They were threatened by a Sri Lankan police officer earlier today while they were preparing the kanji. After which, they were arrested. Videos even show two of the women being dragged on the floor by the Police in the process of arresting them.

The arrests came after police officers obtained a court order from Muttur Magistrate Court which prohibits the distribution of Mullivaikkal Kanji and any events planned to commemorate the Tamil genocide for the next 14 days.

The arrests and court orders come as the Tamil homeland commenced Tamil Genocide Remembrance Week today. Across the North-East, commemorative activities are taking place to remember the tens of thousands of Tamils who were slaughtered in Sri Lanka's genocidal offensive in 2009.

As part of the commemorations, Tamils across the North-East prepared and distributed kanji. Kanji - a porridge of rice and water - was the only food available to Tamils trapped in the Sri Lankan government-declared ‘No Fire Zones’ as food and medicines were heavily restricted from entering the Vanni during the final phase of the armed conflict.

Although the court order prohibits the individuals from participating in remembrance-related activities, it also states that the order "applies to all people" and that they should not gather at schools or temples and vehicular protests cannot be carried out either.

Each year, the Sri Lankan government find new ways to repress memorialisation activities in the North-East, particularly in the lead up to May 18, also known as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day.

Karachi airport authorities recently added Sammi Deen Baloch to Pakistan's Exit Control List (ECL), preventing her from boarding a flight to Oman. Baloch was detained for over three hours at the airport. In a video statement, she revealed, “I have been stranded here at Karachi Jinnah International Airport. I was here to catch a flight to Muscat. I have been stranded here for several hours. I was previously given a boarding pass, and then I was stopped from boarding the plane. They have still not given me a plausible reason, and have taken my passport.”

Baloch continued, “I was detained here for several hours, I was questioned and investigated and I have been sitting here in a small office for the last 3-4 hours and they have not returned my passport. I have been urging them to, at least tell me that I have been detained and stopped by the Federal Investigation Agency, Pakistan (FIA) on what accusations. I have not been issued a letter; they are just telling me that they have received a letter from the Home Minister’s office to put me on the ECL list. However, no such paper has been shown to me yet.”

Ten individuals, including Madhushan Chandrajit, the convener of the Inter-University Student's Federation, were arrested for allegedly participating in a protest in front of the Colombo Fort railway station in violation of election laws.

The Inter-University Student's Federation organized the protest to voice opposition to several issues, including the establishment of private universities.

The protesters gathered on the main road in front of the Fort railway station and attempted to move forward.

According to News 1st correspondent, the police arrived and instructed the protesters to disperse.

However, when the protesters continued to advance, the police intervened to disperse the crowd, resulting in the arrest of Madhushan Chandrajit and others.

Tibetan language content creator and live-streamer Tashi Nyima, also known as Gang Lhaja, shared in a video posted on the Chinese social media platform KuaiShou on 28 August that his live-streaming activities were abruptly suspended following orders from the local police. He explained that the restrictions on his content, particularly his series “Outdoor Livestream on The Plateau”, were primarily due to his growing influence within Tibetan communities, where his Tibetan language content had become increasingly popular

In addition to being suspended from further live-streaming, Gang Lhaja was arbitrarily detained from 1 to 3 September and was beaten in a detention centre. On 7 September, he released another video in Tibetan, expressing his frustration and disappointment regarding the situation. He also uploaded a transcript of his video message in Chinese alongside the video.

In the video, he states:

” I have experienced defeat, and I have experienced it repeatedly. However, I honestly cannot accept the defeat this time because this is a defeat for all who have supported and valued my work. Usually, I admit defeat when it comes. But, the obstacles and interference in my work [by the local authorities] make me extremely discouraged and disheartened. There are a hundred ways to do one task, a thousand paths to one destination, and I carefully trod the path through suitable means and wisdom. However, the path I was taking to accomplish my work has been directly blocked.

I even felt this might be the last livestream in my life. I was terribly scared. I trembled terribly. But today, thanks to the kindness of the Lama and the Three Jewels and, secondly, thanks to the kindness of my friends, I have come here and been able to go online as before. This is also due to the kindness of the Lama and the Three Jewels.

On the one hand, I’m thrilled (my heart is joyful). On the other hand, I’m despondent (my heart is sorrowful). In any case, I couldn’t accomplish the task I set out to do. With hard-earned money saved, I intended to traverse distant places with hope. I prepared over 200,000 yuan, planning to travel through the three regions of Tibet—U-Tsang, Amdo, and Kham. However, my friends, I will not be able to accomplish it. It’s been seven days now. I’ve been thinking a lot. I feel defeated and sad. However, I know that the greater one’s influence on society, the more obstacles and pressure one faces.”

With over 75,000 followers on KuaiShou and an additional 6,500 followers on a fan account created by supporters, Gang Lhaja has established a strong presence as a Tibetan content creator. He has long focused on producing the Tibetan language content online through games, quizzes, and educational activities, often based on the “Chinese-Tibetan-English Dictionary of New Daily Vocabulary” by Khenpo Tsultrim Lodoe, one of the heart disciples of the renowned Nyingmapa master, Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok. Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok was instrumental in reviving Tibetan Buddhism, culture and language in Tibet following China’s Cultural Revolution, during which Mao Zedong attempted to eradicate remnants of traditional Tibetan culture. Under Khenchen’s guidance, numerous private Tibetan language schools were founded, including Sengdruk Taktse, established by Tulku Thupten Norbu.

In one of his final videos before the police intervention, Gang Lhaja revealed his plans for an extensive tour across several regions of Tibet, including Dzachuka, Kardze, Palyul, Derge, Jhomdha, Chamdo, and other regions across Tibet’s three traditional provinces to promote the use of new Tibetan vocabularies. However, since 28 August, he has been unable to host more live streams. Despite this, in his final video, he expressed disappointment with the authorities, asserting that he had not violated any laws or regulations.

In China, live streaming has become a booming industry, but it has also attracted increased attention from regulators. The Chinese government imposes strict controls over content creators, requiring compliance with regulations from agencies like the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) and the Ministry of Public Security.

One recent regulation, the 2019 “Norms for the Administration of Online Short Video Platforms and Detailed Implementation Rules for Online Short Video Content Review Standards,” prohibits content that ‘undermines social stability’, ‘content dividing the nation’, ‘content disclosing state secrets’, and ‘content harmful to ethnic and territorial unity’, among many others. These vague regulations have led to increased censorship, particularly affecting ethnic minorities like Tibetans.

In recent years, several Tibetans have been targeted by authorities for content deemed politically sensitive. In 2022, five Tibetans were detained by local Chinese police in connection with a song about the Tibetan spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, which was performed during a musical contest on Kuaishou. Last year, Tibetan singer Palden was sentenced to three years in prison for sharing patriotic Tibetan songs on the same platform.

Gang Lhaja is a native of Yuthok village in Derge (Ch: Dege) County, in the traditional Tibetan province of Kham, near the birthplace of the esteemed Situ Panchen Chökyi Jungney, the 8th Tai Situ incarnation. Situ Panchen was a distinguished scholar, writer, painter, doctor, and linguist renowned for his contributions, including the widely studied Situ’s Commentary on Tibetan Grammar, an essential text for Tibetan language students.

Gang Lhaja, a former monk, began his early education in a local monastery, learning basic reading and writing, before graduating from a Shedra (Tibetan Buddhist monastic university). Later, he moved to Chengdu, where he sold coffee on the streets while continuing his Tibetan studies. Although his small coffee business failed, he transitioned to creating online content and garnered widespread support for his efforts to promote the Tibetan language and culture.

As a social impact content creator, he has engaged in numerous charitable activities. He has raised funds for needy patients and even purchased livestock from butchers for life release. His efforts have inspired many followers to participate in acts of compassion and charity, creating a community centred around these values. The recent restrictions on Gang Lhaja are part of a broader pattern of repression against Tibetan language and culture. In recent years, Tibetan activists, scholars, and cultural figures have faced increasing censorship and persecution. While private schools in Tibet are being shut down, Chinese has been imposed as the primary language of instruction, further eroding linguistic freedoms. In June this year, restrictions on Tibetan language content creators heightened concerns over the rapidly shrinking cultural and linguistic freedoms online, with many voicing strong discontent on social media, reporting difficulties in streaming and speaking in Tibetan on platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou.

Two pro-democracy activists have been sentenced to prison for royal defamation over protest speeches they delivered in Chaiyaphum Province in 2021.

Jatupat Boonpattararaksa and Atthapol Buapat, pro-democracy activists, were sentenced to prison for royal defamation for protest speeches they made in front of the Phu Khiao Police Station and Phu Khiao School on 1 February 2021, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR).

On that day, the “Ratsadon” group staged a protest, calling on the police to apologise to students who were intimidated by police officers after they registered for a “Ratsadon On Tour” camp, a forum for opinion exchange and discussions of problems in Thai society. 26 people, including 15 and 18-year-old students, received summonses, for allegedly violating the Emergency Decree. Three of the summonses were later dismissed.

Jatupat and Atthapol were charged with 4 offences: royal defamation, sedition, violating the Emergency Decree, and the unauthorised use of a sound amplifier. The speeches they gave, which raised the subject of monarchy reform but did not mention any particular king by name, were deemed to defamatory of the Royal Institution. Jatupat compared the financial standing of the monarchy with that of the people and called for the amendment of the Constitution. Atthapol called for reducing the royal budget.

Another activist, Panupong Jadnok, was also charged in the case, but he did not show up at the court.

According to TLHR, the defendants were initially sentenced to three years in prison. As Jatupat had been given an additional one year and three months in prison for repeating the offence, his cumulative sentence was four years and six months. Due to his ‘helpful testimony’, the court reduced his sentence to two years and twelve months. The court also dismissed three of the charges – sedition, violating the Emergency Decree, and the unauthorised use of a sound amplifier- brought against Atthapol, jailing him for two years for royal defamation.

Their lawyers have filed bail requests, pending appeal. They are currently being detained at the Phu Khiao Prison.

ด่วน! 14.00 น. ศาลอุทธรณ์ภาค 3 มีคำสั่งให้ประกันตัว ไผ่-ครูใหญ่ #คดี112 ปราศรัยหน้า สภ.ภูเขียว พิเคราะห์พฤติการณ์แห่งคดีและความหนักเบาแห่งข้อหา เห็นว่า จำเลยทั้งสองเคยได้รับการปล่อยชั่วคราวระหว่างพิจารณา ไม่มีพฤติการณ์หลบหนี จึงอนุญาตปล่อยชั่วคราวระหว่างอุทธรณ์ ตีราคาประกันคนละ 300,000 บาท

Update: TLHR said that, at around 14.00 today (14 September), the Region 3 Appeal Court have granted Jatupat and Atthapol bail on the grounds that they have been granted bail before and are not a flight risk. The Court required a security of 300,000 baht each.

A hotel in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, has canceled its agreement with a group opposing the government's plan to construct a nuclear power station to host a gathering next week.

Vadim Ni, a founding member of the group AES Kerek Emes (We Don't Need Nuclear Power Plants), told RFE/RL on September 13 that the hotel, run by U.S.-based Hilton Hotels & Resorts, canceled the deal three days before the event was to take place on September 16.

"This morning, after I sent invitations to media outlets to the event, the hotel administration called me and said the agreement was annulled due to -- what they said -- the hotel's closure," Ni said, adding that most likely the hotel canceled the gathering of about 50 people due to pressure imposed by people linked to the government or supporters of the idea to construct a nuclear power plant.

Ni also said his group is searching for an alternative site for the gathering.

The hotel's manager, who introduced herself as Aleksandra, refused to comment on the decision to cancel the event.

Kazakh authorities said last week that a nationwide referendum on the possible construction of a nuclear power plant will be held on October 6.

On September 12, the Kazakh Prosecutor-General's Office said four individuals and two companies were fined for holding opinion polls on the issue because they failed to inform the authorities about their intention to conduct the opinion polls.

Ni and several other activists announced the creation of their group on September 10.

The activists said that if a nuclear plant is constructed in partnership with a foreign country -- four companies are currently on the short list -- Kazakhstan could lose some of its sovereignty.

China's CNNC, South Korea's KHNP, France's EDF, and Russia's Rosatom have been named in media reports as possible partners.

Kazakh officials have avoided commenting directly, saying the decision would be made after the referendum.

Shortly before launching its ongoing invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia proposed that its Rosatom nuclear agency be Kazakhstan's main partner in such a project.

Many Kazakhs publicly reject the idea of Rosatom's involvement, citing the legacy of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster and Russia's occupation of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in Ukraine as examples of Moscow's attitude toward nuclear safety.

Many in Kazakhstan expect the referendum to succeed, given the country's tightly controlled political environment.

But the push to build a new nuclear facility has been met by significant opposition, despite apparent efforts to silence dissent on the issue. In recent weeks, several activists known for their stance against the project have been prevented from attending public debates on the matter.

A Kazakh activist has been fined for a YouTube clip questioning government plans for a nationwide referendum on the construction of a nuclear power plant.

Abzal Dostiyarov streamed the session of the Auezov district court in Almaty on September 10 at which he was found guilty of violating the law on public polling and ordered to pay a 55,350-tenge ($115) fine.

Dostiyarov insisted he is innocent, saying the video clip in question from a week earlier was not a poll.

"I reject the charge. There were opinions of our subscribers compiled under our video. It was not a poll for all the citizens of the country, it was just feedback," Dostiyarov said. He alleged that the court's ruling was politically motivated.

Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev last week announced plans for a nationwide referendum on October 6 to gauge public support for the construction of a nuclear power plant.

Many Kazakhs expect the referendum to succeed, given the country's tightly controlled political environment.

But the push to build a new nuclear facility has been met by significant opposition despite apparent efforts to silence dissent on the issue. In recent weeks, several activists known for their stance against such a project have been prevented from attending public debates on the matter.

Nuclear power-related projects have been a controversial issue in Kazakhstan, where the environment was severely impacted by operations at the Soviet-era Semipalatinsk nuclear test site from 1949 to 1991, and the Baikonur spaceport, which is still operated by Moscow.

Hours before his decree was made public on September 2, President Toqaev reiterated his support for the plant's construction.

There has been no official information about a proposed site, but a public debate was held last year in the village of Ulken on the shore of Lake Balkhash, in the southeastern region of Almaty, on the possibility of constructing a nuclear power station there.

Talk of a new nuclear power station in Kazakhstan has been circulating for years, leading to questions regarding what countries would be involved in the project.

Kazakh officials avoided answers, saying the decision would be made after a referendum.

Shortly before launching its ongoing invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia proposed that its Rosatom nuclear agency be Kazakhstan's major partner in such a project.

Many Kazakhs publicly rejected the idea of Rosatom's involvement, citing the legacy of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster and Russia's occupation of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in Ukraine as examples of Moscow's attitude toward nuclear safety.

On September 3, the chairwoman of Kazakhstan's Central Commission on Referendums, Sabila Mustafina, said 15.5 billion tenges ($32.5 million) has been requested to conduct the referendum.

Asanali Suieubaev, a founding member of the unregistered Algha, Qazaqstan (Forward, Kazakhstan) political party, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on September 10 on a charge of distributing illegal drugs that he rejects as politically motivated. Suieubaev's lawyer, Meiirzhan Dosqaraev, told RFE/RL on September 11 that the case against his client had been "trumped up" after he publicly accused former President Nursultan Nazarbaev of corruption in November 2023. Also in November, the chairman of Algha, Qazaqstan, Marat Zhylanbaev, was sentenced to seven years in prison on extremism charges that he also rejected as politically motivated.

Journalist Roy Barbosa was reportedly assaulted, harassed, and threatened by an unknown assailant while covering a protest in Malolos, the capital of Bulacan province in Luzon on September 3. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)) joins its affiliate, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), in condemning the assault and urging the Filipino government to ensure the safety of journalists and media workers covering demonstrations.

On September 3, Manila Today journalist Roy Barbosa was reportedly assaulted and threatened by an unidentified man while covering a protest in Malalos organised by the human rights group Karapatan National Capital Region. The protest held approximately one hour north of Manila, coincided with the filing of a motion to dismiss terrorism charges against trade unionists Ed Cubelo and Rodrigo Esparago, along with 26 others, at the Malalos Regional Trial Court Branch 12.

While recording live footage of the protest, Barbosa was confronted by an unidentified man, who claimed to be a "private citizen" and "vlogger" and refused to identify himself. Barbosa was subjected to repeated harassment, including yelling, spitting, and abuse related to his non-binary identity. The man demanded that Barbosa delete the footage and threatened legal action.

Barbosa’s colleagues were also stopped by the same individual, who was accompanied by several police officers and were reportedly threatened with legal charges if they did not reveal Barbosa’s whereabouts.

Later that evening, Barbosa published his report detailing the harassment. Shortly after, he received a threatening message on Facebook from an unknown user who claimed Barbosa was a member of the New People's Army (NPA), a practice known as ‘red-tagging’. Barbosa reportedly received similar messages in July, warning the journalist against covering the trial, and warning of future legal action for his coverage.

In a statement released by Manila Today, the outlet asserted that this incident highlights the ongoing targeting of media workers who report on injustice and hold those accountable. The publication criticised the use of harassment and threats as a tactic to silence journalists, reflecting a broader issue of state attempts to undermine community and alternative media.

A week prior, on August 27, news crews from MindaNews, Newsline Philippines, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and state-run PTV News were reportedly barred from covering a rally by members of the controversial church, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, at its compound in Buhangin, Davao City. Video footage posted by Sun Star Davao shows the crowd demanding that the media leave, accusing them of being "biased." Earlier in the day, KOJC members were also seen driving away a reporter from One News. Reports from the scene indicate that objects were thrown at the news crews that evening.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) expresses concern following the recent arrest of journalist Antonieta Kartono Martins, who was covering the eviction of street vendors in Timor-Leste’s capital. This obstruction of journalism in a country widely regarded as a regional model of press freedom sends a troubling signal. President Ramos-Horta pledged to safeguard press freedom following the event, and RSF will remain vigilant in monitoring his commitment.

Timor-Leste, ranked 20th in RSF’s World Press Freedom Index, is not known for arbitrary arrests of journalists. Yet, on the night of September 4, Antonieta Kartono Martins, a reporter for the East Timorese news site Diligente Online, was arrested while covering a police operation to remove street vendors from a market in Dili, the capital.

She was released without charge after being detained for several hours. The police also confiscated the camera of another journalist, Suzana Cardoso from Media One Timor-Leste, and deleted her footage of the operation.

The general commissioner of the police in Timor-Leste, Henrique da Costa, described the incident as a "misunderstanding" between the officers and the journalist, noting that the matter had been "resolved at the police station." He added, "the journalist is free to take the matter to court, as we are all subject to the law." The President of the Republic of Timor-Leste, José Ramos-Horta, announced that he discussed the matter with police representatives and opposed any obstruction of journalists' work in the field.

“In a democracy like Timor-Leste, journalists should never have to face obstruction or arrest for covering events of public interest. We welcome the supportive reaction of President José Ramos-Horta, but we also urge him to ensure that the police forces respect press freedom in all circumstances.

Cédric Alviani RSF Asia-Pacific Bureau Director Timor-Leste journalists are generally able to report freely, but they occasionally face legal harassment, intimidation, and police violence. A nation of fewer than 1.5 million people, it is a model of press freedom in Southeast Asia, ranking 20th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2024 World Press Freedom Index.

The Supreme Court today rejected the appeal of Vorn Pao, President of the Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association (IDEA), and upheld his conviction on charges of "masterminding" and “instigating intentional acts of violence with aggravating circumstances” under Articles 28 and 218 of the Criminal Code in relation to a 2014 strike action on Phnom Penh’s Veng Sreng Boulevard.

Pao was handed a sentence of four years and six months in prison by the Phnom Penh Capital Court in 2014. He served 5 months of the sentence alongside 21 other people, and the remaining portion of the sentence was suspended, a verdict which was upheld today by the Supreme Court. He remains at risk of having the remaining suspended sentence implemented if he is convicted on any charges in the next five years.

Pao was one of the four individuals who appealed the Capital Court’s verdict to the Appeal Court. On 29 September 2023, the Phnom Penh Appeal Court upheld the lower court’s sentences, but dropped the fine of 8 million riel (around US$2,000).

Pao was the only defendant who filed a further appeal to the Supreme Court. He was arrested along with other workers and human rights defenders in front of the Yak Jin garment factory on 2 January 2014, one day before mixed forces opened fire on the peaceful minimum wage strikes on Veng Sreng Boulevard. The incident resulted in the deaths of four civilians and injuries to at least 38 others. A 15-year-old garment worker, Khem Sophath, was wounded during the violence and remains missing.

The civil rights network Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) has issued a strong denunciation of the “abduction” of labour rights activist Anirudh Rajan, who was taken by state authorities on September 5, 2024, while traveling to meet his family. This incident is part of a troubling trend, as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and various state forces have increasingly targeted trade union and democratic rights activists over the past year.

Anirudh Rajan, a dedicated labour rights advocate based in the Delhi-NCR region, has been instrumental in organizing workers in Manesar under the banner of the Manesar General Mazdoor Sangh. His activism began with the New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI) and later extended to efforts for the release of political prisoners in CASR. He has led numerous protests advocating for improved working conditions and has critically examined the misuse of public funds for the benefit of large corporations.

According to CASR, while traveling from NCR to Bengaluru to visit friends and family, Anirudh was apprehended by police as he was about to board a bus to Chennai. Allegations have surfaced claiming he was attempting to meet his girlfriend and was involved in fundraising for the banned CPI (Maoist) party—claims that have been denied as false. He has been labeled a criminal and arrested under the repressive Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

According to CASR, the Indian government is targeting trade union activists nationwide, resulting in heightened surveillance, raids, and arrests based on accusations over the past decade. The state’s tactics aim to suppress any discourse surrounding the exploitation of the working class, with all forms of unionization facing severe backlash. Activists have been alleged to be associated with conspiracy charges, designed to undermine legitimate organizing activities.

Believes CASR, Anirudh’s arrest is part of a broader conspiracy, which casts a shadow over democratic rights activists in northern India. Activists unrelated to any criminal activity are often ensnared in this web of intimidation and persecution, with the state working to criminalize public action by infringing on fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution, including the right to freely associate and organize.

The ongoing repression of union activists, alongside those opposing social and economic injustices from marginalized backgrounds, aims to instill fear among ordinary to citizens and facilitate the unchecked rise of authoritarian, crony-capitalist governance, it adds.

A court in An Giang Province on Sept. 4 tried and convicted a social media user and a lawyer on charges of “abusing democratic freedoms” under Article 331 of the Penal Code.

Phan Ngoc Dung, 69, a YouTube user, and Bui Van Khanh, 75, a lawyer, were accused of “taking advantage of their freedoms to distort, slander, and violate the honor and dignity of the Council of Judges of the Supreme People's Court, and the leader of the Supreme People's Court.” Dung received a three-year prison sentence, while Khanh was sentenced to two years.

The indictment declared that around the end of 2020, Dung often watched two YouTube channels named Hóng phim TV and TTAD 2, which hosted online discussions about the unjust nature of the case of Ho Duy Hai, who was wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Dung had pushed for Hai’s release.

In October 2021, Dung allegedly established her own YouTube channel, Tiếng Nói Lòng Dân (The Voice of the People’s Heart), and invited attorney Khang, a lawyer from the Nam Dinh Provincial Bar Association, to answer the audience’s questions and provide legal analysis in her live streams because she knew Khang personally. State media reported that on Jan. 22, Phan Ngoc Dung surrendered himself to the Security Investigation Agency of An Giang Province Police due to the alleged defamation crimes that had been used against him.

Between October 2021 and January 21, 2024, the social media user and the lawyer reportedly hosted numerous talk shows and discussions, producing 1,200 videos on YouTube.

The Department of Cybersecurity and High-tech Crime Prevention alleges that a total of 12 video clips published on Dung's YouTube channel and her Facebook page, Dieu Nhan, contain information that “distorts, slanders, and violates the honor and dignity of the Council of Judges of the Supreme People's Court and the leader of the Supreme People's Court” and “insults the Vietnamese judiciary,” which “negatively affects social order and societal safety.”

The Hanoi People’s Court on Sept. 10 opened a trial for Nguyen Vu Binh, an independent journalist, and blogger who extensively writes about democracy and social issues, and sentenced him to seven years on charges of “distributing anti-state propaganda” under the controversial Article 117 of the Penal Code. Binh was a former journalist at the Communist Journal (Tạp chí Cộng sản), an official mouthpiece of the Communist Party. According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), he had three defense lawyers, Le Dinh Viet, Le Van Luan, and Nguyen Thi Trang. Binh’s sister, Nguyen Thi Phong, and his daughter were allowed to witness the trial.

Nguyen Vu Binh was arrested on Feb. 29 in Hanoi, along with activist Nguyen Chi Tuyen. According to the indictment, Binh, 55, was accused of participating in a talk show that discussed political, economic, and social issues in Vietnam. The show was published on a YouTube channel called “TNT Media Live,” hosted by the Vietnamese lawyer and former political prisoner Nguyen Van Dai. The court declared that Binh had participated in four video clips uploaded between January and March 2022, which allegedly “contained false information and caused public confusion.”

One of Binh’s lawyers, who requested anonymity, said that the journalist admitted to his activities but rejected the conviction because he only exercised the right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed in the Vietnamese Constitution and the Convention on Civil and Political Rights that Hanoi has ratified. The lawyer added that Binh would not appeal the sentence because he did not believe in Vietnam’s justice system. Previously, in 2003, Nguyen Vu Binh was convicted under “espionage” charges and sentenced to seven years in prison and three years of probation for sending reports on the human rights situation to international organizations.

Before Binh’s trial, rights advocate Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Sept. 8 urged the Vietnamese authorities to “drop all charges and release” Nguyen Vu Binh. The arrest and trial of Binh have become the latest example of repression that occurred after police general To Lam assumed his new position as the Vietnamese Communist Party’s general secretary. HRW noted that between April 2016 and May 2024, when To Lam led the security ministry, Vietnamese police “arrested at least 269 people for peacefully exercising their basic civil and political rights.” In 2002 and 2007, HRW awarded Nguyen Vu Binh the Hellmann/Hammett Writers’ Award, dedicated to the activists who faced political persecution.

The Chinese government should immediately quash the conviction of and release a Taiwanese political activist who was sentenced to nine years in prison for “separatism,” Human Rights Watch said today. On August 26, 2024, a court in China’s Zhejiang province convicted Yang Chih-yuan (楊智淵), 34, for political activities carried out in Taiwan, a neighboring democracy over which the People’s Republic of China claims sovereignty.

The case is the first known in which the Chinese authorities have charged a Taiwanese national with “separatism” for allegedly seeking to split the country in violation of article 103 of China’s Criminal Law. The law is typically used in politically motivated prosecutions of Uyghurs, Tibetans, and other ethnic groups who are Chinese nationals.

“The Chinese government’s prosecution of Yang Chih-yuan for exercising his basic rights in Taiwan has effectively criminalized being Taiwanese,” said Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch. “The use of a national security law coupled with an outrageous prison sentence appears to be Beijing’s latest attempt to intimidate the Taiwanese people and reinforce its claims of sovereignty over Taiwan.”

On August 3, 2022, more than seven months after Yang arrived in China to live, Chinese authorities detained him in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province. In April 2023 he was formally arrested for alleged “separatist” activity. At the time, Yang was not involved in any political activities in China, and was teaching and competitively playing the strategy game Go, according to Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, the government agency responsible for China-Taiwan affairs.

Yang’s “crimes” include establishing a minor political party called the Taiwan National Party in Taiwan, and promoting Taiwan’s inclusion in the United Nations between 2008 and 2020.

The Chinese authorities repeatedly and seriously violated Yang’s rights to due process during the legal proceedings against him. The Chinese state-owned media, CCTV, confirmed after Yang’s detention in August 2022 that he had been placed under “residential surveillance in a designated location;” a form of detention that Human Rights Watch has repeatedly criticized, and that United Nations human rights experts have said is “tantamount to enforced disappearance.”

Yang was incommunicado for two years, during which time he had no access to legal counsel or his family in violation of international human rights law. Chinese laws allow the authorities to deny national security detainees access to family and lawyers under “residential surveillance,” leaving them at serious risk of torture and other mistreatment.

Yang’s trial took place behind closed doors. Details of his sentencing were not announced until September 6, and judicial authorities still have not released any documents or evidence from the trial.

In June, two months prior to Yang’s trial, the Chinese government issued new judiciary guidelines that make it a criminal offense to do anything broadly related to Taiwanese independence. Peaceful activities and advocacy, such as teaching and writing about Taiwan’s democracy and history independent of China or promoting Taiwan’s inclusion in the United Nations, would be construed as criminal. Taiwanese who have engaged in such activity would be subject to arrest in China.

The judicial guidelines violate Taiwanese people’s rights to freedom of expression and association, and the right to public participation in Taiwan, Human Rights Watch said. The guidelines also permit the use of in absentia trials and the death penalty for “especially serious or … vile” activity in violation of international law.

In a second case, Chinese authorities have detained the Taiwan-based Chinese-born publisher Li Yan-he (李延賀), commonly known by his pen name Fu Cha (富察), for alleged “separatism.” In March 2023, national security police in Shanghai detained Fu. According to Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, Fu has been detained for publishing works that are “not in line with the Chinese Communist Party’s view of history.”

Fu is editor-in-chief of the Taiwanese Gūsa Publishing (八旗文化), which has published books critical of the Chinese government. In early 2023 he become a Taiwanese citizen, and was visiting China to renounce his People’s Republic of China nationality and see his family. The authorities have been holding Fu under “residential surveillance in a designated location.”

The guidelines and the two cases appear intended to reinforce the People’s Republic of China’s sovereignty claims over Taiwan.

“The Chinese government is tightening its grip over the lawful activities of Taiwanese in Taiwan,” Wang said. “Beijing’s intimidation and arbitrary arrests of Taiwanese under national security charges is an alarming escalation of its efforts to control the rights to free speech and association beyond its borders.”

Authorities in Vietnam are pressing on with a crackdown on social media users who are seen as critical of the government, using two articles of the Criminal Code that rights groups say are too vague, to punish those “opposing” the state and the ruling Communist Party.

After seven months in pre-trial detention, authorities in Hanoi have announced plans to prosecute Facebooker Phan Van Bach under Article 117 of the Criminal Code for "making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the State of Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”

Bach, 49, has been an active campaigner for more a decade. He took part in protests against China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea in 2011, the Green Trees environmental demonstrations in 2015, and the protests against pollution caused by Formosa Plastics in 2016.

According to an indictment issued on July 19 and recently shared by his family, Bach is accused of using his personal Facebook account to post 12 articles and six video clips between 2018 and 2022 with content said to "distort the Party's policies and guidelines, defame the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, deny the leadership role of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and disseminate edited images that defame state leaders and incite the masses."

Bach was detained on Dec. 29, 2023, but his wife Nguyen Thi Yeu wasn't allowed to see him until June 4.

“I didn't recognize him at all. He was no longer the same person as when he left,” she told Radio Free Asia. “He was thin and had scabies all over his body.”

Her husband told her he had diarrhea as soon as he was taken to the detention camp. When he asked to go to the hospital for treatment, he was given medicine, which made him constipated.

He was put in a 40 square meter (431 square foot) cell with more than 30 other inmates, where he developed scabies.

RFA called the investigator who handled Bach’s case several times but he did not answer the telephone.

‘Propaganda against the state’

In 2017, Bach joined independent YouTube channel CHTV, reporting on Vietnam's socio-economic issues.

Three members of the channel, Vu Quang Thuan, Le Van Dung and Le Trong Hung, are serving prison sentences ranging from five to eight years for the crime of “propaganda against the state.”

Bach often hosted live talks criticizing Vietnam’s one-party regime but in 2018 he announced he was leaving CHTV.

His Facebook page shows that in recent years he has only focused on his labor export business.

Authorities in Laos detained two young men who posted a video on social media poking fun at the sorry state of the roads in their town, according to residents.

The pair of graphic artists – going by their adopted Western-sounding screen names of Dai James and James Famor – uploaded an artificial intelligence-generated video to Facebook last week showing them fishing in water-filled potholes on a street, surrounded by crocodiles – a video that went viral in Laos.

In response, police on Aug. 28 handcuffed the two and took them into custody in Tonpheung, a port town on the Mekong River that is home to the Golden Triangle Economic Zone, or SEZ, in northwestern Laos’ Bokeo province on Aug. 28.

Authorities released James the same day, but required Famor to attend a “re-education” class, and forced him to confess and apologize before freeing him on Monday.

A friend of Famor who works at the studio where they produce and post videos to social media confirmed the arrest and release to RFA Lao on Tuesday.

“They were released on different days – the first one, Dai James, was released on August 28 and the other was freed on Sept. 2,” said the friend who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.

“From now on, we [the studio] can’t post or produce anything at all.”

‘Confession’ and ‘apology’

In a video posted to Facebook on Monday, following his release, Famor apologized to the police for his actions.

“I would like to confess that on Aug. 8, I took photos of a damaged road filled with potholes and water, and then I cut and pasted some photos of crocodiles into the middle of the road,” he said.

“At the time, I didn’t intend to campaign against anybody … Now, I admit that what I did was wrong.”

Famor also “thanked” authorities who “warned and re-educated me,” saying he had learned an important lesson.

“In the past, I’ve posted a lot of videos, but this time, posting that video was a big mistake and for that I apologize to all relevant authorities,” he said. “I would like to ask all my followers to understand that the party and government’s warning is a good lesson for me.”

RFA spoke with an officer at the Bokeo Province police department who referred questions about the case to authorities in Topheung, but attempts to contact the district station went unanswered.

The men appeared to have violated Article 117 of the Lao Criminal Code, which says that persons who “campaign against the Lao PDR by twisting the policy of the [ruling Communist] Party and government, releasing destructive news causing disorder, speaking, writing, printing, posting photos, videos and texts via electronics means or otherwise, will be jailed from one year to five years, and fined from 5 million to 20 million kip (US$225 to $900).”

Lighten up

Residents and experts said the police reaction was excessive and wrong, and that the young men were actually helping improve everyone’s lives by highlighting a problem the government appears unwilling to address.

“Everybody knows that the roads here in Tonpheung district are bad,” a resident of the town said. “They were accused of defaming the party and government when, actually, it's the party and government that are in denial."

“The SEZ is an economic hub, but look at the roads – they’re terrible.”

The Golden Triangle refers to the largely lawless area where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet that has recently become notorious for methamphetamine production. The neighbors have tried to promote trade and tourism with economic zones, while casinos and online scam centers have also proliferated on the Lao and Myanmar sides of the Mekong.

Another resident of Tonpheung agreed that the police response was “inappropriate.”

“These guys just posted a video showing damaged roads on social media using AI,” he said. “The post reflects the real conditions of the roads in our community ... Many people complain about these roads, even though they know that nothing will happen and nothing will be fixed.”

Social media as a reporting tool

Others suggested that the authorities should welcome such posts, as they may not be aware of such issues.

“In this day and age, it’s normal for people to post something like that on social media, and the Lao people should have some freedom to do that – they shouldn’t be threatened or arrested,” said a professor at Souphanouvong University in Luang Prabang province.

“The authorities should be looking for a solution to the problem, not for a way to punish them,” he said. “It’s not right to arrest, detain or even fine them.”

People in Laos frequently turn to social media to draw attention to problems that the authorities ignore or that state-run media are unwilling to report on.

Last month, residents and business operators near the Lao capital Vientiane posted images of their outrageously high electricity bills on social media after an apparent miscalculation by the state-owned power company.

Some business owners in Vientiane province’s Thoulakhom district received monthly bills as high as US$4,000 from the state-run Electricite du Laos – 10 times the usual US$400.

Electricite du Laos’ district office quickly issued a follow-up notice, saying that bills for July had been miscalculated, and a corrected invoice would be sent soon.

Police officers arrested the father of an activist facing charges of violating the Anti-Terrorism Law, September 1 in Barangay Silongin, San Francisco, Quezon province.

Roberto Mendoza is the father of Lieshel, a farmer who was charged by elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ 85 th Infantry Battalion last January 2024 with violating Section 12 of the Anti- Terrorism Law and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act.

According to human rights watchdog Tanggol Quezon, Roberto was arrested at approximately 5 a.m. with no search or arrest warrant given to him.

“[Mendoza’s arrest is] clearly another tactic by the 85 th IBPA and the police to intimidate Lieshel into ‘surrendering’ as an alleged member of the revolutionary New People’s Army,” Tanggol Quezon said in its statement. “Lieshel and Roberto are ordinary farmers working honorably and standing up for their rights.”

Tanggol Quezon maintains that both Roberto and Lieshel Mendoza are innocent. “The Mendozas have nothing to ‘surrender’ for,” the group said in their statement. “If anything, the 85 th IBPA and the police should surrender given their long list of human rights violations in South Quezon and the Bondoc Peninsula.”

Mendoza is detained at the San Francisco Municipal Police Station pending charges filed against him. Tanggol Quezon is calling for his immediate release.

Mendoza’s arrest is the latest in a series of attacks against farmers and human rights defenders in the province. Tanggol Quezon notes that the 85 th IBPA is using a pattern of “using the law to equate human rights advocacy with crime.”

Last October 2023, another coconut farmer, Liezel Merchales, was charged with financing terrorism by the 85 th IBPA.

Yulesita Ibañez was similarly charged with financing terrorism and violating Section 12 of the Anti-Terror Law after the military alleged that they provided food and coffee to members of the NPA last January.

Ibañez and Mendoza are members of Karapatan Quezon and the group Coco Levy Fund Ibalik sa Amin (CLAIM). Soldiers have once forced Mendoza into presenting herself as a surrendered NPA combatant under the government’s Enhanced Community Livelihood Integration Program (ECLIP).

Their paralegals, Tanggol Quezon members Paul Tagle and Fritz Labiano, were also charged with financing terrorism last February. The charges against Tagle and Labiano were dropped last June by the Batangas Regional Trial Court for lack of evidence.

The 85 th IBPA is currently headed by Lt. Col. Reynir S. Nirza, who took the reins of command from Lt. Col. Joel R. Jonson last April. Under Nirza, the 85 th IBPA has been involved in the arrest of peasant and women’s right advocate Fatima Banjawan last August 2 while conducting a community investigation in Santa Elena, Camarines Norte.

Cyclists and environmental advocates sounded alarm over the 15th victim of enforced disappearance under the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Felix Salaveria Jr. is a known cyclist and a dedicated activist. He is the founding member of the Kabataan para sa Tribung Pilipino (Katribu Youth) and Tunay na Alyansa ng Bayan Alay sa mga Katutubo (TABAK), both groups known for advocating the rights of indigenous peoples (IP). He is also a founding and active member of Cycling Advocates (Cycad), a group advocating for low-cost, healthy, and non-polluting alternative mode of transportation.

“As an active member of the cycling community and environmental defender, his disappearance cannot be ignored,” said cyclists and mobility advocacy group Make It Safer Movement (MISMO), in a statement.

Salaveria was abducted in Tabaco, Albay on the morning of August 28, five days after his 67th birthday. It was celebrated with James Jazmines, who also disappeared on August 23. Jazmines was his cycling buddy and brother of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultant Alan Jazminez.

Salaveria was also the person who reached out to human rights group Karapatan on August 26, reporting Jazmines’s disappearance.

MISMO said that Cycad had a great impact on the transportation sector, which mobility advocates continue to benefit today “in promoting active mobility and advocating for safer, greener transportation options.”

Aside from bicycling, Salaveria was also a known advocate of eco-waste management, according to his family and Katribu Youth. Since he moved to Tabaco, he has been encouraging proper waste management and coordinating the transport of biodegradable waste for conversion to compost. He also donated a bicycle especially modified to collect waste for composting to their community.

In the initial report of Karapatan, they gathered footage from a barangay-owned CCTV that showed men in civilian clothes forcing Salaveria into a silver van.

Gab Ferrer, daughter of Salaveria, appealed for the immediate surfacing of his father.

“We have not heard from him since. We appeal to the public to help us pressure authorities to surface our father. We do not want our father to be just a statistic. It is important that you know him as a human being and a cherished person in his community,” said Ferrer.

She also added that Salaveria is loved and respected in the community, known for his generosity and kindness especially to those in need. “He has been working on a community garden to benefit his neighborhood.”

Salaveria’s family also cited humanitarian considerations, especially that he is still recovering from a medical condition. Aside from his old age, Salaveria has suffered a stroke in 2023, paralyzing the left side of his body.

Advocacy groups and the family resounded the call to immediately surface Salaveria and other victims of enforced disappearance.

“We, together with his family, friends, and the cycling community, ask for your support and collective action to stop the red-tagging and extrajudicial persecutions that continue to endanger the lives of those who stand for justice. It is time to stand together, to end this violence, and to demand the immediate surfacing of all desaparecidos,” MISMO said in a statement.

KARAPATAN raised grave concern over the reported disappearance of a brother of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultant Alan Jazmines.

James Jazmines, 63, Alan’s youngest brother, has been reported missing since August 23, 2024 and was last seen in Barangay San Lazaro, Tabaco City, Albay. As of today, efforts by his wife, friends and human rights groups to ascertain his whereabouts have been in vain.

James is a 1978 graduate of the Philippine Science High School and took up BS Psychology at the University of the Philippines in Diliman. He was the editor of Commitment, the official paper of the League of Filipino Students (LFS) and later became the executive director of the Amado V. Hernandez Resource Center, a cultural institution. From 1988 to 1992, James served as the information officer of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) labor center. He was the information technology (IT) consultant of a development NGO up to the mid-2000s, and has been working freelance in the IT sector since then.

“Members of the Jazmines family, including James, have suffered surveillance, threats and harassment over the decades because of the military’s relentless operations to locate Alan and arrest him,” said KARAPATAN secretary general Cristina Palabay. “In fact, James’ wife, a development worker, was red-tagged several times last year and was even erroneously referred to as Alan’s wife in an episode of ‘Laban ng Masa,’ a rabid red-tagging program aired over the Quiboloy-owned SMNI,” added Palabay.

“We believe that James’ disappearance is either the latest in the military’s arsenal of dirty tricks to force his brother Alan to surface, or is a vicious example of palit-ulo, given the military’s continuing failure to arrest Alan,” said Palabay. “We denounce this foul maneuver by the military and demand that James be surfaced safe and sound and reunited with his family.”

A 33-year-old protester has been sentenced to approximately 12 years without parole for 8 Facebook posts in 2022.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that Kanruethai Klaion, 33, was charged with royal defamation and violation of the Computer-Related Crime Act for Facebook posts during 8 February – 1 April 2022.

On 8 April 2022, 8 officers went to her apartment, claiming that the posts constituted an offense under the royal defamation law and the Computer-Related Crime Act, and told her they were taking her to Lat Phrao Police Station to negotiate with her not to post such material again and to close her Facebook account.

On 1 July 2022, 6 plainclothes officers claiming to be from Lat Phrao Police Station searched Kanruethai’s apartment on a warrant issued by the Criminal Court. They confiscated her laptop and mobile phone.

The inquiry officer’s report stated that her 8 Facebook posts, including pictures, messages, and video clips, were deemed defamatory towards the King who is revered by the people.

The court on 27 August ruled that she was guilty as charged, sentencing her to 3 years in prison for each post. However, due to her useful testimony, the sentence was reduced to 1 year and 6 months for each post without parole, resulting in 8 years and 48 months imprisonment or around 12 years.

Her lawyer later submitted a bail request pending appeal, but the outcome has not yet been released. During this time, Kanruethai is being held at the Central Women’s Correctional Institution. According to TLHR, Kanruethai expressed concern that she might not receive antidepressants, which must be taken daily.

This is her second royal defamation charge. Previously, she was also charged with royal defamation over 2 posts from 2022. In this case, the complaint against Kanruethai was filed by Anon Klinkaew, leader of the ultra-royalist People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy, over two Facebook posts from July and September 2022.

Anon has repeatedly filed royal defamation complaints against monarchy reform advocates, including Thanalop Phalanchai, who was 14 years old when the complaint against her was filed. He also posted a video clip threatening to kill her.

The Appeal Court has found Mongkhon Thirakot, a Chiang Rai-based activist and online clothes vendor, guilty of royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act and sentenced him to 4 years and 6 months in prison for two Facebook posts made in July 2022.

The ruling upholds a 30 October 2023 verdict by the Chiang Rai Provincial Court which found that Mongkhon was guilty of royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act. He was initially sentenced to 4 years in prison and given an additional 6 months in prison on a trespassing charge.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reports that the Appeal Court ruled to uphold the verdict on the grounds that Mongkhon admitted that he made the posts and that they referred to King Vajiralongkorn. The Court found that the two posts, which appeared to refer to ordinary people, were rude and inappropriate. Written with the intent of insulting the King, they were deemed to constitute an offence under the royal defamation law. The court noted that the defendant’s discontent with the current political situation was not a valid excuse for the offence.

Mongkhon was charged with royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act for two Facebook posts made on 28 and 30 July 2022. One contains a picture of King Vajiralongkorn and a message about wearing black while in mourning. The other contains an edited picture of Mongkhon holding a picture frame.

He was arrested at his family home in Chiang Rai on 11 August 2022 by a unit of 21 police officers. He was later released on bail. The public prosecutor indicted him on the grounds that the posts insulted the King and damaged his reputation.

Mongkhon was previously sentenced to 50 years in prison on 25 counts of royal defamation for Facebook posts made between 2 – 11 March 2021. He is now facing a cumulative prison sentence of 54 years and 6 months, currently the longest prison sentence ever given for a royal defamation. Since January 2024, he has been detained pending appeal at the Chiang Rai Central Prison after the Supreme Court denied him bail on the grounds that his lengthy sentence makes him a flight risk.

Authorities on Sunday announced the closure of at least 15 factories in Savar and Dhamarai areas in the face of workers' protests.

Local people said a group of workers and job aspirants started a demonstration in Palashbari area that later spread across the entire Savar and Dhamrai. Workers said their protest was aimed at demanding fair wages, overtime allowance, attendance bonuses and job security.

The workers of GAB Limited and some nearby garment factories blocked the road in Palashbari area of Ashulia around 9am. Similarly, workers of Ha-meem, Sharmeen, NASA Group, Snowtex Outerwear Limited factory also came down on the streets and blocked the roads.

Meanwhile, the workers of Acme Consumers Limited put forward a 16-point demand.

Mohammad Sarwar Alam, superintendent of police of Industrial Zone Police-1 in Ashulia, said that the workers are protesting with various demands. He said that additional men from the law enforcement agencies are currently deployed in the area to bring the situation under control.

About the Human Rights Defender: Advocate Ajay Kumar is a lawyer who has been working for 30 years as an activist. Since his days as a student in Kurukshetra university, he has been active in various mass and democratic struggles like struggle against the illegal termination of canteen workers in Kurukshetra University and the struggle against the demolition of working-class neighbourhood of Gandhi Nagar, Kurukshetra. He participated in the peasant movement in Kandela, Haryana, was active in opposing the arrest of peasant leader Ghashi Ram and took lead in fact-finding missions on atrocities against Dalits in Haryana. In Chandigarh, he was active in the movement against evictions of slum dwellers as well as the movements against the amendments to Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act and Chhota Nagpur Tenancy Act in 2016. Adv. Ajay has aided in the capacity-building of activists from the anti-displacement movements against Electro Steel Company in Santhal Pargana (Jharkhand), Grabanda Bera electricity project in Gumla (Jharkhand) and South Korean giant Posco in Jagatsinghpur (Odisha). He was also founding member of Vistapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan (VVJVA), a conglomeration of more than 50 organisations from across the country seeking to challenge the forcible displacement of peasants particularly Adivasis. He was also involved in Kisan Andolan and in organising the movement against the caste atrocities committed in Panchkula in the state of Haryana.

Background of the incident: Adv. Ajay Kumar’s close association with other incarcerated activists made him a person of interest in the false case against Prof. G.N. Saibaba, with his name mentioned in the lower courts.

Details of the Incident: On August 30, 2024 at 3:40 in the morning HRD Ajay Kumar was at his residence in Chandigarh with his wife and 9 year old daughter when 15-20 personnel raided his house and the searched his house till 12:40 in the noon. Some of them were in civilian clothes from the NIA and others were in uniform. At the time of raid Adv Ajay Kumar and his wife tried to ask for the search memo and FIR. They found that Mr. Ajay Kumar’s name was not mentioned in FIR or in any search memo. HRD Ajay Kumar submitted to NIA that he is a practicing lawyer in Punjab and Haryana High court Chandigarh and gave list of his cases which he appeared in court as lawyer. After searching the house they took a hard disc, 3 mobiles and some documents. NIA personnel served him a notice to come to NIA office at Chandigarh. Mr. Ajay Kumar went to NIA office as asked, where he was interrogated till 4:00 in the morning. At that time his wife Aarti who is also an advocate was given an arrest memo of Ajay Kumar. Mr. Ajay was continuously threatened by NIA officials to tell him names of other persons or they will send him to jail for a long time. Adv. Ajay was then arrested and taken to Lucknow and is currently in Lucknow jail. The HRD was arrested under the FIR no. RC-01/2023/NIA-LKW by NIA Lucknow under Section 154 Cr. P.C on June 19, 2023; Sections 120B, 121A of IPC and under Sections 18, 18B, 20, 38 & 39 of the UA (P) Act, 1967.

Members of a Facebook group that opposes expensive recycling fees imposed by the Kazakh government, especially those on cars and other vehicles, have had their accounts on the platform either removed or restricted, the group said, attributing the moves to government pressure.

Activists with the No To Recycling Fees (Nyetutilsboru) group authored a petition earlier this year calling for recycling fees on imported goods to be lowered to nominal rates, forcing a public hearing and a government review of the policy after the petition gained more than 50,000 signatures.

While the group has questioned all recycling fees, it is especially concerned about those imposed on cars and agricultural vehicles. The activists say that the charges have artificially inflated the cost of vehicles sold in Kazakhstan, benefiting only a small group of automakers whose factories they argue are not internationally competitive.

Kazakhstan's government cut recycling fees in half and effectively liquidated the private company set up to collect them in 2022, but they are still high by global standards, often amounting to thousands of dollars per vehicle.

After the July 15 hearing, Kazakhstan's Industry Ministry ruled to keep recycling fees on goods such as cars at their current levels, dismissing the group's arguments as baseless.

No To Recycling Fees activists have said that they would continue their campaign.

But they now complain that multiple administrators of their Facebook group have been forced to restore accounts or create new ones in recent weeks, while Facebook has sent the group repeated warnings over the content of their posts.

Administrator Vladimir Kim said on August 28 that he and four other administrators had lost access to their Facebook accounts over alleged copyright infringements.

"The Facebook office in [Kazakhstan] is simply following the authorities' orders," Kim wrote from a new account that he created this month.

Both Facebook and Instagram are owned by Meta, which did not respond to a request for comment.

A representative of the Culture and Information Ministry contacted by RFE/RL on August 29 denied any role in the removal and restriction of accounts related to the group.

Kazakhstan has a special agreement with Facebook that allows the government to remove content it deems "harmful."

Under the agreement, authorities in Kazakhstan can access Facebook's internal content-reporting system.

The joint agreement between Kazakhstan and Meta Platforms, reached in 2021, came after Astana threatened to block the social media giant's millions of local users. It is the first of its kind in Central Asia.

Several people were injured and around a dozen were detained during a protest by local government workers in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. Police fired tear gas at the protesters after they broke through barricades to enter the high-security zone. The demonstrators were protesting the withholding of funds from local governments and denying them the authority to carry out development activities.

As many as 11 journalists and media workers employed by Cable News Network (CNN) Indonesia were illegally terminated on August 31, less than a week after workers at the broadcaster formally registered their labour union. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its Indonesian affiliates, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and the Media and Creative Industry Workers Union for Democracy (SINDIKASI), in strongly condemning CNN’s illegal union-busting tactics, urging Indonesian authorities to conduct an immediate investigation into the incident, and calling on the broadcaster to immediately overturn its salary cuts and reinstate all affected workers.

CNN Indonesia’s Head of Human Capital Development sent termination notices by email to 11 leading union activists on August 31, with the journalists barred from attending work and access to the company WhatsApp group and email system restricted the same day.

The layoffs came just days after employees of the broadcaster officially registered Solidaritas Pekerja CNN Indonesia (SCPI), translating to CNN Indonesia Workers Solidarity, with the country’s Ministry of Manpower on August 27. Organised workers announced the union’s registration on August 31, with an accompanying online discussion attended by Indonesian Press Council Chair Ninik Rahayu.

According to SCPI’s Chair, workers had held a series of discussions over the past several months, in part responding to unsanctioned wage cuts imposed in June, issued without full agreement from staff or any compensation. Workers at the news service had previously faced layoffs without union representation. Throughout months of organising efforts, journalists reported receiving threats and intimidation from management, who warned against unionisation.

The union was officially declared on July 27 and brings together workers from broadcast services at CNN Indonesia TV and digital news via CNNIndonesia.com. The SCPI is the first labour union organised under Trans Media, a media and entertainment subsidiary of the Indonesian conglomerate CT Group headed by former minister and prominent businessman Chairul Tanjung.

Speaking with the IFJ, SINDIKASI Advocacy Coordinator Guruh Riyanto said: “As a union officially registered, the SPCI union is protected by Indonesian law. The act of terminating the unionised workers can be categorised as a form of union busting. It is strongly suspected to violate Article 28 of the Indonesian Labour Union Law that clearly protects the rights of the workers to unionise.”

The right to form or join a trade union is protected in Indonesia under the 1945 Constitution, the Human Rights Law, and industrial relations legislation. Indonesia is also a signatory to the International Labour Organisation Conventions No. 87 and No. 98, which protect Freedom of Association and the Right to Organise, and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining respectively.

AJI said: “AJI assesses that the unilateral termination of employment by CNN management is contrary to the freedom of expression guaranteed by the constitution. The decision to terminate SPCI members just hours after the union’s establishment can be suspected as an attempt by the company to carry out union-busting (eradicating labour unions).”

SINDIKASI said: “SINDIKASI strongly condemns the alleged union busting by CNN Indonesia to the workers unionised under Solidaritas Pekerja CNN Indonesia (SPCI). The workers organised the union to respond to the salary cut by the management that had lasted for three months (June-August). […] SINDIKASI supports the SPCI union to organise and conduct collective bargaining. We also call for the press and media workers unions as well as other social movements to support the struggle of the SPCI union. The fulfillment of the media workers’ rights will ensure the quality of journalism works as well as the rights of the people to access reliable information.”

The IFJ said: “Union busting is illegal under Indonesia’s Constitution and industrial legislation and is a blatant violation of workers' rights. At a time of global economic challenges, the act of terminating journalists for organising and imposing unsanctioned wage cuts is disgraceful and punishable by law. The IFJ strongly condemns the actions of CNN Indonesia and calls on the authorities to take immediate action to ensure the broadcaster reverses these unlawful dismissals and salary cuts, reinstating all affected workers."

On August 25, Prothom Alo’s Dhaka University correspondent Asif Himadri was assaulted by members of a paramilitary group, known as Ansars, while covering a clash between university students and political workers outside the Secretariat Complex of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

During the Ansar protest, who laid siege to the secretariat demanding the nationalisation of their jobs, a clash broke out between Ansar members and students associated with the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement. Whilst covering this incident, Himadri was allegedly attacked and injured by Ansar personnel at around 9.30 pm, despite identifying himself as a journalist. Around 40 students were injured in the clashes. On August 26, 388 general Ansar members were sent to jail by magistrate Md Mossaraf Hossain of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court.

At least four journalists have been killed and hundreds injured while reporting on the violence of national protests. On August 14, 20 journalists were injured during an assault on the Chittagong Press Club in south-eastern Bangladesh and five days later on August 19, offices of the East West Media Group Limited (EWMGL) Complex were attacked, with assailants vandalising the premises and injuring one journalist.

Some journalists injured during the protests remain in critical condition. Journalist Aminul Islam Emon, affiliated with the daily Bangladesh Samachar, was shot by police on July 20 at around 7:30 pm in the Malibagh Railgate area of Dhaka, where he was filming a police attack on a student protest. More than a month after this incident, he remains in critical condition despite two major surgeries, having suffered a heart attack on August 25 requiring further medical care.

The BMSF said: “BMSF unequivocally condemns these heinous acts of violence and demands that the authorities take immediate and decisive action to bring the perpetrators to justice. We call for a comprehensive and transparent investigation into both incidents, ensuring that those responsible are held accountable for their actions.

The IFJ said: “The IFJ condemns the ongoing insecurity and violence faced by journalists and media workers in Bangladesh. The interim government must take steps to ensure the safety of journalists and media workers and ensure those responsible for these attacks are investigated and held to account.”

Chinese authorities are holding Gao Zhen, one of the Gao Brothers artistic duo, on suspicion of 'insulting revolutionary heroes and martyrs,' after seizing satirical artworks depicting Chairman Mao from his home studio, Radio Free Asia has learned.

Gao Zhen, 68, who with his brother Gao Qiang has a global reputation for works of political satire, was detained by police in Sanhe city in the northern province of Hebei on Aug. 26, according to a detention notice sent to his family the following day, Gao's lawyer and friends told RFA Mandarin.

The Gao Brothers’ dissident artwork has been shown at many venues overseas, but not publicly displayed in China since they signed an open letter from dissident physicist Fang Lizhi to then supreme leader Deng Xiaoping during the pro-democracy movement of 1989.

Police detained Gao Zhen at around 9.00 a.m. on Aug. 26, rushing into his apartment and taking him away in handcuffs, while searching his studio and questioning his wife for several hours, according to an Aug. 31 post on the Gao Brothers' Facebook page.

State security police confiscated books, computer hard drives, and sculptures and artwork relating to late supreme leader Mao Zedong, the post said.

All of the works taken by police were created more than a decade ago, before laws on protecting the reputation of "revolutionary heroes and martyrs" took effect, it said.

China passed a law criminalizing "insults" to the ruling Communist Party's canon of revolutionary heroes and martyrs in 2018.

Gao is currently being held in the Sanhe Detention Center on suspicion of "infringing the reputation of revolutionary heroes and martyrs," the Facebook post said.

His lawyer Qu Zhenhong confirmed Gao's detention to RFA Mandarin on Sunday, but declined to give further details.

"His family has received a notice [of detention], but it's inconvenient for me to say anything more because the case is still under investigation," Qu said.

‘Miss Mao’

U.K.-based writer Ma Jian said he had heard of Gao's detention in a text message from his brother Gao Qiang, who lives in New York.

"According to the detention notice, he has been detained for crimes against the reputation of heroes and martyrs," Ma said in an open letter about Gao's detention, a copy of which was shared with RFA Mandarin.

The letter cited several sculptures from several years back including the "Miss Mao" series, depicting the late chairman with breasts, and "Mao Kneels in Repentance," which are believed to have sparked the charges.

Signed by Ma and several other creative artists, the letter called on the Chinese government to release Gao and to repeal the legislation banning "insults" to revolutionary heroes, because it infringes on the freedom of speech guaranteed -- on paper, at least -- in China's constitution.

It likened Gao's detention to the political witch-hunts of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, in which the Gao brothers lost their father.

"Today, the Sanhe police department seems to see Gao Zhen's artistic works as evidence of crime, repeating the persecution of the Cultural Revolution," the letter said, saying that controls on Chinese artists continue to tighten under Communist Party leader Xi Jinping.

About to depart for New York

Thailand-based fellow artist Du Yinghong said Gao's detention came as he and his family prepared to board a flight to New York, where his son was due to start school.

"We've booked a flight to Tokyo, and then back to New York, because our son is about to start school," Gao says in an Aug. 26 voice note to Du, a recording of which was shared with RFA Mandarin. "I hope I'll get a chance to organize a trip [to visit you] next year, when we can discuss art-related matters."

Repeated calls to the Sanhe Detention Center rang unanswered on Sunday.

The other Gao Brother -- Gao Qiang -- responded to written questions from RFA only with the message: "Thank you for your attention."

A person close to the case told RFA Mandarin that the detention notice included the phrase "infringing the reputation of heroes and martyrs.” It is likely that the charge relates to sculptures of late supreme leader Mao Zedong, including one of Mao "kneeling and repenting," they said.

If the authorities can't make that stick retroactively, they may seek evidence to support other charges typically used to target critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, including "subversion" and "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," the person said.

Raid on warehouse

Gao Zhen's detention came alongside a police raid on his warehouse, apartment and studio in Sanhe's Best Jingu Industrial Park, according to Ma Jian. Previous attempts by police to enter the premises in 2023 were unsuccessful as Gao Zhen was in New York for the whole of last year.

In 2011, as the authorities released artist and social critic Ai Weiwei from 80 days' detention over alleged tax evasion, officials raided the 798 Art Village in Beijing in reaction to a satirical sculpture the brothers made of Mao as a woman.

The polished stainless steel sculpture titled "Miss Mao trying to poise herself at the top of Lenin's head," portrays the aging leader with signature receding hairline and facial mole, sporting a large pair of naked breasts. The Miss Mao element sits atop a large and grotesque head of Lenin, balancing with a tightrope walking pole.

A super-sized version of the sculpture was shown at the Vancouver Biennale festival in 2010, and was widely seen as a dissident work, satirizing orthodox communism and the official Chinese view of history.

Beijing authorities shut down independent journalist Gao Yu’s internet, landline, and cellular connection on Monday, August 26, after she published a Sunday article analyzing an Al Jazeera interview with Victor Gao, vice president of the Chinese think tank Center for China and Globalization.

“Chinese authorities must restore journalist Gao Yu’s internet connection and phone services and stop harassing her with physical and digital surveillance,” said Iris Hsu, CPJ’s China representative. “Beijing’s excessive need to control dissent is a reflection of its cowardice and fear of critical reporting.”

Authorities have asked Gao to shut down her account on the social platform X for years, she told CPJ, adding that she believes that her posts, including ones sharing her articles, are the reason for turning off her internet and phone access. Gao told CPJ that she must go to a friend’s house or a restaurant to access the internet.

Beijing police also asked Gao to leave the capital from August 29 to September 9 while the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, a state-level economic conference between African countries and China, took place. Gao said that after she refused, the police told her that they would take turns guarding her house to ensure she wouldn’t leave. This is a common practice against dissidents in China.

CPJ’s email requesting comment from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a message sent via the webpage after office hours to the Government of Beijing Municipality did not immediately receive any responses.

Authorities sentenced Gao to six years in 1994 for “leaking state secrets;” she was released in 1999 on medical parole after serving part of the sentence. Gao was sentenced to seven years in 2015 on the same charge. The sentence was later reduced to five years, which Gao served outside of prison due to her deteriorating health.

Kyrgyzstan authorities should retract their decision to liquidate the award-winning investigative outlet Kloop Media, eight international human rights groups said today.

On August 29, 2024, Kloop Media Public Foundation reported that Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court upheld a February liquidation order from a Bishkek district court against the publication. The decision was made in a closed hearing on July 16, but Kloop Media was only informed on August 22. The Supreme Court’s rulings are considered final and not subject to appeal.

“The forced closure of Kloop Media not only silences a crucial voice in Kyrgyzstani society but also signals a continued decline in Kyrgyzstan’s respect for civil and political rights and freedoms of its citizens,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “This action undermines the public’s right to information and further weakens the foundations of democratic governance in the country.”

The case against Kloop Media was initiated in August 2023 following a lawsuit by the Bishkek City Prosecutor’s Office. The lawsuit alleged that Kloop had failed to register as a mass media outlet and had engaged in media activity not listed in its charter, which can warrant the liquidation of legal entities under Kyrgyzstan’s civil law code. The lawsuit also cited a pre-trial investigation into Kloop’s activities initiated by the Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security in November 2021, alleging violations of criminal code provisions against "making public calls for the violent seizure of power online."

The lawsuit accused Kloop Media of “sharp criticism of [the] government” and listed a number of articles that it categorized as critical of the Kyrgyz government’s policies and of state and municipal bodies. The opinions of several court-affiliated legal experts cited in the lawsuit said that Kloop’s publications use “hidden manipulation,” as experts put it, leading to “dissatisfaction” and “distrust” of the authorities among its readership, which could lead to their “zombification” and to encouraging readers to join anti-government protests.

The lawsuit also spotlighted Kloop’s coverage of the situation in the country’s southern Batken region, which had been the site of two border conflicts with Tajikistan over the past three years. A Human Rights Watch report on the most recent conflict, in September 2022, found that forces from both sides committed apparent war crimes in attacks on civilians. The lawsuit alleges that Kloop’s articles about the region were responsible for the continued flow of internal and external migration away from the region, which the lawsuit claims serves tTajikistan’s strategic goals.

In September 2023, the authorities blocked Kloop’s website and on February 9, 2024, a district court in Bishkek ruled in favor of the prosecution’s request to liquidate Kloop Media on grounds of its failure to list journalistic activities as part of the foundation’s charter. Kloop tried to appeal to the Bishkek city court, which said the filing deadline had expired. The Supreme Court supported that decision, effectively exhausting Kloop Media’s legal options.

Kloop Media is known for its independent reporting on national and regional affairs. It has also collaborated on anti-corruption investigations with the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Kyrgyz Service and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a global investigative journalism network.

The assault on Kloop is part of a broader pattern of media repression in Kyrgyzstan, the organizations said. In January 2024, police arrested 11 current and former journalists associated with Temirov Live, another investigative outlet, following raids on their homes. They faced criminal charges in retaliation for their reporting and are currently on trial. Four remain in pretrial detention.

In 2023, the authorities brought cases against Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Kyrgyz service, resulting in the freezing of its bank account and the blocking of its website. In addition, in January 2024, the office of the news agency 24.kg was closed for more than two months pending a spurious criminal investigation opened following a raid and the detention of media editors by the Kyrgyz national security agency.

Numerous other independent media outlets, journalists, and bloggers have also faced increasing pressure, including politically motivated criminal cases, arrests, and prosecution. The websites of various independent news sites have been arbitrarily blocked, creating a chilling effect on free expression throughout the country.

In addition, the undersigned organizations share grave concerns that the currently considered legal amendments, which include re-criminalizing defamation, could lead to a new wave of violations of the right to freedom of expression. Due to the widening media crackdown and increasing violations of civic freedoms, Kyrgyzstan is currently on the CIVICUS Monitor’s global watchlist, which highlights countries facing a serious decline in civic space.

Kyrgyzstan’s actions against independent media have significant international implications. As a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Kyrgyzstan has a particular obligation to uphold fundamental human rights and freedoms. However, the forced closure of Kloop and the harassment of other media outlets not only violate Kyrgyzstan’s own constitutional guarantees but also breach its international human rights obligations.

“The regression in media freedoms tarnishes Kyrgyzstan’s international reputation and raises questions about its commitment to the values UN Human Rights Council members are expected to uphold,” said Brigitte Dufour, director of International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR).

Kyrgyzstan’s international partners, including the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and bilateral allies, should exert diplomatic pressure on the Kyrgyz government to reverse its repressive course against independent media. In all their interactions they should insist that the authorities need to clearly demonstrate that Kyrgyzstan complies in practice with its international human rights commitments.

"The Kyrgyz authorities’ move to liquidate the acclaimed independent news organization Kloop Media is yet another sign that the government prefers to silence critics rather than address the issues they raise. This is an unacceptable attack on press freedom. Independent media like Kloop Media are the canary in the mine for civil and political rights; silencing them leaves no doubt about the deterioration of freedom. The Kyrgyz government must reverse its assault on Kloop Media and other critical voices," says John Stauffer, Acting Executive Director at Civil Rights Defenders.

“We urge the Kyrgyz government to halt its campaign of intimidation and legal persecution against journalists and media outlets, allowing Kloop and all other independent news sources to operate without interference or fear of reprisal,” said Marie Struthers, director of Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional Office. “The recent actions against Kloop Media, a beacon of investigative journalism in Kyrgyzstan, represent a grave threat to press freedom and human rights in the region.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Kyrgyz authorities to drop their threats against two independent online news outlets over reports about President Sadyr Japarov on the grounds they contain “false information.”

In a September 4 letter, Kyrgyzstan’s culture and information ministry threatened to block access to Novye Litsa in 24 hours unless it deleted an August 30 article connecting a Russian political strategist linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the deceased leader of the Russian mercenary company Wagner, to Japarov’s 2021 election campaign. The outlet complied with the order but defended the accuracy of the article.

The ministry also demanded that the Kyrgyz Service of the U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, known locally as Radio Azattyk, remove a radio report covering the Novye Litsa story or face a similar block.

“By issuing threats against Radio Azattyk and Novye Litsa over reports looking into President Sadyr Japarov’s alleged political strategists, Kyrgyz authorities have once again demonstrated that the ‘false information’ law is used for shielding the reputations of top state officials, not for countering disinformation,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Defamation allegations should be weighed against evidence— not the opaque whims of officials sitting in the halls of power. The false information law must be repealed.”

The ministry cited a 2021 law, which allows it to block websites it deems to contain “false information.”

In 2022, authorities blocked Radio Azattyk’s websites and in 2023 ordered the outlet to close, only reversing their decisions after the outlet had deleted a video about border clashes. This year, prosecutors shuttered and liquidated Kloop, a local partner of the global Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, after blocking its website which featured a series of corruption investigations.

Presidential press secretary Askat Alagozov said on Facebook that if Radio Azattyk’s reporting was found to “deliberately slander” Kyrgyzstan’s leadership, “the question of whether we need such an outlet may be put on the agenda.”

Since Japarov became president in 2021, Kyrgyz authorities have launched an unprecedented crackdown on independent reporting in a country previously seen as a regional beacon for the free press.

At least 11 journalists were injured and their equipment was damaged when police used physical force during last week's protests in Indonesia. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for a transparent and independent investigation to bring those responsible to justice.

At least 11 journalists were assaulted by members of the Indonesian Republic Police (Polri) as they covered widespread protests against amendments to a law governing elections in Jakarta, the capital, and the city of Bandung on 22 August. The police forced these journalists to delete their coverage of the demonstrations, while their equipment was damaged.

“Nothing justifies this police brutality against journalists, as well as the damage to their equipment. We call on Indonesian authorities to conduct transparent and independent investigations into these acts of violence and guarantee the protection of journalists in the course of their work.

Cédric Alviani RSF Asia-Pacific Bureau Director In Jakarta, two photojournalists from online media Makna Talks, known as Edo and Dory, were targeted with tear gas and beaten when reporting on the spot. Juan Robin and Achmad Wahib, reporters from Narasi TV, were pushed to the ground and their cameras were damaged by police officers. Anggita Raissa and Riyan Setiawan, from online media Deduktif, told RSF they also experienced similar encounters with the police. Angga Permana from online media konteks.co.id suffered a beating by security forces that resulted in a head injury.

In the city of Bandung, Alza Ahdira, a journalist from Pikiran-Rakyat.com, was reportedly beaten on her head and arms by five police officers after filming the police dispersing the protesters. Three other journalists from two media, IDN Times and Tempo, remain anonymous for safety reasons. One of them was beaten by police and later brought to a police station for interrogation. He was later released with numerous wounds.

Indonesia is ranked 111th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2024 World Press Freedom Index.

The Sri Lankan government continues to persecute the families of victims of enforced disappearance who seek to enforce their rights, Human Rights Watch said today. Security forces persistently harass families through surveillance, intimidation, false allegations, violence, and arbitrary arrests.

On August 29, 2024, a court in Trincomalee granted a request by police to ban relatives of the disappeared from holding a procession to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance on August 30.

“The relatives of the disappeared experience the daily torment of not knowing what happened to their family members, which state agencies have cruelly compounded by trying to silence them,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Hundreds of mothers, wives, and others have passed away without learning what happened to their loved ones, and many more express fear they might not live to see justice done.”

Sri Lanka has one of the world’s highest rates of enforced disappearance, including those who disappeared during the leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna insurgency (1987-89) and the civil war between the government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (1983-2009). Sri Lankan authorities have for decades refused to reveal the fate of the disappeared or to prosecute those responsible, leading the United Nations human rights office to call for international prosecutions.

In his August 22 annual report on Sri Lanka to the UN Human Rights Council, the UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, described “a persistent trend of surveillance, intimidation and harassment of journalists and civil society actors, especially those working on enforced disappearances … and reprisals against family members of the disappeared engaging with the UN or international actors, including members of the diplomatic community.”

The high commissioner also examined allegations of abduction, arbitrary detention, torture, and sexual violence by Sri Lankan security forces carried out as recently as January. The victims in these cases, whom they said were primarily men, had been involved in protests over issues such as enforced disappearances.

In May, Human Rights Watch met with relatives of disappeared people throughout north and east Sri Lanka, mostly the wives or mothers of victims. They described a pattern of ongoing abuses. Several are facing court proceedings after being arrested at protests, including three who had been hospitalized as a result of police violence against protesters.

One woman in the Eastern Province, campaigning to know the fate of her husband, who surrendered to the military in 2009, said she believes she is under regular surveillance by security agencies, including the police Criminal Investigation Department, Terrorism Investigation Division, Special Task Force, and the army. She said they offer to pay her neighbors for information about her, in tactics apparently designed to isolate her from her community.

“We can’t raise our voices, we have no freedom to move,” said a woman in the Northern Province, whose husband has not been seen since his arrest in 2008. “They [security agencies] threaten us, and even take action against our family members. We have no freedom to do anything.”

The women said that police officers habitually deliver stay orders – prohibiting them from attending memorialization events or protests – in the middle of the night when they are dressed in their nightclothes and take photographs. “If my gate is locked, police climb over the wall or cut the fence to deliver a stay order,” one said. Another showed a pile of eight stay orders, although she said she had received more. “If anything is happening in the Northern or Eastern Provinces I get a stay order,” she said.

Several mothers of the disappeared said the most frightening threats were directed at their other children. One said that when she attends protests the police tell her, “You have to look after your child who is still alive.” Another said that days after she was arrested at a protest in 2023, her son was arrested in an allegedly fabricated drugs case and sent for custodial “rehabilitation.” Criminal cases against both her and her son are ongoing.

In December, the authorities launched an abusive anti-narcotics campaign called “Yukthiya,” which the UN says had resulted in over 121,000 arrests five months later. Families of the disappeared said the authorities are increasingly using false drug cases to harass them. The mother of a disappeared man said that police – including anti-narcotics officers – began making inquiries about her surviving son in December, leading her to fear that they would plant drugs in her home. “I have already lost a son,” she said. “He is now the only one I have left. I sent him to India [for his safety].”

Relatives of the disappeared said they have little or no recourse to domestic avenues for redress. In 2017 the Sri Lankan government established the Office of Missing Persons (OMP), which is supposed to establish the whereabouts or fate of the disappeared but has resolved almost no cases. Relatives accused the OMP of pressuring them to agree to receive compensation payments that they fear will lead to their cases being closed without further investigation.

One relative said, “The OMP says ‘take this certificate, get Rupees 200,000 [US$665], don’t support this movement [for truth and justice].” Another, whose daughter disappeared in 2009, said, “When I went to the OMP I noticed that they were pressing many families like us. They said to the families, ‘we don’t want any documents, we just want the details of the [disappeared] person.’ Some people took compensation, and some refused.”

“Earlier we trusted the OMP but after they recruited certain commissioners, we lost our faith,” said the mother of a disappeared person from Mannar, in northwest Sri Lanka, referring to the appointment of former senior security forces officials to the body. She said she has refused offers of compensation because “I need to know what happened to my son.”

Many relatives of the disappeared are also skeptical of the current government’s proposal for a new domestic truth and reconciliation commission, following numerous similar bodies that have previously failed to deliver truth or accountability. “We don’t accept it. We don’t have faith in it,” one said. They emphasized the importance of international involvement, including in criminal investigations.

The UN Human Rights Council, concerned governments, and other UN bodies should implement the recommendations in the UN high commissioner’s report, including:

Investigating and prosecuting alleged perpetrators of international crimes committed in Sri Lanka under the principle of universal jurisdiction. Imposing targeted sanctions on alleged perpetrators. Carrying out enhanced vetting of Sri Lankan officials, including those involved in UN peacekeeping missions. Renewing the Human Rights Council’s mandate for UN monitoring, reporting, and work on accountability for human rights violations and related crimes in Sri Lanka. “Successive Sri Lankan governments have resisted any progress to address the terrible legacy of enforced disappearances, and instead compounded the anguish of victims’ families,” Ganguly said. “While the Sri Lankan government commits these abuses, the Human Rights Council and governments around the world need to stand with the families of the disappeared.”

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Nguyen Tuong Thuy‘s wife, Pham Thi Lan, visited him on August 21. She reported that her own health has been deteriorating, but she tried not to show it to him. Thuy himself is reportedly in stable condition. An official named Bien visited Thuy on August 13 and tried to convince him to plead guilty. Thuy said he just wanted to be retried properly according to the law so that he could argue his case against his accusers. Thuy maintained that his investigators violated Vietnamese laws and that the charges against him were not about him but someone else. He said that his case was based on totally fabricated evidence. Lan also revealed that at one point, she herself was prohibited from traveling outside the country, a clear violation of her freedom of movement, and for which she has filed a complaint. Thuong, a journalist and democracy activist, was sentenced in 2021 to 11 years in prison.

Nguyen Ngoc Anh, a fisheries engineer and activist, was released from Xuan Loc Prison on August 30, 2024, after serving a six-year sentence for charges related to his criticism of the Vietnamese government. Anh, 44, was convicted in 2019 for "making, storing, and disseminating information against the state" through social media posts and videos addressing issues such as marine pollution caused by Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation and territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea.

Upon his release, Anh was turned over to local authorities in Binh Dai District, Ben Tre Province, where he will begin a five-year probation period. Despite his imprisonment, Anh expressed pride in standing up for what he believed was right, though he noted his health had deteriorated during his incarceration.

Nguyen Ngoc Anh has been an outspoken critic of government policies since 2013, using Facebook to voice his concerns. His wife, Nguyen Thi Chau, also faced harassment from authorities for advocating for her husband's release and highlighting his mistreatment in prison. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) previously condemned Anh's imprisonment as "arbitrary" and in violation of international human rights conventions.

Cambodian authorities have arbitrarily arrested at least 94 people since late July 2024 for publicly criticizing the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area (CLV), Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today. At least 59 of those arrested, which include environmental, human rights and other activists, remain unlawfully detained and charged for peacefully expressing their views, including several children. The authorities should immediately drop all charges for which no internationally recognized charge is brought.

The CLV is a development plan among the governments of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam established in 2004 to facilitate cooperation on trade and migration. Concerns about the agreement resurfaced on social media in July particularly regarding land concessions and whether the CLV benefitted foreign interests above Cambodians. Many of those arrested have been charged with plotting and incitement merely for expressing their views on the CLV or organizing peaceful protests.

“The arbitrary restrictions on freedom of movement, peaceful assembly and freedom of expression are not justified under international law. The harassment of activists and their families is never acceptable. Alarmingly, the heavy-handed response by the Cambodian government has seen young people, including some children, unlawfully detained and charged with serious crimes against the State,” said Kate Schuetze, Deputy Regional Director for East South East Asia and the Pacific Regional Office at Amnesty International. “Cambodia’s partners should publicly and jointly call for this assault on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly to end.”

Background Following the first arrests of three activists in July, Telegram groups with thousands of members formed and began organizing public gatherings and peaceful marches to protest the agreement. Cambodians also held demonstrations in early August in South Korea, Japan, and Australia about the CLV.

As public criticism grew, Cambodian authorities tightened security measures and travel restrictions. Local human rights groups alleged that government officials across the country were putting land rights and civil society activists under surveillance, including ordering several not to travel outside of their communities and threatening their family members. The authorities also have imposed roadblocks on highways entering Phnom Penh and have been arbitrarily searching vans and taxis entering the capital.

Former prime minister and current Senate president Hun Sen’s official Telegram channel has aired videos of school children across Cambodia chanting in unison their support for the development agreement.

Senior officials have endorsed the crackdown through various public statements.

Hun Sen publicly called for the aforementioned arrest and sentencing of three activists in July who criticized the agreement on a broadcast on Facebook. He also threatened critics of the CLV in Cambodia as well as the families of opposition activists who live abroad with surveillance tactics that violate the right to privacy and the right to family life, stating that, “I urge the [Cambodian] government to search and find out all the groups that created this problem and live in the country. And compile all the cases of individuals outside the country, and study their family history, where their family are, if they are outside the country.”

The National Police stated on August 11 that “We are committed to making sacrifices in order to safeguard the legitimate Royal Government and implement stringent measures to prevent and suppress treacherous acts without exception, at all costs.” On August 16, the Cambodian gendarmerie leader, Sao Sokha, also released a video of a speech to his subordinates ordering them to be ready to face protesters armed with guns and to shoot if necessary.

The National Defense Ministry spokesperson, Chhum Socheat, told CamboJA News on August 12 that the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) supports the CLV and in a post on Facebook, the RCAF High Command stated that it “… will suppress and destroy all incited tactics that destroy the nation and peace, and other attempts to sabotage and overthrow the legitimate Royal Government in any form.”. Government officials from the national and provincial level, including from the armed forces, have issued a petition supporting the CLV.

Hun Sen continued to make public threats against CLV critics in an August 12 speech, including against Hay Vanna, an opposition activist living in Japan: “[Y]ou all tried to incite others. … [W]e have heard what Hay Vanna said outside of the country. … You need to think about it carefully. If you make mistakes, you might be in danger. … You need to think about this carefully before you travel to join the protest.”

On August 16, Cambodian authorities arrested Hay Vannith, Vanna’s brother, a Health Ministry civil servant and did not provide information about his whereabouts until August 20, raising concerns that he had been forcibly disappeared. His family only learned he was in custody after an audio recording of a “confession” by Vannith to overthrow the government was posted on August 21 on the Cambodia government spokesperson Facebook page.

The government-aligned media outlet Fresh News broadcast on August 19 a “confession” from Lach Tina, a youth activist, accusing fellow activists protesting the CLV of organizing a plot against the government.

These supposed “confessions” by detainees and claims of plots against the government heighten concerns for their safety and others in custody, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said.

Of the 94 people arrested, at least 59 have been charged and remain under arrest or in pretrial detention. Cambodian authorities have charged at least 21 people with incitement to commit a felony, a charge often spuriously brought against human rights activists. In 2021, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia expressed concern about the improper use of incitement charges. Incitement carries a penalty of up to two years in prison, while “plotting” carries a punishment of up to 10 years.

At least 33 people face charges of plotting against the state, including four young adult members from the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association. This charge was recently brought against members of the environmental group Mother Nature, after which the UN Human Rights Office spokesperson, Thameen Al-Kheetan, “call[ed] on Cambodia to hold broad-based public consultations to amend relevant articles of the Cambodian Criminal Code to bring them into conformity with international human rights law.” At least four children have also been charged with plotting, punishable by up to five years in prison, rather than 10, because they are children.

All four children charged remain in pretrial detention. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Cambodia ratified in 1992, states that the arrest and detention of a child should be used only as a last resort and for the shortest period of time. The convention also upholds the rights of children to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

“The mass arrests of CLV Development Triangle Area activists are a deliberate, coordinated effort by Cambodian authorities to intimidate critics and prevent them from demonstrating in Phnom Penh or sharing their views on social media,” said Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “These wrongful detentions and charges show Prime Minister Hun Manet’s disrespect for the rights of Cambodians and the country’s international human rights obligations.”

Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan, previously imprisoned for four years for her independent reporting on the Covid 19 outbreak, is missing again and was reportedly recently taken to a detention facility in Shanghai for unclear reasons. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is alarmed by this development, and urges immediate mobilisation of the international diplomatic community to ensure her safety. She must be released and granted full freedom without delay.

On 1 September, independent Chinese news website Weiquanwang revealed that journalist and former lawyer Zhang Zhan is being held in Pudong Detention Center in Shanghai. The journalist was apprehended by police while she was travelling to her hometown in the Shaanxi province in northwest China on 28 August. Since that time she has not answered her phone or updated her social media accounts where she had recently resumed posting.

No official reason has been given for her detention, but in the weeks prior to this incident, Zhang Zhan had been sharing news about the harassment of other activists in China on social media. She had also travelled to the northwestern province of Gansu to persuade the mother of a recently arrested activist to sign a power of attorney.

Zhang Zhan was initially arrested in May 2020, while covering the early stages of the Covid 19 outbreak in Wuhan, in central-eastern China. She had posted more than 100 videos on social media before her arrest on 14 May 2020, and seven months later was sentenced to four years in prison by a Shanghai court on the charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.”

Throughout her imprisonment, RSF campaigned for her release and warned about the ill treatment she was subjected to in prison. During her early months of detention, Zhang Zhan nearly died after going on a total hunger strike to protest her situation. Prison officials forcibly fed her through a nasal tube and sometimes left her handcuffed for days.

China, the world’s biggest prison for journalists and press freedom defenders with at least 120 currently behind bars, is ranked 172nd out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2024 World Press Freedom Index.

About the Human Rights Defenders: Mr. Rameshchandra Singh @ RC Mangangcha, is a reporter of IMPACT-TV Channel Background: Since May 2023, ethnic violence between two communities Meitei and Kuki-Zo has been taking place in the state of Manipur leading to loss of many innocent citizens’ lives and injuries, arson, assault and other heinous crimes. The said communal clash is continuing 16 months after its beginning. The journalists, who cover the news of the conflict have been doing so at great personal risk to their lives. Details of the Incident: On August 01, 2024, about 100 inmates/internal displaced persons (IDPs) staying at the Relief Camp opened inside the campus of Ideal Girls’ College, Akampat, Imphal East District held a protest rally in Imphal against the Government demanding to return to their respective homes and seeking the resettlement and rehabilitation in their native places. The said inmates were mainly from Myanmar border town Moreh and the rally was organised by the Protection of Meitei Victims, Moreh. The Manipur Police fired tear gas at the protestors marching towards Manipur Legislative Assembly. Admit the tension, some persons among the IDPs turned aggressive and pelted stones at the police forcing the latter to unleash tear gas shells to control the situation and herd back the protestors. With the confrontation taking place close to a girls school namely Ideal Girls’ School, Akampat, many students lost consciousness and were stricken with fear due to harsh action of the police as well as inhalation of tear gas and mock bomb fumes and had to be taken to hospital for further treatment. Mr. Rameshchandra Singh @ RC Mangangcha, a reporter of IMPACT-TV Channel was assigned for coverage of the said incident. The Police personnel fired mock bomb and tear gas shells to the rally of IDPs to disperse them when he reached at the spot near Singjamei Bridge at about 11.30 am. Then, one police personnel asked him whether he was from the press when they saw him covering the incident by using his mobile phone camera. Then Mr. Rameshchandra Singh replied that he is a journalist and thereby showed his identity card. However, one Police Officer/Sub-Inspector Sub Inspector Sh. Nikhil Singh rushed him and broken his mobile by throwing it on the road and started mercilessly assaulted the reporter with tear gas gun without hearing his repeated request/clarification. Mr. Rameshchandra Singh was brought to the Raj Medicity, a private hospital for treatment.

About the Human Rights Defenders: Progressive Student Forum (PSF) is a student organisation based in Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), it was established in 2016, build democratic and secular spaces that would enable critical engagement with the emerging socio-economic and political environment. The student body organised sessions, discussion and dialogues on various issue and different events such as talks, seminars, films, screenings, informal discussions between students. PSF intervene in various issues and concerns of students of TISS. Background: PSF organised a protest in solidarity against the suspension of PhD Scholar KS Ramdas over alleged ‘misconduct and anti-national activities’ at the Institute and they condemned dismissal of TISS faculty in July 2024. Details of the Incident: On August 19, 2024, the registrar of TISS administration issued a notice to ban PSF, calling the forum unauthorized and illegal forum. The notice claimed that the “PSF has been engaging in activities that obstruct the institute functions, defame the institute, demean members of our community, and create divisions among students and faculty.” The notice further states that “group is misleading, distracting and misguiding students from their academic pursuit and harmonious life in the campus”. The Notice imposed immediate ban on PSF for all institute premises and activities and ordered that “any student or faculty member found supporting, associating with or propagating the group’s divisive ideologies will be subject to disciplinary action”.

About the Human Rights Defender: Imran Ali alias Raju Warsi is an established human rights worker and the district Coordinator of INSAF Manch Vaishali Bihar. Background of the incident: Muharram is one of the main festivals of Muslims. Even Hindus in large number participate in the festivity. But anti-social religious hate mongers try to gain political benefits by spreading communal disharmony in the society. Details of the Incident: On July 17, 2024 at around 8:00 in the night a Muharram procession was passing through Mahua Bazar, Gandhi Chowk, District Vaishali, Bihar. Some miscreants started abusive slogan against Prophet Mohammad and Allah. To avoid any clash people in the procession caught them and handed them over to police on duty at the spot. However, the Police let them go after some time. The hooligans again gathered at Government Block office gate and started shouting. Mr. Imran Ali tried to reach there in order to understand the reason for the commotion. All of a sudden, the hooligans attacked HRD Imran Ali and started beating him. He was beaten up so badly that he got unconscious. The attackers left him there thinking him dead. Mr. Imran Ali was taken to the Sub division Government hospital. Seeing his serious condition of the HRD doctors referred him to District Hospital and he was taken to Hazipur District Hospital Bihar. Next day seeing that he is not getting proper care HRD’s family members admitted him in a private nursing home where he remained admitted till July 22,2024 A complaint regarding the incident was made to police on July 19, 2024 at the Mahua police station. The police filed an FIR on July, 20, 2024. After filing FIR perpetrators started calling HRD and threatening him to withdraw the police complaint. However HRD Imran Ali didn’t withdraw his complaint. On July 23 2024, the police filed a FIR against HRD Imran Ali under sections 126(2), 191(2),127(2),115(2),118(1),303(2),352,351,74,76 of BNS 2023 and 3(1)(s), 3(1)(w), 3(1)(r) of Prevention of Atrocities Against SC/ST Act.

Myanmar authorities should immediately release journalists Aung San Oo and Myo Myint Oo, who were sentenced to 20 years and life in prison respectively, and stop using terrorism charges to harass the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.

A military court inside Myeik Prison sentenced the Dawei Watch journalists Aung San Oo on February 16 and Myo Myint Oo on May 15, the chief editor of the local independent outlet told CPJ, requesting anonymity due to fear of reprisals. The reporters were arrested in the coastal town of Myeik in December, three days after returning home from hiding.

“Dawei Watch journalists Aung San Oo and Myo Myint Oo’s lengthy sentences on terrorism-related charges are senselessly harsh and must be reversed,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “These types of extreme court rulings aim to instill fear among all reporters and will have a chilling effect across Myanmar’s independent media.”

The sentences, to be served at Myeik Prison, were not made public until recently, the editor said.

Authorities beat Aung San Oo and Myo Myint Oo during interrogations at a detention center and denied them legal counsel, according to a Dawei Watch statement.

Four other Dawei Watch staff have been arrested since the military seized power in 2021, including reporter Aung Lwin who was sentenced in 2022 to five years in prison on terrorism charges.

Myanmar’s Ministry of Information did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment. Myanmar was the world’s second-worst jailer of journalists, with 43 behind bars in CPJ’s 2023 prison census.

The Appeal Court has sentenced a protester to two years in prison for royal defamation over wearing Thai traditional dress at a mock fashion show during a protest in 2020. She was later granted bail after being detained for 2 days.

On Monday (19 August), the Appeal Court upheld the initial ruling to sentence protester Jatuporn Sae-ung without parole for royal defamation.

Jatuporn was charged with royal defamation, violating the Public Assembly Act, the Emergency Decree, and the Communicable Diseases Act, and using a sound amplifier without permission. She was accused of insulting the Queen by wearing a Thai traditional dress to participate in the “Ratsadorn Catwalk” fashion show, a gesture seen as mockery of the royal family, staged at a 29 October 2020 protest.

The complaint against her was filed by Waritsanun Sribawornthanakit, the owner of a pro-establishment Facebook page who also filed a complaint against Noppasin Treelayapewat, a 17-year-old protester, who wore a black crop top to the same event with the message “My father’s name is Mana, not Vajiralongkorn” written on his back.

The ”Ratsadorn Catwalk” took place after it was reported that the Ministry of Commerce received a 13-million baht budget for the overseas exhibition of new products by the Sirivannavari brand, a fashion label owned by the King’s daughter, Princess Sirivannavari.

The 29 October 2020 protest took place on the same day that Sirivannavari’s new collection was being launched at the nearby Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

The indictment accused Jatuporn of imitating the Queen’s demeanour by walking on a red carpet while a woman bowed at her feet. Jatuporn stopped walking and extended her hands for the protesters to grab. At the same time, an unidentified person shouted out “the Queen” as the royal anthem was played. The protesters also shouted “Long Live the Queen,” making it appear as if Jatuporn was posing as the Queen.

The South Bangkok Criminal Court on 12 September 2022 found Jatuporn guilty of royal defamation and violation of the Public Assembly Act, sentencing her to three years in prison and a fine of 1,500 baht. As a result of her ‘helpful’ testimony, it reduced her sentence to two years in prison and a fine of 1,000 baht. On 14 September 2022, she was allowed bail with 200,000 baht as security.

The Appeal Court today ruled to uphold the verdict, sentencing Jatuporn to two years in prison without parole over royal defamation and a 1,000 baht fine for violating the Public Assembly Act. Her lawyer requested bail. The request has been forwarded to the Supreme Court. As this takes approximately 2-3 days, Jatuporn is being held at the Central Women’s Correctional Institution.

Update: Jatuporn was granted bail on 21 August.

Peasant communities in San Jose Del Monte (SJDM), Bulacan are marred with continued military operations, intensifying for more than two months and affecting around 400 rural families.

Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) reported that the military enforced psywar and crackdown on civilians when the 80th Infantry Battalion (IB) raided the home of its Secretary-General Ronnie Manalo on June 18, 7am and planted incriminating evidence.

Manalo was part of a team of farmers and peasant advocates in 2022 who were fired upon and harassed by private goons hired by Araneta Properties Inc. in Sitio Ricafort, Tungkong Mangga, SJDM, Bulacan.

Araneta Properties is headed by Gregorio Maria Araneta III, husband of Irene Marcos-Araneta, sister of Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.

On the same day, soldiers also went to the house of 63-year-old Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Bulacan (AMB) Chairperson Cecilia Rapiz in Barangay Paradise 3, SJDM, Bulacan. The soldiers were asking for her whereabouts. Both Manalo and Rapiz are reportedly victims of red-tagging, threat, harassment, and intimidation by state forces.

Aside from these military operations, KMP reported that soldiers set up camp in Paradise 3 on June 21 and held a terror-tagging seminar with barangay officials on June 24. Military presence continued in the whole month of July, “establishing an atmosphere of fear and restlessness among residents, especially the elderly and children.”

By August 13, it is reported that four barangays are under military encirclement by the 80th IB. “The soldiers have undertaken a psywar campaign for fake surrenders. They utilise intimidation, threats, and coercion in house-to-house interrogations and summons, explicitly red-tagging KMP and the mere act of participating in protests,” KMP said in a statement.

Ongoing psywar campaign

In an interview with Bulatlat, Ida, not her real name, detailed the fear she experienced from the military visits in her residence. “The military visited me three times, aggressively asking me questions on my participation in rallies, and even meetings in our organization.”

Ida is a member of Samahan at Sandigan ng mga Magsasaka ng San Isidro (SASAMAG), a local chapter of KMP in Bulacan. Many of her fellow members were also subjected to the same house-to-house visits by the 80th IB starting August 12.

“I am afraid to go to the farm alone. Even my daily household activities were being disrupted due to the military visits,” Ida added.

In the house-to-house visits, the residents were asked about their personal information, and even their extended family’s. They were then asked whether they still participated in rallies or coordinated with members of KMP and other progressive groups. Afterwards, they would be asked to write a document, stating that they will no longer participate in rallies, leaving residents with no choice but to sign it.

Some residents were even asked for their IDs. The military also reportedly took photos of the residents. When asked about the purpose, the military reportedly said that it is a supplementing attachment for the documents they gathered.

“We have no choice but to comply. Of course, we do not want to get on the bad side of the military, since they were encamped in our area. We fear what would happen next, especially with our signatures, pictures, and even copies of our ID,” Ida said.This military action is a precursor to the fake surrender campaigns of the government. Bulatlat has reported similar incidents in rural communities in Southern Tagalog Region, Bicol Region, and some parts of Central Luzon (e.g. Aurora, Bulacan).

This incident involving Ida is not isolated. Residents in her community confirmed that similar patterns of questioning have occurred repeatedly, particularly those members of SASAMAG. They also reported that during these house-to-house visits, the soldiers were dressed in civilian clothing. Residents have daily interactions with the soldiers, as they are heavily deployed in civilian areas.

The affected farmer organizations in SJDM are the primary source of products and direct sellers in the Bagsakan, a mobile direct farmers’ market for Bungkalan products.

Violations of human rights

Butch Lozande, spokesperson of Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) and a delegate in the fact-finding mission, said that forbidding the residents to assert their rights through rallies and organizational affiliation is a violation of their human rights.

“Under our constitution, our laws, there is nothing wrong with what we are doing. It is our right to join organizations who put forward our interest and welfare. We should not fear them,” Lozande said in a solidarity message with the residents.

He also added that this is not only happening in Bulacan, but also in other peasant communities around the country.

Freedom of speech, expression, and association are among the constitutionally-guaranteed rights in the Philippines, particularly Section 4 and 8 of the 1987 Constitution.

KMP also stressed these in a statement. “They should immediately leave the farmers alone and let them resume their farming activities. KMP and its local chapters are legal and legitimate organizations promoting peasants’ rights. These include not only the right to speak, organize, assemble, and due process, but also the right to land, livelihood, and social services.”

They also added that the military operations have maligned and disrupted the activities of the local farmers’ organizations since they were coercing the residents to “clear” their names and surrender themselves as “terrorists” or “sympathizers.”

Solidarity and fact-finding mission

Bulatlat joined the fact-finding mission organized by KMP on August 20. In the site of the communities, this writer observed and verified the presence of military encampments within the vicinity. Notably, a makeshift camp was also established adjacent to the barangay hall.

Labor leader Jerome Adonis said that the military encampment is a human rights violation. “The military can conduct activities in civilian communities, but military encampment is a separate issue. It’s a human rights violation,” Adonis said in a courtesy call with the barangay official.

The presence of a military encampment in a civilian area can expose residents to potential violence, conflicts, or retaliatory attacks, putting their lives at risk. In the Philippines, Bulatlat reported the environment of fear brought by militarization, leading to significant disruption of daily life and undermining the safety and security that civilians are entitled to under International Humanitarian Law (IHL).

The fact-finding team was accompanied by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Region 3. CHR said that their investigation is separate from the KMP’s. The team also conducted a courtesy call on the SJDM Mayor’s chief of staff, Juan Miguel Perez-San Pedro and Barangay Captain Alexander D.S. Medina.

While the local government officials said that they cannot do anything since the lands are privately owned by the Aranetas, they keep their lines open for assistance and deployed a barangay staff to join the fact-finding mission to “neutralize the possible hostile situation” in the community.

The delegates were not able to go to the area of Ricafort since the Aranetas’ private security did not let the team pass. The mission continued in the nearby community within Sitio San Isidro where the interviews were conducted. The area was still part of the disputed lands of the farmers against the Aranetas but unlike Ricafort, it is not heavily guarded by private security.

The principle of distinction is a fundamental tenet of IHL which requires parties to distinguish between combatants and civilians— under Articles 48, 51, 52, and 53 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions.

Military encampments and terrorist-tagging in the civilian areas blur the line between civilian and military objectives, increasing the risk of harm and unwarranted attacks among the residents, leading to violation of the IHL.

Cavite-based human rights group reported the continued harassment of state agents against student activist Paolo Tarra.

On August 4, agents from the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) visited Tarra’s family in Trece Martires City, Cavite threatening him with charges under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.

The visit marks the latest in a series of harassment against Tarra, who has been under surveillance since February this year.Defend Cavite, a local rights group, reported the agents accused Tarra of involvement with “leftist groups”. The accusation stems from his participation in humanitarian missions and his attendance in the recent State of the Nation Address as a guest of Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raoul Manuel.

Tarra decried the baseless accusations made by the NTF-ELCAC, but emphasized that his primary frustration comes from the persistent harassment directed at his elderly parents, saying that the “state’s terrorism knows no bounds.”

According to Tarra, the agents explicitly warned his family that failure to cooperate could lead to filing of Anti-Terrorism Act case against him.

“They did not just threaten me with legal action,” Tarra told Bulatlat, “they also implied they might resort to illegal measures, including abduction, to get what they want.”

Defend Cavite condemned these actions, describing them as an attempt to intimidate and criminalize activism, pointing out that this is not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of harassment against activists and rights defenders in the region.

Since last year, youth activists from Southern Tagalog were similarly targeted with trumped-up terror charges.

The group called for an urgent investigation into the harassment against Tarra, noting that his case bears similarities to other incidents in the province, such as the killing of labor leader Emmanuel “Ka Manny” Asuncion in 2021 after he faced similar harassment from state forces.

“These threats are not just about Paolo Tarra,” Defend Cavite stated. “They reflect a broader strategy to silence dissent and stifle any voices that challenge the status quo. This is a tactic of fear and repression that targets anyone who dares to stand up for human rights and social justice.”

The group is also appealing to lawmakers to review the Anti-Terrorism Act, which they argue is being weaponized to suppress political opposition and activism.

“We must remain vigilant because an attack on one of us is an attack on all,” said Tarra.

The Court of Appeals (CA) has denied the application for protective writs of red-tagged environmental activists Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano, leading a dissenting justice to say it was “uncharacteristic for.. this Court to simply fold their arms and ignore the palpable threats.”

The CA former special 8th division ruled by split decision to deny the petition for the writs of amparo and habeas data to Castro and Tamano, the two young activists who declared in a military-organized press conference that it was the army which abducted them. The court ruled that the activists “failed to sufficiently identify that the perpetrators of their abduction are, in fact, affiliated with the Philippine military or any of the government agencies.”

The privileges of the writ of amparo, if it had been granted, would have acted like a restraining order against members of the 70th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, and the privileges of the writ of habeas data would have prevented members of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) from red-tagging the two.

But justices of the CA division won the vote to deny the privileges. This is after conducting hearings as ordered by the Supreme Court which already granted the activists temporary protection order in October 2023, which is rarely extended to activists these days. By procedure, it’s the CA that should conduct a full hearing to decide whether the full protection will be granted, which was denied in this case.

Castro and Tamano were abducted in Bataan on September 2, 2023. The military claims the pair voluntarily surrendered as “rebel returnees” on September 12, 2023, and were presented in a press conference on September 15, 2023.

“The records are bereft of any proof linking the actual abductors to any agency of the government,” said the decision dated August 2, 2024, and penned by Associate Justice Lorenza Bordios, with full concurrences from Associate Justices Fernanda Lampas Peralta and Jaime Fortunato Caringal. Associate Justice Rex Bernardo Pascual concurred and dissented.

The full dissenter was Associate Justice Emily San Gaspar-Gito who said, “It would be uncharacteristic for the courts, especially this Court, to simply fold their arms and ignore the palpable threats to petitioners’ life, liberty and security and just wait for the irreversible to happen to them.”

The decision and dissent The writs of amparo and habeas data are extraordinary protective writs which were innovations of the Philippine judiciary in response to the problems of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. It had been constantly criticized for lacking teeth in actually protecting harassed and surveilled human rights defenders. For example, activist Zara Alvarez lost her writs case at the Court of Appeals, which she elevated to the Supreme Court. But she was killed by gunmen in her hometown in 2020 before the High Court could act.

The CA division for this case said that Castro and Tamano failed to prove that they were subjected “to any form of threat to their life, liberty, or security during the latter’s stay at the military camp of the 70th Infantry Battalion,” or from September 12 to 15, 2023. The CA also said the two “miserably failed to prove the existence of an imminent or continuing threat” since being released on September 15, 2023.

Castro and Tamano have continued their activism work, mostly protesting against reclamation. They claim that the red-tagging, or labeling them as armed communist rebels, had continued.

Dissenting justice San Gaspar-Gito pointed out the Supreme Court’s landmark decision, made public in May 2024, that declared for the first time that red-tagging is a threat to life, liberty and security. That decision was also an amparo grant.

“The danger of further harm against petitioners is real, considering that they have recently been victims of enforced disappearance, which is the subject of the instant Petition,” said the justice’s dissenting opinion.

The dissenting justice questioned why the military could not account for the days that the activists were missing, or from their abduction on September 2 to their supposed surrender on September 12.

The army claimed that informants and operatives named “Bea” and “Bert” accompanied Castro and Tamano to their headquarters after the surrender. But Bea and Bert were not presented as witnesses.  “Despite the vast machinery and resources of the State, witnesses for the respondents could muster only vague and tentative answers,” said Justice San Gaspar-Gito.

For the majority justices, it’s Castro and Tamano who should prove their accusations against the army, and that they “cannot be permitted to fumble in the dark, hoping to find the light switch.”

But for the dissenting justice, the State should have done due diligence in investigating what happened to Castro and Tamano from September 2 to September 12. The local police identified the registered owner of the vehicle that was used in the two’s abduction, but “neither tracing nor probing was done” by the police or the military, said Justice San Gaspar-Gito.

In an earlier case of abduction of two activists from Cebu, the independent Commission on Human Rights (CHR) traced a vehicle, and a person, involved in the abduction to the army’s intelligence service. There is no known update to that investigation, as the Philippine military pivoted to external security, mostly over a territorial dispute with China.

The majority justices said that “assuming that public officials…failed to exercise extraordinary diligence, the same does not justify the granting of the privilege of the writ of amparo and habeas data.”

Next actions The NTF-ELCAC held a press conference on Monday, August 12, to hail the decision as a win “against a foregone ideology.” Castro and Tamano had already been indicted for slander or grave oral defamation for their accusations against the military. The NTF-ELCAC’s original perjury complaint was dismissed.

But asked on Monday whether a case will be filed against Castro and Tamano after the CA decision, the NTF-ELCAC’s lawyer, Assistant Solicitor General Angelita Miranda said: “At this point in time I don’t want to say whatever legal actions we will do, but surely we will.”

“The future actions will be revealed in due time…We’re going to resort to all legal means,” said Miranda.

Dino De Leon, lawyer of Castro and Tamano said: “We believe that the Honorable Court of Appeals committed reversible errors. We will file the appropriate remedy.”

“If the respondents will not be held accountable and responsible to the petitioners’ abduction, state impunity is exacerbated necessarily signaling to society that perpetrators can evade accountability and justice. Addressing these heinous acts is not merely a matter of legal obligation but a moral imperative,” said Castro and Tamano in a manifestation submitted to the CA after their hearings were conducted.

A peasant and women’s rights advocate was arrested and subjected to “mental and psychological torture” while under detention, August 2, according to human rights groups.

Fatima Banjawan, 19, is a member of women’s rights organization Gabriela Southern Tagalog. She was investigating the conditions of peasant communities in Barangay Bulala, Santa Elena, Camarines Norte province when she was arrested by joint elements of the 85th Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army and agents from the Municipal Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

A now-deleted Facebook post by the 85th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army described the arrest as against a member of the revolutionary New People’s Army.

Human rights groups have condemned the arrest. Tanggol Camarines Norte described Banjawan’s arrest as “illegal” and “marred by left-and-right human rights violations.”

“Banjawan, like other activists like her, is a victim of the constant filing of trumped up charges and state suppression,” the group said in its statement. “The 85th IBPA is especially notorious for its fascist attacks against the people of Quezon province.”

Tanggol Camarines Norte pointed out that the circumstances of Banjawan’s arrest include incidents of “mental torture” and “psychological warfare.” Karapatan Southern Tagalog noted that Camarines Norte is outside the 85th IBPA’s area of operations, but said that “their institutional failure knows no boundaries.”

Banjawan’s testimony paints a harrowing tale. According to her, she was first brought to the 85th IBPA’s camp in Sta. Elena where she was interrogated until the evening by approximately ten people. The soldiers repeatedly insisted that Banjawan was a certain “Ka Aley” and asked her to surrender.

At one point, a soldier closed the lights and blindfolded Banjawan. She was then told to “dig her own grave if she refused to admit that she was a member of the NPA.” Banjawan insisted that she should not be detained in a camp and that she had nothing to admit to.

The interrogation continued into the next day. At around 6 p.m., August 3, Banjawan was asked to board a pickup truck with four soldiers and she was blindfolded again. When her blindfold was removed, she saw a caliber 22 gun, blasting cap and detonating wire, which were later used as evidence against her. She was then brought to the Santa Elena Municipal Police Station where she was interrogated once again.

Banjawan repeatedly requested the police to let her contact her family, but was always denied. She would finally undergo inquest proceedings on August 5 where she was charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

The circumstances of Banjawan’s arrest violate provisions in Republic Act 9745, or the Anti-Torture Act of 2009, which include “blindfolding”, “prolonged interrogation”, “denial of sleep/rest”, and “deliberately prohibiting the victim to communicate with any member of his/her family” as acts of mental or psychological torture; all of which were experienced by Banjawan during her detention.

Garbiela Southern Tagalog has condemned Banjawan’s arrest and has called it the latest in a series of attacks against women. The group cited similarities between Banjawan’s arrest and other incidents, including against peasant advocate Alexa Pacalda in 2019, paralegal Nimfa Lanzanas and peasant organizer Dana Marcellana, both in 2021, and organizers Rowena Dasig and Miguela Peniero last year involve the “planting of evidence, insistence of links to the NPA, and the deprival of basic rights.”

“These tactics, especially by the 85th IBPA, against activists defending the rights of women and peasants, run counter to their goal of ensuring peace in the country,” the group said in a statement. “Can [the military] be truly considered agents of peace if they suppress, abuse, and forcibly silence people like Fatima?”

Human rights advocates and other progressive organizations are calling for Banjawan’s immediate release.

Environmental defender Rowena Dasig has gone missing after a court dismissed the trumped-up charges against her.

On August 13, the Gumaca Regional Trial Court Branch 172 granted Dasig’s petition for demurrer to evidence, effectively dismissing the charges due to lack of evidence. This legal victory, however, ‘has been marred by the mysterious circumstances surrounding her release’.

Dasig, who was reportedly freed from the Lucena City District Jail (LCDJ) on August 22, has not been seen or heard from since her supposed release, leaving her family, legal team, and human rights advocates concerned for her safety.

Dasig was arrested alongside community health worker Miguela Peniero on July 12, 2023, by elements of the 85th Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army (IBPA).

The two were detained on trumped up charges of illegal possession of firearms, ammunition, and of explosives while conducting a field study on the environmental and community impacts of Atimonan One Energy, Inc.’s (A1E) proposed combined cycle gas turbine power plant and liquefied natural gas terminal in Atimonan, Quezon.

The charges were condemned by human rights groups as baseless, aimed at silencing environmental defenders.

Karapatan Southern Tagalog assailed the LCDJ for its role in what they described as a “state sabotage” of Dasig’s release.

The human rights group recounted how their humanitarian team, along with the Free Owen & Ella Network, had been coordinating with LCDJ since August 21 to process Dasig’s release papers. Despite their efforts, they were met with what they called as “delaying tactics” from jail officials. The group said they were given the runaround by various offices without providing clear information.

“On the morning of August 22, the team was shocked to learn that Dasig had reportedly been released without any notification to her legal counsel or the humanitarian team,” said Paul Tagle, paralegal from Karapatan Southern Tagalog.

According to LCDJ paralegal Almira Alfuerta, Dasig was allegedly picked up by her family—a claim immediately refuted by her relatives, who confirmed they had no knowledge of her whereabouts.

Karapatan Southern Tagalog held the LCDJ, particularly warden Elaine Toledo, accountable for Dasig’s disappearance, stating that “the fascist state is not satisfied with the baseless detention of Dasig, because currently her family, lawyers, and Karapatan Southern Tagalog humanitarian team still have no information on her condition.”

The group also condemned the jail’s inhumane treatment of Dasig’s legal counsel and paralegals, accusing the state of deliberately obstructing her peaceful release.

“Karapatan Southern Tagalog strongly condemns the LCDJ’s sabotage of Owen’s supposed peaceful release due to its harassment on his legal counsels and paralegal team authorized to handle his case,” they stated.

The disappearance of Dasig has heightened fears for her safety, especially given the long history of human rights abuses against political prisoners in the Philippines.

“There are serious concerns for her safety, given the long history of state elements’ human rights abuses, including those against political prisoners.,” the group emphasized.

During her more than a year in detention, Dasig endured harassment and isolation, with her paralegals deprived from visiting and herself denied participation in activities with other persons deprived of liberty (PDLs).

Rights groups urged the public to condemn the state’s actions and demand the immediate surfacing of Rowena Dasig.

“Together, we will call to immediately surface Dasig” the group declared, rallying the public to stand against the systemic repression of environmental defenders.

KARAPATAN denounces the X-rating classification given by the Movie, Television Ratings and Classification Board (MTRCB), during its first review, to award-winning documentary film “Alipato at Muog” by Jose Luis “JL” Burgos about the abduction and disappearance of his brother, activist Jonas Burgos in April 2007.

The X-rating, which prohibits the film’s viewing in commercial theaters nationwide is but the latest attempt by the Philippine government to evade State accountability for Jonas Burgos’ abduction and disappearance. In an earlier statement, National Security Council spokesperson Jonathan Malaya had discredited the film, saying it was an attempt to revive an “old case.”

This is not the first form of persecution that JL Burgos has had to endure. Film makers, including Burgos, were viciously red-tagged and dragged into the so-called Red October destabilization scheme concocted by then NTF-ELCAC spokesperson Antonio Parlade because of a documentary he had made about the opposition press under Marcos Sr.’s martial law regime.

The so-called Red October plot was an effort by Parlade and his ilk to vilify in one fell swoop practically every person who has expressed opinions contrary to the State’s repressive policies. JL Burgos, in fact, met with United Nations Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression Irene Khan this year to recount his ordeal.

Obviously, in the case of “Alipato at Muog,” the powers that be are again desperate to prevent public viewing of a film that tells the truth about the crime of enforced disappearance with such depth, and goes beyond Jonas Burgos’ abduction but that of many other activists as well. Military officials have been named in the documentary, including current National Security Adviser Eduardo Año, as among those who are accountable for the disappearance of Jonas Burgos.

This latest example of State censorship is a blatant affront to freedom of expression under the Marcos Jr. regime.

KARAPATAN stands solidly behind film maker JL Burgos and the Burgos family in the fight to have the X-rating on “Alipato at Muog” lifted. It is in firm solidarity with all cultural workers in their struggle against all manner and form of censorship and violation of freedom of expression.

Karapatan condemns the violent dispersal of a rally held by delegates to the 57th General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC) held on August 16, 2024 a few meters outside the University of the Philippines (UP) campus in Tacloban City.

The students demanded academic freedom, a stop to the militarization of UP Tacloban, and the release of political prisoners Frenchie Mae Cumpio, Alexander Abinguna and Marielle Domequil, all of them activists and alumni of UP Tacloban who were arrested in a crackdown in 2020. Cumpio was a community journalist, Abinguna a National Council member of Karapatan representing Eastern Visayas and Domequil a development worker with the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines.

The delegates were corralled, and police demanded a list of rally participants. One student leader was arrested, thrown to the ground and handcuffed during the dispersal.

The GASC gathers representatives of student councils from the entire UP system every year to select the new Student Regent.

The violent dispersal occurred just days after the UP administration and the Armed Forces of the Philippines signed a memorandum that paves the way for greater military intrusion into the university, including the conduct of “information dissemination drives” or the holding of red-tagging seminars by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

KARAPATAN raises grave concern that the violent dispersal curtails the students’ right to peacefully assemble and air their grievances, and may just be the beginning of heightened repression in UP campuses across the country.

KARAPATAN joins the UP community and others from the education sector in working for the junking of this memorandum for being detrimental to the democratic rights and academic freedom of students, faculty and non-academic personnel.

KARAPATAN condemns the arrest last August 13, 2024 of the former secretary general of its Southern Mindanao chapter, Jayvee “Jay” Apiag. Apiag was arrested in Digos City and is currently being held at the Buhangin Police Station in Davao City.

Apiag is reportedly facing six trumped-up cases — four for attempted murder in the cities of Davao and Digos, and Malaybalay in Bukidnon and another case for illegal possession of firearms and explosives in another court in Malaybalay. “Jay Apiag had nothing to do with the crimes he is being accused of,” said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay. “In fact, in his attempted murder case stemming from his supposed participation in an encounter in Paquibato, Davao City on May 20, 2018, he presented proof that he was leading a fact-finding mission in Tagum City on the said date,” she added.

“To show how ridiculous these charges are,” said Palabay, “one of Jay’s co-accused was Karapatan national chair Elisa Tita Lubi, who was almost 76 years old at the time of the alleged encounter, and who also presented proof that she was in Metro Manila at that time.”

“All the cases against Jay have been meant to derail his work as a human rights defender,” said Palabay. “Jay Apiag was at the forefront of the fight to assert human rights in Southern Mindanao, especially when martial law was declared in the entire island.”

“Jay has been the target of threats and harassment since the Duterte regime,” said Palabay. Posters and tarpaulins branding Apiag as a rebel of the New People’s Army (NPA) began sprouting in several places in Mindanao, and digital images tagging him as NPA were posted as well on the Facebook page of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

“Jay Apiag is only the latest in a growing list of Karapatan’s human rights workers arrested, killed or threatened in the course of their work,” said Palabay. “Alexander Philip Abinguna and Alexandrea Pacalda from Karapatan’s Eastern Visayas and Southern Tagalog chapters are behind bars. Pia Montalban from Karapatan-Central Luzon has been repeatedly red-tagged and threatened. And let us not forget Karapatan-Negros paralegal Zara Alvarez who was gunned down in Bacolod in August 2020,” she added.

“Karapatan throws its support behind Jay Apiag in his struggle to seek justice,” said Palabay. “We will continue to campaign for the release of Jay and all political prisoners on just and humanitarian grounds.”