Uwazi

The Police today (17) utilised water cannons and tear gas to disperse a protest organised by the Inter-University Students’ Federation (IUSF) near the University of Sri Jayawardenapura.

The demonstration aimed at highlighting and seeking solutions to the challenges confronting the state university system.

As the protest march approached Wijerama from the university’s front, law enforcement deployed tear gas and water cannons on five separate occasions.

The confrontations resulted in heated situations between the police and the participating students.

On 27th February, police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse a group of protesting students near the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. The protest march was organised by the students’ union of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Sri Jayewardenepura University. It was launched to demand solutions to several concerns including issues related to hostels, cafeterias and delays in ‘Mahapola’ scholarship payments.

Police have used tear gas and water cannons to disperse a group of protesting students near the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.

The protest march was organized by the students’ union of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Sri Jayewardenepura University.

The agitation was reportedly launched demanding solutions to several concerns including issues related to hostels, cafeterias and delays in ‘Mahapola’ scholarship payments.

The convenor of the Inter-University Students’ Federation (IUSF) Madushan Chandrajith was arrested after the Police dispersed a protest staged in Colombo, on Wednesday.

The Police fired water cannons on the protest organised by the IUSF in Borella.

A confrontation took place between the Police and the protesters when the protesters were blocked near the Colombo National Hospital.

The Police later fired water on the protesters and surrounded Chandrajith and arrested him.

Some minor staff of the hospital were seen objecting to the arrest.

On the 76th Independence Day of Sri Lanka, the undergraduates of the University of Jaffna, in alliance with civil society groups based in the North, organized a peaceful protest in Kilinochchi. These protests highlighted the ongoing acts of injustice and violations by the state and the Sinhala-Buddhisization of the North and East of the country and demanded a political solution to the national question.

The students who participated in the protests were attacked brutally by the police with water cannons and tear gas. The police were seen dragging the students by their arms, pushing them around and forcing them onto the ground. Several students who took part in the protest were arrested.

The University of Jaffna Teachers’ Association strongly condemns the police’s attempt to suppress the protest using brute force. Yesterday’s violence demonstrates that there is no freedom for the Tamils in Sri Lanka to assemble peacefully and fight for their rights in a democratic manner even on the Independence Day of the country.

The Tamils in Sri Lanka have been fighting for their political rights and resisting state oppression through non-violent means since the end of the thirty-year-long armed struggle in 2009. There have been protests led by Tamils in the North-East of the country against land grabs, militarization and Sinhala-Buddhisization. Some of these protests made a call for the release of the political prisoners and justice for those who were made to disappear. Instead of addressing these issues in a democratic manner, the state often unleashed majoritarian violence on the protesting Tamils.

The current Sri Lankan regime tries to ensure its survival by suppressing protests. It uses draconian laws and violence to curtail, stifle and take away people’s rights to free speech, assembly and protest. The attacks on the peaceful student protesters on the 76th Independence Day is a manifestation of these authoritarian methods of governance and Sinhala-Buddhist majoritarianism.

The University of Jaffna Teachers’ Association emphasizes that the people of this country across ethnic, religious, linguistic and regional boundaries should speak up against the violence unleashed on the Independence Day which undermined the very idea of ‘independence’ and turned it into a farce. It is only by finding just and lasting solutions to the ethnic conflict and the economic crisis that the government can win the trust and confidence of the people. The government will never be able to contain the resistance it faces today by introducing repressive laws or resorting to violence. At a time when we are faced with a serious crisis, it is important that we come together to protect the democratic spaces available to us today. The Association believes firmly that it is only by acting collectively and courageously in these spaces that we can strengthen democracy and defeat state oppression.

The University of Jaffna Teachers’ Association

On the 76th Independence Day of Sri Lanka, the undergraduates of the University of Jaffna, in alliance with civil society groups based in the North, organized a peaceful protest in Kilinochchi. These protests highlighted the ongoing acts of injustice and violations by the state and the Sinhala-Buddhisization of the North and East of the country and demanded a political solution to the national question.

The students who participated in the protests were attacked brutally by the police with water cannons and tear gas. The police were seen dragging the students by their arms, pushing them around and forcing them onto the ground. Several students who took part in the protest were arrested.

The University of Jaffna Teachers’ Association strongly condemns the police’s attempt to suppress the protest using brute force. Yesterday’s violence demonstrates that there is no freedom for the Tamils in Sri Lanka to assemble peacefully and fight for their rights in a democratic manner even on the Independence Day of the country.

The Tamils in Sri Lanka have been fighting for their political rights and resisting state oppression through non-violent means since the end of the thirty-year-long armed struggle in 2009. There have been protests led by Tamils in the North-East of the country against land grabs, militarization and Sinhala-Buddhisization. Some of these protests made a call for the release of the political prisoners and justice for those who were made to disappear. Instead of addressing these issues in a democratic manner, the state often unleashed majoritarian violence on the protesting Tamils.

The current Sri Lankan regime tries to ensure its survival by suppressing protests. It uses draconian laws and violence to curtail, stifle and take away people’s rights to free speech, assembly and protest. The attacks on the peaceful student protesters on the 76th Independence Day is a manifestation of these authoritarian methods of governance and Sinhala-Buddhist majoritarianism.

The University of Jaffna Teachers’ Association emphasizes that the people of this country across ethnic, religious, linguistic and regional boundaries should speak up against the violence unleashed on the Independence Day which undermined the very idea of ‘independence’ and turned it into a farce. It is only by finding just and lasting solutions to the ethnic conflict and the economic crisis that the government can win the trust and confidence of the people. The government will never be able to contain the resistance it faces today by introducing repressive laws or resorting to violence. At a time when we are faced with a serious crisis, it is important that we come together to protect the democratic spaces available to us today. The Association believes firmly that it is only by acting collectively and courageously in these spaces that we can strengthen democracy and defeat state oppression.

The University of Jaffna Teachers’ Association

HRD Asanka Abeyrathna, was participating in a protest calling for justice for families of the disappeared, in Matara. The Police confronted protestors and tried to disperse the protest and leaflet distribution, prior to it even beginning. Following an altercation with the protestors and the police, they arrested Asanka. A truck driver transporting sounds etc., and person who got the sound permit, for a parallel event also on enforced disappearances, were also arrested. All 3 were subsequently released without charge, after statements were taken down.

Executive editor at https://dawanal.com/ Arjun Thapaliya received death threat for reporting on April 3 in Siraha. Siraha lies in Madhesh Province of Nepal.

Freedom Forum talked to Thapaliya about the incident. Editor Thapaliya shared with FF that he has been following activities of Golbazar Municipality and writing news on the municipality’s misconduct. On the day of incident, Thapaliya published news about financial irregularities in construction of a highway in the municipality. He also mentioned alleged involvement of Chief Administrative Officer, engineer and ward chairperson in the corruption.

After half an hour of publication of the news, administrative officer called Thapaliya on mobile and threatened to shoot him for publishing news. He also spoke foul words on Thapaliya.

“Thereafter, I disconnected his call. On his 18th attempt as I received the call, he shouted that he would immediately come to me and shoot me”, said editor Thapaliya, “Then, I went to lodge a complaint at Area Police Office, Golbazar but they refused to register it. I will again go there tomorrow.”

Freedom Forum condemns the threat issued to a journalist. Journalists have right to report on the public issues exposing irregularities and make citizens informed. In spite of adopting legitimate ways to show concern over published news, threatening a journalist to death is a serious violation of press freedom.

FF strongly urges the municipal authority to respect journalists’ right to free reporting. The security authority is also urged to ensure safety of journalist to avoid any untoward incident.

Chinese authorities have detained incommunicado a Tibetan monk from the local Kirti Monastery for staging a peaceful solo protest against repressive policies in Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo.

On 26 March, a Tibetan monk named Pema was arbitrarily detained and subjected to incommunicado detention by the local Public Security Bureau Officers for staging a peaceful solo protest by holding a portrait of the Dalai Lama on the stretch of a road known to the local Tibetans as’ martyrs road’ in Ngaba County. Local witnesses reported hearing Pema shouting slogans calling for the “Return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet” and “Religious Freedom in Tibet,” among others.

Pema, who is in his 50s, is son of Toepa and a native of Soruma village in Ngaba County. Pema serves as a primary teacher at the Kirti Monastery while pursuing higher Buddhist studies. He is widely known in the monastery as Gen Pema (English: Teacher Pema).

Following Pema’s arbitrary arrest, Chinese security forces have intensified their control and restrictions in Ngaba County, especially in Soruma village and Kirti Monastery.

A source informed TCHRD that “prior to deleting his WeChat account, Chinese authorities contacted individuals on his contact list, seeking information about their identities. His personal WeChat is now inaccessible and has been deleted.”

On several occasions, Pema has confronted the local police authorities for pressuring young monks to be enrolled in state-run schools and forcing them to stop attending the Kirti monastic school.

March is considered a ‘politically sensitive’ month by Chinese authorities because of the 10 March anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day that led to the exile of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetans since 1959. The annual sessions of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) are also held the same month, leading to heightened restrictions in all parts of Tibet.

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) is gravely concerned about Pema’s fate and whereabouts. His current location remains a mystery, and we call for his immediate and unconditional release. Chinese authorities must also disclose Pema’s whereabouts and condition to his family members without delay and guarantee his physical and mental well-being.

A Kyrgyz court has sent a veteran anti-government political critic to prison, canceling a five-year suspended sentence after prosecutors argued it was too lenient. The April 5 ruling by the Bishkek City Court means 47-year-old Zarina Torokulova must serve out her sentence in a correctional colony. Bailiffs detained her immediately after the ruling was handed down. In January, Torokulova was found guilty of calling for mass disorder in a series of Facebook posts. She insisted she had nothing to do with them. A vocal critic of the government, Torokulova has twice run for a seat on the city council of the Kyrgyz capital.

Senior journalist and Rawalpindi Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ) Secretary General Dr Furqan Rao was attacked in his office by a group of people following recent union elections at the Associated Press of Pakistan. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), condemn the attack, and urge authorities to ensure the safety of journalists.

Rao, the head of the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP)'s China desk, was attacked at approximately 11:00pm on March 29, allegedly by Rana Imran Latif and his colleagues, who forcibly entered the agency’s Islamabad offices. The group proceeded to Dr Rao’s offices, before attempting to assault him. The assailants were met with opposition from APP staff, who defended the senior journalist from the attackers.

A First Information Report has been registered at the Aabparah Police Station in Islamabad on March 29 under rioting, unlawful assembly, destruction of property, and criminal intimidation sections of the Pakistan Penal Code. Authorities have reportedly begun an investigation into the incident, with a Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ataullah Tarar launching an inquiry committee to investigate the incident, and potentially inform a potential case against the outlet's managing director. Results from the inquiry are expected from April 20.

The attack comes following recent elections of APP collective bargaining agent unions, the results of which were opposed by outlet management. The perpetrators, reportedly external actors not employed at the APP may have been employed by outlet management in an intimidatory attack against Dr Rao, a union activist.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) said: “We demand that Prime Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif immediately takes action on this serious incident and punish the people involved, otherwise the PFUJ will be forced to protest against it across the country and hold a march towards Islamabad with hundreds of working journalists. The PFUJ will not tolerate abuse on working journalists at all."

The IFJ said: “Union elections are an opportunity for workers to have their voice heard in the workplace. If reports that management have engaged persons to carry out an attack against workers are true, then this is a flagrant abuse of labour rights, and must be investigated by authorities.”

Bolta Hindustan, a Hindi language independent media platform, is now faced with a YouTube ban after the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting gave a notice to Google’s legal team.

Allegations of press censorship arise as independent news platform Bolta Hindustan’s YouTube channel is banned just a week before India goes to vote.

The notice sent on April 3rd states that the Information Technology Act 2000 and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 has been violated. Furthermore, the notice is said to be confidential which means that it has not been disclosed why the channel has been banned. As per the channel, the ministry will give the final order soon.

The team at Bolta Hindustan has stated that it was only in 2023 that they could set up a YouTube channel which brought their news to a wider audience and by March 2024, they had accumulated nearly 80 million views and gained 300,000 subscribers, a remarkable number. However, after receiving a notice by Google on April 3, the channel was shut down the following day.

Journalist Samar Raj from Bolta Hindustan has asked whether the content of Bolta Hindustan is more dangerous than the communal environment created by those in power.

Interestingly, this is not the first instance of online news platforms being banned recently. On February 8, Sabrang India reported a platform managed by senior journalist Ram Dutt Tripathi named Media Swaraj was banned without any explanation. However, after much public outcry and an appeal, the channel resumed its broadcast on YouTube. Interestingly, YouTube is slated to be the most used source of news for 93 % of Indian internet users.

Haseen Rahmani founder of Bola Hindustan spoke to Sabrang India after the ban, saying “Those who give hate speech are free, but if you do a story on these givers of hate speech, then you are punished.”

He describes the events, “Two days ago, we received a confidential email from the Ministry of Broadcasting via Google’s legal team informing us that our YouTube channel has been banned, they did not tell us why as is routine. Our appeal has also been rejected. Two months ago, our Instagram account was banned, a year before that our Facebook.”

“Currently, we are first seeking clarification from YouTube and subsequently from the Ministry of Broadcasting (PIB). If we do not receive a response, we will only take the legal route forward. Our team is made of alumni from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), and is very familiar with media ethics and boundaries. We do not engage in incendiary content but present the truth. Interestingly, 90% of our channel’s stories are exclusive and not covered elsewhere by mainstream media – perhaps this is why they tried to ban our channel, they don’t want these stories to be shown. Hate speech is circulating freely. However, they will punish those who cover these stories of hate speech. They will punish the messenger.”

Several people on X, formerly Twitter, have written in support of the media portal, using the hashtag #RestoreBoltaHindustanYT.

A Hindi news media platform, Bolta Hindustan was reportedly started in 2015 when mainstream media took a nosedive. According to its website, the platform asserts that it is committed to bringing its viewers unbiased news. It was started by media students who wanted to bring to light stories that were ignored in the mainstream media.

From 2015 to 2024, Bolta Hindustan published many crucial stories that were path-breaking such as stories on demonetisation, CAA-NRC, Hathras, COVID-19, migration during the lockdown, mob lynchings, and ongoing hate speech across the country.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict in the bail pleas of Gulfisha Fatima and Shifa-ur-Rehman, president of the Alumni Association of Jamia Millia Islamia University (AAJMI), booked in the police’s “larger conspiracy case” pertaining to the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots.

A division bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Manoj Jain reserved the matters after hearing the arguments by all the parties on both merits as well as the applicants’ pleas seeking parity with the bail granted to three other co-accused in the case — Asif Iqbal Tanha, Natasha Narwal, and Devangana Kalita. The three were granted bail by the Delhi High Court in 2021.

In the last hearing, the bench had asked the Delhi Police’s counsel to take instructions and state whether the investigation would continue or would be closed. On Tuesday, the counsel said the status of the probe could be explained by the investigation officer (IO).

“Ten days may be given so that the Investigating Officer is here and he can exactly explain the status of the investigation,” the counsel said. Stating that certain results from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) were awaited, the counsel said, “Supplementary charge sheets will come, because the moment FSL results come, those have to be placed by way of supplementary charge sheets before the trial court. There is no other way”.

On the filing of the fourth supplementary chargesheet in June 2023, the counsel said certain applicants had moved pleas under Section 207 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) seeking certain data, and the “stand of state was rather than giving it to one and not giving it to another, we would rather make it part of the supplementary chargesheet and file it before the court”.

On the issue of parity with the co-accused on bail, Senior Advocate Salman Khurshid, appearing for Rehman, said the police had not said a word on parity in the High Court “there are much more serious questions as far as Rehman’s character is concerned”.

The police’s counsel argued that parity also has to be seen in relation to the denial of bail to Umar Khalid, stating that the High Court had in its October 2022 judgment had taken a view that there was a conspiracy.

Khurshid submitted, “None of the witnesses have said that this was a conspiracy to bring the country into disrepute”.

“Violent protest is unacceptable. But to say that any form of protest, chakka jam, or sit-in amounts to conspiracy for a terrorist act would be destroying the very basis of the jurisprudence of liberty in the country. Liberty must prevail,” said Khurshid.

Meanwhile, appearing for Fatima Advocate Sushil Bajaj submitted his client is entitled to claim parity as no court has concluded that the bail granted to Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita in 2021 was wrongly granted.

Gulfisha Fatima and Shifa-ur-Rehman, along with several others, were booked under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the 2020 Delhi riots.

As violence erupted during the protests in Delhi against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 53 people were killed and over 700 injured in the riots.

On 12 March 2024, the Pervomaisky District Court in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, upheld pre-trial detention for eight human rights defenders and journalists associated with the Temirov Live media outlet and the Ayt Ayt Dese project. They are to remain in Pre-trial Detention Centre #1 until 13 May 2024. Additionally, the court replaced pre-trial detention with a travel ban for three of the individuals.

Among them, Makhabat Tazhibek Kyzy, the Head of Temirov Live and Ayt Ayt Dese, was ordered to remain in detention despite having a 12-year-old son. She, along with journalist Akyn Azamat Ishenbekov, is suspected of organizing "calls for mass civil unrest," which are criminal offenses according to Part 2 of Article 41 and Part 3 of Article 278 of Kyrgyzstan's Criminal Code. Other detained journalists include Ayke Beyshekeeva, Saipidin Sultanaliyev, Aktilek Kaparov, Tynystan Aspbekov, Zhoodar Buzumov, and Maksat Tazhibek Uulu. Three journalists, Saparbek Akunbekov, Aqyl Ozorbekov, and Zhumabek Turdaliyev, were released under a travel ban. If found guilty, Makhabat Tazhibek kyzy and Azamat Ishenbekov can face up to 10 years in prison, while the rest of the human rights defenders can face up to 8 years of imprisonment.

Following their arrest on 16 January 2024, the human rights defenders and journalists were initially held in the Temporary Detention Ward for 12 days. Conditions were poor, lacking heating, showers, and proper bedding. Authorities claimed this delay was due to the need for proper identification documents, though human rigths defender and journalist Bolot Temirov reported that lawyers representing Temirov Live and Ayt Ayt Dese journalists have not received any request to provide additional personal identity documentation from the investigation. He suggested that this 12-days detention in the pre-trial detention ward is an act of additional pressure agains the former and current representatives of the human rights media outlet.

Human rights defenders and journalists associated with Temirov Live and Ayt Ayt Dese also faced defamation, with President Sadyr Japarov labeling them as "bloggers" rather than journalists, accusing them of irresponsibly publishing information that threatens national security.

Front Line Defenders condemns the prosecution of these individuals and believes it is retaliation for their legitimate human rights work. They urge Kyrgyzstan’s authorities to release the detained journalists, close the case, and end the judicial harassment of human rights defenders and independent journalists.

On 5 April 2024, woman human rights defender and journalist Makhabat Tazhibek Kyzy, was reportedly physically assaulted by law enforcement officers in Pre-Trial Detention Center #1 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. According to her lawyer, the woman human rights defender suffered bruises on her arms and her face, along with the left side of her jaw. She is also experiencing severe headaches as a result of the assault. At time of writing, it remains unclear whether the woman human rights defender has access to medical support. Makhabat Tazhibek Kyzy is a woman human rights defender and journalist who serves as the director of Temirov Live and Ayt Ayt Dece. Temirov Live is a YouTube-based media outlet that investigates and reports on corruption by state and non-state actors in Kyrgyzstan, founded in 2020 by Bolot Temirov, a prominent Kyrgyzstani human rights defender and journalist. Ayt Ayt Dese is a YouTube-based project aimed at popularizing human rights issues through the performance and publication of folk songs on human rights topics. Among other topics, Ayt Ayt Dese has covered investigations by Temirov Live. On 6 April 2024, human rights defender and journalist Bolot Temirov reported in his personal Telegram channel that on 5 April 2024, Makhabat Tazhibek Kyzy and four of her cellmates were subjected to physical violence in the pre-trial detention center by a law enforcement officer from the State Penitentiary Service, Aqyl Ryskulov. Bolot Temirov suggested that this exposure to physical violence was retaliation for Makhabat Tazhibek Kyzy’s official complaints about psychological violence by another prison staff member, submitted on 20 March 2024. The woman human rights defender also reported to her lawyer that the prison psychologist questioned her about her work in human rights media. On 6 April 2024, representatives of the National Center for the Prevention of Torture of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan – a part of the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman in Kyrgyzstan visited Pre-Trial Detention Center #1. They accepted a complaint on behalf of Makhabat Tazhibek Kyzy and compiled a report documenting evidence of inhumane treatment. However, the staff of Pre-Trial Detention Center #1 prevented the representatives from taking pictures of the bruises, despite theere being no rules again such actions. On 16 January 2024, law enforcement officers in Kyrgyzstan raided the office of the media outlet Temirov Live and detained 11 human rights journalists, including Makhabat Tazhibek Kyzy, for alleged calls for mass civil unrest in one of the corruption investigations published by media outlets Temirov.Live and Ayt Ayt Dece. The woman human rights defender will remain in Pre-trial Detention Center #1 until 13 May 2024, despite having a 12-year-old son. The investigation suggests that the woman human rights defender is one of the "organizers" behind the "calls for mass civil unrest," criminal offenses envisaged by Part 2 of Article 41 and Part 3 of Article 278 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. Front Line Defenders expresses grave concerns about the reported physical and psychological violence inflicted upon woman human rights defender Makhabat Tazhibek Kyzy while in detention,and condemns the detention of human rights defenders and independent journalists in Kyrgyzstan, including the detention of Makhabat Tazhibek Kyzy, viewing it as reprisal against legitimate and peaceful human rights work. Front Line Defenders organization is gravely concerned about the wave of repressions faced by human rights defenders and journalists in the country. In recent years, Kyrgyzstan’s authorities have refused accreditations to media outlets, passed laws restricting their activities, and filed lawsuits against independent journalists.

On 25 December 2023, Sri Lankan investigative journalist and human rights defender Tharindu Jayawardhana was targeted by a cyber attack in which hackers gained control of his Facebook account. He is still unable to access his account, but has taken immediate steps to protect his security.

Tharindu Jayawardhana is a prominent investigative journalist and human rights defender who has built a large following on Facebook and other online platforms. He uses this medium to raise awareness and campaign on human rights issues and violations in Sri Lanka, particularly focusing on police brutality and excesses.

Shortly before the cyber attack, Tharindu Jayawardhana had used his Facebook account to share sensitive information regarding the controversial appointment of Deshabandu Tennakoon as the Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) in Sri Lanka. The appointment of this officer took place despite widespread allegations of abuse, custodial torture, and a Supreme Court decision on 14 December 2023 that held him responsible for torture. Deshabandu Tennakoon has a history of targeting human rights defenders, including an online death threat against Tharindu Jayawardhana in June 2021.

A prison in Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa province is refusing to allow the family of political prisoner Nguyen Thi Tam to bring her traditional medicine to treat uterine fibroids, her sister told Radio Free Asia.

Fibroids are growths, which don’t normally develop into cancer but can cause major swelling in the uterus leading to the appearance of pregnancy.

Tam, 52, was arrested in June 2020 on charges of “propaganda against the State” under Article 117 of the criminal code.

The charges related to social media posts about a police attack on Dong Tam commune during which officers shot and killed protester Le Dinh Kinh.

In Dec. 2021, the People’s Court of Hanoi sentenced Tam to six years in prison.

After the appeal was rejected in Aug. 2022, Tam was transferred to serve her sentence at Gia Trung Prison in Gia Lai province, and then to Prison No. 5 in Thanh Hoa from the end of May 2023.

On Monday, Nguyen Thanh Mai told RFA her sister, Tam, was found to be suffering from fibroids in March last year.

She was not treated by an outside medical specialist but only at the prison’s infirmary, which lacked suitable medical equipment.

Her family sent traditional medicine and said Tam’s condition improved after using it. But since October, the prison stopped accepting the pills and dried leaves they sent.

“They said they could not determine the ingredients of the medicine the family sent,” Mai said. “They also said if she got sick she would have a prescription and the family could buy medicine according to the new instructions and send it.”

The medicine, Crinum latifolium, is on a list of 70 medicinal plants approved by Vietnam’s Ministry of Health in 2014, saying it was an “anti-cancer and eliminating fungus” supporting the treatment of cervical cancer,

Mai said the basic medicines given to Tam by the prison hospital had no effect on the fibroids and her sister had been bleeding for 17 consecutive days.

The reporter called Prison No. 5 to verify the information provided by Tam’s family. The unidentified call operator said prisoners can only receive medication with a doctor’s prescription.

“People here have a hospital. When they get sick they go to the hospital,” he said.​​

“As for Vietnamese medicine, we don’t know how it should be taken. There are no instructions on how to take it so how can anyone know?”

The person asked the reporter to come directly to the detention facility to have additional questions answered in person.

Mai said the prison also stopped giving Tam many other items the family sent including cassava flour and green bean powder which the prison canteen doesn’t have or sells at exorbitant prices.

Tam’s cell was searched, her sister said, and many belongings such as diaries, English books and writing materials were confiscated.

On March 29, Tam called her family to talk about mistreatment but a prison officer repeatedly intervened, telling her to “only talk about health issues” and finally hung up the phone.

Amnesty International publicized Tam’s health issues in March 2023, urging the Vietnamese government to urgently provide adequate health care and unconditionally release Tam and other activists. imprisoned for peacefully exercising human rights.

Former prisoner of conscience Dang Thi Hue said conditions in Prison No. 5 are extremely harsh, and poor nutrition caused even healthy inmates to get sick.

Le Thi Ha, the wife of Dang Dang Phuoc, told Project88 that she received a decision by the head of Daklak’s School of Pedagogy to “discipline” the music teacher because he’s convicted of “anti-state propaganda” and is serving an 8-year prison sentence. On the same day that decision was signed (12/21/2023), another decision by the Bureau of Education and Training of Dak Lak was also issued to fire him; however, Le Thi Ha said she only received the latter a few days ago. She added that Phuoc had been receiving only half of his salary between the time he was arrested (Sep. 2022) to Dec. 2023; after Jan. 2024, everything was terminated. On March 25, Ha also received a notification that Phuoc’s electronic devices and data related to the case will be destroyed, and the rest will be returned to her.

Koet Saray, President of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association (KSILA), was today sent to pre-trial detention at Correctional Centre 1 prison by an investigating judge at the at Phnom Penh Capital Court following charges of “committing a misdemeanour after sentencing for a misdemeanour” and “incitement to commit a felony” under Articles 88, 494, and 495 of the Criminal Code. The charges relate to ongoing land conflicts in Preah Vihear province.

On 6 April at around 3:30pm, police officers confirmed that Saray had been transported to the Phnom Penh Capital Court from the Phnom Penh Police Commissariat, where he had been held overnight following his arrest on 5 April at around 4:00pm by approximately 10 mixed uniformed and plainclothes police officers outside of KSILA’s office in Phnom Penh. Saray’s arrest followed an order issued by the Office of the Prosecutor at Phnom Penh Capital Court on 5 April to bring Saray to Phnom Penh Capital Police for questioning on “incitement to cause serious chaos to social security”.

One monk and around a dozen individuals from various youth groups and civil society organisations had been present at the Phnom Penh Police Commissariat on 6 April to monitor the situation. A few plainclothes police officers had also been deployed nearby, where they took photographs and videos and prevented human rights defenders from bringing food to Saray.

In 2023, the Supreme Court upheld incitement convictions against Saray and nine other activists in relation to peaceful gatherings calling for the release of then-imprisoned union leader Rong Chhun. The lower court had sentenced Saray in October 2021 to 20 months’ imprisonment with six months of his sentence suspended for a period of two years, and fined him 2 million riel (US$500).

Koet Saray, President of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association (KSILA), was today sent to pre-trial detention at Correctional Centre 1 prison by an investigating judge at the at Phnom Penh Capital Court following charges of “committing a misdemeanour after sentencing for a misdemeanour” and “incitement to commit a felony” under Articles 88, 494, and 495 of the Criminal Code. The charges relate to ongoing land conflicts in Preah Vihear province.

On 6 April at around 3:30pm, police officers confirmed that Saray had been transported to the Phnom Penh Capital Court from the Phnom Penh Police Commissariat, where he had been held overnight following his arrest on 5 April at around 4:00pm by approximately 10 mixed uniformed and plainclothes police officers outside of KSILA’s office in Phnom Penh. Saray’s arrest followed an order issued by the Office of the Prosecutor at Phnom Penh Capital Court on 5 April to bring Saray to Phnom Penh Capital Police for questioning on “incitement to cause serious chaos to social security”.

One monk and around a dozen individuals from various youth groups and civil society organisations had been present at the Phnom Penh Police Commissariat on 6 April to monitor the situation. A few plainclothes police officers had also been deployed nearby, where they took photographs and videos and prevented human rights defenders from bringing food to Saray.

In 2023, the Supreme Court upheld incitement convictions against Saray and nine other activists in relation to peaceful gatherings calling for the release of then-imprisoned union leader Rong Chhun. The lower court had sentenced Saray in October 2021 to 20 months’ imprisonment with six months of his sentence suspended for a period of two years, and fined him 2 million riel (US$500).

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) strongly condemns the arrests of three Hazara women human rights defenders (WHRDs) in Afghanistan. The arrests happened amidst the Taliban’s ongoing gender apartheid and persecution of ethnic and religious minorities.

On 28 March 2024, the Taliban arrested and detained WHRDs Azada Rezaei, Nadia Rezaei, and Elaha Rezaei alongside their brother, Yahya Rezaei. Two of the sisters are minors. In 2022, their sister Tamana was also detained for 29 days.

The Rezaeis’ whereabouts are currently unknown. Taliban representatives have denied involvement, while the Kabul police have failed to provide any information.

FORUM-ASIA calls for the immediate release of the Rezaei siblings. We also call for the safe return of WHRD Manizha Sediqqi, whose health conditions have been deteriorating under detention.

The Taliban’s persecution of human rights defenders

The Rezaei sisters are members of the Afghan Women’s Justice Movement, a women-led initiative that fearlessly challenges the Taliban’s discriminatory policies. The Rezaeis belong to the Shia Hazara community, a persecuted ethnic and religious minority in Afghanistan that has endured a ‘slow genocide’ under the Taliban.

Under Taliban custody, human rights defenders experience torture and ill-treatment, impacting not only their physical health but also their mental well-being. The threats and harassment also extend to their families, including intimidation, house searches, revenge killing, and enforced marriages.

WHRDs are at the forefront of resisting the Taliban’s oppressive regime.

Since the Taliban’s illegitimate takeover in 2021, several protest movements have been courageously and peacefully led by WHRDs despite the country’s shrinking civic space. However, in the absence of accountability, human rights defenders–within Afghanistan and those in exile–face numerous obstacles as they advocate for the protection and promotion of people’s fundamental rights and freedoms.

Call to Action

FORUM-ASIA calls for the immediate release of the Rezaie siblings alongside all other defenders who have been unjustly detained for their legitimate human rights work.

‘FORUM-ASIA urges the international community to hold the Taliban accountable for all its atrocious crimes, demanding them to fully respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of the people of Afghanistan as protected under the country’s international human rights commitments. The international community must help in providing hassle-free humanitarian visas and in establishing safe resettlement schemes for human rights defenders from Afghanistan. Members of vulnerable ethnic and religious groups–such as the Hazaras–should be prioritised in these resettlement processes,’ said Mary Aileen Diez-Bacalso, Executive Director of FORUM-ASIA.

We are also calling for greater support for Afghanistan’s civil society organisations and activists, including those in exile, to enable them to resume their invaluable advocacy work. Lastly, we demand the establishment of an international investigative accountability mechanism, which is capable of collecting, preserving, and analysing evidence related to all human rights violations in Afghanistan.

Huynh Ngoc Chenh, husband of Nguyen Thuy Hanh, told Project88 that on March 10 he was called to the police station to file paperwork that would allow him to bring Hanh home for cancer treatment, provided that she remain at the residence where she was living at the time of her arrest. However, that apartment had since been leased to another tenant, and the lease would not expire until March 18. Chenh told the police he would try to negotiate with the tenant to end the lease early so his wife could move back to that residence; however, that effort failed. Then on March 17, he called the authorities to let them know that he could take Hanh home on March 18, but received no response from them. Then on March 22, after Hanh’s radiation therapy, the authorities went to K Hospital and read an order to continue Hanh’s “temporary detention” for another three months. She was then taken back to the jail on 2 Thuong Tin St. It is not clear why Hanh’s family was given such false hopes.

Below is a letter from Tran Phuong Thao, wife of imprisoned climate leader Dang Dinh Bach. In it, she alleges Prison No. 6 in Nghe An province deliberately withheld a package of food from Bach, leaving him to have essentially no access to food for two weeks. This serious allegation should be thoroughly investigated by the international community.

Bach, who is serving five years in prison on spurious charges of tax evasion, has been subjected to harsh prison conditions and has undertaken numerous hunger strikes in protest. His family has also faced constant harassment from the Vietnamese authorities, even threatening the confiscation of their home.

---

Hanoi, 13.03.2024 ~

Dear friends, colleagues and international organizations

I came home yesterday (March 12) at 9PM after visiting my husband Đặng Đình Bách in Prison No. 6, Nghe An province. I left home (in Hanoi) at 9PM the day before (March 11), which means twenty three hours on the road to see and talk to Bách through a glass pane for one hour, and to bring him the 5kg of dried vegetarian food allowed by the Vietnamese authorities, vital for his survival.

This letter is going to be short, because there is no amelioration to Bách’s detention situation to report. It has gotten even worse, so bad that I have been feeling suffocated from anxiety for Bách’s health and safety, as the prison seemed to increase their policy of deprivation of food by not handing over the 6kg of food I sent Bách per post on Feb 28.

This food parcel was the only nutrition source Bách would get for the last 2 weeks, as he depends entirely on his family’s supplies to eat vegetarian and safe food. In his last phone call on Feb. 2, Bach had already informed me that he was running out of food.

VN Post recorded that parcel 475790 (sent by me on Feb 28) was delivered on March 4 at 9:25:33 to a prison warden named San. But the parcel never reached Bách, and my husband was left without food for the last 2 weeks.

“Every two or three days, the canteen sold me something,” Bách said, “and my teeth are getting loose.”

Bách would like to thank —

–Ms. Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Mr. Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.; Mr. David Boyd, Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment; Mr. Marcos A. Orellana, Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes; Ms. Priya Gopalan (Chair-Rapporteur), Mr. Matthew Gillett (Vice-Chair on Communications), Ms. Ganna Yudkivska (Vice-Chair on Follow-Up), Ms. Miriam Estrada-Castillo, and Mr. Mumba Malila – Working Group on arbitrary detention,

for urging the Government of Viet Nam to stop targeting, convicting, and mistreating him

  –Chairman Cardin for mentioning him and calling for his release in the Truth to Power series of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee SFRC.

As last week Vietnam and Vanuatu sought advice from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on national climate change obligations, Bách puts his trust in the wisdom and farsightedness of his friends and colleagues to monitor Vietnam’s national commitment on climate change issue.

Bách would like to wish you all endurance, peace of mind, and harmony.

Yours faithfully,

Tran Phuong Thao (Mrs)

‘Aurat March Islamabad’ organisers have sought a public apology from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for the ill-treatment of participants by the Islamabad administration on Friday.

The participants gathered in front of the National Press Club on March 8 for the annual Aurat March on International Women’s Day but the administration didn’t allow them to take their usual route towards the D-Chowk. The organisers claimed that the police pushed the participants including pregnant women, children and the elderly.

To protest against the administration’s treatment, the Aurat March Islamabad organisers held an emergency press conference on Saturday and called upon Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to take action against the police brutality and discrimination faced by the Aurat March supporters.

Those who addressed the gathering were Farzana Bari, Bariya Shah, Uzma Yaqoob and Fatima Atif who criticised denial of their rights to assemble and march towards D-Chowk.

“Despite our several attempts to obtain ‘No Objection Certificate’ from Islamabad District Administration, Aurat March had been denied NOC consequently for last five years, which means that state is now acting on its anti-Aurat March policy,” said a statement issued by the organisers.

Addressing the media, the organisers said that every year Aurat March Islamabad supporters face police brutality and violence in the form of baton charge, unwarranted obstruction and intimidation by the district administration and Islamabad Police.

“This year as well, we were pushed back by the police officers and lives of elderly women, pregnant mothers and women with disability were men-handled by the police itself. The police and administration’s action not only violate our constitutional rights but also undermine the principles of democracy and freedom of expression,” they said.

They said that IWD holds profound significance for women across the globe, serving as a reminder of the ongoing struggle for gender equality and justice. “By preventing us from exercising our democratic rights to protest peacefully, the authorities have displayed a blatant disregard for the voices and concerns of women in Pakistan. On the other hand, the administration provided full protocol and access to Haya Marchers which is mobilised every year by the state to prevent Aurat March Islamabad from happening,” they blamed.

The organisers demanded accountability for those responsible for threats against women marchers and an inquiry into why Haya Marchers were protected without an NOC while Aurat March was denied entry.

They called on women parliamentarians to investigate what happened and questioned Bilawal Bhutto for not condemning the Islamabad administration’s treatment.

Vietnamese state media declared two human rights organisations as terrorist groups on 6 March.

The groups are the North Carolina-headquartered Montagnard Support Group Inc (MSGI) and Montagnard Stand for Justice (MSFJ), which was established in Thailand. Both organisations specialise in defending the rights of the Montagnard minority ethnic group.

The majority of Montagnards are Christians and live in Vietnam’s central highlands. The community has a long history of conflict with the Vietnamese government and have faced intense harassment and intimidation since a June 2023 attack on provincial Communist party offices in Dak Lak that left nine dead, including local party officials and police.

The MSGI and MSFJ are accused of having helped plan the attack in Dak Lak, but leaders of both groups strongly deny these allegations.

The Vietnamese government’s press release named several human rights activists as terrorists and threatened that anyone working with them would face similar charges. It went on to give the personal home addresses of several key human rights figures in Thailand and the US.

CSW's Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: ‘The government of Vietnam is endangering the lives of human rights defenders by naming them and sharing their addresses on state media, which poses an immediate security concern and is clearly intended to silence, harass and intimidate. The government of Vietnam is an authoritarian state that is paranoid that the world will know the true nature of their control and repression of religious and ethnic minorities, and this is further evidence of its lack of inhibitions in participating in transnational repression against activists who are simply exercising their right to freedom of expression. CSW rejects the designation of the MSGI and MSFJ as terrorist organisations and we call on the Vietnamese government to recognise human rights groups as legitimate voices in any healthy civil society.’

A court in Vietnam on Tuesday sentenced a man to eight years in prison for managing a Facebook page that shared news and content that authorities said was against the state.

Nguyen Van Lam, 33, was the administrator of “The Diary of Patriots,” a page on Meta’s social media platform that authorities said defamed and smeared Vietnam's senior leaders.

Lam was convicted in the Tien Giang People’s Court in southern Vietnam of “making, storing, disseminating, propagandizing anti-state information and materials” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code, which is criticized by rights groups as being an intentionally vague law that allows Hanoi to stifle dissent.

According to the indictment, Lam, a native of Vinh Hoa commune, Vinh Loc district in Thanh Hoa province, regularly visited websites and social media pages to read posts and articles with bad content and therefore developed a “hostile and anti-state” attitude.

He used the Facebook account “Nguyễn Lâm” to put up 19 posts with content distorting and defaming the system of one-party rule in Vietnam, it said..

There are multiple pages on Facebook with the same name, and Lam may have had connections to more than one of them, state media said.

One of the “Diary of Patriots” pages had more than 800,000 followers.

The earliest page was created in 2011, at the beginning of widespread demonstrations against China’s claims and aggressiveness in the South China Sea. Though Vietnam upholds its own claims, it often stifles anti-China dissent.

Restricting freedom of speech

The arrest was aimed at punishing those who had “created a forum for people to discuss and share multifaceted information in the spirit of freedom of speech,” said a member of that page who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons.

“I am against the punishments against those who exercise human rights and promote human rights values,” he told RFA Vietnamese in a text message, saying that he did not know Lam personally.

He called on Vietnamese authorities to adopt the world’s “civilized standards,” and said that the international community has a responsibility not to ignore Vietnam’s crackdowns on activists while supporting Hanoi’s bid to stay on the U.N. Human Rights Council.

State media reports did not include information about Lam’s arrest.

RFA attempted to find details about his arrest by contacting the Tien Giang provincial police department, but staff who answered the phone refused to respond to queries.

Lam did nothing criminal by managing pages on social media, said Phil Robertson, Deputy Asia Director for New York-based Human Rights Watch.

“He should be immediately and unconditionally released,” Robertson said. “Sadly, it looks like Vietnam’s leaders will not stop this crackdown until they have imprisoned every last activist in the country.”

In July 2023, Ho Chi Minh City police arrested Phan Tat Thanh, who was allegedly the former administrator of “The Diary of Patriots” page, charging him with “propaganda against the state” under Article 117.

RFA’s database shows that since January 2024, the Vietnamese government has arrested six activists on the same charges and sentenced one to six years in prison for the same accusation.

In a fresh round of blocking social media accounts Read more at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/108250590.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Sri Lankan authorities must immediately drop their investigations into journalists G.P. Nissanka and Bimal Ruhunage and allow them to report without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

On March 6, police arrested freelance journalist Bimal Ruhunage from his home in the Kurunegala district of North Western Province, according to the Media Organizations Collective statement, as well as the journalist and his lawyer Keerthi Dunusinghe, who spoke to CPJ.

Police also seized Ruhunage’s mobile phone and wallet, which were returned to his wife later that day, the journalist said.

Ruhunage said he arrived at a local bus station four days prior, wearing his press identification card, to interview a mother seeking to give her child up for adoption. However, a police officer attempted to stop the journalist from filming them. Ruhunage continued to film as the officer took the mother and child to a police station in a three-wheeler taxi, footage of which was published by the U.S.-based news website Boston Lanka.

Following his arrest, Ruhunage was held in police remand until March 11, when he was released on bail, according to the journalist and his lawyer. Ruhunage has been ordered to appear in court on May 13.

“The arrests and criminal investigations launched into Sri Lankan journalists G.P. Nissanka and Bimal Ruhunage are unacceptable reactions by authorities and could create a chilling effect on the media,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna. “Sri Lankan journalists should not fear detention, seizure of their devices, or criminal cases for their work ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections to be held later this year.”

Egodamahawatta and Dunusinghe told CPJ that their clients were remanded into police custody despite being investigated for bailable offenses.

Nissanka stands accused of violating section 6 of the Computer Crime Act related to offenses committed against national security and a section of the police ordinance related to spreading false reports to create alarm and panic, Egodamahawatta said.

Separately, Ruhunage said that police informed him at the time of his arrest that he was being investigated for obstruction of police duties. However, the police complaint filed in court cited a section of the penal code pertaining to the use of criminal force to deter a public officer from discharge of duty, according to the journalist and his lawyer.

Ruhunage told CPJ that a police source informed him that the journalist was suspected of authoring a Voice of Sri Lanka report alleging that a senior police official did not disclose his ownership of a hotel in what may be an ethics violation.

Ministry of Defense spokesperson Nalin Herath did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment. CPJ also called and messaged police spokesperson Nihal Thalduwa for comment but did not receive any response.

Sri Lankan authorities must immediately drop their investigations into journalists G.P. Nissanka and Bimal Ruhunage and allow them to report without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

On the evening of March 5, officers with the Sri Lanka police service’s Criminal Investigation Department arrested G.P. Nissanka, owner and editor of the news site Ravana Lanka News, from his home in the Pallebedda area of the southern Sabaragamuwa Province, according to news reports and the Media Organizations Collective, a group of Sri Lankan organizations advocating for press freedom and freedom of expression.

Amila Egodamahawatta, Nissanka’s lawyer, told CPJ that the journalist was held in police remand until he was released on bail March 20. His mobile phone, seized during his arrest, remains in police custody as of Friday, Egodamahawatta said.

Nissanka’s arrest followed a complaint by Vikum Liyanage, commander of the Sri Lankan army, after Ravana Lanka News published an article accusing the commander of corruption and malfeasance.

Police arrested a 24-year-old Lao man for posting a video clip on Facebook, criticizing officers in a northern province for demanding bribes from travelers passing through a checkpoint near the Chinese border.

After his arrest, police released a video of the man, identified only as Bee, apologizing for making a false accusation, saying his earlier clip contained “twisted content about the way the police are doing their job.”

However, the audio portion didn’t sync up with the video — the voice didn’t match the mouth movements — making it appear that the audio portion may have been laid over the video.

The video, where Bee sits facing the camera at a wooden desk in a darkened room, appeared on the Phongsaly provincial police’s website.

“The content I posted was actually propaganda slandering the authorities, and it was against the government and the (ruling) party,” the voice says.

“I said that the police were taking bribes,” it says. “In fact, the police didn’t ask for any kickback from me, and I didn’t pay anything to them. For that, I’d like to apologize to the party, government and public.”

The male voice goes on to say that he would be mindful when posting social media content and that authorities could punish him to the fullest extent of the law if he did something wrong again.

When RFA contacted the Phongsaly provincial police, an official said it was not convenient for him to give details about the arrest.

But an employee at the provincial prosecutor’s office told RFA on Tuesday that her office had not yet received a police report about the incident.

Re-educated and released?

Bee, who hails from Khonkeo village in Houeixay district of Bokeo province in northwestern Laos, made his initial critical remarks about the Houeixam checkpoint in Phongsaly province’s Boun Tai district, bordering China, on Feb. 21.

A villager in Boun Tai district where the arrest was made said Bee was not punished, and he had heard that police freed him after he apologized on social media.

“He was not charged with anything more serious — only re-educated then released,” said the villager who requested anonymity out of fear of reprisal for speaking to the media.

Another district resident said police at the checkpoint were strict about checking all passports and IDs.

But a criminal lawyer said Bee was on the “wrong side of the law” by trying to defame authorities online, though the incident was not serious.

When citizens see authorities do something wrong, they should collect evidence and file a formal complaint with other relevant authorities who can investigate, rather than take to social media to criticize them, he said.

RFA has reported other incidents in which Laotians who publicly criticized authorities were arrested, re-educated and jailed or released.

In March 2023, police in Houaphanh province told a woman to apologize and amend a social media post on Facebook in which she said she had paid 95 million kip (US$4,500) for a job on the police force. When apologizing, she said she made a false statement that made police in the province look bad.

In a 2019 incident, Houayheuang Xayabouly, nicknamed Mouay, was sentenced to five years in prison for criticizing the government’s slow response to severe flooding in southern Laos.

Two ethnic Khmer Krom activists who were arrested last year on suspicion of distributing books about indigenous peoples’ rights were sentenced to prison on Wednesday by a Vietnamese court.

Nearly 1.3-million Khmer Krom live in a part of Vietnam that was once southeastern Cambodia. They have faced serious restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly and movement.

The Cau Ngang District People’s Court in southern Vietnam’s Tra Vinh province convicted To Hoang Chuong, 38, and Thach Cuong, 37, of “abusing democratic freedoms” under Article 331, a section of the penal code used by the government to silence dissenting voices.

Chuong received a four-year sentence and Cuong was given three-and-a-half years in prison, state media reported.

Last month, a court in neighboring Soc Trang province sentenced Danh Minh Quang, 34, to three-and-a-half years in prison on the same charge.

Quang was arrested in July 2023 as part of the same investigation as Chuong and Cuong.

Police in both provinces told local media that the men passed out copies of the United Nations’ “Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” which states that indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and develop their political, economic and social systems or institutions.

Prosecutors last month said that Quang used his personal Facebook account to post comments and live-stream videos that “violated Vietnam laws.”

The indictments for Cuong and Chuong also accused them of using their Facebook accounts to live-stream videos and to post and share photos and video clips, according to the Tra Vinh newspaper.

The contents of the articles, photos and video clips “affected the national and religious unity, distorted the history of Vietnam and the authorities and insulted the prestige” of police and local authorities, according to the Tra Vinh provincial Department of Information and Culture.

‘The reality of suppression’

A Khmer Krom resident of Vietnam who follows Chuong on Facebook told Radio Free Asia on condition of anonymity that he never saw any posts from Chuong that opposed the Vietnamese government.

“They reflected the reality of suppression against the Khmer community in southern Vietnam,” he said.

There was no information about whether Chuong and Cuong had a defense attorney present during Wednesday’s trial.

Khmer Kampuchea Krom for Human Rights and Development Association Secretary General Son Chum Chuon said the severe sentences were unfair and were particularly unjust if the two men were tried without access to a lawyer.

“These allegations are contrary to their actual activities,” he told RFA. “That is why we urged the Vietnamese government or the court to give them a lawyer.”

Josef Benedict, Asia Pacific civil space advocacy expert for rights group CIVICUS, called Wednesday’s convictions “an outrageous travesty of justice.”

“Both were targeted for their advocacy of the rights of the Khmer Krom community and should have never been brought to court,” he said.

Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson called the charges “bogus,” saying they were designed to stop the Khmer Krom activists exercising their civil and political rights.

"Article 331 is a perfect example of the total injustice perpetrated by the government because they can use this charge to criminalize virtually anything the authorities don't like,” he said.

“The lapdog Vietnamese courts do whatever they are told to do by the ruling party, and the ordinary Khmer Krom people who stand up for their communities, their religion and their culture have no chance to escape being sent to prison.”

A Vietnamese activist, accused of “propaganda against the State” is being denied access to a lawyer, his family told Radio Free Asia.

Phan Tat Thanh, 38, has been detained since July 2023, charged under Article 117 of the criminal code.

Prosecutors say he used three Facebook accounts to post and distribute content, “propagating information and documents with distorted content, causing confusion among the people, and fabricating and defaming the Communist Party of Vietnam.”

Thanh’s family have been able to meet him twice at a police detention center in Ho Chi Minh City, the first time on Feb. 16, 2024, and the second time on March 15.

Thanh told them that after a detention order expired police investigators issued a second order which lasted until Feb. 7.

Even though the police finished their investigation and transferred the case file to the City Procuracy, Thanh said he had not been allowed to meet the lawyer – Tran Dinh Dung – his family hired for him.

“Lawyer Dung went through all the procedures to request access to the files and contact Thanh. He doesn’t understand why the Procuracy and Security Investigation Department were completely silent and did not respond to him,” Thanh’s father Phan Tat Chi said on Wednesday.

The law states that defense lawyers should be allowed to participate in legal proceedings after the investigation has finished, even in cases relating to alleged violations of national security.

It also stipulates that lawyers are allowed to access documents related to the defense after the end of the investigation in order to take notes and make copies.

Ha Huy Son of the Hanoi Bar Association told RFA lawyers can file a complaint, asking the Procuracy to explain the reason for not allowing the lawyer to contact the client, and can use this to prove prosecutors failed to follow the correct procedures.

Thanh told his father investigators couldn’t find any evidence to convict him and didn’t appear to have any documents to support their case.

He also said he had been beaten by many of the policemen at the detention center.

RFA called the Ho Chi Minh City Procuracy to ask about Mr. Thanh’s case. The person on the phone said the reporter needed to come to the agency, or send a text in order to receive a reply.

Phan Tat Thanh is one of six Facebookers arrested on charges of “anti-state propaganda” last year.

Chief Administrative Officer of Shivasatakshi Municipality Amrit Bahadur Rai spoke foul on noted RTI activist Sharada Bhusal for requesting information on March 31 in Jhapa. Jhapa lies in Koshi Province of Nepal.

Activist Bhusal shared with Freedom Forum that she had requested information relating to the municipality’s internal and external audit reports using RTI application on January 31, 2024 through email.

Following her request, the officer Rai called her on mobile and spoke abusively. Bhusal shared a voice clip of the call with Freedom Forum. In the call, Rai was found shouted at Bhusal for information seeking through her email.

“Do you think you will get information delivered at your home? Did you pay for the extra pages of information as per RTI Law,” he was shouting.

Bhusal responded that she was expecting the information through email but if she needs to pay, he could inform about it through email.

Moreover, the chief administrative officer Rai continuing scolding and accusing artivist Bhusal of intentionally trying to trouble government officials in the pretext of RTI.

Freedom Forum condemns the misbehaviour of a public officer towards a citizen. Every citizen has right to information as guaranteed by the constitution. The officer should correct his behaviour towards the service seeker. The public agency is obliged to share information as per law to the information seeker.

Such activity of government employees is quite discouraging to building RTI regime and obstructing good governance efforts at a time when good governance is a pressing need in the country.

Kaski based reporter to Gorkhapatra National daily Fanindra Adhikari was issued threat for reporting on March 29. Kaski lies in Gandaki Province of Nepal.

Reporter Adhikari shared with Freedom Forum that he had wrote news about a case filed by Forest Division Office Kaski at the District Court against 22 people who encroached the forest in Pumdibhumdi, Pokhara. The case was filed on March 26. One of the accused Mekh Bahadur Kshetri called on Adhikari’s mobile and sent threatening messages on his mobile.

Kshetri not only threatened me but also called on my wife’s mobile and accused me of writing news for money. He also threatened me of attack.

Freedom Forum condemns the threat issued to journalist and his family for his reporting. Kshetri is urged to approach the regulatory body Press Council Nepal for any concern over published news rather than threatening the journalist.

The coordinator of the Batui shrimp farming community, Febriyanto Hado alias Ale, was arrested in the middle of the night at around 23.00 Wita by several members of the Banggai police. Friday, January 5, 2024.

The arrest was suspected of criminalization. The reason is, previously Ale and dozens of residents of the former Batui shrimp pond owners held a demonstration at the Banggai Regent's Office.

Ale is one of dozens of former shrimp farm owners who are fighting for their ancestral land.

In the arrest warrant number: Sp.Kap/63/Res.1.24./2024/Reskrim by the Banggai Police, Febriyanto Hado alias Ale is suspected of making threats pursuant to Article 355 of the Criminal Code at the location of the former shrimp ponds in Sisipan Village, Batui District.

According to Jenie, Ale's wife, her husband only had a verbal argument with the company PT Matra Arona Banggai. This was because the company continued to carry out activities on residents' land even though they had signed a statement that they would remove the equipment from residents' land.

"According to my husband, he only asked the company not to carry out activities because the manager promised not to carry out activities until there was a settlement, but after returning from the demonstration around 11 o'clock, my husband returned home and was intercepted in front of the house and immediately taken to the Banggai Police," said Jenie.

It is known that this is not the first time Ale has been questioned. Previously, the company reported Ale with three different cases, including document forgery, creating a people's resistance portal and being accused of threatening.

For this arrest, students and the community who are members of the alliance will hold a demonstration at the Banggai Police Station and write an official letter to the President, National Police Commission, National Human Rights Commission, Presidential Staff Office and Menkopolhukam.

"It is the umpteenth time, the criminalization of former shrimp pond farmers was carried out by the company. We on behalf of the Alliance of Students and Communities, in the near future, will officially write to the President of the Republic of Indonesia, National Police, National Human Rights Commission, Presidential Staff Office and Menkopolhukam," said Rifat Hakim.

The para-teachers of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente’s (IFI) Eskwelayan project denounced the harassment of its community organization Samahan ng Maralita sa Temporary Housing (SMTH). They have been subjected to surveillance by the Philippine military.

The first incident happened in March 2023 when soldiers visited them daily at the daycare center, taking photographs of their operations and asking for their personal information.

“Those military personnel, we [welcomed] them, we also included them in our clean-up drives. Unfortunately, they had a different motive,” Teacher Mariafe Hulipaz, president of Samahan ng Maralita sa Temporary Housing (SMTH), told Bulatlat.

The organization is a key partner of the IFI in the Eskwelayan Project, an alternative school program that offers a rights-based education to children in Aroma, Tondo.

“The harassment faced by the leaders of SMTH deeply troubles us. It prompts us to reflect on why the military is targeting this community-based, cause-oriented group that is simply advocating for their fundamental rights to housing and livelihood,” The Rt. Rev’d Dindo Ranojo, IFI general secretary, said in a statement.

Continued harassment

The SMTH was established in 2016 due to threats of demolition in the community. It advocates for the rights of the residents in housing and livelihood.

“Our families are affected by demolition since they will displace us far from our livelihood here and that’s what we are fighting against,” Hulipaz said.

The state forces also profiled the organization as affiliated with progressive groups.

According to SMTH, they only asked for help from Rep. Arlene Brosas of Gabriela Women’s Partylist regarding the housing opportunities of the government to also help those affected by the demolitions. They said that the SMTH is not affiliated with Gabriela.

“The military always imposed on us the question on how SMTH survives or became progressive if we are not affiliated with any organization,” Delia Gatela, vice president of SMTH, said.

In February 2024, several incidents of red-tagging were documented involving the 11th Civil Military Operations Kaugnayan Battalion’s Facebook post. Some residents are tagged as members of SMTH under the pretext of “fake surrenders.” Another post indicated that they would later sign a commitment of support to the NTF-ELCAC.

“Not all of the 284 are SMTH members, and some of the SMTH members simply received aid [ayuda], but they didn’t know that they would be labeled as surrenderers by the military. Two of our former members allied with the military, when the military found out that there was a problem between SMTH and our former comrades, the soldier got the idea to use them to create a new community organization because the military couldn’t enter the community of SMTH,” Hulipaz said.

Complaints

The teachers filed a barangay blotter and a formal complaint with the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) against the military personnel. However, only high-ranking officers faced the organization.

“We want to face the military personnel who red-tagged us in the community because they are the ones who did bad things to our organization,” SMTH said.

The IFI expressed solidarity with SMTH and with the residents of Brgy. Aroma. The IFI also supports their quest for a better situation and wholeheartedly believes that their aspirations are justified and morally right.

Two Pangasinan-based environmental defenders and organizers were violently mauled and dragged into an SUV at about 8 p.m. on March 24 in Barangay Polo, San Carlos, Pangasinan, according to human rights group Karapatan-Central Luzon

Karapatan – Central Luzon said the abduction of Francisco “Eco” Dangla III and Axielle “Jak” Tiong is the seventh and eighth abduction in Central Luzon.

“Similar to all other incidents of abductions and enforced disappearances, the two were victims of terror-tagging and vilification despite being genuine champions of the environment and the people of Pangasinan,” said Karapatan-Central Luzon in a statement.

Both Dangla and Tiong were actively raising awareness on the impact of coal-fired power plants and offshore mining. They campaigned against the revival of the faulty Bataan Nuclear Power Plant and the proposed entry of small modular nuclear reactors, according to scientists’ group Agham – Advocates of Science and Technology for the People.

They are also both co-convenors of the Pangasinan People’s Strike for the Environment, a member organization of the EcoWaste Coalition and the Ecology Ministry of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan.

Dangla is a leader of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Pangasinan and coordinator of Makabayan, while Tiong is national coordinator for Kabataan Partylist (KPL).

“It reflects the worsening state of human rights under the government of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, which continues to silence criticisms against its anti-people programs and policies,” Bayan said in a statement, calling for both activists to be surfaced.

This incident contradicts the claim of Marcos Jr. of “decreased” human rights violations in the Philippines in his recent speeches inside and outside the country. He claims that incidents of human rights violations were “down by half in 2023 as compared to 2022.”

Karapatan noted that the biggest hike in human rights violations is in the number of victims of enforced disappearances: from four in 2022 to 11 in 2023. This is followed by a 58-percent increase in the number of frustrated extra-judicial killings and 46-percent in the extra-judicial killings.

“These figures are enough to dispel Marcos Jr.’s false claims that things are looking better on the human rights front. The only thing that distinguishes Marcos Jr. from Duterte is his conscious cultivation of a more ‘presidential’ image compared to his predecessor’s crassness,” said Karapatan.

The abduction of human rights defenders continuously paints the worsening human rights situation in the country, despite presidential pronouncements. Several local and national organizations are searching for the whereabouts of the two activists.

“We call on the people to provide any relevant information about this case. We enjoin all advocates of civil liberties to denounce this latest attack on the human rights community and to put pressure on authorities to immediately release Eco and Axielle,” Bayan said, holding the government accountable for any harm done to the activists.

Activist Nawat Liangwattana has been hit with a 6th royal defamation charge for delivering a speech at an August 2023 protest to commemorate those who died in the 2010 crackdown.

Nawat reported to the Pathumwan Police Station last Saturday (23 March) after being informed of the charge, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.

The complaint against him was filed by Anon Klinkaew, leader of the ultra-royalist group People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy. Anon has filed several royal defamation complaints against activists and netizens. He has also been involved in attacks on pro-democracy activists and citizen journalists.

The 14 August 2023 protest started from the Pathumwan Intersection and moved to the Ratchaprasong Intersection to commemorate the protesters who died in the 2010 crackdown. In his speech, Nawat called for justice to be given to those who died, stating that “…no one should have been killed by the crown’s bullets.” The plaintiff argued that the statement was made with malicious intent towards the King, a violation of the royal defamation law.

Nawat denied the allegation. As he reported to the police, he was not detained.

The case is his 6th royal defamation charge. The other charges stem from his participation in pro-democracy protests.

Student activist Sirapob Phumpheungphut has been found guilty of royal defamation and sentenced to prison over a speech given at a protest on 18 November 2020 about the monarchy’s role in Thai politics.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said today (25 March) that the South Bangkok Criminal Court sentenced Sirapob to 3 years in prison, but later reduced his sentence to 2 years because he gave useful testimony. However, the Court found him not guilty of violating the Emergency Decree and the Public Assembly Act because he did not organize the protest.

The South Bangkok Criminal Court later decided to forward Sirapob’s bail request to the Appeal Court. He will be detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison until a ruling is made.

Sirapob was accused of royal defamation for a speech given at the 18 November 2020 protest, during which protesters marched from the Ratchaprasong Intersection to the police headquarters. The protest came after a crackdown on a protest in front of the parliament complex the day before.

During the protest, activists took turn giving speeches on a speaker truck. Sirapob spoke about the role of the monarchy in Thai politics and the transfer of some army units to be under the King’s direct command. The Court ruled that his speech was “anti-monarchy” and that his criticism was not made in good faith because he defamed the King by saying that the King was above the Constitution and held centralized power.

Another activist, Chukiat Sangwong, was also charged along with Sirapob. However, he did not appear in court, so the Court struck his case from the case list.

Update:

The Appeal Court on 27 March denied bail for Sirapob on the grounds that the charges carry a high penalty and he is a flight risk.

TLHR noted, however, that Sirapob's bail request clearly stated that he is a student in a Master's degree programme and has never intended to run.

Activists Tantawan Tuatulanon and Nutanon Chaimahabut, who have been on a hunger strike for over a month to protest their detention, have been denied bail for the 7th time.

Tantawan’s father, Sommai Tuatulanon, filed a bail request for Tantawan and Nutanon with the Criminal Court this morning (28 March) because their health has worsened due to their hunger strike. However, the court dismissed his request because there is no reason to change its existing order.

Activist Orawan Phupong said that Tantawan and Nutanon have very low blood potassium levels, putting their lives in danger. Doctors have recommended that they receive treatment, but they have refused.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) also said that, according to a cardiologist monitoring Tantawan, she has heart arrhythmia due to low potassium and magnesium level. The cardiologist has told her family that she could go into cardiac arrest.

Tantawan and Nutanon were arrested on 13 February on several charges, including sedition, for allegedly honking at and blocking a royal motorcade and for posting dash cam footage of the incident. They have so far been detained for 44 days and all of their bail requests have been denied.

In a Facebook post on 11 February, Tantawan said that she did not block or cut off the motorcade. She also said she did not know that there was going to be a motorcade. She was on the way back from a funeral and admitted that she was speeding because she was in a hurry.

The dashcam footage shows the vehicle stuck in traffic. The car’s horn can be heard when it moved to the front of the line and the lane was blocked by a police vehicle. The footage also shows that the vehicle was stuck behind another police vehicle at the exit from the expressway. A police officer can be seen approaching the vehicle before Tantawan is heard arguing.

On 20 March, the Criminal Court extended their detention order for 12 more days, as the police claim they are still gathering evidence.

Tantawan and Nutanon has been on a hunger strike since the beginning of their detention. They are calling for a reform of the justice system, an end to the detention of dissidents, and for Thailand to denied its bid for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council.

Tantawan is now held at Thammasat University Hospital and Nutanon at the Corrections Hospital. Both have refused medical intervention. They continue to refuse food and are drinking only a small amount of water each day.

Some 200 Myanmar migrant workers were fired from their garment factory jobs in China’s Yunnan province and forced to leave the country after they protested for better pay and working conditions, a labor union leader told Radio Free Asia.

More than 1,000 workers from two garment factories in Yunnan’s Yingjiang city demonstrated on March 17, according to Tin Tin Wai, the co-chairwoman of the New Light Federation of Labor Unions Myanmar.

“We were threatened through interpreters with police arrest if we didn’t stop the protest,” said a worker who identified himself as Super. “The police officers looked like they were about to beat us, but they ended up not hitting any protesters.”

The next day, factory officials demanded that some of the protesters undergo a medical exam, Tin Tin Wai said. The 200 workers who were fired from the Shangcheng and Xinjiahao factories were told they had failed the exam, she said.

They were then immediately driven out of the factory gates to a police station, where they were told to sign a document that said they weren’t fired for protesting, according to one of the workers, Ma Jue.

“They didn’t allow us to take our belongings out of our rooms,” she told RFA. “We were forced to sign a paper that we were voluntarily returning home.”

The workers were then driven back to Myanmar’s Kayin state, Tin Tin Wai said.

No legal recourse

Protesters had demanded that their usual 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. working schedule be scaled back, that they be paid extra for overtime and that they receive a monthly salary of 1,500 yuan (US$208) with an attendance bonus, she said.

They also asked for reasonable output goals and to have Sundays off, she said.

There are more than 1,000 Myanmar migrant workers at the Shangcheng factory and about 300 workers from Myanmar at the Xinjiahao factory.

Because there is no memorandum of understanding between the two governments, Myanmar migrant workers at Chinese garment factories don’t have legal recourse and can be sent home at any time, according to observers of Myanmar labor issues at the Chinese border.

At the Shangcheng and Xinjiahao factories, employment agents who arranged for the workers to come from Myanmar never get involved or take any responsibility when there are disputes between the workers and factory owners, Tin Tin Wai said.

Super told RFA that some Myanmar workers were promised higher salaries than the ones they now receive.

“The Chinese employers offered salaries of 900,000 to 1,000,000 kyats (US$425 to US$475), plus overall expenses for accommodation,” said the worker, who identified himself as Super. “However, the workers did not even get 800,000 kyats (US$380).”

Super said he watched some workers quit because they couldn’t handle all the overtime work and didn’t have access to painkillers or other medicine.

RFA contacted the Chinese Embassy in Yangon and the Myanmar Consulate in Yunnan about last week’s protest, but there was no response.

Vietnamese authorities on Thursday arrested and charged two Facebook bloggers for “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe the interests of the state” for posting comments about the handling of a case of a death row inmate, Vietnamese media reported.

The Security Investigation Agency of the Binh Duong provincial police charged Nguyen Duc Du and Hoang Quoc Viet under Article 331 of Vietnam’s Penal Code, saying their social media posts about death row inmate Ho Duy Hai being unjustly sentenced had insulted judiciary agencies.

Their cases bring to five the number of people who have been prosecuted under Article 331, a law that rights groups say authorities regularly use to suppress dissent or criticism of the government.

Authorities arrested and temporarily detained Du, 48, while they banned Viet, 46, from leaving his residential area. Both live in Binh Duong province in southern Vietnam.

The Public Security Ministry’s People’s Public Security Newspaper reported that police said Du and Viet published many social media posts with content that distorted, slandered and defamed agencies and individuals – without specifying the content of their posts.

The prosecution of the two bloggers also illustrates the lengths that authorities will go to to silence critics for comments they made or social media posts they wrote in the past.

Nguyen Van Dai, who used to work as a lawyer in Hanoi for many years, said social media platforms have been full of information defending and demanding justice for Ho Duy Hai since 2008.

Hai was arrested in March 2008 and convicted nine months later of robbery and the murder of two postal employees in Long An province. He was sentenced to five years in prison for the theft and given the death penalty for the murders, despite a lack of crucial evidence and irregularities in how the case was handled.

In 2020, the Supreme People’s Court rejected a request by the Supreme People’s Procuracy to reinvestigate the case, prompting Hai’s family members to petition lawmakers over his death sentence. That petition has not been addressed, and Hai, now 39, is still on death row.

The prosecution of Du and Viet is a crackdown on freedom of speech and was carried out to serve the political purposes of several officials in the judiciary system, Dai said.

“The arrest and detention of the two individuals who posted information concerning the Ho Duy Hai case on social media is nothing more than suppression, as the information [they posted] has been available for a long time,” Dai said.

Numerous democratic countries and human rights groups have called on Hanoi to repeal or amend Article 331, along with Article 117, arguing they are abused to stifle dissent.

Authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu have handed a four-year jail term to veteran rights activist Xu Qin, after repeatedly delaying her trial and sentencing despite concerns over her deteriorating health, and amid reports of torture from a prominent rights group.

The Yangzhou Intermediate People's Court sentenced Xu, a key figure in the Wuhan-based China Rights Observer group founded by jailed veteran dissident Qin Yongmin, to four years' imprisonment on March 29 for "incitement to subvert state power," a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch rights website reported.

It quoted Xu as telling the sentencing hearing: "I'd like to thank everyone for their care and support, and also thank my husband for his help and support. Regardless of whether it’s futile or not, I must appeal. This is my right."

An award-winning activist in a number of high-profile human rights cases, including that of detained human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng, Xu was detained under "residential surveillance at a designated location" in 2021, a form of incommunicado detention rights groups say puts detainees at greater risk of torture and mistreatment.

Her family told RFA in earlier interviews that Xu is a stroke and heart attack survivor who suffers from high blood pressure, among other ailments.

But according to the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch rights website, many of Xu's health problems were caused by her torture and mistreatment in detention.

"During her detention and interrogation, Xu Qin was brutally tortured to extract a confession, and was held in solitary confinement for a long period of time," the website said in a report about her sentencing published on Sunday.

"Xu already suffered from multiple health problems including stroke, heart attack and hypertension, and as a result [of the torture], she was left paralyzed and unable to stand," it said.

Since she was locked up in the detention center, Xu has started using a wheelchair, according to her lawyer.

Xu told the court on Friday that she would appeal the sentence, which came after more than two years in pretrial detention at the Yangmiao Detention Center in Yangzhou city, where she held intermittent hunger strikes in protest at a loss of communications privileges as well as a months-long ban on meetings with her lawyer, Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch said.

Repeated calls to Xu's lawyer rang unanswered during office hours on Monday.

Trial was delayed

Xu's trial was delayed several times following her initial detention in May 2021, with the authorities citing only "unavoidable circumstances."

But her family says it was delayed due to her refusal to provide the state security police with a "confession."

The trial was eventually held on Nov. 7, 2022, but the verdict and sentencing were also repeatedly delayed until now.

New York-based rights lawyer Chen Chuangchuang, who also heads the U.S. branch of the banned China Democracy Party, said Chen has always been an extremely tenacious activist.

"The trial was held a long time ago, but the verdict and sentencing were delayed multiple times, which is a deliberate form of torture used by the Chinese Communist Party," Chen told RFA on Monday.

Chen said that one of the purposes of the authorities' repeated delay in pronouncing the sentence was to get Xu Qin to plead guilty, and that she had been especially targeted due to her association with Qin Yongmin.

According to the Weiquanwang rights website, the charges against Xu listed her participation in Qin's China Rights Observer and its sister organization Rose China as evidence against her.

Qin was sentenced in July 2018 to 13 years' imprisonment for "incitement to subvert state power," the latest in a string of long sentences for his peaceful dissent and attempts to build the banned China Democracy Party.

A contemporary of exiled dissident Wei Jingsheng, Qin was sentenced to eight years in prison for "counterrevolutionary propaganda and subversion" in the wake of China's Democracy Wall movement in 1981.

He served a further two years' "re-education through labor" in 1993 after he penned a controversial document titled the "Peace Charter."

Qin then served a 12-year jail term for subversion after he helped found the China Democracy Party in 1998 in spite of a ban on opposition political parties.

Xu was honored with the Lin Zhao Freedom Award for her human rights advocacy in 2022, and the Oscar China Freedom Human Rights Award last month.

Environmental activist from Karimunjawa, Central Java, Daniel Frits Maurits Tangkilisan was sentenced to 7 months in prison for EIT Law.

The verdict hearing was held at the Jepara District Court, Central Java, Thursday (4/4). The trial was led by Chief Judge Parlin Mangantas Bona, Member Judges Joko Ciptano, and Yusuf Sembiring.

"Adjudging that, one, the defendant Daniel has been proven legally and convincingly guilty of the crime of without the right to disseminate information aimed at creating hatred for certain groups of people based on ethnicity, religion, race and intergroup or SARA," said Parlin Mangantas Bona when reading out the trial verdict.

"Two, punish the defendant with imprisonment for seven months and a fine of Rp 5 million, provided that the fine is not paid, it will be replaced by imprisonment for one month," he continued.

In addition, in his decision, the judge ordered evidence, namely Daniel's cellphone and Facebook account, to be destroyed.

On that occasion, the Chief Judge also read out the aggravating and mitigating considerations in handing down the verdict. The aggravating factor was that the defendant Daniel was considered to have caused unrest to the Karimunjawa community.

The mitigating circumstances in the view of the panel of judges were that the defendant was an environmental activist. In addition, the defendant was cooperative and polite during the trial.

"The mitigating factors are that the defendant has never been convicted, the defendant is polite, and cooperative in the trial, the defendant is an environmental activist, an educational service that has contributed to the community not only in Karimunjawa and many other areas," he said.

The Regional Board of Indonesian Islamic Students (PW PII) Banten plans to hold a demonstration in front of the Banten Police office, Serang City.

The action aimed to highlight the issue of weak law enforcement against illegal mining in Lebak Regency and the lack of response from the Banten Police regarding the issue, on Tuesday, December 2, 2023.

However, the action organized by PW PII Banten did not go smoothly.While on the road in front of the Banten Police office, the action was blocked by the police, causing a tense situation at the location.

Action Coordinator, Kiki Baehaki, explained that the demonstration was carried out in response to the negative impact felt by the people of Cidoyong Village, Lebak Gedong District, due to illegal gold mining in the area.

"We held the demonstration because of the bad impact felt by the local community in Cidoyong Village, Lebak Gedong District, on Mount Cidoyong due to the impact of illegal gold mining excavation, flooding occurred in several villages in Cipanas District," said Baehaki.

He continued by saying that the illegal mine in Lebak Gedong was sealed in 2020 by the Banten Police, but after being surveyed by PW PII Banten, it was found that the mining activities were still ongoing until this year.

"We found the largest gold mine in Ciguha Pilar Cileksa, Sukajaya District, Bogor Regency, which has not received firm action from the police," he continued.

He said, alluding to Law 158 on the prohibition of illegal mining, Baehaki emphasized that miners without a license can be subject to 5 years imprisonment or a fine of 100 million rupiah. However, he questioned the minimal law enforcement related to illegal mining cases in Banten.

"With this issue, I suspect that there is collusion between the Banten Police, Lebak Police, and gold mining bosses regarding the security of illegal mining operations," he said.

He revealed that this action was blocked by the police when passing on the Cipocok District road towards the Banten Police. There was an argument and police intimidation of the protesters who wanted to continue the demonstration in front of the Banten Police.

"But despite the intimidation, PW PII Banten remains committed to continuing the legal struggle related to the illegal mining issue," he said.

In closing, Baehaki stated that this case shows the tense situation regarding the issue of illegal mining in Banten and the tension between the demonstrators and the police.

"So the plan is to continue the legal justice movement in Banten by offering an audience and reporting illegal mining cases to the Police Headquarters," he concluded.

The South Sulawesi Police disbanded a discussion held by Forum Anomali and the Muhammadiyah Student Association or IMM Parepare in Parepare City, South Sulawesi today, Friday, January 19, 2024. The discussion discussed the future and anomalies of democracy today.

The speakers in the discussion were UI BEM Chair Melki Sedek Huang, UGM KM BEM Chair Gielbran M. Noor, Unpad BEM Chair Muhammad Haikal, and Sema Paramadina Secretary General Afiq Naufal. They are also the founders of Forum Anomali, which initiated the discussion.

According to Melki, Parepare Police Chief Arman Muis had urged the organizers to cancel the event before it took place. "Reportedly it is a directive from the South Sulawesi Police," Melki said when contacted via WhatsApp message, Friday, January 19, 2024.

Melki said that his side was not allowed to hold discussions, carry out criticism, and bring corn, which is a symbol of their movement. "There was almost a conflict, but we still held the discussion in the right place," he said.

When the event took place, Melki said the Parepare Police Chief came to the location in uniform to supervise the discussion. He said the Parepare Police Chief directed the press not to cover the event. "Even though they have been invited," said Melki Sedek Huang.

Regarding the number of personnel who dispersed the discussion, Melki said he did not count exactly.

However, he said there were approximately ten to twenty personnel.

Until now, Melki admitted that he did not know the reason why the discussion was disbanded."We only heard a police officer stating that this was the direction of the South Sulawesi Police," he said.

Forum Anomali was founded by Melki, Gielbran, Haikal, and Afiq to spread the understanding of safeguarding democracy to many regions. Before holding the discussion, they and the students held a #DemocracyJagung action in Makassar on Thursday, January 18, 2024,

The Criminal Court ruled yesterday (20 March) to continue detaining activists Tantawan Tuatulanon and Nutanon Chaimahabut, who have been on a hunger strike for over a month, for 12 more days, as the police claims they are still gathering evidence.

Lawyer Kritsadang Nutcharus said that an inquiry officer from Din Daeng Police Station filed a request for the Court to extend its detention order on the grounds that the police are still examining whether dashcam footage given by an eyewitness had been manipulated.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) noted that, when filing a previous detention request on 8 March, the police also claimed that they were still waiting for the footage examination result and told the Court that the examination should be done within a week.

Tantawan and Nutanon were arrested on 13 February on several charges, including sedition, for allegedly honking at and blocking a royal motorcade and for posting dash cam footage of the incident. They have been repeatedly denied bail.

To call for a reform of the justice system, an end to the detention of dissidents, and for Thailand to denied its bid for a seat in the UN Human Rights Council, the two activists have been on a hunger strike since the first day of their detention and are refusing medical intervention. Tantawan is now held at Thammasat University Hospital. TLHR said that she has ketoacidosis and that she has signed a document stating that she does not consent to receiving fluid or nutrients if she loses consciousness. A doctor reportedly told Tantawan that she could go into shock or lose consciousness if she continues her hunger strike. She insists on continuing to refuse food, nutrients or sugar water, and is only drinking a small amount of water each day.

Meanwhile, Nutanon is held at the Corrections Hospital. TLHR said an infection was found in his intestine, but he refused to take medication. He is also refusing food and is only drinking a small amount of water each day.

In a Facebook post on 11 February, Tantawan said that she did not block or cut off the motorcade. She also said she did not know that there was going to be a motorcade. She was on the way back from a funeral and admitted that she was speeding because she was in a hurry.

The dashcam footage shows the vehicle stuck in traffic. The car’s horn can be heard when it moved to the front of the line and the lane was blocked by a police vehicle. The footage also shows that the vehicle was stuck behind another police vehicle while at the exit from the expressway. A police officer can be seen approaching the vehicle before Tantawan is heard arguing.

Activist Parit Chiwarak has been accused of royal defamation for posting a critique of a Constitutional Court ruling that former Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha had not violated the constitution by continuing to live in army housing after his retirement.

According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), Parit reported to the police yesterday (21 March) after receiving a summons in February. He was informed by the inquiry officer that he had been accused of royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act for social media posts about a December 2020 Constitutional Court ruling that Gen Prayut’s occupation of army housing after retirement did not constitute a conflict of interest and was therefore not a violation of the Constitution.

The complaint against Parit was reportedly filed in December 2021 by former Phalang Pracharath MP Pareena Kraikupt, who claimed she saw four Facebook posts from an account with Parit’s name on it criticizing the ruling, discussing King Vajiralongkorn, and utilising a quote about judges that has often been attributed to the late King Bhumibol.

Pareena reportedly filed the complaint because she believed that Parit was the owner of the Facebook page and felt that his posts defamed King Vajiralongkorn.

Parit denied all charges. He also refused to be fingerprinted, requesting that the police uses his citizen ID number to check his identity and criminal record instead. He felt that there was no need to use his fingerprint in the investigation but the police told him that he would be charged with refusing to follow an officer’s order if he did not cooperate.

This the 25th royal defamation charge filed against Parit. TLHR noted that the summons was issued several years after the complaint was filed. They also noted that in November 2023, Pareena claimed she had withdrawn her complaint against Parit.

As a result of the posts, Parit was also accused of insulting the court, but the public prosecutor decided not to indict him.

Twenty-nine persons including 02 Buddhist monks and 03 females have been arrested during the protest staged by the ‘Jana Aragala Viyaparaya’ in Pettah today (20), police said.

It is reported that Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) activist Duminda Nagamuwa and youth activist Lahiru Weerasekara are among those arrested during the protest.

Meanwhile, at least 05 police officers have been injured during the clashes with protesters, according to police.

Earlier, police had resorted to using tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protesters in Pettah, Colombo.

The demonstration had been organized by the ‘Jana Aragala Viyaparaya’ (People’s Struggle Movement) based on several issues including the soaring cost of living and certain foreign agreements.

The protest march had commenced from near the Fort Railway Station and they were heading in the direction of Pettah when riot police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse them, Ada Derana reporter said.

Kyrgyz activist Askat Jetigen has been sent to pretrial detention for at least two months while an investigation into his alleged calls for mass unrest continues. The decision by a Bishkek court on March 20 came just two days after Jetigen, who was initially detained over the weekend, was released from custody and ordered not leave the country. Jetigen is known for his criticism of the Kyrgyz government. His last video criticizing reforms by the Culture Ministry aired on March 15. Human rights groups have criticized the Kyrgyz government for using the charge "calls for mass unrest" as a tool to muzzle dissent.

On March 18, three more farmers protesting at the Punjab-Haryana borders as a part of the ‘Delhi Chalo’ died, bringing the death toll since the protest started to a total of ten. Two of the deceased farmers were aged, between the age of 75-80, while the third farmer was 40-years-old. As provided by the report of Hindustan Times, the farmer union leaders have blamed the deaths of the farmers upon the toxic air emanating from tear gas shells fired by the police that the farmers are being forced to inhale on both Shambhu and Khanouri borders. Due to the tear gas shells, the farmers have allegedly been facing breathing issues.

More about the deceased farmers:

Farmer Balkar Singh, aged 76, belonged to the Ajnala block of Amritsar. As per a report of the Times of India, Balkar breathed his last breath on Monday at the Rajpura railway station while waiting for the Shan-e-Punjab Express. As per the report, he was going home due to his ill health. It has been reported that Balkar Singh had expressed his wish to go home for a few days as he was feeling unwell. In the TOI report, Rajpura government railway police (GRP) assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Sukhwant Singh has provided that Balkar Singh was moved to hospital after alert.

Responding to Balkar’s death, Sarvan Singh Pandher of the Kisan-Mazdur Mukti Morcha (KMM) said that “Balkar was part of the Shambhu since it was pitched, and he died waiting to get home to his three sons and a daughter.”

Another elder farmer name Bishan Singh, aged 75, of Khandoor village in Pakhowal block of Ludhiana district, died on the same day as Balkar Singh after suffering from cardiac arrest. As claimed by the farmers leaders Bishan was associated with Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur) farmer union and had stayed at Shambhu border since the beginning of farmers’ “Delhi Chalo” protest.

According to a separate TOI report, other farmers provided had that the deceased was facing breathing problems for the past few days after facing tear gas shells and smoke. He was moved to Rajpura’s govt hospital and declared dead after breathing issues.

Karamjit Singh Pakhowal block general secretary of BKU Ekta Sidhupur stated that “Bishan Singh faced breathing problems in the wee hours of Monday following which he was rushed to government hospital in Rajpura where doctors declared him dead.”

Pakhowal also provided details about the deceased and his family, and stated “He was unmarried. Bishan was the owner of only one acre of agricultural land and was in debt. He is survived by five brothers and their family members. The brother of the deceased has reached the hospital’s mortuary and a decision over his cremation will be taken soon.”

Rajpura senior medical officer Dr Bidhi Chand referred to both the aforementioned deaths and said that “Both Bishan Singh and Balkar Singh were brought dead to the hospital. The causes of their death will be cleared once we do the autopsy by Tuesday. For now, the bodies are in mortuary.”

The third deceased farmer was identified as Tehal Singh, who died at his residence in Mansa district. As per the report of TOI, Tehal Singh belonged to Bhathlan village in Mansa district, and died on early hours of Monday morning. As per the report, only hours prior to his death, the deceased farmer had returned from the Khanauri border protest.

Daniel Frits Maurits Tangkilisan, a resident of Karimunjawa, Jepara Regency, who objected against shrimp farming, was indicted for ten months' imprisonment. The indictment was read out by the prosecutor in a hate speech trial under the Electronic Information and Transaction Law (EIT Law) that ensnared Daniel at the Jepara District Court on Tuesday, March 19, 2024.

In a copy of the indictment Tempo obtained, Daniel was charged with violating Article 45A Paragraph 2 in conjunction with Article 28 Paragraph 2 of Law number 19 of 2016 concerning amendments to Law number 11 of 2008 concerning EIT.

"Imprisonment for 10 months minus the detention period already served by the defendant and a fine of IDR 5 million, provided that if the fine is not paid, it will be replaced by one month of imprisonment," read the indictment quoted on Wednesday, March 20, 2024.

Daniel was reported for his comments on Facebook. Daniel initially uploaded a 6:03-minute video on his Facebook account on November 12, 2022. The video shows the condition of the Karimunjawa coast which is affected by shrimp pond waste.

A number of accounts then commented on the upload, both pro and con. Daniel replied to one of the comments with the sentence, "The shrimp brain community enjoys eating free shrimp while being eaten by farmers. In essence, the brain shrimp community is just like the shrimp farm itself. Fed deliciously, a lot, and regularly to be harvested."

A detained pro-democracy activist and protest leader has been hit with additional prison time for royal defamation as a result of a speech he gave at a protest in 2020. Found guilty of royal defamation in two earlier cases, he now faces a total of 7 years and 6 months in jail.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights reports that Shinawat Chankrajang was charged with royal defamation over a protest speech he gave on 21 December 2020 when he and other activists organised a march to the Bangkhen Police Station to support activists facing charges stemming from an earlier demonstration.

The protest leader addressed the need for reform of the monarchy and amendment of the law related to the King’s personal property. As a result of the protest, 7 activists were prosecuted. Three of the defendants - Shinawat, Anon Nampa, and Parit Chiwarak - were charged with royal defamation while the rest were charged with violating the Assembly Act.

During his first witness examination, Shinawat reversed his testimony and decided to plead guilty, resulting in his trial being separated from the others.

The court on Thursday ruled that the activist was guilty as charged. He given 3 years in prison for royal defamation and fined 200 baht for unauthorised use of a sound amplifier. His sentence was later reduced to 1 year and 6 months with a 100 baht fine. Shinawat has been detained since 29 February as a result of an earlier royal defamation trial in which he was sentenced to 3 years in jail without parole. In yet another case stemming from a speech he gave at a protest on 2 December 2020, the activist was also given a 3 year prison sentence without parole. As the court ordered that his sentences be consecutively served Shinawat’s total prison sentence now stands at 7 years and 6 months.

In addition to the above-noted 3 cases, Shinawat faced another royal defamation charge for a speech he gave on on 28 July 2022. In this latter case, he received a suspended sentence.

Correspondent at https://shilapatra.com/ Krishna Prasad Bhattarai was manhandled while reporting in Itahari Sub-Metropolitan City on March 14. The metropolitan city lies in the Koshi Province of Nepal.

Freedom Forum talked to reporter Bhattarai about the incident. Bhattarai shared that he had reported a news story about malpractices of the municipality office a day before. The next day, he was manhandled while reporting for the follow-up story in the municipality. As he reached the site, he started taking video of dispute among municipality police and local transport driver.

“Meanwhile, around 14 officers encircled me and one of them pushed me and took my mobile phone. I showed them my press identity card but they did not stop”, reporter Bhattarai said, “They also told me to behave as a journalist. However, they gave me my mobile phone back after a while.”

"I went to the local police station to file a complaint under public offense but they refused to register my complaint”, he said,"Police has informed me that the metropolitan authority has also registered a counter-complaint on March 15 and that they will issue arrest warrant soon."

"Though fellow journalists are discussing with the municipality on the incident, we havenot reached to any understanding", reporter Bhattarai informed.

Ainara Aidarkhanova, the lawyer of imprisoned Kazakh activist Aigerim Tileuzhanova, told RFE/RL that her client was additionally charged with "inflicting bodily damage" over a brawl with another inmate. The lawyer added that the fight was most likely provoked to frame her client. Tileuzhanova, a noted civil rights activist, was sentenced to four years in prison, while her four co-defendants, all men, received eight years in prison each, after a court found them guilty in July of "organizing mass unrest at Almaty airport" during unprecedented anti-government protests in January 2022 that turned deadly. All pleaded not guilty.

Kyrgyzstan authorities should immediately drop charges against current and former Temirov Live staff, release all eight detained journalists, and reverse its crackdown on the independent press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the Pervomaisky District Court in the capital, Bishkek, extended by two months the pre-trial detention of Temirov Live director Makhabat Tajibek kyzy and the outlet’s current and former staff members Aike Beishekeyeva, Azamat Ishenbekov, Saipidin Sultanaliev, Aktilek Kaparov, Tynystan Asypbekov, Joodar Buzumov, and Maksat Tajibek uulu, according to news reports.

The court also ordered Temirov Live journalist Sapar Akunbekov and camera operator Akyl Orozbekov released into house arrest and freed the outlet’s former project manager Jumabek Turdaliev under a travel ban.

All 11 continue to face charges of inciting mass unrest, which carries a jail sentence of up to eight years under Article 278, Part 3, of Kyrgyzstan’s criminal code.

“The mass detention of journalists linked to investigative outlet Temirov Live is emblematic of Kyrgyzstan’s intensifying press freedom crisis,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “By extending their incarceration, the country’s authorities are signalling their intention to continue this repressive course.”

In a series of raids on January 16, police searched Temirov Live’s office and the 11 journalists’ homes and arrested the journalists over unspecified videos by Temirov Live and sister project Ait Ait Dese. Court documents reviewed by CPJ accused Tajibek kyzy of “discrediting” state organs in those videos, “which could lead to various forms of mass unrest.”

A local partner of global investigative network Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Temirov Live is known for its anti-corruption investigations into senior government officials and has more than 265,000 subscribers on its YouTube channels. Authorities deported the outlet’s Kyrgyzstan-born founder Bolot Temirov in 2022 and banned him from entering the country for five years in connection to his reporting.

In recent months, Kyrgyz authorities have launched an unprecedented crackdown on independent reporting in a country previously seen as a regional haven for the free press. On January 15, security services raided privately owned news website 24.kg and opened a criminal case for “propaganda of war.” In February, a court shuttered Kloop, another OCCRP partner.

In April 2023, a court ordered the closure of Radio Azattyk, the local service of U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), but reversed the decision in July after the outlet deleted a report that authorities had demanded to be removed.

Mondulkiri provincial court on Monday questioned NGO rights group Adhoc official and four Bunong natives after land brokers and fellow villagers filed a defamation and incitement complaint against them. The complaint was made after the suspects submitted evidence of chopped trees and encroachment by the plaintiffs, made up of land brokers and a few villagers.

According to the February 3, 2024 court summons, deputy prosecutor Seav Ngy Chhorn ordered the five people, Bi Vanny, Adhoc provincial coordinator, and minority indigenous people Chen Vanna, Sreng San, Rouen Heng, and Ngin Channa, to present themselves at the Mondulkiri provincial court from March 1 to 4, 2024.

The plaintiffs, who made the complaint, consist of Ploeun Pyin, Nhev Mao, and Soeun Sam, where one or two are known to the villagers as they are from the same village.

Vanny, who was in court on Monday, said the prosecutor asked him questions relating to the information​ and evidence he submitted about the alleged forest crime and land encroachment at the indigenous people’s land in Poulong village of Sen Monorom city’s Romnea commune.

He said community residents had requested his organization’s help to submit the evidence in court to seek justice as they lacked knowledge of the law.

The evidence was submitted in March 2023, following which the court asked him to appear in November that year. At the time, he said, he told the court that he was only doing what the villagers had requested of him.

On November 20, 2023, a week after Vanny appeared in court, the plaintiffs sued him for defamation and incitement to discrimination, which he denied being involved.

Vanny asked the court to drop all charges against him because he was only providing information to the prosecutor and had no intention of violating the plaintiffs’ rights or harming them.

“We ask the prosecutor to investigate the facts of the case. I hope that the court is an independent institution, a place where justice is upheld, to decide if there was an encroachment, and if it’s related to the three individuals who filed the complaint against me and the four indigenous people,” Vanny said.

He urged the court to quickly investigate and fairly decide on the case. “We are going to court because we all want justice,” he said.

Relating his experience, Chen Vanna, who was questioned on Monday, said the prosecutor questioned him about the land encroachment evidence, which was submitted to court. He said the evidence was submitted because they want to prevent deforestation.

“I answered that I want to intervene to protect our natural resources [forest],” he said.

The prosecutor questioned whether the community land had indeed been encroached, to which Vanna replied, “They [plaintiffs] cut it and if the court doesn’t believe, they can go and see it for themselves.”

“I am not the only one, the people of Poulong village have put in a [petition] everywhere to prevent the community land from being cut down and taken over by the [plaintiffs] as their own land. We want it retained as state property, a common property where we have a forest. But when I tried to stop this, they said I defamed them,” Vanna said.

According to him, the plaintiffs are also residents of Poulong village and the purpose of clearing the community land was because it would be included as indigenous people’s land before claiming that it was “an old plantation”.

“I ask people who are competent to help us preserve the forest and natural resources. The area is a public forest, it’s not owned by anyone. I do not want that land [for me], I just want us all to use it together,” he added.

Similarly, another suspect, Bunong native Ngin Channa, felt that the accusation was unfair because the land dispute happened in the community in Poulong village.

She told the court she was not involved in any incitement, but all the people in the Poulong village need to leave the community land so that it can survive.

“Because we, the Bunong people, go in there to collect resin and vegetables. There are also a lot of cattle there,” Channa said. If 500 to 1,000 hectares of the forest are cut down, there will be no forest, she shared. The trees are like fruits to the community, for instance, resin, which is available during dry and rainy seasons.

When the prosecutor asked who confiscated the land brokers’ machine used to cut the trees, she admitted that the community did. The machine was sent to the community representative and the commune forestry administration.

She said the community people volunteered to protect the land from being lost.

“I would like to request the court in Mondulkiri to find the perpetrators, as in who is behind those who dare to do this [clear the land]. There are efforts to prevent [encroachment] [via continuous patrolling], but how can they [land brokers] still do that?” Channa asked.

She requested the government and the relevant authorities to look into the issue, adding that the​ evidence has been submitted to the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

“Please intervene in this matter so that there is no further encroachment and please drop the charges so that no one is summoned again. Every day we have nothing. We are farmers, so it [the case] disrupts our activity and we cannot do any other work. I’m stuck with a bank loan,” Channa said.

According to Channa, she is now looking for additional evidence to submit to the court, asserting that encroachment is still ongoing.

Mondulkiri provincial deputy governor Cheak Mengheang told CamboJA on Wednesday afternoon that there was daily encroachment, but that it cannot be proven currently. He asked that the information be checked first because it was unclear.

Romnea commune chief Phy Ngouk could not be reached for comment.

NGO rights group Licadho operation director Am Sam Ath believed that citizens who understand and dare to file evidence relating to the protection of collective property, community or state property should be encouraged. They should not be prosecuted for any crime.

But if they are prosecuted, it breaks the spirit of the people who participate in the protection of the environment.

“It is akin to a restriction on the rights of civil society who work to protect the common interests of the forest, natural resources, and the environment,” Sam Ath said. “If this problem persists, no one will dare report problems at the local or community level,” he said.

He also called on the court officials to drop charges against Adhoc’s Vanny and the four local residents who are devoted to protecting the forests.

“I understand that when there is a complaint, the court must summon the people for questioning, but hopefully it will look at all the issues, and the rights and freedom of people,” Sam Ath said.

Deputy prosecutor Seav Ngy Chhorn told CamboJA that the court has yet to decide what is the next procedure​ after it finished questioning relevant parties involved in the case. The court needs to further question witnesses as both parties have submitted additional evidence.

Early this February, the ruling CPP also filed a lawsuit against outspoken human rights group Adhoc Soeng Senkaruna for allegedly making a comment believed to provoke unrest and incite hatred against them. The comment was also allegedly intended to affect the Senate election on February 25, 2024, according to the complaint published by Fresh News.

In the complaint, CPP asked the court to consider their request to indict and sentence Soeng Senkaruna in accordance with the law. A compensation of two billion riel (approximately $500,000) has also been demanded from him.

Political analyst Em Sovannara opined that in Cambodia today, the “justice system is only available for the influential and the wealthy”. He alleged that “ordinary people, advocates, and those who do social work seem to face the most problems”, which he sees as an unfavorable task for the democratic environment in Cambodia.

“In general, if we look at the characteristics of civil society organizations, advocates, activists and political parties, they seem to be shrinking. There is no space for political freedom and freedom of expression. The Cambodian society lacks a system of justice that gives us confidence,” he said.

In this aspect, he would like to see a return to the principles of democracy prescribed under the Constitution and by the United Nations Charter and Paris Peace Agreements. They clearly state the principles of multi-party liberal democracy where Cambodians can seek justice.

He added that if there is only a theoretical system of the policy, but without practical application, Cambodians would be affected by the injustice in a country that practices democracy.

Samrong Tbong Community members this morning reported injuries stemming from an altercation with authorities over the filling-in of the Boeung Tamok lake area in Phnom Penh. The lake has been parcelled off by the state and given away to politically connected institutions and individuals over the past several years.

Members of Samrong Tbong Community gathered at the area yesterday and this morning to protest the state’s excavation of the community’s land. Community members are facing legal complaints in at least four cases that have been opened since 2022 due to their land activism.

The most recent flare-up of the long-running conflict began yesterday, when three excavators accompanied by around 10 security guards were used to attempt to begin clearing land occupied by the community. Community members gathered and halted the work, after which police officers arrived to observe the community. The clearing resumed this morning with a far heavier police presence, as around 200 authorities – including around 50 police officers and the deputy governor of Khan Praek Pnov – arrived at the site to oversee the clearing. Around 100 community members gathered in the area to protest, who were photographed and filmed by police and plainclothes authorities.

Community members reported that at least one child and two women, one of whom is pregnant, were injured as a result of today’s altercation. Some people were sent to a nearby hospital for treatment, while other community members reported being forced to leave the area of the dispute.

This week’s clash followed a notice dated 18 February 2024 from the Praek Pnov district administration, which claimed that the disputed land is state land and instructed community members to cease residential activities and co-operate with the land clearing.

The Samrong Tbong Community and its 76 households have been settled in their current area since 1996. The community has long been at risk of losing their land as the government has parcelled off Boeung Tamok lake to private companies and individuals. So far, the government has given away around 80 parcels of land atop the lake, covering nearly 75% of the total area of what was once the capital’s largest lake.

Sitanun Satsaksit, sister of missing activist in exile Wanchalearm Satsaksit, was met by a police blockade yesterday (21 February) when she attempted to protest in front of the Shinawatra family residence during a visit by former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen with Thaksin Shinawatra.

Sitanun travelled to Baan Chan Song La, the Shinawatra family residence, yesterday morning (21 February) intending to demand information about her brother’s disappearance after it was reported that Hun Sen would be visiting Thaksin, who has been released on parole.

However, police officers blocked her car, preventing her from reaching the residence. She decided instead to protest in front of the Siam Commercial Bank’s Sirindhorn Road branch, where she was surrounded by over 50 plainclothes officers.

Sitanun told Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) that she was held there for over 3 hours and that the police told her not to go anywhere without permission. She felt threatened because she was being surrounded by many men in plainclothes. She also noticed a unit of women crowd control officers moving towards her, but after she asked one of the men what they were doing there, the women officers moved away.

Sitanun also noticed during her conversation with the plainclothes officers that some of them has information about her place of work and could speak about specific incidents that only a person in the same building would know. The conversation made her feel unsafe, since she believed that she has been closely watched.

Sitanun said she came seeking the truth of her brother’s disappearance, since he went missing in Cambodia and used to work for the Pheu Thai Party before fleeingThailand.

Sitanun said that, while she was driving to Baan Chan Song La, she was surrounded by many police officers who asked her where she was going. When she told them her destination, she heard an officer shout an order to arrest her. She was frightened and decided to drive away and stop in front of the bank, a crowded, public area.

Deputy police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn later came to speak to Sitanun. He insisted the police were not ordered to arrest her on sight, and tried to ask her what she planned to do once she got to Baan Chan Song La. He also told her that it would affect Thailand’s reputation if she protests in front of Baan Chan Song La and that she should speak to him about what grievance she has.

Sitanun submitted a petition to Pol Gen Surachate calling for the Thai authorities to follow up on Wanchalearm’s disappearance, after the Cambodian delegation said during a review by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) that, although Wanchalearm went missing in Cambodia, no agents of the Cambodian government were involved in his disappearance. She also filed a complaint about the police harassment she experienced.

Sitanun was finally released after Cross-Cultural Foundation director Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, as Sitanun’s lawyer, told the police that Sitanun should be free to go since there is no reason to continue holding her. Sitanun headed to parliament to run an errand. However, she noticed while leaving the parliament building that she was being followed by plainclothes officers driving a car and at least 2 motorcycles.

TLHR said that a friend of Sitanun who announced on Facebook on Tuesday night (20 February) that Sitanun was staging a protest in front of Baan Chan Song La received a phone call from a person working for the Pheu Thai Party asking for information on Sitanun’s protest.

The friend received another phone call from anoter person in the Pheu Thai Party, who told her that they are worried about the protest and that speeches might be given insulting Thaksin and his daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra in front of the family’s residence. The person told the friend to calm down, and that if they are not listened to, there will not be any more space to talk about Wanchalearm’s disappearance.

TLHR also noted that, while Sitanun was prevented from reaching the Shinawatra residence, Thaksin’s supporters, as well as others who said they used to support him but no longer do, were allowed to gather in front of the house and spoke to the media.

Pornpen said that many victims of enforced disappearance suffered the same fate as Wanchalearm. She called on the Cambodian government, as a signatory of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED), to investigate what happened. She also called on the Thai authorities to follow up on the case with Hun Sen, who oversaw the investigation in Cambodia. She believes Cambodia authorities have enough information to make a case and thinks that the government should do its job to deliver justice to victims of enforced disappearance and their families.

Wanchalearm disappeared on 4 June 2020 while living in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where he fled after the 2014 military coup. Both the Thai and Cambodian authorities have repeatedly denied any knowledge of his whereabouts. The Cambodian authorities said after his abduction that his visa had expired on 31 December 2017 and that there was no evidence of him living in Phnom Penh. However, Wanchalearm’s sister Sitanun Satsaksit said he was travelling under a Cambodian passport with a Khmer alias and that he had a Cambodian bank account. So far, no progress has been made in the investigation into his disappearance.

A 2022 report by Prachatai and VOD found links between Wanchalearm and political elites both in Thailand and Cambodia. He was also deeply embedded in the Red Shirt Movement and had worked for the Pheu Thai Party. Sitanun said he worked for the current Bangkok governor, Chadchart Sittipunt from 2012 – 2014 when Chadchart was minister of transport in the cabinet of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin’s sister. Meanwhile, Thai dissident in exile Nuttigar Woratunyawit said he was part of an initiative to create an online network of Red Shirt activists and Pheu Thai supporters to counter the People’s Democratic Reform Committee, which was established by right-wing royalists in 2013 to depose the Yingluck government.

After arriving in Cambodia, Wanchalerm reportedly became acquainted with Khliang Huot, the former governor of Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changva district, who has been identified by several sources as a ‘handler’ for Thai exiles who fled to Cambodia following the 2014 coup. A photograph on Huot’s Facebook account in 2012 shows the man standing next to Thaksin and Hun Sen. Other photos show him with various Thai political figures, including Red Shirt leaders, former MPs and ministers from Yingluck’s cabinet.

He was also a supporter of fellow Thai exiles, many of whom sought advice from him about how to escape into Cambodia.

A 53-year-old woman has been charged with royal defamation for a protest speech she made demanding the right to bail for detained political activists.

Kittiya (last name withheld), a food vendor from Si Sa Ket Province, came to the Yannawa Police Station in Bangkok on Tuesday to acknowledge a royal defamation charge, which stemmed from her activity during a protest in front of the Bangkok South Criminal Court in 2022 where she demanded the right to bail for the detained political activists.

Kittiya told a reporter that she received a summons under the royal defamation law and the Computer-related Crime Act on 17 February. Given that the summons required her to report to the Police Station on 15 February, she asked the police to issue a new summons but her request was denied. Rapeephong Chaiyarat, a member of the ultra-loyalist ‘People’s Centre for the Protection of the Monarchy’ filed the complaint.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights reports that Kittaya was initially charged under the Sound Amplifier Act after she gave a speech on 19 July 2022. However, the police later concluded that her actions violated the royal defamation law, leading to additional charges.

Kittiya stated that she was not concerned about being prosecuted under the royal defamation law and it would not prevent her from continuing to fight for justice in the country. “Section 112 will not cause me to stop fighting or be disheartened. The country is being ruined like this. We need to move forward.” said Kittiya. The food vendor acknowledged that the situation might force her to close her restaurant, causing her employees to lose their jobs and her family to lose income.

She called for the proposed amnesty bill to include those charged with royal defamation as 112 cases are prolonged, causing difficulties for those prosecuted. She added that as the law allowed anyone to file a complaint, even parties not directly affected, it can be used to harass others by hiring people to file complaints

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chea Chan, union leader at the Wing Star Shoes factory, who was just elected into that post, was caught and charged with “conspiracy to commit theft” for an incident that allegedly happened two years ago.

He is said not to be involved in the case. Activists assert that his detention is meant to “pressure” union members to disband the independent union in the factory.

Prior to Chan’s arrest, an election for union board members was held in the factory where he and nine others were voted in, according to a statement by the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Union (CATU).

After Chan informed Wing Star Shoes about forming a union, the company sent warnings to him and the other union leaders, persuading them to cancel the union, but they refused to comply.

On February 14, Chan was detained at work by a group of Kampong Speu provincial police who allegedly failed to produce a summons or any proof to support the arrest.

Yang Sophorn, president of CATU, said the arrest of the union leader was a serious violation of the union rights, along with the absence of evidence or a summons.

“The company conspired with the police and called Chan to the stockroom saying someone wanted to meet him before five policemen caught him. They arrested him without a summons,” said Sophorn.

She said the factory allegedly sued him for conspiring to steal but the charge was allegedly “concocted with the police” as Chan and the others do not know anything about the two-year-old theft at the factory.

The company was not keen on an independent union, hence the reason they discouraged workers from starting one, she added.

“Yesterday, the court charged Chan for conspiring to steal, [an incident] which happened two years ago, not involving Chan. This is the real reason why the company wants to discourage my union leader,” said Sophorn.

In fact, two representatives from Wing Star Shoes met CATU to discuss the union issue as they failed to convince Chan to abort its setting up. “They gave us money to change his mind. When we refused to accept their request, they detained my union leader instead.”

Chan’s wife, Chhay Chanra, 35, told CamboJA that arresting and charging her husband was unfair because her husband did not commit any crime.

“They arrested my husband without a summons, which is a violation of workers’ and union rights. He worked there for almost 10 years. Why did they do that,” she asked.

She is also concerned about her family as they have three children and Chan is the sole breadwinner.

“This is unacceptable. I want the company to withdraw the lawsuit and the court to release him as soon as possible,” said Chanra.

Pheng Siphoan, Chief of Administrative Secretariat and Spokesman of Kampong Speu Provincial Court, said Chan has been sent to Kampong Speu provincial prison after being charged under Articles 29, 353 and 356 of the Penal Code.

According to Article 356 of the Penal Code, theft is punishable by six months to three years in prison and a fine of one million to six million riels.

“The court questioned him on February 17 and sent him to prison yesterday [Sunday],” he told CamboJA.

When asked why the court only questioned Chan two years after the alleged theft, Siphoan replied, “this is the court procedure”.

The Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training 2023 annual report stressed that factories should respect the Labor Law and resolve labor conflicts where more than 8,000 cases have been recorded.

Chek Borin, director of the Kampong Speu ​provincial Department of Labor, said if Chan’s case is related to the violation of worker’s rights, his department will intervene. However, the company sued Chan under the criminal law, so he is not able to get involved.

“Had he [Chan] informed us regarding a labor case, we would have intervened but this is related to a criminal case,” said Borin.

The ministry report also noted that the government is open and encourages the right to organization and unions which is in accordance with the Labor Law and international labor standards.

In 2022, a report by Human Rights Watch mentioned that Cambodia does not have a designated labor court despite the Cambodian labor law stipulating the need for one. Owing to that, the Arbitration Council is the only body tasked to handle alternative dispute resolution for labor-related issues.

Meanwhile, CATU’s Sophorn raised concerns about union rights being trampled on a daily basis. “I can say the condition of union rights now is quite bad, even though we have special protection under the labor law but in reality it is the opposite. Our employees don’t even have the right to negotiate [with factory owners],” she lamented.

CamboJA reached out to Wing Star Shoes for comment via telephone, using a number provided on the company website but the person who picked up said he no longer works with the company.

Two days after it opened to the public, district authorities ordered Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT) to immediately desist their photo exhibition themed “House and Life” in a restaurant in Chbar Ampov on the afternoon of February 25. No reason was given for the shutdown order of the 10-day exhibition planned till March 4.

“The owner of the restaurant told us that the authorities instructed them to dismantle [the exhibits] and stop [the exhibition],” said STT executive director Soeung Saran. “We don’t know what is the reason for the shutdown.”

However, the authorities’ act is a violation of STT’s rights as a civil society organization and an abuse of power by pressuring the restaurant owner to take down the displays, Saran said. The requirement for NGOs to apply for a permit to hold an exhibition is not stipulated by the law.

“I think it affects the freedom of our work, and such impromptu decisions should be fully discussed with stakeholders,” Saran said, adding that he wants to see the authorities “open the door” for civil society organizations to freely organize events.

They should be more understanding towards the common purpose of the work before deciding to stop the exhibition, he remarked.

“Because of this, it affects, firstly, the performance of the institution and, secondly, the reputation of the leadership [Prime Minister Hun Manet] who is trying to reform inaction and persecutions,” he added.

Chbar Ampov district governor Cheng Monyra could not be reached for comment, while Niroth commune chief Tep Prommony claimed that she was busy and in a meeting before hanging up the phone. Prommony did not pick up follow-up calls despite numerous attempts to reach her on Monday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Niroth commune police chief Hor Sylihov declined to comment as to why the authorities instructed the restaurant owner to stop the exhibition or if they had received any complaints. Instead, he referred the reporter to the restaurant owner.

However, Sorn Bormey, manager of Champei Garden Restaurant, declined to comment.

On February 23, 2024, STT launched a photo exhibition showcasing the life of urban poor communities, which revolved around issues of land insecurity and resettlements, lack of pre-arranged services and infrastructure and forced evictions.

The exhibition also highlighted the present condition of city lakes, where several have been filled up, and the environmental impact as a result of their alleged development by companies and public figures.

The event aimed to create awareness to the public, and enable stakeholders, including urban poor communities and the government, to work together to find solutions and promote the right to affordable housing.

The Phnom Penh Appeal Court this morning upheld the 2021 decision of the Kampong Chhnang Provincial Court convicting three Lor Peang Community members of “obstruction of public official” and “intentionally causing damage” as part of a long-running land conflict. The three community members are Nhem Nhuen (also known as Snguon Nhuen), Reach Seima and Pul Sorn.

Lor Peang Community has resisted community members’ land being encroached by KDC International, a company owned by Chea Kheng, the wife of former Minister of Mines and Energy Suy Sem. The charges stem from an incident in 2013, when KDC International began establishing borders over the disputed land in Kampong Chhnang province. Members of Lor Peang Community arrived at the site to protest, during which a temporary security guard hut was destroyed.

Almost eight years later, the provincial court convicted the three Lor Peang Community members under Articles 503 and 410 of the Criminal Code. All received suspended sentences of 2 years and 6 months and were ordered to pay compensation of 2.8 million riel (approximately US$700), a decision that was today upheld by the Appeal Court.

None of the three community members were ordered to pre-trial detention pending final appeal. One of the defendants, Pul Sorn, has since died.

In a separate case, Le Thanh Lam, wife of political prisoner Bui Tuan Lam, also known as “Spring Onion Bae,” wrote on her Facebook account that police in Da Nang had fined her and seized the foods that she sold to make a living, claiming that these goods did not have proper invoices declaring their origins. After her husband was arrested and imprisoned, Thanh Lam, a mother of three, started to sell local snacks and condiments on social media to earn extra income.

However, on Feb. 2, a market inspection team of the Da Nang Police Department approached Lam when she delivered goods to a customer, confiscating all her products worth about 2 million dong ($82). On Feb. 19, the inspection department summoned Lam, fining her another 1.5 million dong for “selling undocumented goods.”

Thanh Lam believed the police had selectively targeted her because her husband, Bui Tuan Lam, is a political prisoner. She said that after she was forcefully taken to a police station for trying to attend the public trial of her husband in May 2023, a Da Nang public security officer pointed his finger at her face, telling her that he would not leave her and her daughters alone, implying that the police would continue to intimidate and harass them due to their peaceful resistance.

Human rights lawyer Dang Dinh Manh on Feb. 20 wrote on social media that Ngo Oanh Phuong, an influential Facebook user, had been banned from traveling abroad and that she had been summoned by the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department for posting information critical of the conglomerate Vingroup.

According to Manh, Phuong, a businesswoman with thousands of followers on her Facebook account, often engages in charity work and raises concerns on different social issues. Phuong learned she was prohibited from traveling outside Vietnam in early October last year when she boarded a flight at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City.

Later, the Security Investigation Agency of Ho Chi Minh City Police summoned Phuong twice for questioning, on Jan. 19 and Jan. 30, stating that they had received a defamation complaint filed against her by Vingroup. Manh added that he could not access Phuong’s Facebook account, which she used as a platform to publish opinions and commentaries criticizing the business model of Vingroup - a crony conglomerate owned by Vietnam’s richest man, Pham Nhat Vuong.

Previously, in Dec. 2023, Tran Mai Son, a social media commentator known by his pen name “Sonnie Tran,” was allegedly detained by the Ho Chi Minh Police Department for days for questioning about his criticisms of the company. The account “Sonnie Tran” has over 3,000 followers on Facebook.

Son, an ardent critic of VinFast, the automobile subsidiary of Vingroup, frequently inquires about the company’s finances and suggests that it uses shell companies to hide debt and inflate its sales figures. Anonymous sources told VOA News that following the detention, the police confiscated all of Son’s electronic devices, interrogated him for 35 hours over four separate days, and threatened to charge him with Article 331 for “abusing democratic freedoms.”

In 2021, VinFast reported Tran Van Hoang, a customer and a local YouTuber, to the police after he posted a video complaining about the quality of his VinFast vehicle on his YouTube account. The company said Hoang’s complaints were made up to hurt its reputation, and its lawyers had “sufficient grounds to prove it is not just a normal complaint.” The Vietnam-owned automaker added that if a similar incident occurred when operating in the United States, they “will also submit a request to the authorities in accordance with local law.”

Trinh Thi Nhung, the wife of Bui Van Thuan, told Project88 that during the Tet holidays she was suddenly summoned to the police station on Feb. 16 without a reason. Once there, they showed her a Facebook account using her name but which had been created only one day earlier; the account contained posts that could potentially be deemed “anti-state propaganda.” She denied it was hers and refused to sign an affidavit. Since that day, the police have allegedly been posting men around her house. She reported that unknown men wearing face masks have also been following her and her young child everywhere. At night, they even allegedly asked her neighbors to shine their lights on her house “all through the night.”

Police dispersed a fast unto-death campaign in front of the Ministry of Higher Education premises in Colombo, organized by non-academic staff trade unions of government schools. They demanded solutions to workplace discrimination they faced which included not giving them school term holidays, not allowing them to leave once school finishes along with other employees, not having a promotion scheme, and not having a national policy governing them. On the 20th of November, they agreed to halt their protest temporarily, agreeing to a promise made by the Minister of Education to solve their issues within a week. As the minister’s promise failed, they began the campaign again on 27th November. The Police forcefully removed their banner, and ordered the protesters to leave the place. As the trade unionists did not comply with the order, the Police forcefully removed them.

On 27th December members of nearly 600 families whose houses were damaged due to the central expressway initiated a Satyagraha near Gattuwana entrance, Kurunegala. While Satyagraha was in progress and protesters started installing a tent, police came and took all the items that were brought to build the tent. Also, when the demonstration began a huge number of police officers were deployed. The group participating in the Satyagraha had brought the materials needed to prepare the attic in a small lorry in the morning and they planned to build this attic so as not to obstruct the road under the bridge near the Kurunegala Gattuwana Central Expressway entrance, said Sanjeya Kulathilaka, the convenor of the family association.

IBC Tamil media journalist Letchumanan Thevapratheepan, the Batticaloa correspondent, was called to the Valaichchenei police station on 8th December. It was said that he had reported on a Tamil Martyrs memorial held at a burial ground in the Eastern Province. Thevapratheepan was asked to bring the registration certificate of the motorbike he had used to come to the police station and questioned on the Tamil Martyrs memorial held at the burial ground in Tharawi, Batticaloa on 27 November. In addition, the head and six other members of the commemoration committee were also arrested that day by the police and forcibly removed red and yellow flags at the beginning of the commemoration at the Tarawei Maveerar Burial Ground, which was destroyed by the Sri Lanka Army in 2009.

Activist Trinh Dinh Hoa reported to Project88 that he was abducted on Jan. 30 and interrogated for hours by Hanoi police. Three days earlier, while on his delivery route near the Ministry of Public Security, Hoa saw a large group of land rights protesters and stopped to take some photos, which he later posted on social media. On the day he was abducted, he got a delivery order to an address next to the police station of Buoi Ward. As soon as he got there, he was allegedly forced by a group of non-uniformed police into the station for questioning. Hoa was kept there from 11:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. The police focused their questioning on three videos he had posted about police abuse in 2016, the BOT protests in 2018, and a public gathering near Ho Chi Minh’s tomb in 2021. Before releasing Hoa, they asked him to sign an affidavit admitting that the Facebook account “Hoa DT” belonged to him, which he refused to do.

Trinh Dinh Hoa became an activist in 2015 when he participated in a memorial for soldiers killed by the Chinese Navy at Johnson Reef in 1988. In 2016, he joined protests for protection of trees in Hanoi and later against the Formosa environmental disaster. Then in 2018, he became actively involved in the nationwide protests against the proposed Cybersecurity Law. During those years, Hoa also attended–or tried to attend–the trials of other activists. In 2017, he was beaten by police and had his ID card and phone confiscated outside the courthouse where Tran Thi Nga was sentenced to eight years in prison for disseminating “anti-state propaganda.” During the Dong Tam trials in 2019, his home was monitored by police for an entire week. Hoa also participated in the translating of two books – one about the Formosa incident and the other about anti-democratic elections in Vietnam. Since 2019, however, Hoa has remained low-key and works as a deliveryman for a restaurant in Hanoi.

The Security Investigation Agency of the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department has issued a third summons for Ngo Thi Oanh Phuong, an influential Facebook user and a critic of conglomerate Vingroup, saying that they received a defamation complaint filed against her by Vingroup, according to a recent Facebook posting of human rights lawyer Dang Dinh Manh.

Previously, Manh wrote on social media that the police had twice summoned Phuong, also known by her Facebook name Phuong Ngo, on Jan. 19 and Jan. 30. In the third summons, dated Feb. 26, they told her to come to the security investigation headquarters on March 4 to question her relations with Tran Mai Son, another critic of Vingroup, and to resolve the defamation report submitted by the conglomerate.

Manh said that Phuong did not come to the previous questioning sessions because she said she was busy. He suggested that if she were absent this time, the investigation agency would issue a warrant to search for her, similar to the warrants the Long An Provincial Police Department filed against him and other human rights lawyers, Nguyen Van Mieng and Dao Kim Lan, last year.

According to Manh, no legal provisions allow Vietnamese investigators to search for people who do not respond to summons. Attorneys Manh, Mieng, and Lan fled to the United States late last year after Long An Provincial Police issued warrants to search for them after they were accused of violating Article 331 of the Penal Code, which concerns “abusing democratic freedoms.”

The Hanoi Police Department on Feb. 29 detained and searched the house of activist and blogger Nguyen Chi Tuyen to investigate his alleged engagement in “distributing anti-state propaganda,” a violation of Article 117 of the Penal Code.

Nguyen Thi Anh Tuyet, Tuyen’s wife, confirmed her husband's detention on the same day, adding that he would be held at Hanoi Detention Center No. 2 for four months during the investigation period. The police also confiscated his cell phone, a laptop, and some of his handwritten notes.

Tuyet said that the previous afternoon, her husband received a summons from the Hanoi Police Department to come in for questioning, but he declined to go because he felt unwell. Last January, the police sent Tuyen a notice informing him that he was prohibited from traveling outside Vietnam.

Tuyen, who is also known by his blog name “Anh Chi,” is a renowned environmental activist, blogger, and human rights defender who often participated in demonstrations against China’s excursions in Vietnam’s maritime territories. He also established two YouTube channels, Anh Chí Râu Đen and AC Media, that discuss social issues in Vietnam and report on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Because of his activism, Tuyen became a target of harassment and surveillance by Vietnamese security. In 2015, he was hospitalized after being beaten by strangers, possibly plainclothes police.

Independent journalist and former political prisoner Nguyen Vu Binh has been arrested again. On the morning of Feb. 29, the 56-year-old Binh was summoned to the police headquarters in Hanoi to discuss the YouTube channel TNT Media Live, which he and lawyer Nguyen Van Dai (currently in exile) worked on together from 2021 to 2022. After the meeting with the police, Binh was taken back to his apartment where the police formally arrested him and searched his residence. Nguyen Thi Phong, his sister, who witnessed the arrest, told Project88 that when she went to the police station on March 4 to retrieve Binh’s motorbike, she was told verbally that he had been charged with conducting “anti-state propaganda” under Article 117. She said she was not shown anything in writing. The police said Binh will be held at Detention Center No.1 in Hanoi for four months while they investigate his case.

Four months is the maximum amount of time by law that authorities can detain a suspect; however, they can file for multiple extensions which can stretch the detention period to years, as has happened to many political prisoners in the past. Phong said that her brother had been “invited” to visit the police many times in the past year. She added that it was thus reasonable to assume that the police have been following his activities for some time now, and that the need to “investigate” Binh was just a legal fig leaf in order to detain him for as long as the law allows. Binh is no stranger to the Ministry of Public Security. He worked for The Communist Magazine for 10 years before joining RFA in the early 2000s. He was convicted in September 2002 and sentenced to seven years in prison for “espionage” – that is, for exposing the party’s dirty secrets. Under international pressure, Binh was released early in 2007. He was awarded the Hellman-Hammett Prize by Human Rights Watch in 2002 and again in 2007 for his courageous activism.

Indian authorities must drop the charges against journalist Ashutosh Negi, who was arrested in connection with his reporting on a murder investigation in the northern state of Uttarakhand, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.

Negi, editor of the weekly Hindi newspaper Jago Uttarakhand, was arrested on March 5 from his home in Pauri town, 94 miles (151 kilometers) from the state capital of Dehradun, according to multiple news outlets and his lawyer, Navnish Negi (no relation), who spoke to CPJ by phone.

Although Negi was released on bail on Wednesday, he faces accusations under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes law, based on a complaint from an unnamed individual and allegations of a scuffle with police officers during his arrest, those reports added.

Immediately after Negi’s arrest, Uttarakhand Director General of Police, Abhinav Kumar, issued a statement accusing the journalist of being “part of a conspiracy” to “sow anarchy and discord in society” through his reporting and activism around the police investigation into the killing of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari in September 2022, news reports said.

Bhandari, a receptionist at a resort owned by the son of a former ruling Bharatiya Janata Party official, went missing and was later found dead. Despite initial arrests in connection with the case, including that of the official’s son, concerns persist over the pace and transparency of the investigation. Negi has extensively reported and shared his views on the police investigation on his news website and social media platforms, according to CPJ’s review.

“The police chief’s statement makes it abundantly clear that journalist Ashutosh Negi is being targeted for his work as a journalist and activist,” said Kunāl Majumder, CPJ’s India representative. “Authorities in Uttarakhand must drop all charges against him and ensure that the media can perform their duties without fear or interference.”

Navnish Negi accused the police of misusing the law to target his client and told CPJ that the accusation against Negi for violating Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes law was found to be false during a governmental inquiry 1½ years ago. A fresh allegation was filed against Negi in January to harass him, Navnish Negi claimed.

Kumar did not respond to CPJ’s email requesting comments.

Chief editor at https://pranmancha.com/ Padam Prasad Pokharel was brutally attacked while reporting in Kathmandu on February 28.

According to journalist Pokharel, he was reporting on clash among street vendors and metropolitan police persons in Sundhara, Kathmandu. He was taking video of the police baton charging the vendors to remove them from street.

Suddenly, a dozen of police persons started attacking Pokharel with their batons. Journalist Pokharel showed his identity card and asked not to attack him but they ignored him and threw his mobile, laptop and camera. They also kicked him.

"One of my friends took me to a nearby National Trauma Hospital for treatment. There were several bruises all over my body and my leg's ligament was torn. I was discharged from the hospital after treatment the other day", Pokharel informed.

Lately, Kathmandu Metropolitan City office has been barring street vendors while implementing city laws and regulations.

Freedom Forum condemns the attack upon journalist on duty. It is a sheer violation of press freedom. Hence, FF strongly urges the KMC office to instruct its police persons to respect the journalists' right to free reporting. The police persons must return journalist's reporting gadgets undamaged.

Reporter at Radio Dhadkan FM 91.8 Shiv Kumar Mahato was issued a threat for his reporting on February 28 in Sarlahi.

Reporter Mahato shared with Freedom Forum that he had published a news story- Madhes Province's Health Minister Birendra SIngh's brother Surendra Singh was found guilty in a corruption case on February 27- on the web portal of radio https://dhadkanfm.com/.

"Following its publication, a person unanimously called me and threatened to break my legs if I write such news again. He also spoke belittling me on the call. Few minutes later, Nikesh Tripathi, personal secretary to the minister Singh asked me to delete the news from the portal through Facebook messenger", he added.

Mahato said that he was in contact with Tripathi before so he recognized Tripathi's voice on the phone call. Even the message on messenger further confirmed it.

He also informed FF that he had filed an application requesting security at the local administration office on February 29.

Freedom Forum condemns the threat issued to reporter for doing his job. Threatening a reporter instead of approaching the regulatory body Press Council Nepal for any dissatisfaction over published news is deplorable.

FF strongly urges the administration and security body to address the issue fairly so as to ensure safety to the journalist.

Yesterday, March 7, 2024, KARAPATAN, through its legal counsel, was notified by the Office of the Solicitor General that it intends to appeal the decision of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 84 Judge Luisito Cortez upholding the acquittal of ten human rights defenders of Karapatan, the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines and Gabriela on charges of perjury. Notably, the OSG’s appeal will be handled by members of the NTF-ELCAC’s (National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict) Legal Cooperation Cluster.

KARAPATAN views this as part of the sick, deluded and obsessive form of judicial harassment by the NTF-ELCAC and former National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. against its officers and fellow human rights defenders. This case, which dates back to 2019, went through preliminary investigation and trial hearings, resulting in our acquittal by Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 139 Judge Aimee Alcera in 2023, and Judge Cortez’s dismissal of the government’s petition for certiorari that same year. Yet, the saga continues to this day.

Such frivolous yet retaliatory charges pursued by government counsels also show how public funds are being wastefully utilized to go after those who defend and uphold human rights. Instead of pursuing cases against corrupt public officials or against police and military officers responsible for the killings of drug suspects or activists, our government lawyers are wasting the people’s money for its campaign against human rights watchdogs.

This, however, is no surprise, considering the NTF-ELCAC’s policy to undertake legal offensives against those whom they perceive as enemies of the State. From the Duterte to the Marcos-Duterte regime, this is the same task force that filed cases of perjury against young environmental activists Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano. This is the same task force that lauded police and military officers responsible for the Bloody Sunday killings and arrests. This is the same task force that is notorious for red- and terrorist-tagging in the Philippines. This is the same task force that has justified the killings and other human rights violations against peasants, indigenous people, workers and development workers.

As we strongly denounce this continuing harassment against human rights defenders, we reiterate the persistent call for the abolition of the NTF-ELCAC and for an end to the attacks perpetrated under the Marcos-Duterte regime. We shall continue to challenge these attacks and demand justice for all victims of human rights violations.

Armed men threatened to shoot Rappler Luzon reporter Joann Manabat and K5 News Olongapo reporter Rowena “Weng” Quejada while covering a violent demolition in Barangay Anunas in Angeles City, Pampanga on Tuesday, March 12.

Some 2,000 residents are fighting to stay in a 73-hectare of land being claimed by Clarkhills Properties Corporation. Demolitions have happened in the area several times, with some turning into violent encounters.

Manabat said men dressed in red and white shirts barred her from entering the area and immediately called her out when they saw her taking videos of the demolition.

“Those in red shirts, from a distance, told me to stop taking videos or else babarilin ako at kukunin yung photos ko (they would shoot me and take my photos),” the reporter said.

After acknowledging the threat, the Rappler reporter left the area with the help of residents who accompanied her away from the armed men.

“I stayed at a house near Balubad Street owned by the relative of the resident I was looking for. I left as soon as it was safe to leave the area,” Manabat added.

Before this, Quejada reportedly went missing during the demolition.

Angeles City Mayor Carmelo Lazatin Jr. confirmed in a statement on Tuesday evening that armed men harassed Quejada and held her at gunpoint.

“Quejada was covering the ongoing demolition at Sitio Balubad, Barangay Anunas, Angeles City, when accosted by armed men who allegedly questioned her and took her belongings,” the statement read.

According to reports gathered by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, one of the armed men at the demolition pointed a gun at Quejada, telling her to stop taking videos.

“The man also hurled invective, calling the media demonyo (devil) for reporting about the ongoing land dispute,” the NUJP said.

A Japanese national assisted Quejada by hiding her inside of his residence. She was able to leave after tensions in the area subsided.

Lazatin and members of the NUJP have condemned the threats that were made against the journalists.

KARAPATAN condemns the violent demolition of a peasant community in Sitio Balubad, Barangay Anunas, Angeles City. At least seven persons have reportedly been injured after combined elements of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and goons hired by Clarkhills Properties Corporation opened fire on the protesting farmers. Even reporters covering the demolition were reportedly harassed and threatened by the raiding team.

Clarkhills Properties has been trying since October 2023 to gain control of a 72-hectare landholding that had already been awarded to the farmers under the government’s agrarian reform program after they had completed paying the required amortization. The Department of Agrarian Reform, however, later voided the Certificate of Land Ownership Award granted to the farmers, leading to a series of violent attempts by Clarkhills Properties to seize the land from the residents.

The area is populated by at least 535 households with some 2,000 families. Before this violent demolition, the residents had been resisting Clarkhills Properties’ demolition teams which have been conducting monthly demolitions since October.

Marikit Saturay, a Dutch-Filipino activist and musician, was detained, red-tagged, and deported after trying to visit her family and friends in the Philippines.

International Filipino rights groups Migrante-Netherlands, Linangan-Willem Geertman Art and Culture Network, and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-Europe condemned the recent attacks against Saturay, stressing that it is not the first time that this happened.

Saturay arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on the evening of March 7. She was supposed to visit her relatives and friends, especially her grandmother who will be celebrating her 100th birthday on March 10.

However, a Filipino immigration officer accused her of engaging in “anti-government activities.” She said that she is part of Migrante-Netherlands, an organization of Filipino migrant workers, families, and refugees.

Despite this, the Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BI) continued to disregard her concern and included her in the blacklist order.

“At that point, she was not allowed to exit beyond the Immigration checkpoint. She has been detained at the airport’s immigration holding area since then,” Migrante Netherlands said in a statement, adding that she was detained for three nights without proper sleeping arrangement.

Saturay was also denied access to legal services before she was deported back to the Netherlands.

“She was not allowed to talk to her lawyers, nor was she allowed to receive any family members who wanted to see her to make sure that she was alright. A uniformed agent was also assigned to guard her during the entire detention period,” Migrante – Netherlands said.

A similar incident happened in December 2023 where Anakbayan – Switzerland Chairperson Edna Becher was detained and deported after she arrived in Manila. She was also accused of engaging in “anti-government activities.”

“This pattern of political repression is akin to the Marcos regime’s fascist campaign to criminalize dissent and deserves the condemnation of the international community. Further, this targeted campaign against Filipino migrant activists exposes the Marcos regime’s hypocrisy in milking profit from OFW remittances while at the same time barring migrants from returning to their homeland,” Bayan-Europe said.

Saturay came to the Netherlands in 2006 with her mother, sisters, and brother to join their father who had sought asylum in the country in 2003. This is because of the terror campaign led by Col. Jovito Palparan in the Mindoro region, where her father was based as an environmental activist and human rights worker.

Praised for her sharp and critical lyrics, Saturay used music and songwriting to advocate for the rights of Filipino migrant workers, immigrants, and refugees. She was known for songs “What Did I Do Wrong?” and “Geboren Om Te Strijden” (Born to Struggle).

“Filipino migrant workers will not be cowed into fear by these coercive attacks. We have endured wars, natural disasters, economic hardship, and discrimination of all forms. Wherever we are, we continue to fight for the genuine interests of the Filipino people, even in the face of political repression,” Migrante Netherlands said.

Meanwhile, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. arrived in Europe. His schedule includes a visit to Germany on March 12 and 13. He is expected to go to Prague, Czech Republic for a state visit until March 15. The agenda includes maritime security agreements, bilateral trade, and economic ties.

“This would already be Marcos’ 6th international trip just in 2024, revealing his utter disregard for using taxpayer’s money to finance his junket trips abroad. Instead of deporting and prohibiting the entry of activists and government critics to Manila, Marcos himself should be declared persona non-grata in Europe!” Bayan-Europe said.

Vietnam police have been summoning the wives of political prisoners for questioning over the past week, leading one lawyer to suggest that the Ministry of Public Security has launched a new harassment campaign against relatives of prisoners of conscience.

According to information obtained by Radio Free Asia, police summoned the wives of four prisoners this week: Trinh Thi Nhung, wife of Bui Van Thuan; Le Thi Ha, wife of Dang Dang Phuoc; Do Thi Thu, wife of Trinh Ba Phuong; and Nguyen Thi Tinh, wife of Nguyen Nang Tinh.

The women were questioned about their social media activities.

They also summoned Nguyen Thi Mai, daughter of female prisoner Nguyen Thi Tam.

The five prisoners are serving sentences of between five and 10 years, all for the crime of “propaganda against the state.”

On Tuesday, police also summoned Le Thi Kieu Oanh, wife of former prisoner Pham Minh Hoang, following her trip to France to see her husband.

In 2017, Hoang was stripped of his Vietnamese citizenship and deported after serving a 17-month prison sentence for “activities aimed at overthrowing the government.”

Questioned about Facebook Trinh Thi Nhung was summoned for questioning by the Nghi Son Town Police in Thanh Hoa province on Wednesday morning.

They said they believed she had used the Facebook account “Nhung Trinh” to sign a petition calling for the release of human rights activist Nguyen Thuy Hanh, who has cancer and is being held in a secure mental facility.

Nhung told the police the account was not hers and refused to sign a statement.

Do Thi Thu was asked to visit Ha Dong District Police in Hanoi on Thursday, also in connection with Facebook but she refused.

“I’m not going to meet them there because they've invited me so many times about the same thing,” she said.

“The investigator asked me if the [Thu Do] Facebook account was mine.

“They told me not to share articles related to prisoners of conscience.”

Le Thi Ha was summoned by the Internal Security Department of Dak Lak Provincial Police.

They asked her to come in on Thursday to provide information about her use of social media. She told RFA she would attend even though she doesn’t have a Facebook account.

“I find it annoying,” she told RFA Vietnamese. “It affects my job because I work all day at school and have no time to rest.”

Human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Miem wrote on Facebook, "There seems to be a campaign to harass the wives of prisoners of conscience."

Josef Benedict, Asia Pacific civil space advocacy expert for rights group CIVICUS also criticized Vietnam for harassing families of political prisoners.

"The Vietnamese government must halt the shameful and vindictive campaign of harassment against the wives of political prisoners for their social media posts,” he said.

“Prisoners’ families should not be targeted simply because they seek justice for their loved ones .

Instead they should be able to exercise their basic right to freedom of expression peacefully without fear of reprisal.”

According to Amnesty International, Vietnam currently has more than 250 political prisoners.

Hanoi always claims it has no political prisoners, only those convicted of crimes.

Authorities have transferred a Tibetan Buddhist monastery administrator and a village official – both arrested last month on suspicion of leading protests against the construction of a dam – to a large detention center in southwestern China’s Sichuan province, two sources with knowledge of the situation told Radio Free Asia.

Tenzin, the senior administrator of Wonto Monastery in Wangbuding township, and a village official named Tamdrin, were transferred from where they were previously detained to the larger Dege County Detention Center Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture on March 3, said the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals by Chinese officials.

The men, who both go by just one name, were among the more than 1,000 Tibetan monks and residents of Dege County who were arrested on Feb. 23 for peacefully appealing to halt the construction of the dam on the Drichu River (Jinsha, in Chinese).

Some of these detainees, including Tenzin and Tamdrin, were severely beaten.

The dam construction is expected to cause the forced resettlement of at least two major villages, Wonto and Shipa, and the destruction of several monasteries with religious and historical significance, including the Wonto and Yena monasteries.

On Feb. 27, Chinese police released around 40 Tibetans, even as they forbade them from communicating with outsiders and imposed strict restrictions on the movement of people to and from the various monasteries and villages on both sides of the river.

Checking social media feeds

Sources, however, told RFA on Thursday that Chinese authorities are continuing to arrest more people and have cracked down on the people who posted videos of the arrests and protests that took place in February.

“The police are regularly checking people’s WeChat and TikTok accounts for any evidence of them having shared the videos and for communication with the outside world,” the first source said. “There’s severe restrictions on movement on either side of the river and no internet connection.”

The authorities are carrying out widespread, daily search and interrogations to find the people who posted the videos of black-clad Chinese police restraining the monks, who could be seen kneeling and crying out.

“People who send information out and videos like this face imprisonment and torture,” Maya Wang, interim China director of Human Rights Watch told RFA last month in the wake of the first round of arrests of more than 100 Tibetans that took place on Feb. 22. “Even calling families in the diaspora are reasons for imprisonment.”

“What we do see now are actually … typical scenes of repression in Tibet, but we don’t often get to see [what] repression looks like in Tibet anymore,” Wang said.

‘Open prison’ in Dege

The police are monitoring the monks and locals very closely, and the situation is like an “open prison as they are exercising extreme control,” said the second source.

“The monks and local people are very angry that they were arrested and subjected to beatings and torture for making peaceful appeals,” he added. “They say that if the government really forces them to move, there may be violent protests.”

Chinese officials have, however, made clear that the Gangtuo Dam project will continue, two Tibetans with knowledge of the situation told RFA earlier this month.

The Gangtuo Dam is part of a plan that China’s National Development and Reform Commission announced in 2012 to build a massive 13-tier hydropower complex on the Drichu. It would be located at Wontok (Gangtuo, in Chinese) in Dege county, northwest of Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The total planned capacity of the 13 hydropower stations is 13,920 megawatts.

Over the past two weeks, Tibetans in exile have been holding solidarity rallies in cities in the United States, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Australia and India.

Global leaders and Tibetan advocacy groups have condemned China’s actions, calling for the immediate release of those detained.

The Mullaitivu Magistrates Court issued an order on Friday 24 November 2023, prohibiting all remembrance events and places in Mullaitivu dedicated to fallen Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres ahead of Maaveerar Day (27 November 2023). The order, prompted by complaints made by the Mullaitivu police department, specifically targets several individuals and organisations involved in organising the commemorative events in the district.

Following the issuance of the order, a remembrance event in Mullaitivu was disrupted after the police presented the court order to attendees.

Police have used water cannons to disperse a protest near the Parliament Roundabout a short while ago, Ada Derana reporter said.

The relevant protest march was organised by the women’s wing of the National People’s Power (NPP) this morning (04) against the rising cost of living, unbearable tax burden on the people and other issues in the country.

Riot police had resorted to using water cannons as the protesters attempted to march towards the Parliament along the Parliament Road, the reporter said.

A group of journalists visiting to Mayilathamadu Batticaloa to interview farmers who were protesting for more than 50 days has been stopped Mayilathamadu checkpoint by police today without any legal basis.

In a letter to the Inspector General of Police in a singed letter the group has urged to pay immediate attention to the incident, response to it and hold those responsible accountable.

The letter:

As a media team, we came to visit Mayilathamadu to interview farmers an report on land issues today 9th November 2023. Police personnel at Mayilathamadu checkpoint stopped us around 1010am and refused to let us pass through. But we saw others were allowed to go.

We called the Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG), Eastern Province twice, but didn’t receive a proper response.

We were informed by police officers Herath (60073) and HMM Widyaratne (36739) at Mayilthmadhu checkpoint at about 1230pm that they would not allow us to proceed to Mayilathamadu to talk to farmers, as per SDIG East’s orders. The Director of Investigations of Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, Mr. Lal also informed us same. Neither informed us the legal basis an authority to stop us. We messaged SDIG East asking legal basis for stopping us but didn’t receive a response.

We believe this is a violation of our constitutional rights to freedom of speech, expression, and publication (article 14-1-a), freedom to engage in a lawful occupation (article 14-1-g), and freedom of movement (article 14-1-h), equal protection of the law (article 12-1) non-discrimination (article 12-2).

This is also an offence against Article 332 of the penal code (wrongful restraint)

We kindly request your immediate attention and response to this and hold those responsible accountable. And ensure such violations are prevented in the future.

Thank you.

1. Mr. Rukshan Fernando (Ruki Fernando). Columnist for newspapers such as The Morning, Daily Mirror, Sunday Observer, Anidda.

2. Ms. Kamanthi Wickramasinghe Deputy Features Editor, Daily Mirror

3. Ms. H.M. Rekha Nilukshi. Freelance Journalist

4. Mr. Ganeshan Jegan, News editor at Monara.com

5. Ms. Melani Manel Perera, Asia News Correspondent & Mojo News Lanka Reporter

Six Tamil students have been released on bail by Eravur Magistrate court after they were arrested earlier today for participating in a protest against the Sri Lankan government’s seizure of land and settling of Sinhalese farmers in Mayilathamadu.

The six students were arrested by Santhiveli police after their vehicle was intercepted as they travelled back to Jaffna once the protest had finished. Sri Lankan police stated that the students were arrested for an "illegal gathering". Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam tweeted that when he asked Batticaloa's Senior Superintendent of Police what the illegality was, he reportedly responded that the students had taken part in a procession without permission.

Ponnambalam also highlighted that prior to the arrests, the Santhiveli police had explained to the students how to execute the rally.

"What is clear is that it was the SSP Batticaloa and above that has given pressure to the Santhively police to arrest the students as an afterthought," the TNPF leader tweeted.

The University of Jaffna's student union released a statement condemning the arrests and the Sri Lankan police for "obstructing democratic protests."

The student union also condemned the police for not taking action against extremist Sinhala Buddhist monk, Ampitiye Sumanarathana, for recently threatening to kill all of the Tamils in the South but arrested Tamil students for expressing solidarity with the farmers.

Since September 15, livestock farmers in Mayilathamadu, Batticaloa, have been staging protests demonstrating against the Sri Lankan government’s seizure of land that they have traditionally used for cattle grazing. Many Sinhalese farmers have been settled in the land seized by the Mahaweli Authority.

Chinese police on Saturday began wide-scale, rigorous interrogations of Tibetans arrested for protesting a dam project, beating some of them so badly that they required medical attention, three sources told Radio Free Asia.

On Friday, RFA reported exclusively that police had arrested more than a 1,000 Tibetans — both Buddhist monks and local residents — of Wangbuding township in Dege county of Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan province, in central China.

The detainees were “slapped and beaten severely each time they refused to answer important questions,” one source told RFA, speaking on condition of anonymity for personal safety. “Many had to be taken to the hospital.”

Since Feb. 14, monks and residents had been peacefully protesting the planned construction of the Gangtuo hydropower dam on the Drichu River, known as Jinsha River in Chinese.

The dam will force two major communities to be relocated and submerge several monasteries, including the Wonto Monastery, famous for ancient murals dating back to the 13th century.

“One of the monks from Wonto Monastery was among those who had to be immediately rushed to the hospital because he had been beaten so badly that he could not even speak," the first source said. "He also had many severe bruises on his body."

Detainees not given food

Many of those arrested were being held in a police station in Upper Wonto while many others were being held in an old prison in Dege county, sources told RFA.

The detainees are being held in various other places throughout Dege county as the police do not have a place to detain more than 1,000 individuals in a single location.

“In these detention centers, the arrested Tibetans were not given any food, save for some hot water, and many passed out because of the lack of food amid the freezing temperatures,” the second source told RFA.

On Friday, RFA learned that the arrested Tibetans were told to bring their own bedding and tsampa – a Tibetan staple – which sources said were an indication that the detainees would not be released anytime soon.

China has also imposed COVID 19-like restrictions in Dege county and deployed a large number of police to the areas where Tibetans have been detained, including in Upper Wonto, to bring the situation under control, the sources told RFA.

“Each of the police units brought in from outside Dege have been tasked with controlling a community each and for carrying out strict surveillance and suppression of the people there,” a third source told RFA.

“In the communities of Wonto and Yena, people have been restricted from leaving their homes and the restrictions are so severe that it is similar to what happened during the Covid-19 outbreak when the entire place was under lockdown,” said the same source.

Police began arresting the protesters on Thursday, Feb. 22. Citizen videos shared exclusively with RFA showed Chinese officials dressed in black forcibly restraining monks, who can be heard crying out to stop the dam construction.

Reactions

A Canadian foreign ministry spokesperson told RFA the government is closely monitoring the situation in Dege and said the detention of Tibetans was a matter of “grave concern.”

“Canada remains deeply concerned about the human rights situation affecting Tibetans, including restrictions on freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief, and the protection of linguistic and cultural rights,” said Geneviève Tremblay, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada.

“We urge Chinese authorities to immediately release all those (Tibetans) detained for exercising their rights to freedom of speech and of assembly,” she said.

Citing RFA’s report of the mass arrests, leaders of the Tibetan government-in-exile along with representatives of Tibet support groups from more than 42 countries issued a statement on Saturday expressing alarm.

“The crackdown on non-violent protests in Dege is beyond condemnation. The Chinese authorities’ disregard for the rights of Tibetans is unacceptable by any measure,” said Penpa Tsering, Sikyong or the President of the Central Tibetan Administration.

“The punitive acts demonstrate China’s prioritization of its ideology and interests over human rights,” he said. “We call on the Chinese government to release all those detained and to respect the rights and aspirations of the Tibetan people.”

Tibetans around the world continued to hold demonstrations in solidarity with the protesters, including in Dharamsala, India, home to the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Over the past week, Tibetans have demonstrated in front of Chinese Consulates in New York, Toronto and Zurich.

“I want to underscore how rare (it is that) we are able to have a little window into the situation in Tibet given the escalating control of information the Chinese government has imposed on Tibetan areas,” Maya Wang, interim China director of Human Rights Watch, told RFA by phone.

“People who send information out and videos like this face imprisonment and torture.”

Police on Friday arrested more than 1,000 Tibetans, including monks from at least two local monasteries, in southwestern China’s Sichuan province after they protested the construction of a dam expected to destroy six monasteries and force the relocation of two villages, two sources from inside Tibet told Radio Free Asia.

The arrested individuals – both monks and local residents – are being held in various places throughout Dege county in Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture because the police do not have a single place to detain them, said the sources who requested anonymity for safety reasons.

Those arrested have been forced to bring their own bedding and tsampa – a staple food for Tibetans that can be used to sustain themselves for long periods of time, the sources said.

“That police are asking Tibetans to bring their own tsampa and bedding is a sign that they will not be released anytime soon,” one of the sources said.

On Thursday, Feb. 22, Chinese authorities deployed specially trained armed police in Kardze’s Upper Wonto village region to arrest more than 100 Tibetan monks from Wonto and Yena monasteries along with local residents, many of whom were beaten and injured, and later admitted to Dege County Hospital for medical treatment, sources said.

Citizen videos from Thursday, shared exclusively with RFA, show Chinese officials in black uniforms forcibly restraining monks, who can be heard crying out to stop the dam construction.

Following news of the mass arrests, many Tibetans from Upper Wonto village who work in other parts of the country returned to their hometown and visited the detention centers to call for the release of the arrested Tibetans, sources said. They, too, were arrested.

The Dege County Hospital did not immediately return RFA’s requests for comment.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn’t commented on the arrests other than in a statement issued Thursday that said the country respects the rule of law.

“China protects the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese nationals in accordance with the law," the statement said.

Massive dam project

The arrests followed days of protests and appeals by local Tibetans since Feb. 14 for China to stop the construction of the Gangtuo hydropower station.

RFA reported on Feb. 14 that at least 300 Tibetans gathered outside Dege County Town Hall to protest the building of the Gangtuo Dam, which is part of a massive 13-tier hydropower complex on the Drichu River with a total planned capacity 13,920 megawatts.

The dam project is on the Drichu River, called Jinsha in Chinese, which is located on the upper reaches of the Yangtze, one of China’s most important waterways.

Local Tibetans have been particularly distraught that the construction of the hydropower station will result in the forced resettlement of two villages – Upper Wonto and Shipa villages – and six key monasteries in the area – Yena, Wonto, and Khardho in Wangbuding township in Dege county, and Rabten, Gonsar and Tashi in the Tibetan Autonomous Region, sources told RFA.

Sources on Friday also confirmed that some of the arrested monks with poor health conditions were allowed to return to their monasteries.

However, the monasteries – which include Wonto Monastery, known for its ancient murals dating back to the 13th century – remained desolate on the eve of Chotrul Duchen, or the Day of Miracles, which is commemorated on the 15th day of the first month of the Tibetan New Year, or Losar, and marks the celebration of a series of miracles performed by the Buddha.

“In the past, monks of Wonto Monastery would traditionally preside over large prayer gatherings and carry out all the religious activities,” said one of the sources. “This time, the monasteries are quiet and empty. … It’s very sad to see such monasteries of historical importance being prepared for destruction. The situation is the same at Yena Monastery.”

Protests elsewhere

Tibetans in exile have been holding mass demonstrations in various parts of the world, including in Dharamsala, India, home to the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

In the past week, Tibetans have demonstrated before the Chinese embassies, including those in New York and Switzerland, with more such protests and solidarity campaigns planned in Canada and other countries.

“The events in Derge [Dege] are an example of Beijing’s destructive policies in Tibet,” said Kai Müller, managing director of the International Campaign for Tibet, in a statement on Friday. “The Chinese regime tramples on the rights of Tibetans and ruthlessly and irretrievably destroys valuable Tibetan cultural assets.”

“Beijing’s development and infrastructure projects are not only a threat to Tibetans, but also to regional security, especially when it comes to water supplies to affected Asian countries,” he added.

Human Rights Watch told RFA that it is monitoring the development but that information from inside Tibet is extremely rare given China’s tight surveillance and restrictions imposed on information flow.

“People who send information out and videos like this face imprisonment and torture,” said Maya Wang, the group’s interim China director.

“Even calling families in the diaspora are reasons for imprisonment,” she said. “What we do see now are actually … typical scenes of repression in Tibet, but we don’t often get to see [what] repression looks like in Tibet anymore.”

Chinese officials arrested more than 100 Tibetan monks and other ethnic Tibetans in China’s southwestern Sichuan province on Thursday to quell protests against a massive dam project that would destroy six Buddhist monasteries and force the relocation of two villages, three sources told Radio Free Asia.

In a rare act of defiance, residents have taken to the streets of Wangbuding township in Dege County in Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture since Feb. 14 to oppose the plan to build the 1,110-megawatt Gangtuo hydropower station on the Drichu River (Jinsha in Chinese), which is located on the upper reaches of the Yangtze, one of China’s most important waterways.

Residents were particularly distraught that construction of the hydroelectric dam would destroy six monasteries, including the Wonto Monastery, which includes ancient murals that date to the 13th century, the sources said.

Citizen videos exclusively shared with RFA show Chinese officials dressed in black forcibly restraining monks, who can be heard crying out against the dam.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said he was not aware of the arrests. "China is a country under the rule of law," he said in an emailed statement. "China protects the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese nationals in accordance with the law."

The detentions reportedly occurred in the Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan, an area with a large population of ethnic Tibetans. Some of the arrested protesters required hospitalization due to rough treatment, sources said.

Local sources who spoke with RFA despite the Chinese government’s effort to restrict communication from the area said police officers used water cannons, pepper spray and tasers to subdue the protesters. The videos shared with RFA do not show those tactics, however.

Rising opposition

The protests started on Feb. 14, when at least 300 Tibetans gathered outside the Dege County Townhall to protest the dam. Such protests are rare in China, particularly among Tibetans, due to strict controls on public gatherings and extensive surveillance by authorities.

The construction of the Gangtuo hydropower dam will force the resettlement of the Upper Wonto and Shipa villages and the Yena, Wonto and Khardho monasteries in Dege county, and the Rabten, Gonsar and Tashi monasteries in Chamdo township, sources told RFA.

The Wonto and Yena monasteries, which are located closest to the site of the planned project, together have about 300 monks and hold significant cultural and religious importance to locals.

The Wonto Monastery was severely damaged during China’s Cultural Revolution. Locals preserved its ancient murals, however, and began rebuilding the monastery in 1983

The number of monks who live and worship at the four other monasteries slated for destruction is not known.

About 2,000 people live in the two villages and would be forced to relocate due to the dam project, sources told RFA.

The Gangtuo dam is part of a plan that China’s National Development and Reform Commission announced in 2012 to build a massive 13-tier hydropower complex on the Drichu. It would be located at Wontok (or Gangtuo in Chinese), Dege county, northwest of the Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province.

The planned capacity of the 13 hydropower stations is 13,920 megawatts.

Chinese authorities closed all the main roads and imposed strict restrictions, including on digital access, on the villages and monasteries in the Wangbuding township following the Feb. 14 protests.

On Feb 20, as authorities inspected Yena and Wonto monasteries in preparation for their demolition, video footage obtained by RFA showed monks prostrating themselves before the visiting Chinese officials to plead with them to halt the construction of the dam.

The appeals continued today. But by then Chinese officials apparently had had enough, and the arrests began. Officials also reportedly confiscated the mobile phones of protesters. Some locals though avoided arrest and were able to record elements of the crackdown.

The regional Court of Appeal in Battambang province on Thursday questioned three villagers from around Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, who were accused of incitement for allegedly posting an Apsara National Authority notice on social media.

Last year, Apsara authority filed a complaint against three residents Luy Socheat, Phan Salin and Sok Pov for incitement for allegedly posting the notice on the removal of illegal structures in Ampil commune’s Bakorng village last year. The three also urged other villagers to join a protest.

Some 100 villagers traveled by bus to the regional Appeal Court to protest on Thursday, calling court officials to drop all charges against three residents in Bakorng district.

The case against the three is an appeal by Apsara authority after a decision to hold their case by Siem Reap provincial deputy prosecutor Lay Nisay on November 30, according to the court warrant obtained by CamboJA. But, the court did not reveal a specific reason.

Sok Pov told CamboJA that prosecutor Kong Chamkhemrin questioned him regarding the information posted on Facebook in relation to Apsara authory’s notice to remove illegal structures of villagers.

“The court allowed us to return home after questioning, and he [Kong Chankhemrin] said [we] don’t need to be worried about an arrest,” he said. “I didn’t commit what they [Apsara authority] accused me of because I shared the information.”

Battambang Court of Appeal spokesperson Teang Sambo confirmed that three villages were questioned for incitement at the court but declined to comment further. She asked that questions be referred to the spokesperson for prosecutor Ream Chanmony. However, the spokesperson declined to comment.

Chea Kosal, one of villagers who came to support the three, said the accusation by Apsara authority is “unreasonable” as they had only shared information, which is not the same as incitement.

“The accusation is unfair because sharing information isn’t an offense. We are angry, which is why we have come here to support them,” Kosal said.

He called on the Battambang Court of Appeal to uphold the provincial court decision, which had correctly decided to hold the case.

Local NGO Licadho rights supervisor In Kongchet expressed disappointment that Apsara authority took the case to a higher level after the provincial court’s decision.

“They are not guilty of posting the notification letters of Apsara National Authority. It is like sharing information to their community, so it’s not an offense [or] did not commit a felony,” he said.

“[If] Apsara authority continues to sue them, it will cause them to live in fear due to the court process,” Konchet said. “It also affects their livelihood as they have to travel to court.”

He urged Apsara authority to stop suing the villagers and consider settling the issue.

Apsara National Authority deputy director-general Long Kosal could not be reached for comment.