Uwazi

The commander of the Bangkok police force on Wednesday rejected allegations that its officers endangered anti-government demonstrators by aiming baton rounds at their upper bodies during a recent confrontation.

Metropolitan Police Bureau commander Pol Lt Gen Samran Nualma said in a statement that the use of rubber-tipped bullets complied with all appropriate safety guidelines, a day after he told a group of media representatives that citizen journalists and independent media are free to operate from protest sites, provided they do not encourage violence or break the laws.

“The shoulder firing position is a basic pose and complies with standards in using firearms, because it allows the officers to take [accurate] aims at the targets, and it is less dangerous than firing without aiming at all,” the statement quoted Police Lt. Gen. Samran as saying. “Firing the weapon from other positions, without aiming, may cause injuries to vital organs.”

Samran was responding to images and videos that appear to show riot police aiming their rifles directly at protesters near Din Daeng Intersection on the night of 11 June.

Police critics say such action may cause serious injuries to those struck by the projectiles. They also point to police guidelines on the use of non-lethal weapons, which state that the rubber bullets should only be aimed at non-vital organs and lower parts of the bodies.

Samran said the images don’t tell the whole story since an elevated firing position alone does not indicate where an officer is aiming.

“Furthermore, the environment is also important. Were the demonstrators above or below where the officers were standing?” Samran said in the statement. “Focusing on the firing position and assuming that the officers were aiming high simply lacks sufficient evidence for a conclusion.”

Police were seen firing multiple rounds of tear gas and rubber bullets at the protesters on 11 June after they tried to march from Victory Monument to PM Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha’s official residence on Vibhavadi Road, sparking the first violent confrontation between police and anti-government demonstrators in months.

The organisers said they were marching to demand the ousting of PM Prayut, who has been in power since the 2014 coup.

Some of the demonstrators responded by throwing fireworks at the officers. Two government vehicles were also torched. There were no official figures on injuries.

Videos taken by bystanders that night also show a group of plainclothes police detaining a citizen journalist who was reportedly filming the protest on Facebook Live.

Comments on social media identify the person as a staff member of a popular Facebook page called “Katoey Mae Look Orn,” which routinely broadcasts live commentary from protest areas. It is unclear why the person was detained and whether he was charged with any offence.

Attempts to reach “Katoey Mae Look Orn” were unsuccessful on Wednesday, but a person familiar with the group said the citizen journalist was released without charges after being searched by plainclothes police officers .

The incident sparked concerns that citizen journalists who report on social media would face further repercussions or arrests from police at protest sites. Police officials have in the past attempted to paint citizen journalists and independent reporters as “unsanctioned media” that need to be controlled or regulated.

In a Monday meeting with the representatives of six media associations, Samran stated that he respected the rights of professional and citizen journalists to report or broadcast news of political demonstrations, provided they obey the law.

A summary of the meeting published by the Thai Journalists Association, one of the organisations present at the discussion, quoted Samran as saying that he “maintained that citizen journalists and members of the public can definitely publish or broadcast the news and images from the protests.”

“But at the same time,” Samran was quoted as saying. “I’d like to ask for cooperation from the citizen journalists and members of the public to refrain from using words that lead to sedition or incitement of violence, or engaging in any unlawful acts.”

A police summary of the meeting did not include Samran’s remarks, noting instead that both parties discussed ways to ensure that the police will not “obstruct or harass the operations of the media other than in instances when a reporter is encouraging or participating in the protest, or in cases where it is necessary for police officers to defend themselves.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Indian authorities must immediately put an end to the excessive use of force in response to large scale protests in the country that has resulted in the death of at least two people, including a child, and in many others suffering injuries since last Friday, Amnesty International India said today. The organization also called for the immediate and unconditional release of those arbitrarily arrested solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

In the last few days, thousands of people took to the streets in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir and Telangana calling for the arrest of Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal, the former spokespersons for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), India’s ruling political party, for making statements deemed insulting of Prophet Mohammed in a prime-time TV news debate.

“The Government of India is selectively and viciously cracking down on Muslims who dare to speak up and peacefully express their dissent against the discrimination faced by them. Cracking down on protesters with excessive use of force, arbitrary detention and punitive house demolitions by Indian authorities is in complete violation of India’s commitments under international human rights law and standards,” said Aakar Patel, chair of Amnesty International India Board.

On 10 June, media reported an incident where, police personnel can be seen striking batons, pelting stones and shooting bystanders during protests in Ranchi, Jharkhand. Another bystander was shot six times by the police while returning from the market. Two protesters including a 15-year-old child was fatally shot in the head by the police. Under the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, police may only use force for a legitimate law enforcement purpose and may not use more force than needed to achieve this objective. Moreover, police may use firearms only as a last resort and when strictly necessary to protect themselves or others against the imminent threat of death or serious injury; the intentional lethal use of firearms is only permissible if strictly unavoidable in order to protect life.

In another video reported by multiple media outlets and shared by many on Twitter including the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, a police officer is repeatedly hitting detained male protesters with batons in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh while they cry in fear and pain and one protester complains of a fractured arm. Instead of criticizing the use of force, it was celebrated by former police officers and BJP politicians on social media. Baton strikes while a subject is under control are unnecessary and disproportionate, and amount to using batons punitively – which amounts to torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, a violation of international law.

“Presenting and treating all protesters, including peaceful ones, as a threat for public order is deeply worrying and is part of an alarming escalation of the states’ measures targeting Muslims. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister and various state chief ministers have done little to show that they disapprove of any statement portraying Muslims as a risk for public order or embedding other stereotypes and prejudices that may contribute to justifying discrimination and violence against Muslims. They should publicly show their opposition for any such statement” said Aakar Patel.

Instead, in a continuing blow to human rights, the authorities carried out the unlawful and arbitrary demolition of houses belonging to Muslims suspected of being “key conspirators” of the violence that erupted during the protests in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. On 10 June, activist Javed Mohammed, his wife and younger daughter were detained along with many others by the police. On 11 June, a backdated notice was pasted on the wall of the family’s house at 11pm in the night before the planned demolition. Javed Mohammed and his elder daughter Afreen Fatima, a student activist, have been vocal in their criticism of the government specially against the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act. While the authorities cited illegal construction as the reason for demolition, the notice was issued in the name of Javed Mohammed who did not even own the demolished property. On 12 June, the authorities demolished the two-storey house amounting to a punitive measure and a violation of the right to adequate housing. Houses of many other protesters were similarly demolished in Uttar Pradesh.

It is evident that in the absence of any genuine consultation and a complete departure from due process of law, these demolitions stand in absolute violation of the right to adequate housing as enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which India is a state party and has been done to inflict punishment on the community for raising their voices against injustice.

“The State’s response to current protests is not only deplorable but also marks the latest escalation in the suppression of dissent. The Indian authorities must carry out a prompt, thorough, effective, impartial and independent investigation into all the human rights violations allegedly committed by law enforcement officials and other public officials against protesters and human rights defenders. Law enforcement officials who used the force excessively should be charged, whenever there is enough evidence. Victims should also have access to reparations including compensation,” said Aakar Patel.

Angered by the regime’s ‘bulldozer-raj’ the All India Students’ Association (AISA) on June 13, 2022 called for a citizens’ protest against police brutalities on Friday, and targeted demolitions of Muslim homes. Some students protesting near UP Bhawan were detained by the police.

Last week, on the afternoon of June 10, a Friday, Muslims across India engaged in huge protests to demand suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma’s arrest for her insulting remarks about Prophet Mohammad and Islam. Although the protest ended within hours, what followed were widespread arrests in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal as well as illegal demolitions in parts of UP. Notedly, the Prayagraj (Allahabad) police illegally detained Javed Mohamad, local activists and father of anti-CAA activist Afreen Fatima. Later his wife and younger daughter were also illegally detained. On June 12, their house was brazenly demolished without following any due process, for allegedly “encroaching”. This act has now been challenged through a letter petition in the Allahabad high court.

It was against this state-sponsored violence of the Muslim community that the AISA students rose in protest and called for a demonstration at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Members demanded that the government:

Stop police brutality in Ranchi, Allahabad and various places in India
Cease witch-hunting of Afreen Fatima's family
Stop targeting Muslims and bulldozing their houses

In a press release the AISA made a call for peace and appealed to people to end the BJP’s “vicious divisive rule”. In their statement, students condemned the government for failing to prosecute Sharma but attacking protesters with guns.

“Unsurprisingly, while no action has been taken against Sharma and Naveen Jindal, the police forces have come down heavily on those who protested against them,” said the AISA.

Further, the UP police arrested and penalised many prominent anti-CAA voices, active in late 2019-early 2020 against what was perceived to be an unjust amendment to the Citizenship Act. The AISA called this a deliberate act of harassment that reflects the BJP’s communal agenda.

“The practise of using bulldozers against Muslims has become a recurring tactic of the ruling government to curb dissenting voices. This is nothing but a state-sponsored attack on the minority communities and is against the secular ethos enshrined in our constitution,” said the AISA.

Aside from students from other parts of Delhi, Jamia Millia Islamia University students also joined the call to condemn the bulldozer-raj in India. However, heavy police was deployed outside the university campus. Barring entrance aspirants and PhD students, the police refused to allow protesting students.

The act of using bulldozers has become a disconcerting move by the ruling regime since the anti-CAA protests in 2019. This tactic has now been significantly used in Uttar Pradesh where many Muslim protesters now face the threat of forced eviction. In 2022, Khargone (Madhya Pradesh) Muslim residents were the first to suffer the ‘bulldozer raaj’ soon followed by Muslim communities in Delhi, Bengaluru and Assam.

Amid heavy police deployment, two JCB bulldozers reached Mohammad’s residence in the afternoon. The bulldozers, after taking down the front and the back gates, took out personal belongings from inside the house and dumped them onto an empty plot next to Fatima’s residence.

Representing Mohammad Javed, advocate KK Roy and a team of lawyers have filed a writ petition. Roy explained, “The demolition has taken place on dubious grounds. “The house is not in the name of Javed Mohammad, it is in the name of his wife Parveen Fatima. However, the notice served to the family has been served in the name of Javed. Another key point being that the notice served to the family is dated. No previous notice was given to them. Therefore, we have challenged this and have also written to the CJI demanding a compensation for the family and reconstruction of their home.”

The demolition began with the walls of their home before the entire structure was levelled.

Over 60 people have been arrested amidst a crackdown on protestors in Prayagraj (Allahabad) in connection with the violence on June 10, which saw stone pelting, the torching of vehicles and a subsequent lathi charge by the police.

Javed Mohammad, a prominent face in the anti-CAA protests, was named as a key conspirator by the Uttar Pradesh police alongside 10 others, and was taken into custody from his Kareli based residence on Friday.

Later that day, his wife and daughter were also detained, family members say, but the were subsequently released.

The police claim Javed Mohammad gave a call for the Friday protest against the controversial statements BJP leaders made on the Prophet.

A notice to demolish his residence had been handed over to the family on June 11 after which the police reportedly made efforts to get the family to leave the home, as several female members of his family were staying in the house.

Mohd. Umam Javed, the brother of Afreen Fatima, told The Wire that a team of policemen had reached their home and threatened the family with ‘bulldozer action’.

“A team of different officials reached us again tonight (June 11). They harassed us and warned us to leave our home immediately. We have been told that they will be back at 2 am to get us to empty our home,” he said.

The notice served refers to illegal construction of the family’s home and reads, “In a case pertaining to the matter a notice was sent to the family on the 10th of May and a hearing was to take place on the 24th of May. However, no response was given from the family.” As per the notice, the house is scheduled for demolition on Sunday at 11.00 am.

Mohd. Umam told The Wire that the notice is completely baseless, saying, “We did not receive anything and we had no information about construction pertaining to five floors or upwards.”

According to a letter released by activists, the action is illegal and highly dubious.

The letter states. “The fact that the notice was not even delivered in the name of the actual property holder (the property is in the name of Afreen Fatima’s mother) makes its authenticity highly dubious, as even basic proceedings would have uncovered this fact. Further, the notice was dated June 10 but pasted only late at night on June 11, a Saturday, even though police has continuously been present at the house since June 10. It seems clear that the notice was hastily issued on a weekend night to ensure that the family has no opportunity for legal recourse.”

On June 11, student activist Afreen Fatima had put out an appeal on social media, writing to the National Commission of Women highlighting safety concerns regarding her father.

Speaking to The Wire previously, Afreen Fatima said that two days prior to the violence a case was filed against her father under Section 107 (abetment) of the Indian Penal Code. She said, “Essentially, it meant that if anything was to happen in the city, my father would be held responsible for abetting it.”

Fatima’s brother told The Wire on Sunday that his mother and sister have been released from custody from Roshan Bagh area. As of noon, he said that bulldozers have reached their locality.

Police teams have reportedly raided locations to nab 10 of the “main accused.”

The list of accused persons issued by the police includes names of people who had been prominent in the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests of 2019. Others are leaders of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, student activists and Left party workers.

Among those named are Imam Ali Ahmed of the Atala Badi Masjid, AIMIM district president Shah Alam and leader Zeeshan Rahmani, an activist who was active in the anti-CAA protests, Sara Ahmed, and Left leaders Ashish Mittal and Ali Ahmad.

Prayagraj ADG Prem Prakash, in a statement to the press, mentioned these names, and said that many others have been identified as having been behind this “well-planned” violence.

Samajwadi Party leaders have also reportedly been named by the police.

BJP MLA Shalabh Mani Tripathi posted a video on Saturday showing uniformed policemen mercilessly beating a group of young men in an undisclosed location, presumably a police station.

He captioned it, ‘Return gift to rioters’.

On Friday, UP chief minister Adityanath also called for unspecified exemplary ‘action’ against rioters so that those with ‘anti-social thoughts’ never again think of disturbing the peace.

The Supreme Court this morning upheld the conviction of land community representative Hoeun Sineath from Tbong Khmum province. Sineath was convicted by the Tbong Khmum Provincial Court in December 2020 of intentionally causing damage with aggravating circumstances of acting as a co-perpetrator under Articles 410 and 411(1) of the Criminal Code. He was sentenced to two years in prison, a decision upheld by the Tbong Khmum Appeal Court in August 2021 and the Supreme Court this morning.

Multiple communities in Dambe district, Tbong Khmum province have faced a decade-long dispute over community farmland with Harmony Win Investment Co. Ltd., a Chinese-owned rubber company. Sineath, along with eight other villagers who are not in detention, were convicted after they protested the company blocking access to and clearing their land. Sineath was the only one to appeal the verdict to the Supreme Court. He has spent more than 1 year and 10 months in Tbong Khmum prison since his arrest in August 2020.

Sineath was also convicted in a separate case following his arrest. In that case, he was convicted alongside 14 other people for obstructing public officials with aggravating circumstances under Articles 503 and 504 of the Criminal Code after they filmed authorities implementing a court order related to the disputed land. He was sentenced to spend one year in prison and fined 1 million riel (US$250). The other 14 people received fully suspended six-month sentences. Sineath has also appealed that case to the Supreme Court, with proceedings ongoing.

Around 30 members of Tbong Khmum’s Sre Prang community travelled to Phnom Penh and gathered outside the Supreme Court in support of Sineath during the trial hearing last Wednesday. Daun Penh security guards blocked them from gathering in front of the court and from walking to the National Assembly to follow up on a petition they had previously submitted.

On 7 June 2022, Kanapathipillai Kumanan, a human rights defender and independent journalist based in Mullaitivu, was intimidated by the Sri Lanka Police and Sri Lanka Navy personnel while he was covering a protest against forcible acquisition of land by the Sri Lanka Navy in Vattuvakkal, Mullivaikkal. Kumanan was blocked from covering the protest, threatened with arrest and physi- cally removed from the protest site. Kanapathipillai Kumanan is a Tamil journalist and human rights defender based in Mullaitivu, Sri Lanka. He is a photo journalist and an activist covering violations against Tamil civilians by security forces in the heavily militarised North and East Sri Lanka. Following the end of the armed conflict in May 2009, Kanapathipillai Kumanan has played a key role in covering issues including enforced disappearances, military land acquisition and environmental crimes. He also supports the cam- paigns of survivor defender communities for truth, justice and redress. On 7 June 2022, Kanapathipillai Kumanan was covering a local protest against forced land acquisi- tion in Vattuvakkal, Mullivaikkal by the Sri Lanka Navy. The land is planned to be used for the ex- pansion of the Gotabhaya Naval Camp in the area. While he was covering the protest on 7 June 2022, Sri Lankan security officers harassed and grabbed him in an attempt to prevent him from taking photographs of the protest. A Sri Lanka Navy officer in uniform threatened him to stop taking photographs. Sri Lanka police officers grabbed Kanapathipillai Kumanan and attempted to seize his official media card. During the incident the Navy officer repeatedly asked the intelligence and police officers to arrest Kanapathipillai Kumanan. The human rights defender was undeterred and continued to document the protest and intimidation against him and others by security forces. Kanapathipillai Kumanan repeatedly asked “why are you laying your hands on me?” when officers attempted to manhandle him. The human rights defender was eventually forced to leave the site by security officers. In July 2021, the Sri Lanka navy deployed dozens of troops in response to a peaceful protest against a mass land-grab in the Vattuvakal area, following heavy local opposition and protest. Ef- forts were stepped up to permanently seize 617 acres of Tamil-owned land for the Gotabhaya Navy Base, a process that began with a gazette in 2017 but has stalled due to heavy local opposi- tion and protest. Mullivaikkal is one of the highly militarised areas in Sri Lanka. Militarisation in this particular area continued even after the end of the civil war, and local communities have been campaigning for several years for the return of land acquired forcibly by the Sri Lankan military. This is not the first time Kanapathipillai Kumanan has faced reprisals. The human rights defender has been threatened and physically assaulted previously due to his work. Journalists and human rights defenders in Sri Lanka have faced violence and repression as a result of their work, espe- cially in the North and East. There is a culture of impunity for attacks against activists in the North and East, and those who continue to work do so under extremely hostile conditions at great per- sonal risk. There is limited attention to the crimes against them and perpetrators are not held to ac- count. In October 2021 Kanapathipillai Kumanan and another journalist were assaulted by timber smug- glers while reporting on illegal deforestation and timber smuggling in the Murippu forest area in the Mullaitivu district. In June 2019, Kanapathipillai Kumanan was physically assaulted and verbally abused by the officer in charge (OIC) of the Kokkilai police station in Mullaitivu district, while report- ing on the failure of law enforcement to implement a court order relating to a dispute between a Hindu and Bhuddist temple at the Neeraviadi Pillayar Kovil in the Mullaitivu district. Front Line Defenders is extremely concerned about continuing reprisals against Kanapathipillai Ku- manan and human rights activists and journalists, especially in the North and East. There are daily reports of harassment of human rights defenders, peaceful protesters and journalists in the country as reprisal for their work. Tamil and Muslim human rights defenders, especially those working in heavily militarised war affected areas are particularly vulnerable to reprisal.

The military has intensified efforts to locate and capture participants in anti-junta flash demonstrations in Yangon, arresting more than 30 young adults on Monday and Tuesday alone, according to a source close to the city’s student activists.

Leo, the on-ground officer for the General Strike Committee, told Myanmar Now that the youth were detained from townships including Kyimindaing, Sanchaung, Tamwe and Yankin.

“Over 30—almost 40—youth were captured. They forced people who had connections with the victims to guide them to the victims at gunpoint,” he said.

A member of the Yangon Revolution Force (YRF) said that two of the people arrested had hung banners on Strand Rd in Kyimindaing on Monday morning condemning the military-led education system and encouraging people to commit to the anti-dictatorship movement.

“One of them was captured first and the military found out about the other one’s whereabouts from the first one,” the YRF member said. “Although we knew that the first one had been taken, the second one couldn’t get away as it was already 1am when he was captured.”

A member of a youth strike committee from Kyimindaing who had gone into hiding at the time of reporting confirmed that several youth from the township were arrested on Monday.

Soldiers and police officers were searching apartments and blocking roads in order to search vehicles and increasing their patrol in an effort to apprehend protesters, according to a recent statement by the online community the Yangon scout group, which warns members of the public of junta surveillance.

A protest leader and student union member told Myanmar Now that junta troops had been checking household registration lists at night for unregistered guests, as part of a push to identify and arrest youth who had participated in recent demonstrations.

“We get really scared at night as we are all at risk of getting arrested. I can’t afford to pay rent alone, so I’m sharing a room with a colleague from the strike committee,” he explained.

Soldiers reportedly beat and arrested two men in Tamwe and three in Sanchaung in addition to the several people apprehended in Kyimindaing, among whom were four protest leaders, another activist said.

“A boy and a girl were taken in Alatt Chaung ward in Kyimyindaing last night and they’re forcing them to guide them to their team members” he added, noting that some 35 junta personnel were present.

Acknowledging the risk of punishment by the military council, Leo, from the General Strike Committee, called on area residents to help shelter protesters in hiding in order to show support for the anti-dictatorship movement.

“We request that, when it is necessary, the public protect the youth who are fleeing,” he said.

The charred bodies of five members of the anti-coup movement were found by members of a local resistance force amid military raids on villages in northern Yesagyo Township in Magway Region on Tuesday evening.

The township’s People’s Defence Force (PDF) chapter announced that two local guerrilla fighters, as well as three people who had been participating in the general strike associated with the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), were discovered slain near Peik Thin Kat village.

They were burned beyond recognition and buried in a shallow grave, the PDF statement said.

U Naing, a leader of another guerrilla force active in northern Yesagyo described the individuals to Myanmar Now as having been “murdered in a cruel manner.”

“All five bodies were found and accounted for. They killed them, burned the bodies and buried the remains,” he said, noting that the victims were found after the handcuffed hands of one of the bodies was left uncovered by soil.

Among those killed was 54-year-old headmaster Win Kyaw, 27-year-old nurse Zarli Naing, and Khin Hnin Wai, 28, a teacher who was five months pregnant at the time of her murder. Also murdered with them were two armed resistance force members in their 20s: Htay Min Oo and Thae Ei Ei Win.

All five victims were in Myaing Township’s Dan Pin Kan village, located next to Peik Thin Kat, and captured on the evening of June 10, according to U Naing. He added that a bullet was found amongst the bodies, and that the abdomen of Win Kyaw appeared to have been perforated by a sharp object.

Both Khin Hnin Wai and Win Kyaw had been participating in the education program launched by the civilian National Unity Government after refusing to return to work in the junta-controlled school system.

The site where they were killed is located two miles west of the Sin Phyu Shin bridge, where PDFs from Yesagyo, Myaing and Salingyi townships ambushed a junta checkpoint on June 9, killing three military personnel, taking one soldier prisoner, and seizing multiple weapons.

In the days that followed the attack, hundreds of Myanmar army soldiers began raiding the surrounding villages in northern Yesagyo Township, torching homes and abducting civilians.

On June 10, hundreds of villagers were forced to flee into the area’s western forests when junta troops fired indiscriminately towards Dan Pin Kan after encountering explosives planted by the northern Yesagyo guerrilla group in an attempt to stop their advance.

Zarli Naing, the nurse who had been supporting the resistance movement, was working between Yesagyo and Myaing townships after fleeing her home in Pakokku, 30 miles to the south. She was among the fleeing Dan Pin Kan locals at the time she was captured.

“One of our members who attacked the military with explosives got injured after falling down a cliff, so we sent him to the CDM nurse to get his injuries treated,” guerrilla leader U Naing explained. “Another member of our group accompanied him and all five of them were arrested together by the military.”

He told Myanmar Now that Zarli Naing and Win Kyaw had been located in the area by a junta informant, who then guided the troops to the place where she was providing first aid to the injured resistance fighter, at a distance from the other displaced civilians.

“The victims might have thought the junta soldiers were PDF members because they were wearing shorts just like PDF members do,” he said.

Instead, they are believed to have been killed by their captors later that day.

A Kazakh activist who said he was tortured and beaten while in custody earlier this year has been sent to pretrial detention on a charge of taking part in "mass disorders."

Qosai Makhanbaev was taken into pretrial detention late on June 16 after serving a 15-day sentence for picketing the Almaty city prosecutor's office without permission, according to Ainara Aidarkhanova, one of his lawyers.

Makhanbaev was one of dozens of people who claimed they were tortured by police and jail guards after they were arrested during and after anti-government protests in Almaty and other towns and cities in the Central Asian nation in January.

Weeks after his arrest in January, Makhanbaev was rushed to the hospital with severe bodily wounds and bruises and later released but ordered not to leave the city while the prosecutor's office investigated his claims of torture.

The Almaty city prosecutor’s office said at the time that it had launched 87 probes into alleged torture of inmates, but it appears to have made little headway.

Frustrated with what they believed was a deliberate attempt to quash the investigations, dozens of people who claimed they were beaten while in custody began rallying outside the city prosecutor's office in April.

Makhanbaev was detained in early June for taking part in one of the rallies and sentenced to 15 days in prison.

His lawyers said they only learned he was sent to pretrial detention the following day.

Protests in the remote town of Zhanaozen in Kazakhstan's southwest over a sudden fuel-price hike in early January quickly spread across the country and led to violent clashes.

Kazakh authorities say at least 230 people, including 19 law enforcement officers, were killed during the violence. Human rights groups say the number of those killed is much higher.

Authorities said about 800 people have been arrested for involvement in the unrest, while dozens have been sentenced to various prison terms.

There have been numerous reports that many of those in custody were tortured by the police.

The Kampong Thom Provincial Court has put an indigenous Kuy community representative in pretrial detention for violence against a property owner following a complaint from a local company.

Heng Phen, second deputy of the local Kuy community in Sandan district, was arrested on Tuesday and charged under the Land Law with committing violence against a property owner for alleged illegal encroachment on the company’s land, said provincial court spokesman Say Veasna.

The community has long been in dispute with Sambath Platinum, which received nearly 2,500 hectares in 2011 for a rubber plantation in Boeng Per Wildlife Sanctuary.

Hean Hiek, first deputy of the Kbet Changho Khnar community, rejected the accusations against Phen.

“She has done nothing wrong. She did not do anything affecting the company’s benefit, and her arrest violated the rights of indigenous people because there was no clear reason,” Hiek said, adding that they had seen no arrest warrant.

Hiek said that the company had begun clearing the community’s farmland in 2011. In 2014, the provincial administration told the company to cut off 130 hectares of its concession for the community and stay 100 meters away from a canal they used. But, according to Hiek, the company had not complied. The community alleges the company has cleared about 700 of 1,000 hectares of the community’s land.

A letter issued by the Kampong Thom land management department in August last year ordered Sambath Platinum to stop planting boundary poles, clearing crops, and removing the community’s markers. It also ordered the company to compensate the community for crop damage.

Another community member, Um Bunthorn, alleged that on May 18, eight armed officers had used violence against residents and confiscated their tractors. Now, the company had unfairly filed a court complaint against them, he argued.

“Our indigenous people would like to appeal to the court and national authorities to intervene for the release of Heng Phen,” Bunthorn said.

Chheng Phann, a company representative and the case’s plaintiff, could not be reached on Thursday.

Ngoan commune chief Seth Phouy said the dispute was long-standing, but the matter was resolved.

“Previously, the people feared using land within the map of the company, forests that they had used for many years. [But] the company has never done anything to affect the people,” Phouy said.

Ngoan’s commune police chief, who only gave his name as Sopheak, said he had also not received a court order for the arrest, and instructions had come down from higher levels.

Progressives denounced the arrest of 68-year old environmental defender Daisy Macapanpan who was arrested on June 11, Sunday.

Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan, called for the immediate release of Macapanpan who, she said, is “a victim of warrantless arrest and unjust detention based on false charges, which are seen as reprisals on her advocacy work for the environment and her community.”

Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment described Macapanpan’s arrest as overkill.

Macapanpan was arrested in her home in Pakil, Laguna reportedly by 24 policemen.

In an online press conference on June 12, Macapanpan’s relative, Ryan, Macapanpan just came from a meeting in a church in their town in Pakil when the police came to their residence.

According to Kalikasan, Macapanpan has been leading the opposition against the construction of Ahunan Pumped-Storage Hydropower Project on top of the mountain in Pakil, Laguna.

Leon Dulce, national coordinator of Kalikasan, said that there is nothing wrong with airing disapproval and explaining opinions on why the Ahunan Hydropower Project should be shelved.

“The purpose of such discussions that locals have is to raise awareness and discourse over the matter at hand. Is there something that the proponents are trying to hide that Daisy has probably discovered,” Dulce said.

The said project, according to Dulce, will be constructed in Mt. Inumpong of the Sierra Madre mountain range along Pakil, Laguna. He said that the biodiverse area also has water resources flowing from the Dakil river ecosystems, including the Sirena Falls.

He said that the Ahunan Power Inc., a joint venture of tycoon Enrique Razon’s Prime Metro Power Holdings Corp. and JBD Water Power Inc., is one of the proponents of the hydropower project that will affect 300 hectares of land.

The project will result in more flooding brought about by larger typhoons in floodplains along the shores of Laguna de Bay. The location of the said project is also prone to landslide, said Dulce.

Agham (Advocates of Scientist and Technology for the People) said the proposed project is envisioned to produce 1,400-MW electricity. The group said that the water from the Laguna Lake will be pumped into a reservoir on top of the Sierra Madre in Pakil which will be dropped thereafter to produce hydroelectric power.

They said that the residents fear that the hydropower dam will affect their source of drinking water as well as religious practices in the natural pools in Pakil.

“The construction of the Ahunan hydropower dam will also involve the destruction of trees in Sierra Madre, which will also affect wildlife. The destruction of forests will also increase the likelihood of landslides and heavy flooding,” the group said in a statement.

The group recognizes that the Ahunan hydropower dam is seen as a renewable energy source that could become an alternative to coal-fired power plants. “However, the development of such renewable energy sources should not be at the expense of the environment and people. Additionally, such renewable energy would still be under the control of a private corporation, thus cheap electricity prices are still not guaranteed,” the group added.

More arrests foreseen

Ryan denounced the ill-treatment of her aunt by the arresting officers.

“Some of the policemen who did not have name patches and were carrying firearms, forcibly entered the house of my aunt Daisy. She was alone then. I tried to run to her because I was afraid they might kill her and say that she fought back. The police won’t let me. They were able to get my aunt. Male police officers carried her through her arms and feet and forcibly took her to their mobile,” Ryan said.

He added that the police did not wear body cameras and did not present any warrant of arrest.

Karapatan said it was only when Macapanpan was at the Quezon Provincial Police Office in Camp General Nakar, Lucena City when she learned that she was charged with rebellion for an incident in Infanta, Quezon.

Karapatan added that the charges against Macapanpan and other activists in Southern Tagalog were filed in 2008.

“The rebellion case filed before the Regional Trial Court Branch 65 in Infanta, Quezon was the same case levelled against peasant organizer Dana Marcellana, daughter of peasant leader Orly Marcellana and slain human rights worker Eden Marcellana, who was arrested last year,” Palabay said in a statement.

“At this rate, this rebellion charge may be used repeatedly against activists in Southern Tagalog as the government continues its harassment against activists and government critics,” Palabay added.

Agham meanwhile expressed their alarm over the increasing number of rights violations against environmental and land rights defenders as the President Duterte’s term is about to end.

“Prior to Daisy’s arrest, at least 90 agrarian reform beneficiaries and peasant advocates were illegally arrested in Tarlac. With the worsening global climate crisis, it is imperative that the government afford protection on environmental defenders who serve as frontliners in protecting and conserving the environment,” the group said.

Palabay meanwhile said that they believe that the policy of repression and terror will continue under the new government following the mass arrests of farmers and supporters in Tarlac as well as the preparations for president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s inauguration including restrictions on rallies and mass actions.

“Nevertheless, we will continue to call and work for Macapanpan’s release and that of all political prisoners who face trumped up charges and other forms of attacks,” Palabay said.

Filipino environmentalist groups have assailed the new wave of surveillance, harassment, and red-tagging of their members in the past five days..

The Center for Environmental Concerns-Philippines (CEC) and Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) said men believed to be police officers in plainclothes knocked on their office on Thursday, June 9, and took photos of their staff.

The groups said their staff did not consent to being photographed and that no search warrant was also presented.

Earlier today, men believed to be police officers were once again seen taking photos of their office, the green groups added in their joint statement.

The wave of harassment and red-tagging happened following the mass arrests of 93 farmers and land reform advocates in Hacienda Tinang in Concepcion, Tarlac, and the recent arrest of an anti-dam activist in Pakil, Laguna.

Apart from the two environmentalist groups, they also noted the spate in red-tagging incidents on progressive partylists.

“We fear that this is the beginning of a crackdown against land and environmental defenders under the incoming authoritarian Marcos-Duterte regime,” the group said.

This is not the first time that Kalikasan and CEC were subjected to red-tagging. In 2018, there was an attempt to raid their office, they said, citing their then collaborations with the Commission on Human Rights and international groups such as the United Nations Human Rights System, Global Witness and the International Union for Conservation of Nature for their work on the issues and challenges being faced by environmental defenders.

They said, “We call on the CHR and the various UN human rights and environmental offices we have worked with in the past years to undertake preventive interventions against these human rights abuses and threats.”

Reporter at Himalaya Television Prince Mishra and his cameraperson Ashvit Magar were obstructed from reporting in Kathmandu. Kathmandu is the federal capital of Nepal.

According to the information received at Freedom Forum, newly elected Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Balen Sah misbehaved with the reporters while they were reporting on waste management at Environment and waste management division, Teku.

Mayor Sah also asked his subordinate to delete the recorded footage and ordered reporters to leave the KMC premises immediately.

Freedom Forum is concerned over the incident. Obstructing reporters from doing their duty and threatening them to delete their reporting is the sheer violation of press freedom and authoritarian move of the municipal chief.

Myanmar law students are reporting for JURIST on challenges to the rule of law in their country under the military junta that deposed the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. Here, one of our correspondents reports the suicide of a young Myanmar pro-democracy lawyer whose brother and sisters were taken hostage after junta agents came looking for her. The text has only been lightly edited to respect the author’s voice.

Myanmar lawyer Daw Phyu Phyu Khaing (age-29) took her own life Sunday after military junta troops arbitrarily abducted her family members and held them as hostages.

According to a neighbour, a group of junta armed forces raided her home in Ohn Chaw Village, Patheingyi Township, at 1 pm on 8th June. The military initially intended to arbitrarily arrest her based on reports from their on-ground informants who said that she was actively involved in protest groups in which lawyers protest against the military junta and that she financially supported People’s Defence Force (PDF) members. However, when they found out she had already fled away, the junta severely tortured her family members who remained at home. Junta agents subsequently abducted a total of three of her family members – her brother and her two sisters – to hold them hostage instead of her. According to informants, her siblings were sent to the interrogation centre inside the Mandalay Royal Palace compound where the junta military has a base.

Even after four days of their detention [yesterday, 12th June], there was no further news about her family members. On that day, Phyu Phyu Khaing tried to take her own life by taking pesticides. A neighbour saw the scene and tried to save her, but due to lack of adequate medical support in the area where she was, she passed away, according to the Mandalay Free Press (MFP). 

Can you imagine what a 29 year old lawyer could have done to support the rule of law and social justice for her country?

Before doing all those great things, here in Myanmar, lawyer Phyu Phyu Khaing succeeded in taking her own life before Myanmar people succeed in getting Democracy. At least she was able to end her suffering now while we all continue. And maybe she did that in the hope of having her family released.

Once again, the Myanmar juntas have successfully proven their excellence in being the cruelest TERRORISTS. 

Even though this news is not published on local or international media, there are many Myanmar lawyers who have been arbitrarily arrested for many absurd accusations. The reason why these stories are not more broadly publicized is a fear, uncontradicted by the junta, that media attention will makes the life of hostages worse. But we desperately need media attention to shine light upon this continuous torture while we risk everything just to tell the world about this. 

This is not the first time a lawyer has been chased like prey. This is not the first time that the family members of someone on the junta’s “wanted list” have been held as hostages. I hope no one ever forgets how last year a 20 year old third year Myanmar law student, her mother and her 5 year old younger sister were held as hostages.

And Myanmar is not the only place where we are continuously failing to bring peace and justice. Myanmar’s trouble should be considered the world’s trouble because the Myanmar junta is committing crimes against humanity. It’s going on two years since the coup, but where is our democracy, and how many innocent people are going to get murdered before we get it back? All of us do not have a tomorrow. I wonder what the point of having a tomorrow is when every tomorrow comes with misery.       

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Protesting against the proposed central status for Panjab University, student bodies alleged police used lathicharge to stop them from entering Chandigarh near the YPS roundabout in Mohali on Thursday.

As many as nine student organisations from Punjab, including Punjab Students Union (PSU-Lalkaar), Punjab Students Union (Shaheed Randhawa), Student Federation of India (SFI) and Students For Society (SFS), had gathered at Amb Sahib Gurdwara in Phase 8, where student leaders also addressed the protesters.

The protesting students later marched towards Chandigarh to reach the Punjab Raj Bhavan, but were stopped by police near YPS roundabout with the help of barricades.

Here, students alleged police used lathicharge, leaving several of them injured. When they managed to cross the barricades, they were stopped by Chandigarh Police from proceeding further.

Aman of PSU-Lalkaar said some students were injured while crossing the barricades and others due to police lathicharge. “A female student also fell unconscious and was taken to the hospital,” he said, adding that they gave a representation to the police officials for a meeting with a representative of the Punjab chief minister.

DSP (City 1) Sukhnaaz Singh said there was no lathicharge at the YPS roundabout. “Police only stopped the students from entering Chandigarh. Police managed to pacify the students and they returned amicably,” he said.

Last month, the Punjab and Haryana high court had directed the central government to consider the conversion of PU into a central University, evoking opposition from student bodies.

At 2 pm, they started a march from Mohali towards the Governor House and the house of the Chief Minister of Punjab against the centralization of Punjab University. When they entered the Chandigarh border, a large contingent of Punjab Police tried to stop them at the YPS roundabout and lathi-charged them without any provocation. Several students were injured in the lathi charge. After the lathi charge, senior policemen started a dialogue with the students and the officer on special duty (OSD) to the chief minister reached out to the protesting student leaders and called the nine representatives for a meeting at CM's residence. A student said that some students were injured while crossing the barricades and others were injured during the lathi-charge. He also said that they submitted a report to police officials for a meeting with a representative of the Punjab chief minister. Mr. Sukhnaz Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Chandigarh city said that there was no lathi-charge and the police only stopped the students from entering Chandigarh.

Attorney-at-law Senaka Perera who heads Sri Lanka’s People’s Lawyers Association (PLA) was summoned by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Monday (06) morning.

Perera has been an active participant at the ‘aragalaya’ anti-government protests that have been held continuously at Galle Face, Colombo, demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over Sri Lanka’s worsening economic crisis.

“I will only know [the reason for the summons] when I go inside. It would’ve been better if they had communicated the reasons to me, so I could’ve come prepared,” Perera told reporters outside the CID premises.

“I stood for the people and their problems and for the ‘aragalaya’. We haven’t done anything [wrong]. It is very unfortunate if that is being used as a reason to victimise us,” he said.

Perera was the latest in a number of activists and media personalities summoned by the CID. Among the others were journalist Dharshana Handungoda.

“We cannot be silenced with stunts like this. We will be more active tomorrow than we are today,” said Perera.

A protest against the CID summons was held outside its premises Monday morning

Jailed Kazakh opposition figure Zhanbolat Mamai faces up to 10 years in prison after authorities additionally charged him with organizing mass disorders and distributing false information in an emergency situation.

Mamai's wife, Inga Imanbai, told RFE/RL on June 8 that investigators are now accusing her husband of organizing anti-government protests that shook the Central Asian nation in early January, leaving at least 230 people dead.

President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has positioned himself as a reformer who aims to open up the country to new voices, but Mamai, the 33-year-old leader of the unregistered Democratic Party of Kazakhstan was arrested in mid-March on charges of insulting an authority and distributing false information. Those charges carried a penalty of up to one year in prison.

Mamai, known for his harsh criticism of the nation's authoritarian government, has been trying to register the Democratic Party of Kazakhstan, but claims he is being prevented from doing so by the government. He says officials only permit parties loyal to the political establishment to be legally registered.

Kazakhstan was ruled by authoritarian President Nursultan Nazarbaev from when it gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 until Toqaev succeeded him in 2019.

Over the past three decades, several Kazakh opposition figures have been killed while many have also been jailed or forced to flee the tightly controlled former Soviet republic.

Toqaev recently broadened his powers after Nazarbaev and his clan left the tightly controlled oil-rich nation's political scene following the unprecedented deadly anti-government protests in January.

The protests started over a fuel price hike and spread across Kazakhstan because of discontent with the cronyism that has long plagued the country.

A former journalist from Mandalay who was arrested nearly two months ago has been charged with incitement for a Facebook post, according to lawyers familiar with his case.

Zaw Zaw, a photojournalist who quit his job with news outlet The Irrawaddy after last year’s coup, disappeared after he was taken into custody on April 9.

Last month, it was learned that he had been transferred to Mandalay’s Obo Prison after being held at the notorious Mandalay Palace interrogation centre for more than a month.

He was formally charged with incitement under Section 505a of the Penal Code during a court appearance inside the prison on Wednesday, a lawyer told Myanmar Now.

“They couldn’t find any dirt on him even after interrogating him, so they just found one Facebook post and laid the charge against him based on that,” said the lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The content of the post had not been disclosed at the time of reporting.

Zaw Zaw attended his first court hearing through an online conferencing system on Monday, and the charge was filed at the prison court with him present two days later, according to lawyers.

His former employer, The Irrawaddy, has also been charged with incitement for its post-coup news coverage. Zaw Zaw resigned from his job shortly after the regime forced the outlet to close.

A number of journalists have been convicted on incitement charges. In January, a court in Sagaing Region handed two-year prison sentences to an editor and a reporter from the now defunct Zayar Times.

According to figures compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, there are a total of 10,962 political prisoners currently being held in regime custody, including at least 50 journalists.

Myanmar’s junta charged The Irrawaddy’s former photojournalist Zaw Zaw with incitement on Monday, according to his lawyer.

Zaw Zaw was detained in Mandalay in April and later sent to the city’s Obo Prison. He stopped working for The Irrawaddy last year.

His lawyer U Myo Min Zaw said that the police submitted the case to the court on Monday, charging Zaw Zaw with incitement under Article 505(a) of the Penal Code.

Zaw Zaw appeared in court for the first time on Wednesday.

“He looks fine and in good health,” said his lawyer.

He added that his client thought that he had been charged for a Facebook post in which he denounced the junta.

But U Myo Min Zaw declined to confirm the exact reason for the charge as he was still waiting for access to the police file submitted to the court.

Another court hearing for Zaw Zaw is set for next Wednesday.

Since last year’s coup, the military regime has arrested over 140 media workers, of whom around 60 remain behind bars.

Groups condemned the violent arrest of 93 individuals, including agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), in Hacienda Tinang, Concepcion, Tarlac on Thursday, June 9.

According to the report of the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA), the ARBs together with peasant advocates were peacefully holding a bungkalan or collective farming when members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and regional mobile group patrol came to the area, some bearing long firearms.

Authorities forcibly took peasant leaders of agrarian reform beneficiaries group, Malayang Kilusang Samahan ng Magsasaka ng Tinang (Makisama-Tinang) namely Ophelia Cunanan, Alvin Dimarucot and three others members along with volunteers, supporters, peasant advocates who were members of Sama-Samang Artista para sa Kilusang Agraryo (SAKA, Artists’ Alliance for Genuine Agrarian Reform).

UMA said that those arrested are in police custody and reportedly charged with malicious mischief and obstruction of justice.

Cathy Estavillo, secretary-general of women peasant group Amihan said that the mass arrest and harassment faced by farmers and advocates at Hacienda Tinang showed “the uselessness of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).”

“Deprived farmers are faced with violent reprisal when they assert their rightful claim to land. This exposes CARP as instrumental to landlords while the majority of our farmers remain landless, poor, and hungry,” Estavillo said, adding their call for the immediate release of the farmers and their supporters and holding the police accountable.

Non-installation of agrarian reform beneficiaries

Farmers who are beneficiaries of agrarian reform have made their calls clear when they trooped to the Department of Agrarian Reform office in Quezon City on Tuesday, June 7, demanding the installation of some 236 legitimate ARBs who are all holders of Certificate of Land Ownership Awards (CLOAs).

They also submitted a manifestation opposing the DAR’s proposal for what they described as a tedious revalidation process, which they said will only favor the family of Tarlac Rep. Noel Villanueva.

The group said Villanueva is claiming ownership of the disputed land.

They added that Villanueva is reportedly attempting to install some 468 members of a local farmers cooperative, half of which already sold their rights to the family of the Tarlac solon.

UMA said that the disputed land is a 200-hectare sugarcane landholding which is part of the more than 1,200-hectares of land formerly owned by Benigno Aquino Sr. and inherited by the Aquino siblings including Antonio Urquico Aquino who later sold the land to Dominican priests.

“In 1988, the said landholding was placed under voluntary land transfer (VLT) by the Dominican Priests of the Phils. Inc. under Cory Aquino’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL). The farmer-tenants then applied to become beneficiaries. They were awarded their CLOAS in 1998,” the group

In an earlier statement, Abby Bucad of Makisama-Tinang said the farmers decided to collectively cultivate the land in 2016 due to decades of non-installation (of land reform beneficiaries).

The following year, they filed a petition for installation and in 2018 and 2019, DAR issued a writ of execution and ordered with finality the distribution and installation of the ARBs. However, Bucad said that the order did not take effect.

“President Duterte’s term and that of DAR Secretary Bernie Cruz are ending but the farmers still do not have their land. DAR and Sec. Cruz only have less than a month to proceed with the installation of farmers in their land, Bucad said in Filipino.

“DAR has been remiss of its duty and obligation to implement a comprehensive and genuine agrarian reform. More than three decades after CARP was enacted, nine out of ten farmers remain landless. ARBs on the other hand, still cannot pay the land amortization under CARP,” UMA said.

Members of the NPA?

Supporters were also accused of being members of the New People’s Army, said SAKA in a statement.

When they asked for the basis of their arrest, one police officer replied: “NPA kayo.”

SAKA is a peasant advocate group whose members are artists.

The group said that “the police cornered them in a hut, dismantled its doors, then forced themselves into it to drive the others out. It was the local police chief, at the time wearing civilian clothes, who ordered that everyone be rounded up and brought to the Concepcion police station.”

“Such land cultivation, called ‘bungkalan,’ is a form of protest in which peasants—usually ARBs—assert ownership of land by planting agricultural products that primarily address their immediate need for food. It is a method of guaranteeing a peasant community’s own food security,” the group said in a statement.

“In the case of MAKISAMA, they aimed to grow rice and vegetables on land granted to them by DAR as early as 1998, but whose collective CLOA was seized by a cooperative run by a local family of bureaucrats, including the incoming Mayor,” they added.

Meanwhile, Agham Advocates of Science and Technology for the People called for the immediate release and dropping of all charges against the 87 persons arrested by the police. They also called on DAR and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to conduct an immediate and impartial investigation on such human rights violations against the ARBs and peasant advocates.

“We also challenge DAR to immediately resolve the chronic problem of landlessness among peasants in the country by fast-tracking the granting of lands. As we face another economic crisis brought by increasing fuel and food insecurity, we demand the government to provide more support to our farmers who provide food to our tables,” the group said.

The residence of a monk living in a Kampong Speu has been burned down amid a land dispute with soldiers.

Prom Thomacheat, living in Oral district’s Metta forest, said the small hut where he had slept was burned to the ground on Monday. It followed a pattern of violence from soldiers laying claim to the land, he said.

“They’ve fired shots over my head” in the past, he said. “If I die, I die. What can I do in this situation? … People ask me to leave and no one would hurt me. But I won’t go.”

Community members say they were protecting Metta forest for years before the state handed the land to soldiers in August last year. The transfer sparked protests of hundreds and locals camping out in the forest to protect the woods, which is part of the Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary.

But satellite imagery shows land clearing ramping up in the past two months, leaving broad scars through the forest. Residents have said they can no longer approach the clearings due to incidences of violence.

A community member, Khorn Khern, said she believed it was soldiers who had burned the monk’s hut, though she provided no evidence.

“Soldiers are now clearing and cutting the forest of the monk,” Khon said. “This is not right. This forest is a place that people and monks have been protecting for a long time. Now the sound of machines cutting down trees is close to the big pagoda.”

Trapeang Chhour commune chief Tep Nem said he had not received any report or information about the burning of the monk’s hut.

The Mondulkiri Provincial Court questioned four Bunong environmentalists for several hours on Tuesday over alleged defamation and incitement based on a developer’s complaint.

Kroeung Tola, Ploek Phyrom, Ploek Nary and Kloeung Tum were summoned to appear on allegations leveled by Kak Ratana, director of Villa Development, according to one of the accused.

Phyrom said the case was a result of the foursome earlier filing a complaint against the company for deforestation, clearing state land and destroying resin trees in the Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary. The area of forest in question, in Sen Monorom’s Sokdum commune, had been used by the local indigenous community for a long time before the company brought in heavy machinery to clear it, she said.

On Tuesday, court officials questioned them for several hours but they made no immediate decision on the case and let them go home, Phyrom said. The accused requested that the case be dropped, she added.

The company director, Ratana, could not be reached on Tuesday.

“We are protecting our land. They are planning to clear 100 hectares,” Phyrom previously said after receiving the court summons. “We make a living on that land.”

The community had already lost around 1,000 resin trees in the area, she said. “If we lose all of them, what can we do?”

Tola, another of the accused, is a prominent activist and coordinator for the Mondulkiri Indigenous People Network. He has faced previous legal actions against him, including fines for defamation.

On May 4, the Taliban prosecutor’s office in Faryab province detained and questioned Firoz Ghafori, Mosamem, and Olugh Beig Ghafori for about three hours, and then released them on bail after charging them with criminal insult, according to media reports and Firoz Ghafori, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview.

The charges stem from the journalists’ 2019 and 2020 reporting on corruption allegations involving a government official who remained in power following the Taliban takeover, Ghafori said.

“Taliban leaders must take action to prevent their members from attacking journalists like Reza Shahir, and must immediately drop the spurious charges against three journalists in Faryab province over an old corruption case,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “The detentions, beatings, and harassment of media workers has continued to rise in Afghanistan under the Taliban, which indicates a worrisome trend for press freedom.”

Shahir told CPJ that the Taliban fighters beat him after they searched his mobile phone and found screenshots of media reports about his April detention and beating. He said the men cursed at him and accused him of being a spy and working for foreign governments.

Shahir said he sustained light injuries from the attack and did not need to go to a hospital.

Officers with the Faryab Police Criminal Investigation Directorate first questioned Firoz Ghafori, a representative of the Afghanistan Journalist Safety Committee in Faryab and a production manager with the local broadcaster Tamana Radio; Mosamim, a former journalist who worked on corruption reporting with Firoz Ghafori; and Olugh Beig Ghafori, a freelance journalist; about their reporting on April 28, according to Firoz Ghafori. He said authorities then summoned them again on May 4, when the provincial prosecutor’s office filed the insult charge.

Ghafori told CPJ that he did not know the exact penalty the journalists could face if convicted, but feared they could face prison time. He said that no court date had been set.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment sent via messaging app.

On June 6, police in Nepal killed an 18-year-old woman when they opened fire on protesters using tear gas and live ammunition. Villagers in Bardiya district had blocked a highway to demand the government do more to protect them from wild animals from a nearby national park, media reports said. It is the latest instance of police using excessive and lethal force against demonstrators.

The woman killed in the latest shooting, Nabina Tharu, was a member of a marginalized ethnic community in Nepal’s Terai region. Following the incident, Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand told parliament that officials were meant to “resolve the dispute[s] … using the least amount of force. There was no order to shoot.”

As in previous cases, the government responded by appointing a committee to investigate the incident. However, the committee, comprised of police and officials from the Department of National Parks, lacks independence. Nepali authorities have previously used such committees to deflect allegations, and failed to hold police to account for the use of excessive force against protesters and for other abuses, even after the country’s human rights commission has found them responsible.

The protest began after a tiger attacked a local woman who was collecting firewood. Since 2019, media reports say tigers have killed nine people and wounded several others in the area, which is adjacent to a wildlife corridor.

While Nepal’s national parks are frequently hailed as a conservation success story, the Department of National Parks has also displaced indigenous people. Park wardens have draconian powers to arrest people without a warrant on suspicion of violating conservation laws. Wardens and soldiers guarding the parks, have been accused of arbitrary detention, torture, rape, and killing people from neighboring communities. National Park authorities also frequently fail to adequately protect or compensate people living nearby from loss and damage caused by wild animals.

Instead of forming yet another committee, Nepali officials should credibly investigate security officials and prosecute them where there is clear evidence of abuse. And Nepal’s national park authorities need to end their abusive practices and work in partnership with local people to promote conservation while upholding their rights.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Background

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Four people were hurt in clashes with police as hundreds of mostly female protesters wrapped themselves in Vietnamese flags to rally against a cemetery and crematorium project in central Vietnam, villagers said Friday.

The protest on Thursday targeted Vinh Hang Eco-park and Cemetery, an 80-ha, 500 billion dong ($21.8 million) project in the Hung Nguyen district of central Nghe An province.

Approved by local authorities in 2017, the cemetery has encountered strong objection by local residents due to environmental and water resource concerns.

“There was a clash among the police and local residents. One woman was seriously injured and was sent to Nghe An provincial hospital for emergency care. Two others were sent to a district hospital with less serious injuries,” local resident Phan Van Khuong told RFA Vietnamese.

“They arrested three or four people but released them on the same day,” he added.

A Facebook page titled “Hạt lúa Kẻ Gai” showed dozens of police officers in uniform knocking down protesters’ tents.

“The Commune People’s Committee sent some people to plant markers on a road where local residents put up tents [to block the project] and we all rushed up there to stop them,” Nguyen Van Ky, a resident from Phuc Dien village, told RFA.

“In response, district and commune police officers were deployed and they removed the tents and shoved us down, injuring four people,” said Ky.

The injuries were caused when police officers kicked and stomped on protesters. A fourth protester had a leg injury that did not require hospital treatment.

RFA called authorities from Nghe An province and Hung Tay commune to seek comments but no one answered the phone.

While all land in Communist-run Vietnam is ultimately held by the state, land confiscations have become a flashpoint as residents accuse the government of pushing small landholders aside in favor of lucrative real estate projects, and of paying too little in compensation.

Hundreds of ethnic minority households from a commune in south-central Vietnam's Dak Lak province are fighting to reclaim their land from a forestry company after 40 years of working on it as hired laborers.

Protests in Lang village, Ea Pok town, Cu Mgar district began last month, with farmers demanding the return of about 40 hectares of arable land.

Demonstrations came to a head on May 18 when hundreds of people gathered on the land to protest against the coffee company's destruction of their crops.

Videos and photos of the protest were shared on social media, showing riot police clashing with demonstrators.

Demonstrations continued last week, with protestors holding up banners asking the coffee company to return the land. State media has so far not reported on the incident.

“We want the company to return our ancestral land so that people can have a business in the future,” a local resident told RFA under the condition of anonymity. “People are getting [taxed] more and more but have less land, so people need to reclaim the land.”

According to RFA research, Lang village has about 250 households, all indigenous Ede people. The residents all make a living from farming.

‘The company does not give a dime’

Residents told RFA they had been cultivating the land for many generations but after 1975 the local government took it and gave it to the state-owned enterprise, Eapok Coffee Farm to grow coffee trees. The company later changed its name to Ea Pok Coffee Joint Stock Company.

Locals went from being landowners to hired workers on their own land. They say the company allowed them to cultivate the land from 1983 until now but told them to produce 18 tons of coffee per hectare or pay for up to 80% of each harvest.

“People work hard, but they don't have enough to eat because they have to pay the company's output. In many cases, they don't even have enough output to pay so they are in debt and have to pay for it in the next crop," said one resident who was assigned to grow coffee on 8,000 square meters of land.

Residents say that in 2010 the company allowed them to uproot coffee trees and grow other crops, including corn, but did not support them by offering seedlings, fertilizers, or pesticides. The company also continued to impose output quotas or taxed as much as 80% of the crop.

“People have to pay by themselves. The company does not give a dime or give a single pill when people are sick,” said another resident farming 10,000 square meters of land.

Struggling farmers decided to file an application with the government in 2019 to reclaim their land and farming rights.

Locals say this year Ea Pok Coffee asked them to start growing durian trees. When they opposed the plan the company started destroying crops on May 18 to prepare the land for durian cultivation.

When an RFA Vietnamese reporter called Ea Pok Coffee Joint Stock Company to ask for comments they were told the press must register with the company's leaders, and get their approval first.

When asked about the government's attitude towards people's demands, a local resident said: “We sent petitions to the town government and the provincial government but got no response. The first time five households signed, then many more households signed. The government always sides with the company, rather than helping the people.”

RFA contacted Nguyen Thi Thu Hong, chairwoman of the People's Committee of Ea Pok town, to ask about the dispute between Lang villagers and the coffee company. She said that she would not accept telephone interviews.

When asked if people would agree to maintain the current form of contract farming if Ea Pok Coffee Joint Stock Company reduced taxes and increased support, local people said they still committed to reclaiming the land.

A Vietnamese court on Thursday sentenced a Facebook user to five years in prison for posting stories criticizing government authorities, with an additional five years of probation to be served following his release, state media and other sources said.

Nguyen Duy Linh, a resident of the Chau Thanh district of southern Vietnam’s Ben Tre province, was jailed following a 3-hour trial in the Ben Tre People’s Court. He had been charged with “creating, storing, disseminating information, materials, publications and items against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code.

Linh’s wife Nguyen Ngoc Tuyet was present at his trial as a witness, but friends and other political dissidents were barred by authorities from attending and Linh had waived his right to a defense by lawyers in the case, sources said.

Commenting on the outcome of the case, Phil Robertson — deputy director for Asia for the rights group Human Rights Watch — told RFA by email that posting criticisms of government policies and authorities online should not considered a crime.

“All that Nguyen Duy Linh did was exercise his right to freedom of expression, which is a core human right that is explicitly protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that Vietnam ratified,” Robertson said.

Vietnam’s one-party communist government “seems intent on proving that it is one of the most rights-repressing governments in the Asian region,” Robertson added. “The authorities in Hanoi have completely lost any idea of how to rule a modernizing, 21st century country with intelligence and respect for the people.”

State media reporting on the case said that Linh from March 2020 to September 2021 had posted on his Facebook page 193 stories with content “offensive to the Party and State’s leaders or against the government.” Linh had also posted what state sources called false stories about socio-economic issues and the spread of COVID-19 in Vietnam, according to media reports.

Linh is the fifth person accused in Vietnam since the beginning of this year of “spreading anti-State materials” under Article 117 of the 2015 Penal Code or “propagandizing against the State” under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code. Both laws have been criticized by activists and rights groups as measures used to stifle voices of dissent in Vietnam.

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

About the Human Rights Defender: Mr. Kamlesh Yadav is an activist based in Jagdishpur in Bhojpur district of Bihar. He is a state committee member of the All India Students Association. Mr. Yadav has organised and participated in numerous peaceful agitations, rallies and programmes on students’ issues, corruption, rights and entitlements of poor, marginalised sections of society and relief work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background of the Incident On April 3, 2021, a young boy was killed in a hit and run case in the Pichadi Bazar area of Jagdishpur. Mr. Kamlesh Yadav and residents of nearby villages participated in a peaceful road blockade after the accident, demanding compensation for the victim. The same day, an FIR (132/21) was registered against protestors at the Jagdishpur Police Station under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with deadly weapon), 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code. Although Mr. Yadav was named as an accused in the case, he was not questioned by the police during the next one year.

Details of the Incident: On April 28, 2022, close to midnight, a team of 15-20 uniformed armed police personnel from the Jagdishpur police station arrived at Mr. Kamlesh Yadav’s house in three official vehicles. They were led by SDPO, Jagdishpur Mr. Shyam Kishore Ranjan and included Sub Inspector Mr. Rajkishor Singh and Assistant Sub Inspector Mr. Ravi Kumar. The police surrounded the HRD’s house from all sides including the terraces of neighbouring buildings and demanded entry into the house. They told Mr. Yadav that he was required to accompany them to the police station, but did not provide any details about whether he was being arrested. They asked him to sit in one of the vehicles and took him to Jagdishpur police station, where he was detained overnight in the lockup without a detention memo. On the morning of April 29, 2022, the police informed Mr. Yadav that he had been arrested in FIR no. 132/ 2021, but they did not provide him access to a lawyer or allow him to inform his family. Furthermore, Mr. Yadav was handcuffed while taking him from the police station to Ara court, and while being taken to Ara jail, where he was remanded for seven days. On May 05, 2022, Mr. Yadav was released from prison on bail.

About the Human Rights Defenders: Mr. Tipu Sultan and Mr. Arka Goswami are activists residing in Bolpur in Birbhum district of West Bengal. They have participated in numerous struggles in the past 5-6 years highlighting instances of human rights violations and injustice, including cases of malnutrition, suicide and the rape and murder of minor girls from marginalised communities in the area.

Background of the incident: On January 27, 2022, an FIR (4/2022) was registered at the Barikul Police Station in Bankura district against Mr. Shiba Prasad alias Shibu Murmu, Mr. Mangal alias Daktar Hansda, Mr. Sabyasachi Goswami alias Kishore and other unnamed accused. The complainant in the case Sub Inspector Mr. Satyajit Mahanty claimed he and other police officers had busted a Maoist plot to attack the police and nabbed two alleged Maoists from the spot with incriminating material, while the remaining managed to flee. The accused were charged under Sections 148, 149, 120B (criminal conspiracy), 121 (waging war against the state), 121A (conspiracy to commit offences punishable by section 121), 122 (collecting men, arms, ammunition to wage war), 123 (concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war), 124A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code. It is important to note that neither Mr. Tipu Sultan nor Mr. Arka Goswami were named as accused in the case, nor were they questioned by police regarding their involvement in the said incident in the ensuing three months. Details of the Incident: On April 24, 2022, at around 11.30 AM, Mr. Arka Goswami heard someone call out his name when was on his way to the fish market in the Jamboni area of Bolpur. Suddenly two persons in civil dress abducted him and forced him into a vehicle. They took him to a lodge somewhere in Bolpur and confiscated his mobile and wallet. Although they did not reveal their identity or tell him why he was detained, they forged a document claiming to have found Maoist posters on Mr. Goswami and got it signed by two others who were present at the lodge.

On April 24, at around 12.30 PM, around 6-7 persons in civil dress arrived in front of Mr. Tipu Sultan’s house in a police vehicle. They identified themselves as attached to the Barikul Police Station in Bankura, barged into Mr. Sultan’s house and dragged the HRD forcibly into the vehicle without providing any reason or explanation and without allowing him time or opportunity to put on a shirt, trousers or slippers. Police officials refused to show any arrest warrant to Mr. Sultan’s family members despite repeated requests, and took Mr. Sultan away to the same lodge where Mr. Goswami was detained. The duo were then taken onward to the Barikul Police Station where they were kept overnight. Mr. Goswami and Mr. Sultan’s family members visited the Santiniketan and Bolpur Police Stations immediately thereafter to inquire if the HRDs had been arrested and/ or detained, but they were not provided any information. At around 8 PM, the families were hand-delivered letters from Inspector in Charge of Bolpur Police Station Mr. Siladitya Saha claiming that the HRDs had been arrested from their homes in connection with FIR no 4/2022 of Barikul Police Station. The HRDs were produced at the court of ACJM Khatra on April 25, and have been in judicial custody at the Khatra sub jail since then. The jail authorities also did not allow them to meet their families despite the relaxation of COVID protocols by state and central governments. On occasions when they were produced at the Khatra court for hearing, they were kept in a lock-up like enclosure, with two walls standing 10 metres apart separating them from family members. Further, police claimed in court that the HRDs were found in possession of several Maoist posters and incriminating literature, but refused to share seizure lists or other documents with their lawyers and family members. Police has also not returned Mr. Goswami’s mobile phone and wallet which were confiscated from him during his detention.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dissidents in the southwestern megacity of Chongqing reported similar treatment.

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

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

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

Hong Kong park closure

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A parliament minister has brought defamation charges under Timor Leste’s Penal Code against journalist Francisco Belo Simões da Costa, following coverage of an allegation of ministerial corruption. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate, the Timor-Leste Press Union (TLPU), in calling for the immediate withdrawal of the case against the journalist.

Timor Leste’s Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Social Communication, Francisco Martins da Costa Pereira Jerónimo, filed a claim against Francisco Belo, the editor-in-chief of local news portal Hatutan.com, over a report regarding allegations of corruption in a ‘set-top-box installation’ project.

Minister Francisco Jeronimo replied to the article, stating the news report about his project was not valid, and his response was republished by Hatutan.com. The minister is responsible for drafting legislation to develop public and private media in Timor Leste.

Following the coverage, Minister Jerónimo brought charges against Francisco Belo, who received a summons from the Dili district prosecutor’s office for defamation under Article 285 of Timor-Leste’s Penal Code.

Francisco Belo gave a statement to the prosecutor’s office on May 23, meeting with officers for approximately thirty minutes. If found guilty under Article 285, the journalist faces up to three years in prison or a fine.

In 2017, two Timor Leste journalists, Oki Raimundos and Lourenco Martins, also faced jail for defamation for their articles about Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araujo in 2015, but the charges were overturned by the Dili District Court on June 1, 2017.

The TLPU stated that it had verified that Hatutan.com's report about the installation project followed all media laws and the journalistic code of ethics. "We urge Minister Francisco Jeronimo to resolve this case through mediation from the Press Council because journalism is not a crime," TLPU said.

23 MAY 2022 by RAIMUNDOS OKI in JUSTISA Created: 23 May 2022Hits: 1481 Ghost articles return to haunt journalists in Timor-Leste

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DILI (TOP) – Freedom of the press is protected by article 41 of the Timor-Leste’s Constitution, but there is still one ghost article in the Criminal Code (2009), namely article 285 on Defamatory false information.

The ghost article has been used by politicians and law enforcement in Timor-Leste to strike back at their opponents, especially journalists who often write stories about corruption cases in both private and public institutions.

Article 285 is a giant ghost that not only haunts journalists but will also haunt critics in this country one day.

Leaders and politicians in Timor-Leste have been pleased with the annual world press freedom index of 71st out of 180 countries in 2021 and 17th in 2022 ahead of Australia, but the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Social Communication Francisco Martins da Costa Pereira Jerónimo has sued the editor-in-chief of the online media www.hatutan.com Francisco Belo Simões da Costa after publishing a corruption case allegedly involving the minister Francisco Jerónimo.

According to information accessed by The Oe-Kusi Post (TOP), installation project Set-top Box Set-top Box/dexodificador RTTL,E.P with a budget of $900,0000.00, allegedly involve Minister Francisco Jerónimo who is also the President of the Federação Futebol de Timor-Leste (F -FTL) entered into a contract with a local company DILI ETERNAL INNOVATION INFORMATION, Lda as a Joint Venture of Melánia da Silva Fernandes Capela was a secretary in the F-FTL cabinet, but according to his right of reply to Hatutan.com that the news reports about this project is not true.

As a result, Minister Francisco Jerónimo finally sued the editor-in-chief of Hatutan.com who is also a member of the Timor-Leste press council to the Dili District Prosecutor Office.

“I have gone to give a statement at the Dili prosecutor's office on a report from the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Social Communication Francisco Martins da Costa Pereira Jerónimo regarding Defamatory false information in article 285 of the Timor-Leste's penal code,” Francisco Belo Simões da Costa told

According to a news report from the online media Hatutan.com that their chief editor gave a statement at the Dili prosecutor's office on Monday 23 May 2022 from 9 to 9:30 am Timor-Leste time.

Journalist Francisco Belo received a summons from the Dili prosecutor's office on 18 May 2022 with the case number NUC 0078/22/PCCIC as a suspect.

The online media Hatutan.com explained that their editor-in-chief had been sued by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Social Communication Francisco Martins da Costa Pereira Jerónimo for the publication of news about the Set-top Box/dexodificador installation project Rádiu Televizaun Timor Leste, Empreza Públika (RTTL, E.P).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

On 17 May 2022, human rights defender Bolot Temirov was stripped of his Kyrgyzstan citizenship. The human rights defender’s passport was listed in the database of the National Registration Agency of the Kyrgyzstan Republic Government as invalid, without an official court decision. Additionally, on 18 May 2022, the Sverdlovsk District Court in the Bishkek City Court initiated preliminary proceedings against the human rights defender. Bolot Temirov is a Kyrgyzstani human rights defender and prominent journalist, investigating corruption. In January 2020, the human rights defender founded the YouTube-based media outlet “Temirov Live”, that investigates and reports on corruption of state and non-state actors. In 2021, he was recognised by the U.S. State Department as an anti-corruption champion and was awarded the International Anti-Corruption Champions Award for his work to combat corruption in Kyrgyzstan. If convicted, Bolot Temirov could face between 10 to 15 years in prison. On 17 May 2022, human rights defender Bolot Temirov was stripped of his Kyrgyzstan citizenship by the Ministry of the Interior. Bolot Temirov’s passport was listed on the database of the National Registration Agency of the Kyrgyztan Republic Government as invalid, without an official court decision. On 18 May 2022, the Sverdlovsky District Court in the Bishkek City Court initiated preliminary proceedings against human rights defender Bolot Temirov. This included criminal charges of forgery of documents, illegal crossing of state borders and drug-related crime. The Court rejected the motion to exclude inadmissible evidence that was collected during a search of Temirov Live’s office on 22 January 2022 in relation to the drug-related charge. During the search, nine Counter Narcotics Service (CNS) officers burst into the office while filming. However, there is 1 minute missing from the video as the officer who was videoing could not keep up with the search. The prosecutors obtained this footage in violation of the Criminal Procedure Code, however the request from the human rights defender’s legal counsel to exclude this inadmissible evidence was refused. Bolot Temirov’s legal council filled and appeal which will be held on 6 June 2022. . The video shows the human rights defender taking the drugs that were planted on him out of his pockets, upon the request of the CNS officers. On 17 May 2022, Bolot Temirov was stripped of his Kyrgyzstan citizenship by the Ministry of the Interior. Bolot Temirov’s passport was listed on the database of the National Registration Agency of the Kyrgyztan Republic Government as invalid, without an official court decision. On 19 April 2022, police investigators in Bishkek charged Bolot Temirov with allegedly-forging documents as per Article 379 and illegal border crossing as per Article 378 of the Kyrgyzstan Criminal Code. The police claim that the human rights defender holds a Russian passport, and that he used forged documents to obtain a Kyrgyz passport and illegally exited and entered Kyrgyzstan more than 50 times in 2008. On 20 January 2022, Temirov Live published a video investigating the alleged involvement of the family members of State Committee for National Security Head, Kamchybek Tashiev, in a corruption scheme relating to a state-owned petroleum refinery. On 22 January 2022, nine masked police officers raided the office of the YouTube-based outlet, Temirov Live, in Bishkek without a warrant and searched it for approximately three hours. During the raid, police officers confiscated all computers and forced male staff members to the ground. According to Bolot Temirov, officers planted a bag of drugs in his back pocket while pinning him down during the raid. Bolot Temirov was arrested without knowledge of why, and his lawyer was unable to meet his client for several hours. While the human rights defender was detained, the police officers questioned him, and he underwent a urine test which tested negative for drugs. According to Bolot Temirov, his arrest was in retaliation for an investigation denouncing state corruption published by Temirov Live in January 2022. The CNS officers confiscated Temirov Live’s security camera footage, showing the order of events during the search, including the planting of the drugs on the human rights defenders. On 23 January 2022, Bolot Temirov appeared before the Bishkek District Court. The human rights defender was charged with “illegal making, acquisition, storage, transportation, or sending of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances without the purpose of sale” as per Part 1 of Article 254 of the Kyrgyzstan Criminal Code. The Bishkek District Court found that the human rights defender’s detention was unlawful and ordered his release from custody. However, Bolot Temirov was instructed not to leave the city, and signed a non-disclosure agreement. Bolot Temirov has been targetted with ongoing harassment. On 9 January 2020, Bolot Temirov was beaten by three unidentified men shortly after publishing a series of high-profile corruption reports. The human rights defender reported this incident to the authorities, following which the attackers were sentenced. However, those who hired the attackers in this incident were never identified In December 2021, he discovered a hidden camera and microphone in his living room. The human rights defender is accused of being a “traitor” in the services of foreign interests by a cyber- harassment campaign by nationalist propaganda websites. Moreover, Bolot Temirov announced via Temirov Live, that they were under close surveillance and that staff members had been subjected to repeated threats and blackmail by unknown individuals online. Several attempts had been made to hack Temirov Live’s passwords following the investigation. Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the judicial prosecution of human rights defender Bolot Temirov. Front Line Defenders further condemns the stripping of Bolot Temirov’s passport and Kyrgyz citizenship. Front Line Defender believes that the judicial prosecution of the human rights defenders and the stripping of Bolot Temirov’s passport and Kyrgyztan citizenship has a chilling effect on the peaceful and legitimate work of human rights defenders in Kyrgyzstan. Such targetting undermines acc

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

VOD could not reach Kimsreng on Wednesday.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Farmers targeted

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

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

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

Beijing-based commentator Ji Feng agreed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Twenty-five members of a youth group who are marking World Environment Day with a 600-kilometer cycling campaign, say that although local authorities allowed the event to go ahead they were questioned and monitored, which some took as a form of intimidation.

The campaign, which started on May 10 and ends on Friday, saw the cyclists ride all the way from Kampong Thom to Preah Vihear province. In each commune along the way, through four provinces, the participants say they were stopped by authorities who questioned them about their activities and camped out with them overnight.

Authorities say their interest was only intended to keep the cyclists safe on their journey, but one of the campaigners, Out Latin, a project coordinator with the advocacy group Cambodian Youth Network, said their interest meant the activists hadn’t been able to speak freely.

“I think it is a challenge that the authorities always come to interrogate and sleep with us under the pretext of security. What the authorities are doing is hurting our ability to debate on social issues and make our next plan.”

However, he noted that in the past, authorities have been more interfering, even stopping village meetings. This time they were allowed to go ahead, he believes, because they don’t want trouble ahead of the commune elections next month.

After the youths arrived in Preah Vihear, city authorities led by Deputy Governor Khiev Ban and accompanied by about 10 plainclothes police officers came to inquire about their activities, took down their names, and took photos. In Promer commune, Tbeng Meanchey district, police did the same.

Latin said they asked where the group had got its funding for the campaign, which mainly came from civil society organizations abroad. The campaign was meant to promote forest conservation, he said, and teach communities to protect natural resources.

“Through this campaign, we are demanding that the government, especially the Ministry of Environment, allow local communities to participate in protecting the last remaining natural resources, such as in Prey Lang and Prey Preah Roka,” he said.

San Mala, another member of the Cambodian Youth Network who took part in the event, said he didn’t think the real reason the authorities monitored the cyclists activity was in order to guarantee their safety. Instead, he said he thought it was a way of monitoring them.

“The authorities there have said that their actions are only for the safety and security of the youth,” he told CamboJA. “Especially at our rest stops, the authorities always sent police and village security to guard the youth group.”

However, he noted that in the past it’s been very difficult for youth to pass through protected forest areas, but this time it was easy. He thinks the authorities facilitated this because the government doesn’t want trouble ahead of elections, and also because the ASEAN Summit was being held in the US at the same time and they didn’t want negative press.

Mala said he hoped the campaign would encourage the Ministry of Environment to allow citizens to participate in forest protection, because in Prey Lang in the past well-known environmental activists have been arrested for organizing patrols against illegal logging.

“In the last two years, authorities, especially officials from the Ministry of Environment, have been restricting communities and civil society organizations from working in forest areas… The absence of environmental activists monitoring or patrolling has resulted in a major surge in deforestation,” he said.

“There may be collusion between local authorities and traders,” he added.

Koet Saray, president of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association (KSILA), said some authorities seemed pleased to see youth and civil society campaigning for environmental protection, and that they were mainly allowed to conduct their campaign unhindered. However he said, despite the group having widely publicized the event in the press, the authorities hadn’t been aware of it or what was about.

During their 600 km cycle, the group saw several deforested sites in Prey Lang forest in Kratie and Kampong Thom, according to Out Latin, each ranging between 5 and 50 hectares.

Sar Seng Leang, deputy chief of Achen village, Kampong Cham commune, Sambor district, Kratie province, said that as a village authority, it was his duty to welcome and protect the cyclists passing through and that he welcomed the environmental advocacy campaign..

Khiev Ban, Deputy Governor of Preah Vihear City, agreed that the cycling campaign was a good way of making people aware of environmental issues. He told CamboJA that the authorities only questioned the participants so they knew which direction they were going and could protect them.

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

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

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

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

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

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

A funeral was held for him in Mandalay on Saturday.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Various groups condemned the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict for the latest red-tagging of journalism professor Danilo Arao and election watchdog Kontra Daya.

The recent red-tagging spree was published by the Philippine News Agency (PNA), with Jeffrey “Ka Eric” Celiz as their lone source.

Celiz claims to have held several positions in the underground movement in the Philippines. Of late, he has been notoriously red-tagging progressive organizations as part of the NTF-ELCAC.

In their published articles, the PNA wrote that Kontra Daya and Arao are affliated the Communist Party of the Philippines. The report also alleged that Kontra Daya is a project used to manipulate public opinion on the elections.

In a statement, Kontra Daya denounced this, saying that Celiz’ claims are “grounded in falsehoods” which had long been refuted.

“Given his propensity for weaving a web of lies, it comes as no surprise that the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflicts finds him useful for red-tagging which is considered the highest form of ‘fake news’ as it can get a person arrested, tortured or even killed,” said Kontra Daya in their released statement.

IBON Foundation, who had worked with Arao for many years, claimed that the professor was one of their senior staff in 1999, during the time that a “former cadre” accused him of involvement with armed groups.

As an education and advocacy institution, IBON had also held countless trainings and seminars with Arao as one of the resource speakers but it was never as a front for any terrorist group.

“It is delusional and malicious to say that these simple capacity-building activities are organized by the Central Committee of the CPP through Arao as alleged,” said IBON.

Bulatlat, for its part, called out the PNA, and urged them to uphold journalism ethics and not to parrot disinformation that is being spread by the NTF-ELCAC.

“As a state-run news agency, PNA should observe the ethical standards of journalism, as government resources should be utilized for the public good,” said Bulatlat managing editor Ronalyn Olea in a statement.

She added that government resources, “should not be spent endangering the lives of the people, particularly those who are critical of the government.”

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A former cadre of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) on Wednesday said he has “direct personal knowledge” about Kontra Daya convenor Danilo Arao’s link with the communist terrorist group (CTG).

“Proof of my claims that Danilo Arao and the leaders and core operatives of Kontra Daya are CPP-NPA-NDF urban operators? And that CPP-NPA-NDF created Kontra Daya? I have direct personal knowledge about Danilo Arao's involvement with the CPP-NPA-NDF as among the local communist terrorists' urban operatives,” said Jeffrey 'Ka Eric' Celiz in a statement.

Celiz, the current secretary-general of a national organization of former rebels dubbed Sentrong Alyansa Ng Mga Mamamayan Para Sa Bayan (Sambayanan), said he personally met Arao with other CPP-NPA-NDF urban operatives in a resort in Laguna during a five-day training and seminar-workshop on urban mass movement campaigns and propaganda operations, including the conduct of media operations in urban mass movement activities, in April 1999.

He said the seminar-workshop was actually a joint activity called upon by the CPP Central Committee staff organs known as CPP National Organizations Department (NOD) and National United Front Commission (NUFC) where Arao was among those who helped facilitate the event.

Similar activities, Celiz said, were also held in March 2001 in preparation for the May 2001 elections in which Arao also participated.

Celiz said it might have been better if he was invited by the ANC when it interviewed Arao on its program on Tuesday.

He said the revolutionary tactic of the CPP-NPA-NDF of using front organizations and activities as cover were “masterfully exhibited and displayed by Danilo Arao in his interview with ANC”.

“How I wish that ANC could have also made due diligence in reaching out to me so that I can confront Danilo Arao, right before a public discussion and be able to tell ANC and the people, how the CPP-NPA-NDF and Danilo Arao operated in order to establish their cover and front electoral project known as Kontra Daya so that their pretensions and hypocrisy could have been exposed more distinctly in a public discourse,” Celiz said.

During the interview, Arao criticized and insulted the government's official media and information group, including the Philippine News Agency, and the media network SMNI and Remate.

Arao challenged Celiz to prove his accusations.

On Monday, the PNA published an article entitled “Watchdog ‘Kontra Daya’ brainchild of CPP-NPA-NDF: ex-cadre” based on a statement issued by Celiz linking Kontra Daya with the CTG.

Celiz, the top nominee of Abante Sambayanan party-list, said their group has been one of the victims of prejudiced and partisan public opinion manipulation, which he called a “mind frame game and conditioning modus operandi.”

Arao accused Celiz and the PNA of red tagging him and the Kontra Daya.

“Truth hurts for the CPP-NPA-NDF and their operatives and functionaries such as Danilo Arao when they are exposed to the people,” Celiz said.

Celiz said there is no such thing as red-tagging, adding that this word is an “invention of the CPP-NPA-NDF” as a defense and an escape switch to deceive the people.

“Conveniently, Arao and his group Kontra Daya used the CPP-NPA-NDF masquerade of 'red tagging' claim as his defense, while doing references to their so-called dangers of 'red tagging' against their personal safety,” he said.

He said Arao's pathetic use of “red tagging” claim as his defense also “blew him away when he parroted the CPP-NPA-NDF personalities.”

Celiz added that truth shall liberate the people from the clutches of communist terrorism that has destroyed the country and the people, most especially the youth, “and Danilo Arao and his Kontra Daya group are part of the conspirators and enablers of the CPP-NPA-NDF”.

“And the proof of it is my direct personal knowledge of the matters that I expose, and I am standing by the truth of what I declare,” Celiz said.

The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

The NDF has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973. (PNA)

Cadres of Nepali Congress led by Binod Dhakal, Chairperson of Nepali Congress Bharatpur-7, have mistreated a journalist who had reached the polling station at Krishnapur Secondary school of Bharatpur-7 to cover story of Jagannath Poudel, who had filed independent candidacy for the post of Mayor of Bharatpur after being denied candidacy from his party Nepali Congress on May 13. The journalist was in Krishnapur Secondary School's polling station in Bharatpur-7 to collect news when the cadres threatened the journalist to break their camera as well.

Police officers attacked journalists Mahendra Sapkota and Bhim Bahadur Sijapati while reporting at the vote counting site in Dailekh on May 16. Dailekh lies in Karnali Province of Nepal.

Journalists Sapkota and Sijapati are associated with Avenues Television and Radio Nepal respectively.

Police used force and started baton charge upon journalists and public in the crowd following a clash among cadres at the vote counting site.

Journalist Sijapati shared with Freedom Forum, "Even though we raised our hands and showed our press identity card, police persons pounded baton over us. We have received injuries on hands and legs."

Police inspector on-duty also threatened the reporters to take whatever action they could against the attack, informed Sijapati.

Dilmaya Shahil of Narayan Municipality-7 along with two journalists were injured after police charged baton to control a clash between two group of youths before the office of chief election officer of Dailekh on May 16. The journalists and general public who were waiting for information regarding vote counting fell prey to police action after they rampantly charged batons. According to DPO Dailekh, two security personnel from APF and Police sustained injury after being hit with stones pelted by the youths.

Mahendra Sapkota, vice president of Federation of Nepali Journalists, Dailekh and Bhim Bahadur Sijapati, working at Radio Nepal were injured in the incident. The injured treated at the local health post. According to the District Police Office, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force were also injured in the incident.

The Observatory has been informed about the ongoing arbitrary detention of prominent human rights defender Mr. Khurram Parvez, as well as the recent raid on his house. Mr. Parvez is the Coordinator of the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) [1] and the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) [2], and the Chairperson of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) [3]. Mr. Parvez is also a distinguished scholar with the political conflict, gender, and people’s rights initiative at the Center for Race and Gender at University of California, Berkeley.

On May 13, 2022, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a charge sheet before the NIA Special Court in New Delhi against Khurram Parvez under Sections 120B and 121A of the Indian Penal Code (“criminal conspiracy” and “punishment for conspiracy to wage war against the government of India”, respectively), Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (“taking gratification, in order, by corrupt or illegal means, to influence public servant”) and Sections 13, 18, 18B, 38 and 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) (“unlawful activities”, “conspiracy”, “recruiting any person or persons for commission of a terrorist act”, “offence relating to membership of a terrorist organisation” and “giving support to a terrorist organisation”, respectively). The NIA accuses Khurram Parvez of “running a network of over ground workers of the [Pakistan-based terrorist organisation] Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for furthering activities of LeT and to commit terrorist attacks in India”, according to the press release published by NIA on May 13, 2022. The document further states that the investigation into this case is ongoing.

The case will be heard on July 6, 2022, at the NIA Special Court in New Delhi. At the time of publication of this Urgent Appeal, Khurram Parvez remains detained at the Tihar maximum security prison in Delhi, where he faces high risk of ill-treatment.

The Observatory recalls that Khurram Parvez was arbitrarily arrested on November 22, 2021, by NIA officers following 14-hour raids on his house and the JKCCS office in the city of Srinagar, during which his electronic devices and several documents were seized. He was taken to New Delhi on November 24, 2021, where he remained detained under NIA’s custody until December 4, 2021. On that day, he appeared before the NIA Special Court in New Delhi, and Judge Parveen Singh ordered his pre-trial detention in the Tihar maximum security prison. On March 24, 2022, the NIA Special Court in Delhi extended his pre-trial detention by 50 days under Section 43d(2) (b) of the UAPA.

The Observatory further recalls that Khurram Parvez’s house in Srinagar was raided again on March 27, 2022, by NIA officers and local police in connection with another investigation launched in October 2020into several NGOs and trusts in India and abroad. This investigation is being conducted pursuant to Articles 120B, 124A of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 17, 18, 22A, 22C, 38, 39, and 40 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The Observatory strongly condemns the ongoing arbitrary detention on trumped-up charges of Khurram Parvez as well as the politically motivated attempts by Indian authorities to silence prominent human rights defenders and to discredit them by labelling them as terrorists.The Observatory reiterates its concern over the misuse of the UAPA by the authorities to target human rights defenders and silence dissent and condemns all acts of harassment and persecution of human rights defenders in India.

Moreover, the Observatory recalls that the arbitrary detention of Khurram Parvez takes place in a context of an increased crackdown on civil society by the Indian government, notably by bringing politically motivated criminal cases against human rights defenders, student activists, journalists, and other critics of the government under sedition, terrorism, and other repressive legal provisions, with the aim to silence critical voices in the country.

The Observatory urges the authorities of India to immediately and unconditionally release Khurram Parvez and drop all charges against him, as his detention is arbitrary and only aimed at punishing him for his peaceful and legitimate human rights activities.

Maldivian police have allegedly harassed journalists at a protest for the ‘India Out’ campaign on May 18, led by the Maldives’ opposition party. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate in the Maldives, the Maldives Journalist Association (MJA), condemn the police’s actions towards the journalists in the field and urge the government to investigate the case and bring the perpetrators to justice.

According to the MJA and other local media organisations, a police officer named ‘Solih’ threatened and harassed journalists and media workers during their coverage of an ‘India Out’ protest held on May 18.

The ‘India Out’ campaign began in 2020, led by opposition leader and former president Abdulla Yameen of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), against the alleged presence of Indian military personnel in the Maldives.

On April 21, current Maldivian president Ibrahim Solih issued a decree, backed by the country’s National Security Council, banning the campaign, citing the movement’s threats to the “long standing bilateral relations between Maldives and India.” However, protests have continued.

Several Maldivian media and media rights organisation have criticised the recent attacks on journalists at ‘India Out’ protests. Maldives Media Council (MMC) condemned the reported harassment from police and called for investigation into the incident. The MJA and Transparency Maldives urged the authorities to protect the right to freedom of expression enshrined in the Maldives’ constitution, in response to “concerning police conduct”.

The IFJ’s South Asia Press Freedom Report 2021-22, recorded just two media rights violations in the Maldives from May 1, 2021 to April 30, 2022, but noted a legacy of interference in media regulators and a history of impunity for crimes against journalists.

Maldives Media Council (MMC) on Thursday requested the Maldives Police Service to investigate allegations of a police officer threatening journalists for covering the “India Out” rally held yesterday.

Multiple media has reported threats against journalists alleged police officer named “Solih” for covering the “India Out” protest. Local media reports that the officer has previously threatened media during protest coverage.

In addition to the MMC, human rights NGO Transparency Maldives and Maldives Journalist Association (MJA) released a joint statement today calling for the government to protect and safeguard the right to freedom of expression enshrined in the Maldives Constitution.

The statement was released due to concerning police conduct towards journalists and protestors during recent protests.