- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- May 1, 2024
- Event Description
Six protesters were arrested by the police today during a protest action near the US Embassy in Manila.
The police barricaded the protesters in Kalaw but the protesters were able to pass through and march near the US Embassy. The police attempted to disperse the protesters, some of them were injured after they were hit with truncheons. Minutes later, the police used a water cannon against them.
During the program, activist leaders denounced the police dispersal and arrest of the six activists.
Gabriela Secretary General Clarice Palce said, “The police prevent us from getting near the US Embassy but American troops freely occupy our land and seas,” she said in Filipino, referring to the Balikatan exercise with the US.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Apr 29, 2024
- Event Description
A court in Thailand today sentenced one of the kingdom’s leading democracy activists to a further two years imprisonment on royal insult charges.
It is the latest charge levelled against prominent human rights lawyer Arnon Nampa, who now faces more than 10 years in prison.
He is currently in jail after he was handed down a four-year sentence in January over three messages posted on Facebook in 2021, adding to the four years he was already serving for a prior lese majeste conviction.
Critics say the government has used the strict legislation to silence dissent, prosecuting scores under a tough law that protects King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his family.
The criminal court in Bangkok sentenced Arnon for two years and 20 days over his calls at a Harry Potter-themed rally in 2021 to amend Thailand’s royal defamation laws.
He was found guilty of four charges including violation of else majeste, defying the emergency decree, and using a loudspeaker without permission, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said.
Thailand’s youth-led pro-democracy protests in 2020 saw tens of thousands of people take to the streets to make unprecedented calls to reform the monarchy.
Sentencing him, the criminal court also fined him 150 baht for use of the loudspeaker.
Arnon is among more than 150 activists who have been charged in recent years under lese majeste laws, often referred to as “112” after the relevant section of the criminal code.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Apr 29, 2024
- Event Description
Two young Thai activists were today indicted on ‘groundless’ royal defamation and computer crime charges, Amnesty International has said.
Niraphorn “Bie” Onnkhaow, an Amnesty International Digital Rights Champion who recently engaged with the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, and Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul, a prominent protest leader featured in Amnesty International’s 2021 Write for Rights campaign, were today indicted under the charges of lèse-majesté and violating Thailand’s Computer Crimes Act.
“Today’s indictment shows that Thai authorities are continuing to weaponize spurious charges to silence critical voices of young people who want to speak about their human rights,” said Amnesty International’s Thailand Researcher Chanatip Tatiyakaroonwong.
“The decision to indict Bie only one month after she travelled to Geneva to share her experience as a young activist and human rights defender in Thailand sends a chilling message that speaking out on human rights violations will not be tolerated.”
On 12 March 2024 in Geneva, Bie spoke during the Inter-active Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders. She expressed concern over Thai authorities’ misuse of the criminal justice system to stifle freedom of expression and the use of digital surveillance against children and young human rights defenders in Thailand.
She also spoke at a side event on 13 March alongside other child and youth defenders to mark the release of a report by the Special Rapporteur, who had recognized the role of young human rights defenders in Thailand in peacefully protesting for reforms since 2020.
Charges against Bie and Rung were originally pressed in November 2021 but the public prosecutor only recently decided to proceed with the indictments.
Both Bie and Rung are part of the student-led protest group United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration (UFTD) and are vocal on freedom of expression, digital rights and gender equality.
Authorities allege that the two youth activists are administrators of the Facebook page of the UFTD. The charges against them stem from accusations that they made three posts on the page that were considered as being defamatory towards the monarchy.
Amnesty International has further documented that both women human rights defenders have been subjected to digital surveillance.
According to civil society-led forensic research, Bie and Rung were among 35 human rights defenders (HRDs), activists, academics and artists targeted with Pegasus, a highly invasive spyware developed by the Israeli cyber intelligence company NSO Group.
Bie’s mobile device was infected 14 times in 2021 – the highest number of infections documented among all the targeted individuals. Meanwhile, Rung’s device was infected four times in the same year.
Earlier in 2024, Bie was selected as one of Amnesty International’s Digital Rights Champions, a group of children and young leaders from across the globe with an interest and expertise in digital rights.
“This indictment decision will likely intensify the chilling effect that leaves Thai human rights defenders and activists afraid to speak up on human rights issues,” Chanatip Tatiyakaroonwong said.
“This is a reminder that Thailand needs to step up its efforts to meet its international human rights obligations, including the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. We urge the Thai authorities to immediately drop charges against these activists.”
Thailand is currently seeking membership in the UN Human Rights Council, whose members have a responsibility to “uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights”.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment, Reprisal as Result of Communication
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Apr 24, 2024
- Event Description
Two Vietnamese teachers were sentenced to prison on Wednesday in separate cases for criticizing authorities on social media under vague statutes often used to stifle dissent, people with knowledge of the situation said.
They are the latest examples of how Vietnam systematically suppresses basic freedoms and civil rights.
Duong Tuan Ngoc, 39, was sentenced by the Lam Dong People’s Court to seven years in prison and three years of probation under Article 117 of the country’s Penal Code for disseminating anti-state propaganda and “smearing senior leaders” on his social media accounts.
Retired teacher Nguyen Thu Hang, 62, received a two-year sentence under Article 331 for abusing democratic freedom that violated the interests of the state, rights and the legal interests of organizations and individuals.
She was convicted by the Dong Hoi People’s Court for using personal Facebook accounts to defame a judge who had presided over the land dispute case in which she was involved. She was also accused of streaming such video clips at various provincial offices.
Under the one-party rule of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the government severely restricts rights to freedom of expression, religion, association, peaceful assembly and movement, according to human rights and civil society groups.
“No one should be targeted for comments made on social media criticizing the government,” Josef Benedict, a researcher covering the Asia Pacific region for the CIVICUS Monitor, told RFA via text message.
Health videos
Ngoc, jailed since July 15, 2023, was an online teacher who specialized in macrobiotic diets, which aim to avoid foods containing toxins. He used to post articles and livestream videos about education, health and social issues on his Facebook and YouTube pages.
Police in Lam Dong province in southern Vietnam summoned him and his wife, Bui Thanh Diem Ngoc, on July 10, 2023, to question them about anonymous reports that Ngoc used his Facebook account to sell drugs.
But after Ngoc proved he was innocent, the police initiated a new probe on the charge of distributing anti-state propaganda and arrested him five days later.
Authorities accused the teacher of posting and sharing articles and videos on his Facebook and YouTube accounts that mocked, defamed and criticized the government and the party’s policies, and smeared senior party and state leaders, according to notices Lam Dong Police gave to Ngoc’s family.
A relative, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, told Radio Free Asia that Ngoc’s first-instance trial, which his wife and lawyer were allowed to attend, lasted about two hours on Wednesday morning.
“The defense lawyer did not make a defense case for him but requested sentence litigation, saying that he had a clean criminal record and had performed many charity activities before his arrest,” the person said.
During the trial, Ngoc admitted to having “spoken ill of government officials” but affirmed his wish of “a multiparty and pluralistic regime and an improved political regime,” said the relative.
It appears as though Ngoc will not appeal the verdict because he wants to serve his sentence as soon as possible so he can see his family again and resume work, the person said.
‘Lip service’
Benedict from CIVICUS said Ngoc’s arrest for peaceful expression online is the latest attempt by the Vietnamese regime to stifle peaceful expression, which contravenes the country’s international human rights obligations to protect fundamental freedoms.
He expressed concern over the government’s use of Article 117, which U.N. experts have found overly broad and aimed at silencing those who seek to exercise their right to freely express their views and share information with others.
“These actions are unbecoming of a member of the U.N. Human Rights Council and shows that the government has been only merely paying lip service to human rights and has no intention of respecting and protecting them,” Benedict said.
Vietnam is a current three-year member of the Human Right Council in Geneva, Switzerland, for the 2023-25 term and will seek reelection to the body for the 2026-28 term, despite widespread rights violations.
Ngoc is well-known on social media, and his Facebook page has more than 45,000 followers with an introductory description declaring: “I have rights as a citizen. You have rights as citizens. Citizens are the rightful owners of the country.”
He has two YouTube accounts, one of which features hundreds of videos on health, medicine and life in the countryside, and has nearly 95,000 followers. His other channel has about 39,000 followers and features videos discussing politics, corruption and poor leadership in Vietnam.
Ngoc is the eighth Vietnamese activist convicted this year, and the third to be charged with disseminating “anti-state propaganda” according to an RFA tally.
Retired teacher
Meanwhile, the retired teacher, Nguyen Thu Hang, was sentenced to two years in jail for abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the state.
Hang, a resident of Dong Hoi city in Quang Binh province in central Vietnam, previously worked at a middle school in Dong Hoi, and was arrested on Nov. 27, 2023.
Dong Hoi police’s investigation agency said Hang disagreed with a verdict handed down in a civil trial about a land-use rights dispute and a request to annul a land-use rights certificate in which she was a plaintiff.
The agency said that from March to May 2023, Hang repeatedly used her Facebook account to livestream comments on Judge Nguyen Van Ngh, posting videos of herself speaking at the headquarters of Nam Ly ward, Dong Hoi’s Department of Education and Training, and Quang Binh province’s Inspection Department.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Apr 21, 2024
- Event Description
Several journalists were reportedly illegally detained and abused in Punjab’s Gujrat district while covering local by-elections on April 21. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), urge the local authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into and ensure journalists are able to work without fear of harassment and obstruction.
On April 21, journalists covering by-elections in Punjab’s northern Gujrat city were reportedly illegally detained by both police and individuals in plain clothes, with law enforcement assaulting the media workers and damaging their equipment.
Among those affected were reporter Bilal Sikander and cameraman Mushtaq Danyal from 92 News, as well as cameraman Raees Dilawar from GNN News, and several other local media professionals. The journalists were taken into custody for several hours.
Sikander claims the group was taken to a police station, where he and his colleagues were intimidated, with police allegedly threatening to cause them serious harm to ‘ensure their silence’ throughout the by-elections. Both Sikander and Danyal sustained serious injuries to their arms and backs.
The journalists were released following intervention by the PFUJ and local union leaders. According to the affected journalists, they were denied medical attention and no investigation into their allegations of abuse has begun.
The PFUJ said: “Who so ever is behind the illegal abduction of journalists must be brought to justice. The PFUJ announce to move the court to register a First Information Report (FIR) against the abductors for justice.”
The IFJ said: “The Government of Pakistan must take action to thoroughly investigate the alleged abductions and harassment of a group of journalists in Gujrat. Further measures must be introduced to safeguard the rights of media workers and ensure impunity is not permitted to run rife.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Suspected non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Apr 20, 2024
- Event Description
Karapatan denounces the violent demolitions of stores, farms and protest centers in Barangay Tartaria, Silang, Cavite by hired goons of Ayala Land Inc. and the Aguinaldo clan.
The disputed area in Barangay Tartaria is part of a 200-hectare landholding settled by farmers since the late 19th century and known for its fertile soil planted to crops such as coconut, coffee, pineapple and banana. The landholding is being claimed by the Aguinaldos, who, however, failed to produce any proof of ownership.
Initially approved as a land reform area under the government’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, the National Housing Authority in collusion with the Aguinaldos succeeded in having the landholding exempted from CARP by having it reclassified as residential land. Since then, violent demolitions have been perpetrated by security guards hired by Ayala Land Inc. in cahoots with local police forces to make way for the construction of commercial establishments and a private subdivision in the area.
The latest attack was the burning at 2 a.m. of April 20, 2024 of the protest camp set up by the Samahan ng Magsasaka at Mamamayan ng Tartaria (SAMATA). The perpetrators were some 60 armed security goons from the notorious Jarton Security, the same agency hired by Ayala Land to demolish peasant communities in Hacienda Yulo in Canlubang, Calamba, Laguna.
Karapatan stands in solidarity with the peasant communities of Tartaria in their continuing struggle to defend their land and livelihoods from landgrabbers led by Ayala Land and the Aguinaldo clan.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Raid, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to property, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Suspected non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Apr 18, 2024
- Event Description
The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has suspended and debarred student leader Ramadas Prini Sivanandan citing various incidents, including the screening of a banned BBC documentary on campus, organising controversial events, and participating in protests.
Ramadas, who is also the general secretary of the Progressive Student Federation (PSF), has been barred for two years from all TISS campuses, including Mumbai, Hyderabad, Guwahati and Tuljapur.
The notice issued by the administration on April 18 highlighted Ramadas’s involvement in activities deemed as violating the institute’s disciplinary rules. These activities include conducting a Bhagat Singh memorial lecture with contentious guest speakers, staging protests outside the director’s bungalow late at night with loud slogans, and promoting the screening of the documentary Ram Ke Naam via social media platforms.
A committee appointed to find out if Ramadas violated the institute’s code of conduct recommended that he be suspended and debarred. As per the suspension order, TISS has allowed Ramadas to appeal against the decision within 30 days.
Ramadas is currently pursuing a PhD from the School of Development Studies at the institute and is a vocal advocate for social justice.
The suspension has sparked outrage among student groups, with PSF condemning the administration’s actions as an attack on student rights and freedom of speech. “These actions of the administration clearly highlight a trend of active support of the ruling BJP government at the cost of the future of students coming from marginalised backgrounds,” the PSF said in a press statement.
“The administration has been taking rampant actions against any form of student dissent, especially following its takeover by the central government last year and the appointment of new leadership in all high-ranking administrative positions. The crackdown on student voices resisting the policies of the BJP government is very much evident in these actions,” the statement added.
The showcause notice issued to Ramadas on March 16 pointed out his participation as a speaker at the Parliament March organised at Jantar Mantar. The PSF said the march was organised under the banner of the United Students of India, a joint platform of 16 student organisations.
The press statement also pointed out that Ramadas is a meritorious student who had received the National Fellowship for Scheduled Castes from the Indian government’s Ministry of Social Justice for excelling in the UGC NET examination. “Ramadas has unequivocally defended student rights on campus and worked hard to build joint platforms and alliances among all student organisations,” the statement added
Responding to the controversy, a TISS official said that such activities of the students malign the image of the institute and subsequently impact placements too. “The institute therefore acted against Ramadas as per rules since he failed to follow the disciplinary code of conduct.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Apr 18, 2024
- Event Description
Pham Thi Lan, wife of independent journalist Nguyen Tuong Thuy, was banned from leaving the country on April 18 when she arrived at the Moc Bai Border Gate in Tay Ninh Province to travel to Cambodia with her family. Lan confirmed the travel ban with the Voice of America (VOA) Vietnamese language service after she returned to Hanoi on April 19.
During livestreaming on her Facebook account, Lan said that the Vietnamese Border Police had said she received a travel ban due to “national security” reasons. “I'm an old woman who only cares for my grandchildren and does housework all day long. Does that have an impact on national security?” she asked.
VOA said Vietnam’s Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to their request for comment. Journalist Nguyen Tuong Thuy, a member of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN), is serving an 11-year prison sentence on the charge of “distributing anti-state propaganda.” He is held at An Phuoc Prison, Binh Duong Province, more than 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) from his home in Hanoi.
The travel ban imposed on Pham Thi Lan occurred before Vietnam began its fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a universal human rights assessment process of the United Nations Human Rights Council, in early May in Geneva, Switzerland. In this process, various stakeholders will discuss and propose recommendations for Hanoi to improve its human rights record and uphold other international commitments regarding civil liberties, including the freedom of movement of its citizens.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Apr 17, 2024
- Event Description
Kachin religious leader Dr. Hkalam Samson, who was released on Myanmar’s New Year amnesty on April 17, was reportedly re-arrested by the military junta.
According to a person close to the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), Dr. Hkalam Samson was rearrested after the military arrived with a large force at the home of Dr. Hkalam Samson in Tapkone Ward, Myitkyina town, Kachin State, at about 11:00 p.m. on April 17.
“It’s right he was arrested. After he got home, the military came back and re-arrested him at night. The military force was quite large. It was at least 20 forces,” he said.
He added that it is not known for what reason Dr. Hkalam Samson was re-arrested and where he was being arrested until now.
Dr. Hkalam Samson was appointed as a special advisor to the Kachin Baptist Church (KBC) in 2022. He was arrested by the military junta at Mandalay International Airport on December 5, 2022. He was sentenced to 6 years in prison under section 17 (1) of the Unlawful Association Act and sections 505(a) and 52 (a) of the Penal Code.
After being imprisoned for more than a year in Myitkyina Prison, he was released on amnesty but was re-arrested by the military for no reason.
“Such re-arrests should not be done at all. It is lawlessness. The military does not easily release those who have strong convictions and those who can resist. If those do not negotiate with the military junta, they re-arrest and put those back in prison. I want to comment the military junta should not do this kind of inequality to political prisoners,” said Ko Thaik Tun Oo, a member of the Myanmar Political Prisoners Network.
Similarly, singer Saw Poe Kwar who was released on amnesty, was re-arrested at the entrance of Insein Prison, on November 15, 2022.
In addition, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), 110 political prisoners were re-arrested after release on amnesty nationwide in 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Myanmar: community-based defender charged with terrorism
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Apr 16, 2024
- Event Description
At least 60 armed personnel have been reportedly building fences in the farmlands of barangay Tartaria, Silang, Cavite since April 16, prompting farmers to defend their community.
Regional peasant group Katipunan ng mga Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan (Kasama TK) said that the armed personnel came from Jarton Security, which it claimed was hired by the Ayala and Aguinaldo clans. Both families have been trying to seize the land for years, despite the pending decision of the Supreme Court (SC) and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) on land ownership.
Kasama TK said that the Philippine National Police (PNP) intervened, but only to assist Jarton Security.
In response to the persistence of security personnel, the Tartaria farmers built a fence to protect their farm, only to be demolished by the armed personnel. At least one farmer was injured in the incident.
The local group of farmers and residents Samahan ng Magsasaka at Mamamayan ng Tartaria (Samata) said that they tried to ask the armed personnel through a document to leave in peace. However, they refused to sign.
“Ito ay nangangahulugan lamang na hindi sila seryoso at patuloy pa rin yung gagawin nila na pagbabakod sa mga hindi surrender. Kaya nagkampohan na kami sa lupa, andito pa rin yung mga tao, at ang tindig namin ay hindi kami aalis dito at patuloy kaming magbabantay,” a representative from SAMATA said.
(This means that they are not serious and they will be persistent in fencing off our lands. So we are camping here and we continue to stand our ground that we will not leave. We continue to watch them.)
This incident is not new to the farmers of Tartaria. In a 2021 report by Bulatlat, farmers and residents were struggling against land-grabbing for decades. They have also successfully formed barricades and resisted the attempts to demolish their homes.
Both Kasama TK and SAMATA recorded a separate incident of harassment by Jarton Security on April 3. They also reported that there were incidents of illegal intrusion into their homes.
Human rights group Karapatan Laguna said that the ongoing harassment and planned change in land use are blatant violations of the human rights of Tartaria farmers and residents.
Initially, the DAR approved 137 farmer-beneficiaries of Tartaria under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) of former President Corazon Aquino. However, the Aguinaldo family contested the approval and later submitted appeals which were denied. It was only during the time of President Fidel V. Ramos that the decision was reversed, declaring the land as exempted from distribution.
“The slow action of the DAR in processing such cases of farmer struggles has also been condemned, allowing numerous incidents of harassment, intimidation, and threats against residents and farmers. The involvement of the PNP in harassment is unwarranted as it falls outside their jurisdiction,” Karapatan Laguna added.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to property
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Suspected non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 16, 2024
- Event Description
Police have arrested and detained four Tibetans who protested Chinese authorities’ seizure of pasture land owned by Tibetans in the Tibet Autonomous Region, three sources inside Tibet told Radio Free Asia.
On April 10, residents of Taktsa village in Luonixiang rural township in Markham county in Chamdo, or Changdu in Chinese, clashed with authorities after they appealed against the land grab and demanded compensation, said the sources, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.
In 2023, a Chinese county official illegally sold the pasture land to businessmen without the knowledge of locals and without providing them any compensation, the sources said.
The Tibetans had no knowledge that their land had been seized illegally until this April when the businessmen sent people to clear it. The Tibetans then confronted authorities, demanding payment.
Police arrested and detained four of the Tibetans, and slapped and beat many others at the scene, said one of the sources.
There were no immediate details about the status of the four or the charges against them, and it is not clear for what purpose the seized land will be used.
Despite repeated attempts, RFA did not receive any immediate response to calls to Markham county authorities and the local police station.
Chinese authorities in the Tibet Autonomous Region and in Tibetan-populated areas of nearby Chinese provinces often ignore residents’ concerns about mining and land grabs by local officials, who routinely rely on force to subdue those who complain or protest, according to human rights groups.
Over the past few years, there have been several reports of similar land grabs that have taken place in Chamdo, a resource-rich area in eastern Tibet.
Most of the land grabs have been related to mining, including copper, gold and lithium, and development projects that China has undertaken in the areas. In some cases, Tibetans have been forced from their homes.
Thumbs up
Videos obtained by RFA show over a dozen Tibetans pleading before Chinese police as they raised both their thumbs up — a Tibetan gesture of a request to show mercy.
The gesture was also seen being made by Buddhist monks and Tibetans residents during February protests in Dege county, southwestern China’s Sichuan province, in an appeal to Chinese officials to stop a planned dam project on the Drichu River.
In the videos from Markham county, young and elderly Tibetans kneel before police clad in black, and wail, while others pull and tug at the authorities to heed their pleas.
The land in question is used by about 25 Tibetan families to graze their animals and for recreation purposes, the sources said.
Chinese authorities have arrested the official who had colluded with the businessmen to illegally seize the land without compensating the Tibetans, charging him with corruption, said one of the sources.
Now, the residents are demanding compensation for the land that had been occupied, he added.
Chinese police have forbidden the Tibetans from sharing information about the incident with people outside China, the sources said.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Apr 13, 2024
- Event Description
Nghe An Provincial Prison No. 6 did not allow Bui Van Thuan, a prisoner of conscience from Thanh Hoa Province, to talk to his family in the Muong language when they visited him in August 2023 and February 2024. The prison officers required them to communicate in the Vietnamese language. Thuan, 43, a Muong ethnic minority, is serving a six-year sentence on the conviction of “distribution of anti-state propaganda.” The Muong community in Vietnam is located in a mountainous area southwest of Hanoi.
Thuan’s wife, Trinh Thi Nhung, told RFA that her husband, his parents, and younger brother had difficulty communicating in Vietnamese instead of their mother language. The correctional officers threatened to file a report against Thuan when they occasionally used Muong words for sentences they found hard to express in Vietnamese. Nhung added that Thuan had recently been transferred to the prison’s Camp No. 1, which has harsher living conditions.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Apr 8, 2024
- Event Description
Just a few days after the removal of Bolta Hindustan’s channel from YouTube on April 4, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has issued a directive for the removal of National Dastak’s YouTube channel as well.
The National Dastak took to X, formerly Twitter, and spoke on the decision. The notice by Google, which was sent to the media platform on Monday, April 8, stated that it could not specify why the channel was being banned as the government had declared that reason confidential. The media platform posted in response:
“नेशनल दस्तक को बंद करवाना चाहती है सरकार।। 3 अप्रैल को यूट्यूब ने नोटिस भेजा था।। आर्टिकल 19 को भी नोटिस है। ।।आचार संहिता में ये सब हो रहा है।। लाखों अखबार टीवी न्यूज चैनल चल रहे। बहुजनों के नेशनल दस्तक से इतना डर।”
(The government wants to shut down National Dastak. YouTube sent a notice on April 3, a notice was also sent to Article 19 . All this is happening under the Model Code of Conduct. Lakhs of newspapers and TV news channels are running. Why are they so afraid of Bahujan people’s National Dastak?)
The ban has been notified in adherence to the with Rule 15 (2) of the Information Technology Rules, 2021 with Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000. with Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000.
National Dastak describes itself as ‘online media’ and a voice of the oppressed, including Dalits, Adivasis, minorities, backwards, women, and farmers. The YouTube channel had over 9 million subscribers. This has raised questions about why the government, without providing an explanation, is targeting and censoring independent media which are run by and report issues of the marginalised.
Bolta Hindustan’s founder, Haseen Rahmani, had spoken to SabrangIndia earlier and stated how the “messenger is being punished’. The media platform’s channel was similarly banned without providing any reason due to confidentiality of the notice by the government. He further elaborated, saying the media platform will take the legal route if necessary, “Those who give hate speech are free, but if you do a story on these givers of hate speech, then you are punished.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Censorship, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- India: independent media faces YouTube ban
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Apr 8, 2024
- Event Description
Rights activists and environmentalists have expressed dismay over slapping terror charges on two Filipino activists, terming it an example of muzzling dissent and crackdown on rights-based activism in the country.
Fritz Jay Labiano and Adrian Paul Tagle have been charged with violating the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012, media reports say.
Labiano is the coordinator of the rights group Kabataan Partylist in Quezon province, and Tagle is the coordinator of Tanggol Quezon, an advocacy group. If convicted, they face life imprisonment.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Apr 8, 2024
- Event Description
Hoang Duc Binh reported to his family that he was put in leg shackles for 10 days, from March 26 to April 5, by warden Nguyen Ngoc Thach at An Diem Prison in Quang Nam Province. He also has been prohibited from receiving supplies or calls from his family for three months, as well as family visits for two months. According to Binh’s family, Binh was punished for protesting against unfair treatment by the warden, who did not let him have several items sent by his family and cited him for “not following orders by prison authorities.” While Binh was in shackles, guards allegedly confiscated his personal belongings, as well as those of other political prisoners. At least four political prisoners went on a hunger strike to protest the mistreatment: Hoang Duc Binh, Trinh Ba Phuong, Phan Cong Hai and Nguyen Thai Binh. As a result, all four were put in “disciplinary cells” and were not allowed to go out to the yard or communicate with other inmates.
In a letter home dated April 8, Trinh Ba Phuong corroborated Hoang Duc Binh’s account of being disciplined and the group’s hunger strike. Phuong’s wife, Do Thi Thu, was able to visit him on April 21 and reported that Phuong and several other political prisoners had been locked in their cells since April 8 with everything passed in and out through a small opening. Phuong told Thu it was a form of psychological torture. Phuong also said that Binh is suffering from back pain, abdominal pain, loss of smell, and chest pain. Binh did ask prison authorities for medication for his chest pain but so far has reportedly not received any. Thu also reported that for the past year, Phuong has not been eating any food made by the prison; at one point, the food caused him severe diarrhea and stomach problems. Phuong also said the water source at An Diem is highly polluted.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 7, 2024
- Event Description
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).
- Impact of Event
- 12
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to food, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- NGO staff, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: student leader arrested, investigated
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Apr 6, 2024
- Event Description
Journalist Habib-ur-Rahman Taseer from Radio Azadi in southeastern Ghazni has been detained in a detention center by the Taliban intelligence since 12 days ago and has now been transferred to the prison of the province. The Afghanistan Journalists Center expresses serious concern about Taseer's continued detention and demands his immediate and unconditional release.
A journalist in Ghazni province, who spoke to AFJC on the condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation by local Taliban officials, revealed that Habib-ur-Rahman Taseer was arrested on April 6 by the intelligence department of the province. Taseer was reportedly detained for preparing local reports for Radio Azadi, with his smartphone seized and its contents checked without his consent.
Radio Azadi has not officially responded to the situation. Another source in Ghazni provincne told AFJC that Taseer had faced pressure before his arrest, including being removed from a joint WhatsApp group of journalists and local officials. Efforts to secure Taseer's release have been unsuccessful, leading to his transfer from the intelligence detention center to the provincial prison. His case is expected to be sent to court.
Radio Azadi, based in Prague, Czech Republic, produces and broadcasts programs for Afghanistan. In December 2022, the FM frequency of Radio Azadi and Voice of America, both US government-supported outlets, were cut by Taliban order. Two months later, the websites of these outlets were also closed in Afghanistan, with the Taliban accusing them of spreading propaganda against the group.
AFJC calls on local Taliban officials in Ghazni province to release Habib-ur-Rahman Taseer promptly and unconditionally, emphasizing that journalists should be able to carry out their work without limitations or threats and should be supported.
Currently, three journalists are in custody in the country. AFJC data shows that at least 59 journalists and media workers were arrested in the last solar year alone. The majority of these cases involved violations of Taliban media directives, which contradict the country's media laws. Failure to adhere to these directives is deemed criminal.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 5, 2024
- Event Description
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).
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Apr 5, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Apr 5, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Apr 5, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Censorship, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Apr 5, 2024
- Event Description
The Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association has removed the names of lawyers Dang Dinh Manh and Nguyen Van Mieng from its list of members, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Law Newspaper.
The two had not paid membership fees for many years, the paper said in its Wednesday edition, adding that the decision to suspend them came into effect on April 5.
Hinting at another reason for the Bar Association’s decision the paper added that the two lawyers had previously defended six members of the Peng Lei Buddhist House – or Tinh That Bong Lai – who were sentenced in 2022 to a combined 23 years and six months in prison on charges of “abusing democratic freedoms” under Article 331 of the Criminal Code.
Lawyer Nguyen Van Mieng told Radio Free Asia he was not surprised by the decision and noted that the Bar Association has had ongoing problems with members not paying union dues. However, he said he believed that was not the main reason for them canceling his membership.
“In Vietnam, practicing lawyers are required to participate in the bar associations of provinces and cities. Everyone must belong to a certain bar association. Therefore, when the bar association removes our names, it means we are no longer qualified to practice law in Vietnam even though we are still lawyers,” he said.
“The independence of bar associations is almost non-existent. The cases we work on related to politics and democratic freedoms are monitored and the Bar Association, as a professional organization, is supposed to protect us in our activities but they are an extended arm of the security agency, or of other legal agencies.”
He said it was clear that the real reason for removing his name from the Bar Association was to clear the way for his prosecution under Article 331 in connection with the Tinh That Bong Lai case.
Lawyer Dang Dinh Manh told RFA that, in early 2023, the Ministry of Public Security asked the Long An Provincial Security Investigation Agency to conduct a criminal investigation against him.
He said that after receiving political asylum in the U.S. he wrote to the Bar Association asking for his name to be removed from their list of lawyers and also deleted any mention of the association from his social media.
“Currently, practicing law in Vietnam with professional qualifications is unthinkable, but I still try to practice according to the concept ‘there is nothing that prevents lawyers from practicing in accordance with their professional qualities’,” he said.
”Looking back on 28 years of practice, I have only one regret: having to stop defending activists, because being able to defend them is a privilege."
The Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association is under the direct control of the central government. One of its tasks is to represent and protect the legitimate rights and interests of practicing lawyers.
Lawyers Dang Dinh Manh and Nguyen Van Mieng are two of the five people representing the defendants in the Tinh That Bong Lai case.
They have repeatedly received summonses from the Long An Police due to reports from the Department of Cyber Security & Crime Prevention which said the two distributed online video clips, images and articles that allegedly showed signs of abusing democratic freedoms, infringing on the interests of the State and the legitimate rights of organizations and individuals according to Article 331 of the Criminal Code.
Both lawyers ignored the summonses on the grounds that it was their right to remain silent as persons under investigation.
On June 11, 2023, the Long An Provincial Police website posted a search notice saying that the two lawyers had ignored requests to come forward to be interviewed and had ignored repeated summonses, while giving no reason for their absence. It said that the police did not know the whereabouts of the two lawyers.
The Long An Provincial Police Department said it intended to search for the lawyers to resolve crime reports.
Both lawyers affirmed that this search procedure is illegal, because according to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code there is no law regulating it.
The two lawyers are currently in the United States.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Apr 4, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Apr 4, 2024
- Event Description
During a barangay session in Barangay Ibo, Toledo City on April 4, 2024, Barangay Councilor Primo Lamela, 49, was allegedly confronted by members of the Philippine Army (PA). Lamela was allegedly told by the PA team leader that he was a target of their intelligence gathering for his alleged connections with the New People’s Army (NPA). The PA team leader also alleged that Lamela and his organization posed a potential threat to the peace and order situation in their barangay. Lamela is the current Executive Director of Kapunongan Alang sa Kauswagan sa Kasadpang Sugbo (KAKASAKA), a local non-governmental organization. Lamela is also an active member of Akbayan-Cebu and an active supporter of Limpyong Hangin Alang sa Tanan (LAHAT), a local environmental organization actively engaged in opposing a coal-fired power plant in Toledo City.
In March 2024, Lamela met the PA team by chance. The team was seeking permission to stay in the barangay for intelligence purposes. Lamela escorted them to a possible site for their camp. After that, he went to his office, while the troops returned to the barangay hall. Later, when he returned, he found the troops talking to the barangay captain. After they left, the barangay captain allegedly confronted Lamela and asked about KAKASAKA’s operations. Lamela had already become suspicious about the PA’s intentions.
According to Lamela, during a formal courtesy call to the council, the PA sat in on one of their sessions. The PA explained that they would be staying in their barangay for several months. However, during the presentation, Lamela felt like the PA was attacking him. The PA brought up Lamela's affiliation and support for Akbayan Party-list and Senator Risa Hontiveros, as well as his connection to a local organization whose members were arrested during a rally in the nearby town of Aluguinsan. The PA also hinted that Lamela was linked to an alleged NPA sighting in Barangay Ibo, following a recent military encounter in Escalante City, Negros Occidental. There were reports that after the encounter, NPA members allegedly went to Barangay Ibo.
According to Lamela, after their initial meeting, the PA visited his office multiple times. The PA allegedly demanded that Lamela hand over all the legal documents about KAKASAKA. Additionally, the PA ordered Lamela to disclose all their contacts and funders. Lamela grew tired of being asked for the same documents repeatedly and requested the PA to write a formal letter for their request. On each visit, a different member of the PA arrived, but none of them introduced themselves. Lamela became concerned about the true motive behind the PA's repeated requests.
Background:
During the early 2000s, Lamela was actively opposing the construction of a power plant. The power plant's administration allegedly ordered military men to visit his office and persuade him to stop his opposition. Despite this, Lamela persisted and eventually ran for office, winning the position of barangay councilor during the 2022 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections. Currently, Lamela serves as the chairperson of two committees in the barangay - the committee on environment and the committee on fisheries and agriculture. He is also the vice-chairperson of the committee on women.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
Case shared by FORUM-ASIA member TFDP
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Apr 3, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death threat, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Apr 3, 2024
- Event Description
The sister of the detained journalist Nguyen Vu Binh, Nguyen Thi Phong, told The 88 Project that she visited him at Detention Center No. 1 in Hanoi on April 3. Phong explained that since Binh is still under investigation, he is still not allowed to have visitors. She could only send Binh some food and money. Binh, a former writer at the Party mouthpiece, The Communist Review, and one of the founders of the pro-democracy group Brotherhood for Democracy, was arrested under Article 117 for his alleged engagement in the distribution of anti-state propaganda.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Apr 2, 2024
- Event Description
On 2 April 2024, indigenous human rights defender Surju Tekam was arrested following a raid on his home by security forces in Chhattisgarh state, India. He is held under the regressive Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Arms Act and has been denied bail by the National Investigation Agency Court in Bilaspur. Surju Tekam's arrest stems from his vocal advocacy on behalf of peaceful local movements against increasing human rights violations, forcible land acquisition for corporate interests, and militarization in the state.
Surju Tekam is an indigenous human rights defender and the convenor of the Bastar Coordination Committee of Mass Movements (Bastar Jan Sangharsh Samanvay Samiti) and the Vice-President of Sarva Adivasi Samaj, a collective of all Adivasi organizations in Chhattisgarh. He has led major protest movements of the Adivasi community in Chhattisgarh against corporatization and militarization, and has been vocal against human rights violations by security forces, including extrajudicial executions, arrests of community leaders, and forced evictions.
On 2 April 2024, around 4:00AM, Surju Tekam’s residence was raided by security forces, and he was subsequently arrested under the UAPA and the Arms Act. He was produced before the NIA court in Bilaspur and denied bail. Surju Tekam’s family members allege that literature associated with the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) (CPI(M)) and weapons were planted in his residence by security forces. The police have alleged that Surju Tekam has been mobilizing Adivasis on behalf of Maoist organizations. He has been arrested under the UAPA and the Arms Act, making procuring his release on bail extremely difficult.
Arrests of indigenous human rights defenders in Chhattisgarh under accusations of Maoist links have been used as a means of persecution to stifle dissent and undermine their legitimate demands for the rights of Adivasi communities in the region. The arrest of human rights defender Surju Tekam in the period leading up to the national elections in India has raised concerns that it is aimed at silencing his advocacy against state abuse and violations.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Indigenous peoples' rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Mar 31, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to information
- HRD
- RTI activist, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 29, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment, Torture
- Rights Concerned
- Access to justice, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Mar 29, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 29, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to health, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Mar 29, 2024
- Event Description
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.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 28, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Mar 28, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to health, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Mar 28, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Mar 28, 2024
- Event Description
Feeling aggrieved by the news in one of the online media, three TNI-AL members allegedly committed acts of violence against an online media journalist (Sidik Kasus), on behalf of Sugandi.
Reportedly, the persecution took place at the Panambuang Port Guard Post in South Bacan District, South Halmahera Regency (Halsel), North Maluku Province (Malut).
The journalist was persecuted because he did not accept the news that tens of thousands of KL of fuel allegedly belonging to Dirpolairud Polda North Maluku were detained by Navy personnel in South Halmahera.
The persecution incident occurred on Thursday (28/3/2024) at around 14:00 WIT at the Panambuang Port Post.
"Around 12 noon, from the Navy (TNI AL) picked me up by car. The 3 Navy members took me directly to the Navy Post in Panambuang Village. After that, around 2pm and at the post, the persecution occurred," Sugandi told reporters.
He revealed that he was persecuted because the three members of the Navy were dissatisfied with the journalist's reporting.
"The persecution they carried out on the grounds that there was news that went up early without confirmation. But in this case, we have confirmed and there were 3 of us journalists. Even the recordings are also with 2 other journalists. So the news that went up too, the confirmation results are there until now," said Sugandi.
However, Sugandi said, according to the 3 unscrupulous members of the Navy, that the results of the confirmation were not for news, except for the results of the interview.
"For that reason, they were dissatisfied and took the step of hitting me. Mostly I was kicked in the head until my ears bled and 2 teeth were broken. My 2 hands were also hit. I was also kicked in the back and hit with a hose until I was injured," Sugandi explained while showing the bruises on his back.
Sugandi himself has now been examined at the Labuha Regional General Hospital (RSUD).
Furthermore, the case of alleged persecution of journalists, 3 unscrupulous members of the Navy will be reported to the Military Police (POM) of the Navy in Ternate City.
Until this news was published there was no official statement from the Ternate Navy base.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 26, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 26, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 26, 2024
- Event Description
Hoang Duc Binh reported to his family that he was put in leg shackles for 10 days, from March 26 to April 5, by warden Nguyen Ngoc Thach at An Diem Prison in Quang Nam Province. He also has been prohibited from receiving supplies or calls from his family for three months, as well as family visits for two months. According to Binh’s family, Binh was punished for protesting against unfair treatment by the warden, who did not let him have several items sent by his family and cited him for “not following orders by prison authorities.” While Binh was in shackles, guards allegedly confiscated his personal belongings, as well as those of other political prisoners. At least four political prisoners went on a hunger strike to protest the mistreatment: Hoang Duc Binh, Trinh Ba Phuong, Phan Cong Hai and Nguyen Thai Binh. As a result, all four were put in “disciplinary cells” and were not allowed to go out to the yard or communicate with other inmates.
In a letter home dated April 8, Trinh Ba Phuong corroborated Hoang Duc Binh’s account of being disciplined and the group’s hunger strike. Phuong’s wife, Do Thi Thu, was able to visit him on April 21 and reported that Phuong and several other political prisoners had been locked in their cells since April 8 with everything passed in and out through a small opening. Phuong told Thu it was a form of psychological torture. Phuong also said that Binh is suffering from back pain, abdominal pain, loss of smell, and chest pain. Binh did ask prison authorities for medication for his chest pain but so far has reportedly not received any. Thu also reported that for the past year, Phuong has not been eating any food made by the prison; at one point, the food caused him severe diarrhea and stomach problems. Phuong also said the water source at An Diem is highly polluted.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Use of Excessive Force
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Mar 25, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Mar 24, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Mar 23, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 23, 2024
- Event Description
The sister of prominent Tibetan prisoner Dorjee Tashi condemns police for destroying phone evidence of their brutality
Tibet Watch has learned that Gonmo Kyi, sister of the high-profile Tibetan prisoner Dorjee Tashi, was severely beaten by police this weekend.
The police assault followed her latest solo protest in front of the Tibet Higher People’s Court in Lhasa on 19 and 20 March, in which she again called for a retrial for her brother.
The incident comes two months after Gonmo held a sit-in protest in front of the same court holding up a paper that says “Dorjee Tashi is innocent!”, and a portrait of Xi Jinping in her lap.
Broken phone of Gonmo Kyi containing evidence of police brutality
In the videos Tibet Watch received, Gonmo Kyi shows injuries she sustained and condemns the authorities for breaking her phone, which she says contained evidence of police brutality committed her.
“You [the authorities] robbed my mobile phone and broke it to conceal the evidence, illegally arrested me and illegally beat me. Youalways propagandised that I have been freely coming to protest and freely going. But each time I came to protest requesting a fair trial for my brother’s [Dorjee Tashi] case, you arrested me and beat me. Then you broke my mobile phone to conceal the evidence”.
Another video shows the paper that says “Dorjee Tashi is innocent!” on a table and she makes the recording in which she condemns the injustice of using political crime against her brother: “You [the authorities] forcefully put a black hat on a white person [Dorjee Tashi]. You don’t have any evidence that Dorjee Tashi has committed a crime. If you have any evidence, please show us and prove it! Dorjee Tashi didn’t do such criminal offences, therefore, you evaded retrial of his case for many years!”
Gonmo Kyi has been appealing to see her imprisoned brother, Dorjee Tashi, and for him to be given a retrial.
During her protests, she has been beaten and threatened. In December, she was detained by police for one week. She has nevertheless continued her protests.
Dorjee Tashi was arrested in 2008 and charged with loan fraud. His family and those following his case vigorously contest these charges.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 22, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to health, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Mar 21, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Mar 21, 2024
- Event Description
Junaidi Marpaung's house, a journalist for one of the online media in Labuhanbatu Regency, North Sumatra (Sumut) on Jalan Aekmatio Talsim Gang Damai, Rantau Utara District, was allegedly burned by unknown people or OTK on Thursday morning, March 21, 2024.
Before the incident, he claimed to have received threats on social media after conducting investigative coverage of drug trafficking in four different places in Labuhanbatu for two days March 16, 2024 and March 17, 2024. He kept evidence of threats from one Facebook user by including a photo of Junaidi.
"I did journalistic work for two days by trying to uncover drug trafficking and fuel smuggling in Labuhanbatu. I visited two places in South Rantau Subdistrict, precisely in an area called Kandang Lembu and witnessed up close the drug transactions in the stalls prepared by drug dealers there." Junaidi told Tempo, Friday, March 22, 2024.
Junaidi added that the two drug trafficking stalls in Labuhanbatu are backed by strong people who also manage fuel oil smuggling.
Information on drug trafficking in Labuhanbatu, said Junaidi, he obtained from residents. To prove this, Junaidi invited one of his colleagues to conduct investigations in four locations.
"Two locations in South Rantau District and two more locations in the capital of Labuhanbatu, Rantauprapat. We will make the rampant drug stalls in Labuhanbatu the topic of investigative coverage in the media www.utamanews.com. However, my house and car were burned last night at around 00.45 WIB before our drug trafficking investigation report was released," said Junaidi.
Chairman of the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) North Sumatra Farianda Sinik said, PWI prepared legal steps for the protection of the safety of Junaidi's life and his family until the investigation and investigation of the burning of Junaidi's house and car was handled by the police.
"Junaidi is a PWI member in Labuhanbatu and he experienced violence and intimidation as a result of the coverage of the disclosure of drug trafficking and illegal fuel. Therefore, I conveyed this incident to the North Sumatra Police Chief and the police have followed up by sending Forensic Laboratory personnel from the North Sumatra Police," said Farianda Sinik.
Head of Public Relations of the North Sumatra Police Commissioner Hadi Wahyudi said the Forensic Laboratory Team (Labfor) was conducting crime scene processing at Junaidi Marpaung's residence. "The Labfor team is conducting crime scene investigations as well as collecting formal and material evidence as material for the investigation into the fire at the journalist's house in Labuhanbatu," said Hadi Wahyudi.
According to Hadi, the results of the crime scene will be a clue for investigators to find out whether there was a deliberate burning of Junaidi's house and car. The crime scene, said Hadi, was carried out by North Sumatra Police personnel together with Labuhanbatu Police to investigate where the initial fire spread to. From the crime scene, continued Hadi, investigators will find out whether there is an element of intent or not in the incident before naming a suspect.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Online Attack and Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to property
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Mar 20, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to health, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Mar 20, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist, Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Mar 20, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 20, 2024
- Event Description
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.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Mar 19, 2024
- Event Description
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."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Mar 18, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- India: youth farmer killed, at least 13 more injured
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 17, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest, Right to work
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Mar 17, 2024
- Event Description
On 17 March 2024, women human rights defenders Sasui Lohar and Sorath Lohar, together with other protestors engaged in a peaceful demonstration outside the Larkana Press Club, faced arrest and excessive use of force by Larkana police. The women human rights defenders had gathered peacefully to protest against the lack of justice or effective investigation into the killing of Hidayat Lohar, the father of Sasui Lohar and Sorath Lohar, on 16 February 2024. Sindh police used excessive force against the protesters, including firing live bullets, baton charges, and tear gas. Several protesters were arrested by police, ten of whom were held for twenty days before being released on bail.
Sasui Lohar and Sorath Lohar are women human rights defenders and the founders of the Voice of Missing Persons of Sindh, an organization aimed at supporting victims of enforced disappearances and their families to seek justice. Their father, Hidayat Lohar, was forcibly disappeared in 2017 and held for two years until 2019. The women human rights defenders have played a key role in advocating for their father’s release and have also supported other families to seek justice and truth about the fate and whereabouts of victims of enforced disappearances. Sasui Lohar, Sorath Lohar, and their family have faced reprisals, including legal persecution, surveillance, threats, and harassment due to their human rights work.
On 16 February 2024, Hidayat Lohar was killed by unidentified gunmen while traveling to work in Nasirabad city, Sindh province. To date, no effective action has been taken to investigate the crime or hold those responsible to account. For two weeks following the incident, Nasirabad police refused to register a First Information Report (FIR) or commence an investigation. The FIR bearing number 32/2024 was only registered on 2 March 2024, following an order by the Additional Sessions Judge, in Kamber District. Peaceful campaigns by Sasui Lohar, Sorath Lohar, their family members, and other human rights defenders to seek justice have been violently suppressed.
On 17 March 2024, Sasui Lohar, Sorath Lohar, and several other human rights defenders led a peaceful protest outside the Larkana Press Club in Larkana city, in Sindh Province. The protest was against the lack of action taken by police and Sindh authorities to effectively investigate the killing of Hidayat Lohar. Police used brutal and excessive force to disperse the protesters, including baton charges, tear gas, and live bullets. At least ten protesters were injured in the attack. Police arrested several protesters, including Sasui Lohar and Sorath Lohar, their brothers Sarang Lohar and Sanghaar Lohar, as well as their uncle. The two women human rights defenders and other women protesters were released the same day. However, their siblings and ten other protesters were detained under two FIRs 35/2024 and 34/2024 for twenty days before being granted bail by the anti-terrorism court in Larkana city on 5 April 2024.
Sasui Lohar and Sorath Lohar have been previously attacked in response to their peaceful campaign for justice for the killing of their father. On 19 February 2024, three days after the assassination, police used excessive force and intimidation against the two women human rights defenders and their supporters as they gathered peacefully in Nasirabad town calling for justice.
Front Line Defenders is extremely concerned about the safety of Sasui Lohar, Sorath Lohar, and for those who faced arrest and violence as reprisals for their peaceful protest. Front Line Defenders has previously issued an appeal calling for accountability for the killing of Hidayat Lohar and an end to reprisals against human rights defenders and their families by authorities in Pakistan. There is a well-documented pattern of reprisals against those documenting and speaking out against state violations, which includes violence and reprisals against family members.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Use of Excessive Force, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 15, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Access to justice
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Vietnam: social media activist arrested by the police
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Mar 14, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Country
- Lao People's Democratic Republic
- Initial Date
- Mar 13, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Mar 12, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Mar 12, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to property, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Mar 12, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 11
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Kyrgyzstan: major crackdown on independent media
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Mar 12, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 8
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 11, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 8, 2024
- Event Description
Twenty-nine people were charged by the Preah Vihear Provincial Court on 8 March 2024 with “clearing forestland and enclosing it to claim for ownership” under Article 97(6) of the Law on Forestry. Four of the 29 people charged were released on bail, and the remaining 25 have been sent to pre-trial detention in Preah Vihear provincial prison. They include 13 men and 12 women.
The group was arrested earlier this month after mixed armed forces accompanied by forestry administration officials entered a disputed area with tractors intended to clear the land. Authorities fired live ammunition, used a smoke grenade, and arrested villagers.
The charges are the latest development in a longstanding land dispute involving Seladamex Co., Ltd., which affects families from Mrech, Srayang Tboung, and Kdak villages as well as families who have more recently migrated to the area. Seladamex was granted an Economic Land Concession in 2011 in Srayang and Phnum Tbaeng Pir communes in Kuleaen district.
- Impact of Event
- 29
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Mar 8, 2024
- Event Description
‘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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Mar 7, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment, Denial Fair Trial, Deportation, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to fair trial, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Artist, NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Mar 7, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Mar 7, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 6, 2024
- Event Description
A group of mixed armed forces including gendarmes and police officers accompanied by forestry administration officials mobilised this morning to secure disputed land in Preah Vihear province, resulting in the use of live ammunition and arrests.
A number of villagers have reportedly been arrested and taken to Preah Vihear provincial capital. Their current location is unknown.
Villagers reported that mixed forces armed with automatic rifles had entered the area shortly before dawn, and were accompanied by tractors to clear the disputed land. Fearful of property destruction and forced evictions, villagers gathered to demand the forces leave the area. A confrontation ensued in which a video captured live ammunition being shot repeatedly by authorities as well as the use of a smoke grenade.
The land dispute in question involves Seladamex Co., Ltd., and impacts families from neighbouring Mrech, Srayang Tboung, and Kdak villages as well as families who have more recently migrated to the area.
Seladamex had been granted an Economic Land Concession in March 2011 in Srayang and Phnum Tbaeng Pir communes in Preah Vihear’s Kuleaen district. The concession led to land conflicts with hundreds of families who were already living in the area. In 2022, representatives of 131 impacted families reported that their belongings and crops had been destroyed by authorities on behalf of the company.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Mar 6, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 6, 2024
- Event Description
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.’
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Freedom of religion/belief activist, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Mar 6, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Mar 5, 2024
- Event Description
During a protest held in front of the University of Colombo, tensions escalated as a group, which included members of the University of Peradeniya Student Union, clashed with the police.
A protest took place opposite the University of Colombo, organized by the University of Peradeniya Students’ Union.
The protest aimed to address the erosion of fundamental rights that impact the general population, including access to free education and healthcare.
Notably, students from various other universities across the island also participated in this demonstration.
Earlier in the day, the Cinnamon Gardens Police made a formal request to the Colombo Chief Magistrate, Prasanna Alwis, seeking an order to halt a protest march organized by several university student bodies. However, the Magistrate rejected the request.
Multiple buses carrying students from University of Peradeniya underwent repeated inspections by the police during their journey.
Later in the afternoon, student activists congregated near thr Colombo University to voice their grievances. The police advised them not to obstruct the road.
Despite the police instructions, the students persisted with their protest march. Consequently, measures were taken to disperse the group.
Subsequently, the police deployed water cannons and tear gas to disperse the students.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Mar 5, 2024
- Event Description
Workers laid off from three garment production companies marched from the Democracy Monument to Government House today (5 March) to demand severance pay. They asked the government to cover the severance and press charges against the companies.
The workers were formerly employed by Alpha Spinning, AMC Spinning, and Body Fashion garment production companies. A total of over 1400 workers were laid off by the three companies.
The workers issued a statement saying that, since 2019, Body Fashion has laid off 1,174 people. In June 2023, Alpha Spinning laid off 132 people and AMC Spinning laid off another 153 people. None of the workers received severance from their former employers, and the Ministry of Labour was not able to demand that the companies pay the severance as required by the Labour Protection Law. The workers estimated that their former employers now owe them around 279 million baht.
The statement noted that the workers met with representatives of the Ministry of Labour on 22 December 2023, after two days of protest. Ministry representatives promised to ask the Cabinet to allocate an emergency budget to cover worker compensation until the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare raises money paid into the Employee Fund by those who were laid off and did not receive severance.
The authorities reportedly did not follow through on their promises, however. The Ministry did not press charges against the company and did not try to ensure that the workers were paid. The labour minister also reportedly did not follow the government’s policy to strictly enforce labour laws.
The workers demand that the government cover their severance at the rate ordered by the labour inspection officer. They also want the government to press charges against the companies to make them return any money the government spends on the severance to show that labour rights violators in Thailand cannot act with impunity.
A Body Fashion worker told iLaw that, for the past five years, workers have filed complaints with the Ministry of Labour, parliament, and the Labour Court but have not been paid, even though the court ordered their former employer to compensate them. Many workers were reportedly also not prepared to become unemployed in a society where older people have difficulty finding employment. After facing a police blockade on Chamai Maruchet Bridges, the workers wait throughout the afternoon. At around 17.40, 10 representatives met with government representatives for a negotiation. At around 20.10, the rest of the workers attempted to break through the blockade, but were blocked by units of crowd control police.
Thanaporn Wichan, an activist from the Labour Network for People’s Rights, said that the workers tried to get pass the police because the negotiation was taking a long time and they were concerned about the safety of their representatives. She noted that the negotiation ended at around 18.00, but they had to wait an hour for a record of the discussion to be issued.
According to the document, the Office of the Permanent Secretary will be following up with agencies responsible for prosecuting the three companies. Somkid Chuakong, the Prime Minister's deputy secretary-general, will also be working with relevant ministries to place an urgent request to the Cabinet to allocate budget to cover the workers' severance.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Mar 5, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Mar 5, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Kazakhstan: five detained defenders appeal denied
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Mar 5, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Mar 5, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Mar 5, 2024
- Event Description
Violence against farmers in Pakel Village, Licin Subdistrict, Banyuwangi Regency has surfaced again. This time, farmers who are members of Rukun Tani Sumberejo Pakel (RTSP) again had to deal with the brutal actions of hundreds of armed mobs from PT Bumisari Maju Sukses (BMS).
Based on the chronology release from Pakel farmers that we received, the endless series of attacks from PT Bumisari Maju Sukses (BMS) on farmers' cultivated land began on March 5, 2024. On that day, the farmers initially found that the hut on their cultivated land had collapsed and was damaged. In fact, a bottle containing gasoline was also found, which was suspected to be used to burn the hut that had been torn down.
Four days later, on Saturday, March 9, 2024 at around 09:51 a.m., dozens of PT BMS security guards accompanied by a group of people suspected of being hired thugs broke into the reclaiming land owned by farmers in the Pongkor area. They then deliberately knocked down and burned down simple huts built by farmers on the cultivated land. In a release, Pakel farmers revealed that although they came to the location shortly after the incident, the security and a group of people suspected of being hired thugs chose to retreat.
However, the vandalism did not stop there. At around 11:00 a.m. on the same day, the farmers were surprised by the presence of a new hut erected by PT BMS in the middle of the road to the land in the Pongkor area. The presence of this hut blocked the access of farmers to pass on the road. While standing guard at the location, the farmers reportedly witnessed PT BMS cutting down crops and destroying a hut owned by a farmer in the Panasean area not far from Pongkor.
"Therefore, we spontaneously tried to chase and chase them away so that they would not return to cut down our plants. Since then, we have to be on guard so that no more of our plants are cut down," reads a quote in the chronology release.
Furthermore, it was revealed that the access road at the Taman Glugo River bridge that farmers usually pass through to reach the cultivated land was also blocked using a truck that was strongly suspected to belong to PT BMS.
On Sunday, March 10, 2024 at around 10:30 a.m., the riot heated up again on Pakel farmers' cultivated land. This time, the mob from PT BMS, estimated at 150 people, cut down the plants and damaged the farmer's hut in the northern area of Kali Gondang.
Knowing this, other Pakel farmers came to the location. However, the mob mobilized by PT BMS acted even more barbaric by intimidating the farmers, pushing them, and threatening them with sharp weapons. There were even some people suspected of being hired thugs who challenged Pakel farmers to a duel.
"At 11:00 a.m., we started to arrive. At first there were only a few of us. After more farmers arrived, PT Bumisari retreated," reads a quote in the chronology release issued by Rukun Tani Sumberejo Pakel.
Furthermore, in the evening at around 19.30 WIB, one of the Pakel farmers who was conducting routine night patrols suffered physical abuse in the form of a blow to the nape of the neck and had to be rushed to the puskesmas. At that time the victim was patrolling with 6 other farmers. When he saw a shadow, the victim approached but was then attacked by a masked man with a sharp weapon and another man who beat him from behind until he fainted. Before being helped by his colleagues, the three perpetrators had already run away.
On Thursday, March 14 at around 08:37 a.m., the situation heated up again, PT BMS mobilized around 300 people to massively attack Pakel farmers' land again. They deliberately cleared and damaged 2 hectares of farmers' crops in Kali Gondang and Pongkor. More than 3 farmers' huts were also vandalized and burned down on that day.
Although Pakel farmers tried to resist, PT BMS again acted more barbaric by carrying sharp weapons and firearms. There were even two shots fired into the air allegedly to scare the farmers into retreating. As a result, a female farmer was victimized with bruises on her hands, arms and legs.
After attacking Kali Gondang, at around 11:09 a.m., PT BMS also attacked the Pongkor area, allegedly to break the farmers' concentration so that they could more freely damage the plants. In the release, it was mentioned that around 20 banana trees belonging to farmers were cleared by PT BMS. In this incident, some PT BMS workers chose to go home and apologize to Pakel farmers while claiming to have been fooled and paid by the company to attack Pakel farmers.
The escalation of violence experienced by Pakel farmers did not stop there. On Thursday, March 21, 2024 at 08.55 WIB, according to the chronology release sent by Pakel farmers to us, PT Bumisari security began to re-trigger acts of provocation and intimidation of tension by instructing its heavily armed troops to advance and spread to the right and left of the farmers' cultivated land area.
Initially, the farmers were not provoked and remained vigilant in guarding the border to prevent PT Bumisari's troops from breaking in and damaging their crops again. However, soon PT BMS security gave another command by directing its troops to cut down trees on Pakel farmers' cultivated land.
Seeing the situation escalating, Pakel farmers stepped in to prevent further destruction. They blocked PT Bumisari's armed troops who were about to cut down trees in front of their own eyes. This incident triggered a physical clash with mutual pushing and shoving between the two camps.
Quoted from the chronology release, PT Bumisari did not want to back down and still insisted on trying to cut down the farmers' crops even though they had been blocked. As a result, the clash was inevitable.
Not only physical clashes, threats and intimidation were also sent by PT Bumisari to farmers who still insisted on defending their cultivated land. The release stated that some farmers were even threatened with imprisonment if they persisted in blocking land destruction. Even more worrying, PT Bumisari also explicitly threatened to return to destroying farmers' crops if residents' representatives refused to come to court. Of course, such intimidation triggered deep trauma and concern among Pakel farmers who only wanted to defend their cultivated land.
Even so, their determination to defend their cultivated land has not waned. In the release, it was mentioned that after the clash and the attack from PT Bumisari finally subsided at around 09.30 WIB, the farmers actually returned to guard until night to anticipate other unexpected attacks.
"After the clash, we remained on guard until night around our land to ensure that PT Bumisari's troops did not attack or damage our crops again," said Harun, who also faced the incident.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 4, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Access to justice, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender, Land rights defender, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Mar 4, 2024
- Event Description
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)
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to food, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Lawyer, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 3, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Land rights defender, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 2, 2024
- Event Description
Calls are growing for authorities in Hong Kong to release Lai Ke, a transgender activist from China who now faces repatriation after being jailed while transiting the city en route to Canada, her supporters and a rights group said in online statements.
Lai, who is also known as Xiran, was hauled in for questioning while transiting Hong Kong International Airport en route from Shanghai to Toronto in May 2023, and later handed a 15-month jail term for "forging" her travel documents at a secret trial with no lawyer present, according to her supporters.
As is Hong Kong's policy for trans inmates, she served her sentence at the Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre, a psychiatric detention center, and was released early for good behavior on March 2.
But instead of being released, Lai was immediately transferred to the Castle Peak Bay Immigration Detention Centre, sparking fears among her supporters and rights groups that she will be sent back to China, according to the X account @FreeLaiKe.
If she is forcibly repatriated, Lai will be "at grave risk of persecution," Amnesty International has warned.
"The Hong Kong authorities must urgently clarify Lai Ke’s pending immigration status," Amnesty International's China Director Sarah Brooks said in a statement dated March 1. "As she is due to be released after serving her sentence, authorities must free her without conditions and allow her to travel onwards to a destination feasible for her."
"In any event, the authorities must allow Lai Ke to legally challenge any deportation order following her release after serving her sentence," Brooks said.
Mistreated in detention
Lai’s supporters say that she had been a vocal advocate for trans rights back in China alongside her partner Cai Xia, who was detained by the Chinese authorities in June 2023 in connection with her activism and her transgender identity, and accused of "organizing obscene activities."
The Lai Ke (Xiran) Global Concern Group, which has been actively posting about her situation on Twitter and Instagram, said Lai had also been mistreated while in detention in Hong Kong, saying guards deprived her of her hormone medication, put her in solitary for a week calling her an "alien," and forced her to cut her hair short.
The group said Lai had suffered physically and psychologically after being deprived of her hormone replacement therapy for two months, despite having the medication in her luggage.
"Throughout her detention, Lai Ke repeatedly requested access to hormone medication, only to have these requests denied on various pretexts," it said in a statement dated Feb. 27.
"As a result, Lai Ke was forced to cease hormone replacement therapy medication for nearly two months, leading to severe physical and psychological repercussions, including instances of self-harm," it said.
Her parents weren't informed of her whereabouts until July 19, 2023, and the authorities initially claimed that there was no record of Lai having entered Hong Kong, the group claimed in the statement, which RFA was unable to verify independently.
It accused the Hong Kong authorities of "complicity" in the Chinese government's persecution of trans people.
The group also posted a letter handwritten by Lai in classical Chinese, an archaic form of the written language used by premodern writers, in which she complains about her treatment.
It said earlier attempts by Lai to write about her experiences in the detention center were censored by detention center authorities.
'Time is of the essence'
According to Amnesty International, Lai is vulnerable to repatriation under Hong Kong immigration law, because she isn't a resident of the city.
“Time is of the essence to prevent Lai Ke from being unlawfully deported to mainland China, where she would be at grave risk of serious human rights violations – including arbitrary detention, unfair trial, and even torture and other ill-treatment – due to both her transgender identity and her activism,” Brooks said.
“To return her given these risks would be an abandonment of Hong Kong’s obligations under international law," she said.
Amnesty International said it has documented systematic oppression and discrimination of transgender people in China, as well as large-scale censorship in recent years leading to the closure of online lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex groups and social media accounts.
It said police in China have repeatedly arrested, detained and imprisoned human rights defenders of all kinds using "unjustified, broadly defined and vaguely worded charges."
Hong Kong Catholic priest and rights activist Franco Mella said that trans inmates are typically held in Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre, but that the final decision over whether to continue hormone treatment lies with the center's doctor.
"Any medications need to be discussed with the doctor -- who can approve them but can also not approve them," Mella said. "It's the doctor's decision."
He said it was unclear how long Lai might be held at the Castle Peak detention center.
"Once you go in there, there's no way of knowing when you'll be released," he said.
Crackdowns on LGBTQ+ community
LGBTQ+ activism is all but extinct in China, where the ruling Chinese Communist Party under Xi Jinping has cracked down on anyone displaying the rainbow flag in public, members of China's LGBTQ+ community told Radio Free Asia in interviews in January.
In August 2023, Chinese officials removed an LGBTQ+ anthem titled "Rainbow" by Taiwanese pop star A-Mei from her set list from a concert earlier this month in Beijing, while security guards forced fans turning up for the gig to remove clothing and other paraphernalia bearing the rainbow symbol before going in, according to media reports.
A month after that crackdown, authorities in the central Chinese city of Changsha removed the song "Womxnly" – which commemorates a Taiwanese teenager who was found dead in a school toilet after being bullied by classmates for his "feminine" appearance – from the set list of Taiwanese pop star Jolin Tsai, after it became an anthem for the island's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual and questioning community.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- LGBTQ+/ Non-Binary
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- SOGI rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Mar 1, 2024
- Event Description
On the morning of March 1st, 2024, reports surfaced alleging that Abzal Dostiyarov, an activist, was subjected to severe brutality by law enforcement officers. The incident occurred as he was taking his young daughter to kindergarten.
According to his live streams and relatives, Dostiyarov was seized and violently beaten by the police, resulting in head injuries and to his arm.
Following his detainment at the District Police Department, a court delivered a verdict in the evening, without thorough investigation, sentencing him to 20 days of detention in Shonja city. The charges against him stem from his alleged participation in and broadcasting of protests linked to the trial of independent journalist Duman Mukhammedkarim. Additional sources suggest that the arrest may be linked to the four applications submitted on March 3rd to hold a rally in Almaty in support of the accused journalist.
While Dostiyarov was not among those who appealed for a rally, it is likely that the police preventively detain known activists and political opposition. At least 5 more people have been arrested in the last three weeks just because they were suspected of attending the trial of Mukhammedkarim.
This is not a new phenomenon, as the state has been found prosecuting people who stand in solidarity with political prisoners. Previously almost 20 people were prosecuted for attending and publicly supporting Aigerim Tleuzhanova, another activist and journalist charged over her involvement in a plot to seize the country’s main airport during the January 2022 unrest.
Duman Mukhammedkarim is an independent journalist, who previously made a career working for a state-owned news channel. In 2021, he left the public sector and started his own YouTube channel, Ne Deidi (What’s said?). Known for his coverage of the events of Bloody January in 2022, his channel served as platform for political activism and critique of Kazakh authorities and institutions. His coverage on elections, activism, and rally organizing, has resulted in several of his arrests and much time spent in custody. In May 2023 a criminal case had been opened again Mukhammedkarim, during which he was already under administrative detention for allegedly violating regulations on peaceful assembly. By June, has been implicated as a suspect under two sections of the Criminal Code: “Participation in the activities of a banned organization” (Article 405, part 2) and “Financing of extremism” (Article 258, part 1). With the latter accusation risking imprisonment for five to nine years. According to a lawyer, Galum Nurpeisov, both criminal cases are linked to an interview he conducted with Mukhtar Ablyazov, an exiled opposition leader in December 2022. Ablyazov is the head of the opposition movement, Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, which has been recognized as an extremist organization by Kazakhstan authorities.
Duman Mukhammedkarim’s trial began on the 12th of February 2024. The judge granted Saken Kenesov’s, (the prosecutor), request to hold the trial behind closed doors, citing the risk of security concerns. Moreover, supporters and journalists were denied entry into the courtroom on the pretext of insufficient space in the courtroom. The closure of the trial results in limited access to information regarding the development of the case.
Closed trials are prevalent occurrences in Kazakhstan particularly when it comes to political activists and members of opposition. This was quite common with key cases related to the Bloody January events, with individuals such as Marat Zhylanbayev, a government critic and leader of unregistered party ‘Alga Kazakhstan.’ His trial was closed to the public and on November 30th was sentenced to seven years in prison on unfounded charges. Closed-court proceedings are frequent for government officials accused of malpractice, including torture and other human rights violations. For example, 11 officials charged for their involvement in the Bloody January protests have had their cases closed to the public, with many ending prematurely due to “insufficient evidence.”
Almost a year in detention, Mukhammedkarim criticised the conditions in the temporary detention centre, addressing issues regarding food, sanitation, and treatment of other detainees. Moreover, on the 1st of November, he described his multiple hunger strikes, self-harm incidents, and a suicide attempt made to attract the attention of authorities to the horrible conditions of his detention, but to no avail. The international response comprises of Human Rights Watch (HRW) statement, on the 8th of February, urging authorities to dismiss the baseless case against Mukhammedkarim and called for his immediate release. This comes amidst a surge in prosecutions against critics on similar grounds. HRW reveal that Mukhammedkarim is the second government critic to go on trial on broad extremism charges in recent months.
Both Mukhammedkarim and Dostiyarov are victims of the repressive tactics employed by Kazkakh authorities to silence and suppress activist dissent, while the attackers and officials guilty of torture have yet to be brought to justice.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Mar 1, 2024
- Event Description
Three activists have been charged with royal defamation and sedition for reading a statement and giving a speech during a protest in November 2021 after a complaint was filed against them by an ultra-royalist group leader.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that Chatchai Kaedam, Chatrapee Artsomboon, and Nawat Liangwattana reported to the police at Thungmahamek Police Station last Friday (1 March). The inquiry officer informed them that the charges resulted from a protest on 14 November 2021, when protesters marched to the German Embassy in Bangkok. The speeches of Chatchai and Chatrapee, as well as the group’s statement which Nawat read out, were deemed seditious and an offense under the royal defamation law.
The complaint against them was filed by Anon Klinkaew, leader of the ultra-royalist group People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy, who has filed several royal defamation complaints against activists and netizens and has been involved in attacks on pro-democracy activists and citizen journalists.
The 14 November 2021 protest came after the Constitutional Court’s ruling that calls for monarchy reform constitute an attempt to overthrow the “democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State.” Activists initially planned to march from the Democracy Monument to Sanam Luang but were forced to relocate after facing a police blockade. Instead, they marched from the Pathumwan Intersection to the German Embassy, during which three people were shot in front of the Institute of Forensic Medicine.
At the German Embassy, three activists met with Embassy representatives and submitted their open letter. Nawat then read out a statement saying that the increased power of the monarchy is moving Thailand away from a democratic regime and towards an absolute monarchy, while royalists are trying to rewrite history so that the monarch has the power to rule the country and the people are reduced to mere inhabitants.
The statement said that it is therefore unavoidable that the monarchy’s expansion of power must be stopped to bring about democracy. It also insisted that they are not calling for an abolition of the regime but are fighting for a regime in which everyone is equal.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Feb 29, 2024
- Event Description
Mohammad Atef Daie, a university professor, has reportedly been sentenced to one year in prison by the Taliban’s military court in Kabul, according to local sources.
Sources confirmed to the Hasht-e Subh Daily on Thursday, February 29th, that the Taliban handed down a “disciplinary imprisonment” to this university professor during this significant month of the year.
The Taliban’s military court imposed a one-year prison term on the professor for allegedly covering the electricity bill of the residence belonging to Zahir Aghbar, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Tajikistan, and for accommodating Mohammad Aatef’s family in Aghbar’s house.
However, other sources suggest that the professor’s imprisonment stems from his activism on social media, where he advocated for girls’ education rights and criticized the Taliban’s actions, particularly regarding women’s rights.
According to these sources, Aatef has been denied legal representation by the Taliban, and his family is permitted only brief “window visits” lasting ten minutes every two weeks at Pol-e-Charkhi prison.
It is noteworthy that the Taliban demanded Mohammad Atef Daie on November 19, 2023, alleging his association with the “02 Intelligence Directorate” of the group before arresting him.
Mohammad Atef Daie previously taught at private universities in Kabul but was recently appointed as an advisor to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of the Taliban, recommended by the Union of Traders and Investors of the country.
He hails from the Piyawesht district in the Rokha district of Panjshir province.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Academic, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 29, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: villagers targeted with criminal charges
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Feb 29, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Feb 29, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Feb 28, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Feb 28, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 27, 2024
- Event Description
Hong Kong activists on Tuesday staged a rare public protest against government plans for a new national security law, saying it lacked democratic oversight and human rights safeguards.
Public demonstrations have all but vanished in the Chinese finance hub since Beijing quelled huge, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019 and imposed a sweeping national security law.
Hong Kong officials now say a further homegrown security law is needed to plug “loopholes”, with chief justice Paul Lam earlier saying he heard no objections during a month of public consultations that ends Wednesday.
But activist Yu Wai-pan, from the League of Social Democrats (LSD), told AFP on Tuesday that “many Hongkongers are quite concerned”.
“I don’t understand why the secretary for justice said he heard no objection or worry,” said Yu.
The LSD is one of the last remaining opposition groups in Hong Kong and its members have faced multiple prosecutions for their shows of dissent.
Yu and two other activists were surrounded by press and more than a dozen police officers as they chanted slogans outside the Hong Kong government headquarters Tuesday.
“National security is important to the people, but it must be based on democracy, freedom and rule of law,” said activist Chan Po-ying.
The government referenced examples in the US and Britain in defending the proposed legislation, but Chan said that comparison was misleading, as Hong Kong was not a democracy.
The month-long public consultation for the new security law, known as Basic Law Article 23, was largely limited to pro-Beijing voices, she added.
Xia Baolong, China’s top official overseeing Hong Kong, arrived in the former British colony last week in a tightly choreographed tour to meet with leaders in business and politics.
Xia discussed the security law proposal with two local lawyers’ groups in a closed-door meeting and engaged in “candid exchanges”, the head of the Hong Kong Bar Association earlier told reporters.
Separately on Tuesday, Hong Kong convicted Joseph John — also known as Wong Kin-chung — of “conspiracy to incite secession”, the first such case involving a dual national.
The Portuguese citizen, 41, pleaded guilty to the national security offence, admitting that he was chair of the UK-based Hong Kong Independence Party and an administrator of its six online platforms.
A diplomatic source told AFP that the Portuguese consulate has been unable to visit John since he was arrested and detained in November 2022.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 27, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Feb 27, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Feb 26, 2024
- Event Description
Federal authorities arrested journalist and blogger Asad Ali Toor on February 26 as he responded to a Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) summons, three days after he had been interrogated concerning his alleged connection to a “malicious campaign” against senior judicial figures. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), urge authorities to investigate the journalists’ arrest, and ensure his immediate release.
On February 27, Islamabad Judicial Magistrate Mohammad Shabbir granted the FIA a five-day udicial remand of Toor, a partial reduction of the agency’s initial 10-day request. According to Toor’s legal counsel and human rights lawyer Iman Mazari, Toor was arrested on February 26 while reporting to an FIA’s cybercrime investigative body in Islamabad for the second time in three days to “demonstrate his positive intent, answer a summons notice issued to him on Saturday and join the inquiry about the campaign against the judiciary”.
The journalist entered the FIA’s cybercrime facilities just before 5:00 p.m., with officials confirming his arrest after 9:00p.m. that night. In the First Information Report, no specific social media post is listed as justification for the arrest, however Toor’s legal representation have pointed to the journalist’s critical views on social media as a likely cause of his arrest.
Toor was first summoned on February 23, appearing at an FIA cybercrime office in Islamabad concerning his alleged connection to an online campaign targeting senior Pakistani court figures. According to the journalist’s counsel and human rights lawyer, Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, Toor was held and interrogated for over eight hours, at least two hours of which was without access to legal representation.
Toor was one of 47 journalists and media workers summoned by the FIA ahead of January 31, for their alleged connection to an online campaign targeting Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faiz Isa and the Supreme Judiciary. Toor’s interrogation and subsequent arrest occurred despite assurances from the Attorney General for Pakistan assuring the Supreme Court that the FIA’s notices would not be enforced until after Pakistan’s general election, and an Apex Court adjournment of proceedings until the first week of March.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Feb 26, 2024
- Event Description
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.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Vietnam: WHRD summoned over defamation complaint
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Feb 25, 2024
- Event Description
Barangay Councilor Eddie Berania, 58, was found dead hours after elements of 22nd Infantry Battalion (IB) of the Philippine Army (PA) visited him in barangay San Juan Daan, Bulan, Sorsogon, February 25, according to Karapatan Sorsogon report.
Eddie’s family told Karapatan Sorsogon that they found the victim around 7:00 in the morning already dead inside his hut located in his farm. Eddie allegedly committed suicide.
Before the incident, Karapatan Sorsogon explained that Eddie’s family witnessed when a certain Ronnie ‘Tatang’ Albao went to talk to Eddie with the elements of the 22nd IB PA on the same day, February 25 around 6:00 in the morning.
“After the conversation, they saw this group left but Eddie was still standing on his farm,” Karapatan Sorsogon stated in its report.
Defend Bicol Stop the Attacks Network (Defend Bicol) and Karapatan Sorsogon strongly condemned the non-stop intimidation and threats by the soldiers to the victim.
“Eddie’s daughter believed it was suicide, triggered by the non-stop threats against his father. Eddie often tells his family why the soldiers are harassing him despite being a barangay official and he knows nothing about the allegations and what the soldiers are looking for in the area,” said Karapatan Sorsogon.
According to the rights group in the province, the threats to Eddie’s life started in 2022, led by Tatang Albao, a civilian and resident of the neighboring barangay, Brgy. Beguin, Bulan.
“Tatang Albao is also a farmer who was forced to surrender to the AFP and now serves as an accomplice in military operations. The military was forcing Eddie to surrender as an NPA even though he is a civilian and actively serves the barangay as an officer,” the rights group added.
Eddie is the head of the Barangay’s Peace and Order Committee and it is also his second term as barangay councilor. He is also an active member of Manghod Organization, a Civil Society Organization (CSO) in Bulan municipality based in Brgy. San Juan Daan.
Defend Bicol and Karapatan Sorsogon also expressed their condolences to the bereaved family of the victim especially to his wife Luz Gonzales and their seven children.
“Just like the courage shown by the Filipinos during EDSA Uno, Eddie stood up for his rights as a civilian until his death,” the progressive groups stated.
The headquarters of the 22nd IB is based in Brgy. Calomagon, Bulan which is around 16 kilometers away from Eddie’s barangay. Since Feb. 6, 2024 until now, there are approximately 12 soldiers who are stationed in the barangay halls of Brgy. San Juan Daan and Brgy. Beguin, according to Karapatan Sorsogon.
“This new incident in the Bicol region clearly shows that Marcos Jr. administration is not after genuine peace in the country. The peace and order head of the barangay was completely silenced by his soldiers so that they could freely sow terror and threats to other residents in the area,” Karapatan Sorsogon expressed.
Defend Bicol insists on resuming the peace talks in order to address the roots of the armed conflict.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, NGO staff, Public Servant
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 25, 2024
- Event Description
The Criminal Court has once again denied bail for detained activists Tantawan Tuatulanon and Nutanon Chaimahabut, who are now on the 14th day of a dry hunger strike.
Sommai Tuatulanon, Tantawan’s father, filed a bail request for Tantawan and Nutanon on Saturday (24 February). He was asked to return on Sunday (25 February) when their original detention order would expire, with a medical certificate.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said the Court ruled to deny them bail on the grounds that it has no reason to change its existing order because the two activists are already receiving medical attention, and ordered them detained for 12 more days.
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 were subsequently denied bail.
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, and that the horn was sounded when it moves to the front of the line and the lane was blocked by a police vehicle. The footage also shows the vehicle stuck behind another police vehicle while at the exit from the expressway, and a police officer was seen approaching the vehicle before Tantawan was heard arguing.
Immediately after being denied bail, Tantawan and Nutanon went on a dry hunger strike to call for a reform of the justice system, an end to the detention of dissidents, and for Thailand to be rejected when it runs for a seat in the UN Human Rights Council.
Tantawan was transferred to the Thammasat University Hospital last Thursday (22 February). The referral document from the Corrections Hospital states that she has been refusing food and water since 14 February, and that the Corrections Hospital had her transferred because her condition is “beyond their ability” to care for. Nutanon, meanwhile, remains at the Correction Hospital. Both are refusing medical intervention.
Activist Noppasin Treelayapeewat said after the court ruling was issued that the Court had received a petition from Sonthiya Sawasdee, a royalist activist and former Phalang Pracharath MP candidate, objecting to the two activists’ release. He also noted that the Court has yet to take into consideration Sommai’s promise that he would prohibit his daughter from participating in political activism if she is granted bail.
Yesterday (26 February), Sommai and lawyer Krisadang Nutcharus filed a petition with the Chief Justice of the Criminal Court stating that, while Sommai does not wish to file for appeal, he asks that the Court take responsibility for the two activists. The petition notes that they have not been indicted on the charges against them and should be treated as innocent, and says that the court should consider who will be held responsible if they die as a result of being detained.
Sommai said that all he is trying to do is get Tantawan and Nutanon released so they can receive medical attention. He noted that the charges against them are still being investigated and asked how the court could say that they are facing a charge with a high penalty when they have not been indicted. He insisted that they are not a flight risk and that they could not tamper with evidence, and said that the authorities must be held responsible if anything happens to them.
Krisadang said that Tantawan and Nutanon’s condition has worsened, and that the Corrections Hospital will be transferring Nutanon to another hospital but no hospital has accepted the referral. He said that Tantawan’s father wanted to inform the Court of why the two activists must be released, noting that both himself and Sommai believe that any appeal or new bail request they file will be rejected.
Meanwhile, other activists and protesters have been staging a protest at the Victory Monument in Bangkok for the past three days against the denial of bail for Tantawan and Nutanon and demanding the release of other political prisoners.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 25, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Feb 25, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
Case shared by FORUM-ASIA member LST
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Feb 25, 2024
- Event Description
On 25 February 2024, Sanjay Hettimulla, a University of Kelaniya student and an Inter University Students’ Federation (IUSF) activist, was apprehended while attempting to leave the country. This arrest is linked to a case of false allegations of ragging that occurred on the university campus in the year 2022.
Two other student activists who were documented last year, Kelum and Dilshan, were arrested in relation to the same case and imprisoned for more than 5 months, and finally released on bail. These student leaders were all activists in the Inter-University Students' Federation (IUSF) who were very active in the recent people's struggle. This false accusation fed into the larger targeted repression of the student movement.
The incident in question was a clash between two student groups within the university. An internal university investigation clearly stated that this incident wasn't one of ragging, as was falsely claimed. The State however, continues to pursue this case and target activists of the IUSF.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
Case shared by FORUM-ASIA member LST
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 24, 2024
- Event Description
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.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Land rights defender, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Feb 24, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Surveillance , Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Feb 24, 2024
- Event Description
The East Kalimantan Police have temporarily suspended the detention of nine citizens who were arrested for halting the opening of land for the Capital City of Indonesia project (IKN). The citizens can continue the land verification process and legal proceedings will still proceed.
"The nine perpetrators have received a suspension of detention, but the legal process continues," said Head of Public Relations Department of East Kalimantan Regional Police, Commissioner Artanto, on Sunday (3/3/2024).
The suspension of detention was carried out on Friday (1/3/2024). The nine citizens have already been declared as suspects by the police. Therefore, the legal process for the citizens continues at the East Kalimantan Regional Police.
Previously, the residents were reported by workers at the Very Very Important Person (VVIP) IKN Airport project. According to the police report, nine residents halted the activity of workers who were clearing land for the VVIP IKN Airport project.
Residents say that the land is their cultivation area, namely Saloloang Farmer Group. Therefore, they request that the land not be opened before there is a scheduled land verification by the government.
However, the project workers ultimately reported the residents to the police. The police arrested the residents because they were deemed to have made threats and carried sharp weapons such as machetes or mandau while halting the land clearing activity.
Residents have been detained and interrogated by police since February 24, 2024. "Those who requested a postponement of detention (nine residents) were Penajam Paser Utara Acting Regent, Makmur Marbun," said Artanto.
Head of Public Relations and Protocol Division of PPU Regency Secretary Hendro Susilo stated that as a guarantee to the citizens, Acting Regent of PPU sent a written letter to the Kaltim Regional Police. He added that the PPU Regency Government hopes that the issue faced by the citizens will not reoccur, especially in the construction site location of the IKN VVIP Airport.
"Meaning, convey the existing issues to the authorized party related to this matter, including to the Acting Regent of PPU who is also the Chairman of the Agrarian Reform Team of PPU District," said Hendro.
Land verification is underway Before the suspension of land opening, the suspects and 22 other residents accompanied by the Development Policy Assistance Network (JPKP). Assistance was provided in managing their land recognition, but also as a point for the development of the IKN VVIP Airport.
The Chairman of JPKP, Maret Samuel Sueken, said that land verification is the process of proving whether citizens have the right to crops or land based on evidence. Residents claim that their land is ancestral land that has been cultivated since 1965.
Residents have a legal claim to the land in the form of a seal and permission to cultivate the land. Maret stated that residents will also prove that they manage the land by showing the existence of plants and trees that they have planted.
According to him, residents halted the opening of land in the IKN VVIP Airport to prevent the removal of evidence of crops that had already been planted by locals. This is because the residents have already received a schedule for verifying their land.
When stopping the activity, the residents did indeed carry a kind of machete and machete on their waist. However, Maret said, those were tools that the villagers brought when farming. "It's called the land needs verification, residents clean the road to their garden. So they use machetes and the like for that," said Maret.
The nine detained individuals, according to Maret, are both heads of families and land managers. As such, this detention suspension could assist the land verification process more optimally. "The land verification process is still ongoing," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 23, 2024
- Event Description
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.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Land rights defender, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Feb 22, 2024
- Event Description
Managing Director at Pakhribas FM and editor at Pakhribas weekly published from Shankhuwasabha, Prem Niraula, was manhandled while reporting on February 22. Shankhuwasabha lies in the Koshi Province of Nepal.
Freedom Forum talked to journalist Niraula about the incident. Niraula said that he was manhandled while reporting in the Chainpur-6 Mini Fair organized by the youth clubs. "I had published news about a memorandum submitted by a local Asal Sashan Club to the local administrative authority on the possible gambling practices in the fair. As before, we wanted to make the authority aware of such bad practices in the fair", he added.
"On Thursday (February 22), I went to the fair to take photos of people playing games but suddenly the organizers team came to me and pulled my clothes saying why I published news in the weekly. They took away my jacket, sweater and mobile phone. They also chased me away while I was returning home", Niraula shared.
Niraula has not received his belongings back yet. He is seeking support from fellow journalists and Federation of Nepali Journalists, Sankhuwasabha, to get his mobile phone back.
FF also talked to the Area Police Office, Chainpur Inspector Baburam Karki. Inspector Karki however said that the case was not registered yet in the police station. The case seems to be about their personal dispute, he observed.
FF's representative Bikram Niraula infomed that both the parties (journalist and youths) have mutually agreed to end their dispute and coperate eachother. The youths have also agreed to return back journalist's Niraula's mobile phone. The process was facilitated by FNJ, Sankhuwsabha chapter on February 26.
Freedom Forum condemns the attack upon a journalist while reporting. FF urges the concerned local authorities to investigate the case seriously and ensure justice to the journalist.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 22, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Land rights defender, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 22, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Feb 22, 2024
- Event Description
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
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Censorship, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Feb 21, 2024
- Event Description
Executive Editor Tekman Shakya and reporter Sunita Gautam at www.nepalesetimes.com were taken under control for some hours while reporting on February 21. The incident took place in Kathmandu.
Editor Shakya shared with Freedom Forum that he and reporter Gautam were taking video of the people demonstrating at Department of Foreign Employment. The people were defrauded in course of foreign employment and protesting at the Department.
"Meanwhile, police officers came to me and asked why I was taking videos. As we showed them our press identity cards issued by the Department of Information and Broadcasting, one of the officers said that the card could be bought anywhere", said Shakya. "Thereafter, the officers forcefully took us under control for at least three hours in a nearby police station. They also seized our mobile phones and camera", he added.
Later, a senior police officer came and released them, according to Shakya.
Freedom Forum condemns the intimidation of police persons towards journalists. Barring the journalists from reporting and taking them under control and seizing media devices is an absolute violation of press freedom.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Feb 21, 2024
- Event Description
Responding to the death of the 22- year-old farmer Shubhkaran Singh during the ‘Dilli Chalo’ Farmers’ march, Aakar Patel, chair of board at Amnesty International India, said:
“The death of Shubhkaran Singh occurred amid a ruthless crackdown by the state authorities on the farmers protests in India. Authorities must carry out a prompt, effective, thorough, independent and impartial investigation into the cause and circumstances of the death of the protestor, and ensure the suspected perpetrators are brought to justice through fair trials without recourse to death penalty.
“With more protests planned for the coming days, authorities must do all in their power to ensure that people can peacefully voice their concerns, without fear of injury or death. The Government of India must respect, protect and facilitate the right to freedom of peaceful assembly in line with its international human rights obligations.
“The price of protest must not be death.”
Indian authorities must do all in their power to ensure that people can peacefully voice their concerns, without fear of injury or death.
Aakar Patel, chair of board at Amnesty International India Background: Farmer Shubh Karan Singh’s death on 21 February 2024 at the border of Punjab and Haryana is the first since the protests began on 13 February. As per media reports, the cause of death was a bullet wound to the head as shared by medical superintendent of Patiala based Rajindra Hospital. The postmortem report is awaited.
At least 13 more people were being treated for injuries and as per statement from the police, approximately 12 police were also injured in clashes with the protestors.
Over 200 farmers’ unions are participating in the ‘Dilli Chalo’ march raising twelve demands including the legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for all crops which the Government had promised in 2021.
Previously, Amnesty International has raised concerns on the increasing threat to the right to peaceful protest due to excessive use of force, blanket bans, internet shutdowns and arbitrary arrests of protestors in the Farmers’ march.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Feb 21, 2024
- Event Description
The Fort Magistrate's Court issued an order barring the National Assets Protection Movement from entering and holding protests at several key locations in Colombo, including the Ceramic Junction.
The order was made after considering the submissions made by the Fort Police OIC.
The court order specifically prohibits the National Assets Protection Movement and its representatives from: blocking access to the Ceramic Junction, NSK Roundabout, Baladaksha Mawatha, and Galle Road.
They are also barred from entering the premises of the Ministry of Finance, the President's Office, and the Central Bank.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 21, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Feb 20, 2024
- Event Description
A ward chairperson verbally denigrated right to information activist Shiva Prasad Adhikari for requesting information on February 20 in Kathmandu.
Activist Adhikari shared with Freedom Forum that he had filed an RTI application at Tarakeshwor Municipality, seeking information on ongoing development projects and their proposed budgets.
“I received incomplete and unclear information when I filed and RTI application at the municipality two months back. But, as I did not get any response, I filed an appeal at the National Information Commission”, he said.
On the day of appeal, Adhikari received a call from a ward chairperson of the municipality Shyam Krishna Sapkota asking to meet him. “As I met him, he asked abusively why I did not reach anti-graft body in case of any proof of aberration rather than requesting information again and again and troubling the government staffs”, Adhikari shared.
Freedom Forum is concerned over the misbehavior of a local authority to an RTI activist. It is a violation of citizen’s right to information which is guaranteed by the constitution. FF urges the concerned authorities to respond to the applicant’s request.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to information
- HRD
- RTI activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 20, 2024
- Event Description
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
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Feb 19, 2024
- Event Description
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.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 18, 2024
- Event Description
A 21-year-old activist has been arrested for royal defamation over a social media post of a picture of a man holding 2 pieces of paper with offensive messages in front of a picture of the King and Queen. He was later granted bail.
On 18 January, an activist ‘Bank’ Natthaphon (surname withheld), was arrested by police from Thung Song Hong Police Station for a Facebook post of a man in black wearing a crash helmet and holding 2 pieces of paper with offensive messages in front of a picture of the King and Queen. Another activist, ‘Ta’ Khathathon was also a suspect, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.
The complaint was filed by Anon Klinkaew, leader of the ultra-royalist group People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy.
Natthaphon stated that he was arrested in the middle of the night in front of his own home. While heading home, he was cut off by plainclothes police on a motorcycle. He said he was surrounded by 8-9 men. Some were disguised as homeless people in the area.
The police did not show him an arrest warrant, but instead read it to him briefly. He was taken to Samran Rat Police Station, where he was not able to contact anyone until after his arrest was recorded. Natthaphon was informed that he was charged under the royal defamation law and the Computer-Related Crime Act.
The arrest record claimed that he tried to flee. In fact, he was arrested at his own home and had not received a summons. Natthaphon refused the fingerprinting process and denied all allegations. As a result, he faced an additional charge of failing to follow an official’s order. He was detained overnight.
On 19 January, Natthaphon was taken to court for a detention hearing. On the same day, the court granted bail with 180,000 baht as security on the condition that he does not commit the same offence.
Natthaphon was previously prosecuted for royal defamation after being accused of burning a royal arch in front of the Ministry of Labour during a protest on 14 September 2021. That case is in the witness examination stage.
He was also prosecuted for setting fire to a police truck during a protest on 11 June 2022. In this case, he was detained twice: during the investigation and the trial. Initially, he was detained for eight months before being granted bail. After the court sentenced him to three years in prison, he was detained for two months before being granted bail on condition that he wear an Electronic Monitoring bracelet.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 18, 2024
- Event Description
Chinese activist filmmaker Chen Pinlin has been formally charged in Shanghai with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” according to human rights NGOs and media sources in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based NGO, said on Thursday that on Jan. 5 police in Shanghai arrested Chen, who produced and released a film called “Not the Foreign Force” in English and “Urumqi Road” in Chinese, in November. Chen, who also uses the name Plato, has been held at the Baoshan Detention Center ever since and was charged on Feb. 18.
The offence of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” is a broadly defined crime often used against activists, lawyers and media workers.
Chen’s film was about the protest movement that became known as white paper movement and was released on YouTube and X (formerly Twitter) on the first anniversary of the movement’s emergence.
The protests began in November 2022 after an apartment building in Xinjiang caught fire and killed at least ten people. There were questions whether China’s strict anti-COVID lockdown measures prevented the victims from escaping or the rescue workers accessing the property.
The protests were calculated to be the largest public demonstrations in many years in mainland China. But, even though many protestors were careful to only hold up sheets of blank paper and avoided directly criticizing the central or provincial governments, their acts were construed as criticism of the state and its censorship system. Many people were reported to have been arrested in Shanghai, but the exact number is not known.
Attention to the White Paper Movement is believed to be partly responsible for charges against another filmmaker late last year. Chinese authorities banned artist and film director Guo Zhenming from traveling to Singapore for the world premiere of his documentary film “Tedious Days and Nights.”
The film was scheduled to play at the Singapore International Film Festival on Dec. 4 in the festival’s Standpoint strand. The screening went ahead without him.
Details of Chen’s charges have not been confirmed by mainland Chinese authorities. But they have been reported from media outside the mainland including the Hong Kong Free Press and Chinese-language human rights news websites Minsheng Guancha and Weiquanwang.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Feb 17, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 16, 2024
- Event Description
A Hong Kong activist with terminal cancer was jailed today for attempted sedition over plans to protest against China’s political clampdown with a prop coffin.
Koo Sze-yiu, 78, is among the handful of outspoken government critics still remaining in the city after Beijing crushed Hong Kong’s huge and sometimes violent democracy protests nearly five years ago.
Chief magistrate Victor So today sentenced Koo to nine months in prison for “attempted sedition” – the second time the veteran activist was hit with the charge.
Koo was planning to stage a demonstration last December opposing local elections, which excluded pro-democracy candidates, prosecutors earlier told the court.
Chief magistrate Victor So today sentenced Koo to nine months in prison for “attempted sedition” – the second time the veteran activist was hit with the charge.
Koo was planning to stage a demonstration last December opposing local elections, which excluded pro-democracy candidates, prosecutors earlier told the court.
National security police arrested him on Dec 8, hours before the protest was scheduled to take place.
The magistrate ruled on Friday that a prop coffin made for the event by Koo “symbolised death … (and) overthrowing the central government”.
The protest, if held, would have encouraged the public to reject the election results and foster resistance, the magistrate added.
A defiant Koo told the court he wanted to be a “martyr for democracy and human rights” before being led away, according to local media.
The long-time activist has been jailed at least 12 times since 2000.
In a similar case from 2022, Koo was given a nine-month jail sentence for attempted sedition over plans to demonstrate against Beijing’s hosting of the Winter Olympics.
Sedition, a colonial-era offence dating to the days of British rule, lay dormant for decades before Hong Kong authorities revived it in 2020.
It has since been used to target dozens of government critics – in many cases criminalising remarks made on social media.
Hong Kong is also undertaking public consultation on a new national security law, which includes a proposal to widen the scope of “sedition” to protect more Chinese and Hong Kong state institutions.
This homegrown legislation, if passed, would exist on top of a sweeping national security law that Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 to quell dissent.
As of mid-January, police have arrested 291 people for offences related to national security.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Feb 16, 2024
- Event Description
Front Line Defenders strongly condemns the killing on 16 February 2024 of Hidyat Lohar, the father of women human rights defenders Sasui Lohar and Sorath Lohar. The two women human rights defenders have been campaigning ever since for justice in his case and for the state to conduct an effective and impartial inquiry into his assasination. Hidayat Lohar was killed by unidentified men in his home town of Nasirabad, near Larkana City, Sindh Province of Pakistan. Hidayat Lohar, a teacher and dissident, has faced reprisals due to his political views and also linked to the human rights work of his daughters, Sasui Lohar and Sorath Lohar. The women human rights defenders are the founders of Voice of Missing Persons of Sindh, which campaigns for an end to violations including extra judicial killings and enforced disappearances in Sindh Province. For 16 days following his killing, the police refused to file a First Information Report (FIR), despite repeated requests and campaigns by the family. On 2 March 2024, following an order by the Additional Sessions Judge, Kamber District, the Nasirabad police have registered an FIR in the case but have failed to take any effective steps to trace those responsible. Sasui Lohar and Sorath Lohar are the founders of the Voice of Missing Persons of Sindh, an organization aimed at supporting victims of enforced diappearences and their families to seek justice. Their human rights work is motivated by their own experience when their father Hidayat Lohar was forcibly disappeared in 2017 and continued following his release in 2019. The women human rights defenders have been active since 2014 supporting other victims and families to seek redress and to end the crime of enforced disappearances in Sindh. On 16 February, Hidayat Lohar was assassinated by two unidentified gunmen who shot him while he was traveling to work. The attack happened very close to the police station in Nasirabad and police have confirmed to the family that they heard the sound of gunfire. However, the police and state authorities have so far failed to take any effective measures to respond to the killing or trace those responsible. For over two weeks following the killing, Nasirabad police refused to register a FIR despite the requests of family members. The two women human rights defenders, Sasui Lohar and Sorath Lohar, launched a protest campaign seeking justice and calling on the police to take action and register the FIR into the killing of their father. Three days after the killing, they marched peacefully in Nasirabad town calling for justice. Instead of tracing the perpetators, the police appear to have focused their attention on the women human rights defenders and their campaign intimidating protesters and and the family with a heavy police presence and refusing to ascede to demands for justice and accountability. The FIR bearing number 32/24 was only registered by Nasirabad police 16 days later, on 2 March 2024, following an order by the Additional Sessions Judge, Kamber District directing the police to file an FIR and commence inquiry. However, no further action has been taken to date to identify those responsible. Sasui Lohar and Sorath Lohar have faced repeated reprisals including legal persecution, surveillance, threats and harassment linked to their work. Their father has also been targeted as a result of their work. On 3 April 2023, Hidayat Lohar was taken from his relatives shop in Nasirabad by the Station House Officer (SHO) of Nasirabad police station. When the woman human rights defender Sasui Lohar went to police station inquring about the whereabouts of Hidyat Lohar, police denied having any information about his whereabouts despite witness statements that clearly statethat Hidyat Lohar was taken away by the SHO of Nasirabad Police. Sasui Lohar began a sit-in protest at the police station demanding that her father’s whereabouts be revealed and calling for his release. Around three hours after he was first taken, Hidyat Lohar was returned to his family by the SHO at a location in Larkana city which is around 40 minutes away from Nasirabad town. There was no formal arrest receipt or explanation to the family regarding his abduction or reason for detention by the SHO. Hidyat Lohar informed his daughter that after he was taken away by the SHO, he was blindfolded and handed over to unidentified persons who he believed were intelligence agents who held him at an unknown location and questioned him about his daughters’ human rights work and warned them to stop the campaigns on enforced disapperances. Sasui Lohar and Sorath Lohar have also faced legal persecution and false labeling by the state including the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD). On 17 January 2022, an FIR was filed by the SHO in Shashar against the two women human rights defenders together with several other human rights defenders accusing them of being anti-national and acting against the interest of the state. This case has since been closed due to lack of evidence. The CTD has falsely accused Sorath Lohar of receiving foreign funds for her organization, allegations the woman human rights defender denies. The abuse of anti-terror mechanisms and false labeling and legal cases against human rights defenders reflects a common pattern of reprisals in Pakistan, including restrictions on reciept of funds or resources for legitimate human rights work. Front Line Defenders condemns the killing of Hidayat Lohar which we believe is a reprisal against the human rights work carried out by his daughters, Sasui Lohar and Sorath Lohar. Pakistani human rights defenders work in an extremely hostile context and there is evidence of state authorities or state supported groups targeting not only human rights defenders but also their families as a form of punishment and to silence their voices. We call on the Pakistan police and state authorities to ensure an effective and independent inquiry that results in the prosecution of those responsible for the killing of Hidayat Lohar. Front Line Defenders stands in solidarity with Sasui Lohar and Sorah Lohar and call on the Pakistan state to ensure their safety, protection and an end to reprisals against the women human rights defenders and their family.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Feb 16, 2024
- Event Description
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.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Vietnam: wife of detained HRD threatened with arrest
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 15, 2024
- Event Description
Four indigenous Kuy residents of M’lou Prey II commune, Chheb district, have been summoned by the Preah Vihear provincial court for questioning on the obstruction of the company’s development, and inciting people to illegally occupy state land.
Last week, three villagers of M’lou Prey II commune were assaulted in a land dispute. The indigenous community is seeking justice from the authority following the assault by the group believed to be sugarcane plantation workers.
Four days after the conflict on February 11, M’lou Prey II community representative, Seun Tha, 31, received the summons issued by the commune police. Tha said he is very disappointed, noting that indigenous people are the victims as they lost their land and survive on low incomes.
In the summons reviewed by CamboJA, four community representatives will be questioned by Preah Vihear court prosecutor on February 27. The summons states that the court will question them for allegedly obstructing the company’s work and for inciting people to illegally occupy state land on January 16, 2024.
The summons did not name the company but people believe that it is the Chinese company which was granted land for development from the government in 2011.
Tha called it an injustice against indigenous peoples, who often suffered abuse by those in power, and the law. He hopes the government will reconsider the plight of indigenous people and that the court would render them justice.
“It is very unfair for indigenous people like us. We just cultivated our land and now we are being issued a summons,” Tha said. “I hope the court will drop the charges against the three of us and other community representatives.”
Nop Vuthy, spokesperson of Preah Vihear province, told CamboJA that the company was suing them, and claimed that the provincial authorities had tried several times to resolve the case out of court. However, the case was beyond the jurisdiction of the provincial authorities, he added.
“We mediated out of court, but now the company sued them. This case is not under the control of the local authorities,” Vuthy said.
Another community member, who is also a Kuy native, Pean Sophat, said they did nothing wrong as the people came to cultivate their land, not the company land.
“We oppose [the summons] because the land that the company is developing is not state land, it is our land which we have been cultivating for a long time,” he added.
The national policy on indigenous peoples’ development in 2009 recognizes the rights of indigenous peoples to land, traditions, culture and customs. The 2001 Land Law recognizes the rights of indigenous communities to their collective use of land.
Although Cambodia has a policy of recognizing the rights of indigenous peoples, there is little protection for their interests. Since 2001, only around five indigenous communities have received collective title deeds.
Preah Vihear provincial court spokesperson, Chum Kaniya could not be reached for comment.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Indigenous peoples' rights defender, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 15, 2024
- Event Description
The Tbong Khmum Appeal Court yesterday suspended a two-year prison sentence given to four Srae Prang Community members, who were accused of intentional damage for blocking a private company from clearing their land.
The four community members are part of group of nine defendants who are alleged to have blocked machinery belonging to Harmony Win Investment Co. Ltd. from clearing their land in 2017 and 2020. They were convicted of intentional damage and sentenced to two years in prison in 2021 by a provincial court. The Tbong Khmum Appeal Court upheld the verdict in 2022, but the Supreme Court sent the case back to the appeal court in August 2023.
On Thursday 15 February 2024, the appeal court upheld the sentences of the four community members and suspended their two-year prison sentences. The community members are Chhork Chhey, Khem Sokcheang, Pum Pich and Veun Ver.
Srae Prang Community in Tbong Khmum has fought a decade-long dispute over their community farmland with Harmony Win Investment, which is a Chinese-owned rubber company. The company has routinely blocked village residents’ access to their farmland and cleared it, leading to frequent protests from community members.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Feb 14, 2024
- Event Description
About the Human Rights Defender: Mr. Udayram (27) s/o Hawa Singh is a video journalist from Hisar district in Haryana, who works with Janchowk web portal since the last several years. He often covers issues of farmers and labourers of Haryana’s rural areas.
Date of Incident: February 14, 2024 Place of Incident: Khanauri border, Data Singhwala village, tehsil Narwana, Disrict Jind, Haryana. Details of the Incident: Mr. Udayram has been covering the ongoing farmers protest in Haryana for the web portal Jan Chowk. On February 14, 2024, at about 2:30 PM, the Deputy Superintendent of Police of Jind invited the farmer leaders for discussions. Mr. Udayram also went to cover the story, accompanying the farmers who went to meet the SP. Mr. Udayram was being driven in a farmer leader’s car in a 8 car convoy to Khanauri border which had about 30 farmers. The convoy was escorted by a police jeep and taken to the site 300 meters ahead where the DSP was to meet members of the delegation. While the discussions were on, all of sudden police started vandalizing vehicles. The car in which Mr. Udayram was travelling was attacked by Para military force members, first they broke the glass then used sticks to damage the bodies of the vehicles. They were also carrying drilling machine with which they damaged the tyres of vehicles. When Mr. Udayram tried to stop the policemen vandalising the cars they threatened him that they will make holes in HRD’s body too with the drilling machine. When this delegation returned, they sat in a nearby house and complained about the attack to the DSP. However he denied that this act could be done by the police officials. Mr. Udayram told DSP that he has a video clip of police officials damaging the vehicles, then the police officials present there threatened him with a beating in front of DSP.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 14, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Feb 13, 2024
- Event Description
The director and three constitutional law experts featured in the viral documentary movie, Dirty Vote, were reported to the National Police by the Indonesian Santri Communication Forum (Foksi) on Tuesday, Feb. 13.
Dirty Vote is a documentary film directed by Dandhy Laksono that exposes alleged systematic election fraud by President Joko Widodo or Jokowi’s administration and is explained by three constitutional law experts, namely Zainal Arifin Mochtar, Feri Amsari, Bivitri Susanti
“We tried to file a report. We filed it yesterday but we lacked documents. Today, we are completing the documents,” Foksi chairman M. Natsir Sahib told Tempo in a text on Tuesday, Feb. 13.
Natsir believed that the long-form movie had harmed one of the pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates contesting in the election. He accused the four people of committing election violations, especially since the film was released during the cooling-off period before voting day on Feb. 14.
“Releasing a film about election fraud during the cooling-off period in order to create an uproar and corner one of the presidential candidate pairs is against the Election Law,” he stressed.
To back up his accusation, Natsir alluded to the involvement of Zainal, Feri, and Bivitri in the legal reform team at the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs under the leadership of Mahfud MD, who is currently running for vice president with Ganjar Pranowo.
“These academics have destroyed the democratic order and fulfilled the elements of malicious conspiracy to create issues that cannot be accounted for, resulting in slander and false data being distributed to the public,” he reiterated.
Natsir argued that the director and the three academics had violated Article 287 paragraph (5) of Law No. 7 of 2017 concerning elections. He also urged the National Police Criminal Investigation Unit to handle the case professionally. “Since it was published during the cooling-off period, it is a serious violation and tendentious against one of the candidates,” he concluded.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Academic, Artist, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Feb 13, 2024
- Event Description
A Kyrgyz court on February 15 confined independent journalist Ali Ergeshev to house arrest until at least March 13 on a hooliganism charge. Ergeshev was detained two days earlier at the Manas airport in Bishkek amid an ongoing crackdown on independent media in the country that once had the most vibrant media space across the region. Last month, 11 former and current reporters of the Temirov Live investigative group were arrested on a charge of "calling for disobedience and mass riots" over the group's reporting. Other Kyrgyz media and reporters have been under pressure in recent months.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 13, 2024
- Event Description
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), a legal firm which provides pro-bono representation for pro-democracy activists and protesters, has been threatened with violence after they provided legal support to two activists arrested on several charges, including sedition, for allegedly honking their car horn at and blocking a royal motorcade.
TLHR said today (14 February) that, at around 14.30, they received an anonymous phone call to their office from an middle-aged man who demanded the contact information for a lawyer representing Tantawan Tuatulanon and Nutanon Chaimahabut. The pair were arrested yesterday (13 February) on charges of sedition, violation of the Computer Crimes Act, causing a public annoyance and are now detained.
The man also threatened that he would lead his group in an armed raid on TLHR’s office.
A TLHR information officer told Prachatai that their office has been receiving threatening phone calls from the same number since yesterday (13 February) and that the caller(s) were unhappy that they were helping Tantawan and Nutanon file post bail.
Formed in the days after the May 2014 military coup, when the military was summoning and arresting dissidents and trying civilians in military courts, TLHR has provided pro-sbono legal representation for activists and members of the public prosecuted for political expression and charged under laws which violate basic civil and political rights, including the Computer-Related Crime Act, the Public Assembly Act, the royal defamation law, and the sedition law.
They have also documented and monitored human rights violations in the country since the coup. Their reports are published on their website and social media accounts as news articles, reports, legal opinions, and public statements to raise public awareness about these violations.
Update: TLHR said today (15 February) that they were visited by a man wearing a purple shirt who came to their office without prior appointment. The man claimed to be a retired civil servant who had attended an administrative lawyer workshop and came from Phitsanulok to pick up a document.
TLHR's information officer said the man could not name the specific document he needed, and was demanding that to be inside the office. When told to contact TLHR through the normal channel, the man demanded to be told the name of any TLHR officer he can contact.
The information officer said that the man is not being represented by any of TLHR's lawyers. He also spent 15 minutes demanding the document before leaving. However, TLHR could not confirm whether was was the same person who has been calling to threaten them.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Lawyer, NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Feb 13, 2024
- Event Description
Indian police have used tear gas and water cannon for a second day to stop farmers demanding minimum crop prices from marching on the capital Delhi.
The capital is ringed by razor wire, cement blocks and fencing on three sides to block their entry.
Mostly from Punjab state, the farmers are still 200km (125 miles) from Delhi - thousands of security forces are deployed to block their way.
Farmers say the government broke its word after protests two years ago.
In 2020, farmers blockaded national highways around the capital - their year-long protest was a major challenge and forced the authorities to roll back controversial agriculture reforms, but farmers say other demands have not been met. The government has invited farm leaders to hold talks.
The new protests come months before general elections in which the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of PM Narendra Modi is seeking a third consecutive term.
Video footage on Wednesday morning showed thousands of riot police and paramilitary troops deployed along Delhi borders to keep the protesters away.
Farmers allege that plastic and rubber bullets had been used against them, and they criticised the media, saying a perception was being created that farmers were "terrorists" or aligned with opposition parties.
"We have nothing to do with anyone else," farm leader Sarwan Singh Pandher told reporters. "Our demands have been the same from the very beginning."
At the Shambhu border point between Haryana and Punjab states north of Delhi, farmers have been distributing protective eyewear to protesters facing police tear gas shells.
Earlier, Mr Pandher told ANI news agency that there were approximately 10,000 people at the Shambhu border. Calling the attack on the farmers "shameful", he said, "we are farmers and labourers of the country and we do not want any fight".
Mr Pandher appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi "to give us a law for MSP".
Minimum support price (MSP) is a guaranteed price that allows farmers to sell most of their produce at government-controlled wholesale markets, or mandis. The farmers are also demanding that the government fulfil its promise of doubling their income, and withdraw court cases filed against farmers during the previous protest.
Farm leaders say at least a dozen farmers have been detained by the police since Tuesday, the day the protest march began after two rounds of talks between farm unions and federal ministers failed to break the deadlock.
On Wednesday, federal minister Anurag Thakur asked farmers to resume talks. "When we have met most of your [farmers'] demands, a solution can be found on the rest through discussions," he told news channel NDTV.
Farm leaders said they were open to continuing talks after hearing about the offer through media. "Our priority is that the talks are held in Chandigarh or anywhere near the protest site," said one of their leaders, Jagjit Singh Dallewal.
More than 200 unions are participating in the march and the farmers aim to reach the capital after crossing the state of Haryana.
On Tuesday, images from the city of Ambala, 200km north of the capital, showed thick clouds of tear gas. At Shambhu, clashes broke out between police and protesters as they tried to press past the barricades. Police dropped tear gas on the crowd using drones.
Several protesters were injured. Security personnel also suffered injuries from stones thrown at them by protesters.
Disruption was reported across Delhi as authorities diverted traffic and blocked roads.
The protesters have received some support from the Punjab and Haryana High Court which has said that as citizens of the country, the farmers had the "right to move freely".
India's opposition leaders have also extended support to them and condemned the government's attempt to stop them from reaching Delhi.
Congress party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge said on Tuesday that they would enact a law to guarantee minimum price for the farmers if the party was voted to power in the elections.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Feb 13, 2024
- Event Description
“The arbitrary arrests and unjust detention of Filipinos under the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. regime show that the same forms of injustice that the Filipino people rose up against 38 years ago continue,” said KARAPATAN Secretary General Cristina Palabay, as the group condemned the unjust arrests and detention of persons ahead of the People Power 1 commemoration.
KARAPATAN condemned the arbitrary arrest of Pertinisa Charita, 55, a farmer, who was with her children to visit her husband, detained sugarcane worker unionist Leon Charita, in San Carlos City District Jail, San Carlos, Negros Occidental. It was Leon’s birthday when Pertinisa and her children visited him on February 13.
During the search of Pertinisa and her children’s belongings and the items they brought for Leon, a jail officer of the San Carlos City District Jail opened Pertinisa’s bag and showed a caliber .22 pistol in his hand, implying that the gun was found inside Pertinisa’s bag. Jail officers immediately apprehended Pertinisa and brought her to PNP San Carlos City station. She remains under police custody as of this writing.
“It is highly improbable that an ordinary person will bring a firearm to jail, knowing his or her belongings will be searched. It is appalling that they did this to a wife of a political prisoner, who is already suffering in jail due to planted evidence. We condemn how the state has victimized the Charita family twice over, with Pertinisa actively calling for her husband’s freedom,” said Palabay.
Pertinisa was among those who met UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression Irene Khan in her Visayas visit in January to provide information on the case of her husband.
Leon was the auditor of the National Federation of Sugar Workers when he was arrested on September 18, 2019, along with seven other activists while they were preparing and inviting people to join the commemoration activity on the Escalante massacre. Elements of the 79th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, Escalante City PNP, and 3rd Platoon, 1st Negros Occidental Provincial Mobile Force Company (NOCPMFC), arbitrarily arrested Leon and his colleagues and planted various firearms and explosives.
KARAPATAN also deplored the arrest and continued detention of filmmaker and director Jade Castro, who was arrested along with three others in Mulanay, Quezon on February 1 for allegedly burning a modernized jeepney the night before. The human rights group also decried the harassment of radio commentator and human rights activist Vince Casilihan by men who introduced themselves as soldiers on February 8.
“We stand with Castro’s fellow artists and colleagues that they are innocent, and they are victims of warrantless arrests. We support Casilihan’s efforts to expose the various forms of harassment against journalists like him in the Bicol region. Castro and his companions should be released soon, while State forces should keep their hands off Casilihan and other press freedom advocates. These incidents in the heels of UN Special Rapporteur Khan’s investigation on the state of freedom of expression and opinion in the Philippines further reaffirm the sordid human rights situation in the Philippines,” Palabay said.
As KARAPATAN prepares to join commemoration activities on the 38th year after the People Power 1 uprising, Palabay said they will also continue to call for the release of the 800 political prisoners in the country.
“There is no holiday for the Marcos Jr. regime in employing the martial law practice of warrantless arrests, trumped up charges and unjust detention. In the upcoming People Power anniversary commemoration, we shall continue to demand for the release of political prisoners, and in holding the Marcos Jr. regime accountable for the spate of rights violations under its watch. Justice and genuine freedom can only be attained with people’s action. Let us live up to the lessons of People Power,” Palabay ended.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Feb 13, 2024
- Event Description
A total of 30 students representing various campuses carried out a symbolic action while submitting the analysis they made at the Constitutional Court Building (MK), Tuesday (13/2).
Dozens of students began gathering at 15.00 WIB at the gathering point. 15 minutes later they then moved to the back of the Constitutional Court Building.
“At 15.30 a group of unknown people prohibited the students from moving to the back of the Constitutional Court Building. They threatened to forcibly disperse, if students continued to protest,” said one of the protesters, Tegar Afriansyah in his statement.
However, at around 16:00 WIB, students continued to move from the gathering point towards the back of the Constitutional Court Building. Again, a group of unknown people followed and tried to provoke the students.
30 minutes later, students carried out symbolic actions and expressed their opinions behind the Constitutional Court Building. There, a number of police officers were already on guard.
“At 16.45 a group of people forcibly dispersed the student protest by committing violence such as pulling, pushing, grabbing microphones and hitting,” said Tegar.
“The unknown group also damaged the protest tools regarding dynastic politics delivered by students. Then the police intervened,” he continued.
Nevertheless, dozens of students continued their protest at 17.00 WIB, while waiting for representatives from the Constitutional Court to meet them. Again, the protest continued to be disturbed by a group of unknown people.
Until finally, at around 17.30 WIB, representatives from the Constitutional Court met the students and accepted the analysis submitted. Afterward, the students moved back to the gathering point.
However, it turned out that the group of unknown people continued to follow and pursue them. Until finally, the unknown group began to commit acts of violence against the students.
“The group of people committed violence by pulling, pushing, grabbing and hitting students who were preparing to go home on the motorcycle yard. The police allowed this. More than ten people were victims of pushing, pulling and other violence,” said Tegar.
At around 18.00 WIB, dozens of students then dispersed to save themselves.
When confirmed, Central Jakarta Metro Police Chief Kombes Susatyo Purnomo Condro denied any knowledge of the beatings or violence.
“Nothing, (the protest) has finished in an orderly manner,” said Susatyo.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Feb 12, 2024
- Event Description
Prison authorities have refused to sell jailed Vietnamese prisoner of conscience Tran Huynh Duy Thuc food from the facility’s canteen, a week after he voluntarily ended a hunger strike, members of his family said Wednesday.
Convicted in 2010 on charges of plotting to overthrow the government, Thuc is serving a 16-year sentence for writing online articles criticizing Vietnam’s one-party communist state.
Thuc is now in the final year of his sentence, counting the time of his detention in 2009, and is in poor health. He has staged other hunger strikes in the past to protest conditions at Prison No. 6 in Nghe An province. He began his latest hunger strike on Jan. 27.
In Vietnam, prisoners are fed basic prison food, but can also buy higher quality food from the canteen, and inmates are allowed to receive non-perishable food from their families. But it’s not unusual for jail authorities to deprive political prisoners of canteen food, hot water, medicine and outside health care as a means of further punishment.
Thuc ended his hunger strike on Feb. 2 after canteen workers finally sold him something to eat. But a week later, they again refused to sell him food, saying that he had exceeded the monthly limit for purchases, even though he had not bought enough to meet his dietary needs, his relatives told Radio Free Asia, two days after a prison visit on Feb. 12.
Canteen workers said Thuc purchases exceeded the monthly limit of 1.7 million dong (US$70), and he could only buy more food beginning in March, according to his family.
Thuc has only one package of instant noodles and about 8 kilograms (18 pounds) of other food his relatives gave him on Monday.
Tran Huynh Duy Tan, Thuc’s younger brother, said the family was happy when Thuc ended his hunger strike, but now they are worried about the possibility that he will resume it. They also expressed concern that the food they gave him will only last a few days.
“The family is very worried that he will continue to not have enough food,” Tan said. “He said he would continue to protest by going on another hunger strike if the prison continued to mistreat him, as it is doing now.”
RFA was unable to reach prison officials for comment.
During his recent hunger strike, Thuc became exhausted and lost consciousness, his family said. He also complained of being constantly cold, although he had not complained previously about the winter weather in Nghe An.
Thuc’s family called on Vietnamese authorities as well as human rights organizations and the governments of democratic countries to pressure the prison to stop treating Thuc harshly.
Prison authorities have continued to restrict access to hot water for Thuc and his cellmate, fellow political prisoner Dang Dinh Bach, Thuc’s relatives said.
Bach, a lawyer and the director of the environmental group that had been campaigning to reduce Vietnam’s reliance on coal, was arrested in July 2021 and sentenced to five years for “tax evasion.”
When the warden said Thuc could only exchange instant noodles for boiling water because the amount of water was limited, Thuc refused, his family said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to food, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 12, 2024
- Event Description
Thai authorities should drop all charges pending against journalist Nutthaphol Meksobhon and photographer Natthapon Phanphongsanon and stop harassing the press for reporting on issues related to the nation’s monarchy, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Wednesday.
Nutthaphol, a reporter with the local independent Prachatai news website, and Natthapon, a freelance photographer, were arrested and charged on Monday by the Royal Palace Police Station with collaborating in vandalizing a sacred historical site, according to multiple press reports.
The charges stem from their reporting in March 2023 that an activist spray-painted graffiti on the outside wall of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in the capital Bangkok’s Grand Palace complex, those sources said.
The journalists were released on 35,000 baht (US$980) bail on Tuesday after being detained overnight. Charges under the Cleanliness Act and Ancient Monuments Act combined carry a maximum seven-year prison sentence and 700,000 baht fine (US$19,600), those sources said.
Several reporters were at the scene of the incident, according to reports, and it is unclear why Nutthaphol and Natthapon were singled out.
“Nutthaphol Meksobhon and Natthapon Phanphongsanon should not be threatened with lengthy jail sentences for merely doing their jobs as journalists in reporting on a social activist’s vandalism,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “If Thailand wants to be taken seriously as a democracy, it should start acting like one by allowing the press to do its job without harassment or fear of arbitrary reprisal.”
The activist spray-painted an anarchist symbol and a crossed-out number 112 on the wall, in reference to Article 112 in Thailand’s Criminal Code, which provides for up to 15-year prison sentences for anyone found guilty of insulting the king, queen, heir apparent, and regent. Mass protests in 2020 and 2021 and the opposition Move Forward Party have called for reforms to the so-called lèse majesté law.
Prachatai is known for its consistent reporting on royal affairs, including on activists and others who are charged and jailed under Article 112.
Prachatai editor-in-chief Tewarit Maneechai was quoted by news agencies as saying that the arrests were “an act of intimidation” that “created fear about news coverage of sensitive issues.” He said the reporters were unaware of the charges against them prior to their arrests.
Thailand’s Royal Police Headquarters did not immediately reply to CPJ’s emailed request for comment on the charges.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Feb 12, 2024
- Event Description
Kazakhstan's Culture and Information Ministry said it has blocked the Selftanu.kz website, which focuses on LGBT relations. The ministry said the move was made "to protect children's rights" while taking into account "the culture and traditions of Kazakhstan’s society and culture." Although homosexual relations were decriminalized in Kazakhstan in the 1990s, the European Parliament noted in 2021 that LGBT citizens in the country are still discriminated against and that members of that community routinely face violence or harassment in the oil-rich Central Asian nation.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Censorship, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Freedom of expression Online, SOGI rights
- HRD
- SOGI rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 12, 2024
- Event Description
Two activists have been denied bail after they were arrested on several charges, including sedition, for allegedly honking at and blocking a royal motorcade.
Tantawan Tuatulanon and Nutanon “Frank” Chaimahabut were arrested yesterday (13 February) on charges of sedition, violation of the Computer Crimes Act, and causing a public annoyance.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that the police accused them of honking at and trying to cut off a royal motorcade for Princess Sirindhorn, the King’s younger sister, as well as for responding rudely to police officers speaking with them about their manner of driving.
Nutanon was also charged with insulting an officer and repeatedly using the vehicle’s horn without proper reason.
The police charged them with sedition after Tantawan posted a video clip from her dashcam, which the police claim caused conflict in the society. The video clip was posted publicly on Tantawan’s Facebook profile which has over 37,000 followers and people were commenting on it, some siding with her and some expressing disagreement.
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, and that the horn was sounded when it moves to the front of the line and the lane was blocked by a police vehicle. The footage also shows the vehicle stuck behind another police vehicle while at the exit from the expressway, and a police officer was seen approaching the vehicle before Tantawan was heard arguing.
During Tantawan and Nutanon's bail hearing, an officer from Din Daeng Police Station testified that the vehicle Tantawan and Nutanon were in was only speeding after the royal motorcade had passed and traffic had resumed. It also did not cut in front of the royal motorcade since it could not get past the final vehicle in the motorcade.
TLHR said that Tantawan and Frank received a summons to hear the charge of causing a public annoyance on 12 February, but asked for a postponement because they had class and work. However, the police insisted on having them meet the inquiry officer on the morning of 12 February, claiming that the officer was not free in the afternoon. They asked to postpone the appointment to 20 February. Their lawyer delivered the request to the police on 12 February, but an arrest warrant was issued for them nonetheless.
Tantawan and Nutanon denied all charges. As they refused to sign any document or to be fingerprinted, they were charged with refusing to follow an officer’s order.
The two activists were arrested in front of the Ratchadapisek Criminal Court, where they had been since 9.00. They were waiting to hear the outcome of a bail request for two reporters who were arrested for covering an incident in March 2023 when an activist sprayed graffiti onto a wall at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.
They were initially brought to Din Daeng Police Station. The police later told their lawyer that the two activists would be separated and Tantawan was to be detained at Chalongkrung Police Station. When Tantawan refused and insisted on being detained with Nutanon at Din Daeng Police Station, the police had 4 women crowd control officers carry her to a detention truck. A lawyer who followed her to Chalongkrung Police Station found that she had several bruises from being forced into and out of the truck.
The Criminal Court today (14 February) ordered Tantawan and Nutanon detained for 12 days so that they could not tamper with evidence. They were subsequently denied bail on the grounds that the charges against them carry a high penalty, and that they were likely to cause further disorder in society and disrupt the investigation.
TLHR said that the inquiry officer at Din Daeng Police Station testified during the bail hearing that he does not know which other eyewitness he has to interview, and that the two activists were also unlikely to know these witnesses.
The Dusit Municipal Court previously refused to issue an arrest warrant for the pair because of the sudden nature of the request. Although they were initially charged with a misdemeanour, the inquiry officers decided that they should also be charged with sedition and requested an arrest warrant from the Criminal Court instead.
Tantawan and Nutanon are now being detained at the Women Central Correctional Institution and the Bangkok Remand Prison, respectively. After they were brought to prison, other activists and protesters staged a demonstration in front of the prison entrance to demand their release.
They have announced in a letter that, in protest of their detention, they will be going on a dry hunger strike and will not be filing for bail. They called for a reform of the justice system, an end to the detention of dissidents, and for Thailand to be rejected when it runs for a seat in the UN Human Rights Council.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 11, 2024
- Event Description
Kuy indigenous community in Bos Village and Preus Ka’ak Village, M’lou Prey II Commune, Chheb District in Preah Vihear Province urge the authorities to help them seek justice after being allegedly assaulted by a group of men. The villagers suspect they are sugarcane plantation workers who destroyed their farmland.
Community representative, Pean Sophat, told CamboJA that on February 11, 2024, villagers came together to stop three tractors known to belong to local Chheang Kong Nov from plowing the area which the villagers had long cultivated.
Sophat said when they arrived at construction site 11 to meet Kong Nov, his people allegedly closed the gate and assaulted the villagers. Three villagers were injured.
Another villager, Soeun Tha, a 30-year-old indigenous man, said Kong Nov “always” plows people’s land, so this was not the first time. Hence, the reason behind the villagers’ decision to stop the activity and get answers. Instead, Kong Nov’s team used violence on the villagers.
“When we arrived at the site, he ordered his team to close the door and use violence against us. He grabbed another villager’s collar and also beat three people,” Tha recounted.
According to Tha, the government allocated the land that was cultivated by the villagers to a Chinese firm in 2011. When the Chinese company collapsed in 2019, the locals continued to cultivate on the land again, they are planting potatoes and rice. But recently, a group of men with Kong Nov started plowing the land to plant potatoes and abused villagers.
“It is wrong and unfair, and the authorities in the province are not making any effort to help us,” said Tha.
In January, five Chinese companies signed 50-year lease contracts over the state land. The Cambodia-registered companies plan to operate sugarcane plantations and other agro-industrial crops on the land measuring 20,179 hectares in total.
However, Tha said those who came did not have a permit or a letter to prove that they had permission to clear the land.
The villagers are not interested in opposing the company, he added. “We just want to negotiate a solution because we have been farming on the land for a long time.”
Chief of M’lou Prey II commune Kan Sovankea told CamboJA that the local authority was aware of the matter, adding that it would be transferred to the district authority for intervention. He could not resolve the issue as it is “beyond his capacity”.
He explained that the people from his commune have been farming on the company’s land known as Hengfu group although the latter stopped planting in 2019. But, he did not know the exact number of families who had been doing that.
“Now I mediate for them [with Kong Nov]. In fact, the villagers have planted crops on the company land and want to continue to do more,” said Sovankea.
The villagers have filed a police report following the attack, said 37-year-old Nab Noeun, adding that they asked the commune authorities to help secure justice for those with land but are now “disturbed by unidentified people”.
“I have filed a complaint but I don’t know the outcome yet. It is unfair because our land has been used for a long time. There are plants there but they have come to plow and destroy our crops,” she added.
While the villagers do not know who the person was, she believed that there must be a “powerful person” behind the attack, as they dared to harm them.
“Maybe there was someone behind him. If not, he would never have dared to do so and the authorities are still silent,” she said.
There are 14 ethnic groups and 155 indigenous communities in Cambodia, according to a study on the demographic and socioeconomic state of indigenous peoples in the country published in 2021 by the Ministry of Planning and the Ministry of Rural Development.
A new code of environment and natural resources was enacted by the National Assembly in June 2023.
Another resident, Khat Sisophan, hoped that the government would stop giving away land used by the people to plant their crops to private companies, while asking them to withdraw the land from Rui Feng chinese sugarcane company.
He said villagers need farmlands to support their families as their livelihoods are in dire condition and they are in debt.
“The people of this village are facing difficulties and aren’t happy nowadays. It is not fair [that land is being privatized for companies].
“I want to see the new government reform the law and respect human rights, including those who live in remote areas, like us. Without farmlands, we would not be able to live comfortably,” Sisophan said.
Deputy Provincial Governor of Preah Vihear Province Nop Vuthy urged people to file a complaint with the authorities with regards to the violence. That is, “as long as they have evidence,” Vuthy told CamboJA.
He said Preah Vihear provincial authorities made a contract with villagers to “make them understand” that the land had been given to private companies.
The contract also mentioned that they should “stop planting on the investment land” but, “every year and every season”, villagers continue to grow crops on the land.
“We have given it to Chinese companies,” Vuthy said. “[Villagers] always say [it’s their land]. Obviously it’s not like that. The land is already registered as a state land.
“Now, we have a state land commission. We’re investigating the history of the land, whether they really own the land and if they have adequate documents. The provincial authority will take action accordingly.”
According to Article 25 of the Land Law, indigenous community land consists of lands where communities have established settlements and engaged in traditional agriculture. The lands are not only those regularly cultivated, but also those which are reserved for seasonal farming and are recognized by the administrative authorities.
Poek Sophorn, executive director of Ponlok Khmer, said the authorities should help the indigenous people acquire justice and calm the situation as they have been cultivating the land for a long time.
Indigenous communities are protected by the law and possess the right to access land.
“But the authorities don’t seem to care much about the people’s rights and they might lose their right to the land.
“Why not help them to register their land? At least help them secure land ownership for private use, this would be fairer,” said Sophorn.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Indigenous peoples' rights defender, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Feb 10, 2024
- Event Description
Nepal police arrested journalists Pushkar Bhatta and Aishwarya Kunwar for their news reporting on February 10 in Kanchanpur. Kanchanpur lies in Sudurpaschim Province of Nepal.
Reporter Bhatta is associated with Mountain Television and Kunwar is reporter at Avash Kunj daily.
Freedom Forum’s representative for the province, Min Bam said that reporters duo were arrested for reporting on mismanagement in the District Police Office, Kanchanpur. “News about mismanagement at DPO were published in local media earlier,” Bam added.
Freedom Forum also talked to the Superintendant of Police Kamal Thapa about the case. SP Thapa however informed FF that police arrested the reporters under Cybercrime charge citing Electronic Transaction Act 2007 as per the order from District Court. He added that the arrest warrant was issued after a female victim’s complaint. “As per complaint, news and social media posts of the reporters duo have defamed her personally and professionally. Police is further investigating the case,” he said.
Representative Bam also shared with FF that he was working in close coordination with the fellow journalists and National Human Rights Office, Dhangadhi to release the reporters.
FF is closely monitoring the case. Arrest of the reporters for their reporting is sheer violation of press freedom. Further, arresting them under cybercrime charge for their social media post is the misuse of ETA 2007. Such misuse of ETA by the complainants and subsequent action by the security authority against journalists and citizens is a worrying trend in Nepal.
In case of defamation, the victim can approach different way rather than invoking ETA.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 10, 2024
- Event Description
Members of ultra-royalist groups attacked activists and citizen journalists during a gathering in the Siam shopping district on Saturday (10 February), injuring 10 activists, 2 citizen journalists, and another person observing the gathering.
The incident took place at the exit from the Siam BTS station next to Siam Paragon shopping mall, while activist Tantawan Tuatulanon was reading a statement about a video clip released on 4 February, which showed an argument with a police officer blocking the road during a royal motorcade.
As she was reading out her statement, members of several ultra-royalist groups climbed over metal fences that Siam Paragon employees had placed to block the BTS station exit and attacked the activists. Police officers stationed in the area attempted to defuse the situation by removing the activists from the scene. Initially, they were taken inside the BTS station, before being taken in a police van to the nearby Pathumwan Police Station.
10 activists were injured, and have decided to press charges against their attackers. Napatsorn Boonree, a regular protest-goer who was observing the gathering, was also injured.
Citizen journalists Paradorn Ketphuak and Chen Chiwobancha were also attacked while livestreaming the incident. Paradorn said objects were thrown at them while they were walking around the area to see whether any activist was still around. He was then attacked by two royalist group members while at the Siam BTS station. He said that he was slapped in the face, breaking his glasses, and that one also hit his phone, knocking it to the ground.
Paradorn said that Wasan Tongmontho, leader of the Blue Blood Warriors group, pushed him to the ground and held him down with his knees. Paradorn called for help from nearby police officers who then took him away from the police station.
Paradorn is pressing charges against his attackers for assault and destruction of property. He said that members of the ultra-royalist group the People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy previously attacked him while he was livestreaming at a protest in front of the Criminal Court, but there has been no progress in the complaint he filed against them.
Meanwhile, Chen said he was standing behind the ticket gate at the BTS station. Anon Klinkaew, leader of the People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy, threw a bottle at him and climbed over the ticket gate. Chen said that an officer stopped Anon from punching him while holding him by his collar. However, he was then punched to the ground and kicked by another person. He is also pressing charges for assault.
Members of the group also threatened a Prachatai reporter filming the incident in an attempt to intimidate him into stopping the recording.
At least 3 members of the royalist groups were also injured. Wasan was hit in the head and arm, possibly with a baton carried by an activist who was blocking him from getting close to Tantawan.
At Pathumwan Police Station, Tantawan told reporters that she apologized for driving carelessly, but noted that every citizen has the right to raise questions about royal motorcades. She showed a picture of the poll she conducted 2 years ago on whether people face trouble from royal motorcades, and asked why dissidents are still prosecuted in a democratic country.
“Is our country really democratic? I want to ask the adults in this country, and I don’t know how they are going to answer me. Are they going to answer by slapping me with more charges? Will they put me in jail again?” said Tantawan.
Tantawan said that she wanted no violence and only wanted to make her statement. She said she was punched in the head and her hair was pulled, while another activist named Khatatorn was put in a chokehold and punched repeatedly. She said that, although an activist was seen in a video clip hitting Wasan with a baton, it was in self-defence, since Khatatorn was attacked first and everyone else was helping him and trying to defend themselves.
Khatatorn said he saw the royalist group members walking towards Tantawan and tried to tell them that the event was over and they were about to leave. Instead, he was put in a chokehold and punched.
15-year-old activist Thanalop Phalanchai also said someone yanked at her hair and collar because she tried to help another activist being attacked.
- Impact of Event
- 12
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Feb 9, 2024
- Event Description
The police have arrested 10 people after journalist Nikhil Wagle’s car was attacked in Pune last week. However, Wagle himself was subjected to a new FIR filed against him after the attack for violating a police notice
In Pune, a car taking Maharashtra journalist Nikhil Wagle, and activist Vishwambhar Choudhary, and human rights lawyer Asim Sarode was brutally attacked on February 9 by people who are believed to be workers in the BJP. The three were en route to a Nirbhay Bano rally in Pune.
After the attack, a second FIR was filed against Wagle at the Parvati police station in Pune where he and several others, which includes organisers of the Nirbhay Bano event in Pune, are now subjects of an FIR. The FIR is based on charges for violation of a police notice. The list of named people in the FIR has members of various political parties, such as Dhiraj Ghate, the Pune unit chief of the BJP along with 250 party members, Arvind Shinde, the Congress party city chief, Prashant Jagtap representing the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party, and Sanjay More from Shiv Sena. Furthermore, the social media site X was also trending with people calling for his arrest.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, ten members of the BJP were arrested in Pune in connection with the assault on senior journalist Nikhil Wagle. The arrested people have been identified as Deepak Pote, Ganesh Ghosh, Ganesh Sherla, Raghvendra Mankar, Swapnil Naik, Pratik Desarda, Dushyant Mohol, Datta Sagre, Girish Mankar, and Rahul Paygude. Several charges have been filed against them which include sections of the Indian Penal Code related to rioting and voluntarily causing harm.
Prior to the attack, BJP Pune’s president Dheeraj Ghate reportedly commented on the incident on X, associating Wagle with ‘naxalism’. There is thus far no news or reports of Ghate being arrested as of yet.
Meanwhile, the Indian Express has reported that Nikhil Wagle’s team, with Vishwambhar Choudhary and Asim Sarode, has called for the arrest of Dheeraj Ghate and other party figures purportedly after the attack on Wagle.
On February 11, Sunil Deodhar from the BJP called for the arrest of journalist Nikhil Wagle who according to him has made “objectionable” remarks directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani.
According to reports, Deodhar has stated that he has lodged a formal complaint with the Pune police on February 8 against Nikhil Wagle, which he has done because of “offensive tweet” by Wagle posted on February 6. The FIR, filed at Vishrambaug police station, books Wagle for charges against his remarks under IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 500 (defamation) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief).
According to the report, Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar stated that an investigation into the matter is currently ongoing. Furthermore, a senior police official has stated to the newspaper that there are no immediate plans to arrest Wagle in connection with the case and the decision to arrest him will only be made after the investigation is complete.
Wagle’s car was brutally attacked on February 9 in Pune with scores of people hitting his car with hockey sticks, stone, and iron rods resulting in smashed windows of the car and injured passenger. Wagle was informed about a tense atmosphere after he made a tweet by the police.
The police have issued a public statement saying that they had asked Wagle not to leave for the event until all the protestors were detained. However, the police has stated, that due to traffic the detaining people began to take time, but Wagle did not take note and left for the event and even ‘changed routes.’ However the police has stated that they had plainclothes police personnel following him for his safety. About the attacked they have stated that, “When the car was attacked, the plainclothes policemen standing between agitators and Wagle’s car tried to stop the attack, but heavy traffic and bystanders ruled out the possibility of using force of evacuating him and his car immediately.”
Speaking to Sabrang India after the incident, Nikhil Wagle narrated about how the events took place, “The fact that we survived was a chamatkaar (miracle). We were about to die, but got saved. This was a mob lynching. We were surrounded in all directions and chased. I’ve been attacked even before this, but this was the worst.” Further, he says that the attack took place in police presence, “The police came with us, but the police did not protect us.”
“The police stopped us at Asim Sarode’s house – this was a house arrest. They kept telling us to stop for half an hour, ten minutes more. But finally I decided to leave and I told the police I have committed to the people.” He further goes on to say that the stone-pelting started soon after they took to the road.
Meanwhile a BJP leader from Pune has reportedly stated that the party workers agitated against Wagle because of his own statements. According to the Indian Express, BJP spokesperson Sandeep Khardekar has said that, “Both actions are condemnable. The attack on Wagle’s car is condemnable, and his disparaging remarks against PM Modi and LK Advani are even more condemnable. Our party workers would not have done what they did if they were not instigated by Wagle’s objectionable comment. Wagle stooped very low but no one took him to task. Why are people silent on his derogatory comment?”
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Lawyer, Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Feb 9, 2024
- Event Description
On February 9, 2024, Oktyabr’ District Court ruled to shut down Kloop Media. On 22 August 2023, the Prosecutor's Office of the city of Bishkek filed a motion to shut down the human rights media outlet Kloop Media (Kloop) in the Oktyabrskiy and Pervomaiskiy district courts of Bishkek. The main reason cited by the Prosecutor’s office to shut down the organization is that Kloop allegedly carried out activities, specifically media activities, that go beyond the scope of the charter of the human rights organization. Kloop Media will appeal this decision in Bishkek City Court.
Kloop Media (Kloop) is a human rights media outlet in Kyrgyzstan. It was founded in 2007 and gained recognition in 2010 for its prompt and transparent coverage of the April 2010 revolution in Kyrgyzstan. Kloop strives to adhere to the principles of independence, impartiality, honesty, and accuracy while sharing information that holds significance to the public. It has used investigative journalism to document human rights violations, focusing on topics that include corruption, armed conflicts, and violations in such contexts.
In 2023, the authorities commissioned a forensic linguistic review and a forensic review from the perspective of political science of Kloop’s content. The motion cites excerpts from these forensic reviews that accuse Kloop, among many things, of convincing the population to negatively assess Kyrgyzstan’s relations with Russia and form a negative impression of the actions of the state authorities. During both hearings on February 5 and February 9, the Court heard authors of expert reviews, whose reviews became the basis of the Prosecutor's Office’s claim to shut down Kloop Media. During the February 5 hearing the author of the expert review that was specifically cited in the initial Prosecutor’s claim, confirmed that the review has no grounds and needs to be redone. They confessed that they just signed the review, but never authored it, and thus can’t respond to the questions of the defense attorney.
Another major issue highlighted by the Kloop Media attorneys about the expert reviews concerns the fact that the body of texts that they’ve analyzed was comprised of the official publications of Kloop, and from the personal publication of Kloop’s ex-founder Bektour Iskander, who resigned from the media outlet in November 2023.
All seven experts, who have provided a so-called “psychiatric” review of Kloop’s publications continued to argue that Kloop fails their civic responsibility as their publications impact the growing amount of people with mental health issues and provoke migration of people from Batken Region. One of the experts on the stand argued that the fact that Kloop in their articles criticizes the state authorities provokes panic and “augmentation of psychiatric diseases;” the expert at the same time failed to provide any statistical data to support this claim. Another expert claimed that Kloop “deliberately invaded the consciousness of literally every citizen of Kyrgyzstan;” however, couldn’t confirm if Kloop was able to invade their consciousness, too. None of the experts provided any statistical data or any data to confirm their claims; despite this during the deliberations, the Prosecutor continued to claim that all the experts had given “clear responses to all the questions.”
During the hearing on February 9, 2024, the representative of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, continued to state that Kloop Media is registered as a foundation, not as a media outlet, and thus can’t produce media content. At the same time, Kloop Media re-registered and changed the statute of the foundation, that allows human rights defenders to register a media outlet. Kloop Media attorneys of February 5 argued that the Prosecutor's Office’s lawsuit should be dropped, as the violation itself – inconsistency of the Kloop Media foundation’s statute and its activities – was eliminated. On February 9, the Prosecutor filed a motion to prohibit any further activities considering the re-registering of Kloop Media; the Court partially fulfilled the motion.
Front Line Defenders condemns the decision to shut down Kloop Media, as it believes that the media outlet is being targeted for its peaceful and legitimate human rights work. Front Line Defenders remains concerned about the scope of threats against human rights defenders and journalists in Kyrgyzstan and argues that in the context of repressive legislative initiatives concerning the work of media and NGOs, the targeting of Kloop fits into the recent pattern of systemic limiting of rights and freedoms of human rights defenders.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Censorship, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 8, 2024
- Event Description
In the heart of Myanmar's Bago Region, a stark event unfolded on February 8, claiming the life of Noble Aye, a prominent activist known for her unwavering commitment to democracy and human rights. As she was returning from a court appearance in Waw Township, junta troops fatally shot her, a tragic end to a life dedicated to fighting for freedom in a country marred by political unrest and repression. This incident is not an isolated tragedy but a reflection of the ongoing violence the military regime inflicts upon those who dare to stand against it.
The Life and Legacy of Noble Aye Noble Aye's activism was not born in a moment but shaped by years of witnessing and opposing the injustices perpetrated by Myanmar's military regime. Her voice first echoed in the streets during the protests against police brutality in 1996 and again in 2007, marking her as a relentless advocate for change. Her commitment to the cause saw her behind bars, a testament to her resilience and dedication to the pro-democracy movement. Even after her arrest at a military checkpoint on January 29, under the allegation of possessing weapons, her spirit remained unbroken. Noble Aye's journey, tragically cut short, serves as a poignant reminder of the ultimate sacrifice many activists face in the pursuit of justice and freedom.
A Pattern of Violence and Denial The killing of Noble Aye and another political prisoner, as they returned from a court appearance, underscores a grim pattern of violence against political dissenters in Myanmar. Reports suggest that the junta troops did not hesitate to use lethal force near the village of Kyaik Hla, a stark demonstration of the regime's brutality. Despite these clear acts of violence, the military junta denies that the prisoners died in its custody, a claim that stands in stark contrast to the reality experienced by those who oppose the regime. This denial is not new but part of a longstanding tradition of obfuscation and misinformation aimed at suppressing the truth about the regime's actions.
The Unforgotten and the Unyielding In June 2023, another harrowing incident saw at least 13 political prisoners shot dead by troops in central Bago following a prison truck crash, a stark reminder of the dangers faced by those incarcerated for their political beliefs. These incidents, though heartbreaking, are pivotal in highlighting the sheer resilience and courage of Myanmar's pro-democracy activists. Noble Aye's death, while a profound loss, also serves as a rallying cry for those who continue to fight against oppression and for the establishment of a truly democratic society in Myanmar. Her legacy, and those of countless others who have sacrificed their lives, fuels the unyielding spirit of resistance against tyranny.
In the wake of Noble Aye's untimely demise, the world is reminded once again of the ongoing struggle for democracy and human rights in Myanmar. The military regime's continued repression and violence against its own people underscore a critical need for international attention and action. As the news of Noble Aye's death spreads, it ignites a renewed determination among activists and supporters of democracy worldwide to stand in solidarity with the people of Myanmar. Their fight is far from over, but Noble Aye's life and legacy endure, inspiring all who seek justice and freedom in the face of oppression.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Feb 7, 2024
- Event Description
A court in Vietnam’s Soc Trang province has sentenced an ethnic Khmer Krom man to three-and-a-half years in prison for “abusing democratic freedoms” under Article 331 of the country’s criminal code, state-controlled media reported.
Prosecutors said Wednesday that Danh Minh Quang, 34, used his personal Facebook account to post comments and live-stream videos which “violated Vietnam laws.”
Quang set up the account in Dec. 2018 and the prosecution claimed that from 2021 to July 2023 there were 51 comments, photos and videos that had “contents that were negative, propaganda and distorted realities for defaming the honor and dignity of State officials.”
Quang was arrested by Soc Trang Provincial Police on July 31, 2023 along with Thach Chuong and To Hoang Chuong.
All three were prosecuted on charges of “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on State interests, legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals.”
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch , called for authorities to drop all charges against Quang and immediately release him.
“The government of Soc Trang province shamelessly trampled on the right of freedom of expression and retaliated against a citizen for simply stating his politically independent views on social media,” Robertson said in a statement on Feb. 11.
“The National Assembly of Vietnam should urgently amend the penal code and repeal rights-abused articles, including Aticle 331, which is systematically being used by the Vietnamese government to violate rights of ordinary people across the country,” he said.
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.
In August last year, community members living in the U.S. organized a demonstration in front of the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington DC to protest the policy of oppressing the Khmer Krom people and demanding the release of the three men.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 7, 2024
- Event Description
On 7 February 2024, provincial courts convicted two well-known activists in separate cases, continuing the trend of judicial harassment against human rights advocates in Cambodia.
The Ratanakiri Provincial Court earlier today announced its verdict convicting environmental activist Chhorn Phalla of defamation, insult and incitement to commit a felony under Articles 305, 502 and 495 of the Cambodian Criminal Code. The court sentenced Phalla to one year in prison and imposed a 10 million riel (around US$2,500) fine.
Phalla is an outspoken environmental activist who has been repeatedly prosecuted for his advocacy for the protection of natural resources and monitoring of deforestation. Phalla had been imprisoned since September 2021 for criminal charges arising from two other separate cases. Both cases were also based on his activism. Phalla was finally released from prison in October 2023 after his convictions in the other two cases were overturned, only to be again convicted today.
The Banteay Meanchey Provincial Court also today announced a verdict convicting political opposition official Chao Veasna of incitement to commit a felony and incitement to discriminate under Articles 494, 495 and 496 of the Cambodian Criminal Code. It is unclear at this time which person or group of people Veasna was found to have discriminated against contrary to the Criminal Code.
The court sentenced Veasna to three years in prison, imposed a 6 million riel (around US$1,500) fine, and ordered Veasna to pay 80 million riel (around US$20,000) in compensation. The court also suspended Veasna’s right to vote and his right to stand for election for five years.
Veasna, a Steering Committee member of the opposition Candlelight Party and Poipet District President, was arrested in July 2023 after allegedly posting a photograph of his spoiled National Election ballot on social media. This arrest came shortly after Veasna was released from Correctional Centre 3 (also known as Trapeang Phlong prison) in February 2022, having served a five-year sentence for multiple other convictions related to the exercise of his political rights. Veasna was at that time an elected commune chief and member of the former opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: environmental defender arrested
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Feb 6, 2024
- Event Description
Rautahat based reporter at Madhyanha national daily Krishna Tiwari was attacked while reporting on February 6. Rautahat lies in Madhesh Province of Nepal.
Reporter Tiwari shared with Freedom Forum that he was reporting on sugarcane farmers’ complaint about the sugarcane mill owner’s low pricing of their product. Tiwari was called by the farmers on the site to report. While the reporter started taking video of dispute among farmers and mill owner in the presence of Sugarcane Farmers Association’s Chairperson, few people arrived and seized his camera. They shouted- why are you recording?
As Tiwari refused to delete the video, they hit Tiwari with sugarcane sticks. They not only damaged his camera but also thrashed him on floor and kicked him brutally. Senior Sub-Inspector Arun Kumar Singh rescued Tiwari from the incident and took him to a nearby clinic for treatment. Tiwari has bruises over his body and is undergoing treatment at Surya Hospital, Birgunj.
Area Police Office, Garuda’s Deputy Superintendant of Police Om Prakash Khanal informed Freedom Forum that one of the attackers was arrested and was kept in detention. “We are waiting for the victim’s First Information Report to further investigate the case”, he said.
Freedom Forum condemns the attack upon reporter. It is a gross violation of press freedom. Hence, FF strongly urges the concerned authority to fairly investigate the case and ensure safety of journalists.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Feb 6, 2024
- Event Description
The plan of Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta (UNY) students to voice criticism of the current democratic situation was disbanded by the rectorate. UNY stated that it would not give a statement like other campuses.
Previously, a poster on social media circulated “Call for Consolidation: Inviting Lecturers, Students, and the Entire Academic Community of UNY. Wake up the people from the blatantly tainted democratic party”. The event was originally held at the UNY Rectorate Terrace, at 13.00 WIB, Tuesday (6/2).
However, based on Gatra.com's observation at the location, after an hour the agenda did not take place. The student coordinator of the event, Farras Raihan, explained that the activity was not a demonstration or the reading of a statement, but a discussion.
“We invite lecturers and professors whose knowledge must be far above us to participate in the discussion. The hope is how UNY responds to the current democratic situation and expresses its alignment,” said the Chairman of BEM UNY.
However, he explained that the rectorate did not give permission for the activity. Activities are allowed but must be outside the UNY campus area.
“We received pressures not to hold this activity, there were even lecturers who stated that they would sanction students who participated,” said Farras while showing a screenshot in a group conversation about the threat.
About 30 students then continued to gather around the rectorate. They were met by the Secretary of the Directorate of Academic, Student Affairs and Alumni of UNY, Prof. Guntur, who questioned the purpose and permission of the activity.
“What is this activity? Where is the permit? Where is the proposal? If there is a permit, the rectorate can even fund it and there are lecturers who accompany it. If there is no permit, I will send this to security,” said Guntur in front of the students.
If there is no permit, Guntur invites students to carry out activities outside the campus area fence. “If there is no activity, then why do you gather,” he said.
The rectorate and students had a dialog for about 20 minutes. Students were then asked to disperse from the rectorate area. The discussion failed to be held.
To reporters, Guntur questioned the permit and organizers of the activity. “They admitted that the activity was not on behalf of the student organization,” he said.
Guntur also stated that UNY would not give a statement about the political situation like other campuses. “There is no pressure from anywhere. We are neutral because we are civil servants,” he said.
He also denied that there was pressure on UNY not to hold the agenda. “There is none. We are a government institution, just follow the government's rules. We are a campus, we do not have the capacity to deal with the issues of this country,” he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Feb 5, 2024
- Event Description
The Birinchi Mai district court in Bishkek told RFE/RL on February 5 that activist Kanykei Aranova, who was extradited from Moscow last week, was placed in preliminary detention until March 22 as part of a case concerning protests against a Kyrgyz-Uzbek border deal that led to the arrests of 27 activists, politicians, and journalists. Aranova was charged with inciting hatred and public calls to seize power. The 37-year-old Aranova left Kyrgyzstan for Russia in 2022 after she openly protested the border demarcation deal, which saw Kyrgyzstan hand over the territory of the Kempir-Abad water reservoir to Uzbekistan.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 5, 2024
- Event Description
Former Prime Minister Hun Sen and the ruling Cambodian People’s Party on Monday sued the spokesperson of human rights group ADHOC, accusing him of defamation in his recent criticism of the ruling party’s legal actions toward a leading opposition figure.
Party lawyers demanded 2 billion riel (US$500,000) in damages in the lawsuit against Soeng Senkaruna filed in Phnom Penh Municipal Court.
The complaint signed by three lawyers for the Cambodian People’s Party, or CPP, said that Senkaruna commented last week to The Cambodia Daily that the party has used its influence with the courts to put pressure on its political opponents.
The lawsuit is the latest to target a critic of powerful Cambodian politicians. In November, a Banteay Meanchey man was sentenced to three years in prison for comments he made on Facebook over the CPP’s inability to prevent illegal immigration from Vietnam and drug use.
Last year, the Supreme Court upheld a US$1 million defamation judgment against Son Chhay, the vice president of the opposition Candlelight Party.
A lower court in 2022 ordered Son Chhay to pay the amount to the CPP and the National Election Committee following comments he made about local commune elections, which he said was marred by irregularities.
According to the lawsuit, Senkaruna told The Cambodia Daily that the CPP should seek to compete with opposition politicians in the political realm, such as through free and fair elections, rather than through court complaints.
The Cambodia Daily newspaper closed in Phnom Penh in 2017. It has since been relaunched as a Khmer- and English-language online news outlet based in the United States.
The outlet cited Senkaruna's paraphrased comments in a Khmer-language article on Friday. He was not directly quoted.
Hun Sen’s online threat
The lawsuit claims that Senkaruna's remarks seriously damaged the CPP's reputation and deliberately harmed the upcoming Feb. 25 Senate election.
It was filed the day after Hun Sen made remarks on Facebook threatening to sue Senkaruna for commenting on the Son Chhay case. After stepping down as prime minister in August, Hun Sen was named president of the CPP.
Senkaruna declined to comment about the CPP’s lawsuit when contacted by Radio Free Asia.
However, on Facebook he said his comments in the article were aimed at promoting “respect for human rights, law, social justice and democracy” without serving any particular political party.
“Any paraphrasing of my words to add or leave out [the meaning] in order to attack directly on the name of a political party was not my intention and goal,” he wrote on Facebook.
Senkaruna has been actively involved in the promotion of human rights in Cambodia for more than 20 years, Am Sam Ath of human rights group Licadho told RFA.
“He is always active in helping people with land grabbing and other rights violations, and in asking the relevant authorities to intervene to find a solution for the people,” he said.
On Facebook, Senkaruna added a note of thanks to friends and supporters.
“Thank you very much for the kind words, greetings and concerns from my family, friends, media, civil society, international partners and foreign diplomatic friends for my safety,” he wrote. “I’m fine.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 4, 2024
- Event Description
On 4 February 2024, the Linyi Municipal Intermediate People’s Court in Shandong province convicted woman human rights defender Li Qiaochu for “inciting subversion of State power” and sentenced her to three years and eight months in prison, to be followed by two years of “deprivation of political rights”.
Li Qiaochu (李翘楚) is a feminist, researcher, and human rights defender who has advocated for the rights for workers, migrants, women, and human rights defenders detained in China. In December 2022, she was honoured with the Embassy Tulip award from the Embassy of the Netherlands in Beijing.
In the verdict, the court said Li Qiaochu had helped fellow human rights defender and legal scholar Xu Zhiyong to set up and maintain a blog to which articles and essays on topics such as human rights, democratic reforms, and social justice movements were uploaded. The court ruled that these writings were aimed at “subverting State power”. In April 2023, another court in Linyi convicted Xu Zhiyong for “subversion of State power” and sentenced him to 14 years in prison.
The court also defended its decision to close the trial to the public and said it did so in order to protect evidence and other information classified by the police as “State secrets”. The court also rejected Li Qiaochu’s argument that testimonies obtained while she was detained under “residential surveillance at a designated location” should be deemed inadmissible because they were provided under duress.
Front Line Defenders strongly condemns the conviction and sentencing of woman human rights defender Li Qiaochu as it believes it is solely in retaliation against her peaceful and legitimate human rights work. We call on the relevant authorities in China to promptly quash the conviction and sentence against the woman human rights defender and immediately release her. Pending her release, the authorities should ensure she has regular and timely access to adequate medical care to address on-going health issues she has been facing since her arbitrary detention began in February 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Feb 4, 2024
- Event Description
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
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Feb 3, 2024
- Event Description
On February 3, 2024, woman human rights defender Veronika Fonova was targeted while holding a solo protest in the city center in Almaty, Kazakhstan, aimed to raise awareness about the ban of the 2024 International Women’s Day March in Almaty by the city authorities. On 21 April 2023, the Specialised Inter-district Administrative Court of Almaty ruled to support the Akimat of Almaty’s ban of the International Women’s Day demonstration and a march in 2024. Following the attack, Veronika Fonova filed a complaint to the police.
Veronika Fonova is a feminist activist and woman human rights defender from Almaty, Kazakhstan. She is one of the founding members of the 8MarchKZ, a grassroots feminist movement that unites to organize the annual feminist and women’s march in Almaty on International Women’s Day. The organizing committee of the initiative includes a diverse group of women human rights defenders, who work to promote and protect women and LGBTQI+ rights. The first Women’s March in Almaty took place in 2017. Veronika is also a founding member of KazFem, a feminist collective that focuses on shifting public discourse on domestic violence in Kazakhstan.
On February 3, 2024, woman human rights defender Veronika Fonova held a solo protest in the city center of Almaty, Kazakhstan, after acquiring permission from the city authorities. She was holding a poster that had multiple statements in Kazakh and Russian languages, calling for the freedom of assembly and promoting criminalization of domestic violence. The poster also said: “We need a Demonstration on March 8.” While Veronika Fonova’s friends recorded a video of her holding a poster and explaining her message, a man wearing a medical mask pushed her, attempted to hit her, and snatched the poster from her. The attacker also requested to call the police on a woman human rights defender. The police arrived on site and collected statements both from Veronika Fonova and from her attacker.
Women human rights defenders from 8MarchKz suggested that this was an orchestrated attack. An attack like this could serve as a justification for the decision of the Almaty city authorities to ban the peaceful demonstration because it is a threat to public safety. Earlier, on February 1, 2024, 8MarchKZ held a press conference in Almaty’s Press Club, where the representatives outlined the timeline of their contend with the city authorities, which commenced in April 2023, discussed systemic resistance on the side of the authorities, and publically discussed security considerations that the organizers have for the Demonstration they have envisioned. They also focused on the need for spaces where women can raise their voices and repeated that the safety of women in Kazakhstan – the theme of the 2024 demonstration – is a pressing issue in the country.
In March 2023, right after the International Women’s Day protest in Almaty, the 8MarchKZ requested a permit for the next year's demonstration “For the Rights of Kazakhstani Women.” In April 2023, the city authorities of Almaty refused to issue the permit, citing a significant threat to security and public order. Women human rights defenders from 8MarchKZ took this decision to court; in April 2023, the Specialised Inter-district Administrative Court of Almaty ruled in support of the prohibition of the International Women’s Day March in 2024 by the Almaty city authorities. In June 2023, representatives of 8MarchKZ appealed this decision, and in the following September, the Court refused to lift the ban. In December 2023 and in January 2024, 8MarchKZ representatives requested another permit for their peaceful demonstration, announcing that the new theme of the demonstration would be “For Safety and Security of Women in Kazakhstan”; both of these requests were denied by the city authorities of Almaty, citing similar “threat of disturbing public order” reasoning.
Front Line Defenders condemns the attack against woman human rights defender Veronika Fonova and urges the Kazakhstani authorities to promptly investigate the attempted assault and bring the persons responsible to justice. At the same time, Front Line Defenders urges the Kazakhstani authorities not to misuse this attack against Veronika Fonova as a justification for the continued refusal to approve the 2024 Women’s March. Front Line Defenders continues to condemn the city authorities of Almaty's denial of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly to feminist and women’s rights defenders from 8MarchKZ. Front Line Defenders calls upon the authorities of Kazakhstan to ensure that the 8MarchKZ feminist initiative can exercise their rights to protect and promote women’s rights, and feminist agendas, and to peacefully assemble and march for the cause of International Women’s Day.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Kazakhstan: 2024 Women’s March prohibited
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Feb 3, 2024
- Event Description
The Community Coalition urges the National Police Chief and Komnas HAM to investigate the repressive actions of a group of plainclothes people who dispersed a student forum to discuss the impeachment of President Jokowi.
Imparsial researcher Hussein Ahmad explained that the forum was held on Saturday, February 3, 2024 at around 23.06 WIB. The Jakarta student forum was held at the Trilogy University Campus, Kalibata, South Jakarta.
“Suddenly a group of unknown people dressed in plainclothes arrived. Without explaining the purpose and objectives of their arrival, they forced students to leave the campus while threatening students not to discuss the plan for a demonstration that encourages the impeachment of the president. Not only that, there was even one student who experienced violence in the form of being horned in the head,” Hussein said in his statement, Sunday, February 4, 2024.
Therefore, said Hussein, the coalition considers this incident not just an ordinary act of crime or thuggery. The repression against the student forum that discussed the matter of impeaching the president must be seen as an action that is laden with power interests. In fact, he continued, the incident was suspected of being orchestrated or condoned by interested parties.
Then, Hussein said that law enforcement officials, especially the National Police, should be proactive in responding to this incident by conducting investigations.
The National Police must be able to reveal this case not only at the level of field actors, all parties who mastermind or become intellectual actors must also be revealed and prosecuted.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 2, 2024
- Event Description
Three Cambodian human right activists, including a former government party member, have been arrested in Thailand, according to human rights groups.
Lem Sokha, Phan Phana and Kung Raiya were arrested Friday, along with their families, the Manushya Foundation and Human Rights Watch told VOA.
The arrests come just days before Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet will make an official visit to Thailand on February 7.
Lem Sokha, 45, is the vice president of the Cambodian Refugee Committee and had been in Thailand since 2017. He was arrested in Bangkok. Phan Phana, 41, is a member of the Global Cambodia Youth Network and fled to Thailand in 2022. And Kung Raiya, 32, who fled to Thailand in July, is a former member of Cambodia's opposition Candlelight Party and Cambodia's ruling government party.
All three activists had fled to Thailand to avoid political persecution. The Cambodians are recognized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, also known as UNHCR, as persons of concern.
All three were reportedly planning to arrange a political protest on the day of Hun Manet's arrival in Thailand. A report by VOA's sister network Radio Free Asia shows a photo of Raiya as Thai immigration officials arrive at his home.
Both Phana and Raiya's families were also arrested.
Emilie Palamy Pradichit, the founder of the Manushya Foundation in Bangkok, contacted VOA about the arrests. She described the arrests as unjust and called for the activists' release.
"The unjust arrest of three Cambodian activists, along with their families, including four small children aged between 1 and 5 years, just before PM Hun Manet's upcoming visit to Thailand is deeply concerning. This highlights the harsh reality of transnational repression, where Cambodian and Thai authorities are working hand in hand against these individuals. We, a coalition of human rights organizations, are tirelessly working to secure their release," she told VOA.
Phana, who was arrested at his home in the city of Rayong but was taken into custody in Bangkok, has been charged with crossing the border illegally, according to VOA sources familiar with the matter who chose to remain anonymous. His wife, Seim Kork, 33, and two sons, aged 1 and 2 years old, were also arrested.
Raiya was detained in Bangkok and was charged for overstaying his visa in Thailand, according to VOA sources familiar with the matter. His wife Sok Sreynich, 28, and their son, 1, and daughter, 5 were also arrested but are being held in a different detention facility.
Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia Division, insists the activists and their families should be sent to a third country.
"Our view is that those people shouldn't be arrested. It shouldn't be a crime to seek protection in a neighboring country when you're on the run for your political or human rights activities in your home country. They should be finding a way to help them go to a third country where they'll be safe instead of persecuting him in this way," he told VOA.
"How traumatic is this for a two-year-old and a four-year-old they see their dad being arrested in Rayong and with his wife and children separated from them. This is the real drama that these decisions by the Thai officials cause for these refugee families," he added.
VOA contacted the Cambodian Embassy in Thailand for comment but has yet to receive a reply.
Leaders promise new era
Cambodia has been ruled by the same political party for 45 years. The Cambodia People's Party has maintained its grip on power by banning opposition parties and cracking down on dissidents. Critics of Cambodia's leadership have been threatened with arrest and targeted either at home or abroad in recent years, including in Thailand.
Thailand and neighboring Cambodia have endured a complicated relationship over the years, mainly over border and cultural conflicts. Now Bangkok and Phnom Penh have new government leaders and both have promised a new era in relations after Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin met Manet in Cambodia last year, vowing to work together on transnational crime.
Arrests seen as transnational repression
Robertson says Friday's arrests are an example of transnational repression.
"This is Thailand's welcome gift to Hun Manet who was supposed to be arriving here next week. Transnational repression rears its ugly head at a time when Hun Manet is consolidating control and making pals in the neighborhood with Prime Minister Srettha and the rest. What is quite clear we've seen a very close relationship between the top leaders of Cambodia and Thailand," Robertson added.
Since 2014, more than 150 individuals in Thailand have been victims of transnational repression, according to a 2022 report by Freedom House.
Pradichit is now concerned the Cambodian refugees may face deportation but warned it would violate Thailand's own laws.
"We, a coalition of human rights organizations, are tirelessly working to secure their release. We urgently call upon Thai authorities not to deport these activists to Cambodia, where they, along with their families, face the grave risk of imprisonment and torture. Such deportation would flagrantly violate Section 13 of the Thai Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act, enacted in February 2023," she said.
Thailand enacted the Act on Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance in 2023, which prohibits sending or deporting a person to another country where that person would be in danger of torture, inhumane treatment or enforced disappearance.
But Thailand has not ratified the United Nation's 1951 Refugee Convention, so it has no specific domestic legal framework for the protection of urban refugees and asylum-seekers, meaning protection for refugees, even if recognized by the UNCHR, is limited.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Transnational repression
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Feb 2, 2024
- Event Description
Dozens of academicians have voiced strong warnings against the Jokowi administration, which they say has violated ethics and undermined democracy.
But in the midst of these calls and criticisms, observers said, the police actually showed neutrality by making a tactic to ask a number of campus officials to make a video aimed at appreciating President Jokowi's performance.
Political expert from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Devi Darmawan, said the police clearly wanted to undermine the critical attitude of the academic community.
Devi also urged that the police officers who did this be dealt with firmly. Because as protectors of society, he said, law enforcement officers "must not serve the interests of the government, let alone Jokowi personally".
Responding to this issue, Karopenmas of the National Police's Public Relations Division, Trunoyudo Wisnu Andiko, argued that the request to make a video testimony was a form of security maintenance so that the community would not be provoked or divided ahead of the election.
Since the end of January until Wednesday (07/02), at least 50 universities have delivered moral appeals and criticisms of President Jokowi's administration.
The latest is Semarang State University (Unnes), which calls it the 'Moral Call of Sekaran Campus'.
Professor of Unnes, Prof. Issy Yuliasri, said that the current state of democracy in Indonesia is being threatened due to "authoritarianism in the name of law".
The ideals of reform to create a democratic, free-expression state have been eroded by oligarchic power behavior that she called "intimidative to civil liberties and abuse of power".
This condition is exacerbated by the erosion of the role model of state administrators and the rampant symbolic manipulation of political elites.
That is why Unnes calls on the president, vice president, ministers and state officials to uphold the principles of democracy, the constitution, and the mandate of reform.
State officials are also urged not to abuse power for personal or group interests or momentary electoral gain.
To the Police / TNI, he called on them to uphold neutrality and not be manipulated by power for momentary interests.
"Which sacrifices integrity and commitment to the administration of a state that is clean from corruption, collusion and nepotism."
"Meanwhile, all elements of the nation are invited to close up to guard the upholding of dignified democracy, the constitution, and the rule of law..."
Lecturer at STF Driyarkara, A. Setyo Wibowo, said that the social criticism expressed by dozens of universities in Indonesia is part of the campus responsibility called the 'tridharma of higher education'.
In addition to teaching and research, the 'teaching of truth' carried out by the campus is community service.
"If there is something that is not right in community service, we are also responsible. We voice that the matter of ethics, please yes, that ethics is the basic foundation of living together.Ethics cannot just be put aside in political pragmatism," Setyo said.
In this context, a number of issues that have become the concern of the academic community are the decision of the Constitutional Court that passed President Jokowi's son to the 2024 presidential election.
In addition, the decision of the Election Organizer Honor Council (DKPP) also stated that the chairman and members of the KPU violated the code of ethics for accepting the registration of Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
"We already feel this is not right. We voiced our concerns," Setyo explained.
He also emphasized that the voices of concern of 50 universities, including the academicians in them who criticized Jokowi's administration, were partisanship on values and ethics.
"We are partisans of values, so our alignment is with democratic values and ethical values," Setyo continued.
Meanwhile, Professor Franz Magnis-Suseno - who is also a professor at STF Driyarkara - responded to the phenomenon of police asking campuses to give appreciation to the performance of the Jokowi administration as "too much".
"Now pressure and intimidation are used to silence criticism. The criticism voiced by the academic world is appropriate and should be responded to politically rather than trying to suppress or intimidate," said Romo Magnis - Franz Magnis-Suseno's nickname.
The man who is prolific in producing scholarly books assesses that what happened in Semarang is not in accordance with the right to freedom of speech.
Romo Magnis also sees the position of the police as "a little squeezed" due to pressure.
"I think the intervention in Semarang was at least polite, so it must be recognized, but the police should have rejected something like that," he said.
Furthermore, Romo Magnis assessed that this method is very common in authoritarian countries, when the ruler has difficulty relinquishing his power.
However, President Joko Widodo still has time to stop the incident in Semarang, which may also occur in other areas.
"The police will not make it on their own initiative. They feel pressured, the president is ultimately responsible. If the president allows it, it means he supports it," said Romo Magnis.
Under increasing pressure, the wider academic community generally criticized ethical violations in Gibran's candidacy. Another thing is to urge President Jokowi to take a neutral stance, and guarantee elections without fraud.
At least, there is still one week before the election takes place President Jokowi responds to the call from dozens of universities in Indonesia.
"So it depends on him. But if the pressure continues, it's a shame that he will go down in history, like the president who ended up strangling the results of the good ideas of the reform struggle," said Romo Magnis.
Political observer from BRIN, Devi Darmawan, agrees.
He said, what was conveyed by the academic community towards the non-neutrality of the Jokowi administration over the implementation of the 2024 Election is both a truth and a concern.
This is because the irregularities committed by the President by showing favoritism to the Prabowo-Gibran candidate have damaged the quality of elections and democracy in Indonesia.
For this reason, Devi said, they are willing to 'go down the mountain' to voice these inequalities despite the stakes of their careers and positions at the university.
"We know that it is not easy in the current political situation to voice the truth because there are things that are sacrificed. For example, their position or how campus rules do not allow it to be done by academics," Devi told BBC News Indonesia.
"But they choose to speak out even though they know there will be an impact on them personally and their careers."
Unfortunately, continued Devi, in the midst of calls and criticism of Jokowi's government, law enforcement officials have shown non-neutrality by "serving the interests of the government, let alone Jokowi personally".
The trick is to ask a number of campus officials to make a video aimed at appreciating President Jokowi's performance.
For Devi, the police clearly wanted to undermine the critical attitude of the academic community.
"Loyalty to leadership should not make the police, who have the authority to protect and protect the community, instead serve the government and Jokowi personally," she said.
"We have the boundaries of the state but because of Jokowi's [interests] it seems as if everything must serve what Jokowi wants ... it shouldn't be like that."
A number of universities are known to have been asked by the police to make videos aimed at appreciating President Jokowi's performance.
The Rector of Soegijapranata Catholic University, Semarang, Ferdinandus Hindiarto, admitted that he refused the request because it was considered not in accordance with the attitude of the university.
Previously, Unika along with 26 members of the Association of Indonesian Catholic Universities (APTKI) had made a statement of concern over the condition of Indonesian democracy.
There were six points voiced, which essentially asked the President and his staff to carry out their duties according to the principles of good governance and uphold the oath of office.
"I answered that our choice, our attitude could not fulfill that request. Because we have a strong basis, namely the Apostolic Constitution that Catholic universities seek, find and disseminate the truth," he said as reported by Antara.
But besides Unika, a similar request was apparently addressed to the State Islamic Institute (IAIN) Kudus, Central Java.
The Rector of IAIN Kudus, Prof. Dr. H. Adurrohman Kasdi, confirmed that he had made a video in which he appreciated President Jokowi's performance as requested by the police.
So did the Rector of the University of Semarang (USM), Supari.
In a video spread on social media, he said that "Mr. Joko Widodo leads Indonesia wholeheartedly. He is a statesman who has led Indonesia for ten years to make leaps of progress..."
Other campuses that made 'appreciation videos' include the Rector of Ma'arif Nahdlatul Ulama University Kebumen Imam Satibi, Rector of Jenderal Soedirman University Purwokerto Ahmad Sodiq, and Rector of Muhammadiyah University Purwekorto Jebul Suroso.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Academic freedom, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Academic
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Feb 2, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Feb 1, 2024
- Event Description
Art organizations cried foul over what they considered the baseless arrest on Thursday, February 1 of filmmaker Jade Castro and three other men for allegedly burning down a modern jeepney in Catanauan, Quezon. The Directors’ Guild of the Philippines Inc. (DGPI), the Philippine Center of International PEN (PEN Philippines), and DAKILA released statements of concern on their respective social media accounts on Saturday, February 3.
“Castro declared his innocence and stated he was on vacation with friends when personalities of the Philippine National Polce (PNP) arrested them for a crime that occurred in Catanauan, Quezon,” filmmakers group DGPI detailed.
“Castro shared more disturbing information: the arrest was warrantless. Jade Castro is a vetted DGPI member and an important voice of the Philippine Independent Cinema. We stand by his innocence and testify to his good character. We urge clarity on the matter from the authorities involved, and the immediate release of Jade Castro from detention,” the DGPI concluded. “Jade, known for his socially-relevant films like Endo and Zombadings, has significantly influenced the creative sensibilities of emerging filmmakers through numerous workshops and mentorships, making profound contributions to the film industry,” said progressive artist-activist group DAKILA.
“As an advocate for justice, we urge an immediate, fair, and transparent investigation by Philippine authorities, trusting in our legal system to protect the rights of those in custody,” it urged.
“We call on the Philippine National Police, the Department of Justice, and all relevant authorities to conduct a quick, thorough, and transparent investigation into this and uphold the rule of law, protecting the rights of individuals under their custody,” literary group PEN Philippines said.
‘INOSENTE KAMI!’ According to reports by the Manila Bulletin, on Wednesday, January 31, a modern jeepney owned by the Gumaca Transport Service Cooperative had been burned to the ground, with police and witnesses saying that the perpetrators had worn bonnets and had been armed.
The driver, Carl Villanueva, said they were instructed by the suspects to get off the vehicle, and then the armed group set it on fire.
In turn, management of the said cooperative claimed the culprits were operators of traditional jeepneys, who’ve had beef with the cooperative since the latter filed for franchise consolidation under the government’s PUV Modernization Program.
Police then traced the suspects to Mi Casa Resort in Barangay Butanyog, Mulanay, Quezon. On Thursday, February 1, filmmaker Castro and his friends – sales manager Ernesto Orcine, civil engineer Noel Mariano, and civil engineer Dominic Ramos – who were staying at the said resort, were apprehended and brought to the Catanauan Municipal Police Station. They were then accused by the driver, conductor, and two passengers of the burned jeepney as the culprits.
On February 2, authorities filed a complaint for arson against Castro and his three companions before the local prosecutor’s office.
Colonel Ledon Monte, PNP-Quezon director, said investigators have yet to determine the motive behind the arson.
Relatives of Castro and his peers claimed they were wrongfully arrested.
“The witness said naka-bonnet yung apat; paano matuturo iyon (The witness said the four culprits wore bonnets, so how could they have identified them)?” one of the suspects’ relatives said in a TV Patrol interview.
Moira Lang, a film producer and playwright, said several witnesses stated Castro and his companions were taking part in the revelry at the public plaza of Mulanay on the night the vehicle was burned in Catanauan.
Castro himself, in a series of X posts, claimed innocence and said they were arrested without a warrant.
“INOSENTE KAMI!” Castro wrote in a February 2 post. “Nagbabakasyon lang kaming magkakaibigan sa Mulanay, Quezon, pero inaresto kami sa krimen na nangyari sa Catanauan.”
(WE’RE INNOCENT! My friends and I were just vacationing in Mulanay, Quezon, but were arrested for a crime that happened in Catanauan.)
Later on February 3, Castro wrote, “Guys, sorry, ‘di maka-reply, bawal cellphone. Opo, warrantless arrest, arson.”
(Guys, sorry, I can’t reply to your messages; I’m not allowed to use a cellphone. Yes, this was a warrantless arrest for arson.)
As of writing, Castro and his peers remain detained at the said station.
Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption President Boy Arsenio Evangelista told Rappler that the investigation was “hastily done” and police filed the case without following case build-up processes.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 1, 2024
- Event Description
A Hong Kong court has found four people guilty of rioting over the storming of the city’s legislative council building that marked a major escalation of pro-democracy protests more than four years ago.
Hundreds of protesters stormed the building on July 1, 2019, after a massive protest march against a proposed extradition bill that would have allowed authorities to send people to mainland China for trial.
After forcing their way inside, they ripped portraits of officials from walls and spray-painted slogans calling for the release of arrested demonstrators. An old colonial-era flag was draped over the speaker’s chair and a plaque bearing the symbol of Hong Kong was blacked out with spray paint.
On Thursday, District Court Judge Li Chi-ho found Ho Chun-yin, actor Gregory Wong, Ng Chi-yung and Lam Kam-kwan guilty of rioting.
Student journalist Wong Ka-ho and Ma Kai-chung, a reporter with Passion Times, who were on trial alongside the four, were acquitted of the rioting charge but found guilty of unlawful entry.
During the trial, Gregory Wong told the court he had entered the building solely to deliver two chargers to reporters who were covering the break-in by protesters.
Video evidence played by the prosecution showed Wong left the chamber immediately after delivering the chargers to a reporter in a yellow vest.
Another defendant, Lam Kam-kwan, told the court he was detained in China a month after the storming of Legco and forced to write a repentance letter.
Police officers denied his claims during a cross-examination by the defence.
Last May, seven others including the former president of the University of Hong Kong’s student union, Althea Suen, and pro-democracy activists Ventus Lau and Owen Chow, pleaded guilty to rioting and will deliver their mitigation statements later on Thursday.
They face a maximum of seven years in prison.
While the government eventually withdrew the extradition bill, the protests, which drew more than a million people onto the streets, had already gathered momentum and the demands had widened to include direct elections for the city’s leaders and police accountability.
The protests were the biggest challenge to the Hong Kong government since the city’s return to Chinese rule in 1997 and led Beijing to impose a sweeping national security law in 2020 that has seen many of the city’s leading opposition politicians and activists arrested, silenced or in exile.
More than 10,200 people were arrested in connection to the protests for various crimes, such as rioting and participating in an unauthorised assembly.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Jan 31, 2024
- Event Description
Ten protesters, eight men and two women, were arrested today outside the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters in Colombo.
The group had been demonstrating since morning, demanding the arrest of former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella for his alleged involvement in a recent drug procurement scandal.
Police spokesperson DIG Nihal Talduwa confirmed the arrests and stated that despite repeated warnings and attempts to disperse the gathering peacefully, the protesters continued their sit-in protest, prompting police intervention.
Meanwhile, Former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella issued a statement this afternoon acknowledging the summons from the CID but claiming his inability to present himself due to conflicting commitments.
He cited a scheduled appearance at the Colombo High Court in another case and his participation in a meeting of the Ministerial Sub-committee on Public Expenditure Management, chaired by the President, as reasons for his absence.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jan 31, 2024
- Event Description
Myat Thu Tan, a contributor to the local online outlet Western News who also had reported for the independent Democratic Voice of Burma, the shuttered 7Day News newspaper, and the banned newspaper The Voice, was shot and killed on January 31 while in military custody in the town of Mrauk-U in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State, according to news reports and Western News editor-in-chief Wunna Khwar Nyo, who spoke with CPJ.
The journalist’s body was found along with six other political detainees buried in a bomb shelter in the Light Infantry Battalion 378’s camp, after it was overrun on February 5 by the insurgent Arakan Army, which is fighting military forces in the area, those sources said, adding that the bodies, including Myat Thu Tan’s, showed signs of torture.
“We strongly condemn the murder of journalist Myat Thu Tan and call on Myanmar authorities to identify and prosecute those responsible,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “A culture of impunity has taken deep root in Myanmar since the 2021 democracy-suspending coup. The junta must stop killing, and start protecting, journalists.”
Myanmar’s military government announced this week that it plans to conscript 60,000 people, suggesting that it is coming under pressure from pro-democracy fighters since seizing power from Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in February 2021.
Myat Thu Tan, also known as Phoe Thiha, was arrested at his home in Mrauk-U on September 22, 2022, and held in pre-trial detention under Section 505(a) of the penal code, a broad provision that criminalizes incitement and the dissemination of false news, for critical posts he made on his Facebook page, according to The Irrawaddy and Wunna Khwar Nyo.
Myat Thu Tan was denied family visits while held at Mrauk-U Prison and had not been tried or convicted at the time of his death, Wunna Khwar Nyo told CPJ. The journalist was transferred with the other detainees to the Light Infantry Battalion 378 camp before they were killed, Wunna Khwar Nyo said.
Myanmar’s Ministry of Information did not immediately respond to CPJ’s emailed request for information on Myat Thu Tan’s killing.
Myanmar ranked 9th on CPJ’s latest Global Impunity Index, an annual global ranking of countries where the killers of journalists habitually get away with murder. The nation also is the world’s second-worst jailer of journalists, according to CPJ’s 2023 prison census.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 31, 2024
- Event Description
More than 100 garment workers at Shengbo Garment Factory Ltd in Kampong Speu province protested on Saturday, demanding the reinstatement of two workers, who were fired after their election as union leaders in the factory.
Seak Thong, vice president of the independent union, called his termination by the factory as unfair. Independent unions protect the interest and rights of workers, and prevent them from being discriminated against by factory owners, he said. “I’m sad that I cannot be with the workers anymore as I have lost my job for no reason.”
Chinese-owned Shengbo Garment, which produces women’s clothing for Spanish brand MNG and Italy’s Calliope for export to Europe, employs over 700 workers. It began operation in March 2023.
This is the second protest in the factory. The first time was on February 2, this year, where nearly 200 workers protested in front of the factory, according to Thong, who
claimed that the factory administration was aware of the election.
He was contacted by the administration, which urged him to “resign” from the independent union and join the factory-managed union with the bosses. He was told that he would enjoy increased benefits from the factory, but he declined the offer.
“I refused them and he [administration] threatened me that if I did not agree, I [might become] unemployed. He could not guarantee [my job] because [he said] if he had known earlier [about the union], he would have ended the contract faster.”
Thon Thy said on January 31, 2024 the assistant of line five told him that the president of the factory called him and Thong to meet at the office and told them “not to renew the employment contract”.
“I can’t accept this because I didn’t do anything wrong. This clearly shows union discrimination in the factory. We had already informed the factory owner about the election but they refused to accept an independent union.”
On January 9, 2024, the elected members directly informed the company of the election result through administration director Am Mony, but it was rejected. The same day, the members informed them again via post.
Two days later, the elected members applied for registration at the Department of Labor Dispute of the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training.
However, the company only informed Thy and Thong on January 31 not to renew their employment contract.
Yet, Thy hopes that the factory owner would reinstate them, and not discriminate against local unions in the factory. They also asked relevant ministries to check on the enforcement of the labor law in the factory.
“I hope the ministry and the factory owner will resolve this problem by accepting us and other elected independent union [members] to work in the factory like normal to protect workers’ interests.
“We also urge the factory owner to respect the Kingdom’s labor law and union rights, and not harass the workers.” Mony, administrator of Shengbo factory, told CamboJA on Monday morning that protests will no longer be held. “All workers will return to work as normal.”
He also denied the workers’ allegations of union discrimination. “We don’t discriminate against unions. The termination of the contracts was a result of reduced production. “
When asked to reveal the name of the buyer, which apparently reduced orders, he declined to answer. “I can’t say the name as it’s confidential.”
Touch Soeu, president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC) said factories commit “serious mistakes by dismissing workers without prior notice”, which is illegal and discriminatory against post-election free trade unions.
Soeu alleged that Shengbo “always terminates workers” when they learn about employees who stand as candidates in union elections to protect workers’ interests. “It isn’t the first time the Shengbo factory threatened [workers] of unions, which aren’t under the factory.”
Ministry spokesman Kata Orn acknowledged that a request to form and register a union was received from Shengbo workers. On January 7, 2024, 10 union members were elected to form a union, in which Thon Thy was elected as union president, Seak Thong vice president and Preng Chealy as secretary.
On January 11,2024, the union submitted a registration form to the Dispute Department. On January 25, 2024, the department received a letter from Shengbo stating that the company was against the registration of a free trade union as the leadership, founder and secretary had “resigned from the union”.
On January 1, 2024, the ministry’s Fourth Labor Dispute Office received a complaint from Thy and Thong, the elected union president and vice president, respectively.
Orn said employers will provide information regarding the issue on February 13, 2024, he said, adding that the case is being processed.
“The ministry mediated and explained the union side and the workers. So far, the workers have not protested and are back to work. Separately, the ministry continues to coordinate and resolve the issues of the two [Thy and Thong].”
Khun Tharo, program manager for the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL), said this was the second time Shengbo factory has persecuted independent unions during nomination and post-election stage.
Due to the continued persecution of workers and suppression of workers’ rights, the new union members initiated the idea of forming an independent union in the factory to protect workers’ interests.
“This is the second time the company has terminated employment contracts after an independent union was formed in the factory. The first was in November 2023 and the worker has not returned to work in the factory yet.”
“It also highlights the discrimination against local unions, which are protected by union privileges, and the factory’s lack of respect for labor rights in the Kingdom,” Tharo said.
In November 2023, ex-union leader Roeun Kolap was fired after she joined the independent union. Her labor dispute over her dismissal is pending at the Kampong Speu Provincial Court, he added.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Jan 31, 2024
- Event Description
Ten protesters, eight men and two women, were arrested today outside the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters in Colombo.
The group had been demonstrating since morning, demanding the arrest of former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella for his alleged involvement in a recent drug procurement scandal.
Police spokesperson DIG Nihal Talduwa confirmed the arrests and stated that despite repeated warnings and attempts to disperse the gathering peacefully, the protesters continued their sit-in protest, prompting police intervention.
Meanwhile, Former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella issued a statement this afternoon acknowledging the summons from the CID but claiming his inability to present himself due to conflicting commitments.
He cited a scheduled appearance at the Colombo High Court in another case and his participation in a meeting of the Ministerial Sub-committee on Public Expenditure Management, chaired by the President, as reasons for his absence.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jan 30, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Jan 29, 2024
- Event Description
Social media activist Piyath Nikeshala has been arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department, police said.
He was reportedly arrested after being summoned before the CID to obtain a statement over publishing a recorded telephone conversation between Public Security Minister Tiran Alles and another social media activist on his YouTube channel.
Piyath Nikeshala was also arrested on June last year over the live streaming on social media of the incident of burning President Ranil Wickremesinghe's private residence in Colombo on July 09, 2022
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Sri Lanka: pro-democracy defender arrested again
- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Jan 28, 2024
- Event Description
On Sunday, January 28, Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) workers along with those from PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf) held separate protests at the Liberty Roundabout when the police cracked down upon both groups and arrested more than 50.
PTM had held a protest against the arrest of their party leader, Manzoor Pashteen. Not too far away the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf workers had also gathered for a demonstration regarding their election campaign. It was then that the city police cracked down and eventually arrested six workers of PTM and around 50 workers of PTI.
The PTI had begun the protest on the instructions of their party chief Imran Khan who had given a call to take a countrywide rally at 2 pm on Sunday, upon which PTI workers, including women, reached Liberty Chowk.
On the other hand, PTM Lahore also called a protest against the arrest of Manzoor Pashteen.
But even before these rallies began, a large number of police officers and the special Dolphin force were deployed around Liberty.
The police said that Section 144 had been enforced to maintain the law and order situation in Punjab and the permission of the administration and the police was necessary before any rally or protest.
Advocate Salman Akram Raja, the candidate supported by PTI from Constituency 128, while talking to Voicepk said that PTI was not being allowed to conduct election campaigns. “Our banners, and flags are being taken down every day, police are arresting our people, and we have to fight a legal battle. This behavior towards PTI should stop, as everyone has the right to campaign in the elections.”
Moin Wazir, a member of the PTM Lahore, said that on December 4, Manzoor Pashteen had left to participate in the Baloch protest in Turbat after addressing a sit-in in Chaman when he was abducted by unknown persons after which their supporters came to know that he had been sent to Adiala Jail according to an FIR filed in Islamabad. “When we came to Liberty Lahore to protest against this, the police arrested six of our colleagues,” he said.
When asked about the release of the workers, he said, “The police kept our colleagues locked up till late in the night and with the help of our team of lawyers, they were all released around 3 am.”
With only nine days left for the elections in the country, and with election campaigns in full swing, the imposition of Article 144 allows limited freedom of campaigning to a limited number of people. in an oppressive move by the government, protests, rallies, and meetings have been made subject to the permission of the administration and the police.As there are only nine days left for the elections in the country, and with election campaigns in full swing, in such a situation, Article 144 which has been implemented across Punjab, prohibits gatherings of four or more people, limiting freedom of campaigning to a limited number of people. in an oppressive move by the government, protests, rallies, and meetings have been made subject to the permission of the administration and the police.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jan 26, 2024
- Event Description
The South Bangkok Criminal Court on Friday (26 January) revoked bail for activist Netiporn Sanesangkhom, claiming she violated her bail condition by participating in a protest at the Ministry of Culture on 6 August 2023.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that the Court cited a witness testimony that Netiporn sprayed paint onto Queen Suthida’s personal flag, which the Court said could damage the monarchy’s reputation. It ruled that she violated the condition she was given when granted bail on a royal defamation charge, i.e. that she must not repeat her offence.
TLHR said that Netiporn was also sentenced on the same day to 1 month in prison on a contempt of court charge for an incident on 19 October 2023, during which a police officer hit Netiporn with a baton and injured her. She decided not to file for bail in both cases and is now detained at the Central Women Correctional Institution.
An inquiry officer at Pathumwan Police Station filed a request in November 2023 to revoke bail for Netiporn and activist Tantawan Tuatulanon. The Court ruled not to revoke Tantawan’s bail, citing lack of evidence that she violated her bail condition while participating in the protest.
On 6 August 2023, activists staged a protest at the Ministry of Culture to demand that Senator and poet Naowarat Pongpaiboon be stripped of his national artist status after he abstained during the parliamentary vote to choose a Prime Minister when former Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat was nominated, saying that his abstention made him a hypocrite since he had initially pledged to vote for the Prime Minister nominated by the majority of the lower house.
18 activists who participated in the protest were subsequently charged with trespassing, destruction of property, using fireworks without permission, holding a public gathering without notifying the authorities, and vandalizing public property.
TLHR said last night (29 January) that Netiporn has been undergoing a dry hunger strike since Saturday (27 January) in protest of her detention.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jan 26, 2024
- Event Description
A Vietnam court in Phu Yen Province on Jan. 26 sentenced Nay Y Blang, a Rhade religious activist, to four and a half years in prison on charges of “abusing democratic freedoms” for allegedly holding unauthorized spiritual services in his home, state media reported. Blang did not have a lawyer defending him.
Blang, 48, was arrested on May 18, 2023, for his alleged engagement in the Central Highlands Evangelical Church of Christ, an indigenous religious organization that the Vietnamese government has banned. According to the state media, the Rhade religious activist has “admitted his wrongdoing and has asked for leniency.”
The Communist authorities in Vietnam have called this Protestant group a “foreign-based reactionary organization” that purportedly seeks to “incite ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands and the surrounding areas to erode the national solidarity bloc, trigger secession, and promote the establishment of a separate state.” The indictment of Blang said that from the end of 2019 to 2022, he used his private home in Phu Yen to gather key figures of this religious sect for meetings and prayer sessions and hosted other online Christian fellowships.
Pastor Aga, the North Carolina-based founder of the Protestant sect, told RFA that his group is purely religious and that they do not conduct any anti-state activities nor attempt to establish a separate state. “We just want to express our religious beliefs, our religion, to worship God and follow the religion that suits us while still following the laws of the Vietnamese government,” Pastor Aga said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of Religion and Belief, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Freedom of religion/belief activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Vietnam: religious rights defender arrested
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Jan 25, 2024
- Event Description
Opposition activist Madina Koketaeva has been sentenced to 15 days in jail for attending a peaceful protest in Almaty against the detention of activists who were detained during unrest at the city's airport. Zhanar Balgabaeva, Koketaeva's lawyer, said her client was handed the sentence on January 25. Koketaeva says she was beaten during her arrest -- which coincided with the arrival of President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev on January 24 -- to the point where she needed hospitalization. "They are not going to let me go until Toqaev leaves the city," she told RFE/RL's Radio Azattyk.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 25, 2024
- Event Description
On 25 January 2024, the Court of Final Appeal, Hong Kong’s top court, overturned the December 2022 ruling by the High Court acquitting woman human rights defender Chow Hang-tung of “inciting others to participate in an unauthorised assembly” in the 2021 vigil to commemorate the victims of the military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing in 1989. The woman human rights defender was sentenced to 15 months in prison earlier in January 2022.
The Court of Final Appeal ruled that Chow Hang-tung could not challenge the legality of a police ban on public assembly as a defense in criminal proceedings. It also rejected the High Court’s ruling that the police did not act lawfully and proportionately when it completely banned the 2021 Tiananmen Vigil on COVID prevention grounds.
The woman human rights defender remains in detention pending trial in another case in which she and other leaders of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance, which had organised previous Tiananmen vigils and campaigned for democratic reforms in mainland China, face the charge of “inciting subversion of State power” under the 2020 National Security Law for Hong Kong.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jan 25, 2024
- Event Description
KARAPATAN condemns the forced disappearance of activist-writer Nelson Bautista and the illegal arrest of his companion Ademar Etol on trumped-up charges.
Bautista, 45 and Etol, 64, were arrested in Barangay Balingasan, Siay, Zamboanga Sibugay by police forces who barged into the house they were staying at around 2 a.m. of January 25, 2024.
Bautista has not been heard of since the arrest and remains missing to date. He is the 14th victim of enforced disappearance under the Marcos Jr. regime. Etol, who faces multiple trumped-up charges, including one for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition based on evidence planted by the police, is currently detained at the Siay Municipal Police Station.
Bautista was a campus journalist at the Notre Dame College in Kidapawan City and chaired the College Editors Guild of the Philippines in North Cotabato in 2004. He was also a convenor of Kalampag, an alliance of church people and civic groups in the same province. He later became a campaign officer and writer in Davao City for the Kilusang Mayo Uno. Since 2009, he has been a peasant and Lumad organizer, helping farmers, settlers and indigenous people cope with, and resist, the destruction of their environment due to climate crisis-induced disasters and large-scale mining operations.
KARAPATAN joins Bautista’s family, colleagues and friends in their urgent call to surface him. We further call on the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate Bautista’s abduction and disappearance and Etol’s illegal arrest and detention, ensuring that the victims attain justice and the perpetrators are held to account.
Unless the persistent climate of impunity is shattered, Bautista and Etol will not be the last victims of state-perpetuated violence under the Marcos Jr. regime. KARAPATAN demands a stop to these relentless attacks on activists and on the people’s human rights.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Jan 24, 2024
- Event Description
In a shocking incident, a broadcast journalist was chased from his home on Wednesday night, waylaid by six unidentified men on the main road in Palladam's Tiruppur district and hacked with sickles even as he was on the phone with a police personnel frantically seeking help.
Nesa Prabhu, a reporter with News7 Tamil television channel, is now battling for his life at a private hospital in Coimbatore, 450 km from Chennai, with reports suggesting that he has about 62 cuts in his body. The journalist’s colleagues said his condition was “critical.”
The incident sent shockwaves across Tamil Nadu with journalists protesting outside the Coimbatore Collectorate and at various places across the state, including in Chennai, demanding action against the accused.
While there was no word of condemnation from the government even after 18 hours, Opposition Leader Edappadi K Palaniswami, Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai, and leaders of other political parties termed the attack on a journalist as a classic case of “break down of law and order situation” in the state and asked the DMK dispensation to “wake up” to the reality.
Tiruppur District Police said they have begun investigation into the case and have secured footage from CCTVs from a petrol bunk and a restaurant in the area where the reporter was brutally attacked. The police said they have formed four special teams to nab the accused.
The incident took place at around 9 pm on Wednesday, four hours after Nesa Prabhu called the police helpline seeking protection as he informed them that two people had come to his village, T Krishnapuram, in a vehicle that had no number plate and enquired about him. Chilling audio conversations between the journalist and police show how scared Nesa Prabhu was after being chased by the gang from his home.
The journalist had in the past few days reported about state-owned TASMAC liquor outlets in Palladam area functioning beyond their working hours and other stories, including an argument between a man and police. His colleagues said Nesa Prabhu called the police control room at around 4 pm on Wednesday following which he was asked to go to the police station and file a formal complaint.
In one of the conversations with the police, the journalist is heard telling them that four people had come in an SUV and a motorcycle – both had no number plate – separately and enquired about him from his village residents.
In another conversation, a recording of which was accessed by DH, the reporter is heard giving graphic details of the people who were following him in a two-wheeler after hiding near the restaurant.
“What is the registration number? What is the colour of the two-wheeler? What is the make of the vehicle?” – the reporter patiently answers every question posed by the police personnel on the other side. Nesa Prabhu also tells the police that people who chased him can be identified from the CCTV footage, besides pleading with the men in khaki to come and save his life.
It is believed that Nesa Prabhu kept the police on the line while he escaped from his home and came to the main road where was chased once again.
“Six people are chasing me,” Nesa Prabhu tells the police personnel who ask him whether he has come to a safe place. “Yes, I am in a safe place,” he tells police, hiding near the petrol bunk.
“They are six people and how many times do I keep hiding? I can’t even sleep properly. If there is someone with me, I will go and attack them. We can catch them as they can be identified from CCTV footage,” the journalist tells the police personnel, who tells him that he will inform the inspector of police.
Within a few seconds, the reporter shouts on the phone, “sir, they have come.” “What are you saying,” asks the policeman. “I am coming to the station. Please come, I can see five cars. They have come. My life is over,” Nesa Prabhu tells the policeman, before he was hacked by the gang.
Several journalist bodies, including Chennai Press Club, condemned the incident and asked the government to swing into action immediately and bring to book the perpetrators.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Lao People's Democratic Republic
- Initial Date
- Jan 23, 2024
- Event Description
Six Lao residents were arrested on charges related to their roles in connection to a multi-day protest against a government seizure of their land, which protesters told Radio Free Asia was the latest example of government corruption.
Four of the arrested residents, all men, were part of a group of about 20 protesters from Xang village in northern Laos’ Xieng Khouang province, who gathered on Tuesday morning to rally against their land being given to a wood processing company, a protester who requested anonymity for security reasons, told RFA Lao.
They were arrested on the second day of the protest.
When two women, members of the village’s Women’s Union, went to visit the arrested men and bring them food, they too were arrested, he said.
Sketchy title
The land grab is illegal because the Phengxay Import-Export Company bribed corrupt officials to make a fake land title on their land, the protester said.
A resident of the village told RFA that the land had been a part of the village for generations and had become a historical and cultural site for the community.
In a video clip published on social media, one of the protesters explained the situation.
“Right now, nobody can help us. Earlier, we relied on the district authorities to help us, but they wouldn’t,” he said. “Therefore, we gathered together today to call on other authorities to enforce the law, respect our rights, and to help us, who have been taken advantage of by this company.”
These protesters explained that the Phengxay Import-Export Company leased about one hectare (2.47 acres) of land, then built a wood processing factory on it for use in a ten-year lease between 2008 and 2018.
They extended the lease for five years from 2018 to 2023, meaning the lease has expired as of August 2023.
Later last year, the villagers wrote a letter to the Khoun District authorities asking for the land back.
It was then that they learned that the company possessed a land title issued by the district authorities.
Crowd dispersed
A witness to the arrest explained what he saw, saying, “The protest stopped after the police took away some protesters, which included members of the village authority,” he said. “I don’t know exactly how many and where they took those protesters to.”
A Xieng Khouang province official declined to discuss the protest or the arrests, only saying that the relevant officials were meeting to try to solve the conflict.
When RFA contacted a member of the Xieng Khouang Inspection Authority, that person said that the relevant officials were in a meeting discussing this matter at that time, and requested a call back in one day for more information.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jan 23, 2024
- Event Description
Two lecturers and a former student at Chiang Mai University have been indicted on charges relating to an incident in October 2021, when students took over the University Art Centre after the Faculty of Fine Arts and the university administration prohibited them from showing their final theses, some of which dealt with social and political themes.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said yesterday (23 January) that Faculty of Fine Arts lecturers Sorayut Aiemueayut and Thasnai Sethaseree and Faculty of Fine Arts graduate Yotsunthorn Ruttapradid were indicted on charges of trespassing and destruction of property.
TLHR said that the public prosecutor originally intended to dismiss the charges, but the Commissioner of Provincial Police Region 5 objected to the dismissal. The public prosecutor eventually indicted them on both charges, stating that they destroyed university property worth 3,314 baht, including sets of chains, door bolts, and padlocks.
Thasnai raised questions during a press conference before reporting to the public prosecutor whether the university has committed perjury by filing the complaint, or if it is attempting to silence the three people charged.
Meanwhile, Yotsunthorn said that universities should not curb students’ education or silence them, especially in art programmes. He also said that if he hadn’t cut the chains, someone else would have done so.
“New knowledge needs as broad limits as possible. It shouldn’t be that you are locking gates and making it small, and stopping people from talking. For artists, not being able to exhibit our work is like being silenced. It’s not right, so we decided that we are going to keep on with our work. We just needed to cut the chains, because our [department] building is already in there,” he said.
In October 2021, students from the Media Arts and Design Department, along with several lecturers, occupied the Chiang Mai University Art Centre after 4th year students were prohibited from exhibiting their final theses in the Art Centre because some pieces addressed social and political themes.
The students said that after filing a request to use the University Art Centre to organize a thesis exhibition, the university administration repeatedly asked them for additional information and documents. Students were also required to submit information about every piece that was to be exhibited, and were told that some pieces would not be allowed, as the Faculty felt that they were politically inappropriate and unfit for public exhibition.
Several days before the exhibition, students found that electricity and water at the Media Arts and Design department building had been cut, allegedly on orders from the Faculty Dean. All exits from the building grounds were also locked with chains. The next day, students and lecturers cut the chains and occupied the University Art Centre to set up their exhibition.
Since participating in the exhibition is a requirement for the students to complete their project and receive a grade for the class, the university’s refusal to grant them permission to use the Art Centre caused concerns that the exhibition would not be ready for the schedule opening date, and put them at risk of failing their class. The students therefore filed for a temporary injunction with the Chiang Mai Administrative Court, which ruled in their favour but did not issue an order to the University because the students had already occupied the Art Centre and exhibited their theses.
After the exhibition, students filed a petition with the Chiang Mai University Council, the House Committee on Legal Affairs, Justice, and Human Rights, and the House Committee on Education to have Asawinee Wanjing, then Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, and then-university President Dr Niwet Nantajit removed from office for attempting to prohibit students from exhibiting their theses and violating their academic freedom.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) also said that the university had violated academic freedom, which is a violation of human rights, by not informing the students whether they would be allowed to use the Art Centre in a timely manner. It also issued a recommendation to the Chiang Mai University administration that it should be careful when making decisions so as not to violate academic freedom.
The NHRC also recommended that the Faculty of Fine Arts should amend their regulation on requesting the use of the University Art Centre so that there is a clear time frame on when requests would be approved and so students and lecturers would be allowed to speak to the Art Centre Committee when seeking permission.
In November 2022, Asawinee filed a complaint against Sarayut, Thasnai, and Yotsunthorn. The complaint was filed on behalf of the university administration, who issued a letter granting Asawinee the power of attorney to do so.
In March 2021, Asawinee, along with several other faculty personnel attempted to remove students’ art projects from the Media Arts and Design Department building without first informing the students, claiming that some items constituted a possible violation of the law. The move prompted protests from students and lecturers. Students whose projects were going to be removed also filed charges of theft and destruction of property against Asawinee and the faculty personnel involved, as their projects were damaged during the incident and some went missing.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Academic, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Thailand: lecturers, student face charges
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jan 22, 2024
- Event Description
A university student died in a prison in central Myanmar due to neglect, an activist told Radio Free Asia on Friday.
Su May Aung died in Magway Prison after receiving poor medical treatment and not having access to medication for chronic illnesses, the Magway University Student Union said.
She died on Monday after being in jail for nearly two years.
The 22-year-old was sentenced to 15 years in prison under Section 50j of the country’s notorious counter-terrorism laws for financing terrorism, a common charge for civilians donating to resistance groups. She was sentenced in early 2022.
Su May Aung had suffered from lupus, as well as liver and heart diseases before the arrest, but died while undergoing emergency treatment at Magway Hospital, the Magway University Student Union statement said. She died as a result of “poor medicine in the prison,” according to the statement.
RFA contacted Magway University Student Union representatives by phone on Friday to learn more details about Su May Aung’s death, but the group could not be reached by the time of publication.
Calls to the deputy director general of the junta’s Naypyidaw Prison Department also went unanswered.
The junta’s prison department never officially releases news about deaths in prisons across the country, said Thaik Tun Oo, a member of the Myanmar Political Prisoners Network.
“We have learned that prison officials have been ordered from higher levels not to leak the information of these incidents in prison, according to the prison officials,” he told Radio Free Asia on Friday.
“[Officials] are also pressuring and threatening the remaining family members not to speak to the media too.”
Su May Aung was a chemistry honors student at Magway University and opposed the military coup as part of the Civil Disobedience Movement after the junta seized power in Feb. 2021, the student union’s statement said, urging action from the international community.
According to a Myanmar Political Prisoners Network statement released on Dec. 31, 34 political prisoners died in jail in 2023. Among them, 18 were murdered and 16 people died as a result of medical neglect.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Death
- Rights Concerned
- Right to health, Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Jan 19, 2024
- Event Description
In a demonstration against caste-based discrimination and unjust actions by the DU administration, Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad joined supporters rallying in favor of terminated teacher Ritu Singh on Friday. The march had been planned well in advance, scheduled for January 19 to mark the death anniversary of Rohith Vemula.
During the protest, Delhi Police briefly detained Chandrashekhar Azad and some students from Delhi University. However, they were later released. Dr Ritu Singh, formerly an ad-hoc professor in the psychology department at DU, has been staging a sit-in for the past 140 days after being terminated from her position. Singh had previously worked at DU's Daulat Ram College.
On Friday, the Bhim Army Chief Azad arrived amidst tight security arrangements made by Delhi Police. Barricades were set up on all routes leading to the North Campus.
This march had also witnessed the presence of Supreme Court advocate Mahmod Pracha. Delhi Police had removed tents and other belongings from Ritu Singh's protest site few days ago.
Dr. Singh had taken to the social media and sought community's support in the massive demonstration on January 19. Ritu alleges that the DU administration discriminated against her due to her Dalit identity. Dr Singh had levelled serious allegations against Daulat Ram College's principal, Savita Roy, four years ago. In 2020, she had protested for removing Roy from the post.
Few DU students participating in the march on Friday, stated that they had come to extend support and stand with Dr Ritu Singh in her fight against injustice, emphasizing that while Savita Roy has not been arrested, the protest led by Dr. Ritu is being suppressed. The case is presently in the court.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, NGO staff, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jan 19, 2024
- Event Description
A 28-year-old activist has been charged with royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crime Act over a Facebook photo of a man holding pieces of paper with profanities in front of a portrait of King Vajiralongkorn.
‘Ta’ Khathathon, an activist from the Thalugaz group, turned himself in to the police on Friday night (19 January). He learned that there was an arrest warrant for him after Natthaphon, a 21-year-old activist, was arrested and charged over the same Facebook photo.
The complaint against Khathathon and Natthaphon was filed by Anon Klinkaew, leader of the ultra-royalist group People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy.
In a video clip posted on activist Tantawan Tuatulanon’s Facebook page on Friday afternoon, Khathathon announced that he was turning himself in to show that he is not a flight risk. He also said that he would refuse to be transferred to any police station other than Samran Rat Police Station, which is responsible for the case against him and Natthapon, who was transferred to Thung Song Hong Police Station.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that, while Khathathon and other activists were gathering in front of Samran Rat Police Station, a plainclothes officer approached Khathathon and read out his arrest warrant.
While held at Samran Rat Police Station, Khathathon refused to be fingerprinted and was subsequently charged for refusing to follow an officer’s order. TLHR noted that the police also asked to collect a sample of his DNA, but Khathathon and his lawyer refused.
After the inquiry officer informed him of his charges, the police took Khathathon to Thung Song Hong Police Station. In protest, Khathathon refused to get out of the police truck and spent the night in the vehicle, which was parked in front of the police station surrounded by metal railings.
The Criminal Court granted Khathathon bail using a security of 180,000 baht. He was also given the condition that he must not repeat the action for which he was accused or his bail will be revoked.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jan 19, 2024
- Event Description
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.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jan 19, 2024
- Event Description
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,
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jan 17, 2024
- Event Description
KARAPATAN condemns the escalating attacks against peasant activists and leaders perpetrated by State security forces.
On January 17, 2024, two peasant activists were gunned down in Negros Occidental by elements of the 62nd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army. According to reports reaching Karapatan, Dionisio Baloy, 67, a member of the Kaisahan sa Gamay’ng Mag-uuma sa Oriental Negros (KAUGMAON-Guihulngan Chapter) and fellow farmer Bernard Torres Sr., who also works as a habal-habal driver and is a member of UNDOC/PISTON – Guihulngan Chapter, were dragged out of the house they were staying at Hacienda Gomez, Barangay Sag-ang, La Castellana, Negros Occidental by operating troops of the 62nd IBPA, interrogated and tortured before being shot.
To justify the cold-blooded killing of the two farmers, the 62nd IBPA later released a statement claiming that the Baloy and Torres were killed in a so-called armed encounter between the soldiers and the New People’s Army.
Baloy and Torres had both been red-tagged and harassed by the military in their communities in Guihulngan, Negros Oriental, forcing them and their families to transfer residence. Like many other victims of red-tagging and harassment, they ended up becoming victims of graver human rights violations.
These latest killings of peasant activists have prompted KARAPATAN to sound the alarm on two monitored incidents of harassment and terrorist-tagging against Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas chairperson Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos. KMP reported that on January 3 and 15 this year, motorcycle-riding men were inquiring on the whereabouts and residence of Ramos in Malolos City. In one incident, one of the intelligence agents reportedly said: “Taga-saan ba si Danilo Ramos? Matagal na namin siyang hinahanap kasi terorista siya. (Where is Danilo Ramos? We have been looking for him because he is a terrorist.)
Ramos had also reported being subjected to surveillance last August 2023. These cases of harassment and terrorist-tagging pose a direct threat to the lives of Ka Daning, his family and other peasant leaders and members of the KMP and the progressive peasant movement.
Karapatan has documented that 59 out of the 87 victims of extrajudicial killings under the Marcos Jr. regime (or two-thirds) are peasants, many of them falsely accused of being NPA members or supporters of “communist terrorist groups” and killed in false encounters. Moreover, 65 of the 87 victims (or three-fourths) are from the counterinsurgency-battered regions of Eastern Visayas, Bicol and Western Visayas —regions singled out for more intensified military and police deployment and operations under Rodrigo Duterte’s Memorandum Order No. 32, which Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has not rescinded.
Karapatan calls for a stop to the brutal counter-insurgency war that has been marked by escalating attacks against the peasantry and rural communities from Duterte’s time to the present. Using a militarist approach to end the armed conflict in the countryside will only result in more human rights violations against the peasantry and will not resolve its deep-seated roots.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Jan 17, 2024
- Event Description
The Maligakanda Magistrate's Court issued an order today barring nine individuals, including the convener of the Inter-University Students' Federation, from holding protests and demonstrations on several key roads in Colombo.
The court order comes in response to a request filed by the Maradana Police OIC, who informed the court about plans for a student march starting near Viharamaha Devi Park and moving towards the Colombo Fort railway station via the Lipton Roundabout.
The court order prohibits the nine individuals, including the IUSF convener, from holding demonstrations and marches on Kularatne Mawatha, Orabi Pasha Mawatha, Sangharaja Mawatha, Deans Road, Darley Road, Hospital Square, and surrounding roads and sidewalks.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jan 17, 2024
- Event Description
The correctional authorities of Gia Trung Prison in Gia Lai Province have disciplined prisoner of conscience Truong Van Dung for allegedly insulting prison personnel. Dung’s wife, Nghiem Thi Hop, told Radio Free Asia (RFA) about his punishment. Dung is serving a six-year prison sentence on accusations of “distributing anti-state propaganda,” a violation of Article 117 in Vietnam’s Penal Code.
According to Gia Trung Prison, Dung will not be allowed visitations or to receive supplies and handwritten mail from his family for a month, starting from Jan. 16. Hop said she was worried about Dung as the Lunar New Year, a national holiday in Vietnam, was approaching. The prison added that after the punishment concludes on Feb. 17, Dung can only see his family once every two months, instead of once a month, until he is “progressively rehabilitated.”
On Jan. 3, Dung’s family sent some gifts to him in prison, including a poster prepared by the Viet Tan Party, which is deemed a “terrorist organization” by the Vietnamese government. The organization named Dung the recipient of its 2023 Le Dinh Luong Human Rights Award. When the parcel containing the poster arrived a week later, the warden examined it and then refused to let Dung receive it. A tense argument broke out between him and the correctional officers, leading to disciplinary action.
According to a notice from Gia Trung Prison dated Jan. 17, Truong Van Dung was disciplined for “insulting the honor and dignity of others,” but they did not elaborate on what he said. On Nov. 9, 2023, Dung was transferred from An Diem Prison in Quang Nam Province to Gia Trung Prison in Gia Lai Province, hundreds of miles from his home in Hanoi. The Vietnamese authorities often send human rights activists to prisons far from their homes to make it difficult for family members to visit them often.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to property
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Malaysia
- Initial Date
- Jan 17, 2024
- Event Description
Two Malaysian filmmakers could face jail after a Kuala Lumpur court on Wednesday charged them with insulting “religious feelings” over a movie exploring the afterlife, which has never been shown in the country and had already been pulled from Hong Kong streaming platform Viu.
Director Khairi Jailani and producer Tan Meng Kheng are the first Malaysian filmmakers to face a criminal charge over film content in the Muslim-majority country, where creatives say the march of religious conservatism is increasingly smothering cultural output. The pair earlier pleaded not guilty to the charge of deliberately “wounding the religious feelings of any persons” in their banned film “ Mentega Terbang”, which is a play on words in Malay, literally translated as butterfly.
Under Section 298 of the Penal Code, they face a one-year prison sentence with fines if convicted.
The 104-minute film, which was banned in Malaysia last September, revolves around a young Malay Muslim girl who comes to terms with losing her terminally ill mother through researching what other religions say about life after death.
Accused of promoting apostasy, the film was pulled from streamer Viu after the controversy caused by the Malaysian ban. While multiethnic and multicultural, Islam is Malaysia’s state religion with a legal code and enforcement agencies to preserve orthodoxy.
Khairi was released on a 6,000 ringgit (US$1,280) bail while Tan paid 6,500 ringgit (US$1,385), pending a trial date. Both were slapped with gag orders.
The duo have already faced death threats in a public backlash and probes by police and religious authorities since the release of the movie on Viu last year.
The film remains available on YouTube.
Online, critics of the film rejoiced at the court action against the pair, saying they deserve to be punished for “insulting Islam” and should repent.
This includes scriptwriter Zabidi Mohamed, who has been a vocal opponent of the film from the start, applauding the move to haul Khairi and Tan to court, calling the film “blasphemous” and carrying “liberal thinking”.
“As a Muslim, I hold to the belief that the truth is only with Islam and hold to the religious belief that God is pleased with is only Islam,” he said in a Facebook post on Tuesday, adding that he was aware of the impending indictment a week earlier.
On the other side of a divided society, the charge was met with dismay with even some government backbenchers in parliament questioning the move.
“After more than 60 years of nation-building, are we losing more spaces and places for discussions, reflections, and creation?” asked Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung on X (formerly Twitter).
Activist Mahi Ramakrishnan, meanwhile, called for solidarity with the filmmakers, actors and crew.
“Charging the director and producer takes a whack at their creative license, free speech and freedom of expression,” she said.
Last April, the filmmakers and cast were summoned by the police for questioning, as well as by the Kuala Lumpur Islamic religious authorities over the movie.
This came just one month after unknown assailants trashed and splashed paint and corrosive liquid on Khairi and actor Arjun Thanaraju’s cars, with messages calling for their death, saying the film “challenges Islam”.
The attacks hurled at the filmmakers marked the lowest point of Malaysian cinema in 2023, in what is otherwise a vibrant year that saw a string of local flicks gaining recognition and winning accolades at international film festivals.
“The world now knows Malaysia,” National Film Development Corporation’s chairman Kamil Othman said in December. “Malaysian cinema is making its wave so our duty and challenge is that it continues.”
Despite the recognition by the film board, Malaysian authorities continue to keep Malaysian cinema on a short leash with Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil distancing the government from the straight-to-streaming film, alluding that the filmmakers had crossed the line in his response to it last March.
“I want to remind everyone that even if we want to be filmmakers, we still have laws that apply to any work we produce, so we have to respect those laws,” Fahmi said.
Fahmi, however, condemned the threats made against the filmmakers, crew and cast, and urged Malaysians not to take the law into their own hands following the incident.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of Religion and Belief, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Artist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jan 17, 2024
- Event Description
The Observatory has been informed about the new conviction, prison sentence, and ongoing arbitrary detention of Mr Anon Nampa, prominent pro-democracy activist and human rights lawyer.
On January 17, 2024, the Bangkok Criminal Court found Anon Nampa guilty under Article 112 of the Thailand Criminal Code (“lèse-majesté”) [1] and Section 14(3) of the Computer Crimes Act [2] and sentenced him to four years in prison. These charges stemmed from three Facebook posts he published on January 1 and 3, 2021, questioning the enforcement of Article 112 of the Criminal Code and advocating for the right to freedom of expression in connection with criticism of the Thai monarchy [3] reforms.
At the time of publication of this Urgent Appeal, Mr Anon remains detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison, where he has been arbitrarily imprisoned since his previous conviction on “lèse-majesté” charges on September 26, 2023.
The Observatory recalls that this is not the first conviction of Mr Anon under Article 112 of the Criminal Code. On September 26, 2023, the Criminal Court sentenced him to four years in prison on one count of “lèse-majesté”, and a fine of 20,000 baht (approximately 525 Euros) for violation of the Emergency Decree. This case stemmed from a speech Mr Anon delivered on October 14, 2020, at a peaceful demonstration at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument, where protesters had gathered to call on the government to comply with the three demands put forward by the pro-democracy movement that began in February 2020, including a reform of the Thai monarchy. Mr Anon was charged with “lèse-majesté” over his statements referring to King Rama X as the person with the sole authority to order the dispersal of protests, instead of the riot police. On September 30, 2023, the Court of Appeals rejected Mr Anon’s request for bail, citing the severity of his sentence and the fact that he would be a flight risk, if released on bail.
The Observatory further recalls that Anon Nampa is currently facing legal action in connection with 12 more “lèse-majesté” cases. Mr Anon was previously arbitrarily detained twice at the Bangkok Remand Prison: the first time for 113 days, from February 9 to June 1, 2021, on charges of “lèse-majesté” and “sedition” (Article 116 of Thailand Criminal Code) in connection with a speech concerning the Thai monarchy he made at a peaceful pro-democracy protest at Bangkok’s Sanam Luang on September 19, 2020; and the second time for 202 days, from August 11, 2021, to February 28, 2022, in relation to 12 other “lèse-majesté” cases. His temporary release requests were denied numerous times.
The Observatory notes with concern that between November 24, 2020, and December 31, 2023, 262 people, including many human rights defenders and 20 minors, were charged under Article 112 of the Criminal Code. Fifteen of them are currently detained pending trial, and six more serving prison sentences.
The Observatory strongly condemns the new conviction, sentencing, and ongoing arbitrary detention of Anon Nampa, and the ongoing judicial harassment against him, which seem to be only aimed at punishing him for his legitimate human rights activities and the exercise of his rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly.
The Observatory calls on the Thai authorities to immediately and unconditionally release him and all other arbitrarily detained human rights defenders in the country and to put an end to the judicial harassment against them.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Jan 16, 2024
- Event Description
Responding to a series of detentions of journalists affiliated with independent Kyrgyzstani media outlets and raids on their homes and offices, Maisy Weicherding, Amnesty International’s Central Asia Researcher, said:
“The actions of the Kyrgyzstani authorities represent a new overt attack on the right to freedom of expression and seriously undermine the country’s obligations under international human rights law. Dawn raids on journalists’ homes, detaining them under vague and overly-broad charges, and denying them access to legal representation, are worrying signs of an escalation in the crackdown on critical voices in Kyrgyzstan.
“The use of vague and unsubstantiated charges like ‘inciting unrest’ and ‘propaganda of war’ blatantly exposes the arbitrary nature of these criminal proceedings. The authorities in Kyrgyzstan must stop their repression of dissent and immediately and unconditionally free these journalists and all others who have been thrown behind bars solely for freely expressing their views and ideas.”
The authorities in Kyrgyzstan must stop their repression of dissent and immediately and unconditionally free these journalists and all others who have been thrown behind bars solely for freely expressing their views and ideas
Maisy Weicherding, Amnesty International’s Central Asia Researcher Background
On 16 January, during a heavy-handed police operation, 11 journalists, including those associated with “Ait Ait Dese” and Temirov Live projects, were taken to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for interrogation. Among those targeted was Makhabat Tazhibek-kyzy, the wife of investigative journalist Bolot Temirov, who was previously expelled from Kyrgyzstan.
The 11 journalists are known for their past or current involvement with Temirov’s projects. Upon being brought in for questioning, they were denied access to a lawyer.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the mass searches and detentions were part of a criminal investigation into alleged “calls for active disobedience […] and for mass riots, as well as calls for violence against citizens” (Article 278(3) of the Criminal Code) stemming from non-specified “content on social media.”
On 15 January, law enforcement conducted a search at the 24.kg news agency in Bishkek, confiscating equipment and sealing the office as part of a criminal case under “propaganda of war” (Article 497 of the Criminal Code). The agency’s top management, including General Director Asel Otorbaeva and Editor-in-Chief Anton Lymar, were detained for questioning but later released. They were summoned for interrogation again on 17 January.
Amnesty International has documented the deterioration of the right to freedom of expression in Kyrgyzstan, including the closure or restriction of the activities of independent media outlets and the criminal prosecution of activists, including in the so-called “Kempir-Abad case.”
On 17 January 2024, Pervomaiskiy district court of Bishkek sent 11 journalists and human rights defenders, current and former reporters of the Temirov Live investigative group, to pretrial detention until 13 March 2024. Among them are Makhabat Tazhibek kyzy, Sapar Akunbekov, Ayke Beishekeeva, Joodar Buzumov, Aktilek Kaparov, Saipidin Sultanaliev, Tynystan Asypbek, Maksat Tajibek uulu, Azamat Ishenbekov, Zhumabek Turdaliev and Akyl Orozbekov. All human rights defenders are suspected in "calling for mass civil unrest" whereas Makhabat Tazhibek kyzy and Azamat Ishenbekov are also labelled as “organizers” of the said mass civil unrest. If found guilty, Makhabat Tazhibek kyzy and Azamat Ishenbekov can face up to 10 years in prison, and the rest of the defenders – up to 8 years of imprisonment.
Temirov Live is a YouTube-based media outlet that investigates and reports on corruption of state and non-state actors in Kyrgyzstan. It was founded in 2020 by Bolot Temirov, a Kyrgyzstani human rights defender and prominent journalist whose work focuses on investigating corruption. Ayt Ayt Dese is a YouTube-based project which aims at popularising human rights issues by performing and publishing folk songs on human rights topics. Among others, in its songs Ayt Ayt Dese has covered the investigations of Temirov Live.
- Impact of Event
- 11
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Jan 15, 2024
- Event Description
The Government of Pakistan must guarantee the right to peaceful protest across the country, Amnesty International said today as the Baloch Long March protesters were forced to end their month-long sit-in protest in Islamabad following repeated harassment by the authorities.
Hundreds of women in the Baloch Long March journeyed about a thousand miles from Turbat in the southwestern province of Balochistan to the capital city, Islamabad to protest the alleged extrajudicial killing of young Baloch men late last year.
The peaceful protesters, consisting largely of families of victims of enforced disappearances including people as old as 80 and children as young as two years old, had been sleeping in near-freezing temperatures at the sit-in at the National Press Club, Islamabad since 22 December 2023. The Pakistani authorities mounted a campaign of disinformation against them and subjected them to repeated intimidation, arbitrary arrests and detentions.
“The Pakistani authorities should be ashamed of the harassment meted out to the Baloch Long March protestors. This is not the end the Baloch women would have hoped for when undertaking the perilous journey with their children to demand justice for their families. The authorities have been heartlessly indifferent to the plight and demands of the peaceful protestors camped out in the severe cold for the past month,” said Carolyn Horn, Programme Director, Law and Policy at Amnesty International.
The Pakistani authorities should be ashamed of the harassment meted out to the Baloch Long March protestors.
Carolyn Horn, Programme Director, Law and Policy at Amnesty International “The denial of the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly have compounded the tremendous social, financial and psychological costs borne by the families of the disappeared. The voices of the people must not be ignored in the run up to the national elections in Pakistan. Human rights must be upheld before, during and after the elections.”
‘Pain and helplessness’ Speaking with Amnesty International, protest organizer Mahrang Baloch said, “The anti-Baloch attitudes of the state, judiciary, media and state-aligned intellectuals have forced us to conclude this phase of our protest. Over the past month, our peaceful protest has been surrounded from all sides by police … (and) we have been subjected to harassment, profiling and threats on a daily basis.”
On 21 January, entry to the ‘International Oppressed Peoples Conference’ organized at the sit-in was denied by police through harassment of attendees and the placement of barbed wire around the area.
Previously, on 2 January, the police had prevented supplies of food, tents and blankets from reaching the sit-in protesters. Electricity to the protest site was also temporarily cut off with protestors complaining of extremely weak mobile signals that prevented them from issuing media updates from the protest site.
The pain of sitting in the cold was better than the pain and helplessness we feel when we go back home.
A protestor “We had to take turns to sleep because blankets were limited. But even then, the pain of sitting in the cold was better than the pain and helplessness we feel when we go back home,” said one of the protestors.
First Information Reports (FIRs) – which initiate criminal proceedings – were filed against protestors from across the country. Amnesty International verified at least 13 such FIRs from Balochistan (Naal, Kohlu, and Hub), Sindh (Karachi, Mirpur Khas and Khairpur), Islamabad and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Dera Ismail Khan). Protestors have been charged with a wide range of offences, including terrorism, sedition, unlawful assembly, rioting, hate speech, dacoity, unlawful use of loudspeakers and damage to public property.
Detentions and arbitrary arrests On 4 December 2023, Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader Manzoor Pashteen was attacked by security forces and taken into custody while on his way to the Turbat sit-in. He remains in custody despite having been granted bail three times since then.
At least 20 participants in the march were unlawfully detained on 17 December 2023 in Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab. Video evidence reviewed by Amnesty confirmed the use of police batons against peaceful protestors, including women. Similarly, batons were used to disperse protestors as they entered Surab, Balochistan on 10 December 2023, resulting in injuries to several protestors.
On 20 December 2023, when the march reached Islamabad, the police used tear gas, water cannons and batons against protestors entering the city and those at the National Press Club. Amnesty International verified the use of force against peaceful protestors through videos and eyewitness accounts immediately after the incident.
On 21 December 2023, two FIRs were registered against the protestors in Islamabad by police and as a result, more than 300 protestors were indiscriminately arrested including women, children, students, older persons, and a woman journalist. Many of the detainees were not given the opportunity to contact their families or arrange for a lawyer themselves.
‘Abused and traumatized’ Forty-seven women protestors and five children were illegally detained at G-7 Womens’ Police Station, Islamabad for more than 24 hours between 21 and 22 December 2023. During this detention, the police made several attempts to forcibly transport some of these protestors to Quetta. These attempts were thwarted only after interventions from civil society and journalists present at the scene.
Some of the children with us were so traumatized that they could not stop shaking from fear.
A woman detainee Speaking with Amnesty International a woman detainee said, “some of the children with us were so traumatized that they could not stop shaking from fear… Even now when (they see) police, the children are terrified… This fear will stay with them even when they grow up.”
Another woman detainee who had been in custody and subjected to verbal abuse said, “they told us that we were here to get attention and get famous.”
While most of the protestors were subsequently released, the cases filed against them for alleged rioting, unlawful assembly, dacoity, and property damage have not been quashed or withdrawn.
Forced to self-censor
Cases have been registered against journalists, including Masood Ahmed Lehri for covering a rally held on 15 January 2024 in Wadh, Balochistan, in support of the sit-in. Fatima Razzak, a journalist for local media outlet Lok Sujag, was detained and questioned on 24 December 2023. She was asked to turn in her devices to the authorities and threatened with consequences for her reporting of the Baloch protest.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Jan 15, 2024
- Event Description
Responding to a series of detentions of journalists affiliated with independent Kyrgyzstani media outlets and raids on their homes and offices, Maisy Weicherding, Amnesty International’s Central Asia Researcher, said:
“The actions of the Kyrgyzstani authorities represent a new overt attack on the right to freedom of expression and seriously undermine the country’s obligations under international human rights law. Dawn raids on journalists’ homes, detaining them under vague and overly-broad charges, and denying them access to legal representation, are worrying signs of an escalation in the crackdown on critical voices in Kyrgyzstan.
“The use of vague and unsubstantiated charges like ‘inciting unrest’ and ‘propaganda of war’ blatantly exposes the arbitrary nature of these criminal proceedings. The authorities in Kyrgyzstan must stop their repression of dissent and immediately and unconditionally free these journalists and all others who have been thrown behind bars solely for freely expressing their views and ideas.”
The authorities in Kyrgyzstan must stop their repression of dissent and immediately and unconditionally free these journalists and all others who have been thrown behind bars solely for freely expressing their views and ideas
Maisy Weicherding, Amnesty International’s Central Asia Researcher Background
On 16 January, during a heavy-handed police operation, 11 journalists, including those associated with “Ait Ait Dese” and Temirov Live projects, were taken to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for interrogation. Among those targeted was Makhabat Tazhibek-kyzy, the wife of investigative journalist Bolot Temirov, who was previously expelled from Kyrgyzstan.
The 11 journalists are known for their past or current involvement with Temirov’s projects. Upon being brought in for questioning, they were denied access to a lawyer.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the mass searches and detentions were part of a criminal investigation into alleged “calls for active disobedience […] and for mass riots, as well as calls for violence against citizens” (Article 278(3) of the Criminal Code) stemming from non-specified “content on social media.”
On 15 January, law enforcement conducted a search at the 24.kg news agency in Bishkek, confiscating equipment and sealing the office as part of a criminal case under “propaganda of war” (Article 497 of the Criminal Code). The agency’s top management, including General Director Asel Otorbaeva and Editor-in-Chief Anton Lymar, were detained for questioning but later released. They were summoned for interrogation again on 17 January.
Amnesty International has documented the deterioration of the right to freedom of expression in Kyrgyzstan, including the closure or restriction of the activities of independent media outlets and the criminal prosecution of activists, including in the so-called “Kempir-Abad case.”
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Jan 15, 2024
- Event Description
On January 15, police in the Kazakh capital, Astana, detained about a dozen protesters who approached the presidential office demanding justice for their relatives who were killed during anti-government protests in January 2022. At least 238 people, including 19 law enforcement officers, were killed across Kazakhstan during the mass unrest caused by the dispersal of the protests after President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev ordered security forces "to shoot to kill," claiming that "20,000 terrorists trained abroad" had taken over the country's largest city, Almaty. The authorities have provided no evidence proving Toqaev's claim about foreign terrorists.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 15, 2024
- Event Description
Hundreds of Siem Reap residents marched to the provincial hall this morning to submit a petition asking for intervention from the national government and UNESCO to stop newly enforced restrictions on buildings and repairs implemented by the APSARA Authority, the government agency which oversees the Angkor Archaeological Park.
Around 500 people from Puok district’s Khnat commune and Siem Reap city’s Tuek Vil commune marched with banners to Siem Reap Provincial Hall to submit a petition asking Prime Minister Hun Manet, former Prime Minister Hun Sen, and the United Nations agency UNESCO to stop APSARA from causing fear and preventing any new construction or renovations in Khnat commune, which the petition says is very far from the Angkor structure.
The residents were temporarily blocked by around 20 military police and Puok district governor Sin Chanthol, who wanted only 4 to 5 people to submit the petition, but villagers refused and continued their march to the provincial hall, reaching the hall’s main entrance with their banners. One of the banners held by a community member said, “We must not allow the Apsara Authority to continue to oppress our community.”
The petition, which was accepted by Siem Reap Governor Prak Sophoan, also reads, “From this day forward, we do not recognise APSARA authority, and in addition, all of us do not allow APSARA to come manage us anymore.” Residents left the provincial hall after submitting the petition.
The Apsara Authority, in conjunction with various government ministries, have overseen the mass eviction of at least ten thousand people living in the Angkor Archaeological Park since 2022, relocating them to underdeveloped and inadequate relocation sites where families are provided little to no services or employment opportunities.
The government claims the evictions have been spurred by UNESCO and has said that UNESCO spoke of revoking the temple complex’s heritage status if park residents were allowed to remain on the site. UNESCO has claimed in response to research published by Amnesty International that it has not called for “population displacements,” but also did not acknowledge the government's actions as forced evictions.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jan 14, 2024
- Event Description
The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, and Asia Democracy Network (ADN) strongly condemn the conviction of Mongkorn ‘BusBas’ Thirakot, a 30-year-old activist and online clothing retailer from Chiang Rai.
BusBas has been sentenced to an unprecedented 50 years in prison–the longest in Thailand’s history–for his remarks on the monarchy. This marks the most severe sentence ever issued under Thailand’s draconian lèse-majesté (royal defamation) law, surpassing the previous record set in 2021 when a woman received a 43-year sentence.
Civic space in Thailand was rated as ‘repressed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor.
Our organisations express solidarity with BusBas and all pro-democracy defenders in Thailand. We call upon the Thai authorities to release activists, to repeal the lèse-majesté law, and to refrain from further undermining people’s fundamental rights and freedoms.
Suppressing Freedom of Expression
Arrested in April 2021, Bas was initially sentenced to 28 years in January for 14 counts of royal defamation for Facebook posts he made three years ago. On 18 January 2024, the Appeals Court affirmed the original conviction and added 11 more violations to his charges. For each violation, a 3-year imprisonment term was imposed. Considering the defendant’s cooperation, a one-third reduction was granted, culminating in a total of 22 years in prison under Article 112 of Thailand’s criminal code over his 27 Facebook posts. When combined with the initial 28-year sentence from the Court of First Instance, the overall sentence stands at 50 years of imprisonment.
Lèse-majesté, also known as the offence of injury to royalty, is stipulated in Article 112 of the Thai Criminal Code. This statute specifies that making defamatory, insulting, or threatening remarks about the king, queen, or regent can result in a maximum penalty of 15 years for each alleged violation.
According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, at least 262 individuals have faced charges related to lèse-majesté since 2020. This surge in legal actions coincided with unprecedented youth-led street protests wherein protest leaders openly criticised the monarchy.
‘Thailand as a State Party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) must respect and protect fundamental freedoms for all individuals. We reiterate our call to repeal Article 112 and all other laws used to curtail free speech. Likewise, we demand an immediate and unconditional release of all detainees held in prison under this act. The Thai Government must ensure a secure and supportive environment for all human rights defenders to exercise their basic freedoms as outlined in the ICCPR,’ the organisations stressed.
Overturn the Conviction
FORUM-ASIA, CIVICUS, and ADN are urging the Thai Government to overturn BusBas’ conviction. We demand the immediate release of BusBas, pro-democracy activist Arnon Nampa, and all other human rights defenders in Thailand.
In addition, we endorse the call for the abolition of the lèse-majesté law as its contents and enforcement are in conflict with international human rights standards.
In the first place, individuals exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly should never be criminalised and silenced. Laws that unfairly shield public figures from criticisms and suppress political dissent have no place in a vibrant civic space.
We call on the Government of Thailand to fulfil its international obligations by upholding the people’s right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jan 10, 2024
- Event Description
On January 10, a Myanmar military court closed to the public sentenced award-winning documentary filmmaker Shin Daewe to life in prison on trumped-up terrorism charges. Her conviction and harsh sentencing is the latest example of the Myanmar junta’s relentless persecution of the media.
Police arrested Shin Daewe, 50, on October 15 after finding her with an aerial drone. Though drones are often used by journalists, their possession is illegal in Myanmar. She was charged under Myanmar’s draconian Counterterrorism Law of 2014 – which the junta has sharpened into a tool of oppression – for “financing and abetting terrorism,” and received the maximum punishment, characteristic of the junta-controlled courts.
Speaking to local media, Shin Daewe's husband said that the police held her for almost two weeks in an unknown location before transferring her to Yangon’s Insein prison. He said that prison sources told him she appeared to have welts and bruises on her arms and stitches on her head, which suggested she was badly beaten in custody.
Other journalists have been convicted in summary trials since the junta seized power in a February 2021 coup. On September 6, 2023, a military tribunal convicted a Myanmar Now journalist on various charges including sedition and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. Military authorities arrested Sai Zaw Thaike, 40, in Rakhine State on May 26 as he covered the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha.
Like Shin Daewe, Sai Zaw Thaike was held in Insein prison and denied access to legal representation, in violation of basic international due process standards. Both journalists were sentenced by military tribunals in closed proceedings.
In violation of the right to freedom of expression, Myanmar junta members have repeatedly attacked the media for independent or critical reporting. The rights group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners reported that the military continues to wrongfully detain at least 61 journalists among the more than 19,900 people it has rounded up since the coup.
The unfair trials and cruel sentences handed down to Shin Daewe and Sai Zaw Thaike are part of a broader effort to instill fear in the junta’s critics, suppress independent coverage, and deny the reality of the military’s serious and ongoing rights violations.
The junta should immediately release Shin Daewe, Sai Zae Thaike, and others wrongfully convicted for their journalism, and allow a free media to flourish.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Jan 9, 2024
- Event Description
In a shocking turn of events, Dr. Ritu Singh, an adjunct teacher in the Department of Psychology at DU's Daulat Ram College, has been taken into custody by the Delhi Police.
The arrest follows her 125-day-long protest over alleged unfair dismissal from her teaching position. The #JusticeForDrRitu trend on social media has brought this issue to the forefront, raising questions about the administration's actions and police conduct.
The controversy dates back to Dr. Ritu Singh's tenure at Daulat Ram College, where she previously accused Principal Dr. Savita Roy of discrimination due to her Dalit identity. Driven by these allegations, Dr. Ritu engaged in a prolonged demonstration outside the college, leading to her recent arrest by the Delhi Police.
The arrest took place when Delhi Police forcibly removed Dr. Ritu and her supporters from the protest site, citing the lack of permission for the demonstration. The incident, caught on video, has triggered widespread condemnation on social media, with users expressing solidarity using the hashtag #JusticeForDrRitu.
The ongoing dispute between Dr. Ritu and Principal Dr. Savita Roy centers around accusations of unprofessional conduct in the classroom. Dr. Ritu claims that she was unfairly dismissed due to her Dalit background, alleging that the principal never allowed certain students named by her to attend her classes.
In contrast, Dr. Roy asserts that Dr. Ritu engaged in disruptive behavior during lectures, leading to student dissatisfaction. The matter is currently sub judice.
Social media platforms are flooded with posts denouncing the actions of Delhi Police and questioning the fairness of Dr. Ritu's arrest. Users are sharing videos and testimonials, including one from a tribal army veteran, illustrating the alleged high-handedness of the police in handling the situation.
The arrest has sparked outrage among netizens, with many accusing the police of authoritarianism and illegal detainment. Youth from various walks of life are rallying behind Dr. Ritu Singh, demanding transparency, justice, and accountability from both Delhi University and the police force.
As #JusticeForDrRitu continues to trend on social media, the case is now under intense public scrutiny. The incident raises broader questions about academic freedom, the treatment of Dalit individuals, and the role of law enforcement in handling peaceful protests.
The battle for justice for Dr. Ritu Singh unfolds amidst a growing chorus of voices seeking accountability and fairness in the face of perceived injustice.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Academic, Minority rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jan 9, 2024
- Event Description
Local sources have reported that the Taliban detained Jawid Noorzad Kakar, the deputy of student affairs at the Roshan Afghanistan Online University (RAOU) in Kabul.
Sources confirmed to the Hasht-e Subh Daily on Sunday, January 14, that Taliban intelligence forces apprehended him in Kabul five days ago and transferred him to an undisclosed location.
According to sources, the Taliban detained Kakar due to his involvement with the “Roshan Afghanistan Online University (RAOU).”
Established on December 20, 2022, in response to the Taliban’s ban on girls’ education, “Roshan Afghanistan Online University (RAOU)” has since provided online education to several girls.
Efforts by Kakar’s colleagues and family to determine his fate have, so far, yielded no results.
The Taliban have not issued any statement on this matter.
It’s worth noting that, in addition to continuing their restrictions on women and girls, including closing the doors of education to girls above the sixth grade, the Taliban closed university gates to women and girls on December 20 of last year.
The Taliban’s persistent prohibition on women and girls’ education, study, and work has consistently generated widespread domestic and international reactions. However, the group has not yet responded positively to these reactions and demands.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 8, 2024
- Event Description
Ratanakiri Provincial Court has sentenced Theng Savoeun, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community (CCFC), and two associates, Nhel Pheap and Thann Hach, to five years jail for “plotting and incitement”. However, the sentences have been suspended, according to court spokesperson Keo Pheakdey.
Pheakdey, also a deputy prosecutor at the court, said apart from the suspension of the sentence, there was no imposition of fines, adding that the court would give detailed verdicts for each individual later.
“I can tell you that they [Theng Savoeun and his colleagues] were sentenced by the court to five years jail, but their sentences were suspended with no fine for the crime,” he said.
In a quick response, Savoeun said the judgment was “unfair to him”, stating that he would file an appeal against the decision.
“As one of the victims, I will file an appeal with the Tbong Khmum Appeal Court against the verdict of the Ratanakiri Provincial Court,” he said. “The sentence is unfair to all of us because we have no purpose or intention to plot and incite, or cause serious social chaos. We work professionally and abide by the laws of the country.”
On May 18, 2023, Savoeun and 16 other CCFC members were arrested by Kratie provincial police at the behest of the Ratanakiri provincial police.
Nhem Sam Oeun, Ratanakiri governor, previously said Savoeun and his group were arrested for carrying out “suspicious” work in the province. Fourteen individuals were released, but three – Savoeun, Pheap, and Hach – were taken to the Ratanakiri Provincial Court.
Am Sam Ath, LICADHO operations director, who provided lawyers for the defendants, described the decision as a pressure on civil society organizations, adding that while the jail term has been suspended, Savoeun still remained under the court’s pressure.
Expressing frustration over the decision, Sam Ath felt that the government “should stop using the judiciary to place pressure on civil societies, which undermined their right to freedom of expression”.
“This is a pressure on civil society leaders, especially Savoeun, Pheap and Hach,” he remarked. If one were to look at them, one would see that they are working for the people, for the benefit of farmers. Therefore, there is no crime, and there should be no accusations against them, he said. “It’s [the verdict] a bad message for civil society. Even though the sentence was suspended, he [Savoeun] has still been convicted.”
He said the “pressure from the judiciary” also affects the activities of other civil society organizations. The government should drop any charges against civil societies “in whatever form” so that they can do their job transparently and independently.
On May 22, the Ratanakiri Provincial Court placed Savoeun, Pheap and Hach under pre-trial detention on two charges.
The arrests were made after a CCFC training session, attended by 39 staff members, from May 14 to 17 in Ratanakiri. Following the program on May 17, the participants who were heading back to Phnom Penh had their bus stopped by Kratie provincial authorities, allegedly upon the request of the Ratanakiri provincial authorities.
However, the Ratanakiri court released Savoeun, Pheap and Hach on bail. Later, Savoeun posted a message on his Facebook page which read, “Returning with both responsibility and additional obligations.”
The release by the court occurred after Savoeun issued a letter and video “acknowledging his guilt” on the alleged charge of conducting a “peasant revolution.”
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: three NGO staff interrogated, arrested
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Jan 6, 2024
- Event Description
Editor at https://eparinews.com/ , Bijay Rana, was attacked while reporting in Baglung on January 6. Baglung lies in Gandaki Province of Nepal.
According to Freedom Forum’s representative from Gandaki Province, Rajan Pokhrel, police persons severely beat Rana while reporting at Baglung Festival. They also seized his mobile phone.
FF also talked to a fellow journalist Taranath Acharya. Journalist Acharya shared with Freedom Forum that on January 6, journalist Rana was taking video of police persons baton-charging public after the festival was over at around 9:30 pm. Meanwhile, they tried to attack journalist Rana. However, Rana's display of identity card as a journalist minimized the hostility.
“The main police officer seized Rana’s mobile and beat him severely. Due to attack, Rana got deep bruises on his left hand and body parts. He received treatment in Dhaulagiri hospital and is under medication at his home today (January 7). Police have not returned his mobile phone either. We demand action against the police officer assaulting journalist on duty”, said journalist Acharya.
Freedom Forum condemns the brutal attack on a journalist while covering news. It is an absolute violation of press freedom. Police persons attacking the public and journalist instead of providing security during the public event is deplorable. FF demands appropriate action against the police officer for such atrocity. The police must return journalist's digital gadget. FF strongly urges security organization to instruct its staffs to respect journalists' rights and safety.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 5, 2024
- Event Description
On 5 January 2024, Chinese investigative journalist Shangguan Yunkai was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined 380,000 Chinese yuan (around 50,000 euros) by court, in China’s central city of Ezhou, on five charges, including "picking quarrels and provoking trouble” as well as “selling fake medicines”.
Known for his investigations on the corruption of Chinese officials, Shangguan was detained on 20 April 2023. He had just published a report in a series of articles in which he revealed the wrongdoings of several officials and law enforcement in the city of Ezhou.
“This incredibly severe sentence, based on obviously trumped-up charges, clearly comes as a retribution against Shangguan Yunkai’s investigations on corruption. We urge the international community to build up pressure on the Chinese authorities to secure his release alongside all other journalists and press freedom defenders detained in the country.
Cedric Alviani RSF Asia-Pacific Bureau Director Shangguan, who is a former leading reporter of the state-run newspaper Legal Daily, in recent years ran several groups on WeChat, the leading social media in China, in which he shared evidence of hundreds of officials' and criminals’ violations of discipline and law. In the 1990s, his investigations had already revealed the corrupt practices of Xu Penghang, then vice-governor of Hubei province, in central China, and contributed to the official's dismissal.
Since 2012, in line with Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s crusade against the right to information, the Beijing’s regime has stepped up its crackdown on investigative journalists, such as Huang Qi, a seasoned Chinese journalist and the founder of independent media 64 Tianwang sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2019 for “leaking state secrets'' and “providing state secrets abroad”, as well as Huang Xueqin, a figure of China’s #MeToo movement, who has been detained since September 2021 and who faces a 15 years jail sentence for “inciting subversion of state power”.
Ranked 179th out of 180 countries and territories in the 2023 RSF World Press Freedom Index, China is the world's largest jailer of journalists and press freedom defenders, with at least 121 currently detained.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 5, 2024
- Event Description
The Cambodian authorities should drop all charges against Ny Nak, an outspoken critic of the government who was arrested on January 5, 2024, in response to comments he posted on Facebook, and immediately release him, Human Rights Watch said today. Nak is being held in pretrial detention on politically motivated charges of incitement to discriminate and criminal defamation concerning his criticism of Cambodian Minister of Labor Heng Sour.
“Cambodia’s new government has picked up where the previous government left off in its persecution of government critics,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should respect the right to free expression and immediately and unconditionally release Ny Nak.”
Nak said that his recent arrest is related to comments he made on December 17, 2023 on his Facebook page, in which he referenced the government’s decision to grant 91 hectares of land in Kampot province to the labor minister. He had written: “What achievements has Heng Sour done for the Khmer nation, that the government gave him forest land as his personal property? RIP Khmer forests.”
Nak is well-known for his criticism of the previous government of Prime Minister Hun Sen. He served 18 months in prison on charges of incitement to discrimination and public insult for a satirical post that the authorities alleged was an offense for mocking a speech by Hun Sen. He was released in June 2023 after he completed his sentence.
Human Rights Watch previously reported on an assault against Nak on September 12, 2023 when men with metal batons viciously attacked him and his wife in broad daylight in Phnom Penh. He was hospitalized with serious wounds to his head and extremities. Nak alleged that two days before the attack, on the evening of September 10, members of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party approached him to join their party and warned him to not be so publicly critical of the government. The authorities failed to seriously investigate the attack or to make progress in identifying those responsible.
Sok Synet, Nak’s wife, posted on Facebook on January 13 that her husband’s health is “now weak. He has headaches, dizziness, and itchy hands and feet.”
The attack shared similarities with assaults reported earlier in 2023 against members of the opposition Candlelight Party, which the authorities also never seriously investigated.
“Prime Minister Hun Manet is continuing down the same rights-abusing path as his father, and outspoken dissidents like Ny Nak will bear the brunt of that abuse,” Robertson said. “Cambodia’s aid and trade partners should ensure that their future engagement with the government is based on tangible and systematic improvements in human rights.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Jan 5, 2024
- Event Description
The Police dragged away the president of the Vavuniya Association of Relatives of the Enforced Disappeared (ARED) Sivananthan Jenita and Meera Jasmine Charlesnise.
The activists were protesting in Vavuniya with the families of the disappeared when the Police arrived and ordered them to leave.
A heated exchange of words took place between the activists and the Police.
The Police later dragged the two activists into a Police a bus.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe was on a visit to the North for meetings which was also attended by members of the Illangai Tamil Arasu Katchi.
Tamil families of the disappeared have been protesting for approximately 5 years continuously, demanding justice and accountability for their disappeared family members. This particular protest was held outside the Vavuniya Municiple Council, where President, Ranil Wickremesinghe was attending a meeting. The two activist family members were arrested from the protest, by the Police.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Jan 5, 2024
- Event Description
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.”
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jan 5, 2024
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jan 4, 2024
- Event Description
Altermidya takes strong exception to Undersecretary Paul Gutierrez’s accusation and red-tagging of our member, Ms. Frenchie Mae Cumpio.
In his January 4 “Paul’s Alarm” column on JournalnewsOnline, the Presidential Task Force On Media Security (PTFOMS) executive director wrote, “Nais din niyang (United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion Irene Khan) malaman ang sitwasyon ni Franchie (sic) Mae Cumpio, na kasalukuyang naka-detine sa Palo Provincial Jail sa Leyte dahil sa aktibo nitong papel sa lokal na teroristang grupo ng mga komunista.”
This is exactly what we mean by red-tagging: a senior government official linking civilians to alleged communist groups without proof. May we remind Mr. Gutierrez that Ms. Cumpio is contesting the charges filed against her in court and has yet to be convicted. There is absolutely no point for anyone, more so a high government official, to forget that “everyone is innocent until proven in a court of law.”
Ironically, Mr. Gutierrez’s column was about the arrival of Ms. Khan who is set to visit the country in an official visit starting next week. Much of the highlight of our submissions to the UNSR office contains precisely this kind of wanton and mindless vilification, harassment and intimidation of journalists. It is exactly this kind of information that we wish Ms. Khan would closely look into in her investigation into the Philippine situation.
In his column, Mr. Gutierrez declared that he is ready for the challenge of Ms. Khan’s visit. We think not. If he bothered to carefully prepare for the visit, he would have surely found out that Frenchie Mae was an active broadcaster with MBC’s Aksyon Radyo in Leyte at the time of her arrest with several other human rights defenders on February 2020. She is the executive editor of alternative media outfit Eastern Vista and a former editor of the University of the Philippines-Tacloban Vista student publication. She was also manager-in-training of the Radyo Taclobanon, a women-led disaster resiliency community radio station project in Supertyphoon Yolanda-hit Eastern Visayas. Indeed, she is the very Frenchie Mae Cumpio mentioned in laureate Maria Ressa’s Nobel Peace Prize speech.
The statement of USec Guiterrez highlights the urgency of our appeal to Ms Khan to conduct a thorough investigation on the continued vilification of journalists, affecting the exercise of press freedom and the people’s right to know.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Jan 3, 2024
- Event Description
Three activists from the Wake Up, Kazakhstan movement were arrested in Almaty on January 3 after they held a protest against the jailing on December 16 of three of their colleagues who had called for the commemoration of victims of the 1986 Kazakh youth uprising against the Kremlin and January 2022 anti-government protests. The activists detained on January 3 have been charged with holding an "illegal action." The December 16 protesters were sentenced to 25 days in jail. Their appeal of the case was rejected by the Almaty City Court.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jan 3, 2024
- Event Description
In a recent development in the Ghor province, the Taliban have reportedly detained the chief of a private radio station, Abdul Salam Samim, for broadcasting messages from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
According to reliable local sources speaking to the Hasht-e Subh Daily on Friday, January 5th, Samim, the head of Radio Seda-ye Adalat (Voice of Justice Radio), spent a night in Taliban custody two days ago.
The reason behind his arrest, as confirmed by one source, was the dissemination of UNAMA messages through the radio station’s Facebook page.
The UNAMA messages, initially shared with local Ghor media for publication but later removed, underscored the significance of an educated population for a country’s prosperity. It emphasized education as a vital investment in a nation’s development, advocating for a fair and inclusive education system where both boys and girls can learn.
Interestingly, several other media outlets in Ghor also published and subsequently deleted these messages.
As of now, the Taliban in Ghor have not provided any comments on this incident.
The UNAMA, when contacted regarding the matter, has not issued any statements or indicated a potential request for the dissemination of these messages through Ghor media.
However, during a conversation with Hasht-e Subh Daily, a UNAMA employee mentioned that the organization has not been involved in specific projects, especially those related to disseminating awareness messages to local media, over the past two years.
This development is noteworthy given the broader context of the Taliban’s stringent restrictions on media outlets and journalists across the country since their takeover.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Jan 1, 2024
- Event Description
Reporter to https://www.kapurinews.com/ Rashmi Pradhan was manhandled while reporting on January 1 in Sunsari. Sunsari lies in Koshi Province of Nepal.
According to reporter Pradhan, she was reporting on the ongoing preparations for Dharan Day at a public school using her mobile phone.
“I heard public dispute at the place and tried to report on it. But, Dharan Sub metropolitan executive member BIkash Bhati abused me and seized my mobile. Another person named Ratan Limbu also threatened of attack stating it was their personal issue”, she shared.
"Although I told them that I did not record any video but they did not listen to me", she added. Later, they returned her mobile.
Reporter Pradhan has filed a complaint at the Area Police Office, Sunsari on January 2.
Evidently, it was a public issue and dispute occurred at public place, so it deserved to be reported.
Freedom Forum condemns the incident. Abusing a journalist and seizing his/ her reporting device is a sheer violation of press freedom. The local authority is strongly urged to apologize for his misbehavior towards a working journalist. The investigating authority is further urged to fairly investigate the case to help ensure safe atmosphere for reporting.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Dec 31, 2023
- Event Description
A Source within the Unity and Solidarity Women’s Movement in Kunduz Province has revealed the distressing news of a recent suicide within their ranks.
Speaking on the evening of Friday, January 5th, the source informed Hasht-e Subh Daily that the deceased member, identified as Bibi Gul Mohammadi, was laid to rest last Sunday.
Bibi Gul, a participant in a street protest, was detained by the Taliban in Kunduz in late September 2021. During her harrowing two-day captivity, she endured torture, as disclosed by the source.
Upon her release, Bibi Gul faced escalating pressure and restrictions from her family, which included being prohibited from communicating with her friends, according to the source.
The 21-year-old aspiring university student found herself on the brink of taking her entrance exams when the Taliban assumed control of Afghanistan, thwarting her educational aspirations.
Simultaneously, there are reports highlighting the dire economic situation of Bibi Gul, which, coupled with family issues and Taliban restrictions, contributed to her tragic decision to end her life.
A member of the Unity and Solidarity Women’s Movement in Kunduz lamented that Bibi Gul’s case is not isolated, emphasizing that the Taliban has systematically imprisoned and tortured numerous girls, leaving them to grapple with severe psychological issues.
Despite efforts, Hasht-e Subh Daily was unsuccessful in establishing contact with the family of the deceased protester.
It is crucial to note that the confluence of poverty, domestic violence, and the myriad restrictions imposed by the Taliban on women and girls has left them vulnerable to psychological harm, leading to instances of suicide. As of now, the Taliban has refrained from commenting on this tragic incident.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Death
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Dec 31, 2023
- Event Description
Thai police have arrested two suspects in an attack near Bangkok of a Cambodian activist who has been leading civic workshops for Cambodian workers living in Thailand.
Srun Srorn and a co-worker were physically assaulted by unidentified men at a Buddhist temple in Thailand’s Samut Prakan province on Sunday, he told Radio Free Asia.
Srun Srorn said he was in the province for a workshop on Cambodia’s 1991 Paris Peace Agreement, which formally ended decades of war in the country and paved the way for parliamentary democracy in the country.
The attack came two days after Thai authorities raided another workshop given by Srun Srorn in Bangkok. The workshop – also about the Paris Peace Agreement – was attended by 30 Cambodian migrant workers and political asylum seekers on Dec. 29.
Immigration police arrested 10 Cambodians at that workshop who they accused of illegally staying in Thailand.
All 10 have refugee or asylum status from the United Nations refugee agency, or UNHCR, that gives them legal protection in Thailand, according to one of the arrestees, activist So Metta. Seven of the 10 are still being detained, activists told RFA.
Srun Srorn said the assault on Sunday left him with a cut on his head. Police phoned him on Tuesday to say that two arrested suspects had confessed to the attack, he said.
The officer added that the suspects said the assault wasn’t related to the workshop – they were angry over an argument that took place at a nearby restroom more than four hours earlier, Srun Srorn said.
An investigator at Phra Samut Chedi police station, south of Bangkok, told RFA on Wednesday that the attackers were two Thai men in their 30s or early 40s who turned themselves in on Tuesday.
“They were charged with physical assault. They hit him with a baton and kicked him as well,” police Capt. Suwit Pudonnang said.
Livestream dispute
The argument apparently started over Srun Srorn’s broadcast of a live video. Suwit Pudonnang said the two suspects told police they felt “repulsed” as Srun Srorn stared at them while doing the livestream.
“They hit him just once but were chased away, outnumbered by the Cambodians,” he said.
Srun Srorn said he was skeptical of that explanation. He said police sent him photos of the suspects, and the men looked like the attackers who he said had been following him since the Dec. 29 workshop.
“Why did they have a car waiting for them? Why did they have a gun and sticks?” he said to RFA.
“I noticed before that they were following me, but I thought they were Thai police officers who were just watching my activities,” he said. “I did not expect them to assault us like this. I don’t know what their nationalities were because when they attacked us they did not speak at all.”
Several Cambodians have said they were attacked in public in Thailand in 2023 because of their activism.
Dozens of pro-democracy Cambodian activists have fled to Thailand to seek asylum in recent years as the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, or CPP, has used intimidation and the courts to neutralize the political opposition. Thailand is also host to more than 1 million Cambodian migrant workers.
The arrests at the Dec. 29 workshop were made several days after nine minor political parties and 15 NGOs aligned with the CPP urged Thai authorities to monitor opposition activists in Thailand.
The workshops are part of efforts to educate Cambodians about the development of democracy in the country.
They come almost six months after a general election was held in which the main opposition Candlelight Party wasn’t allowed to field candidates because of a paperwork technicality. With no real competition, CPP candidates won 120 of 125 seats in the National Assembly.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 30, 2023
- Event Description
A dissident writer from the southwestern Chinese megacity of Chongqing, who pledged allegiance to the 1911 Republic of China government in Taiwan in protest at local police, was recently detained for 15 days in a local detention center, Radio Free Asia has learned.
Liu Ermu, who has been a long-time critic of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, vowed last August to switch allegiance to the government of democratic Taiwan if a court didn't decide in his favor in an administrative lawsuit he filed against police.
Taiwan, which recently saw a Democratic Progressive Party president elected for an unprecedented third consecutive term, has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party, nor formed part of the People's Republic of China, although Beijing claims the island as its own.
It has been governed as a sovereign state called the Republic of China since the Kuomintang government fled to the island after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong's communists on the mainland in 1949.
Liu made the pledge after the Xiushan County People's Court rejected his complaint about the police handling of a workplace dispute, which they characterized as a "fight," while Liu insisted he was acting in self-defense.
"I felt I was being persecuted in China," he said. "It felt as if the law was unable to protect me under this government, so I openly pledged my allegiance to the Republic of China government."
"The territory [claimed by] the Republic of China includes mainland China," Liu said.
Liu was placed under administrative detention on Dec. 30, ahead of the Jan. 13 presidential and legislative elections in Taiwan.
"Three policemen came and handed a summons directly to my wife, then activated a 15-day sentence suspended in 2021, and took me to the Youyang county police department," he told RFA following his release.
"My guess is that they mostly wanted a way to keep control of me before voting began in the Taiwan elections," he said.
‘Longing’ for democracy
Liu said he made the pledge to draw attention to Taiwan's democratic system.
Taiwan was ruled as a Japanese colony in the 50 years prior to the end of World War II, but was handed back to the 1911 Republic of China under the Kuomintang government as part of Tokyo's post-war reparation deal.
The island began a transition to democracy following the death of Chiang Kai-shek's son, President Chiang Ching-kuo, in January 1988, starting with direct elections to the legislature in the early 1990s and culminating in the first direct election of a president, Lee Teng-hui, in 1996.
"Based on my long-term observation of Taiwan, I have a longing for a political system like that in the Republic of China," Liu said. "One that's full of freedom, justice and the rule of law.”
"I said publicly on Douyin that if the appeal verdict was also unjust, I would choose to be loyal to the government of the Republic of China," he said. "The state security police contacted me many times to ask me not to do this."
But a person familiar with the case who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals said Beijing would see such a pledge as subversive.
"Pledging allegiance to the Republic of China while living in the People's Republic of China isn't an option," the person said. "[An action like that] at the very worst could be regarded as subversion of state power, and at best as picking quarrels and stirring up trouble."
China Pan-Blue Alliance
The 1911 Republic of China officially lays claim to the whole of mainland China, the whole of the independent country of Mongolia, along with parts of Myanmar, India, Russia, Tajikistan and Afghanistan, although the current government is largely focused on holding onto the islands it does control – Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu – in the face of Beijing’s territorial claims.
Support for Taiwan among Chinese dissidents isn't unheard of, however.
In 2006, state security police cracked down on a group of activists known as the China Pan-Blue Alliance, in a reference to the “blue camp” group of parties led by the Kuomintang in Taiwan, after they tried to field candidates in elections to district People's Congresses in a number of locations across the country.
Alliance members in the northern province of Hebei and in the eastern province of Jiangsu taken in for questioning by police, as well as the group's founder, Wuhan-based Sun Bu'er.
Police told them they were an "illegal organization," and “monkeys” that wouldn't be allowed to "create havoc in Heaven," a reference to the Monkey King Sun Wukong, a key figure in Chinese mythology.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Dec 29, 2023
- Event Description
Thai authorities arrested 10 Cambodian refugees while attending the Paris Peace Agreement course in Bangkok on December 29, with seven of them being held at Suan Plu Immigration Detention Center while awaiting intervention by the UNHCR. Three others were released the next day.
On December 29, Srun Srorn and Pheng Sophea, known for their Paris Peace Agreement activism, conducted a training in Bangkok where some 40 participants attended. They include Cambodian workers in Thailand, activists of the now-defunct CNRP, Candlelight Party supporters, youths, and Khmer Krom refugees.
Around 11 a.m that day, local Thai police appeared at the training to check legal documents, like passports, as well as the information that was being shared. However, they arrested 10 people who held the ID cards provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Khem Mony Kosal, a Candlelight Party official who fled to Thailand and is a member of the Thai Refugee Coordinating Committee, told CamboJA that those arrested were taken to the immigration detention center but are safe as they wait for a resolution by the UNHCR in Thailand. The detainees possess temporary residency permits as refugees.
Morgane Roussel-Hemery, a representative of UNHCR, did not respond to questions via email in time for the publication as he is away until January 8.
The seven refugees detained by Thai authorities consist of So Meta, a Khmer Students Intelligent League Association member, and two of her relatives, and Sam Sokha, who once threw a shoe at billboard featuring a picture of former Prime Minister Hun Sen, as well as social activists Thon Chantha, Ly Chhuon and Kim Thylery.
Speaking to CamboJA, So Meta confirmed that 10 people were arrested on December 29, but three were released on December 30, after police checked their documents.
“I was arrested by the Thai authorities and they kept us for three nights and three days,” Meta said. “The authorities allowed us to talk on the phone for an hour a day from 7pm to 8pm.”
Meanwhile, Kosal believed that the reason behind their arrest was allegedly to find key Cambodian opposition political activists, as the Thai authorities sought for persons with the names Ly Meng, Khem Mony Kosal, Lim Sokha, Venerable Heng Kim Lay and Phorn Patna.
He alleged that these people are “considered by the Cambodian government” to be the “masterminds of the opposition”, allegedly collaborating with Thailand’s Move Forward Party and using Thai territory to rally against the Cambodian government. Kosal opined that the arrest was allegedly an opportunity for the Cambodian government to “persecute and arrest anti-government activists in Thailand”.
“The Move Forward Party has collaborated with the [Cambodian] opposition party in Thailand, with us as its organizers for the training course on December 2. At the time, we organized [the event] for our members only, comprising Candlelight Party [members] and children of [political] activists,” Kosal said. There were also speakers from the US, South Korea and Japan, but the Move Forward Party was not involved.
He also alleged that the arrest of the seven people was related to a “request by the Cambodian government”, although the Thai authorities have yet to send them back to Cambodia.
“When we arrived at the detention center to visit the detainees, the Thai police made it clear that the Cambodian government was the one who filed the complaint and asked for them to be sent back,” he said.
Recently, nine political parties, which are part of a coalition with the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), asked the Thai Prime Minister to monitor the activities of the Move Forward Party, claiming that the latter has supported and trained Cambodian opposition activists who are refugees in Thailand.
Cambodian government spokesman Pen Bona declined to comment.
Srun Srorn, a Paris Peace Agreement activist, charged that the training organized by his team was not illegal as it was meant to share information with workers in Thailand.
“The Thai authorities arrested the people not because we came to study the Paris Peace Agreement but because they accused them of creating an overseas movement to overthrow the Cambodian government and for possessing illegal passports,” he said.
His team was not detained and continued to train Cambodian workers in Thailand regarding the Paris Peace Agreement after the arrest, he mentioned, adding that the Thai police released the three people as they did not break any laws.
However, during his stay in Thailand for the training session in Samut Prakan province on December 31, he and his colleague Pheng Sophea were beaten by a group of men, suffering head injuries.
He related that the unknown people also pulled out a gun and threatened to shoot him, but shouts by the participants, the Cambodian workers, resulted in the men leaving the scene immediately.
“I don’t have any enemies, therefore I believe they [the attackers] intended to [only] intimidate me rather than physically attack me,” he said. “Based on the injuries, if they wanted to kill me, they could have but they didn’t as it happened in public.”
Leung Sophon, a central official based in Thailand, told CamboJA that he has not received any clear information about why the Thai police went to check the documents of the participants and detain them. According to him, they have to be careful when conducting or participating in these training sessions.
“Whatever we do, we are careful, because whether we are Thais or Cambodians, gatherings or meetings about politics are very sensitive [issues],” he said. “In some places, we meet without the permission of the owner or the venue is not right, so it is not appropriate for us to do that.”
Ex-premier Hun Sen has previously said he is “not afraid to arrest anyone, even in Thai territory”.
He also reminded that the Cambodian and Thai governments have signed a memorandum of understanding to repatriate prisoners, noting that Thai authorities had sent several political refugees back to Cambodia in the past.
Since the dissolution of the CNRP party in 2017, many of their activists have fled to Thailand due to political restrictions and persecutions by the Cambodian authorities.
The Cambodian embassy in Bangkok and Thailand embassy in Phnom Penh did not respond to questions via email while Ministry of Interior spokesperson Khieu Sopheak and Keo Vannthan, spokesperson of the General Department of Immigration, could not be reached for comment.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Dec 29, 2023
- Event Description
The Almaty City Court on December 29 rejected appeals filed by activists Bota Sharipzhan and Ravkhat Mukhtarov of the Oyan Qazaqstan (Wake Up, Kazakhstan) movement against their incarceration. The activists were sentenced to 15 days in jail each earlier this week on a charge of violating regulations for public gatherings. On December 16, Kazakhstan’s Independence Day, Sharipzhan, Mukhtarov, and several other activists rallied in Almaty with posters calling for the commemoration of victims of the 1986 Kazakh youth uprising against the Kremlin and the January 2022 anti-government protests. Several activists were handed up to 25 days in jail before and after Independence Day.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Dec 29, 2023
- Event Description
Police in Hanoi have detained a former member of a YouTube channel on which videos about those who had suffered injustices were posted, his wife told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday.
Authorities apprehended Phan Van Bach, a former member of the CHTV channel, an independent television channel on YouTube specializing in social injustice issues, from his home in the capital’s Dong Da district on Dec. 29. They have held him for five days without informing his family, his spouse Nguyen Thi Lieu said.
Bach, 48, was involved in the channel from 2017 to 2019, according to Vu Manh Tuan, another CHTV member who now lives in Nha Trang city.
“Bach did not focus on any particular subjects,” he told RFA. “He used to conduct talks in an improvisational way. He used to talk about the bad things of the regime and society. Then, Bach announced he was quitting CHTV.”
It is common for security forces in the one-party communist state to detain activists for days of interrogation before publicly disclosing their arrest warrants and charges.
Lieu said her husband was home alone at the time of his arrest, and before leaving with authorities, gave his house keys to a police officer in charge of the residential area to hand over to his family.
That officer told Lieu that city police searched their home but confiscated nothing.
“The neighborhood police officer said that my husband had been ‘invited’ to a meeting by the city police,” Lieu said. “I went there [to city police headquarters] the next day to ask about my husband, but the staff said I’d better just leave my phone number, and their agency would contact me later.”
As of Tuesday, the family had not received any updates from police.
No word
During the past few days, Lieu dropped by city police headquarters multiple times only to receive the same response. She said she didn’t know why police were still holding her husband.
“Previously, they summoned him for meetings several times but let him return home on the same day,” she said. “However, this time [is different].”
RFA could not reach the neighborhood police officer for comment.
A staffer at the Hanoi police hotline said the service did not have information about Bach’s detention.
Bach participated in several peaceful demonstrations in Hanoi, including protests against China’s aggressive activities in the South China Sea since 2011, tree cutting in 2015, and the environmental disaster caused by a toxic waste spill that affected Vietnam’s central coastal area in 2016.
He also spoke up against government crackdowns on political dissidents, supported people facing injustice via Facebook, and took part in campaigns demanding the release of detained activists.
Founded by prisoner of conscience Vu Quang Thuan, CHTV covered hot-button socioeconomic issues in Vietnam.
Thuan along with members Le Van Dung and Le Trong Hung are in prison on charges of disseminating anti-state propaganda because of their involvement in CHTV.
Former CHTV member Tuan said police also summoned and questioned him about the YouTube channel, but released him the same day.
When visiting friends and some activists in the Central Highland province of Lam Dong in late December 2018, Bach was injured during a beating by local security forces, and then forced to return to Hanoi, said activist Pham The Luc.
In recent years, Bach worked with a company that sends Vietnamese people abroad as guest workers, according to information on his Facebook account.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 29, 2023
- Event Description
On December 29, Qin Yongpei, a prominent Christian human rights lawyer from Guangxi, China, appealed his case, he was charged with “inciting subversion of state power.” Guangxi Higher People’s Court upheld his five-year prison sentence from the court of the first instance. The lawyer’s defense was not accepted at all.
“This is the maximum sentence that can be found for this crime,” Qin Yongpei’s defense lawyer Cheng Hai said. Qin Yongpei’s sentence is until October 30, 2024.
Lawyer Cheng Hai expressed: As a defendant who is not pleading guilty or with the opinion that the sentence is excessive, he was completely ignored; it is very regretful. Qin Yongpei’s wife, Deng Xiaoyun, has not made any further comments on the case. This may be related to previous warnings received from the police.
The court’s so-called criminal charges against him primarily stem from Qin Yongpei expressing dissatisfaction and criticism on widely-used Chinese social media platforms like WeChat and Twitter (now referred to as X). These expressions include opinions on pervasive corruption of government officials, lack of freedom of speech, as well as dissatisfaction and criticism of authoritarianism. He also shared complaints regarding illegal circumstances surrounding public security, procuratorial, and judicial personnel while processing his case.
Qin Yongpei exercised his freedom of speech granted by the law and his legitimate right to supervise and criticize. However, he was unlawfully treated as a criminal. Chinese judicial officials knowingly prosecuted him despite his innocence, engaging in a miscarriage of justice for personal gain.
Lawyer Qin Yongpei has been practicing law for over a decade, representing cases involving illegal administrative detention, industrial pollution, forced demolitions, and wrongful convictions. He is the founder of the Guangxi Baijuming Law Firm, where several human rights lawyers in Guangxi have worked. In the nationwide “709 Crackdown” in 2015, he was briefly taken for interrogation and ultimately had his lawyer license revoked.
After the incident, Qin Yongpei initiated a rights defense lawyer alliance called the “Disbarred Chinese Lawyers Club.” However, Beijing authorities deemed it an illegal organization. Lawyer Qin publicly offered rewards to collect evidence of crimes by the heads of the judicial department and public security bureau of Guangxi. He also publicly accused the former Minister of Justice, Fu Zhenghua. Qin frequently commented on national policies and actions on online platforms, including instances of officials abusing power and violating human rights. Due to his online criticisms of the government, several of his social media accounts were closed.
On October 31, 2019, Qin Yongpei was arrested by the local police in Nanning City, China, and subsequently held in prolonged detention. In March of the following year, the Guangxi Nanning Intermediate People’s Court sentenced human rights lawyer Qin Yongpei to 5 years in prison for the charge of “inciting subversion of state power” and deprived him of political rights for 3 years.
During Qin Yongpei’s detention, his wife Deng Xiaoyun, and their family from April 14 to 16, 2020 were subjected to harassment from the police. When his elderly mother passed away, Qin Yongpei was not allowed to attend the funeral, causing him to have an emotional breakdown.
Currently, he is being held at the second detention center of the Guangxi Autonomous Region. Unless there are outstanding circumstances, he will be transferred to prison and will stay there until his release.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Dec 28, 2023
- Event Description
The Bishkek City Court on December 28 rejected appeals against prolonging the detention of 11 jailed Kyrgyz politicians, journalists, and activists who are on trial along with other 16 people who are under house arrest over their protest last year against a Kyrgyz-Uzbek border delimitation deal. In late November, a lower court extended their detention until at least January 29. The activists were arrested in October 2022 after they protested against the controversial Kyrgyz-Uzbek border demarcation deal, which saw Kyrgyzstan hand over the territory of the Kempir-Abad water reservoir to Uzbekistan in November 2022.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Dec 28, 2023
- Event Description
Facing royal defamation charges for singing a modified version of the royal anthem at a protest in January 2021, Chaiamorn “Ammy” Kaewwiboonpan, lead singer of The Bottom Blues pop band, was recently acquitted. However, another activist charged because of the protest, Promsorn, was sentenced to 2 years in prison without parole before being granted bail.
According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights and iLaw, on 28 December, the Thanyaburi Provincial Court in Pathum Thani Province delivered its verdict in the royal defamation cases against Chaiamorn “Ammy” Kaewwiboonpan, lead singer of The Bottom Blues band, and political activist Promson “Fah” Veerathamjaree.
Both were charged with royal defamation after protesting in front of the Thanyaburi Provincial Court in January 2021 to demand the release of student activist Sirichai Natueng, who was arrested on 13 January 2021 for spray-painting on portraits of royal family members.
The indictment stated that both sang modified versions of the royal anthem Sadudee Jom Racha.
In addition to royal defamation, they were charged with violating the Communicable Disease Act, the Emergency Decree, and the Sound Amplifier Act.
The court dismissed the Communicable Disease Act charge as the two were not protest organisers. Promsorn pleaded guilty to charges related to royal defamation and using a sound amplifier without permission. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison for royal defamation and fined 200 baht for using a sound amplifier without permission. Due to his guilty plea, his sentence was reduced to 2 years in prison and a 100 baht fine.
Subsequently, Promsorn was granted provisional release without conditions after posting a 300,000 baht as security.
The court dismissed the royal defamation charge against Chaiamorn, stating that there was no clear evidence to prove his intent to commit the offence. However, he was fined 200 baht for using a sound amplifier without permission.
Chaiamorn still faces another royal defamation charge for burning a portrait of the King in front of Klong Prem Center prison on 28 February 2021. Meanwhile, Promsorn has a total of 5 charges under a royal defamation law.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Dec 28, 2023
- Event Description
An ethnic Hmong preacher and human rights activist released on bail from Bangkok’s Immigration Detention Center said a Vietnamese official threatened him when he refused to return to Vietnam, where he would likely face persecution.
Lu A Da, who was arrested and detained at the center in December on the charge of illegally entering and residing in Thailand, told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday that an official named Hai from the Vietnamese Embassy visited him at the facility on Dec. 28, where he issued the threat.
The case is an example of Vietnamese authorities harassing ethnic Hmong – many of whom are Christians – for their beliefs. In Vietnam, the minority group often faces social exclusion, discrimination and even attacks.
When the two of them met, Hai said that he would complete documents to send Lu home prior to the Lunar New Year, Lu said. But when Lu did not agree to return to Vietnam, Hai threatened to harm his relatives.
“He learned that I am an activist, so he said to me, ‘You are in Thailand, so you can do whatever you like, but you should think about your relatives in Vietnam.’” Lu said. “Hai used my relatives in Vietnam as a threat for me to not [engage in] activism.”
Lu said he did not know Hai’s position at the embassy, but that Hai and another official named Linh sometimes went to the Immigration Detention Center in Bangkok to work with Vietnamese detainees.
The Vietnamese Embassy in Bangkok did not respond to RFA’s email request for comment.
Arrested after denunciation
Lu, a former missionary and preacher at the Northern Evangelical Church of Vietnam and head of the Hmong Human Rights Coalition, fled Vietnam with his family in 2020 to escape ethnic and religious persecution and entered Thailand illegally to seek official refugee status.
The latter group collects evidence of the Vietnamese government’s discrimination of Hmong on issues such as language, religion, land and identification. It provides support to Hmong people so they can learn Vietnamese law through lessons given by Boat People SOS, a U.S.-based organization.
Thai police arrested Lù at his rental home in Bangkok on Dec. 7. His arrest occurred two weeks after he publicly denounced the Vietnamese government’s “systematic suppression of Hmong communities in Vietnam.”
Lu’s lawyer paid 6,000 Thai baht (US$170) to bail him out of the detention facility on Feb. 2, and the Boat People SOS provided Lu with 50,000 baht (US$1,400) in support.
The U.N. High Commission for Refugees, or UNHCR, in Thailand previously rejected Lu’s application for refugee status, but granted it to him while he was in the immigration detention facility.
Lu told RFA that because of his activism in Thailand, Vietnamese authorities have made life difficult for his brother who lives in Vietnam’s Lai Chau province.
His brother, chief of San Phang Thap commune in a village in Tam Duong district, had an opportunity to be promoted to village officer, but after Lu and his family fled to Thailand, local residents did not trust his brother, and he had to move to Quang Ninh to make a living, Lu said.
Lu said he suspects that the Thai police who arrested him may be working with officials at the Vietnamese Embassy.
Prior to his arrest, Lu appeared in a video presented during a Boat People SOS session about Hanoi’s repression of ethnic minority communities.
In the clip, Lu said Vietnamese authorities do not issue identification papers, birth certificates or marriage certificates to many Hmong. They also prevent them from accessing education, official employment and health care programs that the ethnic Kinh majority enjoys, he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Dec 27, 2023
- Event Description
Kazakhstan's Interior Ministry on December 27 added to its wanted list Dinara Smailova, the self-exiled leader of the NeMolchiKZ group, which monitors domestic violence cases in the Central Asian country. Kazakh authorities said earlier that they launched an investigation of Smailova (aka Dina Tangsari) on fraud charges. Smailova registered her group in Georgia, where she ived for some time, but after Georgia refused to allow her back in the country after an international trip earlier this year, she moved to an EU member state.
A Kazakh court on December 28 issued an arrest warrant for Dinara Smailova, the self-exiled leader of NeMolchiKZ group, which monitors domestic violence in Kazakhstan. Kazakh authorities said on December 28 that Smailova (aka Dina Tangsari) was accused of fraud, violating laws on privacy, and spreading false information. Smailova registered her group in Georgia, where she lived for some time, but after Georgia refused to allow her back in the country after an international trip earlier this year, she moved to an EU member state.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Dec 27, 2023
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Dec 26, 2023
- Event Description
A court of appeals in the western Kazakh city of Oral on December 26 rejected an appeal filed by activist Marua Eskendirova against a 25-day jail term she was handed almost two weeks before on a charge of calling on the Internet for an anti-government rally. Eskendirova has rejected the charge, arguing that she had not used the social network account where the calls in question had allegedly appeared, saying her mobile phone was stolen two years ago. Eskendirova was handed a parole-like sentence in February for having links to Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, a banned opposition group.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 25, 2023
- Event Description
Tsering Tso, 39, was arbitrarily detained on 25 December last year under the charges of ''picking quarrels and provoking troubles” following three video clips she posted on social media, calling the police interrogation at Gongri Public Security Checkpoint of Drachen (Ch: Baqing) County in Nagchu City a violation of her privacy, and her attempt to make a phone call to the government hotline service.
In one of the videos posted on 19 December 2023, she said: “Take a look at this [Drachen County] police checkpoint. I came from Yushu to go to Lhasa. They [police] asked what I was going to do there. I told what I was going to do was my right to privacy. What right do you [police] have to know? They consistently infringe on our privacy as if we have no right to privacy. He [the police] also said that the other people have no problem [with the questions]. It is their business that they don’t understand the law. I understand the law. I want to make clear that going to Lhasa is my work.”
Her detention comes only a month after she completed a 15-day administrative detention, from 26 October to 10 November 2023, in Yushu City. According to an official letter from the Yushu Public Security Bureau, shared on her WeChat account, the police claimed she posted over 17 comments from 8 to 25 October 2023 on Douyin - Chinese TikTok- criticizing the government and its staff, although content analysis by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) confirms them to be legitimate grievances and issues that the Yushu PSB has failed to address.
A former participant in the US State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program, Tsering is known to have been detained five times: in 2017 and November 2020 reported by the International Campaign for Tibet and TCHRD, on 1 November 2022, detained for ten days by the Chengguan Branch of the Lhasa Public Security Bureau, and the aforementioned detentions. She hails from Trika (Ch: Guide) County, Tsolho Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, in Amdo, eastern Tibet.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Dec 25, 2023
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Online Attack and Harassment, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Dec 24, 2023
- Event Description
The Coalition For Women In Journalism and Women Press Freedom strongly condemns the harassment and intimidation of a Pakistani female journalist Fatima Razzaq by unknown men for reporting the ongoing Baloch women's protest in the country’s capital city, Islamabad, for her platform Lok Sujag. No journalist should be harassed or threatened for doing their work, particularly in a democratic country where the law and Constitution are to be adhered to, as it not only stifles press freedom but also hinders a reporter’s professional duties. We urge the Pakistani government to ensure the safety and security of journalists in the country who report on marginalized people and communities.
Fatima Razzaq, a reporter for the digital platform Lok Sujag, was subjected to harassment and intimidation while she was returning home after covering the ongoing Baloch women's protest in Islamabad. Razzaq was waiting to board a bus at a local bus stand on the evening of December 24, 2023, in Rawalpindi, when she was approached and detained by five unknown individuals, two of whom were reportedly armed. She was encircled and detained for approximately 40 minutes, during which she was asked to surrender her camera and cell phone, which she bravely refused. Razzaq was also subjected to a series of absurd questions and threats warning her against continuing to report on the Baloch women's protest.
Speaking with CFWIJ, Razzaq said when covering the Baloch protests in Islamabad she felt safe and having the camera on her, which she used to film the protest, gave her a sense of confidence, as she knew she won’t be pushed aside while reporting on the ground. But that same camera later on exposed her.
Razzaq emphasized that when the people who intimidate one are unknown, there is no guarantee of what would happen. Subliminal threats, she added, where one is intimidated, harassed, not being told what they’re being targeted for, not quoting any law that one has violated or registering a first information report mentioning any charges are “hard to handle”. Razzaq said something should be devised to tackle the aforementioned tactics and ensure journalists’ protection.
“Speaking truth to power is our job. It is our livelihood and passion, and we will never give it up regardless of whatever you do” — Fatima Razzaq “Speaking truth to power is our job. It is our livelihood and passion, and we will never give it up regardless of whatever you do,” Razzaq tells CFWIJ. “There are many layers of vulnerability that are added here. Being a journalist in Pakistan, but one who covers marginalized groups and issues that the state does not like, and then being a woman covering it and being a young woman journalist.”
Razzaq further maintained that being associated with a digital platform is another layer of vulnerability, as they are not even recognized by press clubs. There is no safeguard for women journalists when they are being subjected to character assassination or harassment of a threatening nature, she said.
“There are a lot of lawyers that could hinder my work as a journalist. That’s something that I would absolutely hate,” she added.
This episode reflects a distressing trend of impeding and threatening journalists as they set out to pursue the truth. The women reporters had been extensively covering the plight of the Baloch women, particularly in the recent days since the community initiated a long march against the enforced disappearances of their people in November.
Last week on December 20, Somiayah Hafeez, a Baloch journalist, was detained by the police late at night while covering the same protest. She was, however, released the next evening after the country’s Supreme Court intervened in the matter of detained women protestors by the federal capital’s police.
The Baloch protests, spearheaded by women against the missing persons of Balochistan, represent a fundamental attempt for the protection of human rights. Like Razzaq, the reporting by Hafeez also highlighted the issues that one of Pakistan’s most marginalized communities are facing. The march against enforced disappearances began from Balochistan’s Turbat city and reached the capital, seeking freedom of the many missing and disappeared Baloch people, who are allegedly “abducted by the state,” which mainly indicates the country’s military.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism and Women Press Freedom stands in solidarity with Fatima Razzaq and all journalists who face threats and intimidation in the line of duty. Fatima Razzaq's ordeal — being encircled and detained by unknown individuals while covering the Baloch women's protest in Islamabad — is not an isolated event but part of a disturbing trend targeting journalists who dare to report on sensitive issues, especially those involving marginalized communities. Her refusal to surrender her reporting equipment in the face of such intimidation is a testament to her bravery and commitment to journalistic integrity. We urge the Pakistani government to take immediate and effective measures to ensure the safety and protection of journalists. It is imperative that a thorough investigation into this incident be conducted and those responsible be held accountable. The failure to do so not only undermines the principles of a free and independent press but also emboldens those who seek to suppress the truth through fear and coercion.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Dec 23, 2023
- Event Description
The Internal Political Security Department of the Tra Vinh Provincial Police on Dec. 23 said it had issued a fine to Thach Tha, 56, and Kim Vu Linh, 33, both Khmer residents of Tra Cu District, Tra Vinh Province, for allegedly “posting and sharing false information” to “distort, slander and insult the reputation of government agencies and organizations,” according to the official announcement.
The Tra Vinh Provincial Police concluded that since 2022, Thach Tha had used his personal Facebook account to participate in online discussions organized by groups deemed as “reactionary,” which, according to Vietnamese authorities, share distorted information about the history of the southern region and seek to divide the “great national unity bloc.”
One specific incident occurred on Nov. 24, when Thach Tha shared on his personal Facebook account a 7:29-minute video clip from a social media page that allegedly accused the authorities of Vinh Long Province and its police forces of using brute force to crack down on religious freedom. The Tra Vinh Police Newspaper stated that during the questioning regarding the online posting on Dec. 21, Thach Tha admitted that the content in the video clip was “untrue.”
Meanwhile, the police alleged that Kim Vu Linh, another Khmer resident of Tra Vinh, on Aug. 27, 2022, live streamed on his Facebook account, Nhatliinh Kimvulinh, a 7:47-minute video clip with content that was considered “untrue, distorted, and insulting.” On Dec. 19, Linh was called in for a questioning session by the police, in which he reportedly admitted that the livestream content in the video clip was false and agreed to remove the video. The police did not comment on the content of the video Linh published on his social media.
Thach Tha and Kim Vu Linh received a fine of 7.5 million dong ($309) each for their alleged violations of Decree No. 15/2020/ND-CP issued by the government, which criminalized the activities of publishing “false information” on the internet.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Freedom of religion/belief activist, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Dec 22, 2023
- Event Description
Police have arrested 22 human rights activists from a sit-in protest organised by the Human Rights and Peace Society (HURPES) at Maitighar in Kathmandu on Friday. The protest was organised demanding formation of a reliable judicial inquiry commission in connection with the Ncell share sale case.
Founding Chairperson Krishna Pahadi, Chairperson Ramkrishna Baral, Adviser Uttam Pudasaini, Secretaries Ram Prasad Joshi and Chandramani Banjara, Treasurer Kiran Dhakal, Central Members Namrata Kharel and Diwakar Pudasaini, Kathmandu Branch President Bhagwan Pudasaini have been arrested.
Additionally, HURPES Lalitpur branch President Man Bahadur Thapa, along with rights activists Sanu Lama, Uma Gautam, Bal Bahadur Gaha Magar, Jagannath Pudasaini, Ishwar Pudasaini, Bikas Thapa, Tulsiram Bhandari, Maniram Dahal, Laxman Pudasaini, Wudd Anmol, Mohini Prasad Acharya, and Adarsh Chhetri are also among those arrested.
The arrested have been kept in the Singha Durbar Police Circle. The HURPES has called the incident of Ncell tax evasion a big financial scam and a crime against the state.
- Impact of Event
- 22
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Dec 22, 2023
- Event Description
The Chui regional court in Kyrgyzstan's north has upheld a lower court decision to change the parole-like sentence of activist and blogger Adilet Ali Myktybek, known on social media as Adilet Baltabai, to actual imprisonment.
It is not the first time that Myktybek's parole-like sentence has been revised since his initial arrest and trial last year.
Myktybek, known for his articles critical of the Central Asian country's government, was initially arrested in June last year after he was questioned by the Bishkek police about his coverage of rallies by civil rights activists.
He was sentenced to five years in prison in November 2022 on a charge of calling for social unrest via the Internet, allegations he has rejected as politically motivated.
The court ruled at the time that Myktybek would not have to serve his prison sentence immediately, but instead would be under a three-year parole-like probation period. If he served that period without any violations, the court said his five-year prison term would be canceled.
Following his release in November 2022, Myktybek continued his blogging activities and took part in a rally on January 10 to express support for 27 jailed Kyrgyz politicians and activists arrested in October 2022 for protesting a border deal with Uzbekistan.
After Myktybek attended the rally, the Bishkek City Court ruled to send the blogger to a prison at the request of prosecutors, who considered Myktybek's sentence too lenient.
However, Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Court in April reinstated Myktybek's parole-like probation and released him.
Myktybek was rearrested last week after a court ruled in late November that the blogger had "violated" his parole by traveling from his native town of Sokuluk to the capital, Bishkek.
On December 18, the blogger’s parents, Myktybek Baltabaev and Saikal Junusova, issued an open letter to the Kyrgyz government saying their son had not committed any crime but was using his right to express his thoughts and opinions, which is guaranteed by the Kyrgyz Constitution.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Kyrgyzstan: blogger sent to prison
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 21, 2023
- Event Description
A Hong Kong court on Thursday sentenced the younger sister of a pro-democracy labour union leader to six months imprisonment for removing evidence from the latter’s home amid an ongoing security crackdown in the China-ruled city.
Marilyn Tang, 63, had earlier pleaded guilty to perverting the court of justice after she removed devices including a laptop and mobile phone belonging to her sister, Elizabeth Tang, soon after she was arrested in March.
Magistrate Patrick Tsang said while the offence wasn’t very serious and that the defendant hadn’t “turned on or obstructed the devices” he still handed down a custodial sentence.
Elizabeth, 65, had been arrested on March 9 for collusion with foreign forces under a China-imposed national security law, soon after she returned to the city to visit her jailed pro-democracy activist husband Lee Cheuk-yan, 66.
The husband, a former lawmaker and leading democrat, faces an incitement to subversion charge under the national security law and is awaiting trial.
The two sisters had been linked to the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) – the city’s largest opposition trade union coalition that disbanded in 2021 after several members received messages threatening their safety. Elizabeth had served as its chief executive.
Tang’s lawyer Robert Pang had earlier told the court during a mitigation hearing that Marilyn’s behaviour was “not premeditated” while highlighting her lifelong service to the community.
Pang added that Elizabeth’s laptop and phone only contained personal information, family pictures and letters to her husband which had no direct impact on the police investigation.
More than 280 people have been arrested so far in Hong Kong under the national security law that punishes acts including subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces, and terrorism with up to life in prison.
Leading China critic and media tycoon Jimmy Lai, 76, is currently battling a foreign collusion charge in a closely watched trial that has become a diplomatic flashpoint.
The national security law has been criticised by some Western governments as a tool to curb free speech and dissent while the Hong Kong and Chinese governments say it has restored stability after mass, pro-democracy protests in 2019.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: Hong Kong pro-democracy WHRD arrested
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 21, 2023
- Event Description
A Hong Kong court on Thursday rejected a fresh bail application for pro-democracy activist and lawyer Chow Hang-tung, whose subversion trial under a China-imposed national security law is expected to open in late 2024.
In making the latest in a series of so far unsuccessful bail applications, Chow’s lawyer, Cheung Yiu-leung, noted Chow had already served more than 2 years in detention after being arrested on suspicion of “incitement for subversion” over her ties to a group that organised an annual June 4 vigil.
High Court judge Andrew Chan, however, said he couldn’t grant bail because Chow might carry out acts that endanger national security.
A tentative trial date was provided for Chow’s case in the second half of 2024 at the West Kowloon court, Chan said. A case-management hearing was also tentatively expected to be held on Feb. 15, 2024, he added.
Chow, 38, a human-rights lawyer, was the vice-chairperson of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, a now disbanded pro-democracy group. Despite being jailed, she has continued to defy Beijing’s campaign to subjugate the city.
Chow is charged with “incitement to subversion”, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years imprisonment, alongside two former Alliance leaders Albert Ho and Lee Cheuk-yan under the national security law (NSL).
Chow has been detained since September 2021 at a maximum security women’s prison.
Hong Kong laws usually restrict reporting of full bail application proceedings to only key details, but Justice Chan lifted these restrictions over objections from the prosecution.
“I don’t see that anything you said, or I said, cannot be published. The press are free to publish whatever,” Chan said.
Chow was recently put in solitary confinement for 18 days for possessing “too many letters” from her supporters, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Hong Kong prison authorities said they wouldn’t comment on individual cases.
Chow has already finished two sentences for unauthorised assembly in relation to the banned Tiananmen vigils in 2020 and 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Dec 21, 2023
- Event Description
Police in Islamabad used force to disperse a protest by Baluchis in the early hours of December 21 after the protesters marched hundreds of kilometers to draw attention to excessive arrests of Baluch men and their mistreatment by police.
The woman who led the march, Mahrang Baloch, said on X, formerly Twitter, that she was taken into custody along with other protesters, while several protesters were reportedly injured by police as the protest was dispersed and people were rounded up and placed into transport vehicles.
The march "is under attack by the Islamabad police," Baloch said on X. "I have been arrested along with several women and men by Islamabad police, but remember fascist state, we will defeat you."
Participants in the march posted videos on X showing people, mainly women, marching and decrying alleged brutal police beatings of their sons.
Before her own arrest, Baloch said many youths had been arrested and many had been injured by tear gas and violence.
"Right now, we are being treated worse than animals. Will the world raise its voice for us against this barbarism?" she said on X.
The protesters reached Islamabad nearly a month after setting off from the Turbat district in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan Province to demand a judicial inquiry into the killing of Balach Maula Bakhsh, who relatives say died in police custody in November.
The killing is just one of the crimes that protesters want authorities to investigate. They also accuse Pakistani security agencies of a string of abductions and extrajudicial killings of Baluch men. The authorities reject the allegations.
The march passed through the provincial capital, Quetta, before heading toward Islamabad.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Dec 21, 2023
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to access to funding, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Vietnam: blogger arrested on catch-all charges
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 19, 2023
- Event Description
The Preah Sihanouk Appeal Court this morning upheld the defamation convictions of two Koh Kong land activists, Phav Nheung and Seng Lin, under Article 305 of the Criminal Code. The court also dropped incitement charges under Articles 494 and 495 against them, partially upholding the decision of the Koh Kong Provincial Court from August.
Nheung and Lin were the target of a complaint launched by Chhay Vy, a former community representative whom the women had accused in 2019 of seizing land. The activists were each fined 4 million riel (approximately US$1,000) and ordered to pay 40 million riel (approximately $10,000) in compensation to Vy.
Both Nheung and Lin were jailed in pre-trial detention between 30 June and 6 October this year over the incitement charges, with Nheung detained alongside her infant son.
The prosecutor argued in favour of dropping the incitement charges during the appeal trial, making a further appeal to the Supreme Court from the prosecution unlikely.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: three land rights WHRDs convicted
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Dec 18, 2023
- Event Description
Human rights alliance Karapatan decried the filing of trumped-up charges against two leading activists in Central Visayas.
Bayan Muna Central Visayas coordinator John Ruiz III and former Visayas Institute for Human Development Agency Inc. (VIHDA) executive director Jhonggie Rumol faced frustrated homicide charges by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) last December 18, 2023. The charges stem from false allegations on Ruiz and Rumol’s involvement in an armed encounter with the New People’s Army on April 6, 2023 in Sitio Sereje, Barangay San Isidro, Toboso, Negros Occidental.
“Ruiz is known for opposing so-called development projects and privatization schemes that are inimical to the interests of the poor,” said Karapatan secretary general Palabay. “Rumol, on the other hand, has been serving various marginalized communities in Central Visayas as a development worker,” she added.
“The patently trumped-up charges levelled against these two Central Visayas-based activist-leaders are but the latest in a string of cases slapped against prominent social activists and other human rights defenders in Central Visayas,” said Palabay.
“Just last May, current and former members of the board of directors and staff of CERNET, another Central Visayas-based development NGO, were slapped with trumped-up charges of terrorist financing,” said Palabay. The accused include Central Visayas union leader and BAYAN chair Jaime Paglinawan.
Several other Cebuano mass leaders have also received death threats and become victims of red-tagging.
“We are one with the people in demanding a stop to the continuing attacks against human rights defenders in Central Visayas and elsewhere and will not relent in our efforts to advance the people’s rights and welfare,” concluded Palabay.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Dec 17, 2023
- Event Description
Police conducted a crackdown and detained “at least 20 participants, including women”, who joined the long march against the alleged “extra-judicial killings” by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in Turbat, Balochistan, as it entered the city on Sunday.
According to details, the long march of the Baloch Yakjehti Council (BYC), led by Mohammad Asif Laghari and originating from Balochistan, was intercepted by police on Shah Sikander Road in Dera Ghazi Khan city.
The police said that the participants of the march resisted, upon which they detained several men and women and transferred them to the police lines. The women were later released.
ASP City Rehmatullah Durrani told the protesters that Section 144 is in force in the district, prohibiting any procession or rally, a directive the participants refused to obey.
Among the protesters, Shaukat Ali, Asif Leghari, Miraj Leghari, Abdullah Saleh, and ten others have been detained, and legal proceedings have been initiated under Section 144, the police said.
Action will be taken against the violators under Section 144 of the Criminal Code, and this ban will remain in force till Dec 19, said the police.
Earlier, the participants of the long march held a rally in Barkhan, which was attended by a large number of locals to express solidarity with the family of Balaach Mola Bakhsh.
The spokesman for BYC stated that marchers, who had stayed overnight in Kohlu town, departed for Dera Ghazi Khan via Barkhan, the border district of Balochistan with the Punjab province.
The spokesman said that the long march was stopped by a heavy contingent of police in Dera Ghazi Khan. When protestors insisted on entering Dera Ghazi town, where a partial strike was observed, and shops were closed, the police resorted to Baton charge.
He noted that at least 20 participants of the long march, including two women, were taken into custody and shifted to an unknown location.
The BYC leaders condemned the baton charge on the participants of the long march, affirming that they will not abandon their struggle and are determined to reach Islamabad to register their protest against the “extrajudicial killing” of Mr Bakhsh.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Dec 16, 2023
- Event Description
On 16 December 2023, human rights defender Jeewaratnam Suresh received a threatening phone call from an unidentified number warning him to stop his advocacy or face dire consequences. The threats are linked to a fundamental rights petition filed by the human rights defender in March 2023 seeking improvements in housing rights for the persecuted Malayaga Tamil community. In December 2023, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka found in favor of the petition, mandating Sri Lankan authorities to provide house numbers/addresses to persons living in plantations. As a result of the human rights defender’s engaging in follow up advocacy to ensure effective implementation of the court’s decision, he has received threats, warning him to cease his work on this issue. Jeewaratnam Suresh, is a human rights defender based in the Muvankandha plantation, in Mavaththagama, Kurunegala, (North Western Province) Sri Lanka. Jeewaratnam Suresh is a strong advocate for the rights of the Malayaga Tamil community, also referred to as ‘upcountry Tamils’, a historically persecuted minority community in Sri Lanka. The human rights defender has campaigned for equal rights for Malayaga Tamils, including land and housing rights. Jeewaratnam Suresh has mobilized community campaigns demanding rights and an end to systemic discrimination against the Malayaga community. He has also worked with the human rights organizations, including Jana Avabodha Kendraya and the Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA). In March 2023 Jeewaratnam Suresh filed a fundamental rights petition before the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka seeking relief related to housing rights for the Malayaga community, especially those living in plantations. The petition calls on the defendants, which includes the Minister of Public Administration, to provide permanent postal addresses to Malayaga Tamils residing in Sri Lanka, something which they have so far been denied by the state. On 4 December 2023, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka ruled in favor of the Petition and mandated the relevant state authority to provide postal addresses to all residents in the plantation areas. Encouraged by this decision, Jeewaratnam Suresh and fellow human rights defenders from the Malayaga community are currently engaged in strategic advocacy to ensure effective implementation of the Court’s decision. On 16 December 2023, at 11:26 am, Jeewaratnam Suresh received a call from an unidentified number on his mobile phone. The caller warned Jeewaratnam Suresh to stop further advocacy or attempts to implement the Supreme Court judgment and threatened him that there would be consequences if he failed to comply. Concerned for his safety, the human rights defender posted the incident on Facebook and made it public. Jeewaratnam Suresh has been threatened in the past due to his engagement in human rights advocacy on the rights of the Malayaga community. In November 2023, Jeewaratnam Suresh organized a peaceful protest in the Mavathagama Ptiyakanda rubber estate, Kurunegala, advocating for land and adequate housing rights. Hundreds of protesters, including human rights defenders and journalists, were present during this protest. After the protest, a person claiming to be an intelligence officer called a family member of Jeewaratnam Suresh and inquired about his activities and whereabouts. In July 2023, Suresh played a key role in the Maanbumigu Malaiyaha Makkal – a symbolic walk that retraced the challenging journey endured by the first group of Malayaga Tamils who were brought from India to Sri Lanka under British Colonial rule, to work on plantations in the hill stations of Sri Lanka. During the walk, the human rights defender received several phone calls from intelligence officers seeking information as to his plans, whereabouts and also on the progress of the walk. Front Line Defenders recognizes the immense contribution of human rights defenders in Sri Lanka, especially those from oppressed minority communities, particularly in realizing adequate housing rights. Front Line Defenders is concerned by the threats against, and intimidation of, Jeewaratnam Suresh in connection with his advocacy and successful legal challenge to advance his community’s rights. We believe these threats are an attempt to silence the human rights defender and keep him from pursuing his important work.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Dec 15, 2023
- Event Description
Ghalym Nurpeisov, a lawyer for jailed Kazakh journalist Duman Mukhammedkarim, said on December 15 that his client’s pretrial detention was extended by at least one month. Mukhammedkarim, whose Ne Deidi? (What Do They Say?) YouTube channel is very popular in Kazakhstan, was sent to pretrial detention in June on suspicion of financing an extremist group and participation in the activities of the banned opposition Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan movement, charges that he and his supporters have said are politically motivated.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Kazakhstan: media worker jailed for violating court ban
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Dec 15, 2023
- Event Description
Former Vietnamese political prisoners and relatives of prisoners say police are monitoring their homes with surveillance cameras and they believe hackers may be planning to sell the images on social media.
Recently, state-controlled media have run a number of reports about hacker groups selling accounts that allow people to access hundreds of cameras in bedrooms, bathrooms, student dorms, spas and massage parlors.
One group posted an advertisement on the Telegram messaging network claiming: "The group specializes in hacking videos from super hidden cameras of families and facilities in Vietnam. They are hidden and offer hot scenes of families," according to the VnExpress news site.
Dissidents and relatives of political prisoners are doubly concerned, saying police are already monitoring their every move with cameras pointing at their homes.
Le Thi Ha is the wife of former Dak Lak Pedagogical College music lecturer Dang Dang Phuoc. He was sentenced to eight years in prison in June, accused of “propaganda against the state.”
She lives in Dak Lak province’s Buon Ma Thuot city. On Monday, she told Radio Free Asia the police were spying on her.
“Neighbors secretly told me that local police installed cameras on Dec. 15. The camera was installed on the neighbor's porch across from my house and pointed directly at my house," Ha said.
“I don't know whether images from the camera will be posted online or used for some other purpose. But having a camera pointed directly at my house violates my privacy and shows that they want to closely monitor my daily schedule."
RFA Vietnamese called the Tan Loi Ward police to ask about the camera but the person who answered the phone asked the reporter to go to the agency's headquarters. RFA also called the Dak Lak provincial police department to ask about the incident but no one answered the phone.
Nguyen Thi Chau, wife of prisoner Nguyen Ngoc Anh, told RFA that the police of Binh Dai district in Ben Tre province installed two cameras pointing directly at her house several years ago, after her husband was arrested and charged with "conducting anti-state propaganda.”
On Monday she told RFA the police had ignored her concerns about the cameras.
“When I complained to the local police, they said the cameras were installed to prevent crimes,” she said. “I asked them not to point them at my house and they promised to fix it, but they didn't fix it and just kept monitoring my family for the past three years."
Concerned about the invasion of privacy, Nguyen Thi Chau tried to disable or reduce the ability of the two cameras pointed at her home by putting a black grille over the gate and fence.
RFA reporters repeatedly called Binh Dai district Police to ask about the cameras but no one answered.
Former political prisoners face the same surveillance as the families of current prisoners. Le Quy Loc was released in early September after a five year prison sentence for "disturbing security" and is currently serving two years’ probation in Truong Quang Trong ward, Quang Ngai city. He told RFA that his gate now has a camera pointed at it.
This camera was installed in the house of a neighbor who works as a police officer about 10 days before he left the prison.
When he questioned the neighbor, he was told the camera was for the purpose of preventing theft, not aimed at former political prisoners.
However, he said the local police recently went to his house and planned to install a new camera near his house.
National monitoring system
In February 2021, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh approved a project of the Ministry of Public Security with a budget of VND 2.15 trillion (US$90 million) to install surveillance cameras and traffic command and control equipment across the country. The plan has now been taken up at a local level.
On Dec. 13, the Dak Lak Electronic Newspaper reported that the chairman of Buon Ma Thuot City People's Committee Vu Van Hung had announced plans to install over 100 security cameras in the city, including some with facial recognition, for security and order reasons. Buon Ma Thuot city has already installed 454 cameras in wards and communes. They will be connected to the surveillance center of the ward and commune police, the city police and the Provincial Smart Urban Operation Monitoring Center.
Vietnamese law has provisions to protect personal information. Article 38 of the 2015 Civil Code regulates the right to protect private life, personal secrets, and family secrets. According to the law, the collection, storage, use, and disclosure of information related to private life and personal secrets must be approved by the person concerned.
Article 21 of the Vietnamese Constitution stipulates: everyone is entitled to the inviolability of personal privacy, personal secrecy and familial secrecy and has the right to protect his or her honor and prestige. Information regarding personal privacy, personal secrecy and familial secrecy is safely protected by the law.
However, local security forces often send policemen to guard and monitor social events or visits by high-ranking foreign officials and the growing use of security cameras means that political activists and their families feel that the state is constantly watching them.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Vietnam: wife of detained blogger intimidated by police
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Dec 14, 2023
- Event Description
A court in Kazakhstan's western city of Oral on December 14 sentenced local activist Marua Eskendirova to 25 days in jail after finding her guilty of calling for an anti-government rally. The charge stemmed from posts on Eskendirova's social network account calling for protests against the policies of the Central Asian country's government. Eskendirova has rejected the charge, arguing that she had not used the social network account since her mobile phone was stolen two years ago. Eskendirova was handed a parole-like sentence in February for having links with the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan -- a banned opposition group.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Dec 12, 2023
- Event Description
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has recommended the filing of separate criminal charges of grave oral defamation against abducted environmental activists Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano.
The two could face a maximum of six months imprisonment if found guilty.
In a 15-page resolution penned by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Arnold Magpantay dated Dec. 12, 2023, it is said that the two activists’ sworn statements are different from their pronouncements during a press conference they held with government authorities after they emerged from their alleged abduction.
The DOJ also said that Castro and Tamano resorted to a press conference to allegedly embarrass the 70 Infantry Battalion (IB) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
“Conspicuously, respondents ventilated the alleged abduction in the press conference, betraying their purpose to expose complainant and the AFP as well to greater latitude of public mockery, demonstrating their ill motive to prejudice them,” the resolution read.
“The slanderous words were obviously uttered with evident intent to strike deep into the character, honor and reputation of complainant and the AFP,” it added.
Meanwhile, the perjury complaint, filed by Lt. Col. Ronnel dela Cruz, commander of the 70th IB, was dismissed.
Castro and Tamano were reportedly abducted on Sept. 2, 2023 in Bataan.
They surfaced on Sept. 19, 2023, after the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict presented them in a press conference supposedly to present them as “returnees” from the communist insurgency.
However, Castro and Tamano retracted their statements and affidavits during the said press conference and claimed that they were abducted by the military and forced to sign an affidavit of surrender.
The actions by the environmental activists during the said press conference resulted in the military’s filing of perjury charges.
The environmental activists filed a writ of amparo on Sept. 29, 2023 before the Supreme Court, asking the court for a protection order against the respondent Dela Cruz.
Defend Manila Bay Network, meanwhile, slammed this decision of the DOJ saying that the indictment of the Justice department is a “major stumbling block” on the activists' advocacies for Manila Bay.
“It is unfortunate that after Tamano and Castro survived the abduction and intense pressure of the military, they are now subjected to trumped up charges,” they said in a statement on Monday.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Philippines: two young environmental WHRDs abducted
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Dec 11, 2023
- Event Description
A Vietnamese court on Monday sentenced a man to eight years in prison for his Facebook posts in a trial with no defense lawyers that lasted only two hours.
The An Giang People’s Court found Nguyen Hoang Nam, 41, a member of the Hoa Hao Buddhist community, guilty of “disseminating, propagandizing information, materials against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” in violation of Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code, a law that is often criticized by rights activists to be a vaguely written tool that the government uses to silence dissent.
“It was only my husband and I in the courtroom. Witnesses did not come,” Nam’s wife Lam Thi Yen Trinh told RFA Vietnamese. “They were invited [by the court], but it costs hundreds of thousands of dong (tens of U.S. dollars) to travel to the court, and they couldn’t afford that.”
The indictment said Nam had used four Facebook accounts to share and disseminate images and video clips with content against the ruling Communist Party and the state, state media said.
He had live-streamed many times on his Facebook profiles to satirize and insult local authorities and regularly took photos and filmed local government employees who passed by his home, and posted the videos on social media for offense and defamation purposes, the indictment said.
During the trial, Nam denied the accusations, saying that he had only taken photos of those who often insulted and teased him, his wife said.
According to Trinh, her family signed a contract to hire an attorney from Ho Chi Minh City but the attorney was not allowed to not see Nam before the trial or participate in the trial due to a prohibition put in place by the head of the law firm. She did not know the name of the law firm and refused to disclose the attorney’s name.
Her husband pleaded innocent, disagreed with the sentence, and announced that he would make an appeal, she said.
Hoa Hoa sect
Vietnam’s government officially recognizes the Hoa Hao religion, which has some 2 million followers across the country, but imposes harsh controls on dissenting Hoa Hao groups, including the sect in An Giang province, that do not follow the state-sanctioned branch.
Rights groups say that authorities in An Giang routinely harass followers of the unapproved groups, prohibiting public readings of the Hoa Hao founder’s writings and discouraging worshipers from visiting Hoa Hao pagodas in An Giang and other provinces.
“The Vietnam government's absurd idea of what constitutes a ‘crime’ is on full display in the outrageous eight year prison sentence given to Nguyen Hoang Nam simply because he posted opinions on Facebook that the government didn't like,” Phil Robertson, Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch’s Asian Division told RFA.
“Locking people away for years for peacefully expressing views is what petty dictatorships do, and shows just how the Vietnamese government falls pathetically short in meeting its obligations to respect human rights,” Robertson said.
Robertson also called on the Vietnamese government to immediately release Mr. Nguyen Hoang Nam and “end its campaign of harassment against Hoa Hao Buddhists who refuse to come under the state's rigid control.”
The eight-year conviction of Nam for conducting ‘anti-state propaganda’ is outrageous, CIVICUS Monitor's Asia-Pacific researcher Josef Benedict told RFA via text messages. CIVICUS Monitor is a research tool that provides data on civic freedoms in 196 countries.
“It highlights the severe punishment faced by activists in Vietnam and the relentless efforts by the authorities to silence individuals who have critical or dissenting views,” said Benedict. “This is a clear violation of the country’s obligations under international human rights law. CIVICUS calls for his immediate and unconditional release.”
Benedict called on Vietnam to stop using vague laws like Article 117 to silence online criticism and live up to its status as a member of the UN Human Rights Council.
“Such actions are the reason why the CIVICUS Monitor continues to rate Vietnam’s civic space rating as ‘closed’, the worst rating a country can have.”
Nam was previously sentenced to a four-year jail term in 2018 for “disrupting public order” and “resisting officers on official duty” along with five other Hoa Hao Buddhists.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Freedom of religion/belief activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Vietnam: FoRB activist re-arrested years after release
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Dec 11, 2023
- Event Description
Myanmar’s military regime detained two Myeik-based reporters working for Dawei Watch on December 11, the Dawei-based news outlet said in a statement on Wednesday.
Junta soldiers told family members that Ko Aung Hsan Oo and Ko Myo Myint Oo were arrested for writing news stories, the statement said.
The two were arrested without a warrant, and their mobile phones and family members’ mobile phones, including two laptops belonging to Dawei Watch, were also confiscated by the junta soldiers.
According to the latest investigation, the two men are being detained and questioned at the interrogation centre, the statement said.
Journalists are demanding the immediate release of the Dawei Watch reporters who are being illegally detained and under investigation, as writing news is not a crime.
Dawei Watch is a respected news outlet that operates under a media licence.
The regime detained two reporters and a staff employee of Dawei Watch on January 18, 2022, and released the trio eight days later.
After the military coup in Myanmar on February 1, 2021, many journalists have been arrested and media freedoms have been greatly curtailed.
Reporters from various Myanmar media outlets face prosecution and many journalists and employees of new organisations have gone into hiding.
The regime arrested reporter Ko Htet Aung and security guard Ko Soe Win Aung of DMG on October 29 as more than 20 junta troops raided and sealed off DMG’s head office in the Arakan State capital Sittwe.
Journalists say the regime is targeting journalists and news outlets for exposing its human rights violations.
“After the military coup, the regime began to target the news media directly. The regime started to label the news media that actually exposed human rights violations as subversive media. The regime’s arresting of journalists is a deliberate threat to prevent journalists from reporting,” said an Arakan State-based reporter.
Dozens of journalists have been detained since the coup and at least 50 remain in prisons across the country.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Dec 11, 2023
- Event Description
Three farmers from Sidondo I Village, Sigi Biromaru Subdistrict, Sigi Regency, Central Sulawesi, were criminalized by the Forest Security Operation Team of the Sulawesi Regional Environmental and Forestry Law Enforcement and Security Patrol Team of the Lore Lindu National Park (TLL). This was allegedly related to resistance to the eviction of farmers' land at the location.
The three farmers arrested by officers on December 11, 2023 were Farid alias Papa Fangky, Arwin alias Papa Angga and Emon alias Papa Dafa.
Chairman of the Agrarian Reform Movement Alliance, Mohammad Ali, said that the arrest was improcedural because the arrest warrant was only sent on December 13, which was two days after the three farmers were arrested without any news at all to the family.
"The investigation process was also carried out without giving the three people the right to request and obtain legal assistance," Ali told reporters, Sunday (17/12/2023).
According to him, this is not the first act of violence and criminalization in the Lore Lindu National Park area. However, the criminalization this time is a complement to the bad record of human rights violations that have been carried out by BBTNLL against the people around the TNLL area.
In 2013, there was an arrest of one farmer in Poso District on charges of illegal logging. In 2014, 13 dongi-dongi farmers were criminalized on charges of illegal logging. Then in 2016 14 Dongi-dong farmers were shot at while preparing for a demonstration demanding the boundary of TNLL.
"We consider that the origin of these acts of violence and criminalization in the TNLL area is BBTNL's claim to the land and territory of the people around the TNLL area, which has long been disputed by the people around TNLL," he said.
Moreover, long before the presence of BBTNLL, the area was not empty land but land that had been cultivated and utilized by the surrounding people. The utilization is still going on until now.
Ali said, the presence of BBTNLL with a very large land acquisition of 215,733.70 hectares has not been added to the various plantation licenses that are also located around the circumference of the TNLL area.
In addition, the arrest of three people is contrary to the Agrarian Reform program. The state is also considered increasingly unserious in carrying out the agrarian reform program that has been launched.
"The Agrarian Reform programmed by Jokowi is False Agrarian Reform because it reinforces the monopoly on land in the hands of landlords on the one hand and increasingly excludes people's rights to land on the other," he explained.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 10, 2023
- Event Description
Three Hong Kong pro-democracy activists were arrested on Sunday, just before voting began in a “patriots only” district election that has marginalised formerly popular opposition figures in the city amid a national security clampdown.
The pro-China government has been seeking to boost turnout, as some observers see large numbers spurning the polls, in contrast to the last council elections in 2019, during Hong Kong’s mass pro-democracy protests, which drew a record 71% turnout and a landslide victory for the democratic camp.
Police arrested three members of the “League of Social Democrats” in the Central business district, the group said. It had planned to protest against the “birdcage election” that it said lacked any democratic scope, given vetting requirements by authorities that have effectively barred all democrats from running.
“Hong Kong people’s right to vote and to be elected seems to be absent,” the group said in a statement.
Police did not immediately offer grounds for the arrests. The city’s constitution guarantees freedom of assembly.
Regulations introduced in July slashed the directly elected district council seats by nearly 80% from four years ago.
All candidates must now undergo national security background checks and secure nominations from pro-government committees. At least three pro-democracy groups, including moderates, and even some pro-Beijing figures failed to secure enough nominations.
‘Hard to talk about democracy’
The changes further narrow electoral freedoms in the former colony that Britain returned to Chinese rule in 1997. The crackdown under a 2020 China-imposed national security law has led to the arrests of former district councillors and the disbandment of major opposition parties.
“It is the last piece of the puzzle for us to implement the principles of patriots governing Hong Kong,” Hong Kong leader John Lee said while casting his ballot with his wife, claiming that the previous poll in 2019 had been used to sabotage governance and endanger national security.
Security was tight around many polling stations with over ten thousand police deployed to maintain order.
While some Western governments say the China-imposed national security law has been used to crack down on dissent, China says it has brought stability to the financial hub after the protracted pro-democracy protests of 2019.
For weeks the major pro-Beijing and pro-government parties have been out in force, campaigning and festooning streets with posters and flyers in a bid to bolster turnout. On Saturday night, a harbourfront carnival featuring fireworks and patriotic pop singers made last-minute appeals for people to vote.
Some were not convinced.
“The broad political spectrum of voices that we saw four years has all gone,” said Tang, a 27-year-old who said she would boycott the vote, asking to be identified only by her family name.
Turnout was about 11.6% at 12.30pm, down from 31% at the same time in the previous election.
“It’s very hard to talk about democracy or democratisation anymore in today’s Hong Kong,” said Kenneth Chan, a political scientist at Hong Kong’s Baptist University and a former pro-democracy lawmaker.
“What they’re doing now is the installation of the so-called patriots-only governance structure.”
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Dec 8, 2023
- Event Description
In response to persistent complaints of disruptions in the relief efforts of international organizations by the Taliban, the intelligence wing of the group has recently confiscated the mobile phones of surveyors from a contractor institution associated with the World Food Programme in Ghazni.
Sources in Ghazni reported to Hasht-e Subh Daily on Friday, December 8, that the Taliban seized and detained the mobile phones of at least 25 employees of the “HEAlTHO” institution, a contractor working with the World Food Programme in the Rashidan district.
According to sources, the Taliban have not disclosed the reasons for confiscating and detaining the mobile phones of these individuals, which also include their personal property.
Despite multiple visits by the employees of this institution to the district and the intelligence office in the area, they have not received a clear and affirmative response.
One source mentioned that with the confiscation of the phones of these employees, the process of assessing the needs of the residents in this district has come to a halt.
As of now, the Taliban in Ghazni have not provided any statements regarding this matter.
This incident is not the first report of disruptions in the humanitarian aid process by international institutions. Previously, the Taliban detained 18 employees of an international aid organization in Ghor, and recently, reports emerged regarding the cessation of operations of the German institution “GIZ” due to the detention of four of its employees by the Taliban.
- Impact of Event
- 25
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 8, 2023
- Event Description
Niu Tengyu, is a young activist known for allegedly leaking information regarding the family details of the leader of the Red Empire, Xi Jinping. He is reportedly experiencing mental distress while imprisoned in Guangdong. Niu Tengyu’s single mother is seeking justice for her son and has been advocating for his rights. However, her peaceful efforts for justice have recently been suppressed, which led to discomfort in her heart. The surrounding area of the prison (where Niu Tengyu is being held) has been reinforced with increased security. Over 100 international human rights and democracy organizations, along with more than 300 pro-democracy advocates, have jointly signed an open letter aimed at rescuing Niu Tengyu, a prisoner of conscience in China.
In a video call with his mother Coco in November, 19-year-old Niu Tengyu’s speech was unclear, and did not call out to his mother as usual and even failed to recognize her. He uttered some incomprehensible words for his mother. Suddenly, a prison guard wearing glasses appeared and disconnected the call. This video call took place at a police station near Coco’s residence in Jiaozuo City, Henan Province.
Coco stated that her son Niu Tengyu was tortured to the point of insanity at Sihui Prison in Guangdong.
Eager to see her son, Coco traveled from central Henan to southern Guangdong to visit him in prison. On December 5, 2023, she arrived at Sihui prison in Zhaoqing, Guangdong Province, to confirm the safety of Niu Tengyu. From the morning of the 6th to the early morning of the 7th, she engaged in a 15-hour-long negotiation with the prison authorities. The prison rejected her request for visitation, citing Niu Tengyu’s abnormal mental state.
Coco insisted on meeting her son, on December 9, Coco stated: “…… Guangdong’s Sihui prison refused to let me see my son Niu Tengyu. They deployed a large number of police officers and special and armed police to intimidate me! On December 8, 2023, I arrived at the Guangzhou Prison Administration from Sihui to Guangzhou to report the situation……That evening, I fell ill in the hotel and still cannot go out today. But I will not leave Guangzhou, I will wait for a response and continue to safeguard my rights!”
On December 11, Beijing time, Coco went to the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Committee to report that Sihui Prison in Guangdong prevented her from meeting her son Niu Tengyu, and she intends to inquire about the progress of the appeal case.
While sitting in a car near the Guangdong Political and Legal Affairs Committee, Coco was suddenly surrounded by several plainclothes police officers. The one leading in the front was a medium-built man with a fierce appearance. He forcibly opened the door of her taxi at once. The man claimed to be from the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau but refused to show identification. His actions were rough, and was loudly shouting; he tore apart her bag that contained documents, forcefully pulled her hand, and threatened her. This resulted in injuries to her hand, two of her fingers were swollen and numb, bruised and swollen, and she experienced discomfort in her heart, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. The secret police would not allow her to take the medication she carried around with her, Coco revealed.
Subsequently, a short-haired woman wearing a mask forced her and her older sister and others to put all their bags in the trunk, prohibited them from answering phone calls, and escorted her to a hotel. Even the hotel’s landline phone was taken away.
Niu Tengyu’s mother, Coco, was forcibly sent back to her home in Jiaozuo, Henan province.
Coco believes that Sihui prison received orders from higher-ups in Guangdong to deprive her and her son, Niu Tengyu, of the right to meet. Even with coordination between the police in Henan and Shanxi province (her hometown), Guangdong authorities still refused to allow her to see her son.
Coco said that Guangdong authorities’ harsh and arrogant attitude further confirmed her suspicion: prison personnel poisoned Niu Tengyu, leading to his abnormal mental state. Depriving her of the right to visit is simply to prevent the details of their poisoning from being discovered and exposed, which in return revealed their scheme.
Niu Tengyu’s mother, who was physically and mentally devastated by her son’s long prison sentence, is unable to take care of herself and needs care throughout the day.
The Guangdong authorities deprived Niu Tengyu of the right to meet, the right to communicate, and the right to seek medical treatment outside prison, gaining sympathy from over 100 global human rights and democracy organizations and more than 300 democracy activists. They jointly signed an open letter aimed at rescuing Chinese prisoner of conscience Niu Tengyu. On December 8, 2023, the letter, in both Chinese and English, was submitted to the White House for petitioning, and to 15 member countries of the United Nations Security Council, human rights offices worldwide, human rights officials at foreign embassies in China, and the Chinese government.
For background, in May 2019, the overseas websites Zhina Wiki and the Zhina Red Foundation published personal information about Xi Jinping’s brother-in-law, Deng Jiagui, and daughter, Xi Mingze. Subsequently, public security officials in Maoming, Guangdong province, arrested 24 members of the “Vulgar Wiki” website for forwarding the links. Niu Tengyu, a 19-year-old member of the Vulgar Wiki, was convicted by CCP authorities as the main culprit and sentenced on December 29, 2020, to 14 years in prison and a fine of 130,000 yuan in the first trial. In April 2021, a court in Maoming, Guangdong, upheld the original sentence in the second trial, which was held behind closed doors.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 8, 2023
- Event Description
Christians including Wang Honglan, her husband Ji Heying, her son Ji Guolong, her daughter Liu Minna, her nephew Wang, Yang Zhijun, Zhang Wang, Liu Wei (Liu Minna’s husband), Li Chao, and others are charged with “illegal business operations” for “subsidizing money to help people buy the Holy Bible” in Hohhot. As of December 1, 2023, the case has been in trial at Huimin District People’s Court for nine days, entering the phase of evidence presentation and cross-examination.
Before the court session, defense lawyers requested the prosecution to provide an outline of evidence to enhance trial efficiency, but this request was refused by the prosecutor. The collegial panel asked the prosecutor to present evidence, and the prosecutor read aloud two sets of evidence. The presiding judge directly allowed the defendants to cross-examine. The defense lawyers requested to view the original documents. The presiding judge asked lawyers to present the legal grounds. After presenting the legal grounds, the collegial panel agreed to allow the lawyers to examine the original case files. The lawyers insisted that the defendants should be shown the original case files when presenting evidence, ensuring they know the materials to express their opinions; otherwise, they requested to present the evidence one by one. The collegial panel and the prosecutor ignored them and did not respond to this request.
The trial continued at 2:00 PM, with the prosecutor spending half an hour reading about eighty volumes of evidence on bank transfer records and accounting appraisals. Due to the refusal to disclose an outline of evidence, the court clerk’s hurried recording could not capture the complete details. Defense lawyers listened attentively to the prosecutor’s presentation but found it challenging to follow, while the defendants appeared bewildered. When the presiding judge and the prosecutor finished, the defendants were asked to express their objections. The defendants mentioned being detained for over two years, having poor memory, and requested to see the original evidence presented. This immediately faced opposition and rejection from the prosecutor Yang Yan. The presiding judge stated that if they did not express objections, it would be deemed as waiving the right to speak. The defense lawyers protested, demanding the defendants be allowed to examine the evidence presented.
Despite multiple requests, the presiding judge continued to refuse. Lawyer Zhao Qingshan protested the unjust conduct of the presiding judge, who responded that the application for request did not meet the Articles 29 and 30 of the “Criminal Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China” and was rejected without reconsideration.
Judge Han Yanjie of the collegial panel also argued that the defendants had no right to view the original case files during cross-examination phase. She criticized the lawyers for not diligently verifying the evidence with their clients in advance. Lawyer Zhao Qingshan stated that verification of evidence with their clients during visitation doesn’t void the defendant’s rights to examine original case files during cross-examination, the collegial panel should ensure the defendants’ right to examine the original case files.
Other defense lawyers again requested the prosecutor to present the evidence he read aloud and show this part of the case files to the defendants. The presiding judge insisted that the defendants review the court clerk’s records but refused to let them see the case files. The dispute continued. Lawyer Zhao Qingshan criticized the presiding judge for unjustly presiding over the trial, accusing him of violating the law. The presiding judge responded, ‘Then come up and hit me!’
The stalemate remained for a long time. The presiding judge finally announced an adjournment, instructing court security to provide five defendants with the case files to review.
The prosecutor Yang Yan stated, “Now that we are showing the case files to the defendants, what’s the point of having defense lawyers?”
Lawyer Zhao responded, ‘Defense lawyers can only verify evidence with their own clients and cannot cross-examine evidence with other co-defendants. If lawyers have already verified the evidence with the defendants, there’s no need for the defendants to see the materials in the courtroom. What’s the purpose of the trial then?’
Several defense lawyers live in other cities. At the end of the afternoon session, without consulting the defense lawyers, a sudden decision was made to hold court proceedings over the weekend. This arrangement disrupted the plans of many lawyers, especially those from out of town, and many lawyers expressed opposition. They believe that such an arrangement is too arbitrary. The court did not schedule trial over the weekend, and yesterday, on Thursday, a working day, no trial were arranged. However, after concluding the trial on Friday, there was a sudden decision to hold court over the weekend, completely disregarding the feelings of the lawyers. If a trial is necessary on the weekend, advance notice should be given. Such arbitrary arrangements have left the lawyers feeling unacceptable.
After reviewing the case files, it was already 4:15 PM, approaching the adjournment time. The prosecutor Yang Yan, proposed extending the trial to Saturday. The presiding judge asked court security if they could provide personnel on Saturday, and they replied that they can borrow personnel from week days. The presiding judge then went out to negotiate with court security and came back to announce directly to the lawyers: “The trial will continue tomorrow [Saturday].”
The lawyers expressed objections, stating that Thursday was a regular working day but an adjournment was arranged. Holding court trial on Saturday is an additional burden, but there was no prior consultation with the lawyers. Three lawyers had already left early because there were no court sessions last weekend, anticipating no hearings this weekend. Additionally, five lawyers had already booked round-trip flights for the evening.
Hearing the lawyers’ objections, the presiding judge Duan Wen directly said, “If you have booked a ticket, reschedule it. Tomorrow’s trial will proceed.” The five lawyers who had booked flight went up to the sixth floor to find the court president and report the arbitrary scheduling of court sessions by the collegial panel. However, they were intercepted in the corridor of the fourth floor by the head of the security team, who prevented them from going upstairs. The lawyers then requested that their message be conveyed to court president Mr. Zhou for coordination. Later, the head of the security team brought back Mr. Zhou’s response: He doesn’t meet with lawyers during the trial. Around 5:30 PM at the end of the court’s working hours, the head of the security team asked the lawyers to leave the courthouse.
During the sixth day of the trial, there was also an outburst from the audience accusing the prosecutor. The cause was that Christian who are over 70 years old, while answering questions, revealed that during questioning, the prosecutor not only falsely accused him of being a religious scammer but also mocked his personal life tragedy from over twenty years ago when his child died. The elderly, with gray hair and plagued by illness, became furious. This also triggered the anger of the audience, whose accusations were mostly directed at how a public servant could treat an elderly person of their parents’ age so heartlessly, not only lacking basic empathy but also using derogatory language, completely devoid of humanity.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Dec 8, 2023
- Event Description
The action of the Student Executive Board (BEM) of Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) in criticizing the administration of President Joko Widodo or Jokowi has resulted in a series of terror. On Friday, December 8, 2023, BEM UGM held an open stage accompanied by the installation of a large billboard with a picture of President Jokowi with the title 'Jokowi is the Most Embarrassing Alumnus' installed at the UGM Roundabout.
The action also drew pros and cons, especially on social media. Chairman of BEM UGM Gielbran Muhammad Noor, who led the action, admitted that he was intimidated. "The harshest form of intimidation was when an individual claiming to be an intelligence officer came to my faculty a few days ago. He went to the dean's office to ask for my biodata," said Gielbran on Friday, December 15, 2023.
The Faculty of Animal Science UGM student continued, the person claiming to be intel did not include a letter of duty from their institution. "Because he did not bring a permit, my data was not given by the dean's office," said Gielbran.
Gielbran said that another form of terror or intimidation that he directly observed was the doxing of his family through social media. In addition, there was also a poster leaflet that cornered Gielbran, narrating that his action was ridden by political interests.
The poster was circulating in an area of Sleman Regency. The content of the poster accuses Gielbran's parents of being legislative candidates or candidates for political parties that are at odds with the Jokowi government.
He emphasized that his parents were not affiliated with any party. He also chose to be relaxed about the anonymous issue. "We deplore such acts of intimidation. Intimidation will not make us afraid to speak out," said Gielbran.
Despite the intimidation, Gielbran admitted that he also received quite a lot of moral support from various parties, especially from students and lecturers at UGM.
Gielbran said, the action carried out with BEM UGM so far is a pure movement to criticize President Jokowi's leadership which is considered increasingly deviant. For example, starting from the emergence of controversial decisions in the Constitutional Court or MK about the age limit for presidential and vice-presidential candidates, the weakening of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), and policies that are not pro-people such as the Job Creation Law.
"The movement we are doing is to spark other student movements to be more sensitive and objective in seeing the problems that are happening in this country," said Gielbran.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Dec 8, 2023
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Dec 7, 2023
- Event Description
Rights group Karapatan decries the arbitrary blacklisting and deportation of Edna Becher, a Filipino-Swiss who went to the Philippines to spend the holidays with her family and friends, only to suffer from political persecution from Philippine immigration authorities.
Reports reached Karapatan that Becher arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 early evening yesterday, December 7. She was detained by immigration authorities for two hours, as they alleged that she is on a blacklist due to involvement in anti-government activities.
As of this writing, immigration authorities have deported Becher, and is on a flight back to Switzerland.
The blacklisting and deportation of Becher is arbitrary, baseless, and a vile act of political persecution. Becher, an activist from Anakbayan-Europe and also of Swiss nationality, has done nothing wrong and illegal against anyone, whether in her country of residence and much more in the country of her family roots. These acts also violate Becher’s freedom of association and freedom of movement.
Becher participated in mass actions in Switzerland in relation to the Universal Periodic Review of the Philippines and during the visit of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for the World Economic Forum.
Many other foreign nationals, especially those who have been extending international solidarity for human and people’s rights issues in the Philippines, have suffered similar persecution. Under the Duterte administration, Australian missionary Sr. Patricia Fox and Australian lawyer Gil Boehringer were subjects of deportation proceedings. Currently, under the Marcos Jr. administration, many others are at risk of being in the Bureau of Immigration’s blacklist.
It is appalling that this happened days before International Human Rights Day, when the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights will be commemorated. In the Philippines, we will marching to call for an end to extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, illegal arrests and detention, fake surrenders, bombings, threats including red-tagging, and other human rights and international humanitarian law violations. We will demand accountability for the crimes committed against the Filipino people, including violations on freedom of association.
Karapatan calls on Philippine authorities to stop the policy and practice of drawing up blacklists and deportation of foreign nationals who support human rights advocacies in the Philippines. Becher and many others should be removed from these blacklists and allowed to freely exercise their basic rights to visit their families or friends, to freely associate with organizations who conduct human rights advocacies, and to support calls for justice and accountability for human rights violations in the Philippines as forms of international solidarity.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Deportation, Reprisal as Result of Communication, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Dec 7, 2023
- Event Description
Former protest leader Shinawat Chankrajang has been sentenced to prison for royal defamation following a protest demanding the right to bail for political detainees. The court later suspended the sentence for two years and imposed a probation order.
On 7 December, the South Bangkok Criminal Court delivered its verdict in the case of activist Shinawat “Bright” Chankrajang, who was indicted under the royal defamation law and the Computer-Related Crime Act, and for using a sound amplifier without permission, while demanding the right to bail for two detained activists, Netiporn Sanesangkhom and Natthanit Duangmusit, at the South Bangkok Criminal Court on 28 July 2022, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.
The complaint was filed by Anon Klinkaew, leader of the ultra-royalist group People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy. The allegation stemmed from Shinawat’s speech where he addressed the transfer and reversion of the crown property assets to the ownership of the King during the tenure of the former PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and the transfer of military units to come under royal command. He also called for the release of all political detainees.
Following the first witness examinations, Shinawat decided to plead guilty. The court ordered probation officers to investigate before presenting the verdict on 7 December.
The court concluded that Shinawat was guilty under the royal defamation law and the Computer-Related Crime Act, and of the offence of using a sound amplifier without permission, which constituted multiple offences for a single act. Sentencing was based on the law with the heaviest penalty, resulting in three years in prison. He was also fined 200 baht for unauthorised use of a sound amplifier. Due to his guilty plea, the penalty was reduced to one year and six months and a 100 baht fine.
However, the court noted that Shinawat has never been imprisoned and he has also participated in various social service activities. Therefore, the sentence was suspended for two years, during which time he will be on probation. He is required to report to probation officers three times per year and to perform 24 hours of social service. Shinawat is also prohibited from committing the same offence.
The case is Shinawat’s first royal defamation charge. He was remanded in custody for 26 days during the inquiry stage before the appeal court granted bail.
Shinawat has been charged under the royal defamation law in a total of 7 cases, with 6 cases currently pending. Among these cases is a charge stemming from a speech he gave during a protest at the Lat Phrao intersection on 2 December 2020, for which he has pleaded guilty. The court will present its verdict on 13 December.
Shinawat was formerly a leader of the pro-democracy Rasadon group, which protested against the government led by Prayut Chan-o-cha. He later turned to support the United Thai Nation Party linked with Prayut by helping its candidate to campaign for the general election in May.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Dec 7, 2023
- Event Description
Kyrgyz activist Aftandil Jorobekov, who openly protested against amending Kyrgyzstan's national flag, has been detained after being charged with calling for mass disorder and disobeying the authorities' legal requirements, his lawyer told RFE/RL late on December 7. The bill that was approved by lawmakers in its first reading last week says that the wavy yellow sunrays on a red field on the current flag give the impression of a sunflower. The Kyrgyz word for sunflower is kunkarama, which also has a second meaning -- "dependent." The bill would allow the "straightening" of the sunrays to make it look more like a sun.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Dec 7, 2023
- Event Description
The authorities of Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City, on the morning of Dec. 7, sent a large number of police and security forces to surround and build barricades made of metal sheets around the Loc Hung Garden area, forcibly evicting the remaining residents of the area from their makeshift homes, according to representatives of the evicted households. As of this writing, the dispute between the residents of Loc Hung Garden and Tan Binh District authorities has not been resolved.
Photos shared by Loc Hung residents showed that many police and plainclothes security forces were deployed to block all roads leading to the disputed area. Many former residents of Loc Hung said on social media that there was a heavy presence of police officers around their homes, preventing them from going outside.
Cao Ha Truc, one of the Loc Hung residents who has not received the compensation, said police and security forces surrounded his residence on the morning of Dec. 7.
"Today, beginning at 6 a.m., [the Tan Binh authorities] sent around 400 police officers and security forces to surround Loc Hung Garden. Then, they blocked the doors of the former residents of Loc Hung and did not allow them to enter or leave. They sent excavators and trucks carrying iron frames and corrugated iron sheets [to the disputed Loc Hung Garden]. Then, the excavators started to dig and plant corrugated iron pillars to barricade Loc Hung Garden," Truc told RFA on Dec. 7.
In January 2019, local authorities sent bulldozers to demolish the homes of Loc Hung Garden residents, making hundreds of residents of this settlement homeless overnight. In addition to flattening more than 500 homes in the area, Ho Chi Minh City authorities also destroyed their crops and gardens, claiming these structures had been built illegally.
The evicted residents had to relocate to other places or establish makeshift dwellings, and the land has since remained unused. Many of the Loc Hung residents are Catholics, political dissidents, and veterans of the former Army of the Republic of Vietnam. For years, they have sought legal assistance from lawyers and sent numerous petitions to the central government, but the case has not yet been resolved.
Last November, the Tan Binh authorities introduced a plan to raise compensation for the evicted Loc Hung Garden households to solve the years-long dispute. The authorities also announced that three schools would be built on the property once the case is settled. However, many Loc Hung residents who lost their homes in the area rejected the compensation offered by the authorities, saying that they are much lower than the market price.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to housing
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Dec 7, 2023
- Event Description
Vietnamese human rights activist Lù A Da was arrested by Thai Royal Police at his rental home near Bangkok on Dec. 7, his wife said.
His arrest comes two weeks after he publicly denounced the Vietnamese government’s “systematic suppression of H’mong communities in Vietnam.”
“Last Thursday, the police arrested him and took him away while he and our daughter were washing a vehicle,” Lù’s wife Giang Thi A told Radio Free Asia.
“He’s now being held in a police station. If we pay 10,000 Thai baht, he will be transferred to the IDC [the Immigration Detention Center],” she said.
Giang explained that the 10,000 baht (US$280) bail is an administrative fee levied on Lù for having entered Thailand illegally in 2020.
If Giang does not pay the fee, her husband will have to remain detained at the police station for 20 days before being transferred to the IDC, she said.
RFA contacted the Thai Royal Police about his case, but has yet to receive a response.
Missionary and activist
Before arriving in Thailand, Lù worked as a missionary and preacher at the Northern Evangelical Church of Vietnam. He also served as the head of the H’mong Human Rights Coalition.
Lù fled to Thailand with his family in 2020 to escape ethnic and religious persecution and seek official refugee status from the UNHCR. His wife told RFA that their family has applied for refugee status twice since first arriving in Thailand.
Their first application was rejected, and their appeal – filed in March– has not yet been processed by the UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency.
Because they have not been officially recognized as refugees by the UNHCR, Lù, Giang, and their two children now face being deported back to Vietnam.
Although Thai police have yet to issue an official statement on the case, Lù was likely arrested for denouncing Vietnam’s “systematic suppression of ethnic and religious minorities” in a video released by Boat People SOS, a U.S.-based advocacy group for Vietnamese refugees.
“Tens of thousands of H’mong people in Vietnam are not granted identification and birth and marriage certificates,” Lù stated in the video.
“As a result, children cannot go to school, adults cannot work, and seniors are not entitled to healthcare assistance provided by the government like others from the dominant ethnic group.”
The BPSOS video was released on Nov. 29 as a preview to the UN’s upcoming review of Vietnam’s implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The findings of the U.N. review were officially released on Dec. 8.
Asylum-seekers in Thailand
As of December 2023, there are more than 1,000 H’mong asylum seekers living in Thailand, the H’mong Human Rights Coalition reports.
Because Thailand has not signed the International Convention on Refugees, Thai police can arrest asylum seekers without providing any justification.
In late November, Thai police arrested 11 members of the Montagnard ethnic minority in a raid near Bangkok. As of Dec. 13, they have not yet been released from detention at the IDC.
Like the H’mong minority, roughly 1,500 Vietnamese Montagnards have sought freedom from persecution in Thailand.
After her husband’s arrest, Giang Thi A sought assistance from the Center for Asylum Protection, or CAP, in Bangkok.
“Yesterday, an attorney there said that they would be paying the fine for my husband today so that the police could send him to the IDC right away,” she told RFA.
“After being transferred to the IDC, the attorney could talk to the Thai police to see how much money they would need [to bail him out].”
The head of CAP said that the organization was working with the UNHCR office in Bangkok to support Lù A Da.
He explained that individuals who are in the process of applying for or have already been granted UNHCR refugee status can be released from the IDC provided that they post a 50,000 baht bail.
RFA reached out to the UNHCR in Bangkok to seek information about Lù’s case, but the organization responded that they “can not provide applicants’ personal information.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Transnational repression
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Dec 7, 2023
- Event Description
News coordinator at www.ourbiratnagar.net Prem Dewan was attacked while reporting in Biratnagar on December 7. Biratnagar lies in Koshi Province of Nepal.
Freedom Forum talked to Dewan about the incident. He shared that he was called by one of the protestors to report on their ongoing protest in Biratnagar Municipality. Locals and the fire victims were protesting in the municipality premise against lax arrangement of municipality in controlling fire outbreak.
However, as journalist Dewan reached the site, protestors themselved attacked him. Dewan received minor injuries in his left hand.
Dewan informed FF that he registered a First Information Report at the District Police Office, Morang on December 8 against the attackers Ramesh Ray and Abhimanyu Yadav. Following the report, police arrested Ramesh Ray on December 8.
Freedom Forum condemns the attack upon a journalist. The incident depicts serious insult of a journalist and a gross violation of his right to free reporting. While journalists covering protests are often targeted, such incidents instill further fear on them. Hence, FF urges the concerned to respect journalists right to free reporting and press freedom. The security authority is also urged to ensure safety of journalists.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Dec 6, 2023
- Event Description
A Vietnamese court in Binh Thuy District, Can Tho City, on Dec. 6 sentenced Le Minh The, a social media user, to 30 months in prison on charges of "abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the state and the legitimate rights and interests of other organizations and individuals," under Article 331 of the Penal Code. This is the second time he has been charged and convicted of violating Article 331.
The, 60, was arrested on Feb. 22 this year after the Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention and Control of Can Tho City Police found that The had allegedly used his two personal Facebook accounts, "Minh The" and "Le Minh The," to post, share and comment on articles containing content aimed at "distorting the Communist Party's guidelines and the state's laws and policies."
The police investigation agency added that The also posted livestreaming on social media, attracting anti-state critics living in Vietnam and abroad. The police alleged in a statement that those live streamings had “called for the overthrow of the government and demanded political pluralism and separation of powers in Vietnam.”
The refused his right to have a defense lawyer because he believed he was innocent, according to his family. Le Thi Nghia Tinh, his daughter, told Radio Free Asia (RFA) that the family had been informed about the trial a few days earlier. Tinh said in a message to RFA that her mother was allowed to attend the trial but was only allowed to observe the trial through a monitor in another room near the courtroom.
The Can Tho social media user was first arrested in October 2018 under Article 331. He was accused of using Facebook to "host livestreaming that contained propaganda defaming the VCP and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam." The police said his livestreaming sought to "sabotage national unity, cause divisions between the people and the party, and harm national security and social safety." He was convicted during a trial in March 2019 and was released from prison in July 2020.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Dec 6, 2023
- Event Description
Former political prisoner Pham Thanh Nghien, who emigrated to the United States with her husband earlier this year, reported that HCMC Police have surrounded their former neighborhood, Loc Hung Vegetable Garden in Binh Thanh District, which for years has been a contentious flashpoint against land-grabbing by the authorities. Since Dec. 6, work trucks have been bringing dirt, sand and other construction material to the site. Ambulances, fire trucks and frequency-jamming vehicles have been stationed in two schools near the area. All roads going in and out are monitored and controlled by police. Several people who live right outside Loc Hung have also been ordered not to leave their homes.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Raid, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Dec 6, 2023
- Event Description
The Qaharman rights group in Kazakhstan said on December 22 that a court in Astana handed an additional 15 days in jail to activists Aset Abishev and Aidar Syzdykov two days earlier on a charge of disobeying police orders. The two were arrested on December 6 near a detention center where they were awaiting the release of their colleague and sentenced later to 15 days in jail each on hooliganism charges which they rejected as politically motivated. Rights activists in Kazakhstan say pressure on dissent has increased as the second anniversary of unprecedented anti-government protests that turned violent approaches.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Dec 5, 2023
- Event Description
Cameraperson at Kantipur Television Sanjay Luitel was manhandled and his device broken while reporting on December 5. The incident took place in the federal capital of Nepal.
According to Cameraperson Luitel, he was reporting on a case of fake Bhutanese refugees scam at Kathmandu District Court. He was recording video of one of the convicts, Sandeep Rayamajhi who was being taken to police vehicle after court hearing. At the same time, Rayamajhi hit Luitel and and his camera while entering into the police van. Luitel was hit on face and has swelling on his cheeks. Boom of the camera was also broken.
It shows journalists on investigative reporting are targeted more.
Freedom Forum condemns the incident. Attacking a journalist while reporting in presence of the security persons is a gross violation of press freedom. The incident shows sheer disrespect towards journalists. The security authority should ensure safety of journalists.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 5, 2023
- Event Description
Another two villagers were allowed to return after being questioned on Tuesday by the Siem Reap provincial court following a lawsuit by APSARA authority on villagers, accused of inciting others to commit felony and obstruct public work.
A total of nine villagers, including a commune police level officer, have been questioned so far in relation to APSARA’s legal case against the locals, which was reported by CamboJA.
Siem Reap Court spokesperson Yin Srang confirmed that siblings Kert Reachkol and Kert Yan have been allowed to return home.
According to Hang Touch TV online video which was live, some 100 villagers gathered in front of the provincial court to support their neighbors who showed up for questioning at the court on December 5.
In the footage, some villagers were seen lighting incense and praying to Buddha, a religious practice among Cambodians, hoping that the court would drop the charges against the villagers and not destroy their dwelling.
“I told the court that I didn’t incite [anyone],” Reachkol told CamboJA on Wednesday. “In my opinion, I shouldn’t be accused [of it] because I did not commit any act of incitement and obstruct public work,” he said.
He explained that in 2022, he fixed an additional iron front structure, and changed the roof from tarpaulin to zinc to protect the house when it rains but APSARA ordered him to remove it.
The authority came to remove it in June but was unsuccessful as the villagers gathered around and protested. “We begged them not to remove it as it would affect our livelihood,” Reachkol said.
APSARA National Authority spokesperson Long Koksal said the authority decided to file a lawsuit as the villagers refused to remove their construction, which was illegally built around Angkor heritage sites.
“When there was no cooperation [to demolish them] after we tried our best to resolve the issue [previously], we had no choice but to go with this method [lawsuit],” he said.
He said when APSARA Authority saw the illegal constructions, their officers informed house owners that they had illegally built them on the Angkor site.
“We gave them time to remove [the structures] depending on the timeframe they requested – one, two or three weeks – and reminded them when they didn’t follow the first notice,” Kosal said.
Prasat Bakong district administrative chief Din Dong said he was not aware that villagers were summoned for questioning but said that villagers had built additional front structures, and made a roof for parking which is prohibited by APSARA.
“Local authorities have compromised but importantly the area is under the control of APSARA authority,” Dong said, noting that there are six communes in Prasat Bakong where villagers live within the APSARA authority jurisdiction.
NGO rights group at Licadho Banteay Meanchey coordinator Phun Chhin urged APSARA to be more considerate of the villagers’ livelihood instead of taking legal action on them.
“He did not build a huge construction. He just fixed [a front structure] which is needed to support his daily livelihood but we are seeing a restriction by APSARA authority,” he said.
He felt that APSARA should not file a complaint against people who were fixing small things. “Accusing someone of incitement is a serious offense for villagers,” Phhin said. “We noticed that APSARA filed the complaint as a deterrent to other villagers who dare to come out and protest against their [APSARA] work.”
Previously, APSARA spokesperson told CamboJA that some 10,000 families, who volunteered to move to relocation sites of Run Ta Ek and Peak Sneng, remain under construction.
The Cambodian government is working to clear settlements around Angkor Archeological Park in an effort to retain the temple’s UNESCO World Heritage status. While thousands of people inside the Angkor Archaeological Park have been displaced on conservation grounds, communities have been allowed to stay but with restrictions. Apsara authority prohibits them from expanding their houses.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: villagers targeted with criminal charges
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Dec 5, 2023
- Event Description
The law guarantees protection for environmental defenders who want to maintain a safe and healthy environment from criminal and civil charges. The reality, on the contrary, is that environmental activists are threatened by the law. The latest case is that of Daniel Frits Maurits, an environmental activist from Jepara, Central Java, who is active in the #savekarimunjawa movement. Last December 5, he was detained by Jepara Police for alleged violation of Article l28 Paragraph 2 of the ITE/2016 Law.
The police suspended Daniel's detention a day later but the investigation of this case is considered a form of threat to the struggle for environmental improvement in Indonesia.
"The reporting is very weak. I did not mention any name, identity or group. This is purely to educate the public on what is happening on the coast of Karimunjawa," he said when contacted by cellular, December 8.
He said that his case began with a video uploaded on Facebook social media on November 12, 2022. In the video, he tells how the condition of Cemara Beach, which is polluted by shrimp pond waste.
Later, on February 8, he was reported to the Jepara Police for the 6.03-minute video. The report was filed by Ridwan, Chairman of the Karimunjawa Bersatu Community Association. This association emerged after protests over the existence of shrimp farms in Karimunjawa became more widespread.
Daniel is not too concerned about the legal case against him. He realizes that the problem is part of the risk of fighting for the right to a decent environment.
He is ready to follow the legal process. "For me there is something much bigger than (the reporting), namely the pollution that occurs in Karimunjawa. That is far more important than my problem," he said.
Tri Hutono, Secretary of the Kawali Indonesia Lestari Coalition (Kawali) DPD Central Java regretted the police's move to process the report.
According to him, Daniel's attitude, which often protests the pollution of shrimp pond waste, is protected by law.
"The PPLH (Environmental Protection and Management) law guarantees that those who fight for the right to improve the environment cannot be charged criminally or civilly," he said.
Tri also sees the report not only as an attempt to castrate the community's right to be fully informed about the impact of shrimp farm waste pollution, but also as part of a scenario to deflect the main issue in Karimunjawa.
"The main issue is pollution by ponds in Karimunjawa. That should be what the investigators are investigating because it is clearly illegal, not widening it everywhere."
He believes that the reporting of Daniel is a form of criminalization. In fact, the disposal of waste by the farms has actually caused problems on the coast of Cemara Beach. The beach is dirty and odorous.
According to Tri, waste contamination from hundreds of ponds has caused massive growth of silk moss. Some coral reefs there died because they were covered in moss.
The situation is considered detrimental to the fishermen even though many residents depend on it for their livelihoods, ranging from finding seaweed, fish, to tourism.
"This proves how weak state protection is for those who are struggling to realize a better environment," Daniel said by telephone.
Parid Ridwanuddin, National Walhi's Coastal and Marine Campaign Manager also highlighted this case. According to him, the police must be observant to see the problem.
What Daniel did, he said, was part of an effort to protect Karimunjawa's coastal areas from the contamination of shrimp pond waste. For this reason, the police's move to name Daniel as a suspect contradicts Article 66 of PPLH Law Number 32/2009.
According to Parid, the article guarantees that anyone who fights for a better environment cannot be caught in criminal or civil law. Moreover, in the context of Daniel's case, the alleged pollution has been confirmed by a number of parties, including the Jepara Regency Government.
In fact, the Jerapa Government has formed an integrated team to resolve the issue.
Parid said that those who fight for environmental improvement are not criminals who deserve suspect status. On the contrary, they are the foremost people who volunteer their time and energy for a better environment.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Dec 4, 2023
- Event Description
The leader of an ethnic Pashtun rights movement has been detained after addressing a sit-in at Pakistan’s frontier city of Chaman to demand free cross-border movement with Afghanistan, officials said today.
Manzoor Pashteen, chief of the Pashtun Protection Movement (PTM), was travelling from the border town of Chaman to Turbat in Balochistan province when he was picked up by police yesterday evening.
Pashtuns are a distinct ethnic group with their own language, living mostly in Pakistan and Afghanistan but divided by the colonial-drawn Durand Line that splits the two countries.
“He was detained for making inflammatory speeches and threatening public law and order,” Balochistan’s minister of information Jan Achakzai told AFP.
Achakzai said Pashteen would likely be released later today and was expected to be “expelled from the province”.
Thousands of Pakistani protesters have camped near the Afghan border to demonstrate against new regulations that require cross-border travellers to have passports and visas.
Previously, people crossing by land could pass using only national identification cards.
The new regulations were introduced after Islamabad in October announced plans to expel all Afghans living illegally in Pakistan. So far nearly 400,000 have left voluntarily or have been deported.
Athar Abbas, the deputy commissioner of Chaman, confirmed Pashteen’s arrest, adding authorities had banned all PTM leaders from the province.
Pashteen, a former veterinary student, has rattled the military since 2018 with calls to end alleged abuses by security forces targeting ethnic Pashtuns in the restive tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
His PTM also organises rallies in Balochistan province, where both ethnic Pashtuns and Balochs have long accused the military of abuses.
Pakistan’s Pashtun heartlands were once plagued by violence and militancy, but army operations have dramatically improved security in recent years.
The military maintains a heavy presence there, however, and the PTM has tapped into festering anger over alleged abuses against Pashtuns – including enforced disappearances and targeted killings.
Authorities have repeatedly denied the claims and cracked down on the rights group.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Dec 4, 2023
- Event Description
Police in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, have blocked five Kazakh men and women from approaching the Chinese Consulate, where they planned to demand the release of their relatives imprisoned in so-called reeducation camps in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang.
The protesters, who planned to picket the Chinese Consulate on December 4, told RFE/RL that it was the 1,000th day of their rallies "against China's genocidal politics against ethnic Kazakhs, Uyghurs, and Kyrgyz," as well as other indigenous peoples of the region.
According to the protesters, their relatives in Xinjiang were incarcerated either for being practicing Muslims or for posts on the Internet.
China has been accused of human rights violations against Kazakhs, Uyghurs and other mostly Turkic-speaking indigenous ethnic groups over the existence of mass detention camps in Xinjiang.
Beijing denies that the facilities are internment camps, saying its actions are aimed at combating terrorism. People who have fled the province, however, say people from the ethnic groups are undergoing "political indoctrination" at a network of facilities officially referred to as reeducation camps.
Amid ongoing rallies and pickets in front of China's diplomatic missions in Kazakhstan, the Chinese Embassy said in March 2021 that all ethnic Kazakhs incarcerated in Xinjiang are Chinee citizens and are being held there for breaking Chinse laws.
Several relatives of the protesters were released and allowed to travel to Kazakhstan in recent years.
Kazakh authorities refrain from openly criticizing the policies of China, one of their main creditors.
The U.S. State Department has said that as many as 2 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and members of Xinjiang's other indigenous, mostly Muslim ethnic groups have been taken to detention centers.
Kazakhs are the second-largest Turkic-speaking indigenous community in Xinjiang after Uyghurs. The region is also home to ethnic Kyrgyz, Tajiks, and Hui, also known as Dungans. Han, China's largest ethnicity, is the second-largest community in Xinjiang.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Dec 4, 2023
- Event Description
Political prisoner Nguyen Ngoc Anh’s wife, Nguyen Thi Chau, continues to be “invited” by Ben Tre provincial police in Binh Dai County to “receive guidance on fire prevention for small businesses and other related matters.” The latest “invitation” was on Dec. 8, with the previous one delivered on Dec. 4. Chau told the police to stop sending her these invitations because it causes her stress and she would not comply the next time.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Dec 4, 2023
- Event Description
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for the release of two journalists who were arrested within a week of each other in Afghanistan – one while out reporting and the other after being tried and sentenced behind closed doors. The Taliban authorities must stop hounding independent media, RSF says.
“Press freedom has collapsed since the Taliban retook power in 2021, with journalists being subjected to arbitrary arrest and a crackdown on independent media. We call on the Taliban authorities to release Radio Nasim director Sultan Ali Javadi and Tamadon TV reporter Abdul Rahim Mohammadi immediately and to end their intimidation campaign against media professionals in Afghanistan.
South Asia Desk RSF Neither the GDI nor the local authorities have provided any information about the reason for Mohammadi’s arrest while working in the southern province of Kandahar on 4 December. According to RSF’s information, he was arrested at a Taliban checkpoint for failing to present an identity document and was then placed in detention. Tamadon TV is an independent media outlet that mainly targets Afghanistan’s Shia minority.
Javadi, whose now-closed news and entertainment radio station was based in Nili, the capital of the central province of Daykundi, was sentenced to a year in prison on charges of “propaganda against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” and “spying for foreign and infidel countries” at the end of a trial before a local court that was held behind closed doors and without a lawyer present. He was detained the next day.
Radio silence
Radio Nasim had been persecuted for three months, ever since 27 September, when the Daikundi GDI briefly arrested Javadi and two of his colleagues, Saifullah Rezaei and Mojtaba Qasemi, seized their equipment, and sealed the entrance to the radio station, which has not broadcast since then.
According to RSF’s sources, they were accused of broadcasting content from Radio Azadi, the Afghan branch of the US broadcaster Radio Free Europe (RFE)/Radio Liberty(RL), which was banned from broadcasting in Afghanistan in December 2022.
The three journalists were arrested again at their homes on 7 October for allegedly cooperating with foreign media critical of the Taliban. Rezaei and Qasemi were released after 11 days, while Javadi was not released until 24 October.
Reign of fear
The current crackdown on the media was preceded by the arrests of nine journalists in five provinces in the space of a week in the first half of August. Of the five privately-owned media outlets operating in Daykundi province before the Taliban takeover, three were ransacked after the previous government fell, and the GDI seized the equipment of the others. Radio Nasim’s closure leaves Seday-e-Qarya as the only radio station still operating.
On 19 December, TOLO news journalist Ruhollah Sangar was released after being held by the GDI for two days in Parwan province, north of Kabul. He was arrested on 17 December by members of the Taliban's General Directorate of Intelligence while working in the town of Charikar, the capital of Parwan province. The local authorities and the Parwan GDI gave no official reason for his arrest.
Afghanistan is ranked 152nd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2023 World Press Freedom Index. Three journalists have been killed in Afghanistan since the start of the year and two are currently detained.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Dec 4, 2023
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Dec 3, 2023
- Event Description
A provincial board of Vietnam’s only state-recognized Buddhist Sangha decided over the weekend to expel ethnic Khmer Krom monk Thach Chanh Da Ra after authorities accused him of being “uncooperative,” state media reported.
Thach, 33, is the abbot of the Dai Tho Pagoda, which is also known as the Tro Nom Sek Pagoda in Khmer, in Vinh Long Province, in southern Vietnam.
According to state media, when a task force from the Tam Binh District People’s Committee came to the pagoda for “working purposes” on Nov. 22, the monk refused task force members entry to the pagoda and filmed their visit to “defame local authorities and divide national unity.”
The state-owned newspaper Giac Ngo Online has since accused Thach of “seriously violating Buddhist law” and the charter of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha by carrying out “propaganda against the state” and refusing to obey the regulations of the VBS.
However, Khmer Krom Buddhists in the region claim that neither Thach nor Dai Tho Pagoda have violated Vietnamese law.
The Khmer Kampuchea Krom Federation said the Nov. 22 “task force” visit cited in the state media report was actually a planned attack on Dai Tho Pagoda by more than 50 members of the VBS. Three monks were injured in the altercation.
The advocacy group said the Dec. 3 order to expel Ra is the Vietnamese state’s way of punishing the monk for defending the pagoda.
The nearly 1.3-million strong 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.
Furthermore, they point out that Thach was never even registered with the VBS to begin with, as he felt that affiliating his pagoda with the state-controlled sangha would threaten the preservation of the Khmer Krom minority’s cultural and religious autonomy.
In protest, more than 20 Khmer Krom villagers have begun a sit-in at the pagoda to guard Thach Chanh Da Ra from being removed or arrested by Vietnamese authorities.
Khmer Krom activist Thach Nga told RFA that the monk has only disobeyed local authorities when attempting to protect Khmer Krom cultural heritage.
For example, the monk once directed the pagoda’s inhabitants to prevent local police from cutting down a 700-year-old Koki tree inside the pagoda. Thach Nga explained that this tree has special cultural significance to the Khmer Krom.
Thach Chanh Da Ra has also gone against local authorities’ wishes by hosting Khmer Krom activists such as Duong Khai at Dai Tho pagoda.
The monk told RFA that he fears for the safety of Khmer Krom Buddhists in Vinh Long Province.
“I am very worried for the well-being and safety of the monks and Buddhist followers,” he said. “I am very worried about Khmer Krom Buddhism, especially at Dai Tho Pagoda. I do not know how the future of Buddhism and our Khmer Krom indigenous culture will [turn out].”
He has since called on the Cambodian government as well as international human rights organizations to intervene on behalf of the Khmer Krom minority.
As of Dec. 4, RFA has not been able to obtain a comment from the Vietnamese embassy in Cambodia or from the Cambodian government’s official spokesperson Pen Bona.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Dec 2, 2023
- Event Description
Oddusuddan police disrupted an event to remember the 32 Tamils that were massacred in Othiyamalai, Mullaitivu by the Sri Lankan army in 1984.
As Tamils gathered by a memorial for the victims to mark 39 years since the massacre, the Officer in Charge (OIC) of Oddusuddan police station, interrupted the event claiming that the organisers did not have a permit to use a loudspeaker. OIC Ranjith Bamunusinghe demanded that the event is halted and to show that they had a permit for the loudspeaker.
The organisers argued that this event has been held annually for the last 14 years without any problems, however, today this police officer was creating a disturbance.
Bamunusinghe gave the organisers ten minutes to conclude the event, forcing the remembrance event to end earlier than planned.
On December 2, 1984, men in the village were rounded up by Sri Lankan soldiers, dragged to the village community centre where they were stripped naked and tied up by their clothes.
Twenty-seven of the men were shot and killed on the spot. A further five were detained and are believed to have been murdered at a later date.
Flowers and candles were laid at a memorial dedicated to the victims despite the heavy presence of Sri Lankan intelligence officers who took photographs of the participants.
A monument built in memory of the victims of Othiyamalai is reported to have been destroyed in the final stages of the armed conflict. A new memorial was unveiled in 2018.
Since the end of the armed conflict in May 2009, the Sri Lankan state has attempted to repress Tamil memorialisation activities in the North-East, through court orders or by intimidating and harassing Tamil people participating in remembrance events.
The state has escalated their crackdown on remembrance events in recent weeks as the Tamil nation marked Maaveerar Naal. This week, as many as 11 Tamils, have now been arrested by Sri Lankan authorities under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), after Maaveerar Naal commemorations.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Dec 2, 2023
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Dec 1, 2023
- Event Description
A demonstration by Papuan students in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), turned violent. Dozens of students were beaten by a mob from one of the mass organizations, then they were arrested by the police.
The demonstration of Papuan students took place on Jalan Piet A Tallo, Friday (1/12/2023). They rallied there in commemoration of the West Papua independence declaration day.
While protesting, the students were approached by a group of mass organizations Garda Flobamora and Garuda. They were told to stop protesting. Chaos ensued until they were taken to the police station.
"We are temporarily at the police station. We were dispersed and beaten by the Garuda mass organization," said the coordinator of the mass action, Yeri Wali.
Yeri explained that the incident began when two people suspected of being intelligence officers arrived using a white car to conduct monitoring at around 09.07 Wita.
Then at 09.15 Wita, around 50 people from the Garuda mass organization came to the protesters angry, argued and ended up beating them blindly, causing the clothes of a number of protesters to be torn off.
In addition, a protestor named Ririn was beaten until she fainted. Another protestor, Jek, also received a blow on his lip that broke. They were then transported to the Kupang City Police Station.
"Currently, we all have injuries and many bumps on the head, face and lips," said Yerri.
Kupang City Police Public Relations Section Head Aipda Florensi Ibrahim Lapuisaly confirmed the arrest. However, he suggested that they go directly to the Kupang City Police Headquarters.
"There is indeed information (of arrests) but I don't know how many were secured. Because I and Mr. Kapolresta still have Friday Curhat activities in Oepura Village," he said.
detikBali monitored at the Kupang City Police Station that the protesters had not been released. Meanwhile, the masses from the Garuda Kupang mass organization had already dispersed at 10:40 Wita. There has been no official statement from the Garuda organization about the riot.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Dec 1, 2023
- Event Description
The Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) and the Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) commemorated the independence of the Papuan nation on December 1, 1961.
The action, which was supposed to take place at Barito market in Gamalama sub-district, Ternate city, was dispersed by TNI and Polri officers in front of SMAN 3 Ternate city, Gambesi sub-district, South Ternate district, (1/12).
The field coordinator when confirmed, said that after the mass transportation vehicle left the gathering point to the action point, soldiers in full uniform about 7 people immediately blocked the action truck. Meanwhile, a soldier forced the truck driver to stop the car and forced the driver to get off and confiscate the truck keys.
"The truck left the gathering point, and was immediately blocked and sabotaged by soldiers in full uniform, totaling around 7 people. And a lot of plainclothes police," concluded Nando.
In addition, one of the Papuan Alliance Students said that the purpose of this action was to convey to the entire community that the Papuan nation is an independent nation and has been recognized de facto de jure.
"On December 1, everything was carried out. The declaration and submission of a political manifesto as a concrete form of the establishment of the West Papua state," he said.
He also said that the declaration of independence of the Papuan nation is clear evidence that the formation of the state was purely carried out by the Papuan people.
"It is not a country made by the Dutch, but it is a pure country founded by the people of the west Papuan nation," he said.
He also conveyed that the current situation in Papua is very concerning. Because the Indonesian state colonized and annexed an independent nation, this then led to various kinds of human rights violations that were increasing and massive, so this needs to be conveyed objectively what is happening in Papua.
"Many human rights violations and their escalation are always increasing and massive from year to year. And it leads to genocide of systematic racial extermination, so that today the indigenous Papuans are on the verge of racial extinction," he said.
Meanwhile, Lipantara, when confirmed, said that the forced dispersal carried out by the security forces was an act of suppression of democratic space, where restrictions on expressing opinions in public were carried out openly by the state through the power of the TNI / Polri apparatus.
Whereas the very nature of democracy is to provide the freedom to express opinions in public in full, without any restrictions.
"Because the freedom to express opinions is precisely the heart of democracy, if it is stifled then democracy will slowly die," he said.
Until now, the protesters are still securing themselves from the TNI / Polri sweep.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Nov 30, 2023
- Event Description
Three journalists were allegedly attacked, threatened, and had their equipment damaged by former Member of Parliament (MP) Mostafizur Rahman and staff members of the ruling Awami League in Chittagong on November 30. The IFJ condemns the attack, and calls on Bangladesh’s senior political leadership to ensure that press freedom is upheld during the country’s upcoming elections.
On November 30, Chittagong Bureau of Independent Television journalist Rakib Uddin and two other journalists were allegedly attacked, with their equipment damaged. The attack occurred in front of the Chittagong deputy commissioner's office after Rakib asked Rahman if he had broken Bangladesh’s electoral code of conduct while the former politician was submitting candidacy papers.
The Dhaka Times reported the leader and his supporters allegedly threatened the journalist before assaulting him and damaging his and his colleagues’ equipment. Rakib Uddin said, “During the initial briefing when I questioned him in this regard, he became angry and attacked me abruptly. He physically assaulted me, throwing me to the ground. Furthermore, his supporters joined in and started to assault me. They broke cameras and confiscated microphones of both Independent Television and Maasranga Television.”
According to Rakib, the violence commenced after he pointed out that the leader had violated the electoral code of conduct as he was accompanied by more than five when he came to submit his nomination. On December 1, the election inquiry committee issued a show cause notice against the former politician regarding the alleged mispractice, with his alleged actions to be subject to an inquiry.
Mostafizur Rahman is a former member of parliament and Awami League candidate for Chattogram-16 (Banshkhali) constituency. In the past, Mostafizur Rahman has been in the news for ‘controversial activities, including leading processions with openly raised firearms and making disparaging remarks about senior central leaders of the party’.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Nov 29, 2023
- Event Description
A court in Astana on November 29 sentenced the chairman of Kazakhstan's unregistered Algha Kazakhstan (Forward Kazakhstan) party, Marat Zhylanbaev, to seven years in prison after finding him guilty of taking part in a banned group's activities and financing an extremist group. Zhylanbaev rejected the charges against him, calling them politically motivated. He has been on a hunger strike since late October protesting against a court decision to hold his trial, which started on November 1 behind closed doors. Human Rights Watch has urged the Kazakh authorities to immediately release Zhylanbaev.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Mongolia
- Initial Date
- Nov 29, 2023
- Event Description
Journalist Naran Unurtsetseg, the editor-in-chief of the Mongolian news website Zarig.mn, was arrested on December 4 on charges of contempt of court and spreading false information. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Mongolian affiliate, the Confederation of Mongolian Journalists (CMJ), call for the immediate release of the journalist and criticise efforts to silence and block the online publication.
Unurtsetseg’s arrest on December 4 was witnessed by Mongolian media workers in the editorial office of Zarig.mn in Ulaanbaatar, the capitol city of Mongolia. The editor was allegedly charged with contempt of court and “spreading false information” under Article 13.14 of the Criminal Code of Mongolia after posting an on her personal Facebook account about the inhumanity of a prolonging court hearing involving an elderly individual in Mongolia.
A court hearing in the Songinokhairkhan District court from December 1 to 4, approved the prosecutor’s proposal to detain Unurtsetseg for one month. Earlier, on November 29, the Criminal Court of First Instance of Chingeltei District also approveda proposal to take preventive measures to restrict Unurtsetseg from leaving Mongolia. Additionally, a legal and administrative body in Mongolia imposed a block on the access to the zarig.mn website within Mongolian territories, and added the website of zarig.mn to the list of illegal domain names, according to a joint statement released by The Media Council and Globe International Centre.
In response to the curtailing of the editor and its online portal, Unurtsetseg and journalists from Zarig.mn held a sit-in protest at Sukhbaatar Square on December 1. The CMJ said after it submitted demands to the Regulatory Commission of Communications, the Ministry of Digital Development and Communications, the National Police Agency, and the Prosecutor General’s Office of Mongolia, the zarig.mn website was subsequently unblocked on December 4.
Unurtsetseg has been variously pursued for her journalism work in recent years and faced 12 defamation charges in 2019, followed by four in 2020 – all initiated by politicians mentioned in her reporting. Despite successfully beating most of the cases, Unurtsetseg still faces a fine of around US$800, roughly the equivalent to two months' salary for the average journalist in Mongolia.
On December 8, Unurtsetseg's lawyers attended a hearing and appealed to the court for the journalist’s release due to unjustified detention. They also raised concerns that some legal provisions may have been violated during the investigation, and that the case's investigation was deliberately accelerated.
Media activists advise that law enforcement agencies and authorities in Mongolia were using Article 13.14 of the Criminal Code to restrict journalists’ capacity to perform their professional duties by investigating and charging them with crimes under the code. Article 13.14, which addresses the spreading of false information and stipulates penalties such as fines or public service, came into effect on January 10, 2020. Since then, numerous journalists have faced accusations of crimes.
CMJ reports that approximately 10 journalists are currently under investigation, including Unurtsetseg; Uranchimeg, of asu.mn), and A. Bayarmaa, of tas.mn; as well as the journalist and founder of Zarig.mn, J. Battul. The latter is part of the “Uncensored Team” program which is currently investigating and reporting onthe Foreign Investment Law in Mongolia and its possible revision. Battul has faced complaints from the Member of Parliament, Minister Ch. Khurelbaatar.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Censorship, Judicial Harassment, Online Attack and Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Media freedom, Freedom of expression Offline, Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Nov 28, 2023
- Event Description
Prison authorities of Prison No. 6, Nghe An Province, reportedly cut short the visit of prisoner of conscience Dang Dinh Bach's visitation with his wife, Tran Phuong Thao, on Nov. 28 after Bach told her that the prison administration had not resolved his complaint that his cellmates had assaulted him.
According to Thao, their conversation was interrupted when she came to visit him on Nov. 15. Bach told her that he had previously sent two complaint letters, on Aug. 26 and Sept. 16, respectively, to the People's Procuracy of Nghe An to report the assaults he endured in prison, but the incidents had not been resolved. Although Bach had not finished speaking, the phone was disconnected, and three supervisory officers asked them to stop the visit immediately.
Thao said that as prison officials dragged her husband out of the visiting room, he shouted that an inmate named Nguyen Doan Anh had allegedly kicked him in the back of his head, resulting in a bruise. Previously, Bach told his wife that a group of inmates at Prison No. 6 also stormed into the living quarters of political prisoners, threatening to take their lives. However, the prison administration denied his allegations.
Dang Dinh Bach has rejected food rations from the prison since Sept. 4 and only used food sent by his family. Bach also had to soak dried food for a long time before he could eat it because the prison did not provide him with boiling water. The prison guards also confiscated Bach’s items, such as his reading lamp, watch, essential oils to treat his asthma, razor, and a diary. The family is also not allowed to send him some items, even though they are not prohibited.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Nov 27, 2023
- Event Description
On 27 November 2023, Pakistan police, accompanied by plainclothes police officers, raided the home of woman human rights defender Hooran Baloch in Quetta, Balochistan. Police forcibly entered the premises where they threatened and filmed Hooran Baloch and her family without consent. At the end of the two hour raid, police arrested Hooran Baloch’s brother-in-law, Ali Nawaz, who was released after being detained for two hours at the Sattellite Town police station in Quetta.
Hooran Baloch is a woman human rights defender and the Research Coordinator of the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) based in Balochistan. VBMP, which was established in 2009, is a key organization that supports victims and relatives of enforced disappearances in Balochistan. It documents violations and is a strong advocate for release, redress and accountability. VBMP staff, including Hooran Baloch, have faced reprisals for their work, and are themselves at serious risk of legal and extra-legal violence.
Despite these risks, Hooran Baloch has continued to work in an extremely hostile and militarized context to support victims and their families. The woman human rights defender has supported and encouraged families to file complaints and legal cases for victims of enforced disappearance. Her work is vital in a context where many victims and families are afraid to file complaints and are likely to be unaware of their rights or know or do not know how to seek redress. Hooran Baloch’s support is critical in advocating for the release of prisoners and she has personally intervened to assist families in this process. The state reprisals against Hooran Baloch seek to prevent her from continuing her work, branding her as a terrorist. This amounts to a clear attempt to shut down any advocacy and information flow from Balochistan regarding ongoing violations.
On 27 November 2023, at around 2 pm, a contingent of police officers from the Satellite town Police station, Quetta, together with intelligence officers in plain clothes, forcibly entered the residence of Hooran Baloch in Quetta, Balochistan, where she lives with her family. Police searched the woman human rights defender’s house for around 2 hours at the end of which they arrested Ali Nawaz, the brother-in-law of Hooran Baloch. No reason was provided for the raid or for Ali Nawaz’s detention at the Sattelite police station. During the raid, security forces threatened, harrassed and filmed the woman human rights defender and her family without their consent. Ali Nawaz was released after being detained for two hours the same day.
Hooran Baloch has been threatened in the past in relation to her work. This has included online attacks – hate speech and defamation – as well as intimidation and harassment by police and other security forces. As a result of the raid, Hooran Baloch is deeply concerned for her safety and fears the possibility of further reprisals.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD, NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Nov 27, 2023
- Event Description
Police are suspected of carrying out arbitrary arrests of farmers in Konawe, Southeast Sulawesi. Walhi Sultra considers this arrest to be criminalization.
A group of plainclothes police arrested Ande bin Tokoano or often known as Nderi, a resident of Sandey Village, Angata District, South Konawe, Southeast Sulawesi, early Monday morning (27/11/2023). At that time, after dancing Malulo in a traditional event, the crowd of Sandey residents began to disperse and the village began to become quiet. Suddenly a group of people in plain clothes claiming to be police forced Nderi to come with them.
Initially, some of the remaining residents suspected that the act was kidnapping. But one of them shouted that they were the police.
"The arrest was flawed because the police did not show identification and did not show an arrest warrant," said Regional Executive Director of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) Southeast Sulawesi, Andi Rahman, when contacted by telephone.
Andi admitted that the information he received stated that Nderi's wife had only been sent a letter the next day. In the letter, Nderi was suspected of setting fire to land belonging to PT Marketindo Selaras (MS) and was charged under Article 187 Paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code jo. Article 55 Paragraph (1) 1 of the Criminal Code carries a threat of 12 years in prison.
According to Andi, the police's actions were an attempt at criminalization. A total of 8 villages in Angata District, including Sandey, he said, were in conflict with PT MS. For more than 20 years, residents have proven their control of the land, marked by community activities in land management in the form of plantations and plants that provide a livelihood for the community, such as sago, cashew nuts, white teak and secondary crops as a form of local life that needs to be preserved.
In accordance with PP Number 24 of 1997 Article 24 paragraph (2), community land control over cultivated land for more than 20 years is the basis for the Angata community to have legal land control. Meanwhile, PT MS claims 1,300 hectares of land.
"The Konsel Police have clearly criminalized Angata farmers with Article 187 paragraph 1 juncto, Article 55 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code which was carried out haphazardly and with legal procedural flaws in carrying out the arrest and handing over the detention to the Southeast Sulawesi Regional Police," he stressed.
Andi revealed that since 2002, 1,300 hectares of cultivated land was previously cultivated by PT Sumber Madu Bukari (SMB), but it was never legally valid. Likewise, the transfer of company power to PT MS in 2019 was also legally and procedurally flawed.
The Jakarta Commercial Court (PN) Judge's Determination No. 33/Pailit/2003/PN.Niaga/JKT PST dated February 20 2004 stated that the assets owned by PT SMB, namely the sugar factory covering an area of 66.24 hectares including mess, vehicles, land released in the Forest area of 12,600 hectares, which includes 1,300 hectares of plotting land located in the villages of Motaha, Puao, Teteasa, Lamooso and Sandarsi Jaya. "However, in the asset attachment, the 1,300 plotting land is not part of PT SMB's assets," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Nov 27, 2023
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 26, 2023
- Event Description
Authorities in Hong Kong have arrested a man who went to board a flight out of the city, charging him with "sedition" under colonial-era laws for wearing a T-shirt with a banned protest slogan printed on it, after questioning a lone protester holding up a blank sheet of paper at the weekend.
Acting on a tip-off, national security police arrested Chu Kai-poon, 26, as he approached his boarding gate, charging him with "committing one or more acts with seditious intent," "possession of seditious publications" and "possessing other people's ID cards."
According to a government statement, somebody reported a man at the airport to police for wearing a shirt emblazoned with the banned 2019 protest slogan, “Free Hong Kong, Revolution Now!” and “Independence for Hong Kong,” as well as a “Free Hong Kong” flag, according to several media reports.
The arrest is the latest in a string of “sedition” cases in Hong Kong, which carry a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment, and are used alongside a draconian national security law to target peaceful criticism of the authorities.
In July 2021, a court jailed motorcyclist Tong Ying-kit for nine years for “terrorism” and “secession” under the National Security Law, after he flew the “Free Hong Kong” slogan from his bike during a street protest.
"Police received a report that a man was allegedly wearing a shirt with seditious wordings at the Hong Kong International Airport," the Nov. 29 government statement said.
"Police officers sped to the scene and further seized some flags and clothing with seditious wording, as well as an identity card relating to another person from his personal belongings."
Lone protester
Chu's arrest came after police questioned a lone protester on Sunday after he stood on the street outside the Sogo Department Store in Causeway Bay holding up a sheet of white paper, marking the anniversary of the 2022 "white paper" movement.
The man stood there for some 30 minutes before he was approached by police, during which time some passersby were overheard asking him what he was doing, the independent InMediaHK news website reported.
Police then turned up and searched the man, checking his ID and asking if he was alone.
"What do you mean by this demonstration?" they asked him, according to bystanders interviewed in the report.
"Don't you know that a blank sheet of paper could easily incite others?" they asked.
Police later confirmed the incident to InMediaHK and said the 21-year-old man, surnamed Chan, had been allowed to leave with a warning.
'High-pressure environment'
Taiwan-based Hong Kong activist Fu Tong said the crackdown on public dissent is still making his home city "a high-pressure environment" for any form of peaceful activism.
"People dare not have anything to do with protest in the current high-pressure environment of Hong Kong," Fu said. "It's inspiring that there are still people willing to stand up."
"Those of us outside the Great Firewall sometimes feel that we're fighting in vain, and it's a form of mutual comfort and support to see that there are still people in Hong Kong who persist," he said. "It encourages us to keep up the fight."
U.S.-based political commentator Hu Ping said a lone protest – like that of the Beijing “Bridge Man” in 2022 – has a profound kind of symbolic power.
"The fact that a man in black held up a blank sheet of paper on the anniversary of the White Paper Movement carries deep political meaning," Hu said. "[It] expresses an overall sense of dissatisfaction and protest."
"Some people are still willing to stand up ... despite the high level of political pressure under the Chinese Communist Party's introduction of the National Security Law in Hong Kong," he said.
Zhuang Jiaying, associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, said the white paper incident showed how widespread such sentiments are, despite huge government attempts to stamp out any form of protest.
"The White Paper Revolution took place under the Chinese Communist Party's high-pressure, zero-COVID environment," Zhuang said. "While the [authorities] were able to suppress it very quickly and completely, they can't entirely eradicate sporadic protests."
"Even Beijing has no way to prevent such things, so I don't think it's surprising that such incidents happen from time to time in Hong Kong," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Nov 25, 2023
- Event Description
The family of Nabila Rahimi, a human rights activist, athlete, and health educator affiliated with a program of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), reports that she has been detained by the Taliban in Takhar and is currently held in their custody.
Nabila Rahimi’s family members informed Hasht-e Subh Daily on Saturday, November 25, that she was arrested by the Taliban in Taliqan City, Takhar, for not ceasing her activities in providing psychological counseling to the public following the Taliban’s prohibition on women working. She is detained near Taliqan city’s Sarak-e Char area.
She was apprehended earlier this year by the Taliban and has been held in the Taliban’s women’s prison in Takhar since then.
According to Nabila’s family members, she was mistreated during her arrest by the Taliban.
They emphasize that repeated efforts and assurances made by them, local elders, and authorities to secure her release from the Taliban’s grasp have been fruitless.
The family claims that the Taliban have indicated releasing Nabila Rahimi to her family soon but have warned that, upon her release, she will be under house arrest for two months and will be monitored.
However, the Taliban have not provided a specific timeline for her release to her family as of yet.
One of the family members states, “All I wanted was the release of Nabila.”
Our source adds that she was only assisting the people and providing psychological counseling to former government employees, including female counselors.
The source did not grant permission to disclose the name of the institution where Nabila Rahimi worked, based on certain considerations.
The Taliban have not commented on the matter so far.
This incident occurred at a time when the Taliban had previously instructed their security entities to curb the activities of some health institutions in various northeastern provinces.
This local contractor has been detained and imprisoned by the Taliban at a time when the group has imposed significant restrictions on Afghan women, with the prohibition of women working being one of them.
Although the Taliban had previously claimed that female employees in the health sector would not be subject to these restrictions, it is evident that the group is not adhering to its commitments and promises.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Women's rights
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Nov 25, 2023
- Event Description
Sri Lankan authorities have detained nine ethnic Tamils under the country's abusive counterterrorism law for commemorating those who died in the 1983-2009 civil war, Human Rights Watch said today.
The Sri Lankan government has repeatedly assured international allies, trading partners, and the United Nations that it would replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which has long been used to arbitrarily detain and torture minority community members and civil society activists. The government should immediately release all those arbitrarily detained under the PTA and place a moratorium on its use until it can be repealed.
“The Sri Lankan authorities’ use of a counterterrorism law against Tamils commemorating those who died in the civil war is cruelly abusive and further marginalizes a community that already faces persistent government discrimination,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “President Ranil Wickremesinghe speaks of ‘reconciliation,’ but his government’s actions only serve to deepen ethnic divisions.”
The authorities arrested those newly detained under the PTA between November 25 and 27 in Batticaloa, in the Eastern Province, and confiscated decorations and loudspeakers from a commemoration vigil. Since the civil war between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ended in 2009 with the separatist armed group’s complete defeat, successive administrations have prevented Tamils from publicly memorializing the war dead.
On December 2, police in Mullaitivu district, in the Northern Province, reportedly shut down an event at a Hindu temple to commemorate the Sri Lankan army’s 1984 massacre of Tamil villagers in Othiyamalai. Preventing ethnic and religious minorities from conducting ceremonies to commemorate the dead violates the rights to freedom of religion, belief, expression, and association, Human Rights Watch said.
Soon after taking office in July 2022, President Wickremesinghe ended a short-lived moratorium on the use of the PTA. A previous administration, in which Wickremesinghe was prime minister, had pledged in 2017 to repeal the law when it rejoined a European Union trading program called the Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP+). The GSP+ grants tariff-free access for Sri Lankan exports conditioned on compliance with international human rights conventions. Sri Lankan authorities have repeatedly renewed the pledge but never carried it out.
Many of Sri Lanka’s international partners, including the United States, European Union, and United Kingdom, as well as the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, criticized the recent PTA detentions.
The administration has also used the PTA to restrict criticism of government management of the economy and other policies. In August 2022, three student activists were detained under the law for protesting the government’s handling of the economic crisis. Other activists say that they fear being arrested under the PTA for speaking out and that the government is constraining civil society organizations’ access to funding, particularly donations from abroad, under the guise of “countering terrorist financing.”
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is providing Sri Lanka with a US$3 billion loan, reported in September that civil society’s “oversight and monitoring” of government actions is “restricted … by broad application of counter-terrorism rules.”
In a November report on Sri Lanka’s compliance with its human rights obligations under the GSP+ trading arrangement, the EU found that “the treatment of minorities remains a concern in particular as efforts towards reconciliation are slow, and the 1979 Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) continues to be applied including after the protest movements in 2022, causing fear among the population and suffocating dissent. Substantial reform or repeal of the PTA in line with human rights standards remains a priority, just as Sri Lanka’s need to re-commit to reconciliation and accountability.” Despite Sri Lanka’s failure to comply with its six- year-old pledge to reform the PTA, the EU continues to extend GSP+ benefits to the country.
On September 15, the government published the latest version of its proposed replacement counterterrorism legislation. It then withdrew the bill for further revisions after widespread domestic and international criticism that it reproduced many of the abusive provisions of the current law while creating new speech-related offenses that could be used to suppress dissent.
The government recently proposed another law, the Online Safety Bill, that could also be used to restrict freedom of expression by creating a commission, appointed by the president, which would decide whether online statements are false or prohibited. The commission could order the removal of online statements and participate in police investigations and prosecutions of those accused of posting them.
“The Sri Lankan government’s latest misuse of the PTA should be a strong reminder to the EU that its GSP+ requirements are being ignored,” Ganguly said. “The European Union and EU governments need to make their displeasure with this turn of events known.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Nov 25, 2023
- Event Description
The indigenous people of Poco Leok Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), were reported to have received arbitrary treatment by the National Police and TNI officers who were tasked with securing PT PLN and the FPIC team (Private Consent without Coercion) who visited Poco Leok, an area targeted for industrial development geothermal mining. This incident occurred on Saturday, November 25, 2023.
Judianto Simanjuntak, from the Poco Leok Advocacy Coalition, said that at that time the Poco Leok indigenous community took action to reject the arrival of the PLN group. PLN itself, he said, Tuesday (28/11/2023), came to Poco Leok accompanied by armed officers in Polri and TNI uniforms. No less than seven cars and a number of two-wheeled vehicles were deployed to provide security.
This action by the residents, continued Judianto, was then responded to with repressive action by the authorities. The officers pushed and even beat residents who blocked the group's arrival. "Taking cover behind the National Strategic Project (PSN) in an effort to liberalize electricity power, PLN, using the hands of the authorities, did not hesitate to injure residents," said Judianto.
According to Judianto, the Poco Leok indigenous community rejects the presence of PLN geothermal and the Padiapatapa team, because the indigenous community does not want their traditional territory to be confiscated for the purposes of building a geothermal power plant (PLTP).
"The living space of the Poco Leok indigenous people will be lost to build this geothermal power plant," said Judianto.
According to Judianto, the repressive actions of the authorities towards the Poco Leok indigenous community constitute a violation and denial of the right to freedom of expression and expression as guaranteed in the 1945 Constitution, Law Number 39 of 1999 concerning Human Rights, and Law Number 12 2005 concerning Ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Judianto believes that the principle of "prior consent without coercion" by PLN is just outdated jargon as a complement to the requirements for smoothing loans from banks to finance geothermal projects. People have repeatedly refused, but they haven't heeded it. The answer to refusal was the butt of the gun, the swing of the gun and the lunge of the officer's field shoes.
The rejection of the indigenous people of Poco Leok, Manggarai, regarding the construction of a geothermal power plant in Poco Leok, is an effort to defend their traditional territory, as guaranteed in national legal instruments and international law which recognize and respect the rights of indigenous peoples, namely Article 18B paragraph (2) of the Constitution In 1945 Jo. Article 28I paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution Jo. Article 6 paragraph (2) Law no. 39 of 1999 concerning Human Rights Jo. Constitutional Court (MK) Decision Number 35/PUU-X/2012, 16 May 2013 in conjunction with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) in conjunction with ILO Convention No. 169 of 1989 concerning Customary Law Communities.
Judianto said, due to repeated incidents of violence by the authorities against the Poco Leok indigenous community, the Poco Leok Advocacy Coalition emphasized that it condemned the acts of violence carried out by PLN through the security forces (TNI and Polri), urging the National Police Chief to remove the East NUSA Tenggra Regional Police Chief and the Manggarai Police Chief for violating the principles human rights.
Then urge the National Police Chief and TNI Commander to order the withdrawal of the security forces on duty in Poco Leok, urge the National Police Chief, East Nusa Tenggara Regional Police Chief, and Manggarai Police Chief to stop criminalizing the Poco Leok indigenous community, by stopping summonses in any form against the Poco Leok indigenous community, and urge the Minister of BUMN to carry out an evaluation of the PT PLN Board of Directors regarding the incident in Poco Leok.
"Finally, we urge the Indonesian Government and PT PLN to temporarily stop any activities related to geothermal development in Poco Leok until there is an official statement that they will follow the principles contained in free, prior, informed, consent (FPIC) in accordance with the guidelines of the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Community customs (UNDRIP)," said Judianto.
The Poco Leok Advocacy Coalition itself is a combination of a number of civil society organizations, namely the Alliance of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago (AMAN), the Association for the Defense of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago (PPMAN), the Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam), Trend Asia, the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), Legal Aid Institute (LBH) Makassar, JPIC OFM, Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation- Societas Verbi Divini (JPIC-SVD), Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) East Nusa Tenggara, Sunspirit for Justice and Peace, Labuan Bajo, and the Institute Legal Aid (LBH) Labuan Bajo.
The development of the Ulumbu Geothermal Power Plant (PLTP), which targets the Poco Leok traditional region, Manggarai, NTT, began with the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources' designation in 2017 of the Flores region as a Geothermal Island.
This determination is contained in the Decree of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources No. 2268 K/MEM/2017.
Then, looking at the potential of the area, PT PLN as the owner of the Ulumbu PLTP intends to expand the capacity from 7.5 MW to 40 MW. The Poco Leok area was chosen which consists of 14 traditional villages in 3 villages.
The expansion of the Ulumbu PLTP geothermal project is based on Decree Number HK/417/2022 concerning Determination of Locations for the Expansion of PLTP Units 5-6 in Poco Leok which was signed by the Regent of Manggarai. Poco Leok has also been designated as part of PSN, and is funded by the German Development Bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) through PT PLN (Persero).
There are 60 planned drilling points which could result in environmental damage and loss of living space for the Poco Leok indigenous community. Problems occurred when the project did not involve the participation and opinions of the Poco Leok indigenous people. "The government does not recognize the existence of the Poco Leok indigenous community," said Judianto
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Indigenous peoples' rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Nov 25, 2023
- Event Description
Violence against journalists has occurred again. This time it happened to a senior journalist in the Bangka Belitung Islands Province named Ichsan Mokoginta.
According to the official statement from the press organization Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Pangkalpinang City, the violent incident happened to Ichsan Mokoginta who is a journalist from Trasberita.com.
The attack from an unknown person befell Ichsan at his residence on Jalan Kampung Baru, Petaling Banjar Village, West Mendo District, Bangka Regency on Saturday (25/11/2023, around 13.30 WIB.
When confirmed by AJI Pangkalpinang City, Ichsan explained the chronology of the attack he experienced. The incident began when he was approached by an unknown person wearing a black helmet, dark jacket and white and red checkered long-sleeved shirt.
"The perpetrator used language with a Palembang accent and asked about the house of someone named Mamad, to which I answered that I didn't know. However, the question about Mamad's house kept being repeated," said Ichsan, Sunday (26/11/2023).
Ichsan, who received the uninvited person, felt suspicious and then chose to keep his distance by going deeper into the living room of his house. Ichsan's actions were apparently followed by the perpetrator who also entered the house.
The perpetrator then took out a bottle similar to a vinegar bottle from his pocket and then, using both hands, immediately sprayed the liquid in the bottle at Ichsan.
"The perpetrator then fled on a motorbike after I shouted," he said.
The liquid spray, which was thought to be acid, did not cause significant injuries to Ichsan's body. It's just that the liquid spray made the skin around Ichsan's face, neck and stomach feel hot.
"I suspect that this incident is related to my reporting about the existence of illegal tin mining in Penagan Waters, West Mendo Village. I have been aggressively reporting on the mine. I even reported it when fishermen who rejected the mine sent a report to TNI Headquarters about the involvement of individuals in the mine," explained Ichsan.
Currently, said Ichsan, this incident has been reported to the authorities, namely the West Mendo Sector Police (Polsek), which investigators have followed up by visiting the crime scene (TKP) and asking for information.
"A few days before the physical attack, I was invited to meet by one of the individuals and asked me not to report on the Penagan mine. The day before, I found that I was being followed by people who then monitored activities around my house," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Raid, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Suspected non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 24, 2023
- Event Description
Siem Reap Provincial Court questioned four villagers, including a commune police officer for allegedly obstructing public work, and for intentionally causing damage and violence.
Provincial court spokesperson Yin Srang confirmed that the four people have been allowed to return home after questioning.
“They have just been questioned by the prosecutor, and we don’t know what the next procedure is yet,” he said, declining to comment further.
In August, APSARA National Authority filed two separate lawsuits against six villagers and a commune police chief. While one of the summonses was against the four villagers including the policeman, another was issued to the villagers for allegedly inciting other villagers.
The lawsuits were brought by APSARA after hundreds of villagers protested against its attempt to demolish illegal structures on August 8, following a notice that was issued in Prasat Bakong district’s Meanchey commune.
Villagers in the second summons for incitement had already been questioned on October 23, and now await the next procedure in court.
About 100 villagers gathered outside the court to support their neighbors on Friday.
Suong Seak, one of four villagers who was questioned, called on court officials to drop the charges against him because he did not obstruct public work or cause any violence against the authority.
“The court asked [me] about the use of violence against APSARA authority, but I did not use any violence,” he asserted.
“I don’t agree with what they have accused me of because I did nothing,” Seak said. He added that APSARA failed to demolish his tent and a front structure measuring four by six meters when he and other villagers protested against them in August.
“The additional front structure for my house was built to prevent leakage when it rains, otherwise what do I do [when it rains]?” Seak said.
Rolous commune police chief Rai Vanna declined to elaborate after being questioned by the court on Friday.
“It is just normal questioning but I can’t tell you because the leader is not allowed to provide information to you [the media],” he said. “I am not concerned because I didn’t commit what they have charged [me with].”
Two other villagers, Var Chamnab and Klork Kuyba, who were named in the lawsuit, could not be reached for comment.
APSARA National Authority spokesperson Long Kosa declined to comment on the court case as court officials are working the procedure.
“I don’t have any comment relating to the court procedure because the court is an independent institution and we have to respect its jurisdiction,” he said.
“[According to] our principle any construction or building which is illegal is a topic for demolition,” Kosal said, when asked how APSARA would resolve the issue involving the construction of the structures by the villagers.
NGO rights group Licadho coordinator for the northern province Ing Kongchet said the court should drop the charges because the villagers did not commit any violence against the authorities.
“According to my interview with them, they claimed to not have committed those offenses because they were just gathered there to voice their opinion and request the authority to help fix old roofs or tents.
“They didn’t use violence or damage the properties of the authorities. APSARA authority angered hundreds of villagers, who were gathered there to protest which stopped [the authority] from carrying out its work,” Kongchet said.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: villagers targeted with criminal charges
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 24, 2023
- Event Description
On 24 November 2023, the Shandong Provincial High Court announced its decision to uphold the first-instance verdict and sentence against human rights defender Ding Jiaxi. In April 2023, the Linshu County Court in Shandong province found Ding Jiaxi guilty of “subversion of State power” and sentenced him to 12 years in prison.
The High Court did not hold any hearings during the appeal process, and barred the human rights defender’s defence lawyers from entering the courthouse when the decision was announced. The court also prohibited the lawyers from providing Ding Jiaxi’s family with the text of the appeal verdict on the basis of a “confidentiality agreement” that the lawyers were forced to sign.
On 21 November 2023, after having been informed of the date of the appeal decision announcement, the human rights defender’s two lawyers went to meet him at the Linshu Detention Centre but were told that the Shandong Provincial High Court had instructed the detention centre not to allow the lawyers to meet Ding Jiaxi. The lawyers then telephoned the High Court judge in charge of the case and were informed that the judge would need to consult with his/her superiors. After waiting for some time and still receiving no response from the judge, the lawyers eventually left the detention centre in the late afternoon.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Nov 24, 2023
- Event Description
A trans activist’s scheduled speech at a Bangladeshi university’s career conference was cancelled last month after anti-trans Muslim fundamentalist students threatened to boycott classes if she appeared as planned.
The France-based human rights organization, JusticeMakers Bangladesh in France (JMBF), protested the cancellation of the appearance by Bangladeshi transgender woman Ho Chi Minh Islam at the Women’s Career Carnival.
The cancellation came under pressure from conservative student groups at North South University. JMBF believes that the discriminatory treatment of Ho Chi Minh Islam, solely because she is a transgender woman, is a blatant violation of Bangladesh’s Supreme Law Constitution and the universal human rights declared by the United Nations.
On Nov. 24-25, two organizations, Heroes for All and ISOSHAL, organized the Women’s Career Carnival at the North South University campus. The event aimed to empower women through networking, learning, and professional development. Trans woman and rights activist Ho Chi Minh Islam was scheduled to participate as a speaker in a session on Nov. 24. Her speech was intended to address the inclusion of marginalized communities in the workforce and the creation of an inclusive environment for their work. After Ho Chi Minh Islam was invited as a speaker, Muslim fundamentalist groups initiated propaganda against her through various media, including the Facebook page “Islamic for Practitioner NSU.” This misinformation campaign aimed to incite North South University students against her, spreading a misinterpretation of religion, JMBF said.
Students emailed university authorities, demanding the cancellation of her speech, claiming it promoted homosexuality. They threatened to boycott all university classes if their demands were not met. On Nov. 24, as students began protesting on the North South University campus with banners, the event’s organizers cancelled Ho Chi Minh Islam’s scheduled session, citing concerns for her safety.
Advocate Shahanur Islam, founder president of JusticeMakers Bangladesh in France (JMBF) and human rights lawyer, condemned the cancellation, saying that it was motivated solely because she is a transgender woman. The cancellation showed the escalating influence of reactionary fundamentalist forces in the country, he said, even though universities should be spaces for the free exchange of knowledge across diverse ideologies. JMBF asserts that the cancellation was part of the broader trend of violence, torture, and discrimination against sexual minorities in Bangladesh. Since June of this year, reactionary fundamentalist groups have been spreading misinformation to discredit Shahanur Islam and JMBF in Bangladesh through various media, including Facebook, he said.
Shahanur Islam demanded swift legal action against those spreading propaganda against sexual minorities and called for exemplary punishment. Simultaneously, the organization urged the enactment and enforcement of the Sexual Minorities Protection and Rights Act by repealing Section 377 of the Penal Code to eliminate all forms of discrimination and establish rights for sexual minorities.
Ho Chi Minh Islam is a young trans woman activist who has worked for the Bangladeshi human rights organization No Passport Voice. She founded the community-based organization Krishnachura, which focuses on providing spaces for safe dialogue to gender minorities in rural Bangladesh. She worked as a frontline health worker during the pandemic, when she was employed as the first transgender nurse at Square Hospital.
As a young leader working for social change in Bangladesh, she was recognized and trained as a fellow of Acumen Academy in 2022.
Hochemin Islam, a prominent transgender rights activist and a nurse by profession, was set to speak at a career fest on November 24 at the capital's North South University (NSU). The event, titled "Women's Career Carnival," was organised by Heroes for All and iSocial Limited, and hosted by NSU and its Career and Placement Center (CPC). As part of a panel with the International Labour Organization, Hochemin was planning to speak on how a workplace could be made inclusive for members of marginalised communities and how such disadvantaged individuals can be assimilated into the labour force equitably.
However, since the evening before the event was set to take place, calls began being exchanged between the organisers and NSU authority regarding protests from a certain section of the university's student body. The students were opposed to Hochemin coming to their university and speaking. In a formal letter to the university's vice chancellor—headed "Letter of objection and notification about Criminal activity as per Bangladesh penal code chapter 16 article 377 inside our NSU campus and the Promotion of Homosexuality (Transgenderism & LGBTQIA+) on November 24, 2023"—they attempted to "highlight that a significant majority of NSU students practice various religions, and according to Bangladesh penal code chapter-15, article-295A, it is illegal to incite outrage of religious feelings…" and urged the VC "to intervene and advise the CPC against allowing this misunderstanding to escalate, potentially causing distress among the majority religious community." The night before the event, NSU authorities went back and forth regarding whether Hochemin could be allowed to speak at the event or not. But as tensions escalated, they decided against bringing Hochemin in for the event, citing concerns regarding her safety. But the hate campaign against this inspiring person—who has struggled against hatred and hurdles all her life—still continues, with even death threats being hurled her way. Institutes of higher education are meant to be havens of free speech and thinking. In a way, it is commendable that this particular university has created an environment wherein students can confidently approach the authorities with any complaints they may have. That said, the protesting group's actions and words so far suggest a lack of knowledge of and familiarity with people from marginalised communities, and specifically individuals from the transgender community. Most concerningly, the theme of the protest betrays a kind of restrictive mentality which hinders human rights. And here, the university and the University Grants Commission (by extension) have a central role to play.
Given that the university in question is indeed a practitioner of citizens' rights as enshrined in our constitution, it must educate its students in line with the values promoted by the state. Seeing as all citizens—including Hochemin Islam—are equal before the law of the country, it is disgraceful for a university to bow to pressure from a likely misinformed/miseducated section of its vast student body. NSU boasts the privilege and responsibility of educating more than 22,000 students. Hence, it is quite incredulous that they were not confident they could have ensured the safety of just one person on their premises. In a similar vein, one cannot help but feel disturbed by what kind of discipline the students are being taught if a guest speaker could need protection from them. A better way of dealing with this situation would have been for the university higher-ups to sit down with the protesting students and hold a civil discussion with them. The NSU authorities should also have done everything in their power to ensure that Hochemin could safely speak at the event. Instead, in the eyes of many young people, this leading private university has validated an act of blatant discrimination.
In its press release regarding the situation, dated November 26, NSU failed to acknowledge the deeply concerning nature of the protesting students' agenda. The statement instead focused on clarifying that, at the time of the event, the VC was abroad and that there is currently no pro-VC instated to represent the VC in his absence. But how does that matter? Again, NSU is a university of massive scale. Whether or not Hochemin's safety could have been ensured should not be dependent on the VC's presence alone.
As an alumna of the university in question, I must voice that I feel disheartened. My four years at NSU represent a time when I was able to flourish intellectually. The pursuit of my degree itself encouraged me to think freely and critically; question everything but hinder no one. I believe now that either the institution and its values have changed drastically over the past couple of years, or that it is doing a shabbier job of becoming a world-class university. A tragedy, indeed. I hope the higher education institutions of the country—and especially the ones working intently to claim a place in the global rankings of universities every year—will perform their duty of educating students to be tolerant free thinkers. What has been done in Hochemin Islam's case is nothing but discrimination and a clear disregard of her human rights. The NSU authorities must assume responsibility for this by carrying out an investigation and taking due actions regarding those who have fuelled this hate campaign. As for long-term measures to prevent such shameful incidents from taking place at any other university, the UGC must be more involved in ensuring human rights and the practice of basic tolerance at Bangladesh's higher education institutes.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- LGBTQ+/ Non-Binary, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Death threat, Intimidation and Threats, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, SOGI rights
- HRD
- NGO, SOGI rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Nov 24, 2023
- Event Description
Five people were arrested during a protest staged near the US Embassy in Colombo in support of Palestine.
A heavy Police security net was placed around the Embassy as a group of people gathered and protested against the US Government’s support to Israel during the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
The protesters shouted slogans against the US and carried placards.
According to reports, some of the protesters attempted to burn a photograph of the US President resulting in a heated exchange between the Police and the protesters.
The Police arrested three protesters and took them to the Colpetty Police Station.
Subsequently, two more protesters who entered the Colpetty Police Station were also arrested.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Nov 24, 2023
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 23, 2023
- Event Description
Cabinet officials rejected a new petition brought by former NagaWorld employees Thursday, stating that the petition did not meet administrative requirements. Protesters were hopeful that Prime Minister Hun Manet and his new government might solve the dispute that has dragged on for nearly two years.
Kim Sokha, 35, worked at NagaWorld as a card dealer for over 10 years before being laid off by the company in 2021. As many previous petitions filed before the July elections were unsuccessful, he said this new petition was an attempt to see if Prime Minister Hun Manet would help them find a solution.
“I want him [Hun Manet] to know about the suffering of the workers. He is like a parent who knows the suffering of his children,” he said. “I want him to know that Nagaworld’s workers were unfairly dismissed which violates the law of Cambodia.”
Around 30 members of the Labour Rights Supported Union (LRSU) of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld gathered at Wat Botum Park Thursday morning, as district workers prepared decorations for the upcoming Water Festival. After entering the nearby Cabinet building, an official refused to accept the petition, claiming that it did not meet certain specifications, such as listing the names of the certain officials and the union members involved in the dispute.
“If what I said is not followed, I cannot do anything,” the Cabinet official told the group.
Around 1300 workers began their strike in December 2021 following mass layoffs without full severance pay at the Phnom Penh casino. The company claimed the Covid-19 economic downturn necessitated the layoffs. But rights groups like the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (Central) and Human Rights Watch have said the layoffs were an attempt to quash NagaWorld’s independent union.
The strikers have faced detention, threats and violence. One striker said she had a miscarriage last year because of rough handling by authorities who rounded strikers onto a bus. A NagaCorp chief CEO’s son was accused of throwing a traffic cone at protestors and chucking a union member’s phone to the ground.
The president of NagaWorld’s union Chhim Sithar was found guilty in May and sentenced to two years in prison for inciting social unrest, while other convicted members have been handed suspended sentences. In October, the Court of Appeal upheld the trial court’s verdict for Sithor.
Strikers say that the Labor Ministry has unfairly sided with the company and supported its interests, while the government has suppressed union members’ right to strike.
LRSU Vice President Chhim Sokhorn said he was disappointed when the petition was rejected based on an administrative issue instead of getting a substantive response to their request.
“I request that he [Hun Manet] help us regarding our criminal lawsuit and our leader who is also now in prison,” he said. “Even though we follow all the procedures, we all suffer and the government has not taken action on this issue.”
Labor Ministry spokesperson Katta Orn said the company was forced to lay off the 1300 workers due to the Covid-19 pandemic, adding that a majority of the workers have already accepted compensation offered by the company.
“We observe that only 22 to 30 people are on strike. If the workers really want to end the dispute, they should contact the ministry to continue finding a solution,” he said.
Government spokesperson Pen Bona declined to comment.
The workers have suffered “all forms of intimidation, all forms of violence,” said Central’s program manager Khun Tharo. He added that the government has used Covid-19 restrictions to prevent protests and the judicial system to combat the workers’ cause.
If the new government creates judicial reform, this could help the workers seek justice, he said, but only if these reforms help ”real victims” and not “perpetrators of violence.”
“We see the new government has visited garment factories, while the NagaWorld workers continue their strike and are seeking the solution after being laid off,” he said.
Sokha, the union member at the protest, said the former NagaWorld employees’ strike is within their legal rights.
“We strike in accordance with the Constitution and follow all legal procedures. If what we have been doing is illegal, we would not be here now” said Sokha.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 22, 2023
- Event Description
A Cambodian man who criticized the country’s longtime ruling party on Facebook over its inability to prevent illegal immigration from Vietnam and drug use was sentenced on Wednesday to three years in prison.
Kang Saran told Radio Free Asia that he was convicted by the Banteay Meanchey Provincial Court on charges of defamation, incitement and insulting the king.
“I ask the Royal Government or government leaders to fully respect the rights and freedoms of the people and the right to life and movement. Don’t just send [people] to go to Prey Sar prison like this,” he told RFA.
“Why can’t people express their opinions? Why do you always use arrests and charges like this, even though I have no political affiliation at all?” he said, addressing his comments toward court officials across Cambodia who have charged numerous government critics in recent years.
Kang Saran’s remarks about the Cambodian People’s Party came in a Facebook live video on July 2, just three weeks before the CPP won a sweeping victory in the general election.
In the video, he asked whether the CPP would do anything after the election to stop the flow of Vietnamese immigrants into the country – a sensitive political issue in Cambodia for many years.
He also noted that drug use, government corruption and economic insecurity remain society-wide problems in the country.
Banteay Meanchey authorities arrested Kang Saran within hours and held him for 10 days. He was released on bail on July 11.
Phon Chhin, the Banteay Meanchey coordinator for human rights group Licadho, said the court should carefully consider whether Kang Saran should be sent to prison to serve his sentence.
“Kang Saran tried to defend himself in court proceedings,” he said. “He asserted that he had no such intention as charged.”
Kang Saran said he was not immediately re-arrested following Wednesday’s verdict. He told RFA he has no plans to flee the country and insisted that he did nothing wrong in making the comments.
RFA wasn’t able to contact Banteay Meanchey Provincial Court spokesman Roeun Lina on Wednesday to ask about the case.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Nov 22, 2023
- Event Description
Activist Katanyu Muenkhamruang has been sentenced to 2 years in prison on a sedition charge for Facebook posts calling for people to go to protests in August 2021. She was later released on bail to file for appeal.
Katanyu, a member of the activist group Thalufah, was charged with sedition and violation of the Computer Crimes Act over two posts on the group’s Facebook page calling for people to join the 11 and 13 August 2021 protests.
Nangnoi Assawakittikorn, a former member of the royalist group Thailand Help Center for Cyberbullying Victims, filed a complaint against Kantanyu, alleging that she was running the Facebook page.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that Katanyu and her lawyer reported to the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) on 12 January 2022, after learning that an arrest warrant had been issued for her in November 2021.
TLHR noted that a police officer called Katanyu twice, claiming that the TCSD had an arrest warrant for her. On 27 September 2022, she went to the TCSD to check whether there was a warrant but officers were unable to tell her whether it was a warrant or a summons. She asked for them to record that she reported to the police and did not intend to run, but the officers refused.
Katanyu’s defence was that she was not running the Facebook page and therefore was not responsible for the posts. According to TLHR, photos of Katanyu at the protest which were submitted by the prosecution as evidence were unclear. They also note that the two posts did not incite people to commit violence or violate the law, a point noted by prosecution witnesses in their testimony as well. Although violent clashed took place during the day, these occurred after the protest and at a different location.
A Metropolitan police officer testified that a person matching Katanyu’s description was live-streaming during the 13 August 2021 protest. During cross-examination, the officer acknowledged that a Facebook page can be run by several people and said that he was unaware of who runs the Thalufah Facebook page.
Another officer testified that he sent a link to a news article to the Thalufah Facebook page to check who was administering it and found two users. Using the IP addresses, the police then checked with an internet service provider for the identity of the users. Katanyu was reportedly not among the users identified. The officer admitted that he did not know who actually ran the Facebook page, denying that his action counts as phishing.
Testifying for the defence, iLaw’s Waranyuta Yan-in said that, to check a user’s identity with an IP address, a request must be made with an internet service provider to obtain the user’s address. The police must then obtain a search warrant for the electronic device to obtain more information. She argued that in this instance, police actions did indeed amounted to phishing since they did not ask for cooperation from the users.
TLHR reported on Wednesday (22 November) that the Criminal Court found Katanyu guilty of sedition and violation of the Computer Crimes Act and sentenced her to 2 years in prison. It ruled that, since there is evidence showing that she was at the protest and was live-streaming, she must have known of the posts, and so was guilty even though the prosecution could not prove that she made the posts.
Katanyu was later granted bail using an additional security of 75,000-baht.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Online, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 22, 2023
- Event Description
On 22 November 2023, human rights defender Yin Xu’an left prison after completing a 4.5 year prison sentence. He was escorted back to his home in Daye City in Hubei Province. CCTV cameras have been installed behind and in front of his home. Security officers have also been been stationed around his home.
Independent human rights monitors have reported that the human rights defender’s family has not been able to contact him in the days since his return home, and that he must request permission from the authorities if he wants to leave his home, even when seeking medical treatment.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Nov 20, 2023
- Event Description
Bangladesh authorities must immediately and impartially investigate the recent attack on journalist Md Nahid Hasan while reporting on a clash allegedly involving the student wing of the ruling Awami League and hold the perpetrators accountable, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.
On Monday evening, about 20 to 25 men attacked Hasan, a reporter for the news website Jagonews24.com, in the capital Dhaka, according to the local press freedom group Bangladeshi Journalists in International Media, news reports, and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ.
“The beating of Bangladeshi journalist Md Nahid Hasan appears to be the latest attack on the press by supporters of the ruling Awami League,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “Bangladesh authorities must swiftly and transparently investigate this incident and take immediate action to end reprisals against the media by ruling party affiliates. Violence against journalists must end.”
Hasan told CPJ that at around 10:30 p.m., he received information about a clash allegedly involving the Chhatra League, the student wing of the Awami League. The journalist called Md Rakibul Islam, a local leader of the Chhatra League, to ask about the reported attack and told him of his location in the Dhanmondi area to meet for an interview.
Around five minutes later, Tamzeed Rahman, a local leader of the Jubo League, the Awami League’s youth wing, arrived at the reporter’s location with about 20 to 25 men, and asked Hasan if he was a journalist. When Hasan confirmed this, the men grabbed him by the collar and slapped and beat him with their hands and fists until he fell to the ground, where they continued to kick and stomp on him, the journalist said.
Hasan said he attempted to show his attackers his press identification card, to which they responded, “You are a fake journalist.” The men also took his phone to check if he had filmed the clash and deleted some of his videos, including one of an arson attack on a bus, Hasan told CPJ. After about 20 minutes, the men returned his phone and left, he said.
Hasan said that bystanders told him that the Chhatra League’s Islam and the Jubo League’s Rahman attacked him.
Islam and Rahman told CPJ that they did not beat Hasan but rescued him from an attack. Hasan rejected that characterization of the attack and said that the police should be able to determine who was involved by analyzing security footage from the scene.
On Wednesday, the Chhatra League issued a statement, reviewed by CPJ, that dismissed Islam from his post for unspecified reasons.
Hasan said he sustained significant bruising all over his body and received painkillers at a local hospital. He said that he had filed a complaint at the Dhanmondi Police Station, but authorities had not opened a formal investigation as of November 22.
Habibur Rahman, Dhaka Metropolitan police commissioner, and Parvez Islam, officer-in-charge of Dhanmondi Police Station, did not respond to CPJ’s messages requesting comment.
The Chhatra League has been suspected in a number of assaults against journalists in recent months. Its members allegedly beat student journalists Abdul Alim and Abu Sayed Rony on western Bangladesh’s Rajshahi College campus on November 9, as well as student journalist Mosharrof Shah on the University of Chittagong campus on September 24.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Nov 20, 2023
- Event Description
Front Line Defenders strongly condemns the brutal crackdown and arrest of human rights defenders associated with the Damkondawahi Bachao Sangharsh Samiti by police authorities in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra. On 20 November 2023, the police initiated a crackdown on a nine-month long peaceful protest against corporate mining in the Etapalli Subdivision of the Gadchiroli District. They beat protestors, seized their mobile phones and belongings, destroyed huts and shelters, and detained a number of protestors including human rights defenders and community leaders. As part of this crackdown, 21 peaceful protesters have been arrested on fabricated charges and remanded to judicial custody. Front Line Defenders express its solidarity with the protest movement and the human rights defenders and community leaders facing persecution as a result of their legitimate and peaceful human rights work.
The Damkondawahi Bachao Sangharsh Samiti is a protest movement led by Madia-Gond Adivasis — a people recognised by the Indian government as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG). The protest movement advocates against corporate mining in the Etapalli Subdivision of the Gadchiroli District. In 2007, Lloyds Metals and Energy Private Limited (LMEL) was given clearance to begin iron ore mining in an area of over 348.09 hectares of land in the village of Surjagarh in Gadchiroli. This decision was taken without any public consultation with the local community, namely the gram sabhas (village councils), as is mandated by the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 and the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act 1996. On 10 March 2023, LMEL was granted environmental clearance to expand its excavation from 3 to 10 million metric tonnes per annum. The area being excavated by LMEL for iron ore mining encroaches on lands granted to Adivasis as part of their community forest rights under the Forest Rights Act 2006.
On 11 March 2023, Adivasi communities from over seventy villages, most of whom belong to the Madia-Gond community, came together under the collective Damkondawahi Bachao Sangharsh Samiti to oppose the iron ore mining by LEML, which has posed an existential threat to their lands, livelihood, culture and environment. Despite their ongoing protest, in June 2023, six new mines, spanning 4,684 hectares, were leased to five companies —Omsairam Steels and Alloys Private Limited, JSW Steels Limited, Sunflag Iron and Steel Company Limited, Universal Industrial Equipment and Technical Services Private Limited, and Natural Resources Energy Private Limited. If allowed to operate, these mines could potentially displace at least 40,900 people.
On 20 November 2023, a large police contingent arrived at the protest site in Todgatta and unleashed a violent crackdown on the peaceful protestors. The police singled out the leaders of the protest movement and forcefully searched their belongings. Eight human rights defenders and leaders of the protest, namely Mangesh Naroti, Pradeep Hedo, Sai Kawdo, Gillu Kawdo, Laxman Jetti, Mahadu Kawdo, Nikesh Naroti, and Ganesh Korea, were forcibly taken away by the police in a helicopter and their phones seized. The police also vandalized small huts and shelters at the protest site. Videos emerging from the incident reveal the police lathi-charging protestors and reprimanding those who attempted to document police action. Several protestors sustained serious injuries due to police violence.
21 protesters, including human rights defenders and community leaders, are currently imprisoned, accused of various offences including rioting, criminal conspiracy, assaulting a public servant during discharge of their duty, wrongful restraint, and unlawful assembly. It is crucial to note that the First Information Report (FIR) 0074/23 against the human rights defenders was registered on 21 November 2023 which means that the human rights defenders were illegally detained without formal charges for almost an entire day, and their whereabouts were unknown to their family members. Those arrested are currently being held in Chandrapur Jail and have been remanded to judicial custody where they are to be held until 5 December 2023.
The crackdown took place a few weeks after the human rights defender and lawyer Lalsu Nogoti provided a video statement at the 54th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission and spoke about the struggles and demands of Madia-Gond Adivasis and other traditional forest dwelling communities. As a member of the Madia-Gond Adivasi community himself, Lalsu Nogoti has been vocal about the attacks faced by indigenous populations through the colluding forces of corporatization, militarization and state repression. On the day of the attacks, Nogoti and other human rights defenders participated in a public discussion on the issues faced by communities organised by the Forum Against Corporatization and Militarization (FACAM) in New Delhi.
The police claimed that protesters had disrupted the inauguration of a new police station in Wangeturi village and had violently attacked police officials. They also alleged that the protests are a means to advance Maoist agendas and requested that the arrested human rights defenders be placed in police custody for interrogation. Targeting peaceful indigenous movements on the basis of fabricated Maoist conspiracies is part of a wider trend by Indian authorities which seeks to criminalize these communities and undermine their calls for human rights—a pattern that has also been observed by the Indian Ministry of Tribal Affairs in their high-level committee report.
Front Line Defenders has previously raised concerns over the criminalization and legal persecution of indigenous movements in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand. Protest movements such as the Damkondawahi Bachao Sangharsh Samiti embody the struggles of India’s Adivasi communities who have been consistently marginalized, persecuted and denied access to their constitutionally guaranteed rights. The Madia-Gond Adivasis are inextricably tied to their lands and forests, which not only serve as their source of livelihood but also encompass their traditional, cultural and spiritual beliefs and practices. Corporate mining in the region has severely impacted the community’s access to their lands and forests. Moreover, the pollution this has given rise to has led to several debilitating health issues within of the community. We urge the authorities in India to cease the targeting of human rights defenders associated with the Damkondawahi Bachao Sangharsh Samiti and to uphold India’s commitments to recognise the rights of indigenous populations as per international law.
- Impact of Event
- 21
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Nov 20, 2023
- Event Description
Prisoner of conscience Nguyen Nhu Phuong told his family that he coughed up blood and had suffered pain after being assaulted by the correctional officers of the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Provincial Police Detention Camp in Long Dien District, according to Phuong’s mother, Nguyen Thi Thu Ha. In 2022, two Vietnamese courts sentenced Phuong to a sentence of six years and three months on combined charges of “distributing anti-state propaganda” and “storing and using narcotics.”
Ha told RFA that the assaults began on Nov. 20, 2023, after she visited the detention camp and gave her son two shirts. However, Phuong said he did not receive them even though the shirts were shown in the gift receipt record. After that, he went to meet the correctional officers to ask them about these items, but the officer reportedly cursed and beat him.
Phuong told Ha that a correctional officer named Nhat used a glass bottle to hit him in the face, and then several other officers rushed in to beat him and lock him in an isolated room. Ha added that her son was also punished by not being allowed family visits in December 2023. When she called Nhat to question the beating of her son, the officer allegedly admitted that the beating happened, but it was because Phuong "spoke rudely" to him and asked her to forgive the beating.
Ha told RFA that on Jan. 8, she went directly to the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Provincial Police Detention Camp to inquire about the incident. A detention supervisor named Luan apologized to her and asked her not to make a big deal of this incident. The officer named Nhat and the provincial detention camp did not immediately respond to RFA reporters' request to verify the incident.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Nov 18, 2023
- Event Description
Editor at https://donnews.com/ Rajendra Adhikari received threat for publishing news on November 18. The news portal is being operated from Kaski, Gandaki Province.
Talking to Freedom Forum, editor Adhikari shared with Freedom Forum that news about irregularities in a local cooperative and involvement of local representative was published on the news portal. Adhikari called chairperson Subedi on his mobile to gather more information on the news. Subedi and his wife abused and threatened editor Adhikari of suing and framing editor in fake rape case in the call. Subedi also issued death threat to the editor.
Editor Adhikari further informed FF that he was discussing with fellow journalists on further action upon the case.
Freedom Forum condemns the threat issued to journalist for reporting news. It is a gross violation of press freedom. The concerned should adopt legitimate ways for any dissatisfaction over news. FF urges the concerned authority to ensure safety of the journalist to avoid any untoward incident.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death threat, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Nov 18, 2023
- Event Description
The Papua Legal Aid Institute (LBH) has urged the Papua Police Chief to immediately order the Merauke Police Chief to release 20 participants of the Ampera South Papua (PS) peace rally. LBH Papua Director Emanuel Gobay said the arrests made by the Merauke Police occurred on Saturday (18/11) morning, when they were preparing for the Ampera PS peace rally.
Emanuel confirmed that his party had also sent a letter of notification of the peaceful action plan with the topic 'The Law is Dead for Awyu Indigenous Peoples in Boven Digoel' to the Merauke Police.
"The Merauke Police, who had received a peaceful action notification letter, instead came to the gathering point and dispersed the Ampera PS protesters and arrested 20 AMPERA PS protesters," he said in a written statement.
Emanuel said that of the total 20 peaceful protesters who were arrested and taken to the Merauke Police Station, one of them was a woman.
He also criticized the arrest steps which were considered arbitrary.
The reason is, the protesters have given a notification letter to the Merauke Police. Therefore, he called the arrest a form of violation of the right to freedom of speech stipulated in the Law.
On the other hand, Emanuel said that the Merauke Police Chief and his staff had also violated the existing authority as stipulated in Article 6 letter q of Government Regulation Number 2 of 2003 concerning Discipline of the Indonesian National Police.
"Evidence that the Police Chief and his staff have silenced democratic space and clearly violated National Police Chief Regulation Number 8 of 2009 concerning the Implementation of Human Rights Standards and Principles in the Duties of the Indonesian National Police," he explained.
Therefore, he urged the Papua Police Chief Inspector General Mathius D Fakhiri and the Governor of South Papua to immediately order the Merauke Police Chief to release all the protesters who had been arrested.
"Immediately release the 20 people of the AMPERA PS Action Period because the dissolution and arrest are contrary to the Principles of Perkap Number 8 of 2009 concerning the Implementation of Human Rights Standards and Principles in Police Duties," he said.
CNNIndonesia.com has attempted to contact Papua Police Chief Inspector General Mathius D Fakhiri and Head of Papua Police Public Relations Commissioner Ignatius Benny Prabowo. However, until this news was published, both of them had not yet responded.
- Impact of Event
- 20
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 17, 2023
- Event Description
Nanjing dissident journalist Sun Lin, who used the pen name Jie Mu, has died following a raid by state security police on his home last week, Radio Free Asia has learned.
"On Nov. 17, police reportedly entered his home, and neighbors later heard loud noises," the overseas-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders network said via its X account. "At 2:44 p.m. he was sent to hospital; dead at 5:45 [p.m.]."
"At the hospital, Sun Lin's family requested to see his body, but the state security police refused," the group said.
"Medical staff at the hospital said his clothes were torn and he had suffered head injuries, indicating he was beaten to death," it said.
Overseas-based dissident Sun Liyong, who isn't related to Sun Lin, said the suspected beating took place at around noon on Nov. 17.
"A group of state security officers from Nanjing's Xuanwu district broke into Sun Lin's home," he said. "Then the neighbors heard sounds of a struggle from inside."
He said police have since tried to claim they were defending themselves after being attacked by Sun.
"Sun Lin is nearly 70 years old, so how would he be able to beat up a group of young men?" he said.
Open letter
A group of Sun's friends and fellow activists, including Huang Jinqiu, Wu Lihong, Zou Wei and Zan Aizong have signed an open letter calling on the Nanjing municipal government to conduct an independent investigation into Sun's death as soon as possible, the Chinese-language rights website Weiquanwang reported.
Sun's friend Fu Tao said he believes "from the information we have so far, it seems like his death wasn't normal."
Sun was sent to Jiangsu Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine at 2:44 p.m., and the hospital pronounced him dead at 5:45 p.m.," Weiquanwang said, adding that Sun had recently undergone a full medical checkup three days earlier, and had been in "normal" health.
A friend of Sun's who gave only the surname Lu told RFA Mandarin: "They [state security police] wanted to enter his home, but [Sun] refused them entry, so they forced their way in."
Lu said he believes police beat Sun to death to stop him from speaking out.
"If they want to control you, they will use any means," Lu said. "They often kill people and cut off all contact with the outside world to prevent any kind of public backlash."
Sun’s friend and fellow activist Zou Wei held up a blank sheet of A4 paper to commemorate his death in front of the Memorial to the Fallen Soldiers of the National Revolutionary Army on Xixi Road in Hangzhou on Monday.
Weiquanwang said Sun's remains are currently in the hands of the Nanjing state security police, and have been removed from the hospital.
State security police have placed Sun's daughter Sun Yijia under tight restrictions, and have visited his ex-wife He Fang to warn her against "causing trouble," it said.
Repeated calls to He Fang and Sun Yijia rang unanswered on Tuesday.
Reporting on rights violations
In a profile on its website, the Chinese Human Rights Defenders describes Sun as "independent journalist who has reported on human rights violations and the corruption of Chinese officials."
He was convicted of “inciting subversion of state power” on Dec. 25, 2018, and served a four-year jail term in connection with his social media posts, and for shouting "Down with the Communist Party" at a party meeting in Nanjing.
He had also served an earlier four-year jail term in 2008 for "gathering a crowd to disrupt public order" along with his then wife He Fang, after he refused to stop reporting on forced evictions at a Nanjing factory.
"Born in Nanjing on Dec. 24, 1955, Sun Lin forged a reputation from the outset of his journalism career for exercising free speech that attracted the attention of authorities," the profile said.
In August 1998, he began working with a television station in Nanjing, which dismissed him for speaking too openly about “politically sensitive” subjects, prompting him to launch his own video channel in September of the same year, which the authorities later shut down, it said.
Sun had also been the editor of the Nanjing version of Business Times Today and edited the Metropolis newspaper which he founded in 2000. After authorities forced Metropolis to close, Sun started to report for Boxun.
"He continued to report on social justice issues despite growing pressure and harassment by officials, culminating in his prison sentence in 2008," it said.
New book
A friend of Sun's who asked to remain anonymous said that just before his death, the authorities had paid a call on a fellow activist in the central city of Wuhan who had just received a copy of a book written by Sun.
"Ten days ago, the Nanjing state security police and the Wuhan state security police went to pay a call on [Wuhan rights activist Xiao Yuqing]," the friend said. "Sun Lin had written a book, and sent a copy to [Xiao]."
"The day after it arrived, the police showed up – he hadn't even had time to open it up and take a look," the friend said. "They took the book away."
"Sun had been chatting with Xiao Yuqing the day before [Sun died]. [Xiao] had just gotten out of hospital, and was planning a trip to Nanjing," they said.
"I know some of the rights activists in Nanjing who were taken down to the local police station after receiving the news of Sun Lin's death on the group chat," the friend said.
"Why would they cover up the news of Sun Lin's death? It's not going to work," they said.
When contacted by RFA Mandarin, Xiao said he has been banned from talking to the media or posting online, and declined to give an interview.
Xiao isn't the only dissident to have been contacted and told to keep quiet.
A Hubei-based online activist who gave only the surname Mo said he had received a call from state security police warning him not to travel anywhere.
"They said they would come round within 10 minutes if I were to buy a rail ticket anywhere," Mo said. "Henan-based rights activist Fang Yan was told by the state security police not to go to Nanjing."
"It's getting harder and harder for us to exist," Mo said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death, Raid, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Nov 16, 2023
- Event Description
The prosecutor in the trial of Kyrgyz blogger Yryskeldi Jekshenaliev, who was arrested in August on charges of making public calls for mass disorder and violence, asked a Bishkek court on November 16 to convict and sentence the defendant to seven years in prison. The probe against the 20-year-old blogger was launched in August 2022. His arrest came hours after President Sadyr Japarov condemned unspecified "defenders" of the environment in the region, calling them "false patriots and liars." The charges against Jekshenaliev stem from his Facebook posts about ecological problems at an iron-ore mining complex.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Kyrgyzstan: blogger detained over questioning mine plan
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Nov 15, 2023
- Event Description
Reliable sources have reported the detention of Pari Azada, a member of the “Afghan Women’s Movement for Justice and Freedom,” by the Taliban in Kabul.
Sources, in a conversation with Hasht-e Subh Daily, have confirmed that the Taliban apprehended this female protester around 9:00 AM on Wednesday, November 15th, near the “Sar-e Kariz” area of Kabul and subsequently transferred her to an undisclosed location.
According to these sources, Pari Azada was taken into custody by the Taliban while she was having their protesting slogans printed at a local print shop.
As of now, the Taliban have not issued any comments on this incident.
This marks the fourth instance of a female protester being detained by the Taliban in Kabul in recent times.
Munizha Sediqi, Julia Parsi with her son, and Neda Parwani with her four-year-old child have been in Taliban custody for approximately two months, and their fate remains unknown.
Since their resurgence in Afghanistan, the Taliban have imposed severe restrictions on freedoms and women’s rights. In various instances, they have detained, tortured, and imprisoned women activists.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest, Women's rights
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Nov 15, 2023
- Event Description
On 15 November 2023, labour and human rights defender Babul Hossain was arrested on charges of inciting violence and vandalising vehicles during protests which called for minimum wage hikes.
Babul Hossain is the General Secretary of the Bangladesh Garment Workers Solidarity (BGWS), a workers’ rights organisation that advocates for the rights of garment workers across Bangladesh. As the General Secretary of BGWS, Babul Hossain - who is also a garment worker by profession - mobilises workers to demand improvements in labour laws, including an increase in the minimum wage, and runs programmes to support workers and their children. The human rights defender was active in organising the recent protests for the minimun wage hike for workers in Bangladesh.
On 14 November 2023, at around 7.30pm in the evening, the human rights defender Babul Hossain went missing while he was travelling form Ashulia to Gazipur to meet with the families of those who had suffered violence at the hands of the police during the “ready made garment” (RMG) workers protests. These protests took place over the course of several days beginning in early November 2023 and occured in the context of an ongoing country-wide movement protesting human rights violations faced by RMG workers. The human rights defender told his wife at around 7.30 pm that he had boarded a bus to go to Gazipur. Since that time, the human rights defender’s phone appears to have been switched off.
On 15 November 2023, a day after Babul Hossain went missing, the labour and human rights defender was remanded into police custody by the Gazipur metropolitian magistrate court. Babul Hossain is facing false charges of inciting violence and vandalising vehicles while exercising his right to protest against the violations and harsh conditions of RMG workers in Bangladesh.
The disappearance and subsequent arrest of Babul Hossain is the latest in a series of severe violatons and reprisals faced by human rights defenders who are participating in the labour rights movement, and who seek to raise awareness about the human rights situation of RMG workers in Bangladesh.
Front Line Defenders believes that the disappearance and subsequent arrest of Babul Hossain is directly related to his work in defence of the human rights of people in Bangladesh. Front Line Defenders is seriously concerned for the physical and psychological wellbeing of the human rights defender.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Nov 15, 2023
- Event Description
On November 15, PCIJ, the Filipino non-profit and independent media agencyspecialising in investigative journalism, reported an active cyber-attack on its website which prompted it to take the site down temporarily to assess the incident and prevent further breaches. The hacking attacks began on November 13 and escalated around noon on November 15.
According to the PCIJ, the incident is the most serious cyber-attack in recent years. The motive behind the attack remains unknown, however a number of recent reports of breaches and cyberattacks on Filipino government websites and databases have been recently been recorded. At the time of publication, the PCIJ website remains inaccessible.
PCIJ's recent stories have included include a report on online communities of Filipinos who have been amplifying and supporting pro-Beijing narratives, which include the claims of the Chinese government in the West Philippine Sea. The PCIJ has also published articles on the alleged sale of votes in the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections, the killing of radio broadcaster Percy Lapid, and the issue of excessive profits at the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
The IFJ has documented an increase in cyberattacks against media outlets in the Philippines, and across South East Asia, in recent years. In February 27, 2022, the website of CNN Philippines was hit by a cyberattack that made the site inaccessible to users while the network was hosting a presidential debate ahead of the country’s May 2022 election. In December 2021, news outlets including ABS-CBN, Rappler, Vera Files, and Philstar, were targeted by Distribution Denial of Services (DDos) attacks.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Nov 15, 2023
- Event Description
Activists Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, Panupong Jadnok, and Attapol Buapat have been sentenced to 9 months in prison on charges relating to a protest on 10 February 2021. They were later released on bail.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that the South Bangkok Criminal Court yesterday (15 November) found Panusaya, Panupong, and Attapol guilty of participating in an assembly of more than ten people to commit violence or cause a breach of peace, blocking a public way, and using a sound amplifier without permission.
They were sentenced to 1 year in prison and fines of 700 baht each. The court later reduced their sentence to 9 months in prison and fines of 525 baht each because they gave useful testimony.
The three activists faced a total of 7 charges relating to the protest. However, the court dismissed charges of destruction of property, assaulting an officer, and violations of the Public Cleanliness Act and regulations under the Emergency Decree.
They were later granted bail on a security of 25,000 baht each in order to appeal the verdict.
On 10 February 2021, protesters gathered at Pathumwan Skywalk and the courtyard in front of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre to call attention to economic hardships resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic and to demand the release of political prisoners. They also demanded the resignation of then Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, constitutional amendments, and monarchy reform – the original three demands of the student movement which started in 2020.
After 9 people were arrested during the protest, protesters marched to the nearby Pathumwan Police Station to demand their release. A clash occurred between the protesters and crowd control police deployed around the police station, during which tear gas was reportedly used.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Nov 14, 2023
- Event Description
Former MNA and Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement leader Ali Wazir was arrested in Dera Ismail Khan, sources said here on Tuesday.
He was picked when he was coming to Dera from Quetta in a private car.
According to the sources, PTM leader Ali Wazir was arrested near the Darazinda tribal subdivision. He was arrested by the Daraban police.
When contacted, Daraban SHO denied having arrested Mr Wazir.
However, the sources said the former MNA was currently in the custody of Daraban police.
It should be noted that several cases have been registered against Mr Wazir in different police stations, pertaining to making speeches against state institutions and incendiary statements.
Meanwhile, responding to the arrest, PTM chairman Maznoor Ahmad Pashteen said Mr Wazir was in the custody by DI Khan police, but they were denying his arrest.
“There is no FIR registered against Ali Wazir in Dera, and he has also obtained protective bail from the Peshawar High Court in rest of the FIRs registered against him,” he added.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Pakistan: Minority rights leader arrested and charged
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Nov 14, 2023
- Event Description
In a statement issued on Sunday, November 19, the PUCL said a First Information Report (FIR) was lodged by the Juhu police under relevant Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Maharashtra Police Act (MPA) against 13 individuals, 11 of whom students, on November 14 for alleged violation of prohibitory orders. According to the statement, all of them were picked up on November 14 after they responded to a call emanating from an Instagram account ‘solidarity movement’ to observe Children’s Day in India with a quiet prayer recital of the names of children killed in the ongoing conflict in Palestine.
“It appears that several persons attended the peaceful prayer gathering on the Juhu beach. However, after the prayer gathering ended and the participants had dispersed, the Juhu police picked up 17 individuals around 10.30 a.m. [November 14]. They were taken to the police station and illegally detained there until 7 p.m. after which they were released,” said the statement, adding that four among those picked up by the police were minors who had been allowed to leave only at 4 p.m. after their parents were called.
The PUCL has stated that the detained individuals had gone immediately after the prayer gathering ended to collect posters that they had earlier voluntarily kept in the police cabin near the Juhu beach as it had been decided that the gathering was meant to be ‘silent’, without any posters or banners.
“The police present there, however, started questioning them and asked them to pose with the posters and placards and then photographed them. The police then told them they would escort them to the bus stop to ensure they leave safely. As they proceeded, they suddenly found that a police van had arrived. They were forcibly pushed into the van, detained and taken to the Juhu police station. The youngsters were frightened and many were crying,” said the PUCL statement, laying down the sequence of events.
According to PUCL, none of those detained were allowed to contact their parents or seek any legal help and call up a lawyer, condemning the police’s “gross violation of basic rights.”
“The 17th person to be picked up by the Juhu police was social activist Feroze Mithiborwala. He was picked up after the prayer gathering had ended and was made to remove posters from his bag, though he had never displayed any posters at the prayer gathering,” said the PUCL statement.
Condemning the police action as “excessive and arbitrary,” the statement said it was “a clear case of harassment.”
“Disturbingly, the attitude of the police was also intimidatory towards the young members of the minority community, especially the young girls, who had peacefully participated in a prayer gathering,” said the statement.
It censured the “arbitrary police action” which, in effect, had resulted in a complete restriction in Mumbai on public protests and peace gatherings “against the unprecedented violence and suffering faced by Palestinians, for which daily protests were taking place globally.”
The entire text of the statement may be read here:
Democracy demands that right to protest be protected not punished!
“People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) Maharashtra expresses grave alarm and concern at the increasing trend of criminalising public protest or any form of public expression on social issues and deplores the manner in which police in Mumbai speedily lodge cases against those participating in such democratic events. Especially in the context of the ongoing Israeli war on Palestine resulting in civilian deaths, the Mumbai police has in effect imposed a de facto ban on any form of peaceful public protest by citizens demanding an end to the violence, including the holding of peace gatherings and prayer meetings, even candlelight vigils in public places like the Azad Maidan. In no other part of India do we see this sort of obstruction to the right to protest, as is being seen in Mumbai.
“The recent example of the First Information Report (FIR) lodged by Juhu police under sections 37 (1), 37 (3) and 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act (MPA) against 13 individuals, 11 of whom are students, on November 14, 2023, for alleged violation of prohibitory orders, is a case in point. All of them were picked up on November 14, 2023, after they responded to a multi-city call emanating from an Instagram account ‘solidarity movement’, to observe Children’s Day in India with a quiet prayer recital of the names of children who were killed in Palestine. It appears that several persons attended the peaceful prayer gathering at Juhu beach. However, after the prayer gathering ended and participants had dispersed, Juhu police picked up 17 individuals at around 10.30 a.m. They were taken to Juhu police station and illegally detained there until 7.00 pm when they were released. 4 of them who were underage youth (2 boys and 2 girls), were allowed to leave only at 4 p.m. and their parents were called. PUCL Maharashtra has learnt that of the 17 individuals – all from the minority community, picked up by the Juhu Police, 16 individuals being 4 minors, 11 students and 1 mother of a student, had gone immediately after the prayer gathering ended to collect the posters that they had earlier voluntarily kept in the police cabin near the beach as it was decided that the gathering was meant to be silent i.e. without any posters or banners. The police present there however started questioning them and asked them to pose with the posters and placards and photographed them.
“The police then told them they will escort them to the Bus Stop to ensure they leave safely. As they proceeded under the directions of the police, suddenly they found a police van had arrived and they were forcibly pushed into the van, detained and taken to the Juhu Police Station. The youth were frightened and many were crying. At the police station, none of them were allowed to contact their parents or seek any legal help and call up a lawyer. All this is in clear gross violation of their basic legal rights. The 17th person picked up by the Juhu Police was social activist Firoz Mithiborwala. He too was picked up by Juhu police after the prayer gathering had ended and was also made to remove posters from his bag, though he had never displayed any posters at the prayer gathering. But the police were not willing to listen to any reason.
“In this manner, the 13 people illegally detained were finally released only at 7.00 pm on November 14, 2023, after being served with notices. They were asked to return the next day i.e. on November 15, 2023 at 11.00 am to submit their Aadhar Card xerox copy and 2 photographs. Then, on that day, the rest were allowed to leave by around 1.00 pm, but Feroze Mithiborwala was detained there till 6.30pm once again, when he was extensively questioned. Clearly, the police action was excessive and arbitrary, and this is a clear case of police harassment. Disturbingly, the attitude of the police was also intimidatory towards the young members of the minority community, especially the young girls, who had peacefully participated in a prayer gathering for peace.
“The youth were asked to provide all their personal details and their parents were later summoned to the police station. Activist Firoz Mithiborwala was repeatedly questioned whether he had organised the meeting, despite his repeated denial that he had only come in response to an online call and knew none of the youth involved. Even a copy of the FIR was only provided to them after an application from their lawyers. There was no occasion or ground for the police to file an FIR, that too selectively against the 13 people after the peaceful gathering had dispersed and when there was no disturbance to public order or violation of law. Moreover, in any event, none of the 13 people were involved in organizing the event but had only responded to a humane call on social media for the prayer gathering.
“Right to protest is a fundamental right of citizens guaranteed under the Indian Constitution and essential to our democracy. However, the increasing number of such instances show that the right to protest of citizens is not only being infringed upon, but even attempting to assemble peacefully in Mumbai is being met with harsh and intimidatory police action and criminal sanctions, creating an atmosphere of fear in which democracy cannot thrive or find expression.
“There has been continuous imposition of prohibitory orders under Section 37 (1) and (3) of the MPA, thereby providing ground to the police to criminalise peaceful gatherings and protests, and to selectively restrict protests. Meanwhile, most applications / intimations to the police for holding protests by citizens’ groups and civil society organisations are being denied and met with sanctions, including the peace gatherings and anti-war public protests on the ongoing Israeli war on Palestine. The police has been serving notices under Section 149 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) to the applicants/organisers while denying permission to protest and the applicants/organisers have also on occasion been put under preventive detention under Section 151 of the CrPC. Just last month, the Mankhurd Police had arrested two young Mumbai activists and charged them under Section 353 and 332 of the Indian Penal Code, among other offences for violation of prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC and Section 37 of the MPA, and also detained 4 persons under Section 151 of the CrPC, in connection with a protest against the Israeli government’s ongoing violent attacks impacting civilians in Palestine. It is unfathomable that the arbitrary police action has in effect resulted in a complete restriction in Mumbai on public protests and peace gatherings against the unprecedented violence and suffering faced by Palestinians, for which daily protests are taking place globally and even in other states in the country calling for ceasefire. Infact, it is even more shocking that public demonstrations calling for an end to the ongoing violence in Palestine are being penalized in such fashion, considering India’s own history of freedom struggle from colonial rule and its long-standing recognition of the statehood of Palestine and the self-determination struggle of Palestinians.
“PUCL Maharashtra expresses concern on the misuse of penal law against peaceful protestors, thereby criminalizing and silencing voices of democratic expression and dissent. PUCL Maharashtra demands that the FIR lodged against the 13 civilians by Juhu police on November 14, 2023 be dropped forthwith and that the constitutional right of citizens to protest and to give peaceful expression to their views or feelings be protected.
“Besides, PUCL Maharashtra notes with distress, that there appears to be a concerted attempt to silence peaceful protests against war and violence. PUCL Maharashtra demands an end to the excessive, continuous and restrictive imposition of prohibitory orders under Sec 144 of the CrPC and Section 37 of the MPA. These orders, ostensibly issued to maintain public order, actually result in a curb on the constitutional right to public protest or gatherings and instead facilitate the criminalization of peaceful and democratic protests. This creates a chilling effect, amounts to censorship and is against the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression, association and assembly. PUCL Maharashtra reiterates its demand that the legitimate right of citizens to protest be protected fiercly in the interest of our nation which is built on the fulcrum of that very right.*
The statement has been issued by Mihir Desai, President Lara Jesani, General Secretary PUCL Maharashtra.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Nov 13, 2023
- Event Description
On November 13, 2023, during a hearing at the East Jakarta District Court, the Public Prosecutor requested Fatia Maulidiyanti, former Coordinator of the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), FIDH Vice-President, and OMCT General Assembly member, be sentenced to three years and six months in prison and a fine of 500,000 Rupiah (30 Euros), and Haris Azhar, Executive Director of Lokataru, be sentenced to four years in prison and a fine of one million Rupiah (60 Euros).
The Observatory recalls that a defamation case against Fatia Maulidiyanti and Haris Azhar was initiated in August 2021, after Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs, and retired army general, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, sent them a subpoena in relation to a talk show video posted on Haris Azhar’s YouTube channel, in which the two human rights defenders alleged the Minister was involved in controversial gold mining activities in Papua Province.
As Ms Maulidiyanti and Mr Azhar refused to apologise, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan filed a police report on September 22, 2021, against the two human rights defenders alleging that both violated criminal defamation provisions, namely “attacking someone’s honour or reputation with accusations” and “defamation” (Articles 310 and 311 of the Criminal Code, respectively) and Article 45(3) of the amended Electronic Information and Transaction (EIT) Law. Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan asked for 300 billion rupiah (approximately 18 million Euros) in compensation. The trial of Ms Maulidiyanti and Mr Azhar began on April 3, 2023, before the East Jakarta District Court and 28 hearings have taken place since then. On November 27, 2023, the two human rights defenders are scheduled to submit their defence at the East Jakarta District Court.
The Observatory denounces the ongoing judicial harassment against Fatia Maulidiyanti and Harris Azhar, which seems to be only aimed at punishing them for their legitimate human rights activities and for exercising their right to freedom of opinion and expression, enshrined in international human right law, and particularly in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Indonesia is a state party.
The Observatory urges the Indonesian authorities to dismiss the case against Fatia Maulidiyanti and Haris Azhar, and to put an end to any acts of harassment – including at the judicial level – against them and all other human rights defenders in the country, and to ensure that they are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without any hindrance or fear of reprisal.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Nov 12, 2023
- Event Description
On Nov. 12, Hoang Duc Binh’s mother and younger brother visited him at An Diem Prison. By law the meeting was supposed to last one hour, but it was abruptly cut off after 35 minutes by a Lt Lê Văn Hiếu. When the family protested, Hieu told them the reason was because they were overloaded with visit requests. The prison guards also told the family Binh was not allowed to receive any rice they sent him via the post and told them to take back the 3kg they sent last month. No reason was given. Binh is a labor and environmental activist serving 14 years in prison.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to food, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Nov 10, 2023
- Event Description
The Almaty City Court on November 10 rejected the appeals of five activists against prison terms they were handed in July after a lower court found them guilty of "organizing mass unrest at Almaty airport" during unprecedented anti-government protests in January 2022 that turned deadly. Noted civil rights activist Aigerim Tileuzhanova was sentenced to four years in prison, while the other activists, all men, received eight years in prison each. Some were also charged with storming a building, vehicle hijacking, and robbery. All have denied wrongdoing, saying they did not commit any crimes while taking part in the demonstration.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Nov 10, 2023
- Event Description
A Kazakh court has delivered a suspended sentence to Nazym Tabyldieva for her online posts slamming President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev and three regional prosecutors. Tabyldieva's supporters waiting outside the court in Almaty on November 10 were relieved because the prosecutor had demanded imprisonment on charges of "disseminating false information" and "defaming officials." The judge has ruled that the 36-year-old anti-government activist will be on probation for a year and a half and will be banned from political and social activities, including publications on social media, for five years. The verdict can be appealed. One of the charges concerned a video Tabyldieva made, accusing President Toqaev of "pursuing Russian policies."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Censorship, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Online
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Nov 9, 2023
- Event Description
The independent Kloop website's Kyrgyz-language pages (ky.kloop.asia) have been blocked in Kyrgyzstan after its Russian site was blocked in September amid ongoing pressure on the owner, the Kloop Media Public Foundation.
The Central Asian nation's Culture Ministry blocked Kloop's Kyrgyz site after the State Committee of National Security (UKMK) again claimed the media outlet distributed false information, Kloop said on November 9.
The claim was about a report that appeared on Kloop's website in September about jailed opposition politician Ravshan Jeenbekov and a statement he made saying that he was tortured while in custody.
Several Internet providers in the former Soviet republic blocked Kloop's site in Russian before the story ran. The Bishkek city Prosecutor's Office then initiated legal proceedings against the Kloop Media Public Foundation to suspend its work in Kyrgyzstan because of the critical coverage of the government by its media outlet.
The Culture Ministry also demanded Kloop remove an article about the alleged torture of Jeenbekov from its site in Russian.
On September 12, Kloop published an article refusing to remove the material, saying the story in question attributed all information about the situation faced by Jeenbekov while in custody to actual individuals and sources.
Kloop said at the time that it was officially informed of the lawsuit against it and the move followed an audit by the UKMK that determined its "published materials are aimed at sharply criticizing the policies of the current government" and that "most of the publications are purely negative, aimed at discrediting representatives of state and municipal bodies."
Established in June 2007, Kloop is a Kyrgyz news website (kloop.kg) most of whose contributors are students and graduates of the Kloop Media Public Foundation School of Journalism. As an independent media entity, it is known for publishing reports on corruption within various governmental bodies and providing training to Central Asian journalists in fact-checking and investigative techniques.
RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, known as Radio Azattyk, Kloop, and the Center for Corruption and Organized Crime Research (OCCRP) have collaborated on a series of investigations concerning corruption in Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyzstan's civil society and free press have traditionally been the most vibrant in Central Asia. But that has changed amid a deepening government crackdown.
Kyrgyz authorities blocked Radio Azattyk's websites in Kyrgyz and Russian in late October 2022 after it refused to take down a video, which was produced by Current Time, a Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with Voice of America.
Officials of the Central Asian state claimed that the authors of the video "predominantly" took the position of the Tajik side. RFE/RL rejected the accusation saying the broadcaster "takes our commitment to balanced reporting seriously" and that after a review of the content in question, "no violation of our standards" was found.
In July, the Bishkek court annulled the decision that shut down RFE/RL's operations in Kyrgyzstan.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Censorship, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Nov 9, 2023
- Event Description
Bangladesh police fired rubber bullets and tear gas Thursday, officials and witnesses said, as violence broke out at a protest by garment workers who rejected a government-offered pay raise.
A government-appointed panel raised wages on Tuesday by 56.25 percent for the South Asian nation's 4 million garment factory workers, who are seeking a near-tripling of their monthly wage.
Bangladesh's 3,500 garment factories account for around 85 percent of its $55 billion in annual exports, supplying many of the world's top brands including Levi's, Zara and H&M.
But conditions are dire for many of the sector's four million workers, the vast majority of whom are women whose monthly pay starts at 8,300 taka ($75).
Police said violence broke out in the industrial city of Gazipur, outside the capital Dhaka, after more than 1,000 workers staged a protest on a highway to reject the panel's offer.
"The workers tried to block the road... and we had to fire tear (gas) shells and rubber bullets to disperse them," Ashok Kumar Pal Gazipur deputy police chief told an AFP reporter at the scene who witnessed the incident.
Police said workers also threw bricks and stones at officers and lit fires on roads. The workers are seeking an increase to 23,000 taka ($208) and unions representing them have rejected the panel's increase as "farcical."
Several thousand workers also left factories in Ashulia, a northern Dhaka suburb, police said.
Police have said at least three workers have been killed since the wage protests broke out in key industrial towns last week, including a 23-year-old woman shot dead on Wednesday.
At least five police officers have also been injured in the protests in which thousands have taken to the streets.
Unions say the panel's wage increase fails to match soaring prices of food, house rents and schooling and healthcare costs.
They have also accused the government and police of arresting and intimidating organizers.
"Police arrested Mohammad Jewel Miya, one of the organizers of our unions. A grass-roots leader... was also arrested," Rashedul Alam Raju, the general secretary of the Bangladesh Independent Garment Workers Federation, told AFP.
Another union leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said unions were being threatened by police to call off the protests and accept the wage offer.
"At least six grass-roots unionists have been arrested," the union leader said. There was no immediate comment from police about the arrests.
The United States has condemned violence against protesting Bangladeshi garment workers and "the criminalization of legitimate worker and trade union activities."
In a statement, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller urged the panel "to revisit the minimum wage decision to ensure that it addresses the growing economic pressures faced by workers and their families."
The Netherlands-based Clean Clothes Campaign, a textile workers' rights group, has also dismissed the new pay level as a "poverty wage."
The minimum wage is fixed by a state-appointed board that includes representatives from the manufacturers, unions and wage experts.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Nov 9, 2023
- Event Description
On the afternoon of November 9, Rony, a Rajshahi correspondent for the online newspaper Bangladesh Journal, and Alim, a reporter for the online news portal Rajshahi Post, were attacked by a group of individuals associated with the BCL, the student wing of ruling Awami League, at the Rajshahi College in western Bangladesh.
A BCL member, Masud Rana, requested an exception as he was not allowed to attend the take-in-course examinations after regularly missing class, but the professor refused. Following the denial, Masud and other BCL activists engaged in an argument in front of the mathematics department. The situation escalated as the activists vandalised flower tubs, and when journalists Rony and Alim attempted to document the incident, the BCL activistssnatched the mobile phones and beat them in front of the college principal. The journalists were pushed repeatedly into a wall until they lost consciousness.
Alim was treated for a blood clot in his back and extensive bruising, while Rony received medical attention for a severe head injury, with both journalists still recovering in hospital. On November 11 campus BCL leadership suspended eight members for their alleged involvement in the attack and university officials formed a committee to investigate the incident.
The IFJ has documented several similar incidents of harassment and violence against journalists by members of the BCL on other campuses in Bangladesh. On September 24, student journalist Mosharrof Shah was attacked and threatened by a group of individuals while on campus at the University of Chittagong, after reporting on a factional clash of the BCL. In August, the IFJ recorded several unprosecuted assaults on journalists involving individuals connected to the BCL.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker, Student
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Nov 9, 2023
- Event Description
Two journalists in Banda Aceh received unpleasant treatment from the bodyguard team of Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Chairman Firli Bahuri.
The two journalists were intimidated while filming Firli Bahuri eating durian at Warkop Sekber Jurnalis, Banda Aceh, Thursday (9/11) night. The two journalists are Raja Umar from Kompas TV and Lala Nurmala from Puja TV.
Raja Umar said he initially wanted to interview Firli. But Firli refused because he was eating durian.
"At that time I wanted to interview the KPK chairman regarding the agenda of the visit to Aceh and ask for his response to Firli's accusation of buying time from the Metro Police summons. Then Firli replied 'no comment, I'm eating durian'," Umar told reporters, Friday (10/11).
Umar then asked for permission for Firli to comment after eating durian while waiting some distance from the table where Firli was eating. However, the police escorting Firli came to Umar to delete all photos and videos.
At first Umar did not respond to the police request, because he had called himself a journalist while showing a press ID card. Then Umar was again visited by plainclothes police to check all his cellphone galleries.
"Because I was forced to open the gallery on my cellphone, I immediately turned on the recording I recorded, then I asked while opening the gallery which photos I had to delete. and the policeman knew I was recording audio he also asked to delete the recording then I resisted," he said.
The audio recording has also been sent by Umar to his editor and to other journalist groups in Aceh, so that it can be used as evidence if something happens to him.
Meanwhile, Puja TV journalist Lala Nurmala received the same treatment as Umar. She had recorded when Umar asked permission from Firli for an interview.
Lala's action was also noticed by Firli Bahuri's bodyguard team and asked Lala whether she took a video or not. At that time Lala replied that she was not recording.
Then the bodyguard asked Lala to open the phone gallery to delete all photos and videos related to Firli. Then Lala deleted some photos and videos under pressure.
"Then he asked me to delete them. I finally deleted them. Yes, I was already under pressure. He asked to open our cell phone, even though the cell phone is our privacy. Meanwhile, from the beginning I said I was not recording, but he insisted," she said.
KPK News Section Head Ali Fikri said that his party had received the information and would check first.
"Oh yes, I read the news, of course we will immediately check it because we don't know who did it," Ali said at the KPK's Red and White Building, Jakarta, Friday.
Ali said that intimidation cannot be justified, especially to people who are doing their jobs.
"What is certain is that it is not allowed if there is really intimidation of journalist friends because we strongly believe in press freedom for friends to get information and convey it to the public," said Ali.
"We don't know whether it was from the KPK or not. If you can make sure it is from KPK officers, then we will check again, of course," he said.
It is known, Firli Bahuri's arrival to Aceh in order to take part in the KPK bus road show and Road To Hakordia. On the sidelines of the KPK official activities, Firli was also observed learning to cook fried rice, playing badminton, celebrating his 60th birthday and eating durian accompanied by media owners who are members of JMSI.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Nov 9, 2023
- Event Description
On Nov. 9, pro-democracy activist Truong Van Dung was transferred from An Diem Prison in Nghe An Province (northern Vietnam) to Gia Trung Prison in Gia Lai Province (the Central Highlands) hundreds of miles away. It is not clear why he was moved and whether his family had been notified ahead of time. Punitive prison transfers are often used as a means to further isolate prisoners from their support networks or to punish them for speaking up for their rights or the rights of other prisoners.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Nov 9, 2023
- Event Description
The 21 university students arrested during a protest march in Colombo on Thursday (09 Nov.) have been granted bail.
The relevant order was issued by the Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court, when the case was taken up this afternoon.
The group was arrested during a protest march staged by the Medical Faculty students of the Sabaragamuwa University near the Maradana Railway Station in Colombo yesterday afternoon.
Police had reportedly used water cannons to disperse the protesting students, prior to which Deans Road in Colombo 10 was closed due to the protest march. Meanwhile, severe traffic congestion was reported along Deans Road and adjacent roads as a result of the agitation.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Nov 9, 2023
- Event Description
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.
-
Mr. Rukshan Fernando (Ruki Fernando). Columnist for newspapers such as The Morning, Daily Mirror, Sunday Observer, Anidda.
-
Ms. Kamanthi Wickramasinghe Deputy Features Editor, Daily Mirror
-
Ms. H.M. Rekha Nilukshi. Freelance Journalist
-
Mr. Ganeshan Jegan, News editor at Monara.com
-
Ms. Melani Manel Perera, Asia News Correspondent & Mojo News Lanka Reporter
-
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Singapore
- Initial Date
- Nov 8, 2023
- Event Description
Suspended lawyer M. Ravi was sentenced to 21 days’ jail on Wednesday for a series of acts of contempt before two different judges in separate courtroom incidents in November 2021.
He had repeatedly accused Justice Audrey Lim of being “biased”, interrupted her, and told her not to be rude. This took place while he was acting for former SBS Transit bus driver Chua Qwong Meng in a High Court suit against the public transport operator.
He had also accused District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt of being biased after an exchange over why Ravi had been scheduled for two trials in the same morning. This happened during a criminal case in the State Courts involving Magendran Muniandy, a Malaysian, who was accused of forging various documents.
On March 31, 2023, Justice Hoo Sheau Peng had found Ravi liable for nine instances of contempt.
His main defence was that he was suffering a relapse of his bipolar disorder at the time. He admitted that he had forgotten “to take medications on some days”.
In sentencing him on Wednesday, Justice Hoo said the relapse did not significantly impair his ability to exercise self-control and restraint, and she therefore gave only moderate mitigating weight to his condition.
The judge said it was “highly reprehensible” that Ravi committed the long string of contemptuous acts while acting for clients in two sets of proceedings.
“Despite being aware of his mental condition, Mr Ravi did little to guard against or manage the effects of his bipolar disorder while discharging his duties and responsibilities as a lawyer. In particular, Mr Ravi was non-compliant with his medication regime,” she said.
Justice Hoo said it was clear that the sanctions previously imposed on Ravi for similar misconduct in the courtroom in past disciplinary proceedings have not deterred him.
“Unfortunately, Mr Ravi has not learnt from the previous chances accorded to him, and he has not shown remorse for his actions, giving rise to these proceedings.”
He started serving the sentence immediately. This was his first time being charged with and convicted of contempt of court, although he has previously been suspended or ordered to pay financial penalties in disciplinary proceedings for misconduct towards judges.
On Nov 8, 2021, Ravi appeared before Judge Chay to take over from Magendran’s previous lawyer, and told the judge that the trial could start the next day as scheduled.
Shortly after, Ravi appeared before another judge for an unrelated criminal case and confirmed that he was representing one of the accused persons for that trial.
On the morning of Nov 9, 2021, he did not turn up before Judge Chay, and instead appeared before the other judge. He appeared before Judge Chay later in the morning and applied to adjourn Magendran’s case.
After an exchange on why the lawyer had been “double fixed” for two trials, Ravi accused Judge Chay of being “biased” against him. He also interrupted Judge Chay when the judge was speaking to Magendran. The matter was adjourned to the next day.
On Nov 10, Judge Chay dismissed Ravi’s application for the case to be referred to the High Court. Ravi then alleged that the judge was “in contempt of court”, left the courtroom and did not return.
Magendran told the judge he was prepared to represent himself.
On Nov 22, Ravi appeared before Justice Lim as Mr Chua’s lawyer on the first day of trial, while Senior Counsel Davinder Singh acted for SBS.
Justice Lim gave directions on the arrangements for the cross-examination of Mr Chua, who was to testify remotely from Ravi’s office.
Ravi then accused her of being “biased” and alleged that she was siding with Mr Singh.
He applied for Justice Lim to disqualify herself, but she rejected the application.
During the hearing, he stated that Justice Lim was an “interrogator”, alleged that the judge’s directions in relation to the cross-examination were “against the international human rights law”, and told her “don’t be rude”.
He also interrupted the judge when she was trying to have the court interpreter explain to Mr Chua what was going on. Ravi then told the judge that both he and Mr Chua would no longer participate in the proceedings.
That afternoon, the court registry received a letter from Mr Chua stating that he was discharging Ravi as his counsel and wanted to hire a new lawyer to continue with the case before Justice Lim.
In March 2023, Ravi was handed the maximum suspension of five years for making “baseless and grave” allegations against the Attorney-General, prosecutors and the Law Society.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Nov 8, 2023
- Event Description
Kazakh rights activist Sanavar Zakirova told RFE/RL on November 8 that an Astana court sentenced her to 15 days in jail for "online calls for unsanctioned rallies." The charge stems from a Facebook post last month calling for a protest rally. Zakirova insists that she was tagged in the post but did not write it. Another activist, Makhabbat Qusaiynova, told the court that she authored the post, but the judge ignored her statement. Zakirova, an outspoken critic of the government, has been sentenced to several jail terms in recent years.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 8, 2023
- Event Description
Over 10 employees had their contracts terminated for allegedly protesting against irregular wage payments by ML Intimate Apparel (Cambodia) Ltd in O’Neang Special Economic Zone in Banteay Meanchey province on November 08, 2023.
ML Intimate Apparel produces for global brands, such as RougeGorge (France), Hunkemöller (the Netherlands) and Damart (UK), according to NGO Central.
Chea Chanthy, a single mother of a two-year-old, who was among the full-time employees whose contract was terminated on November 13, told CamboJA that she found it difficult to believe the reason given by the company for her termination, which was that there were no orders from buyers.
She said many other full-time and short contract employees are still working there but she and her colleagues, who have worked for the company for about eight years, were terminated after they joined the protest and held placards.
“It is not possible for there to be a problem with no orders because people are still working there,” she said. “I think, because we were holding the [protest] placards, they terminated us. We have been working for eight years and even though the economy is declining, we can [still] do [manufacture] a little.”
Chanthy lamented that due to her lack of knowledge of the law, she did not know how to decline the “instruction to resign” from work.
“When we entered the [employer’s] room, they told us to put our thumbprint and we did what they asked. We could not say anything,” she said.
“They said they will allow us to sue them and that [they] are waiting to receive [our complaint]. But we don’t know the law, and we don’t have any money to sue them.” “ We [know] we will not win, so we took the little compensation they gave us. We are not happy to put our thumbprint. We feel like crying because we want to work so that we’d at least have a small salary for daily expenses.”
Chanthy said she is applying for a job at another place but has not received any answer. In the meantime, the $1,140 compensation she received from the company has almost been spent for her toddler’s milk, water and electricity, and a private loan.
Another worker, Lonh Sary, who also held banners with Chanthy, charged that her termination was a result of her participation in the protest, and not due to an alleged drop in her work performance for “several months in a row” as claimed by the company.
She said for about two months, every worker was doing the same work but there were times, when many of the workers had nothing to do for almost 20 minutes in an hour due to the lack of raw material.
“In fact, there has been a problem of no luggage for more than two months in the factory, so the workload was low for everyone,” Sary said, reiterating that the termination was due to the protest. “It’s because all those who protested were named.”
Although Sary does not want her job back with ML Intimate Apparel, she wants them to justify the $1,140 compensation paid to her.
“I don’t want to go back but I want to ask the company where I worked at for almost seven years why they only paid me $1,140, which includes my salary and annual salary. I want to know if it is in line with the law or not. I just want to know that.”
According to a worker, who declined to be named, irregular salary payments have occurred since the company was established and workers have carried out protests several times.
But each time protests are organized, there is always termination. “Around 400 workers protested this time, and more than 10 workers including full time and short contract employees were terminated after that,” the worker added.
When contacted, ML Intimate Apparel administration chief Ngoun Syvutha denied that the termination was due to the protest, rather it was a result of declining orders. He said the company needed to reduce the number of workers so that it can continue operating.
“As an administration, we see the reality … in November and December, the orders are really declining. For instance, this November, we only have 60,000 orders [..] on the factory side, we have a strategy to keep [operations] going, otherwise the factory won’t be able to sustain and this would affect workers. This is in accordance with the fixed duration contract [FDC] and undetermined duration contract [of the Labour Law].”
Regarding the consistent delay of wage payments, Syvutha said it was due to the global economy and late payments made by their customers to ML Intimate Apparel’s head office in Hong Kong.
He added that the compensation of $1,140 dollars was in accordance with the law, and that around 20 workers had been laid off as of November.
There are currently 551 employees, including administrative staff and garment workers in ML intimate Apparel, which produces women’s undergarments for export to the US and Europe.
Meanwhile, Khun Tharo, labor program manager for Central, told CamboJA that the factory had allegedly violated workers’ rights by forcing them to work overtime, delaying the payroll for a whole month without prior notice, requiring pregnant workers to work for eight hours like other employees, and restricting workers’ freedom of association.
“This factory has a history of persecuting and discriminating against unions. It has very bad working conditions in relation to the usage of FDC to dismiss workers,” Tharo said, adding that going by the labor law, the employer was wrong in delaying the payroll.
He shared that workers who joined protests to demand for regular salaries are “always targeted” for dismissal by employers, even though they possess undetermined duration contracts. Two of the workers who were dismissed had worked there since 2017.
According to Cambodia’s labor law, employment contracts should not extend beyond two years. If they do, they are automatically converted to UDCs.
Tharo pointed to Article 74, paragraph two of the law, which stated that “no dismissal can occur without a valid reason related to the worker’s aptitude or behavior, or the needs of the enterprise, establishment or group.”
After a complaint was filed with the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, a union was established in the company but the workers were still “persecuted” and dismissed without proper solutions, Tharo alleged.
“The company does not have a proper way to resolve the problem, and continues to violate the rights of workers,” he said. “The inspection by the labor department has not compelled the employer to abide by the law.”
Noun Sina, director of the Labor Department in Banteay Meanchey, told CamboJA on Monday that he only just received information regarding the termination of an employee by ML Intimate Apparel, and had instructed an inspector from his department to visit the company on Tuesday.
He explained that he was not able to provide any information as yet or determine which party had wronged, suggesting that the press wait while the unit conducts an investigation.
“The department has already assigned an inspector to investigate the case. In relation to this dismissal case, we don’t know yet whether the company or the workers are wrong. Thus, regarding his [the worker] dismissal, we have not determined whether the company fired him illegally.
“We also need to investigate whether the dismissal is related to the economy or not because we know that due to the economy, some enterprises are facing declining orders [which] caused them to reduce the number of workers,” Sina said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Nov 7, 2023
- Event Description
Dozens of activists and oil workers in the restive southwestern Kazakh town of Zhanaozen have demanded the immediate release of of independent trade union leader Amin Eleusinov, who was sentenced to 15 days in jail for violating regulations for public gatherings on November 7. Late on November 8, the oil workers warned that they would "carry out all actions allowed by law" if Eleusinov was not released. In early January 2022, protests in Zhanaozen against fuel price hikes led to unprecedented nationwide unrest that turned deadly. In 2011, at least 16 activists were killed in Zhanaozen when police violently dispersed a protest.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Nov 7, 2023
- Event Description
Chairperson of the University of Indonesia (UI) Student Executive Board (BEM) Melki Sedek Huang admitted that he received intimidation, including his family in Pontianak, West Kalimantan. He suspects that the intimidation is related to the student movement about the Constitutional Court (MK) decision regarding the minimum age limit for presidential and vice presidential candidates.
Since the beginning of the management of BEM UI in 2023, Melki admitted that he and a number of other students often received digital attacks and terror in various forms.
However, the intensity has increased since the frenzy of the Constitutional Court decision led by President Joko Widodo's brother-in-law, Anwar Usman.
"I don't know what the motive is, but I have confidence that this is quite closely related to the socio-political conditions that are currently in the air, one of which is about the frenzy of the Constitutional Court's decision," Melki said when contacted by CNNIndonesia.com, Wednesday (8/11).
Melki said his family in Pontianak, West Kalimantan was also visited by a number of parties claiming to be security forces a few weeks ago. Melki said the party did not mention the origin of the unit. They only claimed to be officers.
"The worst thing was that my mother was at home in Pontianak, visited by people in TNI and police uniforms. They asked about Melki's habits at home, what he used to do, what my mother did when she came back home, whether she came back at night or at what time. Yes, asking about the habits of people at home," he said.
In addition, Melki also admitted that he received news from his teacher at SMA Negeri 1 Pontianak that someone had asked about his habits while attending school. Until now, Melki has not reported the terror incident to the police.
"Until now, we are still waiting and seeing," he added.
The terror, said Melki, has been discussed within BEM UI.
CNNIndonesia.com has attempted to contact West Kalimantan Police Chief Inspector General Pipit Rismanto regarding Melki's claim. However, until this news was published, he had not yet responded.
Kapendam XII Tanjungpura Colonel Inf Ade Rizal Muharram admitted that he had not received information about the alleged terror of the authorities against Melki's family in Pontianak. He said he would immediately inform you if he received information about the alleged incident.
"I'll find out first," Ade told CNNIndonesia.com, Wednesday night.
The Constitutional Court has ruled on the minimum age requirement for presidential and vice-presidential candidates, which was originally 40 years old, to be 40 years old or have / are currently holding positions elected through elections, including regional elections.
The decision finally opened the door for Solo Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is still 40 years old, to run in the 2024 presidential election. It is known that Gibran is the eldest son of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) as well as the nephew of Anwar Usman, who at that time served as Chairman of the Constitutional Court.
The decision reaped pros and cons. There were a total of 21 reports of alleged violations of the ethics of constitutional judges filed by a number of parties. Anwar was the most reported party, namely 15 reports.
The Constitutional Court Honor Council (MKMK) finally declared Anwar proven to have violated serious ethics related to conflicts of interest in the Constitutional Court's decision on the minimum age requirement for presidential and vice presidential candidates.
Then, Anwar was sanctioned with the dismissal of Anwar Usman from the position of Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court. The verdict was read out by MKMK Chairman Jimly Ashhiddiqie at the MK Building, Jakarta, Tuesday (7/11) evening.
Jimly said this decision was made after MKMK conducted an examination of Anwar and collected facts and a defense from Anwar. Among the nine MK judges, Anwar was examined twice by MKMK in this alleged ethical violation.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Online, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Nov 6, 2023
- Event Description
A 19-year-old activist has been sentenced to prison for royal defamation over a speech criticising the monarchy during a protest on 6 December 2020, and been granted parole for two years.
On 6 November 2023, the Central Juvenile and Family Court sentenced Thanakorn (last name withheld), who identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community, to two years in prison over a protest speech at Wongwian Yai on 6 December 2020.
The court stated that Thanakorn is a student who lives with his family and it is believed that the parents are capable of taking care of them. Therefore, the court decided to grant Thanakorn a 2-year parole, during which time they will be on probation. Thanakorn is required to report to a Counselling Centre and receive a proper consultation from psychologists every two months. In addition, Thanakorn is prohibited from committing similar offences.
In the protest, they said Thailand is not a democracy but an absolute monarchy and spoke about the role of the monarchy in military coups. At the time, Thanakorn was 17 years old.
The complaint against Thanakorn and two other activists was filed by Chakrapong Klinkaew, leader of the royalist group People Protecting the Institution.
Thanakorn was convicted of royal defamation on 22 November 2022. TLHR reported that even though Thanakorn did not mention specific kings, they were found guilty since the royal defamation law is interpreted to covers the entire monarchy.
The court sentenced them to two years in prison. The court said that since it believes it would be more beneficial for Thanakon to undergo training to improve their behaviour than for them to go to prison, it commuted the prison sentence to a Juvenile Training Centre under the Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection of the Ministry of Justice for a minimum of one year and six months or a maximum of three years, until they reach the age of 24 years.
At the time, Thanakorn was granted bail in order to appeal the conviction on a security of 30,000 baht.
Thanakorn was also found guilty of royal defamation for giving a speech criticising the monarchy during a protest on 10 September 2020. TLHR reported that the Nonthaburi Juvenile and Family Court found them guilty of royal defamation and sentenced them to three years in prison. Since they were a minor when charged, the Court reduced the sentence to one year and six months, suspended for two years, during which time they will be on probation.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- LGBTQ+/ Non-Binary
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Thailand: youth convicted on royal defamation (Update)
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Nov 6, 2023
- Event Description
A 37-year-old activist arrested last Monday (6 November) on a royal defamation charge filed against him over a number of Facebook posts has been denied bail and is now detained in a prison in Phatthalung.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that Nattakan Jaiaree, 37, a political activist and motorcycle taxi driver, was arrested last Monday (6 November) at his home in Bangkok’s Taling Chan District. He was detained overnight at Taling Chan Police Station before being handed over to Phatthalung police.
Nattakan said the police immediately confiscated his phone after showing him his arrest warrant and would not give it back even though he said he has the right to call a lawyer and a trusted person. He noted that several police officers took turn speaking to him and showing him pictures of several Facebook posts, and they tried to get his signature to certify that the posts were his. The police then made him give them the passcode to his phone, claiming they wanted to check his Facebook account. However, he was not aware what was done to his phone. When the device was returned to him several hours later, he called TLHR for assistance.
According to TLHR, the police in Phatthalung said they issued two summonses for Nattakan, but he did not respond. However, Nattakan said he has never received a summons, probably because it was sent to his registered address, but he now lives at another address, which is a rental in Bangkok.
The complaint against Nattakan was filed by Songchai Niamhom, leader of the ultra-royalist King Protection Group. Songchai has filed royal defamation complaints with the police in Phatthalung and Songkhla against several people over social media posts, including former Move Forward Party MP Amarat Chokepamitkul, a 27-year-old named Nattapon, an intellectually disabled 19-year-old protester named Thiramet, and rapper Kitti Ruangphunglhuang, also known as P9D.
He was also among the group of ultra-royalists which filed a royal defamation complaint against Pita Limjaroenrat, then Move Forward Party’s leader and Prime Minister candidate, over a May 2023 interview with BBC.
On Thursday (9 November), the police took Nattakan to court for a temporary detention request. The Phatthalung Provincial Court ordered him detained for 12 days and refused him bail on the grounds that the charges carry a severe penalty, he has no permanent residence, and because he is likely to repeat his offense. He is now detained at Phatthalung Prison.
The court denied him bail despite his lawyers filing a request stating that Nattakan did not receive the summonses because he is renting a house closer to his place of work, and that he did not resist when he was arrested. They also said that he is willing to attend all police appointments and is not a flight risk.
Nattakan’s detention brought the number of people detained pending trial or appeal on royal defamation charges to 15.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Access to justice, Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Nov 6, 2023
- Event Description
On Nov. 6, former political prisoner Tran Hoang Phuc reported to his probation officer as part of the supervised release order. He was questioned for three hours about his online activities and his taking online courses from Hoa Sen University in Business Management and International Law. Phuc told Project88 he felt intimidated and that the officers in charge, who were not in uniform, treated him in a very condescending and threatening manner.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Nov 6, 2023
- Event Description
Forty-six protesters, including students and alumni from the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), students from Osmania University (OU) and University of Hyderabad (UoH) were detained by the police on Monday, even before they could sit on an indefinite hunger strike to protest the alleged inaction of the university management in the recent sexual harassment case reported on campus.While EFLU students were picked up from inside the campus, OU and UoH students who came to express their solidarity, were detained right at the entrance of EFLU. Some professors have also joined students in their protest, which was announced on Sunday following the VC’s letter addressing students over the “efforts” being taken by his office and the administration after the October 18 sexual assault incident.OU police confirmed that all the students picked up from EFLU have been released and that an FIR was filed against 31 UoH students under section 188 (violation of electoral codes) for taking out a rally.“There was no sign of violence, but police entered the campus and detained several students even before we could sit in protest,” said student adding that even as several students were detained, five started their indefinite strike with six others on a relay hunger strike.Students alleged that since October 18, the VC has not addressed students. They said that on Monday at around 2 pm, the proctor and registrar came out and said that the administration was not going to approve any of their demands and asked the students to call off their protest.“When we refused to budge, the police resorted to forcefully detain students. They even snatched away our mobile phones,” a student claimed adding that about 300 students took part in the protest and that they will continue until all their demands are met. Students raised slogans against the varsity administration and demanded the resignation of the VC and the proctorial board.
- Impact of Event
- 46
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- India: 11 students accused of illegal gathering
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Nov 5, 2023
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Nov 4, 2023
- Event Description
About the Human Rights Defenders:
-
Pachaiyappan, S/o Krishnan
-
Devan, S/o Munusamy
-
Thirumal, S/o Mohanam
-
Sozhan, S/o Nathikesavan
-
Arul, S/o Arumugam
-
Masilamani, S/o Chinnapaiyan
-
Bakkiyaraj, S/o Balakrishnan
-
Vijayan, S.o of Athimoolam
-
Perumar, S/o Subramani 10.Murugan, S/o of Kuppan 11.Venkatesan, S/o Kuppan 12.Thirumalai, S/o Kalidoss 13.Sundaramoorthi, S/o Nadesan 14.Sadasivan, S/o Shanmugam 15.Balaji, S/o Mani 16.Annamalai, S/o Veerasamu 17.Durairaj, S/o Arumugam 18.Anbalagan, S/o Durairaj 19.Babu, S/o Narayanan 20.Rajdurai, S/o Palani All of them are farmers, land rights activist and Human Rights Defenders.
Background: Hundreds of farmers in the Tiruvannamalai district of the state of Tamil Nadu have been protesting peacefully for more than 128 days against the government's proposed acquisition of about 3000 acres of agricultural wetlands for the SIPCOT (State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd (SIPCOT)), Industrial Park scheme, which will then subsequently be leased to private industries. The police had filed numerous false FIRs (First Information Reports) with criminal charges against the protestors as well as many false criminal cases (FIRs) against them. Details of the Incident: On November 4, 2023, the police arrested 21 farmers in early morning hours at around 2am, by forcing entry into the houses of farmers, and thereafter remanded 20 of them to judicial custody. No DK Basu guidelines of arrest were followed by the police. The arrested farmers were taken to different police station by the police. Those arrested including Pachaiyappan, were subsequently produced before the Cheyyar Judicial Magistrate who first remanded them to the Vellore Central Prison and were then transferred to various central prisons at Madurai Central Prison, Palayamkottai Central Prison, Trichy Central Prison, Cuddalore Central Prison, Salem Central Prison, Tamil Nadu. All of them are still in jail. Their arrests were in connection with an FIR (No. 324 of 2023) filed at Anakkavoor police station on August 29, 2023, when Pachaiyappan and the other farmers were walking together for a public hearing. The public hearing was being organised by the district administration of Thiruvannamalai district when the police stopped them from walking and booked them under sections of unlawful assembly and other sections.
-
- Impact of Event
- 21
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
Case shared by FORUM-ASIA member HRD Alert India
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 4, 2023
- Event Description
Rights lawyer Tang Jitian is incommunicado, believed detained in a hotel in the northeastern province of Jilin following his release from two years of incommunicado detention in January, people familiar with his case told Radio Free Asia.
"He sent a message on WeChat Moments around Nov. 4 that his daughter's grandmother had passed away," U.S.-based rights activist Xiang Li told RFA Mandarin. "This was the last public message he sent [and it] showed that he was in Jilin at the time."
"Shortly after he posted the message, he was incommunicado and I haven't managed to get in touch with him in more than two weeks," Xiang said.
A person familiar with the case who declined to be named for fear of reprisals said Tang had been detained en route to his mother-in-law's funeral on Nov. 6, and is currently being held by state security police at a hotel in Yanbian city.
Tang has a round-the-clock detail of state security police sleeping in the same room and eating all meals with him, they said.
He was taken into custody again because someone "disclosed information about Tang" on social media, the person said.
Xiang said the daring flight of ethnic Korean dissident Kwon Pyong by jet ski from the eastern province of Shandong might have heightened tensions around Tang, too, although the two men aren’t associated with each other.
"Maybe state security police in Jilin were made nervous by that escape, which caused an international sensation," Xiang said. "Tang Jitian is a human rights lawyer and dissident whom they regard as very important."
When he was released after more than a year of police detention on Jan. 14, 2023, Tang showed up in his birthplace in Jilin instead of his home in Beijing, an increasingly common practice for recently released political prisoners.
"I'll try to keep doing what I can keep doing, but ... I can't say any more right now," Tang told RFA at the time, saying it was "inconvenient" to speak, a phrase often employed by people targeted for official surveillance.
Tang's license to practice as a lawyer was revoked in 2010 after he campaigned for direct elections within the state-run Lawyers' Association, and represented practitioners of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement.
He has been barred from leaving China to visit his daughter in Japan, who is on life support in a Tokyo hospital after contracting meningitis.
"If he is incommunicado, that must mean he has been forcibly disappeared, and that the state security police must have detained him," Xiang said.
Sedatives overdose
Meanwhile the teenaged son of detained rights lawyer Yu Wensheng has been sent to hospital after being left alone in the family home following his parents' detention in April.
Yu Zhenyang was taken to hospital after taking an overdose of sedative medication, fellow lawyer Liang Xiaojun told RFA Mandarin.
"When I got there, he didn't say anything to me, just sat there on the hospital bed," Liang said. "There were nurses and policemen there beside him."
"The policeman told me he had taken some sedatives and then started to feel unwell while on a bus in Mentougou," he said. "He told the driver he felt unwell and the driver called the police, and they sent him to the hospital."
Yu Zhenyang was treated and was recovering, Liang said.
"His mental state was quite good – he was drinking water, and he was on a drop – he looked okay," he said. "Maybe it was sleeping pills and he took a little too many."
Fellow rights attorney Wang Yu, who has been keeping an eye on Yu Zhenyang since he was left alone, said the overdose took place on the young man's 19th birthday, which he spent alone.
"They said he turned 19 on [Nov. 18]," Wang said. "He was alone and in a very sad mood."
"He went out to eat alone and took nine tablets in one go," she said. "He started to feel unwell on the bus home."
She called on the Chinese authorities to release Yu Wensheng and his wife on bail pending trial to allow them to take care of Yu Zhenyang.
Canada-based family friend Zhao Zhongyuan said Yu Zhenyang has had a tough time since both parents – father Yu Wensheng and mother Xu Yan – were detained on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble" in April, en route to meet with European Union diplomats in Beijing.
Xu has reportedly been charged with "incitement to subvert state power."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 1, 2023
- Event Description
The activists, dressed in clothes made of plastic bags and carrying signs emblazoned with environmentalist slogans, marched to the rallying point where they would submit their petition to Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment.
It was supposed to be a peaceful march to urge the government to raise taxes on plastic bags and charge customers more for using them, in a bid to protect Cambodia’s environment.
But plainclothes officers blocked the way of the 20 marchers, pushed them, snatched their phones, and attempted to confiscate their banners.
“They didn’t listen to us. We are holding banners to request the government to listen to our two requests,” Ream SreyMech Rathana, one of the marchers, told Radio Free Asia.
“Where is democracy? [We are] people [just] walking on the streets who speak their mind but they outlaw us and the authorities are resorting to violence and unethical behavior,” said Ream SreyMech Rathana.
The authorities choose violence as their response, regardless of what the activists are asking for, said Hum Sok Keang, another activist.
“We have observed that authorities don’t allow us to work freely even though our work is beneficial to the country but they think we are polluting the society,” Hum Sok Keang said.
After the encounter, a representative from the Ministry of Environment accepted their petition.
To combat plastic pollution, the Ministry of Environment in 2016 issued a sub decree ordering provincial, city and district authorities to properly handle trash. But critics say authorities have failed to resolve the trash issues, forcing the people to pick up plastic litter from public places.
RFA attempted to reach the ministry’s spokesperson Phai Bun Chhoeun and the Phnom Penh police spokesperson Sam Vicheaca, but neither could be reached for comment.
Plastic pollution pollutes the environment and will discourage tourists from visiting Cambodia, said Chhin Chorvin, another activist.
“Plastic affects humans and animals and pollutes water,” he said. “When we use too much plastic, we burn it and it pollutes the atmosphere.”
- Impact of Event
- 20
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Oct 31, 2023
- Event Description
Police in Vietnam have released four independent Protestants who were detained for five days after inviting President Vo Van Thuong to observe one of their religious services.
Y Nuer Buon Dap, Y Thinh Nie, Y Cung Nie and his son Y Salemon Eban returned home on Saturday.
The first three were arrested on Oct. 31 and taken to the headquarters of Cu M'gar District Police. Another man, Y Phuc Nie, was arrested the same day, but he was released on Nov. 2.
Y Salemon Eban was arrested on Nov. 3 while his mother, H Tuyen Eban was interrogated by district police on Nov. 2.
“The police forced us to work all day, from 7:30 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. before going to bed, but we were not beaten. We were well fed during the days of our arrest," one of the arrested men told Radio Free Asia, asking to remain anonymous for legal reasons.
He said the police questioned them about their views on religious freedom and civil society.
Before releasing the Protestants, the police told them to stop practicing religion independently and not to study civil society, saying its aim was to oppose the government.
They were also told not to participate in the Aug. 22 International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief and the Dec. 10 International Human Rights Day.
“We cannot accept restrictions on the exercise of freedom of religion and freedom of movement . We will continue to practice religion in our family,” said one of the Protestants.
“What 's wrong with studying civil society? We study according to Vietnamese law and international law and have no intention of opposing the government.”
RFA Vietnamese called Cu M'gar District Police to verify the information, but the person who answered asked the reporter to go to the agency's headquarters and speak to the person in charge.
Many Montagnard families in Dak Lak and some provinces in the Central Highlands follow Protestantism but are not in a state-approved religious organization.
They have no leaders, no organizational structure, everyone in the group has equal rights and equality with each other. Pastors are just trusted representatives of their group.
Since the beginning of 2023, independent Protestant groups have sent four invitations to local authorities and President Vo Van Thuong to attend religious activities to prove that they have no intention of opposing state-approved religions or the government.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of Religion and Belief, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Freedom of religion/belief activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Oct 31, 2023
- Event Description
Authorities in Vietnam on Tuesday sentenced a Facebook user to three and a half years in prison for his live-streamed videos that were critical of the government, state media reported.
Le Thach Giang, 66, of the southern coastal province of Ninh Thuan, was found guilty of violating Article 331 of Vietnam’s penal code for “abusing democratic freedoms to violate the State’s interests, legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals.”
Rights groups have said that Article 331 is a vaguely written law that is often used by the government to silence dissenting voices and repress the people.
According to the indictment, between Aug. 29 and Nov. 25, 2022, Giang had livestreamed several videos containing information about local authorities in Ninh Thuan on his Facebook account, which was titled “The Brutal Authorities.” He also criticized the Communist Party of Vietnam and late president and revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh.
The videos were allegedly unverified, slanderous and offensive to government agencies and defamatory to the Communist Party of Vietnam and the late president.
State media also said that Giang had been previously sentenced to another three and a half years for “intentionally damaging assets” and “disrupting public order,” but did not specify what these charges were for or when he was sentenced.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Oct 31, 2023
- Event Description
Hundreds of police officers broke up a construction site protest in northern Vietnam Tuesday by beating several demonstrators with batons and arresting about a dozen of them, the protesters told Radio Free Asia.
The US$30 million 15-hectare (37-acre) Long Son Container Port Project would build a 250-meter (820-foot) dock to be operational by 2025 in the Hai Ha commune in the northern province of Thanh Hoa, home to nearly 3,000 households, about 400 of which rely on fishing to make a living.
Tuesday’s arrests came after several consecutive days of protests of the project, with residents taking to the streets and occupying the beach to stop Long Son from working. The residents say they want satisfactory compensation and resettlement plans.
Videos of the protest taken by residents show that the police were equipped with batons and shields. At least one man sustained a head injury, and his clothes were stained with blood.
“At around 4 a.m., hundreds of police officers were sent to the scene and they pushed us away from the beach,” a Hai Ha resident who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons told RFA Vietnamese. “When we did not leave, they used batons to hit us. Many got injuries on their heads and limbs. They also arrested many people and took them away.”
More than 10 people were beaten to the point that they sustained minor injuries, another resident, who was also present at the scene, told RFA on condition of anonymity.
“Also, 16 people were arrested and taken to the Nghi Son Town Police Station,” the second resident said. “We were about to go there to demand the release of our people but were blocked by the police right at the edge of our village.”
Since the protest was broken up, leveling work has been started, the second resident said. “We have lost in the struggle to protect our livelihoods.”
Suppressing images
A third resident said that authorities had jammed mobile phone signals to prevent residents from spreading the images and videos of the suppression. The police also prohibited residents from filming the incident, this person said.
To verify the information provided by residents, RFA contacted the Nghi Son Town police and the Thanh Hoa provincial police. However, staff who answered the phone declined to respond to questions and requested that RFA go to their headquarters with the necessary letters of introduction to be provided with information.
A report of the incident in the provincial government’s mouthpiece, the Thanh Hoa online newspaper, said that the provincial police and the authorities of Nghi Son town and Hai Ha commune had jointly “implemented a plan to ensure the construction of Dock No. 3 of the Long Son Container Port so that the construction contractor can carry out the project on schedule.”
The report also said that because “a number of Hai Ha residents continued obstructing the construction,” responsible forces had to “temporarily put some people in custody to investigate, verify and handle the case in accordance with the law.”
The report did not specify how many residents had been arrested and put into custody, nor did it mention any injuries caused by the police crackdown.
Week-long protests
The protests started on the morning of Oct. 23, when around 300 residents from Hai Ha commune took to the streets to oppose the construction project, which, according to them, will adversely affect their livelihood and living environment.
On the afternoon of the same day, Nghi Son Town Police issued a decision to launch a criminal case against those who had obstructed traffic, causing serious traffic congestion for about one kilometer (0.6 miles).
Despite the announcement many residents continued to gather at the Hai Ha commune beach to prevent construction work, although the police had summoned some people and forced them to pledge in writing not to gather at the construction site.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Vietnam: community monitored, harassed for protesting
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Oct 31, 2023
- Event Description
Indian authorities must drop all investigations into freelance journalist Rejaz M Sheeba Sydeek over his reporting on allegations of anti-Muslim bias in the police force, return his mobile phone, and cease the harassment of his colleagues at Maktoob Media news website, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.
On October 31, Kerala police initiated a criminal investigation against Sydeek for “giving provocation with the intent to cause a riot” under Section 153 of the Penal Code and took his mobile phone, the outlet’s deputy editor Shaheen Abdulla and Sydeek told CPJ by phone.
The investigation was in relation to Sydeek’s October 30 news report for Maktoob Media, in which Muslim men who were detained following an explosion at a Jehovah’s Witnesses convention last month accused the police of anti-Muslim bias, according to Abdulla and news reports. A former member of the congregation claimed responsibility for the blast in which six people died, those sources said.
“Launching a police investigation into Maktoob Media journalists over a report accusing the police of anti-Muslim bias sets a perilous precedent,” said Kunal Majumder, CPJ’s India representative. “Kerala police must drop their investigation into reporter Rejaz M Sheeba Sydeek, return his phone, and allow the press to publish news that is in the public interest.”
On November 16 and 17, the police interrogated Sydeek and Maktoob Media’s founder and editor Aslah Kayyalakkath and took a statement from Abdulla, those news sources and Sydeek said. Sydeek and Abdulla told CPJ that the police took Sydeek’s mobile phone and refused to provide a “hash value,” a unique identifier to ensure the device was not tampered with.
Additionally, Sydeek accused the police of threatening him with additional legal actions including invoking non-bailable sections of the law.
Abdulla said that Maktoob Media had been singled out for reporting on an important story that sought to hold the police accountable and described the police investigation as “arbitrary.”
Sydeek told CPJ that he followed due process while filing his report, including by reaching out to police for comment and quoting them in his story.
CPJ emailed the Kerala director general of police Shaik Darvesh Saheb but did not receive any response.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Oct 30, 2023
- Event Description
Activist Mongkhon Thirakot has been found guilty of royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act and sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison for two Facebook posts made in July 2022.
Mongkhon, 30, is a Chiang Rai-based activist and online clothes vendor. He was charged with royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act for two Facebook posts made on 28 and 30 July 2022. One post contains a picture of King Vajiralongkorn and a message about wearing black in mourning, while another contains an edited picture of Mongkhon holding a picture frame.
Mongkhon was arrested at his family home in Chiang Rai on 11 August 2022 by a unit of 21 police officers. He was later released on bail. The public prosecutor indicted him on the grounds that the posts insulted the King and damaged his reputation.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that, during witness examination, Mongkhon’s friend came to observe the hearing, but was ordered to leave the court room by an official and a court marshal, who said that the court ordered that Mongkhon to be tried in secret. However, TLHR said that no such order was made for the trial but noted that court marshals and security guards were always present at every hearing.
Mongkhon argued that, although he made the two posts, the content was satirical and not an offence under the royal defamation law. He also stated his belief that using the royal defamation law damaged the monarchy, adding that as all are born equal all can be equally criticised.
On Monday (30 October), the Chiang Rai Provincial Court found Mongkhon guilty of royal defamation and sentenced him to a total of 6 years in prison, reduced to 4 because he gave useful testimony. The court also sentenced him to 6 months in prison on a trespassing charge, which was previously suspended. This brings his total sentence to 4 years and 6 months.
Mongkhon was detained overnight as the Chiang Rai Provincial Court forwarded his bail request to the Appeal Court. He was granted bail the next morning on a security of 300,000 baht and on the condition that he does not do anything that damages the monarchy and must not leave the country.
Mongkhon was previously charged with royal defamation for 27 Facebook posts. He was found guilty on 14 counts and sentenced to 28 years in prison by the Chiang Rai Provincial Court. The court ordered the sentences for both cases to be served consecutively. He is now in the process of filing for appeal.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Online, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Oct 30, 2023
- Event Description
Student activist Benja Apan has been sentenced to prison with a two-year suspension for a royal defamation charge resulting from a speech she gave during a protest on 10 August 2021.
On 30 October 2023, the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court ruled that the student activist violated the royal defamation law and Emergency Decree at a 10 August 2021 protest organised by the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration (UFTD).
Benja was sentenced to three years in prison for the defamation charge and one year with a 12,000 baht fine for the Emergency Decree violation. The court reduced the sentence to two years and eight months, with a two-year suspension, and an 8,000 Baht fine, because she has never been imprisoned and was only 21 years old at the time of the incident.
The court asserted that her speech directly targeted King Vajiralongkorn and amounted to defamation of the King. It refused to accept her testimony that her intention was not to criticise the king but rather the administration of former PM Prayut Chan-o-cha.
During the protest, Benja read out the 2nd UFTD Declaration which stated that the 2014 coup led by Gen Prayut resulted in a regime which only benefited only the elite. The statement also criticised the government’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic and called for it to properly handle the pandemic, revitalise the economy, repeal the 2017 Constitution, push forward with reforms of state institutions including the monarchy, and return dignity to the people.
A complaint was filed by members of the People’s Centre for the Protection of Monarchy on 12 August 2021. Benja was arrested on 7 October 2021 after she went to meet the inquiry officer at Lumpini Police Station to hear a charge of violating the Emergency Decree for participating in the 3 September protest at the Ratchaprasong intersection. She did not receive a summons before being arrested.
The activist was taken to the court on 8 October 2021 and denied bail three times before being granted bail on 14 January 2022. She was indicted for the charges on 3 December 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Oct 30, 2023
- Event Description
Local sources in Mazar-i-Sharif city have reported the tragic suicide of a young woman named Homa, who took her own life after being released from a Taliban prison. The incident occurred on Saturday, November 4th.
Homa, a passionate protester against Taliban restrictions, was apprehended by the Taliban intelligence agency during a checkpoint inspection in the city’s seventh district of Mazar-i-Sharif on Sunday, October 30th. She remained in their custody for three days.
Although it has been alleged that Homa was a member of the women’s protest network opposing the Taliban’s restrictions on women, the women’s protest network in Balkh has not confirmed or denied her membership to Hasht-e Subh Daily.
Sources have revealed that Homa was 26 years old and had graduated in the field of education from Balkh University.
Reports indicate that Homa endured torture at the hands of the Taliban intelligence agency, with visible evidence of this brutality on her body. After her release from Taliban captivity, she tragically hanged herself from the ceiling of her room, putting an end to her life.
Homa’s body was laid to rest on the same day as her death, Saturday, November 4th.
As of now, the Taliban group in Balkh has not commented on this tragic event.
Throughout their more than two years of control in Afghanistan, the Taliban have consistently suppressed, arrested, and tortured female protesters. There have been documented instances of sexual assaults on women in their prisons as well.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Death, Torture, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to life
- HRD
- WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 29, 2023
- Event Description
Hui Muslim poet Cui Haoxin, formerly a vocal critic of Beijing's treatment of Uyghurs and Hui Muslims, has been severely beaten by an unidentified man after lying low for nearly three years, according to an associate and an account of the attack posted to his personal blog.
The reports emerged after Cui, who lives in Shandong and goes by the pen name An Ran, disappeared from social media for nearly three years after being warned off speaking out publicly or talking to journalists – on pain of a prison sentence, Radio Free Asia has learned.
Cui was attacked by the man at around 4.00 p.m. local time on Oct. 29 after he went downstairs to pick up a parcel near the gates of his residential compound, a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals told RFA Mandarin.
"This man, whom An Ran had never seen before, was waiting for him on a motorbike near the shelves in his residential community," the person said.
"He didn't say anything but shoved An Ran to one side and started shuffling through all of the packages ... then he asked if he could move over [so An Ran could look for his package], and the guy immediately started yelling and cursing at him," they said.
According to Cui's blog post, the man then knocked him to the ground and started beating him.
"He was hitting so fast and so hard that I couldn't fight back – I just tried to block the blows," he said. "The punches hit home, and now my temples, eyes and the back of my head are swollen and painful."
Cui, 44, tried to get up after his attacker fell over, but the man started beating him again "knocking me to the ground, and not stopping until he was tired," he wrote, adding that his eyesight is now "significantly reduced."
Critical posts
The attack came nearly three years after Cui was held in criminal detention by police in January 2020 for "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble" after he made posts to Twitter criticizing China’s treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang.
Cui dropped off the radar of the overseas media and international activists after that, and made no more posts to his former social media accounts.
A friend of his told Radio Free Asia on Nov. 1 that he was actually released on "bail, pending trial" on Feb. 21, 2020, and warned off posting anything to social media or talking to foreign journalists.
"An Ran's father came to take him home, and from that point on, they lived in a situation where they were continually followed, warned and intimidated by the police," she said.
"The state security police warned his family that he would be sent to prison if he gave interviews to foreign journalists," the friend said. "That would have left An Ran's parents without anyone to take care of them, so An Ran said nothing for three years, not even a comment or a picture."
"He was depressed and almost at the point of mental collapse when he got out [from detention]," the friend said.
‘Big prison’
U.S.-based activist Sulaiman Gu said the blog post is the first news anyone has had from Cui in three years.
"An Ran really did disappear completely over the past three years," he said. "Nobody knew what had happened to him."
"All I know is that he had been warned many times and held for short periods of time prior to his detention [in 2021], and tricked into going for 'red' education in Jinggangshan," Gu said.
"He was in great danger at that time, but then he was released into the big prison," he said, referring to the tight surveillance and restrictions that are frequently imposed by Chinese police on former political prisoners long after their release from detention or prison.
"At least he's not in the small prison," Gu said.
Prior to his detention Cui was an outspoken critic of China's mass incarceration of Uyghurs and other Muslims in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, where authorities have placed as many as 1.8 million people accused of harboring “strong religious views” and “politically incorrect” ideas in a network of internment camps since April 2017.
He had also been detained and questioned by state security police in 2018 over critical tweets, and warned not to use overseas social media or to become a "tool" of hostile foreign forces.
In April 2018, Cui was sent on a week-long ideological "re-education" course in eastern China and was briefly detained in connection with his poetry and other writings that reference Xinjiang.
In one article published at the time, Cui describes Xinjiang as having left a "planet-sized impression" on him.
"Xinjiang, that massive presence that defies expression, left a planet-sized impression on me that is ineradicable," Cui wrote in an article that also referenced the Syrian conflict and the Arab Spring.
"This is a land of poetry and song ... when I headed out west to the Central Asian city of Kashgar, no sooner had I arrived than I made straight for the tomb of an ancient poet, and raised my hands in prayer for him beside the dusty tomb swathed in green silk."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Oct 29, 2023
- Event Description
At least 30 journalists came under attack, while the vehicles and equipment of some of them were vandalised during a clash between the supporters of the main opposition Bangladeshi Nationalist Party and the police in the capital’s Naya Paltan area on Saturday.
The clash between the protesters and police began about 11:30am before the BNP started its scheduled grand rally in front of its party office at Naya Paltan, during which journalists were also injured.
Different journalist organisations and platforms condemned the attacks on their fellows.
The Dhaka Reporters Unity in their statement condemned the attacks on and torture of 30 journalists and also snatching of their mobile phones and valuables and damaging of their cameras and other equipment.
The DRU leadership said that such attacks are never acceptable and against the press freedom.
Protesters at Rajmoni crossing intercepted Mohammad Ali Mazed, AFP video journalist and an executive committee member of the Bangladeshi Journalists in International Media, beating him up with sticks, while he was heading towards Kakrail intersection during the clash.
The protestors also broke his camera.
Later, the BJIM in a statement said that it strongly condemns the brutal attacks on at least 19 on-duty journalists, including two of its cofounders, as major political parties staged rallies in the capital within very risky proximities on Saturday.
Brick chips were hurled at Sazzad Hossain, a freelance photographer for international media and a BJIM member. He was also stampeded allegedly by BNP activists.
New Age journalist Ahammad Foyez, Bangla Tribune’s Salman Tarek Shakil, Daily Kalbela’s Rafsan Jani, and Share Biz’s Hamidur Rahman, among others, sustained injuries.
Rafsan Jani was badly beaten and taken to hospital.
Daily Inqilab’s FA Masum told New Age that he was taking photos when two processions of BNP and ruling Awami League were about to face off in a confrontation at the time of which someone dragged him from back and started beating near the AL procession.
Masum said he could not recognise any of the attackers. A car of Jamuna Television was vandalised in Kakrail, while a
microbus of Maasranga Television carrying Noor Un Nahar Weely was attacked at Shahjahanpur in the evening.
Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists in their statement also alleged that journalists were targeted when they were filming or photographing acts of vandalism and arson during the programmes of BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Oct 29, 2023
- Event Description
The criminalization of several farmers from the Tani Nelayan Union (STN) by the Jambi Police occurred in Betung Village, Kumpeh, Muaro Jambi Regency on Sunday, October 29, 2023.
Even more ironic, one of the lecturers from a well-known university in Jambi, initials H, was involved in committing violence against farmers.
"This is inhumane treatment from the authorities. And ironically academics are also involved. We strongly condemn this criminalization," said Suluh Rifai, Chairman of STN, when giving a statement to the media crew.
According to Rifai, inhumane actions occurred when several farmers were treated like animals, tied up by the neck and then dragged by police officers and several people from the Fajar Pagi Plasma Cooperative of PT Ricky Kurniawan Kertapersada (PT RKK).
Rifai could not understand the criminalization carried out by the authorities and unscrupulous lecturers. In fact, according to him, the power possessed by the police and lecturers should be devoted to the people, not to the cooperative.
"I can't stop thinking. The police are no longer an institution to protect the people. But the oppressor of the people. These lecturers are also the same, they have tarnished higher education institutions that should be independent from corporations, instead they are under the feet of corporations," said Rifai angrily.
When asked for information on the criminalization of farmers, Rifai said that the Fajar Pagi Cooperative, former plasma of PT RKK, had violated the law from the beginning and caused losses to the state for dozens of years because it had planted oil palm plantations in the Industrial Plantation Forest (HTI) area.
Previously, PT RKK had also been defeated by the judges at all levels that the rightful owner of the land occupied by PT RKK was now PT WKS.
After all, according to Rifai, the government permit given to PT WKS is an Industrial Plantation Forest (HTI) concession.
However, Rifai explained, PT RKK has broken the law and violated the PTUN decision by continuing to use the Industrial Plantation Forest (HTI) area with oil palm plantations on an area of 2391 hectares since 2008.
"The state has been tricked by PT RKK since a dozen years. For me this is a shame, as big as Indonesia can be fooled by PT. RKK, which is now bankrupt," Rifai said, again.
Not finished there, PT. RKK also said Rifai was the culprit for burning forests and destroying ecology in Muaro Jambi but never paid fines until now, which amounted to more than 191 billion.
For the actions of PT RKK, Rifai urged the Indonesian Ministry of Environment (KLH), the National Police Chief and the Ministry of Education to immediately punish PT RKK and its plasma Fajar Pagi Cooperative and Jambi Police who were involved and unscientific lecturers.
Rifai also demanded that the Ministry of ATR / BPN RI immediately cancel the HGU of PT. RKK and asked the Chief of Police to stop and take over the case being handled by the Jambi Police for the detention of several farmers without trial.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Vilification, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Oct 28, 2023
- Event Description
Sri Lankan authorities must immediately drop any investigation into freelance Tamil journalists Punniyamoorthy Sasikaran and Valasingham Krishnakumar in retaliation for their reporting and allow them to work without interference, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.
On October 28, a police officer separately interrogated Sasikaran and Krishnakumar at their homes in eastern Batticaloa district following their reporting on an October 8 protest, according to the advocacy group Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka and the journalists, who spoke with CPJ.
The protest, which coincided with President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit to Batticaloa, included hundreds of farmers and activists demonstrating against alleged state-backed land grabbing by Sinhalese settlers. Sasikaran covered the events for the privately owned U.K.-based broadcaster IBC Tamil and digital news outlet BATTIMIRROR, while Krishnakumar reported for the privately owned websites Maddu News and Samugam Media.
The officer questioned Sasikaran and Krishnakumar about their personal and journalistic backgrounds and activities, and what occurred at the protest for around two and a half hours and one hour and 15 minutes, respectively, the journalists told CPJ.
The officer ordered them to sign written statements of their testimony and notified them that they had been named in a police criminal investigation in relation to the protest along with several farmers, politicians, and activists, and were due to appear for a hearing at the Eravur Magistrate Court on November 17. Neither Sasikaran nor Krishnakumar had received a written summons or a copy of a police report detailing the precise allegations against them as of November 8, they said.
“Sri Lankan authorities must immediately cease all forms of reprisal against journalists Punniyamoorthy Sasikaran and Valasingham Krishnakumar and ensure they may report freely,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “The government must put an end to the long-standing pattern of relentless harassment targeting Tamil journalists covering human rights violations impacting their community.”
Following Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war that ended in 2009, ethnic tensions persist between the Sinhalese people, the country’s majority ethnic group, and Tamils, who have experienced systematic discrimination in the country.
On November 4, Sasikaran and Krishnakumar received a court order, reviewed by CPJ, directing them to hand over their unedited video footage of a Buddhist monk threatening to “cut Tamils into pieces,” and to provide a statement to police in relation to a separate investigation into the monk.
On November 7, Sasikaran and Krishnakumar appeared at the Batticaloa Divisional Crime Detective Bureau and provided the footage to police, who questioned them for one hour each about their coverage and which media outlets they shared their videos with, they told CPJ.
Sasikaran and Krishnakumar told CPJ that they believed the latest incident was another form of harassment intended to muzzle their reporting on farmers and marginalized communities.
CPJ’s messages to Ajith Rohana, deputy inspector-general of the Batticaloa police, did not receive a response.
Police have repeatedly interrogated Sasikaran and Krishnakumar in retaliation for their work. On August 22, a mob of around 50 Sinhalese men held Krishnakumar and two other journalists captive while they were reporting on alleged state-backed land encroachments in Batticaloa. No suspects had been accountable for this incident as of November 8, Krishnakumar said.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Oct 28, 2023
- Event Description
The Bangladeshi Journalists in International Media (BJIM) strongly condemns the brutal attacks on at least 19 on-duty journalists including two of its co-founders on October 28, 2023, as three major political parties staged rallies in the capital within very risky proximities on Saturday.
Mohammad Ali Mazed, AFP Video Journalist and a BJIM Executive Committee Member, was ambushed and beaten on the head and back with sticks by several activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). His safety gear saved him from severe injuries though the miscreants broke his newsgathering kit.
Sazzad Hossain, a Freelance photographer for The Guardian, DW, and SOPA Images and a BJIM member, was also targeted with brick chips and later stampeded by some BNP activists.
New Age journalist Ahamed Fayez, Bangla Tribune’s Salman Tarek Shakil, Jobaer Ahmed, Daily Kalbela’s Rafsan Jani, Abu Saleh Musa, Rabiul Islam Rubel, Touhidul Islam Tarek, Dhaka Times’ Salekin Tarin, Kazi Ihsan Didar, Inqilab’s F A Masum, Ittefaq’s Tanvir Ahammed, Sheikh Naser, Ekushey TV’s Touhidur Rahman, Arifur Rahman, Desh Rupantor’s Arifur Rahman Rabbi, The Report’s Tahir Zaman, Share Biz’s Hamidur Rahman and Freelance journalist Maruf were also injured by attacks of miscreants within the rallies.
Rallies and demonstrations are part of democratic movements and we respect the political parties’ attempt to uphold the essence of democracy.
Similarly, it is necessary to remember that journalism is the fourth estate of democracy. Any blow towards the free press will be counted as a lesion on democracy. Such attacks on journalists are not acceptable and we demand free, fair, and swift justice for our injured colleagues.
We also officially reprimand policemen’s attacks on journalists covering the unlawful checking at Dhaka entrances in the past few evenings ahead of the rallies.
Additionally, we promise to further enhance our monitoring of journalists’ safety in Bangladesh.
We assure our colleagues, from local and international media, that we will always stand with you.
- Impact of Event
- 19
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 28, 2023
- Event Description
A lawsuit has been filed by APSARA National Authority against seven villagers, including a commune police chief, who live around Angkor Wat, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for allegedly inciting and obstructing public work in August.
Two separate court summons issued against the villagers were obtained by CamboJA One summon was against four villagers, including the local police officer, who allegedly obstructed public work and intentionally caused damage and violence. Another summon was issued to the villagers for allegedly inciting other villagers.
On August 8, hundreds of villagers protested against an attempt by APSARA to demolish allegedly illegal structures after issuing a notice in Prasat Bakong district’s Meanchey commune.
Although the authority failed to demolish the structures, the villagers have been restricted by APSARA from constructing additional structures in front of their house or fixing their roofs.
“I don’t know why they have filed a suit [against me]. I only went to see [the protest],” said 38-year-old Var Chamnab, who is being sued along with three other villagers by APSARA.
“I wasn’t the only one [there] on that day … hundreds of people protested,” he said, adding that he was aware that villagers do not have permission to build, but that they had sought for permission several times but were denied.
Rolous commune police chief Rai Vanna said he cannot offer any details or comment as yet as he has not testified in court as to what he witnessed during the protest. He was supposed to give evidence on October 18 but it was postponed.
He said he had gone to the protest to monitor the situation and ensure public order.
“On behalf of the authorities, we have to give evidence on the case – villagers who were protesting – but the questioning has been deferred. So, I can’t say more as I am an official and I need to get approval from my boss before I can say anything,” Vanna said.
A villager, 36-year-old Sok Pov, was accused of incitement for allegedly posting APSARA’s notice on the removal of “illegal” structures in Bangkorng village on August 14 and 15. He is alleged to have asked villagers living inside and outside the village to “please join the protest”.
“I just posted [the notice] to inform people to come and appeal against the demolition,” he told the court when questioned on October 23, before being allowed to return home.
“I think it [the legal suit] was unreasonable. It is like restricting our freedom of expression when [all we did was] post the notice,” Pov said.
He said villagers living in Zone 2, which is a world heritage site, are not allowed to build new structures and extend the front portion of their house as it would impact the Angkor temples.
“There are a lot of difficulties [restrictions] … we can’t fix our house roof or build any extension in front. Within the authorities’ land, there are a lot of restrictions.
“They require us to seek permission [for construction] but when we request, they do not give us permission,” Pov said.
Earlier, a letter was sent by APSARA to village chiefs and representatives to inform them about the demolition of illegal structures, such as new shelters or cottages and new additions to front portions of old houses, from August 14 to 15, 2023.
APSARA spokesperson Long Kosal confirmed that his officials had “demolished” several illegal structures and houses but he could not specifically identify which ones needed to be removed.
“[New] constructions are not allowed within the world heritage site and they would need to get permission to build them. When it’s built without permission, it is [an] illegal [structure],” Kosal said.
“But, it doesn’t mean that when you apply for permission you will get an approval,” Kosal said, adding that there are legal requirements and conditions that should be satisfied when applications are reviewed.
Before the authority removed the structures, APSARA issued a notice in advance, he confirmed, but denied that there were restrictions on the rights of people who live within the world heritage sites.
“I think that some of our people have different levels of knowledge about the law. We can review how many people are living at the world heritage site, who are allowed to to fix houses or remove old houses and build new houses,” he said.
“We have to review the situation as a whole, not by looking on a case by case basis,” Kosal said.
NGO Licadho rights coordinator Ing Kongchet, who investigated the issue, called on the court officials to drop the charges against the villagers. He also urged UNESCO to intervene to protect the fundamental rights of the villagers and improve their living conditions.
“It is an issue that violates human rights. We appeal to APSARA and UNESCO to reconsider this case. APSARA has restricted people’s rights in requesting to fix or build houses.
“We support conservation but people’s livelihoods are important as well. People need security and safety. If their houses have no gates or toilets, and their roofs leak when it rains, they should give permission to fix it,” Kongchet said.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson with the UNESCO World Heritage Center asserted that UNESCO has “never requested, supported, or was a party to the relocation program” and that any questions relating to it should be conveyed to the national authority.
In response to CamboJA’s questions via email on Friday evening, the spokesperson said for all the sites in the world, UNESCO underscores that conservation measures decided by the authorities “must necessarily involve, take into account the opinion and respect the rights of local communities, and comply with human rights”.
The importance of the inclusion of local communities has been officially included in the World Heritage Convention’s Operational Guidelines since 2015.
According to the spokesperson, the center has already conveyed the concerns raised by international NGOs regarding the relocation program to the Cambodian state party and the World Heritage Committee, a 21-member intergovernmental body. (A state party is a country, in this case Cambodia, which has adhered to the World Heritage Convention).
At its last session in September 2023, the committee requested the state party to “take into consideration the living conditions and the rights of local communities and inhabitants affected by these relocations”, the spokesperson mentioned.
The state party was also requested to submit an updated report on the state of conservation of the property demonstrating the implementation of its suggestions to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, by December 1, 2024.
The spokesperson reminded that despite UNESCO’s resolute commitment to rights-based management of World Heritage Sites including the inclusion of rights holders and local communities in the conservation strategies of the properties, it does not have the mandate to impose measures on member states. “The conservation and management of World Heritage Properties are under the sole authority of the concerned state parties, which are sovereign over their territories.”
In the meantime, Siem Reap provincial court spokesperson Yin Srang confirmed that the court has postponed the questioning of the four villagers, including the policeman and that the next date has not been fixed yet.
Srang claimed that he does not know who the prosecutor of the case is, when asked to comment on those who have been questioned.
Last week, CamboJA reported that 700 villagers from seven villages in Pouk district and Siem Reap City protested against APSARA for attempting to demolish the illegal structures.
Kosal said there are about 10,000 families who voluntarily moved to relocation sites, while the Peak Sneng site remains under construction.
Update: This story was updated on November 4 at 10:40 a.m. ICT to include comments received from UNESCO World Heritage Center after publication.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to property, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 27, 2023
- Event Description
Ji Xiaolong was sentenced on Friday, October 27 to four years and six months in prison by a Shanghai court for picking quarrels and provoking trouble. He disclosed the truth about Shanghai’s lockdown during last year’s COVID-19 pandemic. He demanded the Chinese government relax the excessive lockdown measures and for those responsible to be held accountable for their policy making.
“All the news I received today has not been good, sentenced to four and a half years, it will take more than three years to get out of prison. (They) have not given him a haircut yet, I do not know what these officials are plotting,” Ji Xiaolong’s sister said in response.
In 2018, Ji criticized China’s “vaccine scandal.” Amidst public outrage, many victims’ families demanded accountability and protection of rights. Ji Xiaolong initiated the “Toilet Revolution,” subsequently he was arrested by the police and was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. He was released in February 2022. In the following months from April to June, Shanghai implemented stringent lockdown measures due to the outbreak of COVID-19, which resulted in the endangerment of people’s livelihoods. Ji spoke out on the internet, asking the Shanghai government to sympathize with the people, relax their excessive control, and stop campaign-style covid prevention measures.
In August 2022, Ji was reprimanded when he issued a real-name petition to Li Qiang, the party secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee at the time, and now China’s Premier, demanding accountability for the city’s closure. He was taken away from his home by the Shanghai police on August 31, and was criminally detained by the Pudong New Area Police, where he was held without timely and effective care for his serious dental condition. His case was once returned for supplementary investigation, but in the end he was charged in March of this year.
Ji Xiaolong is currently being held at the Pudong New Area Detention Center in Shanghai, where he will serve his sentence until February 28, 2027.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Oct 27, 2023
- Event Description
Police have fired tear gas and water cannons in attempts to disperse protesting medical students in Colombo.
Accordingly, tear gas and water cannons were fired near the Nelum Pokuna in Colombo by the police in an attempt to disperse a protest launched by the Medical Faculty Students’ Action Committee.
It was reported earlier that the Green Path was closed for traffic from Nelum Pokuna to the Public Library in Colombo.
The Medical Faculty Students’ Action Committee took to the roads this afternoon (27 Oct.) from the Viharamahadevi Park in Colombo, accusing the government of attempting to destroy free education in the country by conspiring with private institutions, namely Lyceum Campus, NSBM Green University, Gateway Graduate School and the Kotelawala Defence University.
They also accused the government of being involved in a conspiracy to further destroy Sri Lanka’s free healthcare system by imposing allowance cuts, and urged that the issues faced by the medical faculty of the Universities of Moratuwa, Wayamba and Sabaragamuwa be resolved immediately.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 26, 2023
- Event Description
Tibetan human rights defender Tsering Tso had been subjected to arbitrary detention for the second time in three years for her social media posts calling out Chinese authorities for engaging in human rights abuses against Tibetans in Kyegudo (Ch: Yushu) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, in the Tibetan province of Kham.
Tso was sentenced to 15 days of “administrative detention” by the Yushu Public Security Bureau (PSB) in the Yushu city detention centre from 26 October to 10 November 2023.
According to the official letter by the Yushu Public Security Bureau posted by Tsering Tso on her WeChat on 11 November 2023, The Yushu PSB or police claimed that between 8 and 25 October 2023, Tso committed the crime of “picking quarrels and provoking troubles” by posting a series of videos and personal statements on her Douyin account to “falsely accuse the government and spread misinformation on her private social media”.
The allegation of “picking quarrels and provoking troubles,” often directed at human rights defenders, minority ethnicities, critics, dissenters, and individuals deemed disloyal, is a legal tool to compel alignment with the official narrative, functioning as a means to deter questioning and dissent. Whether operating at the central or local level, the party-state assumes an authoritative role in delineating the boundaries of what constitutes picking a quarrel and provoking trouble. Essentially, any deviation from the official mass line falls within this defined category.
After examining Tso’s social media posts on Douyin, TCHRD can confirm that the Yushu PSB failed to address the legitimate grievances and issues Ms Tso raised and misused its discretionary powers.
In a video statement posted on 16 October 2023, Tso criticised the “feudalistic mindset” of official power holders and how it hinders the “hardworking and educated people from ordinary households to accomplish great deeds and realise their dreams”. She also called out the local leaders for misusing their power to further personal interests and subjecting ordinary people to corrupt bureaucratic practices.
In another video posted on 19 October 2023, she shared the challenges she faced in opening her own business in Kyegudo city, exposing the unfair practices of the local government leaders. Her efforts to operate business enterprises from 2016 onwards in the city have met with undue pressure and harassment from the local government authorities.
One of her widely viewed posts was a video she captured at the Lhasa railway station in July 2023, in which she called out the railway authorities for engaging in blatant racial discrimination against Tibetan passengers who were asked to show additional documents while Chinese tourists proceeded unhindered without any scrutiny or examination. She can be heard speaking Chinese in the video, “Lhasa authorities are violating the nation’s laws; they are engaging in racial discrimination. Chinese individuals with Identification Cards merely need to show their faces to pass. In contrast, Tibetans face restrictions despite possessing all requisite legal documents. Only Chinese individuals without Identification Cards are instructed to register. Meanwhile, we Tibetans, with all legal documentation in order, are denied passage. Look! The Chinese are permitted to pass without impediment. They encounter no issues. What does this convey? Does it not demonstrate a lack of racial equality? Is this not unmistakable racial discrimination?”
Yet another video shows her directly asking a police officer about the directive mandating Tibetans [from Tibetan areas outside Tibet Autonomous Region] to obtain permits to travel to Lhasa. She argues that such a rule constitutes evident discrimination against Tibetans.
An important issue she raises in one of her videos is the existing discrepancy between the operation of travel agencies in China and those in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). She asserts that while travel agencies in China could function autonomously, those in TAR are monopolised by one or two entities, primarily the Lhasa Communications Industry Group Company. This monopoly is facilitated, in part, through collaboration with the Border Management Office.
The Border Management Office, instead of focusing on its designated responsibilities, misuses its power to assist the monopolisation of the Lhasa Transportation Industry Group Company, which is evident in its practices, where only vehicles of the Lhasa Transportation Industry Group are permitted.
“This unjust practice restricts the freedom of other agencies, leaving approximately 300 drivers from non-monopolised agencies unemployed, as their cars are denied permits. Furthermore, the agency with the monopoly maintains a limited fleet, resulting in exorbitant car fares ranging from 2500 to 3000 yuan.”
Tsering Tso is originally from Trika (Ch: Guide) County in Tsolho (Ch: Hainan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture but works and lives in Yushu City. She operates the Tibet World Tours and Travel, specialising in organising tours in various regions, including Lhasa City, Ngari, and other parts of Tibet, as well as destinations in other parts of the world.
This is the second time we have received information about her detention. Previously, in November 2020, Tsering Tso was apprehended in Siling (Ch: Xining), the capital of Qinghai Province, on charges related to disrupting “social stability”. She was subsequently transported to Trika (Ch: Guide) County in Tsolho (Ch: Hainan) and detained for ten days, along with a fine of 1000 Chinese yuan. Throughout her detention, she was provided only steamed bread and water, leaving her in a state of starvation. Additionally, she faced constant threats, with her 80-year-old father also being subjected to intimidation during this period.
In China, Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers frequently conduct administrative detention practices characterised by a vague legal framework that grants extensive discretionary powers. Administrative detention practices often include the extensive use of torture and ill-treatment, and expecting any supervision of such misconduct is impractical, as high-ranking officials in the upper echelons tend to incentivise the suppression of dissent and criticism. However, the malpractices of administrative detention directly contradict the promises outlined in Article 37 of the Chinese Constitution, which explicitly safeguards the liberty of citizens, stating, “The personal freedom of citizens of the People’s Republic of China shall not be violated.
No citizen shall be arrested unless with the approval or by the decision of a people’s procuratorate or by the decision of a people’s court, and arrests must be made by a public security organ.
Unlawful detention, or the unlawful deprivation or restriction of a citizen’s personal freedom by other means, is prohibited; the unlawful search of a citizen’s person is prohibited.”
In 2017, Tsering Tso advocated for the issuance of travel permits for Yushu residents legally. Subsequently, the Public Security Bureau dispatched people to physically assault her. Following the incident, an attempt was made to downplay the perpetrators as ordinary individuals under the influence of alcohol engaging in unruly behaviour. In response to this, Tsering Tso shared authentic documents online to counter the denial of justice. Given her prior experiences of enduring similarly severe and oppressive circumstances, and facing a recurrence of such incidents, she emphasised the imperative of a fair and just resolution. Consequently, her post addressing these concerns was made unavailable for public viewing.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 25, 2023
- Event Description
Li Yuhan, the Chinese human rights lawyer who won the 2020 Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law, has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison. Detained six years ago, she was charged with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.”
Li, who was tried in 2021, was sentenced on Oct. 25 in the First Courtroom of Heping District Court in the Liaoning Province city of Shenyang. She will receive credit for her time in detention and has filed to appeal the sentence.
She represented Chinese rights lawyer Wang Yu during the "709 Crackdown" in 2015, when China launched a sweeping crackdown on more than 300 lawyers and human rights defenders.
The ailing Li Yuhan, 74, has been detained at the Shenyang No. 1 Detention Center since her arrest on Oct. 9, 2017. Authorities added a third charge against her, fraud in 2018, and canceled her trial repeatedly without explanation.
Human rights officials from Germany, France, the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries had hoped to observe the trial but were unable to as authorities packed the room with selected spectators.
Li Yuhan's younger brother, Li Yongsheng, told VOA Mandarin, "In this so-called open trial, except for me, a family member, everyone else was kept away by the government. The Heping District Court treated this ordinary criminal case like that of a formidable enemy. They surrounded the court with iron fences and deployed many undercover police and auxiliary police."
Wang, Li’s onetime client, told VOA Mandarin that Shenyang Heping District Court violated international norms against illegal detention and went against China's Criminal Procedure Law, which mandates issuance of a verdict within five years.
Paul Mooney, an American human rights advocate and former Reuters journalist, said, "The sole 'crime' of lawyer Li Yuhan is her courage in handling highly sensitive cases related to religious freedom, including Falun Gong and house churches, and her defense of the distinguished human rights lawyer Wang Yu.
“Detaining a human rights lawyer like Li Yuhan arbitrarily for over six years without a verdict not only violates Chinese law but also underscores the Chinese Communist Party's lack of confidence and a concerning trend of increasing political repression."
Li's son, Ma Wenting, who lives in Germany, told VOA Mandarin, "She has coronary heart disease and arrhythmia. She has undergone coronary artery bypass grafting and stent surgery. … My mother suffered multiple heart attacks in prison. Our family applied for medical parole three times but were all rejected."
Teng Biao, a prominent human rights lawyer in China who has lived in the U.S. since 2014, said in a phone interview on Oct. 25, "Li Yuhan is over 70 years old and seriously ill and has been detained for more than six years. The refusal of her medical parole is not only a violation of legal procedures but also a violation of humanity."
Li Yongsheng told VOA Mandarin that his sister had questioned the Shenyang Heping District Court's jurisdiction since the beginning of the trial, as she did not have a registered address in the district, and she wasn’t arrested there.
"This is an illegal trial. In addition, the testimony and evidence from the prosecutor's office cannot prove my sister is guilty at all," he said. "The defense lawyer He Wei's defense is very good. It is a pity that the power of judgment lies in the hands of the authorities, and the court still pronounced my sister guilty. We will have to continue to appeal and complain that the authorities violated the law."
Teng said, "The heart of the Li Yuhan case lies in the blatant disregard for the law and proper procedures by the authorities. Her arrest and charge of 'picking quarrels and provoking trouble' are clearly retaliatory actions against her human rights activities. The primary and direct motive for this retaliation is her involvement in the case of Wang Yu, the first lawyer arrested in the Chinese Communist Party's 709 crackdown. Additionally, Li Yuhan has a long history of petitioning and human rights work. This clearly indicates that the authorities are targeting her."
Ma told VOA Mandarin, "Although the sentence of six years and six months is relatively severe, compared with the previous indefinite extended detention, our family can see more hope. ... I hope my seriously ill mother can be released from prison as soon as possible and receive medical treatment. I also hope the prison will guarantee my mother's basic human rights and the right to see a doctor."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Oct 24, 2023
- Event Description
Sri Lanka's Education Ministry has expressed regret over the attack on the protest launched by school teachers and principals in Pelawatte, Battaramulla, on Tuesday.
The Education Ministry said that such an incident taking place at a time when teachers, and principals were seeking solutions to their issues, was regrettable.
A statement added that the incident took place when the Education Minister was overseas for a conference, and it added that the Minister had expressed his apology to the teachers and principals who were severely inconvenienced by it.
On Tuesday afternoon, school teachers, principals, and advisors engaged in a protest march, citing several demands.
Sri Lanka police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protesters.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Public Servant
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Oct 23, 2023
- Event Description
Dozens of residents from a fishing area in north-central Vietnam this week have protested the building of a port project, despite police launching a criminal investigation of them for disturbing public order, demonstrators said.
On Wednesday, Thanh Hoa provincial authorities mobilized dozens of police officers to force protesting fisherfolk — mostly women — to leave the construction site where a dock is being built, one of the sources said. Though they stayed, police did not take any measures against them and left the area at noon.
About 300 residents of Hai Ha commune first took to the streets on the morning of Oct. 23 with banners and placards to show their opposition to the Long Son Container Port project, which they say will adversely affect their livelihoods and living environment.
“We don’t want the Long Son Container Port project because it is located in the coastal area we inherited from our ancestors, and it has been passed down from generation to generation,” said a villager on Wednesday who declined to be named out of fear of reprisal by authorities.
Fishing provides the only income to cover her family’s expenditures, including her children’s education expenses, she said.
“If the port is built, residents like us will be adversely affected by pollution, and there will be no places for our boats to anchor and no places for us to trade seafood,” she said.
Generating income
Long Son Ltd. Co. is investing more than US$30 million to build the 15-hectare (37-acre) project, which will have a 250-meter (820-foot) dock. It is expected to be operational in 2025.
The project will play a crucial role in the development of the first dedicated container port area at Nghi Son Port, according to state-run Vietnam News Agency. Once Dock No. 3 is built, it will serve as a dike against waves and winds and create a 10-hectare (33-foot) water area for local fishermen to safely anchor their boats.
The port is expected to generate revenue and jobs in Thanh Hoa province, including Hai Ha commune.
State media reported that Thanh Hoa provincial authorities conducted thorough studies and environmental assessments as well as consulted local people on the project. But the woman said representatives of the authorities only went around to people’s homes to try to persuade them not to oppose the project and its implementation.
The protest on Oct. 23 prompted Nghi Son town police to file charges against them for obstructing traffic and causing a kilometer-long (0.6 mile) vehicle backup.
Police at the scene took photos of the protesters, recorded videos and collected other information, some villagers involved in the demonstration said.
Police also issued an order requiring Hai Ha residents to adhere to the law and not to gather in groups to disrupt public order, incite others, or be enticed to obstruct the construction of Dock No. 3 of the Long Son Container Port project.
Threatened with arrest
Police threatened them with arrest for disrupting public order — which carries a sentence of up to seven years in prison — if they continued.
Hai Ha commune includes nearly 3,000 households with about 11,000 inhabitants, most of whom rely on fishing to make a living. The villagers say they fear that port officials will cut off their access to the waters where they fish and prohibit them from anchoring their boats.
Villagers ignored the police order and continued their protest on Tuesday and Wednesday, hoping to prevent the dock’s construction.
The woman quoted above said that the villagers are not afraid of going to jail because they don’t want to lose their home beach.
But if they have to relocate as a result of a loss of livelihoods, villagers will expect satisfactory compensation and a new living area with spaces to safely anchor their boats, she said.
“We staged a march and did not offend anyone or did not cause any harm,” she said. “None of us offended the police. We followed the traffic law, [and] we walked on the roadside and stayed in rows.”
The port will join four other industrial projects surrounding the 1,200-hectare (2,965-acre) commune. The others are a cement factory, a port for coal transportation in the north, a thermal power plant in the west, and a steel factory in the south.
Though the projects have created jobs for locals, they have also created serious environmental pollution, negatively affecting residents’ lives, a second woman said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Oct 23, 2023
- Event Description
Over the past weeks, innumerable protests – some impromptu, many by Muslim organisations and a few by rights organisations – have been organised across many big and small cities in India. These protests, largely peaceful, have raised citizen’s voices against what is seen as Israel’s siege and relentless bombing of Gaza. Indian law enforcement authorities from Mumbai to Uttar Pradesh (UP) to Delhi have however, in many cases taken “action.”
The issue at stake is the denial of permissions to several groups countrywide who have expressed a desire to protest this issue. Starting with the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, the violence in West Asia has so far claimed the lives of 1,400 Israelis and over 5,100 Palestinians. According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, about 40% of the Palestinians killed are children. And like in the rest of the world, Indians in several cities have been wanting to protest but have been denied the right. Where they have, in many instances, the protest has been criminalised.
October 23, 2023, Delhi
The Telegraph reported that students from JNU, Jamia Millia Islamia and Delhi University detained as they try to hold protest near Israeli embassy and police had erected barricades to stop them from reaching the embassy at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road. The report detailed that scores of students from JNU, Jamia Millia Islamia and Delhi University had gathered to take part in the protest. Police had erected barricades to stop them from reaching the embassy at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road. When some of the students tried to march towards the embassy, they were detained as they did not have the required permission to hold the protest, said a police officer, adding that “no one was allowed to violate law and order”. All India Students Association (AISA) Delhi unit president Abhigyan said several students were detained and taken to a police station.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 23, 2023
- Event Description
Two Tibetan women, known for helping the poor and needy in their village were detained on 23 October after sending voice messages in chat groups on the social media application WeChat, encouraging everyone to practise virtuous actions.
Tsomo and Nyidon, are devout Buddhists from a village in Karchen Township (སྐར་ཆེན་ཤང་།), Sershul County ( སེར་ཤུལ་རྫོང་།) in the Tibetan region of Kham. Before their arrests, the pair regularly volunteered to serve the poorest in their community.
Following their arrest, the pair were taken to a detention centre in the same county. Since then, there have been no further details about their condition.
According to a source spoken to by Tibet Watch, “Currently there is heavy restriction on activities related to religion” in Tibet.
The source added that in Karchen Township alone, many villagers have been summoned to their local police station and subjected to interrogations about their activities of promoting Buddhist virtues.
On 20 December 2021, the ruling Chinese Communist Party announced a new regulation aimed at controlling religion in society: Measures on the Administration of Internet Religious Information Services, of which Article 17 stipulates that individuals and organisations without authorised government licence are "not allowed to organise and carry out religious activities on the internet."
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Oct 20, 2023
- Event Description
Chairperson and editor of https://smartkarnalinews.com/ Lankraj Dhamala received threat for reporting news on October 20. The incident took place in Kalikot district, Karnali Province.
Editor Dhamala shared with Freedom Forum that he had reported on the province's Raskot municipality's ineffective service delivery and mismanagement of the municipality's property and published the ground reporting video on October 9, 2023. After 11 days, an abusive post on municipality chief's secretariat's social media page was found targetting Dhamala. Following this, Mayor's relatives also threatened Dhamal through different phone numbers.
"If the threats continue, It will proceed with filing complaint at concerned authority", said Dhamala.
Freedom Forum is concerned over the threat issued to a journalist for his reporting. The municipality and its chief is urged to seek legitimate ways for any concern over published news content, rather than discrediting and abusing journalists. It is violation of press freedom.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Oct 20, 2023
- Event Description
A regime-controlled court in Indaw Township, upper Sagaing Region, sentenced a teacher volunteering for the publicly mandated anti-junta National Unity Government (NUG) to life imprisonment last week, according to resistance sources.
Hein Min Thu, also known as Arnold, was teaching at a school operated by the NUG in Kyaw village two miles south of Indaw before his arrest. He was also a participant in the civil disobedience movement (CDM), known for organising strikes opposing the Myanmar military regime since it seized power in February 2021, the Indaw Township People’s Defence Team (PDT) said.
He was arrested at his home in Indaw on June 5, according to the Indaw Township PDT, and was handed his sentence on October 20.
The military subjected Hein Min Thu to interrogation, holding him for five months before convicting him on terrorism charges for collecting funds for the NUG, teaching at an NUG-operated school and failing to inform the authorities about resistance groups’ activities, according to propaganda posts on pro-regime social media channels.
The pro-junta posts also claimed that military courts in Sagaing Region have sentenced 283 people.
“The terrorist military council charges and tortures people in all kinds of ways in order to maintain their power. We will be able to put an end to such abuses only after the military dictatorship falls,” said NUG deputy minister of education Sai Khaing Myo Tun.
Since the military coup nearly three years ago, regime authorities have arrested more than 380 teachers participating in the CDM, according to figures published this month by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Aung Myat Moe, a secretary of the Basic Education General Strike Committee, confirmed that the military council is purposefully targeting educational workers who joined the CDM and handing them excessively severe sentences.
“They are trying to weaken the education and health workers’ civil disobedience mechanism, which is currently strong. They are also approaching individual teachers, trying to persuade them to renounce their participation. The reason for giving a teacher a life sentence is intimidation; their message is that if you keep doing this, the consequences will be disastrous,” he said.
In December of 2022, a junta court handed a death sentence to a 25-year-old primary school teacher participating in the CDM from Myan Aung Township, Ayeyarwady Region. The court had found him guilty of murder and terrorism.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Public Servant
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Oct 20, 2023
- Event Description
Jakarta Police Chief Inspector General Karyoto explained that the police's decision to detain several students who were about to join the protest on Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan on Friday was a preventive measure to avoid provocation.
"At the beginning, there was information that it was feared that among the students there were people who intended to wreak havoc," said Karyoto on Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Jakarta, Friday (20/10).
He said that protesters whose intention was only to protest would only carry banners of demands or similar objects and obey the command of their field coordinator.
Meanwhile, if protesters are caught carrying toothpaste, which is usually used to protect the eyes from irritation when exposed to tear gas, it shows that there are bad intentions.
"If so, it means there are bad intentions, so we detained them for further questioning," said Karyoto.
He also said that some of the students who were detained were underage and not yet in a position to participate in such protests.
However, Karyoto emphasized that all students who were detained had been released after questioning by the police.
Previously, police detained 12 students who arrived at Gondangdia Station, Central Jakarta, before they could join the group of protesters who gathered on Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat on Friday afternoon.
The 12 students were released and returned to their colleagues at the location of the action at 19.00 WIB after a dialogue between the protesters and the main expert of the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) Joanes Joko. Police said they were taken to the police station.
Previously, students who were arrested by the police only wore black T-shirts without wearing university alma maters as identity. "Once again, if you don't wear the alma mater uniform, please step back. Enough is enough," said one of the police officers on Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta, Friday (20/10/2023). The arrested student was suspected of trying to break through.
"Those who enter to incite us, please step back, please step back, there will be time for negotiations. Please step back," continued the police through a loudspeaker. Not long after that, representatives of the students for the audience were asked to enter the safe area.
Chaos occurred when the released students were escorted back to their colleagues by Joanes and the police.
One of the released students was then given the opportunity to speak. In his oration, he admitted that he was apprehended with his colleagues after arriving at the station.
Protesters from the Student Executive Boards of various universities began to gather and express their opinions in front of the Arjuna Wiwaha Horse Statue at around 15.30 WIB. After exceeding the time limit for the protest at 18.00 WIB, they dispersed from the location of the protest at around 19.45 WIB.
- Impact of Event
- 12
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 19, 2023
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Appeal Court today upheld the convictions of eight current and former unionists from the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld (LRSU).
Nine activists, including union President Chhim Sithar, were convicted of incitement under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in May 2023. Eight of the activists appealed the verdict. They included Sithar, who received the maximum sentence of two years in prison; Chhim Sokhorn, Hay Sopheap, Kleang Soben, Sun Srey Pich and Touch Sereymeas, who were sentenced to 18 months in prison; and Sok Narith and Ry Sovandy, who received one-year suspended sentences.
The Appeal Court trial started this morning. The court announced its verdict upholding the lower court’s judgment in full this afternoon after deliberating for 30 minutes. Sok Kongkea, who was also convicted by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court and received a suspended sentence, did not appeal the lower court’s verdict.
LRSU members have been on strike since December 2021, after the NagaWorld casino laid off the entire LRSU leadership and many of its members. The unionists were arrested in December 2021 and January 2022, and held in pre-trial detention until March 2022. Sithar was arrested again in November 2022 for allegedly violating judicial supervision conditions. She has since been detained in Prey Sar’s Correctional Centre 2. The other activists will remain under judicial supervision until all appeal avenues are exhausted.
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Oct 19, 2023
- Event Description
High drama continued on English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) campus on Thursday night as students gathered in large numbers demanding action against the men involved in the alleged sexual assault of a student.
Vice-Chancellor E. Suresh Kumar, who was inside the building guarded by the security staff, was escorted out with police help in the midnight.
The university officials filed a complaint against 11 students in Osmania University police station for unlawfully gathering outside proctor T. Samson’s residence inside EFLU campus.
Meanwhile, the protest, which started around 4 p.m. on Thursday, went on till 1.30 a.m. on Friday.
Agitated students demanded the resignation of the Vice-Chancellor and proctor.
“We were appalled by the callous reaction from the healthcare staff and the management towards this issue. We need action to be taken against such authorities,” said the students.
The student was allegedly assaulted by two men, who are yet to be unidentified, around 10 p.m. of October 18. She was ambushed by the men by the old dispensary building near Gate Number 3 of the campus. After finding her lying unconscious, two students took her to the University Health Centre for medical assistance as she had bruises and injuries on her neck and head. Students said that the staffers treated this matter with insensitivity and also discouraged attempts from the students’ end to make the matter public.
“The woman was first questioned as to why she went to that part of the campus and was further suggested to keep the matter to herself,” added the students.
Police investigation
Meanwhile, OU inspector P. Anjaneyulu said that no arrests have been made following the complaint from the proctor.
“We will be identifying the students in the video footage of the gathering,” he said.
Speaking about the investigation into the alleged sexual assault, he said: “There are about 300 cameras inside the campus and we have gathered footage from 35 cameras surrounding the scene of offence to gather evidence against the two unidentified men. Efforts are on to identify and nab them.”
- Impact of Event
- 11
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Oct 18, 2023
- Event Description
When Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano were abducted last month while volunteering with fishing communities opposed to reclamation activities in Manila Bay, human rights groups suspected the state was involved.
When the security forces claimed the pair had surrendered as communist rebels, their contemporaries believed they had been forced into doing so but were unable to prove it.
At a government-organised news conference, they got their answer.
Rather than going along with the official story, Castro, 23, and Tamano, 22, shocked everyone by announcing they had been abducted by military officers who had forced them to surrender.
“They were confident we would lie to the public,” Castro told Al Jazeera. “The important thing was for the public to know the truth.”
The two activists filed for a legal protection order after speaking publicly.
In the court filing, they accused military members of forcing them into an SUV, blindfolding them, and subjecting them to eight days of interrogation. Facing death threats from their captors, the two women were often brought to tears and feared for their lives.
“I was hoping we could get out alive,” Castro said. “But there was a possibility it wasn’t going to happen.”
The military has maintained that Castro and Tamano were not abducted, but kidnapped by the communist New People’s Army (NPA) before escaping and surrendering to the military. It filed perjury charges against the two activists on Wednesday.
“There is no abduction based on the duo’s sworn statement,” army spokesperson Col Xerxes Trinidad told Al Jazeera, citing documentation that “they surrendered and sought the assistance of the military for them [to] be reintegrated into mainstream society”.
Rare insight The accounts of Castro and Tamano, who spoke to Al Jazeera about their experience, provide a rare insight into the alleged abduction of activists in the Philippines.
At least 18 community organisers and activists have been abducted since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr took office in June 2022. Most of the time, the victims “don’t surface, or they parrot the narrative forced upon them by the state”, said Dino de Leon, the lawyer for Tamano and Castro.
Many activists are pressured into surrendering after being “red-tagged” or falsely branded as rebels affiliated with the NPA, which has been fighting against the government for more than 50 years. Most never dare to speak out against state security forces.
“I was really nervous,” Tamano recalled, thinking before the news conference. “I knew that it was something that is usually not done.”
Before they disappeared, the activists were volunteering with AKAP Ka Manila Bay in Bataan, about three hours’ drive from Manila. The group opposes land reclamation projects in Manila Bay that have stoked concern over their environmental impact and the involvement of Chinese investors.
Marcos said in August he would suspend the reclamation projects pending further environmental review, but ships have continued dredging the bay.
Bataan, which lies across the bay from the capital, is a “grey area” where reliable data on land reclamation has not been collected by environmental groups, said Aldrein Silanga, an advocacy officer with the Manila-based environmental NGO Kalikasan PNE.
After arriving in Bataan, Castro and Tamano said they discovered several projects that began during coronavirus lockdowns without the knowledge of nearby communities. They even witnessed one village being demolished after residents refused an offer of cash compensation and were forced to leave.
They quickly realised they were being watched when they were approached multiple times by a man who photographed them and accused them of being communist rebels. Castro’s mother, Rosalie, was visited at her home by men identifying themselves as military officers and asking about her daughter.
“Any advocates against the reclamation are being red-tagged,” Castro said.
Castro and Tamano were walking to a bus stop on September 2 when they were abducted by armed men wearing face masks, who forced them into an SUV when they tried to run away.
At first, the pair were unsure who had abducted them. But one man knew Castro’s name and mentioned that her mother was looking for her, leading her to suspect the military.
The abductors interrogated the two women in separate rooms, according to the court filing, threatening to use physical violence and to arrest them on charges of rebellion. One told Tamano: “We will cut out your tongue if you do not speak.”
“I thought they were going to shoot me that night,” Castro said. “I was blindfolded. Our hands were tied. I was waiting for a bullet to be shot at me.”
The pair were kept in a motel in separate rooms, with five to six men in each, and continuously interrogated, according to the court filing. On the third day, Castro was given a form with the stamp of the 70th Infantry Battalion.
One of the abductors showed Castro his graduation picture from the military academy, while another shared a video from an encounter with rebels. “It was really obvious” they were members of the military, Castro said.
‘They were exposed’ On September 12, the military announced that Castro and Tamano had surrendered, claiming they were abducted by communist rebels after working with AKAP Ka, which they claimed was linked to front organisations of the NPA.
According to the military, the pair had realised the error of their ways — a common narrative in surrenders allegedly forced by the military. “They wanted us to tell the people that what we are doing is wrong,” Castro said.
Trinidad, the military spokesperson, said the statements were made voluntarily and were not given under duress.
But when the government called a news conference on September 19, Castro and Tamano decided to deviate from that narrative, even if it meant they would be arrested or face other consequences.
“We reached an agreement that it didn’t matter what would happen to us,” Tamano said. “It was the only opportunity where we could tell the truth.”
Castro, sitting alongside a military officer and a member of the government’s anti-communist task force, went off script, saying they had been abducted by the military and “obliged to surrender because they threatened to kill us”.
Military officers told the two women they could face charges of perjury if they reneged on their surrender. The next day, the anti-communist task force said it felt “betrayed” and “hoodwinked”.
“We expected that they would become defensive because they were exposed,” Tamano said.
Castro and Tamano now face perjury charges filed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which can carry as many as 10 years in prison.
Defence Secretary Gilbert Teodoro accused the two women of being liars.
“The [military] filed criminal charges because we want to teach them a lesson that they can’t jerk us around,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
Trinidad, the army spokesperson, told Al Jazeera the military would cooperate with court proceedings and inquiries from the country’s Commission on Human Rights, but rejected calls for an independent investigation into the disappearances, saying the involvement of outside NGOs would be “a slap in the face on our judiciary system”.
Last month, rights groups accused the military of abducting three Indigenous activists investigating alleged human rights violations in the central Mindoro region. The Philippine Army said they were arrested legitimately.
De Leon, who also represents jailed Senator Leila de Lima, said the international community “must be involved” in pressuring the Philippine military to institute human rights reforms. The United States is a key defence partner of the Philippines and recently concluded two weeks of joint military drills with the country’s armed forces.
“There are no institutions [in the Philippines] strong enough to counterbalance state elements who author things like this,” de Leon said.
Castro and Tamano want to return to Bataan and continue their work, but they worry it is not safe. Still, their ordeal has only cemented their resolve.
“It made us realise that what we are doing is right,” Castro said.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Philippines: two young environmental WHRDs abducted
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 18, 2023
- Event Description
A court in Hong Kong on Wednesday handed down a four-year jail term for “rioting” to a protester who was shot in the chest by police during the 2019 protest movement.
Tsang Chi-kin, who was 18 when he was shot by an officer on Oct. 1, 2019, during protests on the 70th anniversary of Chinese Communist Party rule, was given a 40-month jail sentence for "rioting" and a seven-month sentence for "assaulting a police officer."
Tsang, now 22, was also handed an 11-month sentence for "perverting the course of justice," but also received a 35% sentence deduction for expressing remorse, and for actively assisting the police in their investigations, Deputy District Judge Ada Yim told the district court.
Multiple media reports and social media accounts posted video showing protesters flailing at armed riot police with batons and sticks during clashes in the New Territories town of Tsuen Wan.
The officer is shown in the video pointing a handgun at Tsang, a secondary school student at the time, before a shot rings out and the boy slumps to the ground.
Social media posts from the scene on Tsuen Wan's Hau Tei Square said Tsang shouted out: "My chest hurts a lot," adding his full name and identity card number before being taken away by ambulance.
The shooting sparked widespread condemnation of the police and their handling of the months-long protest movement, in which predominantly young people thronged the streets and occupied the city's legislature and airport in a bid to end the erosion of their promised freedoms under Chinese rule.
Sought asylum
Tsang went into hiding for two years after a failed bid to seek asylum at the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong. He told journalists that his rejected attempt had plunged him "into hell," prompting him to hide from the authorities.
He later pleaded guilty to all charges, citing depression and health problems from the gunshot injury, but Judge Yim said this wasn't taken as a mitigating factor.
"Tsang Chi-kin came well-prepared with a homemade shield and a metal baton," Yim told the sentencing hearing. "He and other demonstrators pursued a lone police officer and relied on the strength of their numbers to use violence, which was of a vile nature."
Tsang, who skipped bail following his initial arrest, told the court that he was "extremely confused" by the prevailing political atmosphere in 2019, and had made "wrong decisions" that he later came to regret.
He also cited his "active cooperation" and testimony as a witness for the prosecution.
However, Yim said the protesters' actions were premeditated, and that demonstrators in the area had thrown petrol bombs, bricks and committed arson, risking injury to police and passers-by.
She said the sentence had to act as a deterrent, and show the court's determination to safeguard public order.
Silent protest
As Tsang received his sentence, the city's police force was out on the streets and on university campuses trying to recruit new officers, sparking a silent protest from a student at a university in Shatin.
Police recruiters faced off on the campus of Hang Seng University with a student who held up a placard scrawled with the words: "Where were you on July 21, 2019?" in a reference to a delayed police response to mob attacks on protesters and train passengers at Yuen Long MTR station.
The city’s police force, which quashed a critical report from an international panel of experts on its handling of the 2019 protests, has struggled in recent years to find fresh recruits.
Despite being allocated huge amounts of fresh funding in the wake of the 2019 protest movement, the force has been struggling to fill its additional vacancies, thousands of which have been filled by allowing officers to work past the usual retirement age of 55.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Oct 18, 2023
- Event Description
A protest leader from Sagaing Region’s Chaung-U Township was sentenced to an additional 11 years in prison on terror charges on Wednesday, according to a source close to his family.
Man Zar Myay Mon was handed the sentence by a special court at Sagaing’s Monywa Prison, where he is currently being held.
“He was given another 11 years on terrorism charges, in addition to the 10 years he has already received for five violations of Section 505 of the Penal Code,” said the source, referring to a colonial-era law against incitement.
Prison authorities also plan to prosecute Man Zar Myay Mon on charges related to his participation in a hunger strike held at Monywa Prison in September, the source added.
Around 50 political prisoners took part in the strike, which was held to protest repressive conditions inside the prison, according to the Monywa People’s Strike Steering Committee.
A member of Sagaing Region’s National League for Democracy (NLD) youth chapter, Man Zar Myay Mon was shot in the leg while attempting to evade arrest on June 8, 2021. During five days of interrogation, his fingers were also broken.
In March 2015, he faced a brutal crackdown while taking part in student-led protests in the town of Letpadan in Bago Region. He also tried to run in the 2020 general election as the NLD candidate for Chaung-U, but did not receive the party nomination.
He has also worked as a freelance journalist and is a Sagaing Region member of the Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 19,593 people remain in prison for opposing the regime that seized power in February 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Oct 18, 2023
- Event Description
The police fired tear gas to disperse a group of university students protesting along the Kandy-Peradeniya road this evening (Oct. 18).
The demonstration was organized by the students’ union of Peradeniya University against the private higher education institutes, the Online Safety Bill, the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), the Anti-Terrorism Bill and the delaying of Mahapola scholarship payments.
The protesting university students also demanded the authorities to increase the Mahapola scholarship payments.
The protest march commenced at around 2:00 p.m. today.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 17, 2023
- Event Description
Former political prisoner beaten for posting video of government staff refusing license registration
Former Tibetan political prisoner and language rights activist Tashi Wangchuk was detained and beaten by Chinese police personnel on 17 October after he posted a video of government staff refusing his request for business license registration.
Tashi Wangchuk opened a car wash shop on 17 October in Yushu City, and upon the local police’s instruction, went to the Yushu City People's Government to apply for a license for his new business. His request was refused, which he filmed and later posted as status on his WeChat account.
He was then arrested by the Urban Management and Law Enforcement Bureau ( 城管执法大队 ) and handed over to the Yushu City Public Security Bureau ( PSB ), where he was kept under detention for three days and subjected to interrogation. The head of Yushu PSB and the Vice Mayor, Zhi Husai ( 冶胡赛 ), brutally beat him, and Tashi’s shop was also forcibly shut down.
He was told that he had committed a crime against the state by posting the video on his WeChat. " But I can’t accept it because it’s my right and freedom of speech. I don’t know why they [the police] again put such a black-hat on my head ( meaning falsely accusing someone of wrongdoing ).”
Earning a livelihood remains increasingly difficult for former political prisoners who are also deprived of their political rights. Even after their release from prison, they are subjected to constant surveillance and harassment by security officials.
Tashi Wangchuk is a herder-turned-shopkeeper who came to international prominence in late 2015 after appearing in the New York Times’ article and documentary about his solo advocacy to file a lawsuit against local authorities after local Tibetan classes were shut down. Even after serving a five-year sentence, he still continues advocating for the Tibetan language at government offices and monitoring schools that are replacing Tibetan textbooks in favor of Chinese. A month ago, he was attacked by a group of unidentified, masked men after he posted a video of himself near a Tibetan school.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Oct 17, 2023
- Event Description
Several student-led protests have broken out across universities in Uttar Pradesh after University of Allahabad proctor Rakesh Singh launched a violent attack on student Vivek Kumar, who is from a Dalit community, last week.
In a video circulating on social media, the accused, Rakesh Singh, can be seen snatching a lathi from a policeman and hitting the student while he raises slogans against the proctor. Kumar tries to shield himself but Singh continues hitting him and stops only when the policemen intervene.
Former MA student and All India Student Association (AISA) unit president Vivek Kumar believes the October 17 attack stems from a place of discrimination and bias towards marginalised communities. “Unfortunately,” he says, “No action has been taken against the chief proctor, as has been the case with all such incidents in the past.”
“We were leading the protest for a number of reasons and we had some demands which in my opinion were quite reasonable,” he says, “but the chief proctor became absolutely furious and started hitting me. I was shocked, I had not expected that.”
Several students along with Kumar marched up to the local police station and spent eight hours trying to get the police to lodge a first information report (FIR) against Singh, but were unsuccessful. “Former IPS officer Amitabh Thakur sir was also accompanying us but even with his help we couldn’t get the police to lodge an FIR.”
The protest that got the chief proctor riled up was part of an agitation which gained momentum when the university implemented a staggering 400% fee hike last year.
“Three students who were leading the movement against the fee increase – Ajay Yadav Samrat, Satyam Kushwaha, and Jeetendra Dhanraj – were suspended and jailed about three months ago,” Kumar said.
“And two more students Harendra Yadav and Manish Kumar had been suspended for other reasons. Harendra Yadav is now not even being permitted to sit for exams which goes against the basic rights of students. In the history of this institution even if someone has been in jail, they’ve been released on parole to come and sit for exams.”
The demands at the latest protest, Kumar said, were that of the release of the three students from jail, lifting of the suspension of all students, and permission to sit for exams for Harendra Yadav, among other demands.
“But after the attack, one more demand has been added and that is the suspension of the proctor Rakesh Singh,” he said.
Vive Kumar, who is from Baramadpur, said this is not his first encounter with proctor Rakesh Singh.
“When I lived in the hostel, the superintendent was Rakesh Singh. During the first week when the beds were allotted and the list came out, it showed only nine out of 112 were Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe. When I questioned it and said it should be at least 25-26 students according to the reservation, he got very angry and warned me to keep my concerns to myself or he’d remove me from the hostel as well.”
Kumar believes the hostel incident had the proctor harbouring a grudge against him which has added fuel to the fire. “I think he dislikes me for taking a stand on issues.”
He says he’s seen a pattern of discrimination not just towards Dalits but also towards students from Scheduled Tribes, minorities, and women.
“Women are barred from entering the university premises on weekends which is highly inconvenient for them, they just want to study. The authorities cite the issue of security as reason but if that’s so then something should be done about it.”
The access to the library, Kumar says, has also been a big point of protest with students demanding the library be made open and accessible 24 hours a day.
“The library currently closes at 6 pm which means some students don’t have a proper place to study after that time. We have been fighting to get the hours increased but no one’s heard our plea.”
The deteriorating state of infrastructure, unsanitary toilets, and impure drinking water are some other points which have often been raised by concerned students but all requests, Kumar says, have fallen on deaf ears.
“These days it seems that if you raise your voice against even the most basic things, you’ll either be suspended or jailed.
“In the history of this university, there has always been some or the other issue that students have been dissatisfied with and have protested against, and authorities have heard their demands and often tried to resolve issues. But of late, there has been growing intolerance towards protests.”
Students of Lucknow University and Banaras Hindu University have shown solidarity with Vivek Kumar and have come out in huge numbers, demanding the suspension of accused Rakesh Singh.
Lucknow University student and National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) student representative Vishal Singh said several students from AISA, NSUI, and other unions gathered on campus on October 18 to condemn the “disgusting assault” by Rakesh Singh.
“We want to see some action being taken, authorities shouldn’t take the case lightly just because he’s a Dalit,” Vishal Singh said.
The Lucknow student believes while Allahabad University and Lucknow University are two different institutions, the issues faced by the students are quite the same.
“The situation is such that you can’t speak out against anything now. Just to give an example, the residents of the girls’ hostel were told that if they posted anything on social media that shows the university in a bad light then they will have to pay a fine and will be asked to vacate the hostel,” Singh says.
He says students are always being issued show-cause notices for various reasons. “We don’t even have the freedom of expression anymore.”
Vishal Singh joined Vivek Kumar and other students in their protest in Allahabad on Thursday last week and plans to stay in the city to be a part of the movement.
The Wire contacted vice-chancellor Sangita Srivastava’s office and registrar N.K. Shukla and is still waiting for a response.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Oct 17, 2023
- Event Description
The Ratchadapisek Criminal Court has found three activists guilty of insult of court and sentenced them to prison for speeches given during a protest in April 2021 to demand the release of political prisoners.
Bencha Apan, Nutchanon Pairoj, and Somyot Pruksakasemsuk were charged with insult of court, joining a gathering of more than 10 people and not dispersing when ordered by an official, using a sound amplifier without permission, and violation of the Emergency Decree, for joining a protest in front of the Criminal Court on 30 April 2021 to demand the release of political prisoners detained pending trial on royal defamation charges.
On 30 April 2021, a crowd gathered at the Criminal Court throughout the afternoon and evening when Sureerat Chiwarak, mother of activist Parit Chiwarak, filed a bail request of her son, at the time detained pending trial on a royal defamation charge and on hunger strike. To protest the repeated denial of bail for Parit, Sureerat shaved her head in the court parking lot. That evening, other activists also shaved their heads to support her and to demand bail for Parit.
The public prosecutor indicted them on the grounds that they insulted the judges involved by accusing them of unlawfully and unfairly denying bail for detained activists, causing hatred against the Court and the presiding judges.
Bencha, Nutchanon, and Somyot’s defence was that they were exercising their constitutional right to protest, and that the gathering did not cause any disorder or risk spreading Covid-19. Their speeches also did not mention specific judges but criticised the judicial process as a whole for denying bail to political prisoners.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said today (17 October) that the Criminal Court found them guilty of insult of court, as the court found their speeches to be insulting and degrading to the court’s use of discretion, and so not did not constitute criticism made in good faith.
Benja and Nutchanon were sentenced to 3 years in prison and a fine of 30,000 baht for insult of court. They were also sentenced to 6 months in prison and a fine of 15,000 baht for violation of the Emergency Decree, as well as a fine of 100 bath for using a sound amplifier without permission. Because they gave useful testimony, the Court reduced their total sentence to 1 year and 8 months in prison and a fine of 30,100 baht each. Their prison sentence is suspended for two years. They are also required to report to a probation officer 4 times during the first year and perform any community service required by the probation officer.
Somyot was sentenced to 2 years and 8 months in prison for insult of court. His sentence was later reduced to 1 year, 8 months, and 40 days in prison. He was later granted bail using a security of 100,000 baht.
Benja and Nutchanon were both charged with contempt of court for the same protest after a complaint was filed against them Chawannat Thongsom, Director of the Administrative Office of the Criminal Court, who said they acted rudely on court grounds and violated court regulations. Nuthchanon was sentenced to 2 months in prison, while Benja was given a 500-baht fine. The Appeal Court later reduced his sentence to 15 days.
Benja and Nutchanon were also charged with insult of court and contempt of court for a protest at the Criminal Court on 29 April 2021 demanding the release of detained activists. For the contempt of court charge, Benja was sentenced to 6 months in prison, the highest possible sentence, while Nutchanon was sentenced to 4 months in prison. The Appeal Court later reduce their sentences to 1 month.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 17, 2023
- Event Description
Hong Kong police have arrested a former pro-democracy member of the city's District Council and prison welfare activist -- amid calls for a boycott of forthcoming district elections, which are open to "patriots only."
Derek Chu, a 46-year-old former directly elected councilor who resigned in 2021 before being forced to take an oath of loyalty to the Hong Kong and Chinese governments, was arrested in Shatin on Tuesday on suspicion of breaching the city's mandatory pension law, police told the paper.
His arrest comes as the government moves ahead with an "election" process that will slash the number of directly elected seats on the District Council by 80%, while ensuring that almost nobody in the city's once-vibrant opposition camp will stand for election again, the result of ongoing arrests of pro-democracy figures and rule changes requiring political vetting.
"At about 12 noon, Derek Chu was taken to an office at Manulife Plaza in Kwun Tong by the police for evidence collection," the report said. "He was later taken to a food store in W Plaza in Mong Kok and Fuk Keung Industrial Building in Tai Kok Tsui for investigation."
Those locations are linked to Chu's "Migratory Bird" platform to support prisoners, which raised money via the As One online shopping platform – part of the "yellow economic circle of pro-democracy businesses" – to support his prison work.
He is currently being held by the Sham Shui Po Crime Division pending further investigation, after his home was also searched and documents confiscated, the paper reported.
Chu was a member of the last directly elected District Council, which saw a landslide victory for pro-democracy candidates amid record turnout that was widely seen as a ringing public endorsement of the 2019 protest movement.
He resigned his seat along with many like-minded colleagues amid an ongoing crackdown on dissent under a national security law imposed on the city by Beijing from July 2020.
'Patriots' only
The government later changed the Legislative Council electoral rules to ensure only "patriots" loyal to Beijing could stand as candidates or hold any kind of public office, prompting record-low turnout of 30.2% in Legislative Council elections in December 2021 compared with more than 70% in the last District Council poll.
Officials then rewrote the District Council poll rules in May, citing a "disastrous" result in the 2019 election, sparking calls from overseas activists for a boycott of the forthcoming poll on Dec. 10.
"Abandon illusions, boycott this fake election," read an Oct. 16 statement on Facebook signed by dozens of former pro-democracy councilors.
"We, the last district councilors to be elected by the citizens of Hong Kong, solemnly declare that we will not recognize these so-called elections run by the Communist regime of Hong Kong, and call on all citizens of Hong Kong to boycott the election and the councilors it produces," the statement said.
It said candidates wishing to take part have to run a complex gamut of vetting from support for nomination to a slew of official recommendation letters to political background checks, "all of which runs counter to the democratic spirit," warning that anyone who makes it to the list of candidates is "purely a permitted cheerleader for the regime."
It said the government also looks set to use the "election" as an opportunity to engage in "the political brainwashing of minors."
"This so-called election will actually take place under military totalitarian rule, and can have no fairness or legitimacy," the councilors wrote.
Australia-based former pro-democracy lawmaker Ted Hui, who signed the statement, said the forthcoming poll is a "huge step backwards for democracy" in Hong Kong.
"Most of the seats will be controlled by the government," Hui said. "We believe that it would be best for citizens to totally refuse to take part, to boycott [the election]."
'Huge step backwards'
Some parties in the democratic camp have said they will field candidates, though it remains to be seen if their bid for candidacy will be accepted.
The Democratic Party has said it hopes to field six candidates, and the Association of Democracy and People's Livelihood wants to field two.
But Hui said this could send a dangerous signal about complicity with the authorities, who have told opposition parties to give up any hope of “Western-style democracy” in the city.
"One or two [pro-democracy candidates] might pass the test and get nominated, but this will do great harm, because it shows the people of Hong Kong that they agree with this huge step backwards for democracy," he said.
Former district councilor Sam Yip, who also signed the statement, said it was naive of pro-democracy parties to imagine it was worth contesting such elections.
"It helps to whitewash these elections, which are illegal, unfair and inconsistent with the whole concept of democracy," Yip said. "Their actions are actually ruining democracy."
'A screening process'
Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak, asked if the government is expecting turnout to fall in this year's poll, said it wasn't the most important thing.
"We should not just look at the turnout in District Council elections, [which can be] affected by many factors, such as the weather, including whether it rains that day, whether there is a typhoon in the summer, and whether the weather will be too cold," Mak said.
"The most important thing is how to find patriots who sincerely serve the community and citizens through the electoral system," she said.
Former Hong Kong Island Eastern District councilor Derek Ngai, who also resigned to avoid taking his oath, said democrats faced with the oath of loyalty requirement feared being required to pay back two years of salary if their oaths were rejected.
"If we hadn't resigned, we could have wound up getting disqualified, which ... could mean serious consequences like being asked to pay back your salary," Ngai told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday.
He said the new election rules will slash the proportion of directly elected seats on the council from 100% to just 20%, with a much more grueling set of vetting processes and bureaucratic hoops for prospective candidates to jump through than in the past.
"We expected the Hong Kong government to take back control of the council, but they have set a lot of hurdles on the remaining 20% [of directly elected] seats."
"It doesn't feel like an election so much as a screening process packaged as an election," Ngai said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Oct 15, 2023
- Event Description
Despite the intense police repression, the people of Kashipur have stood up against the Odisha Government coercively facilitating this project for Vedanta. We bring to you the developments of the last 24 hours from the night before the Public Hearing to the end of it. It was held today at Sunger High School premises in Kashipur Block of Rayagada district, Odisha.
Ø On the 15th night, armed police and paramilitary personnel began positioning themselves at the main roads leading to villages known to oppose the mining project. Roads were monitored by company-sponsored goons and a few local village youths. They seemed to have a list of names of media persons and political agents whom they should allow into the villages and used slang and rough language to intimidate and send back anyone outside the ‘list’. Even then, some youths seemingly with the company goons, helped activists and media persons enter the area.
Ø In the morning, women from Banteji village were beaten up by police on the way to the public hearing. They protested. Friends and supporters of the movement tweeted to the Chief Minister to stop the violence.
Ø People walked in with slogans, banners and placards. Strategically, they occupied the space in front of the podium and did not allow a single pro-company deposition to happen. More than 20 community members, including women, spoke loud and clear about their opposition to the proposed bauxite mining and cited reasons for this opposition.
Ø Addressing members of the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB), district administration, police administration and Vedanta officials, people raised their voices against the ongoing police repression and the criminal role played by company-sponsored goons and agents. They narrated incidents of abuse, beating, forced entry into their houses, theft of cash, and harassment of women and girls both in their houses and in public at the local markets. They asserted that the repression was being carried out by company-sponsored goons at the forefront with the tacit support of the local police and paramilitary personnel. Leaders and community members demanded answers from the government about this state-corporate-police nexus but those organising the public hearing had no answers!
Ø As ordered by the High Court, two activists – Dibakar Sahu and Jitender Majhi -were escorted by police from the Raygada jail. They deposed at the public hearing against the proposed project.
Ø About the draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report submitted by Vedanta, the chief concern expressed was that the report has deliberately hidden several facts about the ecological diversity and ecosystem of Sijimali. Villagers pointed out that Vedanta’s report does not mention the sacred abode of the supreme deity of the Kandha and Damba communities, Tiji Raja, and the annual rituals and festivals the local people perform at Sijimali hilltop in December every year. They also pointed out that the report has no mention of the 200-odd perennial streams that emerge from Sijimali or the dense forests on the hilltop that have diverse tree species like sal, tamarind, piya sal, aamla, harida, bahada and that the collection of siali leaves and honey is the major source of local peoples’ NTFP income. They pointed out that there is no mention of several sacred caves on Sijimali which are worshipped as abodes of animals whom the local people worship and hold rituals inside the caves to invoke the animal spirits every year. Some of the most important caves are Parapar and Baghpar. All those who deposed clearly mentioned that the EIA report does not mention about the local peoples’ cultural heritage and generations-old relationship with nature and the traditional community forest governance principles that they all practice to conserve the forests, lands, and mountains in Sijimali. The statements were loud and clear about the unconditional ban on mining at Sijimali and that Vedanta should go back.
Ø Keeping in line with the proactive media misinformation that has been happening since early August, some local media TV channels and reporters began to spread misinformation about the procedures and testimonies at the public hearing. They reported that the public hearing was cancelled due to law-and-order problems. Many even tried to create a narrative that several villagers demanded that Vedanta must open a local refinery if it wants to start bauxite mining in Sijimali.
Ø The ADM, Rayagada and ASP, Rayagada addressed the media that the public hearing was completed peacefully and with discipline; the ADM added that the process was successfully carried out and the report on the proceedings of the public hearing will be submitted to OSPCB soon. This has become the modus operandi. Stating that it ended peacefully despite the vibrant protest is but a claim that their ritual is over.
Ø However, today’s protest seems to have already set the tone for the next hearing. The Sijimali Bauxite Mining Project spreads over both Thuamul Rampur block in Kalahandi District and Kashipur block in Rayagada District. The public hearing for Thuamul Rampur block is scheduled at Kerpai High School premises on October 18th
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Oct 15, 2023
- Event Description
Last night (15 October), members of the ultra-royalist group People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy attacked a group of activists protesting in front of the Ratchadapisek Criminal Court to demand the release of political prisoners. They also threatened reporters livestreaming the protest and other bystanders.
At around 17.00 on Sunday evening (15 October), activist Mongkhon “Bas” Thirakot climbed onto the Criminal Court sign in protest, after his belongings went missing along with 5,000 baht in cash. Mongkhon has been living on the footpath in front of the court since 28 September, protesting the detention of pro-democracy activists. He said he was later told that city officials took his belongings, and that the police were told he was homeless.
Other activists and bystanders gathered in front of the Court. Police officers also came to negotiate with Mongkhon, asking him to go to the police station, but Mongkhon insisted on speaking to the city official who took his belongings and that the official returns his money.
At around 18.10, members of the People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy arrived. One of the group members was carrying a metal rod, while another threw a water bottle at Mongkhon and threatened him.
The group also attacked other activists nearby. They ran at Chokdee Rompruk, a musician who has been protesting in front of the court and playing music, forcing him to pack up his belongings. One group member tried to attack him even though he was standing behind a police officer. Chokdee later said one of the men punched him in the face.
The men also threatened reporters and citizen journalists livestreaming the incident. Anon Klinkaew, Centre leader, threatened to attack Prachatai reporter Sarayut Tangprasert, who was livestreaming on his personal Facebook profile page due to a technical issue, if there was any “inaccurate report.” The man holding the metal rod also threatened Sarayut after he reported that the men were armed.
The men also threatened citizen journalist Paradorn Ketphuak, who was also livestreaming the incident. Paradorn told Prachatai that he was livestreaming when the police was speaking to Mongkhon when Centre members arrived. The man wearing a scarf with a camouflage pattern and holding a metal rod threatened to hit him if he continue livestreaming. Paradorn also saw the same man threaten Sarayut, even though he identified himself as a reporter and presented his press ID card.
Paradorn said he saw Mongkhon got off the sign and went into the Court parking lot after things were thrown at him. The group then went to harass Chokdee. Paradorn said a man wearing a blue shirt, who other group members call “Bang,” punched Chokdee and threatened him and other bystanders to get out of the area.
The men came back to the footpath after going to Paholyothin Police Station to report the incident. Group members said on a livestream on the People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy’s Facebook page that, since the police had not been able to get Mongkhon to come down from the sign, they were taking care of it themselves.
Another livestream on the group’s Facebook page showed group members surrounding Paradorn, who was still livestreaming in front of the Court. Paradorn said he was waiting to make sure Mongkhon is safe, and that another citizen journalist left their camera with him, so he was waiting for them to come back for the camera. The men tried to make Paradorn leave. Anon tried to get a reaction out of him by ramming his body into Paradorn, who stood his ground and blocked the men with his arms.
An older man wearing a black face mask then tried to approach Paradorn, but was threatened by Anon and another group member. After someone shouted at them, the group went over to a man in green shirt standing with his motorcycle at the nearby bus stop. Insults were thrown from both sides, while a man in a blue shirt from the Centre tried to get the man to attack him. A voice was heard on the livestream telling the man in blue not to provoke the other person as it will put the group at a disadvantage.
A few minutes later, the man in blue shirt kicked the man in green and punched him. Anon held the man in green down while another man hit him with the metal rod. Meanwhile, the person livestreaming for the Centre turned the camera away. Other group members also pushed Paradorn and prevented him from recording the fight.
Paradorn said this is the third time this year that members of the People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy harass him while covering a protest in front of the Criminal Court. He has filed a complaint with Paholyothin Police Station twice, but no progress has been made. He said that Chokdee and Mongkhon have filed a complaint against their attackers, and that he has also spoken to other attacked bystanders but is not sure whether they will press charges.
Police officers, court marshals, and court security guards were present during the incident. However, the police did not interfere until group members attacked the man in green. An older man with a face mask also later said that the man who was attacked is his son, who was only observing the incident.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Media Worker, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Oct 15, 2023
- Event Description
Local sources report that the Taliban have transferred Ahmad Fahim Azimi and Sadiqullah Afghan, two activists involved in girls’ education and members of the Afghan Robotics Girls’ Team, to Pul-e-Charkhi Prison after 72 days in the custody of the intelligence unit of the group’s 40th Division.
Sources on Wednesday, December 27, confirmed to the Hasht-e Subh Daily that the Taliban recently transferred these two individuals to Pul-e-Charkhi Prison without holding a trial.
According to sources, the Taliban have denied these two education activists the right to have a lawyer during this period.
Nevertheless, the families of Ahmad Fahim and Sadiqullah are demanding the immediate release of these two education activists from Taliban custody.
The Taliban detained Fahim Azimi, an advocate for girls’ education, and his colleague on October 15 of this year from their office in Kart-e-Char, in the third district of Kabul.
Previously, Roya Mahboob, the leader of the Afghan Robotics Girls’ Team, had stated that the Taliban had detained Azimi and several colleagues from the “DCF” section of the team on charges of “assisting the evacuation of girls from the robotics team” and “organizing protests.”
It is worth noting that since their resurgence to power, the Taliban have detained and imprisoned several human rights activists and education advocates in the country, in addition to the former government military officials.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Women's rights
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Oct 15, 2023
- Event Description
Local sources have confirmed the tragic death of a young social activist who succumbed to torture while in a Taliban prison. The sources, speaking to Hasht-e Subh on Tuesday, October 17th, verified that the victim was Matiullah Fathzada, who passed away due to his injuries two days prior while in Taliban custody.
According to these sources, Matiullah had been arrested by the Taliban approximately a year and a half ago for sharing pictures of the National Resistance Front forces on his Facebook profile. He was a well-known figure in the Omarz district of Panjshir province and resided in the Khairkhana area of Kabul city. Importantly, he had no affiliations with any particular group, emphasizing his status as an independent activist.
As of now, Taliban officials have not released any comments regarding this incident.
It is noteworthy that since their resurgence to power, the Taliban have detained, imprisoned, and in some cases, executed hundreds of residents from northern provinces, particularly Panjshir province. These actions stem from accusations of collaboration with the National Resistance Front. In a recent incident, the group opened fire on a young man named Abdulaziz, a prominent figure from Panjshir, on Saturday, October 14th, following a verbal altercation in the Qala-e Fathullah area of Kabul city.
This heartbreaking event sheds light on the dire situation faced by activists and individuals critical of the Taliban regime in Kabul. The incident underscores the urgent need for international attention and intervention to protect human rights in Afghanistan during these challenging times.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death, Torture
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Youth
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Oct 14, 2023
- Event Description
About the Human Rights Defender: Mr. S. Kalidas has been working for the human rights of Dalits and Adivasis in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The HRD works with welfare organisations like Social Awareness Society for Youth (SASY) to develop the Dalit community. Background: About a year ago, HRD helped a Dalit woman, Munjuladevi, who had been sexually harassed by a person named Sakthivel (23), who belonged to a Vanniyar Community from Puthu Pallikozhi Street in Karuvandikuppam. The HRD accompanied the Dalit woman to the Laspet police station and helped her to lodge a complaint. The complaint was later retracted at the police station as the village elders and Sakthivel's relatives assured them that Sakthivel would not behave like this in the future. However, since the filing of the complaint, Sakthivel has repeatedly threatened the HRD for supporting the Dalit woman by making threatening phone calls. Details of the Incident: On October 14, 2023, Sakthivel called the HRD over the phone and threatened him. The HRD immediately informed Laspet police sub-inspector Anwar Pasha and narrated the incident. But no action was taken in this regard by the police officials. On the same day, at about 09.50 PM, Munjuladevi’s mother, Ms. Varalakshmi, contacted the HRD, stating that someone entered the house and started searching for her daughter. The HRD reached her home at Karuvadikuppam, 53, Mettu Street, Puducherry, at about 10.30 PM. At around 11.00 PM, six men led by Sakthivel entered Munjuladevi’s house and knocked on the door with knives. After breaking the door, they entered the house and brutally attacked HRD and Varalakshmi. They beat him using their firsts and stomped on his body. Sakthivel and an unidentified person attacked the HRD using a knife. He received 5 injuries, a cut on his head, ear, left hand middle finger and index finger and rights had middle finger and ring finger was cut off. On the right side of the ear and the head, he sustained cuts with the knife. Varalakshmi received a head injury when she was attacked with a knife. Seeing the pool of blood, the assailants fled from the crime scene.
At around 12.10 A.M on October 15, 2023 then, HRD was taken to Laspet police station by Dalit woman’s mother to register an FIR and seek protection of the police. Aggrieved by the inaction of the police, they left the police station for Puducherry Government Hospital. Because of the non-availability of doctors, he was shifted to BIMS private Hospital, Puducherry and later shifted to JIPMER Hospital in Puducherry. On October 15, 2023, at about 07.00 AM, the HRD was shifted to Puducherry government hospital and was treated in a critical condition in the special ward. He was discharged from the hospital on October 27, 2023. After that, he repeatedly approached the Laspet Police regarding the status of the investigation and filed representation seeking amendment of FIR as per provisions of the SC / ST (PoA) Act but no SC/ST Act was filed on the perpetrators. Sakthivel and six juvenile youth (names not disclosed by the police) were arrested by the police.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
Case shared by FORUM-ASIA member HRD Alert India
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Oct 13, 2023
- Event Description
Students in Hyderabad, Telangana, were detained by the police for demonstrating in support of Palestinians on Friday, who are at war with Israel following unprecedented surprise attacks last Saturday which killed over 1300 Israelis.
The march was carried out by students belonging to two student organisations, namely, the Naujawan Bharat Sabha and the Disha Students’ Organisation (DSO), near the historic Dr BR Ambedkar Statue near the Lakdikapul area of the city. The students were detained and taken to the police station in Saifabad.
Hina Mercin, one of the protestors hailing from DSO, told The New Indian that it had only been five minutes since they had started protesting that they were “manhandled” and detained by the police. “We had just started sloganeering when the police arrived and detained us. They said that since elections are just around the corner, we had to inform them of the protest according to the Election Code,” Mercin said.
However, the protesting student also added that they had conducted such spontaneous protests before as well but it was the first time that they were being detained sans instigation. She said, “We have conducted protests before as well but this time they were scared of this protest. They told us that it was because of the Electoral Code procedures that we were being detained, but we suspect that there have been instructions from other authorities.”
Authorities have said that the students have now been released from police custody. “They were detained because there had been no permission granted to the demonstrators. Now, the demonstrators have been released. They had been released at 5 PM today.”
About Israel-Palestine War:
On October 7, Hamas led a large-scale offensive against Israel from the Gaza Strip. In response, Israel bombed the Gaza Strip with airstrikes.
As of October 13, over 1,300 Israeli soldiers have lost their lives, and another 3,200 have sustained injuries. The Israeli government has issued evacuation orders for 1.1 million people in Gaza.
Numerous casualties have been reported on both sides of the conflict. To date, Israel has deployed 6,000 bombs on Gaza. Additionally, Israel is fortifying its defences in proximity to the Gaza border.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 12, 2023
- Event Description
A mainland Chinese student was imprisoned in Hong Kong for six months for “sedition” charges. Authorities recently released her on October 12th, when the Hong Kong government deported her to mainland China.
SEDITION 23-year-old Zeng Yuxuan was originally a PhD student studying law at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Zeng Yuxuan is the first mainland Chinese student to be imprisoned in Hong Kong over a sedition charge.
On January 1st this year, Zeng was accused of displaying a sketch of ‘The July 1 stabbing Incident’ suspect Leung Kin-fai outside the Sogo department store in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Police charged her with ‘committing acts with seditious intent’ for placing candles and flowers on the ground in mourning.
ARRESTED AGAIN After being granted bail, Zeng Yuxuan was arrested again on the eve of this year’s “June 4th.” She intended to unveil a giant banner featuring the “Pillar of Shame.” However, before the event, she was arrested and charged with “attempting to do an act with seditious intent.” The West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court sentenced her to six months.
PILLAR OF SHAME The “Pillar of Shame” depicts several twisted and tragic figures, symbolizing the casualties of the 1989 Tiananmen Square bloody crackdown. This copper statue was removed in 2021. Traditionally, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China would send people yearly to clean the “Pillar of Shame” on the eve of the June 4th massacre. The leadership of the alliance was arrested in 2021 as well.
Ms. Tonyee Chow Hang-tung, a jailed Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and former leader of the Alliance said, “When the court says that displaying the Pillar of Shame is a crime, it is nailing itself on the pillar of shame.”
ZENG YUXUAN’S ACTIVISM Zeng Yuxuan once expressed her wish to “make a little change” for Hong Kong, claiming that “it’s our duty” to participate in the protests. She also held up white papers at Victoria Park in Hong Kong, in response to the “White Paper Movement/A4 Revolution” launched in Mainland China in opposition to the COVID-19 lockdowns.
On October 12, Zeng Yuxuan was released after serving her sentence, and the Hong Kong government deported her to China declaring her “persona non grata.”
HONG KONG WATCH The London-based human rights organization “Hong Kong Watch” expressed deep concern about Ms. Zeng’s circumstances upon her arrival in mainland China.
Hong Kong Watch’s statement indicates that the expulsion of Zeng Yuxuan reflects Beijing’s increasing control over Hong Kong. With Hong Kong’s judicial independence steadily declining, Hong Kong authorities are seen as following Beijing’s demands to execute their political agenda, with little regard for the rule of law. The rule of law and judicial independence in Hong Kong are deteriorating.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Deportation
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: defender sentenced in Hong Kong
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Oct 12, 2023
- Event Description
On October 12, journalists and media workers were prevented from covering an attack on a village in Manipur’s Sabunkhok Khunou village by members of a combined Jat and Gorkha armed contingent, with the soldiers deleting footage from the journalists’ electronic devices. The reporters present were from several media outlets, including ISTV, Impact TV, Tom TV, and ISCom. Nearby, journalists and media workers with Tom TV and Impact TV were similarly prevented from filming the attack in a separate incident on the same day.
Several media bodies condemned the actions of the security personnel, identifying the incident as an infringement of press freedom. In a joint statement, the All Manipur Working Journalists Union (AMWJU), an affiliate of the IJU, and the Editors’ Guild Manipur (EGM) strongly condemned the actions of the soldiers, announcing their intentions to submit a petition to authorities and calling for a thorough investigation into all crimes against journalists committed since the outbreak of violence.
On September 26, soldiers with the Assam Rifles reportedly harassed and briefly detained journalist Tennoson Pheiray between 8 and 8.30 am. The journalist was stopped while travelling to Imphal, before being briefly taken into army custody. He was allowed to continue his journey after a discussion with an officer.
Manipur has been engulfed in violence since May 3, with the conflict and resulting security presence responsible for an increase in harassment, assault, and brief detentions to journalists and media workers. Threats to freedom of expression have increased during this period, with authorities filing cases against members of the Editors Guild of India following the publication of a report. On October 5, Manipuri authorities banned the distribution of ‘violent activities’ online.
The IJU said: "The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) condemns the action of combined troops of 29 Jat regiment and 5/4 GR which prevented media persons from covering news on October 12, 2023, at Sabungkhok Khunouarea where a group of hostile people was attacking the village. The IJU appeals to the security forces and the police not only to prevent but also to help media persons to the possible extent in covering news, as people have the right to know what is happening in their area or elsewhere in the country.”
The IFJ said:“Conflict is not an excuse for law enforcement or security personnel to intimidate, harass, or obstruct media professionals. The IFJ condemns the obstruction of several journalists covering conflict in Manipur and urges authorities to uphold press freedom and ensure the independence and safety of media personnel in the state.” the state.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Oct 11, 2023
- Event Description
Award-winning Indian author Arundhati Roy is facing prosecution after giving a speech 13 years ago, disputing the idea that Kashmir is an integral part of India.
The initial complaint was filed by a Kashmir activist following Roy's speech in 2010, in which she and three others spoke at a conference and criticized India's policy toward Kashmir.
Under Indian law, crimes of hate speech, sedition, and promoting enmity need approval from Indian officials to be prosecuted. That approval was given Wednesday, according to local media — more than a decade after the initial report was filed.
Delhi police now have permission to prosecute Roy and Central University of Kashmir professor Sheikh Showkat Hussain, under crimes of promoting enmity and making assertions prejudicial to national integration and causing public mischief, a move approved by federally-appointed lieutenant-governor, Vinai Kumar Saxena.
The other speakers named in the 2010 complaint, one a professor and the other a Kashmiri separatist leader, have since died.
Reasoning for why Saxena approved prosecution 13 years after the complaint was filed was not given in the report.
Roy, 61, a political activist as well as the 1997 Booker prize winner for fiction, has not provided a reaction to the recent developments.
The decision has faced disapproval from those opposing the current administration led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who came to power in 2014, and has since drawn criticism for its record on free speech.
Prosecuting the 2010 complaint has furthered some concerns over the current government's free speech stances, despite the complaint being registered before Modi's administration came to power.
"It is obvious that the LG [and his masters] have no place in their regime for tolerance or forbearance; or for that matter the essentials of democracy," P. Chidambaram, a senior leader of the main opposition Congress party who was India's home (interior) minister in 2010, posted on X. LG refers to Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Oct 11, 2023
- Event Description
A student from Chiang Mai University has been charged with sedition and other crimes under the Computer Crimes Act and the Public Assembly Act over a 24 June 2023 caravan. Several others have also been charged, including a local news outlet.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said on 11 October that Watcharapat Thammachak, a student at Chiang Mai University, received a police summons on charges of sedition and violation of the Computer Crimes Act and the Public Assembly Act for a march on 24 June 2023
TLHR said a total of four people are being summoned. It is unclear why they have been charged with sedition.
On 24 June 2023, Neo Lanna, a local activist group in Chiang Mai, staged a protest caravan from the Kruba Sri Wichai to the Three Kings Monument to campaign for a new Constitution, de-centralization, and state welfare. As the caravan moved across Chiang Mai, activists gave speeches about the 24 June 1932 Siamese Revolution and about de-centralization to allow each province to manage its own affairs without having to defer to the central government in Bangkok. At the Three Kings Monument, activists placed lotus flowers and lit candles in memory of the 1932 Revolution.
After the event, Maj Gen Santi Sukpom, Commander of the 33rd Military Circle, reportedly authorised a military officer to file complaints against Watcharapak and three other activists: Chatchai Thammo, Thiraporn Puttasee, and Benchapat (last name withheld). The charges included sedition, organising a public gathering without notifying the authorities, and bringing into a computer system data likely affect national security. Complaints were also filed against local news outlet Lanner and the owner of the Facebook page NEO LANNA, both of which live-streamed the event.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Oct 10, 2023
- Event Description
Activist Wanwalee Thammasattaya has been found guilty of royal defamation and sentenced to 2 years and 8 months in prison over a photo she posted of herself and two other people holding signs at a protest.
Wanwalee was charged with royal defamation along with Nueng (pseudonym) and Nam (pseudonym), two other protesters, after a complaint was filed against them by Sukij Dechkul, a member of the ultra-royalist group Thai Phakdee in Chiang Mai. Sukij claimed that a picture Wanwalee posted of herself, Nueng, and Nam at a protest on 21 November 2020 in Bangkok’s Siam shopping district showed them holding signs with messages that insulted the King.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) noted that none of the three defendants live in Chiang Mai, and that the 21 November 2020 protest took place in Bangkok, but because the complaint was filed against them in Chiang Mai, they have had to travel back and forth for police and court appointments for the past three years.
The 21 November 2020 protest was organized by the student rights group Bad Student and other pro-democracy activists. They criticize the government for its inefficiency and for how the education system is failing its students. Wanwalee testified that she posted the picture, which was taken after they were asked by a reporter to hold up the signs for pictures. She said that the sign came from an activity held during the protest where participants can write messages onto pieces of cardboard, and that some messages on the signs were written by someone else. Nueng and Nam, Wanwalee’s then high school friends, were also only tagged in the post, and Wanwalee said they were not involved in making the post, which make her think that the complaint was filed to harass political dissidents.
TLHR reported that Sukij testified that he was President of the Thai Phakdee group’s Chiang Mai chapter, and that he was given the documents used to file the complaint by other members of the group. He also testified that he did not know who posted the picture, but believed the three defendants made the posts together and that he does not know what Facebook’s tag function is.
TLHR said yesterday (10 October) that the Chiang Mai Provincial Court found Wanwalee guilty of royal defamation and sentenced her to 4 years in prison. Her sentence was later reduced to 2 years and 8 months because she gave useful testimony.
The Court ruled that the message on the sign Wanwalee was holding can be read to be about he King, and that she published the photo of the sign on Facebook even though she knew the message insulted the King, dismissing her defence that the message refers to the military and its information operation.
Charges against Nueng and Nam were dismissed. The Court ruled that it was unclear who the messages on the sign they were holding referred to. They also did not like or share the post.
Wanwalee was later granted bail on a security of 150,000 baht in order to file for appeal. She is facing a total of 4 counts of royal defamation and has previously been found guilty of one count for a speech she gave during a protest on 6 December 2020.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Malaysia
- Initial Date
- Oct 9, 2023
- Event Description
Former student activist Wong Yan Ke, who was found guilty today of insulting a university vice-chancellor by staging a protest during a convocation ceremony, has vowed to continue speaking up on issues close to his heart.
In a statement, the former Universiti Malaya Association of New Youth (Umany) president said he would continue exercising his freedom of expression as enshrined in the Federal Constitution.
He also said protests could mobilise public opinion and empower them to shape the nation’s destiny, adding that this was not the sole domain of politicians.
“I firmly believe that safeguarding free speech is vital to enable citizens to scrutinise public affairs and hold those in power accountable,” he said.
“In the face of government monopolies on power, resources and violence, free speech remains our sole instrument to defend our rights.
“Only through protests can we protect the values of pluralism, liberty, equality and democracy, and remain a human being who is free and equal in dignity and rights.”
Earlier today, the Kuala Lumpur magistrates’ court found Wong guilty of insulting a university vice-chancellor by staging a protest during a convocation ceremony in 2019.
He was handed a RM5,000 fine after he failed to establish a reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case.
Wong was accused of humiliating Universiti Malaya vice-chancellor Abdul Rahim Hashim and the convocation’s attendees knowing that he would incite their anger during the ceremony by carrying a protest placard on stage demanding Rahim’s resignation as the vice-chancellor.
Wong, who graduated from Universiti Malaya with a degree in civil engineering, was charged in February 2020.
Delivering her ruling, magistrate Illi Marisqa Khalizan said the court could not agree with the reasoning given by Wong that he had no other means to voice his views.
Wong’s counsel, Chong Kar Yan, said his client would pay the fine and file a notice of appeal at the High Court.
Last week, Wong, now a coordinator at Suara Rakyat Malaysia, was also granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) for disobeying a police order to stop recording a raid at his house in 2020.
It came after the prosecution failed to present any of its five witnesses in court.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- NGO staff, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Oct 9, 2023
- Event Description
First, in response to the Israel-Gaza war, several students of the Aligarh Muslim University took out a rally on October 9. This peaceful rally, organised as an expression of solidarity with Palestinians, saw four students in trouble as the police booked them under Sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, language, etc.), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), and 505(statements inducing public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The state chief minister, Ajay Bisht aka Yogi Adityanath, soon after the AMU protest, directed the police to take “stern action” against actions or social media posts in support of Palestine. According to a report in the Deccan Herald, senior district police officials have been told to speak to the Muslim clerics and make it clear that “any attempt to incite passion on social media or a similar call from the religious places will not be tolerated”.
A cop, belonging to the Muslim community, posted in Lakhimpur Kheri district in Uttar Pradesh, had merely shared a pro-Palestine post on social media. Within days, he was suspended from duty and an additional superintendent of police rank officer was appointed to carry out an inquiry about the constable and “his political inclination”.
In similar incidents, the police in Kanpur booked two young Muslim clerics, Suhail Ansari and Atif Chowdhary, for posting content in support of Palestine on social media. While Ansari was arrested, the police raided Chowdhary’s residence.
Background
Irrespective of which parties dominate the government is in power and what the political party’s stand has been on the ongoing conflict in West Asia, protestors in many states are facing criminal action for acts of “unlawful assembly” to promote “enmity between two groups”. India’s position on West Asia – reiterated by the Narendra Modi government – on the Israel-Palestine conflict is that it supports a “negotiated solution resulting in a sovereign, independent, viable and united State of Palestine, within secure and recognised borders, at peace beside Israel as endorsed in the relevant UNSC and UNGA Resolutions”.
It is the right to protest peacefully however which is guaranteed but appears in many instances to have been denied.
Ironically even in Congress-ruled Karnataka, the police’s actions were no different than UP, Delhi or Mumbai.
The police from the Cubbon Park jurisdiction in Bengaluru booked 11 persons, including a member of the Bahutva Karnataka (a citizen’s group), and other unnamed people for holding a solidarity gathering in support of Palestine on MG Road. While the police haven’t booked them for “promoting enmity”, the sections applied are largely for gathering without permission and for “public nuisance”.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Oct 8, 2023
- Event Description
Sri Lankan security officials halted a bus that was carrying Tamil members of the families of the disappeared from Amparai and interrogated them, before eventually preventing them from attending a protest in solidarity with farmers in Batticaloa on Sunday.
The family members were on their way to join protest in Mayilathamadu, with livestock farmers protesting the encroachment of their grazing land by the Mahaweli Authority for new settlements.
However, they were halted at the Kallady bridge and subjected to questioning from 9 a.m. until noon, preventing them from joining the demonstration.
The incident occurred as Sri Lankan police came under criticism for their harsh response to the ongoing farmers' protest, including violent attacks on the protestors. Simultaneously, there has been a double standard in the treatment of counter-protests, such as one led by Sinhala Buddhist monk Ampitiya Sumanarathna, a monk known for making violent and racist remarks.
A spokesperson for the Amparai chapter of the families of the disappeared told reporters that the double standard employed by state authorities, once again, only goes to highlight the legitimacy of their call upon the international community to intervene to provide justice.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Oct 8, 2023
- Event Description
A peaceful protest by Tamil livestock farmers ahead of president Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit to Batticaloa and against the ongoing land grabs by Sinhalese settlers in Batticaloa was met with brutal force by Sri Lankan police opposite of Chenkalady Central College, Batticaloa on Sunday.
The demonstration on Sunday was in solidarity with the cattle farmers and their family members who had, for 24 consecutive days, been rallying against the government failures to resolve the land grabs by Sinhala settlers in Madhavanai and Mayilathamadu in Batticaloa district. The protesters were joined by TNA and TNPF members, including TNA MP, Shanakiyan Rasamanickam, and TNPF spokesperson, Kanagaratnam Sugash, who expressed their support for the farmers of Mayilathamadu and Madhavanai whose lands are being grabbed and cattles are being killed by illegal Sinhalese settlers.
The protesters demanded that the illegal encroachers should be removed from the pastureland in Madhavanai and Mayilathamadu, Batticaloa and protested against the Sri Lankan President’ persistent failure to resolve the matter. They were shouting slogans, such as "Mayilathamadu is Tamils' property", and holding placards which read "Do not occupy Tamil people's lands" and "Do not destroy the economy of Tamils".
The police forcefully objected to the peaceful protest as the president was attending an event close to the protest site. Protesters, including women, were severely beaten by police officers. According to Shanakiyan, the police claimed that they obtained a court order permitting them to stop the protest. The TNA MP further criticised the police force's use of "double standards" in cracking down on the Tamil people's peaceful protest, whilst failing to resist Sinhalese monk, Ambitiya Sumanarathana, who along with Sinhalese settlers in Batticaloa, led a protest on Saturday, opposing Shanakiyan and other Tamil MP's protest against the illegal encroachment of Tamil farmers' land in Parliament on Friday.
Livestock farmers in Batticaloa have been protesting against the encroachment of their lands and the killing of their cattles by Sinhala settlers since at least 2021. In August 2023, a new Buddhist temple was in the process of being built on land traditionally used by Tamil farmers in the border village of Madhavanai and Mayilathamadu. Tamil farmers continue to be subjected to intimidation and threats by the illegal setllers and government officials for seeking to protect their lands.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Oct 7, 2023
- Event Description
Reliable sources have confirmed that the Taliban arrested and detained Manija Sadeqi, a member of the “Spontaneous Women’s Movement of Afghanistan,” 15 days ago.
Laila Basim, another member of the Spontaneous Women’s Movement of Afghanistan, confirmed on Monday, October 23, in an interview with Hasht-e Subh Daily, that the Taliban apprehended Manija Sadeqi on October 7, 15 days ago, in the Kart-e-Naw area of Kabul city.
According to Basim, despite the 15-day efforts by Sadeghi’s family to secure her release, they have been unsuccessful.
Basim states that the reason for detaining female protesters is their resistance against the Taliban’s misogynistic actions.
It is essential to note that the Taliban also detained Neda Parwani along with her child and husband on September 19 and Julia Parsi on October 26 this year from Kabul city. These two women are also members of the Spontaneous Women’s Movement of Afghanistan.
The arrest of Parwani and Parsi has sparked various reactions.
Despite repeated calls from human rights organizations for the release of the detained female protesters, the Taliban have remained unresponsive to their actions.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Oct 7, 2023
- Event Description
Activists have slammed the Indonesian police for rights violations after officers reportedly shot dead a villager and injured at least two others during a protest against an oil palm plantation company in Borneo.
Gijik, 35, was shot in the chest during the Oct. 7 protest held by residents of the mostly Indigenous Dayak village of Bangkal, Central Kalimantan province, according to AMAN, Indonesia’s main alliance of Indigenous peoples. Another protester, Taufik Nurrahman, 21, was shot in the waist and is in critical condition, Bangkal community leader James Watt told Mongabay Indonesia. A third person, Ambaryanto, 53, was injured in the arm and leg, while police also arrested some 20 villagers, according to James.
Police opened fire on the villagers as they protested against plantation firm PT Hamparan Masawit Bangun Persada (HMBP), an affiliate of the BEST Group. The Bangkal villagers have been protesting since Sept. 16 to demand the company comply with its obligation to allocate 20% of its concession to the community under a government-mandated sharing scheme known as “plasma.”
“What happened in Seruyan today is a crime against humanity, a violation of human rights, and a violent act done openly by the state,” said Uli Arta Siagian, forestry and plantation campaigner at the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi).
Sekar Banjaran Aji, national coordinator at the Public Interest Lawyer Network (PIL-NET), called the police’s action “inhuman” and unjustifiable.
“We can see how the police failed to use their logic so that they resorted to using excessive force, which claimed a life,” she said.
Central Kalimantan Police spokesman Erlan Munaji said the police’s actions during the protest were in accordance with the rules of engagement. He told local media that a pre-deployment check of all weapons showed none of the police personnel were carrying live ammunition, only blanks, rubber bullets and tear gas.
“We’re in the process [of finding out] whether [the victim] died because of that [shooting],” he said.
Photos shared on social media and accounts from those on the ground appear to show clearly how Gijik died. Alexius Elister, who identified himself as a relative of the slain protester, said autopsy results concluded that he died from a gunshot wound to the chest.
“What’s left to do is determining who’s responsible, and I will take legal action,” he said as quoted by local media.
‘Aim for the head!’ There are conflicting accounts of what happened in Bangkal on Oct. 7.
Police say it was the protesters who first attacked them, using bladed weapons. Erlan said that while some of the villagers had reached an agreement with HMBP to farm part of its concession, others had refused to accept the agreement and continued protesting against the company. This latter group then attempted to harvest palm fruit from the plantation on the morning of Oct. 7, Erlan said.
When the police warned the villagers against doing so, the protesters started attacking them, he added.
However, various organizations that have been monitoring the situation for the past month say it was the police who started firing tear gas and bullets at the protesters without any provocation.
In videos taken during the protest, a man can clearly be heard shouting orders over a loudspeaker to fire on the protesters: “Prepare the tear gas! Aim for the head! Ready the AK! Let’s play!”
In another video of the same moment from a different angle, the person can be heard urging fellow protesters “don’t get provoked” by the police.
Shortly after the shouting, gunshots can be heard.
“Without any trigger from the protesters, the security forces shot tear gas and bullets from firearms,” said Bayu Herinata, director of Walhi’s Central Kalimantan chapter. “Based on information that we got from the ground as well as videos sent by people on the ground, there’s clearly an instruction from the commander of the security forces to shoot the protesters.”
In two previous protests in the long-running dispute, it was also the police who started attacking the protesters unprovoked, Bayu said.
“So we need to question the statement from the police that they were attacked first by the protesters,” he said.
Ferdi Kurnianto, the Central Kalimantan chapter head for Indigenous alliance AMAN, said some of the villagers did carry bladed implements during the protest. But these were traditional Dayak weapons known as mandau, which are intended for homemaking or defense purposes, not for attacking people, he said.
Companies over communities Uli of Walhi said the Bangkal dispute is emblematic of how the Indonesian government manages the country’s lands and resources.
“There are hundreds of companies in Indonesia, whether in the industries of palm oil, forestry or mining, that unilaterally claim ownership of ancestral lands and community territories,” she said. “The pleas of those who reject the companies’ presence in their territories, or refuse to have their lands taken by the companies, are ignored [by the government].”
Many of the land conflicts between communities and companies end in the persecution and criminalization of the communities, she added.
HMBP, the company in the Bangkal case, has a history of conflicts with other villages in which protesters and their supporters have faced persecution. In 2020, the company filed criminal charges against Indigenous farmers in the village of Penyang, also in Central Kalimantan province, who had been embroiled in a long-standing land dispute with the company.
HMBP accused two of the farmers of stealing palm fruit from its plantation. However, the farmers had harvested the fruit from land claimed by the villagers but cultivated illegally by HMBP; the district government had already declared the company to be operating outside its concession in 2010. The district chief also ordered HMBP to cede the disputed land back to the community — an order the company has duly ignored.
Police also arrested James Watt, the prominent community activist, while he was in Jakarta, for allegedly orchestrating the alleged theft by the two farmers.
In June 2020, a district court sentenced James to 10 months in prison, while one of the farmers got eight months prison sentence. The other farmer, Hermanus Bin Bison, died in custody, reportedly after being refused proper treatment for his ill health.
Abdul Haris, a campaigner at TuK Indonesia, an NGO that advocates for social justice in the agribusiness sector, blamed the conflict in Bangkal on HMBP’s failure to allocate 20% of its concession to the community, as required by law. He said similar conflicts will keep happening since many other plantation companies are also noncompliant on this front.
More than 80% of the 292 palm oil companies operating in Central Kalimantan haven’t provided plasma plantations to communities, Haris said, citing government data. Nationwide, only 21% of 2,864 plantation firms in the country have allocated the mandatory 20% of their concessions, according to the government’s audit agency, the BPKP.
Central Kalimantan Governor Sugianto Sabran has asked President Joko Widodo to evaluate existing permits in the province, and to revoke those of any companies that fail to comply.
Sugianto said the conflict in Bangkal isn’t the fault of the villagers.
“I don’t blame the people because they are demanding their rights that are cemented in the obligations for companies to allocate 20% of plasma [plantations],” he said as quoted by local media.
Sekar of PIL-NET said the deployment of police in conflicts between communities and companies is a result of the government’s decision in 2018 to categorize oil palm plantations as a national vital object. And in most cases, the security forces side with companies over the communities, she said.
“Our brothers and sisters in investment areas are losing their rights as citizens because the state is prioritizing investors,” Sekar said. “The government keeps saying that it’s championing sustainable development. But sustainable development is development that’s wanted by the people. But in this case, it claims victims and prosecutes the people. So who are the investments for? Who are defended by the security forces? Are they defending citizens or investors?”
Justifying excessive force Sekar said there’s also a tendency by police to use excessive force in conflicts between communities and companies. She traced this to the rhetoric of President Widodo, who in 2021 instructed the police to crack down on anyone standing in the way of investors — a complete U-turn from an order he issued in 2019 to prioritize locals over investors.
Other senior officials have used similarly strong language, with Luhut Pandjaitan, the senior minister overseeing investments, saying in 2022 that he would “bulldoze” anyone blocking the ease of investment and permit issuance.
“What’s happening in Central Kalimantan is likely to be caused by the president’s instruction, because it’s not only in Central Kalimantan [where the police used excessive force], but also last month in Rempang Island,” Sekar said.
The conflict on Rempang, part of the Riau Islands archipelago in the Malacca Strait, centers around a plan by Chinese industrial giant Xinyi Glass to build the world’s second-largest glass and solar panel factory there, taking advantage of the abundant quartz sand around the island.
The plan entails the eviction of the native islanders, prompting them to stage several protests. This drew a heavy-handed response from the security forces, who on Sept. 7 fired on protesters with rubber bullets and tear gas, including at a middle school.
According to data from the NGO Consortium on Agrarian Reform (KPA), at least 69 people have died in land conflicts since 2015, a year into the Widodo administration.
As long as the conflict in Bangkal remains unresolved and the community remains at risk of persecution, police must withdraw from the region to ease the tension, said Mohammad Ali, the head of NGO Alliance of Agrarian Reform Movement (AGRA).
It’s also important for the community to get its rights recognized through the allocation of plasma plantations, he added.
- Impact of Event
- 23
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Death, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender, Indigenous peoples' rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Oct 7, 2023
- Event Description
The Santhiveli police today obtained an injunction order against dairy farmers in Batticaloa who have been protesting for the last 24 days against the alleged encroachment of land they use for grazing their cattle.
The farmers claim that crop farmers from other districts have occupied the land they traditionally used for grazing. The Madhavanai-Mayilathamadu area falls under the Mahaweli Development Authority.
Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) MPs took up the cause of the dairy farmers by demonstrating inside parliament yesterday. The Madhavanai-Mayilathamadu area is reportely used for grazingapproximately 500,000 livestock including cattle and buffalo.
The issue is likely to be exacerbated in the coming months, TNA Batticaloa District Parliamentarian Shanakiyan Rasamanickam warned. According to Rasamanickam encroachers have mostly grown corn which has just seeded and will grow throughout October and November.
It is harvested in December and January. According to the Department of Animal Production and Health, cattle in the Eastern Province are primarily free-ranging and cause damage to crops which is why during paddy cultivation season, which is now approaching,they are actively moved away to pasturelands. In Madhavanai-Mayilathamadu the cattle herds’ interaction with the corn crop is likely to increase in the coming months and could thus escalate the conflict between the crop and dairy farmers if it remains unresolved.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Oct 6, 2023
- Event Description
Last Friday (6 October), activists from the People’s Movement for a Just Society (P-Move) went to the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre (QSNCC), where the 2023 Thailand Climate Action Conference is taking place, to protest government policies that would greenwash the country’s major corporations while worsening inequality.
Several activists travelled from Government House, where the group has been protesting since Monday evening (2 October) to the QSNCC, while Srettha Thavisin, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, was opening the conference. They took turns giving speeches on the truck while en route from the Asoke Montri Intersection to the QSNCC and while in front of the conference centre.
Activist Pachara Kamchamnan spoke about the human rights violations that could result from the government’s green economy policies, such as the Bio-Circular-Green Economy model and carbon credit policy, which involve a plan to increase forest areas in the country by 55%. He noted that Thailand’s forestry model scheme already aims to increase forest areas by 40%, and that the implementation of land and forest policies during the past decade have led to communities losing their land and way of life due to forced evictions. Meanwhile, Porlajee Rakchongcharoen, an indigenous rights activist from the Bang Kloi community, was abducted and presumably murdered after he began campaigning for his community’s right to their land and culture.
Nattaporn Artharn from the North-Eastern NGO Coordinating Committee on Development (NGO-COD) said that communities in the northeastern provinces have long been affected by government policies on natural resources and environment. Logging concessions have damaged local forests, while government megaprojects like dams and reservoirs have affected the environment and the local communities’ livelihoods. She criticized the government’s new green economy model for trying to increase forest areas to cater to corporations’ release of greenhouse gases and pollution instead of tackling the source of pollution.
Kanyarat Tumpama from the Northern Peasant Federation noted that activists and community members came to Bangkok to protest at Government House because they are facing unresolved land rights issues. Even though the new government claims to have won the election, there are still people in the provinces facing unresolved issues, and when they come to Government House asking to meet the Prime Minister, their demands are not answered. She also called on the government to respect the people because they are being paid with taxpayers’ money.
Nattakorn Tonnamphet, an activist from the Bang Kloi indigenous Karen community, said that indigenous communities have been treated inhumanely by the authorities, noting that the Bang Kloi community was forcibly evacuated from the Kaeng Krachan forest and their village was burned down because the authorities wanted Kaeng Krachan to become a World Heritage Site. He said that society must understand that a World Heritage Site cannot protect only the forest itself but also the way of life of those who live in it.
The activists read out a statement criticizing the new government for favouring large corporations over ordinary people, noting that Srettha has been seen meeting with representatives of these corporations and that the government has declared policies on land and the environment which may affect community rights and worsen social inequality. It also criticized the government’s carbon credit model, as it could be used to greenwash the corporations who are the major polluters and who are taking advantage of the country’s resources, calling for the government to revise its policy to be fairer to ordinary people.
Now in the 8th day of their protest, P-Move is still occupying the street in front of Government House despite the heavy rain and constant pressure from the police, who have been attempting to get them to move their protest elsewhere by threatening to press charges against them.
Representatives met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Phumtham Wechayachai and Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Thamanat Prompow this morning (9 October) for the first round of negotiation.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Oct 6, 2023
- Event Description
The police dispersed Greenpeace Indonesia’s oligarchy monster action at the HI Roundabout in Central Jakarta today, October 6. The environmental NGO installed a giant octopus-shaped monster holding three mannequins wearing masks depicting three presidential contenders, namely Anies Baswedan, Ganjar Pranowo, and Prabowo Subianto.
Upon arrival at around 6:30 a.m., the police escorted the activists to police cars. Greenpeace Indonesia’s media campaigner Rahma Sofiana confirmed they were taken to the Menteng Police post. “Menteng,” she told Tempo today.
At the Menteng Police station, a policeman who declined to be named said the action was dispersed for lack of a permit. “No permit for that,” he said.
During the action, 12 Greenpeace activists jumped into the pool at the HI Roundabout carrying posters that read "Vote for Climate, Not Oligarchy" and "Suffocated by Air Pollution, Choked by Forest and Forestry Smog".
Iqbal Damanik, Greenpeace Indonesia's forest campaigner, said the campaign aimed to encourage presidential and vice-presidential candidates to make a serious commitment to stand with the people and break away from the oligarchy's agenda.
According to him, the people have suffered from the negative effects of the strengthening political and economic power of the oligarchs in the archipelago, such as threats to democracy and the environment, as well as the confiscation of living space. “Please show this commitment in the vision and mission document submitted to the KPU,” Iqbal asserted.
Greenpeace first staged the Oligarchy Monster peaceful action on October 5, 2021, as a symbol of refusing to forget the passage of the Job Creation Law. In addition to Jakarta, a series of anti-Oligarchy actions were also held in several regions this week, including Sorong on October 5 and Jayapura today, October 6.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Oct 6, 2023
- Event Description
A group of masked gunmen threatened a Tamil activist earlier this month, warning “We will definitely kill you” if he continued to expose details of an alleged secret military-run torture site in the East.
Wimalasena Lavakumar said the incident occurred at his home when six men with T-56 and AK-47 rifles arrived on motorbikes at his home in Kiran.
“You have opened your mouth about many things in Batticaloa,” the gunmen told him. “Theevuchchenai is a hidden matter. You don’t start talking about it or going digging. You were wrong to do that.”
“Today we came to bump you off, but first, this is a warning,” they continued. “Your type are the ones who force us to dust our weapons and carry them again. If you engage in such activity once more, we will definitely kill you.”
The incident occurred after Lavakumar spoke out against a secret torture site in Theevuchchenai on the border with Polonnaruwa. The camp is allegedly run by Pillaiyan, alias Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, a government-linked paramilitary leader.
“I am pretty certain that none other than state intelligence units and paramilitaries affiliated to the government are able to carry out such acts,” Lavakumar told reporters.
“Because be it abductions during the past period, be it genocide, be it killings; as no proper investigation has been conducted to find out the many illegal acts committed by these and no one connected to these offences have been brought to justice and punished, they have been able to once again, freely engage in this weapons culture, death threats and the abduction of people.”
Lavakumar is a well-known activist in the Eastern province, and was previously arrested under the much-criticised Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA, after he was part of a group held a memorial event at a beach in Batticaloa to mark Tamil Genocide Day in 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death threat, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Oct 5, 2023
- Event Description
The home of human rights activist Babloo Loitongbam’s in Manipur’s Imphal was on Thursday attacked by unidentified people, a senior police official told Scroll.
“He is claiming here that no church is standing in Imphal valley, all burned,” the official said. “This claim made the public angry.”
Loitongbam had made the statement in an interview he gave to NewsClick in May. He had also spoken about the state of violence in Manipur, especially on the role of radical organisations.
The internationally acclaimed activist has been critical of the Meitei Leepun and the Aarambai Tenggol, radical Meitei organisations accused of fanning violence against Kukis.
Since the ethnic conflict broke out on May 3, Loitongbam has been demanding that Chief Minister N Biren Singh, a Metei, resign from his post.
In the interview, the activist alleged that the Meitei Leepun and the Aarambai Tenggol have “injected” militancy into the minds of people.
“They have articulation like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh,” Loitongbam said. “Not a single church stands in the valley now. All churches are being destroyed.”
The activist’s home was attacked on the same day when the Meitei Leepun said it will boycott Loitongbam and former Additional Superintendent of Police Thounaojam Brinda till the ethnic strife ends over making public statements, reported the Ukhrul Times.
Brinda had said the Meitei Leepun and the Aarambai Tenggol were responsible for an arson incident, reported India Today. On Wednesday, the two groups stormed her home and demanded a clarification. She then said she was misinformed by a social media video.
On Thursday, the Meitei Leepun also warned that it will not take responsibility for any unwanted incidents if Brinda and Loitongbam violate the boycott.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Lawyer, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Suspected non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- India: lawyer and NGO worker faces repeated harassment
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Oct 5, 2023
- Event Description
Vietnamese authorities recently prevented Ms. Ngo Thi Oanh Phuong from leaving the country. She is widely known on social networks through her Facebook account named Phuong Ngo because she often speaks out against many social issues and has enthusiastically fought against negativity for many years.
According to VOA's own source, Tan Son Nhat International Airport Border Gate Police did not let Ms. Phuong leave the country early on the morning of October 5 after she had a boarding pass to fly from Ho Chi Minh City to Ho Chi Minh City. Narita airport of the Japanese capital.
Two representatives of the border police and a representative of Japan Airlines made a record of "temporary exit" for Ms. Phuong, the source said. The minutes that VOA saw read that she was not allowed to leave Vietnam "for national defense and security reasons" based on an article in the law on the entry and exit of Vietnamese citizens issued in 2019. 2019.
The minutes did not say in more detail why Ms. Phuong was not allowed to leave the country. VOA tried to contact Ms. Phuong and the relevant police agency to learn more but could not connect.
Ms. Phuong, 42 years old, permanently residing in Ho Chi Minh City, has been famous on social networks for many years due to her active criticism, fight against injustice and many volunteer activities, of which she especially stands out. combat road toll booths located in unreasonable locations and provide relief to those in need due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to VOA's research, Article No. 36 of Vietnam's 2019 law on entry and exit sets out regulations on 9 cases of temporary exit, including "people whom the authorities have grounds to believe that the Their exit affects national defense and security" stated in section 9.
Other cases temporarily banned from leaving the country are suspects and defendants; People involved in prison sentences are on probation; person with civil court obligations ; person who must fulfill tax obligations, etc.
Before the case of Ms. Ngo Thi Oanh Phuong, the Vietnamese government banned many other activists, activists, dissidents and critics from leaving the country such as Dr. Nguyen Quang A and lawyer Vo An Don. , Cao Dai follower Nguyen Xuan Mai, Protestant follower Doctor Eban, priest Truong Hoang Vu.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Oct 5, 2023
- Event Description
Poet Nguyen Thi Phuong, pen name Chieu Anh, reported to Project88 that she has twice been “invited” by Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) police to answer questions about her active support for political prisoners. At the first session on June 21, 2023, Phuong was asked about her middleman role of receiving money and then forwarding it to the families of prisoners. They also questioned her about a motorcycle she donated to the wife of political prisoner Huynh Truong Ca. Phuong told Project88 the police tried to frame her action as receiving funds sent from abroad as “support for terrorism.”
At the second meeting on October 5, she was once again grilled regarding what the police called “terrorism support funds.” Additionally, they asked about her sharing articles by RFA and former political prisoner Pham Thanh Nghien, who emigrated to the United States earlier this year. The police wanted Chieu Anh to sign a note promising not to repost content that has not been cleared by state censors, but she refused. Phuong was fined 7.5M dong ($300) for unspecified “violations of the cybersecurity law,” but she refused to pay, saying she did not violate any regulations. Watch our short interview with Chieu Anh from 2019 here.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Artist, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Oct 4, 2023
- Event Description
The Appeal Court has sentenced Phonchai Wimonsuphawong, 38, to 2 years in prison for royal defamation and violation of the Computer-Related Crime Act over a Facebook post from October 2020.
Phonchai was charged after a complaint was filed against him with the police in Yala’s Bannang Sata District by Watcharin Niwatsawat, a member of an ultra-royalist group. Watcharin accused Phonchai of royal defamation in 4 Facebook posts made in October – November 2020, including a video clip about monarchy reform.
The Yala Provincial Court previously found Phonchai guilty of royal defamation and violation of the Computer-Related Crime Act for the video clip, but dismissed the remaining counts of the charges relating to 2 other posts. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison, reduced to 2 because he gave useful testimony.
The Court ruled that because the content of the video clip implies that the King is not politically neutral, it is insulting and can cause doubt among the public, whereas the King is inviolable and therefore above all criticism.
Phonchai filed an appeal. However, the Appeal Court ruled yesterday (4 October) to uphold the Yala Provincial Court’s ruling, sentencing him to 2 years in prison.
According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), the Appeal Court ruled that criticism of the King damages national security and can cause disorder in the society, and because Section 6 of the Constitution states that the King is held in a position of “revered worship” and cannot be violated, even criticism made in good faith is an offence.
Phonchai was later granted bail pending an appeal to the Supreme Court on a security of 112,500 baht. TLHR noted that the Yala Provincial Court granted him bail without forwarding his bail request to the Supreme Court, and he was released almost immediately after his sentencing.
The 38-year-old comes from an indigenous Karen community in Mae Hong Son’s Mae La Noi District. After leaving home as a teenager, Phonchai worked in a restaurant in Chiang Mai in exchange for food and accommodation. He then decided to move to Bangkok to find work. He said in an interview with TLHR that he spent around a year homeless before getting a job as a security guard. Before he was charged, he had been working as a salesman, going from house to house selling mobile phones or helping real estate agents.
In addition to 5 other charges from joining protests in Bangkok, he is facing royal defamation charges filed against him in Yala and in Chiang Mai, and since he lives and work in Bangkok, having to go to court have been difficult for him, as he lost time he could have been working, and it cost him a considerable amount of money.
In March 2023, the Chiang Mai Provincial Court found Phonchai guilty of royal defamation, sedition, and violation of the Computer-Related Crime Act for 4 Facebook posts made between 18 October and 19 November 2020. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and was detained pending appeal for several days before being released.
This complaint against him was filed by Jessada Thunkeaw, a former protest guard for the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), who accused Phonchai of 4 Facebook posts about the King’s involvement in politics and inviting people to join protests. However, Phonchai said that he did not make the posts, as his Facebook account was stolen at the time.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Thailand: indigenous people's rights defender sentenced
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Oct 3, 2023
- Event Description
Police in New Delhi have arrested the editor of a news website and one of its administrators after raiding the homes of journalists working for the site, which has been critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist-led government.
NewsClick founder and editor Prabir Purkayastha and human resources chief Amit Chakravarty were arrested late Tuesday. Earlier, some journalists associated with the site were detained and had their digital devices seized during extensive raids that were part of an investigation into whether the news outlet had received funds from China. NewsClick denied any financial misconduct.
Suman Nalwa, a police spokesperson, said the arrests were made under an anti-terrorism law.
The government has used the wide-ranging law to stifle dissent and to jail activists, journalists and Modi's critics, some of whom have spent years in jail before going to trial.
Nalwa said at least 46 people were questioned during the raids and their devices, including laptops and cellphones, and documents were taken away for examination.
They included current and former employees, freelance contributors and cartoonists.
Website accused of 'anti-India agenda'
NewsClick was founded in 2009 and is seen as a rare Indian news outlet willing to criticize Modi. It was also raided by Indian financial enforcement officials in 2021, after which a court blocked the authorities from taking any "coercive measures" against the website.
Indian authorities brought a case against the site and its journalists on August 17, weeks after a report in The New York Times alleged it had received funds from an American millionaire who had funded the spread of "Chinese propaganda."
That same month, India's junior minister for information and broadcasting, Anurag Thakur, accused NewsClick of spreading an "anti-India agenda," citing The New York Times report, and of working with the opposition Indian National Congress party. Both NewsClick and the Congress party denied the accusations.
Hundreds protest raids
On Wednesday, hundreds of journalists and activists in New Delhi held protests against the raids on NewsClick and the broader crackdown on independent media under Modi. Some carried placards with slogans such as, "Stop attacks on media. Stop threatening media."
"Anybody who speaks against the regime is deemed to be anti-national," said Manini Chatterjee, a journalist who was part of one protest. "This has been a long-term strategy, and these events are the latest in this."
Media watchdogs such as the Committee to Protect Journalists denounced the arrests and raids.
"This is the latest attack on press freedom in India," Beh Lih Yi, CPJ's Asia program coordinator, said in a statement. "We urge the Indian government to immediately cease these actions, as journalists must be allowed to work without fear of intimidation or reprisal."
The Editors Guild of India said it was worried the raids were intended to "create a general atmosphere of intimidation under the shadow of draconian laws."
In February, authorities searched the BBC's New Delhi and Mumbai offices over accusations of tax evasion a few days after it broadcast a documentary in Britain that examined Modi's role in anti-Muslim riots in 2002.
A number of other news organizations also have been investigated for financial impropriety. Independent media in India battle censorship and harassment and often face arrests while doing their work.
'Nothing to fear,' says journalist
India's anti-terrorism law has stringent requirements for bail, which mean individuals often spend months, sometimes years, in custody without being found guilty. Successive Indian governments have invoked the law, but it has been used with increasing frequency in recent years.
Reporters Without Borders, an advocacy group for journalists, ranked India 161st in its press freedom rankings this year, writing that the situation has deteriorated from "problematic" to "very bad."
Some independent Indian think tanks and international groups such as Amnesty International and Oxfam India also have been raided and had their access to funding blocked in recent years.
Journalist Abhisar Sharma, whose house was raided and electronic devices seized Tuesday, said he won't back down from doing his job.
"Nothing to fear," Sharma wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "And I will keep questioning people in power and particularly those who are afraid of simple questions."
The raids against NewsClick also drew criticism from India's political opposition.
"These are not the actions of a 'mother of democracy' but of an insecure and autocratic state," opposition lawmaker Shashi Tharoor wrote on X. "The government has disgraced itself and our democracy today."
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Oct 3, 2023
- Event Description
The Gorontalo Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) condemned the obstruction of journalistic work by Gorontalo Police officers on Tuesday (3/10/2023).
The act of obstruction occurred when journalists from Tribun, Antara, and Dulohupa were covering the case of the death of one of IAIN Sultan Amai Gorontalo's freshmen, which the family and their attorney wanted to report to the Gorontalo Police.
While taking photos and videos, a number of journalists were suddenly prohibited from taking pictures or covering inside the SPKT office of the Gorontalo Police.
Because of this treatment, the journalists decided not to record or take pictures anymore and chose to leave the SPKT room. They were forced to sit outside the building while waiting for the victim's family to report.
Some time later, after the victim's family lawyer left the SPKT room, the journalists returned to conduct interviews. During the interview, the police officer suddenly prohibited the journalists from recording and asked for the recording to be deleted.
Journalists were prohibited from taking pictures with the SPKT building in the background. The officer asked the journalists to conduct the interview elsewhere, and asked not to take the writing or the SPKT building.
The reason was because he was worried that there would be public misunderstanding in understanding the news. Another reason given by the police officer was that the report from the citizen being covered by the journalist was not yet clear.
Wawan Akuba, Chairman of AJI Gorontalo condemned the action. According to him, freedom of the press is not limited by the clarity of the report. Journalists have the right to cover an event, whether it is a clear event or an unclear event.
In addition, the actions of the police officers were also intimidating. The police officer clearly prohibited journalists from taking pictures or recording in the SPKT area with an arrogant tone.
"This can cause fear and anxiety for journalists in carrying out their duties," said Wawan.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Oct 3, 2023
- Event Description
Lawyers from the Mullaitivu Bar Association are continuing their strike for the second consecutive day, demanding justice for Judge T. Saravanarajah, who resigned from all his positions due to death threats linked to his verdicts in the Kurunthurmalai archaeology case.
The Mullaitivu Bar Association has announced that the strike will continue until they receive assurance that judicial officers can safely and independently perform their legal duties. The lawyers marched from the Mullaitivu courts complex to the Mullaitivu main junction and back to the courts complex, maintaining a peaceful protest.
Intelligence officers and Police were seen openly photographing and recording the protestors in an attempt to continue intimidating the legal professionals.
This indefinite strike began on October 2nd and has seen lawyers from Mannar, Kilinochchi, and Mannar joining in support. Lawyers from across the North-East will also participate in the protest by wearing black face masks while carrying out their duties for the next two weeks.
In Mannar, civil society activists gathered at the Mannar bus stand, expressing their lack of trust in the numerous investigation committees formed by the government for various issues in addition to being in solidarity with the ongoing protests throughout the North-East. The strike is emblematic of growing concerns over the independence and safety of judicial officers in Sri Lanka.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Lawyer, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Oct 3, 2023
- Event Description
Opposition Leader MP Sajith Premadasa today questioned the summoning of Neth FM journalists before the Parliament Privileges Committee over allegations raised by Minister of Transport, Highways, and Mass Media Bandula Gunawardena.
A complaint has been filed by the Minister, accusing that his Parliamentary privileges have been violated due to an alleged false news report that had been published by Neth Fm and several other local media.
Accordingly, Neth FM journalists have been summoned before the Parliament Privileges Committee today for an inquiry into the matter.
Condemning the move, MP Premadasa told Parliament that it was a breach of media freedom.
He further called on the Prime Minister to intervene and prevent such action being taken against journalists.
Commenting on Minister Bandula Gunawardena’s complaint, Neth FM has responded stating that the views shared during the broadcast was that of a trade union leader and are not that of the media institution or its journalists.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Oct 2, 2023
- Event Description
The Fort Magistrate's Court issued an order on several activists, including Duminda Nagamuwa, and Venerable Galwewa Siridhamma Thero preventing them from entering certain locations in Colombo.
The order was issued following submissions made to court by the OIC of the Fort Police.
The order by the Fort Magistrate's Court prevents eight people, including the Covenor of the Inter-University Student's Federation Madushan Indrajith, Inter-University Bhikku Federation Venerable Galwewa Siridhamma Thero, Organizer of the Labour Struggle Center Duminda Nagamuwa, General Secretary of the Ceylon Teachers' Union, and those accompanying them, from entering certain areas in Colombo from 11 AM to 6 PM.
The prohibited areas are the President's Office, Ceramic Junction to the NSA Roundabout, and the NSA Roundabout to Baladaksha Mawatha.
The court order notes that the said individuals are prohibited from entering the said areas, should not cause damage to public and private property, and should also not engage in acts that incite the people.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Oct 2, 2023
- Event Description
Officials of the National Investigating Agency (NIA) arrived in groups of four and five in 62 locations across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on October 2, in coordinated raids at the homes of human rights activists and researchers.
The raid teams – comprising of NIA officers from Delhi and the local police – arrived between 5.30 am and 6 am on the day, and stayed at the locations till afternoon.
One such raid was carried out at the house of a senior lawyer and rights activist Durba Suresh Kumar. Suresh, also a member of the Indian Association of People’s Lawyer, told The Wire that he was woken up by the NIA sleuths.
“I was woken up by the officers. They had flown down, along with panch witnesses. But the local police were not informed,” Suresh said. The local police, Suresh says, joined much later. From Suresh’s house, the NIA seized his phone and a 12-page pamphlet of the People’s War Group, dating back to 1993.
Suresh says for the longest period, he was not aware of the nature of the raid and the exact case in connection with which it was being conducted. The NIA later informed him that the ongoing raids were a part of the “Munchingiputtu CPI (Maoist) conspiracy case” – in connection with which similar raids were carried out at the residences of many rights activists and academics in 2021.
Suresh was served a notice under section 160 of the CrPC, asking him to be present before the NIA as a witness. This, Suresh points out, is both “unlawful” and “unethical”.
“I am a counsel for many persons named in the case. I represent them in the high court and now the NIA wants me to appear before them as a witness in the same case,” Suresh told The Wire over a phone call.
This is not the first time that a lawyer has been named an accused or asked to be a witness in the same case they have appeared as counsel in, before a court. Surendra Gadling, a Nagpur-based lawyer and an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, was also made an accused in one of the cases in which he had defended an accused in the conflict-affected Vidarbha region in Maharashtra.
HRF functionaries targeted
Of the 62 locations raided, 53 are in Andhra Pradesh and nine are in Telangana. Along with the raids on October 2, the NIA also arrested one Chandra Narasimhulu, allegedly a state executive committee member of the Pragathiseela Karmika Samakya (PKS), an alleged front organisation of the banned CPI (Maoist). Narasimhulu was arrested from Satya Sai district in Andhra Pradesh. Along with his arrest, the NIA has claimed to have found a pistol, 14 rounds of ammunition, and Rs 13 lakhs in a case from another spot in Kadapa district. Maoist literature and pamphlets were also seized, the NIA has claimed.
Most of those raided were unsure if they are being looked at as suspects or witnesses in the case. The house of K. Sudha, a state executive committee member of Human Rights Forum, was also raided. Sudha, who reaches at a state law university, said the NIA has taken her phone away.
As raids took place at Sudha’s house, V.S. Krishna, the convener of the HRF’s Andhra Pradesh and Telangana units reached Sudha’s residence. Krishna’s house was raided in 2021 in the same case. Krishna told The Wire that he got calls from two other HRF members, who said that the NIA broke into their houses because they were not home when officials arrived. “I tried contacting other members. When Sudha did not pick up the call, I knew the NIA had reached her place too,” Krishna said.
The two other person’s whose houses were raided when they were away are HRF’s AP state general secretary Y. Rajesh in Amalapuram and the organisation’s state vice-president K.V. Jagannadha Rao in Srikakulam. Rajesh, who was on his way back from Bengaluru, when The Wire called him late on October 2, said that the NIA contacted him a little before 6 am. “They came with a notice under Section 165 (2) of the CrPc, which authorised them to search the premise. Some of my neighbours went to my place and the NIA conducted the raid,” Rajesh said, adding that the NIA has not made any seizures from his house.
Books, vernacular literature
However, from another HRF functionary’s place, the NIA has picked up over 60 books. Sudha, who shared information about the raid, said, “They basically picked up every book and document that had red font on it.” Krishna said the officers did not know to read Telugu. “Most books and our write-ups are in the local language. They mindlessly picked things up and later call it incriminating,” he added.
Besides HRF and IAPL, houses of the members of the Civil Liberties Committee (CLC), the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP), and the Revolutionary Writers Association (RWA), were also raided among others. The NIA has accused veteran rights activists and organisations of acting as “fronts” to the CPI (Maoist) organisation, banned in 2009. This claim has been vehemently opposed by rights organisations. HRF has called the NIA’s claim “a plain canard”. “Seeking to criminalise our human rights activity will never succeed. HRF is not an appendage of the Maoists or any other political party. HRF was formed on October 11, 1998 and we have turned 25 this month. We shall persist in spreading a human rights culture in society with the certitude that a broad-based and truly independent human rights movement is desirable and possible,” HRF said, in a press statement released earlier today, October 3.
The locations in Andhra Pradesh subjected to raids are in Guntur, Palanadu, Vijayawada, Rajhmundry, Prakasam, Bapatla, Eluru, East Godawari, Dr B.R. Ambedkar Konasema, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Nellore, Tirupati, Kadapa, Anantpur, and Kurnool districts. The NIA said that the nine locations in Telangana include districts of Hyderabad, Mahabubnagar, Hanumakonda, Ranga Reddy, and Adilabad.
The investigation, first registered and handled by the local state police in 2020, was taken up by the NIA in 2021. Popularly known as the ‘Munchingiputtu case’, it deals with alleged Maoist movement and literature in a village of the Alluri Sitharama Raju district. The NIA has filed a chargesheet against seven persons in that case.
One of the immediate causes for worry expressed by those raided is around the seizure of electronic devices. Most of them are lawyers and researchers and very heavily reliant on their electronic devices for their work. “Seizure of electronic devices including mobiles without even providing cloned copies to the owners amounts to immediate lack of access to precious work-related material and contacts. It leads to an overwhelming loss,” the HRF statement reads.
“To confiscate these devices in such a sudden manner results in a stunning dispossession. It is not only a deprival of valuable property of the functionaries concerned but also of their right to livelihood, privacy and human dignity.”
- Impact of Event
- 8
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Lawyer, NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 2, 2023
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Court has blocked three environmental activists, currently on probation for convictions related to their advocacy, from leaving the country to receive a prestigious international award.
In a letter published on Monday, the court’s prosecutor Chroeng Khmao stated that the trip was “not necessary” and that the activists were “not allowed to go abroad.”
Last week, Thon Ratha, Long Kunthea and Phoun Keoreaksmey with the Cambodian environmental activist group Mother Nature received an invitation to a November ceremony in Sweden to accept the Right Livelihood Award, known as the Alternative Nobel. The group has worked to expose environmental destruction in the country over the last ten years, including logging and sand mining.
“Undeterred by threats, harassment and arrests, Mother Nature Cambodia has emerged as a powerful voice for environmental preservation and democracy in Cambodia,” a press release from Right Livelihood states.
The three activists were arrested in 2020 and convicted with incitement for their involvement in planning a one-woman march to raise awareness of the impact of filling in lakes for development. They were released in 2021 after serving 14 months in prison, but are still under court supervision until 2025.
They were also handed a new charge of ‘plotting’ in 2021 in connection with an ongoing case concerning the documentation of sewage being released into the Tonle Sap River.
“This is a cruel thing for the judiciary in Cambodia to deny us as young people working on the protection of natural resources and the environment,” said Ratha, one of the award winners. “The reason that the prosecutor gave, ‘not necessary,’ that’s a ridiculous reason because we were going to go abroad to get a global award that is not easy for any group or individual or country to get.”
He believes the decision will give the international community the impression that Prime Minister Hun Manet is following in the footsteps of his father, and will negatively impact Cambodia. While “liberal countries” are getting along with the new government now, he said this could change when restrictions on freedoms continue.
“The case against us as Mother Nature is clearly a political issue,” he said “It is a restriction on the rights and freedoms of young people who dare to tell the truth, dare to be angry with their own national wealth, dare to expose corruption and the inactivity of officials on the extraction of natural resources.”
Appearing on stage to receive the award could have been a source of inspiration for young Cambodians, he said, showing that people from a small country can do great things. The activists plan to have representatives accept the award in person on their behalf.
“Right Livelihood awards, supports and honours Laureates regardless of whether they can attend the Award Presentation,” said Sydney Nelson, a communications officer for the organization.
Soeng Senkaruna, the human rights group Adhoc’s senior investigator, said Adhoc was very sorry to see the court’s rejection of the request and still insists that the court should be more open-minded.
“This decision is one that discourages young people who love natural resources and actively participate in their defense,” he said. “We are all Cambodians, but we do not value the Cambodian youth who protect all natural resources.” Y Rin and Plang Sophal, spokespeople for Phnom Penh Municipal Court, both declined to comment.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Oct 1, 2023
- Event Description
Editor-In-Chief at Purwasandesh daily Ganja Bahadur Dahal and his reporter Ghanshyam Bhandari have been receiving threat of attack for reporting news since October 1. The daily is published from Jhapa, Koshi Province.
Journalists duo received threat from a chairperson of a cooperation organization Sankalpa Lingden for publishing critical news about the cooperative organization. News with title- Cash of depositers missing was published on September 30 based on the information shared by one of the victims of the cooperative.
Editor Dahal shared with Freedom Forum that reporter Bhandari wrote the news on the basis of information shared by a victim to the reporters. “Following news publication, Lingden called on my mobile and asked why I published the news. He also asked me to meet him to sort out the matter”, Dahal said.
“I met Lingden on October 3 after his continuous threatening calls. In meeting he said either I call report Bhandari to apologize for reporting news or I will be kidnapped. I denied to call Bhandari. However, he did not do any harm to me”, added Dahal. It was learnt that Lingden had also sent messages warning other journalists that Dahal and Bhandari would be kidnapped if they didnot apologize. Again on October 5, Lingden sent a copy of a complaint lodged at area police office requesting to take action against journalists.
Freedom Forum condemns the threat issued to journalists for covering news. Harassing journalists for doing their job is a gross violation of press freedom. The concerned is urged to adopt legitimate measures for any discontent over news.
Lately, there are problems rife on cooperatives (saving and credit organizations) that they have not been able to pay money to the depositers owing to financial crunch. It has resulted in conflict between the cooperative runners/ owners and depositers.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Sep 30, 2023
- Event Description
A Thai court denied bail today for an activist lawyer sentenced to four years in prison for royal insults, his lawyer said, in one of the Southeast Asian country’s highest-profile lese-majeste cases.
Human rights lawyer Arnon Nampa, 39, is widely known for a speech during pro-democracy protests in 2020 when he broke taboos by calling for public debate on the role of Thailand’s powerful king.
Arnon denies wrongdoing.
He was sentenced on Tuesday in the first of 14 cases alleging he violated Article 112 of the criminal code, as the royal insults law is known.
The appeal court read out an order today rejecting Arnon’s bail request due to concerns that “if bail was given he would escape”, said his lawyer, Krisadang Nutcharus.
Krisadang said he would consult with Arnon on whether to make another bail request or appeal the order to the Supreme Court.
Thailand’s lese-majeste law shields the palace from criticism and carries a maximum jail sentence of 15 years for each perceived insult of the monarchy, a punishment widely condemned by international human rights groups as extreme.
Arnon was a leader of a youth-led democracy movement that held protests in Bangkok in 2020 that drew hundreds of thousands of people demanding the removal of royalist then-prime minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, who had seized power in a coup.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Thailand: pro-democracy lawyer sentenced to 4 years
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Sep 29, 2023
- Event Description
A 60-year old Vietnamese activist was sentenced to six years in prison for making a short drunken tirade video that cursed the Communist Party and revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh, the country’s first leader, his lawyer told Radio Free Asia.
The Hanoi People’s Court handed down the punishment Friday to Nguyen Minh Son, saying that the video he made on Dec. 31, 2021, was “anti-state propaganda.”
In the live-streamed video, Son stood outside the same court, reacting the trial of activist and citizen journalist Le Trong Hung, who that day had gotten five years for violating Article 117, a vaguely-written law that is frequently used by authorities to stifle peaceful critics of the country’s one-party communist government.
Almost 10 months later, Son found himself under arrest under the same charge.
His lawyer, Ngo Anh Tuan, said that Son was drunk at the time and admitted that he had acknowledged making mistakes.
“Mr. Son admitted all his acts, saying that he had made mistakes,” Tuan told RFA Vietnamese. “He was accused of making a video clip, only one clip, which he live-streamed and disseminated online.”
Tuan said the jail term was too harsh considering that his client had only made one video.
He said that he had tried to help lower the penalty for his client by requesting the judging panel to look at his case from another angle, but his request was rejected.
“I presented my analysis and judgment, recommending that his act be handled in a more appropriate way, and it could be an administrative penalty,” Tuan said.
Pleading for mercy
Son had been an active participant in many demonstrations in Hanoi between 2011 and 2018 over issues ranging from China’s claims to territories in the South China Sea, to the Hanoi city government cutting down ancient trees located downtown. He also frequently expressed his views on Vietnam’s social issues using his Facebook account.
According to Son’s friend, his arrest on Sept. 28, 2022, was surprising because so much time had passed since he had been involved in any protests.
When Son was allowed to say a few words at the end of the trial, he apologized, expressing his regret and requesting for a penalty mitigation, Tuan said, adding that he was not sure whether Son would make an appeal or not.
Son’s wife Nguyen Thi Phuoc told RFA that she was prevented from attending the trial. Security guards would not allow her to enter the courtroom until nearly noon after the trial had ended, she said. She only saw her husband the moment the police were escorting him to leave the courtroom.
No freedom of speech
Vietnam is a one-party Communist state that clamps down harshly on those who criticize the government.
In another similar case, police on Friday in the southern province of Binh Duong detained Tran Dac Than on charges of using his social media accounts to create posts and share articles that “abused democratic freedoms to violate the state’s interests or the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals,” in violation of Article 331 of Vietnam’s penal code.
Rights groups have said that Article 331, like Article 117, is often employed by the government to silence dissenting voices and repress the people.
According to state media reports that cited the police, the government had summoned Than to warn him about similar acts in 2013.
Vietnam has arrested at least 18 people and convicted nine for violating Article 331 since January this year, according to RFA’s statistics.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 29, 2023
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Appeal Court today announced its verdict upholding criminal charges against four out of 10 people who were arrested in front of Phnom Penh's Yak Jin garment factory on 2 January 2014, one day before the violence that took place along Veng Sreng Boulevard in January 2014. The strike was notoriously shut down on 3 January 2014 when mixed government forces opened fire on the striking workers.
The 10 workers were convicted by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in 2014 of instigating intentional acts of violence with aggravating circumstances, contrary to Articles 28 and 218 of the Criminal Code. Out of the 10 defendants, only four (Chan Puthisak, a Boeung Kak Lake land activist; Theng Savoeun, President of the Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community (CCFC); Sokun Sambath Piseth, a former staff member at Center for Labor Rights of Cambodia; and Vorn Pao, President of the Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association (IDEA)) appealed their sentences.
The Appeal Court upheld the Municipal Court’s decision to sentence Theng Savoeun to four years’ imprisonment, as well as its sentences of four years and six months for Chan Puthisak, Sokun Sambath Piseth, and Vorn Pao, all of which were suspended by the lower court. All four had already spent between 3 January and 30 May 2014 in prison. The Appeal Court also dropped the 8 million riel fine (around US $2,000) imposed by the lower court on all four defendants.
In the violence on Veng Sreng Boulevard in 2014, mixed government forces shot dead at least four civilians, wounded at least 38 others, and arrested 23 workers and human rights defenders. Khem Sophath, a 15-year-old garment worker, was tragically wounded and then disappeared from Veng Sreng Boulevard. Sophath remains missing to this day, and civil society continues to call for accountability for the violence and his disappearance. To date, the government has failed to provide any kind of thorough, independent and impartial investigation. Arrests of other workers have also been met with farcical appeals in recent years.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Labour rights defender, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Sep 29, 2023
- Event Description
An interdistrict court in Astana has rejected a complaint by an unregistered movement called Atazhurt protesting the Kazakh Justice Ministry's refusal to grant it registration, according to the group's local representative.
Kapar Ahatuly said the special court concluded on September 29 that the complaint was groundless based on the presence of deceased people on Atazhurt's petition for registration as well as an Excel formatting mistake.
Ahatuly dismissed the accusation that the list of at least 700 petitioners might include any dead people.
Contacted by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, the Justice Ministry declined to comment.
Atazhurt was started by Serikzhan Bilash, an ethnic Kazakh from Xinjiang who moved to Kazakhstan in 2000 and received citizenship in 2011, and later helped highlight alleged mass abuses against Uyghurs in western China.
Kazakh officials have bristled at China's treatment of ethnic Kazakhs and Uyghurs but have avoided joining international condemnations of Beijing for the alleged mass roundups and brutality.
China is a major trade partner with Kazakhstan and a significant investor in Kazakh projects.
Bilash led the Atazhurt Eriktileri (Volunteers of the Fatherland) group, which in 2018-19 staged several gatherings of ethnic Kazakhs from Xinjiang who have resettled in Kazakhstan and asked for help securing the release of their relatives and friends from reeducation camps in Xinjiang.
Kazakh authorities in March 2019 arrested Bilash and charged him with inciting ethnic hatred. They held him in custody for five months before fining and releasing him.
Bilash later fled Kazakhstan.
Kazakh officials reject accusations that they withhold registrations for political reasons.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Minority Rights, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Sep 29, 2023
- Event Description
A veteran labor organizer was killed by elements of the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) in Binangonan, Rizal province on September 29.
According to initial reports received by labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), 67-year old Jude Thaddeus Fernandez was killed in a firefight after police served a search warrant in his home in Binangonan. The officers claimed that Fernandez fired upon them, forcing them to fight back.
KMU, however, disputes this narrative. “Fernandez was organizing workers in communities to enjoin them to campaign for wage increases and other workers’ rights,” the group said in its statement. “He is a labor organizer and does not bear arms.”
A fact-finding mission led by KMU, progressive mass organizations, human rights organizations, Gabriela Women’s Party representative Arlene Brosas and former Bayan Muna representative Ferdinand Gaite indicated that there were “no signs of resistance on the part of Fernandez when he was gunned down by persons who identified as elements of the CIDG.”
KMU Secretary-General Jerome Adonis described the killing as “terrorist-esque.” He also noted that Fernandez’ remains have yet to be released to his family.
“It has been five days since he was killed and brought elsewhere, and now, [the PNP and CIDG] are refusing to give [the remains],” Adonis said in a statement by KMU. “Ka Jude’s friends and family only wish to mourn in peace and know the truth behind this brutal crime by the police.”
Fernandez was a veteran activist and labor organizer who first started organizing during the Marcos Sr. dictatorship. He began as a student activist in the University of the Philippines Los Baños and was a member of the UP Student Catholic Action. He started organizing workers in the Southern Tagalog region before moving on to organizing nationwide.
In a KMU-led indignation rally in front of the PNP National Headquarters in Camp Crame, Adonis said that Fernandez “was old, but he gave his entire 67 years to serve the working class.”
Since 2016, there have been 72 victims of extrajudicial killings from the workers’ sector nationwide, with Fernandez being the latest. KMU stressed that there have been four killings since the International Labor Organization conducted its High-Level Tripartite Mission in January 2023.
“The attacks against organizers and unionists are attacks on the legitimate campaigns of the workers and the people for wage increases, regular jobs, freedom to unionize and other people’s rights,” KMU said. The group noted that Fernandez’ killing came at a time of increased calls for wage increases, as well as to end government corruption and human rights violations.
In Rizal province, the minimum wage ranges from P385 ($6) to P520 ($9) per day. Ibon Foundation estimates that a family of five needs PHP1,108 daily to “live decently.” Meanwhile, coalitions in CALABARZON like the Workers Initiative for Wage Increase are lobbying for a P750 ($13) across-the-board wage increase.
Women’s alliance Gabriela also condemned Fernandez’ killing, stating that the incident is part of the “US-Marcos regime’s whole-of-nation approach which has only led to red-tagging, trumped-up charges, abductions, and killing of civilian advocates.”
The Fernandez slay happened just as news of three Indigenous People’s rights advocates were abducted by elements of the 203rd Infantry Brigade in Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro province. According to human rights watchdog Karapatan-Southern Tagalog, Job David, Peter Del Monte Jr., and Alia Encela were investigating reports of human rights violations in the Bongabong-Bansud area when they were forcibly taken by the military.
KMU is calling on the ILO and the Commission on Human Rights to “swiftly respond and attain justice.” They also call on all “workers and the people to protest and demand accountability and justice from the PNP-CIDG and the entire Marcos Jr. administration.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Sep 29, 2023
- Event Description
Relatives of two missing activists demanded that their abducted loved ones be surfaced in a press conference on Wednesday, October 11.
“Whoever is holding my brother, please surface him now,” Nica Ortiz said. She was with her sister Nicole along with Karapatan-Central Luzon Spokesperson Danilo Cadano and Karapatan legal counsel Maria Sol Taule. They also sent letters to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on the same day to ask for assistance in locating their missing brothers.
Activists Norman Ortiz and Lee Sudario were reported missing on September 29.
According to Nica, her brother told her that he will be going to Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija on September 28. The following day (September 29), Norman texted his sister at around 1:00 a.m. informing her that he is with Lee Sudario and that he would send a message when they leave Bantug village in Gabaldon. But Nica said Norman did not message her after that.
Norman’s family then asked Karapatan-Central Luzon for assistance. They went to the area of the incident on October 2. They found out that around 10 armed men wearing fatigue abducted two men around 1:00 am to 2:00 am on September 29.
“A witness said he was not able to see the face because it was dark, but the description fits my brother. Witnesses who also live nearby said that they were frightened to go out and check because they saw that the men had firearms,” Nicole said, adding that at that hour the dogs barked loudly which was unusual.
According to those who witnessed the incident, two men were forced into a van. One of the individuals, they said, attempted to flee to a nearby cemetery but got caught and was dragged back to a waiting van.
“They said that it is very seldom for a van to go to their area that is why they would immediately notice it,” Nica added.
They also went to the barangay hall to file a blotter report of the incident but they were told that they should file it instead at the place of residence of Norman and Sudario.
On October 4, the family of Norman went to the military camp of the 91st Infantry Battalion in Baler, Aurora and on Oct. 6 to Fort Magsaysay. Similar to the experiences of families of other missing activists, Nica said that they were not allowed to look inside the camps. Authorities also declined to sign a certification stating that the missing persons are not in their custody. The said certification is stated under the Anti-Disappearance Act of 2012.
Nica said that prior to his brother’s abduction, soldiers would go to their house looking for him.
Karapatan Central Luzon also said that Sudario was accused of being a member of the New People’s Army and was among those charged with the anti-terrorism law and crimes against humanity in November 2022.
Alarming trend
Taule said that they have observed an alarming trend that those being abducted were later surfaced by the authorities as rebel returnees.
Taule said this was the case in Jhed Tamano and Jonila Castro who were also presented by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) as former guerrillas. In a press conference organized by NTF-ELCAC, they denied it and stressed that they were abducted.
The reported missing youth activists Michael Cedrick Casaño and Patricia Nicole Cierva were also presented by the military as surrenderers.
In recent reports, the three indigenous peoples rights advocates who were reportedly abducted in Mindoro were also presented by the NTF-ELCAC as surrenderers.
“We are alarmed with the pattern that we observed lately because we don’t know what happened to those who were abducted days prior to their surfacing,” Taule said.
As relayed by Tamano and Castro, as well as Dyan Gumanao and Armand Dayoha, they were kept in a safe house days prior to their surfacing. In Gumanao and Dayoha’s case, they said they underwent psychological and physical torture.
“This means that during the days that they were held captive in a safe house, they cannot be accessed by their families and their lawyers. And then later on they would execute affidavits without the assistance of a counsel of their own choice,” she said.
“For us, affidavits like that have no bearing because, like in the case of Jhed and Jonila, it was not executed in the presence of their chosen lawyers and was executed under a very coercive environment. You would admit everything they tell you when you are in the hands of people who hold your life, that is the logical effect of this kind of situation,” Taule said.
Taule said they and the families are in the process of filing a legal remedy to pressure the authorities to surface Norman and Sudario.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Sep 28, 2023
- Event Description
A 20-year-old man has been sentenced to three years in prison on a royal defamation charge after allegedly painting graffiti about monarchy reform during a protest at Din Daeng on 13 September 2021.
On 28 September 2023, the criminal court sentenced Weeraphap “Rif” Wongsaman to 3 years in prison without suspension, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.
The graffiti read ‘The monarchy should be reformed to be under the constitution’. The court stated that the painted message included offensive words and showed the intention to insult the King, causing damage to the King.
On the same day, the criminal court issued an order to submit Weeraphap’s bail request to the appeal court for consideration. The process takes 2-3 days, during which time Weeraphap is to be detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison.
Weeraphap participated in the protest at the Din Daeng intersection on 13 September 2021. He was arrested on 15 September 2021 while eating noodles and was taken to Chaiyapruek Police Station in Nonthaburi Province to file the report. He was then detained at Paholyothin Police Station in Bangkok. Weeraphap denied the allegation.
In addition to the royal defamation charge, he faced other four charges: violating the Emergency Decree, participating in a gathering of more than 10 people, refusing to disperse after an official order, and obstructing police operations. All four charges were dismissed.
A witness said based on appearance and clothing in a video clip from that day compared to pictures on Weeraphap’s social media, Weeraphap was identified as the perpetrator.
Another witness, who is an inquiry officer in this case, stated that he solely knew Wiraphap as the perpetrator from the report. When asked to examine the picture in the report, he could not confirm whether it was actually Weeraphap or not.
Weeraphap insisted that on the day of the incident, he did not participate in the protest and claimed that the person in the report was not him.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Thailand: pro-democracy demonstrator arrested
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Sep 28, 2023
- Event Description
A leading Vietnamese climate activist has been jailed for tax evasion, the latest environmentalist put behind bars by the country’s communist government.
A court in Ho Chi Minh City sentenced Hoang Thi Minh Hong to three years in prison for dodging $275,000 in taxes related to her environmental campaign group Change, her lawyer, Nguyen Van Tu, said.
The 50-year-old is at least the fifth environmental campaigner to be jailed on tax evasion charges in the last two years as Vietnam’s authoritarian government steps up a crackdown on activists.
Her husband, Hoang Vinh Nam, said he was “disappointed” at the verdict.
“The sentence given to Hong today was too heavy,” he said. “I think it was unfair to Hong. The defence lawyer did his best but his arguments were not considered properly.”
State media said the charges related to revenue generated by Change from 2012 to 2022. Hong admitted the charges and along with her family paid the state 3.5bn dong ($145,000) in return for leniency, state media said.
Hong founded Change to mobilise Vietnamese, particularly young people, to take action on environmental issues including climate change, the illegal wildlife trade and pollution. But she abruptly shut down the group last year after four environmental and human rights activists were jailed for tax evasion.
“This conviction is a total fraud, nobody should be fooled by it,” said Ben Swanton, the co-director of The 88 Project, which advocates for human rights in Vietnam. “This is yet another example of the law being weaponised to persecute climate activists who are fighting to save the planet.”
Earlier this month Hanoi police detained the director of the Vietnam Initiative for Energy Transition, an independent energy policy thinktank.
Ngo Thi To Nhien, who has worked with the EU, World Bank and UN, was reportedly working on the implementation plan for Vietnam’s Just Energy Transition Partnership, a $15bn G7-funded project to help wean Vietnam off fossil fuels.
No official information on Nhien’s accusation has been made public.
Hong has been recognised internationally for her work: she joined the Obama Foundation Scholars program in New York in 2018 and was listed by Forbes among the 50 most influential Vietnamese women in 2019.
When she was detained in May, the UN’s human rights body was among many international groups to voice concern, warning of the “chilling effect” of tax cases against civil society groups.
Among the four green activists jailed last year was Nguy Thi Khanh, a globally recognised climate and energy campaigner who won the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2018. She spent nearly a year in jail before she was released last month.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Sep 28, 2023
- Event Description
A court in Vietnam’s Gia Lai province sentenced a Christian to eight years in prison and three years probation for “undermining the unity policy” under Article 116 of the criminal code.
The Gia Lai online newspaper said that Rian Thih’s trial on Sept. 28 lasted for several hours and the defendant, also known as Ama Philip, “honestly testified and admitted the crime.” The newspaper did not specify whether he had a defense lawyer.
Vietnam often uses the allegation of undermining the solidarity policy to suppress activists for religious freedom in ethnic minority communities in the Central Highlands or the northern mountainous areas, according to an activist on religious freedom speaking to Radio Free Asia on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
“The targets of repression are religious leaders of unregistered independent religious groups, often in contact with civil society organizations abroad or international human rights organizations to report violations of religious freedom in the country,” the activist said.
“Such people are often persecuted under Article 116 with heavy sentences of up to 20 years in prison, or at least convicted under Article 331 – abusing democratic freedoms – with a sentence of four to five years in prison.”
The activist said in the Central Highlands there are many Protestant groups registered with the state and with legal status. Many of them have committed actions that, according to the activist, “caused division between ethnicities and between religions” but they were not charged with undermining the unity policy.
Vu Quoc Dung, executive director of the human rights organization VETO! The Human Rights Defenders Network, based in Germany, told RFA via text:
“In some previous cases of ethnic minorities engaging in religious activities that we know well, the fact that they were convicted of ‘undermining the policy of national unity’ only shows that they follow independent religious organizations and refuse to join a state-recognized organization. In a few other cases, the government accused the victims of abandoning tradition or not respecting local customs.
“Accusing them of undermining the policy of national unity violates the right to freedom of religious practice under Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the right to observe and practice their own religion of minority groups according to Article 27 of the ICCPR, to which Vietnam is a party.”
Rlan Thih, 43, was arrested on Dec. 19, 2022. According to the indictment, from 2008 until his arrest, Rlan Thih was directed by FULRO (the United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races) exiles abroad to secretly persuade ethnic minorities in Ia Glai commune to join a meeting group that was a variation of “Dega Protestantism,” with a plot to establish a “separate state for ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands.”
The Vietnamese government says that Christians who belong to unregistered house churches outside the control of the official Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam are “Dega Protestants,” which authorities allege is not a legitimate religious group but a cover for a Montagnard independence movement.
Montagnards are a mainly Christian indigenous minority from the Central Highland provinces who are pressing for religious freedom and land rights. The government now claims there are no Montagnards in the Central Highlands.
The Gia Lai newspaper said that Rlan Thih participated in violent protests in Gia Lai in 2001 and 2004 and “remained stubborn, refusing to stop trying to sabotage the party and state, affecting national unity and local security” but did not specify what these acts were.
Rlan Thih is one of many religious freedom activists in the Central Highlands who was arrested recently.
In April, authorities in Dak Lak arrested preacher Y Krec Ba of the Central Highlands Evangelical Church of Christ on charges of “undermining the unity policy.” A month later, Nay Y Blang was arrested on charges of “abusing democratic freedoms.”
According to RFA statistics, there are currently nearly 60 ethnic minorities imprisoned on charges of “undermining the solidarity policy” with sentences ranging from four to 20 years.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Freedom of religion/belief activist, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Sep 28, 2023
- Event Description
The action taken by the Head of Satpol PP and Linmas of Ternate City, Fhandy Mahmud, has drawn criticism from various parties.
This followed the viral 28-minute video uploaded by the Instagram account @aksikamisanternate, on Thursday, August 28, 2023.
In the video recording, Fhandy appeared angry because he was recorded by the camera of one of the protesters.
Meanwhile, the Kamisan Action activist who recorded it said that the recording was carried out in a public space where there were no restrictions.
In this regard, Muhammad Tabrani Mutalib, a law academic at Khairun Ternate University, said that he deeply regretted the attitude of Kasatpol PP who prohibited the delivery of aspirations and prohibited the protesters from recording when they dispersed them.
This attitude, according to Tabrani, is based on the utmost ignorance of the Ternate Satpol PP Head. This is because there is no authority for Satpol PP to disperse people who gather to express their thoughts orally and in writing.
"It is a human right as well as a constitutional right of every citizen guaranteed by Article 28 of the 1945 Constitution. If that right is restricted, it means a violation of the human rights and constitutional rights of citizens," said Tabrani, Saturday, September 30, 2023.
Tabrani also questioned what was the legal basis for Satpol PP's dissolution of people gathering to express their thoughts orally and in writing.
"Only on the grounds of public order? What article is the rule? Moreover, the delivery of thoughts orally and in writing is carried out peacefully," said Tabrani.
"It is even more stupid to threaten protesters not to record themselves. There is no legal basis that prohibits people from recording official actions," he continued.
Tabrani considered that the actions of the Kasatpol PP who came to disperse the protesters were official actions, not personal, so they were not subject to recording without permission as regulated by the ITE Law.
"What is prohibited by the ITE Law is if people prohibit someone's private life and then spread it without that permission. Basic understanding like this should be understood, especially the position of Kasatpol PP," he explained.
"So this happened due to the accumulation of ignorance and lack of understanding of the rules of law by Kasatpol PP."
He said, do not because of the celebration of the arrival of the wives of regional heads in Ternate City then prohibit people from delivering demonstrations and conveying thoughts.
"The action of Kasatpol PP is against the law. The Mayor of Ternate must evaluate Kasatpol PP for the incident. so that such incidents do not happen again," he concluded.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Sep 28, 2023
- Event Description
Tamil activist Balraj Rajkumar was subjected to prolonged questioning by the Counter-Terrorism and Investigation Department (CTID) in the Eastern Province. The activist was summoned to appear at the Trincomalee Regional Office on Thursday at 9 am, with no specific reason provided.
Upon arriving at the CTID office, Rajkumar was confronted with accusations of attempting to rebuild a banned organisation. In a Facebook post following the interrogation, he revealed that the primary charges against him included advocating for and supporting a prohibited group. Additionally, he was accused of orchestrating protests against the government and allegedly inciting gatherings against state authorities.
Rajkumar denied all allegations during his statement to the CTID and said he challenged the authorities to provide evidence supporting any of the claims made against him.
"The investigation took a long time. The main charge was that I continued to speak in support of a banned organisation and sought to revive it. They also accused me of constantly speaking against the government and inciting people to gather and protest against the government," Rajkumar stated.
He went on to mention that the accusations were attributed to the state's main security department. Rajkumar, known for his vocal opposition to the forcible acquisition of Tamil people's lands in the Eastern Province, has been an active advocate for the rights of the Tamil people.
"I denied their multiple allegations and I asked them to prove any of these allegations. They said they would send a submission to the Defence Ministry and inform them about it," Rajkumar revealed.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 27, 2023
- Event Description
Zholia Parsi, a women’s rights activist, was arrested with her elder son by the Taliban in Qala-e-Fathullah area in Kabul on Wednesday morning, sources confirmed.
According to sources, Parsi was arrested from her home in Kabul and some of their belongings, including mobile phones and a number of documents, were taken away by the Taliban.
This is the second arrest of a women’s rights activist by the Taliban in less than a month.
Taliban has not commented on the matter so far.
More details will be added to this story.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Family of HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Sep 27, 2023
- Event Description
Vietnamese human rights lawyer Vo An Don and his family were stopped by police in Ho Chi Minh City this week from boarding a flight to New York, where they had hoped to apply for political asylum in the US, the well-known rights lawyer told RFA on Wednesday.
Don and other family members were barred from leaving Vietnam by police at Tan Son Nhat Airport at around 9:42 p.m. on Sept. 27, Don said, calling the action taken against him by authorities arbitrary and vindictive.
Don added that airport police told him he would need to contact immigration authorities in his home province of Phu Yen, on Vietnam’s south-central coast, for an explanation of the order barring his travel overseas.
He and his family were now on their way back to Phu Yen, Don said.
“I’ll work with the Phu Yen police tomorrow to find out why my departure was temporarily suspended,” Don said, saying that airport police had cited “security reasons” for blocking his departure in accordance with Article 36 of the Law on Entry and Exit for Vietnamese citizens.
According to Vietnamese law, citizens of the country have the right to travel domestically and overseas, Don said. “I’ll take legal action against them and file a request for compensation if they fail to give legitimate reasons for what they did,” he added.
“In the past, I used to work as a defense lawyer for ordinary, common people,” said Don, whose license to practice law was revoked in 2017 after he successfully defended the right to benefits of the surviving family members of a person who died in police custody.
“Since then I have only stayed at home and worked as a farmer. I have not been involved in any other cases or broken the law, and there is therefore no reason to say that I have been a threat to national security,” he said.
Don said he and his family had decided to seek asylum in the US because they were suffering harassment by Phu Yen authorities and economic hardship since he could no longer work as a lawyer.
The Washington-based International Organization for Migration (IOM) had secured advance funding for the family’s airfare, which was returned to the IOM when the family could no longer fly.
Don had taken his children out of school and given away many of his family’s belongings before trying to leave, and now has to buy many household appliances again, he said. He hopes his children’s schools will now allow them to return to class, he added.
'Prestige of the Party'
Requests for comment sent to the US Embassy, IOM offices in Vietnam and the Vietnam Immigration Department received no responses this week.
A Sept. 28 article in the Ministry of Public Security’s Public Security Newsletter said however that Don during his work as a lawyer had “damaged the prestige” of the ruling Vietnamese Communist Party and government by posting stories on social media and speaking to members of the foreign press.
Speaking to RFA, Truong Minh Tam — a Vietnamese lawyer and human rights activist now living in Illinois — said that Phu Yen police had abused their authority by ordering the suspension of Don’s right to travel abroad.
“According to Article 37 of the Law on Exit and Entry of Vietnamese Citizens, only the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Public Security have that authority,” Tam said.
Also speaking to RFA, Vietnamese musician and political observer Tuan Khanh noted that Don had successfully brought a suit in 2014 against five Phu Yen police officers who caused the death of a citizen, Ngo Thanh Kieu, held in their custody.
This had likely made Don a target for provincial authorities’ revenge, Khanh said.
In a statement issued late on Wednesday, Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for New York-based Human Rights Watch said that the Vietnamese government's efforts to block Don's travel to the U.S. are yet another example of how it restricts the freedom of movement of activists based on what he called "vague claims" of national security.
"The reality is Hanoi doesn’t want Vo An Don traveling overseas where he could speak freely about the litany of harassment, discrimination and abuse he’s suffered because of his choices to represent politically sensitive clients in Vietnam’s kangaroo courts,” Robertson said.
“Vietnam has forced Vo An Don to run a gauntlet of constant abuses, including harassment, threats, and legal retaliation ... This travel ban against Vo An Don and his family shows how the Vietnam government is prepared to use every dirty, abusive trick to silence the very few lawyers left in the country who dare stand up for the principle that everyone deserves legal representation.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Sep 27, 2023
- Event Description
Human rights activist Tran Van Bang, also known as Tran Bang, has reportedly experienced a severe decline in health due to the harsh conditions of his detention at the Bo La Detention Center in Phu Giao District, Binh Duong Province.
Tran Bang, 62, was arrested on March 1, 2022, on charges of spreading "anti-state propaganda" under Article 117 of the Penal Code. In mid-May this year, he received a sentence of eight years in prison and three years of probation for his advocacy of democracy and human rights.
After an unsuccessful appeal in late August, he was transferred to Bo La Prison on Sept. 27, where he faced challenging conditions.
Two days after his transfer to Bo La, Tran Bang's family visited him to provide essential supplies and support. According to a family member's text message to Radio Free Asia (RFA) on Oct. 26, Bang described his living conditions, stating that he was held in a crowded room with 90 other individuals. The tight space, where each person had only 60 cm of width, made it difficult for him to sleep. Moreover, the need to keep the windows open throughout the night in the overcrowded room led to exposure to cold temperatures, resulting in a severe sore throat and sinusitis.
During a subsequent visit on Oct. 17, his family noticed a significant deterioration in Tran Bang's health. They observed that he had lost approximately 10 pounds and appeared visibly older.
Despite Bang's deteriorating health and multiple ailments, the prison authorities did not provide any medical treatment.
Efforts to verify the family's claims by contacting Bo La Prison were unsuccessful.
Tran Bang, a veteran of the border war with China in the early 1980s, is a dedicated human rights activist known for his efforts to protest China's encroachment on Vietnam's territorial waters in the East Sea. He is one of seven activists and freelance journalists convicted of disseminating "anti-state propaganda" in the early part of the year. The remaining individuals include Nguyen Lan Thang, a blogger for RFA, and music lecturer Dang Dang Phuoc.
Before his trial and appeal, various international organizations, including Human Rights Watch, called for his immediate release, arguing that he was exercising his right to freedom of speech as stipulated in the Vietnamese Constitution and international human rights conventions that Vietnam has signed.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to health, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Vietnam: blogger sentenced to 8-year jail term (Update)
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Sep 27, 2023
- Event Description
Church bodies have joined advocacy groups to complain against alleged use of intimidatory measures by Indonesian police against villagers protesting a geothermal project in a Christian-majority province.
In a complaint submitted to the National Human Rights Commission in Jakarta on Oct. 20, they accused police of carrying out "intimidation and criminalization" against residents opposing the power project led by State’s Electricity Company (PT PLN) at Poco Leok in East Nusa Tenggara province.
The organizations, including Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission (JPIC) of the Franciscans and Divine Word, pointed out that the summons issued to seven residents earlier this month and 12 others this week were “an arbitrary act by the Manggarai Police.”
"The Poco Leok indigenous community does not know the reason why the police carried out this summons which was completely unreasonable," they said.
The Manggarai Police in the summons, a copy of which was obtained by UCA News, accused the residents of committing a crime "by deliberately obstructing or impeding the development of a geothermal business and by using violence against officials who were carrying out their legitimate duties."
Manggarai Police spokesman I Made Budiarsa said residents were "randomly summoned to ask for clarification regarding police officers' information reports” about an incident on Sept. 27.
Around 30 police and military personnel had gone to Poco Leok on that day to escort officers from the state-owned Electricity Company on a visit to the geothermal project site.
Syamsul Alam Agus, chairman of the executive board of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago said it is the duty of police to protect vulnerable people.
“Unfortunately, the police protect individuals or companies who come to destroy the land of indigenous peoples," he added.
Valens Dulmin, a lawyer from Franciscans’ JPIC Commission said the police action violated the 1945 Constitution which assures “equal treatment before the law.”
Meanwhile, Melky Nahar, coordinator of the Mining Advocacy Network, said that "in the name of a national strategic project that was created without prior consultation, small people are being evicted from their territory."
Hari Kurniawan, a commissioner at the National Human Rights Commission said they would convene a joint meeting before arriving at a decision on the complaint.
The Poco Leok geothermal project is an expansion of the Ulumbu Geothermal Power Plant, about 3 kilometers west of Poco Leok, which has been operational since 2012.
The government aims to hike the project capacity to 40 megawatts from the current 10 megawatts through the expansion.
However, the project funded by the Germany-based Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) continues to face opposition from local residents who fear it will take away their ancestral land and livelihoods across 10 villages.
Most of the affected residents, who are farmers and also raise livestock, are Catholics under the Ruteng diocese.
Flores Island was designed as a geothermal spot by a 2017 government decision.
It has a total geothermal potential of 902 megawatts, or 65 percent of the total capacity in East Nusa Tenggara province, according to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 27, 2023
- Event Description
Film director and dissident artist Guo Zhenming, known for his work commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, has been placed under a travel ban after being invited to a screening of his latest film in Singapore.
Authorities in the southwestern province of Yunnan, where Guo is currently based, cut the corner from his passport in May, and refused to accept an application for a new passport from him, he told Radio Free Asia in a recent interview.
Guo traveled to Beijing last month in a bid to apply again from there, but his application was rejected due to a "restriction" placed on him by authorities in Yunnan's Lijiang city, he was told.
Last December, authorities in nearby Dali placed Guo under 15 days' administrative detention for "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, after he made some comments about the "white paper" movement.
The incident is likely one reason for the travel ban, Guo said.
Another was an online signature campaign he signed supporting women's rights in the wake of the scandal of the woman found chained by the neck in the eastern province of Jiangsu.
"The first thing was the woman in chains ... I and [fellow artist] Yan Zhengxue launched a campaign at home and overseas in April and May last year ... calling for the protection of women's rights, which made a big impact at the time," Guo said.
"Then, the white paper movement happened while I was in Dali, and I made some comments in WeChat Moments," he said. "On Dec. 4, 2022, I was arrested by the Dali municipal police, who held me in administrative detention for 15 days in a separate cell."
Obstruction
Former 1989 activist Ji Feng said Guo's support for his sick friend and dissident sculptor Yan Zhengxue had also angered the authorities.
"When I went to visit with Yan Zhengxue, the main fundraiser was Guo," Ji said.
"I was picked up by the Guizhou police on Sept. 25, and he was placed under the travel ban on Sept. 27," he said.
"I was the one who had him travel from Yunnan to Beijing to visit Yan Zhengxue," he said.
Guo said he has faced various forms of obstruction from government departments ever since his detention, however.
"After I got out, the Dali municipal police department refused to show me the administrative penalty notice or the administrative detention certificate," Guo said. "They said it was a state secret. "
"What I later got was a detention certificate issued to me by the detention center, proving that I had been released," he said.
He said officials at the Gucheng district branch of the Lijiang police department, where he lives, then proceeded to clip the corner of his passport, invalidating it.
Guo, who hails from the central province of Hunan, but who has lived in Beijing and Yunnan for much of his adult life, recently had his film "Tedious Days and Nights" accepted by the Singapore International Film Festival.
"I was going to attend the world premiere [of my film] at the ... Singapore International Film Festival on Dec. 4, so I was eager to apply for a passport so I could leave the country," he said.
"But the Lijiang municipal police department refuses to accept my passport application, saying that I am suspected of being a threat to national political security," he said. "I'm banned from leaving the country."
'Filth, irreverence and melancholy'
An officer who answered the phone at the Exit-Entry Administration Bureau of the Lijiang municipal police department declined to discuss Guo's case when contacted by Radio Free Asia for comment on Nov. 14.
"We don't know," the officer said. Asked which department was in charge of Guo's case, the officer said: "I don't know that either."
Repeated calls to the Entry-Exit Detachment and Supervisory Branch of the Gucheng district police department rang unanswered during office hours on Nov. 14.
"Tedious Days and Nights" tells the story of poet Zeng Dekuang, who returns to the former industrial town of Coal Dam after 30 years of wandering to find the place in disrepair "much like the promise of his youth that has dimmed in middle age," according to the publicity material on the festival website.
"Rather than resist time’s decay, Zeng and his old friends drift into it with abandon and return to their basest of impulses, sometimes with comedic failure, but mostly in drunkenness," the synopsis reads.
"In Tedious Days and Nights, the Tiananmen Square massacre continues to haunt a lost generation of Chinese artists," it says.
"As the men frolic about ruins, this documentary enacts a passive resistance equivalent to the tang ping (lying flat) movement of Chinese youths today ... with equal parts filth, irreverence and melancholy."
The entry in the Singapore International Film Festival Guide for the Dec. 4 screening of the film advertises "Q&A with film-maker," an event that Guo will now be unable to attend.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Artist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Sep 26, 2023
- Event Description
An activist and lawyer made famous for his open calls for reform of Thailand's powerful monarchy was on Tuesday sentenced to four years in prison for royal insults, a judge said, in one of the country's most high profile lese-majeste cases.
Human rights lawyer Arnon Nampa, 39, is widely known for his taboo-breaking speech during pro-democracy protests in 2020 during which he called for public debate on the role of Thailand's king. Arnon denies wrongdoing.
Thailand's lese-majeste law shields the palace from criticism and carries a maximum jail sentence of 15 years for each perceived insult of the monarchy, a punishment widely condemned by international human rights groups as extreme.
Arnon was a leader of a youth-led democracy movement that held protests in Bangkok in 2020 that drew hundreds of thousands of people demanding the removal of royalist former prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who seized power in a coup.
Arnon was found guilty over remarks about the monarchy at a speech during a 2020 rally, in the first of 14 cases against him for violating article 112 of the criminal code, as the royal insults law is known.
"Arnon will be sent to prison while he waits for a bail decision, which could take two to three days," lawyer Krisadang Nutcharus told Reuters, adding his team would lodge an appeal and if necessary, take the case to the Supreme Court.
Arnon has been on bail since early last year after several periods of detention.
Hundreds of people have been charged under article 112, which is among the world's strictest royal insults laws, with some violators given sentences of decades, including a 64-year-old woman jailed for 43 years. The palace typically does not comment on the law.
UNTHINKABLE MOVES The verdict against Arnon will be a setback for groups seeking amendments to article 112, moves that were unthinkable only a few years ago in a country where the constitution states the king is "enthroned in a position of revered worship".
Calls for the law to be changed were central to a bold, anti-establishment platform that saw Thailand's progressive Move Forward Party win an election in May, only to be blocked from forming a government by lawmakers backed or appointed by the ultra-royalist military.
According to legal aid group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights at least 257 people have been charged under article 112 in the past three years.
Most of those cases are related to the youth-led democracy movement, which has since lost momentum having once posed one of the biggest challenges to Thailand's royalist, conservative establishment.
In remarks as he arrived at court, Arnon acknowledged he would likely lose his freedom and said he had no regrets for what was "a worthwhile personal sacrifice for the greater good".
"The youth protest has created a phenomenon that has changed Thailand to the point of no return," he said.
"I believe that the people are becoming more confident in their freedom and equality and are ready to transform the country to be more progressive."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Sep 26, 2023
- Event Description
In an appeal that only lasted two hours, the High People’s Court in Vietnam’s Dak Lak province on Tuesday upheld an eight-year prison sentence for music lecturer Dang Dang Phuoc, his wife Le Thi Ha told Radio Free Asia.
The 61-year-old instructor at Dak Lak College of Pedagogy was convicted on June 6 this year of "making, storing, spreading or propagating information, documents and items aimed at opposing the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”
He was prosecuted under the penal code’s controversial Article 117, which rights groups say is frequently used to suppress free speech.
Police arrested him on Sept. 8 last year after he posted on Facebook in support of activist Bui Tuan Lam, known as “Onion Bae.”
His wife was also questioned about songs he sang and posted on social media, including one by a former political prisoner and another with lyrics about the problems faced by Vietnam under the Communist Party.
Speaking to RFA Vietnamese on Tuesday Le Thi Ha called the appeal a sham.
"There is nothing different from the first-instance hearing,” she said.
“The examiners of the province’s Department of Information and Communication continued to be absent while the court panel did not respect the defenses of my husband and his lawyers."
Ha said her husband planned to appeal to a higher court.
Under Vietnamese law, Phuoc has the right to appeal to the Supreme People's Court. However, in most political cases, the decision of the regional high court is usually the final word.
Over the past 10 years Phuoc campaigned against corruption and for better protection for civil and political rights. He signed pro-democracy petitions and called for changes to Vietnam’s constitution, which grants the Communist Party a monopoly on power.
“Dang Dang Phuoc shouldn’t be in prison for simply calling for better treatment and justice for the poor and vulnerable Vietnamese, and demanding the government provide better social services and a cleaner environment for all,” said Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson, ahead of the appeal.
“If the Vietnamese government cared at all about the welfare of the people, they would be listening to principled activists like Dang Dang Phuoc, not imprisoning him.”
According to RFA statistics, Phuoc is the 11th activist convicted this year and the sixth person convicted of "propaganda against the state" under Article 117.
Many countries have called on Vietnam to amend or remove Article 117 from the penal code to be compatible with international human rights conventions that Vietnam has signed.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 25, 2023
- Event Description
Four members of a local strike committee in Sagaing Region’s Kalay Township were each sentenced to 10 years in prison on Monday for alleged acts of terror, according to the group.
The prisoners were already serving two-year sentences for incitement that were handed down a month after their arrest earlier this year.
It was unclear what alleged offences the latest charges were based on.
Than Soe Oo, Tian Date Kim, Ei San and Myo Ko Oo, who are all members of the Kalay Central Strike Committee, were arrested in the town’s Tut Oo Thidar Ward on April 16.
The military also ransacked and sealed their homes, a member of the committee told Myanmar Now.
“The junta knows very well that they don’t have the people’s support, so every public movement scares them. That’s why they’re sentencing so many protesters to prison,” the strike committee member said.
Protesters in Kalay were among the first in the country to take up arms against the regime that overthrew Myanmar’s elected civilian government in February 2021.
Nearly 60 members of the town’s strike committee are currently being held by the regime, resulting in a steep decline in the number of protests.
However, Kalay Township and many other parts of Sagaing Region remain hotbeds of armed dissent more than two and a half years after the coup.
According to latest figures compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, the junta has arrested nearly 25,000 people for anti-regime activities since seizing power.
Of these, 19,278 remain behind bars, while another 391 have died in custody, the advocacy group claimed.
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Sep 25, 2023
- Event Description
The Ambon Legal Aid Institute (LBH Pers Ambon) ensures that it will oversee the case of violence experienced by journalist Oce Leisubun, a contributor to Carang TV in Southeast Maluku Regency (Malra).
LBH Pers Ambon also rejected the restorative justice offered by the Malra Police Resort (Polres) to the victim who was assaulted at his home on Monday (25/9/2023). The victim's house is in the Pemda Complex, Langgur, Malra Regency.
According to the victim, the violence he experienced was allegedly related to news written about a statement by the Catholic Youth Branch Commissariat (Komcab) of Malra and the Southeast Maluku Community Forum (Formama). This youth group was responding to a case of sexual violence allegedly committed by the Regent of Southeast Maluku, Taher Hanubun.
Before being beaten, Oce Leisubun admitted to receiving threats by telephone at 17.30 WIT. Someone named DR contacted the victim but who picked up the phone, Reny Bunga, his wife. The reason is, the victim's cellphone was left at home. After returning home, an hour later he heard the threatening sentence through his wife.
Not long after, three people including DR came to his house and asked about the news he had written. That's when the victim was hit on the right chin. There was an argument because the perpetrator urged the victim to stop reporting on the Regent's case.
Oce Leisubun was then invited by DR to the Malra Regent's house in Tual City. Although they met, there was no discussion about the beating. For this reason, the victim, along with other journalists and activists, reported the threat and persecution to Malra Police.
"Due to Oce Leisubun's belief regarding the motive for the beating, he asked that this case be prosecuted," said Director of LBH Pers Ambon, Sarchy Sapury at the AmbonKita.com editorial office, Friday (29/9/2023).
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Sep 25, 2023
- Event Description
One of the residents with the initials BT who refused to be relocated for the national strategic project (PSN) Rempang Eco City was summoned by Galang Police. BT was accused of violating Article 28 of the Law on Electronic Information and Transactions (UU ITE).
The summons was issued on September 25 with the number B/02/IX/2023/Reskrim. BT's summons is scheduled for Wednesday (27/9) at the Galang Police Criminal Investigation Unit.
"For the purpose of the investigation, you are requested to be present to provide information which will be held on Wednesday, September 27, 2023," reads a copy of the summons.
BT was summoned after sending a message in a Whatsapp group regarding the rejection of relocation. BT is said to have called on residents to reject the basic necessities distributed by uniformed officers because it would lead to a request for residents' approval for relocation.
"[She] sent a message through the WhatsApp group of Sel Buluh residents, Kel Sembulang about her invitation / appeal / incitement to Sel Buluh residents not to easily accept free food if they don't want to end up being evicted from the village," wrote the summons.
Galang Police assessed that the message contained criminal elements, referring to Article 28 of the ITE Law, which reads that every person intentionally and without the right to disseminate information aimed at causing hatred or hostility of individuals and / or certain community groups based on ethnicity, religion, race and intergroup (SARA).
Public Relations Section of Barresta Police AKP Tigor Sidabariba denied that the letter was a summons. He said the letter was only for clarification.
"It was just a clarification, not a summons," Tigor told CNNIndonesia.com, Tuesday (7/26).
Form of criminalization LBH Pekanbaru Public Lawyer Wilton Amos Panggabean believes that the accusation is a form of criminalization against residents who refuse to be relocated.
"It is true like that [there is a summoning of residents], the accusation is in accordance with the article in the letter as a form of silencing the residents. They are trying to be criminalized," Wilton said when contacted.
Wilton said that until now the 43 residents who became suspects for refusing in Rempang have not been released. The 43 residents are not only from Rempang, but also Batam and Tanjung Pinang who are in solidarity to reject the project.
Wilton said that the Rempang advocacy team has not been able to access all the detained residents. Only 24 residents have been successfully assisted, the rest are still being sought.
"The advocacy team still cannot access all of them, so far we have assisted around 24 people and 2 people have been accompanied by others, we will continue to assist 43 people, including this new one," he explained.
Wilton admitted that there were still obstacles to assisting the 24 residents. The reason is, the advocacy team has difficulty meeting residents who are detained because the pretext is still in the process of investigation.
Thousands of residents of Rempang, Batam, Riau Islands are threatened with having to leave their homes because of the construction of the Rempang Eco City area.
The project, carried out by PT Makmur Elok Graha (MEG), will use 7,572 hectares of land or about 45.89 percent of the total area of Rempang Island of 16,500 hectares.
Thousands of residents did not accept having to leave the land they had lived on long before Indonesia proclaimed its independence. They persisted in defending their homes, even though TNI-Polri officers were deployed so that Rempang residents would agree to be relocated.
Clashes were inevitable. On September 7 and 11, 2023, clashes broke out. Police sprayed tear gas and children were rushed to the hospital. To date, 43 people who refused the relocation were arrested, accused of being provocateurs.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 24, 2023
- Event Description
A 20-year-old political prisoner who was arrested in 2021 in connection with a military raid on an apartment in Botahtaung Township, Yangon, died in Insein Prison on Sunday.
A source close to his family said that prison authorities informed them of the death of Min Hein Khant, who also went by the name Ah Kyae, around noon on September 24.
“He suddenly felt tired and complained of chest pain before collapsing into a sitting position. His head was down, and he was unable to rise again,” the source said.
“Before his death, he was acting happy alongside his friends. They said it was sudden.”
The source close to the family said that Min Hein Khant, who had no known heart condition or other medical problems before his imprisonment, was last seen in relatively good health on May 25, when he appeared in court.
“He was suffering from heart disease, a prison doctor said. They told him he would have to seek a cure only after getting out of prison, and that he should just continue to take the medicines they prescribed in the meantime,” the source said.
Since last August, his family had been buying and sending medicines according to the prison doctor’s prescriptions.
Because of a shortage of medications in the prison hospital, Min Hein Khant had appealed to the prison authorities in writing to receive treatment at an external hospital, but was not granted a transfer.
Min Hein Khant’s body was reportedly cremated at Yay Way Cemetery at 2pm on Monday after his family received it from the prison.
Following his arrest on November 1, 2021, The young activist had spent 54 days in an interrogation centre and one year and 10 months in Insein Prison before his death.
Min Hein Khant was serving a sentence of 27 years in prison on various charges, including violations of the Counter-Terrorism Law, attempted murder under Section 307 of the Penal Code, incitement under Section 505, and offences related to making and possessing explosive weapons.
Following the coup, Min Hein Khant became a member of the Pazundaung-Botahtaung Youth Strike Committee (PBYSC). He was a 10th grade student at the time.
When junta troops raided an apartment occupied by PBYSC activists on August 10, 2021, five people jumped from the building in an attempt to escape. Two died at the scene and the other three were arrested after sustaining injuries.
In addition to the three detained during the apartment raid, the junta later arrested eight more in connection with the case. With one exception, a patient at the Yangon General Hospital, the junta ultimately transferred these detainees to Bago Region’s Tharyarwaddy Prison, which is notorious for the severe abuse its authorities have inflicted on political prisoners.
Having evaded capture during the apartment raid, Min Hein Khant and his fellow activist Kaung Sett established the 44th Urban Guerrilla Group and continued participating in the resistance against the coup regime, but were arrested two months later.
Junta forces fatally shot Kaung Sett’s father during his arrest. Min Hein Khant and Kaung Sett remained in Insein Prison, where Kaung Sett is currently serving a 25-year sentence.
According to the human rights monitoring organisation Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), tens of thousands have been arrested on suspicion of anti-regime activities as of September of this year. According to data collected by AAPP, there are at least 19,260 political prisoners still in detention, and at least 4,100 people have been killed by the military regime.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death
- Rights Concerned
- Right to health, Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Myanmar: youth surviving a raid sentenced
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Sep 24, 2023
- Event Description
Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) men have assaulted Prothom Alo Chittagong University correspondent Mosharraf Shah.
Mosharraf said the BCL men have threatened him not to write reports on BCL, the student wing of the ruling Awami League, while he was being beaten up.
He was assaulted at 11:30am on Sunday in front of the faculty of arts and humanities in the campus.
Mosharraf said followers of university unit BCL president Rezaul Haque assaulted him.
Mosharraf Shah told Prothom Alo that he was going towards the vice-chancellor's office around 11:30am to collect news and comments regarding Chattra League’s clash, vandalism and beating of the chief engineer in the university on Saturday.
When he reached in front of the second arts and humanities faculty, at that time, 15 to 20 Chhatra League activists first pushed him from behind. Then they asked him if he has written any report on Chattra League or not. Some of them punched his forehead and face, kicked him in the chest and hit him on the hands.
While beating him up, Mosharraf said, those leaders and activists warned him of not writing anymore reports on Chhatra League in future. They said, “Write up anymore reports and we’ll see who comes to save you. There should be no news about Chhatra League.”
Mosharraf received first aid for his injuries at the university medical center. He was then sent to Chattogram Medical College Hospital since he had sustained injuries in the chest and hands.
Chief Medical Officer of the University Medical Center, Abu Taiyab told Prothom Alo that four stitches had to be given on Musharraf's forehead. He also has an injury on his hand. X-ray should be done. Apart from this, he has been sent to Chittagong Medical College Hospital for better treatment.
Superintendent of police in Chattogram SM Shafi Ullah told Prothom Alo that they have been informed about the attack and have discussed the matter with the university administration including the proctor. Efforts are on to arrest those involved.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker, Student
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Sep 23, 2023
- Event Description
On 23 August 2023, academic activist and human rights defender Maidul Islam received a show cause letter from the Chittagong University concerning his Facebook posts on the civil and political situation in Bangladesh in light of the upcoming elections. The show cause letter was based on a request sent to the Vice Chancellor by the Chittagong University Teachers' Association (CUTA) in Bangladesh urging the Vice Chancellor to take legal action against the human rights defender.
Maidul Islam is an Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Chittagong (CU), Bangladesh. Currently, the human rights defender is on study leave and pursuing his PhD degree at the Department of Sociology in the University of Pittsburgh, USA. He is also an advocate for academic freedom and civil and political rights on social media and the issues of discrimination, social justice and human rights violations.
Maidul Islam is facing harassment due to his recent social media posts using the hashtag #StepDownHasina as a criticism against the authorities in Bangladesh and concerns over transparency in the upcoming elections in the country. Chittagong University is one of the fully autonomous public universities in Bangladesh and its 1973 ordinance, alongside the country’s constitution, guarantees freedom of expression. Hence, the show cause letter is of severe concern as it infringes upon the freedom of expression of academics.
On 1 August 2023, a member of the student wing of the ruling party, the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), triggered an online smear campaign against the human rights defender where 41 members of the BCL and Awami politicians across the country, including Chittagong University teachers supportive of the ruling party, were tagged in the post. On 20 August 2023, the CUTA held an emergency meeting and urged the Vice Chancellor in a letter to take legal action against Maidul Islam for criticising the government on social media.
In July 2019, Maidul Islam received a fellowship offer from Leiden University, but the Chittagong University administration never granted him education leave to go to the Netherlands and study even though the human rights defender had no legal barrier or travel restriction. 275 university teachers across the country and abroad issued a statement to the authorities in support of Maidul Islam, urging the university to support him for joining the fellowship but there was no response.
The current incident is the latest of many in the chain of harassment Maidul Islam has faced due to his human rights work and academic activism. Maidul Islam was targeted by the student wing of the ruling party and the university administration because of his social media posts in support of the 2018 quota reform movement and against the physical attack by the police and BCL on quota reform movement participants. Additionally, he also raised concerns over the university students’ poor food facilities and living conditions in university dormitories. On 23 July 2018, a leader of the student wing of the ruling party lodged a complaint against him. According to the First Information Report, the case was filed at Hathhazari police station under section 57 of the ICT Act, 2006 (the act was amended in 2013 and section 57 was repealed in 2018) referring to two of his Facebook posts as “defamatory against the Prime Minister.”
On 24 September 2018, Maidul Islam was imprisoned for 37 days on orders of a Chittagong judicial magistrate. On 7 October 2018, Chattogram court granted three-day remand against Maidul. On 9 October 2018, the High Court granted him bail for six months. However, he was not released until 30 October 2018 after some procedural delays. The university administration did not provide any support to him, rather he was temporarily dismissed from his job on 24 September 2018 immediately after the court sent him to jail. Since returning to his university residence after his job was restored, the human rights defender has received continuous threats from members of the BCL.
Maidul Islam’s family, especially his wife Rozyna Begum, has also faced severe consequences and harassment. After the ICT Act case was filed against her husband, Rozyna Begum facilitated the process of dealing with the police and the court. She was a teacher at the Chittagong College, but had to leave her job. BCL cadres flooded social media with smear campaigns against Rozyna Begum, including sexist comments against her which severely impacted her mental health. While Maidul Islam is in the US, Rozyna Begum and family are still in Bangladesh at risk of facing harassment.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Online Attack and Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Academic
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Sep 23, 2023
- Event Description
Two protesters have been sentenced to one year in prison for contempt of court after giving a speech in front of the South Bangkok Criminal Court on 15 July 2022 to demand the right to bail for detained activists.
On 19 September 2023, the South Bangkok Criminal Court sentenced Ngoentra “Mani” Khamsaen and Chiratchaya “Ginny” Sakunthong each to one year in prison for using offensive language against the judges. Both accused the judges of misconduct and unfairness in considering the request for temporary release of the detained activists. Such actions are deemed serious and have a detrimental impact on the credibility of the judiciary, according to Thai Lawyers for Human rights (TLHR).
The TLHR said the court granted bail of 35,000 baht each, with no condition set.
They were charged with contempt of court, defamation, and using a sound amplifier without permission at a protest on 15 July 2022. In their speeches, they criticised judges for rulings made in the case of monarchy reform activists Nutthanit Duangmusit and Netiporn Sanesangkhom, who were detained pending trial on royal defamation charges at the time.
Both were apprehended during the night of 25 August 2022. The authorities had never notified them of the charges in advance and they were taken to the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, which is outside the jurisdiction of the local police station where the incident occurred.
On 26 August 2022, they were denied bail on the grounds that their actions were deemed dangerous to the court since they accused judges of things that were not true in order to pressure the court. The charges also carry a severe penalty.
The complaints against them were filed by Netiphan Somchit, acting on behalf of judge Santi Chukitsappaisan, the Deputy Chief Justice of the South Bangkok Criminal Court.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Sep 23, 2023
- Event Description
Three indigenous people’s rights advocates investigating human rights violations were abducted in Mindoro Oriental.
According to Karapatan Southern Tagalog, they are Job Abednego David, 29, Peter del Monte Jr., 29, and Alia Encela, 19.
They were abducted in Malaglag village, Barangay Lisap, Bongabong town by soldiers belonging to the 4th Infantry Battalion and the 203rd Infantry Brigade of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
David, Del Monte and Encela were investigating human rights violations related to reports of bombings and shelling in the area earlier this year which were connected to mining and quarrying projects that affected the residents and indigenous people.
Before their disappearance, the families of David and Del Monte received messages from a suspicious Facebook account claiming to be General Randolph Cabangbang of the 203rd Infantry Brigade, asking them to contact him.
Human rights groups in the Southern Tagalog region condemned their abduction.
“This latest attack by the military on rights advocates only proves that there is no ‘Bagong Pilipinas’ (New Philippines) under Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. He only exposed himself as an enabler of state terrorism and attacks against the Filipino people,” said Rev. Luisito Saliendra, Karapatan Southern Tagalog spokesperson
Indigenous communities in Mindoro have been the primary targets of military operations, including test fire exercises, aerial bombings and strafing which affect thousands of residents.
Previous military abductions have raised concerns about the use of red-tagging tactics to justify human rights violations. Karapatan Southern Tagalog and other human rights organizations have called for a thorough investigation into these violations and justice for the victims.
“We are demanding for the immediate release of David, Del Monte and Encela and holding the 203rd Infantry Brigade and the 4th Infantry Battalion accountable for their actions,” Saliendera said.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 22, 2023
- Event Description
A Chinese journalist who popularised the country’s stalled #MeToo movement and a labour activist were due to face trial Friday, with supporters voicing concerns for their health after two years in detention.
Sophia Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing were arrested on 19 September 2021, under the broad charge of “inciting subversion of state power” — but their trial in the southern city of Guangzhou was only announced this week, according to their supporters.
Calls to the court where they were expected to appear went unanswered.
The case shows how “the Chinese government has to a large extent eliminated the space for civil society activism”, Yaqiu Wang, China research director at Freedom House, told AFP.
“Authorities have arrested and silenced so many people, by this point, people can be thrown in jail for any perceived infraction of what is permitted, and the space for what is permitted is constantly shrinking.”
Authorities have not given details on Huang and Wang’s arrests.
The two were involved in running a weekly gathering in Guangzhou, a member of a group of supporters told AFP.
With “the whole of civil society fragmented, this was a way to reunite and reconnect, to foster a new network in Guangzhou”, they told AFP.
Police subsequently cracked down on the group, questioning over 70 people and detaining some over the course of several days, they said.
“There was so much PTSD after this attack (on the group)… Some activists had to leave Guangzhou, and (the community) is just not able to join together or connect anymore,” they added.
Huang and Wang’s trial is being held behind closed doors, and it is not known when their sentence will be announced.
Health concerns Huang wrote on social media about her experience of workplace sexual harassment as a young journalist at a Chinese news agency, in the wake of the global #MeToo movement.
She had been arrested before, after returning from reporting on Hong Kong‘s enormous pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Supporters said that her health had deteriorated significantly in detention at that time.
In February, the group said she had stopped menstruating and had experienced dramatic weight loss, as well as bad back pain.
“Her self-appointed lawyer was forced to withdraw from the case and replaced by government-appointed lawyer(s), who has not communicated with Huang’s family and friends,” a statement said.
The group member told AFP they had no further updates on either Huang or Wang’s health.
Both activists have been cut off from outside information, they said, with the detention facility refusing to pass on requested books, and granting no access to families or friends.
The families of the pair had been visited by police again this week and told not to come to Guangzhou for the trial, they said.
On Thursday, 32 NGOs released a statement demanding the pair’s release.
“These baseless charges are motivated purely by the Chinese authorities’ relentless determination to crush critical voices,” said Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for China, in a Thursday statement.
“But activists in China refuse to be silenced despite the serious risks of raising their voices to address so-called ‘sensitive’ issues.”
The member of the supporters’ group who spoke to AFP said the pair had understood the risks.
“You want to make social change, you commit to social justice, you commit to the outcome,” they said.
“As a very close friend of theirs, I know they don’t regret what they’re doing.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Access to justice, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: HRDs held incommunicado
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Sep 22, 2023
- Event Description
Police in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, have detained three civil rights activists on unspecified charges. Abzal Dostiyarov, Marat Turymbetov, and Maira Gabdullina were detained separately on September 22. Dostiyarov's lawyer Zhanar Balghabaeva told RFE/RL that her client is suspected of violating a law on mass gatherings. Police gave no more details, the lawyer said. Human rights activist Rinat Rafqat said the trio's detainments were linked to their participation in a rally in front of a court on September 19, demanding the release of imprisoned activist Aigerim Tileuzhan.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Sep 22, 2023
- Event Description
On September 22, student journalist Aila Joy Esperida received a letter signed by a regional administrative authority, a Naga City Barangay, summoning her and her parents for a discussion with unidentified members of the Philippine armed forces on September 24. The Democrat found that the letter contained no official Barangay seal, and no reason was provided for the invitation. A day prior, The Democrat photojournalist John Harvee Cabal received a similar letter from their Barangay.
Prior to the summons, during the 51st-anniversary Martial Law commemoration at Plaza Rizal in Naga City on September 21, Esperida and other student journalists were harassed by soldiers, who took photos of The Democrat’s student staff without their consent and demanded they provide personal information. The student journalists objected to this and urged the soldiers to delete the photos.
Esperida requested the identity of the soldier who collected their personal information, later identified as Sergeant Creo, who questioned the students about their presence at the plaza and encouraged them to join an Infantry division.
A similar incident took place on September 13, involving the publication's former Editor-in-Chief, Berlineth Nymia Montes. Similarly, pressure was exerted on her and her family, with members of the armed forcesinsinuating that she held an affiliation with Filipino terrorist organisations, a practice commonly known as ‘Red-tagging’.
The Democrat, affiliated with the College Editors Guild of the Philippines, is currently seeking the assistance of human rights attorneys and the NUJP. The publication's editorial team has also notified university authorities and scheduled meetings to plan their future actions.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Sep 20, 2023
- Event Description
On September 20, 2023, the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan released a register listing 240 individuals and legal entities receiving support from foreign countries and international and foreign organisations. Among the listed entities are human rights organisations, environmental funds, legal foundations, media outlets, and individual journalists. Among others, the list features two FIDH member organisations, namely the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights, and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. Concerningly, the list also included personal information on individual journalists, including their personal identification numbers.
Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Finance explained the publication by the need to "increase the level of trust of citizens – both in the state and in non-governmental organisations". The signatory organisations fear, however, that such justifications are merely rhetorical, and that the real intention of the authorities is to discredit and stigmatise the legitimate work of the civil society organisations listed in the register. The publication appears to imply that all foreign funds are automatically suspect.
Following the register’s publication on September 25, 2023, the public association "Echo" had its bank account temporarily frozen. Nurbank, the organisation’s account manager, identified withdrawals of funds from the United States and requested documentation to confirm their designated use.
The register appears amid Kazakhstan’s persistent attempts to harass NGOs over the reception of foreign funding. In December 2015 and July 2016, tax authorities imposed demanding reporting requirements on non-profit organisations receiving foreign funds. In 2020-2021, a dozen local human rights groups were targeted with fines and possible suspension over alleged financial reporting violations. FIDH member organisations, the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the International Legal Initiative Foundation, faced temporary suspension over minor financial reporting inaccuracies.
Alarmingly, these efforts to curtail the ability of civil society organisations to access foreign funding, and the publication of the list, echo the Russian Federation’s so-called foreign agent legislation and practice. For over a decade, Russian authorities have used the foreign agent legislation to stigmatise, silence, shut down civil society groups, human rights initiatives, independent media and others. The Russian legislation has been criticized by various international entities for infringing upon the freedom of association. Back in 2009, Margaret Sekaggya, former Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, emphasized that the right to freedom of association inherently includes the ability of human rights organisations to seek, receive, and utilise funding. She further highlighted that civil society should have access to foreign funding as a component of international cooperation, on a par with governments.
The Observatory, and FIDH’s member organisations, the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights, ILI Foundation, and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, urge Kazakhstan’s authorities to halt their endeavors to restrict civil society actors from receiving foreign grants and to cease their attempts to discredit organisations that receive such funding. Instead, the signatory organisations call on the authorities to regard civil society initiatives as a resource and to facilitate a strong and vibrant civil society throughout the country.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Right to access to funding, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Kazakhstan: NGOs face fresh wave of harassment
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 19, 2023
- Event Description
Informed sources have reported the detention of Neda Parwani, a member of the “Spontaneous Women’s Movement of Afghanistan,” by the Taliban in Kabul.
At least two reliable sources have confirmed to Hasht-e Subh that the Taliban apprehended Neda Parwani on the morning of Tuesday, September 19, in the Khairkhana area of Kabul and subsequently transferred her to an undisclosed location.
According to sources, the Taliban have also detained the husband and a four-year-old son of this female protester.
As of now, the Taliban has not issued any official statement regarding this incident.
It is important to highlight that since the emergence of women’s protests in the country, the Taliban have detained and subjected several female protesters to torture.
Sources attribute the Taliban’s detention of female protesters to extortion by this group, alleging that the Taliban demand “money” in exchange for the release of female activists from human rights organizations.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Family of HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Sep 17, 2023
- Event Description
Reporter to Nepal Samacharpatra daily Motiram Timalsina received death theats for writing news on September 17. Reporter Timalsina is a Kavre-based reporter for the daily and its web portal https://www.newsofnepal.com/. Kavre lies in Bagmati Province of Nepal.
Reporter Timalsina shared through his article titled- 'You may shoot me, but I won't stop writing on misconduct and crime'. He informed that he has been receiving continuous death threats after publication of news about- Province minister's involvement in gold smuggling- with his byline on the newspaper and news portal on September 17.
"I have been receiving threats through social media. Leader and cadres of a major political party have threatened me of shooting and stabbing with sword for including their party's president name in the news. They have also posted fake and misleading status about me on their social media pages", he said.
Freedom Forum condemns the threat issued to reporter. It is serious violation of press freedom. A leader and people's representative should be receptive to media criticism and he/she should orient the cadres on media and journalists' rights. Moreover, the concerned should approach Press Council Nepal for any concern over news content instead of threatening a journalist.
Hence, FF strongly urges the security authority to pay heed to the case and ensure safety of journalists.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death threat, Online Attack and Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Sep 17, 2023
- Event Description
Reporter to Nepal Samacharpatra daily Motiram Timalsina received death theats for writing news on September 17. Reporter Timalsina is a Kavre-based reporter for the daily and its web portal https://www.newsofnepal.com/. Kavre lies in Bagmati Province of Nepal.
Reporter Timalsina shared through his article titled- 'You may shoot me, but I won't stop writing on misconduct and crime'. He informed that he has been receiving continuous death threats after publication of news about- Province minister's involvement in gold smuggling- with his byline on the newspaper and news portal on September 17.
"I have been receiving threats through social media. Leader and cadres of a major political party have threatened me of shooting and stabbing with sword for including their party's president name in the news. They have also posted fake and misleading status about me on their social media pages", he said.
Freedom Forum condemns the threat issued to reporter. It is serious violation of press freedom. A leader and people's representative should be receptive to media criticism and he/she should orient the cadres on media and journalists' rights. Moreover, the concerned should approach Press Council Nepal for any concern over news content instead of threatening a journalist.
Hence, FF strongly urges the security authority to pay heed to the case and ensure safety of journalists.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death threat, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 16, 2023
- Event Description
On the evening of September 16, a group of four unidentified individuals arrived at Chaudhry’s Lahore home approaching his son and asking about the journalist’s whereabouts. Learning the journalist was not home, the intruders allegedly assaulted Chaudhry’s son and attempted to break into the residence.
Their preparations were interrupted when a crowd began to assemble in the area, causing the assailants to flee the scene.
Chaudhary, who was previously affiliated with the Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) before his dismissal in July 2023, has since reportedly filed a police report concerning the incident. According to reports, Chaudhary suspects the attack was in relation to articles he had published exposing the alleged criminal seizure of land.
In response to the alleged assault, PFUJ members, journalists and media workers held national protests on September 18, calling for authorities to take action against those responsible, and claiming the attack represented an affront to Pakistan’s media community.
In July, Chaudhry was fired from the state-owned PTV hours after asking then-Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb about press freedom concerns at a media conference. Aurangzeb, working under the Shehbaz Sharif government, claimed Chaudhry was never hired on a permanent basis, and was instead informed of an earlier firing coincidentally.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Suspected non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Sep 15, 2023
- Event Description
Authorities in Vietnam arrested the director of an independent energy policy think-tank, in its latest crackdown on experts from the field of environment and ecology in recent years.
Ngo Thi To Nhien, director of the Vietnam Initiative for Energy Transition Social Enterprise, was arrested for allegedly appropriating internal documents relating to state-owned firm Electricity of Vietnam, according to the state media reports.
She was detained on 20 September, spokesperson for the ministry of public security To An Xo, confirmed on Monday.
The official denied that the grounds for arresting Ms Nhien were related to “environmental activism”.
Earlier reports claimed that the think-tank’s top official was detained on 15 September.
“The security investigation agency of Hanoi city police issued an arrest warrant to Ngo Thi To Nhien,” Mr Xo said at a press conference late on Saturday.
If charged, Ms Nhien faced up to five years in prison, according to Vietnam’s criminal code.
According to a rights group, she was detained without any official confirmation.
Ms Nhien is a prominent researcher in Vietnam and has worked with a number of international organisations, including the World Bank, the European Union, the United Nations and the Asian Development Bank. She was reportedly working on an implementation plan for the country’s just energy transition partnership (JETP) at the time of her arrest.
The $15bn project will push Vietnam to wean off fossil fuels and is funded by the G7.
While the immediate reasons for her arrests are not clear, Vietnam is one of the few remaining communist single-party states that tolerate no dissent, including on environmental issues.
Human rights advocacy group The 88 Project have claimed that she has been arrested for “unknown reasons”.
In 2022, Human Rights Watch said that more than 170 activists had been put under house arrest, blocked from travelling or in some cases assaulted by agents of the Vietnamese government in a little-noticed campaign to silence its critics.
Ms Nhien’s arrest comes just days after a Vietnamese climate activist was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of tax fraud.
Hoang Thi Minh Hong, 50, who headed the environmental advocacy group Change, which works on environment and climate issues, was also fined 100 million Vietnamese dong ($4,100) by a court in Ho Chi Minh City, the state-owned Viet Nam News reported.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Sep 15, 2023
- Event Description
In what is rapidly becoming a sinister pattern, two individuals were abducted on September 15, 2023 by suspected State agents in Negros Occidental.
A Facebook post by Negros alternative media outfit Paghimutad reported that Bea Lopez, a 26-year-old peasant organizer and resident of Sitio Langud, Brgy. Camalandaan, Cauayan, Negros Occidental; and tricycle driver Peter Agravante, a resident of Sitio Tagnok, Brgy. Gil Montilla, Sipalay City were seized in Sipalay at around 10 a.m. They were reportedly on the way to Brgy. Gil Montilla when they were accosted by masked and armed men in a white van who forced them into the vehicle. The tricycle the victims were riding was also taken and loaded at the back of a pick-up vehicle.
On September 17, Agravante’s body was found in a cliff in Barangay Nagbo-alao, Basay, Negros Oriental. His wrists were bound with rope and his eyes, mouth and ankles bound in duct tape. He had a gunshot wound to the head. Witnesses said that at around midnight of September 16, a white pick-up truck stopped at the area and threw something by the wayside.
Lopez is among the latest victims in a string of abductions and disappearances under the Marcos Jr. regime.
Their abduction comes barely two weeks after that of environmental activists Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano who were reported seized in Orion, Bataan on September 2, 2023. Pictures of Castro and Tamano were shown to the media on September 15 in a press conference organized by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) but the two remain in military custody despite appeals by Jonila’s mother Roselie Castro for her daughter’s release. Contrary to numerous eyewitness accounts of the abduction, the NTF-ELCAC is making dubious claims that Jonila and Jhed voluntarily surrendered.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 15, 2023
- Event Description
Independent online news outlet CamboJA removed the name of a government minister from an article about a public beating of a government critic after the Ministry of Agriculture threatened it with legal action, the outlet’s executive director told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday.
CamboJA – short for Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association – reported on Thursday that agricultural expert Ny Nak criticized Minister of Agriculture Dith Tina on Facebook over the minister’s handling of a report on rice prices.
The Facebook post doesn’t mention the minister’s name. It went live the day before the Sept. 12 assault, which left Ny Nak initially unconscious and bleeding from the head after several unidentified men beat him with metal batons.
The ministry responded to the article in a letter to CamboJA on Friday that said their reporting “speculates that the attack on Ny Nak was politically motivated based on his recent baseless posts criticizing government officials and institutions.”
The article also includes the minister’s name “even though the minister has never been mentioned by name in any of Ny Nak’s recent Facebook posts,” the letter said.
The ministry urged CamboJA “to rectify these serious breaches of journalistic ethics by removing unsubstantiated claims and speculations” that hurt the reputations of ministry officials.
It also demanded that the publication remove the minister’s name from the article and that it “ensure that such malicious intentions and defamatory speculations do not recur in the future which would result in legal actions that could lead to the same outcome” of Voice of Democracy, an independent media outlet that was closed by the government in February.
Posting under a pseudonym
CamboJA, a network formed by former reporters of The Cambodia Daily and Phnom Penh Post, deleted the minister’s name from the article and added an editor’s note on Monday.
It also added the name of Associate Editor Jack Brook as a contributor to the article and corrected the spelling of the name of an investigator for human rights group Adhoc who was quoted in the article.
“We think the Ministry of Agriculture’s request is acceptable and we’ve removed [ the minister’s] name because Ny Nak's Facebook posting didn’t mention the minister by name, only his picture,” CamboJA Executive Director Nop Vy told RFA.
Ny Nak was recently released from an 18-month jail term for criticizing Cambodia’s COVID-19 restrictions. Since his release, he has posted comments critical of the government on Facebook under the pseudonym IMAN-KH.
His post last week about the minister came a day after he said he was approached by two members of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party asking him to join the party. He said he had refused the invitation, saying he is “neither a member of the ruling party or the opposition.”
He was traveling with his wife Sok Sinet in Phnom Penh on Sept. 12 when a motorbike crashed into them and unidentified men began beating them.
Ny Nak was taken to a local hospital and pledged on Friday to join the CPP – but only if Prime Minister Hun Manet can arrest his attackers.
On Monday, Minister of Interior Touch Sokhak told Voice of America that the suspects were probably using the accident as a pretext to rob Ny Nak and his wife.
“Until we arrest them we will see what they will answer about their intentions. We will know what this case is all about,” he told VOA. “But for the preliminary [assessment] this is a violent action and intended to rob the victim’s motorbike.
‘Ny Nak won’t run away’
Sok Sinet denied that her husband’s attack was a robbery.
“To me, I observed their actions. They intended to kill my husband,” she said. “It was an assassination attempt. I didn’t lose any handbag, money, phones or a motorbike.”
RFA was unable to reach Touch Sokhak for comment on Tuesday.
Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Tuesday that the attack “shares similarities with assaults reported earlier in 2023 against members of the opposition Candlelight Party, which were never seriously investigated.”
Ny Nak said on Facebook on Monday that he will be released from the hospital soon, and he promised not to run away from Cambodia.
“This is my part as a Cambodian. I will continue to help the country until I die,” he wrote. “Ny Nak won’t run away, doesn’t hide, sell out or seek asylum in a third country but will continue to stay with Cambodian farmers forever.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Sep 15, 2023
- Event Description
Majid Hyderi’s detention has brought the number of journalists currently held in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir to six.
After his arrest by local police in the city of Srinagar on 15 September on the basis of a “First Information Report” citing violations of sections 120-B, 177, 386 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code, Hyderi was released on bail the next day but was immediately rearrested under the controversial PSA, which is supposed to address direct threats to the security of the state.
The former editor of the Srinagar-based regional daily Greater Kashmir, a contributor to DailyO, an Indian news site aimed at young people, and a frequent political commentator on TV news channels, Hyderi is known for his moderate political views and for criticising attacks against the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, both the local police and the army. But he has also been very critical of corruption within the Kashmiri bureaucracy and New Delhi’s failure to address this problem.
Overcrowded prison
His arrest on 15 September on clearly trumped-up charges of “criminal conspiracy, intimidation, extortion, giving false information [and] defamation” – charges on which he could be jailed for up to 14 years – showed that the authorities want to silence even slightly critical journalists.
The case took an even more preposterous turn when, on being released on bail on 16 September, he was immediately re-arrested under the Public Safety Act, a 1978 law limited to Jammu and Kashmir region that is highly controversial because it allows the authorities to detain anyone “preventively” – without a trial or warrant – for up to two years. He is currently held in Kot Bhalwal, an overcrowded prison in Jammu, a Hindu-majority city 300 km south of Srinagar.
Death of independent journalism in Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir has become a cemetery for independent journalism, especially since 2019, when India rescinded the partial autonomy it enjoyed under article 370 of the constitution and stripped it of its status as a state, turning it into a “Union Territory.” Since then, many critics or potential critics of the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government have been detained under "prevention laws" that are being misused to suppress independent journalism.
The latest victims include The Kashmir Walla, an independent news site that was blocked by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on 19 August. Several of its journalists have been subjected to judicial harassment for years under the PSA and other laws. They include its former editor, Fahad Shah, who was held from March 2022 to April 2023 under the PSA for "glorifying terrorism." The Jammu and Kashmir high court quashed his detention order on the grounds that the reasons given were "vague and unfounded” but he continues to be held under a different law, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
The UAPA was used in March to arrest Irfan Mehraj, the editor of Wande Magazine, an online publication specialising in long-form journalism, and a freelancer for many national and international media. He is being held on a total of nine charges that include “sedition” and “funding terror activities.”
According to RSF’s Press Freedom Barometer, nine journalists are currently detained arbitrarily in India. Three are based in other parts of the country. They are India Writers news site editor Nilesh Sharma, NewsClick news site columnist Gautam Navlakha, and freelancer Rupesh Kumar Singh. All of the other six are Kashmiris. As well as Shah, Mehraj and now Hyderi, they are Rupesh Kumar Singh, who is accused of “harbouring terrorists,” and two other Kashmir Walla journalists – Abdul Aala Fazili and Sajad Gul.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Sep 14, 2023
- Event Description
A Dhaka tribunal today sentenced two officials of rights body Odhikar to two years imprisonment each in an ICT Act case.
The two are Odhikar Secretary Adilur Rahman Khan and Director ASM Nasiruddin Elan.
Judge AM Julfiker Hayet of Dhaka Cyber Tribunal announced the verdict in presence of the duo, said our court correspondent from the court.
The court also fined each of them Tk 10,000, in default of which, Adilur and Elan have to serve one month in jail.
After the verdict was pronounced, Public Prosecutor Md Nazrul Islam Shamim told The Daily Star that they were not satisfied with the judgement.
They would challenge the judgement with the High Court after receiving the certified copy of the verdict, he said.
The case was filed for running "a distorted report and doctored images" about the May 5-6, 2013 police action on a Hefajat-e-Islam rally in the capital's Motijheel.
On June 10, 2013, Detective Branch (DB) of police filed a general diary with the Gulshan Police Station in this connection, which was later converted into a case.
Detectives arrested Adilur at Gulshan on August 10, 2013 shortly after filing the GD complaining that the rights body on its website ran a false report titled "Assembly of Hefajat-e Islam Bangladesh and Human Rights Violation".
The report tarnished the image of the country, its government and the law enforcement agencies, read the GD.
Odhikar's report claimed that 61 people died in the wee hours of May 6 when the law enforcers flushed several thousand Hefajat activists out of the Shapla Chattar in the capital's Motijheel. The government, however, put the number of deaths at 13.
Briefing the press at the media centre of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) on August 10, 2013, Monirul Islam, the then joint commissioner of DMP, said no lethal weapons were used to drive the Hefajat men out of the Shapla Chattar.
Law enforcers only used tear gas shells, sound grenades and water cannons to disperse the Hefajat men, he added.
Referring to the violent incidents at Paltan and Motijheel areas between May 5 morning and early hours of May 6, he said a total of 13 people, including police officials, transport workers and pedestrians, died in those incidents.
On the pictures used in the Odhikar report, Monirul said though the report was based on the incidents of that night, some pictures were of those who had died earlier in the day (May 5), and some were of people who are still alive.
After probing the case, the DB on September 4 the same year pressed charges against Adilur and Elan.
Detectives on August 11, 2013 raided the Odhikar's Gulshan office and seized three laptops and two desktop computers, which were used to prepare the fake list of 61 dead victims.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Sep 14, 2023
- Event Description
The Palace extended its heartfelt condolences to the family of Maria Saniata Liwliwa Gonzales Alzate, after being gunned down by still unidentified assailants in Banguet, Abra last Thursday.
Alzate was shot at least eight times while inside her parked white Mitsubishi Mirage G4 sedan two days ago. The gunmen were seen riding a motorcycle and immediately fled the crime scene.
"We are one with the family of Atty. Maria Saniata Liwliwa Gonzales Alzate in this time of grief, and we offer them our most sincere and heartfelt condolences," Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a statement this Saturday.
"We join our brothers and sisters in the legal profession in condemning the killing of Atty. Alzate, who was mercilessly gunned down in front of her home in the afternoon of 14 September 2023."
Bersamin described Alzate as a "fearless," "steadfast," and "principled" lawyer unrelenting in her pursuit of justice.
Alzate, according to National Union of Peoples' Lawyers (NUPL) president Ephraim Cortez, was the third lawyer killed during the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The NUPL is currently considering the possibility that the attack was connected to her profession, given the nature of the cases she handles.
The victim was said to have given her legal assistance to reported victims of illegal arrest, detention and torture allegedly perpetuated by the Philippine National Police.
She had also been providing pro-bono legal services to indigent litigants and has been serving as private prosecutor in the slaying of a teacher allegedly by a barangay chairperson.
"Her death is a tragedy as well for the good province of Abra and for the legal profession," Bersamin added.
"We will ensure that our law enforcement agencies will work relentlessly to bring to justice those behind this heinous act. Hot pursuit operations are already ongoing, and we call upon our citizens to remain vigilant."
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) likewise condemned the killing and joins the calls for enforcement agencies to urgently pursue the perpetrators in order to be brought to justice.
"In the midst of calls to address impunity, threats and attacks against the members of the legal profession directly affront the rule of law," stressed the commission.
"CHR has since stressed their important role: courts, lawyers, and judges are crucial in administering justice, as well as in uncovering the truth, especially for gross human rights violations."
CHR says that it's in the best interest of the state to protect lawyers to be able to dispense their duty of ensuring justice without fear of threats and retaliation.
Gonzales-Alzate is known to be the former president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Abra chapter and has been an IBP Commissioner of Bar Discipline since 2015.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Lawyer, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Sep 14, 2023
- Event Description
Tran Huynh Duy Thuc’s lawyer was not allowed to see him during his family’s visit to him on Oct. 3. The family said that Thuc’s health has worsened and that he looked gaunt and fatigued. They said further that he reported that he was not allowed to have his monthly call to his family in September because prison officials did not want him to “complain and accuse” them of wrongdoings. Thuc and his fellow inmates have stopped eating prison food to demand fairer food rationing for the entire unit A. Thuc has not been able to buy food at the canteen since Sept. 14, and he’s had to ask his cellmates to buy food for him. He’s no longer given hot water to make ramen, so he has to use cold water. Thuc has resorted to picking and eating wild vegetation to supplement his diet. The prison authorities have confiscated Thuc’s razor and nail clipper without any explanation.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Access to justice, Right to food, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 14, 2023
- Event Description
After the bus company Giant Ibis Transport delayed concluding negotiations with 30 laid off union employees, the workers continued protests at the company’s Sen Sok district station in Phnom Penh on Monday.
Giant Ibis has repeatedly delayed the deadlines to complete negotiations, which were initially set to conclude in late May.
The union members estimate they are collectively owed more than $100,000 by the company, according to the labor law, or around $7,000 to $8,000 per person, union leader Siem Morady says.
However, the company delayed negotiations three times since the originally agreed-upon date in late May, provoking the union to resume its protests to demand long-standing benefits after being suspended from work in April 2020, Morady says.
“We came here to maintain our stance requesting the company take us back to work, settle full payment of our long-standing severance and seniority benefits and we also urge the company to stop intimidating our union,” Morady told CamboJA.
Morady also appealed to tycoon Kith Meng, whose conglomerate Royal Group launched Giant Ibis Transport without indicating any sale or change in ownership status, according to Royal Group’s website.
Kith Meng and the Royal Group did not respond to requests for comment.
During the protest, Giant Ibis Transport representative Ou Phanny — who signed agreements on behalf of the company at the negotiation at the Labour Ministry, allegedly shouted and behaved aggressively towards the union members, Morady says.
“He ranted with offensive remarks to our union members,” Morady claims. “He completely crossed the line.”
Giant Ibis Transport and Ou Phanny, the company’s representative in the negotiations, did not respond to requests for comment.
The Labor Ministry, which had been mediating the negotiations, asked the union in June to wait until after the July 23 national elections to resolve the negotiations, but no solution has been reached since, Morady says.
“A person who acts on the company’s behalf did not have the competence to make a definitive resolution for use,” said Morady, who said he has grown wary of what he considers the company’s ploy to indefinitely delay negotiations.
“We do not have any other ability to confront the company since we already have done so based on the law,” he said. “We can merely keep protesting in vain.”
The union has been protesting on and off since April, but has struggled to fund their gatherings as many workers are unable to stay inside the city and are surviving on temporary construction jobs and other day labor in their home provinces. A few share food or stay at Morady’s small home in Phnom Penh
“Everyone has taken other side jobs to survive, so the protest can only take place only on the weekends,” Morady said.
Ath Thorn, president of the Cambodian Labor Confederation, which helped the Giant Ibis employees unionize in 2020, said that the company’s claims of repeatedly miscalculating the severance and seniority payments for laid-off employees was becoming a tired excuse. The problem, he said, was “not hard to solve.”
“The Labour ministry must work to reinforce the law and if a company makes an excuse to avoid settlement, the ministry has the capacity to hold them accountable,” he said. “Otherwise it indicates that the labor law has been diminished.”
Labor Ministry spokesperson Heng Sour did not respond to requests for comment.
- Impact of Event
- 30
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Sep 14, 2023
- Event Description
The conflict between the people of Nagari Bidar Alam and the people of Nagari Ranah Pantai Cermin with PT Ranah Andalas Plantation (PT RAP) in South Solok Regency led to the criminalization of 6 residents. All six were named as suspects by South Solok Police. The summoning of the six people in Bidar alam originated from police report Number LP/168/IX/2020/SPKT related to the crime of theft on September 14, 2020, which was reported by the company.
Responding to the criminalization of residents, Diki Rafiqi, Coordinator of the Advocacy Division of LBH Padang said that LBH Padang and Walhi West Sumatra West Sumatra made three demands. First, urging the South Solok Police to stop the criminalization of the Bidar Alam community. Second, urging the Regent of South Solok to revoke PT RAP's license. Third, the South Solok Police should investigate PT RAP's criminal allegations, including gardening without a permit, embezzlement of community revenue sharing money, and taxation crimes.
Diki explained that the problem stems from agrarian conflicts that are still unresolved in South Solok Regency. Even though PT RAP, which allegedly reported the community, no longer has any legality. "This is reinforced by the Decree of the South Solok Regent which revoked PT RAP's location permit on July 29, 2008. In addition, PT RAP also does not have Business Use Rights (HGU) in Nagari Bidar Alam and Nagari Ranah Pantai Cermin," he said in an official statement Monday, September 25, 2023.
Initially, said Diki, PT RAP was present due to an agreement between the ninik mamak and PT RAP that there would be a 60 percent - 40 percent profit sharing since the construction of the plantation, but until now the community has not received their rights at all from PT RAP. "Decades of people waiting for good faith from PT RAP to provide 40 percent profit sharing from the harvest have never been obtained," he said.
The impact of the 60 percent to 40 percent agreement, PT RAP has broken its promise to the community. In mid-2020, the community took over their land by harvesting on their own land. In addition, there is also no clarity on conflict resolution by the Regent of South Solok until now. The choice to reclaim rights by the community is based on the situation of economic needs that the company used to promise to prosper.
However, the South Solok Police responded to the reclaiming of land rights by naming a suspect in the alleged crime of theft. This condition certainly intensified the conflict in Nagari Bidar Alam and Nagari Ranah Pantai Cermin.
According to Diki, this is clearly one of the criminalization efforts carried out by the police that can silence the struggle for rights carried out by the community. This criminalization also gives fear to the community so that the company can regain control of the community's land. If the police read the agreements between the community and PT RAP in partnership to build oil palm plantations, it can be concluded that the oil palm plantations belong to the community and the company.
"Then how can a person who owns be accused of stealing on his own land and oil palm trees that are 40% capitalized by the landowning community. Don't think that the plantation was only built by the company because the mechanism built between the company and the community is a partnership and profit sharing," he said.
Before the South Solok Police accepted PT RAP's report, said Diki, the police should have questioned the legality of the company, because the company no longer has legal legality there. In addition, PT RAP not only harms the community but also harms the state by not paying taxes. The state should take action against things like this instead of punishing people who have long been cheated. "In addition, the issue of PT RAP and the landowners is not a criminal issue but a civil issue," said Diki.
Tommy, Head of Advocacy of Walhi West Sumatera, stated that the oil palm plantation cultivation activities carried out by PT RAP without having land rights and business licenses are illegal. Because, plantation cultivation business activities and / or plantation product processing businesses can only be carried out by plantation companies if they have obtained land rights and fulfill business licenses related to plantations from the central government (article 42 paragraph (1).
Furthermore, said Tommy, article 55 of Law 39 of 2014 concerning Plantations as amended by Law Number 06 of 2023 concerning the Stipulation of Government Regulations in Lieu of Law Number 2 of 2022 concerning Job Creation into Law also emphasizes norms that prohibit everyone (including companies) from unlawfully working on, using, occupying, and / or controlling plantation land (including on customary land), harvesting or collecting plantation products.
With the illegality of the activities of working on, using, occupying, and/or controlling plantation land by PT RAP, it does not have land rights and does not have a business license.
So, said Tommy, PT RAP can be subject to plantation crime, regulated in article 107 of Law 39 of 2014 concerning Plantations as amended by Law Number 06 of 2023 concerning the Stipulation of Government Regulations. Substitute for Law Number 2 of 2022 concerning Job Creation into Law which emphasizes that every person who unlawfully works, uses, occupies, and controls plantation land, community land or customary land rights of indigenous peoples.
"With the intention of the plantation business, cutting plants in the plantation area; harvesting or collecting plantation products as referred to in Article 55, shall be punished with a maximum imprisonment of 4 (four) years or a maximum fine of Rp. 4,000,000,000," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Sep 13, 2023
- Event Description
The independent Kloop website has been blocked in Kyrgyzstan amid ongoing pressure on the website's owner, the Kloop Media Public Foundation, further raising fears that officials are curbing rights to free speech and an independent media.
Kloop said on September 13 that several providers in the Central Asian nation had blocked its website just two weeks after the Bishkek city Prosecutor's Office initiated legal proceedings against the Kloop Media Public Foundation to suspend its work in Kyrgyzstan because of the critical coverage of the government by its media outlet.
The Culture Ministry also had demanded Kloop remove an article about the alleged torture of jailed opposition politician Ravshan Jeenbekov.
On September 12, Kloop published an article refusing to remove the material, saying that the story in question attributed all information about the situation faced by Jeenbekov while in custody to actual individuals and sources.
Kloop said at the time it was officially informed of the lawsuit against it that the move was taken after an audit by the State Committee for National Security (UKMK) determined its "published materials are aimed at sharply criticizing the policies of the current government" and that "most of the publications are purely negative, aimed at discrediting representatives of state and municipal bodies."
Established in June 2007, Kloop is a Kyrgyz news website most of whose contributors are students and graduates of the Kloop Media Public Foundation School of Journalism. As an independent media entity, it is known for publishing reports on corruption within various governmental bodies and providing training to Central Asian journalists in fact-checking and investigative techniques.
RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, Kloop, and the Center for Corruption and Organized Crime Research (OCCRP) have collaborated on a series of investigations concerning corruption in the former Soviet republic.
Kyrgyzstan's civil society and free press have traditionally been the most vibrant in Central Asia. But that has changed amid a deepening government crackdown.
More than 20 people, including NGO leaders and other activists, are currently facing trial on serious charges for their opposition to oppose a controversial border agreement between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan last year.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has urged Kyrgyz authorities to stop the move to liquidate the anti-corruption investigative website, saying it is "an outrageous and deeply cynical attempt to stifle some of Kyrgyzstan’s most probing investigative journalism, including investigations of alleged corruption involving leading state official."
The annual media freedom rankings, published recently by the Reporters Without Borders watchdog, showed Kyrgyzstan falling 50 places to 122nd out of 180 countries.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Censorship, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Sep 13, 2023
- Event Description
A Bishkek court on September 13 rejected an appeal filed by noted government critic and journalist Oljobai Shakir (aka Egemberdiev), against his pretrial arrest on a charge of calling online for mass disorder. Shakir was detained on August 23 and one day later sent to pretrial detention until at least October 23. Days before his arrest, Shakir criticized the government's decision to hand four spa facilities near Lake Issyk-Kul to Uzbekistan and called on President Sadyr Japarov and the State Committee of National Security chief Kamchybek Tashiev to participate in public debates with him.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Kyrgyzstan: media worker detained for 48 hours
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 12, 2023
- Event Description
Phnom Penh police say they are investigating a brutal assault against a vocal critic of government policies, as civil society groups say the incident is the latest in an ongoing crackdown on critical voices.
Baton-wielding assailants attacked Ny Nak on Tuesday afternoon as he and his wife Sok Sreynet were driving their motorbike along street 369 from their organic fertilizer warehouse in Chbar Ampov district’s Prek Pra commune on Tuesday, Sreynet said.
Around 1:10 p.m., a group of three or four men in black uniforms and helmets rode their motorbike into Nak’s motorbike and began beating him with a baton until he was “bleeding from his head,” his wife says.
“It was a case of attempted murder, it is not a coincidence,” she said. “My husband and I have never had any argument with anyone.”
The style of assault echoed a series of attacks against opposition Candlelight Party activists documented by Human Rights Watch in the months leading up to July elections earlier this year.
Nak was released from prison in June last year after being incarcerated for 18 months on charges of incitement after making a satirical post criticizing then-Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Covid-19 restrictions.
Nak remains bruised and bed-ridden in a private hospital and his wife said she filed a complaint to authorities on Thursday.
“Commune police told me that they have seen camera security, there are eight people [suspects] with four motorbikes, and they will follow the procedure of the investigation,” Sreynet said. “I hope they can arrest suspects and provide justice to my husband.”
Chbar Ampov District Police Chief Mao Soeut and Phnom Penh Municipal Police Chief Chuon Narin both said police are working on the case.
“We are not leaving the case, we are continuing to arrest perpetrators. Please take a look at the situation, currently there are a lot of gangsters taking their motorbikes to beat [others]. Let the police investigate,” said Narin, before hanging up the phone.
Nak, a fertilizer producer and fruit tree seller, has frequently criticized the Agriculture Ministry on his Facebook page IMan-KH, which has 413,000 followers. His wife denied he had any political ties.
On Monday, Nak wrote on his Facebook: “Agriculture is my breath…I am not silent about agriculture officials who have just work to get a salary. Ny Nak will always be in competition with agriculture officials.”
In the hours before he was assaulted on Tuesday, Nak made a Facebook post directly criticizing the current Agriculture Minister.
“As the minister has more than 60 secretaries of state and uses drones for surveillance, but can not find a secretary to make official documents and notes are handwritten like this, who knows who wrote it? Which factory miller? Which company? They do not have, so they only write on Facebook,” Nak posted.
“We were saddened by the news, to be honest, when we heard it we were shocked by the attack,” Agriculture Ministry spokesperson Im Rachna told CamboJA. “As you may know, the Cambodian government highly respects the freedom of expression and we believe it is the core value of democracy. We wish him well.”
“I do not comment on speculation,” Rachna said, when asked if there was any connection between Nak’s critical comments on the minister and the assault. The current Agriculture Minister could not be reached for comment.
Government spokesperson Pen Bona also denied that the assault was a signal of broader repression against free speech.
But Soeng Senkaruna, a senior investigator at rights group Adhoc, said that the assault appeared to be tied to Nak’s critical public statements.
“We can say it came from expression of opinion,” Senkaruna said. “The beating is a crack down on spirits who dare to exercise their opinion to criticize the government’s institutions.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 12, 2023
- Event Description
Zeng Yuxuan, a doctoral student from mainland China found in possession of posters depicting the "Pillar of Shame" sculpture commemorating the Tiananmen massacre, was recently handed a six-month jail term under colonial-era sedition laws.
Zeng's Sept. 12 sentencing came after she was convicted of conspiring with U.S.-based democracy activist Zhou Fengsuo to "commit acts with seditious intent" ahead of the June 4 massacre anniversary, and has sent shockwaves through the growing community of mainland Chinese who have made Hong Kong their home.
Zeng is the first mainland Chinese person to be convicted of sedition under an ongoing crackdown on public dissent that has seen senior journalists, pro-democracy media magnate Jimmy Lai and 47 former lawmakers and democracy activists charged with offenses from "collusion with a foreign power" to "subversion."
Since the 2019 protest movement, police have made more than 1,000 arrests under a draconian national security law, with thousands of protest movement supporters also targeted under colonial-era public order and sedition laws.
Like many defendants keen to avoid months or even years of pretrial detention with no bail, Zeng pleaded guilty to "attempting to commit or preparing to commit one or more acts with seditious intent."
Before her arrest, Zeng had taken part in the "white paper" protests against the stringent restrictions of the zero-COVID policy in November 2022.
But the action that prompted her prosecution by the Hong Kong authorities was her public commemoration of the death of Leung Kin-fai, who committed suicide after non-fatally stabbing a police officer outside the Sogo Department Store on July 1, 2021 in an attack described as "terrorism" by police at the time.
Not the only one
Zeng isn't the only person to be prosecuted for supporting Leung in public.
On Sept. 11, four former University of Hong Kong students pleaded guilty to "incitement to wound with intent" after they publicly praised Leung's action, according to Hong Kong court reporting service The Witness. They had earlier been accused of "glorifying terrorism," but the terrorism-related charges were dropped.
Kinson Cheung, Charles Kwok, Chris Todorovski and Anthony Yung, who are aged between 21 and 22, were arrested in 2021 after they took part in a student union meeting that passed a motion of sympathy for Leung, a move that was denounced in the pro-China press and by then leader Carrie Lam.
Zeng was released on bail following her January arrest, but then rearrested on June 1 after she was found carrying the "Pillar of Shame" posters.
In an interview recorded before her second arrest, Zeng told Radio Free Asia that she was inspired by her first glimpse of the 2019 protests, which came when her law lecturer at a mainland Chinese university used a VPN to circumvent the Great Firewall of government censorship and show the class live footage of protesters occupying Hong Kong's Legislative Council chamber on July 1, 2019.
She later applied to study in Hong Kong, and started keeping up with political developments there, as well as doing some in-depth reading on overseas websites about the 1989 Tiananmen massacre that ended weeks of student-led democracy protests in Beijing and other major cities.
"The outcome was tragic, but there was something quite glorious about the fact that this has now entered into the collective memory of our generation, of several generations -- it's a shared memory," Zeng said.
Zeng arrived in Hong Kong as Peng Lifa was staging his explosive banner protest on Beijing's Sitong Bridge, ahead of the party congress.
Zeng eagerly embraced the "white paper" movement that followed, she said, adding that she felt a "duty" to protest.
"It feels like most people in mainland China don’t actually care about [politics or social justice]," she said. "But I still think it's my duty — it's everyone's duty."
Fearless at her trial
Mainlanders turned out in Hong Kong's Central business district, the working class district of Mong Kok and on the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong to hold up blank sheets of A4 in solidarity with "white paper" protesters in mainland Chinese cities.
Yet many had their ID cards photographed by police, leading to fears that their participation could lead to repercussions for loved ones back home.
By New Year's Day 2023, Zeng had been arrested for taking part in a public commemoration of Leung Kin-fai, and the police in China were already in touch with her parents.
"My feeling is that my parents and I are individuals, and independent of each other," Zeng said. "If they target my parents, then the responsibility falls on them, not on my parents."
A fellow Hong Kong-based mainlander who gave only the nickname Sandy for fear of reprisals, said Zeng had seemed fearless at her trial, appearing in a sweatshirt with a Winnie-the-Pooh motif, in an apparent sideswipe at ruling Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, who is said to resemble the fictional bear.
"A lot of our friends and classmates in mainland China lack the courage to stand up, but they are grateful to those who do," Sandy said. "It's also heartbreaking, because she didn't have to do this."
Another mainlander who once met Zeng as a student in Hong Kong said Zeng's actions had tested the government's vaguely defined "red lines" under the national security crackdown, and that she admires her bravery.
She believes Zeng's sentence was handed down to act as a warning to other mainlanders in Hong Kong who might sympathize with the pro-democracy movement.
"[It's now clear that] the national security law and the [attempted] police assassination attempt are off-limits," the woman, who gave only the nickname Lily for fear of reprisals, said, adding that the space inside the government’s "red lines" appears to be narrowing all the time.
"It's pretty scary whether you're a Hong Konger or a mainlander," Lily said. "I didn't think it would give rise to so many criminal charges."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Sep 12, 2023
- Event Description
Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Court on September 12 rejected an appeal filed by prominent investigative journalist Bolot Temirov against a court decision to deport him to Russia for "illegally obtaining a Kyrgyz passport." Temirov, who has extensively reported about corruption among government officials in Kyrgyzstan, was deported to Moscow in November. Temirov, who held Kyrgyz and Russian passports, has insisted the probe against him was launched after he published the results of his investigation suggesting corruption among top officials in the Central Asian nation.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Deportation, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 10, 2023
- Event Description
Myanmar’s military regime has arrested a Yangon resident for the apparent crime of being the father of a prominent anti-junta activist.
Retired schoolteacher Kyaw Aye, 68, has been in police custody since he was taken from his home in Tamwe Township early Sunday morning, members of his family told Myanmar Now.
It has since been confirmed that he is being held for incitement under Section 505a of the Penal Code—a charge frequently deployed against critics of the regime.
Kyaw Aye is the father of Rahul Kyaw Kyaw Maung, a veteran activist better known as Kyaw Ko Ko.
Kyaw Ko Ko, 42, is a former chair of the ABFSU, or All Burma Federation of Student Unions, who was imprisoned in the past for his involvement in the 2007 Saffron Revolution and other efforts to end military rule in Myanmar.
Following the overthrow of the country’s elected civilian government in February 2021, he joined the armed resistance movement. His current whereabouts are unknown.
His father’s arrest on Sunday was not unexpected, as there had been calls for the regime to take action against him on pro-junta Telegram channels.
According to a relative, Kyaw Aye decided against fleeing because he knew that it would only increase pressure on the rest of his family.
“He decided not to go anywhere because the military would have arrested another family member even if he managed to evade,” the relative said.
Kyaw Ko Ko has been wanted by the junta since he escaped arrest following a crackdown on anti-coup protests in Yangon in March 2021.
A month later, three of his friends, including his girlfriend, Su Zarli Shein, were arrested while travelling from Yangon to Loikaw in Karenni (Kayah) State.
“They arrested her because they couldn’t find me and arrest me,” he said at the time.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Sep 9, 2023
- Event Description
The Birinchi Mai district court in Bishkek said on September 11 that well-known political activist Zarina Torokulova was sent to pretrial detention two days earlier until at least October 30 on unspecified charges. Torokulova was detained last week. Media reports said at the time that she was accused of involvement in "mass unrest." No further details were given. Neither Torokulova's lawyers nor her relatives have commented. Torokulova is known for her criticism of the Kyrgyz government in posts on social media.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Sep 9, 2023
- Event Description
Two Vietnamese prisoners of conscience, Trinh Ba Phuong and Phan Cong Hai, faced physical assault and shackling after protesting against the harsh treatment and human rights violations in An Diem Prison in Quang Nam Province. This distressing revelation was conveyed to Radio Free Asia (RFA) by Phuong's younger sister, Trinh Thu Thao, on Oct. 13, immediately after the family visit.
The incident happened on Sept. 9, 2023, around 8 a.m., when Phuong and others staged a peaceful protest, displaying a banner denouncing human rights violations at the prison center. Prison guards swiftly intervened, forcibly seizing the banners and violently disciplining the protestors.
Phuong and Hai, both part of the peaceful demonstration, endured harsh punishment. They were shackled for ten days. Phuong later wrote a petition to protest the disciplinary action he faced and sent it to the People’s Procuracy Office of Quang Nam Province. However, his petition did not receive any response.
The two political prisoners also held another peaceful protest on Sept. 2, 2023, to protest against China's aggressive actions in the South China Sea. They received a different response - the authorities confiscated the banners without resorting to violence or discipline.
This distressing episode highlighted the need for immediate attention and action to ensure all prisoners are treated fairly, particularly those unjustly detained for their beliefs and advocacy for human rights and democracy in Vietnam.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Sep 9, 2023
- Event Description
Eight residents of Torobulu, Konawe Regency, Southeast Sulawesi (Sultra) were reported to the police by the mining company PT Wijaya Inti Nusantara (WIN). They were reported for taking action against mining activities
"Yes, the one who reported was PT WIN's attorney," said Head of Criminal Investigation Unit of South Konawe Police AKP Henryanto Tandirerung to detikcom, Sunday (15/10/2023).
PT WIN made a police report against the 8 residents on Thursday (28/9). The police then sent a summons to the reported parties to submit clarification on Monday (16/10) tomorrow.
"Initially I intended to mediate these 8 people but they didn't come. So now I want to clarify," he said.
Torobulu Resident Coordinator, Ruhima, said that 8 residents were reported to the police after they held a protest at the PT WIN mine site in Torobulu Village, Laeya District, Konsel, Southeast Sulawesi, Wednesday (27/9). However, only 2 people were summoned by the police.
"Yes, eight people were reported, but it seems only two people have been summoned," said Ruhima.
Ruhima said the action was carried out because the agreement by the sub-district government and residents was violated by PT WIN. PT WIN continues to mine at the location even though it has been asked to temporarily stop mining activities.
"After being mediated by the sub-district head, both residents and the company were asked to stop mining activities first. But two days they were mining, so the residents went to withhold (PT WIN's heavy equipment)," Ruhima said.
But after a few days, Ruhima continued, residents received information about a police report. Eight residents were summoned for mediation, but did not come.
"We were called to the police station, but that was when we were summoned for mediation, we asked to come down to Torobulu, and they said (the police) wanted to intervene," explained Ruhima.
- Impact of Event
- 8
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Extractive industries
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Sep 8, 2023
- Event Description
Le Thi Thap, the wife of Luu Van Vinh, told Project 88 that she was summoned by police from Binh Tan District in HCMC to appear for questioning on Sept. 8.. When she appeared, she was advised to persuade her husband to plead guilty in order for him to be released early. Then they asked her whether any representatives from the U.S. consulate had visited her husband and if she had signed any petition letter to the president of the United States. She answered that since her husband was in jail, they should know whether or not anyone had visited him. They also told her that if her family had a desire to emigrate to the United States, they would help her fill out the paperwork. She just told them to give her the forms. After that, she was allowed to go home safely. Vinh was arrested in 2016 and is serving a 15-year sentence for “attempted subversion” for belonging to the group Vietnam National Self-Determination Coalition.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Sep 8, 2023
- Event Description
The third day of excavation at the Kokkuthoduvai mass grave, conducted on September 8th, took a distressing turn when police officers at the site were observed harassing media personnel, Balanathan Sathees and Vijayaratnam Saravanan, in an apparent attempt to intimidate them.
The two journalists were in the midst of conducting interviews with individuals connected to the mass grave site. As students from the Medical Faculty of the University of Jaffna observed the excavation and exhumation process, Sathees and Saravanan were engaged in conversations with some of these students, seeking to understand their impressions of the mass grave's significance.
During this process, the police informed them that they could not remain in their current location and attempted to forcibly remove them from the site, while the journalists were carrying out their professional duties.
Subsequent to this troubling incident, the police issued a warning to all journalists, instructing them to remain on the far side of the mass grave site. This action appeared to be in contradiction to the assurance previously provided by the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO), appointed as the lead in the excavation by the Mullaitivu Magistrate Court.
The incident was promptly brought to the attention of the Magistrate Court judge, who was present at the site, observing the excavation process. The judge reiterated to the journalists that they were welcome to observe the proceedings from a safe distance, consistent with the practice extended to all other observers.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Sep 6, 2023
- Event Description
Phimchanok was charged with royal defamation for a post on her Facebook profile page saying “The government sucks. The institution also sucks.” Pol Col Nopparit Kantha, the superintendent of the provincial investigation department in Chiang Mai, filed charges against her on order of the Chiang Mai regional police working group on national security. Assuming the term “institution” was a reference to the monarchy, the police accused her of royal defamation.
Phimchanok was arrested on 18 March 2022 by a unit of around 15 officers and taken from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. The warrant was issued by the Chiang Mai Provincial Court. She never received a summons before being arrested.
Although Phimchanok’s lawyer requested bail during the inquiry process, the police said that a bail request could only be filed after she had been taken to court for temporary detention. Although the Chiang Mai Provincial Court granted her bail, she was not released until 11.40 on 19 March 2022. This caused her to miss her TCAS examinations, required for university entrance. Thereafter, she was also required to report to the court in Chiang Mai every 12 days, although she lives in Bangkok.
In court, Phimchanok testified that she posted the message but was referring to an educational institution, not the monarchy. She added that even if others think that it refers to the monarchy, it did not constitute royal defamation as the defamation law protects specific members of the royal family, not the royal institution.
On Wednesday (6 September), the Chiang Mai Provincial Court found her guilty of royal defamation. Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that the court cited prosecution witness testimonies saying that Phimchanok has previously been advocating for monarchy reform, making it probable that her post referred to the monarchy. The court also ruled that the royal defamation law covers the royal institution as well as the King, Queen, and Heir Apparent, members of the royal family specifically listed in the text of the law.
The court sentenced Phimchanok to 3 years in prison, but reduced her sentence to 2 years because she gave useful testimony. She was later granted bail using a 150,000-baht security and will be appealing her sentence.
TLHR noted that interpretation of the royal defamation law tends to vary from court to court. On 21 August 2023, the Chiang Mai District Court dismissed one count of royal defamation charge filed against student activist Thanathorn Vitayabenjang on the grounds that the statement he read during the protest in front of the Provincial Police Region 5 headquarters mention the monarchy but not specific members of the royal family. However, he was found guilty of another count of defamation for a speech given at the Three Kings Monument, which mentioned the King.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 6, 2023
- Event Description
On September 6, a military tribunal in Yangon sentenced photojournalist Sai Zaw Thaike to 20 years in prison, the harshest sentence handed down to a media professional since the junta’s takeover of Myanmar in 2021. The journalist was arrested on May 23 in Sittwe, the capital of the western Rakhine state, after he had been dispatched to cover the impact of Cyclone Mocha earlier that month.
Following his arrest, the journalist was subjected to interrogation in both Sittwe and Yangon before being transferred to Yangon’s Insein Prison in June. His initial indictment included allegations of misinformation, incitement, and sedition, including charges under Section 505a of Myanmar’s penal code - used to silence independent and critical journalism. The full list of charges faced by the journalist is currently unknown.
Sai Zaw Thaike was convicted following a one-day trial inside Insein Prison. He was not given access to legal representation and his family has been denied visitation rights in the months since his arrest.
Since the military coup in February 2021, Myanmar’s military has conducted a relentless campaign against fundamental human rights, exploiting existing and newly introduced legislation to crack down on free expression and independent media. As of September 7, at least 72 media workers are believed to be behind bars, according to various human rights organisations.
In the IFJ’s 2022 Myanmar situation report, The Revolution Will Not Be Broadcast, the slate of attacks, killings detentions, and draconian charges against journalists and media workers since 2021 are identified as common practice for the de-facto authorities.
The IFJ said: “The barbaric sentence levelled against Sai Zaw Thaike represents the excesses of a regime responsible for grave human rights violations against its citizens. The IFJ strongly condemns the arbitrary sentencing of yet another journalist by the military junta and urges the international community to do more to support Myanmar’s embattled independent media.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Sep 6, 2023
- Event Description
Prisoner of conscience Bui Tuan Lam, known as ‘Onion Bae,’ is being punished after unsuccessfully appealing his five year sentence, his wife told Radio Free Asia.
Lam was convicted of spreading ‘propaganda against the state’ and his sentence was upheld in an appeal last month.
His wife, Le Thanh Lam, told RFA Vietnamese that when she visited Lam last week, detention center officials told her all family meetings must be supervised and would therefore take time to arrange.
However, following multiple calls to arrange a visit, his wife was told family visits had been suspended because Lam was being disciplined.
“I asked them why my husband was disciplined, how long he would be disciplined and when my family would be able to see him again,” she said.
“They did not provide any more information.”
RFA called a police officer named Phong at the Da Nang detention center where Lam is being held. He refused to answer any questions.
“I’m very worried and confused,” his wife said.
“I don’t know whether he will be shackled and what the punishment will be like.
This is the second disciplinary action since the trial. In just a few months he was disciplined twice [and made to wear] leg shackles.”
Ms Lam said the family had no information about her husband’s health because he was denied access to lawyers before his appeal.
Lawyer Le Dinh Viet told her that during the appeal hearing the court denied him any form of communication with his client, even eye contact.
Lam is one of dozens of activists imprisoned on charges of ‘anti-state propaganda’ in recent years. Few of the other prisoners have been disciplined and denied family visits.
Lam, 39, campaigned for human rights in Vietnam at the U.N. headquarters in Geneva in 2014. He is a member of the No-U movement, which challenges China’s ‘Nine Dash Line’ territorial claims in the South China Sea.
He earned the nickname ‘Onion Bae’ after posting a video mocking Minister of Public Security To Lam, who ate a US$1,800 steak at a restaurant owned by celebrity chef ‘Salt Bae.’
In Lam’s video, which went viral, he copies the chef’s gesture of dramatically sprinkling salt, instead sprinkling spring onions on a bowl of noodles.
Before his trial and appeal, Human Rights Watch called for all charges to be dropped and Lam’s immediate release.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Sep 6, 2023
- Event Description
Police have fired tear gas in attempts to disperse a protest staged by the Students’ Union of the Peradeniya University.
Accordingly, tear gas was used against the students who were staging a protest march in the Peradeniya area, along the Colombo-Kandy main road.
The protest was held over several key demands, including the riddance of alleged government conspiracies to ‘abolish the University Grants Commission (UGC)’ and ‘sell medical degrees’, which would destroy the country’s free education system, they claimed.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Sep 5, 2023
- Event Description
Conducted against the offices of Bhagat Singh Students Morcha (BSM) in the Benaras Hindu University and the homes of Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) activists, the statement said, the raids “come in light of the recent attempts at suppression of the Bihar-based Kaimur Mukti Morcha’s leadership which has been at the forefront of the Adivasi struggle in Kaimur plateau against the blatant land-grabbing for creating a tiger reserve in the area.”
Since the morning of 5th September 2023, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been raiding the offices of Bhagat Singh Students Morcha (BSM) in Benaras Hindu University. Simultaneously, NIA has raided the homes of Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) State President Seema Azad, her partner and advocate Vishwavijay, advocate Soni Azad and organiser of a workers’ organisation Ritesh Vidyarthi along with political activist Manish Azad in Allahabad.
Along with these raids, NIA has taken Seema Azad, Vishwavijay, Soni Azad and Ritesh Vidyarthi with them to an unknown location in an unlawful manner that reeks of undemocratic political repression. Information regarding their whereabouts is unavailable.
At the same time, at BHU, when two students from BSM attempted to talk to the investigation team regarding the raid being conducted at their offices, the officers slapped one of the students, screaming at the students for “daring to question” the raid in any manner. Two of the students, Akanksha Azad, the President and Siddhi, the Joint Secretary of BSM are forcefully made to sit in the room and interrogated while their phone have been confiscated by the NIA officers.
These raids happening now in Allahabad are part of a larger on-going campaign of political repression being undertaken in Uttar Pradesh, with the house of activist Rajesh being also raided in Deoria district. Rajesh is an activist of the Khiriya Bagh-Azamgarh farmers’ movement and a member of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha.
Similar raids have also taken place in Chandauli district. The raids come in light of the recent attempts at suppression of the Bihar-based Kaimur Mukti Morcha’s leadership which has been at the forefront of the Adivasi struggle in Kaimur plateau against the blatant land-grabbing of their lands for the sake of creating a tiger reserve in the area. In the past, police have opened fire on peaceful protests of the KMM and repeatedly abducted their activists.
Political activists, lawyers, intellectuals, and students who extend their support to movements against the corporate plunder of resources backed by the Indian state and its loot of the lands of farmers and Adivasis are continuously being branded as Maoists in a bid to silence all dissenting voices that expose the Indian state’s anti-people policies.
Abductions, violence, seizure of property and police brutality have become common practices by the state forces against all such dissent. In a time when the brutalities and undemocratic practices of the Indian state have become so open, all democratic-minded, justice-seeking, peace-loving people must come together in organized resistance towards such suppression.
Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) strongly condemns the undemocratic raids on its constituent organisation, Bhagat Singh Student Morcha (BSM) and Democratic- pro-people activists and subsequent detention of 4 activists by NIA.
We demand that these raids be stopped and detained activists be release immediately and unconditionally. CASR calls upon all the democratic progressive forces and individuals to join hands and resist this Brahmanical Hindutva fascist onslaught.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Raid, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Sep 5, 2023
- Event Description
The Forum of Journalists Against Violence (FORJAK) condemned the act of obstruction and alleged repression against journalists by unscrupulous officers of the Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP) at the North Sumatra Governor's Office on Tuesday, September 5, 2023.
The alleged violence and intimidation was carried out by Satpol PP officers of the North Sumatra Provincial Government in the middle of the handover ceremony of the memory of the North Sumatra Governor, Edy Rahmayadi, to Acting Governor Hassanudin.
In an official statement obtained by Liputan6.com from FORJAK, Wednesday (6/9/2023), there were 12 journalists who were victims of obstruction of coverage. It started when a number of journalists wanted to enter the Raja Inal Siregar Hall, Second Floor, North Sumatra Governor's Office, Jalan Pangeran Diponegoro, Medan City.
At the entrance to the hall, a number of Satpol PP members were on guard. At that time, civil servants, citizens and journalists jostled to get into the hall. However, when it was the turn of the journalists to enter, Satpol PP officers blocked them.
A Satpol PP member known as EA Lubis suddenly pulled IDN Times journalist Prayugo Utomo, who was about to enter the hall. The Satpol PP officer asked Prayugo about his identity. After being explained, the Satpol PP even said that IDN Times was not an official media.
"What is IDN Times. It's not official," said EA Lubis.
The Satpol PP officer also pushed and pulled the body of the IDN Times journalist who was about to enter. Likewise with other journalists. The Satpol PP officer pushed them away from the hall entrance.
"We are also surprised, why is it even said to be unofficial. I also did the coverage by carrying out the procedure. Using identification or Press ID. I have also explained nicely, but the Satpol PP officer pulled me away, and still said I was not an official media and could not cover the event," said Prayugo, who also serves as the Coordinator of the Advocacy and Legal Division of Pewarta Foto Indonesia (PFI) Medan.
As a result of the obstruction, Yugo suffered losses. He was unable to cover the event.
- Impact of Event
- 12
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 4, 2023
- Event Description
A group of workers and their supporters, who were arrested after demanding higher wages in the garment industry earlier this year, were freed this week after pledging not to participate in unlawful associations.
The 12 workers’ rights advocates included employees of the Hosheng Myanmar Garment Factory, employees of the Sun Apparel Myanmar factory, activists affiliated with the Action Labor Rights organisation, and the owner of a tea shop where they regularly met.
On June 14, several of the activists went to the general administration office in Shwepyithar Township, Yangon, to register a complaint about the dismissal of seven Hosheng Myanmar employees who had asked for a raise.
Junta authorities arrested the labor activists and their associates over the next several days, holding two at the Shwepyithar police station and transferring the remaining ten to Insein Prison.
Authorities initially brought charges against the detainees under Section 505(a) of the Myanmar Penal Code on incitement, under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act, and under Section 40 of Registration of Associations Act.
However, the junta released the detainees on Monday after giving them a document to sign, according to Thurein Aung, a spokesperson for Action Labor Rights.
“According to the letter, if they engage in unlawful associations, they are subject to having their penalties doubled,” he said, referring to the document signed by the detainees.
“They had to sign it with their fingerprints,” he added.
Shortly after the labour activists’ arrest in June, a regime-controlled newspaper reporting the incident accused Thurein Aung and another associate of the Action Labor Rights organisation, Thuza, of incitement. Both have had to take precautions to avoid arrest in the intervening months.
It is uncertain whether the garment factory workers will return to their jobs at Hosheng Myanmar and Sun Apparel following their release.
“A complaint has been filed with the labour office regarding their dismissals and the case has been accepted. But investigations on the case haven’t started. I don’t know whether the factories will rehire them,” Thurein Aung said.
“We have appealed to Zara about re-employing them,” Thurein Aung said, referring to the flagship retail brand of the clothing company that sources clothes from the Hosheng factory.
Inditex, the parent company for several globally recognised clothing retailers including Zara, announced plans in June to make a “gradual” exit from Myanmar following international condemnation of the junta’s treatment of garment industry workers.
This year, after living through more than two years of inflation since the military coup, more workers began to demand an increase in the minimum daily wage from 4,800 to 5,600 kyat.
Authorities are required by law to readjust the minimum wage in Myanmar every two years, but the last adjustment occurred in 2018 during the administration of the National League for Democracy, when it increased from 3,600 to 4,800 kyat for an eight-hour workday.
The wage has remained the same under the military regime, as authorities have ignored the requirement to adjust the wage and suppressed protests organised in support of workers’ rights.
- Impact of Event
- 12
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Sep 4, 2023
- Event Description
On September 4, police in Manipur state filed criminal First Information Reports (FIR)against four senior journalists under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, following the September 2 publication of a report by the Editors Guild of India (EGI) analysing trends in media coverage of ongoing violence in Manipur. The FIRs, lodged after a complaint from a local social worker, are based on the mislabelling of a photo caption included in the report for which the EGI issued a correction on September 3.
Announcing the charges at a press conference on September 4, Chief Minister N. Biren Singh alleged that the report would ‘provoke clashes’, and continued to label the report ‘highly condemnable’ due to a perceived lack of consultation during its production.
The four accused include senior journalists and EGI leadership, with investigative team Bharat Bhushan, Sanjay Kapoor, Seema Guha, and guild President Seema Mustafa named in the FIRs. Bhushan, Kapoor and Guha conducted a fact-finding mission to Manipur from August 7-10, with the report concluding that news coverage in the state had disproportionately elevated voices of the politically dominant Meitei people, with this bias ‘contributing to divisiveness and violence’.
In an official statement, the EGI expressed concern at the charges and comments made by Chief Minister Singh, urging the authorities to withdraw the files registered against their members. The Press Club of India also called for the dismissal of all charges, claiming the move constituted intimidation against the guild.
Since the outbreak of violence in May 2023, at least 160 people have been killed in Manipur, with thousands displaced. The increased presence of security forces has resulted in the harassment and assault of several journalists, with internet restrictions imposed by the state government for over four months limiting the scope and quality of news coverage in the area.
The IFJ said: “The publication of a report analysing a complex media context should not be met with legal retribution. If the Manipur government has legitimate issues with the contents of the report they should be discussed through non-criminal proceedings, instead of harassing journalists with arbitrary and intimidatory charges. The IFJ calls on Chief Minister N. Biren Singh and the Manipur state authorities to withdraw all cases against EGI leadership and journalists immediately.”
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Sep 4, 2023
- Event Description
10 months after participating in an anti-government protest during the 2022 APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in November 2022, two activists have received police summonses on charges relating to the protest.
Labour rights activist Thanaporn Wichan and student activist Akhin (pseudonym) were charged for participating in the 17 November 2022 protest at the Asoke Montri intersection. Protesters were planning to march to the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, where APEC meetings were taking place, to submit a petition to APEC leaders on human rights violations in Thailand. However, they were prevented from marching by crowd control police, who blocked the Asoke Montri intersection. They then decided to read their statement at the intersection before ending the protest.
Both Thanaporn and Akhin were charged with violation of the Public Assembly Act for not notifying the police that they were organizing a protest. Thanaporn was also charged with using a sound amplifier without permission because she was a speaker during the protest.
Meanwhile, Akhin was charged with violation of the Act on the Maintenance of the Cleanliness and Orderliness of the Country for using paint during the protest. The police accused Akhin of splattering green paint around, some of which got on the crowd control police stationed nearby, and claimed that other protesters were throwing paint and water and spraying paint onto the officers.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said Thanaporn and Akhin received summonses on 4 September requiring them to report to Lumpini Police Station on 15 September to hear the charges. The summonses arrived 10 months after the event. TLHR said that two other activists also received summonses for the same protest, but were unavailable and had asked the police to move their appointment.
The police also named activists Nutthanit Duangmusit and Sopon Surariddhidhamrong as organisers of the protest, but neither have received a summons. Sopon is also detained pending appeal on a royal defamation charge.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 3, 2023
- Event Description
Chinese rights attorney Lu Siwei has been repatriated to China after being arrested in Laos en route to join his family in the United States, in another example of transnational law enforcement by Beijing, rights activists said on Thursday, citing Lu's lawyer.
A senior official in Laos' Ministry of Public Security in charge of the case told Lu's Laos-based lawyer in a phone call on Thursday that his client was sent back to China last week along with dozens of other Chinese nationals, Bob Fu, president of the U.S.-based Christian rights group ChinaAid told Radio Free Asia.
The news -- which was also posted to X by Tokyo-based human rights activist Patrick Poon -- emerges amid growing international criticism of China's "long-arm" law enforcement and pursuit of dissidents overseas.
"Sadly, Chinese human rights lawyer #LuSiwei was deported back to China, according to his lawyer in Laos," Poon wrote, adding: "We should continue to put pressure on China, calling for his release."
According to an official notification dated Sept. 11 issued by the Chinese Embassy in Laos to the Lao Ministry of Public Security, Lu was "approved for criminal detention" by police in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan on Sept. 3, on suspicion of "illegally crossing a border."
The document, a copy of which was circulating on social media in recent days but which has now been proven likely genuine, informed the Lao authorities that the Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China "requires that the suspect Lu Siwei be transferred to China, to be brought to justice as soon as possible."
It suggests that Lu was already in China when activists in Tokyo, including Poon, were demonstrating for his release outside the Lao Embassy in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Torture concerns
Fu said he was "shocked and disappointed" at the move, which he described as a violation of international law.
"The communist government in Laos has grossly ignored its legal obligations under international human rights [treaties] and violated international law under the Convention against Torture," Fu said.
"By deporting one of the most persuasive and well-known human rights lawyers of all time, Lu Siwei, it has set a terrible precedent," he said. "Every drop of his blood he sheds will be on the hands of the Laos and Chinese Communist regimes."
Lu, a prominent rights advocate who lost his law license after speaking out about the cases of 12 Hong Kong activists detained by the Chinese coast guard after the 2019 protest movement, was arrested in Vientiane in late July as he boarded a train for Thailand en route to the United States, where he planned to join his family.
Lu had been under surveillance in China since his attorney’s license was revoked in 2021, with a camera installed at the door of his home. He had also been barred from leaving China.
Lu's wife Zhang Chunxiao told Radio Free Asia in an interview on Tuesday that she fears for her husband's safety and well-being.
"The thing I feared was suddenly right there in front of me," she said, commenting on being told that the police document seen on social media was genuine. "Before that, it just had a vague existence [in my mind], but then I saw all at once, saw clearly that this was real."
She said Lu will be sent to prison once back in China, and "probably tortured," and the couple's daughter may not see her father again for eight, possibly 10 years.
Last month, it was confirmed that free-speech activist Qiao Xinxin, who was reported missing in Vientiane amid reports of a cross-border arrest by Chinese police, is being held in a detention center in the central Chinese province of Hunan, according to overseas activists familiar with the matter.
Qiao, whose birth name is Yang Zewei, went missing, believed detained on or around May 31 in Vientiane, after launching an online campaign to end internet censorship in China known as the BanGFW Movement, a reference to the Great Firewall, according to fellow activists.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Deportation, Judicial Harassment, Transnational repression
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Lao PDR: Chinese lawyer arrested by the police
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 3, 2023
- Event Description
Local officials in the central Afghan province where the Taliban detained 18 staffers for a long-serving humanitarian NGO earlier this month suggest the group was suspected of spreading Christianity, RFE/RL's Radio Azadi has learned.
Taliban intelligence and other officials in Kabul have remained silent over the detentions.
The International Assistance Mission (IAM) humanitarian group in Afghanistan on September 15 announced the detention of 18 team members from its offices in Ghor Province between September 3 and 13. It said they all appear to have been transferred to the Afghan capital, Kabul.
IAM and other information suggested the detainees comprise 17 Afghan nationals and a female American surgeon.
Early on September 16, IAM said it still "has not been informed of the reasons for the detention of our staff."
But Taliban officials in Ghor have accused them of spreading Christianity, which can be punished under strict interpretations of Islamic law in Afghanistan.
In a written message to Radio Azadi, Abdul Hai Zaim, the head of information and culture for the Taliban-led government for Ghor Province, confirmed the arrest of the IAM employees and claimed -- without providing evidence -- that they had been promoting Christianity.
The fundamentalist Taliban, who retook control of Afghanistan as U.S.-led international forces withdrew in 2021, have imposed a particularly harsh form of Shari'a law on the country when they have been in power at various points in the past four decades.
The internationally unrecognized Taliban-led government in Afghanistan has been accused by UN and other international officials of grave human rights offenses against non-Muslims, women, and minorities.
IAM said on September 16 that it had inquired with the Taliban-led Afghan government's Finance Ministry and was "working together with the UN and ACBAR, the coordinating body for NGOs in Afghanistan," to seek the release of the staff members.
IAM has worked in Afghanistan for nearly six decades, it said.
"IAM has worked in Afghanistan alongside Afghan communities for 57 years and we value and respect local customs and cultures. We stand by the principle that 'aid will not be used to further a particular political or religious standpoint,'" it said, adding, "All IAM staff agree to abide by the laws of Afghanistan."
- Impact of Event
- 17
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Sep 2, 2023
- Event Description
Save for a pair of slippers and a piece of sandal, there were no traces of the two young women abducted by armed men in Orion town in Bataan province on the night of Sept. 2, a human rights group said.
The fact-finding mission of friends and colleagues of Jhed Tamano, 22, and Jonila Castro, 21, yielded no other leads as of Monday, according to Amador Cadano, spokesperson for the human rights watchdog Karapatan in the Central Luzon region.
In a post on social media, Karapatan sought online help for any information that could lead to the whereabouts of the two following the reported abduction.
According to Karapatan, Tamano works as a coordinator in the “Turn the Tide Now” program of the church group Ecumenical Bishop Forum-Central Luzon while Castro serves as a community volunteer for Akap Ka Manila Bay, a network of various sectors opposing the reclamation projects on Manila Bay.
Both environmental workers studied at Bulacan State University (BulSU) in the City of Malolos in Bulacan and were former members of the Student Alliance for the Advancement of Nationalism and Democracy BulSU, an activist group at the university.
Castro was an undergraduate psychology student in 2019 while Tamano was a business economics graduate in 2022.
Citing accounts of eyewitnesses, Karapatan said armed men were seen forcing Tamano and Castro inside a gray Toyota Innova in front of the Orion Water District in Barangay Lati at 8 p.m. on Sept. 2.
Tailed “Before they went missing, the two reported being tailed by men wearing civilian clothes. The two stayed in Sitio Ormoc in Barangay Balut (also in Orion) for at least three days, consulting the community for a possible relief operation,” Cadano said.
They were sent to Orion by Akap Ka to consult with communities that were affected by the new coastal road and reclamation project planned for the expansion of the free port of Bataan, according to Cadano.
The ongoing dredging work in Barangay Capunitan had so far displaced some 200 families in need of help, he added.
The two women were set to leave Orion on the night of Sept. 2 for another consultation in another town but they stopped replying to text messages from friends around 7 p.m., Cadano said.
Karapatan-Central Luzon held state forces, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict and the Marcos administration “accountable for the enforced disappearance of Jhed and Jonila and all others who disappeared in the region and in the nation.” Cadano did not say the basis of the group’s suspicion.
He said the incident involving Tamano and Castro was the second case of enforced disappearances in the region after those of peasant organizers Elena Pampoza and Elgene Mungcal, also known as the Moncada 2, who went missing in July 2022.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Sep 1, 2023
- Event Description
Decades ago, a few people started settling on a swathe of land near an ecologically sensitive wetland engaged in agriculture and fishing. Over time, the population grew and a law was enacted to prevent any further destruction of the eco-sensitive wetland. As time passed, a new government in the name of ecological restoration suddenly started evicting the people, including those residing there before the law’s enactment. These people have become homeless and landless and stare at a dark future.
This is not a fiction novel but the reality of thousands of people in the Silsako Beel (lake) area, in Assam’s capital Guwahati. The latest massive eviction drive, from September 1 to 2, with the police’s and the CRPF’s help was firmly protested by the residents.
On September 1, the protest turned ugly when two women protesters “manhandled” by the police started removing their clothes.
“They were manhandled by the police. They tried to protect their land and home half-naked,” one of the protestors requesting anonymity told Newsclick.
Moments later, the two women and seven other protesters, including Krishak Mukti Sangram Samit secretary Bidyut Saikia and member Akash Doley, two other women and three other men, were arrested for rioting or obstructing a public servant in the discharge of duties. They were granted bail at the Chief Judicial Magistrate court in Guwahati the next day.
Besides, 34 other protesters, including women, were detained and released at midnight.
“Five male cops dragged me to the police van. My shoulders still hurt. There were no female cops. Other women protestors were treated similarly,” Sharifa Begum told Newsclick narrating her experience.
“We were ferried to the 4th Assam Police Battalion in Kahilpara, which is very far, and kept in an isolated room with a poor mobile network. We were cut off from the world. During the afternoon, we were asked if we were hungry. We refused to eat,” she added.
“The police dropped us near Borbari at midnight. We walked a long distance to reach our broken houses.”
TRAGIC TALES Rubi Basumatary, whose husband died two years ago, and her two daughters have stayed in Silsako since 2005. “We had bought the plot in 2002.”
“No, we didn’t receive an eviction notice,” a weeping Basumatary told Newsclick amid the ruins of her demolished house, her shelter for more than a decade.
“Yesterday (September 1) they arrived to tell us that only our gate and a small room will be demolished. However, bulldozers razed our entire house today,” she alleged.
Silsako’s residents are insecure and scared with drones checking whether any structure remains.
Kalpana Terang and Ritubh Hazarika had similar stories to narrate. They still can’t understand how people settled there even before the Guwahati Water Bodies (Preservation and Conservation) Act was enacted in 2008 could be evicted.
“We are not illegal immigrants but indigenous. We voted for the BJP and never imagined even in our wildest dreams that they could do this to us. We committed a sin by trusting [chief minister] Himanta [Biswa Sarma] when he announced in his election campaign that everyone would be allotted pattas,” one of the residents requesting anonymity said.
A policeman guarding the bulldozers requesting anonymity said, “What the government is doing is a crime. We are helplessly performing our duty; we have no option. People should not be tortured like this.”
A female cop who resides in Silsako lost her house and livestock as well.
“We have been here for the past 30 years. We saw paddy cultivation here. Can anyone grow rice in a wetland?”
ask Wahida Begum and Shaira Begum.
“We received electricity bills mentioning the house numbers allotted by the Guwahati Municipal Corporation. How can they say we are illegal?”
Wahida and Shaira told Newsclick that the population grew there after 2008. “During Prafulla Mahanta’s time, a wall was erected and we were told that a new MLA hostel would be developed here. But the wall is far away from our house and so is the beel (the wetland).”
The eviction was a nightmare for Jasula Brahma, his wife and their school-going son. A contractual driver with the health department, he has stayed there for 15 years. “No notice was served before the demolition drive. I too have electricity bills mentioning my address and the GMC house plate and holding numbers.”
Moved by the tragedy, Jamuna Bala Dutta (92), who stays far from the area, came to meet the evicted residents. “I could not stop myself from visiting these troubled people. Do governments ever do any good work? These people are being tortured,” she told Newsclick.
GOVERNMENT’S CLAIMS, RESIDENTS’ FEARS Newsclick had earlier reported that the government claimed that removing the residents is necessary for ecological restoration and to address Guwahati’s artificial flood issues under the ‘Mission Flood Free Guwahati’.
However, the residents fear that the cleared land might be handed over to big corporate lobbies in the name of developing infrastructure. They also questioned why Ginger Hotel, Himatsingka building, Badruddin Ajmal’s building and Assam minister Jayanta Malla Baruah’s house, allegedly obstructing the wetland, remain intact.
Akhil Gogoi, president of Raijor Dal and MLA from Sibasagar, alleged that the state government is “evicting indigenous people but safeguarding Badruddin Ajmal, Himatsingka and the Ginger Hotel”.
Assam Jatiya Parishad president Lurinjyoti Gogoi aid in a statement: “While people of Assam are evicted from their houses, Baba Ramdev is given lakhs of bighas. This shows how the BJP is anti-indigenous and anti-people.”
He also alleged that Sarma and his family own huge swathes of land. “Himanta Biswa Sarma and his family cannot realise the agony of the evictees as they possess huge swathes of lands,” he was quoted in a media statement.
In the previous Newsclick report, Supreme Court lawyer Upamanyu Hazarika raised some critical questions regarding the eviction drive and the lack of clear demarcation for the boundary of the protected wetland.
Naina Begum, an evictee and a vocal youth against the eviction, told Newsclick, “A few days back, revenue minister Jogen Mahan said at a meeting that no project has been planned in the area.”
She alleged that the land will be “probably handed over to some big building lobbies who will construct housing complexes here”.
Most residents believe that the drive is motivated towards handing over the huge swath of land to big corporate lobbies.
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to housing, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Aug 31, 2023
- Event Description
Pakistan authorities must cease harassing journalists Fayaz Zafar and Amjad Ali Sahaab and immediately and impartially investigate Zafar’s detention and allegations that he was abused by police, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.
On August 30, police arrested Zafar, a reporter for the U.S.-Congress-funded Pashto-language broadcaster Voice of America Deewa and Daily Mashriq newspaper, in northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s Swat District, according to news reports and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ.
Earlier that day, magistrate Irfan Ullah Khan ordered Zafar to be held in preventive detention for 30 days under the West Pakistan Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960. The order, which CPJ reviewed, accused him of using social media to spread “fake, offensive and hatred contents to defame and incite the public” against the government and law enforcement agencies.
Zafar said he was taken to Swat police chief Shafiullah Gandapur’s home, where six officers beat him for about 15 minutes with their guns and fists despite his telling them he had a heart condition. The journalist also said police brought his car to Gandapur’s home, damaged its doors and hood with their rifle butts, and held the vehicle until September 5. Zafar said Gandapur pressured him to sign an affidavit that he would stop his critical reporting about the police, but he refused and was taken to jail.
On August 31, Khan issued an order for Zafar to be released from jail, following requests from the District Bar Association and a local tribal assembly, and withdrew the previous day’s detention order. Interim Information Minister Murtaza Solangi told CPJ that he asked local authorities to release the journalist and ordered the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to investigate the incident.
In the case of Sahaab, editor of the local Urdu newspaper Daily Azadi Swat and the online blog Lafzuna, police in Swat District’s Mingora city opened an investigation on August 31, accusing the journalist of inciting violence against state institutions via social media and posting criticism of the district administration, according to a report by Radio Mashaal and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ.
Sahaab told CPJ that a dozen police officers came to raid his home on August 31 but did not enter because his brother said the journalist was not there and women were inside. Sahaab said he approached a local court on September 1 and secured pre-arrest bail to protect himself from detention in relation to the case until the next hearing on September 9.
The police report, reviewed by CPJ, accused Sahaab of defamation and intentional insult with intent to breach the peace in violation of the penal code, and causing annoyance or intimidation in violation of the The Telegraph Act, 1885.
“Pakistani authorities must swiftly and transparently investigate the arrest of Fayaz Zafar and the abuse he allegedly endured at the hands of the police, and hold the perpetrators to account,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “Police must also drop their investigation into Amjad Ali Sahaab and allow both journalists to report on matters of public interest in Swat District without interference.”
Zafar told CPJ that he feared for his life after the detention and beatings and received medical treatment for the injuries caused to his head, back, shoulders, legs, and right hand.
The journalist said he believed that he was targeted for his recent reporting and commentary on social media, including a video, which he said showed a student being abducted near a police station, and photographs, which he said were of militants patrolling in Swat after attacking a police post.
Sahaab also told CPJ that he believed he was being investigated because of his critical work that he posts to social media, including Lafzuna’s YouTube discussions about the alleged failure of local authorities to stop rising militancy and arrests of activists, as well as blogs on insecurity.
Police chief Gandapur told CPJ via messaging app on September 1 that Zafar’s allegations of abuse were “fake” and that the journalist was directly taken to jail following his arrest.
Gandapur did not respond to CPJ’s follow up queries about the investigation into Sahaab. CPJ’s calls and messages to magistrate Khan requesting comment did not receive any replies.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 31, 2023
- Event Description
A Chinese court on Thursday handed down a four-and-a-half-year jail term to an outspoken economics professor who had estimated the high personnel costs of the Chinese government, finding him guilty of “incitement to subvert state power,” according to rights website.
The Guiyang Intermediate People's Court handed down the sentence to former Guizhou University professor Yang Shaozheng in a trial behind closed doors on July 29, a post on the Weiquanwang rights website said.
"Yang Shaozheng expressed dissatisfaction with the judgment in court and filed an appeal," the group said. "The reason for the appeal was that this was an illegal trial."
Yang's appeal argued that members of the Chinese Communist Party had presided over the case from start to finish, including the investigation, the prosecution and the trial itself.
"The actions he was charged with fell under freedom of speech and expression, and to criminalize a citizen for exercising those rights was a violation of the constitutional right to freedom of expression," the report paraphrased Yang's appeal as saying.
A key member of Yang's defense team, Zhang Lei, declined to comment when contacted by Radio Free Asia, indicating that he was under a lot of pressure from the authorities, while repeated calls to another member of his defense team rang unanswered on Thursday.
Cost to Chinese taxpayers
Yang, 53, lost his job at Guizhou University’s Institute of Economics in November 2017, on the orders of someone "higher up" the government hierarchy, and was subsequently investigated by police amid a purge of outspoken academics and the adoption of President Xi Jinping's personal brand of ideology across higher education.
Hunan-based dissident Chen Siming said an article in which Yang calculated that party and government personnel cost the Chinese taxpayer an estimated 20 trillion yuan (US$2.75 trillion) annually was likely the trigger for his arrest.
"These questions [he was asking] hit home," Chen said in an interview last month. "He was later expelled from Guizhou University, and then secretly arrested. During this period, lawyers and family members weren't allowed to meet with him."
Yang spent some time on the run in 2019 after being shackled to a chair and interrogated by state security police for eight hours, around the 30th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.
Just before that stint in detention, Yang had criticized a new wave of ideological training being launched in China's colleges and universities.
He was arrested in secret in May 2021 and placed under incommunicado detention for six months on suspicion of "incitement to subvert state power," before being formally arrested and prosecuted. He is currently being held in the Guiyang No. 1 Detention Center.
His lawyers filed an administrative complaint with the Guizhou provincial state prosecutor on March 3, alleging that state security police were trying to force a "confession" from Yang through torture, which caused him to lose consciousness several times and lose some 25 kilograms (55 pounds) in weight.
The complaint said the abuse took place during the six months he was held under "residential surveillance at a designated location," a type of incommunicado detention frequently used to target critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party in "national security" cases.
A Guizhou-based lecturer who gave only the surname Yu said Yang, whom she counts as a friend, is a "rare" person in today's China.
"I think Yang Shaozheng knows very well what he was bringing down on his own head when he spoke out like that, but he did it anyway," Yu told Radio Free Asia in a recent interview. "He is a politically brave person, which is a rare thing in our society."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Academic
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Aug 31, 2023
- Event Description
Political prisoner Dang Dinh Bach has been assaulted by policemen after telling his family he’d been threatened by other inmates, according to fellow inmate Tran Huynh Duy Thuc who was visited by his family this week.
Bach and Thuc both called their families last Thursday to say people dressed as prisoners had entered their cells, threatening them. Thuc said the inmates who entered his cell had a knife.
On Tuesday, Thuc’s family visited him at Prison No.6 in Nghe An province.
Thuc asked his family to record the names and numbers of 7-8 policemen standing around them, saying they were “those who oppressed and made it difficult for him in the camp,” Thuc’s younger brother Tran Huynh Duy Tan told Radio Free Asia.
“Thuc waited until the end of the visit to say the last word to his family, because he knew that when he said this, he would be stopped,” Tan said.
“In the last sentence, shouting loudly to the family, he said, ‘the day Bach called his family on August 31, he was severely assaulted by police officers.’”
The family had previously sent an urgent request for help to Tran Ba Toan -- head of Prison No. 6 – and the People’s Procuracy of Nghe An Province to request immediate implementation of measures to protect life and ensure the safety of the four political prisoners who had been threatened.
After finishing their visit Tuesday, Thuc’s relatives requested to meet Toan to discuss the case but were told he was on a business trip.
Bach suffered a head injury
Dang Dinh Bach is a lawyer and director of the environmental group, the Center for Legal Studies & Policy for Sustainable Development.
He was arrested in July 2021 and later sentenced to five years in prison for tax evasion.
His wife, Tran Phuong Thao, met with him on Tuesday. Thao said her husband was prevented from bringing a notebook to record their conversation.
“Bach showed me his hand. I saw three cuts on the wrist and hand, each about 2-3 centimeters,” she said.
“I asked him what's wrong? Bach said that I have to understand there are many things he cannot say, but he believes I can understand what is going on in here.”
She said Bachh told her he had a bruise on the back of his neck about 7 cm wide and still has a headache, but the staff refused to examine it.
“On August 31, right after the call home, he was hit in the head from behind,” she said.
RFA’s reporter tried to call Prison No. 6 to verify the information, but nobody answered.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Aug 30, 2023
- Event Description
A court in Vietnam on Wednesday upheld the five and a half year prison sentence for activist Bui Tuan Lam, known as “Onion Bae,” his wife Le Than Lam told Radio Free Asia.
On May 25, Bui was convicted of propaganda under Article 117 of the country’s Penal Code, after being found guilty of criticizing the government online.
Le told RFA Vietnamese she was not allowed to attend Wednesday’s three-hour hearing at the Higher People’s Court in Danang. but his lawyer Le Dinh Viet was permitted to represent him there.
However, the lawyer was not allowed to meet his client on Tuesday at the detention center where Bui is being held so they were unable to prepare for the appeal.
Le Than Lam said hundreds of policemen in uniform and plain clothes were deployed outside the court, filming her and others who had gathered there to wait for the outcome. She told RFA everyone stayed calm when the appeal was rejected, so the police had no reason to arrest them.
Bui, 39, ran a beef noodle stall in Danang. He achieved notoriety in 2021 after posting an online video mimicking the Turkish celebrity chef Nusret Gökçe, known as “Salt Bae.”
The video, which went viral on social media, was seen as poking fun at To Lam, Vietnam’s minister of public security. To was caught on film being hand-fed a GBP1,450 (U.S.$1,830) gold-encrusted steak by Salt Bae at his London restaurant.
In Bui’s video clip, he dramatically sprinkles spring onions into a bowl of soup, mimicking the signature move of the celebrity chef.
Bui was summoned by Danang police for questioning and arrested and charged in September 2022.
Danang People’s Procuracy claimed Bui posted articles on Facebook and YouTube, including content that was “distorting, defaming people’s government” and “fabricating and causing confusion among people.”
Article 117 of the country’s Penal Code criminalizes “making, storing, distributing or disseminating information, documents and items against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.” It is frequently used by authorities to restrict freedom of expression and opinions deemed critical of the government.
On Tuesday, a court upheld the eight-year jail sentence of democracy activist Tran Van Bang, who was also convicted under Article 117.
He is among six activists and journalists who have been convicted on charges of anti-state propaganda by the Vietnamese government since January.
Vietnam has convicted at least 60 people under Article 117, according to human rights groups.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Access to justice, Freedom of expression Online, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Aug 30, 2023
- Event Description
Pakistan authorities must cease harassing journalists Fayaz Zafar and Amjad Ali Sahaab and immediately and impartially investigate Zafar’s detention and allegations that he was abused by police, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.
On August 30, police arrested Zafar, a reporter for the U.S.-Congress-funded Pashto-language broadcaster Voice of America Deewa and Daily Mashriq newspaper, in northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s Swat District, according to news reports and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ.
Earlier that day, magistrate Irfan Ullah Khan ordered Zafar to be held in preventive detention for 30 days under the West Pakistan Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960. The order, which CPJ reviewed, accused him of using social media to spread “fake, offensive and hatred contents to defame and incite the public” against the government and law enforcement agencies.
Zafar said he was taken to Swat police chief Shafiullah Gandapur’s home, where six officers beat him for about 15 minutes with their guns and fists despite his telling them he had a heart condition. The journalist also said police brought his car to Gandapur’s home, damaged its doors and hood with their rifle butts, and held the vehicle until September 5. Zafar said Gandapur pressured him to sign an affidavit that he would stop his critical reporting about the police, but he refused and was taken to jail.
On August 31, Khan issued an order for Zafar to be released from jail, following requests from the District Bar Association and a local tribal assembly, and withdrew the previous day’s detention order. Interim Information Minister Murtaza Solangi told CPJ that he asked local authorities to release the journalist and ordered the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to investigate the incident.
In the case of Sahaab, editor of the local Urdu newspaper Daily Azadi Swat and the online blog Lafzuna, police in Swat District’s Mingora city opened an investigation on August 31, accusing the journalist of inciting violence against state institutions via social media and posting criticism of the district administration, according to a report by Radio Mashaal and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ.
Sahaab told CPJ that a dozen police officers came to raid his home on August 31 but did not enter because his brother said the journalist was not there and women were inside. Sahaab said he approached a local court on September 1 and secured pre-arrest bail to protect himself from detention in relation to the case until the next hearing on September 9.
The police report, reviewed by CPJ, accused Sahaab of defamation and intentional insult with intent to breach the peace in violation of the penal code, and causing annoyance or intimidation in violation of the The Telegraph Act, 1885.
“Pakistani authorities must swiftly and transparently investigate the arrest of Fayaz Zafar and the abuse he allegedly endured at the hands of the police, and hold the perpetrators to account,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “Police must also drop their investigation into Amjad Ali Sahaab and allow both journalists to report on matters of public interest in Swat District without interference.”
Zafar told CPJ that he feared for his life after the detention and beatings and received medical treatment for the injuries caused to his head, back, shoulders, legs, and right hand.
The journalist said he believed that he was targeted for his recent reporting and commentary on social media, including a video, which he said showed a student being abducted near a police station, and photographs, which he said were of militants patrolling in Swat after attacking a police post.
Sahaab also told CPJ that he believed he was being investigated because of his critical work that he posts to social media, including Lafzuna’s YouTube discussions about the alleged failure of local authorities to stop rising militancy and arrests of activists, as well as blogs on insecurity.
Police chief Gandapur told CPJ via messaging app on September 1 that Zafar’s allegations of abuse were “fake” and that the journalist was directly taken to jail following his arrest.
Gandapur did not respond to CPJ’s follow up queries about the investigation into Sahaab. CPJ’s calls and messages to magistrate Khan requesting comment did not receive any replies.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Aug 30, 2023
- Event Description
Authorities in the Indian capital of Delhi must swiftly and impartially investigate the arson attack on the home of journalists Khushboo and Nadeem Akhtar, as well as the threats of death and rape, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.
In the early hours of August 30, the Akhtar family home in the Sultanpuri area of northwest Delhi was set ablaze, according to news reports and Khushboo Akhtar, who spoke with CPJ by phone.
The Akhtar sister and brother team run Pal Pal News, a YouTube-based political affairs channel with more than 2.1 million subscribers. Akhtar told CPJ that she believes the attack was retaliation for Pal Pal News’ critical coverage of the challenges faced by Indian Muslims and other underrepresented groups, including vulnerable caste groups, farmers, and tribal communities.
“Delhi police must conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the arson attack on the home of journalists Khushboo and Nadeem Akhtar and hold the perpetrators to account,” said Kunāl Majumder, CPJ’s India representative. “The rising level of retaliation against Indian journalists covering the plight of minority communities is alarming. Khushboo and Nadeem Akhtar must be allowed to report without fear of violence or reprisal.”
Akhtar told CPJ that many religious items, including copies of the Quran and Ramayana, were taken out of a locked cupboard and burned before the perpetrators set the house on fire. The incident came to light when neighbors noticed smoke emanating from the third floor of the house and alerted Akhtar, who had relocated with her family to a different home last year. By the time she and her brother arrived at the scene, the house had been reduced to ashes.
Akhtar has recently received threats, including some involving death and rape, through social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp, primarily over her journalistic work covering violence and discrimination against Muslims, according to the journalist and a copy of her complaint to the police, which was reviewed by CPJ. Her brother has also received death threats, Akhtar said.
Darshan Lal, station house officer of the Sultanpuri police station, where Akhtar filed her complaint, told CPJ via text message that police are still investigating the arson.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Death threat, Intimidation and Threats, Online Attack and Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to property
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Aug 30, 2023
- Event Description
A freelance journalist Krishna Prasad Subedi was taken under control and his mobile phone seized for writing news on August 30. The incident took place in the federal capital Kathmandu.
Freedom Forum talked to journalist Subedi on September 19 about the incident.
Subedi shared that he had been writing news and articles on human trafficking in Nepal for Nepali media for more than five years. He also runs an official Facebook account named Anticorruption Nepal (https://www.facebook.com/Acnbureau) where he shares his articles and news.
On August 15, Subedi had shared an article about human trafficking by a recruitment agency in Nepal. Following this, he was taken under control for nine hours on August 30. Agency's staffs and board members also seized his diary, mobile phone and press identity card.
They have not returned his goods.Moreover, they forced him to sign on papers mentioning he would not write any news on recuritment agency.
"I have filed my complaint at Nepal Police Headquarters, Office of Chief District Office, Kathmandu and National Human Rights Commission Nepal. I have not received my goods yet", informed Subedi.
There is no any progress in police investigation either, according to Subedi.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Aug 30, 2023
- Event Description
Posters have been pasted in Batticaloa Town against Amalanayagi, the coordinator of the Association of Relatives of the Enforced Disappeared- Batticaloa District, who led the protest remembering the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances on 30th August, in Batticaloa town. These posters pasted by unidentified persons said “come and join the rally to get dollars”, trivialising her activism as something done to gain financial benefits from the foreign countries, feeding to Sinhala nationalist discourse also supported by the state.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Aug 29, 2023
- Event Description
A court in Vietnam on Tuesday upheld the eight-year jail sentence of democracy activist Tran Van Bang for anti-state propaganda during a brief hearing in which authorities dismissed the arguments of the defense and “read the old verdict,” according to family members.
Bang’s conviction is the latest in Hanoi’s ongoing campaign to silence bloggers and activists. Vietnam has convicted at least 60 such people for “making, storing and disseminating materials against the State” under the same Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code, according to rights groups.
He is among six activists and journalists who have been convicted on charges of anti-state propaganda by the Vietnamese government since January.
The Superior People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday sided with the court of first instance, which in May sentenced Bang, 62, to eight years in prison and three years probation.
The decision prompted Western governments and international NGOs to call for his release, saying he was denied his right to freedom of speech.
One of Bang’s siblings told RFA Vietnamese that Bang and his defense lawyer presented their argument for his innocence, saying his posts to social media were his own views and not intended to oppose the government.
“However, [at the end] the Procuracy’s representative read the old verdict and immediately made a conclusion, saying that they did not accept the arguments of either the defense lawyer or Tran Bang,” said the sibling, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing fear of reprisal.
Authorities only allowed family members to view the proceedings on a closed circuit camera feed broadcast to a nearby room. Diplomatic representatives from foreign governments were also permitted to view the feed on Tuesday, after being barred from Bang’s last trial.
Bang’s sibling told RFA his family was surprised by how quickly Tuesday’s proceedings took place and said Bang was not allowed to make a closing statement.
“The judge read out the decision, saying my brother no longer had the right to appeal, and then tasked the police to execute the judgment.” they said. “Right after that, they took my brother away. Our family quickly ran out [of the room] to see him but couldn’t make it in time.”
Repeated calls by RFA to the Superior People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City for comment on the decision went unanswered Tuesday.
Problematic posts
Tran Van Bang, better known as Tran Bang, is a war veteran who fought during the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War. He had regularly participated in demonstrations against China for its controversial claims over territories in the South China Sea.
He was arrested in March 2022 for what was initially determined to be 31 Facebook posts between March 2016 and August 2021.
After a subsequent investigation, authorities found that he wrote 39 problematic posts between three Facebook accounts that that were seen as “distorting, defaming and speaking badly of the people’s government; providing false information, causing confusion among the people; and expressing hate and discontent towards the authorities, Party, State, and country’s leaders,” the Tuoi Tre newspaper reported at the time, citing the indictment.
Prior to Tuesday’s hearing, Bang’s defense lawyer Tran Dinh Dung told RFA that his client had been suffering from a tumor in his groin that had not been determined benign or malignant, and that an operation to remove the growth had been delayed by red tape at his detention center. The state of Bang’s health situation was not immediately clear.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Vietnam: blogger sentenced to 8-year jail term (Update)
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Aug 29, 2023
- Event Description
On 30 August 2023, human rights defender Nitin Varghese was placed in judicial custody following his arrest by the Madhya Pradesh police on 29 August 2023, after which he was remanded in police custody for a day. The human rights defender has been falsely accused of instigating local community members to attack forest officials in March 2023. At the time of writing this appeal, Nitin Varghese was still to be presented in court.
Nitin Varghese is a core member of the Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan (JADS), a collective which has been working for over 20 years to advocate for the rights of Dalit and Indigenous communities in rural areas of Madhya Pradesh. These communities face systemic violations of their right to land, livelihood, access to resources and the right to live with dignity. Nitin Varghese is a vocal advocate on issues such as illegal deforestation, forced eviction of local communities, and the denial of access to land and forests. The human rights defender Nitin Varghese and other defenders associated with the Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan have been repeatedly targeted in reprisal for their peaceful campaigns in support of the land and environmental rights of the Adivasi community in the Burhanpur District, Madhya Pradesh.
On 29 August 2023, human rights defender Nitin Varghese appeared before the Burhanpur District Court and was remanded to police custody at the Khandwa Jail based on a First Information Report (FIR) bearing number 0078/23. He was asked to surrender before the court through a proclamation under Section 82 of India’s Criminal Procedure Code. The case against Nitin Varghese relates to an alleged attack on a Forest Range office in Burhanpur, where the police falsely claim that the human rights defender instigated members of the Adivasi community to attack public officials. In fact, four Adivasi community members were arbitrarily detained at the Forest Range office and the human rights defender Nitin Varghese was requested by community members to secure their release and prevent any harm befalling those in custody. The charges against the human rights defender include serious offences under the Indian Penal Code including rioting, use of criminal force against public servants, trespassing and unlawful assembly.
On 30 June 2023, Nitin Varghese was served a proclamation to surrender before the court.His application for anticipatory bail before the High Court of Madhya Pradesh was rejected on 16 August 2023, leading to his arrest. Police submitted to the court that one of the persons detained following the alleged attack named Nitin Varghese as the instigator of the attack while in custody. The human rights defender has denied all allegations against him and JADS maintains that one of the accused was forced to sign on a blank paper.
The police claim that Nitin Varghese instigated the Adivasi community members to forcibly break their relatives out of the custody in an attack on the Forest Range office. Although the FIR filed in relation to this incident on 2 March 2023 does not mention the human rights defender, in March 2023 the police summoned Nitin Varghese to the Lalbagh police station under the pretext of recording his statement. Despite the human rights defender cooperating fully with the police, they delayed recording his statement on two occasions. Significantly, the persons named in the FIR were released on default bail after two months in detention, as no chargesheet was filed regarding the incident.
Nitin Varghese has been targeted previously due to his human rights work. On 20 April 2023,a FIR was filed against the human rights defenders Nitin Varghese and Madhuri Krishnaswami by a group of local politicians. The report was filed under sections 294 (Obscene acts and songs) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code along with offences under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The same group of politicians had attempted to disrupt a meeting on 19 April 2023 between JADS members and opposition party leaders who were visiting the area to inspect allegations of deforestation.
It is alarming that the human rights defender Nitin Varghese is being implicated in a case that makes no mention of him, and in which the police have failed to produce a chargesheet to date. During this time, Nitin Varghese has also been suffering from a viral fever and is being treated for a serious medical condition.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Aug 29, 2023
- Event Description
Social activist and environmentalist Prafulla Samantara, who was picked up by police on Tuesday and later released after five hours, on Wednesday accused the Odisha government of unleashing terror in the mining areas to stifle the voice of the Opposition as well as the local tribals.
Winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize for 2017, Samantara, 72, told The Telegraph: “I was about to address a media conference at Rayagada on the plight of those tribals who were opposing the mining activities in Rayagada, Kalahandi and other adjoining areas, but three unidentified people forcibly entered into my hotel room and took me away with them. On the way, I came to know that they were plain-clothes police. Later, they left me at my house in Berhampur around 9.30pm after an almost five-hour journey.”
Berhampur is the southern commercial town of Odisha and about 225km away from Rayagada, which borders Andhra Pradesh.
Samantara, president of the Lok Shakti Abhiyan, sent an FIR to the Rayagada police on Wednesday, stating how three people in civil dress entered his hotel room at Rayagada on Tuesday, snatched away his two phones, tied his hands back and covered his head and face with a towel and forced him to come out of the hotel room and go with them in their four-wheeler. He also pointed out how he was subjected to mental torture.
Samantara said: “Around 24 tribals were put behind bars in Rayagada sub-jail for opposing the mining activities. All of them were in jail in three spates of arrests between August 13 and August 20. They were against the mining of bauxite at Sijumali and other areas in Rayagada district.”
He added: “On Tuesday morning, I reached Rayagada and went to jail to meet them. I was about to address the media to expose the nexus between the government and industrial houses. Before I could address the media at Rayagada, the police abducted me. Later realising that it would bring more trouble, they were forced to release me. It’s a kind of state-sponsored terrorism.”
Samantara said people opposed leasing bauxite mines to Vedanta and Adani groups. “In the name of industrialisation, the indiscriminate mining of bauxite would ruin the areas.”
“The Odisha police have unleashed severe repression by resorting to mid-night raids and abductions. Charges of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act have been foisted on activists opposing the mining of bauxite in their areas,” he said.
According to the environmentalist, the state and the Centre — the BJD and the BJP — are collaborating in accelerating the acquisition of bauxite reserves. Both the ruling establishments seek to stifle the voices of these movements by putting their leaders and active members behind bars.
Despite making a number of attempts, Rayagada superintendent of police (SP) could not be contacted.
Rayagada police station inspector said: “I am yet to receive the FIR copy. I have no idea about the alleged abduction by police.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Aug 28, 2023
- Event Description
Ahead of Bui Tuan Lam’s appeal trial scheduled for Aug. 30, his family told Project 88 that security police have posted guards around their home since Aug. 28 and have been taking pictures and videos of their movements and activities.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Aug 28, 2023
- Event Description
Kyrgyz authorities have filed a lawsuit to close down Kloop Media Public Foundation, a nonprofit body that runs an independent online news outlet in Kyrgyzstan, Human Rights Watch said today. The move continues a repressive trend against freedom of expression in Kyrgyzstan.
The lawsuit, for which Kloop was officially served on August 28, 2023, was filed by the Bishkek city Prosecutor’s Office alleging Kloop’s failure to register as a mass media outlet and conducting media activity not listed in its charter, which can warrant the liquidation of legal entities under Kyrgyzstan’s civil law code.
The lawsuit also references a pretrial investigation into the foundation’s activities by the Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security, initiated in November 2021 on suspicion that Kloop Media publications had violated article 327 of Kyrgyzstan’s criminal code, which penalizes “making public calls for the violent seizure of power online” with three to five years in prison.
“The lawsuit against Kloop Media is the most recent in a string of attacks on freedom of media and freedom of expression in Kyrgyzstan, all incompatible with the country’s international human rights obligations, as well as its status as a member of the UN Human Rights Council,” said Syinat Sultanalieva, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Kyrgyz authorities should immediately withdraw the lawsuit and stop harassing independent media in the country.”
Kloop Media is known for its independent reporting on national and regional affairs. It has also collaborated on anti-corruption investigations with the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Kyrgyz Service and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a global investigative journalism network.
The lawsuit accuses Kloop Media of “sharp criticism of [the] government” and lists a number of articles that it categorizes as critical of the Kyrgyz government’s policies and of state and municipal bodies. The opinions of several court-affiliated legal experts cited in the lawsuit say that Kloop’s publications use “hidden manipulation,” as experts put it, leading to “dissatisfaction” and “distrust” of the authorities among its readership, which could lead to their “zombification” and encourage its readers to join anti-government protests.
The lawsuit also spotlights Kloop’s coverage of the situation in the country’s southern Batken region, which had been the site of two border conflicts between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan over the past two years. A Human Rights Watch report on the most recent conflict, in September 2022, found that forces from both sides committed apparent war crimes in attacks on civilians. The lawsuit alleges that Kloop’s articles about the region are responsible for the continued flow of internal and external migration away from the region, which the lawsuit finds to be compliant with Tajikistan’s strategic goals.
Kloop Media’s lawyer, Fatima Yakupbaeva, said the claims lack a legal basis. She said Kloop does not have to be registered as a mass media outlet because it is a nonprofit organization, which according to its charter provides “an information platform for free expression” and aims to “raise awareness of youth in Kyrgyzstan on current socio-political and economic affairs.”
Representatives of independent media community in Kyrgyzstan issued a joint statement saying that the authorities should withdraw their lawsuit, deeming it untenable and asserting that the Kyrgyz government’s effort to punish Kloop’s “sharp criticism of politics” is protected speech guaranteed by the Kyrgyz Constitution and Kyrgystan’s international human rights obligations. The Committee to Protect Journalists also called for the cessation of the legal action against Kloop Media.
Kyrgyz authorities have previously blocked access to Radio Free Europe’s Kyrgyz service websites, froze its bank account for nine months in October 2022 and pursued a lawsuit to shutter it, and ordered the expulsion of Bolot Temirov, an investigative journalist from Kyrgyzstan, in apparent retaliation for his professional activities.
Kyrgyzstan’s international partners including the European Union, EU member states, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe should urge the government to withdraw the lawsuit and to uphold its commitments to freedom of speech.
“Kyrgyz authorities should withdraw the lawsuit against Kloop Media and cease all attempts at punishing journalists for their professional activities,” Sultanalieva said. “The preservation of independent media is fundamental for a functioning democracy and any attempts to suppress critical voices undermine the democratic values Kyrgyzstan has aspired to uphold.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 28, 2023
- Event Description
Two students from Chiang Mai University (CMU) have been found guilty of royal defamation and violation of the 1979 Flag Act for an art installation piece exhibited at an event in March 2021.
Siwanchali ‘Ramil’ Withayaseriwat, formerly known as Withaya Khlangnin, and Yotsunthon Ruttapradid were charged with royal defamation and violation of the 1979 Flag Act for an art installation piece they exhibited during a 14 March 2021 protest at the university. It featured a mannequin wrapped in plastic in the middle of two red and white strips. The complaint was filed by Srisuwan Janya, Secretary-General of the Association for the Protection of the Constitution, a man known as Thailand’s ‘complainer-in-chief’ for filing numerous complaints against activists and politicians.
The installation piece was also shown during an event on 25 March 2021, when students from the Faculty of Fine Arts gathered in front of the University’s Office of Strategy Management to demand an explanation from University and Faculty management for an incident on 22 March 2021, when the Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts and several other faculty personnel, claiming that some student art projects might violate the law, attempted to remove the pieces from the Media Arts and Design Department building without first informing the students.
The police said that messages written on the art piece by participants in the 14 March 2021 protest insulted the monarchy. The piece, which looked like a Thai flag without the blue stripe representing the monarchy, was taken to mean that the artist did not wish for the monarchy to exist in the country.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that the Chiang Mai Provincial Court today (28 August) found them guilty of royal defamation and sentenced them to 4 years in prison. The Court also sentenced them to 8 months in prison and fined them 2000 baht each for violating the Flag Act.
According to the Court, the piece was similar enough to the national flag to cause misunderstandings.
It ruled that, by using a colour scheme similar to a Thai national flag without the blue stripe and by holding the piece up as the National Anthem was played, they defamed the King, showing that they did not want the monarchy to be represented on the flag. The Court added that the defendants should have anticipated that some of the protest messages written on the piece would insult the King.
Because they gave useful testimony and are students who have never been sentenced to prison, the Court reduced their sentences to a total of 3 years and 6 months in prison and a fine of 1500 baht each. Their sentence was suspended for 3 years. Instead, they are required to report to a probation officer 8 times over the next two years.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Aug 28, 2023
- Event Description
Publisher and editor of Nabasangram daily Dineshwor Gupta was attacked while reporting on August 28. The incident took place in Siraha, a district in Madhesh Province.
According to journalist Gupta, he and other journalists were reporting on a clash among local people and Nawarajpur rural municipality officers on the day of incident. During protest on the ownership of a public pond, journalists were taking photos and videos of agitated locals trying to set on fire a municipality's tractor. Meanwhile, a group of 12-15 youths attacked journalists warning to not take photos.
"Other journalists escaped the attack whereas, two of us (me and Jaynath Yadav of Today Khoj daily) were injured from the attack. I have injuries on neck, head and back", shared journalist Gupta.
Thereafter, journalist Gupta informed Superintendent of Police Tekunanda Limbu about the incident and asked him to get his mobile back. But according to Gupta, police was unable to arrest them.
On the next day (August 29), fellow journalists also met with SP Limbu and requested to immediately arrest the attackers. SP Limbu then suggested the journalists to file a First Information Report to initiate the investigation.
"Soon after filing FIR at the local police office, police arrested one of the attackers on August 30 who was however, released immediately. Again after continuous pressure from journalists, police have arrested another person involved in the attack on August 31", said Gupta.
Freedom Forum's media monitoring desk was able to talk to journalist Gupta through Federation of Nepali Journalists Siraha chapter's president Manoj Banaita's phone. FF's monitoring desk also called District Police Office but they showed their unawareness about the incident.
"We are prodding the security authority to arrest remaining attackers as well. This is the matter of journalists' safety. We will not step back", argued President Banaita.
Freedom Forum condemns the incident. Attacking and seizing communication device of a journalist is a gross violation of press freedom. The security authority is strongly urged to address the case seriously and facilitate journalist to get his mobile phone back. The authority should also ensure safety of journalists to avoid any untoward incident.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Aug 28, 2023
- Event Description
On 28th August, Fort magistrate court issued an order preventing protesters from entering several areas in Colombo, in relation to a protest organised by a collective of trade union and civil society organisations. The order was issued against Duminda Nagamuwa, Mujibar Rahuman, Hirunika Premachandra, Joseph Stalin and 24 others banning them from entering the President’s Office, President’s House, Finance Ministry premises, the Central Bank, Police Headquarters, Olcott Mawatha between Fort Railway Station and CTO Junction, Lotus Road from CTO Junction to NSA Roundabout, York Street, Bank Road, Chatham Street and Galle Face Green area and not to block the roads, thereby causing inconvenience to the public and motorists from 9am to 6pm on the day.
On 28th August, Police stopped the protest march organised by a collective of trade unions, and civil society organisations, against the utilisation of superannuation funds in the domestic debt restructuring process. As protesters started their march after having a short demonstration in front of Fort railway station in Colombo, the Police announced and handed over a court order saying that the protest march cannot be allowed. Police and military personnel were heavily deployed in the area. The protesters complied with the order, and stopped the march.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Aug 25, 2023
- Event Description
Tran Huynh Duy Thuc told his family in a short phone call that men armed with knives entered his cell. Thuc said his belongings and physical health were under threat. He was supposed to be allowed a 10-minute phone call but the line was abruptly cut after only three minutes. However, in that short span, Thuc was able to give his sister the names of two prison officials who presumably are responsible for his well being: Phạm Văn Luyến (#559-846) and Nguyễn Văn Hiệu (#569-921).
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Aug 24, 2023
- Event Description
In a video shot in a prison in northern Kazakhstan, a man sporting a shaved head and prison overalls tries to respond as a penitentiary officer accuses him of violating protocols.
“You have been warned twice! Why are you refusing? Why do you refuse to clean?" the officer demands in the footage before ordering a group of subordinates to “use the special equipment.”
The men then proceed to grab the prisoner and pin him to the floor, face down.
“I’m not refusing!” the prisoner can be heard saying, before a man begins striking his lower body with a baton.
The prisoner’s protestations are replaced by screams.
That widely shared footage was initially published by an opposition social media channel that indicated it was shot on August 24.
Around a dozen staff at the No. 1 jail in Atbasar, some 200 kilometers from Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, are believed to have been suspended amid the uproar.
Some of those men have recorded a video defending their actions, arguing that the measures taken against this prisoner and others captured in the footage were necessary to prevent a riot.
President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev’s position on such practices would appear to be clear cut.
Speaking two months after regime-shaking political unrest last year that left at least 228 people dead and evidence of systematic torture of detainees, Toqaev condemned “barbaric medieval happenings…that contradict the principles of any progressive society.”
But since then there have been proportionally few officers convicted or even dismissed over their roles in those manifold abuses.
The identity of the prisoner in the video, moreover, is awkward for Toqaev.
Timur Danebaev, 38, is best known as the activist who attempted to sue the president over comments he made during that crisis, which began with peaceful protests over a spike in fuel prices before spiraling out of control.
That fact, combined with the mystery about how and by whom the video was leaked, has fueled pernicious theories that the leak was no accident at all.
“It seems to me that the video…is not at all an oversight by prison staff,” wrote Lukpan Akhmedyarov, a well-known journalist, in a September 5 Facebook post.
“The video was made public by order of the authorities. None of the prison employees will be held accountable. Because this video is actually a DEMONSTRATION of power,” he claimed.
‘Breaking’ Prisoners
Whether Akhmedyarov’s prediction will hold, only time will tell.
It is not easy to track the career trajectories of low-ranking officers involved in torture scandals, especially when their identities are not made public.
A September 6 press release by the Committee of the Criminal Executive System of the Kazakh Internal Affairs Ministry stated that Akmola Province’s top penal officer, his deputy, and the head of the Atbasar jail had all been recommended for dismissal from their posts as part of an ongoing investigation.
Eleven penitentiary guards were likewise recommended for dismissal from the Interior Ministry after the investigation found “signs of employees exceeding their official mandate,” the statement said, without naming names.
That is presumably the same 11 who released the video this week denying wrongdoing. The video was filmed in the darkness of night, and all of the men were wearing face coverings.
“There was no torture of defendants, but enforcement of compliance with the regime of confinement by legal physical means,” said the group’s speaker.
The speaker went on to claim that more than 40 prisoners had arrived at the prison in late August “with aggressive intent…. They wanted to start a riot.”
“All of our actions were agreed with the supervisory organs,” the speaker noted.
Many will find that last part all too easy to believe.
Vadim Kuramashin, a journalist who some 15 years ago spent a stint in the same jail where Danebaev was shown being beaten, told RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service that the process of “breaking” new residents of the jail is more or less a routine.
Having been imprisoned in early 2007 over a newspaper article, Kuramashin was isolated in a room where he was forced to clean toilets with a toothbrush, he said.
“When I asked them to show me the norm or law [that mandates cleaning], they began to beat me severely,” Kuramushin recalled.
Elena Semyonova, a longtime antitorture activist, was permitted to visit Danebaev this week.
Semyonova said that his health was “more or less [OK]” despite his body showing evidence of beatings.
“But he is psychologically depressed,” Semyonova told RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service, known locally as Azattyq. “A person who has never been in this system, who has completely different ideas.... He didn't expect this to happen. It came as a shock to him.”
‘Men With Epaulets And Uniforms’
In addition to criticizing Kazakhstan’s government, Danebaev has regularly criticized its ally Russia over the Kremlin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
He was also critical of Moscow’s intervention during the January 2022 crisis in Kazakhstan, when Toqaev invited a detachment of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to bolster his government’s control.
In December of last year, the activist was charged with inciting hatred and “insulting the national honor and dignity of citizens” in online videos and posts published on October 10 and November 12, 2022.
But he had already attracted the attention of authorities in February of that year after he tried to initiate a false information lawsuit against Toqaev over the president’s claim that “20,000 terrorists” had descended on Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, during the unrest.
“I have the right to file a complaint against the president or any other citizen,” an impassioned Danebaev told Azattyq in an interview last year.
“Because my rights are absolutely the same as the president’s.”
Well, maybe in theory.
In reality, Danebaev’s filing was ignored, and the police soon showed up on his doorstep, marking the beginning of a campaign of pressure that would culminate in his arrest.
In June of this year, he was sentenced to three years in prison on the charges.
In his Facebook post on the case, the journalist Akhmedyarov argued that Danebaev’s case was one of several that indicated Kazakhstan’s police state is once more baring its fangs, having been somewhat chastened by public criticism during last year’s violence.
Back then, Toqaev was promising a New Kazakhstan after effectively sidelining former President Nursultan Nazarbaev -- the architect of Kazakh authoritarianism and a man who had continued to overshadow his successor Toqaev’s presidency prior to the crisis.
But the political reforms promoted by Toqaev since then have been widely criticized as cosmetic, while a reshuffle of the cabinet and other positions this month mainly saw old politicians recycled into new roles.
One of them, noted Akhmedyarov, was Marat Akhmetzhanov, who swapped the post of interior minister for that of governor of Akmola Province, which surrounds Astana and includes the town of Atbasar in its territory.
Such an appointment echoes trends in Kazakhstan’s northern neighbor, Russia, Akhmedyarov argued.
It also indicates “that positions that were previously occupied exclusively by civilian 'suits' will now gradually be given to men with epaulets and uniforms,” the journalist forecasted.
Notwithstanding Toqaev’s affirmations, the government is doing little to convince the public that it takes torture seriously.
In the aftermath of the January 2022 events, dozens of former detainees complained of mistreatment and many still had the broken ribs to back it up.
But most cases have either been thrown out or have otherwise not made it to court.
Cases that involved deaths in detention during the unrest have been harder to ignore.
One recent conviction concerned the case of Eldos Kaliev, who died in a jail in the city of Semey.
The officer accused in that case was sentenced to six years imprisonment by a city court at the beginning of August.
But two other officers found guilty on August 23 of torturing another young Semey resident to death fared better.
They were handed suspended sentences and ordered to pay compensation -- just under $10,000 each – to the family of the deceased.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Torture, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Aug 24, 2023
- Event Description
community organizer and a jeepney driver were arrested and taken into custody last Aug. 24 in Buhay na Sapa, San Juan, Batangas province.
In a recent alert issued by Tanggol Batangan, a human rights group in Batangas, the detained individuals were identified as Ernesto Baez Jr., an engaged farmer advocate and organizer of Samahan ng Magbubukid sa Batangas (Sambat), jeepney driver Jose Escobio, and his friend Junald Jabonero.
Baez Jr. is the brother of Erlindo Baez, spokesperson of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan – Batangas, who is now detained due to trumped up cases.
Tanggol Batangan learned of the incident after Escobio’s family reported his disappearance.
In a statement released by Sambat, Baez Jr. said he hired Escobio to drive for him to San Juan, Batangas. The three, however, were intercepted and held at gunpoint at Buhay na Sapa village in San Juan.
They were then blindfolded and forced to return to their vehicles, which, according to Sambat, was filled with planted firearms and explosives.
“The PNP and AFP appear to be merely repeating their well-worn and evident modus operandi of arresting civilians and planting ‘evidence’ on them which clearly shows they are doing this to silence the people,” said Sambat.
All three are detained at Camp Miguel Malvar in Batangas City and have been charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
This incident adds to a growing concern of alleged harassment cases by state forces in Batangas province.
Just this month, local organizers in the sugarcane and sugar industry have been targeted with repeated harassment, false accusations, and surveillance by the 59th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army.
“It is crucial to act and mobilize further, intensifying the call to respect the human rights of Batangueños. The abduction of the San Juan 3 only implies the state’s desperation to suppress the rights of the people,” Hailey Pecayo, spokesperson of Tanggol Batangan, said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Aug 24, 2023
- Event Description
The Quezon City police filed new charges against Renato Reyes Jr., artist Max Santiago of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, and several others for burning an effigy during a protest coinciding with Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).
The police claimed that the activists violated the Marcos Sr. era decree Public Assembly Act of 1985 or the malicious burning of any object in the street or thoroughfares.
“This is clearly a harassment suit because I wasn’t even present at the SONA rally. I was on a trip abroad. I was already mid-air when the rally happened,” said Reyes in a statement.
Reyes also noticed that his name was only hand-written on the cover page of the complaint.
“This ridiculous and flimsy trumped-up complaint it seems is in retaliation for our public statements exposing the QCPD for its harassment of Max and our members from Bayan Southern Tagalog. When we spoke out, they filed another complaint. Fascists being fascists,” he said.
Earlier in August, the Quezon City police also filed charges against Santiago and several others for violating the Republic Act No. 9003 or the Ecological Waste Management Act of 2001 and the Republic Act No. 8749 or the Clean Air Act of 1999 over the effigy burning.
Advocates said the charges constitute an attack against free expression.
Reyes said they are consulting their lawyers regarding the case. “There is nothing wrong nor illegal in the burning of an effigy which is part of protected free speech. There is nothing wrong in expressing indignation over the policies of the Marcos regime,” he added.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Artist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 23, 2023
- Event Description
Activist Sopon Surariddhidhamrong has been sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison for a speech during a 22 April 2022 protest in which the court claimed he insulted Queen Suthida.
Sopon was charged with royal defamation and using a sound amplifier without permission for a speech he gave at a protest on 22 April 2022. The complaint against him was filed by Anon Klinkaew, a member of the ultra-royalist group People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy, who said Sopon insulted Queen Suthida by speaking inappropriately about her during his speech.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that Sopon was giving a speech through a small megaphone from the Democracy Monument after police blocked protesters, injuring one. He criticised police operation and mentioned Queen Suthida’s trip to a temple.
He was arrested on 1 May 2022 while was leaving a Labour Day event in front of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC). He was subsequently denied bail and held in pre-trial detention for a month before being granted bail on the condition that he only leave his residence with court permission for educational and medical reasons.
TLHR said today (23 August) that the Criminal Court found Sopon guilty of royal defamation on the grounds that he mentioned Queen Suthida during his speech with the intent to damage her and the King’s reputation. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison.
The Court also found him guilty of using a sound amplifier without permission and sentenced him to 6 months in prison, bringing his total sentence to 3 years and 6 months. TLHR noted that, under the Sound Amplifier Act, the penalty for the charge is a fine of 200 baht.
Sopon has requested bail in order to file an appeal. However, the Criminal Court forwarded his bail request to the Appeal Court. He will be detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison until a decision is reached.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 23, 2023
- Event Description
Free Tibet has seen new videos, in which Gonmo Kyi, sister of imprisoned Tibetan businessman Dorjee Tashi, is seen lying on the floor of a hospital.
The videos, received by Tibet Watch on 25 August, show the appeal letter Gonmo took to Lhasa People’s Court on 23 August asking for a retrial of Dorjee Tashi’s case. Police personnel reacted with force, stopped her, dragged and beat her in front of the court. She was taken to Lhasa People’s Hospital afterwards but was refused admission, even as she lay vomiting on the cold floor.
This is the second time this month Gonmo has been beaten for seeking justice for her brother’s unjust verdict. Earlier this month, she went to Drapchi prison, where her brother is being held, hoping for a meeting. But her pleading was rejected and she was instead beaten, leaving her with injuries to her arms.
The recent police violence has left her in urgent need of medical treatment. Without any response from the hospital, however, she has now been taken to her home.
Dorjee Tashi has been in prison since his arrest in July 2008 and was sentenced to life imprisonment for “loan fraud”, a charge he and his family contested through a series of protests outside courts. While in detention he has been subjected to torture.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to health, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: sister of Tibetan political prisoner apprehended, her whereabouts unknown (Update), China: sister of Tibetan political prisoner arrested, beaten (Update), China: sister of Tibetan political prisoner obstructed as she resumes protest (Update), China: Tibetan WHRD, her husband arrested once again
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Aug 23, 2023
- Event Description
A retired ophthalmologist and his family were arrested in Mandalay on Wednesday for allegedly funding the anti-regime People’s Defence Force (PDF), according to sources.
Dr. Mya Than and his wife Myint Myat Khine, both in their 70s, were taken into custody along with their 45-year-old son, Yan Naung Tun, a neighbour told Myanmar Now.
“They’re a peaceful and charitable family. They always give free treatment to patients who can’t afford it,” said the neighbour, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The family’s clinic and condominium apartment, located next to each other in the city’s Aungmyaythazan Township, were also sealed off following their arrest, photos shared on pro-junta Telegram channels showed.
According to the neighbour, Myint Myat Khine was an associate professor at the Mandalay University of Distance Education until she quit her job after the military seized power in February 2021.
Her arrest on Wednesday appeared to be related to her participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against military rule, the neighbour added.
The regime has designated the PDF, which serves as the armed wing of the shadow National Unity Government, as a terrorist organisation. It has also criminalised virtually any form of support for the anti-junta resistance.
In recent weeks, it has stepped up its efforts to stifle dissent in Mandalay. On August 9, it re-arrested Nwe Nwe Win, chair of the Shwe Mahar Nwe Social Welfare group, following her release from prison as part of an amnesty earlier in the year.
She was accused of “engaging in political activities under the guise of social work” after a doctored photo of her holding a protest sign was posted on a pro-regime Telegram channel.
The following week, on August 13, the regime detained Myint Myint Than, a shop owner in her 70s, for writing a post on social media expressing sympathy for young anti-junta activists.
Last week, the junta closed Mandalay’s Golden Gate Private High School and arrested its founder and management team, and earlier this week it shut down the privately owned Mingalar Hospital for allegedly employing doctors taking part in the CDM.
Regime opponents say the recent wave of arrests, which has also targeted alleged members of urban guerrilla groups, is a sign of the military’s tenuous grip on power.
“They’re trying to instil fear in the public because they know they’re losing,” said a young man based in a liberated area.
He also urged people living in Myanmar’s cities not to lose heart as they face growing pressure from the junta to abandon hope of real political change.
“I just want people to know that the revolution wouldn’t have gotten this far if everyone was afraid of them. I would also like to apologise to people in urban areas and ask them to hang on a while longer.”
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Family of HRD, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Aug 23, 2023
- Event Description
An activist who has organized numerous petition drives in coastal Ha Tinh province has been arrested under Vietnam’s Article 331, the statute commonly used by authorities to silence those speaking out for human rights.
Hoang Van Luan, 35, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with “abusing democratic freedoms,” according to a statement issued by Ky Anh district police to state media.
At least 15 people across Vietnam have been arrested this year and charged under Article 331, according to a Radio Free Asia tally. The statute has been widely criticized by international communities as being vague.
The arrests under Article 331 are a part of Vietnam’s efforts in recent years to stifle political dissent. Activists are also commonly charged with distributing propaganda against the state under Article 117 of the 2015 Penal Code.
Since 2018, Luan has led petition drives for 18 groups on issues presented to officials at the village, district and provincial levels, as well as at central government offices in Hanoi, Ky Anh police said.
The petitions have included the names of 981 people, police said.
In 2019, police in Hanoi’s Ha Dong district imposed an administration penalty with a warning against Luan, saying his group of petitioners were disrupting social order.
This week, the official People’s Police Newspaper ran a photo of Luan and other petitioners who urged authorities to complete a promised water supply project to improve the lives of residents in the Vung Ang Economic Zone in Ky Anh district.
The Vung Ang zone was the site of a devastating toxic waste spill in 2016. The spill by Taiwan-owned Formosa Plastics Group’s steel plant killed an estimated 115 tons of fish and left fishermen jobless in four coastal provinces, including Ha Tinh.
Luan has also organized petitions in the province that have nothing to do with his family interests, such as the North-South Highway, Ky Anh police said on Wednesday. The petitions have led to delays in land clearance for the project, police said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Aug 23, 2023
- Event Description
About the Human Rights Defenders: Maliparbat Suraksha Samithi (MSS) is a community NGO which is working against the illegal mining operations in Maliparbat hills. • Mr. Dasa Kora, aged about 50 years, senior community Leader Bhitarkota village, Maliparbat hills is the vice president of MSS. • Mr. Abhi Sadapelli, aged about 42 years, from Kankadamba village, Maliparbat hills is the Secretary of MSS.
Background: Bauxite mining lease in the Maliparbat hills has been granted to the Hindalco group. Then it was sub leased to Maitri infrastructure and mining India Pvt Ltd. The lease was allotted without the permission of Gram Sabha as per forest rights act, 2006 and the public hearing for the environmental clearance has not been done. Hence, HRDs allege that in order to get environmental clearance through public hearing, Maitri infrastructure and mining India Pvt Ltd is trying to allure the tribals in Maliparbat hills with the promise of money. Details of the Incident: On August 23, 2023, at around 07.00 PM Chhattisgarh police abducted the EHRD Abhi Sadapelli from Kankadamba village and at around 08.45 PM, they abducted Dasa Kora from Bhitarkota Village without any arrest procedures. According to the HRDs, after being picked up they were taken to a big house where they were chained, kicked, and subjected to torture for 3 days by the police officials. According to the EHRDs the place of detention remains unknown and the police officials interrogated them in Hindi and the tribals could not understand. They were not given food for one day and beaten by the police. Later they were released by the police on August 26, 2023 at the border of the Chhattisgarh without any FIR or any legal procedures of arrest or detention.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Intimidation and Threats, Torture, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
Case shared by FORUM-ASIA member People's Watch
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Aug 23, 2023
- Event Description
In a concerning development, sources from Kabul have reported that the Taliban, approximately three months after the arrest of the human rights activist Shamsurrahman Rahiq, have now detained his younger brother.
According to informed sources in the city, the Taliban arrested Mohammad Mehrban Morshed on Wednesday, August 23rd, from Kabul’s third security district. The details of his whereabouts remain undisclosed.
Mohammad Mehrban Morshed is a third-year student at Kabul University, as per sources. The Taliban’s grounds for his arrest, however, remain unknown.
As of now, the Taliban has not issued any official statement regarding this matter.
It’s worth mentioning that on May 24, 2023, the Taliban intelligence forces arrested Shamsurrahman Rahiq for the second time in Kabul. Rahiq is a prominent human rights activist and resident of the Dara district of Panjshir province.
Rahiq is also reported to have previously worked as a staff member for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), although the organization has not yet commented on his case.
Based on the published reports, it is noted that about a year ago, the Taliban had forcibly taken Shamsurrahman Rahiq’s father from his home in Panjshir and shot him. His father was a former member of the previous government’s army.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Aug 23, 2023
- Event Description
Well-known Kyrgyz opposition writer and journalist Oljobay Shakir was summoned by the State Committee for National Security on August 23. After nearly eight hours of questioning, he was detained for 48 hours on charges of "organizing mass unrest" and "attempting to seize power." The Pervomaisky District of Bishkek court will review Shakir's case on August 24. Collaborating with the investigative Temirov Live journalist team, the 52-year-old had criticized the government and opposed the transfer of four Kyrgyz resorts in the Issyk-Kul region to Uzbekistan. Officials have not commented on the arrest.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Aug 22, 2023
- Event Description
The Lakhimpur Police has registered a First Information Report (FIR) against a journalist for allegedly tarnishing the government and education department’s image by sending them videos of bundles of books meant for free distribution to students of government primary schools, being sold as scrap. The journalist said he had sent the video to get an official reaction on the incident that he himself witnessed.
The FIR was registered at Palia police station by block education officer (BEO) Nagendra Chaudhary claiming that by making a video and circulating it on social media platforms, the journalist was attempting to tarnish the image of the government.
A copy of the FIR accessed by NewsClick reads, "A video of Palia market in which a bundle of books is being shown in a rigid truck amidst some cluttered sacks/goods getting viral. In the viral video, the booklets sent by the government for free distribution are being told to be purchased by a junk shop. The above incident is affecting the image of the Basic Education Department as well as the administration."
A case under Section 420 of Indian Penal Code has been made against the journalist.
Shishir Shukla, the journalist who recorded the video and works with Hindi daily Amrit Vichar, told NewsClick that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government does not want any negative report to be covered.
"Like every day, I was on the ground for a story. Near Dudhwa National Park Road, I saw multiple bundles of textbooks at scrap shops. I myself checked the books to confirm whether it is from the current session or the old ones, but I was shocked to see that all books under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, which are supposed to be distributed to government primary school children, are being sold in scrap. I asked the shop owner where he got all the books from, he said from the scrap dealer," an upset Shukla said.
The journalist said he then sent the video to BEO (block education officer) for his reaction to balance the story, but instead of responding to his question, he registered a complaint at Palia police station.
"I have been reporting for more than 15 years but there has never been such a grim situation that action is being taken against a journalist for doing his work," said Shukla.
When contacted, Chaudhary, the BEO who registered the complaint against the journalist mentioning his contact number in the FIR, told NewsClick, "Whoever recorded the video should be punished as it was an attempt to tarnish the image of the government and education department. I have not mentioned the journalist's name in the FIR."
When asked about the contact number mentioned in the FIR, which belongs to the same journalist (Shukla) who sent the video to him for his comment, Chaudhary said, "It is a matter of investigation. I went there to investigate but the books were not there.”
Meanwhile, a group of journalists held protests in Lakhimpur, Palia, Nighasan, Shahjahanpur and Bareilly and handed over a memorandum to the SDM against the “witch-hunt”.
Students Without Books For the past four months, state government-run primary and upper primary school students have been attending classes without their school uniforms and books.
Despite the new academic session for government-run primary schools having commenced on April 1, students in many government primary and upper primary schools across the state are still awaiting the arrival of their books. In the absence of new books, teachers are making use of a few old books that were given by last year's students, but most of them are torn. As a result, the teachers have no choice but to dictate notes until they receive the new sets of books, as reported by NewClick earlier.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 22, 2023
- Event Description
Chinese government censors have shut down key LGBTQ+ social media accounts in a further crackdown on sexual minorities.
Public accounts for the Beijing Lala Salon, Wandouhuang, Transtory, Outstanding Partners, Ace and the Flying Cat Brotherhood were shuttered on the eve of Chinese Valentine's Day on Aug. 22, veteran activist Li Tingting said.
"Such accounts have been targeted once before two or three years ago," said Li, who is better known in feminist circles as Li Maizi. "The government departments in charge of internet management have always targeted accounts linked to sexual minorities, which aren't encouraged by the Chinese government."
She said not all of the accounts were linked to LGBTQ+ groups – some were more broadly feminist.
The move comes after Chinese officials removed an LGBTQ+ anthem titled "Rainbow" by Taiwanese pop star A-Mei from her setlist from a concert earlier this month in Beijing, while security guards forced fans turning up for the gig to remove clothing and other paraphernalia bearing the rainbow symbol before going in, according to media reports.
Sherry Zhang, who goes by the stage name A-Mei, wrote the song for all of her lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual and questioning friends, and it is frequently heard at Pride events in Taiwan. Her fans among the LGBTQ+ community often turn up and wave rainbow flags or wear rainbow clothing in a show of solidarity, confident that the song will make an appearance.
Li, who was among five Chinese feminists detained ahead of International Women's Day in 2016 for planning a campaign against sexual harassment on public transport, added: "The accounts targeted included the Beijing queer women's center Lala Salon, Wandouhuang, which is a feminist platform."
Advocacy and Promotion
She said the Flying Cat Brotherhood was a gay men's group, while censors had also targeted the transgender account Transtory and Ace, a group representing asexuals.
The Wandouhuang artists' group was set up by Toni, Mengxia and Xiao Lufei, who all graduated from the Maryland Institute of Art in 2019, according to a bio that was still visible online on Wednesday.
Beijing Lala Salon was set up in November 2004 as a non-government organization offering social activities for lesbians, to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and to promote lesbian culture.
Chinese government censors have shut down key LGBTQ+ social media accounts in a further crackdown on sexual minorities.
Public accounts for the Beijing Lala Salon, Wandouhuang, Transtory, Outstanding Partners, Ace and the Flying Cat Brotherhood were shuttered on the eve of Chinese Valentine's Day on Aug. 22, veteran activist Li Tingting said.
"Such accounts have been targeted once before two or three years ago," said Li, who is better known in feminist circles as Li Maizi. "The government departments in charge of internet management have always targeted accounts linked to sexual minorities, which aren't encouraged by the Chinese government."
She said not all of the accounts were linked to LGBTQ+ groups – some were more broadly feminist.
The move comes after Chinese officials removed an LGBTQ+ anthem titled "Rainbow" by Taiwanese pop star A-Mei from her setlist from a concert earlier this month in Beijing, while security guards forced fans turning up for the gig to remove clothing and other paraphernalia bearing the rainbow symbol before going in, according to media reports.
Sherry Zhang, who goes by the stage name A-Mei, wrote the song for all of her lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual and questioning friends, and it is frequently heard at Pride events in Taiwan. Her fans among the LGBTQ+ community often turn up and wave rainbow flags or wear rainbow clothing in a show of solidarity, confident that the song will make an appearance.
Li, who was among five Chinese feminists detained ahead of International Women's Day in 2016 for planning a campaign against sexual harassment on public transport, added: "The accounts targeted included the Beijing queer women's center Lala Salon, Wandouhuang, which is a feminist platform."
Advocacy and Promotion
She said the Flying Cat Brotherhood was a gay men's group, while censors had also targeted the transgender account Transtory and Ace, a group representing asexuals.
The Wandouhuang artists' group was set up by Toni, Mengxia and Xiao Lufei, who all graduated from the Maryland Institute of Art in 2019, according to a bio that was still visible online on Wednesday.
Beijing Lala Salon was set up in November 2004 as a non-government organization offering social activities for lesbians, to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and to promote lesbian culture.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Censorship, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Internet freedom, Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Artist, Community-based HRD, NGO, SOGI rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Aug 22, 2023
- Event Description
Sri Lankan authorities must investigate the recent harassment of freelance Tamil journalists Selvakumar Nilanthan, Valasingham Krishnakumar, and Antony Christopher Christiraj and hold the perpetrators responsible, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.
Around 12:30 p.m. on August 22, approximately 50 Sinhalese men led by a Buddhist monk surrounded vehicles holding the three journalists after they reported on alleged state-backed encroachments on Tamil cattle farmers’ land in the Mylathamadu area of the eastern district of Batticaloa, according to news reports, the rights group Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, and the three journalists, who spoke to CPJ.
The men—some armed with knives and swords—moved the three journalists and around 17 others, including farmers and members of an accompanying interfaith group, to an open area and held them in the presence of officers from a local government development authority.
Although the interfaith group leaders immediately called the police, officers only arrived five hours later, after Tamil lawmakers raised the issue on the parliament floor.
As of August 30, police have not opened an investigation into the incident, the three journalists told CPJ. CPJ’s messages to the officer-in-charge of the Karadiyanaru Police Station, which oversees Mylathamadu, and Sri Lankan police spokesperson Nihal Thalduwa did not receive any replies.
“Sri Lankan authorities must thoroughly and impartially investigate the recent harassment of Selvakumar Nilanthan, Valasingham Krishnakumar, and Antony Christopher Christiraj by a mob in Batticaloa, and work to end the pattern of impunity relating to attacks on Tamil reporters,” said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director. “Tamil journalists have a right to report on issues affecting their community without interference or fear of reprisal.”
Ethnic tensions persist between the Sinhalese people, the country’s majority ethnic group, and Tamils following the country’s 26-year civil war that ended in 2009.
Nilanthan, secretary of the Batticaloa District Tamil Journalists Association, was wearing a press jacket and reporting for the privately owned U.K.-based broadcaster IBC Tamil. While he was held, several of the men forced him to delete photos and videos of farmers’ testimonies and the mob setting fire to the land.
He said they also forced him to sign two letters in Sinhala and Tamil stating that he would not report on the incident.
Christiraj, a freelance reporter, and Krishnakumar, a freelancer and the head of the Batticaloa District Tamil Journalists Association, were not wearing press jackets, hid their cameras, and did not inform the mob that they were reporters, they told CPJ.
When Christiraj and Krishnakumar later told police at the scene that they were members of the press, the Buddhist monk asked a police official to order all three journalists to delete their photos and videos, the reporters told CPJ, adding that the official did not comply with the request.
Members of the mob also pressured Krishnakumar to delete photos and videos after learning he was a journalist, which he refused to do, he said.
Although the mob assaulted a Hindu priest, the three journalists were not physically harmed, they told CPJ, adding that they felt traumatized and feared for their safety if they continued to report on the farmers’ plight.
In November 2020, police questioned Nilanthan at his home after reporting on Tamil farmers’ concerns following the growth of military-backed Sinhalese settlements in the district, including Mylathamadu.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Sri Lanka: media workers faces continuous harassment
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 22, 2023
- Event Description
Chinese political commentator Zhou Yuanzhi, 62, was detained again on 22 August 2023 under undisclosed accusations, only 16 months after his release following a four-year long detention on trumped-up charges. His recent arrest is reportedly related to his comments on the authorities’ handling of recent flooding in Hebei province, in the east of the country, and the detention of another political commentator critical of the regime, Qin Yongmin.
“Zhou Yuanzhi was only serving the public interest by commenting on the country’s political issues. He should never have been detained. We urge the international community to build up pressure on the Chinese authorities to secure Zhou’s release alongside all other journalists and press freedom defenders detained in the country." Cédric Alviani RSF Asia-Pacific Bureau Director
For decades, Zhou has been commenting on corruption and pressing social issues under several pen names in overseas Chinese-language media outlets, including The Epoch Times, a american-registered media outlet close to persecuted religious movement Falun Gong.
Zhou was detained from November 2017 to May 2022 after being convicted of “unlawful assembly”, “defamation”, and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, blurry charges which are frequently used as a weapon against journalists. He was also briefly detained in May 2008 during the crackdown on civil society in the leadup to the Beijing Summer Olympics.
Since Chinese leader Xi Jinping took power in 2012, he has been conducting a large-scale crusade against journalism, as revealed in RSF’s report published in December 2021 The Great Leap Backwards of Journalism in China, which details Beijing’s efforts to control information and media within and outside its borders.
China ranks 179th out of 180 in the 2023 RSF World Press Freedom Index and is the world's largest captor of journalists and press freedom defenders with at least 115 detained.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 22, 2023
- Event Description
Sondhi Limthongkul is suing Prachatai and its editor-in-chief for defamation, alleging that Prachatai distorted his words, leading its readers to misunderstand that he supported a coup. He stated that coups are not legitimate and he has never endorsed one.
On 22 August 2023, Prachatai’s editorial team at the Foundation for Community Educational Media (FCEM) received a summons relating to a defamation case filed by Sondhi Limthongkul, former leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy and founder of ASTV media group. The lawsuit targeted both FCEM and Prachatai’s editor-in-chief, Tewarit Maneechai.
The defamation charge stems from an alleged misrepresentation of Sondhi’s views, implying that he supports a coup. The court has scheduled a preliminary hearing for 30 October 2023.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 21, 2023
- Event Description
Student activist Thanatorn Vitayabenjang has been sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison on a royal defamation charge filed against him for reading a statement and giving a speech during a protest in August 2021.
Thanatorn, a graduate from Chiang Mai University’s Faculty of Humanities, was charged with royal defamation and violation of the Emergency Decree for reading a statement and giving a speech about the monarchy in front of the Provincial Police Region 5 headquarters and at the Three Kings Monument in Chiang Mai during a protest caravan on 15 August 2021.
He was initially charged with one count of royal defamation for the speech given at the Three Kings Monument. However, when he was indicted on 19 November 2021, he was charged with a second count for the statement he read in front of the Provincial Police Region 5 headquarters.
During witness examination, Thanatorn confessed to giving a speech at the Three Kings Monument, but told the Court that the statement he read did not defame the King and that the protest did not violate Covid-19 measures issued under the Emergency Decree.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said today (21 August) that the Chiang Mai Provincial Court found Thanatorn guilty of one count of royal defamation and sentenced him to 3 years in prison. His sentence was reduced to 1 year and 6 months because he confessed. The remaining count was dismissed.
The Court also found him guilty of violating the Emergency Decree and sentenced him to 1 month in prison, bringing his total sentence to 1 year and 7 months.
Thanatorn requested bail in order to file an appeal. TLHR said he has been granted bail using a security of 150,000 baht.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Aug 21, 2023
- Event Description
Authorities in India must immediately unblock the social media accounts of the independent news website Gaon Savera, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.
On Monday, August 21, Gaon Savera’s Facebook page became inaccessible in India, and its account on X, formerly known as Twitter, was also blocked the following day, according to news reports and Mandeep Punia, editor of Gaon Savera, who spoke to CPJ by phone.
On Tuesday, August 22, Gaon Savera received an email from X, reviewed by CPJ, stating that the account had been withheld in response to a legal demand by the Indian government under the Information Technology Act. Gaon Savera did not receive a notice from Meta, which owns Facebook, or the Indian government, Punia said.
CPJ was able to access the outlet’s social media pages from the United States.
The previous week, the website and social media accounts of the independent online news magazine The Kashmir Walla were blocked in India.
“The Indian government’s arbitrary ban on Gaon Savera’s social media accounts, within days of blocking The Kashmir Walla’s website and social media accounts, marks a disturbing new trend of censorship in India,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Kuala Lumpur. “The Indian government must stop targeting independent news publications and allow Gaon Savera to report without interference.”
Some articles on the site of Gaon Savera, which covers grassroots people’s movements in the northern states of Haryana and Punjab, have disappeared, Punia told CPJ, adding that the outlet’s technical team was investigating.
Punia told CPJ that he suspected that the censorship was in response to Gaon Savera’s coverage of ongoing farmer protests in Punjab and Haryana ahead of a national convention of workers in Delhi on August 24.
Punia was arrested while reporting on farmers’ protests as a freelancer in January 2021 and detained for four days.
Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw did not immediately respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Censorship, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Aug 21, 2023
- Event Description
On August 21, several Jahangirnagar University (JU) BCL activists arrived at a campus guest hall, allegedly chasing a student. United News of Bangladesh JU correspondent and media studies student Asif Al Amin, then sitting outside the guest hall, went to investigate the incident upon hearing screams. The activists, reportedly suspecting the journalist had been recording them, proceeded to assault Al Amin, despite him identifying himself. The attackers are allegedly affiliated with JU BCL.
The attack occurred following the broadcast of a programme commemorating the 19th anniversary of a grenade attack following a speech by current Prime Minster and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina. University leadership have denied knowledge of the event.
In a separate incident, Daily Ajker Darpan and bartabazar.com Patuakhali district correspondent Md Nayan Mridha was attacked and injured on the evening of August 21 while returning to his Press Club. At around 7:30 p.m., a group of men, allegedly members of a local BCL chapter, began to verbally abuse and then assault the journalist. The attack came over a month after the publication of an article detailing the Patuakhali BCL President's "committee business”.
Reportedly, Nayan’s attackers included Patuakhali district BCL President Md Saiful Islam's cousins, Sabbir Hossain and Al-Amin. Nayan has since lodged a complaint with the Patuakhali Sadar Police Station, with officials vowing to investigate the incident and file legal charges accordingly. Islam has denied involvement, claiming he was not present at the scene. According to the Daily Star, Mridha is undergoing medical treatment at Patuakhali Medical College Hospital.
The incident has been condemned by press freedom advocates, including South Asia Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN) member, the Bangladesh Manobadhikar Sangbadik Forum (BMSF), who demanded authorities take immediate action against all responsible for the attacks.
University-based journalists in Bangladesh have been subject to an increasing number of attacks and threats while on campus. Earlier this year, Jashora University of Science and Technology BCL activists attacked Bangladesh Post correspondent Jahirul Islam on May 22 and Sajubar Rahman on May 20. In April, student journalist Rifat Haque and correspondent for an online news portal was assaulted after failing to make a positive report about a campus BCL leader.
The BCL is a students' political organisation in Bangladesh. It operates as the student wing of the Bangladesh Awami League, Bangladesh’s ruling party.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker, Student
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 21, 2023
- Event Description
7 people have been sentenced for violating the Emergency Decree due to their participation in a protest on 1 February 2021 against a coup by the Myanmar Military.
On 21 August 2023, the Criminal Court ruled that 7 people committed offences by violating the Emergency Decree and interfering with the operations of authorities. According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), all were sentenced and fined for their actions.
Punnaphat Chantanangkul, a student at Thammasat University, was sentenced to twelve months, a sentence which was reduced to 4 months and twenty days. A second defendant was sentenced to three years and one month and fined 40,000 Baht, a sentence which was reduced to one year, six months and 15 days with a 20,000 Baht fine.
The rest of the defendants were sentenced to four years and fined 60,000 Baht each. The sentence was reduced to two years and fifty days with a 30,000 Baht fine each.
The court suspended the sentences of the second to seventh defendants, except for Punnaphat, who requested bail.
TLHR later reported that Punnaphat was granted bail after posting 150,000 Baht as security.
On 1 February 2021, Thais and Myanmarese gathered in front of the Myanmar Embassy in Thailand in response to a coup and the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi, the de-facto leader of the NLD-led administration, as well as NLD politicians and candidates countrywide. A second gathering took place at the Pathumwan Skywalk.
The protest was dispersed by the Royal Thai Police with shields and batons. 3 protesters were arrested: one member of the volunteer protest guard group We Volunteer, one student from Thammasat University and one ordinary citizen.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Aug 21, 2023
- Event Description
Himalaya Television's reporter Rakesh Yadav was attacked while reporting in Rautahat on August 21. Rautahat lies in Madhesh Province of Nepal.
Freedom Forum called reporter Yadav to talk about the incident on August 22. Reporter Yadav said that he reached the Bagmati River in Brindavan Municipality, Rautahat to report on illegal excavation of the river as per information shared by the locals. Reaching there, he saw two crusher machines in the river and started capturing video.
Meanwhile, 5-6 people from a crusher industry approached him and interrogated who he was and from whom he got permission to take video. As Yadav shared, he, in response, said,"I am a reporter, this is my identity card and I have also informed administration before reporting." But they started beating him on chest and threw his camera too.
According to him, locals working nearby came and rescued him and then he called Deputy Superintendent of Police at District Police Office. Police officers took him to local police office where he filed a First Information report. Thereafter, police arrested the attackers.
"I am still undergoing treatment in the hospital. The doctor has said that I have blood clot in ribs due to attack,so additional tests are needed. I am also suffering chest pain", shared reporter Yadav.
Freedom Forum strongly condemns the attack on journalist. This is third incident of attack upon journalist recorded in this month from Madhesh Province. This shows how adverse and hostile the the environment is for journalists reporting on irregularities. FF strongly urges the local authority to pay heed to the ongoing hostility towards journalists in the province.
Safety of journalist is essential for free reporting. Series of attack on journalists in Madhes Province of late is a worrying trend. The attackers must be brought to book to cater justice to the suffered journalist.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Extractive industries
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Aug 21, 2023
- Event Description
Kazakhstan's Supreme Court on August 21 rejected an appeal filed by lawyers of opposition activist Erulan Amirov over a lower court ruling to sentence him to seven years in prison on terrorism charges. Amirov's relatives and supporters chanted "Shame!" after the ruling was pronounced. Amirov was sentenced in May last year over his posts on social media that criticized Kazakh authorities, as well as for his participation in unsanctioned protest rallies organized by the banned Koshe (Street) political party. Kazakh human rights organizations have designated Amirov as a political prisoner and have demanded his release.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Aug 20, 2023
- Event Description
The Islamabad Capital Police on Sunday said that human rights lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and former lawmaker Ali Wazir were arrested “for investigation” hours after the activist posted on social media platform X that unidentified people were breaking into her home.
“Islamabad Capital Police has arrested Ali Wazir and Imaan Mazari,” the police said on X (formerly Twitter). “Both suspects were wanted by the Islamabad Police for investigation. All action will be taken in accordance with law.”
The police did not specify what case they were investigating the human rights lawyer and the lawmaker from South Waziristan in.
It added that the news issued by the public relations department of the Islamabad Capital Police should be accepted as correct. “No one is authorised to give a statement from a police station.”
The development comes after Imaan posted on X in the early hours of Sunday that “unknown persons breaking down my home cameras banging gate jumped over”.
About an hour later, her mother, former PTI leader Shireen Mazari, posted that “policewomen, plainclothes people and r ager (sic) types took my daughter away after breaking down our front door”.
“We asked who they had come for and they just dragged Imaan out. They marched all over the house,” Shireen said. The former human rights minister said her daughter was in her sleeping clothes and asked to change but “they dragged her away”.
“Of course no warrants or any legal procedure. State fascism. Remember we are only two women living in the house. This is an abduction,” she said.
Speaking to the media outside a district and sessions court, Shireen said that officials scaled the gate of her home, beat up her guard and locked him inside his cabin. She said that officials also seized the guard’s phone and his gun, and then broke down their front door.
Shireen said that they then began to bang on her bedroom door. “As soon as we opened the door, they dragged Imaan and took her away. Policewomen were also trying to drag me outside,” she said.
The ex-minister said she then asked the officials whether they were here to arrest both her and Imaan, to which a man in plainclothes gestured to the other to let Shireen go.
Shireen said that officials asked her to point out Imaan’s bedroom as they needed her laptop and phone. “Twenty men went upstairs. They found the room, turned it upside down and seized her laptop and cellphone.”
She said that a policewoman also told her to surrender her own phone which she did. She said that Imaan was willing to go with the police officials but asked to change her clothes. “They said there is no need and dragged her away.”
She said that 20 people entered their home while more officials were standing outside. “There were six female officers that I saw but there was no male wearing the blue uniform of Islamabad Police,” she said.
Imaan, Wazir remanded in two cases Imaan and Wazir were later presented in a district and sessions court on the count of two cases which were heard by Judicial Magistrate Ihtasham Alam Khan.
According to the detailed court order, the investigating officer (IO) requested 10-day physical remand for the two in a terrorism case but the judge ordered that the two be presented before an anti-terrorism court for the request with Imaan kept in a women police station till tomorrow.
In the second case, the detailed court order said the IO requested five-day physical remand for the two but the judge said the court could not grant Imaan’s physical remand.
She was instead sent on 14-day judicial remand with orders to be produced on September 2 while Wazir’s two-day physical remand was granted subject to pre and post-medical examination. The IO was ordered to show concrete progress in the investigation.
FIRs registered under terrorism charges Two first information reports (FIR) were registered against the two on Saturday at the Tarnol police station and Counter-Terrorism Department police station.
The first FIR was registered on the complaint of Tarnol Station House Officer (SHO) Miam Mohammad Imran under Sections 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 395 (punishment for dacoity), 440 (mischief committed after preparation made for causing death or hurt) and 506ii (criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
The FIR said that the complainant on Friday at 5pm was present with other police officers at Tarnol Phatak chowk to maintain peace and calm during a rally of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM). It said that the rally led by PTM chief Manzoor Pashteen, including Wazir and Imaan, began moving from the spot allocated to it in violation of its no-objection certificate.
The SHO said when the police officers attempted to stop the rally from moving towards Islamabad then the rally’s 700-800 participants armed with sticks confronted the officials. He said that upon being stopped after attempting to move towards Islamabad again, the crowd blocked both lanes of GT road by placing containers and staged a demonstration while traffic was completely blocked.
SHO Imran said when the PTM leadership and supporters were asked to open GT road for traffic, the rally participants attacked the police while issuing threats of dire consequences, broke mirrors of official vehicles, forcefully shut down shops and a petrol pump and snatched anti-riot kits from the police.
The second FIR was registered on the complaint of Inspector Mohammad Ashraf under PPC Sections 124A (sedition), 148, 149, 153 (inciting to riot), 153A (promotion of enmity between groups) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and Sections 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) and 11 (power to order forfeiture) of the Anti-Terrorism Act read with Section 21i as well.
The inclusion of 124A (sedition) in the FIR remains a source of confusion as the Lahore High Court (LHC) had in March invalidated the section, which pertains to the crime of sedition or inciting “disaffection” against the government, terming it inconsistent with the Constitution.
The inspector said he was present at Tarnol when a PTM rally of around 900-950 people blocked GT road. He said Pashteen, Imaan and others had spoken against state institutions and their heads in their speeches, attempted to incite rebellion, weaken the army, compel officers to abandon their duties, promote terrorism warned of dire consequences for the judiciary and called on people to engage in civil war and strife.
The FIR specifically pointed out Pashteen and Imaan for attempting to create distance between Pakhtuns and the army and spreading fear in the public by threatening of marching towards Islamabad.
On Friday, up to 3,000 people had attended the protest in Islamabad, where both Imaan and Wazir gave speeches condemning harassment against Pakhtuns and called for missing people to be returned.
“You are being stopped as if you are the terrorists, while the [Pakistani] Taliban have taken over your homes again,” Imaan had told the crowds in a video posted on social media.
A PTM spokesman told AFP that dozens more members were also detained since the protest held in the capital.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Lawyer, Minority rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Aug 20, 2023
- Event Description
In a recent and concerning development, Taliban fighters have reportedly detained eight individuals associated with the “Union and Solidarity of Afghan Women” movement following an attack on a gathering of women protesters in Kabul.
Sources reveal that the Taliban apprehended these eight individuals within Kabul city and have taken them into custody. The incident unfolded on Sunday, August 20th, when Taliban fighters executed the arrests from a confined location in the Khairkhana district of Kabul.
An insider source informed Hasht-e Subh that these women have been identified as Hajar, Khatol, Lima, Farida Moheb, Husna, and three others whose names are undisclosed. The source added, “The women had assembled to organize an event, but the location was surrounded, and they found themselves unable to leave.”
According to the source, as darkness descended, Taliban fighters entered the premises and apprehended the detained women. Photographic evidence obtained by Hasht-e Subh also indicates that Taliban fighters initiated an assault on the site where these women had gathered.
Meanwhile, the Union and Solidarity of Afghan Women’s movement verified the incident through an official statement, affirming that these women were detained before they could carry out their planned protest action.
The statement reads, “Members of this movement had planned to hold a protest in a confined area within Khairkhana Square in Kabul due to security concerns. However, before the protest could take place, Taliban forces stormed the site and detained eight of these women.”
It’s important to note that this isn’t the first instance of the Taliban detaining women activists. Since assuming control over Afghanistan, the Taliban have imposed various restrictions on the country’s citizens.
- Impact of Event
- 8
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 19, 2023
- Event Description
The language advocate and former political prisoner Tashi Wangchuk was attacked on Saturday 19 August by a group of unidentified, masked men.
Free Tibet’s research partner Tibet Watch has established that Tashi Wangchuk travelled to Darlak County in eastern Tibet on the evening of 19 August with the aim of raising awareness about the disappearance of the Tibetan language from schools in favour of Chinese. He filmed a video near to Darlak County Nationality Middle School, which he posted on the Chinese social media platform Douyin before travelling to a hotel where he was hoping to stay.
At around 8pm, Tashi Wangchuk’s hotel room door was forced open and he was beaten and kicked by a group of men wearing masks for around 10 minutes. He believes he was followed to his hotel from the school.
Tashi Wangchuk begged the group to stop attacking him and called to the hotel owner to contact the police. Police arrived at his hotel room at around 9pm and took him to the police station for questioning, where Tashi Wangchuk stayed until around 11:30pm. During this meeting, police forced Tashi Wangchuk to erase photos and videos he had taken earlier that day from his phone.
After being rejected from the hotel he was staying and several other hotels, he instead went to Darlak County Hospital, where he asked the doctor to check his head. The doctor responded that the CT scanner was broken. Tashi Wangchuk spent the night on a stool on the first floor of the hospital, where he composed a detailed account of the day’s events, including his beating and what he referred to as “crime by gangs and illegal acts by government officials who break the law and cover for each other.”
Tashi Wangchuk, is from Kyegudo in Yulshul (Chinese: Yushu) Prefecture eastern Tibet. He came to international prominence after speaking to the New York Times in 2015 about his efforts to file a lawsuit against local authorities after local Tibetan classes were shut down. He also expressed fear for the future of Tibet’s language and culture. Tashi Wangchuk insisted on being named and identifiable in the New York Times’ article and video documentary, which were released in November 2015.
In January 2016, Tashi Wangchuk was arrested, held in a secret location and tortured. After spending two years in pre-trial detention, he was found guilty of “inciting separatism” and sentenced to five years in prison. For the duration of his detention and imprisonment, Tibet groups launched a global campaign, demanding that Tashi Wangchuk be released.
Following his release from prison in January 2021, Tashi Wangchuk has continued to advocate for authorities in Tibet to respect the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, which provides for the teaching of what it calls “minority” languages, including Tibetan.
In January 2022, Tashi Wangchuk approached local government offices in Jyekundo to call for the preservation of the Tibetan language. This led to him being summoned for an interrogation session at the Public Security Bureau of Yushu. He has also travelled to other schools in occupied Tibet and collected textbooks showing the emphasis on Chinese-language instruction over Tibetan.
While Tashi Wangchuk carries out his peaceful language advocacy, authorities across occupied Tibet have imposed policies to marginalise or even eliminate the Tibetan language from the public sphere. This includes closing down Tibetan language schools and the Chinese government’s residential boarding schools policy, in which almost one million Tibetan children between the ages of four and 18 have been placed in boarding schools and pre-schools. In this environment, children have limited access to their families and are placed in a teaching environment that promotes the Chinese language and Chinese Communist Party-approved history over Tibetans’ own language and history. The policy has been criticised by the United Nations Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, which in March 2023 urged China to abolish the residential school system.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Online, Right to health, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others), Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Aug 19, 2023
- Event Description
The Union government has blocked The Kashmir Walla’s website and its social media accounts without serving a notice or issuing an official order, the independent news portal said on Sunday.
In a statement, the outlet described the action as an “opaque censorship” and said it was gut-wrenching and “another deadly blow” to press freedom in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Since 2011, The Kashmir Walla has strived to remain an independent, credible, and courageous voice of the region in the face of unimaginable pressure from the authorities while we watched our being ripped apart, bit by bit,” the statement read.
The server provider informed the staff on Saturday that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had blocked the website under the Information Technology Act, 2000, according to the statement. After this, the staff discovered that The Kashmir Walla’s Facebook page with nearly half a million followers had been removed and its Twitter account had been withheld “in response to a legal demand”.
The statement noted that the action had been taken at a time when The Kashmir Walla staff were in process of vacating their office in Srinagar after being served an eviction notice by the landlord.
The statement also highlighted that The Kashmir Walla’s editor-in-chief Fahad Shah has been in jail for 18 months now. The police had arrested Shah in February last year and accused him of glorifying terrorism, spreading fake news and inciting violence.
The Kashmir Walla said this was “the beginning of the saga of his revolving door arrests” and the harassment of its staff.
“He [Shah] went on to be arrested five times within four months,” the statement said. “Three FIRs [first information reports] under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and one Public Safety Act have been registered against him.”
Sajad Gul, who worked with The Kashmir Walla as a trainee reporter, is also in a prison in Uttar Pradesh under the Public Safety Act. The journalist first was arrested on January 6, 2022, after he posted a video of a family shouting anti-India slogans after their relative was killed in a gunfight in Srinagar.
The Kashmir Walla said it was still processing the recent action and that there “isn’t a lot left” to comment.
The statement added, “The Kashmir Walla’s story is the tale of the rise and fall of press freedom in the region. Over the past 18 months, we have lost everything but you – our readers. The Kashmir Walla is beyond thankful that we were read avidly for 12 years by millions.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Censorship
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Aug 19, 2023
- Event Description
About the Human Rights Defenders: The ‘We20: Peoples Summit’ was organized in the backdrop of the G20 in Delhi by more than 70 Civil society organisations including the National Alliance of People’s Movements, Focus on the Global South, All India Union of Forest Working People, Narmada Bachao Andolan, Environment Support Group (ESG), People’s Resource Centre, People First, Alternative Law Forum, Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, Delhi Forum, Jharkhand Mine Area Committee, Parisar, Basti Suraksha Manch, National Hawkers Federation, Pani Haq Samiti, and Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao etc. The We20 aimed to discuss issues directly affecting marginalised and vulnerable segments of the population including land rights, natural resources, food security, escalating economic inequality, climate justice, and the influence of majoritarian politics.
Details of the Incident: In 2023 India assumed the G20 presidency and hosted G20 Presidency meetings in various cities across India. However, CSOs felt that the concerns of the marginalised and vulnerable citizens were not reflected adequately in the G20 and thus, the ‘We20 Summit’ — with tagline “People and Nature over Profits for a Just, Inclusive, Transparent, and Equitable Future” was supposed to be held from August 18-August 20, 2023, in Delhi. The event was organized by over 70 civil society organisations and the speakers included activists such as Medha Patkar, Teesta Setalvad, Harsh Mander Vandana Shiva, Anjali Bhardwaj, Nikhil Dey, Thomas Franco, and Shaktiman Ghosh. The event was being held at H.K.S. Surjeet Bhawan, which are private premises and don’t need permission. On day 1, August 18, 2022, representatives from peoples’ movements, trade unions, and civil society spoke on how the decisions of the G20 impacted national economies, democratic institutions and fundamental rights and accused Mr. Modi’s government of hostility towards civil society and human rights organisations.
On day 2, August 19, 2022, at 11:30 am, the Delhi police under the central government’s Ministry of Home Affairs put-up barricades and a police force cordoned off Surjeet Bhavan to stop delegates from attending the conference. Those who had already entered were not allowed to leave the building by the police cordons. The people were asked to leave by the police but when they refused to do so, the police prevented entry inside the building. Attendees allege that the police physically tried to stop the participants even those who were elderly and disabled However after the resistance by the people, the event to continue for the day. On day 3, the last day of the summit, the organizers of the summit received a letter from the Delhi police saying that permission for the event has been denied. The organizers of the We20 released a statement saying that “while in the official G20 summit there are claims of us being the “Mother of Democracy”, the state of affairs that we have witnessed here at the We20 Peoples’ Summit only goes on to show how we are inching closer to being a police state. One where even dialogue, deliberations inside the four walls and thoughts are being policed.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- NGO, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
Case shared by FORUM-ASIA member People's Watch
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Aug 18, 2023
- Event Description
Kazakh authorities should swiftly investigate the recent use of force against journalist Diana Saparkyzy, prosecute those involved, and ensure that members of the press can cover events of public importance without obstruction, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday.
On Friday, August 18, Saparkyzy, a correspondent for independent news agency KazTAG, was attempting to report on an accident at the Kazakhstanskaya mine in the central Karaganda region when around five unidentified men forcibly ejected her from the mine’s grounds, dragging her by her arms, took her phone, and deleted video footage, according to news reports and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ by messaging app.
Five miners died in a fire at the mine on August 17. The company that owns the mine, ArcelorMittal Temirtau – part of the global ArcelorMittal Group – describes itself as Kazakhstan’s largest steel and mining producer. The company has been noted for the high number of fatalities at its mines in the region and Saparkyzy told CPJ it has restricted access to its sites for journalists for several years. She believes the company forcibly removed her to suppress coverage of the disaster.
CPJ emailed ArcelorMittal Temirtau for comment but did not receive a reply.
“The violent ejection of journalist Diana Sapakyzy while reporting on a mining disaster seems a deliberate and brutal stifling of coverage that is clearly in the public interest,” said Carlos Martínez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director, in New York. “Kazakh authorities should investigate and prosecute those involved to send a message that violence against journalists will not be tolerated and that the press’s right to report on public disasters will be upheld.”
Saparkyzy told CPJ that she decided to report from the site of the Kazakhstanskaya mine after ArcelorMittal Temirtau published limited information about the fire in press releases and allowed journalists only to attend a pre-arranged press conference.
She said she entered the company’s office at the Kazakhstanskaya site without identifying herself as a journalist and recorded several interviews with deceased miners’ relatives. When staff from the company’s press service recognized her, they told security guards to “chuck her out.”
Rather than uniformed guards, who were also present, Saparkyzy said around five plainclothes men who did not identify themselves grabbed her tightly by the arms and dragged her out of the building. The men took her backpack and threw out her belongings and equipment, including glasses and a tripod, as they escorted her to the mine’s gates, she said.
When Saparkyzy began filming the men on her cell phone, one of them grabbed her by both arms from behind and another man took her phone, according to the journalist and footage of the incident from the phone shared with CPJ. The man deleted video Saparkyzy had recorded, but she was able to restore it after retrieving her phone, which the men dropped while she was struggling with them, she said.
The journalist suffered bruising on her arms and filed a complaint with police and underwent a forensic medical examination. As of August 22, police have not opened a criminal case over the incident, Saparkyzy said.
In a statement August 21, local press freedom group Adil Soz called for the perpetrators to be criminally prosecuted for obstructing journalistic activity, saying they had been encouraged to act so “brazenly” by Kazakhstan’s low rate of prosecution for the offense. Only two cases of criminal obstruction have reached the courts in the country’s 30 years of independence, the rights organization said.
CPJ’s calls, emails, and messages to Karaganda Region Police Department and email to Karaganda Region Prosecutor’s Office went unanswered.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Extractive industries
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Aug 18, 2023
- Event Description
About the Human Rights Defenders:
Mr. Bhalachandra Shadangi is a lawyer and the National Secretary of the All India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha (AIKMS).
Background of the incident:
The Mountain ranges of Siji Mali, Manging and Kutru Mali are spread across three blocks of Kalahandi and Rayada district, which comprises of around 145 villages; are proposed to be mined by Vedanta and Adani group. Due to the intervention of gram sabhas Vedanta failed to obtain the mining lease.Local HRDs allege that in order to obtain the mining lease, Vedanta has entrusted its mining operations to Maitri Infra and Mining company and it tried to bribe the tribals with the promise of money. When the local leaders questioned them they were threatened with the support of the police.
Details of the Incident: On August 12, 2023 at about 07.30 AM, officials of Maitri Infra and Mining company came to visit the proposed mining site at Siji Mali. Aggrieved by this at 11.00 AM the tribals gathered together at the protest site and protested against the mining activities.
On August 12, 2023, FIRs no.-92, 93, 96, 97 and 101 were registered against 24 activists out of which 21 activists were arrested and produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court (JFCM) Kasipur and were remanded to Rayagada District Jail. On August 16, 2023, three HRDs were arrested by District police Rayagada.
On August 18, 2023, following the arrest of 24 tribals, advocate Bhalachandra Shadangi visited the Kasipur area and met with the families of arrested persons. The HRD was returning to Triki the same day.
At 11 pm the HRD was stopped by Inspector In charge of Triki police station, Mr. Bishweswari Bag and Sub Inspector Mr. Jana who were not in their uniform, along with 4-5 other police officials at Tikri. The HRD was taken to the Triki police station and detained till 12.30 in the night. According to the HRD, he was questioned about his visits in Kasipur Block and his meetings with the arrested persons’ families.
When the HRD asked to show the arrest memo or detention memo the police failed to produce the same, the HRD demanded this release and at 12.30 AM he was released.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
Case shared by Human Rights Defenders Alert - India
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Aug 18, 2023
- Event Description
The head of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) says several members of the Pakistani human rights group have been detained as they attempted to reach the Supreme Court in Islamabad to demand that the state protects their rights and ensure their security.
PTM leader Manzoor Pashteen said police detained PTM members en route to a protest at Islamabad's Supreme Court on August 18, using road closures and obstacles to try and stop large conveys of protesters headed to the capital.
Despite challenges created by authorities, Pashteen said the PTM activists are continuing their journey and still plan to protest outside of the Supreme Court in Islamabad.
"Road closures, roadblocks, police violence, and attempted arrests. In the midst of all this, PTM youths are resisting and moving forward," Pashteen said noting that some protesters have reached Tarnool, about 18 kilometers from Islamabad.
Pakistan's Pashtun population, the second-largest ethnic group in the country of some 231 million people, has been bolstered by an influx of refugees from neighboring Afghanistan.
The PTM campaigns for the rights of Pakistan’s estimated 35 million Pashtuns, many of whom live along the border with Afghanistan where the military has conducted campaigns against the Pakistani Taliban..
The PTM has accused Pakistani authorities of systematic discrimination against Pashtuns and say that the ethnic group is discriminated against under the country's constitution.
The PTM has been calling for the removal of military checkpoints in tribal areas and an end to "enforced disappearances," in which suspects are detained by Pakistani security forces without due process.
Thousands of Pakistani Pashtuns have been killed and millions displaced by the Pakistani Army's campaigns since 2003.
Mass protests erupted in 2020 after Sardar Arif Wazir, one of the leaders of the PTM, was assassinated when unidentified gunmen opened fire on his car. Many claimed he was killed by state-backed militants in the South Waziristan tribal district.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Restrictions on Movement, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Aug 18, 2023
- Event Description
Saptari based reporter to the Nayapatrika national daily Saurav Yadav was attacked on August 18. Saptari lies in Madhesh Province of Nepal.
Repoter Yadav shared with Freedom Forum that he was preparing news on domestic violence meted out against daughter of a former parliamentarian in Saptari. She was repeatedly assaulted at home by her in-laws. Victim's brother in-law called reporter Yadav to meet him and threatened not to publish the news.
“As I said, I am a journalist and I will publish the news, they started attacking me. They hit me on my chest and other body parts. I ran into a nearby police station and rescued myself. Then, I was taken to hospital for treatment”, said Yadav adding, “I was discharged from the hospital the next day.”
“I am preparing to file a First Information Report at District Police Office against the attackers”, informed reporter Yadav.
Freedom Forum condemns the incident as it is gross violation of press freedom. Lately, journalists in Madhes Province are at receiving end merely for reporting social ills and problems, and political and financial irregularities. Domestic violence and discrimination against women is a huge social problem in backward community.
It is a matter of public concern, so journalists have the right to report it freely. But, such intimidation to journalist is deplorable. Freedom Forum strongly urges the local authority in Saptari district to provide security to the working journalists.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Aug 18, 2023
- Event Description
The reporting of two protesters by the Director of PT BMU to the South Aceh Police raised the suspicions of the two residents. They reported the South Aceh Police to the Chief of Police because they suspected that there was something odd in the handling of the mining company's report.
Through an unconfirmed letter, the two reported parties, Sutrisno and Jumra, sent a letter to the Chief of Police on August 19, 2023, one day after the date of their summons to the South Aceh Police on August 18, 2023. In the letter to the Chief of Police, it was stated that they were very surprised to receive a summons from the police.
"We were very surprised to receive a summons from the Polres Number B/50N llJ/RES. I.24/2023 dated August 18, 2023, addressed to me, SUTRISNO and summons Number B/49Mll/RES. I.24/2023 dated August 18, 2023 addressed to me JUMRA based on Hj LATIFAH HANUM's report dated August 18, 2023 regarding the alleged crime of Unpleasant Acts," they wrote in the first point.
In the next point, they explained that in the Central Kluet District area of South Aceh Regency, PT Beri Mineral Utama has been operating a gold mine for a long time. This company, he said, has an iron ore IUP OP. "The Aceh ESDM Office around April 2023 has given a written warning," the two residents accused.
It was explained in point 4, that during the visit of the integrated team from Aceh Province to the mine site on July 25, 2023, an agreement was reached with all the people present to stop and close the PT BMU mining operation which was obviously said to have damaged the environment.
Quoting a statement from the Aceh Government's One Stop Integrated Licensing Office through an online media, it was stated that the operating license of PT Beri Mineral Utama (BMU) had been suspended. The step was taken based on an integrated team report dated July 25, 2023 and the results of a meeting with the community at the mine site.
At the end of their letter, the two residents added that the facts on the ground were that PT BMU was still operating. "In fact, until August 17, 2023, PT BMU continued to operate gold mining, resulting in a demonstration from the community to the Kluet Sub-District Office, South Aceh Regency," they explained.
The two residents admitted that they felt strange when the South Aceh Police responded so quickly to the report of the mining company, Hj Latifah Hanum on August 18, 2023, which was submitted on August 18, 2023. Because, on the same date the Polres immediately sent summons to these two residents. "In our opinion, the Aceh Selalan Police should follow up on the alleged illegal mining practices of PT BMU, because the license is iron ore, but mining gold," said this resident.
Not only about the alleged misuse of mining licenses, these residents also accused PT BMU of carrying out exploration in prohibited areas. "According to media reports, almost 90% of PT BMU's mining land is in the Leuser ecosystem area," he concluded.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Extractive industries
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 17, 2023
- Event Description
After an indigenous Bunong community publicly voiced concerns about a World Bank-funded project repurposing their customary forest and burial grounds, authorities convened a meeting last Thursday between communal and provincial authorities — but the community members were excluded.
The meeting was held in Mondulkiri province’s capital, Senmonorom, to discuss Social Land Concessions under the World Bank’s $93 million LASED III Project across three districts — Koh Nheak, Pech Chreada and O’Reang — according to an invitation letter obtained by CamboJA.
In July, the Roya Leu Bunong community in Koh Nheak previously showed a LASED III consultant that the project’s plans to allocate land to poor families overlapped with more than half of their 6,000 hectare community forest and multiple ancestral burial grounds, CamboJA reported earlier this month.
Lin Lan, a Roya Leu resident, and other community members say they have repeatedly expressed concerns ever since LASED III signs were posted near the community in March last year with no further explanation. But the project had already been greenlit in 2021, despite the World Bank’s stringent policies to prevent negative impacts on indigenous communities.
Lan, who has been active in defending the community forest, said she and other community members heard about the meeting and tried to attend, but authorities prevented them from entering when they arrived at Senmonorom. The community is seeking a communal land title to gain legal recognition of their customary use of the forest and culturally significant sites.
“We went to the provincial capital in order to attend the meeting because we wanted to know what it was about, yet we were not allowed to get in,” Lan said. “We want the authorities to hold a meeting with us, so that we can meet face to face for solutions.”
Phleouk Phearum, another Bunong activist who attempted to attend the meeting, which also planned to discuss a land conflict in her community, said she was barred from attending.
“If they discuss with their own officials, and do not allow people to attend like this, how can people know what they do or what solutions should be sought between us, how can conflicts be solved?” Phearum said. “Before they discuss with their officials, they had better discuss with us.”
The LASED III project is funded by the World Bank but implemented by the Ministry of Land Management. Ministry official Thol Dina was made the new project director for LASED III last week. He told CamboJA he had not heard about the meeting nor had he met with the community or any authority on the ground over this issue.
Former LASED III project director Roth Hok, Under Secretary of State for the Land Management Ministry was no longer in the position as of last week.
Lan said she submitted her latest letter seeking a resolution to the land conflict with the provincial department for the Ministry of Rural Development on International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on August 9. In response, the ministry promised to send an official to better understand the situation on August 25, Lan says.
“We are not sure whether the ministry will grant us the legal collective title, nonetheless, they have promised to appraise our land on site,” Lan said. “We put our faith in them after their promise. Our community has strived so hard.”
Ministry of Rural Development spokesperson Chan Darong did not respond to requests for comment. The Ministry was not listed on the invitation letter.
Nuon Monichenda, the head of the ethnic minority development department within the Rural Development Ministry, said via Telegram on Monday that the provincial ministry “might work on it.”
“The authorities talked about the case and now they are working on it to study it in depth for more information,” said Roya commune chief Pil Deth.
He did not specify a timeframe for the investigation, and confirmed no Roya Leu community members were invited. He declined to provide further information but said the best way forward was to find a resolution with the Land Management Ministry.
The meeting also addressed a completed survey of social land concessions in relation to Bunong communities’ land claims and several ongoing land conflicts.
Memom village chief Chan Moeun, who is Bunong and has jurisdiction over Roya Leu attended the meeting. But Roya Leu community members have pointed out that he does not live in the Roya Leu community and four residents told CamboJA they believe Moeun is selling the community’s land for personal profit, though he has vehemently denied these accusations.
World Bank spokesperson Saroeun Bou referred CamboJA to the Ministry of Land Management but did issue a brief statement over email reiterating the goals of the LASED III project.
“The project’s goal is to support land titling support to 15 Indigenous Communities (ICs). The project implementation team has posted signs in Mondulkiri province to communicate dates associated with project implementation,” stated Saroun, indicating implementation was ongoing. It remains unclear how the concessions will affect the Roya Leu communities’ ongoing attempt to obtain a communal land title.
“I hope the government helps our community and we get the solution soon after the officials study the effect [of LASED III],” Lan said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Indigenous peoples' rights defender, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Aug 17, 2023
- Event Description
About the Human Rights Defender: Ms. Mubeena Khatoon (35) is a WHRD at Banda associated with many social and human rights organizations. She is a Convenor of “Chingari” a social organization which works for children's education, women and cases of domestic violence. She also works on issues of discrimination against women and Dalits. Background of the Incident: In December 2022, Ms. Mubeena had sought information regarding allotment of houses via an RTI from District Urban Development Agency (DUTA) Department, Banda. However no response was given regarding her RTI from the department. Details of the Incident: In January 2023, a letter was sent by Mr. Rajesh Kumar, City Magistrate, Banda District, to Ms. Mubeena which said that that as the convener of the so-called Chingari organization, she corresponds with higher officials on various subjects. When the reply is sent to her, it is returned to the sending office after commenting that the address is incorrect. Thus, she was directed to present herself and present the information on the following points regarding “Chingari Organization”. • Attested photocopy of the certificate of registration of "Chingari Sangathan" • List of names, addresses and mobile numbers of all officials of the organization • Full correspondence address of the organization • Certified photocopy of the constitution related to the working duties of the organization • Details of the work done by the organization till date. On February 13, 2023, a similar letter was sent by the City Magistrate to Ms Mubeena. The subject line of the letter said: In relation to the alleged unregistered Chingari organization, living under illegal occupation in Manya Kanshiram Colony Moja Nimmipar. On February 21, 2023 Ms. Mubeena replied to both these letters in writing to the City Magistrate, Banda saying that “you asked for information about Chingari organization, which I provided to you through registered post. It was clarified that Chingari is an unregistered organisation which was created by local people to help each other. In response to that letter, you have sent me this letter that any kind of activities of unregistered organization are invalid. In this regard, I submit that there are lakhs of self-help groups running in the country who are unregistered. Would you call those groups invalid as well? I request you that if any group or organization works together to create a society, please provide a copy of the act declaring it invalid. Because till now I knew that the Constitution gives us the right that any person can do creative work by forming a group or organization. You have written in the letter that it is mentioned in my letter that I have been paying instalments in block number 24 for 4 years. At the same time, it has also been written to register an FIR against the person illegally collecting rent from the government building and vacate the illegal encroachment. Regarding this, I submit that I have not written any such letter in which it is written that I am paying rent for any government accommodation. The language of your notice is fabricated. I am suspecting that such a fake letter has been written with the intention of hatching a conspiracy against me. I request you to please provide a photocopy of that letter. I am also requesting that many people have encroached upon Kanshiram Colony with the help of DUTA department officials. DUTA department has illegally allotted houses to those people by taking money. If you really want to conduct an impartial investigation, I can provide the list of officials of the DUTA department and the illegal occupants of the houses.” On February 23, 2023 Ms. Mubeena also filed an RTI to Public Information Officer/City Magistrate Banda under which she demanded to know under which law and which section the social and creative activities done by the organization will be invalid. On August 17, 2023 a letter was sent to Ms. Mubeena by Mr. Rajesh Kumar, City Magistrate, Banda. This letter said that in an application Ms. Mubeena stated that she had been paying rent in that colony for four years so, she should be provided a residence. She was asked to vacate the house and provide possession to DUDA office. Otherwise, the house will be vacated with police force. However Ms. Mubeena denied any wrong doing and alleges that she and her social organisation are facing harassment and being targeted by the City Magistrate due to her RTI. Regarding this whole matter, Ms. Mubeena says that “I sought information from the DUTA department through an RTI, but instead of responding to that RTI, the City Magistrate is continuously harassing me and my organization. Until now no information has been given to me by the DUTA department. I am afraid that they are trying to implicate me in some fake case.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to information
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
Case shared by FORUM-ASIA member HRD Alert India
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 16, 2023
- Event Description
Another royal defamation complaint has been filed against student activist Benja Apan for a speech given during a protest on 3 September 2021.
The complaint was filed by Rapeepong Chaiyarut, a member of the ultra-royalist group, People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy. He claims that Benja insulted the monarchy in a speech she gave at the protest. Citing police records, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that Benja was accused of royal defamation for speaking of her dream to see a democratic society in which everyone is equal and power belongs to the people, not MPs, senators, capitalists, the military, and the elites. During her speech, she also mentioned King Bhumibol and King Vajiralongkorn as being part of a network of elites that support each other.
The 3 September 2021 protest took place at Ratchaprasong Intersection. It was called by activist groups United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration and Thalufah to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, a new Constitution, and monarchy reform. Benja and 16 other protesters were previously charged with violation of Covid-19 regulations issued under the Emergency Decree and for blocking a public road in October 2021. The case is still with the police and has not been submitted to a public prosecutor for indictment.
TLHR said that Benja reported to the police to hear the royal defamation charge on Wednesday (16 August) after receiving a police summons. TLHR also noted that they were told by the police that they sent a summons to Benja once before, but she did not receive it, so they sent her another summons, which she received.
Another student activist, Kiattichai Tangpornphan, was also charged with royal defamation for a speech he gave at the 3 September 2021 protest. Kiattichai was among the 17 protesters charged with violation of the Emergency Decree and blocking a public road. He received a summons this July to report to a police after Rapeepong filed a royal defamation complaint against him.
TLHR said that Kiattichai was accused of royal defamation for giving a speech criticising the government for damaging the monarchy. By way of example, he cited amending sections relating to the monarchy in the 2017 Constitution, increasing budget given to the monarchy, using the royal defamation law against critics, and allowing the SiamBioScience company to produce Covid-19 vaccine.
At least 256 people have been charged with royal defamation since the start of the student-led protests in 2020. Benja is now facing 8 counts of the charge, while Kiattichai is facing 4 counts.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Aug 16, 2023
- Event Description
Tran Huynh Duy Thuc’s family visited him on August 16 but was told he refused to meet them. They left the food and supplies they brought for him, including medication he had requested, with prison officials. After they had left, they were called to return and take everything back because he refused to accept the items after finding out that necessity items like medicine were crossed off the list by the warden. The family believe this was an act of protest against prison officials and his way of signaling that he’s still being mistreated. Currently one of the longest serving political prisoners in Vietnam, Thuc is 14 years into his 16-year sentence.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to health, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to property
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Aug 16, 2023
- Event Description
A hunger strike by domestic workers at the House of Representatives building in Jakarta ended in violence. Police confiscated their property and beat the protesters. The action has been held since August 14, 2023 until the Domestic Workers Protection Bill is passed.
During the action on August 16, 2023, the police beat and confiscated the protesters' equipment. The head coordinator of JALA PRT, Lita Anggraini, was suddenly hit during an argument with the police at the House of Representatives Building, Jakarta.
A female police officer named Ponco stated that in welcoming Independence Day, no protest should take place.
"We are celebrating independence, so we must not organize protests," said Ponco.
Lita Anggraini stated that this protest was carried out because it was celebrating the independence of domestic workers, "Same, because today we are celebrating the independence of domestic workers, so we carried out the protest."
Ponco and dozens of other police officers then closed in around the protesters who were carrying small red and white flags with the words pass the PPRT bill. The police told the protesters to go home because they were disrupting the independence day celebrations and jamming traffic.
"Today many domestic workers have been victimized, ma'am," said Jihan Faathiah, an protestor from Perempuan Mahardhika.
Then the next second, the police told the protesters to go home. The protesters refused, and one of the police men was in civilian clothes. Then, they hit the protest signs and hit Lita Anggraini on the head.
"The police hit my head, yes, watch out, don't do violence," Lita Anggraini shouted.
The police kept telling the protesters to go home. However, the protesters refused and remained in front of the DPR RI Building. At that time, President Jokowi was reading out his State of the Nation Address.
The protesters hoped to meet President Jokowi. They asked the President to urge the DPR leadership to immediately pass the Domestic Workers Protection Bill. This bill has been pending for 19 years.
Domestic Workers (DWs) are staging a hunger strike starting on Monday, August 14, 2023 in front of the House of Representatives Building, Jakarta. This protest will be carried out until the PPRT Bill is passed into law.
The protest was held in 6 cities in Indonesia, namely Jakarta, Medan, Tangerang, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Makassar. Not only domestic workers, community leaders and civil society networks also joined these protests.
The situation of domestic workers and labor today is not good, following several bad practices in the legislative process carried out by the Government. Among them, not listening to waves of criticism and resistance by continuing to force the enactment of the Omnibus Law on Job Creation.
The same thing is felt by Domestic Workers who have been waiting for about 19 years. The urge is for the Draft Law on the Protection of Domestic Workers (RUU PPRT) to become a DPR Initiative Bill.
Since it was drafted in 2001, the PPRT Bill was submitted to the DPR in 2004. After the stipulation process in Baleg on July 1, 2022, KSP formed the PPRT Law Task Force 2002. On January 18, 2023, President Joko Widodo delivered a statement to accelerate the discussion and ratification of the PPRT Bill. March 21, 2023, the Chairperson of the House of Representatives established the PPRT Bill as a House Initiative Bill. The government has sent a Presidential Letter on April 5 and DIM of the PPRT Bill on May 16, 2023 to the DPR. However, during the May - July 2023 session, the PPRT Bill was never discussed and passed.
19 years is not a short time for domestic workers to wait for a legal umbrella to protect them. For 19 years, the PPRT Bill has been held hostage, just as domestic workers are held hostage in modern slavery and human trafficking. During this time, the omission of suffering and violence experienced by domestic workers by the DPR has become a collective memory that must be heard by the legislators that the ratification of the PPRT Bill must be done immediately.
Among the victims of human trafficking, there are also domestic workers. However, the emergency situation of violence and human trafficking in Indonesia is not accompanied by the seriousness of the DPR to follow up on the discussion of the PPRT Bill.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 15, 2023
- Event Description
The Koh Kong Provincial Court this afternoon convicted 10 Koh Kong land activists of malicious denunciation and incitement to disturb social security, including three activists who have been detained in prison since June on separate cases. Around 60 community members from 197 Land Community and 955 Land Community gathered outside the court in support of the activists as the verdict was read.
The 10 convicted activists are Chhan Chheurn, Det Huor, Erb Vy, Erp Teung, Heng Chey, Inn Thou, Kert Nov, Kong Men, Puo Houn, and Sok Chey. All 10 were sentenced to one year’s imprisonment and ordered to collectively pay 40 million riel (approximately US$9,600) in compensation to tycoon Heng Huy. Erb Vy’s sentence was fully suspended, while the remaining nine intend to appeal the verdict.
Det Huor, Heng Chey and Sok Chey were already detained in Koh Kong Provincial Prison as a result of separate cases, and were transported to the court in a blacked out police van. They will remain in prison on those separate charges, while no arrest warrants were issued for the six other activists whose sentences were not suspended, indicating they will remain out of prison pending appeal.
These convictions follow other convictions of Koh Kong land activists in recent weeks. On 4 August, the Supreme Court upheld additional convictions of malicious denunciation and defamation against Det Huor. On 2 August, the provincial court found two women activists, Phav Nheung and Seng Lin, guilty of defamation and incitement to disturb social security. Both were sentenced to one year’s imprisonment and ordered to pay 40 million riel (approximately US$9,600) in compensation. In addition to this arrest warrant from 2 August, another warrant was issued on 29 June sentencing Nheung and Lin to pre-trial detention.
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: three land rights WHRDs convicted
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Aug 15, 2023
- Event Description
One political prisoner was killed and another critically injured when a resistance group ambushed a junta convoy transferring the inmates out of Monywa Prison in Sagaing Region on Tuesday.
The trucks were transporting around 100 detainees to prisons in Myingyan and Mandalay when they came under attack, according to an officer in a Monywa-based guerrilla force. He identified the deceased prisoner as 33-year-old Dr Zau Htoi Awng.
“Around four were injured and the doctor died. Another prisoner who had his foot cuffed to the doctor is bleeding out, too,” he told Myanmar Now.
This man was identified by another Monywa-based source as Arkar Nyein Chan, serving a 12-year sentence for terrorism.
One police officer was reportedly also killed and another injured, he added.
A family member and two Monywa locals confirmed Zau Htoi Awng’s death. The doctor had taken part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and anti-junta protests, and had also founded the Chindwin Medical Network and ran a mobile clinic operating in the conflict-torn Sagaing townships of Kani, Yinmabin and Mingin.
He was charged with terrorism after his arrest on September 25, 2021 and later handed a 10-year sentence, according to the local monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
A friend of the deceased said that the resistance groups that intercepted the convoy knew it would be carrying prisoners, and had obtained intel around the identities of some of those en route. The anti-junta forces had warned one another not to use explosives in the attack, to avoid harming the detainees.
Also within the convoy were reportedly trucks carrying copper from the Letpadaung mining project in Sagaing’s Salingyi Township.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Aug 15, 2023
- Event Description
Reporters to Bagmati Television Gaurav Adhikari and Suman Niraula received death threat while reporting in Lamjung on August 15. Lamjung lies in Gandaki Province of Nepal. Bagmati Television is broadcasted from Kathmandu, Bagmati Province.
Chief Executive Officer of television Manoj Neupane shared with Freedom Forum that reporters duo had gone to report on the alleged irregularities in a local cooperative office in Lamjung. As the television team reached the office, they requested the Chairman of the cooperative Ramji Kandel for his views on the allegation.
Chairman Kandel invited the reporters at a nearby local hotel to discuss the issues at around 5:00 pm. As soon as the reporters reached inside hotel to talk to the chairman, Chairman Kandel threatened to kill the reporters and seized reporters' identity cards, mobile phones, camera, boom and other belongings and then he also took the reporters under control for at least four hours.
"One of the reporters was however able to find his mobile and called me after four hours. Then, I informed the police chief at District Police Office, Lamjung and asked for help. Thereafter, police officers rescued the reporters and took them to the local police station. The Chairman and his supporters again reached the police station to protest. However, police persons safely rescued both the reporters at 11:30 pm. In the incident, reporters were safe but camera was slightly damaged", said CEO Neupane.
Our team registered a complaint at the District Administration Office, Lamjung on August 16. Chief District Officer wrote a letter to the DPO for prompt action on the case. In response to this, police office invited both side to discuss the incident. In the discussion, Chairman apologized for his action and confirmed that such incident will not be repeated in future", added CEO Neupane.
According to CEO Neupane, both sides had signed an agreement with their written commitment to cooperate with the journalists in future.
Freedom Forum vehemently condemns the incident. Though the Chairman apologized in front of the reporters, his action towards the reporters despite knowing their identity is a gross violation of press freedom. Reporting public concern is journalists’ duty, but intimidation to them is worrying trend.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death threat, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Aug 15, 2023
- Event Description
Relatives of a stand-up comedian said he was detained by police in Ho Chi Minh City, beaten and then fined for videos about social issues that he posted to his popular YouTube account six years ago.
Police arrested Nguyen Phuc Gia Huy on Tuesday and later fined him 7.5 million Vietnamese dong (about US$315) for videos that authorities said carried untruthful content. The content of those videos wasn’t disclosed.
He was also ordered to remove the false information from YouTube, according to the Tuoi Tre newspaper.
Huy, 41, is a stand-up comedian who participated in the “Vietnam’s Got Talent” TV show and has a YouTube channel – where he is known as Cucumber – that has nearly 900,000 subscribers.
His videos have focused on sensitive issues in society, such as border crossings and the recent attacks on local government facilities in Dak Lak province.
"Cucumber was abducted at around 10 a.m. on August 15 while eating alone,” a family member told Radio Free Asia. “Security forces took him away and then brought him to the station for questioning without giving any documents."
The family member added that he was beaten during his interrogation and wasn’t released until 11 p.m. the same day.
Previously, Huy was summoned to a police station in 2016 to discuss a video he posted that said, “Freedom of speech is different from personal humiliation.” Huy declared in the video that “in Vietnam, there is no freedom of speech.”
Huy’s relative noted that in 2022 he sued the Nhan Dan newspaper in what is considered the first lawsuit filed by an individual against a media outlet aligned with Vietnam’s Communist Party Central Committee.
Huy won the lawsuit against Nhan Dan, which agreed to remove articles critical of him. The relative questioned whether this week’s incident with police was related to the lawsuit.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Aug 15, 2023
- Event Description
Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR), on Tuesday (22) said that organised groups had assaulted two farmer leaders at Mayurapura, Walawe.
MONLAR has condemned inaction of officials regarding the brutal attacks on the leaders of the farming communities.
MONLAR has said: “The farming communities of the entire Mayurapura area have been adversely affected by water shortages following the delay in releasing water for farming in the yala season. There are 5,300 farmer families in Mayurapura which is a part of the Mahaweli Zone. The leaders of 86 farmer organisations in the area have been at the forefront in making interventions necessary for the farmers who face chronic water shortages, the brunt of the human-elephant conflict and many economic issues. The task of negotiating and pressurising the government to release water and overcoming many obstacles in providing water to the farmlands have become a Herculean task. Life is much easier for those who maintain large unauthorised farms who have tapped into the water supply illegally. These individuals use money, political connections and violence as tools to achieve their objectives. Leaders of the farming communities that oppose these powerful individuals have now become targets of violence.
“During the last month, two leaders of the farming communities in Mayurapura area have been brutally assaulted. One such person is still undergoing treatment at the hospital.
“The first such incident was reported on 27 July 2023 when K.A. Ajith Kumara, 47-years, was assaulted near the Bopele Tank at around 6 pm.
“About two weeks later, on 15 August 2023, G. Karunathilaka, 54-years, was assaulted near the 29 Tank at UD-60 area at around 7 pm. Karunathilaka was brutally assaulted and had sustained serious injuries to his arms and legs.
“Complaints have been lodged with the Harbour Police on 27 June and 17 August about the attacks. However, nothing has been done and the assailants remain free to terrorize others.
“We express our strongest displeasure at the Police for not taking action against the perpetrators of these attacks. We also believe that a powerful force is influencing the police.
“It has almost been 10-days since water was released to the Udawalawe Tank from the Samanalawewa Tank. However, this water has not yet been adequately released to farmlands. This is leading to conflicts and tensions among the farmers and those who maintain large scale unauthorised plantations. The Mahaweli Authority, Department of Irrigation and Ministry of Agriculture must immediately step in to prevent potential clashes between farmers and those who maintain large scale unauthorized plantations.
One of the best ways to ease tensions is to arrest those who have assaulted farmer leaders. If these organised groups are allowed to continue, the lives of farmer leaders are in danger. If the violence claims the life of a farmer leader, the police must take responsibility.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Sri Lanka: farmer leader assaulted
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Aug 15, 2023
- Event Description
At least 20 people were wounded when police used batons, water cannon and tear gas to disperse hundreds of people who joined rallies in Indonesia’s West Papua region on the 61st anniversary of an agreement that made the territory part of Indonesia, news agencies report.
The US-brokered 1962 New York Agreement allowed Indonesia to annex the Christian-majority region after the end of Dutch colonial rule, according to a report in the UCA News.
Riot police attacked peaceful demonstrators in three locations near the provincial capital Jayapura yesterday, alleged Emmanuel Gobay, a Catholic and an official of the Papua Legal Aid Institute.
The demonstrators called on the international community to review the agreement and take action to end ongoing violence and repression in the region, said the report.
“In fact, they only held peaceful demonstrations,” said Gobay, who joined one of the rallies.
He stated that more than 20 people were beaten, with one of them later being treated in hospital.
“One person was seriously injured and was immediately transported to the hospital for treatment,” he said.
Listening to speeches Videos and photos obtained by UCA News showed police attacked with water canons and fired tear gas while people were listening to speeches from leaders of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), the protest organiser.
Gobay said that although the authorities viewed the KNPB as a “separatist — pro-independence — group “they should have the right to express their opinion” as guaranteed in the nation’s constitution.
“Moreover, they submitted an official letter notifying police about the programme beforehand,” he added.
He condemned the use of water cannon and tear gas on demonstrators.
These should only be for anarchic demonstrations — “not peaceful demonstrations,” he said.
Gobay alleged that police committed criminal offences by torturing and beating protesters, and called on the Papuan police chief to immediately prosecute the perpetrators so that there was a deterrent effect, said the UCA News report.
Father Bernard Baru from the Jayapura Diocese’s Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission said that this repressive action was a repetition of the discriminatory treatment of Papuans by the state.
Brutal police action ‘normal’ “In Papua, police actions like this are considered normal. This only deepens discrimination against Papuans,” he said.
Police officials were not available for comment.
KNPB spokesman Ones Sahuniap issued a statement to condemn the police brutality and claimed those who were beaten suffered serious head injuries and bled profusely.
Suhuniap said the police used rattan and batons to beat and break up the demonstration.
The KNPB simultaneously held demonstrations in Papua and in other parts of Indonesia, asking the United Nations to review the 1962 New York Agreement.
During the rallies, KNPB leaders called the New York Agreement “a violation of human rights of Papuans” sponsored by Indonesia, the Netherlands and the United States and the United Nations.
Not party to agreement As per the agreement, later added to the agenda of UN General Assembly, the Netherlands agreed to transfer the control of West Papua New Guinea to Indonesia, pending an UN-administered referendum.
The Papuans were not party to the agreement and it paved the way for the 1969 Act of Free Choice, an independence referendum favoring Indonesian rule in Papua whuch was largely regarded as a sham.
Indonesia’s annexation of Papua and use to force to crush dissent sparked an armed pto-indeoendence movement.
Thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels have been killed and tens of thousands have been displaced due to the conflict in the easternmost region in the past decades.
- Impact of Event
- 20
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Aug 14, 2023
- Event Description
Members of the hardline political group carried out the attack on the media workers after a news broadcast in front of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) in Dhaka's Shahbagh area. Reporter Sheikh Farid and RTV camera operator Ayatullah Manik were among those injured, as was Jamuna TV reporter Shawkat Manju Shanto, Mahfuzur Rahman Mithu and cinematographer Bishonath Sarker.
At approximately 11pm on August 14, Shokat Manju Shanto, a reporter with Jamuna TV, conducted a live broadcast outside the hospital where he referred to Sayeedee as a convicted war criminal. Subsequently, a group of protestors surrounded Shanto and physically abused him. Mahfuzur Rahman Mithu, a photographer who was wearing protective gear consisting of a helmet and a vest with the inscription of Jamuna TV, also encountered a hostile situation inside the hospital.
When RTV reporters arrived at the scene and exited their vehicle at approximately 11.30pm, a group of individuals surrounded them and allegedly yelled, "How dare you label our leader a war criminal? Sayedee is our leader and Islam's protector”. During the assault, the attackers stole assorted items, including a camera, a knapsack, and a wallet. According to the media outlets, all those who were hurt received medical care at hospitals, some of them experiencing severe injuries.
Sayedee, 83, died earlier that day after suffering a heart attack in a prison outside the capital Dhaka. The religious leader’s death prompted protests across the city that turned violent when police moved in to disperse demonstrators. Originally sentenced to death in 2013 for rape, murder and the persecution of Hindu Bangladeshis during the country’s war for independence in 1971, Sayadee later had his sentence reduced to “imprisonment till death”.
Sayedee was a former vice president of the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami political party representing Pirojpur. The International Crimes Tribunal 1 in February 2013 determined that he had participated in acts of violence resulting in fatalities in Pirojpur during the War of Liberation. The hardline political group still has a large following despite being banned for much of its history. The party remains controversial for supporting Bangladesh’s continued union with Pakistan during the brutal civil war.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Aug 14, 2023
- Event Description
The Bandung Alliance of Independent Journalists (Aliansi Jurnalis Independen Kota Bandung) condemned the violent methods used by the police in handling the protests of the residents of Dago Elos, Bandung, Monday, August 14, 2023. In addition to residents and solidarity groups, violence also befell two journalists who were covering the events at the location.
From the report received by AJI Bandung, the journalists who were beaten were AR from Bandung Bergerak online media; and AES, a journalist from Radar Bandung. The beatings were carried out on the shoulders, abdomen, thighs, hands, hair was grabbed, and the head was hit. When the incident happened, they ran to a resident's house, which was then visited by the police.
AR who was arrested had claimed to be a journalist and showed his press identity, but was ignored. "He was even threatened to be killed or killed by the police," said Fauzan Sazli, Coordinator of the Advocacy Division of AJI Bandung through a press release, Thursday, August 16, 2023. According to AJI Bandung, violence committed by the police against journalists is a serious crime.
The police not only violated Press Law No. 40 of 1999 Article 4 paragraph 3, but also committed a criminal offense in violation of Article 170 of the Criminal Code. Police officers have obstructed and hindered the work of journalists under the provisions of Article 4 paragraph (3). According to Fauzan, this action can be imprisoned for a maximum of 2 years, and a maximum fine of Rp 500 million.
In addition, police officers have also committed arbitrary violence against persons or property as stipulated in Article 170 of the Criminal Code. This action is punishable by a maximum imprisonment of five years and six months. "There is no reason for police officers to commit violence against journalists. If left unchecked, this incident will set a bad precedent for the climate of press freedom in Indonesia," he said.
AJI Bandung condemns the violent methods used by the police against journalists covering the riots at Dago Elos. In addition, AJI Bandung also urged the police to thoroughly investigate this case of violence against journalists. Similar insistence was conveyed by the Coordinator of the Dago Against Forum, Angga Sulistia Putra. According to him, the problem of apparatus violence must be highlighted. "Don't let freedom of expression, freedom of the press also be threatened," he said when met at Dago Elos, Wednesday, August 16, 2023.
Meanwhile, the Bandung Police Chief, Chief Commissioner Budi Sartono, who was met by Tempo after a meeting with representatives of Dago Elos residents and their attorneys, was reluctant to provide information when asked about violence against journalists by the authorities.
The Dago Elos riots on Monday night, August 14, 2023, occurred after residents accompanied by legal counsel reported alleged fraud by those who would evict their homes to the police. Heri Pramono, a member of the legal team from the Bandung Legal Aid Institute (LBH), said that the residents had reported the alleged fraud twice to the Bandung Police Station, previously in March.
Both reports were rejected on the same grounds of lack of evidence. The police, among others, asked for proof of land ownership certificates of the residents who reported so that there was legal standing. "We want to report the crime, but why do we keep discussing the land," said Heri, Tuesday, August 15, 2023.
Returning to Dago Elos, residents who were disappointed waiting for the results of the report since morning, blocked the highway in front of Terminal Dago Bandung while burning tires. At that time, negotiations were held between residents and the police to open the road and residents were asked to return to submit a report to the Bandung Police Headquarters. However, the plan fell apart when tear gas was fired.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Death threat, Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Aug 13, 2023
- Event Description
Yet another organization helping the poor is being accused of terrorist links.
Based in Cebu, the Community Empowerment Resource Network, Inc. (CERNET) is a registered non-government organization that supports people’s organizations in the Visayas region, particularly on food security. On August 13, CERNET received a subpoena from the Department of Justice (DOJ) alleging that 27 individuals who are former council members, board members, staff, and even a member of the network’s partner people organization are supporting the armed revolution.
‘Stern warning’
Brig. Gen Joey Escanillas, commanding officer of the 302nd Infantry Brigade, in his complaint accused members and former members of CERNET of violating Republic Act No. 10168 (Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012).
In a press conference, Escanillas claimed that CERNET is operating a 60-40 scheme wherein 60 percent goes to the communist movement while 40 percent goes to the intended beneficiary.
“They have mastered this form of acquiring funds legally but it goes to something illegal.”
He said that in 2018, CERNET was able to raise “more than 333 million pesos from foreign funding agencies”. He added that “around 200 million [were given to] the communist terror group.” These estimates, he said, is based on publicly available data gathered by an “independent individual” who was said to be curious about CERNET.
Although he admitted that CERNET’s funding is subject to audit, Escanillas still insisted that a “large portion” goes to the financing of a terrorist group. “This case serves as a stern warning to those who aid, collaborate with, and conspire with this terror group.”
Harassment based on lies
In a statement read by CERNET Executive Director Justine Villarante, CERNET stressed that the charges are meant to harass the organization engaged in helping poor farmers, fisherfolks, and urban poor communities in the Visayas region through livelihood and empowerment initiatives since its founding in 2001.
“(The accusation) is grounded on the lies and baseless accusations of their primary witness, Bernabe Nieves, a former staff of CERNET who was terminated due to grave misconduct and violation of CERNET Code of Ethics,” the statement read.
“We express our dismay as this only proves that the Philippine government targets and persecutes Civil Society Organizations (CSO) in the country, particularly those advocating collective action and development initiatives by weaponizing Philippine laws derived from the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force,” it continues, stressing that this action “endangers the lives of development organizations and workers as they strive [to help achieve the] UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.”
Helping the poor
Carmelita Alcontin of the Kapunungan sa Makugihong Mag-uuma sa Bato, Toledo City (KMMB) said that since CERNET arrived in their community in Bato, Toledo City to survey the place, they have not been hesitant in giving out help to the community through projects. “They are giving us services which the government should be providing to poor farmers. CERNET was the one who responded to our needs,” she said, adding that if CERNET did not provide the projects they would continue to suffer from extreme poverty.
Giovanni Gabuli, president of Pundok Sagop Kalikupan, a beneficiary of CERNET, said that it is difficult for an ordinary fisherman to improve their economic status with just the means available to them. He said that they were grateful when CERNET offered their services. He said that CERNET helped establish the fishpond and communal garden, as well as conducted training in soap making.
In a statement, AMP-Action Network Human Rights-Philippines found the charges against CERNET to be “unsubstantiated, seemingly designed to tarnish [its] reputation and to hinder its operations.” A network of German church-based and human rights organizations, AMP reports the Philippine human rights situation in Germany and the European Union. Its member organizations include Amnesty International Germany, Brot für die Welt, International Peace Observers Network (IPON), Misereor, Missio Munich, philippinennbüro e.V. and the United Evangelical Mission.
History of harassments
For more than two decades, CERNET and its network members have been experiencing various forms of harassment and intimidation.
In 2008, its executive director and administrative officer were falsely implicated in a case filed by the military. The case was dismissed the following year as baseless and in 2011 they filed countercharges. Ten years later (2018), CERNET suffered from continuous attacks and vilification, to the point of being included in the presentation of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) in a 2019 congressional hearing. In 2020, a member of its network, Elena Tijamo, was abducted from her home in Bantayan Island only to be found in a funeral parlor in Metro Manila the following year. How she arrived in Manila remained a mystery.
In January this year, its staff April Dyan Gumanao was abducted by suspected members of the Philippine Army together with her partner, also a development worker. They were later surfaced in a resort in Northern Cebu.
Uncertain future
Villarante stressed that CERNET complies with the stringent financial reporting of their funders and their financial records passed an extensive third party audit.
For his part, Dennis Abarientos of Karapatan Central Visayas said that they are confident that the case would not stand in court.
On September 28, the respondents submitted their counter-affidavits and attended the preliminary investigation.
Meanwhile, small farmers, fisherolks, and women from the urban poor, are worried about their future as they depend on CERNET’s assistance.
“If CERNET would stop, it is like putting an end to our organization,” said Virgie Garcia who belongs to a women farmer’s group based in Aloguinsan, Cebu. “The threat and attacks against CERNET is an attack on our projects, and initiatives that help in our effort to attain food security, as well as with our livelihood and attacks against our families.”
- Impact of Event
- 28
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to protect reputation, Right to work
- HRD
- NGO, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Aug 12, 2023
- Event Description
Detained Vietnamese blogger and YouTuber Duong Van Thai is still in prison almost three weeks after his temporary detention was supposed to have expired, his family told Radio Free Asia.
Thai, 41, was living in Thailand when he disappeared on April 13 in what many believe was an abduction.
Vietnam has neither confirmed nor denied that he was abducted and taken back to Vietnam, but shortly after his disappearance, authorities announced that they had apprehended him for trying to sneak into the country illegally.
They did not confirm to his family that he was under arrest on official charges until July, when they sent a letter saying he was being held in a detention center in Hanoi, that he was charged with “anti-state propaganda,” and that the temporary detention would end on Aug. 12.
According to Vietnamese law, the maximum temporary detention time, which applies to extremely serious offenses, is four months. In complex cases that require more time, this period can be extended, but only if the investigating agency sends a written request to the judicial authorities.
Thai’s 70-year-old mother, Duong Thi Lu, told RFA Vietnamese that she tried to visit her son in the detention center, but she was not allowed to meet him.
“I’ve been there twice,” she said. “On my first trip, because I went there on a Saturday, they did not receive me. The next time was on a Friday. They received me at the front gate and allowed me to send in some supplies but did not let me in.”
She said that the detention center staff told her she would not be allowed to see her son until the investigation ends. She also said she intends to return next week to give him more supplies.
Lu also said that because of her advanced age, she was not capable nor alert enough to hire a defense lawyer for her son, and she plans to rely on support from her son’s friends.
RFA made repeated phone calls to the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security via the two official telephone numbers posted on its website but no one answered.
Critical posts
Duong Van Thai had fled to Thailand in late 2018 or early 2019, fearing political persecution for his many posts and videos that criticized the Vietnamese government and leaders of the Communist Party on Facebook and YouTube.
He had been granted refugee status by the United Nations refugee agency’s office in Bangkok. He was interviewed to resettle in a third country right before his disappearance near his rental home in central Thailand’s Pathum Thani province.
Organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders, and the Committee to Protect Journalists have accused Vietnam’s security agents of kidnapping Duong Van Thai and bringing him back to Vietnam in a manner similar to how they abducted RFA-affiliated blogger Truong Duy Nhat in Bangkok in 2019 or former oil company CEO Trinh Xuan Thanh in Berlin in 2017.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Aug 12, 2023
- Event Description
At least 20 readymade garment workers were injured in a clash with Industrial Police yesterday.
The clash broke out after the workers blocked a road in Savar, demanding their arrears.
The workers of Pride Group's HR Textile Mills Ltd and Fashion Knit Ltd found a notice when they went to work around 9:00am, which read, "Factory authorities declared yesterday as a general holiday."
Other workers joined the crowd and tried to know the reason behind such a declaration, but to no avail. This prompted them to take to the streets.
Witnesses said they saw workers and police arguing on the Dhaka-Aricha highway in front of the factory.
At one stage, a clash broke out, they added. Police charged truncheons, lobbed teargas shells and fired rubber bullets to disperse the workers, who threw brickbats at the law enforcers.
Several types of raw materials -- including yarn -- were being removed from the factory for a few days. The workers are fearing that the factories might get closed.
Around 20 workers were injured in the clash, said a worker wishing anonymity.
The protesting workers also said their salaries for July are pending.
Referring to the police attack, Rafiqul Islam Sujon, president of Bangladesh Garments and Shilpa Shramik Federation, said several types of raw materials -- including yarn -- were being removed from the factory for a few days.
"The workers are fearing that the factories might get closed," he said.
Contacted, Afzal Hossain, assistant superintendent of police of Ashulia Industrial Police-1, said they did not charge batons or fire rubber bullets on the workers. They only lobbed tear gas canisters when the protesters threw brickbats at them.
This correspondent found the phone of factory general manager (administration) Monirul Islam switched off. When he went to the factory to talk to the authorities, the security guard told him that no officials were available there.
Shafiqul Islam, the factory's security officer, said, "No officers came to the factory [today]. Besides, I can't reach any of them over the phone. The factory will reopen tomorrow [Sunday] and the workers will be paid." Asked about the removal of raw materials from there, he said it was a rumour.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Aug 11, 2023
- Event Description
Kazakhstan journalist Sandugash Duysenova, known for her investigative work on social issues and corruption, was humiliated and tortured by investigators during detention. The journalist was brought into custody over an article she wrote, all charges against her were later dropped. The Coalition For Women In Journalism vehemently condemns the abuse by police and calls on authorities to investigate Duysevnova’s allegations immediately and prosecute those responsible.
On August 11, 2023, Sandugash Duysenova was detained by police in the Zhetysu region of southeastern Kazakhstan. The journalist was charged with privacy violation and disclosing personal information after publishing an article that revealed the identity number of a convicted murderer.
During her time in police custody in Taldykorgan, Sandugash Duysenova was forced to strip naked and was filmed by investigators, who tortured and humiliated her. They also threatened to harm her family if she did not confess to the charges against her.
Such acts of police torture and harassment against journalists have far-reaching and devastating consequences. They inflict physical and psychological trauma, undermine freedom of expression, erode public trust in law enforcement agencies, discourage investigative journalism, and instill fear, effectively silencing journalists.
Upon her release, Duysenova called for an investigation into the police abuse she endured and for those responsible to be held accountable.
Her case has garnered attention from both local and international media, as well as human rights organizations. Local journalist organizations issued an open letter to the Kazakh President, urging the prevention of torture and degrading treatment of journalists within law enforcement agencies. Activists also highlighted that forcing the reporter to strip naked and recording her can be seen as an attempt to pressure Duysenova due to her journalistic work.
Human rights organizations called on Kazakh officials to adhere to their constitution which prohibits torture as well as the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which the country has ratified.
On August 15, 2023, the prosecutor general's office dismissed the criminal case against Duysenova due to a lack of evidence. The journalist welcomed the decision and expressed gratitude to her supporters for their solidarity.
Despite the trauma she experienced, the award-winning journalist remains determined to continue her important journalistic work and political activism. Last year, Duysenova was presented with the International Media CAMP Award for her photograph depicting the toppled statue of Nursultan Nazarbaev in Taldykorgan during the period of crackdowns in Kazakhstan in January 2022.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism stands in solidarity with Sandugash Duysenova and calls for justice to be served. We call on Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev to urgently condemn the horrific treatment of Duysenova in police custody and urge the Human Rights Ombudsman and Public Prosecutor to conduct a thorough investigation into the journalist’s claims and hold those responsible to account.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Sexual Violence, Torture, Vilification, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 10, 2023
- Event Description
Hong Kong national security police on Thursday arrested 10 people for "collusion with foreign forces" and "inciting riot" over a now-defunct fund set up to help those targeted for involvement in the 2019 protest movement.
"The National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force today ... arrested four men and six women, aged between 26 and 43, in various districts for suspected 'conspiracy to collude with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security,' ... and inciting riot," the police said in a statement on the government's website.
"The arrested persons were suspected of conspiracy to collude with the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund to receive donations from various overseas organizations to support people who have fled overseas or organizations which called for sanctions against Hong Kong," the statement said.
The arrests come after the arrests of Cardinal Joseph Zen and other trustees of the now-disbanded Fund prompted an international outcry in May 2022.
Police searched the arrestees' homes and offices with court warrants, seizing documents and electronic communication devices, it said, adding that the 10 are being held "for further enquiries."
"The possibility of further arrests is not ruled out," it said, warning the general public "not to defy" the national security law.
Hong Kong police typically don't name arrestees, but Reuters identified one of the 10 as pro-democracy activist Bobo Yip, who was photographed waving at journalists as she was taken away.
The London-based rights group Hong Kong Watch said the arrests were a "new low" in an ongoing crackdown on dissent under the national security law, which was imposed on the city by Beijing in the wake of the 2019 protests.
"Today’s arrests mark a new low in the deterioration of Hong Kong’s rights and freedoms," the group's research and policy advisor Anouk Wear said in a statement.
"It was already an overly broad and political interpretation of the law, including the National Security Law, to arrest and fine the trustees and secretary of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund last year," Wear said.
In May 2022, police arrested five former trustees of the fund – retired Catholic bishop and Cardinal Joseph Zen, ex-lawmakers Margaret Ng and Cyd Ho, Cantopop singer Denise Ho and cultural studies scholar Hui Po-keung – on suspicion of "conspiring to collude with foreign forces."
While they were never charged with the offense, the five were later found guilty of failing to register the fund – which offered financial, legal and psychological help to people arrested during the 2019 protest movement – and were each fined H.K.$4,000.
"The arrest of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund’s staff for alleged collusion and rioting is an absurd criminalization of providing legal and humanitarian aid," Wear said.
"This is an attempt by the Hong Kong government to rewrite history and frame all association with the protest movement as criminal, which is deeply damaging to rule of law and civil society."
Zen, whose passport had been confiscated following his arrest as a condition of his bail, was allowed to retrieve it to attend the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI in January, handing it back again on his return.
Zen was among six Hong Kongers nominated for the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize in February.
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Aug 10, 2023
- Event Description
On Thursday, August 10, officials from the General Directorate of Intelligence, the Taliban’s intelligence agency, stormed the office of the independent Killid radio station in Jalalabad city, in eastern Nangarhar province, and detained its manager Faqirzai and reporter Saleh, according to the non-profit Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC)and a journalist with knowledge of the situation who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation by the Taliban.
Separately, also on Thursday, Taliban intelligence operatives entered offices of the independent Uranus TV network in Kunduz city in northern Afghanistan and detained Hasib Hassas, a journalist at the independent radio Salam Watandar, according to the AFJC and another journalist who spoke with CPJ anonymously due to fear of Taliban reprisal.
CPJ’s journalist sources said that Faqirzai, Saleh, and Hassas were detained on accusations that they reported for exiled media.
“The detention of journalists Faqir Mohammad Faqirzai, Jan Agha Saleh, and Hasib Hassas just before the second anniversary of the fall of Kabul shows the Taliban is determined to continue their brutal crackdown on the media,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Taliban authorities must immediately and unconditionally release the three journalists and stop muzzling reporting, whether it is conducted for local media or the exiled press.”
The journalist sources said that the three were transferred to an undisclosed location; CPJ was unable to determine their whereabouts.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid did not respond to a CPJ’s request for comment sent via messaging app.
Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, the country’s media have been in crisis, with journalists facing arrests, raids on offices, and beatings. The Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence has emerged as a key threat to journalists in the country. Some journalists who fled the country have established media outlets to continue reporting on Afghanistan in exile.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Aug 10, 2023
- Event Description
Twenty university students who were arrested during the protest march organized by the Inter University Students' Federation on Thursday (10) were released on bail.
The group was released based on a court order issued by the Hultsdorf Magistrate's Court No. 1, when they were produced in court on Thursday (10). They were released on a personal bail of Rs. 25,000 each.
Court also ordered the group to be produced in court once again on the 14th of August.
Sri Lanka Police used water cannons to disperse the group at two separate location during the protest march on Thursday (10) evening.
Sri Lanka Police deployed water cannons to disperse a protest in Colombo organized by the Inter-University Students' Federation.
The Inter University Students' Federation, a student movement in Sri Lanka had organized a protest in Colombo on Thursday (10) citing multiple demands, including to terminate the Ranil – Wijeyadasa report that eliminates Free Education, to abolish the inhumane labour laws, and to prevent any attempt on the ETF and EPF funds of the people.
The Maligakanda Magistrate's Court issued an order preventing the protest from taking place after considering the submissions made by the OIC of the Maradana Police who claimed the protest would cause a public disturbance.
One Inter-University Students' Federation group protested opposite the Vihara Maha Devi Park in Colombo, and another group marched in protest from the Kirulapone Junction.
Water cannons were fired on the protest march twice by Sri Lanka Police.
Thereafter, water cannons were used to disperse the Inter-University Students' Federation protest opposite the Vihara Maha Devi Park.
Water cannons were used on them thrice.
Thereafter, Sri Lanka Police and Anti-Riot Squad chased after the protestors in order to make arrests.
Sri Lanka Army personnel were also summoned to crackdown on the protest, and several protestors were arrested when they entered the Public Library premises in Colombo.
The Fort Magistrate Thilina Gamage has issued a restriction order against 10 members of InterUniversity Student Federation (IUSF), including its convener Madushan Chandrajith, in relation to a protest they organised on 10th August. The court order prevented the protesters from entering several areas in Colombo, including the Presidential Secretariat, President’s House, the Prime Minister’s Office, Central Bank, and the Galle Face Green public park where last year’s people’s protest occurred, from 09.00 am to 06.00 pm on 10th of August. The Maligakanda Magistrate issued a second court order preventing the same protest march. The court order was issued against the IUSF convener and 08 other members of the federation from entering or marching in protest along Deans Road, Kularatna Mawatha, T.B. Jayah Mawatha and Technical Junction and other nearby areas in Colombo. Both court orders said peaceful demonstrations can be carried out without inconveniencing the members of the public and public officers.
On 10th of August, Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the IUSF protesters at two places in Colombo, in Kirulapone and near ViharaMahadevi park and arrested 22 protesters. The IUSF protested on several key demands, including raising objections to recent government approval for granting medical degrees under three private universities, proposed labour law amendments, and use of superannuation funds in the domestic debt restructuring process.62 63 Protesters arrested near the Viharamahadevi park, were granted bail on the same day.
Maligakanda Magistrate issued an order banning 11 individuals, including MP Sarath Fonseka, Ven. Pagoda Vijithavansa Thero and Journalist Tharindu Uduwaragedra and other protesters from entering and protesting in the Deans road, Maradana Road, T. B. Jaya Mawatha, Technical Junction and other areas in Maradana, while a protest has been planned to be held on 11th of August. A demonstration was held in front of the Colombo Municipal Council (town hall) area under the theme “unarmed non-partisan Aragalaya– People’s Revolution” with the participation of MP Sarath Fonseka, some Buddhist monks, and disabled military soldiers showing their resistance towards the current and former governments. While security was tightened in the area deploying many military and police personnel, the protesters were not attacked.
- Impact of Event
- 20
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment, Judicial Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Aug 9, 2023
- Event Description
On 9 August 2023, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), an intelligence agency operating under the Bangladesh Bank, requested all banks of Bangladesh to provide account details of human rights defender Zillur Rahman and the Centre for Governance Studies.
Zillur Rahman is a journalist, human rights defender, and the host of the popular late-night talk show “Tritiyo Matra”. He is also the executive director of a Bangladesh-based civil society organisation, the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS). CGS strives to promote collaborations across academia, government, private sector, civil society, and development partners to enhance governance quality, address security imperatives, optimise resource utilisation, and support political stability and socio-economic growth through democratisation and sustainable development. CGS is a leading civil society organisation in documenting cases of human rights, especially focusing on the Digital Security Act. Before CGS, Zillur Rahman was working at leading newspapers in Bangladesh such as the Weekly Bichinta, Weekly Khaborer Kagoj, Ajker Kagoj, Weekly Kagoj, Weekly Shomoy, Weekly Laboni, Weekly Bichitra and the Daily Ittefaq. Additionally, the human rights defender also worked at the World Bank (External Affairs Department) in 2000 and for UNICEF (Water & Sanitation Department) in 2001.
The BFIU indicated that the request on 9 August 2023 was made at the request of a state agency, without disclosing which agency. This lack of transparency has led to speculation regarding the motives behind these inquiries, creating a chilling effect on CGS and other civil society organisations in Bangladesh. This is the latest in a series of incidents of harassment faced by Zillur Rahman and CGS while carrying out their legitimate human rights work.
On 27 July 2023, CGS organised an event to launch a report on the challenges faced by human rights defenders in Bangladesh. The event was attended by human rights defenders, scholars, journalists, foreign mission representatives, academics, civil society members, and others. The study exclusively focused on human rights defenders in Bangladesh to better understand the challenges they encounter in their work. The report’s findings expressed concerns about the human rights situation in Bangladesh, documenting the unsafety and obstacles faced by human rights defenders in their field.
Following the event, the keynote presenter of the report faced questions attacking their merit and credibility to research and comment on the country’s human rights situation. Some of these reports also targeted other work done by CGS as part of an ongoing smear campaign against the organisation. This smear campaign against CGS was started in response to the organisation’s legitimate human rights work, including an earlier study they published on the media landscape in Bangladesh which revealed that most media houses in Bangladesh are owned by ruling party-affiliated politicians or business people.
On 23 December 2022, police visited Zillur Rahman’s ancestral home in Shariatpur district, which drew significant criticism from journalists in the country. The police talked to the human rights defender’s relatives and neighbours, asking about his work and alleged political affiliations. The human rights defender expressed the impact of such intimidation on his social media, stating that “the visit intended to scare me, my family and neighbours, and hinder my work as a journalist and works related to the think tank CGS.”
On 23 November 2022, the National Board of Revenue initiated an investigation into Zillur Rahman and CGS through its Central Intelligence Cell regarding the organisation’s transactions and financial matters. State intelligence agencies visited the locations where CGS events were held, such as the Bay of Bengal Conversation. Intelligence agents questioned hotel employees and event partners about their activities. Meanwhile, the government organised a media boycott of coverage during the international conference. Additionally, Zillur Rahman was placed under surveillance and followed by intelligence agents.
Several CGS employees have also been repeatedly questioned by the Criminal Investigation Department of the Bangladesh Police. Meanwhile, unknown parties have repeatedly attempted to hack Zillur Rahman’s, Tritiyo Matra’s and CGS’s Facebook and Twitter pages. All these events have placed the employees of CGS under constant dread, disrupting their capacity to work.
Front Line Defenders believes that the harassment against Zillur Rahman is directly related to his legitimate human rights work. Front Line Defenders is seriously concerned for the psychological wellbeing of the human rights defender.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Aug 9, 2023
- Event Description
A charity worker who was released from Mandalay’s Obo Prison under a junta amnesty earlier this year has been arrested again, according to sources close to her family.
Relatives of Nwe Nwe Win, the chair of the Shwe Mahar Nwe Social Welfare group, said they lost contact with her after she left her home in Mandalay’s Chanmyathazi Township on Wednesday afternoon to donate blood at a local hospital.
“After she left for the hospital, her phone went dead. We didn’t know she had been arrested until we saw the post on Han Nyein Oo’s Telegram channel,” said the family friend, who spoke to Myanmar Now on condition of anonymity.
Han Nyein Oo is the name of a pro-junta social media account that had earlier made calls for Nwe Nwe Win’s arrest. Late Wednesday, it posted photos of her blindfolded and seated in the back of a police vehicle after she was arrested for “engaging in political activities under the guise of social work.”
In a previous post, the channel showed a photo of a woman that it claimed to be Nwe Nwe Win holding up a sheet of white paper with the words “35th anniversary of the 8-8-88 uprising” written on it. Tuesday, August 8, was the anniversary of the 1988 pro-democracy protest movement.
“They posted that photo just hours before she was arrested, but that wasn’t her in the photo,” said the family friend. “Since her release, she hasn’t been politically active at all. She has only been doing charity work.”
Another friend agreed that the woman in the photo, whose face was blurred, was not Nwe Nwe Win.
“They have entirely different hairstyles. And [Nwe Nwe Win] wouldn’t post such a picture on her Facebook,” said the friend, who also did not want to be named.
“Somebody framed her,” she added.
Nwe Nwe Win’s friends and family also expressed concern about her health, as she has been receiving treatment for a number of medical conditions since her release from prison in early May.
Nwe Nwe Win was arrested during a raid on her group’s office in Mandalay’s Aungmyay Thazan Township on November 15, 2021. She was later handed a three-year prison sentence on charges of incitement.
Hundreds of political prisoners, including doctors, lawyers, teachers, social welfare activists, and monks, are currently being held at Obo Prison and in the notorious Mandalay Palace interrogation centre, where many have died in regime custody.
Pro-junta Telegram channels have increasingly been used to target activists opposed to the regime that seized power in February 2021.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 24,238 people have been arrested since the coup, of whom 19,733 are still in detention.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Aug 9, 2023
- Event Description
Tushar Gandhi, Teesta Setalvad, and G G Parikh were stopped by Mumbai police from attending a peace march on the anniversary of the Quit India movement. Gandhi was detained, Setalvad was asked to stay indoors, and Parikh was issued a preventive notice. The government organized a separate function to mark the occasion. The organizers criticized the BJP-led government for attempting to co-opt and distort the freedom struggle. Gandhi was detained for three hours and paid his respects to the place where the movement began after being released.
Tushar Gandhi, great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, activist Teesta Setalvad, and 99-year-old freedom fighter G G Parikh were stopped on Wednesday by the Mumbai police from attending a peace march organised on the anniversary of the Quit India movement.
Gandhi was detained and taken to Santacruz police station, Setalvad was asked to stay indoors amid police bandobast while Parikh was issued a preventive notice by the D B Marg police. The march was to culminate at August Kranti Maidan, the place from where Mahatma Gandhi gave a clarion call for the British to quit India in 1942.
The government organised a function at the same venue to mark the occasion, in which chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar participated. They also launched the Meri Mati, Mera Desh campaign during the function.
In a post at 7 am on social media platform X, Gandhi said, “For the first time in the history of Independent India, I have been detained at Santacruz police station, as I left home to commemorate 9th August Quit India Day. I am proud. My Great Grandparents Bapu and Ba had also been arrested by the British Police on the historic date.”
A statement signed by organisers Madhu Mohite, Feroze Mithiborwala and Guddi S L, read: “On the 81st anniversary of the historic Quit India movement led by Mahatma Gandhi, we witnessed a draconian crackdown by the BJP-led regime in Maharashtra. Our veteran freedom fighters have been commemorating this ever since 1943. Dr Parikh, who continues to lead the march even at 99, had participated in the movement as a student in 1942. He is utterly distraught at this bizarre turn of events. Every year, we, as the People’s Movement, commemorate the Quit India Movement by marching from Tilak Statue at Girgaum Chowpatty to the August Kranti Maidan. This year, however, we were prevented by the communal fascist regime.”
The organisers also alleged that 50-odd activists were detained by the police at D B Marg Police station. They hit out at the BJP saying that the BJP-led government was “attempting to commemorate the day for the first time—the day that their ideological predecessors had opposed, even as the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha connived with the British Empire”. “The advertisement issued by the BJP-led government does not even mention the Quit India Movement. It is once again clear that the BJP-RSS are trying their best or rather their worst to co-opt and distort our freedom struggle,” read the statement.
Gandhi, through his social media profile, said that he had been detained for three hours. “I was about to leave for August Kranti Maidan around 8 am when two people approached me and asked where I was going. When I told them, they said I couldn’t do that. They then took me to Santacruz police station. I was made to wait in the senior inspector’s cabin until 11.30 am before being let off,” he said. “The police told me there was an event organised by the state government at the same venue and my presence there could cause a law-and-order situation.” Gandhi said he did pay his respects to the place where the Quit India Movement began in 1942 after being let go along with Setalvad and Parikh.
Senior officials, including joint commissioner of police Satyanarayan Choudhary and deputy commissioner of police for Zone 9 Krishnakant Upadhyay, refused to comment on Gandhi’s detention. However, the letter sent to Parikh by the DB Marg police mentioned that he did not have the necessary permission to conduct the peace march in their jurisdiction. It also cited restriction of movement under Section 144 issued from July 31 to August 14, saying that action could be taken against him and his accomplices for illegal assembly. It also pointed out a high court order that said all rallies and protests in the city should only be done at Azad Maidan.
The D B Marg police detained 22 people relating to the Quit India Day, as they violated the Mumbai police commissioner’s order prohibiting gatherings of more than five persons. “We have already registered a case in this matter under Section 135,” said a police officer.
Maharashtra BJP vice-president Madhav Bhandari said he would not answer questions on Teesta’s detention since “she is out on bail in many cases for financial misappropriation”. “The action against Gandhi and other activists was taken by the police as per their common practice,” he said. “The government had no role in it. As far as the allegations against BJP over August Kranti Diwas go, I want to ask Teesta and Gandhi whether they hoist the tricolour in their houses. People know what we are and what they do.”
Shinde said, “The clarion call by Mahatma Gandhi for the British to quit India inspired the youth. The freedom fighters stood against the British rule. The freedom we got was the result of the sacrifice by thousands of martyrs.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Aug 9, 2023
- Event Description
The assault on the Maharashtra Daily journalist in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon area was captured in a video that went viral the following day. In the video, Mahajan is seen being pulled from his motorbike and beaten up by at least three men. The men have since been alleged to be supporters of local MLA Kishore Patil.
Police lodged a Non-Consignable (NC) complaint against the three people for the attack and said they were checking for links to the politician. Police also said the journalist did not suffer serious injuries but that the case was registered under sections 323, 504, and 506 of the Indian Penal Code based on the nature of injuries the journalist sustained.
According to subsequent reports, the attack was linked to the journalist’s online response a meeting between Maharashtra’s Chief Minister, Eknath Shinde, and the parents of an eight-year-old girl, who was allegedly raped and murdered a few days earlier. In the post, Mahajan was reported to have called the politician’s meeting with the girl’s parents an “eyewash”. Shortly after, local MLA Kishor Patil is alleged to have called the journalist to abuse him. An audio clip of Patil’s conversation was also purportedly shared on social media platforms.
This week, 11 Mumbai journalist bodies petitioned the Governor of Maharashtra, Ramesh Bais, and demanded action be taken against MLA Kishor Patil under Maharashtra Media Persons and Media Institutions (Prevention of Violence and damage or Loss to Property) Act, 2017 Act 29 of 2019.
Opposition NCP MLA Rohit Pawar questioned the silence of the state government after the attack on the Maharashtra Daily journalist political “goons”.
The Press Trust of India reported that a statement issued by the journalist bodies said the governor assured their delegation that he would look into the matter.
The IJU said: “IJU condemns the attack on Jalgaon Maharashtra journalist Sandeep Mahajan by supporters of local Shiv Sena MLA Kishore Patil for his critical report of rape and murder of a girl. IJU demands stern action against the attackers of the journalist.”
The IFJ said: “The Maharashtra government must be obligated to investigate this targeted attack and ensure the implementation of the state law which is there to defend and protect journalists.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Aug 8, 2023
- Event Description
The family of a journalist has alleged that he was assaulted and urinated on by the SHO of a police station after being arrested and framed in a robbery case in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur.
Mintu Dubey is a freelance journalist who has worked for organisations such as New Sadhna News and Ind24. He was arrested hours after an FIR was filed on August 8, based on a complaint about an alleged robbery which took place past midnight on the same date.
But the complainant in the robbery case does not recognise his attackers. The police have not conducted any identification parade. And the FIR does not name the journalist.
Dubey’s sister Sunita Tiwari, who visited him after his arrest on August 10, said the journalist told her that he had only been targeted for an old report accusing the Civil Lines police station staff of extortion. She said Dubey had been “threatened” by the SHO earlier as well.
Tiwari submitted a complaint of misconduct to Chhatarpur SP Amit Sanghi on August 19.
While the Chhatarpur SP said the complaint will be looked into, Civil Lines police SHO Kamlesh Sahu has termed all the allegations “baseless” and claimed that Dubey is a “drunk” and “not even an authorised journalist”.
Newslaundry has seen the FIR, the complaint, and Dubey’s report. Published in local daily Shubh News in April, the report alleged that Civil Lines police had blackmailed a trader and a complaint had been submitted to senior police officers.
The trader, Jibrael Rayeen, told Newslaundry that two police personnel were suspended after his complaint to officers and that the SHO “behaved as if he was not aware of anything”.
Meanwhile, according to Tiwari’s complaint, Dubey was having dinner at a dhaba on Jhansi Khajuraho highway when he was arrested by the police.
“They took him to Civil Lines where station house officer Kamlesh Sahu booked him in a looting incident. Sahu then beat him up inside a room,” she alleged. “He was slapped on his face with shoes and they then peed on his head. My brother was very scared when he told me about this harassment. He’s scared of the police and concerned that it would bring him public humiliation.”
The robbery case
The complaint was filed by one Ramesh Chand Gupta, who runs a shop. As per the complaint, two men on motorcycles had allegedly robbed Gupta of Rs 3,100 while he was cycling home after midnight, assaulted him and then snatched his bag. Two others in a truck witnessed what had happened and tried to apprehend the attackers but were unable to.
Newslaundry contacted Gupta to ask him what happened. He asked us to speak to his wife since he has a hearing problem. His wife Rekha said her husband did not recognise his attackers.
“We don’t know who those people were. The police arrested two persons but they have not called us yet to identify them,” she said. “My husband is partially impaired so he did not hear half the things the police told him while filing the FIR.”
The second person arrested is named Deependra Yadav.
Newslaundry asked Sahu about Dubey’s allegations. He said, “These are baseless things. We arrested him because he looted the person. He is a drunk. He is not even an authorised journalist.” He said an identification parade in the looting case will be “done soon”.
Chhatarpur superintendent of police Amit Sanghi said he has “issued an inquiry” into Dubey’s case. “Once the inquiry gets completed, we will take action accordingly. Until then, we cannot comment on anything more,” he said.
Not an isolated incident?
But there are other allegations against Sahu too.
In another case, on August 10, a woman called Ranjana Raikwar filed a complaint with the police superintendent’s office, alleging Sahu had harassed her in Civil Lines police station on August 8. Newslaundry has a copy of Raikwar’s complaint.
Raikwar told Newslaundry she had been out with three friends – two men and a woman – celebrating a birthday near the highway. She said two police personnel took them to the Civil Lines police station after forcing them into a private vehicle around 10.30 pm. She said she and her friends were kept at the police station “through the night”.
“There were no women police officials,” she said. “They passed crass comments that we two women are prostitutes. In the morning, SHO Sahu assaulted my friend. They filed a case but we got bail that evening. I went to the SP’s office to submit a complaint but it wasn’t accepted. So I sent it by post.”
She claimed the “case” in question was of “two women fighting on the road”. “I am not involved in illegal activities. I am a divorcee, live with my three children, and I run a small beauty parlour. But these kinds of professions are looked down upon in small towns. In fact, the police violated all the rules and forcefully kept two women in the police station through the night. But no one questions them.”
Newslaundry asked Sahu and Chhatarpur SP Sanghi about Raikwar’s allegations. Sahu said, “I will talk about it later.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Aug 8, 2023
- Event Description
Police attacked and detained several students as a group of students took to the streets again on Tuesday demanding deferment of Higher Secondary Certificate examinations and protesting at police attacks and detention of several protesters on Monday.
Meanwhile, about the students’ demand, education minister Dipu Moni on Tuesday said there was no scope of deferring the HSC exams scheduled to start on August 17.
While briefing media at the International Mother Language Institute, the minister made the announcement amid the protests in the Dhaka city and in some other places.
She urged the protesting students to return to home and focus on their studies.
The education minister, however, said that the ICT examination will be held on 75 marks instead of 100 marks and questionnaire would be easy.
Earlier on Monday, the protesting students put blockades at Shahbagh, Nilkhet and Science Lab crossings to press their demand home.
The students claimed that they did not get sufficient time for taking exam preparations, many students are also infected by dengue.
They also demanded scrapping exam on Information, Communication and Technology subject.
Thy demanded that the HSC examinations should be postponed for two months or there should be 50 marks’ examinations instead of 100 marks per subject.
Police on Monday removed students from the Shahbgah crossing by charging batons and detaining several students.
The agitating students on Tuesday gathered TSC area of Dhaka University and later marched towards Shahbagh crossing by covering the face with black cloth.
Police stopped the students in front of Shahbagh police station and later charged batons and assaulted them.
Abdullah Al Sajib, an HSC examinee from Government Shaheed Suhrawardy College, said that they had only 16 months, while students got two years for preparation in the previous years.
He said that many students were dengue infected and could not take preparation properly.
The protesters alleged that at least seven students were detained by police.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner for Ramna division Ashraf Hossain said that the most of the protesters are not students, rather they have different motive.
He said that they have detained several protesters to scrutinise their identities.
He said that several lakh students are taking preparations for HSC exams while only a few are taking to the streets to create anarchy.
‘We have interrogated some detrained and they are giving contradictory information and cannot show their academic identity,’ said the police officer.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Aug 8, 2023
- Event Description
Photo journalist and activist RK Adipta Giri was issued arrest warrant for his critical post on social media on August 8. The arrest warrant was issued by District Police Office, Parbat, Gandaki Province.
Journalist Giri shared with Freedom Forum that he has been conducting campaign named ‘Save Kaligandaki river’ for more than three years.
“I have clearly observed activities of the authorities and journalists here who are involved in encroachment of the river and natural resources in Parbat. I tried to warn them through my social media posts and now I am facing this situation. But I will not give up, my fight will continue”, said journalist Giri.
“The journalists, who have filed complaint against me, had gone to my house and threatened my family members in my absence. It has been three days since I have gone to my house”, said Giri.
Giri has posted several critical status on his social media posts about alleged involvement of Parbat journalists in exploitation of the river.
District Police Office Parbat’s Deputy Superintendant of Police Madhusudan Neupane told FF that journalists had filed a complaint with a Federation of Nepali Journalists’ signed letter demanding his arrest under Electronic Transaction Act Section 47. “And then, we issued the arrest warrant against Giri. However, no further action has been taken yet”, informed DSP Neupane.
Freedom Forum condemns the incident as it is a gross violation of freedom of expression. The authorities have been time and again misusing the Act to suppress citizen’s voice. Journalists and citizens have every right to express their views on the social media against any issues of public concern.
Here, journalists themselves have resorted to a wrong way of seeking justice. ETA is not right measure at all. If the post had hurt their image they could reach court instead of arresting photojournalist. The Constitution has finely protected citizens right to free expression.
FF demands safety and security of the journalist Giri.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 8, 2023
- Event Description
Hong Kong police on Tuesday took the parents of U.S.-based democracy activist Anna Kwok for questioning, in the latest in a series of moves targeting the relatives of eight prominent overseas activists wanted under a draconian national security law, according to a London-based rights group.
"Today, the Hong Kong national security police detained the parents of US-based pro-democracy activist Anna Kwok ... for questioning over whether they had any contact with, or had sent money to, their daughter," Hong Kong Watch said in a statement on its website, citing local media reports.
Kwok, 26, is the executive director of the U.S.-based political lobby group, the Hong Kong Democracy Council, and is applying for political asylum in the United States.
She was among eight exiled activists listed as wanted by Hong Kong’s national security police, and is accused of "colluding with foreign forces" under the national security law, which bans criticism of the authorities.
Hong Kong leader John Lee has vowed to pursue the eight activists for the rest of their lives.
Kwok, who has a bounty of H.K.$1 million on her head, hadn't commented on her X account by 1000 GMT on Tuesday.
Her parents' questioning comes after similar police action against the family members of the other seven activists on a "wanted" list announced in early July, along with bounties on the head of each activist.
The moves come as the ruling Chinese Communist Party takes more direct control over national security policy in Hong Kong, which was once the domain of China's cabinet, the State Council.
Adopting PRC tactics
So far, police have targeted the relatives of former pro-democracy lawmakers Nathan Law and Dennis Kwok, U.S.-based businessman Elmer Yuen and U.K.-based veteran labor activist Christopher Mung, also known as Mung Siu-tat. Australia-based former lawmaker Ted Hui and U.K.-based activist Finn Lau are also on the wanted list.
“This is yet another outrageous escalation since the issuing of arrest warrants and bounties against the eight activists over a month ago," Hong Kong Watch policy and advocacy director Sam Goodman said in a statement. “It is increasingly clear the Hong Kong government is adopting the tactics of the security apparatus in mainland China which targets family members to silence criticism overseas."
“We emphasize that the Hong Kong National Security Law has no jurisdiction abroad, and governments must protect the rights and freedoms of activists in exile," he said.
The group called on the international community to treat China's claims that the national security law is applicable to anyone, anywhere in the world, as illegal.
"Hong Kong Watch calls for the protection of anyone who is threatened by the National Security Law abroad," it said.
Last week, police took away Elmer Yuen's ex-wife Yuen Stephanie Downs and their daughter Yuen Mi-shu and son Yuen Mi-man, the Ming Pao newspaper reported, while government broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong cited police sources as saying Yuen's ex-wife, son and daughter had been hauled in for questioning.
Earlier this month, national security police raided the home of trade unionist Mung Siu-tat's brother, taking away him, his wife and son for questioning -- also on suspicion of "assisting fugitives to continue to engage in acts that endanger national security."
Police also took away the parents, brother and sister-in-law of exiled former pro-democracy lawmaker Dennis Kwok and questioned them on suspicion of the same offense, a few days after similar treatment was meted out to Nathan Law’s parents and brother.
No arrests were made, and all of the activists' family members were released after questioning.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 8, 2023
- Event Description
Eighteen activists of the Thalu Wang group have been summonsed to hear charges in connection with a protest on Sunday in front the Ministry of Culture demanding senator Naowarat Pongpaiboon be stripped of the title "national artist".
The summonses were issued by Huai Khwang police in response to a complaint filed by officials from the Ministry of Culture and Huai Khwang district office, Pol Maj Gen Atthaporn Wongsiripreeda, commander of Metropolitan Police Division 1, said on Tuesday.
Those summonsed include Netiporn "Boong" Sanehsangkhom, Tantawan "Tawan" Tuatulanond and Thanalop "Yok" Phalanchai.
They face charges of trespassing, damaging property, violating the 2014 coup-makers' National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) ban on the use of fireworks or similar objects, violating the Public Assembly Act of 2015 in organising a gathering without prior permission and breaking the Cleanliness and Orderliness Act prohibiting vandalising of public property, Pol Maj Gen Atthaporn said.
All 18 were required to report to the police to acknowledge the charges this week.
Police had examined and collected evidence from the protest site to support the charges, he said.
On Sunday about 5pm, members of the Thalu Wang (breaking into the palace) group gathered at the entrance gate of the Ministry of Culture on Thian Ruamit road in Huai Khwang district. They sprayed coloured paint on the footpath, on decorative cloth on the ministry's fence and on the road surface.
They also splashed coloured liquid on the ministry's name sign and lit coloured smoke flares in front of it.
Some of the protesters were dressed in black and wore a variety of masks to hide their faces.
They demanded the Ministry of Culture strip senator Naowarat Pongpaiboon of the title of national artist because he had abstained when the joint parliament sat to vote on the nomination of Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat for prime minister on July 13. Mr Pita failed to get the required support, with the majority of senators opting not to vote.
The protesters also called for the abolition of Section 112 of the Criminal Code, known as the lese majeste law.
- Impact of Event
- 18
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Aug 7, 2023
- Event Description
Activist Tanruthai Thanrut reported to Pathumwan Police Station today (7 August) after a royal defamation charge was filed against her by Anon Klinkaew, leader of the ultra-royalist group People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy, over a speech she gave during the 14 July protest.
The protest was called after Pita lost the first round of voting on 13 July. Activists gathered at the courtyard in front of the BACC and gave speeches. They handed out flyers calling for the abolition of the Senate, while a large piece of cloth was laid out for people to write messages, many of which condemned the Senate’s actions for disrespecting the people and disregarding election results by not approving a Prime Minister candidate nominated by the winning party.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that the complaint against Tanruthai was filed because she gave a speech saying that no institution is above the people and demanding that the Senate and House of Representatives respect the result of the election.
TLHR noted that Tanruthai asked the police to amend the record to say that Anon has previously threatened her on social media and that the complaint against her was filed because of differences in political ideology.
Tanruthai said that she did not mean to do damage to the country, but gave her speech because she wants to improve it. She said she is not concerned about being charged, but is confused about the legal proceedings because she was told that the process involving a royal defamation charge is different from the normal process.
Tanruthai said that she has been harassed after the complaint against her was filed. People have tried to dox her on social media, while others made comments attacking her. Someone also called her mother and told her that Tanruthai could be going to jail.
The harassment has not yet interfered with her personal life, Tanruthai said, and she doesn’t care if people attack her online. However, she will consider pressing charges if the harassment worsens.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Aug 7, 2023
- Event Description
On 7th August, Civil society activist, and Hindu Priest Velan Swamigal and members of the Association for Relatives of the enforced Disappeared, parliamentarian M K Sivajilingam were arrested and produced in the Kilinochchi magistrate court by the Police, on charges of participating in an illegal assembly, in relation to a protest march they organised, demanding rights for Tamil people, and calling the independence day “a black day for Tamils” during a protest held on 4th February 2023. They were granted bail on the same day.
- Impact of Event
- 22
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Minority Rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Aug 6, 2023
- Event Description
On August 6, 2023, the Odisha police lodged an FIR against nine people associated with the Niyamgiri Surakhya Samiti (NSS) under charges of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and the Indian Penal Code. The charges came a day after two of NSS’ activists, Krushna Sikaka and Bari Sikaka, were allegedly abducted by the police in plainclothes from Lanjigarh haat in the Kalahandi district where they were meeting villagers to discuss upcoming celebrations of the World Adivasi Day. When other NSS activists contacted police regarding this abduction, the police continued to deny it. In response, the NSS called for a protest in front of Kalyansinghpur police station, seeking the whereabouts of the abducted activists. When this protest was dispersing, there was an altercation and the police even reportedly tried to detain Drenju Krisika, another activist of the NSS, right from among the crowd and it was only the collective effort and strength of the villagers which prevented this abduction. It is after this attempt that the police filed the FIR against the nine activists, which included names like the NSS’ Lada Sikaka, Drenju Krisika, Lingaraj Azad, the Khandualmali Surakhya Samiti’s British Kumar and poet Lenin Kumar.
These developments and the use of so-called anti-terror laws against Adivasi activists few days prior to World Adivasi Day on August 9 has been condemned as being an attack on the people’s struggle led by the Dongria Kondh tribe, who have been fighting the bid to resist destruction of the Niyamgiri mountains through various mining projects. In 2003, the Indian state signed a memorandum of understanding with Vedanta Limited for establishing a mining project for extracting the bauxite in Niyamgiri mountains. The project had the potential to displace the residents of the mountains and surrounding areas from their traditional lands and cause vast environmental destruction which would have ramifications not only for the immediate residents of the area but for the people of Odisha at large, with Niyamgiri’s unique bauxite composition playing a major role in filtering river water which flows down across the state. The vigorous struggle of the people of Niyamgiri against this move by the state finally culminated in a Supreme Court judgement which refused to permit Vedanta Limited from continuing their mining operations in Niyamgiri. The judgement also highlighted how the state had flouted various legal provisions in granting Vedanta Limited the rights, even though the judgement itself did not ensure the end of mining operations in Niyamgiri, with the judges going so far as to inviting Vedanta’s subsidiary, Sterlite, to apply for mining in Niyamgiri instead. As the residents of the Niyamgiri area continued their struggle to protect their rights to their own land in the subsequent decade, the state has reportedly further intensified its repressive measures to dissuade them from engaging in any democratic struggle by abducting activists, charging them with anti-terror laws, changing titleship provisions to evict the locals from their lands and various other forms of police harassment and violence.
Environmentally conscious people’s movements have been highlighting the fact that it is not only Niyamgiri alone but the entire region of Eastern Ghats where various such mining projects are threatening people’s lives. On the same day, August 6, in Kashipur, Rayagada, protests and demonstrations took place against the operations bauxite hills of Sijimali and Kutrumali, projects of Vedanta and Adani Groups respectively. Vedanta hired another company, Maitri, to resolve the issue and hold gram sabha meetings to convince local residents in favour of the projects but stiff resistance from the people ensured that the company’s plans didn’t come to fruition. This subsequently led to the activists organizing these demonstrations being detained by the police late at night in a similar fashion. They were then recently produced in court and have, according to sources, shown signs of physical violence and torture. On August 16, seven more people were reportedly picked up by the police from Sijimali area and will be presented in court soon. All these questionable acts by the Orissa police have raised serious questions on the right to protest and the safety of Adivasi human rights defenders.
Pertinently, the two reportedly illegally detained activists were found after a writ of habeas corpus was filed in the High Court which forced the police to produce the activists, Krushna Sikaka and Bari Sikaka. While Bari Sikaka was released, Krushna Sikaka has been sent to jail due to a 2018 rape charge filed against him. Since 2018, Krushna Sikaka has been seen participating in public meetings and demonstrations, but the police made no move on him for five years and this raises doubts on whether this charge is only to ensure Krushna Sikaka’s incarceration. Furthermore, one other accused in this case, Upendra Bhoi of the NSS, was initially reported missing by his family on 10th August but has now finally been located in Raygada jail on August 15.
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Aug 5, 2023
- Event Description
Continued repression by alleged strongmen employed by powerful corporations are behind the recent arrests of 25 persons over the past 3 weeks in Orissa, states a press release of the Ganatantrik Adhikar Surakhya Sangathan, Odisha. Activists including the Adivasis community have been strongly protesting the mining of bauxite by Vedanta, Adani and HINDALCO.
There is a wide contestation on the mode and path of development being allowed by the state government in alliance with the union of India. Adivasis are protesting the destruction of their land, forests and hills, above all, their livelihoods by these corporations.
The Ganatantrik Adhikar Suraksha Sangathan (GASS), Odisha has strongly condemned the spate of ongoing attacks, reportedly in various proposed mining sites of south Odisha over the last three weeks. On August 23, 2023, two office-bearers of the Mali Parvat Suraksha Samiti, Koraput, Abhi Sodi and Das Khara were picked up by plain clothed motorbikers. They are suspected to be the police in view of two similar cases we saw in the Niyamgiri area of Kalahandi district on August 5 and Sijimali and Kutrumali areas of Rayagada district on August 16. Despite the fact that the family members of both Abhi Sodi and Das Khara have filed a separate FIR before the Patangi Police station, their where-about is still unknown.
Also, in the Niyamgiri area, Krushna Sikakkaa and Bari Sikakka of Lakhpadar village, the two Adivasi activists, while returning from Lanjigada weekly market were forcefully being abducted by plain-clothes Odisha Police personnel on August 5. Upon an enquiry by the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti activists about the whereabouts of their fellow activists, the police denied their involvement. Thus on August 6, local tribals staged a protest in front of the Kalyansinghpur police station and submitted a demand for their release.
The press release states that while they were returning, the local police forcibly tried to arrest another Adivasi activist named Drenju Krisikka of Lakhpadar village. The villagers unitedly resisted and their efforts prevented the arrest. But, the local police mentioning the protest of Adivasis as “unlawful activities” have filed an FIR under highly undemocratic laws such as the UAPA and several sections of IPC against eight Adivasi activists associated with the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti. Kalahandi district Ambadola village resident, Upendra Bag, against whom the FIR has been filed, was picked up by the Rayagada police. His arrest was not acknowledged until his son went to file habeas-corpus. He was then produced before the Court and sent to jail after three days of detention. His family members report that he has been tortured while in detention. How could the protest of tribals against illegal detention be the activity of “terrorists” for which the state government has used UAPA? The threat of the government to stop exercise of minimum democratic rights by the people and to whitewash their own wrongdoings, such use of the UAPA is the display of mere authoritarianism. The police, who were denying detention of Krushna, later forwarded under a false case filed in 2018, released Bari and sent to his village.
Though the state government has decided to hand over Bauxite mining from Sijimali located in Kashipur area of Rayagada district to Vedanta Company, the public hearing and Gram Sabha approval process has yet to be completed.
In this situation, some office-bearers of Maitri Infrastructure and Mining India Private Limited, claiming that they have been awarded by the Vedanta company to perform mining work at Sijimali went to that mining area on August 12, with the help of the local police for site-visit.
This action of Maitri Private Limited irked the local people and they protested such site-visit. This resulted into forceful abduction of Dhanafula Majhi, the former Sarpanch of Sindurghati Panchayat, also known as the office-bearers of the “Sijimali Kutrumali Suraksha Samiti”, and Sitaram Majhi and Anil Majhi, both the former Samiti Members by Rayagada police on August 16. They were arrested on August 19 of this month as people’s protests escalated. Meanwhile, 21 villagers have already been arrested from Sijimali area under different sections of the IPC, Criminal Amendment Act and Arms Act. While avoiding the unlawful arrest, one of the villagers fell off the roof and has even suffered a severe spine injury. Now he is being treated at M.K.C.G, medical college, Berhampur.
The act of protecting one’s own land, forest and nature is not a criminal act under the Cr.PC or IPC that the police can arrest someone for this, says the press note.
It has been observed time and again that in order to keep these protesting villagers behind the bar for a pretty longer period of time, provocative incidents are being instigated with the help of local police to begin with. And then after the villagers get agitated and show some reactions, random arrests are being made under various non-bailable sections of the IPC such as attempt to murder, dacoity, rioting, arson and applying the Criminal Amendment Act as well as the Unlawful Arms Act. For the police to arrest someone, offences must have first been committed under the crimes listed in the IPC.
Similar tactics by the state government were followed during the gherao of Kalyansinghpur police station, as well as in Niyamgiri area and in Sijimali area of Kashipur.
This is now being replicated in the Maliparvat area of Patangi block of Koraput district. On August 23, 2023, some civilians posing themselves as policemen picked up Shri Abhi Sodi and Shri Das Khara, the two office-bearers of the “Mali Parvat Suraksha Samiti”, from two different places, says the press release issued by GASS.
Background
Nearly 42 villages are now opposing the proposed HINDALCO bauxite-mining project. The Odisha High Court cancelled the Public Hearing (scheduled for October 2022) held by the State Pollution Control Board, Odisha and instructed this should be organised again. In the subsequent Hearing (January 2023) the public expressed their opposition to the development plans.
Despite the cancellation of the Vedanta Company’s contract following the gram sabha’s decision in Niyamgiri, till date, the state government has not assured the local Dongria adivasis that the Niyamgiri hills will not be handed over to any company.
In the case of Sijimali, the state government is not questioning the Maitri Company entering the area without any legal permission. Even in the Maliparvat case, despite the High Court’s verdict, the state government did not review the pro-corporate involvement of the District administration. It is hard to believe that the state government desires to have development through democratic process, says GASS.
It is not out of place to point out here that this recent clampdown of the Odisha govt. The anti-mining resistance activists have to be seen in the context of the recent amendment to Forest Conservation Bill 2023 which has deleted the existence of ‘deemed forests’ with no rhyme or reason and without debate with Adivasis and other stakeholders. In Niyamgiri, as per reports, over 90 percent of the forests fall under this category. The GASS states that this is meant to enable trade-offs between the mining corporate houses and the State and Union Governments.
GASS has not only condemned these policies of the government and the brutality but questioned the breakdown of due process of law, the use of corporate goons in lieu of the police and the questionable manner in which UAPA and the Arms Act are being drastically applied with an aim to stifle protests and the rights of Adivasis.
Finally, GASS has appealed to all political parties, progressive organisations, trade unions, writers and media persons to oppose these attacks perpetrated by the Orissa government and save this planet from further destruction, so that our earth can sustain longer.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- India: nine anti-mining EHRDs faced charges
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Aug 5, 2023
- Event Description
Police officials have forcibly returned more than a thousand residents of Pasaman Barat who had been demonstrating at the West Sumatra Governor's Office since Monday (31/7/2023). The process was marked by turmoil and the arrest of several residents, students, and non-governmental organization members who were accused of being provocateurs.
The forced repatriation of residents of Nagari Air Bangis, West Pasaman, consisting of adult men and women, children, and elderly residents, occurred at the Grand Mosque of West Sumatra, in the city of Padang, on Saturday (5/8/2023) afternoon. The incident took place while approximately 20 representatives of the masses were in a dialogue with the Governor of West Sumatra and members of the Regional Leadership Communication Forum (Forkopimda) at the Governor's Office of West Sumatra.
During the incident, the crowd who had been using the first floor of the Grand Mosque of West Sumatra as a place to stay during the demonstration were reciting prayers while waiting for the results of the dialogue with their representatives. However, the police dispersed the residents and some of them were lifted onto buses to be sent to Pasaman Barat.
"We were forced to leave the mosque. Our belongings were scattered. We didn't want to leave, but we were dragged away. As women, we are not strong enough to resist," said Rismawati (40), one of the protesters who were forced to leave by the authorities, while waiting for a bus in the courtyard of the Grand Mosque of Sumatra Barat, on Saturday afternoon."
Rismawati, who is a resident of Jorong Pigogah Patibubur, Nagari Air Bangis, explained that actually she and her husband have been participating in the protest since Monday and will not go home until their demands are met. However, their family cannot do anything.
"I don't know what will happen next," said Rismawati resignedly. This family is threatened with losing a hectare of oil palm land because it is affected by the 30,000 hectare oil and petrochemical refinery national strategic project (PSN) that has been proposed by the Governor of West Sumatra to the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment since 2021.
On Saturday afternoon, hundreds of remaining residents gathered in the courtyard of the Masjid Raya Sumbar. They were waiting for buses to take them back to their hometowns. Hundreds of police officers were guarding and overseeing the process of mass repatriation.
Samsul (35), a resident of Jorong Pigogah Patibubur, expressed the same thing. "We were forcibly sent home without any negotiation, while our friends were still in dialogue at the governor's office. Some residents were immediately put on the bus, how could we resist," he said.
Previously, around 1,500 residents of Nagari Air Bangis accompanied by students and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) held a demonstration in front of the West Sumatra Governor's Office since last Monday. The residents demanded that the national strategic project proposal be revoked as it encompasses their managed area.
The masses also demanded that the land they had managed for generations be removed from production forest status. They also demanded that members of the Mobile Brigade guarding the community plantation forest (HTR) program managed by the multi-business cooperative (KSU) in the area be withdrawn. HTR locations also overlap with community land.
In addition, the crowd also demands that two people detained by the West Sumatra Regional Police for purchasing farmers' harvest be released. They were detained for allegedly buying palm oil plantation products located in forest areas without permission.
Not only did the police forcefully return the residents, they also arrested dozens of citizens, students, and NGO members who accompanied the crowd. They were accused of being provocateurs who held the crowd back from returning to Pasaman Barat.
Director of Legal Aid Institution (LBH) Padang, Indira Suryani, in a written statement, stated that there were 4 citizens, 3 students, and 7 legal assistants who were arrested and forcibly taken to the West Sumatra Regional Police Office.
"The police's actions constitute an abuse of power and a violation of human rights as their use of force clearly violates the guarantee of protection and respect for freedom of expression in public, as regulated by the 1945 Constitution, the Human Rights Law, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Freedom of Expression in Public Act, and the Human Rights Law," he said.
Separately, the Head of the Operational Bureau of the West Sumatera Regional Police, Chief Commissioner Djadjuli, stated that there were indeed several individuals who were taken by the authorities, but he did not know the exact number. "Several are suspected of inciting residents to persist, so we detained them for questioning," he said.
Regarding the forced repatriation of protesters, Djadjuli explained that the authorities had previously invited and urged citizens to go home. Some citizens agreed, while some did not, and some provoked others to not leave. "We took those who provoked us, and those who did not want to go, we transported them (to Pasaman Barat)," he said.
According to Djadjuli, law enforcement officers cannot wait for the crowd to be sent home after the dialogue process is completed. Because it is feared that after the dialogue, the crowd will still remain at the Masjid Raya Sumbar and Padang City. "This is a place of worship and it disturbs the activities of other communities," he said.
Djadjuli added that during the last 5-6 days of holding protests, the residents also did not have permits. The mass action on Jenderal Sudirman Street in front of the West Sumatra Governor's Office disrupted traffic. "We are helping these Air Bangis residents to return home, so that they can continue their activities. Children can go to school, parents can work," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender, Land rights defender, NGO staff, Student, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Aug 5, 2023
- Event Description
A Laguna-based unionist was subjected to surveillance and harassment last August 5, following a series of threats and intimidation of labor leaders in the Southern Tagalog region.
According to reports, Mario Fernandez, president of Technol Eight Philippines Workers Union (TEPWU-OLALIA-KMU), was approached by a man claiming to be affiliated with UMPHIL, an organization allegedly created by the management of Philfoods, Inc. right after the Unyon ng mga Panadero ng Philfoods Fresh Baked Products, Inc’s (UPPFBPI) establishment. UMPHIL was reportedly meant to obstruct the Sole and Exclusive Bargaining Agent (SEBA) process of UPPFBPI-Organized Labor Associations in Line Industries and Agriculture (OLALIA).
The man followed Fernandez throughout the day. The labor leader also attempted to record the surveillance video on his phone but was stopped. He was also threatened that they have his photos and other personal information.
This incident happened after the pre-election conference of UPPFBPI-OLALIA.
“I will not be silenced by these acts of intimidation. The fight for workers’ rights to unionize is more important than ever, and I will continue to stand up for what is just and fair.” Fernandez, who also sits as chairperson of OLALIA-Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), said.
The surveillance of Fernandez comes on the heels of relentless attacks against unionists and community organizers in the Southern Tagalog region.
This has since resulted in the killing of Dandy Miguel, labor leader of Lakas ng Nagkakaisang Manggagawa ng Fuji Electric Philippines (LNMFEP-OLALIA-KMU).
“It is deeply concerning that someone who is dedicating his life to advocating for the rights of workers is facing such blatant harassment and surveillance. Instead of wage increase, we receive an increasing number of human rights violation among workers here in Laguna.” Fe Valdeavilla, spokesperson of Alyansa ng Manggagawa sa Probinsya ng Laguna, said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Suspected non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Aug 5, 2023
- Event Description
Several police officers dressed casually are suspected of intimidating and using violence against journalists while covering the forced return of protesters at the Grand Mosque of West Sumatra in Padang, West Sumatra. Three journalist organizations condemn the obstruction of journalistic work.
Chairman of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Padang Aidil Ichlas, Sunday (6/8/2023), said that at least four journalists were victims of intimidation or violence by the apparatus. The four journalists are Nandito Putra (Tribunnews), Fachri Hamzah (Tempo), Dasril (Padang TV), and Zulia Yandani (Classy FM).
"We condemn such actions. In fact, a female journalist has also become a victim. Some of the journalists who tried to break up and release their colleague who was about to be lifted were also threatened and their shirt collars were grabbed," said Aidil.
Tribunnews journalist, Nandito Putra, in a press statement, explained that he was grabbed by plainclothes police officers while recording the return of protesters and doing a live broadcast for his media on Saturday afternoon. Prior to that, he was also prohibited from taking photos and his cellphone was about to be confiscated by the authorities.
According to Nandito, around 3:30 pm, he was broadcasting live on Facebook Tibunpadang.com to record the situation of West Pasaman residents who were rejecting the national strategic project (PSN) in the courtyard of the West Sumatra Grand Mosque. After recording the condition of the residents for two minutes, he directed the camera towards the police who were pulling a woman.
“I followed the crowd to a distance of about 3 meters. However, when I was recording, suddenly some plainclothes people came and grabbed me. My cellphone was taken by force. Then the apparatus asked me what my purpose was and I explained that I was reporting," said Nandito.
Nandito was only released after two journalists protested against the police officer's actions. However, in that effort, the security forces also lifted Fachri Hamzah's shirt collar, a Tempo journalist, and made threats. The same officer also threatened Aidil Ichlas, Chairman of AJI Padang, who at that time was also trying to release Nandito.
The incident ended a few minutes later after several officers from the Padang City Resort Police intervened and apologized to Nandito, Fachri, and Aidil for the incident.
On another occasion, Dasril, a journalist from Padang TV, also experienced intimidation by police officers. At the time, Dasril was recording the arrest of a member of the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) Padang who was accompanying the protesters.
Suddenly, a police officer obstructed Dasril's camera from recording. "That's enough, don't record anymore," said the officer. However, Dasril continued to do his job.
Meanwhile, Zulia Yandani, a female journalist from Classy FM, also experienced violence during the chaotic mass repatriation incident. At that time, Zulia had just finished praying and heard the commotion on the first floor of Masjid Raya Sumbar.
Seeing the tense situation, Zulia then recorded the incident, but was approached by a number of police officers who then took her phone. "I have explained that I am a journalist, but they still pulled me and lifted both of my legs. They were going to take me to the car," she said.
Due to the police's act of intimidation and violence towards journalists, three journalist organizations in West Sumatra, namely AJI Padang, Pewarta Foto Indonesia (PFI) Padang, and Ikatan Jurnalis Televisi Indonesia (IJTI) Sumbar, issued a joint statement through a press release.
These three journalist organizations are of the opinion that the actions taken by the police have violated press freedom. However, Law Number 40 of 1999 concerning the Press has clearly regulated matters related to journalistic work.
Such intimidation action also violates Article 18 Paragraph (1) of Law Number 40 Year 1999. The article states, "Any person who unlawfully and intentionally performs actions resulting in obstructing or impeding the implementation of the provisions of Article 4 paragraphs (2) and (3) shall be punished with imprisonment for a maximum of 2 years or a maximum fine of IDR 500 million."
Therefore, AJI Padang, PFI Padang, and IJTI Sumbar condemn the acts of intimidation and violence by the police towards journalists on duty at the Grand Mosque of Sumbar. The three associations also urge the Chief of West Sumatra Regional Police to apologize for the incident of intimidation and violence.
The Chief of Police of West Sumatra is urged to process his members who intimidate and use violence against journalists in accordance with regulations. In addition, the Chief of Police of West Sumatra is requested to ensure that standard operating procedures for handling demonstrations always prioritize professionalism, persuasion, and respect for press freedom.
On the other hand, AJI Padang, PFI Padang, and IJTI Sumbar appreciate the actions taken by several police officers from Polresta Padang who prevented violence against several journalists and immediately apologized. Finally, the three journalistic organizations also urged journalists to continue to adhere to the journalistic code of ethics while working.
On Saturday afternoon, at the Masjid Raya Sumbar, one of the journalists who became a victim, Zulia Yandani, reported the issue to the Inspector General of Sumbar, Suharyono. Initially, Suharyono responded jokingly to the alleged behavior of his member who is suspected of being intel. "So the intel is still fond of you, Mom," he said.
However, after Zulia convinced that the police officer's actions were serious, Suharyono summoned the Director of Intelligence of the West Sumatra Provincial Police, Commissioner Sunarya, to apologize directly to Zulia for the incident.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Aug 4, 2023
- Event Description
Progressives decried the apparent harassment suit filed against visual artist Max Santiago and three other John Does over the burning of the effigy of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the last State of the Nation Address protest.
In the complaint, the Philippine police said Santiago violated environmental laws such as the Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Waste Management Act of 2000 and the Republic Act 8749 or the Clean Air Act when an effigy of Marcos Jr. was burned during the protest action last State of the Nation Address.
This, the police said, was a “deliberate disrespect to the President and to our country” and later added that it “greatly contributed to air pollution.”
“It is well established that an effigy is a form of art. It is not solid waste: it is not garbage or refuse. It is hypocritical of the state to allege this when it cannot even address the problem of worsening traffic and its emissions, urban and industrial waste, and other government-regulated practices that contribute to environmental destruction,” Lisa Ito, secretary general of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines, said.
CAP added that the “emissions from an effigy burning are nothing compared to the criminal conduct and neglect of this administration.”
On Aug. 4, the Philippine police filed a certificate of extraction before its anti-cybercrime group on the Facebook Page of Film Weekly, an alternative news outfit in the country.
This is per the open-source intelligence of the police, where videos of the burning and creation of the effigy of Marcos Jr. was supposedly posted.
The police said that while peaceful protest is integral to democracy, “any form of protest should be conducted within the boundaries of the law and respect for the rights and safety of all individuals involved.
However, the police added that they found no social media account under the name of Santiago.
Santiago is a long-time cultural worker and visual artist. He was formerly with the cultural group Ugatlahi and editorial cartoonist for the online alternative Manila Today.
He also regularly contributes editorial cartoons to online alternative news Bulatlat.
In an earlier tweet, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan chair Renato Reyes called on the artist community to support Santiago, saying that “this is repression hiding behind feigned concern for the environment.”
Ito of CAP said, “this lawsuit is an attack on freedom of expression and right of the people to redress and expression of grievance. Why spend public resources on this just to save face when the realities that the effigy reflects and expresses remain unaddressed?”
The preliminary investigation is set on Sept. 5 and 12 at the prosecutor’s office of Quezon City.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Artist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Aug 3, 2023
- Event Description
Reporter at https://golkhabar.com/, Shanti Gharti Magar was attacked while reporting a protest on August 3 in Kathmandu. The incident took place in the premises of Metropolitan Police Circle, Teku.
Talking to Freedom Forum, reporter Magar shared that she was reporting on clash among police persons and protestors on the day of incident. While taking video of police officers misbehaving with the protestors, a police person approached reporter Magar and shouted at her for taking video.
Magar has also posted the video on her social media page. In the video, Magar has repeatedly told the police officers that she was a media person and also asked them to see her identity card but the officers did not listen to her, rather took her into the police station.
Magar has injuries on her forehead and has pain on chest and stomach. "They almost detained me in the police station and also hit me in my sensitive body parts", she added, "I have not been able to attend office since the day of incident."
"Not only me, other human rights activists (mostly women) were also severely attacked in the incident", informed Magar.
Freedom Forum condemns the attack as it is a sheer violation of press freedom. FF urges the security authority to respect journalists’ rights and differentiate among protestors and journalists during protests. Journalists must be provided safe space for reporting in such circumstances.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Aug 3, 2023
- Event Description
At least 40 people living near the Letpadaung copper mining project in Sagaing Region’s Salingyi Township were forced from their homes this month after the military put barbed wire fencing around the nearby village of Wet Hmay.
Some 300 troops arrived in Wet Hmay on the evening of August 3 with an ultimatum.
“The authorities ordered the villagers to leave,” one of the departing Wet Hmay residents told Myanmar Now. “They said that if we didn’t want to move, they wouldn’t shoulder any responsibility for the consequences.”
Around two-thirds of the village’s 100 households had already vacated the location in 2010 after being made to accept some compensation from the then-government in exchange for their lands. Members of around 35 households had stayed behind, refusing the offer.
The military proceeded to cordon off these remaining homes after their recent arrival.
The man who spoke to Myanmar Now explained that, faced with food insecurity and the encroaching military presence, he decided to depart Wet Hmay earlier this month.
“The fear of being shot at any given moment has compelled us to make the difficult choice to relocate,” he said. “The villagers are restricted from leaving and outsiders are prohibited from entering,” he continued, adding that under the occupation, they were living only on a meagre supply of rice and oil.
Nearly half of the residents are children or elderly persons with nowhere else to go, according to locals, who said they were not given any warning about the move.
“The soldiers told us that they would continue to […] clear out the village, so we no longer dared to stay. So far, they haven’t taken down [the fence],” another resident added.
On August 8 and 11, six villagers were summoned to the compound of the Chinese Wanbao company, which is jointly operating the Letpadaung mine with the military conglomerate Myanmar Economic Holdings, Ltd., although they announced in May of last year that the project had been suspended since the February 2021 coup.
The individuals selected to come to the compound last week were reportedly initially offered compensation to leave Wet Hmay, but residents said that negotiations have not reached a resolution and no recent payments have been made.
Wanbao, which was sanctioned by the US in July 2021, previously said that they would adhere to the ousted civilian government’s land compensation rate of 1.8m kyat (US$857) per acre. Myanmar army soldiers are known to be stationed within Wanbao’s compound, and have patrolled the surrounding area, where several villages have been targeted in junta arson attacks and residents arrested and killed.
According to a statement from the Salingyi Township Public Administration Team—which operates under the publicly mandated anti-junta National Unity Government—more than 400 homes in 13 villages have been burnt down in this way, and 17 civilians killed by the troops stationed at the Wanbao site.
The Salingyi administrative team has vowed to “take action” against Wanbao unless they cease their cooperation with the military council, as Letpadaung residents say that a reopening of the copper mining project is imminent.
On Monday, two army columns in the area carried out an offensive that forced some 7,000 residents living along a central highway connecting Salingyi to Monywa to flee.
The next day, seven men from two villages in the township—Gon Taw and Don Taw—were arrested by junta troops. A nine-year-old boy, Kyaw Thiha, from the village of Pay Kone in neighbouring Yinmabin Township, was killed that same afternoon by military artillery fire, and five other people injured.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to housing, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Aug 2, 2023
- Event Description
A former religious prisoner of conscience in Vietnam has been arrested on an anti-state charge related to his social media activity, just two years after his release from prison following a conviction for “disturbing public order,” local media reported.
Nguyen Hoang Nam, a member of a dissident Hoa Hao Buddhist Church in An Giang province, is accused of posting documents, images, videos and live broadcasts that oppose authorities and undermine the policy of religious and national unity, according to Vietnamese state media, which cited government investigators.
Nam is charged under Article 117 of Vietnam’s penal code, a vaguely written set of rules that rights groups say is Hanoi’s favorite tool for silencing dissenting bloggers and journalists.
The church’s deputy chief secretary, Nguyen Ngoc Tan, told Radio Free Asia that he was shocked by the arrest.
“I don’t see those videos (against the government), but only videos of Hoang Nam doing social charity work.” he said, referring to Nam’s Facebook account.
Nam and his family cook free meals for poor people about twice a month, according to church member Vo Van Buu, who added that Nam also sometimes reposts articles on Facebook written by people who criticize the government.
Previous arrest
Nam was arrested in 2017 on the “disturbing public order” charge while traveling to the house of another church member to join in worship services, sources told RFA at the time. Nam was sentenced the following year to a four-year prison term and was released in 2021.
Vietnam’s government officially recognizes the Hoa Hao religion, which has some 2 million followers across the country, but imposes harsh controls on dissenting Hoa Hao groups – including the sect in An Giang – that do not follow the state-sanctioned branch.
Rights groups say that An Giang authorities routinely harass followers of the unapproved groups, prohibiting public readings of the Hoa Hao founder’s writings and discouraging worshipers from visiting Hoa Hao pagodas in An Giang and other provinces.
Online newspaper Vietnam Plus reported on Friday that An Giang police coordinated with the Ministry of Public Security’s Department of Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention and Control in arresting Nam in Chau Doc city on July 24.
Authorities searched his home and seized seven mobile phones, two USB sticks, a laptop, 307 pages of documents and 10 videos allegedly containing “propaganda against the Party and the state,” Vietnam Plus reported.
The arrest is another attack by the Vietnamese government on freedom of speech, as well as freedom of religion and belief, according to Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch.
“By arresting Nguyen Hoang Nam, the government shows how it is doubling down on its campaign to silence outspoken advocates of religious freedom,” he told RFA in an email. “The previous accusations and prosecution of Nguyen Hoang Nam are bogus, and so is this latest arrest.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Freedom of religion/belief activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 2, 2023
- Event Description
Three Koh Kong land activists were this week found guilty of criminal charges including defamation, incitement, and malicious denunciation for their peaceful activism in defence of their communities’ land rights.
On 2 August 2023, the Koh Kong Provincial Court found two women activists guilty of defamation and incitement to disturb social security. Phav Nheung and Seng Lin were sentenced to one year’s imprisonment each and ordered to pay 40 million riel (approximately US $9,600) in compensation to the plaintiff. Both were the target of a complaint launched by former community representative Chhay Vy, whom the women had accused in 2019 of having seized land. The charges were dropped against a third woman, Khorn Phun.
In a separate case this morning, the Supreme Court upheld the verdict of the Sihanoukville Appeal Court against a third land activist from Koh Kong, Det Huor. Huor was convicted of malicious denunciation and defamation following a complaint made by tycoon Heng Huy about Huor’s Facebook post dated September 2021. Huor was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment and a 2 million riel fine (approximately US $500), which was reduced to 6 months’ imprisonment and a 1 million riel fine both suspended by the Sihanoukville Appeal Court in October 2022. The Supreme Court’s judgment upholds this decision.
Huor and Nheung have been in pre-trial detention since 29 June 2023 – Nheung alongside her 18-month-old son – after being charged with incitement in a separate case alongside nine other land community members. The charges followed their attempt to peacefully travel to Phnom Penh to submit a petition to the Ministry of Justice.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: land rights WHRD sentenced to jail
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Aug 2, 2023
- Event Description
Hundreds of personnel were deployed to secure pepper farmers who were protesting in front of the PT Vale Indonesia camp in Tanamalia Block, Wednesday, August 2, 2023.
These personnel consisted of TNI and Brimob. Even several Brimob personnel were armed with long barrels.
Instead of providing security when the pepper farmers expressed their aspirations to PT Vale, according to a pepper farmer who participated in the action, he was intimidated by one of the Brimob personnel.
"One of the Brimob officers threatened to burn our car if we did not stop the demonstration," he said.
The action taken by the Brimob personnel disappointed the farmers. According to him, the act of threatening residents makes it seem as if the security forces want to protect the company.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Lao People's Democratic Republic
- Initial Date
- Aug 1, 2023
- Event Description
A former Chinese judge who tried to visit detained human rights lawyer Lu Siwei at an immigration detention center in Laos has described being grabbed and manhandled by Lao police, who snatched away his cell phone.
Canada-based Li Jianfeng, a former judge in China's legal system, said the scuffles ensued after he tried to visit rights attorney Lu Siwei in an immigration detention center on Aug. 1, following what rights groups said is another example of "long-arm" international law enforcement by Beijing.
Lu, a prominent rights advocate who lost his law license after speaking out about the cases of 12 Hong Kong activists detained by the Chinese coast guard after the 2019 protest movement, was arrested in Vientiane on Friday morning as he boarded a train for Thailand, en route to the United States to join his family.
Li told Radio Free Asia that he was concerned about Lu, who was held by Lao immigration police amid claims of an issue with his passport. But when he arrived at the immigration detention center, he was unable to visit because Tuesday was a public holiday.
But just as he and his friend – a U.S. national – were leaving the facility, they found an office filled with police officers, knocked and entered, he said.
One of the officers in that room was the same policeman who took Lu away.
"The police were very nervous ... and surrounded us as if they were facing an enemy," Li said, adding that he had started filming right from the start.
Li and his friend were taken upstairs to separate interrogation rooms, and Li was interrogated by four police officers, who told him to delete the video from his phone.
At China's behest
Police told Li that Lu wasn't being held at the facility, and threatened him, he said.
"They asked their superiors for instructions, then asked me again to delete the video on my phone, but I refused," Li said. "Then they said ... that if I didn't delete it, they couldn't guarantee my safety if something should happen to me in Laos."
"They tried to snatch my cell phone ... then they called four more policemen, making a total of eight officers," he said. "They pinned my arms behind my back, grabbed my head and my legs, and finally snatched away my phone."
But the officers were unable to get into the phone without the access code, he said.
Li said he believed the Lao police were acting on instructions from China, whose "long-arm" law enforcement has prompted a wave of international criticism in recent months.
He said he had personally witnessed a large number of Chinese police billeted in a hotel in Laos.
"They're in a hotel not far from me," he said. "I can take full responsibility for telling you that there are 200 police officers there, sent by the Chinese Communist Party."
He noted that Beijing wields enormous influence in Southeast Asia, particularly in Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.
Informal rendition worries
Rights groups and Li's U.S.-based wife Zhang Chunxiao are particularly worried that Lu could get sent back to China informally, bypassing formal, criminal extradition processes.
"Lawyer #LuSiwei, detained in Laos, faces imminent return to China," the overseas-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders network said via its X account.
"His wife notes the Convention against Torture states that Laos must not 'return a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture'," it commented.
"If my husband is forcibly repatriated to China, he is certain to be tortured or subjected to ill-treatment," Zhang said in a video appeal posted to the group's account. "I call on the government of Laos to ensure that my husband receives the protections he is due according to the United Nations and international law on refugees."
"I call on international governments to help rescue my husband and allow our family to be reunited in the United States," she said.
A consortium of international rights groups including Amnesty International and PEN America said Lu faces a "high likelihood of torture," adding that China frequently puts pressure on Southeast Asia governments to forcibly repatriate its nationals, many of whom have then been subjected to "arbitrary detention, unfair trials, torture, enforced disappearances, and other ill-treatment."
"These individuals are effectively disappeared for extended periods, with family members and colleagues unable to obtain information until months or years after," the groups said in a July 28 statement posted to the website of PEN America.
"By handing Lu Siwei over to the Chinese authorities, the Lao government would be putting Lu Siwei at grave risk of torture and inhuman treatment," it said. "UN rights experts have found that the Chinese government frequently subjects rights defenders and lawyers to torture and inhuman treatment."
It called on the Lao government to halt any repatriation process and release Lu, or at least disclose his whereabouts and allow him to meet with U.S. and other diplomats, as well as a lawyer.
'Dangerous situation' for Lu
Lu's detention comes amid ongoing concerns for safety of Laos-based Chinese free-speech activist Qiao Xinxin, whose associates say he has been incommunicado since early June, amid reports of his arrest by Chinese police in the Laotian capital.
Qiao, whose birth name is Yang Zewei, went missing, believed detained on or around May 31 in Vientiane, after launching an online campaign to end internet censorship in China, known as the BanGFW Movement, a reference to the Great Firewall, according to fellow activists.
Peter Dahlin, founder of the rights group Safeguard Defenders, said via his account on X -- formerly known as Twitter -- that Chinese influence is very likely a factor behind Lu's detention.
"Hard to believe the Laotian government isn't acting on behalf of the Chinese police," Dahlin posted on July 28. "What happens next will clarify why lawyer #LiSiwei has been detained."
Bob Fu, who heads the U.S.-based Christian rights group ChinaAid, said he had sent an assistant to Laos to try to track Lu down.
"Lu Siwei is in a very dangerous situation right now," he said, calling on the Lao immigration bureau to take "humanitarian considerations" into account.
Lu made international headlines after he was hired by the family of Quinn Moon, one of 12 protesters who were jailed after trying to escape to democratic Taiwan by speedboat following the 2019 Hong Kong protest movement.
He was particularly vocal in the months following their initial detention and repeatedly commented about his unsuccessful attempts to gain access to his client.
After his law license was revoked in 2021, Lu told RFA that he couldn’t have predicted he would end up in this situation.
“Sometimes it is difficult to imagine what your life will bring,” he said. “You can make some plans, but there are still some certain events that will change your life.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jul 31, 2023
- Event Description
Facebooker Le Xuan Dieu for two consecutive days was beaten and interrogated by Ho Chi Minh City police for articles criticizing the regime on his personal page.
A relative of Mr. Dieu said that officers from the Security Investigation Agency - Ho Chi Minh City Police are investigating him about two Facebook accounts, Dieu Le and Deo Lu, which are believed to be his.
This person told Radio Free Asia (RFA) on the morning of August 2 on condition of anonymity for security reasons:
Mr. Dieu was taken to the headquarters of the City's Investigation Security Agency on the morning of July 31 by the police after refusing to go to the police station after being summoned three times to work on social media posts. Facebook association.
Four policemen burst into the house and escorted him away without a warrant. The police did not search his house ."
This person said that on the first day, Mr. Dieu was kept at the police station all day and was only able to return home late in the evening, with a dilapidated body and many bruises on his face. The results of medical examination and radiograph showed that he had multiple soft tissue injuries and fractured rib number 4.
During the interrogation of Facebook posts on July 31, Dieu was beaten every 30 minutes by 7-8 policemen, relatives said.
Mr. Dieu, 46, was forced to go to the police station in the morning and afternoon of August 1 to work with the same content, but he was no longer beaten as on the first day.
He was only allowed to return home late in the afternoon, the police did not make any further appointments. Now his phone, social media accounts, and even his bank account have been controlled by security.
Relatives said that now Mr. Dieu was in pain all over his body and had to stay at home to recuperate.
The reporter called Mr. Dieu directly to ask about the case, but he refused to answer the interview because he was very tired after working with the police for two days.
The reporter also called the hotline of the Ho Chi Minh City Police to ask about this case, but the person on the phone refused to provide information, asking the reporter to come to the agency to work with the staff or the leadership of the city police.
Mr. Dieu is one of the active dissidents in Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam. He used to participate in a number of protests against China's infringement on Vietnam's sovereignty over sea and islands in the East Sea.
On Facebook Dieu Le and Deo Lu have many posts criticizing the regime on issues such as human rights violations, systemic corruption, economic mismanagement, ubiquitous environmental pollution, and sovereignty. Many leaders including Ho Chi Minh, the founder of the regime, were also alluded to in many articles.
In recent times, Vietnamese security forces have stepped up online repression. Two activists Phan Tat Thanh and Duong Tuan Ngoc were recently arrested and prosecuted for "conducting propaganda against the state" after many days of being interrogated by the police. Mr. Thanh is said to be the former admin of the Diary of Patriotism and Mr. Ngoc has many articles and videos criticizing the regime and leader Ho Chi Minh on Facebook and Youtube.
On July 31, three Khmer activists, Danh Minh Quang in Soc Trang and Thach Cuong and To Hoang Chuong in Tra Vinh were arrested for allegedly "abusing democratic freedoms" for their rights-claiming activities. local person.
Since the beginning of this year, at least 12 people have been arrested and prosecuted and seven have been sentenced to between five and eight years in prison for either of these crimes, according to RFA statistics.
Many activists in Hanoi told RFA that they were called by city security to work and asked not to write or share articles with "sensitive" content or participate in civic activities, including peaceful protest.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance , Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Jul 31, 2023
- Event Description
As per INSEC, significant concern has been raised regarding the successive incidents of police brutality taking place in Madhesh province.
On the afternoon of July 31, an incident occurred at the district police office in Saptari where ASI Rajeshwar Mahato, assaulted Manohar Kumar Pokharel, the district representative of INSEC. Pokharel had gone to the office to provide assistance to victims of human rights abuses. This event once again highlights the ongoing issue of police brutality.
According to the victim, when Pokharel went to the district police office in Rajbiraj from Lahan, Siraha to assist the locals to register a complaint, ASI Mahato physically assaulted him. Pokharel sustained injuries to his eyes and sensitive body parts and is currently receiving treatment at Gajendra Narayan Singh Hospital in Rajbiraj.
We strongly appeal to the government to take necessary action against the police officer involved. Both the officer and the police office have the responsibility to maintain peace, provide security, and uphold human rights. However, a human rights defender and a journalist was assaulted within the premises, which demands immediate attention and action. It is stated in the statement issued on July 31 by INSEC Chairperson, Kundan Aryal.
Statement in the press release: “We urge the government of Nepal to investigate comprehensively into incidents of unjustified and excessive use of force, torture, and custodial deaths in Madhesh province. Immediate and appropriate action should be taken against any policemen found guilty at any level. We request the government to adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards incidents of human rights violations. We want to emphasize that human rights organizations, both within and outside the country, are actively monitoring the human rights situation in all parts of the nation.”
The incident involving the suspicious death of newlywed Aarti Shah from Janakpur and the subsequent incident where her family members were called to the District Police Office, Dhanusha, and coerced to provide a contradictory statement was reported in the public some time ago. The family members of the deceased have been protesting at Maitighar Mandala in the capital for the past one and a half months, alleging that Dhanusha’s Superintendent of Police, Bishwaraj Khadka, subjected them to torture in the incident.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jul 31, 2023
- Event Description
Three members of Vietnam’s Khmer Krom minority group who are suspected of distributing books about indigenous peoples’ rights were arrested on Monday in the Mekong Delta region, authorities told local media.
One of the three men was To Hoang Chuong of Tra Vinh province. Radio Free Asia’s Vietnamese Service reported last month that he was beaten by local policemen in June while visiting a friend in neighboring Soc Trang province.
On June 25, the U.S.-based Union of Khmers Kampuchea Krom issued a statement condemning the Soc Trang Provincial Police for the “brutal and inhuman treatment” of Chuong.
The other two men arrested on Monday were Danh Minh Quang of Soc Trang province and Thach Cuong of Tra Vinh province.
Police in both provinces told local media that local residents reported that the men had been passing 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.
The nearly 1.3-million strong 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 three men have been charged with “abusing democratic freedoms” under Article 331 of the Penal Code, a statute used by Vietnamese authorities to silence those speaking out for human rights.
Homes surrounded
Additionally, Soc Trang provincial authorities arrested two other Khmer Krom activists on Monday and surrounded the home of another two activists, one of the activists told RFA’s Khmer Service.
The siege of the two homes was an attempt by plainclothes police to intimidate, Lim Vong told RFA Khmer.
“I appeal to the United Nations to help stop Vietnamese authorities from excessively abusing the rights of the Khmer Krom people. I have done nothing wrong in Vietnam,” he said.
“I only distributed the United Nations’ textbooks about human rights and the rights to self-determination,” he told RFA. “I neither demand back the territory of Kampuchea Krom nor demand the separation of the Khmer Krom from Vietnam.”
Some activists have also been harassed recently by police for wearing T-shirts that show the Khmer Kampuchea Krom flag, according to Son Chumchoun, secretary general of the Phnom Penh-based Khmer Kampuchea Krom Association for Human Rights and Development.
The Vietnamese government has banned its human rights publications and has tightly controlled the practice of Theravada Buddhism by the group, which sees the religion as a foundation of their distinct culture and ethnic identity.
Last year, seven special U.N. rapporteurs sent a 16-page letter to Vietnam’s government about the country’s alleged failure to recognize the right to self-determination of the Khmer Krom.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Jul 31, 2023
- Event Description
Annapurna Post National daily’s Saptari based reporter Manohar Pokhrel was severely beaten on July 31. Saptari lies in Madhesh Province of Nepal.
Reporter Pokhrel shared with Freedom Forum that he had gone to District Police Office, Saptari to collect information and take police chief’s quote on delayed registration of victims’ complaint on sexual harassment and abortion.
“After talking to police officers, I was leaving police station. Meanwhile, a police officer at help desk scolded me, slapped and kicked me with boots”, reporter Pokhrel said, “I am undergoing treatment in Rajbiraj’s Gajendra Narayan Singh hospital. Due to attack, my urinary tract has been obstructed, other reports are awaited.”
Pokhrel also informed that the police officer was suspended and fellow journalists were in the hospital to support for his treatment.
Freedom Forum condemns the attack upon a journalist-on-duty. Though the concerned authority has taken action against the attacker, such incidents need serious attention. Abusing and attacking a journalist in public office- that too inside police station - is a gross violation of free press.
The concerned authority must orient its staffs on journalists’ right and safety so as to ensure free reporting atmosphere for journalists. Freedom Forum demands stringent action on the police person who attacked journalist.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jul 30, 2023
- Event Description
Four residents of Legok Jabon, Cirendang Village, Palabuhanratu District, Sukabumi Regency were reported to the police by PT Yanita Indonesia, regarding the act of threatening the delegation from PT Yanita Indonesia to resolve the issue of land cultivated as intercropping by the community and land grabbing company property.
The results of information collected by the team in the field stated that the four people were suspected of threatening one person while 3 others were accused of land grabbing.
Harna, one of the residents of Legok Jabon village who was reported by the agricultural company, felt criminalised as he and three other residents who were reported felt they were innocent.
"Yes, it is true that there has been summons from the police to me and the three other residents, I am accused of threatening PT Yanita's employees," said Harna.
Harna told the media crew on Friday 30/06/2023 at his residence, the incident began with information from one of the residents that there was a group of company employees who came to the location of residents' cultivated land with tools and herbicides to poison the residents' plants.
"This made the cultivators in block 9 angry including me and finally we met with a group of officers from the company on the way after they left the location, the company denied that they would poison the plants and strip the cultivated land, the company argued that they only wanted to list the cultivators," said Harna.
"The statement from the officer was what ignited my emotions, the masses wanted to record the cultivators and instead came to the location of the cultivated land and brought a blower as if they wanted the fields to be poisoned, if indeed they wanted to record why didn't they come to the village or the homes of each cultivator or coordinate with the village and invite the cultivators, that's where I got angry so I said things like what was alleged," said Harna.
"I myself and other cultivators are willing to hand over our cultivated land to the company if it wants to be used by the company and we are not allowed to work on it anymore, we will not hinder or defend the land, because it does not belong to us but to the company," concluded Harna.
Harna also explained that he worked for a long time at the PT Yanita company as a casual labourer so he and his family were allowed to work the land in block 9 which was not used by the company and he and other residents have been working on the land for decades for daily subsistence.
The Cirendang village head confirmed the incident and regretted that PT Yanita had exaggerated the problem without coordinating with the local community.
"I regret that PT Yanita should be able to solve this problem at the village level, through deliberation, we have Babinkamtibmas and Babinsa officers, they should not immediately report our residents to the police," said Abdul Ajid, Cirendang Village Head to reporters, Friday (30/06/2023).
"Regarding the occupation, it is actually not an occupation, the community is only intercropping, and it's been going on for decades. The community also realises that if the land is needed or wants to be used by the company, the community is ready to return it, since the commitment has always been like that," explained Abdul Ajid.
"Harna's words were not threats. Harna told PT Yanita employees that if the land was poisoned or destroyed, the community would put up a defence, only if the land was poisoned. The community would tolerate if cultivation had to be stopped, then they would stop," continued the village head.
"The cultivators will stop but wait until the harvest is complete, the community's request is just that simple, not violent nor forceful," said the Village Head.
The village head explained, "Please do so if the land really wants to be used by PT Yanita. It has been abandoned by PT Yanita for decades, I myself witnessed it before becoming the village head because it was near the border with my village and I knew exactly that the land was abandoned."
"Until now, PT Yanita has never provided social and public facilities for the village, besides that PT Yanita also uses community facilities such as village roads when entering its plantation area," said the Village Head.
As the village head, he will continue to assist his citizens regarding this issue. "Yes, I will continue to assist residents until this problem is resolved and resolved so that it is clear and clear," he said.
The team tried to confirm with the agricultural company PT Yanita Indonesia, but no one was available, until this news was released there was no official confirmation from the company.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jul 30, 2023
- Event Description
Taliban authorities must stop their relentless crackdown on the media in Afghanistan and allow private broadcaster Hamisha Bahar Radio and TV to continue its work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.
On Sunday, July 30, about 20 members of the Taliban provincial police raided the office of Hamisha Bahar Radio and TV in Jalalabad city, in eastern Nangarhar province, after receiving information about a journalism training workshop attended by both male and female journalists from the broadcaster, according to news reports and a journalist familiar with the situation, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal. On Tuesday, armed members of the Taliban provincial police then shuttered the broadcaster’s operations and sealed its office, according to those sources.
“The Taliban must allow the broadcaster Hamisha Bahar Radio and TV to resume operations promptly and ensure its employees, including female journalists, are allowed unfettered access to professional training,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “It is appalling that the Taliban cracked down on a media outlet because of women’s participation at a journalism training session. Denying women of their rights has become the hallmark of the Taliban regime.”
Hamisha Bahar Radio and TV has 35 employees, including nine women, according to the journalist who spoke with CPJ. Under the Taliban, women face severe restrictions on education and employment, which the United Nations says have increased in recent months.
CPJ contacted Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid for comment via messaging app but received no response.
In August 2022, CPJ published a special report about the media crisis in Afghanistan showing a rapid deterioration in press freedom characterized by censorship, arrests, assaults, and restrictions on women journalists since the Taliban retook control of the country in 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jul 29, 2023
- Event Description
An online media journalist named Erfandi was assaulted by a number of TNI members at the Kalinget Harbor Post, Sumenep, East Java. The journalist was beaten by TNI members while reporting at the location.
Quoted from Antara, the persecution incident occurred on Saturday (29/7/2023) at around 22.00 WIB at the Kalianget Port Security Post. At that time, Erfandi was about to report on a three-wheeled motorcycle carrying fuel out of a gas station in Kalianget to Kalianget Harbor.
"At that time, I didn't have time for an interview, and only asked the security guard at the port post about the fuel being transported by a tricycle. He said the fuel belonged to the Navy," Erfandi said.
Shortly afterwards, the guard called three people, who then unceremoniously beat Erfandi. There was no interview. There was no time to explain.
The incident was recorded on video with a duration of 1:26:22 (1 hour 26 minutes 22 seconds). One of the perpetrators' faces appears quite bright. So is the look of the gunman pointing a gun at Erfandi.
"I hope what I experienced is the last. Hopefully no more journalists will be victims of violence like what I experienced," he said.
Erfandi was ganged up on by a number of TNI members until he was bruised, slammed, dragged, then a number of his belongings were confiscated such as wallets and cell phones. He was even forced to crawl on the ground.
For the incident, Batuporon Naval Base Commander Lieutenant Colonel Imam Ibnu Hajar apologized for the case of mistreatment by four members of the Navy to a journalist named Erfandi at the Kalianget Port Post on July 29, 2023.
"I, on behalf of Lieutenant Colonel Imam Ibnu Hajar as Commander of the Navy, sincerely apologize to fellow journalists for the incident that happened to Erfandi," he said in a recorded video statement received by the media in Pamekasan, East Java, Thursday (3/8/2023).
When delivering the apology, Imam Ibnu Hajar was accompanied by the journalist who was the victim of the persecution, Erfandi, and the victim's legal counsel, Sulaisi Abdurrazak.
In addition to delivering an apology, Danlanal Imam Ibnu Hajar also promised to fulfill the demands of the victim and the victim's lawyer, namely mutating the four members of the Navy who mistreated the journalist Erfandi.
"We will also fulfill the demands to transfer them out of Madura," Imam said in a 1-minute 19-second video recording.
He expressed his gratitude to the Commander of Kodim 0827 Sumenep Lieutenant Colonel Czi Donny Pramudya Mahard for helping mediate the case between the Navy and the Sumenep journalist.
The demand to mutate four members of the Navy who served in Kalianget, Sumenep and persecute the Sumenep journalist is one of the three points of demands conveyed by the victim during the media.
Other demands asked the four Navy personnel who were persecuting journalists to apologize publicly and face to face with the victims, as well as process their laws in accordance with the provisions in military institutions.
"However, a direct apology by the four Navy personnel cannot be done because they are no longer in Sumenep after being withdrawn by the unit to Batuporon for punishment. The apology by Danlanal Batuporon Lieutenant Colonel Imam Ibnu Hajar in the video also represents the four members," said Erfandi's legal counsel, Sulaisi Abdurrazak, contacted by telephone from Pamekasan on Thursday night.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Jul 28, 2023
- Event Description
Sri Lankan authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Tharindu Uduwaragedara and investigate allegations that he was beaten by police, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.
At around 3 p.m. on Friday, July 28, police arrested Uduwaragedara after he covered a trade union protest in Borella, a suburb of the capital Colombo, according to Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, a rights group operating from exile, and Jayantha Dehiaththage, the journalist’s lawyer, who spoke with CPJ by phone.
Officers pulled Uduwaragedara out of a rickshaw while he was leaving the protest and forced him into a police vehicle while he repeatedly identified himself as a journalist, according to Dehiaththage and video of the incident posted to Twitter.
Two officers beat Uduwaragedara while en route to the Borella Police Station, where he remained detained without charge or access to medical treatment for a head injury as of Friday evening, Dehiaththage said.
“The arrest and police beating of Sri Lankan journalist Tharindu Uduwaragedara are appalling, and authorities must immediately release him and provide him with access to medical care,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Authorities must hold the perpetrators of this attack accountable and ensure that journalists can cover protests without fear of reprisal.”
Uduwaragedara operates the political affairs YouTube channel Satahan Radio, which has over 170,000 subscribers.
He is due to appear before a Colombo magistrate on Saturday, Dehiaththage told CPJ, saying that authorities had not disclosed any specific allegations against the journalist.
Police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the protest, where demonstrators had gathered to oppose the slashing of pension funds amid a severe economic crisis.
CPJ called police spokesperson Nihal Thalduwa and contacted him via messaging app for comment, but did not receive any replies.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Lao People's Democratic Republic
- Initial Date
- Jul 28, 2023
- Event Description
UN experts today called on Lao People’s Democratic Republic to end the arbitrary detention of lawyer and human rights defender Lu Siwei and permit him to continue his journey to reunite with his family.
“The surveillance, persecution and detention of Mr. Lu Siwei must end immediately,” the experts said.
Lu Siwei is a well-known Chinese human rights defender and lawyer. On 28 July 2023, he was arrested in Lao by police, while preparing to board a train for Thailand. He had recently fled China and intended to fly from Thailand to the United States of America to reunite with his family.
To date, Lu Siwei remains in an unknown place of detention, without access to his lawyers, his family or any other person of his choice.
“We fear Mr. Lu Siwei is at risk of imminent deportation to China, where there are substantial grounds to believe that he would be in danger of being subjected to irreparable harm upon return, on account of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. He is also at risk of other serious human rights violations, including arbitrary detention or enforced disappearance,” the UN experts said.
Under international human rights law, the principle of non-refoulement guarantees that no one should be returned to a country where they would be in danger of being subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, enforced disappearance and other irreparable harm.
“Should the deportation take place, it would contradict the core principle of non-refoulment as enshrined, among others, in Article 3 of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), to which the Lao People’s Democratic Republic is party,” the experts said.
“It is outrageous that human rights defenders working peacefully to promote, defend or protect the rights of others, are being persecuted even while fleeing,” the experts said.
“Based on humanitarian grounds and in line with Lao’s international human rights obligations, we call on authorities to take all necessary measures to prevent any irreparable harm to the life and personal integrity of Mr. Lu Siwei,” the experts said.
They urged the Government of Lao People’s Democratic Republic to refrain from returning him to the People’s Republic of China, ensure his release and allow him to reunite with his family in the United States of America.
The experts are in contact with the Lao People’s Democratic Republic authorities on the issue.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Jul 28, 2023
- Event Description
The Bangladeshi authorities must urgently end the use of excessive force against protesters, Amnesty International said today, after verifying evidence of reports of violent attacks against protesters and opposition party leaders during a sit-in protest organized by the country’s main opposition party, on 28 and 29 July. The eyewitnesses Amnesty International spoke to said that the protests were largely peaceful prior to the police attacking them.
The Bangladesh National Party (BNP) protest, which called for a caretaker government to be appointed before the elections in January 2024, was held at various entry points to Dhaka, the capital. The protests ended with violent clashes with the police.
“The videos and images that Amnesty International has verified shed light on the human rights violations by the Bangladeshi authorities. We call on the Government of Bangladesh to guarantee strict adherence to the law by the law enforcement agencies, as well as full respect for the people’s right to exercise their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, in order to avoid further harm to people’s physical integrity and possible escalation of this crisis,” said Smriti Singh, interim Regional Director for South Asia at Amnesty International.
We call on the Government of Bangladesh to guarantee strict adherence to the law by the law enforcement agencies, as well as full respect for the people’s right to exercise their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, in order to avoid further harm to people’s physical integrity and possible escalation of this crisis.
Smriti Singh, interim Regional Director for South Asia at Amnesty International Amnesty International’s researchers and Crisis Evidence Lab reviewed 56 photos and 18 videos from the protests, and the organization also collected nine eyewitness testimonies to corroborate the findings.
Use of less lethal weapons A journalist at the Matuail protest site, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Amnesty International that the police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the protesters, even though they were only chanting slogans and sitting on the floor.
Another eyewitness, who was with the families protesting against enforced disappearances at the BNS Center market, told Amnesty International: “The police fired tear gas at protesters… As far as I could see, the protesters didn’t have any weapons with them.”
A video posted on Twitter, and geo-located by Amnesty’s Crisis Evidence Lab, shows a crowd of people running from tear gas at the Institute of Child and Mother Health Hospital in Mutuail, Dhaka. At least five of them appear to be women. The video was filmed within the ground of the hospital, right at the entrance of one of its buildings.
Tear gas should not be deployed near or around a hospital. According to the United Nations guidelines on the use of less lethal weapons, police should minimize the incidental impact of the use of force on susceptible people, including older people, children, pregnant women and people suffering from illnesses, who may have difficulty escaping affected areas.
“Police should not use tear gas, rubber bullets on peaceful protesters. The fact that the Bangladeshi police is resorting to using tear gas inside a hospital reveals their alarming disregard for international law. The police should always bear in mind the diversity of those participating in a public assembly and their varying means of escaping or avoiding exposure to tear gas,” said Smriti Singh.
Police should not use tear gas, rubber bullets on peaceful protesters.
Unlawful use of force A videoposted to Twitter, and geolocated to Dholaikhal Road by Crisis Evidence Lab, shows police officers beating protesters with long, baton-like sticks. In the video, protesters are clearly running away from the police. The protesters have no visible weapons and do not pose any apparent threat to the police officers. The use of weapons against unarmed protestors is disproportionate and excessive.
In another portion of the same video, protesters can be seen lying on the ground while police officers continue to beat them. In another video posted on Twitter, geolocated to Dholaikhal by the Crisis Evidence Lab, at least four police officers can be seen beating senior BNP politician Gayeshwar Chandra Roy with long batons as he lays on the ground while posing no apparent threat to the police. These incidents may amount to a violation of the absolute prohibition of torture, or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
“Amnesty International has repeatedly called for restraint from law enforcement authorities in Bangladesh. The government must ensure that the police respect international human rights law and follow the United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, which clearly states that police should only resort to the use of force exceptionally when strictly necessary and proportionate in pursuit of a legitimate law enforcement purpose,” said Smriti Singh.
Groups in civil clothes attack protesters alongside police Niloufar Yasmin, a female BNP political activist who suffered injuries during the police crackdown on the protest at the BNS Center market, told Amnesty International: “When (the police) fired tear gas, we scattered. (But) then groups in civil clothes caught me and assaulted me. The police did nothing to stop them.”
According to another eyewitness, the police barricades were manned not only by law enforcement officials but also by people in civilian clothes purportedly to be the supporters of the ruling party.
Amnesty International also verified at least seven photos and two videos, including evidence shared by an eyewitness journalist, of people in civilian clothing, brandishing weapons like hammers, sticks, and clubs at the protests. The evidence includes footage of these individuals beating up protesters ‘side by side’ of police personnel or branding batons and sticks at protesters.
In media statements, the police said that law enforcement officers in plainclothes were deployed as well, though according to United Nations General Comment 37 on the right of peaceful assembly, deployment of officers in plainclothes must be strictly necessary in the circumstances and officers must never incite violence.
“It is just unacceptable for civilians to join in with the police as they attack protesters. Amnesty International also condemns the unlawful use of force on protesters. The government must ensure that all those suspected of criminal responsibility are held to account, and impartial, independent, and swift investigation is conducted against the police officers that failed to prevent such breaches of the law. It is the duty of the authorities to facilitate and protect the right to peaceful assembly,” said Smriti Singh.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jul 28, 2023
- Event Description
Regime forces tortured and killed three leading members of a local student union in Sagaing Region’s Budalin Township last Friday, according to activist sources.
The three victims, who were all in their late teens, were captured during an early-morning raid on the village of Nyaung Kan, located some 10km west of the town of Budalin, the sources said.
“Their hands were tied behind their backs and they were stabbed in the chest with knives. After they were tortured, they were put to death,” a member of the Budalin Township branch of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) told Myanmar Now.
The victims were identified as student union chair Kyaw Win Thant, 18, vice-chair Kyal Sin Nyein Chan, 19, and information officer Thuta Nay, 19.
At least two other people, including a member of a local resistance team, were also killed, the ABFSU member added, citing villagers who had escaped the raid.
Student unions have played a leading role in organising anti-junta protests in the township. The unions represent not only university students, but also primary and secondary students.
According to pro-regime Telegram channels, a commando force recently overran and razed a camp run by “terrorists” in the township.
Some 150 regime troops based in Budalin have been attacking villages west of the town since July 25. Ywarthar, a village near Nyaung Kan, was also targeted on Friday. Both villages lost a number of houses to arson attacks, according to locals.
The junta has not released any information about its operations in Budalin, which is less 40km north of Monywa, Sagaing’s capital and largest city, where the headquarters of the Northwestern Regional Military Command is also located.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Torture
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jul 27, 2023
- Event Description
A 74-year-old woman has been charged with royal defamation for a speech she gave during a protest on 26 July 2023 at Thammasat University, following attempts to bar Move Forward Party candidate Pita Limjaroenrat from becoming prime minister.
Chiraphon “Nit” Butpaket has been charged under the royal defamation law, known as Section 112, and Computer-related Crime Act over a speech she gave allegedly criticising the monarchy during the 26 July protest. Thai Lawyers for Human Rights reports that the complaint was filed on 27 July 2023 by Anon Klinkaew, leader of the ultra-royalist group People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy.
A summons for Chiraphon was issued on 8 August 2023. On 22 August 2023, she went to the Khlong Luang Police Station to acknowledge the charges. According to the police report, during the protest, she gave a speech and raised a three-finger salute.
She is alleged to have criticised the monarchy by saying that she wanted the country to be a democracy and did not want the monarchy to be above the law. She was reportedly also critical of the country’s 13 successful coups and raised issues regarding the support and endorsement these received.
The plaintiff contends that Chiraphon intentionally insulted and defamed King Vajiralongkorn, while leading the audience to misunderstand that what she said was true. He also noted that her speech was disseminated through social media platforms.
The protest was organised by the Thammasat University Student Union at Thammasat University’s Rangsit campus in response to attempts by the Senate and the Constitutional Court to block Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat from becoming Prime Minister despite his party winning the election.
Chiraphon rejected the charges and will provide a written statement within 30 days. The inquiry officers scheduled a hearing for 25 September 2023 and released her after taking her fingerprints.
A retiree, Chiraphon sells congee in front of a school in Nonthaburi Province. She has several health conditions, including issues with her heart and kidneys, which have left her easily fatigued and struggling with walking.
She defines herself as a citizen who loves democracy and an outspoken advocate of justice since the 6 October 1976 massacre.
Upon learning of the charges against her, Chiraphon was shocked. She has always tried to provide support and encouragement to those being prosecuted for political reasons, never imagining she would find herself in such a situation.
“112 cases carry severe penalties of 3 to 15 years of imprisonment. I used to visit Somyot, Arnon, and many others who were charged under Article 112. The law is not fair. There is no way for people beat 112 charges. We don’t have the right to speak the truth or even express our thoughts, do we?” said Chiraphon.
Chiraphon says that the main topic she addressed in her speech was the military. She feels it is excessive to bring 112 charges against her, noting that this is why the royal defamation law needs to be amended, to keep the country from regressing to previous centuries when even looking at the king was forbidden.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Jul 27, 2023
- Event Description
Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR), on Tuesday (22) said that organised groups had assaulted two farmer leaders at Mayurapura, Walawe.
MONLAR has condemned inaction of officials regarding the brutal attacks on the leaders of the farming communities.
MONLAR has said: “The farming communities of the entire Mayurapura area have been adversely affected by water shortages following the delay in releasing water for farming in the yala season. There are 5,300 farmer families in Mayurapura which is a part of the Mahaweli Zone. The leaders of 86 farmer organisations in the area have been at the forefront in making interventions necessary for the farmers who face chronic water shortages, the brunt of the human-elephant conflict and many economic issues. The task of negotiating and pressurising the government to release water and overcoming many obstacles in providing water to the farmlands have become a Herculean task. Life is much easier for those who maintain large unauthorised farms who have tapped into the water supply illegally. These individuals use money, political connections and violence as tools to achieve their objectives. Leaders of the farming communities that oppose these powerful individuals have now become targets of violence.
“During the last month, two leaders of the farming communities in Mayurapura area have been brutally assaulted. One such person is still undergoing treatment at the hospital.
“The first such incident was reported on 27 July 2023 when K.A. Ajith Kumara, 47-years, was assaulted near the Bopele Tank at around 6 pm.
“About two weeks later, on 15 August 2023, G. Karunathilaka, 54-years, was assaulted near the 29 Tank at UD-60 area at around 7 pm. Karunathilaka was brutally assaulted and had sustained serious injuries to his arms and legs.
“Complaints have been lodged with the Harbour Police on 27 June and 17 August about the attacks. However, nothing has been done and the assailants remain free to terrorize others.
“We express our strongest displeasure at the Police for not taking action against the perpetrators of these attacks. We also believe that a powerful force is influencing the police.
“It has almost been 10-days since water was released to the Udawalawe Tank from the Samanalawewa Tank. However, this water has not yet been adequately released to farmlands. This is leading to conflicts and tensions among the farmers and those who maintain large scale unauthorised plantations. The Mahaweli Authority, Department of Irrigation and Ministry of Agriculture must immediately step in to prevent potential clashes between farmers and those who maintain large scale unauthorized plantations.
One of the best ways to ease tensions is to arrest those who have assaulted farmer leaders. If these organised groups are allowed to continue, the lives of farmer leaders are in danger. If the violence claims the life of a farmer leader, the police must take responsibility.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jul 26, 2023
- Event Description
A court in Hanoi on July 26 held a trial for Nguyen Son Lo, former director of the Institute of Technology Research and Development (SENA), sentencing him to five years in prison on the combined charges of “abusing democratic freedoms” under Article 331 and “abusing authoritative position and power while on official duty” under Article 356. Vietnam’s state media released the news on the same day of his arrest.
Lo, 75, who ran the independent think tank SENA, received three years of imprisonment for allegedly violating Article 331 and another two years under Article 356. He was arrested on February 2 this year, six months after the police investigation agency charged him under Article 331.
State media reported that SENA was formerly named the Institute of Engineering Research and Urban Development under the management of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations (VUSTA). Lo has been the director of this think tank since it was first established in 1992.
According to state media, the Vietnam People’s Procuracy accused the SENA director of having distributed five documents, consisting of more than 1,000 pages, and three complaints containing content that “infringes upon the interests of the state and the legitimate rights of other organizations and individuals.” Lo is alleged to have composed the documents, designed their cover pages, and then emailed them to the staff of SENA to be printed and sent by post to 529 people. The court did not declare the content of these documents.
The judging panel also announced that the SENA Institute had rented a state-owned building for its headquarters. But since 2005, the Institute has allegedly not paid the rent and not declared the usage of this facility to the government. The panel deemed Lo’s rental of this building illegal. It alleged that the rent “violated the administrative management regulation on housing and land, thus obstructing the state’s right to manage, arrange, and lease this facility.” Nguyen Son Lo’s purported illegal rental of this building led to the alleged violation of the law on “abusing authoritative position and power while on official duty.”
It was reported that in the court, Lo admitted to the alleged activities but said that he did not consider it a violation of the law. Other employees of the SENA Institute were not prosecuted because they “did not know that the documents assigned to them contained illegal content,” according to the investigation agency.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Academic
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Jul 26, 2023
- Event Description
Sri Lanka Police used water cannons to disperse a group of university student activists who were protesting at Lipton Circus in Colombo on Wednesday (26) afternoon.
They were seeking the immediate release of two student activists who have been in remand custody for over 200 days.
Student activists from the Inter-University Students' Federation gathered at Lipton Circus at around 2 PM on Wednesday (26) and launched a protest.
They were seeking the immediate release of two student activists who have been in remand custody for over 200 days, namely the Chairman of the Student Union of the University of Kelaniya Kelum Mudannayake, and Student Activist Dilshan Harshana.
Sri Lanka Police and Crowd Control Units was stationed at the premises, and the university students were given a considerable time period to vacate.
The university students then attempted to proceed towards the University Grants Commission, and in order to prevent them from moving forward, Sri Lanka Police used water cannons.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Jul 25, 2023
- Event Description
Ten trade unions protested opposite the Fort Railway Station on Tuesday (25) morning, demanding an end to the looting of the EPF and ETF under the guise of Debt Restructuring.
However, before the protest took place, Sri Lanka Police obtained an order from the Fort Magistrate's Court preventing 10 trade unionists from entering several places and roads in Colombo.
The order is in effect from 9 AM to 6 PM on Tuesday (26).
The OIC of the Fort Police informed the Fort Magistrate's Court that the actions of the Trade Union leaders could disturb the activities of the public, and thus, based on that request, the order was issued.
The order was issued to 10 people, including Sameera Alwis - an Activist from the Banking and Financial Forum, Niroshan Gorakanage - General Secretary of the All Ceylon General Ports Employees Union, Sameera Pathirana - Deputy Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Workers Union, and Udayanga Hettiarachch - Spokesperson of the Ceylon Petroleum Workers' Union.
They are not permitted to proceed to the President's Office, President's House, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Police Headquarters, Fort Railway Station, as well as from CTO Junction to Olcott Mawatha.
Sri Lanka Police presented the Court Order to the trade union leaders ahead of the protest.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Jul 23, 2023
- Event Description
About the Human Rights Defenders: Civil society organisations like Inqlabi Mazdoor Kendra who were holding a street corner meeting for peace in Manipur. Inqlabi Mazdoor Kendra (IMK) is platform which works on the issue of laborers and women and farmers. The workers of Inqlabi Mazdoor Kendra also work with farmer organizations. Details of the Incident: On July 23, 2023, around 6.30 pm, members of civil society organisations like Inqlabi Mazdoor Kendra and others were holding a peaceful street corner meeting near Gonchi School, Faridabad, criticising sexual violence against women in Manipur. Women, students, and labourers were taking part in the meeting. Suddenly a group of 8-10 drunken young men led by a local young men called Sahdev and Mohit, crashed the meeting. They had iron rods, and lathes in their hands. The men went up to the organisers and started threatening them by telling them not to talk about Manipur and that first they should get the “mulla shops” (derogatory way of referring to shops owned by Muslims) shut which sold chicken on Tuesday. When the participants at the meeting refused, the youth turned aggressive and forced them to shout Jai Shri Ram. They also started harassing the women participants present there. When other participants came to calm the situation, the perpetrators attacked the protestors from behind and assaulted them with lathes, bricks, iron rods, iron weights. The assault led to serious injuries on the heads of many participants while 3 participants Mr. Nitish Kumar, Mr. Deepak Kumar, and Mr. Santosh Prajapati suffered serious head injuries. After the assault they threatened the organisers telling them to leave immediately and if seen in the locality again then they will be killed. At 7:30 pm a written complaint about this incident was made at the Sanjay Colony Sector 23 police station, Faridabad. In the complaint the peaceful protestors also mentioned that they recognised the perpetrators. But the police did not register the FIR. They told the complainants that first a medico-legal examination should be done and then they will register an FIR in the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. The injured people got a medico-legal examination in the government hospital of Vallabhgarh and one of them had to get a CT scan done at 1 am in the night. The next morning, they again went to the police station and asked them to file a FIR again now that they had got the MLC done. The chowki in-charge refused to file the FIR again.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
Case shared by FORUM-ASIA member People's Watch
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Jul 23, 2023
- Event Description
The former convenor of the Inter-University Student's Federation Wasantha Mudalige and another were arrested in Borella on Thursday (27) evening by Sri Lanka Police.
Wasantha Mudalige was arrested by the Cinnamon Gardens Police and was detained at the Cinnamon Gardens Police Station.
He was arrested as per a warrant issued for his arrest for failing to appear in court for a case filed over being a member of an unlawful assembly opposite the University Grants Commission on the 27th of February 2020, and for causing inconveniences.
The other person who was arrested was India Vidana Pathirana, a member of the IUSF.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Jul 23, 2023
- Event Description
Sri Lanka tightened security on Sunday as activists lit oil lamps in the capital, Colombo, commemorating the hundreds killed in 1983 anti-Tamil riots that fueled a deadly civil war.
"Let's not forget the slaughter of Tamils," read a banner carried by members of North-South Solidarity, a group of rights defenders from the country's majority Sinhalese and minority Tamil communities.
Several dozen activists lit coconut oil lamps and candles outside Colombo's main cemetery, where the inter-communal violence started 40 years ago.
The then-government attempted a mass burial at the cemetery for 13 Sinhalese soldiers killed in a Tamil rebel land mine attack on July 23, 1983.
Relatives demanded individual funerals for the soldiers and clashed with police, before turning their attacks on Tamils and Tamil-owned shops in the area.
What began as a spontaneous backlash against Tamils degenerated into state-led deadly violence that lasted six days.
Official estimates place the riot death toll between 400 to 600, but Tamil groups say the actual number is in the thousands.
There have been no prosecutions, even though some members of the then-government were seen leading the Sinhalese mobs.
At Sunday's commemoration, authorities deployed heavily armed troops who outnumbered demonstrators, while an AFP journalist saw police kicking and stomping on oil lamps placed along the pavement just outside the cemetery.
Sri Lanka's President Ranil Wickremesinghe has cracked down on dissent since he came to power last year.
His United National Party was in power when the 1983 riots broke out.
The then-president, Junius Jayewardene, Wickremesinghe's uncle, is widely accused of not doing anything to prevent the violence.
A Tamil insurgency demanding a separate state for their ethnic minority developed into a full-blown civil war that eventually claimed the lives of at least 100,000 people, before the rebel leadership was defeated in May 2009.
Police try to disperse a group commemorating the anti-Tamil pogrom of 1983, at an event held in Colombo on July 23, 2023. The week-long violence targeting Tamils 40 years ago changed the course of Sri Lanka’s history. | Photo Credit: AFP
When a handful of individuals convened near the Borella Cemetery in Colombo on July 23, to mark the 40th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s anti-Tamil pogrom in 1983, a few angry young men disrupted the proceedings despite heavy police presence.
Members of an extremist Sinhala nationalist outfit — known for its visceral hate for the island’s ethnic minorities — the men barged into the gathering with familiar aggression and hurled abuse at the participants at the peaceful remembrance, branding them as “Tiger” (to connote the LTTE) and “terrorist”. It was an exact replay of the scenes witnessed at the same venue on May 18, at a rare Colombo commemoration of the end of the civil war. On both occasions, the huge contingent of riot police asked the activists, not disruptors, to disperse immediately.
‘Can’t remember, Can’t forget’ For families of Tamil victims killed in the many cycles of violence in Sri Lanka, remembering the dead has not been easy. Forgetting those traumatic times is even harder.
Cheryl Arnold recalls the events that unfolded over the last week of July 1983 like they happened yesterday. She was 13 and studying at a famous girls’ school in Colombo, with children from different ethnic backgrounds. “Until that time, I was not conscious of my ethnic identity. We were all in the same class, we were friends. But that week changed everything for our family.”
The tension was palpable and everyone around was talking about it. “I couldn’t follow everything at the time, but I understood that the Tamils were in danger.” And very soon, the danger came close to her home located at the heart of Colombo, when the family saw a mob set fire to the house on top of their lane, where an elderly couple lived. “My brothers tried to douse the fire there and had apparently been noticed by the mob... days later, the mob came to our home and threatened us. One of them put a knife to my brother’s neck,” she said, of her older sibling’s narrow escape.
Ms. Arnold comes from a mixed ethnic family, her mother is Sinhalese and her father is Tamil. “My mother somehow spoke to them... while my father and I stayed at a neighbour’s home.” As violence began escalating on July 24, some friends drove her, along with her parents, to an uncle’s home. “It must have been barely two hours since we left, we heard that our house was ablaze.” Her three brothers each had their own “equally traumatic escape story” before the family converged at a church days later. It had turned into a refugee shelter for many like them who were “fortunate to be alive”.
Her parents subsequently left the country and sought asylum abroad. Deeply affected by the violence and loss of their home built with his hard-earned life savings, her father took ill. It was when Ms. Arnold tried to visit her ailing father that the reality of being Tamil in Sri Lanka hit her hard. In her case, even being half a Tamil was enough to face high risk and discrimination from fellow citizens and foreigners. “The embassy treated me like some sort of suspect... as someone who was trying to migrate to never return. They rejected my visa…by the time I reapplied and got it, it was too late,” she said, fighting tears. Her father had passed on. The family was scattered across countries and could never live together as they did before.
Although the Tamils living on the island, including the Malaiyaha (hill country) Tamils, faced periodic bouts of mob violence right from the 1950s, the pogrom of 1983 that claimed thousands of lives and rendered several thousands homeless, proved a watershed in Sri Lankan history. ‘Black July’, as the period is often described, propelled a festering ethnic conflict into a full-blown civil war lasting decades.
It changed every Tamil individual’s life in significant ways. Many families, including professionals from various walks of life, fled the country. Tamil women dreaded wearing the pottu (bindi) for years, fearing it would give their ethnic identity away. “1983 brought about a drastic shift in our lives changing the course of our history... somewhat like BC and AD,” said Jaffna legislator M.A. Sumanthiran, recalling his family’s unsettling journey by sea from Colombo to Jaffna.
Challenging the dominant narrative The death and destruction during the time have been documented in detail.
The Civil Rights Movement (CRM) of Sri Lanka, one of the oldest human rights organisations in the country, termed the series of incidents a “holocaust”. “The shock and horror of recent events when many Sri Lankans were hunted out, assaulted, killed, their homes and possessions destroyed, and places of business burnt for no other reason than that they belonged to the Tamil community permeate our lives today and will continue to do so for a long time to come,” the CRM said in its report.
It especially drew attention to the massacre of 53 Tamil prisoners at the high-security Welikada prison in Colombo during the week of gruesome violence.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Vilification, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Extremist group
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 22, 2023
- Event Description
Government-funded broadcaster RTHK will suspend a LGBTQ-related radio programme next month after 17 years, the host of the programme has said on its official Facebook page.
We Are Family was launched in 2006 to promote diversity and integration, according to the broadcaster’s website and was the first show of its kind. It remains the city’s only LGBTQ radio show.
Brian Leung, a host for the programme and an advocate for LGBT rights, said that he was informed by the head of the Chinese programme service in early July that We Are Family would be suspended from August owing to “programme rescheduling”.
Aired on Saturdays at midnight, the award-winning show covers topics from trans rights, to the culture of drag queens, and the life and stories of the LGBTQ community, with special guests.
In response to HKFP, an RTHK spokesperson said on Monday that they do not comment on internal matters: “RTHK reviews programming strategies from time to time to ensure providing quality programmes and information for the public in compliance with the public purposes and mission set out in the Charter of RTHK.”
Numerous fans commented on Facebook expressing disappointment over RTHK’s decision: “I was in the first year of secondary when the programme was aired for the first time. Equal rights for the LGBT community had not been widely promoted at that time. But thanks to We Are Family, people from our family started to speak up…” one commenter said.
Veteran broadcaster Leung said that he would not host any programmes in the near future: “[T]here is no need for self-deception.”
“At a time when Hong Kong saw drastic changes, many things are just a matter of time, and we had mentally prepared ourselves for what may come.”
In an episode broadcast on July 5, Leung said he was invited in 2006 by RTHK to re-join the company to host the new show. “I thought the programme would only last three months. In the end, it has been airing for 17 years.
‘Propaganda mouthpiece’ Hong Kong has plummeted in international press freedom indices since the onset of the security law. Watchdogs cite the arrest of journalists, raids on newsrooms and the closure of around 10 media outlets including Apple Daily, Stand News and Citizen News. Over 1,000 journalists have lost their jobs, whilst many emigrated. Meanwhile, the city’s government-funded broadcaster RTHK has adopted new editorial guidelines, purged its archives and axed news and satirical shows.
In 2022, Chief Executive John Lee has said press freedom was “in the pocket” of Hongkongers but “nobody is above the law.” Lee, whose administration is mulling a “fake news” law, has told the press to “tell a good Hong Kong story.”
In August 2021, RTHK started to partner with China Media Group – the holding group for CCTV and China National Radio – to air more programmes to “nurture a stronger sense of patriotism” among viewers, a move condemned by the city’s journalists association as changing the city’s public broadcaster into “a propaganda mouthpiece”.
The government proposed last week that programmes about national education, national identity, and the “correct understanding” of the security law be exempt from an impartiality clause requiring “even-handedness” when opposing points of view are presented.
Chinese authorities have targeted the LGBTQ community in recent years, with university societies and pride events discontinued. The Beijing LGBT Center, one of China’s leading organisations offering support for the queer population, announced in May that it would halt its operations.
Whilst same-sex sexual activity was legalised in 1991, Hong Kong has no laws to protect the LGBTQ community from discrimination in employment, the provision of goods and services, or from hate speech. Equal marriage remains illegal, although a 2023 survey showed that 60 per cent of Hongkongers support it. Despite repeated government appeals, courts have granted those who married – or who entered civil partnerships – abroad some recognition in terms of tax, spousal visas and public housing.
As well as opposing progress towards equality in court, the government has also funded groups with homophobic views and those which advocate “gay conversion.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- LGBTQ+/ Non-Binary, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Freedom of expression Offline, SOGI rights
- HRD
- Media Worker, SOGI rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Malaysia
- Initial Date
- Jul 21, 2023
- Event Description
On 21 July 2023, an attempt to kill the human rights defender Siti Zabedah Kasim (Siti Kasim) took place, which she survived. An improvised explosive device (IED) was planted on the human rights defender’s car and was discovered behind her tyre by a mechanic in a car service workshop in Bangsar.
Siti Kasim is a human rights lawyer and a LGBTIQ+ rights defender. She has defended Orang Asli indigenous communities vindicating their land rights against mining and logging activities in Peninsular Malaysia. Siti Kasim is also a prominent advocate for the LGBTIQ+ community in the country.
The explosive device was confirmed to be an IED by the Bomb Disposal Unit. Although the attacker remains unknown, the Inspector-General of Police has stated that “Placing the bomb is a serious crime and amounts to attempted murder,” while the police are trying to trace the suspect through fingerprints and other evidence.
Siti Kasim has previously received death threats for advocating for LGBTIQ+ rights and speaking out against the rise of religious extremism in Malaysia. However, this recent incident is the most serious she has ever faced. As a result, the woman human rights lawyer is worried for her and her family’s safety.
On 23 July 2017, Siti Kasim filed a police report at the Sentul police station, Kuala Lumpur, after death, rape and acid attack threats were published against her online relating to her work for LGBTIQ+ rights. On 13 June 2017, Siti Kasim was informed that she was to be charged under section 186 of the Penal Code for “obstructing a public servant in discharge of his public functions” in light of a raid which was carried out on an event hosted by transgender women by the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) in Kuala Lumpur on 3 April 2016. Front Line Defenders expresses grave concern at the threats and attack on the life of human rights defender Siti Kasim, which it believes are solely motivated by her peaceful and legitimate work in defence of LGBTIQ+ rights in Malaysia. Front Line Defenders is seriously concerned for the physical and psychological well-being of the human rights defender and her family.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender, Lawyer, SOGI rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jul 20, 2023
- Event Description
Officer of Prison No. 6 (Thanh Chuong, Nghe An) confiscated the belongings of prisoner of conscience (TNLT) Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, he suspected that he was persecuted for speaking out for justice for himself.
Mr. Thuc, a businessman and information technology engineer is serving the 14th year of a 16-year prison sentence for "activities aimed at overthrowing the government," having his personal medical equipment confiscated by prison guards. after he wrote a response to the Supreme People's Court on Document No. 253 of the same agency .
In this document, the Supreme People's Court affirmed that Mr. Thuc was convicted under Clause 1 of Article 79 of the Criminal Code 1999 "in the case of completed crime, not in the case of preparation to commit a crime under Clause 3 of Article 109. 2015 Penal Code."
Therefore, he is not subject to favorable terms as prescribed in Resolution No. 41 of 2017 of the National Assembly to consider exempting the remaining penalty.
Tran Huynh Duy Tan said his family received information from his brother in an unusual call on July 30. He told Radio Free Asia (RFA) about his brother's recent situation in prison.
" Last July 20, the prison (supervisor) they entered his cell and they took all the things that are very necessary for his daily life such as reading lights, blood pressure monitors, glucose meters . blood vessels, and battery-operated fans .
Those are the things that he desperately needs in the weather (as hot as today-PV) as well as a health check in his current condition i. They asked me to go check it out but I haven't returned it for a whole week . "
According to Mr. Thuc narrated to his family, on July 22, people from the Security Department entered the cell to check all remaining personal belongings. He attributed this to his response to Document 253, and asserted that " this is certainly retaliation for him fighting for that sentence."
The prison also did not allow Mr. Thuc to continue sending letters home as usual.
Reporters on July 31 called Prison No. 6 to verify the information provided by Mr. Thuc's family, but no one answered the phone.
According to the family of this famous prisoner of conscience, he will refuse to visit his family from next month to protest the actions of the warden and prison guards of Detention Center No. Foreign diplomatic missions in Vietnam knew about his discrimination, and he also wanted to meet with the international diplomatic representative to talk about his case.
If not, he will deny the right to call home, the family said. Mr. Thuc also stated that he did not wear the prison uniform provided by the prison, according to the regulations that prisoners would have to wear every time they met their relatives.
Thuc is one of many prisoners of conscience who have attracted the attention of many Western national governments and international human rights organizations since his arrest in 2009.
He went on hunger strike several times in the prison to protest his inhuman treatment and demand his release.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to health, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to property
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jul 20, 2023
- Event Description
Seventeen days after starting a peaceful protest, road blocking protest by residents of Pematang Bedaro Hamlet, Teluk Rasa Village, Kumpeh Mulu, Muaro Jambi, Jambi, was forcefully dispersed by hundreds of police on Thursday, 20 July 2023. A total of 29 residents, including two six-year-old children, were arrested and taken to Jambi Police.
The protest began when five residents of Pematang Bedaro Hamlet were arrested in early July. They were accused of stealing palm fruit from land disputed between the community and PT FPIL. Residents of Pematang Bedaro Hamlet demanded that the five be released, by blocking the company's main road. However, the residents experienced violence and intimidation.
"My hands were handcuffed with grip rope, and the police slammed me," said Nunung Sugianto, one of the victims who was rushed to hospital and treated in the intensive care unit (ICU). Another victim named Angga, aged 18, suffered punches and kicks that injured his lip and lower face.
From the video and photo documentation obtained by Betahita, it appears that police officers pulled and dragged residents by force. A number of videos circulating on social media show the same thing. One video shows police tearing down a tent erected by residents to recite Surat Yasin in front of the company's main road.
The residents' last protest on Thursday, 20 July 2023, involved a joint prayer to commemorate the Islamic New Year. Because they were protesting, the prayer event was held on the PT FPIL road.
According to Edy Kurniawan Wahid, a researcher from the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), violence and intimidation still occurred when residents were questioned at the police station, except for two children. One resident named Yusuf claimed to have been slapped and hit with a blunt object, sustaining injuries to his nose and a busted upper lip.
"On the morning of 21 July, 29 residents were released. But with the condition that they are obliged to report. The possibility of arrest remains if they do not report. In addition, eight mobile phone units belonging to residents were still confiscated by the police," Edy told Betahita, on Friday, 21 July 2023.
"The children who were arrested also suffered psychological trauma. They refused to go to school because they were still traumatised by the police arrest," Edy added.
Edy said that the residents were also not accompanied by legal counsel when examined, so they were not at liberty to provide information. Edy assessed that the mandatory reporting status did not make sense. Because legally, the mandatory report status only applies in investigations or when someone has been named a suspect, such as in city or house arrest.
"There is no mandatory reporting term if you are not a witness or suspect. Therefore, we consider this a form of further intimidation of the community. The impact is that people are discouraged from fighting for their rights," said Edy.
Edy said YLBHI also condemned the use of violence and criminalisation by the police in handling the agrarian conflict.
""The community did not commit a crime, nor did they destroy anything. They just sit and pray. Most of those who participated were women, who are vulnerable groups. So we regret and condemn this force dispersal," said Edy.
Frandody from the Jambi Regional Secretariat of the Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA) said that the conflict between the people of Pematang Bedaro Hamlet and PT FPIL has been going on for 25 years. According to him, the first conflict began when the company seized 400 hectares and 340 hectares of community land (Sumber Jaya Village).
"For 25 years, residents have never received compensation for the seized land. Instead, they faced injustice and intimidation," said Frandody.
According to Frandody, Komnas HAM had investigated the case and provided recommendations for compensation for the community's land. However, this was not done. A number of facilitated dialogues, including in the Jambi DPRD Special Committee, were also not attended by the company.
"This agrarian conflict was left prolonged. Meanwhile, the community has lost their livelihood. This is also what drives resistance from the community," said Frandody.
"We deeply regret the arbitrary actions of the police. They should have been guarding the protesters, not siding with the company," he concluded.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jul 20, 2023
- Event Description
The Central Juvenile and Family Court on Thursday (20 July) found activist Noppasin Treelayapewat guilty of royal defamation for wearing a crop top to a mock fashion show during a protest in October 2020, when he was 16 years old.
At the “Ratsadorn Catwalk” fashion show, staged at the 29 October 2020 protest, Noppasin is alleged to have mocked the King by wearing a black crop top with the message “My father’s name is Mana, not Vajiralongkorn” written on his back. He was charged with royal defamation under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code after a complaint was filed against him by Waritsanun Sribawornthanakit, who runs a pro-establishment Facebook page.
The ”Ratsadorn Catwalk” took place after it was reported that the Ministry of Commerce received a 13-million baht budget for the overseas exhibition of new products by the Sirivannavari brand, a fashion label owned by the King’s younger daughter, Princess Sirivannavari.
The 29 October 2020 protest took place on the same day that Sirivannavari’s new collection was being launched at the nearby Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Although there were no speeches, protesters participated in the fashion show, performed, and exhibited artwork to support monarchy reform.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that, on Thursday (20 July), the Central Juvenile and Family Court found Noppasin guilty of royal defamation for mocking the King by dressing and acting like him. He was also found guilty of violating Covid-19 prevention regulations under the Emergency Decree because he did not wear a mask while participating in the protest, although the Court said that there was no significant report that people caught Covid-19 from the protest.
The court sentenced him to 3 years in prison for royal defamation, reduced to 1 years and 6 months because he committed the offence as a minor, and fined him 6,000 baht for violating the Emergency Decree.
Because he gave useful testimony, the Court reduced his sentence again to 1 year in prison and a fine of 4,000 baht. It also said that, because it was his first criminal charge and because it believes he is capable of improving himself, it suspended his prison sentence for 2 years, during which he must report to a probation officer every 3 months.
Waritsanun also filed a complaint against Jatuporn Sae-Ung, 23, for participating in the same protest. Jatuporn is alleged to have ridiculed the Queen by wearing a pink Thai traditional dress to the fashion show and walking along a red carpet under an umbrella held by another protester.
In September 2022, Jatuporn was found guilty of royal defamation and a violation of the Public Assembly Act and sentenced to 3 years in prison and a fine of 1,500 baht. It then reduced her sentence to 2 years in prison and a fine of 4,000 baht because she gave useful testimony. She was later granted bail to appeal the case.
Noppasin told Prachatai ahead of his sentencing that he was prepared to be detained. He noted that, when Jatuporn was sentenced, she spent a week in detention before being granted bail, and asked how the court is going to be held responsible for damages to her life if the Appeal Court finds her not guilty.
Noppasin said he did not intend on dressing like King Vajiralongkorn. He wore a t-shirt to the protest but purchased the crop top at the protest, while a friend wrote the message on his back.
“There shouldn’t be a problem with wearing a shirt and having words written on your body. I wasn’t imitating anyone. It was just fashion that anyone can wear,” he said.
His life has changed after becoming an activist. Not only has been been charged with three counts of royal defamation, he has also been assaulted by officers and shot with rubber bullets during protests. He has to go to court 3-4 times per week, meaning that he has almost no free time – something he said is not a life a teenager should have.
Nevertheless, Noppasin said he is not afraid of the royal defamation law, even if he is imprisoned. He believes that the royal defamation law should be repealed, since it has been used to attack political dissidents and that people will continue to be charged with it if the law still exists, while no one should go to prison for criticizing someone else. He also said that it is “disgusting” that royal defamation complaints are now being filed against children as young as 13, and asked how the authorities will take responsibility for children who have to go through the complicated trial process of a juvenile court when a minor under 15 does not have to be punished for a crime.
Ahead of Noppasin’s sentencing, Amnesty International issued a statement calling for the Thai authorities to drop charges against him and end the prosecution of child protesters.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Maldives
- Initial Date
- Jul 20, 2023
- Event Description
A Channel 13 media worker and Sangu News journalist have been physically assaulted by Maldivian police while covering an opposition protest in Malé’s Republic Square on July 20. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate, the Maldives Journalists Association (MJA), in condemning the assault and urging authorities to conduct an immediate investigation into the incident.
In a video posted to Twitter, a Maldives Police Service (MPS) officer can be seen forcibly grabbing Channel 13 cameraperson Misbah, pushing him away from a protest attended by leaders of the Maldivian opposition ‘Progressive Congress’ coalition held in Male’s Jumhooree Maidhaan, or Republic Square on July 20. The officer pushes Misbah into Sangu News journalist Maathu Hussain and a prone activist, with the two media workers falling to the ground. Both were wearing press cards identifying themselves as members of the media.
The incident has been widely condemned by the Maldivian media community on social media. In an interview conducted hours after the incident, Police Commissioner Mohammed Hameed announced that he had ordered the suspension of the offending police officer and that an investigation into the incident from the Special Operations Department was underway.
The demonstration was organised by leaders of the Progressive Coalition, comprised of the People’s Party of the Maldives (PPM) and People’s National Congress (PNC), and protested charges laid against former-President Abdullah Yameen and his resulting disqualification from contesting September’s Presidential elections. Police were seen arresting the opposition leaders conducting the protest and escorting them into vans, although all have since been released.
Journalists in the Maldives continue to face harassment and assault from police while covering opposition rallies. In February, Channel 13 reporter Shaheed and media worker Misbaah were assaulted, pepper sprayed, and struck by police while covering a joint PPM and PNC rally. In March, Avas journalist Hussain Juman was assaulted and briefly detained by police while covering a PPM rally in Malé.
The MJA said: “MJA strongly condemn the brutal attack by a police officer on the journalists covering today's opposition gathering at the Republican Square. We urgently call upon the National Integrity Commission and the police to conduct a swift and thorough investigation and take necessary measures against the officers who obstructed journalists and media workers during the incident. It is imperative to establish a comprehensive national framework to safeguard journalists and formulate clear guidelines for media coverage of protests and gatherings.”
The IFJ said: “Journalists must be able to report without fear of obstruction, harassment or assault and these repeated incidents make clear the need for greater safety measures for media workers in the Maldives. The IFJ condemns the assault committed by local police and urges authorities to conduct a transparent investigation into the incident.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jul 19, 2023
- Event Description
Prison guards at Myanmar’s Thayarwady (Tharyawaddy) Prison have beaten 31 inmates for marking the country’s Martyrs’ Day and four are being treated for their injuries in the prison hospital, sources told RFA Friday.
Prisoners held a saluting ceremony on July 19, while women inmates wore black ribbons, said the sources close to the prison who didn’t want to be named for security reasons.
They said 16 men and 15 women have been locked up since then.
Martyr’s Day marks the July 19, 1947 assassination of nine Myanmar independence leaders, shot dead by members of a rival political group while holding a cabinet meeting in Yangon. The victims were Prime Minister Aung San, Minister of Information Ba Cho, Minister of Industry and Labor Mahn Ba Khaing, Minister of Trade Ba Win, Minister of Education Abdul Razak, and Myanmar’s unofficial Deputy Prime Minister Thakin Mya.
Less than six months after the end of British rule, the date of their assassination was designated a national holiday. It is marked annually by both the military regime and pro-democracy groups.
The prison ceremonies are thought to have been organized by Than Toe Aung, head of Yangon region’s Thanlyin township Youth Group of the National League for Democracy, the party which won a landslide victory in 2020 elections before being ousted by the military.
Than Toe Aung was hospitalized after interrogation, along with three others, Thaik Tun Oo, an official of the Myanmar Political Prisoners Network told RFA.
“Three days after Than Toe Aung was admitted to the hospital, three more were also admitted,” he said.
“We can confirm that they were severely beaten. Than Toe Aung is in critical condition. I heard he would be put in a locked cell after medical treatment.”
He added other political prisoners who have been locked in dark, cramped cells after interrogation include male dormitory inmates Yan Naing Soe; Hla Soe; Sote Phwar Gyi; Tarmwe Ko Zwel; ‘Dr Joe’; O Be; and a Letpantan township Civil Disobedience Movement captain who wasn’t named.
Women’s dormitory inmates who are still locked up after interrogation include Hnin Lae Nanda Lwin; Shun Ei Phyu; Nilar Sein; Su Yi Paing; Wut Yi Lwin; Aye Thida Kyaw; Yi Yi Swe; Lwin Lwin Nyunt; Sandi Nyunt Win; Aye Thet San; Shwe Yi Nyunt; Ya Min Htet; Htoo Htet Htet Wai; Myo Thandar Tun; and Moe Myat Thazin, according to the prisoners network official.
Another source close to the Tharyawady Prison told RFA other political prisoners are protesting against the locking up of their fellow inmates by boycotting the prison shop.
RFA contacted the Naypyidaw-based Prison Department by phone to get its comments on the case but there was no response.
There has been a series of brutal beatings and killings by prison guards since a jail break three months ago at the prison housing Myanmar’s ousted president, Win Myint.
On May 18, nine inmates escaped from Bago region’s Taungoo Prison, grabbing guns from prison guards and escaping into the jungle where they were met by members of a local People’s Defense Force.
Since then, political prisoners at Bago’s Thayarwady and Daik-U Central prisons and Myingyan Prison in Mandalay region have been beaten to death during interrogation or killed during ‘prison transfers’, according to family members and sources close to the prisons, who all requested anonymity to protect prisoners and their relatives.
More than 24,000 people, including pro-democracy activists, have been arrested since the Feb.1, 2021 coup, according to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma). It says almost 20,000 are still being detained across Myanmar.
On August 1, 254 prisoners, including some political prisoners in Tharyawady Prison were released by the junta’s amnesty. But sources close to the prison say as many as 900 political prisoners are still being held there, awaiting trial.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Torture, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jul 19, 2023
- Event Description
Security forces used water cannons and fired guns into the air to disperse a women’s protest in Kabul on July 19 over the Taliban-led government’s decision to close women’s hair and beauty salons.
Dozens of women took part in the rare public protest in the center of the Afghan capital. They held a poster with the slogan: "Don't take away our bread and water."
Beauty salons are a source of livelihood for women in Afghanistan, where the Taliban-led government has curbed the rights and freedoms of Afghan women and girls in education and most forms of employment.
One female protester told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi that Taliban security officers beat some of the demonstrators with batons and used tear gas to break up the demonstration.
"Yes, they were very violent. They fired shots in the air and sprayed water on us. They beat the girls. They took their mobile phones," one woman told Radio Azadi through WhatsApp. Another demonstrator also described the violence used by security forces against the women.
"They shot around us. They hit us with electric batons. They beat us with rods. We ran from alley to alley,” said the protester. “I am 15 years old, and I want to defend my mother's right, my sister's right, everyone's rights.”
Both women requested anonymity to protect themselves from retribution. Their accounts could not be independently verified.
The office of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) responded on Twitter to reports of the crackdown.
“Reports of the forceful suppression of a peaceful protest by women against the ban on beauty salons -- the latest denial of women’s rights in #Afghanistan -- are deeply concerning. Afghans have the right to express views free from violence. De facto authorities must uphold this,” UNAMA said.
The Taliban government's order to close women's beauty salons was issued last month.The Taliban's Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice issued a letter on June 24 conveying a verbal order from the supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada. On July 4, Mohammad Sidik Akif Mahajar, a spokesman for the ministry, confirmed the contents of the letter, which had been circulating on social media.
The spokesman justified the order, saying the salons charge exorbitant amounts of money for makeup and that some of the procedures performed, such as plucking eyebrows and adding hair extensions, are illegal.
The Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice gave women's salons a month to close their doors.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Jul 19, 2023
- Event Description
Residents of the village of Maraldy in the East Kazakhstan region said on July 20 that local activists have clashed with workers constructing a gold-producing facility in the area. According to the villagers, the activists demanded a halt to the construction work, citing environmental issues. A local resident, Nurzhaqyp Qabylbaev, told RFE/RL that the company's security brutally dispersed the villagers and journalists who were at the site before police arrived. Local residents have been protesting the construction of the gold-producing plant in the area for years.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Extractive industries
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jul 18, 2023
- Event Description
A junta-controlled court in Yangon region has sentenced a student to a further five years in prison for alleged terrorism, a Myanmar-based student union told RFA Monday.
Nyan Win Htet, in his twenties, was a student at the University of East Yangon until his arrest on June 30, 2022. He was sentenced by Eastern Yangon District Court last Tuesday.
“The fascist army is fully responsible for the arbitrary and violent arrests, imprisonments and brutal killings of students from ABFSU, students and people across the country,” said the information officer of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, who didn’t want to be named for fear of reprisals.
“Arresting revolutionaries, imprisoning and killing them will not stop the revolution. We will continue to fight until the end.”
Nyan Win Htet had already been sentenced to 15 years in prison under two sections of the Counter-Terrorism Law which cover the possession of explosives and helping terrorists evade arrest.
He is in good health in prison and has been in contact with his family, said the union information officer.
The officer added that more than 50 of the union’s members have been arrested for their anti-dictatorship activities since the coup, and 32 are being held in prison.
Among them, three were sentenced to a maximum of life imprisonment, and one was sentenced to death, according to the union.
Nearly 24,000 people, including pro-democracy campaigners, have been arrested nationwide since the February 2021 coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Jul 18, 2023
- Event Description
The Sokuluk district court in Kyrgyzstan's north has sent noted blogger Ertai Iskakov and two activists, Bakyt Balbaev and Baktybek Bekbolotov, to pretrial detention until September 15 over last week's rally by two villages to demand a resumption of drinking water supplies. The men were charged with hooliganism and illegally blocking a highway. The men's lawyers told RFE/RL that their clients pleaded not guilty. Isakov is a well-known blogger who raises social issues in his reports. Several villages near Bishkek, the capital, have faced drinking water shortages for days.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Online, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jul 17, 2023
- Event Description
Six activists have acknowledged the charges under the Public Assembly and Road Traffic acts after demanding police responsibility for the APEC protest crackdown that cost one activist an eye.
On 3 August 2023, six activists acknowledged charges based on summonses issued under the Public Assembly and Road Traffic acts arising from their participation in a gathering that sought justice for Payu, an activist from the Dao Din group, who was shot in the right eye with a rubber bullet by crowd control police in the APEC protest crackdown. The gathering took place on 23 November 2022 at the Odeon Circle, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR).
The police issued summonses on 17 July 2023 for 8 people to acknowledge charges related to participating in a public gathering that caused inconvenience in the use of a public place and conducting a procession after 18.00 hours without permission, as stipulated in the Public Assembly Act. The gathering also obstructed traffic in violation of the Road Traffic Act.
The case report states that prior to the incident, Tanruthai, one of the accused activists, posted on Facebook about the gathering scheduled for 23 November 2022, demanding responsibility for Payu’s lost eye and the violence against the APEC protest.
Tanruthai and 10 others, photographers and YouTubers, gathered at the Odeon Circle, and were seen writing messages on banners. However, it was unclear who organized or led this gathering.
The case report also said that the police warned the protesters that the gathering broke the law, but they did not heed the warning. They walked along Yaowarat Road and then back to the Odeon Circle.
All six activists denied the charges. They will submit additional written testimony on 21 August 2023.
The TLHR pointed out that this incident took place over eight months ago, and the police have only recently issued summonses.
Payu Boonsophon, known as Payu Dao Din, lost the sight in his right eye after being shot with a rubber bullet in the APEC protest crackdown on 18 November 2022. The protest database and observation site Mob Data Thailand reported that at least 33 people were injured during the protest.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jul 15, 2023
- Event Description
Local sources in Zabul report that the Taliban have prohibited the activities of Intersos, a humanitarian aid organization (HAO), due to its refusal to employ individuals designated by the Taliban in the province.
Sources informed Hasht-e Subh that the group sealed off the premises of Intersos, which operates in the healthcare sector, on Saturday, July 15.
The Taliban’s Public Health Directorate in Zabul has not commented on the suspension of Intersos in Qalat, the provincial capital.
However, an anonymous source from the organization stated that after Intersos declined to employ individuals designated by the Taliban, the Taliban authorities locked the premises.
This is the second time that Intersos activities have been halted in Zabul after officials of the organization refused to employ Taliban-designated individuals.
Meanwhile, earlier reports from Daykundi province stated that fifteen aid organizations have ceased operations in the province for several months due to Taliban intervention and extortion.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jul 14, 2023
- Event Description
Three San Juanico TV reporters were harassed by two off-duty police officers and allegedly shot at by an unknown party while covering a land dispute involving the officers in Leyte, Visayas, on July 14. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), in condemning the harassment and attempted attack by the journalists and urging the authorities to continue its investigation transparently.
On the morning of July 14, three reporters from San Juanico TV, Lito Bagunas, Noel Sianosa and Ted Tomas, were conducting interviews with farmers in Leyte’s Municipality of Pastrana while preparing a story on a land dispute between Philippine National Police (PNP) Staff Sergeant Rhea Mae Baleos and local couple Moises Empillo and Anecia Nogal. The trio were stopped by an unknown woman, subsequently identified as Baleos, who instructed them to leave the scene.
Sianosa’s phone was reportedly confiscated by Baleos after he and Tomas recorded footage of an argument between Baleos and Nogal. In a video published by the NUJP, Baleos can be seen violently pushing and grabbing Sianosa, attempting to escort him away from the scene. A few seconds later, at least three gunshots can be heard, with Tomas alleging he saw uniformed police officers firing the bullets. Tomas urged the shooter to cease their fire, identifying himself and his colleagues as members of the press.
According to Leyte police, Baleos called for police intervention following the dispute, with several officers being sent from the local Pastrana Municipal Police Office. Pastrana police denied that the dispatched officers discharged their weapons, alleging that an unidentified assailant was responsible for the shooting. The dispute allegedly originated from land ownership claims made by Empillo and Nogal, with the couple debating Baleos’ claims to have mortgaged the property in 2017, instead stating the land had been sold by a third party.
Following a complaint from the reporters, Baleos and her husband, Staff Sergeant Ver Baleos, were relieved from their duties on July 15. They have since surrendered their firearms, with a provincial investigative team commencing a probe of the incident.
The NUJP said: “We welcome the news that the two police officers allegedly involved in the harassment have been relieved and will be investigated. However, we also note statements from the municipal police dismissing the reported shooting incident as "disinformation" even while the provincial police office has promised a thorough investigation. […] While we welcome the prompt action by authorities, this incident is a reminder to assert press freedom and to revisit safety protocols to help keep ourselves safe in the field.”
The IFJ said: “The harassment and alleged attack by police officers of identified members of the press is deeply concerning. Journalists working in the field must be protected and allowed to report without fear of reprisal. The IFJ condemns the threats against journalists Lito Bagunas, Noel Sianosa, and Ted Tomas and urges the authorities to ensure that investigations into the incident are conducted swiftly and transparently.”
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jul 13, 2023
- Event Description
A prominent rights activist from the southern Chinese province of Guangzhou has been prevented from boarding a Qatar Airways flight from Bangkok to Ecuador, where he had hoped to take his family to claim political asylum in the United States.
Liang Songji, who has been repeatedly jailed by the Chinese authorities for his peaceful criticism of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, said he had planned to take the July 13 flight to Ecuador but was prevented from checking in by airline staff.
"As soon as Qatar Airlines swiped my passport, they gave it straight back to me," Liang said, adding that staff refused to check the family in, although they had the right tickets, visas, COVID-19 test certificates and evidence of hotel reservations for all three family members.
"The staff told me that this was due to a decision made at senior levels [in their company]. When they looked into it further, they said it was the Ecuadorian government's decision not to allow the three of us to board."
Liang said he is skeptical about the claim that his apparent travel ban came from the Ecuadorian foreign ministry, and has tried to meet with U.S. consular officials in Bangkok, given that he plans to claim political asylum in that country.
He said he had planned to 'walk the line' from Ecuador northwards to Mexico overland, a route taken by a growing number of Chinese nationals fleeing their home country in what has been dubbed the "run" movement.
"Ecuador is a very hot route [for Chinese fleeing China] right now, because everyone travels north from there to get to the United States and Canada," Liang said. "I'd figured that even if I ran out of money, we could stay in Ecuador."
"The real question is whether this really is coming from Ecuador – I think it probably isn't," he said. "It's all over the internet that there is a visa-free entrance agreement between China and Ecuador."
Liang said airline staff had refused to issue a refund for his family's three tickets.
On Friday, he presented himself at the U.S. Embassy in Thailand, requesting an emergency meeting with a diplomat.
"They rejected my request," said Liang, who arrived in Thailand last month, and whose Thai tourist visa expired on Saturday.
"I really don't know what plans I can make now," he said. "It's impossible for me to return to China now."
Emails sent to the U.S. State Department and to Qatar Airways’ headquarters requesting comment went unanswered since Friday.
Beaten and strip-searched
Liang was arrested in November 2018 after he witnessed the forcible strip-searching and beating of Guangzhou rights attorney Sun Shihua by police in the city, and later sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment for "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a catch-all charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the government.
An associate who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals said Liang had been trying to leave China since 2015.
A prominent rights activist from the southern Chinese province of Guangzhou has been prevented from boarding a Qatar Airways flight from Bangkok to Ecuador, where he had hoped to take his family to claim political asylum in the United States.
Liang Songji, who has been repeatedly jailed by the Chinese authorities for his peaceful criticism of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, said he had planned to take the July 13 flight to Ecuador but was prevented from checking in by airline staff.
"As soon as Qatar Airlines swiped my passport, they gave it straight back to me," Liang said, adding that staff refused to check the family in, although they had the right tickets, visas, COVID-19 test certificates and evidence of hotel reservations for all three family members.
"The staff told me that this was due to a decision made at senior levels [in their company]. When they looked into it further, they said it was the Ecuadorian government's decision not to allow the three of us to board."
Liang said he is skeptical about the claim that his apparent travel ban came from the Ecuadorian foreign ministry, and has tried to meet with U.S. consular officials in Bangkok, given that he plans to claim political asylum in that country.
He said he had planned to 'walk the line' from Ecuador northwards to Mexico overland, a route taken by a growing number of Chinese nationals fleeing their home country in what has been dubbed the "run" movement.
"Ecuador is a very hot route [for Chinese fleeing China] right now, because everyone travels north from there to get to the United States and Canada," Liang said. "I'd figured that even if I ran out of money, we could stay in Ecuador."
"The real question is whether this really is coming from Ecuador – I think it probably isn't," he said. "It's all over the internet that there is a visa-free entrance agreement between China and Ecuador."
Liang said airline staff had refused to issue a refund for his family's three tickets.
On Friday, he presented himself at the U.S. Embassy in Thailand, requesting an emergency meeting with a diplomat.
"They rejected my request," said Liang, who arrived in Thailand last month, and whose Thai tourist visa expired on Saturday.
"I really don't know what plans I can make now," he said. "It's impossible for me to return to China now."
Emails sent to the U.S. State Department and to Qatar Airways’ headquarters requesting comment went unanswered since Friday.
Beaten and strip-searched
Liang was arrested in November 2018 after he witnessed the forcible strip-searching and beating of Guangzhou rights attorney Sun Shihua by police in the city, and later sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment for "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a catch-all charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the government.
An associate who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals said Liang had been trying to leave China since 2015.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jul 13, 2023
- Event Description
Dung participated in protests in Hanoi, including demonstrations against China’s occupation of the Paracel Islands – an island group in the South China Sea also claimed by Vietnam – and protests against the Taiwan-owned Formosa Company for polluting the coastline of four central Vietnamese provinces in 2016.
Public protests even over perceived harm to Vietnam’s interests are considered threats to its political stability and are routinely suppressed by the police.
“Truong Van Dung has experienced years of government harassment and intimidation, including police interrogations, house arrest, a travel ban and physical assaults,” said Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson ahead of the appeal.
He accused Hanoi of “inexorably adding peaceful activists to the growing list of more than 150 Vietnamese political prisoners,” thereby violating human rights laws and betraying its duty to protect people’s rights as a member of the U.N. Human Rights Council.
“Every time the authorities throw an activist like Truong Van Dung behind bars, respect for human rights in Vietnam takes a hard knock,” Robertson said.
“Donors and international trade partners should be clear that if Vietnam wants growing trade and investment, its leaders need to recognize that people speaking their minds are part of the solution that strengthens, not weakens, the country.”
Truong Van Dung was arrested at the end of May 2022 and held incommunicado for nine months before his trial.
Amnesty International joined calls for Vietnamese authorities to drop all charges against him and spoke out against the country’s judicial system.
“The Vietnamese authorities are yet again misusing the criminal justice system to suppress dissent. Arrested for giving interviews to foreign media, Truong Van Dung should have never been put in prison in the first place,” Amnesty’s Deputy Regional Director of Campaigns Ming Yu Hah said.
Amnesty said Dung’s appeal came as Vietnam cracked down on a growing number of people whose views differ from that of the government, and against independent civil society organizations.
“The unfair charges and inhumane prison conditions [show] the Vietnamese authorities’ willingness to systematically silence dissent in direct violation of international human rights law,” Hah said, calling Vietnam’s ratification of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and its their seat on the UN Human Rights Council “no more than empty gestures.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Land rights defender, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jul 13, 2023
- Event Description
Police of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province requested TMV Thich Vinh Phuoc, abbot of Phuoc Buu temple (Phuoc Thuan village, Xuyen Moc district), not to post articles critical of local authorities and other social issues on Facebook.
The request was given to the abbot in a working session on 13 July at the district police office. Three times the police issued their invitation to the abbot to turn up for working sessions with them, 'about saying things that show sign of violating the law on cyberspace'.
TMV Thich Vinh Phuoc, of the independent Unified Buddhist Church, told RFA Viet on 14 July:
'In the working session, [the police of Ba Ria Vung Tau province and Xuyen Moc district] gave me a document which looks like a written pledge that they wanted me to [agree to], that from now on, I won't write articles and post them on Facebook to criticise this and that. They said I must use my time for religious worshipping, I shouldn't speak up on social issues that affect the nation...'
As a member of Vietnam Interfaith Council - which advocates for religious freedom, TMV Thich Vinh Phuoc said he refused the police request and will continue to exercise his freedom of expression on social media.
'I have the rights as a citizen, I have the right to express by views on absolutely anything, writing of Facebook is my human right.' He said.
He said, like Thien Quang pagoda, Phuoc Buu Temple has also been subject to authorities' harassment, the temple has not been allowed to build a number of construction for worshipping purposes.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
Case shared via email with FORUM-ASIA.
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jul 13, 2023
- Event Description
Attempts to disqualify Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat and block his bid to become the next Prime Minister have sparked a wave of protests during the past week in several provinces calling for the Senate and the House of Representative to approve his nomination as Prime Minister, as his party won the most seats in the last general election.
After the Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) decided last Wednesday (12 July) to submit a petition with the Constitutional Court to rule whether Pita should be disqualified over his alleged ownership of iTV shares and whether to suspend him while the Court deliberates the case against him, activists in at least 11 provinces held a protest that evening against the ECT’s decision and demanded that parliament vote to appoint Pita as Prime Minister despite the iTV share case.
In Bangkok, a crowd formed on the skywalk above Pathumwan Intersection at 18.00 on Wednesday with signs condemning the ECT’s decision and demanding that parliament respect the result of the election and vote for the candidate of the winning party. Activists took turns speaking during the event and asked people to join them at parliament the next day to wait for the result of the Prime Minister vote.
Meanwhile, in Chiang Mai, students and members of the public met in front of Chiang Mai University. Protesters were invited to come up to speak on how they feel about the ECT decision, with several questioning why the ECT decided to submit its petition only a day before the Prime Minister vote and whether anyone is benefiting from this decision. They also said that since the ECT is paid by taxpayers’ money, they should respect voters.
Protests took place in Surin, Nakhon Ratchasima, Lampang, Ubon Ratchathani, Mukdahan, Sakon Nakhon, Ayutthaya, Maha Sarakham, and Kanchanaburi.
On Thursday (13 July), a crowd gathered at the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration Government Complex, next to parliament, to watch Senators and MPs debate Pita’s nomination and the vote. The session was shown on a large screen, with speakers placed in the Complex’s park and along Thahan Road.
Meanwhile, the police declared a no-protest zone within a 50-metre radius of the parliament complex and blocked Samsen Road with a row of shipping containers. The overpass above Kiakkai intersection was also blocked with metal sheets and razor wire, while shipping containers were placed along Thahan Road, blocking off the parliament building.
At Tha Pae gate in Chiang Mai, people also turned up to watch parliament cast its vote. At Chiang Mai University’s Faculty of Law, the debate was also shown on TV and projector screens in the faculty building for students and members of the public.
After Pita lost the first round of voting, protesters in Chiang Mai burned chilli and salt – a traditional cursing ritual – along with a list of senators and MPs who did not approve Pita’s nomination.
Activists in Bangkok called a protest on Friday (14 July) at the courtyard in front of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC). During the protest, flyers calling for the abolition of the Senate were handed out, while a large piece of cloth was laid out for people to write messages, many of which condemned the Senate’s actions for disrespecting the people and disregarding election results by not approving a Prime Minister candidate nominated by the winning party.
Online, several businesses, from restaurants to a badminton court and a tire repair shop, announced that senators, election commissioners, and their family members are no longer welcome if they did not vote for Pita. Meanwhile, a list of businesses run by senators or their family members is being circulated by netizens along with a call for the public to sanction these businesses.
Hawon Thailand, a Korean barbeque restaurant included on the list, issued a statement on Friday night saying that one of its minor shareholders is related to a person holding a political office. The shareholder has no executive power over the business, the statement said, and they have already withdrawn their shares. The statement also said that the business supports democracy.
Activists in Bangkok have already called for a protest on 19 July, when another Prime Minister vote is to take place. Meanwhile, human rights lawyer and activist Anon Nampa is to lead a protest caravan across Bangkok on Sunday afternoon (16 July), which will start at the Democracy Monument and visit the Army headquarters, the Navy headquarters, the Police headquarters, and end at the BACC to demand that military and police commanders appointed as senators resign.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jul 13, 2023
- Event Description
Phan Tat Thanh’s family told Project 88 that the police asked him and his brother to come to the police station on July 5 to sign paperwork regarding a traffic accident involving Thanh’s brother. When they arrived, however, both men were detained. Thanh’s brother was later released, but Thanh was kept there for a week against his will. Thanh then managed to escape. Afterwards, his brother and mother reported that they faced threats and intimidation from the police. Thanh was re-apprehended on July 13. On July 15, the police went to search his house without a warrant. His family was told verbally that he was being charged with disseminating “anti-state propaganda” but no warrant was presented.”
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Vietnam: social media activist arrested by the police
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 12, 2023
- Event Description
On June 12, 2023, Mongolian herders from eastern Southern Mongolia’s Zaruud Banner gathered to block the road near their grazing land in protest of the local government’s land grab. Hired to advance the expropriation, a Chinese driver by the surname of Lu plowed into the protestors with a large bulldozer, crashing herders’ motorcycles, and injuring at least two.
According to protestors on the scene, the Zaruud Banner Breeding Farm Ar-Hundelen Branch appropriated a large swath of grazing land and sold it to a Chinese business—all with the authorization of the Zaruud Banner government.
A written statement from the local community notes that “Without our prior and informed consent, the breeding farm sold our land to a Chinese business at a price of 2,000,000 yuan (approximately 280,000 USD),” and that “the Chinese buyer is now bringing truckloads of cows and other animals to the land, attempting to graze them in disregard of our protest.”
“This happened before the eyes of government officials who are ganging up with violent Chinese invaders,” said an angry herder in a WeChat discussion group, in reference to the bulldozer attack. “The lives of Mongolians are worthless here.”
In a public statement, the Zaruud Banner Public Security Bureau confirmed the case while downplaying the violence as a “dispute that escalated to a conflict between a herder and the bulldozer driver, Mr. Lu, and the accountant Ms. Lu, resulting in an injury to the herder Mr. Wu.”
The next day, another attack took place in eastern Southern Mongolia’s Evenk Banner. A Chinese land-grabber struck a Mongolian herder with a vehicle while the herder defended his grazing land alongside other herders. The injured herder fell unconscious at the scene, but the state of his current health remains unknown.
“Violence by the Chinese toward Mongolians has happened two days in a row,” a Mongolian herder said in a WeChat discussion group. “Now even our lives are not guaranteed, let alone our land.”
Despite draconian censorship and aggressive surveillance of the Internet and social media, Southern Mongolians are managing to express their discontent over WeChat, China’s most popular social media platform. Sparked by these violent incidents, discussions among angry Southern Mongolians have gone far beyond the land-grab episodes and are touching on sensitive, foundational issues, including those of colonialism and national freedom.
“This is the cost we are paying for being colonized by the Chinese,” a Southern Mongolian said in a WeChat discussion.
“Yes, but nothing lasts forever,” another replied. “The days of this colonial regime are numbered. We Mongolians must stay patient, resilient and hopeful.”
In the same chat, another Southern Mongolian asked members to “Imagine if we have our own government and own country like the independent country of Mongolia. This type of violence would never happen, and even if it happens, the perpetrators will be brought to justice immediately.”
Yet another member said that “The squares [code name for Chinese settlers] are the most violent and brutal invaders in human history. They took away all of our rights, plundered our natural resources both under and above the ground; now they are taking away our land and lives.”
“This is no different from the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” said another. “The nature of the two is the same: the strong enslave the weak.”
The perhaps even more politically charged question of whether “Southern Mongolians are slaves to the Chinese” sparked heated debates in a number of WeChat groups. Some excerpts:
“We must admit that we are enslaved by the Chinese. This is the reality. This is our status.”
“I disagree. We are not slaves. We are proud Mongolians. Calling ourselves slaves won’t help improve the situation anyway.”
“Our situation is equally serious, if not more so, than that of Xinjiang and Tibet.”
“Remember, land appropriation is just a small part of the systematic destruction of Southern Mongolia; our language and culture are being wiped out by the Chinese now.”
As Chinese policies in Southern Mongolia grow increasingly oppressive, widespread discontent among Southern Mongolians has led to two major uprisings since 2011.
In May 2011, a region-wide uprising was precipitated by the brutal killing of a Mongolian herder, Mr. Mergen, by a Chinese truck driver. These protests prompted Chinese authorities to launch an extensive crackdown on all forms of resistance across the region.
In September 2020, an even a larger uprising transpired in Southern Mongolia, in opposition of China’s new language policy, which Mongolians widely consider “cultural genocide.” An overwhelming majority of Southern Mongolians joined the protests in some fashion, and an estimated 8,000-10,000 protesters were arrested, detained, imprisoned and placed under house arrest.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 12, 2023
- Event Description
The government ordered internet service providers to block the websites and social media pages of several independent media outlets and a public database in a July 12 document obtained by CamboJA on Monday.
The Telecommunications Regulator of Cambodia-issued document sought to cut off access inside the country to the Cambodia Daily, Radio Free Asia and the newly launched public database Kamnotra, run by the Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM).
The media and database had “broadcast information to make confusion, affect the government’s honor and prestige, and failed to fulfill the operating conditions of the Information Ministry,” an unofficial translation of the document stated.
Service providers were told to block access to the Instagram and Twitter accounts of the Cambodia Daily, the Twitter account of Kamnotra, and the Youtube channel of the Cambodia Daily.
The document also referenced a July 11 letter from the Information Ministry, whose spokesperson Meas Sophorn confirmed to CamboJA over Telegram that the ministry had initiated the order.
Regarding Kamnotra, Sophorn stated that “[We] found that this website operated as a newspaper but did not fulfill its obligations in accordance with legal procedures and legal documents as a news agency.”
He did not elaborate further or respond to additional requests for comment or phone calls.
Following Kamnotra’s launch, the Information Ministry claimed that Kamnotra did not have an authorized media license.
CCIM media director Ith Sotheouth denied the database was a news outlet, explaining it was intended to compile existing public information, such as documents released in the Royal Gazette such as land grants, honorific titles and analysis of election data.
“Through our observation, some news websites which are critical of the government are blocked for the election, but unfortunately, even though Kamnotra’s sole purpose is to compile all the public records for everyone to access, it was still blocked,” Sotheouth said. “It is a loss to the benefit of the public.”
“Our goal at CCIM is to provide the Cambodian people with the information they need to make informed decisions,” Kamnotra stated on its website.
On Monday, Kamnotra released a statement on Twitter stating that the platform could not be accessed by some users, noting that the organization is “looking into the issue and working on ways for you to get data and insights from Kamnotra soon.”
CCIM launched Kamnotra at the end of June, after CCIM’s Khmer and English language news outlet Voice of Democracy (VOD) had its license revoked in February.
After VOD’s shutdown in February, the Telecommunications Regulator of Cambodia swiftly ordered all internet service providers to block access to the English and Khmer language sites. But internet service providers lagged to comply with the order, leading to sporadic access depending on the service provider. This appears to be the case with accessing Kamnotra and other sites as of Monday afternoon.
In March, three Khmer language news websites also had their license revoked for alleging land fraud connected to government officials.
In June, a former government official turned social media commentator issued death threats via his Facebook page against a Cambodia Daily reporter.
Major internet service providers such as Metfone, Sinet, Cellcard, WiCam, and Smart did not respond to requests for comment.
Post and Telecommunications Minister Chea Vandeth told CamboJA he was busy and could not answer questions.
The Secretary of State for the Ministry of Post and Communication received questions sent by CamboJA via Telegram but did not respond.
Telecommunications Regulator of Cambodia spokesperson Sithy Sieng did not respond to requests for comment.
RFA and 17 other media had their websites temporarily blocked before the 2018 elections. The Cambodia Daily was forced to close due to a large tax bill in 2017.
“RFA condemns the order from the government of Cambodia for internet service providers to block RFA content on online platforms – which is in clear violation of Cambodian law and an attempt to censor the free flow of information ahead of the July 23 election,” said Radio Free Asia Chief Communication Officer Rohit Mahajan.
Governments across Southeast Asia have sought to block websites, posts and individuals to stifle “critical dissent,” notes Dhevy Sivaprakasam, Senior Policy Counsel at digital rights NGO Access Now.
“In these cases, blocking these sources of independent information not only denies members of the public their rights to access such information, associate and participate in political discussion — it creates an air of trepidation, where people start to self-censor to protect themselves from any negative repercussions,” she said. “Even if groups jump to other platforms to continue their work, they lose time and followers — all while having to look over their back in their operations.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Censorship
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jul 12, 2023
- Event Description
A farmer and a community worker were arrested by soldiers on July 12 in Atimonan, Quezon while conducting community research.
In an alert released by human rights group Karapatan Southern Tagalog, farmer and community health worker Miguela Peniero and youth volunteer Rowena Dasig were arrested by members of the 85th Infantry Battalion in purok Banaba, barangay Caridad Ibaba, Atimonan.
Karapatan-ST said Peniero and Dasig were studying the potential impacts of the proposed combined cycle gas turbine power project and liquefied natural gas terminal plant to be operated by Atimonan One Energy, Inc. (A1E) on coconut farmers and fisherfolk communities.
According to the group, A1E’s original plan to build a coal-fired power plant “was opposed by environmental groups and residents of Atimonan due to the health risk from using fossil fuels, and the loss of lands and livelihood.”
In a social media post, 85th IB claimed that two are members of the revolutionary group New People’s Army.
Karapatan said a humanitarian team has tried to visit Peniero and Dasig yesterday, July 17, at the Atimonan Municipal Police Station (MPS) but they were denied access to the two.
“The soldiers are present at the police station and blatantly disregard the rights of the Peniero and Dasig to be assisted by a paralegal and to receive aid brought by the team,” Karapatan-ST said in an update.
The group said that the military also did not sign the certificate of detention and has given them a runaround regarding the whereabouts of the two.
They were charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives, a charge which was commonly used against activists and human rights defenders.
Peniero is a former political prisoner and a cancer survivor. She was arrested on Feb. 4, 2012, in Calauag, Quezon by the 88th Infantry Battalion for trumped-up charges. She was released after serving her sentence for eight years. Meanwhile, Dasig is the secretary general of Anakbayan Southern Tagalog doing advocacy work in peasant communities in the Quezon Province.
The Environmental Defenders Congress (ENVIDEFCON) denounced the charges against Peniero and Dasig, and demanded their immediate release.
The group refuted the claims of the 85th IB, saying that Dasig or Owen as they call her, has worked with environmental groups such as Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment in campaigns against the destructive Kaliwa Dam and other environmental campaigns of communities around the Rizal and Quezon area. Her most recent community organizing work against the planned fossil gas plant is clearly environmental defense work, they added.
The ENVIDEFCON said ending fossil fuel use is imperative for mitigating and adapting to climate change.
“Fossil fuels are the primary driver of greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming and environmental degradation, so any plans for a fossil fuel power plant in the Philippines should be discouraged. Despite this, the Marcos Jr. administration has prioritized the expansion of the fossil gas industry,” the group said.
According to its website, A1E is the developer of the first ultra supercritical coal-fired power plant in the Philippines. The 2×600-MW plant will be built in Atimonan, Quezon and has been certified as an Energy Project of National Significance (EPNS) under Executive Order No. 30.
However, the ENVIDEFCON said that many studies show that communities located near such plants are at risk of experiencing various illnesses. “It is in this light that Dasig and Peñero were researching possible health impacts of the proposed liquefied natural gas plant, not to mention other possible impacts on local biodiversity,” ENVIDEFCON said.
“Any community organizing work done in these areas to resist new fossil fuel infrastructure is environmental defense work that will benefit not only the communities in the area but all Filipinos who depend on a stable climate and healthy ecosystems for our survival,” they added.
The ENVIDEFCON said that the arbitrary arrest and continued detention of Peniero and Dasig is “not only a violation of their rights but also a disturbing indication of escalating state terror and human rights abuses against environmental defenders under the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Access to justice, Right to liberty and security, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jul 11, 2023
- Event Description
Press organizations in Papua, including the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) of Jayapura City, the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) of Papua, and the Indonesian Television Journalists Association (IJTI) of Papua, lambasted what was reported to be intimidation against Abdel Gamel Naser, a journalist from Cenderawasih Pos. The incident occurred while he was covering the case of mangrove forest destruction in the Youtefa Bay Nature Park conservation area in Jayapura City on Tuesday (11/7/2023). Gamel, as he is commonly known, allegedly faced intimidation from two police officers who were present near the location. The officers approached Gamel and questioned his reasons for photographing the area. Despite explaining that he was a journalist, the officers insisted on deleting the photos, resulting in Gamel deleting three images from his reporting.
“To avoid further conflict so I can continue my reporting elsewhere, I deleted the photos. As I was leaving the location, they issued further threats,” Gamel stated in a press release issued by the press organizations on Wednesday, July 12, 2023.
Gamel was among a group of approximately a dozen journalists who were covering the halt of logging and material stockpiling in the mangrove forest area of Youtefa Bay Nature Tourism Park. The halt was carried out by the Papua Forestry and Environment Service, the Papua Natural Resources Conservation Center, and the Papua Police Special Crimes Unit.
According to Gamel, the intimidation occurred while he was capturing images near a location where police lines had been established, and several police personnel happened to be present nearby.
Lucky Ireeuw, chairman of the AJI Jayapura, strongly condemned the alleged intimidation faced by Gamel during his work. Such repressive actions hinder the exercise of press freedom in Papua.
“The intimidation suffered by Gamel obstructs press freedom and violates Law No. 40/1999 on Press,” Ireeuw asserted.
He further called on the Papua Police to take decisive action against the officers implicated in the alleged intimidation.
“We urge the police to ensure press freedom in Papua,” Ireeuw added.
Meanwhile, PWI Papua deputy, Ridwan Madubun strongly condemned the display of arrogance that resulted in the alleged intimidation of his fellow journalist Gamel. Madubun believes such actions are unjustifiable, especially when they occur while journalists are carrying out their responsibilities in the public domain.
He also expressed dismay at the ongoing repressive acts against journalists in Papua. It is important to note that journalists are safeguarded by the law in carrying out their coverage duties to inform the public.
Papua Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Ignatius Beny Ady Prabowo mentioned that efforts have been made within the police institution to educate police personnel about press freedom since their training at the National Police School.
“I have just been made aware of the alleged intimidation against Gamel. Journalists who encounter such incidents can report them to our Internal Division,” Prabowo added.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 11, 2023
- Event Description
Hong Kong briefly took in three family members of exiled democracy activist Nathan Law for questioning on Tuesday, a week after authorities issued a bounty on him and seven others accused of breaching the city’s national security law.
Police officers from the national security department brought in Law’s parents and elder brother without formally arresting them, a police source confirmed to AFP, adding that Law’s flat was searched.
The trio were taken in so that police could “learn whether they have provided financial support for Law and whether they are Law’s agents in Hong Kong”, the source said.
“Law’s family members were allowed to leave after giving statements to police.”
Authorities last week offered rewards of HK$1 million for information leading to the arrest of eight prominent democracy activists now based abroad, accusing them of subversion, foreign collusion and other crimes.
City leader John Lee today repeated his call to the public to stay away from the wanted activists and to treat them like “rats in the street”.
“Police have received some information and will continue to gather intelligence, and enforce the law strictly and relentlessly,” Lee told reporters.
AFP has contacted Law for comment.
The move today came days after Hong Kong arrested five men for supporting the wanted activists.
Ads by Kiosked Law, who was granted asylum in Britain in 2021, had previously said in response to the bounties that Hong Kong abused the concept of national security to suppress dissident voices.
After fleeing Hong Kong, Law said in 2020 that he had cut ties with his family and that he was not in contact with them.
The US, the UK and Australia – places where the eight wanted activists reside – have issued statements criticising the bounties.
Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 following months of huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in the finance hub.
Police have arrested 260 people under the national security law so far, with 79 of them convicted or awaiting sentencing in Hong Kong.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Jul 10, 2023
- Event Description
Responding to the completion of one year of university student Khadijatul Kubra’s pre-trial detention under the draconian Digital Security Act (DSA) in Bangladesh, Nadia Rahman, Amnesty International’s Interim Deputy Regional Director for South Asia said:
“The year-long incarceration and repeated denial of bail to Khadija is a travesty and flagrant violation of the right to freedom of expression in Bangladesh. She should be in university, studying for her degree and not in jail waiting for her fate to be decided under a draconian law. Her continued arbitrary detention comes against the backdrop of a rapidly shrinking space for critical voices and sets a chilling precedent for anyone whose views the authorities disagree with.
"The year-long incarceration and repeated denial of bail to Khadija is a travesty and flagrant violation of the right to freedom of expression in Bangladesh," stated Nadia Rahman, Amnesty International’s Interim Deputy Regional Director for South Asia.
“Despite the government’s decision to repeal the draconian DSA, authorities continue to use the legislation to undermine human rights and persecute critics and activists. Amnesty International calls on the Bangladeshi authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Khadija and all those who are arbitrarily detained in Bangladesh solely for peacefully exercising their human rights including to freedom of expression.
“Moreover pending her release, Khadija should be provided with regular access to adequate healthcare and be held in conditions that meet international standards.”
Background: Khadijatul Kubra was a 17-year-old student of political science at Jagannath University in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She had hosted a webinar on campus politics for the social media page called “Humanity for Bangladesh” in November 2020. Almost two years later, on 27 August 2022, Khadijatul Kubra was arrested under DSA and the next day was sent to Kashimpur Jail in Dhaka. Police officers had seen a recording of the webinar on YouTube uploaded by one of the guest speakers – formerly a Bangladeshi army official now based in Canada who had made comments perceived to be critical of the Bangladeshi authorities. A case under DSA was filed for attempting to ‘deteriorate law and order’ and for ‘defaming’ the prime minister, among other charges.
Since then, Khadija’s bail applications have been rejected several times and despite having allegedly developed medical problems including kidney issues, as per the family and media reports Khadija was transferred to a ‘condemned cell’ earlier this year which is reserved for death-row convicts. On 10 July 2023, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court adjourned her bail hearing for four months, stating she should be able to take responsibility for the views expressed on her talk show.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jul 10, 2023
- Event Description
Indigenous and human rights groups condemned the terrorist designation of four Igorot activists in the Cordillera by the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) just over a month after beating a rebellion case filed against them.
In a July 10 press release, the ATC announced the designation of Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) pioneer Abellon-Alikes, chairperson Windel Bolinget, regional council member Stephen Tauli, and researcher Jennifer Awingan-Taggaoa as terrorists.
The government accused them of being members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) Ilocos Cordillera Regional White Area Committee and the Cordillera White Area Committee
CPA condemned the designation of four of its leaders, calling it a “relentless attack against indigenous peoples’ activists.”
“While we at CPA continue to seek legal remedies to ensure our safety, security, and human rights in this shrinking democratic space, the state also weaponizes everything at its disposal to silence us,” the statement said.
The International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL) also slammed their inclusion in the terrorist list. The group also urged the government to remove their names.
Bolinget is a member of the international coordinating committee of the network.
“Indigenous peoples’ pro-active defense of their ancestral lands, life, rights, and territories are never acts of terrorism but a vibrant exercise of their right to self-determination,” the group said.
“Their vocal expression of dissent and democratic freedoms to criticize any powers that be must be ensured and protected, not silenced, criminalized, vilified and further marginalized,” IPMSDL added.
Justification
ATC said their designation under ATC Resolution No. 41, approved on June 7, were “based on verified and validated information, sworn statements, and other pieces of evidence gathered by Philippine law enforcement agencies.”
Abellon-Alikes and Bolinget allegedly violated Sections 10 and 12 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), which refers to recruitment to and membership in a terrorist organization and providing material support to terrorist organizations, respectively. Meanwhile, Awingan-Taggaoa and Tauli supposedly breached Section 10.
Since 2017, cases filed against them in local courts, implicating them in several attacks committed by the communist rebels, were dismissed or quashed.
Abellon-Alikes, Awingan-Taggaoa, Bolinget, and Tauli were among the seven activists from the Ilocos and Cordillera charged with rebellion in January. They were implicated in an NPA ambush in Malibcong, Abra in October 2022. Last May, the regional trial court in Bangued quashed the warrant and excluded them from the case for lack of probable cause.
The CPA chair was also included in a murder charge in Davao del Norte. A court in Tagum City dismissed the case in July 2021 for lack of probable cause.
Meanwhile, for Abellon-Alikes, the quashing of the warrant last May was her fifth legal victory since 2017.
Bolinget said the recent ATC resolution, designating them as terrorists, proves that the ATA intended to target activists and government critics.
He added: “It is a government tool, a last resort when their systematic legal harassments fail to silence activists and the democratic mass movement.”
‘Hit list’
Human rights group Karapatan said the designation sets up the four individuals to graver attacks and human rights violations.
“With the State’s trumped-up accusations against these activists failing to prosper in courts, the ATC is now resorting to designation not only as a way of curtailing their movements and derailing their pro-people and human rights advocacies but to set the victims up for arrest on other trumped-up charges or worse, for involuntary disappearance or extrajudicial killing,” said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay.
She called the designation list “a virtual hit list.”
“We condemn the ATC for unjustly, arbitrarily, and maliciously designating political activists as terrorist individuals and endangering their lives, safety, and security in the process…We will hold the ATC and its co-conspirators in the intelligence agencies and the NTF-ELCAC accountable for any harm that may befall these designated individuals,” Palabay said.
“We deplore the increasing use of terror laws against activists and peasants to suppress political dissent and violate basic rights and civil liberties, as what numerous human rights advocates and groups have warned when the Anti-Terrorism Act was signed into law,” she added.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender, NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Jul 10, 2023
- Event Description
Reporter to https://www.makalukhabar.com/ Shibendra Rohita was attacked for reporting on July 10 in Dhanusha. Dhanusha district lies in Madhesh Province of Nepal.
According to Freedom Forum's representative for the province Rajan Singh, news about corruption and irregularities in the Dhanauji rural municipality with Rohita's byline was published on the news portal on July 8. Following this, Chief administrative officer at the rural municipality office Ranjit Yadav's brother and relatives attacked reporter Rohita in the busy market place.
Reporter Rohita has been severly injured in head and chest in the attack. He has been undergoing treatment in the Kathmandu Medical College Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu after referral from Dhanusha Hospital.
"The vehicle used by the administrative officer Yadav's relative has been known to be rented by the municipality office", shared representative Singh adding,"Dhanusha Police is investigating the case."
Freedom Forum condemns the brutal attack upon the reporter. It is a blatant violation of press freedom. There are legitimate ways to show dissatisfaction over the news published. The administrative officer's action is strictly against the constitutionally guaranteed journalists' right to free and fair reporitng.
Hence, FF strongly urges the concerned authority to address the case fairly. The attackers must be brought to book to address impunity relating to the crime against journalist. Journalist's safety is essential for free reporting.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jul 10, 2023
- Event Description
Vietnamese authorities have detained a former health teacher Duong Tuan Ngoc for posts he made on social media about education, health, and social issues that criticized the government, police reports and family members said.
Ngoc, 38, was once a nutrition teacher in the southern province of Lam Dong. The Lam Dong police summoned him on July 10, and he was detained the next day, his wife Bui Thanh Diem Ngoc, told Radio Free Asia’s Vietnamese Service.
The police said the detention is for an investigation on charges of anti-state propaganda in connection with videos he posted to Facebook and YouTube.
The exact law he is charged with violating is the vaguely written Article 117, which Amnesty International has described as being “commonly used to suppress legitimate dissent in Vietnam” and “a favored tool of the authorities to arbitrarily imprison journalists, bloggers and others who express views that do not align with the interests of the Communist Party of Vietnam.”
So far this year, at least six other activists, independent journalists and Facebook users have been arrested under Article 117 with prison terms ranging from five years and six months to eight years in prison, according to RFA statistics.
Mrs. Ngoc said her husband was called in on July 10 when police received an anonymous accusation that Mr. Ngoc was selling drug-related products on his Facebook account. At the police station, Mr. Ngoc was asked to admit that an offending account belonged to him.
“He said that he did not do anything wrong,” Mrs. Ngoc said. “The next day, we were asked to appear at the police station again without any stated reason.”
On their second visit, the husband and wife were put in separate rooms for interrogation. Later that night, police searched their house and confiscated phones, laptops, computers and cameras.
Mrs. Ngoc said that she was allowed to keep three of her own phones, and was let go after two days of interrogation, during which she was asked if she had helped her husband edit his online posts.
She has not seen her husband since the 11th, nor has she been allowed to send him clothes or anything else he might need. On Sunday, she received the written police notice of her husband’s emergency detention.
Long list of accusations
Signed by Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Thai Thanh on July 15, the notice accused Ngoc of a litany of alleged crimes, including attacking socialism, distorting history, denying revolutionary achievements, slandering the socialist regime, defaming national founder Ho Chi Minh and infringing upon the lawful rights and interests of the state – all in violation of Article 117.
However, the police did not specify which social media posts or videos broke the law, she said.
RFA attempted to contact the Lam Dong police for an explanation, but the person who answered the phone said responses to inquiries could only be given in person.
Mr. Ngoc’s most recent Facebook post, on July 10, praised a lifestyle close to nature in Vietnam’s countryside. His personal page has more than 45,000 followers and has an introductory description declaring, “I have rights as a citizen. You have rights as citizens. Citizens are the rightful owners of the country.”
His YouTube account “Freelance Education” was established in July 2019, and he has around 34,000 followers and hundreds of videos about health, medicine, and life in the countryside.
Ngoc’s wife said that the couple had previously lived in Ho Chi Minh City, southern Vietnam’s economic hub, but they recently moved to Lam Ha in March 2022.
They both graduated from Ho Chi Minh University of Economics and hold master’s degrees.
Mr. Ngoc taught college students online. He has made more than 684 videos and posted thousands of articles on medicine, health, education, economy, and many other social issues.
Prior to Mr. Ngoc’s detention, the couple sold a variety of organic and medicinal agricultural products. Since moving to Lam Ha, they have focused on gardening and producing organic goods, and selling them on social media.
Authorities targeted Mr. Ngoc because he was a champion of raising awareness of human values, an activist from Ho Chi Minh City told RFA on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.
“The teacher aims at human values, truth and liberal education in the clips he makes,” the activist said. “I feel that he only wants to contribute to the community with a correct view about the country's situation. Besides that, I don't see any sense in the charges they put in the detention notice.”
The activist said that in Ngoc’s videos, he never mentioned any specific part of the government or any named person, so the charges don’t make sense.
Le Quoc Quan, a former prisoner of conscience-turned-lawyer, told RFA that she has been following Ngoc’s videos for a long time.
“I am very impressed and have sympathy for Mr. Duong Tuan Ngoc because I think his presentations on social issues are very interesting, humorous, and very true,” she said. “After all, I find that Duong Tuan Ngoc is a talented person, and what he reflects is true and humorous. He deserves to be applauded instead of being arrested.”
Quan said what Ngoc said was true, even if it was sometimes sarcastic and humorous.
She described application of Article 117 as “a net dredging up everything so that anyone can be attributed with slander or libel.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jul 10, 2023
- Event Description
Security threats from conservative Islamic groups in Indonesia have forced organizers of a Southeast Asian LGBT event to move it from Jakarta to an undisclosed location.
The Indonesian capital was to host the five-day ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Queer Advocacy Week conference from July 17.
However, the organizing committee which received death threats from conservative groups decided to move the venue citing "security reasons after monitoring the situation very closely, including the anti-LGBT wave on social media.”
“The decision was made to ensure the safety and security of the participants and the committee,” the committee said in a statement.
Arus Pelangi, a Jakarta-based LGBT rights advocacy outfit and the local organizer, claimed in a July 16 statement that they received a barrage of death threats via social media like Twitter and Instagram.
Personal accounts of its activists and the identity of the organizers were disclosed on social media to tarnish its image, Arus Pelangi further claimed.
Hendrika Mayora Victoria, 35, a Catholic transgender and coordinator of Fajar Sikka, a same-sex advocacy group, said, "Indonesia is not ready to accept diversity and is increasingly homophobic."
This latest case was a worrying signal, Victoria added.
"What's sad is that hate speech, under the pretext of certain religious teachings, continues to be echoed," Victoria told UCA News.
"The event actually aims to unify the vision of an inclusive ASEAN region and strive for a safe space for civil society."
The Journalists Union for Diversity and the Alliance of Independent Journalists in a July 16 joint statement lamented local and national media coverage which fueled persecution of same-sex couples.
Most online media reports contain more statements from politicians, police, Ulema (religious) councils, and government officials calling for anti-LGBTQ laws “to increase hostility, hatred, discrimination and persecution against the group," they said.
The Human Rights Working Group, a coalition of NGOs, with the Secretariat for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation of the Franciscans as one of its members, urged the police to investigate and take action against perpetrators of hate speech.
Daniel Awigra, the group’s executive director, said the cancellation of the event in Jakarta was "a form of powerlessness and failure of the state in its constitutional obligation to guarantee a sense of security for everyone without exception to express and assemble peacefully."
"The state should actually take action against the perpetrators who have been spreading incitement and hatred," he said.
Same-sex couples are vulnerable to discrimination in Indonesia, the largest Muslim nation in the world.
Earlier this month, Garut district in West Java province passed a regulation criminalizing same-sex activities.
In December last year, a visit by US special LGBTQ envoy Jessica Stern was canceled after resistance from Islamic groups.
In December 2021, Bogor, a city in West Java province passed a regulation to prevent sexually deviant behavior.
Between 2006 and 2017, Arus Pelangi recorded 172 cases of persecution in Indonesia, including intimidation, physical and verbal abuse, and maltreatment against same-sex couples.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- LGBTQ+/ Non-Binary, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy, SOGI rights
- HRD
- NGO, NGO staff, SOGI rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Extremist group, Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Jul 10, 2023
- Event Description
On July 3, the Saryagash District Specialized Administrative Court in Kazakhstan’s southern Turkestan region sentenced Batyrbekov, chief editor of local independent newspaper S-Inform, to 20 days’ administrative detention over a March 10 Facebook post accusing a parliamentary deputy of corruption. He was taken from the courtroom to begin his sentence.
Batyrbekov denied the charges and said he plans to appeal the verdict.
In a statement, the local free speech group Adil Soz described the ruling as “unlawful,” saying the court failed to prove Batyrbekov had knowingly spread false information.
In 2019, Batyrbekov was sentenced to two years and three months on insult and defamation charges. In January 2022, he survived an assassination attempt allegedly organized by a local official in retaliation for his reporting.
“The 20-day prison sentence for Kazakh journalist Amangeldy Batyrbekov, who has been frequently targeted with defamation charges and even attempted murder for his reporting, is deeply troubling,” said CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Gulnoza Said, in London. “Kazakh authorities should free Batyrbekov immediately and reform their defamation laws to ensure that journalists are not jailed for their reporting.”
In the March 10 post, Batyrbekov alleged that parliamentary deputy Bolatbek Nazhmetdinuly was connected to corruption cases, pointing to a 2019 fraud case in which Batyrbekov said Nazhmetdinuly was allegedly a suspect and that police had “mysteriously closed.”
In court, Batyrbekov showed what he said was a signed police document identifying Nazhmetdinuly as a suspect, according to Adil Soz. However, the investigator whose signature was purportedly on that document told the court that he denied signing it, saying Nazhmetdinuly was a witness and not a suspect.
Nazhmetdinuly told CPJ by email that his lawyer contacted Batyrbekov in the comments section under that post and asked him not to spread inaccurate information and to delete the post. When Batyrbekov refused to take down the post, Nazhmetdinuly filed a defamation complaint on March 15, he said.
Nazhmetdinuly told CPJ that investigators in the March 15 defamation case provided Batyrbekov with a document stating that the parliamentarian had not been a suspect in that case.
Judge Berik Kaipov ruled Batyrbekov had spread information without checking its accuracy, and that simply fining the journalist would be “insufficient” punishment, according to Adil Soz.
A person close to the journalist told CPJ that Batyrbekov believed authorities had falsified the document to favor Nazhmetdinuly’s description of the case.
That person, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal, said Batyrbekov had frequently written posts and articles critical of Kaipov and that the judge had twice previously convicted the journalist of defamation. Those rulings were later overturned by higher courts, that person said.
CPJ’s calls and messages to Batyrbekov’s lawyer and email to the Saryagash Specialized Administrative Court went unanswered.
In 2020, Kazakhstan decriminalized defamation but maintained punishments of up to 30 days’ detention for the offense in its administrative code.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jul 9, 2023
- Event Description
Myanmar’s military has threatened legal action against independent media outlets Democratic Voice of Burma and Mizzima, demanding the shuttered organisations pay broadcasting fees incurred before military rule, and charging seven Mizzima employees under Section 505(a) of the country’s penal code. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate, the Myanmar Journalists Network (MJN), in condemning the junta's farcical legal action and demanding it cease its attacks on the media.
On July 9, the military junta’s Ministry of Information announced its intention to pursue legal action against independent news organisations, Mizzima Television and the Democratic Voice of Burma Television (DVB TV), claiming the outlets owed a combined MMK 100,000,000 (approx. USD 47,800) in overdue transmission fees incurred before the military coup.
In an interview with Voice of America, Mizzima co-founder Soe Myint claimed the junta had also charged seven of the outlet’s employees with breaking Section 505(a) of Myanmar's Penal Code, despite many now being based abroad. The amended legislation has been used to persecute media workers in Myanmar since its introduction by the military, criminalising the circulation of any information with the intent to defame government employees. These charges hold a maximum of two years imprisonment.
Both Mizzima and DVB TV have denied the legitimacy of the junta’s legal action, stating that the broadcasting contracts were signed with the democratically elected government, overthrown in 2021, with the junta violating the agreement by shutting down their respective channels. The DVB stated its intention not to pay the fees, while Mizzima leadership have claimed they would pay the outstanding total if given access to its bank accounts, seized by the junta in March 2021.
The parent companies of both organisations signed agreements with Myanmar Radio and Television in 2018, providing content for the state broadcaster’s free-to-air services. The Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and Mizzima news agencies' Yangon offices were seized by junta military personnel in March 2021, with their media licenses revoked alongside three other independent outlets. As detailed in the IFJ’s 2022 Myanmar situation report, The Revolution Will Not Be Broadcast, journalists and media workers are among thousands of dissidents, politicians, and lawmakers forced into exile or underground following the Junta’s ascension to power on February 1, 2021.
The MJN said:“[This action constitutes] further defamation action against two independent media outlets which have a large number of audiences in Myanmar by the military junta. The coup military government ministry broke the agreement between the Ministry of Information and DVB and Mizzima. The ministry switches off these two TV channels without prior notice or in line with the agreement. That's why their narrative is illegal.”
The IFJ said:"The military junta must cease its blatant attacks against media organisations, with this attempt to extract money from junta-shuttered news outlets unjustifiable. The IFJ condemns this act of intimidation against the Democratic Voice of Burma and Mizzima and urges the military’s Ministry of Information to suspend its legal action and allow media organisations to work without fear of reprisal.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Jul 8, 2023
- Event Description
The National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), one of the oldest women organisations in the country who in their last three-member, namely Annie Raja, Nisha Sindhu and Deeksha Duivedi’s visit to Manipur conducting fact finding mission over Manipur ethnic conflict have been slapped with FIR for allegedly hurting sentiments of the Manipuri Meira Paibis. NFIW general secretary Annie Raja along with NFIW national secretary Nisha Sindhu and independent Advocate Deeksha Duivedi had visited both Meitei areas and Kuki areas and came to the conclusion that the May 3 riot was state-sponsored. The three-member NFIW addressing media at Manipur Press Club in Imphal on July 1 had said that the May 3 riot in Manipur was a state-sponsored riot and that is why the state government is not making any effort to control it. According to HY News, the three were booked on Saturday, July 8 at Imphal Police station for disregarding women Meira Paibis of Manipur and terming the protest of Meira Paibis against the resignation of Chief Minister as “stage-managed drama”. The FIR has been registered under sections s 121- A/124/153/153-A/ 153-B/ 499/ 504/505(2)/34 of IPC by one L. Liben Singh (53), son of late Sanoujam Pholo Singh of Heingang Makha Leikai. Annie Raja the general secretary of the women’s organisation had alleged that chief minister N Biren Singh kept himself busy at around 7 pm on May 3, by tweeting and making social media posts on the vice president of India’s visit to Manipur, when people were being killed and houses torched. Jagdeep Dhankhar’s in his one day-long visit on May 3 attended events at DM University campus and Manipur University.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jul 7, 2023
- Event Description
Seven Burmese garment workers and union activists will face trial on incitement charges in a military court for advocating for a pay raise at a factory that supplied Inditex, the owner of the Spanish retailer Zara, a labor activist said Friday.
The case has put a spotlight on the plight of workers in Myanmar’s troubled garment sector. Several companies have exited the country since the February 2021 military coup and subsequent deterioration in labor conditions.
Inditex is reportedly set to make a phased exit from the country after the arrests of the five garment workers and two union activists in June. They worked at a Chinese-owned factory operated by Hosheng Myanmar Garment Company Limited in Yangon division. They formed a union in April to bargain for better conditions.
An activist affiliated with the union, declining to be named for safety reasons, told RFA that the seven accused are still being held at Hlawga police station in Shwepyithar Township.
On Friday, despite a scheduled hearing, the activist was told that the seven would remain in custody awaiting a trial for incitement. If convicted, they face up to two years in prison under section 505 (a) of Myanmar’s penal code.
“Before setting up the trade union, the working conditions had many rules – no complaints, forced overtime, very low salary,” the activist said. “The factory doesn’t like the trade union, so that’s why the seven trade union members were dismissed.”
The activist said the trial of the seven will be held behind closed doors at a military court in Shwepyithar Township in Yangon. The township is under martial law.
RFA has reached out to Inditex for comment.
Workers lack recourse from labor abuse
Nearly 500,000 people are employed in Myanmar’s garment sector, but labor activists say the military takeover has diminished regulatory oversight of factories. They say workers have less ability to negotiate with their employers and lack recourse in cases of labor abuse. But faced with economic instability, some feel they have no choice but to accept any job available.
In the last two years, as Myanmar has sunk into civil conflict and international condemnation of the military junta has grown, Inditex and other European brands have decided to quit the Southeast Asian country, including Primark, C&A, and the UK-based Tesco PLC and Marks & Spencer.
Since December, the European Union and international retailers have funded the Multi-stakeholder Alliance for Decent Employment in Myanmar, or MADE, to provide more accountability for conditions in factories that supply garments for export, expanding on a previous project. Roughly 380,000 garment jobs are directly reliant on EU trade.
Labor activists have called for the program to be axed, claiming brands still present in the country have not been able to ensure worker protection in factories. Out of 37 brands linked to labor violations in Myanmar factories since the coup, Inditex was reported to be linked to the highest number of alleged abuse cases, followed by H&M and Bestseller.
One rights group found that freedom of association was “nearly non-existent” and that business-military collusion was found in 16% of cases. At Hosheng, soldiers were recorded telling workers there were no unions under military rule.
In April, the 16-union Myanmar Labour Alliance sent a letter to EU leaders requesting that the program be defunded. It said that training for workplace coordination committees provided by MADE would undermine union efforts and allow management to conduct elections which would threaten existing unions.
‘We don’t have any legal mechanism’
The alliance reported that since the coup, 53 union members and activists were murdered and 300 were arrested. Khaing Zar Aung, a representative of the alliance and president of the Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar, told RFA that brands had no capacity to oversee working conditions on the ground.
“What mechanism do we have?” she asked. “We don’t have any legal mechanism applicable.”
However, the EU has also remained firm in their stance on the program.
An EU spokesperson told RFA in a statement that funding for MADE provides ways for workers to file complaints about workplace conditions, “as well as facilitating dialogue between employers, workers and international stakeholders.”
While acknowledging the constraints on freedom of association, the spokesperson wrote: “Nonetheless, the EU and the Multi-stakeholder Alliance for Decent Employment in Myanmar (MADE) partners believe that the interests of workers are best served if EU companies continue to source from the country, as long as this is done responsibly.”
“When large international retailers exit, this will inevitably lead to a loss of jobs, regardless of how the retailer goes about this,” Jacob A. Clere, a team leader of the MADE project, told RFA. He said retailers are currently being enrolled in MADE for 2023, with the first cohort to be finalized this coming month.
“We estimate that between 130 and 170 facilities could collectively be covered by those who initially joined MADE in 2023.”
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jul 7, 2023
- Event Description
An online news site operated by a Vietnamese NGO will be suspended for three months as of Friday in accordance with a government decision as the publication focuses on “overcoming and thoroughly correcting shortcomings” to implement a government press directive.
The Ministry of Information and Communications concluded in an inspection report that Zing News, also known as Zing News Online Knowledge magazine, had to stop its online service, though the publication did not cite a specific reason in a notice to its readers on Thursday.
The site, which covers economic, culture and political news in Vietnam, is run by the Vietnam Publishing Association, an entity that does not receive funding from the government or the Vietnamese Communist Party, but still must obey its orders.
Zing’s announcement said it would focus on implementing a prime ministerial decision issued on April 3, 2019, for a master plan on press development and management nationwide through 2025.
The government’s plan states that “the press is a means of information, a tool for propaganda, and a weapon” that is “important ideological fuel” for the party and the state. It also calls for continuous efforts to complete legislation for the government’s management and organization of the media and to eliminate the “overlapping situation” by reducing the number of newspapers.
Though Zing did not state what the shortcomings are, it said it would continue to innovate content to ensure the implementation of the principles and purposes specified in its license and to promote an identity of “prestige information, impressive images” that better serves readers.
Vietnam ranks near the bottom of Reporters Without Borders’ 2023 Press Freedom Index – 178 out of 180 nations – for quashing dissent, controlling the public’s access to social media and prosecuting journalists on contentious charges, such as “distributing anti-state propaganda” and “abusing democratic freedoms.”
As of May 2022, Vietnam had 815 news outlets, including 138 newspapers and 677 magazines, of which 29 operate only in electronic format, according to the Ministry of Information and Communications.
To implement the government’s plan, the online Tri Tri online newspaper (Zing.vn) of the Vietnam Publishing Association converted to an e-magazine model on April 1, 2020.
In 2022, the government suspended publication of two other websites for three months, Vietnam Law newspaper and the e-magazine Vietnam Business and Border Trade Journal.
The ministry determined that Vietnam Law Newspaper had 13 violations and was fined 325 million dong (US$13,720). The other publication, operated under the auspices of the Vietnam Association of Border Traders, was fined 70 million dong (US$2,960) for an administrative violation.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online, Right to work
- HRD
- Media Worker, NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jul 7, 2023
- Event Description
A court in Hanoi on July 7 sentenced Phan Thi Huong Thuy, a lawyer who was a former member of the Hanoi Bar Association, to 12 months in prison on allegations of “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of the State and individuals” under Article 331 of the Penal Code.
Thuy, 64, was prosecuted in September 2022 for allegedly publishing three articles on her social media that allegedly defamed Nguyen Van Chien, the former Chairman of the Hanoi Bar Association and former Vice President of the Vietnam Bar Federation. Thuy told RFA that the prosecution resulted from her earlier accusation that Chien did not have a university degree. Chien, a former Vietnam National Assembly member, considered it an insult.
However, Thuy again stated that she did not intend to insult Chien and that her purpose was to ensure that those elected to the Executive Board of the Hanoi Bar Association must meet the required criteria for a university degree. In October 2020, Chien sent an application to the Internal Political Security Department of the Ministry of Public Security, requesting that they investigate whether Thuy was the owner of the Facebook account “Huong Thuy Phan” where the defaming articles were published.
The authorities later determined that between September 15, 2020, and October 2, 2020, Thuy used the “Huong Thuy Phan” Facebook account to publish eight articles defaming Chien. In addition, Thuy was also ordered to compensate Nguyen Van Chien 9 million dong and pay a court fee of 200,000 dong. According to state media, the defendant, lawyer Phan Thi Huong Thuy, and the victim, lawyer Nguyen Van Chien, were absent during the trial.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 7, 2023
- Event Description
Free-speech activist Qiao Xinxin, who was reported missing in Vientiane in June amid reports of his arrest by Chinese police, is being held in a detention center in the central Chinese province of Hunan, according to overseas activists familiar with the matter.
Qiao, whose birth name is Yang Zewei, went missing, believed detained on or around May 31 in Vientiane, after launching an online campaign to end internet censorship in China, known as the BanGFW Movement, a reference to the Great Firewall, according to fellow activists.
Now, his family have been informed that he is being held in a juvenile detention center in Hunan's Hengyang city in another example of China’s cross-border law enforcement activities, Netherlands-based activist Lin Shengliang told Radio Free Asia.
"They issued legal documentation at 3.10 p.m. on July 7, saying where he was being held," Lin said. "But [his family] were unwilling to share the specific charge with me, perhaps because they felt it wasn't a good idea to speak out – they have a lot of fear and doubt."
Lin said it was unclear whether Qiao would get a visit from his family members, however.
"His parents want to go visit, but I told them the authorities wouldn't allow that," he said. "They may find a lawyer who could go and meet with him at the detention center."
200 Chinese police in Vientiane
Qiao had lived in Laos for several years before launching the BanGFW Movement, yet was believed to have been detained by Chinese police in Vientiane.
Canada-based Li Jianfeng, a former Chinese judge, told Radio Free Asia earlier this month that 200 Chinese police officers were billeted in a Vientiane hotel, amid growing concerns that rights lawyer Lu Siwei will also be repatriated to China after being detained by immigration police.
Lu's disappearance sparked international criticism amid ongoing concerns around the Chinese Communist Party's "long-arm" law enforcement operations, which have included running secret police "service stations" in dozens of countries, according to the Spain-based rights group Safeguard Defenders.
Lin said Qiao had clearly met with the same fate.
"This was 100% a cross-border arrest," he said. "Unfortunately it didn't receive enough attention from the international community to help."
"I think that [the international outcry over Lu Siwei] could have a helpful effect," Lin said.
U.S.-based rights lawyer Wang Qingpeng said Qiao's anti-censorship campaign was brave, and highly representative of public opinion in China.
"The Chinese won't have a safe, free and democratic place to live until more people stand up against tyranny," she said. "Like most ordinary people, [Qiao] really detests the Great Firewall, and had hoped to bring it down, so that the whole world would pay attention, and the Chinese people would know the truth."
"But anyone who tells the truth faces greater risks, whether at home or abroad, and particularly in Southeast Asian countries," Wang said.
Greater risks in Southeast Asia
Gambling tycoon She Zhijiang, whose casinos have been linked with massive human trafficking and online scam operations in the region, was arrested by Thai police in August 2022 and faces repatriation to China despite being a naturalized citizen of Cambodia.
In November 2022, police in Bangkok Police detained an exiled Chinese dissident l after he staged a lone street protest against Chinese leader Xi Jinping inspired by the Oct. 13 "bridge man" protest in Beijing.
Veteran rights activist Li Nanfei, who has been stranded in Thailand for several years despite being a United Nations-registered refugee, was arrested after holding up a placard on a Bangkok street that read: "His Majesty President Xi, put an end to dictatorship in China! Give the people back their freedom!"
Earlier in the same month, Adiyaa, an ethnic Mongolian Chinese national who fled the country after his involvement in 2020 protests over a ban on Mongolian-medium teaching in schools, reported being held by Chinese state security police in Bangkok.
In 2019, Thai police detained two Chinese refugees – Jia Huajiang and Liu Xuehong – who had earlier helped jailed rights website founder Huang Qi before fleeing the country.
Thailand has sent refugees from China back home in the past.
And in July 2018, authorities in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing jailed rights activist Dong Guangping and political cartoonist Jiang Yefei after they were sent home from Thailand as they were awaiting resettlement as political refugees, prompting an international outcry.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Deportation
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jul 5, 2023
- Event Description
Police in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City have arrested activist Phan Tat Thanh, accusing him for criticizing the government’s response to “Chinese aggression” in the South China Sea, his father told Radio Free Asia.
Thanh, 37, also known as “Black Aaron,” often posted online about the contentious area in the sea where Hanoi, Beijing and others have competing territorial claims.
Netizens told Thanh’s father, who requested anonymity for security reasons, that Thanh had gone missing on July 5.
The police issued a prosecution document on July 13, and on July 15 they searched his home and copied data from his computer.
In 2010, Thanh staged a protest in front of China’s Embassy in Bangkok because anti-China demonstrations in Vietnam by that time were being suppressed.
In addition to anti-China posts, Thanh had written posts and comments about human rights violations, environmental pollution, systematic corruption, and issues of major concern in Vietnam.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jul 5, 2023
- Event Description
Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS), the state police, officially charged Duong Van Thai, a Vietnamese blogger who lived in exile in Thailand, with “distributing anti-State propaganda,” a purported violation of Article 117 in the Penal Code. According to an announcement letter dated July 5 that was sent to Duong Thi Lu, the mother of Thai, the police also extended the detention of the Vietnamese blogger until August 12. The letter said he was detained at MPS Detention Center B14 in Thanh Tri District, Hanoi City.
Lu said the police letter was delivered to her home on July 14, three months after state-sponsored agents allegedly kidnaped Thai.
Duong Van Thai, 41, owned a Youtube channel called “Thái Văn Đường” and specialized in reporting on infighting within the Vietnamese Communist Party. All videos and live streams published on the channel disappeared shortly after he went missing. Thai had been a political refugee in Thailand since early 2019 and was granted refugee status by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Bangkok in the same year.
On April 13, he was reported missing after leaving his home in Pathum Thani Province, Thailand. Three days later, on April 16, the Ha Tinh Provincial Police in Vietnam said they found a man named Duong Van Thai who “illegally crossed the border to enter Vietnam from Laos.” Vietnamese activists and those close to Thai believed he had been kidnapped by Vietnamese security agents in Bangkok and forcibly transported back to Vietnam.
The alleged abduction of Duong Van Thai worried Vietnamese dissidents and human rights activists living in Thailand, who feared that Vietnam’s security apparatus has become increasingly bold in its repression of foreign-based critics.
In a Facebook posting on July 20, attorney Dang Dinh Manh, a human rights lawyer in the United States, said that the Vietnamese police inadvertently admitted their operations to kidnap Duong Van Thai in their announcement of indicting him.
Manh wrote that according to Vietnam’s criminal procedure law, the limit for the first temporary detention is four months. This coincides with the unconfirmed information that Thai was kidnapped on April 13 in Thailand, while his temporary custody will conclude on August 12. The attorney believes that the Vietnamese police planned the abduction of the blogger in Thailand’s territory in advance.
Moreover, Manh added that the police security investigation agency officially charged Duong Van Thai with violating Article 117 of the Penal Code instead of punishing him for an illegal border crossing, which the Ha Tinh Police initially alleged.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Jul 4, 2023
- Event Description
At a time where the government of Sri Lanka is facing major criticism from various factions for its proposed Broadcast Authority Regulatory Act, the Criminal Investigation Department and the Financial Crime Division summoned two social media activists, for inquiries on Tuesday (04).
Activist Tharindu Uduwaragedara, who owns the YouTube channel Satahan Radio, was summoned to the CID to record a statement with regard to the comments he made over the arrest of Nathasha Edirisooriya, who was remanded for controversial comments she had made.
"I commented on the nature of the arrest, and the conduct of the media. I have been summoned to the CID for that," said Uduwaragedara.
The social media activist stated that over the past few decades, the country has seen patterns of governance, where the rulers always incite the people using lies and racism, and thereafter drag the country into an abyss.
"The people started to understand that group via YouTube videos. According to the present government, there is no greater crime than speaking. The Anti Terrorism Act relates to expression. They have also appointed a committee to introduce laws against religious defamation," added Uduwaragedara.
The social media activist, speaking to media, said that the government wants to introduce a Broadcasting Regulatory Act, and that document was leaked to the media.
He added that the government is trying to introduce new laws for contempt of court, as well as social media regulation.
"The most serious form of terrorism, according to the government, is freedom of expression," he said.
Social media activist Dharshana Handungoda was also summoned to the Financial Crime Division in Narahenpita in order to record a statement regarding the YouTube channel SL VLOG.
"They say that I sold this channel. The previous channel I worked for was SL VLOG. Some say it belongs to me. It does not belong to me. Our PR is here to show the list of directors," Handungoda said, speaking to the media, following his appearance at the Financial Crime Division.
It is also noteworthy that Dharshana Handungoda was arrested on the 5th of February 2023, over posting controversial views on social media platforms.
Tharindu Uduwaragedara was summoned before the CID on 28 June 2022.
On 8 November 2022, he was questioned by the Cyber Crimes Investigation Division (CCID) for nearly 3 hours at the Criminal Investigation Department in Colombo.
On the 28th of May, Nathasha Edirisooriya was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), for allegedly making defamatory comments about Buddhism.
Social media activist Bruno Divakara was also arrested by the Cyber Crimes Division of the Criminal Investigation Department on the 31st of May.
He was arrested for sharing her content.
Amidst a slew of arrests and interrogations being carried out on journalists and social media activists in Sri Lanka, questions are being raised by various factions as to whether the media freedom of Sri Lanka is under threat once again, similar to the dark era in Sri Lankan history where multiple journalists were killed, assaulted, or disappeared.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Sri Lanka: social media activist arrested
- Country
- Malaysia
- Initial Date
- Jul 4, 2023
- Event Description
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the Malaysian government to act swiftly to locate a Myanmar refugee activist and her family after they were allegedly abducted from their home in Ampang Jaya at the beginning of this month.
FMT has reached out to the home ministry and police for comment.
According to HRW, activist Thuzar Maung, her husband Saw Than Tin Win and their three children were abducted by unidentified men on July 4.
The international human rights watchdog said its claim is supported by CCTV footage and witness accounts gathered following the incident.
“We fear that Thuzar and her family were abducted in a planned operation and are at grave risk. The Malaysian government should urgently act to locate the family and ensure their safety,” said HRW’s Asia director, Elaine Pearson, in a statement.
The group claimed that at 4.30pm on the day of the incident, the alleged abductors, who arrived in a car and identified themselves as policemen, got past the security post of the gated community where the activist’s home was located.
“Two hours later, Thuzar was on the phone with a friend, who heard Thuzar yell to her husband that unknown men were entering the house, before the call got disconnected.
“Later that day, the same car and two cars owned by Thuzar’s family were seen leaving the compound,” HRW claimed.
It said CCTV footage from the security booth captured the licence plate of the “police” car.
Malaysian police have since confirmed registration number of the car as fake, the group claimed.
The outspoken Thuzar is a long-time advocate for democracy in Myanmar and of refugee and migrant rights in Malaysia.
She chairs the Myanmar Muslim Refugee Community and Myanmar Migrant Workers Committee, and has also worked closely with Myanmar’s opposition, the National Unity Government of Myanmar.
Thuzar fled Myanmar in 2015. She and her family are recognised by the United Nations High Commission For Refugees as refugees in Malaysia.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Transnational repression
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 3, 2023
- Event Description
A Boeng Tamok resident received a summons to appear in a Phnom Penh court on Monday following a clash with district authorities over a community bridge.
The Phnom Penh deputy prosecutor summoned Am Phoeun in response to a criminal complaint that she had illegally appropriated private property and used violence against rightful real estate owners. The court names the plaintiffs as Thai Ouy, Tang Kim and Ngoun Mong — whom Phoeun said she did not know.
Phoeun said she believed the summons was a response to a May altercation with authorities. Phoeun said she and her neighbors blocked dozens of Prek Pnov district government-employed security guards when they came to dismantle a small bridge Boeng Tamok residents had built to improve their access to fishing locations.
The residents successfully prevented the security guards from destroying the bridge by gathering around 100 people to block them, Phoeun said, claiming no violence had been used by protestors.
“I am not guilty of anything, but they came to sue me for using violence on their property, even though I was the owner of the land,” she said.
She said after the incident she did not file any complaint to the police or higher authorities as she thought there was no one who wanted to help her community.
The summons was delivered to Phoeun on Sunday afternoon by a district police officer, Phoeun said. She requested a delay because did not yet have a lawyer to represent her.
Phoeun, a 54-year-old mother of four, said this was the third court summons she had received.
In February, nine other Boeng Tamok residents faced charges for protesting when authorities allegedly prevented them from repairing their homes.
The areas’ current residents like Phoeun lack nationally-recognized land titles and are slated for eviction as the development projects spread out around the Boeng Tamok lake.
Residents of Phoeun’s village of Samrong Tbong in Prek Pnov district support themselves by fishing, even as the lake around them is being filled in as numerous plots of land given to well-connected individuals.
There are around 200 families and 77 houses at Boeng Tamok lake, Phoeun said. They have been seeking land titles or alternative places to live and 31 families have been resettled by the government.
“As a victim, I propose [to the court] to drop all charges [against me] and I ask [the government] for living and development on the spot,” Phoeun said.
Court spokespersons Plang Sophal could not be reached and Y Rin declined to comment. Deputy prosecutor Sorn Mony could not be reached.
Licadho operations director Am Sam Ath urged for authorities to handle the matter peacefully and with empathy towards the residents at Boeng Tamok.
“I feel that there is still no solution for the people living in Boeng Tamok,” he said. “Therefore, as a civil society organization, we want to insist and ask for a peaceful and sustainable settlement.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jul 3, 2023
- Event Description
Vietnam on Monday sentenced activist Phan Son Tung to six years in prison for advocating the formation of an opposition to the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam, his lawyer told Radio Free Asia.
Tung, 39, was arrested in August 2022 on anti-state propaganda charges for calling for the formation of the Prosperous Vietnam Party, which would work toward eliminating inequality in political power by removing communist party leadership.
Also related to his charges were his demand for citizens to have the freedom to establish associations and political organizations, and his social media content, which authorities said was “anti-state.”
According to the indictment, Phan Son Tung created and managed three YouTube channels, namely “For a prosperous Vietnam,” Phan Son Tung and Son Tung TV, and a Facebook page under the name David Phan. He had posted around 1,000 video clips on these channels, generating more than 148 million views with 530,000 followers.
The indictment also accused him of creating and disseminating 16 video clips with fabricated and confusion-creating content, six of which contained information promoting psychological warfare. Another 17 pieces of content distorted, slandered or insulted the prestige of organizations or the honor and dignity of individuals.
The indictment also acknowledged that he had been remorseful, cooperative and sincere in his confessions, and had paid a fine of 27 million dong (US$1,149), the total revenue generated from advertising income and from selling merchandise emblazoned with the words “For a Prosperous Vietnam.”
‘Full of social evils’
According to a Facebook post by attorney Le Van Luan, Tung used to work on the Project Management Board of Vietel Real Estate Firm but then moved out to establish his own company.
It was then that he learned that Vietnam is a society “full of social evils,” and he began to advocate for a stronger Vietnam with a “clean government” that is free of corruption, with each person playing their role.
During Monday’s trial, which began at 8:30 a.m. and ended at noon, Tung acknowledged every action he was accused of. But he maintained that none of those were crimes, his lawyer Ngo Anh Tuan told RFA’s Vietnamese Service.
"He reaffirmed that his acts were not unlawful and the defense lawyers also proved this,” Tuan said. “However, the prosecutors still stuck with their viewpoint.”
Tuan said he was expecting a shorter sentence because during the trial the prosecution did not demonstrate how his actions deserved a greater sentence. But because he had multiple violations, the judge decided to hand down the minimum sentence proposed by the prosecution, said Tuan.
Tung has become the sixth activist charged with “anti-state” propaganda under Article 117 since January 2023.
Amnesty International has described the law as a means to suppress legitimate dissent and “a favored tool of the authorities to arbitrarily imprison journalists, bloggers and others who express views that do not align with the interests of the communist party.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 3, 2023
- Event Description
All Chinese social media accounts of popular media outlet Health Insight were suspended on 3 July 2023 on the pretext of "violating public account management regulations", one month after it reported on the profit-oriented management practices within big hospitals and the escalating prescription drug prices. As Health Insight ’s operation model is based on direct distribution of news on internet platforms, this ban is equivalent to a forced shutdown.
The suspension follows the launch in March by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), an entity personally supervised by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, of a campaign aimed at “regulating the chaos of self-publishing media," a term encompassing accounts that share information on social media platforms.
“By forcibly shutting down a popular source of health news, the Chinese regime once again demonstrates its fear of having its policy failures publicly exposed. We urge the international community to build up pressure for the regime to end its policy of systemic censorship, and release all journalists and press freedom defenders currently detained in the country.
Cédric Alviani RSF East Bureau Director Founded in 2018 and censored several times, Health Insight was particularly influential during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2022, it was praised as an example of innovative media by a committee of Chinese media researchers and professionals.
Since Chinese leader Xi Jinping took power in 2012, he has been conducting a large-scale crusade against journalism as revealed in RSF’s report The Great Leap Backwards of Journalism in China, which details Beijing’s efforts to control information and media within and outside its borders.
China ranks 179th out of 180 in the 2023 RSF World Press Freedom Index and is the world's largest captor of journalists and press freedom defenders with at least 112 detained.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Jul 2, 2023
- Event Description
Kyrgyz feminist activist and single mother Altyn Kapalova says she won’t be deterred by the death threats she has received over her campaign to allow mothers to give their children a matronymic instead of the traditional patronymic if they so wish.
Many Kyrgyz in the former Soviet republic still use the Russian-style patronymic, an addition to one’s first name that derives from a father’s first name with the ending “evich” or “ovich” for boys and “evna” or “ovna” for girls.
The campaign by Kapalova led to an unprecedented ruling by the Kyrgyz Constitutional Court two weeks ago to allow adult citizens to swap their patronymic to a matronymic based on their mother’s first name.
Kapalova’s campaign to legalize a matronymic began in late 2020 when she decided to change the names of her three children, giving them her own surname and a matronymic in place of their fathers’ names.
Explaining her decision, Kapalova said the fathers of her children were absent from their lives, never provided any moral or financial support, and often created legal problems by refusing to sign parental-consent forms.
Kapalova challenged the existing rules through several courts, including the Supreme Court that upheld the lower courts’ ruling that prevented Kapalova from giving her children matronymics.
But the Constitutional Court decided on June 30 that the Kyrgyz Law On Acts Of Civil Status -- which only allows patronymics -- is discriminatory and unconstitutional.
The court ruled that citizens at the age of 18 or older can swap their patronymic with a matronymic if they wish.
The court, however, ordered that children will still be given patronymics from birth to prevent them from bullying in Kyrgyzstan’s patriarchal society.
Kapalova, 39, said the court decision marks a partial victory for her. She vowed to continue her campaign until a child can have a matronymic from birth.
Kapalova, who runs a feminist art museum in the capital, Bishkek, said her cause hasn’t been “activism” but that it’s a “family issue” for her and her children.
Divided Opinions
In an interview following the court ruling, Kapalova said she faced death threats and even calls for her to be thrown out of Kyrgyzstan, a Muslim-majority Central Asian nation.
“I am not going anywhere. That is only your wishful thinking,” she said.
Public opinion has been divided on the court ruling that effectively legalized matronymics.
Some welcomed the court ruling as a step forward in gender equality. But others condemn it as pro-Western propaganda and incompatible with traditional Kyrgyz values.
Many women wrote online that it was a victory for single mothers who face legal hurdles in making important decisions for their children -- such as taking them to the hospital and changing their school -- without a consent letter from absent fathers.
Many Kyrgyz mothers raise their children alone with little or no financial support from their former husbands, many of whom work in Russia.
“Thank you on behalf of all single mothers,” Nurjanai wrote on Instagram. “I have long been angry about this, but my small protest was only limited to me using my mother’s name on my Facebook account. I would not have the strength to fight against the system.”
“Amazing news,” wrote Kyrgyz social-media user Aliya Tulibaeva. “I entirely support your position.”
“You demonstrated that even one person can change the system,” wrote Leila Salimova.
Critics wrote that people like Kapalova should have no place in Kyrgyzstan and that her children will face harassment because of their matronymics.
“A radical feminist.... Only after you learned how to get pregnant and have children without the participation of men, you then want to give matronymics to your children,” commented Aisha Sharapova. “I feel sorry for your children.”
“These kinds of people should be sent to exile to Siberia like in the past,” wrote another on social media.
Opinions were divided among Kyrgyz politicians, too.
“There is no such thing as a matronymic. Whoever approved it, they must cancel it too,” said Kamchybek Tashiev, the head of the State Committee for National Security. “This is my personal stance,” the security chief added to his Facebook comment.
Presidential adviser Cholponbek Abykeev said he was against the use of matronymics as it goes against Kyrgyz cultural norms.
“We, the Kyrgyz people, have a tradition that requires us to know the names of our seven ancestors from the father’s side. Knowing your ancestry means preserving your genetics and origins,” he told RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service. “To know the names of your ancestors, we need to preserve your father’s surname.”
But Kyrgyz author Olzhobai Shakir argued that the latest court ruling on family names reflects the reality of people’s lives today.
“There are many men in our society that don’t fulfill their parental duties and abuse children. This is not only about women, but also about children too,” she told RFE/RL.
“We must not deny people [the right] to get a family name of their choice just because we have had certain traditions,” Shakir said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 29, 2023
- Event Description
At least nine land activists from four communities in Koh Kong province were arrested on 29 June 2023 and charged with incitement under Articles 494 to 495 of the Criminal Code for attempting to submit a petition to the Ministry of Justice.
On 29 June 2023, authorities blocked land community members in Sre Ambel district from travelling to Phnom Penh to deliver their petition. Community representatives from four land communities were questioned, after which 11 of the activists remained in custody and were transferred to Koh Kong provincial police station in Khemarak Phoumin town. The land activists were held overnight, in addition to the six-year-old child and 18-month-old baby of two of the activists, both of whom slept at the police station alongside their mothers. The six-year-old child’s father was called to collect the child this morning, when the 11 activists were transferred to the Koh Kong provincial court. Ten were ordered to be held in pre-trial detention in Koh Kong prison. Other community members were prevented from gathering outside the court in support of their representatives.
Around 100 community members had planned to travel to the capital yesterday to submit a petition asking Minister of Justice Koeut Rith to intervene for charges to be dropped against 30 land activists from five communities. Four vans were initially prevented by police from travelling that morning, with only one van able to continue to Phnom Penh.
Police threatened to arrest around 20 community members who gathered in front of the provincial police station to support their representatives this morning. Police were also deployed between Tani village to Praek Chik village, where the community members live. Other community members reported difficulties travelling to Koh Kong province. The reasons for questioning the land activists are currently unclear.
- Impact of Event
- 11
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Family of HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jun 29, 2023
- Event Description
On Tuesday, a military court sentenced Wuttyi Aung, a student at Dagon University in Myanmar's former capital Yangon to a total of seven years. She was arrested with five other activists during a night raid. RFA was not able determine which crime she was accused of, but she was sentenced to three years in prison for violating section 505 (A) of the penal code and four years for violating section 52 (a) of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The Dagon University Student Union announced Wednesday that she was in a critical health condition while detained at Yangon’s Insein prison and not allowed to receive medical treatment for the pain she incurred in the torture during her interrogation.
According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, since the 2021 coup a total of 19,279 pro-democracy activists and citizens are in detention of which 6,599 have been sentenced to prison terms as of Wednesday.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jun 28, 2023
- Event Description
Myanmar’s military authorities must immediately release Thaung Win, stop persecuting journalists for their work, and let the independent news outlet The Irrawaddy operate freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.
On June 28, the Western Yangon District Court sentenced Thaung Win, The Irrawaddy’s publisher, to five years in prison under Article 124-A of the penal code, which covers penalties for the anti-state crime of sedition, according to news reports and The Irrawaddy editor-in-chief Aung Zaw, who communicated with CPJ by email.
The court also fined him 100,000 kyats (about US$47).
Thaung Win, who became the outlet’s publisher when it received a license in late 2012 after operating for two decades from exile, was arrested at his home in Yangon on September 29, 2022, and was held at Insein Prison until his trial.
“The punitive and unjust sentencing of The Irrawaddy publisher Thaung Win is repugnant and should be immediately reversed,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “The military regime must release him and stop harassing The Irrawaddy for its fearless and uncompromising news reporting.”
Thaung Win was initially charged with violating the Publishing and Distribution Act for allegedly publishing news that “negatively affected national security, rule of law and public peace,” according to the news reports and Aung Zaw, who received CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award in 2014.
CPJ could not immediately determine if Thaung Win intends to appeal his conviction. The Yangon court that sentenced him also issued arrest warrants for three unnamed editors of The Irrawaddy on June 28, the news reports and Aung Zaw said.
The military regime has banned The Irrawaddy and at least 13 other independent news outlets since a media crackdown following a coup against a democratically elected government on February 1, 2021.
The Irrawaddy has defied the ban and continues to publish daily news online. Several of its reporters have gone into hiding to avoid arrest and the publication now operates mainly from exile, according to the reports and Aung Zaw.
Myanmar’s Ministry of Information did not reply to CPJ’s emailed request for comment on Thaung Win’s sentencing. Myanmar was the world’s third-worst jailer of journalists, with at least 42 members of the press behind bars at the time of CPJ’s December 1, 2022, prison census.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jun 28, 2023
- Event Description
Myanmar’s military junta this week sentenced a male LGBTQ activist to 10 years in prison on Wednesday on charges of terrorism, activists and students told Radio free Asia.
Justin Min Hein, president of the LGBTQ Union in the country’s central Mandalay region, was a leader of several anti-junta activities including a strike, flash protests, and other organized campaigns in Mandalay prior to his arrest. He was convicted of violating the Anti-Terrorism Act, said activist Saw Han Nway Oo.
She said Justin Min Hein was in poor health.
“I'm worried about him as he often gets stomach aches,” the source said. “I am sure he must have a stomach ache from time to time. I know that he cannot be in good health inside prison as the food provided is very bad. He won’t be comfortable inside, either.”
Justin Min Hein was arrested by the junta on September 24, 2022 and had been detained in Yay Kyi Ai Interrogation Center for almost a year awaiting his trial, she said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, SOGI rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jun 28, 2023
- Event Description
The Investigative Police Agency of Ninh Thuan Province on June 28 arrested a social media user in Phan Rang - Thap Cham City and charged him with “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State” under Article 331 of the Penal Code, state-run media reported.
Le Thach Giang, 66, was accused by the police of setting up an account on a social network called Bọn cường quyền (The Despots) from August 2022 to host live streams and publish articles regarding coercion and confiscation of lands by local authorities. The police also claimed that Giang had called on local people to read websites containing “toxic content” and that he had shared unverified information to distort and defame the Communist Party.
Article 331 is a controversial legal provision in Vietnam’s Penal Code due to its vague and broad definitions. Multiple petitions have been filed to urge the Vietnamese government to abolish this law. According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), Vietnam has arrested at least 10 people this year for their alleged violation of Article 331.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jun 27, 2023
- Event Description
The two activists have been sentenced to four years in prison for royal defamation because of their criticism of Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha's administration for expanding the King's power. The sentence was reduced to two years and eight months, and they were later granted bail pending appeal.
On 27 June 2023, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that the Thonburi Criminal Court delivered the verdict in the case of Chukiat “Justin” Saengwong and Wanwalee “Tee” Thammasattaya who were indicted under the royal defamation law over their speeches on 6 December 2020 during a protest at the King Taksin the Great Monument.
The complaint against the two activists was filed by Chakrapong Klinkaew, leader of the royalist group People Protecting the Institution.
The two activists were found guilty of violating the royal defamation law, resulting in a four-year sentence for each. The sentences were reduced to two years and eight months due to their helpful testimony.
The court concluded that Chukiat delivered a speech discussing the seizure of power from King Taksin the Great, resulting in the establishment of the current ruling dynasty. He also criticized the government’s use of Section 112, the royal defamation law, to silence the people, fearing that they would speak the truth. Chukiat added that even if Thailand claims to be a democratic country with the king as head of state, the government denies the rights of those who call for righteousness.
Chukiat also mentioned Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who accused him of wearing attire that insulted the king, although it was intended to mimic a foreign singer. He also addressed the status of the institution of the monarchy, which cannot be questioned, and emphasized the need for protesters to demand reform of the monarchy due to the excessive exercise of royal power, distinguishing it from the monarchies in other countries.
Chukiat is well known for his speeches and public appearances in protests where he wore crop tops. The nickname ‘Justin’ is after Justin Bieber, a famous singer who also wears crop tops.
In her speech, Wanwalee discussed the fact that the King serves as the Supreme Commander of the Royal Thai Armed Forces as stipulated in the constitution, granting him the power to lead the military. She also raised the issue of royal involvement in ratifying coups d'état and influencing the work of the cabinet ministers.
In this case, the two activists denied all charges. The court scheduled hearings for prosecution witnesses on 8 -9 February, 19 July, and 2 August 2022 and for defence witnesses on 3, 10 and 31 March 2023, prior to delivering the verdict.
The TLHR said that both have been granted bail at 300,000 baht each pending appeal.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Jun 27, 2023
- Event Description
On June 27, ABC Television Pokhara reporter and FNJ working committee member Geeta Rana was abused and briefly detained while recording the officer of the central Bhirkot Municipality for a documentary. The FNJ reported that the Municipality’s Chief Administrative Officer and police proceeded to confront Rana, subjecting the journalist to verbal abuse, and deleting all photos and video from their devices. Rana managed to leave after an hour confined to the office.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Jun 26, 2023
- Event Description
Civil Activist Piyath Nikeshala has been arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) today.
It is reported that Piyath Nikeshala was arrested in connection to the incident of President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s house being set on fire during the 2022 Sri Lanka protests.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Sri Lanka: pro-democracy defender beaten, arrested
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Jun 25, 2023
- Event Description
On 25 June 2023, human rights defender and union leader Shahidul Islam was attacked by a group of men at the Prince Jacquard Sweaters factory in Gazipur while resolving a worker payment dispute. He died the same day from the fatal inuries sustained during the attack. Shahidul Islam was the president of the Gazipur unit of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers’ Federation (BGIWF). He advocated for workers’ rights throughout his 25-year-long career as an organiser. As a former garment worker, Shahidul Islam noticed the lack of transparency regarding workers’ rights and began working as an organiser and later a union leader. From 1999 to 2002, he worked with the Bangladesh Independent Garment Workers’ Union Federation (BIGUF). From 2003 to 2006, the human rights defender worked for the civil society organisations Nari Uddog Kendro and Bangladesh Krishi Federation. In 2006, he joined the Bangladesh Centre for Workers’ Solidarity (BCWS) as a senior organiser and worked there until 2012. In the same year, he became a senior organiser at the BGIWF, and later became president of the Gazipur district committee. Throughout his career, Shahidul Islam successfully mobilised thousands of workers and factory-level leaders to join trade unions. He also supported thousands of workers to receive arrears and severance pay that they had been wrongfully denied by their employers. Shahidul Islam’s work and contributions to the labour movement were significant in raising awareness about the human rights situation of factory workers in Bangladesh. Shahidul Islam died after sustaining fatal injuries in an attack that took place outside the Prince Jacquard Sweaters factory in Gazipur on 25 June 2023. The human rights defender and his colleagues were resolving a dispute over salaries and the Eid bonus owed to the factory workers, when a group of men arrived and began violently beating them. Three other union leaders were severely injured in the attack which left Shahidul Islam unconsious. He was later taken to Tairunnessa Memorial Medical College Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The human rigths defender is survived by his wife and two sons. He was the sole breadwinner of his family. His wife is a former organiser battling cancer and her husband’s killing has added to their already challenging circumstances. On 26 June 2023, Kalpona Akter, president of the BGIWF, filed a case with the Tongi West Police Station, alleging that the attack was carried out on the orders of the factory owner. According to sources, the officer in charge stated that the police had already arrested the key suspect in the case, adding that the killing stemmed from a feud with another labour organisation. The killing of Shahidul Islam is indicative of the violations and unjust treatment faced by garment workers in Bangladesh. His death also reflects on the vulnerability and dangers faced by human rights defenders who raise their voices on the lack of transparency regarding workers’ rights and work to safeguard labour rights in Bangladesh. Front Line Defenders condemns the killing of human rights defender and union leader Shahidul Islam as it believes it is directly related to his work in defence of human rights, especially labour rights of people in Bangladesh. Front Line Defenders is gravely concerned about the mistreatment and threats facing human rights defenders working to improve the labour conditions of garment workers in Bangladesh. Front Line Defenders is also seriously concerned about the physical and psychological wellbeing of the human rights defender’s family and colleagues.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jun 25, 2023
- Event Description
On June 25, 59-year old Susan Medes was arrested, together with members of various local farmers’ organizations in Himamalyan, Negros Occidental for alleged murder and frustrated murder charges. Medes is the chairperson of Bgy. Buenavista-Bito-Cabagal Farmers’ Association (Babicafa).
For Medes and 17 others, the charges stemmed from an encounter between the NPA and the Philippine Army 62nd IBPA on May 12, 2018 in sitio Bunsad, Barangay Buenavista, Himamaylan in Negros Occidental.
Her husband Rodrigo was also arrested along with six others, including United Church of Christ in the Philippines Pastor Jimmy Teves in June 2019. They are facing trumped-up charges of murder and frustrated murder in connection with an encounter between the military and the NPA in May 2019 in Barangay Tan-awan, Kabankalan City.
Prior to Medes’s arrest, Fausto family (which includes two sons aged 15 and 12) was killed on July 14 also in the village of Buenavista, Himamaylan. Emelda Fausto was also a member of Babicafa. She and the rest of her family reportedly experienced harassment prior to the killing.
“We call on human rights organizations and advocates to strongly support the embattled activists, to actively campaign for the repeal of the terror law, and uphold human and people’s rights against the worsening climate of repression and impunity under the Marcos Jr. regime,” the group said.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jun 23, 2023
- Event Description
The Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation (KKF) vehemently condemns the brutal and inhumane treatment inflicted upon Khmer-Krom activist Mr. To Hoang Chuong by the police of Soc Trang province. This reprehensible incident took place on June 23, 2023, when Mr. Chuong and his fellow activists from Tra Vinh province visited Mr. Lam Vong, who had endured arrest, detention, and torture by the Soc Trang police before his release on June 20, following 33 hours of unjust captivity.
During their visit to Mr. Vong, they proceeded to meet with another Khmer-Krom activist, Mr. Danh Minh Quang. However, on their way to Mr. Quang's residence, their vehicle was forcefully halted by the police, who subsequently apprehended them and took them into custody at the local police station. Around 1 pm, Mr. To Hoang Chuong was explicitly targeted by the police, triggering a series of regrettable events.
Upon entering the interrogation room, Mr. To Hoang Chuong was immediately subjected to physical abuse. Without any provocation or questioning, one of the officers ruthlessly struck him with a direct blow to his forehead, resulting in significant swelling and excruciating pain. The subsequent interrogation involved multiple officers asking him various questions regarding his advocacy work. Each time Mr. Chuong maintained his innocence and asserted that the distribution of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) was not a criminal act, he was met with further violence and menacing threats. He was forced to sign the confession to be released at 6:30 pm after five and half hours of facing interrogation and torture.
This incident starkly illustrates the flagrant use of torture and intimidation by the Vietnamese authorities against individuals advocating for the rights of the Khmer-Krom, the indigenous peoples of the Mekong Delta. Such actions unequivocally violate Vietnam's obligations under the UN Convention against Torture, a treaty that the country has ratified.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Torture, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Jun 22, 2023
- Event Description
Kazakh journalist Duman Mukhammedkarim has been remanded in custody on a new charge instead of being released as expected after serving out a 25-day jail term for a video on his YouTube channel that called for Kazakhs to protest against a deal giving visa-free travel to Chinese nationals.
According to attorney Ghalym Nurpeisov, his client on June 22 now faces charges of financing extremism and being involved in the activities of a banned group.
Nurpeisov added that the charges against Mukhammedkarim stem from his online interview with the fugitive banker and outspoken critic of the Kazakh government, Mukhtar Ablyazov, whose Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement was declared extremist and banned in March 2018.
Nupeisov said that Mukhammedkarim's health is currently poor after he developed kidney problems following a hunger strike he recently held to protest his arrest.
Mukhammedkarim will most likely be placed in pretrial detention no later than June 23, Nurpeisov said, emphasizing that if convicted, his client could face up to 12 years in prison.
Mukhammedkarim was handed a 25-day jail term on charge of violating regulations for public gatherings in late May, just two days after he had finished serving a similar sentence.
Those charges stemmed from a video on Mukhammedkarim's YouTube channel that called on Kazakhs to defend their rights and his online calls for residents in the Central Asian country's largest city, Almaty, to rally against the government's move to introduce visa-free access to Kazakhstan for Chinese citizens.
Rights watchdogs have criticized authorities in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic for persecution of dissent, but Astana has shrugged the criticism off, saying there are no political prisoners in the country.
Kazakhstan was ruled by authoritarian President Nursultan Nazarbaev from independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 until current President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev succeeded him in 2019.
Over the past three decades, several opposition figures have been killed and many jailed or forced to flee the country.
Toqaev, who broadened his powers after Nazarbaev and his family left the oil-rich country's political scene following the deadly, unprecedented anti-government protests in January 2022, has promised political reforms and more freedoms for Kazakhs.
However, many in Kazakhstan, consider the reforms announced by Toqaev, cosmetic, as a crackdown on dissent has continued even after the president announced his "New Kazakhstan" program.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jun 21, 2023
- Event Description
A lawyer from the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) has asked the Muntinlupa court to cite for indirect contempt former senator Leila de Lima, Sen. Risa Hontiveros, and Rep. Edcel Lagman, for embarrassing the wisdom of the court.
Atty. Ferdinand Topacio also asked the court to cite for indirect contempt lawyers Filibon Tacardon and Dino de Leon and Cristina Palabay of Karapatan and Bayan’s Renato Reyes.
He said the media statements made by de Lima and the others violate the “sub judice” rule that prohibits comments and disclosures about judicial proceedings to avoid prejudging the issue, influencing the court, or obstructing the administration of justice.
“Specifically assailed in this Petition are the contemptuous conduct of respondents in making public comments regarding the case of Atty. Leila de Lima, which tends to impede, obstruct, or degrade the administration of justice,” read the petition.
The statements, he said, “clearly tend to bring the court into disrepute or disrespect simply because a ruling was made contrary to what they want.”
De Lima has one more illegal drug trading case pending case before the Muntinlupa Court after she was acquitted for the two other cases.
But the case is up for raffle after Judge Romeo Buenaventura inhibited from handling the case.
In a verified Facebook page, Topacio mentioned de Lima’s “Dispatch from Crame No. 1301” in which he said the former senator “directly incited the public to question the wisdom of the Honorable Court’s decision” in denying her bail petition.
“This action from respondent de Lima is unnecessary as she knows that the Court, despite the presence of inconsistencies, found credibility on the inmate’s testimonies as stated in its decision,” read the petition.
As a lawyer, Topacio said de Lima is expected to respect the court’s decision.
As for Tacardo and de Leon, Topacio said both lawyers publicly discussed the case’s merits.
“Sadly, they appear to have completely forgotten such rule [the subjudice rule],” he said.
As for the other respondents, they issued statements against the court’s denial of de Lima’s petition for bail.
“Thus, it can be inferred that there is no other reason for the respondents to make these public statements in the media but to simply embarrass the wisdom of the Honorable Court just because they did not get the result they wanted,” the petition stated.
If found guilty of indirect contempt, under Section 7 of Rule 71 of the Rules of Court, “he may be punished by a fine not exceeding thirty thousand pesos, imprisonment not exceeding six (6) months, or both. ”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Jun 21, 2023
- Event Description
Kazakh activist Malik Akhmetqaliev has been detained in the northern city of Kokshetau on charges of illegal drugs possession, which his supporters call retaliation for his frequent criticism of the activities of authorities. Local media quoted law enforcement on June 23 as saying that Akhmetqaliev was detained two days earlier and his pretrial restrictions have yet to be decided by a court. Akhmetqaliev, who is a member of the Public Council group that monitors local authorities' activities in the capital of the Aqmola region that surrounds Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, has been known for his criticism of the authorities for years.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Jun 21, 2023
- Event Description
On June 21, Swasthayalive.com editor Sunil Sapkota was attacked by a group of assailants in Anamnagar, a suburb of Kathmandu, according to the FNJ. One attacker was identified as Hari Giri, the subject of an April 2021 article published while Sapkota was working with the Nagarik Daily.
The piece claimed Giri had fraudulently registered two pieces of public land in his name, one of which he managed to sell, with the allegations corroborated by reports from Nepal’s Department of Survey and Commission and the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority. Giri’s deeds over the land have since been revoked.
Sapkota has since filed a complaint with local police, with Giri detained concerning the incident. Investigations are ongoing with the locations of others involved in the attempted attack unknown to police.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Jun 21, 2023
- Event Description
In Bangladesh, a conservative Islamic Facebook group called Caravan and a Facebook user named “Mon Dey” have called for Bangladeshi society to ban human rights activist and lawyer Shahanur Islam, alleging that he is implementing a Western agenda to legitimize homosexuality in the country.
The proposed ban would also apply to JusticeMakers Bangladesh, an organization founded by Shahanur Islam.
Caravan, established under the slogan “Look at the world through the eyes of Islam,” called for the ban on June 21.
In a write-up titled “Homosexuality on the way to legalization in Bangladesh?”, the Facebook user operating as “Mon Dey” called on imams, khatibs (preachers), speakers, online activists, Islamic organizations, writers, and ordinary Muslims for measures to ban Shahanur Islam in Bangladesh.
The online appeal (now taken offline) also called for legislation to prevent promotion of homosexuality in Bangladesh.
Shahanur Islam maintains that the campaign is much more than merely irritating online trolling.
In the past, such posts have incited riots in Bangladesh by exploiting religious sentiments, often through fake Facebook accounts, he said. Such attacks have included physical assaults and property destruction, including burning down homes.
“As of today, the call to ban me has already received 155 likes, with 49 aggressive comments, including threats to shoot me in the head. Additionally, the post has been shared 135 times across various groups and profiles,” Shahanur said. “Every day, they continue to update their campaign with hate speech and threatening messages. I am deeply concerned that they may carry out an attack on my home, endangering the lives of my family, including my wife and child. It is crucial to urge the government to ensure the security and protection of my family.”
Homophobic and transphobic violence is a familiar problem in Bangladesh. In 2016, gay rights activists Xulhaz Mannan and Tonoy Mojumdar were murdered by Islamic extremists. Shahanur Islam himself has been repeatedly threatened with violence for his activism.
Last October, the president of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) wrote to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Oct. 19, seeking protection for him.
In the letter, the CCBE “respectfully urges Your Excellency to do everything in your power to urgently provide adequate protection to lawyer Shahanur Islam and his family, since it is believed that this continuous acts of threats and harassment are based on his legitimate activities as a human rights lawyer.”
He said about the Caravan post: “This is not an isolated incident.”
Islam said he has contacted several officials for help, including the France ambassador to Bangladesh, the human rights ambassador of France, and the LGBT right ambassador of France. Additionally, CCBE is in the process of drafting another letter to the Prime Minister, he said.
The Facebook appeal came after JusticeMakers Bangladesh launched an online petition in April calling on the president, prime minister and other officials of Bangladesh to decriminalize homosexuality by repealing Article 377 of the Bangladesh Penal Code. Under the Bangladesh constitution, the president has power to make such changes when Parliament is not in session, but the changes would need approval from Parliament when it meets again. So far, 277 people have signed the petition. Mary Lawlor, the U.N.’s Special Rapporteur for human rights defenders, has expressed support for Shahanur Islam: “Hearing disturbing news that HRD Shahanur Islam has been facing online harassment in retaliation for his work on the rights of LGBTQI+ persons in #Bangladesh & that police have attempted to collect info about him & his family. The State should protect & support HRDs.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer, SOGI rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 20, 2023
- Event Description
On 20 June 2023, the trial against woman human rights defender Li Qiaochu began at the Linyi Municipal Intermediate People’s Court in the Shandong province. The trial was not open to the public.
One of the woman human rights defender’s two lawyers refused to submit to a body check, which she deemed to be unlawful, at the entrance to the courthouse and was thus denied entry. Her other lawyer entered the courtroom, but the judge denied his legitimate requests to summon defence witnesses, to gain access to evidence held by the prosecution, and to seek the recusal of officials with perceived conflicts of interest in the case. As a result of his inability to perform his duty as the defence counsel, the lawyer asked Li Qiaochu to dismiss him and exited the courtroom in protest.
Afterwards, the court informed the woman human rights defender’s family that the right of the two lawyers to represent Li Qiaochu had been revoked and the lawyers are no longer allowed to meet her. The trial is now suspended pending the appointment of new defence lawyers for Li Qiaochu.
Li Qiaochu continues to suffer from serious symptoms of depression and auditory hallucinations.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Access to justice, Right to fair trial
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jun 19, 2023
- Event Description
Four farmers opposing the Naga Airport Development Project were arrested for cyberlibel, a peasant group said on Wednesday, June 21.
Known as the Pili 4, the bail is set at P48,000 ($862) each or P192,000 ($3,450) for all four farmers.
Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said that Artemio Sanchez, Jose Retubio, Nenita Petallo, and William Petallo were arrested on June 19. They are members of the Damayan nin Paraoma sa Camarines Sur (DAMPA) which has been opposed to the Naga Airport Development Project.
Approved by the National Economic and Development Authority in 2015, KMP said that the project not only undermines the livelihoods of more than 200 farming families but also encroaches on at least 200 hectares of prime irrigated agricultural lands.
Aside from this, KMP projected a loss of around 1.3 million metric tons of rice produced annually in the community, affecting local rice supplies. “It will also disrupt a communal irrigation system servicing more than 500 hectares of rice fields covering four other villages.”
According to KMP, the project will displace more than a thousand farmers and residents in San Agustin village, Pili, Camarines Sur. “We condemn the unjust arrest and detention of four farmers from DAMPA. Their arrest is a clear act of harassment and a violation of the rights and freedoms of land rights defenders.”
KMP said the charges were reportedly connected with a confrontation on April 18, 2018 between the affected residents and officials supportive to the project, including the Villafuerte clan. On that day, KMP said that the residents of San Agustin woke up to a blocked access road allegedly ordered by CamSur Governor Migz Villafuerte. “A crucial road for the community, the road was dumped over with soil and rocks, making it impassable for vehicles – a common harassment tactic employed by land grabbers.”
Due to the blockage, deceased former CamSur Congressman Rolando “Nonoy” Andaya, Pili Mayor Thomas Bongalonta Jr., along with furious residents including DAMPA members went to the provincial governor’s office to confront Villafuerte.
After this, militarization in San Agustin village intensified. Members of DAMPA were subjected to threats, red-tagging and surveillance. Despite this, DAMPA continued the advocacy for peasants’ welfare and right to land.
“In November 2020, as the pandemic, militarist lockdowns, and typhoons Ulysses, Quinta, and Rolly ravaged the lives and livelihoods of the rural poor in Bicol, DAMPA coordinated with various organizations to ensure the success of a Sagip Kanayuan relief operation for the benefit of hundreds of Pili farmers,” KMP said.
KMP called for the dropping of the charges filed against the Pili 4 and that they be released immediately. “Beyond this, the proposed Naga Airport Development Project must be reevaluated to ensure the preservation of prime rice fields in Pili.”
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jun 18, 2023
- Event Description
On June 18, Shahir was detained by members of the Taliban as he crossed the border from Iran to Afghanistan in the Zabul district when he was detained by Taliban authorities. According to a statement from the Pak-Afghan International Forum of Journalists (PAIF), Shahir was arrested by Taliban intelligence forces while travelling to Kabul and taken to an unknown location, where he was interrogated and tortured him. For two days, Shahir’s family had no knowledge of his whereabouts or fate.
It remains unclear whether Shahir was released from detention or if he escaped. Rahman Mirzad, a fellow journalist and colleague of Shahir, told 8am Media that Shahir had escaped from Taliban captivity on the night of June 19. A Taliban spokesperson in the Zabul province denied the journalist’s detainment.
Shahir, a reporter with Rah-e-Farda TV, left Afghanistan at the start of Taliban control in August 2021, taking refuge in Iran. His reportage is often critical of the Taliban regime and was previously targeted in April 2021 and June 2021. The journalist was returning to Kabul on June 18 due to issues with his Iranian visa.
The IFJ’s South Asia Press Freedom Report 2022-23 recorded 12 arrests of journalists in Afghanistan between May 1, 2022, and April 30 2023, with Shahir being the third Afghan journalist to be arrested this year. Mortaza Behboudi, a French-Afghan journalist living in France, was arrested on 7 January in Kabul, two days after arriving in Afghanistan. Days later, the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) detained freelance journalist Khairullah Parhar on January 9.
The IFJ said: “The arrest, detention and torture of Reza Shahir is yet another example of the Taliban’s ever-tightening grip on the media in Afghanistan. Journalists should not be arbitrarily targeted and must be able to work freely, without fear of restrictions or reprisals. The IFJ condemns Shahir’s arrest and calls on the Taliban to end its persecution of journalists in Afghanistan.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Torture, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jun 15, 2023
- Event Description
Nguyen Lan Thang has chosen to not appeal his conviction for “anti-state propaganda” and has begun serving his five-year sentence, according to his wife. Le Bich Vuong went to visit her husband at the pre-trial detention center on June 15 only to learn that he had been transferred to Thanh Hoa Prison No. 5 earlier that morning. She said Thang decided not to appeal in order to “lessen the pressure on the family” and because “appeals never change the result but only lengthen the time he has to suffer the terrible conditions” at the detention center. Thang also told her that he viewed his prison term as “a long trip away from home about equal to the time he spent in college.”
His wife, Mrs Le Bich Vuong, told RFA Viet 20 June:
'On 15 June I went to Hoa Lo prison (temporary detention centre no. 1, Hanoi) as part of a regular timetable, to send in supplies for him, only then I was told he has been sent to prison 5 (Thanh Hoa province) that morning.'
The fact that he has been sent to prison to serve his 6 years sentence means he has waived his right to appeal. Mrs Vuong said her husband had explained to her his decision:
'First, to reduce the pressure that his family and people outside is subject to; second, appeals in [sensitive] cases like his don't change anything, while conditions in the temporary detention centre is appalling.'
Mrs Vuong added, as Mr Thang didn't plead guilty [for anti-state propaganda under sec 117], he had no hope his sentence will be reduced on appeal. So he accepts the punishment, seeing his imprisonment as a long journey or a new course of study, of similar duration as his past university course.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- Jun 14, 2023
- Event Description
Bangladesh authorities must investigate the killing of journalist Golam Rabbani Nadim and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.
At around 10 p.m. on Wednesday, June 14, a group of men ambushed Nadim, a correspondent for privately owned website Banglanews24 and broadcaster Ekattor TV, while he was traveling home on his motorcycle in the Bakshiganj area in the Jamalpur district of northern Mymensingh division, according to news reports, security footage of the incident published by Ekattor TV, and a witness account by Al Mujahid Babu, a journalist present at the scene.
A group of 15 to 20 men dragged Nadim to a dark alley, where they severely beat him and left him unconscious before he was taken to the hospital by bystanders. The journalist died the next day from excessive blood loss caused by a severe head injury.
Nadim’s family believes he was targeted in retaliation for his May 2023 series of reports for Banglanews24 about Mahmudul Alam Babu, chair of a local government unit and member of the ruling Awami League party, according to those reports. Mahmudul Alam Babu denied any involvement in the attack.
Sohel Rana, officer-in-charge of the Bakshiganj police station, said six people had been arrested in connection with the attack, Prothom Alo reported Friday.
“We condemn the killing of Bangladeshi journalist Golam Rabbani Nadim in apparent retaliation for his reporting on a local politician,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Bangladesh authorities must ensure that all those involved in this attack are brought to justice and end the country’s appalling record of impunity pertaining to violence against journalists.”
Al Mujahid Babu said in his witness account that Mahmudul Alam Babu was at the scene and directing the attackers from a distance. CPJ’s calls to Mahmudul Alam Babu, who was reported to be in hiding as of Friday evening, did not connect. CPJ’s text message to Mahmudul Alam Babu did not immediately receive a response.
Nadim’s May articles concerned issues in Mahmudul Alam Babu’s marriage, including a press conference by a woman who alleged the politician secretly married her, then abused and divorced her. Nadim also posted about the allegations on Facebook.
In mid-May, Mahmudul Alam Babu filed a complaint against Nadim under the Digital Security Act for that reporting. Hours before the attack, Nadim posted on Facebook that a court had dismissed the case.
The Rapid Action Battalion, a paramilitary unit of the Bangladesh police, has joined the probe into Nadim’s death. CPJ’s calls and messages to Rana and Khandaker Al Moyeen, director of the legal and media wing of the Rapid Action Battalion, did not immediately receive a reply.
Local press groups, the Bangladeshi Journalists in International Media and the Bakshiganj Press Club, both condemned the killing, saying Nadim, who was also vice president of the Jamalpur District Online Journalists Association, was targeted due to his reporting.
Al Mujaheed Babu told CPJ via messaging app, and Raju, Nadim’s brother-in-law, told CPJ by phone separately that they were unable to immediately comment.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jun 14, 2023
- Event Description
Human rights alliance Karapatan today called on the Commission on Human Rights to immediately conduct an independent investigation into the gruesome massacre of four members of the Fausto family in Sitio Kangkiling, Barangay Buenavista, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, on June 14, 2023.
Negros-based human rights groups and media have confirmed the killing of peasant activists Roly Fausto, 55, and his wife Emelda, 50, who were members of the Baclayan, Bito, Cabagal Farmers and Farmworkers Association (BABICAFA), and their sons Ben, 15, and Ravin, 12.
On June 14, 2023, at about 10:00 p.m., gunshots were heard throughout the community. Residents thought there was an encounter between soldiers and members of the New People’s Army (NPA). Early the next morning, sprawled dead bodies of Emelda and her two sons Ben and Ravin Fausto were found in their hut. Photos show Emelda’s cadaver was just outside their hut’s doorway, while her skull and left leg were evidently shattered. A bloodied body of a boy, with his right leg mutilated, was found in a separate doorway at the back, and another boy’s body was found inside the hut. Roly’s remains were found near the hut.
According to local human rights groups, Roly and Emelda were subjected to continuous harassment from soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the past months.
On March 22, 2022 around 7 a.m. when Emelda was going home from doing laundry, she heard two gunshots. When she arrived, she saw a number of armed men in uniform surrounding their house, and estimated that there were at least 12 armed men in military uniform, while others were in civilian clothes. The soldiers then interrogated Emelda, one of them played with his knife in front of her. Some soldiers illegally searched their house, scattering their clothes and possibly pocketing their family’s money worth P5,000 hidden in their clothes. The soldiers also reportedly slaughtered five of their chickens.
When Roly arrived at their hut at 10 a.m., soldiers also interrogated him and forcibly brought him to a vacant hut near the Fausto’s home to continue the interrogation. The soldiers tied Roly’s neck with a belt, forced him to confess that he is a member of the NPA, and to reveal the names of other NPA members. He was also kicked twice in his shoulders. At around 1:00 p.m., the soldiers brought Roly back to his family’s hut. At 7:00 p.m., Roly was taken to the military detachment in Barangay Hilamonan, Kabankalan City where he was interrogated and coerced to admit that he is a member of the NPA. He was physically assaulted and was forced to serve as the soldiers’ guide for their military operations.
Emelda also reported two incidents in April and May 2023 of alleged illegal searches in their hut.
Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay said that the continuing military deployment and operations in communities in Negros have put the island under a de facto martial rule, where State forces have gone on killing sprees, terrorizing peasants and their communities, under the pretext of implementing the Marcos Jr. administration’s counter-insurgency program through Memorandum Order No. 32.
“No one has been investigated, prosecuted and made accountable for these heinous crimes, despite evidence of the military’s involvement in these incidents. This inaction on cases indicate the Marcos Jr. administration’s role in perpetuating these dire violations on human rights and the state of impunity in Negros,” Karapatan said.
As the human rights group addressed their call to the CHR, Karapatan also called on the Committees of Human Rights at the House of Representatives and the Senate to conduct similar investigations.
“While investigations on the murder of former Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo are ongoing, numerous cases involving peasants and farmworkers in Negros are left unaddressed. It is a pity that ordinary folks’ lives are seen as unimportant in the eyes of our legislators,” Palabay said.
Karapatan reiterated its call for the rescinding of Memorandum Order No. 32 and for the Marcos Jr. administration to halt military operations in Negros and communities nationwide.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 14, 2023
- Event Description
The police officers of Changping, Beijing, worked with the government to hire unidentified individuals to harass human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang and his family before forcefully entering and pressuring them to leave. Hired to Harass
On the evening of the 14th, while Wang Quanzhang was taking out the trash downstairs, three unnamed individuals were already stationed outside his door. Wang Quanzhang repeatedly asked for their identities, but they replied that they were merely citizens. Two of them blocked the doorway.
Faked injury
After his wife, Li Wenzu, opened the door, a man falsely claimed that his foot was caught in the door and accused Wang Quanzhang of attacking him. Immediately, he pretended to fall and lay at the entrance of Wang Quanzhang’s residence. Responses from social media
Wang Quanzhang uploaded portions of the interaction on social media. Lawyer Bao Longjun said, “They must have such thick skin…” Human rights lawyer Chen Jiangang said, “It’s clear that these individuals know that what they are doing is illegal and unethical, but the Communist Party gave them a task, and they are willing to do it anyway. It was the same case when hundreds of people surrounded Chen Guangcheng. In China, the most terrifying and evil are not the Chinese Communist Party, but these ignorant people who can’t distinguish right from wrong and blindly obey evil.” Illegally trespassing
A police officer with the last name Liu from the Songyuan police station in Changping District, Beijing, showed up at the house. He reportedly heard claims that Wang Quanzhang and Li Wenzu “illegally trespassed someone else’s residence.” Wang conversed with the officer outside through the door’s surveillance camera. The officer requested verification of his legal identity and lease information, and for the physical person, the legal identity, and the renter’s information to all match up. Wang assured them that everything was legal and requested for the police to present any evidence of suspicion, stating that otherwise it would be considered a “presumption of guilt.” Forceful entry
The police officer from Changping District (Badge number: 054725) did not present any legal documents and forcefully entered Wang Quanzhang’s legally rented residence. Li Wenzu requested that he show his police identification document and follow proper procedures. The police officer aggressively declared, “I’m wearing a police uniform so I can come in. Wearing a police uniform means I do not need to display my work identification. It is my right.”
Wang Quanzhang exclaimed, “I am a lawful tenant with tenant rights. What kind of society is this? What kind of country is this? What kind of world is this?” Continuing harassment
Since April, Wang Quanzhang’s entire family, including their underage son Wang Guangwei, has been facing repeated harassment and pressure from the Beijing authorities. Authorities force them to move. They rent a new place only to move shortly after. In some instances, police pressured landlords behind the scenes, coercing them to evict the family. In this particular case, Wang Quanzhang’s landlord personally recorded a video and presented the “Housing Lease Agreement” to demonstrate that the tenancy was voluntary for both parties. 48 hours to comply
Currently, Wang Quanzhang is renting a house in the third district of Changshengyuan in Changping, Beijing, which belongs to a friend who is currently in the United States. Wang Quanzhang provided the lease agreement and a video from the landlord, but the police insisted that it didn’t prove legal occupancy. They demanded the presence of the landlord or a relative with their ID card, the Hukou (household registration) booklet, and a property ownership certificate to the house to prove residency. The Changping police threatened to forcibly evict them if the above requirements were not met within 48 hours. Fabricating charges
After entering the rented premises, the police started taking photos everywhere, attempting to create some sort of incriminating evidence. Among them, they said a faucet on the floor was a doorknob, perhaps hoping to use it as evidence of “illegal intrusion into someone else’s property.” A netizen responded to the situation on social media, “What are they trying to do? What kind of charges are they trying to fabricate?” Operation from superiors
Dissident Yang Zili contacted the Songyuan police station, where a police officer with the last name Wang (Badge number: 066575) stated, “The operation is instructed by higher-ups.” Yang Zili conducted an online search and found that the deputy chief of the station is named Wang Bingqi. Yang Zili commented, “Regarding Wang Quanzhang’s family since the landlord did not evict them, the police are resorting to engaging upfront with hooligan-like behavior.” After the incident
Wang Quanzhang reflected on the absurd interaction with Beijing police, “When the landlord cut off our water and electricity, we called the police. But they dismissed it as a ‘civil dispute’ and left without taking any action. When the landlord smashed glass to remove the door, the police said, ‘Removing your door and breaking your glass is not a problem,’ and left without doing anything. When the landlord threatened and evicted us in the middle of the night and refused to refund our rent, the police considered it a civil dispute and left without intervening. But now, when the landlord signed a contract and recorded a video stating he rented the house to us, the police claim that we illegally invaded someone’s residence and (the officers) refused to leave.” The next morning
On the morning of June 15, authorities covered the peephole camera and cut off the electricity. People were stationed downstairs near the entrance. Li Wenzu expressed in a video, “The electricity meter in our apartment 502 is no longer showing up.” However, the power was restored after about an hour. Threatened to leave Beijing
The Beijing authorities planned to drive them out of Beijing one by one in an attempt to minimize their interaction with the outside world and their diplomatic influence. Facing the pressure of forced eviction from the authorities in Beijing, lawyer Wang Quanzhang stated that they only seek to live peacefully in Beijing, but it seems that they will continue to encounter new challenges in the future. Multiple cases
The plight of lawyer Wang Quanzhang is not an isolated case. ChinaAid Association has continuously exposed the forced eviction and persecution of many Christian families across China.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to housing, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jun 14, 2023
- Event Description
The condition and whereabouts of 10 Yangon garment factory workers remain unknown more than one week after their arrest by the military council, after they made demands that their employers nominally increase their wages.
Most of the individuals in question are members of the labour union in the Hosheng Myanmar factory in the Shwe Lin Pan Industrial Zone in Shwepyithar Township.
Twenty-nine-year-old Thu Thu San was the first to be arrested following negotiations on June 14 between seven union members and a Hosheng Myanmar factory representative at a junta-controlled township administration office.
Four more union members were also detained four days later: Aye Thandar Htay, Thandar Aye, May Thu Min and Aung Aung. Three more workers—two women and one man—were also held for alleged affiliation with the targeted individuals, according to another employee.
Since their arrest, the source added that he had not been able to make contact with any of the detainees, who are all in their 20s and had been working at the factory between one and four years.
“They didn’t contact the victims’ families either, but we are trying to file an appeal through a lawyer,” the employee said.
There have been additional rumoured arrests at Hosheng Myanmar, but Myanmar Now was unable to independently verify further detentions at the time of reporting. Several members of the factory’s union have also gone into hiding.
At another garment factory in Hlaing Tharyar Township, Sun Apparel Myanmar, some 60 workers have also gone into hiding, leading to a dismissal from their jobs, according to a source close to the employees. She said that they feared arrest after two labour organisers at the site were detained on June 14 and 15: Thidar Win and Hlaing Win Htet. Their whereabouts were also unknown at the time of reporting.
They had led protests at the factory on June 6, asking for an increase to wages. Workers from several factories have been demanding that daily minimum wages be raised from 4,800 kyat ($2.28)—to which it was set in 2018 by the elected National League for Democracy government, ousted in the 2021 coup—to 5,600 kyat ($2.65), despite a schedule for reassessment that was supposed to take place in 2020.
Sun Apparel Myanmar is Thai-owned, with around 500 workers, and makes clothing for German sportswear brand Jako.
The European Union’s (EU) delegation to Myanmar issued a statement on Tuesday expressing concern for the detained workers’ wellbeing and calling for their immediate release. The EU also urged the military council to cease arrests of civilians for exercising their rights to freedom of speech and association, and for all stakeholders to uphold the basic workplace standards prescribed by the International Labour Organisation.
Moe Sandar Myint, President of the Federation of General Workers Myanmar (FGWM), told Myanmar Now that the EU should take a stronger stance in response to the ongoing rights violations in the country’s factories, which frequently produce goods for European companies.
“Issuing a statement is not the right way to help the workers in need. They should be taking more practical action against the military and use their full authority,” she said.
A four-year, 3 million euro plan to stimulate clothing production in Myanmar put forward by the European Chamber of Commerce (Myanmar) and the German-based Seaqua Group—dubbed the Multi-Stakeholder Alliance for Decent Employment in Myanmar, or “MADE in Myanmar”—has met with criticism from workers’ rights advocates, who say it conceals labour rights violations and will legitimise the military regime without benefitting workers.
A September 2022 report by international workers’ rights organisation Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) concluded that it was not possible to guarantee basic worker rights in Myanmar under the coup regime nor for business to abide by humanitarian responsibilities while working in the country.
“Brands will find it nearly impossible to conduct normal human rights due diligence, let alone the enhanced due diligence that the present situation in Myanmar demands,” the ETI statement said.
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Jun 13, 2023
- Event Description
Social activist Prasad Welikumbura was questioned by the Criminal Investigation Department today regarding a Twitter video he published in February.
According to journalist Tharindu Jayawardena, the video showcases a group of citizens expressing their dissatisfaction with a military motorcade.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jun 12, 2023
- Event Description
Three lawyers Nguyen Van Mien, Dao Kim Lan and Dang Dinh Manh defending the defendants in the Bong Lai Pure House case are being tracked by the Long An Provincial Public Security Bureau.
On the morning of June 12, the Investigation Police Agency of Long An Province Police said that this unit has just decided to search for three lawyers, Nguyen Van Mien (57 years old), Dao Kim Lan (56 years old), Dang Dinh Manh (Korea). 55 years old, same in HCMC). These three people participated in the defense of Mr. Le Tung Van and other defendants in the case that occurred in Tinh That Bong Lai.
According to the police of Long An province, based on the notice of the Department of Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention (Ministry of Public Security), this unit has had 3 summons to deal with crime reports. but all 3 were absent, no reason for absence was announced.
The police of the ward where the lawyers live said that they were not present in the locality and had not yet determined their temporary residence.
Accordingly, three lawyers are suspected of spreading acts of dissemination on the internet through clips, images, words and articles showing signs of abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the rights and interests of the State. legitimate interests of organizations and individuals.
According to the allegation, the group of people living in Tinh That Bong Lai was directed by Mr. Le Tung Van to post articles and clips on social networks Facebook and Youtube, containing false, fabricated and distorted information. This is to propagate and incite to offend the reputation of the Duc Hoa District Police, to offend Buddhism.
The evidence in the case is 5 clips that have been publicly posted on 2 Youtube channels created, managed and used by a group of people in Tinh That Bong Lai.
On November 3, 2022, the appellate court sentenced the defendants in Bong Lai Tinh That to the first-instance judgment. Accordingly, defendant Le Tung Van (90 years old), who played the role of mastermind, was sentenced to 5 years in prison. The remaining 5 defendants received 3-4 years in prison.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jun 12, 2023
- Event Description
12 activists and protesters have been found guilty of sedition, among other charges, for participating in the 18 July 2020 Free Youth protest and given a suspended sentence of 2 months in prison and a fine of 2000 baht each.
For their participation in the protest, Parit Chiwarak, Panupong Jadnok, Anon Nampa, Jutatip Sirikhan, Korakot Saengyenpan, Suwanna Tallek, Baramee Chaiyarat, Dechathorn Bamrungmuang, Thanee Sasom, Thanayut na Ayutthaya, Todsaporn Sinsomboon, and Netnapha Amnatsongserm were charged with sedition, joining an assembly of 10 or more people and causing public disorder, violation of the Emergency Decree, using a sound amplifier without permission, blocking a public road, and violation of the Public Cleanliness Act.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported on Monday (12 June) that the Criminal Court found them guilty of sedition and joining a participation of 10 or more people and causing public disorder because activists were giving speeches and singing about the monarchy while protesters were seen with banners calling for abolition of the monarchy, and because a small clash occurred between a group of protesters and crowd control police.
Although the Court said that, because the speeches and banners did not mention a specific person, the activists did not intend to cause disorder in the country, they were found guilty of sedition for attempting to cause people to violate the law.
The Court sentenced them to 2 months in prison, but suspended the sentence for 2 years because they have never been previously sentenced to prison.
They were also found guilty of blocking a public road and violation of the Cleanliness Act because they set up a stage on a public road, blocking traffic, and were given a fine of 2000 baht each.
The Court dismissed the Emergency Decree violation charge on the grounds that, at that time, there were no reports of Covid-19 patients and disease control measures were already being relaxed, and because the prosecution could not present evidence that they organized the protest. The court also found them not guilty of using a sound amplifier without permission because there is no evidence they were the organizers and because they only shared the Facebook post announcing the protest.
Thailand declared a State of Emergency in March 2020, supposedly to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. Regulations issued under the Emergency Decree have been used to prosecute activists and protesters participating in the pro-democracy protests. The State of Emergency ended on 1 October 2022.
The 18 July 2020 Free Youth protest was the first in a series of student-led mass demonstrations in 2020. Thousands gathered at the Democracy Monument to call for the dissolution of parliament led by the Palang Pracharath party, constitutional amendments, and for the authorities to stop harassing citizens exercising freedom of expression. The protest is now seen at the beginning of the 2020 – 2021 pro-democracy movement, which demanded social and political reform and eventually led to a call for monarchy reform.
In March 2023, the Dusit District Court dismissed charges against 15 other activists and protesters for joining the protest, but fined them 200 baht each for using a sound amplifier without permission.
- Impact of Event
- 12
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jun 12, 2023
- Event Description
After threatening workers protesting the dismissal of garment factory labour organisers in Yangon for demanding better pay, the Myanmar junta arrested two of the organisers on Wednesday.
Seven labour were fired on June 10 after employees at the Hosheng Myanmar clothing factory in Yangon’s Shwepyithar Township, which is owned by a Chinese national and produces clothes for the multinational Spanish retailer ZARA, requested a raise.
More than 600 workers held a protest in support of the sacked leaders on Monday, two days after their dismissal.
Thu Thu San, 29, had been working at the factory for nearly two years when she was terminated. She was arrested just four days after her dismissal along with another woman who had lost her job at the factory.
Thu Thu San’s colleagues said it was unclear where she was being held.
“They told both of them to get out of the car when it arrived at the police station. Then, they told the other woman to ‘go sit somewhere,’ ordered Thu Thu San to get back in the car, and drove off,” said a man who worked at the factory, requesting anonymity.
Myanmar Labour News reported on Tuesday that police officers, soldiers, and others with unknown affiliations came and shouted threats at the workers during their protest the day before. One of them shouted that this township was under martial law.
“This is an area under martial law,” the man says in an audio recording linked in a Myanmar Labour News article. “The rules are not the same here. Your little union doesn’t mean anything under martial law.”
The coup regime declared martial law in Shwepyithar and other Yangon townships in March 2021 after massive popular demonstrations against their seizure of power.
Myanmar Labour News also reports that armed junta personnel were at the factory on Monday before the protest began.
“They were already at the factory before the workers arrived. More came after the workers gathered. They were very rude and hostile,” the labour leaders’ former colleague said.
Junta personnel searched Thu Thu San’s room for her mobile phone on Wednesday evening, according to another worker.
“They were looking for her living quarters. They kept asking aggressively, so we had to go at night and turn over the phone. They’ve started monitoring the dormitory as well, and some girls don’t want to live there anymore because of that. They also found a book on labour law in her room and took it,” the worker added.
Several workers, including Thu Thu San, have petitioned the regime’s department of labour for authorisation to form a union. The department delayed approving the petition on the grounds that one of the petitioners was a few months under 18 years old.
The labour leaders, who had requested a daily wage of 5600 kyat (US$2.50) and 1400 kyat per hour of overtime, were fired despite the factory’s management having agreed to raise wages on June 1. The organisers were fired after requesting a contract stipulating the new terms, according to their coworkers.
The international labour federation IndustriALL Global Union issued a statement condemning the employers’ decision to fire the organisers. Atle Høie, the federation’s general secretary, argued that the military’s intimidation and arrest of protesting workers made it clear that there is no true right to unionise in Myanmar.
“The dismissed workers must immediately be reinstated and not be subjected to threats or aggression by employers, police or soldiers. Thu Thu San must be returned home safely and without delay,” the secretary general’s statement said.
The employers’ official letter dismissing the workers cites “incitement to disrupt peaceful conditions” in the factory, threats, and deliberate attempts to decrease production as the reasons for termination.
In a similar case, Thidar Win, another labour organiser at the Sun Apparel garment factory in Hlaingtharyar Township, Yangon, was arrested by the military on Wednesday, the same day as Thu Thu San, according to reports by Myanmar Labour News. Myanmar Now is still investigating the incident, as access to verifiable information is currently limited.
In October of 2022, thousands of employees of the Myanmar Bao Zheng company—which runs a factory in Shwepyithar Township, Yangon, that makes shoes for Adidas—requested a raise from 4800 kyats to 8000 kyat and observance of basic labour rights in the factory. Three days later, 26 of the workers were fired.
Conditions for industrial workers in Myanmar have deteriorated since the February 2021 military coup. Despite inflation, the minimum wage for an eight-hour workday in Myanmar has not changed since 2018, when the pre-coup National League of Democracy government raised it from 3600 to 4800 kyat.
In March 2023, just ahead of the Thingyan holidays, the Chinese-owned Fitex garment factory in Hlaing Tharyar Township laid off over 400 workers, more than half its workforce, without severance or other compensation.
According to a report issued by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in January 2022, more than 1.6 million Myanmar workers had lost their jobs since the coup just under a year before.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jun 10, 2023
- Event Description
After threatening workers protesting the dismissal of garment factory labour organisers in Yangon for demanding better pay, the Myanmar junta arrested two of the organisers on Wednesday.
Seven labour were fired on June 10 after employees at the Hosheng Myanmar clothing factory in Yangon’s Shwepyithar Township, which is owned by a Chinese national and produces clothes for the multinational Spanish retailer ZARA, requested a raise.
More than 600 workers held a protest in support of the sacked leaders on Monday, two days after their dismissal.
Thu Thu San, 29, had been working at the factory for nearly two years when she was terminated. She was arrested just four days after her dismissal along with another woman who had lost her job at the factory.
Thu Thu San’s colleagues said it was unclear where she was being held.
“They told both of them to get out of the car when it arrived at the police station. Then, they told the other woman to ‘go sit somewhere,’ ordered Thu Thu San to get back in the car, and drove off,” said a man who worked at the factory, requesting anonymity.
Myanmar Labour News reported on Tuesday that police officers, soldiers, and others with unknown affiliations came and shouted threats at the workers during their protest the day before. One of them shouted that this township was under martial law.
“This is an area under martial law,” the man says in an audio recording linked in a Myanmar Labour News article. “The rules are not the same here. Your little union doesn’t mean anything under martial law.”
The coup regime declared martial law in Shwepyithar and other Yangon townships in March 2021 after massive popular demonstrations against their seizure of power.
Myanmar Labour News also reports that armed junta personnel were at the factory on Monday before the protest began.
“They were already at the factory before the workers arrived. More came after the workers gathered. They were very rude and hostile,” the labour leaders’ former colleague said.
Junta personnel searched Thu Thu San’s room for her mobile phone on Wednesday evening, according to another worker.
“They were looking for her living quarters. They kept asking aggressively, so we had to go at night and turn over the phone. They’ve started monitoring the dormitory as well, and some girls don’t want to live there anymore because of that. They also found a book on labour law in her room and took it,” the worker added.
Several workers, including Thu Thu San, have petitioned the regime’s department of labour for authorisation to form a union. The department delayed approving the petition on the grounds that one of the petitioners was a few months under 18 years old.
The labour leaders, who had requested a daily wage of 5600 kyat (US$2.50) and 1400 kyat per hour of overtime, were fired despite the factory’s management having agreed to raise wages on June 1. The organisers were fired after requesting a contract stipulating the new terms, according to their coworkers.
The international labour federation IndustriALL Global Union issued a statement condemning the employers’ decision to fire the organisers. Atle Høie, the federation’s general secretary, argued that the military’s intimidation and arrest of protesting workers made it clear that there is no true right to unionise in Myanmar.
“The dismissed workers must immediately be reinstated and not be subjected to threats or aggression by employers, police or soldiers. Thu Thu San must be returned home safely and without delay,” the secretary general’s statement said.
The employers’ official letter dismissing the workers cites “incitement to disrupt peaceful conditions” in the factory, threats, and deliberate attempts to decrease production as the reasons for termination.
In a similar case, Thidar Win, another labour organiser at the Sun Apparel garment factory in Hlaingtharyar Township, Yangon, was arrested by the military on Wednesday, the same day as Thu Thu San, according to reports by Myanmar Labour News. Myanmar Now is still investigating the incident, as access to verifiable information is currently limited.
In October of 2022, thousands of employees of the Myanmar Bao Zheng company—which runs a factory in Shwepyithar Township, Yangon, that makes shoes for Adidas—requested a raise from 4800 kyats to 8000 kyat and observance of basic labour rights in the factory. Three days later, 26 of the workers were fired.
Conditions for industrial workers in Myanmar have deteriorated since the February 2021 military coup. Despite inflation, the minimum wage for an eight-hour workday in Myanmar has not changed since 2018, when the pre-coup National League of Democracy government raised it from 3600 to 4800 kyat.
In March 2023, just ahead of the Thingyan holidays, the Chinese-owned Fitex garment factory in Hlaing Tharyar Township laid off over 400 workers, more than half its workforce, without severance or other compensation.
According to a report issued by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in January 2022, more than 1.6 million Myanmar workers had lost their jobs since the coup just under a year before.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Jun 9, 2023
- Event Description
A Delhi Court has extended judicial custody of human rights activist Khurram Parvez and Kashmiri journalist Irfan Mehraj in a 2020 UAPA case after the NIA sought more time to complete the investigation. Mehraj and Parvez are accused in the alleged NGO Terror funding case registered by NIA in October 2020.
On June 09, Principal District & Sessions Judge Sanjay Garg of Patiala House Court allowed NIA’s application seeking extension of detention of both Mehraj and Parvez in judicial custody and period of investigation. Though the NIA had prayed for extension beyond 90 days to 180 days, the court only granted it 45 more days.
“After giving my thoughtful consideration to the submissions made by the Ld. Counsel for both the parties, the PP Report and various judicial pronouncements, this Court is satisfied that extension of period of detention of the accused persons in judicial custody is required. The application is allowed and period of judicial remand of both the aforesaid accused persons namely Khurram Parvez and Irfan Mehraj is extended for 45 days i.e. up to 135 days,” the court said.
Mehraj, who was arrested on March 20 from Srinagar, was brought to Delhi after a local court granted his transit remand. He was then produced before Patiala House Courts on March 22. The same day, NIA also arrested Parvez, who was already in custody in another case, and they both were remanded to NIA custody for 10 days.
On their production on April 01, they were remanded to judicial custody up to April 28 which was later extended from time to time up to June 17. The period of 90 days of detention in judicial custody of Mehraj and Parvez and the period of investigation is going to be completed on June 18 and 20, respectively.
NIA told court that during their examination, statements of Mehraj and Parvez were recorded which allegedly revealed their association with the persons affiliated to terrorist outfits. The probe agency also alleged that both Parvez and Mehraj were "in contact of" more than 350 Pakistan-based tele selectors and several entities based in other countries through phone numbers, social applications and emails, investigation. The investigation in this regard is ongoing and time is needed for its completion, said the central agency.
“The facts surfaced so far during the investigation are required to be verified. The voluminous data of seized digital devices connected to accused persons and other persons connected to JKCCS and voluminous documents need to be scrutinized properly, several persons are yet to be examined, the investigation has spread in several states and also having international ramifications,” the NIA said.
Both Mehraj and Parvez opposed NIA’s application seeking extension of probe and period of their detention in judicial custody.
Mehraj had submitted that there was no ground in the application justifying the extension of period of detention up to 180 days. He also said that the delay in probe clearly demonstrates that NIA has undertaken an exercise of fishing and roving enquiry against him with the sole motive to keep him in custody without any formal charges.
On the other hand, Parvez submitted that there was absolutely no evidence against him and that he was being illegally detained. He also said that the request of NIA to extend the detention period from 90 days to 180 days was not based on any fresh cause as required under the law.
At the time of his arrest, NIA said that Irfan Mehraj was a close associate of Khurram Parvez and was working with his organization, Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Societies (JKCCS). “Investigation revealed that the JKCCS was funding terror activities in the valley and had also been in propagation of secessionist agenda in the Valley under the garb of protection of human rights,” NIA alleged.
Mehraj was a researcher with the JKCCS till March 2022. Parvez was the coordinator of the rights group and has been accused by the NIA of providing "material support" to protestors in Kashmir during the 2016 agitation.
NIA has said that involvement of some valley-based NGOs, Trusts and Societies "in funding of terror related activities is being probed" in the 2020 case.
"Some NGOs, both registered as well as un-registered, have come to notice collecting funds domestically and abroad under the cover of doing charity and various welfare activities, including Public Health, Education etc. But some of these organisations have developed links with proscribed terrorist organizations, such as Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) etc," the NIA has claimed.
Advocate Kartik Venu appeared for Khuram Parvez. Advocate Rajat Kumar appeared for Irfan Mehraj. Sr. PP Kanchan represented NIA.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Media Worker, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jun 9, 2023
- Event Description
Human rights group Karapatan denounced the recent reports of activists and human rights defenders being accused of trumped-up charges.
On June 26, Karapatan Southern Tagalog said it received a copy of a subpoena summoning Anakbayan Southern Tagalog Regional Coordinator Ken Rementilla and Jasmin Rubia, secretary-general of Mothers and Children for the Protection of Human Rights (MCPHR). They were accused of violating Section 12 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), or providing material support to terrorists.
Karapatan said Rementilla and Rubia are the 10th and 11th victims of the State’s “legal offensive” against political dissent in the Southern Tagalog region since the ATA was enacted in 2020.
Cristina Palabay, secretary-general of Karapatan, said that the increased use of the anti-terror law and other trumped-up charges against activists has become a pattern during the first year of the Marcos Jr administration, “as it implements draconian policies rolled out as laws during the President Duterte administration and continues its campaign of political persecution of activists and political dissenters.”
Palabay said that there are at least 49 individuals who were arrested and detained under the Marcos Jr administration. Karapatan documented 778 political prisoners as of June this year.
Weaponization
Karapatan denounced the state forces’ attempt to weaponize the “draconian” Anti-Terorism Act (ATA) against Rubia and Rementilla.
The charges stemmed from a fact-finding mission in July 2022 which saw the participation of Rubia, Rementilla and Tanggol Batangan paralegal Hayley Pecayo. Led by MCPHR, an alliance of church workers, women activists and human rights advocates, the mission aimed to investigate the killing of 9-year old Kyllene Casao in Taysan, Batangas allegedly by elements of the 59th Infantry Battalion (IB) on July 18, 2022.
Karapatan said that the military accused Pecayo of being a member of the New People’s Army (NPA) and claimed that those who took part in the fact-finding mission were providing material support to terrorists.
Karapatan said that the participants of the said fact-finding mission were harassed and threatened by members of the 59th IB. This led the delegates of the mission, represented by Rubia and Rementilla, to file a complaint with the Commission on Human Rights on August 1, 2022.
“The ATA violation case is clearly being made in retaliation for the complaint filed at the CHR by the two,” Palabay said.
Karapatan said that the ATA case against Rementilla and Rubia is the latest in a slew of ATA cases faced by several Southern Tagalog activists. The subpoena was issued by Antipolo City Prosecutor Mari Elvira B. Herrera on June 9. The complaint was filed by Sgt. Jean Claude E. Bajaro of the 59th IB.
They added that six out of the 11 victims are affiliated with Karapatan’s regional and provincial chapters in Southern Tagalog. “The 59th IBPA is hellbent on preventing human rights workers and defenders from exposing and opposing grave human rights violations in the region,” Palabay said.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 9, 2023
- Event Description
We are deeply concerned about the recent interception of Chinese human rights lawyer Li Heping and his family, who were prevented from leaving the country by border police at Chengdu's Tianfu International Airport on June 9th.
They were subjected to travel restrictions on the grounds that their departure might endanger national security. These restrictions amount to a violation of their right to freedom of movement and raise questions about the legality of such measures.
Li Heping started his human rights work as a lawyer in 2002. He has represented many politically sensitive cases including religious leaders, environmental and community activists as well as campaigned against the use of torture. Li Heping was arrested as part of the ‘709 crackdown’ on 10 July 2015. He spent nearly 22 months in pre-trial detention, including 'residential surveillance in a designated location' after which he was convicted in a secret trial to three years imprisonment and a four-year probationary suspension. Mr Li was released from prison on 10 May 2017. Since his release, Mr Li and his family have remained subject to close control and surveillance by state authorities.
We are deeply concerned that Li Heping's wife and 13-year-old daughter, who were traveling with , also faced travel restrictions and were unable to leave the country. This not only affects their personal freedom but disrupts their education. Li Heping's 23-year-old son has also experienced delays in his studies as a result.
International human rights law protects the right to freedom of movement. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 13, grants that "everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country." The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 12, similarly establishes that "everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own." The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Article 10, entreats states to "respect the right of the child and his or her parents to leave any country." Although China did not ratify the ICCPR, it has signed ICCPR and ratified the CRC, thereby assuming legal responsibilities under international law to protect freedom of movement and it must not act against the purpose of the ICCPR. International human rights norms provide clear guidance relating to China's obligation to safeguard freedom of movement.
The excessive use and misuse of exit bans in China, as demonstrated in the case of Li Heping and his family and other recent cases of Jiang Tianyong, Guo Feixiong, violate the right to freedom of movement enshrined in international human rights law. Many exit bans are imposed without legal justification, lack transparency in their application, deny recipients due process, and frequently target individuals based on their family, ethnicity, or profession. These exit bans are often used to coerce, punish, and suppress individuals, with no clear legal basis or arguable connection to endangering "national security, public order, public health, or the rights and freedoms of others." The Siracusa Principles define legitimate national security interest as aiming to protecting the territorial integrity of the nation against the threat of force, such restrictions are neither necessary nor proportionate under international human rights standards.
Freedom of movement restrictions must be legal and specific enough for people to follow. Undefined limitations are illegal. Restrictions must be reasonable and directly related to the protected interest. The UN Human Rights Committee General Comment 27, Article 12 states that freedom of movement restrictions must be lawful, necessary, and proportionate. Specific, personalized, and least intrusive are also needed.
We urge the relevant authorities in China to immediately lift the travel restrictions imposed on Li Heping and members of his family, allowing them to exercise their right to freedom of movement. Furthermore, we call upon the Chinese government to ensure the safety and well-being of Li Heping and his family and refrain from any further actions that may violate their rights or expose them to harm.
The international community must closely monitor the situation of Li Heping and his family and call on China to adhere to its international obligations and respect their rights to freedom of movement. All individuals should be able to exercise their rights without fear of reprisals or arbitrary on restrictions.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jun 9, 2023
- Event Description
The arrest on treason charges of dozens of political activists in Papua will only add to the long list of human rights violations in the region, activists say. However, the police said it was in accordance with the law.
The West Papua National Committee (KNPB) claims there was no declaration of 'Free Papua' in its organisational activities in Tambrauw Regency, Southwest Papua.
Meanwhile, the police said they had two pieces of evidence related to three KNPB members in Tambrauw as treason suspects with a life sentence or a maximum of 20 years in prison.
The police denied that this was part of the suppression of civil and political rights.
On the other hand, a number of groups consider that the arrest of three KNPB members on treason charges will only add to the long list of civil and political rights violations in Papua.
KNPB's version of the arrest chronology
In a statement to BBC News Indonesia, KNPB national spokesperson Ones Suhuniap said, "There was no declaration whatsoever."
This refers to the arrest of 19 KNPB members in Tambrauw, Southwest Papua on Friday (09/06).
"There, the KNPB has a sector management, in this case, the community environment in the countryside. They were there to inaugurate the sector management," said Ones.
After the inauguration activities were completed and the participants were "sitting eating and drinking coffee" suddenly the police came with complete weapons, and made arrests.
"The activity did not interfere with residents' activities... It did not interfere with anything. Disrupting public activities, and disturbing other people, that doesn't exist," Ones continued.
He also dismissed allegations that his organisation was affiliated with TPNPB-OPM.
"Has the KNPB ever held a gun and killed the police? Did the KNPB shoot civilians, be it indigenous Papuans or non-Papuans in Papua?" Ones wondered.
According to Ones, the activities carried out by the KNPB are guaranteed in Law No. 9 of 1998 concerning Freedom of Expression in Public.
He urged the release of the three members because "There is no legal basis for detaining them."
According to Ones, his organisation still "exists", because the problems in Papua are "getting murkier".
Even though for more than a decade, the four roots of the Papuan problem have been clearly raised in the research, he said.
However, they have not been resolved, making the conflict in Papua protracted, Ones added.
He then explained what he called the "four roots of the Papua problem".
These are, among others, the issue of the history and political status of Papua's integration into Indonesia, and protracted military operations that only create collective wounds.
Then, what he called the "marginalisation of Papuans from the modernisation process, and the failure of Papuan development".
The Indonesian government under President Joko Widodo is trying to boost development in Papua, which consists of Papua Province and West Papua Province, mainly through infrastructure projects.
Since 2001, the central government has also implemented a special autonomy policy in Papua, which is characterised by, among other things, the disbursement of funds for the benefit of the Papuan people.
This special autonomy policy is claimed to be evidence of Jakarta's seriousness in solving problems in Papua, however, some experts say the funds have failed to be utilised properly and have been misused several times.
Police claim to have two pieces of evidence
Of the 19 arrested, three KNPB members were named as treason suspects. A total of 16 others have been released, police said.
It is said that the three suspects with the initials UK, YY and WY are threatened with life imprisonment or a maximum imprisonment of 20 years.
Tambrauw Police Chief, AKBP Bendot Dwi Prasetyo, said his party had pocketed two sufficient evidences.
"Here, we have obtained these evidence tools, witness statements that the suspects have committed the act," he said.
In addition, the KNPB's activities are under police supervision because the organisation is "not registered" with the National Unity and Politics Agency (Kesbangpol). In a report by the Antara news agency, a number of KNPB members were also suspected of carrying out an attack on Posramil Kisor in 2021.
"So, that is what grounds us that the KNPB is a banned organisation," said AKBP Bendot Dwi Prasetyo.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Jun 8, 2023
- Event Description
Police in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, and the country's largest city, Almaty, detained at least 14 activists from the unregistered Algha, Kazakhstan (Forward, Kazakhstan) political party on June 8. Almaty-based human rights defender Bakhytzhan Toreghozhina told reporters on June 9 that the detentions were made to prevent rallies the party planned during the ongoing two-day Astana International Forum, where participants discuss a broad range of issues including climate change, and food and energy security.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 8, 2023
- Event Description
A court in the northern Chinese province of Shaanxi has jailed prominent rights lawyer Chang Weiping for three-and-a-half years after he attended a gathering of dissidents in the southeastern city of Xiamen in December 2019.
The Feng County People’s Court handed down the sentence to Chang – whose lawyers say he has suffered torture in incommunicado detention – after finding him guilty of “incitement to subvert state power” at a secret trial.
The sentence came eight weeks after authorities in Shandong province handed down a 14-year sentence to prominent dissident Xu Zhiyong and a 12-year term to rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi, who also attended the Xiamen gathering, on the same charges, prompting an international outcry.
Subversion charges are frequently used by the ruling Chinese Communist Party to target peaceful critics of the regime.
Chang’s wife Chen Zijuan dismissed the case against her husband as “absurd.”
“His sentence of three-and-a-half years ... may appear more lenient than those of Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi, but the whole case against him was ridiculous from start to finish,” Chen said.
“Even a day in prison would have been too much.”
De facto travel ban Before his trial, Chang had been held for a long time under “residential surveillance at a designated location,” which rights groups say is associated with a higher risk of torture and mistreatment in detention.
Lawyers representing Chang, Xu and Ding have all reported that they were tortured during their time in pretrial detention.
“He has been locked up in the detention center for a very long time already, and I’m very concerned about his health,” Chen said, adding that her husband has also been sentenced to two-and-a-half years’ “deprivation of political rights,” which she said was a de facto travel ban.
“The point of the so-called deprivation of political rights is to stop him from leaving the country,” she said.
“Judging from past practice ... even if political prisoners are released after serving their sentences ... they are unlikely to have true freedom but be under surveillance, and they won’t have the freedom to leave the country,” Chen said.
She added that Chang is still considering whether or not to appeal, according to his lawyer.
Rights attorney Liu Shihui said any appeal would just be a question of “going through the motions,” however.
“Everyone knows that the sentence is never changed in these sorts of cases involving prisoners of conscience,” Liu said. “It’s a form of political persecution.”
“They have delayed this case for more than three years before pronouncing sentence ... and everyone knows that life in those detention centers is hell on earth, and a year seems like a whole lifetime,” he said.
‘No legal basis at all’ U.S.-based rights activist and legal scholar Teng Biao said Chang had gotten off relatively lightly compared with Xu and Ding, whom the authorities seem to regard as the main “culprits’ behind the Xiamen dinner gathering.
“They probably think Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi were the ringleaders in the Xiamen case, but from a legal point of view, neither Xu, Ding nor Chang or anyone else [accused] in this case have committed any crime,” Teng said.
“Arresting them and sending them to prison for subversion of state power is pure political persecution and a gross violation of their civil rights and freedoms, and has no legal basis at all, regardless of how lenient the sentence may be,” he said.
Chang, who was only allowed to meet with a lawyer after nearly a year in detention, was strapped immobile into a “tiger chair” torture device for six days straight, and deprived of food and sleep, his lawyer said in September 2021.
Ding’s lawyers say he was restrained in a “tiger chair” between April 1 and April 8, 2020, and interrogated for 21 hours a day, subjected to sleep deprivation and limited food and water.
Xu has told his lawyer that he was subjected to similar treatment in the “tiger chair” while detained in Shandong’s Yantai city.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 7, 2023
- Event Description
Police in China are keeping up their harassment of prominent rights lawyers, putting pressure on recently evicted Wang Quanzhang and his family, slapping a travel ban on Li Heping and his family, while denying rights attorney Xie Yang a phone call with his sick father.
And a court in the central city of Changsha recently denied detained rights lawyer Xie Yang a video meeting with his ailing 90-year-old father, who is terminally ill with COVID-19.
"The lawyer asked angrily whether the judges of the Changsha Intermediate People's Court were raised by their parents," the China Rights Lawyers Twitter account said of the June 7 hearing.
Xie's U.S.-based ex-wife Chen Guiqiu told Radio Free Asia in a recent interview that her father-in-law Xie Huicheng had been in hospital with a high fever for days at the time of the request.
"Xie Yang is a very filial son, and the old man really wanted to see him before he dies," Chen said. "The court just came up with various excuses to refuse."
Xie is currently being held in the Changsha No. 1 Detention Center, awaiting trial for "incitement to subvert state power," and recently told his visiting attorney that he has been tortured while in detention.
Chen said the court's decision not to allow him to video call his dying father could be a form of retaliation, or a way to silence Xie.
U.S.-based rights lawyer Wu Shaoping said that while there was no good legal reason to deny such a request, the ruling Chinese Communist Party is the ultimate arbiter of its citizens' rights, not the law.
"There was no reason to reject a humanitarian request of this kind," Wu said. "They use [such requests] as a way of controlling suspects [to elicit a 'confession']."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: prominent lawyer arrested once again
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Jun 7, 2023
- Event Description
Al Jazeera journalist Minelle Fernandez was hit by a water cannon while reporting on a students’ march in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo yesterday.
The Inter-University Student’s Federation (IUSF) staged a protest yesterday to demand the release of activists detained during last year’s anti-government protests.
The Police fired water cannons and tear gas to disperse the protesters at Wijerama Junction in Nugegoda, during which Al Jazeera journalist Minelle Fernandez was caught in the crossfire.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 6, 2023
- Event Description
Three Bunong indigenous family members were arrested by Mondulkiri provincial police on Sunday over a land dispute in Chamkar Te Village, Spean Thmor Commune. They were sent to Mondulkiri provincial court for questioning on Tuesday afternoon, according to the human rights organization ADHOC.
Police first contacted the Bunong relatives on Wednesday, when the Mondulkiri provincial police commissioner issued a summons to Nhev Mloeung, and his family members Meung Sotek and Kreuk Try. The police asked them to come to the Office of Minor Criminal Police in Mondulkiri to discuss a complaint filed by Non Phally. Phally alleged that the Bunong relatives had destroyed and stolen fence posts on his land.
Mloeung said the 12-hectare piece of land has belonged to his family since 1979, but until now it has not been registered with the government. In order to prevent cattle from entering the farmland, Mloeung said he built a fence around the land in early April.
“I received a summons [on Wednesday] and I agreed to go to the police and make a record of the land. I described the story of my ancestral land that was left to the next generation to take care of,” he said. “The police said both sides have no right to do anything on the disputed land, wait for a solution.”
But, according to Mloeung, people who claimed the land was theirs did not listen to the police and instead continued to destroy the fence and clear the land on Sunday.
“I came in and forbade them to continue, but they filed a complaint,” he said. “The police came to arrest my grandfather, brother and sister and sent them to the Mondulkiri provincial police commissioner immediately. ”
Even though he himself was not arrested, Mloeung said police officials forced him to be fingerprinted and sign an agreement to end the conflict; they told him if he did not agree he would have to go to court.
The forcible and warrantless arrests were unjust, Mloeung said.
“I am a victim, it is not fair for us, I did nothing wrong, just go and see peacefully. Why did the owner of the land get arrested and put in a car to the provincial commissioner?” he said. “And why is the person who came to encroach on our land not wrong?”
CamboJA did not reach Non Phally for comment in time for publication of this story.
So Sovann, Mondulkiri provincial police deputy, told CamboJA that the three relatives were sent to the police because they were the ones who destroyed and stole the fence posts. He said the land title belonged to someone else, not the arrested family members.
The police will release the three indigenous people after they accept the truth that the land does not belong to them, Sovann said.
“After they [the Bunong family members] agree to give the land to the owner’s who have the [land title] documents, and after we finish the negotiation, they can go back home,” he said.
Kroeung Tola, ADHOC monitoring officer in Mondulkiri Province, said the three indigenous people had tried to stop others from clearing their land on Sunday. They wanted to settle the disagreement peacefully, and did not do anything violent or illegal, he said.
“They just wanted to negotiate a proper solution and ask them to stop clearing their burial land, but another group said they had the land title and all the documents. But the indigenous people did not agree to give up their land or have it cleared by others,” he said. “Then the person who claimed he was the landowner called the police to catch [the Bunong family members].”
The 12-hectare piece of land includes a plantation and burial grounds of the Bunong ethnic group, according to Tola.
“[Bunong people] protected this land since 1979, but during Pol Pot’s regime they were taken to another place,” he said. “After the war ended, they came back in 1983 and continued to protect the land until today, but the land title is with other people.”
Arresting people without a warrant is wrong and this case is not a criminal offense, he said. He added that the authorities should deal with this situation in accordance with Cambodian law, whether these three individuals are right or wrong about the land belonging to them.
Am Sam Ath, operations manager with the NGO LICADHO, said that the authorities should have properly investigated this case before making the arrests.
“If there is a directive from the authorities, both sides should wait for a peaceful settlement and should not touch the disputed land,” Samath said. “But if only one party goes to record the actions of the other party peacefully, and then there are arrests, it is a violation of their rights and unreasonable.”
Mloeung hopes that Mondulkiri authorities help to intervene in this land dispute and that his relatives will be let go immediately.
“I urge the authorities, relevant officials at all levels and the Ministry of Justice to help resolve the land issue and release my three relatives,” he said. “We, the indigenous people, are very alarmed when family members are arrested.”
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Indigenous peoples' rights defender, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jun 6, 2023
- Event Description
A court in Vietnam’s Dak Lak province has sentenced music lecturer Dang Dang Phuoc to eight years in prison and four years of probation for allegedly "conducting anti-state propaganda,” his wife and one of his lawyers told RFA Tuesday.
The 60-year-old instructor at Dak Lak Pedagogical College in Vietnam’s Central Highland, frequently posted on Facebook about educational issues, human rights violations, corrupt officials and social injustice.
Police arrested him on Sept. 8 last year, and charged him with "making, storing, spreading or propagating information, documents and items aimed at opposing the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” which carries a maximum 12-year prison term. Even though Phuoc didn’t receive the maximum sentence, lawyer Le Van Luan said the court should have been more lenient towards his client.
"With the circumstances of the case, that sentence is too heavy compared to what Mr. Phuoc did," he said.
Phuoc’s case has drawn international attention, including from Human Rights Watch, who's deputy Asia director Phil Robertson described the sentence as “outrageous and unacceptable.”
“What it reveals is the Vietnamese government’s total intolerance for ordinary citizens pointing out corruption, speaking out against injustice, and calling for accountability by local officials,” he said on hearing the verdict.
“Those were precisely the things that Dang Dang Phuoc did in Dak Lak, and now the government claims such whistle-blowing actions are propaganda against the state.”
During the past decade, Phuoc has campaigned against corruption and advocated for better protections for civil and political rights. He has signed several pro-democracy petitions and called for changes to Vietnam’s constitution, which grants the Communist Party a monopoly on power.
“This unjust prison sentence reveals General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s anti-corruption campaign is a sham game that is really more about holding on to power, and marginalizing political rivals, but does not care to address the Communist Party of Vietnam’s widespread malfeasance in its ranks,” said Robertson, comparing Trong with China’s authoritarian leader Xi Jinping.
Police kept a close watch on Phuoc’s wife, Le Thi Ha, ahead of the trial, warning her she would lose her job if she talked about the case on social media.
She was allowed to attend the trial, along with Phuoc’s four lawyers.
Ha told RFA her husband plans to appeal the verdict.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Vietnam: blogger arrested on catch-all charges
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 4, 2023
- Event Description
Hong Kong police have deployed en masse at key sites on the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, apprehending several people in Causeway Bay, including Tsui Hong-kwong, who was among the organisers of the Tiananmen vigils, unionist Leo Tang and chairperson of pro-democracy group the League of Social Democrats (LSD), Chan Po-ying.
At around 5pm on Sunday, veteran activist Wong, popularly known as Grandma Wong, was apprehended by police in Causeway Bay, near where the city’s Tiananmen vigils were once held.
Three other people were escorted away by police soon after, also in Hong Kong Island’s shopping district.
LSD chair Chan was taken away in a police vehicle after being stopped in the area. She was holding a yellow flower. The party later told reporters that Chan had been released from Wan Chai Police Station at 9.15pm, adding that police had said they would need to conduct further investigations and Chan had been released without bail terms.
Journalist Mak Yin-ting, former chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, was taken away by the police after being stopped on Great George Street.
Leo Tang, a former vice-chairperson of the pro-democracy coalition of unions the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, was taken away by the police. Tang was wearing a black t-shirt printed with the Wen Wei Po headline from its 1989 report about the Tiananmen crackdown.
Former member of the the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, Tsui Hong-kwong was placed in a police vehicle after carrying an electronic candle on the street in Causeway Bay. Tang later posted to Facebook to say he had been taken to Wan Chai Police Station to assist with police investigations.
A man wearing a black Tiananmen crackdown remembrance t-shirt was escorted into a police van at around 7.20pm. Police told HKFP he would be held for questioning.
Outside Victoria Park, a man who was sitting on a bench holding a candle was taken by police officers to a police van.
Near the water fountain in Victoria Park, a woman in a black t-shirt was taken away by police, who held her hands and legs while she was escorted to a police vehicle. She yelled “I want to go home” and “will every June 4 be like this?” Before being apprehended, she sat on the ground. Officers told her that if she did not cooperate, she would be arrested for obstructing police.
A person who gave their name as Chan, who had witnessed the woman being taken away, told HKFP that police surrounded her after she displayed a photo of a candle on her phone and requested to conduct a stop and search. The woman tried to leave but was stopped by a group of officers.
Also near the Victoria Park fountain, a middle-aged man with a hearing aid and an electronic candle which shone red at its tip was taken to a police vehicle.
Earlier on Sunday, a number of passers-by were stopped and checked under a green canopy tent set up by police on Great George Street, near to Exit E of the Causeway Bay MTR station, the closest exit to Victoria Park.
It was not only people who were apprehended. A Porsche with a licence plate “US 8964,” the date of the Tiananmen crackdown, was seen driving through Causeway Bay on Sunday evening before being impounded. The owner of the car said in a public Facebook group that the officers cited his car’s embossed license plate and brake as reasons to impound the vehicle.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, NGO staff, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jun 3, 2023
- Event Description
A day ahead of his trial on Tuesday, the wife of a music lecturer arrested in early September on charges of "conducting anti-state propaganda” said he is innocent and called for his release.
Dang Dang Phuoc, 60, an instructor at Dak Lak Pedagogical College in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, often writes on Facebook about educational issues, human rights violations, corrupt officials and social injustice.
Police arrested him on Sept. 8 and charged him with "making, storing, spreading or propagating information, documents and items aimed at opposing the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.” He faces up to 12 years in prison.
His case has drawn international attention, including from Human Rights Watch, which also urged Vietnam’s government to release him Monday.
In a statement, the rights group slammed authorities for targeting those who highlight corruption in the Southeast Asian nation, despite claims that they are working to eradicate graft.
Speaking to RFA’s Vietnamese Service, Phuoc’s wife Le Thi Ha said that her husband’s arrest had caused her family to lose its “primary pillar” and left them in a state of shock.
“In Vietnam, whomever [the authorities] arrest, when the arrests take place, and how many years in prison the arrestees are sentenced to ... all are in their hands,” she said. “However, to me, my husband is innocent. My wish is that my husband be released unconditionally.”
Anti-corruption advocate
During the past decade, Phuoc has campaigned against corruption and advocated for better protections for civil and political rights. He has signed several pro-democracy petitions and called for changes to Vietnam’s constitution, which grants the Communist Party a monopoly on power.
After Phuoc’s arrest, police summoned Ha for interrogation at least twice and threatened to have her fired if she shared information about his case on social media.
According to an indictment obtained by RFA, the Dak Lak Provincial Police’s Investigation Security Agency examined a recent recording of Phuoc’s and found it to “slander the government in order to reduce people's trust in management and administration of the government and the state.”
On Monday, Ha said that her family and close friends plan to attend his trial on Tuesday, but questioned whether the court will allow it.
“Although the authorities said the trial would be open to the public, there are many precedents in Vietnam that show that even family members were not allowed to attend trials for political dissidents and activists,” she said. “I don’t know how my husband’s trial will go.”
Home under surveillance
In the meantime, she said, police have kept a close watch on her household, sending plainclothes officers to document the activities of her family members over the weekend.
“Their people are still stationed at the road leading to my house,” she told RFA. “Being aware of many previous cases in which family members of prisoners of conscience received invitations but were still prevented from attending the related trials, I have left my home to increase the chance of being able to attend my husband’s trial.”
On Monday, Phuoc’s defense lawyers met with him and said that he has been “well-treated” in detention, describing him as “optimistic, positive, healthy, and showing no signs of depression or psychological crisis at all.”
“Of course he admitted to the act, but as for the crime, he said he was exercising his right to speak the truth,” lawyer Le Van Luan said. “For tomorrow, he prepared the content of his defense. Basically, the defense is strong, covering the entirety of his case.”
In a statement on Monday, Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson echoed Ha’s call to set Phuoc free.
“The Vietnam government makes use of its abusive and overly broad laws to prosecute people who call for reforms,” said Robertson. “The authorities should immediately drop the charges against Dang Dang Phuoc and other activists who play a critical role in rooting out the malfeasance and corruption that the government claims to oppose.”
He slammed the government for its contempt for freedom of expression, noting that it is extended “even to activists who sing a few songs criticizing them.”
“The European Union, which concluded a free trade agreement with Vietnam containing human rights conditionality, and other trade partners, should call out the government for its unrelenting rights violations,” he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 3, 2023
- Event Description
Eight people were detained near Hong Kong’s Victoria Park on Saturday 3 June for what police described as “displaying protest items loaded with seditious wordings, chanting and committing unlawful acts”.
Two of those detained have since been released, but the four arrested for “seditious intention and disorderly conduct” could face up to two years in prison.
Those arrested include two people who had held aloft pieces of paper saying, “personal commemoration, hunger strike for 8964 3.4 seconds” (referencing the year, date and anniversary of the crackdown) and holding flowers. Another arrested, an artist, had reportedly chanted, “Don’t forget June 4! Hong Kong people, don’t be afraid of them!”
Every year on 4 June since 1990, up to hundreds of thousands of people joined a candlelight vigil in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park to remember those killed during the Tiananmen crackdown. They called on the Chinese authorities to reveal the truth about what happened and take accountability for the fatalities. The vigil was banned in 2020 and 2021, ostensibly on Covid-19 grounds.
Last year authorities closed parts of Victoria Park citing potential “illegal activities”. This year it was “unavailable” due to the hosting of an outdoor market organized by pro-Beijing groups, including those sponsored by the Chief Executive and former and current members of China’s National People’s Congress.
The organizer of the past vigils, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, was forced to disband in September 2021 after coming under increasing pressure since the enactment of Hong Kong’s national security law in June 2020. Several of its senior figures, including human rights lawyer Chow Hang-tung, have been prosecuted under “inciting subversion” charges for their peaceful activism.
The Alliance is one of numerous prominent civil society organizations or political groups forced to close after being targeted by the Hong Kong police on national security grounds.
Every year the vigil in Hong Kong featured a recorded message from the Tiananmen Mothers, family members of those killed, who are still seeking a full government account of the deaths, lawful compensation and investigation of criminal responsibility.
Hundreds – possibly thousands – of people were killed in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on 4 June 1989 when Chinese troops opened fire on students and workers who had been peacefully calling for political and economic reforms as well as an end to corruption. Tens of thousands were arrested across China in the suppression that followed. Many were charged with counter-revolutionary crimes and served very long prison sentences following unfair trials.
Regularly since 1989, activists in mainland China have been detained and charged with “subversion” or “picking quarrels” if they commemorate those who were killed, call for the release of prisoners or criticize government actions during the Tiananmen crackdown.
- Impact of Event
- 8
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jun 1, 2023
- Event Description
Vu Thi Kim Hoang, the wife of Nguyen Thai Hung, a Vietnamese Youtube user, will serve her two-and-a-half-year prison sentence starting on June 1. She was found guilty of "abusing democratic freedoms" under Article 331 of the Penal Code, according to her interview with VOA Vietnamese on May 30. Last November, a court in Dong Nai sentenced Hung, 53, to four years and Hoang, 45, to two and a half years in prison.
Nguyen Thai Hung owned a Youtube channel called “Nói bằng thực TV” (Telling by Truth Television), where he often live-streamed and hosted talk shows discussing social and economic issues in Vietnam. The channel was reportedly established in 2020, gaining nearly 40,000 subscribers. The couple was arrested in January 2021 under Article 331, although Hoang did not directly participate in the live streaming. She was later released on bail.
Hoang publicly announced on her personal Facebook page, Kim Vu, on May 30 that she would be sent to the Tan Phu Detention Center in Dong Nai Province on June 1. Hoang told VOA News that she would be transferred to the B5 Camp of Dong Nai Provincial Prison. “[I] always hope that Vietnam will have freedom of speech,” she added. “That's the priority my husband and I hope for.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jun 1, 2023
- Event Description
The Coalition of Kawali Indonesia Lestari (KAWALI) held a consolidation meeting with the Regional Leadership Council (DPD) of KAWALI in Central Java on Saturday (17/6/2023) at the Secretariat of Padepokan Lintang Kemukus Paduraksa, Pemalang Regency, Central Java. The consolidation was attended by the National General Chairman of KAWALI DPN along with the Legal Team, Management of DPD, and DPW in Central Java.
This consolidation discussed the handling of environmental issues in Karimunjawa following the identification of Daniel Frits Maurits Tangkilisan, Head of the IT and Propaganda Department of KAWALI DPD Jepara, as a suspect by the Jepara District Police Criminal Investigation Unit due to posting on FB social media related to the follow-up on the pollution of Cemara Beach in Karimunjawa due to the impact of pond waste disposal. He uploaded his post on November 12, 2022.
The post received responses from both pro-pond and opposing groups. In a reply in the comments section, Daniel wrote, "The shrimp-brained society enjoys a free meal while being devoured by pond farmers. Essentially, the shrimp-brained society is like shrimp livestock itself. Fed well, plentiful, and regular, ready to be consumed."
Ridwan, Chairman of the Karimunjawa Community Association, reported this comment by Daniel to the Jepara District Police on February 8, 2023. Daniel was reported for committing a crime as referred to in Article 28 paragraph 2, in conjunction with Article 45A paragraph 2 of Law No. 19 of 2016 concerning Amendments to Law No. 11 of 2008 concerning Electronic Information and Transactions.
Daniel was declared a suspect according to the Notice of Suspect Determination Letter Number B/ /VI/2023/RESKRIM referring to the Letter of Determination of Suspect Number S.Tap/82/VI/2023/Reskrim, dated June 1, 2023, and the Report of the Case Investigation Hearing Results, dated May 31, 2023.
Criminalization? The National General Chairman of KAWALI DPN, Puput TD Putra, believes that designating an environmental activist as a suspect is suspected to be an act of criminalization. "What is demanded is still biased and should have a long way to go before being declared a suspect. This limits the space for movement in advocating for environmental protection and rejecting shrimp pond industries that have long been environmentally destructive," said the General Chairman of KAWALI in a press conference on Saturday (17/6/2023).
"I think Daniel FMT, as an environmental activist, should not receive injustice for his joint efforts with the Karimunjawa community to obtain justice and environmental rights. We will initiate a nationwide movement and urge law enforcement agencies and the state to stop the criminalization of environmental activists," continued Puput.
Meanwhile, Andi Rustono, Chairman of DPW KAWALI Central Java, stated that this consolidation is a sign of our collective resistance and a demand for civil society's promises regarding repressive actions, manipulated cases, baseless lawsuits, against communities fighting to preserve a healthy environment and other fundamental rights due to bad investment practices and discriminatory policies.
Andi Rustono emphasized "We see that the legal rationale doesn't align, as someone who is currently advocating for the environment is being subjected to something very different from what they are advocating for. The rationale is not fitting, providing an unfair treatment before the law for someone fighting for the environment," said Andi.
Meanwhile, Secretary of DPD Kawali Central Java, Tri Hutomo, who also attended the consolidation, explained that the state has regulated that anyone advocating for a good and healthy environment cannot be criminally charged or civilly sued.
"Based on Article 66 of Law Number 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management, the rights of activists to fight for environmental preservation must be guaranteed by the national legal system," explained Tri.
Procedures for case resolution, including investigation and suspect determination, must be carried out professionally, proportionally, and transparently to prevent abuse of authority.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 31, 2023
- Event Description
The Supreme Court this morning rejected the appeals of nine current and former political, social, and youth activists. The court upheld the incitement convictions against current and former Khmer Thavrak activists Chhoeun Daravy, Hun Vannak, Tha Lavy and Eng Malai; Khmer Student Intelligent League Association (KSILA) activists Koet Saray, Moung Sopheak and Mean Prummony; and former Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) members Chhour Pheng (also known as Chhou Pheng) and Chum Puthy (also known as Tum Vuthy, or Chhum Vuthy).
The Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s sentencing of the activists to 20 months in prison with between five to six months of their sentences suspended. Daravy, Vannak, Pheng and Puthy were sentenced to serve 15 months in prison, while Saray, Sopheak, Prummony, Lavy and Malai were sentenced to serve 14 months. All nine defendants were also each fined 2 million riel (US$500).
The activists were arrested in August and September 2020 and held in pre-trial detention, which was credited to their sentences. All nine activists were released from prison in early November 2021, but remain under a two-year probation period with restrictive conditions until November 2023.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted the nine activists, along with five other co-defendants, of incitement under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code on 26 October 2021. Ten of the defendants appealed their convictions, which were upheld by the Phnom Penh Appeal Court on 22 August 2022. Nine defendants subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court, as reflected in today’s verdict. The criminal charges were brought against all the activists in relation to peaceful demonstrations following the July 2020 arrest of former union leader and labour rights activist Rong Chhun.
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- May 31, 2023
- Event Description
Vietnam has arrested well-known environmentalist Hoang Thi Minh Hong for tax evasion, a government official said Thursday in the latest example of the Vietnamese government’s routine use of financial charges to imprison green activists.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ deputy spokesperson Nguyen Duc Thang confirmed on Thursday to reporters that Hong, her husband, and two staff members were arrested the day before.
Hoang Thi Minh Hong is known for her activities in the fight against climate change, including bringing the Earth Hour initiative from Australia to Vietnam.
She is also famous for being the first Vietnamese woman to set foot in Antarctica in 1997, and in 2019, she was listed by Forbes magazine as one of the 50 most influential women in Vietnam.
Hong is the founder and executive director of CHANGE – a non-profit organization with the mission of inspiring the community and raising environmental awareness with the aim of protecting nature and wild animals, combating climate change, and promoting sustainable development.
Based on her activism, climateheroes.org included her in their 2015 “Climate Heroes” list. Four years later, in 2019, she was voted among the Top 5 Ambassadors of Inspiration at the 2019 WeChoice Awards and was named the Green Warrior of the Year at the Elle Style Awards.
Hoang Thi Minh Hong is the fifth activist in Vietnam to have been arrested on the charge of tax evasion.
International organizations and foreign governments have criticized Vietnam for targeting and detaining environmental activists and urged the Southeast Asian nation to release those who had been arrested on tax evasion charges.
Hong’s arrest came a week after a U.N. working group of independent human rights experts called on Vietnam to immediately release a detained climate activist serving a five-year prison term for tax evasion, saying he had been arrested arbitrarily and tried unfairly.
Lawyer and environmentalist Dang Dinh Bach, 44, who had campaigned to reduce Vietnam’s reliance on coal was arrested June 2021 and then sentenced to five years in jail.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Family of HRD, NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- May 31, 2023
- Event Description
Social media activist Bruno Divakara was arrested on Wednesday (31) by the Computer Crimes Investigations Division of the CID.
Police spokesperson SSP Nihal Thalduwa said, Bruno Divakara was arrested for publishing comments made by Natasha Edirisooriya, which sparked controversy.
Bruno Divakara was informed to report to the Computer Crimes Investigations Division of the CID by 10 AM on Wednesday (31).
Sri Lanka Police said that a statement was recorded from him, and thereafter in the evening he was arrested.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- May 31, 2023
- Event Description
According to police reports, CWXR Kalahi Radio 101.7 and MUX Online broadcaster Cresenciano ‘Cris’ Bundoquin was shot to death outside his home in Calapan City by unknown gunmen in the early morning of May 31. According to regional police, two currently unidentified men approached the journalist on a White Honda XRM 125 motorcycle at around 4:20 am, with one assailant shooting the journalist in the chest.
Bundoquin was rushed to a nearby hospital but was declared dead on arrival. Oriental Mindoro Police Director Samuel Delorino confirmed that police have identified one of two suspects, Narciso Ignacio Guntan, who was slain as he attempted to escape the scene. Guntan’s cause of death is currently unclear due to conflicting reports.
According to station management, Bundoquin was known for hard-hitting coverage of local issues, including environmental concerns, political developments, and illegal gambling. He had reportedly received several threats before his death. Police have not yet indentified whether the incident was related to his journalistic work.
Rural journalists in the Philippines often face harassment and violence. On October 3, 2022 radio broadcaster Percival ‘Percy Lapid’ Mabasa was shot to death in Las Piñas City, one of four journalists killed for their reporting in 2022, of which three were from non-urban areas.
The NUJP said: “Although the motives behind the attack on Bundoquin are yet unclear and a police investigation is ongoing, this latest killing is a grim reminder that journalism remains a dangerous profession in the Philippines. We call on the Marcos administration and Presidential Task Force on Media Security to build on the leap in the Philippines' standing on the World Press Freedom index by ending the impunity surrounding attacks on journalists and bringing those who harass, attack, and kill media workers to account.”
IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: “The heinous killing of journalist Cris Bundoquin in cold blood poses an unacceptable violation to press freedom and freedom of expression. Rural and regional journalists in the Philippines must be able to report safely and securely without facing disproportionate violence, intimidation and threats. The IFJ strongly condemns the killing and urges authorities to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation to bring the culprits to justice.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Lao People's Democratic Republic
- Initial Date
- May 31, 2023
- Event Description
Concerns are growing over the fate of Laos-based Chinese free-speech activist Qiao Xinxin, whose associates say he has been incommunicado for several days amid reports of his arrest by Chinese police in the Laotian capital.
Qiao, whose birth name is Yang Zewei, is missing, believed detained on or around May 31 in Vientiane, after launching an online campaign to end internet censorship in China, known as the BanGFW Movement, a reference to the Great Firewall, according to fellow activists.
The case reflects China’s growing “long-arm” repression of its critics outside the country. Some have been detained on foreign soil, while others have told Radio Free Asia they face regular harassment from people believed to be acting on Beijing's behalf targeting loved ones back home and via their social media accounts.
According to an online petition posted by a group called the China Citizens' Action Party, activist Wang Qingpeng tweeted on June 2 that Qiao had been incommunicado for 48 hours.
A State Department spokesperson on Monday condemned threats, harassment and cross-border abductions of dissidents by the Chinese authorities, saying there were concerns for Qiao's safety following media reports of his disappearance.
In comments made in an email to VOA Chinese on June 12, the spokesperson called on the government of Laos to respect and fulfill its obligations under international law, including not allowing the deportation of anyone who could face torture or other serious harm in their country of origin.
In an April 20 statement released via Twitter, Qiao had called on fellow activists to stage protests outside China's embassies around the world, should he fail to post to his social media accounts for 48 hours.
In the statement that he termed a "Declaration of Not Suicide," Qiao said police in China were investigating his postings to social media and putting pressure on his loved ones back home.
"I am now in Laos, but police in my hometown are investigating my speech online and trying to harass my family members in China," said the handwritten statement, which he held up in a selfie posted to his Twitter account.
"I still love this world and [am] confident about the democracy of China," it said. "If there's no more online updates for 48 hours, please help to protest in front of [Chinese] embassies. Thanks!"
Tearing down the wall According to the Citizens' Action Party, Qiao launched the #BanGFW movement online in March, after which police started putting pressure on his relatives to contact him and tell him to stop.
"Qiao Xinxin didn't back down, but fought harder and harder," petition author "Prince Ye" wrote. "He invited more netizens to raise placards calling for the Great Firewall to be torn down, to contact different governments and to get in touch with the media."
Qiao, who briefly worked as a contributor for Radio Free Asia, was visited on June 1 by two Laotian policemen and six Chinese police officers, who arrested him, according to Wang and fellow activist Lin Shengliang, who cited Qiao's neighbor in Vientiane.
Lin, who lives in the Netherlands, said Qiao had likely come back from his daily swim in the Mekong River to find the police officers waiting for him.
"It's very likely that the people were hiding [in his apartment] and grabbed him as soon as he walked in the door," Lin said. "They likely pressed him to the floor in an instant."
"He would definitely have resisted ... but there would have been no time for him to send out any signal for help."
According to Qiao's neighbors, he was taken away by eight uniformed police officers in handcuffs, six of whom were believed to be Chinese.
Lin said he had called the local police station to ask who had taken Qiao.
"The guy said, 'It's not our case,' and was eager to wash his hands of it," Lin said. "But it was passive confirmation that he was arrested."
Transnational repression Fellow #BanGFW activist Wang Nan said cross-border law enforcement by Chinese police is common in Laos and Thailand.
"China [is believed to have] arrested people in Thailand more than once," Wang Nan said. "As far as I know, most of Thailand's economy and export trade depend on China, while the same is true in Laos."
Former Guangzhou police officer Deng Haiyan says he was forced to cut off all contact with his China-based family after coming to live in the United States.
"They harassed all of them – my father, even my wife's sister and brother-in-law," Deng told Radio Free Asia in a June 12 interview. "I have basically cut off contact with them now, for fear they will be treated as guilty by association."
"They also do certain things online to target me, like posting my personal details like my ID card number and that of my wife on social media, and libeling me, saying I am part of a pornography ring," he said. "All of this is ongoing."
Harassed at home A U.S.-based dissident who asked to remain anonymous said her family is being targeted for harassment back in China.
"My brother is harassed by them every month, and it gets worse in June, when they freeze his bank account," she said, in a reference to the politically sensitive anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.
Meanwhile, New York-based journalist Ma Ju said he cut off contact with his family in China seven years ago.
"I have also had all kinds of online harassment on a daily basis," Ma said. "I think the Chinese Communist Party are behind it."
"I have been hacked so many times while making online content -- my power just cut out on two occasions," he said. "I contacted the FBI about it some time ago, and it turned out there had been a hacker attack that disconnected my internet."
"If I'm doing a live stream I'll use mobile data instead, so they can't cut me off."
In November 2022, police in Bangkok Police detained an exiled Chinese dissident after he staged a lone street protest against Chinese leader Xi Jinping inspired by the Oct. 13 "Bridge Man" protest in Beijing.
Veteran rights activist Li Nanfei, who has been stranded in Thailand for several years despite being a U.N.-registered refugee, was arrested after holding up a placard on a Bangkok street that read: "His Majesty President Xi, put an end to dictatorship in China! Give the people back their freedom!"
Earlier in the same month, Adiyaa, an ethnic Mongolian Chinese national who fled the country after his involvement in 2020 protests over a ban on Mongolian-medium teaching in schools, reported being held by Chinese state security police in Bangkok.
In 2019, Thai police detained two Chinese refugees – Jia Huajiang and Liu Xuehong – who had earlier helped jailed rights website founder Huang Qi before fleeing the country.
Thailand has sent refugees from China back home in the past.
In July 2018, authorities in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing jailed rights activist Dong Guangping and political cartoonist Jiang Yefei after they were sent home from Thailand as they were awaiting resettlement as political refugees, prompting an international outcry.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Intimidation and Threats, Transnational repression
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 30, 2023
- Event Description
The Interior Ministry issued a statement warning that it would take action against the Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies (CPSC) right before the organization was going to hold a conference in Siem Reap on May 30 and 31.
The title of the event was “Review of Current Humanitarian efforts, and seeking effective ways forward.”
The Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies (CPSC) is an NGO based in Siem Reap that focuses on peacebuilding and conflict resolution in Asia.
The ministry’s statement said the CPSC’s conference would be “an unjustifiable intervention” in ASEAN member states and would go against the ASEAN Charter. The charter was adopted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2007 and outlines the purpose and principles of the intergovernmental organization.
The ministry’s statement said the meeting would also violate “the rules of associations and non-government organization” in Cambodia according to requirements of the Interior Ministry.
CPSC issued a statement on May 30 confirming that the meeting “would be called off to comply with the ministry’s letter.”
When CamboJA called CPSC, the person who answered declined to comment on the issue before hanging up. The NGO did not respond to further requests for comment.
Am Sam Arth, operations director for Cambodian human rights NGO Licadho, said it is not illegal for these organizations to hold meetings as part of their work.
“For me, I think the Interior Ministry made such a fast decision to stop their meeting,” he said. “They should have considered the main purpose [of NGOs].”
He added that Cambodian NGOs already have to register with the Interior Ministry, and international NGOs must sign the memorandum of understanding with the Foreign Affairs Ministry. CPSC did not do anything wrong, he said.
“The government must provide protection, respect and appreciation for the work NGOs are doing in developing our nation,” he said. “They are good partners with the government that help fulfill certain criteria and address shortcomings.”
Interior Ministry spokesperson Khieu Sopheak claimed in an interview with CamboJA that CPSC admitted that it was wrong to hold the meeting and that what they did was against the ASEAN regulations.
“[CPSC] did activities that are against the ASEAN charter,” he said. “This is the work of ASEAN, they [NGOs] cannot intervene in the internal affairs.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- May 29, 2023
- Event Description
Local sources report that Taliban intelligence forces have detained a human rights activist for the second time in Kabul city.
According to the sources, the individual in question is named Shams al-Rahman Rahiq, and the Taliban arrested him on Monday, May 29, along with Ata al-Rahman, his uncle’s son, at the Gozargah area in Kabul city. They transferred him to an undisclosed location.
Although the motive behind Rahiq’s arrest is not yet known, sources quoting his relatives say that he has been detained due to his human rights activities.
Sources state that the Taliban had previously arrested Shams al-Rahman about a month ago and held him in prison for a while, but he was released again with the intervention of local elders.
It is worth mentioning that approximately a year ago, the Taliban forcibly removed Rahiq’s father from his home in Paktia and subjected him to physical assault.
Shams al-Rahman Rahiq is a resident of the Abdullahkhel valley in the Dara district of Panjshir province and had been living in Kabul city.
The Taliban has not commented on this matter so far.
It is said that he has also been an employee of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), but the organization has not yet expressed its opinion on the issue.
It should be noted that since their takeover, the Taliban have detained and imprisoned several civil activists and human rights defenders in various provinces of the country.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- May 28, 2023
- Event Description
Kazakh journalist Duman Mukhammedkarim has launched a hunger strike to protest against a 25-day jail term he was handed on May 28, two days after he had finished serving a similar sentence. Mukhammedkarim’s lawyer told RFE/RL that a court in the southern town of Qonaev sentenced his client on a charge of violating regulations for public gatherings because of a video on Mukhammedkarim's YouTube channel that called on Kazakhs to defend their rights. His previous 25-day sentence was on the same charge over his online calls for Almaty residents to rally against the government's move to introduce visa-free entry to Kazakhstan for Chinese citizens.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Kazakhstan: media worker jailed for violating court ban
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- May 28, 2023
- Event Description
Stand-up comedian, Nathasha Edirisooriya, who drew widespread criticism in the country for allegedly making derogatory remarks about religions, was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
According to the police, she was taken into custody at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake on Sunday night while attempting to fly out of the country.
The CID received a complaint against Edirisooriya for allegedly insulting religions, including Buddhism, and Christianity during a stand-up comedy show.
She later shared a video and publicly apologised for the statements made.
Sri Lanka's religious affairs minister said that the country is drafting new legislation to control the incidents of religious slander and online virulence.
Sri Lanka's Minister of Buddhashasana, Religious, and Cultural Affairs Vidura Wickramanayaka, on Sunday, said that legislation would be soon passed to control the growing incidents of religious slander in the country.
"This will stop all incidents of demeaning religion on social media," he claimed.
Earlier this month, Pastor Jerome Fernando, a self-styled Godman, was condemned for making disparaging remarks about Lord Buddha, the video of which went viral on social media.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe instructed the Criminal Investigation Department to launch a probe into the matter, asserting that such statements could create religious conflicts in the country.
Fernando also released a public apology before fleeing to Singapore.
He then filed a fundamental rights petition to block his impending arrest.
In January, famous YouTuber Sepal Amarasinghe was sent to police custody for allegedly making derogatory remarks about the Sacred Tooth relic of Lord Buddha.
Sri Lanka's population, which roughly comprises 22 million, approximately 74 per cent are Buddhists. Sri Lanka's Constitution, while also respecting other communities and their rights, concedes Buddhism as the "foremost place" among the country's religious faiths.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- May 28, 2023
- Event Description
Reporter at Galaxy 4K television Ghanashyam Poudel and cameraperson Rukmangat Bhattarai were manhandled while reporting in Arghakhanchi on May 28. Arghakhanchi lies in Lumbini Province of Nepal.
Reporter Poudel shared with Freedom Forum that he and his cameraperson went to a local community school to report on school management committee formation.
"I went to report there on the basis of information provided by the parents about poor management and education quality in the school. I also asked the school management how they form school management committee without informing the local representatives and parents", said reporter Poudel.
"Thereafter, a teacher and a parent manhandled us and threw our boom. Cameraperson Bhattarai has received minor injury on neck and lens of the camera is also damaged in the incident", added Poudel.
Freedom Forum is concerned over the incident. The reporter has right to report the issues of public concern. Intimidating a journalist and obstructing reporting is violation of press freedom and right to information. Hence, FF urges the school authority to respect journalist's right to free reporting.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- May 28, 2023
- Event Description
Several top Indian wrestlers, including Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, have been charged with rioting and disorder by police in New Delhi after their arrests during a march to the new parliament building following its inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The wrestlers and their supporters were arrested on Sunday after scuffles broke out in front of parliament as they intensified their protests demanding the arrest of their federation chief over sexual harassment allegations.
Police released some of the protesters late on Sunday but filed first information reports (FIR), or formal complaints, against others under multiple articles of the Indian Penal Code, ranging from rioting to “causing an obstruction in the duty of a public servant with the use of assault and criminal force”.
The wrestlers have been protesting in the capital for more than a month over the lack of action against Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, a member of parliament belonging to Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The protesting athletes have demanded his “immediate arrest” and sought the intervention of the Supreme Court, which directed the police to register a case against the 66-year-old. The MP has been accused of harassing several female athletes while leading the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). He has denied all the allegations.
Malik, who has been at the forefront of the protests, questioned the police’s swift action to detain those who were protesting “peacefully”.
“It took seven days for the Delhi Police to register an FIR against sexual harasser Brij Bhushan, and it didn’t even take seven hours to register an FIR against us for peacefully protesting,” she tweeted. “Is this country under dictatorship? The whole world is watching how the government is treating its players.”
Speaking during their rally, Punia said, “This is a fight for the respect of our daughters and sisters.”
“We are asking for justice,” he said.
On Monday, Punia responded to a former Indian Police Service officer’s tweet calling for the protesters to be shot.
“An IPS officer is talking about shooting us,” he tweeted. “Brother, we are standing in front of you, tell us where to come to get shot… I swear that I will not show my back, I will take your bullet in my chest.”
The use of police force and criminal charges against the protesting athletes has drawn condemnation from India’s Olympic gold medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who said, “There has to be a better way to deal with this.” Chopra won the gold in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest, Women's rights
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- India: women protest met with violence, arrest
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- May 26, 2023
- Event Description
A Burmese journalist was sentenced on Friday to 10 years in prison with hard labor for violating Myanmar’s counterterrorism law, in addition to a three-year sentence she received in December 2022 for defamation, an attorney working on her case said.
Camera operator Hmu Yadanar Khet Moh Moh Tun of Myanmar Press Photo Agency, was sentenced in Insein Prison on the outskirts of Yangon by the ruling junta’s Thingangyun District Court, said the lawyer who requested anonymity for safety reasons.
She was sentenced to three years in jail under Section 505(a) of the country’s Penal Code after being held in jail for a year. The junta has charged journalists under the broad and vague anti-state provision that penalizes “incitement” and “false news,” and carries penalties of two or three years in prison.
Hmu Yadanar Khet Moh Moh Tun’s attorney said his client would not appeal the verdict.
“She said she did not want to appeal,” he told Radio Free Asia. “She has no more indictments to face.”
The military regime has clamped down hard on press freedom in Myanmar since seizing power from the democratically elected government in a February 2021 coup. Junta soldiers continue to target, harass, jail and kill journalists. Human rights groups have called on the junta to unconditionally free all journalists targeted in the post-coup crackdown.
Hmu Yadanar Khet Moh Moh Tun's injuries resulted from military troops who rammed a vehicle into a crowd of civilians peacefully protesting against the regime in Yangon’s Kyimyindaing township on Dec. 5, 2021. They arrested the camera operator along with her colleague, photographer Kaung Sett Lin, both of whom were covering the protest, as well as nine young activists.
The military vehicle hit the two journalists at high speed from behind, causing serious injuries to their heads, legs and other areas of their bodies, the online journal The Irrawaddy reported.
Tun, whose legs were broken, still has difficulty walking and cannot move like a normal person, her attorney said.
Since the coup, the military junta has arrested 156 journalists. More than 100 of them have been released, while more than 50 remain in prison, and one — photojournalist Soe Naing — was killed during interrogation.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- May 26, 2023
- Event Description
Last week, Facebook users observed that Save Tam Dao, a fan page, was missing from the platform for a period of two days. On May 28, 2023, the page reappeared, confirming that it had indeed been shut down during those two days. Its administrators do not know the reasons behind the sudden suspension.
Save Tam Dao is a fan page dedicated to an environmental protection organization in Vietnam. The page serves as a platform for sharing updates on the unlawful activities of large corporations that harm the country's natural resources. Unfortunately, the volunteers associated with this organization have been subjected to harassment and even physical abuse by unidentified individuals. Moreover, the fan page on social media, particularly Facebook, faces frequent instances of online abuse. Furthermore, it is sometimes deactivated without prior notice to its administrators.
Many unregistered civil society groups like Save Tam Dao routinely experience this treatment on Facebook.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- May 26, 2023
- Event Description
The electricity company Gulf Energy Development has filed a defamation lawsuit against academic Sarinee Achavanuntakul, a critic of energy monopolies and advocate of good governance in business in Thailand.
Gulf Energy is suing Sarinee for criminal defamation and demanding compensation of 1 billion baht over a post she made in April about power plant monopolies and the rise in electricity costs, in which she wrote about an independent power producer bid, where Gulf Energy was the sole winner, and the lawsuit resulting from a complaint filed by the Labour Union of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand to the State Sector Budget Expenditure Monitoring and Audit Committee that the bid may have been fraudulent.
Sarinee posted on her Facebook page that she received a Civil Court summons on Saturday (27 May), and a Criminal Court summons on Sunday (28 May).
In November 2021, Gulf Energy sued Move Forward Party MP Rangsiman Rome for defamation by publication over a September 2021 censure debate speech about a satellite concession, questioning the influence of Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, Minister of Digital Economy and Society, in the energy company’s dramatic growth. It also sued the Party for publishing the content of the debate.
In December 2022, Gulf Energy sued Move Forward MP Bencha Saengchantra for defamation over another censure debate speech about the government’s energy policy and how it grants concessions. The company demanded that both Rangsiman and Bencha pay compensation of 1 billion baht each.
In December 2021, Gulf Energy also sued Same Sky Books editor and co-founder Thanapol Eawsakul for sharing a Facebook post Rangsiman made about being sued by the company. The company demanded that Thanapol pay 50 million baht compensation with 5 percent interest, publish the full version of the court’s ruling in 15 newspapers, both online and offline, delete the post and pay court costs.
Warong Dechgitvigrom, leader of the far-right Thai Pakdee Party, was also sued by the company in November 2021 for defamation. Bangkok Biz News reported that the lawsuit resulted from a live broadcast on Warong’s Facebook page, during which he said that Gulf Energy is trying to gain a monopoly in the telecommunication and internet business through buying shares in the telecommunication companies Intouch Holdings and Advanced Info Service (AIS). He also alleged that Gulf Energy was going to bid for a satellite concession.
According to its website, GULF is a holding company that invests in power generation, gas, renewable energy, hydropower and infrastructure and utilities businesses. It is also the kingdom’s largest private gas-fired and renewable power producer for the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) and private clients.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Academic, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Extractive industries
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- May 25, 2023
- Event Description
Karapatan condemns in the strongest terms the arbitrary arrest of elderly Bohol activist Adolfo Salas Sr. The 75-year-old Salas, who was among the founders of Hugpong sa mga Mag-uumang Bol-anon (HUMABOL-KMP) and currently the vice chair of the Alayon sa mga Mag-uuma sa Candijay (AMACAN-HUMABOL-KMP), was arrested today, May 25, 2023, between 1:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. by combined elements of the PNP-CIDG and non-uniformed armed men at his home in Purok 5, Brgy. Tubod, Candijay, Bohol.
Witnesses said the .45 cal pistol, .38 cal revolver, hand grenade and various types of ammunition allegedly found in Salas’ possession were planted by the non-uniformed men from the raiding party to justify Salas’ arrest. He was later brought to Camp Francisco Dagohoy in Tagbilaran City.
Salas’ family reported being harassed multiple times before the arrest. They are very worried that the elderly activist’s health may further deteriorate under harsh conditions of detention and appealed for his release.
Salas is not the first Boholano activist to be arrested according to the scripted narrative of the PNP, CIDG and AFP. On June 25, 2021, peasant leader Carmelo Tabada and peasant rights advocate Pastor Nathaniel Valiente were likewise arrested in the wee hours of the morning in their homes in Trinidad and Mabini towns, respectively, and firearms, ammunition and a hand grenade planted to legitimize their arrests.
Karapatan calls for the immediate release of the elderly Salas and all other activists unjustly detained and slapped with trumped-up charges in Bohol and other areas nationwide.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- May 25, 2023
- Event Description
A court in the central Vietnamese city of Danang sentenced activist Bui Tuan Lam – known as “Onion Bae” – to five years and six months in prison Thursday, along with four years of probation, one of his lawyers Le Dinh Viet told RFA.
He was convicted of propaganda under Article 117 of the country’s Penal Code, which carries a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 12, after being found guilty of criticizing the government online.
Bui, 39, who ran a beef noodle stall in Danang, achieved notoriety in 2021 after posting an online video mimicking the Turkish chef Nusret Gökçe, known as “Salt Bae.”
The video was widely seen as a mockery of Vietnam’s minister of public security, To Lam, who was caught on film being hand-fed one of Salt Bae’s gold-encrusted steaks by the chef at his London restaurant at a cost of 1,450 pounds (U.S.$1,790).
The minister was in the U.K. as part of a Vietnamese government delegation which attended the COP26 climate change conference in Scotland.
Critics wondered how the official could afford the extravagant meal on a monthly salary of $660.
In Bui’s video clip, he calls himself “Onion Bae” and dramatically sprinkles spring onions into a bowl of soup, mimicking the signature move of the celebrity chef.
Bui was later summoned by Danang police for questioning and arrested and charged in September 2022.
Article 117 of the country’s Penal Code criminalizes “making, storing, distributing or disseminating information, documents and items against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.” It is frequently used by authorities to restrict freedom of expression and opinions deemed critical of the government.
According to Danang People’s Procuracy’s indictment, Bui posted 19 articles on his Facebook account and 25 videos and articles on his YouTube account from April 17, 2020, to July 26, 2022. The articles and videos included content that it claimed were “distorting, defaming people’s government” and “fabricating and causing confusion among people.”
“The Vietnamese authorities deem just about anything as ‘propaganda against the state’ to crack down on activists and dissidents,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch ahead of the verdict.
“The Vietnamese government should abolish rights-abusing article 117 of the penal code and stop prosecuting Bui Tuan Lam and others for criticizing the Vietnamese Communist Party.”
Bui is a seasoned activist, spending many years speaking out against China’s territorial claims in parts of the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam and also campaigning to protect the environment. He received threats from the Danang police after providing food to local people during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
After his “Onion Bae” video went viral the police ordered him to close his noodle stall, which he did for a short while ahead of his arrest.
“The authorities have hounded him for his posts and videos, showing the length that Vietnamese authorities can go to deny people the enjoyment of their right to freedom of expression, no matter how benign, satirical or light-hearted,” said Amnesty International Interim Deputy Regional Director for Research Montse Ferrer before the verdict was handed down.
“Satire is not a crime,” she added.
Authorities prevented Bui Tuan Lam’s lawyers from meeting with him ahead of the trial, claiming last month that he refused representation. After his wife Le Than Lam demanded to meet with Bui to find out the truth the People’s Procuracy of Danang issued a notice allowing lawyers to represent him.
The court approved Le Dinh Viet’s registration to be Bui Tuan Lam’s lawyer for the trial. But when Viet went to Danang Police’s detention facility where Bui Tuan Lam was being held, he said staff didn’t allow him to see his client, claiming the judge hadn’t had time to review the investigation report.
Lawyers Le Dinh Viet and Ngo Anh Tuan were allowed to represent Bui in court on Thursday but the latter was removed from the court after requesting a fair debate between defense lawyers and prosecutors, Le Dinh Viet told RFA.
“Today's trial I feel is similar to the political cases that I have been involved in. Law enforcement itself was not sufficiently exercised during the hearing of the case,” he said, criticizing the so-called “expert conclusions” given by members of Danang’s Department of Information and Communication during Thursday’s trial.
“Those assessment conclusions have many violations, including violations of expertise authority, violations of the roles of experts, even some which violate the basic principles of the law on judicial expertise."
"In my opinion, given the circumstances and developments of today's trial, the issuance of the judgment does not guarantee the objectivity nor guarantee the legal rights of defendant Bui Tuan Lam."
Bui pleaded “not guilty” plea, saying he exercised the right to freedom of expression. His lawyers said he would appeal the verdict.
Bui’s wife and family were not allowed to attend the trial. Le Dinh Viet said they had been detained by the police.
Mrs Le Thanh Lam's account of what happened to her post trial, Vietnam Times 28 May https://vietnamthoibao.org/vntb-phien-toa-xu-bui-tuan-lam-qua-kinh-khung/
Mr Lam was sentenced to 5 years 6 months jail, plus 4 years probation for anti-state propaganda. Many believe this was Police Minister To Lam's revenge on him, for his video post imitating celebrated chef Salt Bae, who was filmed feeding Mr To Lam a piece of gold-encrusted steak.
Mr Tuan Lam's trial ended at around 12pm 25 May. His wife, Le Thanh Lam, told BBC Viet 26 May, what happened after:
After the sentencing, two prison vans arrived to transport Mr Lam. Mrs Lam and her family were not allowed to attend the trial. After waiting for over 5 hours outside, family members ran after the vans, hoping to see Mr Lam.
We cried 'Bui Tuan Lam is innocent'. Right after that, a policeman kept me in a neck hold. Many members of the police also lunged at me, brutally dragged me away like a pig, manhandled me, pushed me into their vehicle. [Photo showed Mrs Lam's large scrapes on both knees.]
I saw by two brothers-in-law being repeatedly bashed amidst the cry of a ward police: 'Bash these two louts, till they die!'
I asked them, why they treated me that way. A policeman said, 'I did it! So what!' My two brothers-in-law were also taken away forcefully to Hoa Cuong Bac, Hai Chau area. They were released at around 2pm, but I was still detained.
The police forced her to hand over her mobile phone and signed a document acknowledging having to pay a fine, for taking photos at the court precinct.
During her detention, nasty insults and sinister statements about her husband and her children were thrown at her.
I told them, my phone is my private possession which must not be violated. At that, many more police rushed into the room to intimidate me and behave forcefully against me. Some who had monitored my family since the morning, now saying they were ordinary citizens who witnessed I had filmed and taken photos of the court precinct.
A policeman swore to no one in particular: 'Not sticking to selling noodles to feed the kids, doing silly things instead.' I asked him: 'You're talking about whom?' He pointed his index finger at me: 'I talked about you, silly cow.' More policemen came into the room. One insulted me: 'Silly cow, don't you have any shame... You think you are something special... What a disgrace...'
Another one threatened me: 'You and your kids, just wait to see if you will be able to live in peace.'
A group of men threatened a mother with 3 young kids. They must be very proud of themselves???
The policewomen body searched me, including private and sensitive areas, to check for recording and electronic devices. They checked everything in my possession, including my lipstick, my cards...
At that time, I realised I was no longer considered a human being, I couldn't believe what was happening to me.
I have never been insulted and physically violated in such an immoral way. Not having my password, they wetted my phone.
The family's hope to at least see Mr Lam's face was destroyed.
They didn't spare even a tiny space so we could see his face, in a trial that was supposed to be open.
What made them feel so afraid of a patriotic man in white T-shirt, wearing a rosary around his neck?
State media reported on Mr Lam's trial using his old photos. Photos inside and outside the court on the day of the trial 25 May were totally absent.
--
Defence lawyer Mr Ngo Anh Tuan evicted from court room
Lawyers Messrs Ngo Anh Tuan and Le Dinh Viet represented Mr Lam. During the trial, Mr Tuan asked the prosecutor side to clarify their points of argument. A judge - who was not the chief judge - told him not to repeat what he had previously said.
Mr Tuan told him, according to the law, he could continue to present his argument. However this judge ordered him to leave the court chamber, even though he didn't raise his voice or behave in an aggressive manner.
Nevertheless, he agreed to leave the court room, 'not wanting to make the court's atmosphere any heavier'.
Mr Tuan then went to a room in the court building to sit down. Here, a group of people who didn't introduce their names came to work with him.
'They filmed and prepared a report not reflecting what really happened. Without my colleague Le Dinh Viet as my witness, I won't have any chance to prove my innocence... I have participated in many political cases, but I had never been evicted from the court room in such an unjust and absurd way like today.
'It seems for some people, they can do whatever they like with political prisoners, same with their lawyers... The idea that [political prisoners are a sub-class] led them to behave outside their authority.'
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment, Vilification, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to fair trial, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- May 25, 2023
- Event Description
The chairman of Kazakhstan’s unregistered Algha Kazakhstan (Forward Kazakhstan) party, Marat Zhylanbaev, has been sent to pretrial detention for two months instead of being released after serving a 20-day jail term. He was jailed for holding a picket in March to demand the release of political prisoners and to ask Western nations to impose sanctions on top Kazakh officials for "helping" Russia evade sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. A court in Astana ruled on May 25 that Zhylanbaev must stay in custody until July 23 on charges of taking part in a banned group's activities and financing an extremist organization.
The chairman of Kazakhstan’s unregistered Algha Kazakhstan (Forward Kazakhstan) party, Marat Zhylanbaev, was not released on May 23 despite serving out a 20-day jail term he was handed for holding a picket in March to demand the release of political prisoners and for Western nations to impose sanctions on top Kazakh officials for "helping" Russia evade sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. Several police officers and men in civil clothes searched Zhylanbaev's home in Astana on May 23. They confiscated a memory stick, a telephone, and several T-shirts emblazoned with Algha symbols, Zhylanbaev's relatives say.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 25, 2023
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court this morning issued incitement convictions for nine current and former union activists from the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld (LRSU), including imprisoned union President Chhim Sithar. The convictions under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code are related to the union’s ongoing peaceful strike.
The court sentenced Sithar to the maximum prison sentence of two years and she was immediately detained following the verdict. Sithar and the other unionists were previously arrested and imprisoned in December and January 2022, before being bailed in March 2022. Sithar was re-arrested and imprisoned on 26 November 2022 for allegedly violating judicial supervision conditions, despite the fact that neither she nor her lawyers were ever informed of any conditions.
Five other LRSU unionists – Chhim Sokhorn, Hay Sopheap, Kleang Soben, Sun Srey Pich, and Touch Sereymeas – were each sentenced to one year and six months in prison, but the five women will remain out of prison and under judicial supervision until all appeal routes are exhausted.
The remaining three defendants – Sok Narith, Sok Kongkea, and Ry Sovandy – received one-year sentences that were suspended. The court provided no reasoning in its judgment.
LRSU members have been on strike since December 2021 following mass layoffs at the NagaWorld casino, which included LRSU’s entire leadership and a significant number of its members. Members have faced judicial harassment, physical attacks, and sexual assaults by authorities during the course of their peaceful strike.
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- May 25, 2023
- Event Description
Intimidation of indigenous people resisting mining continues to occur in East Halmahera. In addition to being policed, officials and company representatives knocked on residents' houses and threatened that if they rejected the company, they would be reported to the police.
Two Tobelo Boeng Helewo Ruru Hoana Wangaeke Minamin indigenous people in East Halmahera, North Maluku, received a second summons from Wasile Selatan Police. They are Novenia Ambeua and Julius Dagai.
The summons stated that the investigation was related to the alleged criminal offence of obstructing and or disrupting the mining business activities of PT Mega Haltim Mineral (MHM) complained by Muhammad Fitra Abdullah Selang.
"Alleged criminal offences of any person who obstructs and or interferes with the mining business activities of holders of IUP, IUPK, IPR, or SIPB who have fulfilled the conditions experienced by PT Mega Haltim Mineral (MHM) as referred to in the formulation of article 162 of Law No. 4 of 2009 concerning Mineral and Coal Mining as amended by Law No. 3 of 2020 ...," the letter read.
Nove thinks the summons is an attempt to criminalise the rejection of mining by residents. He said that on Thursday 18 May 2023, residents took spontaneous action to expel the company's heavy equipment that entered the company.
"At that time, after the Easter service, they got information that the company's heavy equipment had entered their land, so they were expelled. This is an effort to defend our land, if it is considered a crime then this is criminalisation," he said over the phone.
Nove's concerns over criminalisation are not idle. This is because until now the number of residents who have received summonses continues to increase.
"Until now, four people have received summonses, two people have received second summonses, and we hear that it will continue to grow. This is clearly intimidation and criminalisation," he explained.
The eviction itself was carried out because the company carried out activities without consent and information to residents. Even though the land is still in conflict status.
"This action was spontaneous and they, the workers and heavy equipment, were taken to the road, out of the land," continued the Chairman of the North Maluku Council of the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN).
He said residents had gathered near his house and held talks. They then agreed to put up a banner rejecting the mine.
After this summoning, he received information that the authorities and company people knocked on residents' houses. They threatened that if they continued to reject the mine, the residents would be summoned by the police.
Data from Minerba One Data Indonesia (MODI) states that PT MHM has a production operation permit with a concession area of 13,510 hectares. However, residents have never received any notification about the company's concession on their land. Even though the land of 30 families is included in the concession.
The company and the government set land compensation at IDR 3,000 per square metre for compensation. However, residents have rejected the presence of the mine since late 2019. They first refused by blocking heavy equipment in the forest by performing traditional rituals.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Indigenous peoples' rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- May 24, 2023
- Event Description
A pregnant woman was arrested on Wednesday 24 May for violating the now-repealed Severe State of Emergency by participating in a protest in October 2020. The arrest warrant was issued in March 2022.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that Chonticha Khumchan-ad was arrested in Pattaya on Wednesday evening (24 May) on an arrest warrant issued by the Dusit District Court and taken to Phaya Thai Police Station.
Chonticha was charged with violating the Severe State of Emergency for participating in the 21 October 2020 protest march from the Victory Monument to Government House to demand the resignation of now-Acting Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and release all activists detained at the time. After she missed an appointment with the public prosecutor, an arrest warrant was issued for her on 22 March 2022.
A Severe State of Emergency was declared in Bangkok and surrounding provinces in the early morning of 15 October 2020, before riot police dispersed protesters gathering in front of Government House. It imposed a ban on public gatherings of more than five people, a ban on reporting information that threatened public stability, and control over transportation and access to certain buildings, in accordance with the Prime Minister’s orders. It was repealed on 22 October 2020, after pro-democracy protesters defied the gathering ban and protested for 6 straight days.
The Severe State of Emergency was described as an “emergency in emergency” due to the pre-existing State of Emergency declared in March 2020. Although it was supposedly declared in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, it has repeatedly been used to prosecute activists and protesters taking part in the pro-democracy protests starting in July 2020. The State of Emergency ended on 1 October 2022.
The police said that two other arrest warrants have also been issued for Chonticha, one for joining the 16 October 2020 protest at the Pathumwan Intersection and another for joining a protest on 20 October 2020 in front of The Mall Bangkhae shopping mall. She was also charged with violating the Severe State of Emergency in both cases and has missed her appointments with the public prosecutor.
Chonticha was later granted bail using a 10,000-baht security and is required to meet with the public prosecutor on 4 July. Since she is pregnant and her due date is three days away, the police allowed her to go home and to report to the police for the remaining two cases after she has given birth.
TLHR also reported that 11 activists were also charged with violation of the Severe State of Emergency for joining the 21 October 2020 protest march, but charges against 10 of them have been dismissed after the court ruled that they were exercising their constitutional right to protest and did not violate restrictions imposed by the Severe State of Emergency.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- May 24, 2023
- Event Description
Myanmar’s junta on Wednesday arrested a hip-hop artist for a video published on social media in which he complained about electricity shortages and said that life was better under the democratically elected government that the military toppled.
Rapper Byu Har, who is the son of prominent musician Naing Myanmar, posted the video on Facebook where he called out the “minister of electricity,” calling the holder of the office, which he could not name, “a fool.” The ministry’s proper name is the Ministry of Electric Power and the minister of electric power is Thaung Han.
“I want to tell the minister of electricity who is wearing that elegant uniform, and the employees under the ministry of electricity that you guys are all stupid fools,” he said in the video. “ Even under the old lady’s [Aung San Suu Kyi’s] government, not only did we have enough electricity without any power outage, her government even lowered the rate of electricity bills.”
The country is currently experiencing power shortages, and residents have told RFA’s Burmese Service that many areas of Yangon, where Byu Har lives, get power for only 10 hours per day – five in the morning and another five in the afternoon and evening. Some areas of the city, such as the area where retired military officers live, are supplied with full power, though.
“You can’t supply enough electricity to us. You can barely supply us every five hours. Even that is not certain,” Byu Har said.
In addition to the criticism of Myanmar’s electric power ministry, Byu Har also had choice words for the junta’s leader, Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing.
“The guy who is governing the country is also a stupid incompetent fool himself,” he said. “You guys have no [expletive deleted] skill at all. Even if a fool like me were to govern this country, I promise that we would have enough electricity with no power outages. … I am cursing at you because I don’t have the electricity. Got it? If you want to arrest me, just come.”
A source close to the family confirmed the arrest to RFA and said that Byu Har is being held in the North Dagon Police station in the eastern part of Yangon. His father Naing Myanmar was not available for comment.
Byu Har and others like him are brave for telling the truth in a public forum like Facebook, human rights lawyer and legal analyst Kyee Myint told RFA.
“What they are saying is all true, but it’s a pain in the neck for people who don’t want to hear such criticisms,” said Kyee Myint. “They criticize neither to gain power nor to ruin the country. They criticize it to help the country get better.”
He said that criticizing the junta over the electricity shortage was an example of strength and love for the country.
“But the junta arresting him for such criticisms indicates that the country is failing and that the rule of law is not working either,” Kyee Myint said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 24, 2023
- Event Description
The Ministry of Environment condemned the environmental group Mother Nature Cambodia after its youth activists delivered a petition Monday to halt state land grants to private companies in Kirirom national park, according to a statement.
Mother Nature activist Thoun Sreypov, 21, said the petition had urged the government to stop granting land to private companies in Kirirom National Park, a popular tourist destination in Kampong Speu province.
On June 27 last year, a state sub-decree granted a private company, One More Ltd, 221.94 hectares of forest land within Kirirom. One of the company’s directors is Choeung Sokuntheavy, daughter of tycoon Choeung Sopheap, whose husband is senator Lao Meng Khin.
The activists’ petition requested the government “withdraw the licenses from private companies” in the national park and return the land to the state.
The Ministry of Environment said that the group had been committing “illegal acts” and was not an officially recognized NGO. The Ministry’s statement added that anyone who participated in the movement would be held “accountable” and that the group’s activities were “against the interests of Cambodian society.”
“There is nothing illegal whatsoever about young Cambodian citizens exercising their rights and participating in peaceful public events,” said Mother Nature’s co-founder, Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, who was deported in 2015.
Ministry of Environment spokesperson Neth Pheaktra declined to comment further.
When asked whether the group’s petitioners would face legal consequences, National police spokesperson Chhay Kim Khoeun said “Why did you ask me this question?”
“Any organization or anyone doing illegal activities will face arrests,” he said. “Do not ask me like this, now I am busy.” He hung up the phone.
The Ministry of Environment established a new government-supported NGO, also called Mother Nature, in February. A range of prominent environmental activists have publicly aligned themselves with the ruling CPP in the past months, as July elections approach.
Sreypov, the activist, said she thought the Ministry of Environment should focus on responding to the social and environmental issues raised by her group rather than attempting to discredit the activists.
“This is real intimidation and the threats thwart youth involvement with us,” she said. “They are violating our freedom of speech to raise concerns in society, while using the law to attack us.”
“We voice what we see that is wrong,” she added. “They must not stop our activities.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Land rights defender, NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- May 23, 2023
- Event Description
A well-known writer and social activist was arrested at a military junta checkpoint on Tuesday while attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to victims of the recent cyclone that devastated the region.
Wai Hin Aung was arrested in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state just after passing through the checkpoint in Sittwe township on his way to villages affected by the May 14 storm known as Cyclone Mocha, according to a person close to the writer who refused to be named for security reasons.
He was traveling with a group of five people, including his daughter, the person told Radio Free Asia.
“He was going to Ponnagyun to deliver aid to cyclone victims there,” the person said. “We haven’t got any contact with them so far. Nor do we know why they have been arrested.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Wai Hin Aung reported on his Facebook page that he had given 100,000 kyats (US$50) each to 16 families sheltering at a school in Sittwe township.
RFA interviewed him on Friday, asking whether rice bags and other supplies were beginning to make it through to affected areas.
“What I know for sure is that the help from the junta alone will not suffice the need because the damage is too large,” he said. “About 3 million people have been affected by the storm and about 120,000 households have been damaged, too.
International assistance needed
People in Pauk Taw and Rathedaung townships urgently need drinking water and shelters, he said. In Pauk Taw, sea water has mixed in with most of the drinking water reservoirs from the flooding that followed the storm, and even cattle can’t drink the water and are beginning to die, he said.
With the rainy season set to begin soon, rebuilding adequate shelters for villages throughout the state should be the top priority, he said. Food and medical supplies are also urgently needed but are second and third priorities, he said.
“In my opinion, the help from the junta and local communities will not meet the needs of victims,” he said. “That’s why I want the junta to cooperate and get help from international organizations to effectively help the victims.”
Wai Hin Aung was previously arrested in 2018 along with Rakhine nationalist lawmaker Aye Maung after they delivered speeches at a public event in Rathedaung township calling for revolt against Myanmar’s ethnic majority Bamar-led government.
He was sentenced the following year to 20 years in prison for high treason and to two years for incitement. He was freed in February 2021, weeks after the military junta overthrew the civilian government.
RFA called Rakhine state Attorney General Hla Thein to ask about the arrest, but his phone rang unanswered on Tuesday.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- May 23, 2023
- Event Description
On May 23, the court of the city of Uralsk sentenced Aslan Otepov, the leader of the "People's Against Corruption" public association, to 8 years in prison.
Aslan Otepov, the leader of the People Against Corruption group in Kazakhstan’s northwestern city of Oral, has been sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of fraud and bribe-taking that he and his supporters have rejected as politically motivated. Otepov reiterated that the case against him amounts to retaliation by local authorities for his anti-corruption activities, adding that he will appeal the verdict. Otepov also said that he will continue a hunger strike he launched two days earlier over his case.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 23, 2023
- Event Description
Independent researcher Chan Vibol has been charged with plotting and incitement after participating in a May workshop run by the land rights group Coalition of Cambodian Farmers Community (CCFC), according to a Tuesday evening statement from the Ratanakiri provincial court.
Vibol, who is not a CCFC employee, is the fourth person to face charges for attending the multi-day workshop in Ratanakiri. The court has issued a warrant for Vibol’s arrest, according to court spokesperson Keo Pisoth, Ratanakiri court spokesperson.
After reviewing the evidence, the prosecutor described the workshop as a “secret gathering which discussed political issues to cause incitement in farmers to rise up and cause turmoil in society, leading to the overthrow of the government,” according to an unofficial translation of the court’s Tuesday statement.
“The investigating judge is further investigating their computers and some documents,” Pisoth said. But he declined to share further information about the specific evidence underpinning the court’s allegations.
The several dozen CCFC workshop attendees had their phones collected and put in a box of drinking water bottles, while a security camera was turned away to avoid recording the workshop’s activities, according to the court’s statement.
On Monday, the court brought the same charges of plotting and incitement against CCFC president Theng Savoeun and two colleagues, who have been in custody since May 17 and were placed in pretrial detention earlier this week.
Last week, Interior Ministry spokesperson Khieu Sopheak accused workshop participants of plotting a “peasant revolution” which CCFC representatives and supporters have repeatedly denied.
The charges for the four detained workshop participants are under articles 453, 494 and 495 of Cambodia’s criminal code. Plotting carries a five to 10 year prison sentence and a 4 million riel fine — approximately $972.
Senior investigator for human rights group Adhoc, Soeng Sankaruna, said he was disturbed by the court’s characterization of CCFC’s workshop as a “secret” gathering as opposed to a routine internal discussion.
“It is very concerning because usually civil society groups have cooperated together in monitoring and training citizens on their rights,” he said. “In general meetings, they don’t want to reveal what they are discussing to the public and I believe other institutions who have a meeting also don’t want everybody to know about their meetings too.”
“It will make other civil society groups concerned about organizing assemblies as any accusation might happen,” he added.
Vibol earned a PhD in political science from the Royal Academy of Cambodia in 2013.
As a freelance researcher, Vibol has produced reports that include surveying the Kingdom’s NGO operations and providing recommendations for improving civil society work in the Kingdom.
Vibol could not be reached for comment.
Vibol wrote on his Linkedin that he is “envisioning to see all live in peace and dignity.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: three NGO staff interrogated, arrested
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- May 22, 2023
- Event Description
6 activists in Chiang Mai have been charged with contempt of court after a complaint was filed against them by the Constitutional Court Office for protesting the court’s September 2022 ruling that Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha was allowed to stay Prime Minister despite the 8-year term limit imposed by the 2017 Constitution.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that Sittiporn Ditthacharoen, Nattachai Sricharoen, Pitchsinee Chaithaweetham, Wittaya Chaikhamla, Theeraporn Pudtasee, and Thanadol Chantarat were charged with contempt of court for staging a protest on 30 September 2022 at Chiang Mai University to protest the court’s ruling.
The police said that a photo of the 6 activists were later posted onto social media, showing them wearing masks and hanging effigies of the Constitutional Court judges along with signs criticizing the court at several locations in Chiang Mai city – an action which the police said damages the public’s trust in the Constitutional Court.
They previously received a summons to report to the police on 2 May, but since several were unavailable, the appointment was postponed to today (22 May).
The activists reported to Mueang Chiang Mai Police Station this morning. The entrance to the building was blocked with metal fences, while plainclothes and uniformed police officers were stationed around the area. A small clash occurred when officers seized a banner saying “Reform the justice institution” from the activists, telling them that they were not allowed to show the banner because they did not inform the police beforehand.
The activists eventually put up the banner outside the police barrier. They also staged a performance in protest against the charge before going to meet the inquiry officer.
TLHR said that since the beginning of the pro-democracy protests in July 2020, at least 34 people have been charged with contempt of court for political expression. Among these cases, one was filed by the Constitutional Court in February 2022, when student activist Parit Chiwarak was charged with contempt of court for two Facebook posts made in December 2020 criticising the Constitutional Court for ruling that Prayut was allowed to stay in army housing despite being retired. However, in June 2022, the public prosecutor decided not to indict Parit due to lack of evidence.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- May 22, 2023
- Event Description
Jailed student activist and author Wai Moe Naing has been sentenced to another 20 years in prison, the Monywa People’s Strike Steering Committee told RFA Monday.
He received the maximum sentence for treason and rebellion under Section 122 of the Penal Code.
Friday’s decision by the court in Monywa Prison in northern Sagaing region takes his total sentence to 54 years.
The 28-year-old has already been found guilty of crimes including robbery; rioting; carrying a weapon; incitement to mutiny; and unlawful assembly.
The junta has also accused him of killing two policemen in an industrial zone under Section 302 of the Penal Code and plans to hand down a verdict on the case at a later date.
A friend, who wished to remain anonymous, said Wai Moe Naing has denied all the charges made against him.
Monywa People’s Strike Steering Committee protested his innocence, condemning what it called unjust accusations and orders against political prisoners.
Wai Moe Naing founded Monywa University Student Union and served as its first president. He is also an author of short stories, magazine articles and blogs.
After the military coup in February 2021, he led anti-regime strikes in Monywa.
On April 15, 2021, he was riding in a column of motorcycles with other protesting students when junta troops and police ran him down in cars, beat him and arrested him.
He has been held in Monywa prison since his arrest.
Sources close to Wai Moe Naing, who didn’t want to be named for safety reasons, said he was healthy and has been allowed to receive parcels.
Myanmar’s military has arrested more than 22,500 democracy activists according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Of those, over 18,200 are still being detained.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- May 22, 2023
- Event Description
Authorities in the northeast Indian state of Manipur must investigate the beating of journalists Soram Inaoba, Nongthombam Johnson, and Brahmacharimayum Dayananda, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.
On the afternoon of Monday, May 22, soldiers with the Indian Army’s Jat Regiment assaulted the three journalists while they were covering a fire in the New Checkon area of Imphal, the state capital, according to multiple news reports and Bijoy Kakchingtabam, president of the All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union, who spoke to CPJ.
Soldiers dragged the three journalists from the building where they were reporting, tore their vests emblazoned with the word “Press,” and beat them with batons, according to those sources.
“Authorities in India’s Manipur state must thoroughly investigate the recent attack on three journalists by security forces, and ensure that those responsible are held to account,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Journalists in Manipur must be able to do their work safely and without fear of harassment and abuse by soldiers.”
The three journalists were treated at the Remedy Hospital in Imphal after the attack. Inaoba, a reporter for the Manipuri-language news broadcaster Mami TV, suffered injuries on his head and right hand. Johnson, a camera operator for Mami TV, also received a head injury, according to Kakchingtabam and those reports.
Dayananda, a camera operator with the Asian News International news agency, sustained minor injuries.
The soldiers accused the journalists of throwing stones at a government-operated drone, those news reports said. However, the journalists denied that allegation, saying they were waving off the drone as it had gotten too close to them while they were reporting, according to a joint statement by the All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union, the Editors’ Guild Manipur, and the Manipur Hill Journalists Union, which CPJ reviewed.
Indian Army soldiers were recently deployed to Manipur to restore peace after days of deadly rioting and ethnic clashes.
CPJ texted Irengbam Arun, the media adviser to Manipur Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh, and Kuldiep Singh, a security adviser to the Manipur government who is currently overseeing the military presence in the state, but did not receive any replies.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- May 22, 2023
- Event Description
On 22 May 2023, Kazakhstani human rights defender Galym Agleulov was barred from entering Uzbekistan. The human rights defender was travelling to Tashkent to participate as an observer in the upcoming appeal hearing in the Higher Court of Uzbekistan of the 22 protesters detained in the Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic in Uzbekistan in July 2022. The court hearing was scheduled for 23 May 2023. Galym Ageleuov is a human rights defender and the head of the human rights organisation Liberty. Throughout his work with Liberty, Galym documented mass executions and other human rights violations during the 2011 labour protests in Zhanaozen. Within the Freedom for Euraisa project, he has documented violations committed by Uzbekistani authorities when suppressing protests in the Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic. On 22 May 2023, the human rights defender Galym Agleulov was travelling from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan to Tashkent, Uzebekistan, to attend the upcoming appeal hearing of the protesters detained in the Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic in Uzbekistan in July 2022 at the Higher Court of Uzbekistan. The human rights defender was prohibited from boarding flight HY-778, operated by Uzbekistan Airways. Members of the airport staff informed Galym Agleulov that he had been prohibited from boarding the flight because the Uzbekistani Department of Border Control had informed the airline that the human right defender was barred from entering the country. Galym Agleulov has visited Uzbekistan twice since the summer 2022 protests in the Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic, both for the purposes of monitoring human rights violations and unlawful detentions, and for the mistrials of the Karakalpak protesters. On this occasion, Galym Agleulov aimed to visit Uzbekistan to attend the appeal hearing of human rights defender Dauletmurat Tajimuratov. In January 2023, after his arbitrary detention in July 2022 in Nukus, Dauletmurat Tajimuratov was accused of seizure of power and organising violent protests and sentenced by Bukhara Regional Court to 16 years in prison. In April 2023, Dauletmurat Tajimuratov’s lawyer, human rights defender Sergey Mayorov, reported that his client was tortured in custody. In June 2022, the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, introduced constitutional amendments that aimed to remove Karakalpakstan’s status as an autonomous republic. In response to these amendments, peaceful protests were organised in Karakalpakstan. One of the leaders of the peaceful protests, human rights defender and blogger Dauletmurat Tadjimuratov, was arbitrarily detained and the Uzbekistani authorities started to use force to suppress the civil unrest. The authorities implemented an internet shutdown and utilised forceful measures, including water cannons, rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas, to disperse the protesters. At least 21 people died during the protests. In March 2023, thirty nine Karakalpak activists accused of taking part in the protests in Nukus were convicted and twenty eight of them were sentenced to prison terms of between five and eleven years, while eleven defendants were handed parole-like sentences. Twenty two protesters, including human rights defender Dauletmurat Tajimuratov, appealed the decision of the Bukhara Regional Court.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 22, 2023
- Event Description
After withholding years-worth of owed wages from employees, the bus company Giant Ibis Transport reached an agreement earlier this month to comply with the labor law and pay compensation to 30 laid off union workers who have been protesting for months.
But the company has since failed to deliver the compensation by the agreed upon May 22 deadline following an agreement signed by the company on May 13, according to union leader Siem Morady and documents seen by CamboJA.
“The company was due to pay us laid off workers by May 22,” Morady says. “However, the company now seems in total silence.”
The 30 Giant Ibis Transport union members say they are legally owed severance and seniority payments — allegedly amounting to well over $100,000 — which have not been provided since 80 employees were laid off in April 2020.
In negotiations, Giant Ibis Transport representative Ou Phanny — who signed the agreement on behalf of the company — told the laid off union members they would receive their withheld wages but would not be reinstated, Morady said.
Phanny allegedly shouted and behaved aggressively towards the union representatives during the negotiation process at the Labor Ministry, Morady said.
“He ranted and threatened to provoke violence against employees,” Morady said. “This image looks brutal in Cambodia. He did not care, while he leaned on power from the powerful person.”
Morady referred to tycoon Kith Meng, whose conglomerate Royal Group launched Giant Ibis Transport. Morady and others say Meng is the company’s real owner, even though the connection between Royal Group and the bus company is not identified in public records.
Royal Group did not respond to requests for comment. Kith Meng could not be reached.
Morady and other union members accuse Giant Ibis Transport of effectively engaging in union-busting behavior. The company has also been actively recruiting new workers instead of rehiring the laid off union drivers, Morady added.
“We have urged the company to take us back to work, but the company’s representatives failed to do so,” he said. “This is real discrimination against union members”.
Ou Phanny, who identified himself as a Giant Ibis Bus manager, denied the company was discriminating against union members and said he had not acted aggressively.
“Who said I used violence?” Phanny said, laughing. “It is not like that.”
The company claimed this week that it had miscalculated the payments owed to workers and needed more time, pushing back the deadline until June 7 which the union reluctantly agreed to, Morady said.
Ath Thorn, president of the Cambodian Labor Confederation, which helped the Giant Ibis employees unionize in 2020, said that miscalculating the severance and seniority payment to laid-off employees was an excuse.
“This is real intimidation,” Thorn said. “The workers have agreed to take the money, although they are not taken back to normal work.”
“If the company claims that they need to calculate again, why do they take so long to just recalculate?” he added.
While non-union members have already been accepted back into the workforce, the union members have been required to renounce their legally owed benefits to resume working at the company, Morady said.
The exact payment for workers was not specified in the agreements, but Morady, a bus driver with the company, said the 30 workers are each owed around $7,000 to $8,000 including back pay since their suspension.
Cambodian labor law states that suspensions more than two months require permission from the Labor Ministry. The Labor Ministry did not respond to requests for comment as to whether this permission had been granted.
“The Labor Ministry works as a specialist to solve problems related to labor disputes, so if the company said they are unable to calculate, what about the ministry?” Ath Thorn said. “Unless they are biased towards the employer”.
Morady said he and representatives met with the Labor Ministry and the company on Thursday to discuss the payments workers were owed.
“The company is transparently seen to be holding out on this negotiation for their own benefit,” Morady said. “They said they need to project the total payback for the settlement with us. It’s just a company ploy.”
A letter shared with CamboJA shows that, as part of the negotiations, workers are prevented from protesting until the settlement was concluded.
More than a dozen other workers were unable to sign their names because they remained at their homes in the provinces and could not afford to travel to the city, Morady said.
“Now the negotiation is pushed back to June 7 and we do not know what will happen,” Morady added. “It has not come to an end yet. If they still do not comply, we will continue to protest.”
- Impact of Event
- 30
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- May 21, 2023
- Event Description
On 21 and 23 May 2023, Sri Lankan human rights defender and human rights lawyer Priyalal Sirisena received threatening phone calls from unidentified persons who warned him to stop his work and actions against a ‘minister’. Although the minister was not named during the call, there is good reason to believe that the threats are linked to Priyalal Sirisena’s legal action against a powerful elected official in Sri Lanka for contempt of court.
Priyalal Sirisena is a human rights defender and lawyer who has dedicated himself to supporting and advocating on behalf of victims of human rights violations, especially victims of custodial torture and arbitrary detention, in Sri Lanka. The human rights defender has represented groups such as the Small Scale Fishers (SSF) in seeking justice against large scale licence holders whose practices cause marine destruction which impact their livelihood. He is a vocal advocate against the abuse of anti-terror laws and was part of the legal team that opposed the Counter Terrorism Bill in 2018. Priyalal Sirisena has engaged with national and international stakeholders to raise awareness of Sri Lanka’s human rights record including by coordinating the national civil society submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review in 2017 and 2022.
More recently, Priyalal Sirisena has been involved in a legal case against a State Minister for contempt of court based on this minister’s public criticism of the magistrate court’s decision to grant bail to protesters linked to the economic crisis. Two charge sheets were filed against the minister in this case on 23 February 2023.
On 21 May 2023, the human rights defender Priyalal Sirisena received two phone calls from a foreign number. The unidentified caller warned him to withdraw any actions taken against ‘the minister’ and threatened him with consequences if he failed to comply.
Concerned for his safety, the human rights defender filed a complaint with the Kurunegala Police in the North Western Province on 22 May 2023. The following day, at approximately 9:30pm, he received another threatening call from a different foreign number, which he recorded. The unidentified caller warned Priyalal Sirisena to withdraw whatever action he had taken against the minister or face the consequences.
Prior to this, on 9 May 2023, two unidentified persons on a motorbike visited Priyalal Sirisena's residence in Kurunegala and asked his mother about the human rights defender’s whereabouts. Priyalal Sirisena believes that the threats and intimidation are linked to his legal action against the powerful state minister and are aimed at silencing his work.
Sri Lanka has seen a rise in reprisals and intimidation against human rights defenders, and in this climate there are reasons to fear for the human rights defender’s safety. Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the threats and intimidation against Priyalal Sirisena which it believes are linked to his legitimate and non-violent human rights work.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Reprisal as Result of Communication
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 21, 2023
- Event Description
Chinese authorities have notified the family of veteran rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and his wife Xu Yan of their formal arrest on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the Communist Party, friends of the couple told Radio Free Asia.
Yu and Xu were detained last month en route to a meeting with European Union officials in Beijing, prompting calls for their release from Brussels.
U.S.-based rights lawyer Wang Qingpeng said there are now fears that Yu and Xu may be tortured in order to elicit a "confession," given the amount of international attention generated by their arrests.
"The authorities will be concerned about how this case looks ... and about international attention," Wang said. "A lot of lawyers have been warned off representing Yu Wensheng and his wife."
"Many lawyers have been tortured already, including Xie Yang, Wang Quanzhang, Chang Weiping and Zhou Shifeng," he said. "We have reason to believe that Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan could also be tortured, so as to avoid further outside attention and attempts at rescue."
"There could be further [and more serious charges] to come, for example, 'incitement to subvert state power,' which is impossible to predict right now," Wang said.
Chinese courts almost never acquit political prisoners, and the charge Yu and Xu currently face generally leads to jail terms of up to five years.
Lawyers warned
A friend of the couple who asked to remain anonymous said Yu's brother received notification of his formal arrest on May 21.
"According to what I have learned, Yu Wensheng has put up a great deal of resistance to the authorities since his detention," the friend said. "His brother has also said [their detention] is unacceptable."
Police informed Yu's brother of the change of status on Sunday, but had refused to give the family anything in writing, the brother said.
"His brother tried to get a photo of the notification of arrest, but the police stopped him," they said. "Now Yu Wensheng's family need to find a lawyer to help him, but a lot of lawyers have been warned off doing this by the authorities."
They said police had also told the family not to try to find their own lawyer to represent the couple.
Another person familiar with the case, who gave only the surname Shi, confirmed the friend's account.
"They wouldn't let their [18-year-old] kid instruct a lawyer, and the police were also telling people that Yu Wensheng didn't want a lawyer, and that Xu Yan had already hired two lawyers," Shi said.
"Then the police visited the law firms [that might potentially represent Yu and Xu] and put pressure on them -- the Beijing municipal judicial affairs bureau also stepped up the pressure, threatening the law firms that they would fail their annual license review," he said.
"I don't know whether they actually revoked any licenses or not -- we won't know until early June," Shi said.
Son alone
A friend of the couple who gave only the surname Qin said he is worried about their situation, and also about their son, who is living alone in the family home under strict police surveillance, with no contact with the outside world.
"It has destroyed this family, and their kid is still so young with nobody around to take care of them -- it's wrong to arrest both husband and wife together," Qin said.
The European Union lodged a protest with China after police detained veteran rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and his activist wife Xu Yan ahead of a meeting with its diplomats during a scheduled EU-China human rights dialogue on April 13.
“We have already been taken away,” Yu tweeted shortly before falling silent on April 13, while the EU delegation to China tweeted on April 14: “@yuwensheng9 and @xuyan709 detained by CN authorities on their way to EU Delegation.”
“We demand their immediate, unconditional release. We have lodged a protest with MFA against this unacceptable treatment,” the tweet from the EU’s embassy in China said, referring to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Access to justice, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- May 21, 2023
- Event Description
Thayarwaddy Prison authorities have not given the body of a political prisoner to his family after telling them he died of pneumonia last week, leaving the true cause of death in doubt.
The deceased was 25-year-old Pyae Phyo Win, also known as Me Gyi, who was serving a seven-year sentence at the prison, located in Bago Region, for incitement under Section 505a of the Myanmar Penal Code and arson under Section 436. He reportedly died at around 3pm on May 21.
Pyae Phyo Win was arrested during the protests in February 2021 and was handed his sentence by a military court in South Dagon Township, Yangon. He was initially sent to Yangon’s Insein Prison but transferred to Thayarwaddy Prison in January of this year.
“[A comrade] in prison sent a letter with the news about him. The prison authorities also contacted his family on the same day the letter was received,” said Nyo Tun, a friend of Pyae Phyo Win.
Nyo Tun was also imprisoned for taking part in the protests but later received a pardon. Pyae Phyo Win and Nyo Tun had been held in the same ward at Insein Prison for a year before the former’s transfer to Thayarwaddy.
Two other sources close to the Thayarwaddy prison community confirmed authorities had not returned Pyae Phyo Win’s body to his family but told them he had died of pneumonia.
Another ex-political prisoner once held at Thayarwaddy, who requested anonymity, said Pyae Phyo Win was “very fit and active” and took care of his health, and that he had never known him to have problems with his lungs.
“We just saw him two weeks ago and he was looking healthy and fit despite the prison authorities saying he died of pneumonia. It’s impossible that he died of the disease within two weeks. They could just return the body to the family if they had no part in his death,” he said.
Nyo Tun also gave an opinion as to the real cause of his friend’s death.
“We are assuming that they took it too far during interrogation, which is not uncommon. I’ve heard prison authorities say that all it takes to kill someone is a pen and a paper,” Nyo Tun said.
Authorities removed a group of political prisoners from their cells for unknown reasons last week at Daik-U Prison, also located in Bago Region. According to a statement by the Bago Township People’s Defence Team, one of their former recruitment officers was among the Daik-U prisoners and died at the hands of the authorities on Friday.
The same week, inmates initiated a hunger strike at Mandalay Region’s Myingyan Prison in response to authorities’ separation of 15 political prisoners, one of whom later reportedly died from beatings.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Singapore
- Initial Date
- May 19, 2023
- Event Description
Correction directions under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) have been issued to several parties over false statements made about the death sentence meted out to convicted drug trafficker Tangaraju Suppiah.
Under the POFMA order, activist Kirsten Han, lawyer M Ravi, Transformative Justice Collective (TJC), The Online Citizen Asia (TOCA) and TOC co-founder Andrew Loh are required to carry a correction notice alongside their publications, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in a press release on Friday (May 19).
Singaporean Tangaraju, 46, was hanged on Apr 26 after being convicted of abetting the trafficking of more than 1kg of cannabis.
Ms Han made Twitter and Facebook posts concerning the death sentence on Apr 19, and published an article on her website, We The Citizens, on the same date. She also made another Facebook post on Apr 22.
Mr Ravi published two Facebook posts on Apr 20 and Apr 27, while TOCA published posts on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter on Apr 28, and an article on its website on the same date.
TJC made a Facebook post on Apr 23, while Mr Loh published a Facebook post on Apr 24.
MHA said the social media posts and articles contained "false statements" about the capital sentence that was given to Tangaraju, including being denied an interpreter during the recording of his statement and that he was later found to be not guilty.
The posts and articles also said Tangaraju neither had an interpreter nor access to a lawyer during his trial.
"Tangaraju’s allegation that he requested for but was denied an interpreter during the recording of his statement is false, and was rejected by the High Court," said MHA.
"The High Court found this bare allegation, raised for the first time during Tangaraju’s cross-examination, to be disingenuous given Tangaraju’s admission that he had made no such request for any of the other statements subsequently recorded from him.
"Tangaraju was accorded full due process under the law. He was represented by legal counsel and had access to an interpreter throughout his trial."
The ministry added that the false statements included how Tangaraju was not informed that Justice of the Court of Appeal Steven Chong was the Attorney-General when decisions were taken by the Attorney-General’s Chambers in respect of the case.
"Tangaraju’s then counsel was informed, before the appeal was heard, that Steven Chong was the Attorney-General when decisions were taken in respect of his case," MHA said.
"Steven Chong was not, however, involved in the decision-making process, and Tangaraju’s then-counsel was informed of this as well.
"Tangaraju’s then counsel had replied to confirm that Tangaraju had no objections to Steven Chong JCA being a member of the coram for the Court of Appeal, to hear his appeal."
MHA said that Tangaraju's conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal and was not overturned.
The ministry also took issue with the posts that claimed several personal costs orders were made against Mr Ravi without justifiable basis, to penalise him for his work in death penalty cases.
Some of the cost orders were made in respect of him filing "unmeritorious applications to the courts", which were found to be abuses of the court process, the ministry said.
MHA noted that despite the government's clarifications and the courts' findings of the case involving Tangaraju, the five parties have continued to make false statements.
These false statements may affect public trust and confidence in the government and the judiciary, the ministry added.
A check by CNA showed that as of 1.30am on Saturday, all parties had put up correction notices. RICHARD BRANSON, UN WEIGHED IN ON SENTENCE
Tangaraju's case also drew the attention of many around the world, including British billionaire Richard Branson and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who both denounced the death sentence.
Mr Branson wrote a blog post two days before Tangaraju's execution titled "Why Tangaraju Suppiah doesn't deserve to die", claiming that his conviction did not meet standards and that "Singapore may be about to kill an innocent man".
In a statement last month, MHA rejected Mr Branson's claims as "patently untrue".
The ministry also said it was "regrettable" that Mr Branson, in wanting to argue his case, should resort to purporting to know more about the case than Singapore’s courts, which had examined the case thoroughly and comprehensively over a period of more than three years.
The UN statement, which was published on Apr 25, urged Singapore's government to "urgently reconsider" the execution and expressed "concerns around due process and respect for fair trial guarantees".
In response, Singapore's Permanent Mission to the UN on Apr 28 said that statement "glossed over the serious harms that drugs cause".
"This is regrettable," said the mission, adding that countries have the sovereign right to choose the approach that best suits their own circumstances.
Mr Branson, who has been vocal in opposing Singapore's death penalty for crimes such as drug trafficking, also spoke out against the execution of convicted drug trafficker Nagaenthran Dharmalingam last year.
The Virgin Group founder was invited by MHA last October to a TV debate with Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam on Singapore’s approach towards drugs and the death penalty, but turned it down.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Censorship, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- May 19, 2023
- Event Description
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for the release of a national daily’s correspondent in a remote part of southeastern Bangladesh because of the irregularities surrounding his arrest by soldiers and subsequent detention, and the failure to produce any evidence of the grounds given for holding him – his alleged links with an armed separatist group.
Longa Khumi, the Bengali-language daily Manab Zamin’s local correspondent, has been held incommunicado ever since his arrest in a remote rural area in the southeastern district of Bandarban on 19 May by members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), an elite army unit, who handed him over to the police in the locality of Ruma on the evening of the same day.
Various allegations have been made against Khumi, including serving as an informant for the Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF), an armed separatist group active in the area. The police say he is being held on the basis of “confidential documents” obtained by the army in the course of a “special operation” against the KNF. Khumi has so far been unable to speak to a lawyer or anyone else.
RSF has learned that, according to several of his colleagues, Khumi was just covering the medium-intensity conflict between the KNF and the Bangladeshi army. Everything indicates that he was scapegoated after two soldiers were killed by an explosion in Ruma two days before his arrest.
According to RSF’s barometer of press freedom violations, six other journalists are currently detained arbitrarily in Bangladesh.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 19, 2023
- Event Description
Members of land communities from Koh Kong, Preah Sihanouk, Svay Rieng, Kampong Speu, and Kandal provinces gathered to demand the release of three Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community (CCFC) staffers who were arrested on 18 May.
Theng Savoeun, the association’s president; Nhel Pheap, senior organizing officer; and Thann Hach, community facilitator officer, were charged by the Ratanakiri Provincial Court with plotting against the nation and incitement under Articles 453 and 494-495 of the Criminal Code, respectively. Say Kouhav, the investigating judge, sent all three CCFC staff members to pre-trial detention in Ratanakiri prison at approximately 6:30 pm today. If convicted, they face between 5 and 10 years in prison.
While hundreds of community members gathered outside the Ministry of Interior to demand the three men’s release, many others were blocked by authorities from travelling to the capital. On 19 May 2023, community members from Koh Kong province were blocked by local authorities at 2 am as they attempted to drive to Phnom Penh. They were stopped for around two hours and threatened with arrest if they continued their journey. After they returned home, authorities warned community representatives that any further efforts by community members to gather in Phnom Penh would be met with arrests.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: three NGO staff interrogated, arrested
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 19, 2023
- Event Description
According to information released by independent human rights monitors in late May 2023, woman human rights defender He Fangmei, who is in detention awaiting the verdict in her trial, wrote a letter to her older sister on 19 May 2023 authorising her to take care of her three young children. Two of her daughters, who are around seven and two years old, are believed to be kept at a psychiatric hospital in Xinxiang, Henan province, while her older son has been placed in foster care with a rural family.
However, when the family contacted the psychiatric hospital, the hospital refused to let the family visit the two girls, stating that access must be approved by the local police in Huixian county. When the family contacted the police, they referred the family to the local government. When the family contacted the local government, officials said they were “not aware” of the case.
The family has also been informed that the prosecutors have recommended a sentence of between five and seven years for the woman human rights defender. Her trial took place in Huixian in March 2022.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 18, 2023
- Event Description
A court in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou on Thursday jailed veteran dissident Wang Aizhong for three years after he retweeted foreign media reports on Chinese social media platforms.
The Tianhe District People's Court handed down the jail term after finding Wang guilty of "picking quarrels and stirring up troubles," a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
The court found that Wang had "used social media platforms to quote and repost false reports in the foreign media about China's political system."
Wang, 46, also stood accused of "adding false information that seriously damaged China's image" and of causing "serious public disorder," it said.
Police threw a security cordon around the court building, with plainclothes and uniformed officers patrolling nearby streets, and took Wang's wife Wang Henan to attend the trial, escorted by state security police, she told Radio Free Asia.
"One man and two women from the state security police sent a special car to meet me downstairs from our apartment and take me to the court," Wang Henan said. "The two women watched me the whole time."
She described the sentence handed to her husband as "a joke."
"It's an absolute joke, and we totally refuse to accept it," she said. "His lawyers have argued all along that Aizhong is innocent, because nothing that he said added up to a crime."
‘A way of keeping me quiet’
Wang Henan said she was prevented from attending the pretrial conference with her husband and his defense team, despite not having seen him in two years.
"They don't want me to know too much about the process and content of the trial," she said. "It's a way of keeping me quiet and stopping me from posting something publicly."
"They also want to torture me psychologically because I love Aizhong, and I haven't seen him for two years," Wang Henan said.
Outside the courtroom, police were stationed on nearby sidewalks in a bid to prevent Wang's supporters from showing up for him.
"There are plainclothes police officers dotted along more than one kilometer from the court gates, all the way to the subway entrance," a Guangzhou resident who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals told Radio Free Asia.
"I'm guessing there are about 70-80 of them in total, and seven or eight of them are currently surrounding me," he said. "One of them asked to see my ID ... then I was told to leave immediately or I would be taken to the police station."
Fellow rights activist Liang Yiming said Wang's online comments had always been very moderate, and that had only been exercising his constitutional right to freedom of speech.
"Take the pandemic in Wuhan," Liang said. "Wang Aizhong once called on them to disclose the number of deaths, but the authorities felt that this would cause panic."
"They don't like people to be so proactive, but we as citizens have the right to question them, or why would we pay our taxes and fund a government that just does whatever it wants," he said.
Guangzhou protests
The length of Wang's sentence likely means he will be released in May 2024, after time already served is deducted from the sentence. The family has indicated that it supports him in appealing the sentence.
Wang was initially detained at his home in Guangdong's provincial capital, Guangzhou in May 2021, and his apartment searched by police, who confiscated reading materials and computer devices.
He had been a key activist during protests in Guangzhou in January 2013 that were sparked by the rewriting of a New Year's Day Southern Media Group editorial calling for constitutional government.
Activists, journalists, and academics faced off with the authorities for several days after the Southern Weekend newspaper was forced to change a New Year editorial calling for political reform into a tribute praising the Chinese Communist Party.
The protest was one of the first overt calls by members of the public for political freedom since large-scale pro-democracy demonstrations were crushed in a military crackdown in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989.
He was later detained in 2014 on suspicion of the same charge, shortly before the 25th anniversary of the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen massacre.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to fair trial, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- May 18, 2023
- Event Description
The Convenor of the Inter-University Student's Federation Wasantha Mudalige and seven other student activists were arrested on Thursday (18) night following a protest at the University of Kelaniya.
Among the arrested is Venerable Rathkarawwe Jinarathana Thero, said Sri Lanka Police.
Police Spokesperson SSP Nihal Thaldiwa told News 1st that two police officers who attempted to control the protest were injured.
University students of the University of Kelaniya protested against student suppression and the conduct of the Sri Lankan government.
- Impact of Event
- 8
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- May 18, 2023
- Event Description
Local sources in Parwan province have reported the detention of a school principal by the Taliban.
Lutfullah, also known as Agha-Shirin, was arrested on Thursday, May 18th, in the Bagram district.
According to sources, Lutfullah is the principal of “Abdul Sattar Shahid” High School in the village of Dawlat Shahi in Bagram district, and the Taliban detained him a few days after he criticized the ban on girls’ education.
Sources state that the Taliban intelligence apprehended this school principal during an official meeting at the Education Department of Bagram district and transferred him to an undisclosed location.
The Taliban have not made any comments regarding this incident so far.
Previously, the Taliban had detained and imprisoned several individuals in various provinces of the country on similar charges and for criticizing the group’s governance methods.
In the most recent case in January, the group had detained a young man named Majid Ahmadi in Ghor province for criticizing the ban on girls’ education and transferred him to an undisclosed location.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Academic freedom, Right to education, Right to liberty and security, Women's rights
- HRD
- Public Servant, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- May 18, 2023
- Event Description
The union of workers at Wyeth Philippines is preparing for a strike following the dismissal of 140 workers.
On May 18, Wyeth-Nestle management laid off 140 workers, comprising 125 union members including 10 union officers, one manager, and 14 supervisors. The union has described the lay-offs as a “gross violation” of their Collective Bargaining Agreement, and “a clear-cut case of union busting.”
“We were blind-sided by the decision,” said Debie Faigmani , president of the Wyeth Philippines Progressive Workers’ Union (WPPWU-DFA-KMU). “We simply found out when we were about to clock in for the day and they wouldn’t let us enter. We couldn’t help but be angry.”
The union filed a notice of strike last May 20 at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board.
According to Wyeth management, the lay-offs were necessary to address “operational efficiencies at the factory.” It has insisted that no lock-out took place and that they “respect [their] employees’ rights, including the freedom of expression and the right to freedom of assembly.”
Wyeth Philippines has a workforce of 614 regular employees. WPPWU estimates the total workforce to be around 800 if contractual employees are included.
As of press time, the fences and gates of the Wyeth factory in barangay Canlubang, Calamba are covered with tarpaulins. According to WPPWU, the factory is in shutdown until June 20 “due to maintenance.”
According to Faigmani, Wyeth Philippines reported a net profit of over P2 billion (US$111.56 million) in 2020 alone. Additionally, Nestle’s 2022 annual review reported that sales in the Philippines accounted for P164.4 billion ($9.17 billion), or a 0.4 percent year-on-year increase.
“There’s really no basis for [Wyeth-Nestle management] to say that they are losing money,” said Faigmani.
Rumors of lay-offs have been circulating since the start of the year. The union repeatedly sought out dialogues with management in an attempt to address concerns. In a May 10 meeting, Faigmani and other union officers questioned Wyeth’s rationale in laying off 140 workers. Despite this, management responded that “more efforts are needed to be made in cost-cutting.”
Two days later, management announced a month-long shut down to save cost. Shift schedules were left unchanged until the sudden lock-out on May 18.
Other groups slammed Wyeth-Nestle for their attitude towards workers. Kilusang Mayo Uno said that the dismissals were a “grave violation of the workers’ rights to freedom of association.”
“It’s clear that there was no process in the lay-offs; that what happened was clear union busting meant to salvage profit,” said KMU Chairperson Elmer Labog. Labog called out Nestle for their track record in disrespecting labor rights in the Philippines.
At least two Nestle union presidents have been assassinated during the company’s presence in the Philippines: Meliton Roxas in 1989 and Diosdado Fortuna in 2005. In 2021, twenty one Wyeth employees and union members were also dismissed by management. The Student Christian Movement of the Philippines also condemned the dismissal, stating that “the humane thing to do is to respect workers’ rights and welfare, to hold the CBA between workers and management.” SCMP also noted that Nestle, who has owned Wyeth since 2012, has a “long history of union-busting in the Philippines.”
As recently as last year, Wyeth employees and union members have been targets of house-to-house campaigns by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, as part of its red-tagging campaign against unionists.
Issues about workers’ rights to freedom of association have become a trend in the Philippines. In Laguna alone, multiple unions have reported instances of management and state forces meddling in union affairs.
These concerns have reached the International Labor Organization, which conducted a High-Level Tripartite Mission recently to investigate the state of labor rights in the Philippines. The ILO HLTM found “grave concerns” in labor rights and recommended that the Philippine government take concrete action in addressing them.
On April 28, Marcos Jr. signed Executive Order 23, creating an inter-agency committee to address concerns raised by the International Labor Organization’s High Level Tripartite Mission conducted last March.
The inter-agency committee is composed of different agencies, including the Department of Labor and Employment, the National Security Council, and the Philippine National Police. However, KMU does not think that the inter-agency committee can actually address concerns.
“We do not see it as having any actual teeth,” said Labog, noting that the inter-agency committee “has almost the same composition as NTF-ELCAC.”
He also pointed out the lack of worker representation in the committee. “Workers are the biggest stakeholders in labor, so any committee without workers cannot be truly representative of our interests.”
Faigmani demands the immediate reinstatement of 140 workers. He has vowed to continue to struggle “alongside other Nestle workers for our collective rights.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- May 18, 2023
- Event Description
On May 18, police in Phu Yen Province arrested Nay Y Blang for “abusing democratic freedoms.” Blang, an ethnic minority Protestant from Ea Lam village, met with a representative from the U.S. Consulate in August last year. The following month, he was scheduled to meet a group of U.S. State Department officials in charge of religious issues. According to RFA, the meeting never took place because Blang was detained by police at a bus station in Tuy Hoa Province. From then until the time of his arrest, Blang and his family have been continually harassed by local police, who accused him of spreading falsehoods about religious repression.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Reprisal as Result of Communication
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of Religion and Belief, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Freedom of religion/belief activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 17, 2023
- Event Description
Three staffers at the Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community (CCFC) have been arrested and are expected to be sent to court, a day after police in Kratie province stopped a bus carrying 37 people and detained several people for questioning overnight.
This morning, police formally arrested Theng Savoeun, CCFC president; Nhil Pheap, a senior officer at the NGO; and Thann Hach, a project officer. Reasons for stopping the bus and the arrests are not clear. The three were among those detained overnight, while the remaining 34 people left the police station in their own bus this morning.
Authorities confiscated computers, mobile phones, and written documents from the group, and the Ministry of Interior’s Anti Cyber Crime Department were seen entering the police station following the staffers’ detention.
CCFC is a membership-based organisation established in 2011 to address land rights and issues affecting Cambodia’s farmers. Savoeun was previously arrested alongside other NGO staffers and community members in January 2014 following a violent crackdown on demonstrators in Phnom Penh, and spent five months in prison prior to receiving a largely suspended sentence of four years.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Land rights defender, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- May 17, 2023
- Event Description
A number of Kazakh activists who planned to hold protest rallies against the government’s plan to introduce visa-free travel for Chinese citizens coming to Kazakhstan have been jailed or fined ahead of the China-Central Asian summit in the ancient city of Xi'an.
Kazakh officials have said an agreement on visa-free visits for visiting Chinese citizens for up to 30 days will be signed during the summit hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping and attended by the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan on May 19, the second day of the meeting.
Ahead of bilateral meetings held between the countries and Beijing, a court in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, sentenced Bekzatqan Maqsutuly, the leader of the unregistered Atazhurt (Fatherland) party, to 15 days in jail.
Maqsutuly's lawyer, Shynquat Baizhanov, told RFE/RL on May 18 that his client was found guilty of violating regulations for holding public gatherings. The charge was related to a previous unsanctioned public event. On May 16, Maqsutuly announced online his party's plan to organize a rally against the agreement on visa-free travel for Chinese nationals entering Kazakhstan.
A court in the northwestern city of Aqtobe sentenced activist Akhmet Sarsenghaliev to four days in jail on the same charge.
Three other activists in Aqtobe -- Almira Quatova, Ainagul Tobetova, and Bauyrzhan Maratuly -- were also convicted of violating regulations for holding public gatherings and ordered to pay fines between $380 and $535. All four activists planned to organize a rally in Aqtobe on May 18 to protest via-free travel for Chinese citizens entering Kazakhstan.
Activists in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic’s northern city of Pavlodar said on Facebook that they had faced police pressure over their plan to organize a rally against the visa-free travel agreement in the city.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- May 17, 2023
- Event Description
Nepal Police took two journalists under control in Kanchanpur on May 17. Kanchanpur lies in Sudurpaschim Province of Nepal.
Freedom Forum talked to one of the journalists Aishwarya Kunwar about the incident. Correspondent at Sagarmatha Television Kunwar said that Kunwar and another journalist Rajendra Nath reached a local police station in Mahendranagar to report on the clash among police persons and locals in connection with cross-border transport of goods.
Nath is editor-in-chief at https://simarekha.com/ (a news portal).
While controlling the clash police officers arrested journalists duo despite knowing that they are reporting the incident. Kunwar said, "They not only took us under control but also seized our belongings. They handcuffed journalist Nath and took us into the police station. We were kept there for two hours and released later after discussion with fellow journalists."
"I was hurt in legs and shoulders while they tried to thrash me into the station. Earlier, media had published news on police activities since then, they do not cooperate journalists", Kunwar added.
Freedom Forum condemns the arrest of journalists. It is gross violation of press freedom. FF reminds Nepal Police to differentiate journalists while controlling the mob and respect their rights enshrined in the constitution.
Together jorunalists need to sport their Press IDs visibly as a measure to avoid intimidation.
Security persons must be aware of security of journalists so that they can do reporting on issues of public concern freely and without fear.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- May 17, 2023
- Event Description
Thai authorities should immediately and impartially investigate the killing of an exiled Lao political activist, Bounsuan Kitiyano, Human Rights Watch said today.
On May 17, 2023, Bounsuan’s body was found with three gunshot wounds in the forest in Si Mueang Mai district, Ubon Ratchathani province in northeastern Thailand, bordering Laos. The initial police investigation indicated that he was shot while riding alone on his motorcycle through the forest.
“This cold-blooded killing of a prominent exiled Lao political activist demands an immediate response from the Thai authorities,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The Thai government should urgently conduct a credible and impartial investigation into Bounsuan’s death and bring to justice all those responsible.”
Bounsuan, 56, was a former member of the Free Laos group and was recognized as a refugee by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). He was involved in several protests in front of the Lao Embassy in Bangkok calling for respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The killing of Bounsuan in Thailand sends a spine-chilling message that nowhere is safe for critics of the Lao government. On April 29, an unidentified gunman shot and seriously wounded Anousa Luangsuphom, an activist and online critic of the Lao government, in the capital, Vientiane.
Even activists who have fled persecution in Laos to neighboring countries have not been safe. Od Sayavong, a leading Lao human rights and democracy activist living in Bangkok, Thailand, has been missing since August 2019. On October 1, 2019, the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and three UN special rapporteurs issued a joint statement expressing concerns regarding Sayavong’s case.
The Thai government has consistently failed to prevent or adequately respond to attacks against political critics of repressive neighboring governments of Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Myanmar, Human Rights Watch said.
“The Thai government’s unacceptable deference to abusive neighbors is once again taking priority over its international human rights and legal obligations,” Pearson said. “The new government that will take office following the May 14 elections has an urgent agenda to reestablish Thailand as a place where refugees are protected.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 16, 2023
- Event Description
Footage has emerged showing Gonmo Kyi being forced into a car by security personnel in Lhasa.
Gonmo Kyi is the sister of the detained Tibetan businessman Dorjee Tashi and has carried out a series of protests calling for him to be given a fair trial.
Tibet Watch received the videos on 16 May. In one, Gonmo Kyi, is on the ground and surrounded by police. While she is struggling, it sounds like she is saying: “It doesn’t matter that I am falling down! I don’t want to go! Just arrest me!”
The next shows the security personnel holding Gonmo Kyi and forcing her into the back seats of a white vehicle while she says: “You can kill me here.”
There is currently no further information on Gonmo Kyi’s location and wellbeing.
Over the past five months, Gonmo Kyi has carried out a series of protests outside Tibet Higher People’s Court in Lhasa. She has been detained numerous times and during recent protests the police have obstructed her from public view by surrounding her and covering her with black fabric or barriers.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- May 16, 2023
- Event Description
In Cagayan Valley, two youth peasant organizers, Cedric Casano and Patricia Nicole Cierva , were disappeared, following reports that they were captured by members of the 501st Infantry Brigade last May 16 in barangay Cabiraoan, Gonzaga, Cagayan.
Karapatan-Cagayan Valley said they learned of their disappearance after receiving reports from concerned citizens.
“Friends and former colleagues are concerned for their safety under the hands of the AFP that declares it will crash the revolutionary movement in the northeastern part of Luzon by all means. We wish to remind the AFP that even wars have rules of engagement,” Karapatan-Cagayan Valley said.
Peasant advocacy group NNARA-Youth also expressed their concern over the disappearance of the two youth organizers.
“The abduction of Casaño and Cierva is part of the escalating attacks in Northern Luzon, where it occurred less than a month after the illegal abduction and unlawful detention of indigenous peoples organizers Mary Joyce Lizada and Arnulfo Aumentado, who are still being held at Camp Capinpin, and the abduction of Dexter Capuyan and Gene Roz Jamil ‘Bazoo’ de Jesus, who have yet to be surfaced,” said NNARA-Youth National Spokesperson Marina Cavan.
Environmental groups also called for the surfacing of the two young peasant organizers.
“Patricia worked with the Kabataan Partylist-National Capital Region, a legislative partner of our colleagues at the Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment. Cedric was a youth whose environmentalist principles led him to join the staunch opposition against the irresponsible open-pit mining at the Didipio gold and copper mine of the OceanaGold Corporation and magnetite mining in the coastal Cagayan Valley. This led him to become a delegate of the International People’s Conference on Mining 2015,” the Environmental Defenders Congress said in a statement.
As a UP-Manila student, Cierva led campaigns such as Tulong Kabataan at Kalinaw for the indigenous people and the Lumad among others.
Karapatan-Cagayan Valley called on the authorities to respect the right to due process and immediately sSurface Cierva and Casano.
“We call on the Filipino people, be vigilant. Uphold basic human rights for all,” the group said in a statement.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- May 16, 2023
- Event Description
Mojib Zia, a former civil society activist, was detained at Kabul airport on 16 May. He had worked as a media consultant for the Rahmani Foundation during the previous government but had been living in Iran since the Taliban takeover. He had returned to Afghanistan when his father died and was detained as he made his return journey to Iran. He was released in early June.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
SRMO 2nd Quarterly Report on human rights situation in Afghanistan
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- May 15, 2023
- Event Description
Three labour right activists have been charged with violation of the Public Assembly Act and the Sound Amplifier Act for the 1 May Labour Day march from the Ratchaprasong intersection to the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC).
Chatchai Pumpuang and Prim Maneechot from the labour rights network Workers’ Union and Surat Kiri from the migrant worker group Bright Future reported to Pathumwan Police Station on Monday (15 March) after they were summoned to hear charges of holding a public assembly without notifying the authorities and using a sound amplifier without permission.
The three activists agreed that Surat will reach a settlement and pay a fine of 2,100 for the charges against him to be withdrawn. Meanwhile, Chatchai and Prim will fight their charges in court.
Chatchai said that he agreed to fight his charges because he hopes that the Public Assembly Act will not be used again the future and to protect the right of workers to march on Labour Day.
He also said that he was told by the police that “it’s good that this is all you get, not [Section] 112.”This made him feel that the royal defamation law is a problem for workers to organize and campaign for their rights.
Chatchai hopes that workers will start seeing why the royal defamation law is problematic and that politics and labour rights are related, since previously there have been arguments made that workers would gain nothing from amending the royal defamation law.
Migrant workers who joined the march have also been harassed by the police. Chatchai said that he was told by several migrant workers that they received calls from the police in Bangkok’s Bang Bon district, which made them feel insecure about their employment and immigration status.
He speculated that the workers were harassed after some media outlets reported that migrant workers were joining the Labour Day march and used nationalist rhetoric to incite a bias against migrants.
“These people really don’t know at all that they can have a comfortable life with everything smooth, and this comes from migrant workers who work and make it happen, like fishery workers, people in Bangkok have shrimp that’s not expensive to eat because of them,” Chatchai said.
“These people are mainly nationalists, but they’re not at all aware of the fact that these people [migrant workers] are the ones who built this city and built this country. The main pillars that they claim didn’t build Bangkok. But the people who built Bangkok are workers. Whatever our nationality, we made everything.”
Previously, the Labour Network for People’s Rights, the Migrant Working Group, and other labour rights organizations issued a joint statement condemning several right-wing media, including Top News and Thai Post, for reporting false information about the Labour Day march.
On 2 May, a programme broadcast on Top News’ YouTube channel claimed that migrant workers from Cambodia were giving speeches during a protest on the morning of 1 May at Government House calling for monarchy reform to create a welfare state. Show host Santisuk Marongsri then commented that migrant workers do not have the right to interfere in Thailand’s affairs and that they need to respect Thai people’s dignity.
Organizers of the protest said that no such speeches were given and that Cambodian workers joining the protest spoke about facing racism and discrimination for being migrants. Thai protesters from the 24 June Democracy group were standing behind them holding a banner saying “Reform the monarchy, build a welfare state,” but the content of the banner was not related to the content of the speech.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- May 15, 2023
- Event Description
Economic bureau chief at Himalaya Times national daily Lekhanath Pokharel received death threat for his reporting on May 15. The incident took place in the daily's office, Mid Baneshwor, Kathmandu.
Journalist Pokharel shared with Freedom Forum that a news about- alleged involvement of Rastriya Prajatantra Party's Dolakha President Rajan Shiwakoti in a financial fraud at Sindhujwala Hydropower Limited - was published on the daily on the day of incident.
"President Shiwakoti reached the office of the daily with two other people in the evening asked me whether I had written the news", said journalist Pokharel, “Then they started threatening me saying- Who is the news source? Should we file a case or what? or we also have goons, they will do something. I am also a journalist, I know how to write news,". He also accused me of making false allegations against him and issued death threat.
The news was based on complaint of the victim shareholders, according to Pokharel.
President Shiwakoti, however, refuted the news the next day and said to the daily that he was not involved in any financial activities of the hydropower since he left in 2019/20.
Freedom Forum is concerned over the incident. The President can approach the Press Council Nepal for any complaint over the published news content rather than intimidation. Threatening journalists inside the media house has panicked all journalists and media staffs. It is a blatant violation of press freedom.
Hence, FF strongly urges the concerned authority to be aware to avoid any untoward incident against reporter and ensure safety of journalist.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death threat, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 15, 2023
- Event Description
CHRD is alarmed at the forced closure of the Beijing LGBT Center under pressure from the Chinese government. Shutting down China’s longest established LGBTIQ+ organization signals yet another worsening turn in the Chinese state’s years-long campaign against civil society. We urge the Chinese government to take seriously its human rights obligations under international law to eliminate discrimination against LGBTIQ+ individuals and protect NGOs working to promote LGBTIQ+ rights in China.
On May 15, Beijing LGBT Center sent out a WeChat post announcing that “We very unfortunately are informing everyone that due to an inability to resist [pressure], Beijing LGBT Center is ceasing operations today.”
Members of the Center told Deutsche Welle that they were frequently questioned and harassed by the police, or asked to euphemistically “drink tea” with them. At the same time, on multiple occasions authorities tried to dissuade the Center from ceasing operations for fear of the international repercussions. This put the Beijing LGBT Center in a difficult position where they found it impossible to do their work but also were forced by authorities to maintain the appearance of being in operation until now.
Members of the LGBTIQ+ community have faced growing restrictions on their rights and advocacy in recent years. CHRD has learned from a Chinese civil society expert that another NGO, EnGender, ceased operations in May due to an increasingly difficult operating environment. In November 2021, LGBT Rights Advocacy China, an NGO with operations nationwide, was forced to shut down due to government pressure. On July 6, 2021, nearly 20 WeChat accounts of university students’ LGBT and gender studies groups were suddenly closed down.
Beijing LGBT Center, founded in 2008, provided much of the research and data for understanding the social obstacles and stigma against LGBTIQ+ people in China. For example, in 2016, it produced the largest survey ever done on sexual and gender diversity issues in China, Being LGBT in China – A National Survey on Social Attitudes towards Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Gender Expression, which was co-authored by Beijing University Sociology Department with support from the UN Development Programme. In 2017, also in collaboration with Beijing University Sociology Department and with support from the Dutch embassy, it produced the 2017 Chinese Transgender Population General Survey. In 2018, Beijing LGBT Center created a national hotline for suicide prevention for transgender people. A member from the Center also conducted a survey that found that transgender people faced domestic violence after telling their parents about their transgender status.
Beijing LGBT Center aspired to serve as a safe space for people in the LGBTIQ+ community in Beijing and around the country. The organization frequently hosted events speaking out on LGBTIQ+ issues. It provided resources to members in the community, such as offering health care counselling on resisting being pressured into “conversion therapy,” which is still prevalent in China. In 2020, it held a workshop at Beijing Normal University for 100 graduate students majoring in psychological counselling to help them better understand the needs of the LGBTIQ+ community.
Disregard for China’s International Human Rights Obligations
The intensified pressure on Beijing LGBT Center leading to its closure occurred just two days before this year’s International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia on May 17. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk marked the day by noting that “[t]he human rights of all LGBTIQ+ people, as equal members of the human family, must be respected,” but that “…in many countries LGBTIQ+ people are facing unacceptable pushbacks to their rights.” To this end, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) launched a new thematic campaign on solidarity within its Free & Equal campaign, which aims to engage with “the public and policymakers to advance social acceptance and positive changes in laws and policies.”
Chinese government harassment of LGBT NGOs goes against UN independent experts’ recent recommendations to the state to combat discrimination against LGBTIQ+ persons. In March 2023, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) released its findings in the latest review of China’s treaty obligations, urging the government to:
“(a)dopt comprehensive anti-discrimination legislative, political and administrative measures prohibiting direct, indirect and multiple discrimination, including explicitly prohibiting discrimination and criminalizing harassment, hate speech and hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons in accordance with article 2 (2) of the Covenant…; [and] (i)ntensify its efforts to combat discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, including by conducting public awareness-raising campaigns.”
During the current review by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, independent experts on the Committee asked about “how the State party responded to the need for protection of… lesbian, bisexual and transgender women and intersex persons, and other groups facing multiple forms of discrimination.” An official on the Chinese government delegation responded by saying that the Chinese Constitution does not discriminate against LBGTIQ+ people, and it views them as “ordinary people,” thus there are no special legal protections for LGBTIQ+ citizens.
Our “asks”
In light of these alarming developments, which are detrimental to combating discrimination against the LGBTIQ+ community in China, CHRD strongly urges the Chinese government to immediately end its campaign of harassment and intimidation against LGBTIQ+ rights NGOs and heed the calls of UN experts to take specific measure to combat discrimination against this community. The government should cooperate with UN bodies, particularly the UN Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity to protect LGBTIQ+ rights and increase social inclusion.
CHRD recommends that the OHCHR incorporate the issue of the shrinking advocacy space for LGBTIQ+ rights in China into its Free & Equal campaign. The Chinese government should be highlighted as a country moving backwards on LGBTIQ+ rights. The High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk should speak out and raise serious concerns about the recent closure of Beijing LGBT Center in communications with the Chinese government and in public messaging on LGBTIQ+ rights globally.
The UN Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity should publicly condemn the closure of the Beijing LGBT Center and the other alarming developments, and urge the Chinese government to enact strategies, policies, and laws to advance LGBTIQ+ rights.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, SOGI rights
- HRD
- NGO, SOGI rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- May 15, 2023
- Event Description
About the Human Rights Defender: Mr. Manish Sharma (45) is a well-known human rights activist of Uttar Pradesh working for civil rights and human rights in Varanasi for the last 20 years. He has been peacefully active in various pro-poor mass movements such as the successful Banaras weavers’ movement, the green belt movement etc. Details of the Incident: On May 15, 2023, at around 03:00 pm, Mr. Manish Sharma was going home on his bike when suddenly 8-10 people in civil dress surrounded his bike near the Court, snatched his mobile and forced him in their car. They forced him to go with them in the car to the ATS office, Pandaya Nagar, where he found out that they were policemen from the Anti-Terrorism Squad of the UP Police. They had neither any summons or warrant for Mr. Sharma’s interrogation, nor did they inform his family despite his repeated requests to inform them. Mr. Sharma was mentally harassed for 6 hours and repeatedly questioned about his participation in various people’s democratic movements and was told to back off from any rights-based movements. He was also threatened that if he continued to be involved in mass movements then he would be framed in fake cases of terrorism and sent to jail for years. Some local activists gathered at ATS office, Pandaya Nagar, Banaras, and started demanding his release raising slogans and the news went viral on the social media. At around 10:30pm Mr. Manish Sharma was released from ATS office, and was asked to return for questioning again the next day. On May 16, 2023, around 11 am, Mr. Manish Sharma went to the ATS office, Pandaya Nagar on his own volition. ATS again threatened him to keep distance from the ongoing weaver’s movement and land movement. Mr. Manish Sharma alleged in a press conference that his abduction and harassment were reprisal for taking part in successful democratic movements.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
Case shared by FORUM-ASIA member People's Watch
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 15, 2023
- Event Description
Thirteen employees at a Puma-supplying factory have lost their jobs after participating in a union election earlier this year.
The Kandal province-based supplier, Eastcrown Footwear Industries, has repeatedly engaged in union-busting practices and harassment of workers, say labor rights activists and union members.
“I think this is union discrimination, not a layoff following labor law,” said the union’s president, Soeng Votum.
Elected to be the union’s president in February, Votum was not rehired by the factory when her short-term, three-month contract expired on May 15. Since April, 13 of the factory’s 16 union members have not had their short-term contracts renewed.
Nine of the union members, including Votum, had previously lost their jobs at the factory last year when they tried to form a union in August.
“The first time and the second time, they dismissed us. They are still persecuting us,” Votum said. “I think if [Puma’s] customers pressure the company, they will bring us back.”
Last year, the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (Central) appealed to German footwear brand Puma, which led to Votum and her colleagues regaining their jobs in early January.
Cambodia’s Trade Union Law expressly prohibits “discrimination on ground of union activities” including as “an employment renewal condition.”
The use of short-term contracts has been identified by Human Rights Watch and labor rights groups as a key way for garment factories to exercise control over workers, including as a threat against union organizing and advocacy.
Ann YouSa, a vice union leader, first lost her job in October last year and then failed to have her contract renewed on April 11. She and her husband, the factory’s elected union treasurer Em Sambath, came back to their hometown in Prey Veng province. YouSa has returned to farming and Sambath has taken jobs as a truck driver, but their combined pay is still not enough to support them.
“I did not earn any money because I was at home,” she said. “And my husband has been transporting dirt for a week, but he did not get any tasks to do because it was raining.”
On May 5, Votum said the union members met with the company and the Labor Ministry but no solution was reached. Votum said she has little faith that the Labor Ministry’s efforts to facilitate negotiations will lead her to get rehired by the company. She remains in Phnom Penh and said without work she has difficulty paying rent.
Union members also say they have faced harassment in the months after they formed the union. According to worker reports compiled by Central, union members have been closely monitored by other staff members at the factory, including being filmed, photographed and followed to their homes. Other union workers report they were restricted from working overtime.
One staff member has reportedly shouted at union members, yelling insults such as “cheap woman” and “useless woman.” Votum and another union member allege that staff members have pushed and physically assaulted Votum and snatched union documents from her hands.
Central’s program manager Khun Tharo said that the elected union leaders and founders are entitled to special protection from being dismissed before, during and after the union election. He added that the conduct of the staff who have harassed the union members is considered serious misconduct and that those employees should be terminated according to Cambodia labor law.
“Central demands that those persons who were involved in threats, intimidation and harassment against the elected union leaders/founders shall be held accountable with concrete actions to be taken immediately,” Tharo said.
Eastcrown’s management attended a 2021 workshop facilitated by Puma and the U.N.’s Better Factories Cambodia, which covered “the rights and obligations of employers, unions and worker representatives and workplace relations,” a Puma representative told CamboJA in an email.
Van E Hong, an Eastcrown Footwear Industries administrator, denied allegations that the factory was discriminating against union members. He said the dismissals were due to downturns in the global economy leading to mass layoffs across the garment industry.
“This is the accusation of the plaintiff, but in fact, the company has announced that the company is facing a global economic crisis,” Hong said. “So, based on the contract, the person who reaches the end of their contract, we do not continue to give him [employment].”
He added that if the factory receives good orders then the company will rehire the workers.
“If there are goods to make, we will call experienced workers. The company will still need [them],” he said.
As for the report of physical assault from Votum, Hong said the company handed the matter over to the police.
Neng Sotheany, a commune police officer, said that he did not follow up on the report of the alleged assault because union workers did not file any complaint to him.
Votom said she chose not to file a complaint with the police because she believes the alleged assault fell within the purview of the Ministry of Labor and should be dealt with by the ministry, not the police.
Labor Ministry spokesperson Heng Sour did not respond to requests for comment.
Kerstin Neuber, Puma’s senior head of communications, told CamboJA via email that since April the brand has received the factory’s retrenchment plan indicating anticipated job losses, interviewed three trade union leaders and conducted an on-site visit.
“The selection of workers for retrenchment [lay-offs] was based on employment contract expiry date, however Better Factory [sic] Cambodia conducted an assessment early May and the results are still being discussed with factory management,” Neuber wrote.
Neuber said the Labor Ministry is aware of the union members’ request for reinstatement and that the ministry’s report on the dispute was expected to be finished by late June.
The factory’s owner, Chinese conglomerate Xinlong Group, “remains a key partner” for Puma and “Cambodia remains a key production country,” Neuber said.
Votum, the union leader, said the union members would continue to fight for reinstatement even if the Labor Ministry and Puma did not help them get their jobs back.
“We will continue to file a complaint without giving up,” she said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Initial Date
- May 13, 2023
- Event Description
On May 13, the Chittagong Cyber Tribunal, which adjudicates alleged cybercrime offenses in southeast Bangladesh, registered a complaint under the Digital Security Act against Yeasmean and her source in relation to the RTV broadcast reporter’s April 30 video investigation exposing alleged crimes by the conversative Islamic organization Rajarbagh Darbar Sharif and one of its leaders, Shakerul Kabir, according to news reports and a person familiar with the case, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal.
Kabir filed the complaint accusing her of violating three sections of the Digital Security Act, according to CPJ’s review of the document. In her investigation, Yeasmean reported that Kabir has been accused of extortion, land grabbing, and violence against women.
The Digital Security Act, which criminalizes several forms of speech online, has frequently been used to target critical journalists in Bangladesh since its enactment in 2018. In March 2023, Bangladesh authorities arrested a Prothom Alo reporter and opened multiple investigations under the act into the leading newspaper’s leadership and staff, prompting United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk to reiterate his call on authorities to impose an immediate moratorium on the law.
CPJ and other rights groups also have called for the suspension of the law.
“It is appalling that Bangladeshi journalist Adhora Yeasmean has been targeted under the draconian Digital Security Act for her investigative reporting,” said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director. “Authorities must immediately drop their investigation, stop using the act against journalists, and ensure Yeasmean is not subjected to further retaliation for her work.”
Yeasmean found out about the complaint on July 8, in a call from a local police station. The next day, she learned she had been summoned for questioning on July 14 at the police Criminal Investigation Department in Chittagong’s Noakhali sub-district, about 173 kilometers (107 miles) from her home in the capital city Dhaka, according to the person who spoke to CPJ.
Yeasmean’s source, who appeared in her video investigation, is named as an accused in the complaint. Rajarbagh Darbar Sharif, led by Pir Dillur Rahman, has previously been accused of filing fabricated criminal complaints to facilitate land grabbing.
CPJ called and messaged Kabir and Muhammad Rafiqul Islam, the investigating officer in the case, but did not receive any replies.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- May 12, 2023
- Event Description
A court in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City on Friday sentenced war veteran and democracy activist Tran Van Bang to eight years in prison and three years probation for Facebook posts that were deemed to be anti-state propaganda in a trial that lasted less than three hours.
Tran Van Bang, better known as Tran Bang, is a 62-year-old war veteran who fought during the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War. He had regularly participated in demonstrations against China for its controversial claims over territories in the South China Sea.
He was arrested in March 2022 for what was initially determined to be 31 Facebook posts between March 2016 and August 2021.
After a subsequent investigation, authorities found that he wrote 39 problematic posts between three Facebook accounts that that were seen as “distorting, defaming and speaking badly of the people’s government; providing false information, causing confusion among the people; and expressing hate and discontent towards the authorities, Party, State, and country’s leaders,” the Tuoi Tre newspaper reported, citing the indictment.
The posts were in violation of article 117 of the penal code, a vague law that the government has often used to silence dissent.
It was the latest conviction in Hanoi’s ongoing campaign to silence bloggers and activists. Vietnam has convicted at least 60 such people under the same article and sentenced them between four and 15 years in prison, and 13 others to between four and 12 years under the older article 88, because it was the law when the alleged crime occurred, New York-based Human Rights Watch reported.
During Friday’s trial, Bang claimed that his Facebook accounts had been hacked and he hadn’t used them in a very long time.
But the Procuracy rejected the explanation, and used the posts on the accounts to convict him.
Tran Dinh Dung, Bang’s defense lawyer, told RFA’s Vietnamese Service following the trial that freedom of speech is guaranteed in Article 25 of Vietnam’s constitution, and Article 117 does not explain anti-state propaganda.
“The current law fails to clarify what freedom of speech is and what anti-state propaganda is,” said Dung. “In addition, there are some electronic documents and evidence missing, so I requested that the file of the case should be returned to the procuracy and a verdict should only be made when everything was clarified.”
Closed trial
Two diplomats, from the U.S. and France, were barred from attending the proceedings. They were made to wait in the courtyard until the trial’s conclusion.
Family members, meanwhile, were allowed only to watch the proceedings on a television screen from another room in the courthouse.
Bang’s brother, who declined to be named, told RFA that the audio of the broadcast was cut several times when the defense lawyer was speaking and was turned very low when Bang spoke in his own defense.
“The lawyer requested an additional investigation as some assessments of the investigator about the Facebook stories, which were the ground for accusations, were wrong,” Bang’s brother said.
“The lawyer also said that the accusation grounds were just the investigator’s viewpoint, and with another viewpoint, other people may find my brother innocent.”
According to Dung, his client will appeal the verdict. He told the judging panel that Bang was suffering from a serious health issue as he had a tumor in the groin area, which had not been determined benign or malignant. The verdict noted this information but also said that it needed to wait for the opinion of Bang’s detention center clinics, Dung said.
“On May 10, I had a working session with the detention center, and they told me that their clinic had recommended removing the tumor,” said Dung, adding that red tape is preventing the operation. “If the tumor is malignant, i.e. cancer, it would be a very serious health issue.”
Human Rights Watch on Thursday issued a media release calling on the Vietnamese government to drop all charges against Bang and immediately release him.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 11, 2023
- Event Description
China sentenced lawyer and prominent rights activist Guo Feixiong to a prison term of eight years on Thursday, with diplomats from several countries saying they were barred from the trial in the southern city of Guangzhou.
The sentence follows terms of more than a decade in jail each handed to two prominent rights lawyers, Ding Jiaxi and Xu Zhiyong in April, amid China's clampdown on dissent since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012.
While rights groups say hundreds of lawyers and activists have been detained in recent years, China says it respects the rule of law and individual rights and rejects criticism of its human rights record.
Guo, 58, has drawn international attention for campaigns against issues such as graft and censorship, and his accusations of mistreatment by Chinese authorities during more than a decade behind bars on previous charges.
His latest detention, in 2022, came a year after he was stopped from leaving the country to visit his dying wife in the United States, sparking further outcry.
After a three-hour trial Guo, whose real name is Yang Maodong, was found guilty of defaming China's political system and inciting subversion of state power, his brother said in a statement, adding that Guo would appeal against the judgment.
Thursday's statement was confirmed by Guo's lawyer.
Diplomats from several countries said they were prevented from attending the trial.
"Today, U.S. diplomats were blocked from attending the court proceedings of Guo Feixiong," the U.S. embassy in China said on its Twitter account. "We continue to call for Mr. Guo's speedy release so he may be reunited with his family."
Diplomats from Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, and the Netherlands were also turned away and told by a court clerk that foreign visitors needed approval from higher authorities, four diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court and China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In early 2021, Guo was stopped by officials at the airport in the commercial hub of Shanghai as he sought to visit his ailing wife in the United States.
His public pleas to be allowed to leave were rebuffed and his wife died of cancer about a year later. Two days after that, Guo was arrested by Guangzhou police and has been held in detention since, according to rights groups.
Guo was subjected to "years of mistreatment, imprisonment, routine harassment and surveillance, and denied foreign travel for his peaceful advocacy on behalf of the Chinese people," the U.S. state department has said earlier.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- May 11, 2023
- Event Description
Activists in Indonesia, including Catholics, have accused the government of hacking their social media accounts to prevent them from raising a compensation issue near the venue of the 42nd ASEAN Summit that Indonesia is hosting.
Melky Nahar, a Catholic activist, said the WhatsApp accounts of 12 activists and journalists were hacked after they protested the government's failure to provide compensation to villages in Labuan Bajo, whose properties were acquired for a road project connected to the ASEAN summit.
Nahar, the national coordinator of the non-governmental organization Mining Advocacy Network, said he realized the hacking when he turned on his phone. “Then, a notification appeared that my number was no longer registered and there was a request for verification.”
"Sometime after that, the accounts of three other staff also experienced the same issue on May 11," he told UCA News.
Rosis Adir, editor-in-chief of Floresa.co, a local media based in Labuan Bajo, told UCA News that one of his journalist's Telegram and WhatsApp accounts were hacked after he filed a report on Labuan Bajo.
The journalist also received calls from an army intelligence officer who had previously intimidated him for writing about the Labuan Bajo road project, Adir added.
Sasmito Madrim, chairperson of the Alliance of Independent Journalists, strongly condemned the hacking attempt, and called it a "form of state control over information."
Nahar had joined many other civil society groups to organize a series of discussions on the government’s neglect to provide compensation to villagers in Cumbi, Nalis and Kenari in Labuan Bajo, the venue for the ASEAN summit on Flores island in the Christian-majority province of East Nusa Tenggara.
The summit formally kicked off on May 10 and is chaired by Indonesia, after its turn in 2011. The villagers continue to fight for compensation after their land and farms were acquired for a 25-kilometer road, leading to one of the ASEAN summit venues in Golo Mori. The new road was inaugurated by President Joko Widodo on March 14.
At least 51 families, most of whom were farmers, were evicted while 23 houses, 14,050 square meters of yards, 1,790 square meters of rice fields, and 1,080 square meters of farmland were confiscated without compensation.
Villagers planned to hold a protest on May 9. However, it was canceled after warnings from the National Police Headquarters that they would be compensated as long as they don't protest.
The New Indonesia Expedition Team, which highlighted the issue on its social media, stated that three of its staff's WhatsApp accounts were hacked.
Sunspirit for Justice and Peace, a Labuan Bajo-based advocacy group, received a message on WhatsApp from an account using the official cyber police logo, asking it to delete a tweet on the government’s neglect of compensation.
According to the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network, which champions digital rights, digital crackdowns have increased over the past three years from 147 cases in 2020 to 193 cases in 2021 and 302 cases in 2022 in Indonesia.
Last year, hacking topped the list with 178 incidents, followed by a leak of personal data with 40 cases. Nearly 42.81 percent of the victims were critical groups such as activists, journalists, media and civil society organizations, with a total of 140 victims.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Media Worker, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- May 10, 2023
- Event Description
Social activist Piyath Nikeshala has been hospitalised after being assaulted by the former deputy mayor of Kaduwela – Chandika Abeyratne.
Photos and videos of the brutal attack by Abeyratne and his henchmen are making rounds on social media.
Piyath played a prominent role in the ‘Aragalaya’ protests last year.
Social media activist Piyath Nikeshala and the former Kaduwela deputy mayor Chandika Abeyratne have been arrested in connection to a clash between two parties in Koswatta, Thalangama yesterday (10).
The Police stated that an investigation had been launched based on a complaint claiming that a social media activist had been injured in a clash between two parties on Samagi Mawatha in Koswatte.
According to the complaint from the social media activist, who is a resident of Samagi Mawatha, he had been admitted to the Thalangama Hospital with injuries following the clash.
As per a statement from the social media activist, the former Kaduwela deputy mayor along with a group of others had arrived in two vehicles and had carried out an attack on him and his vehicle.
The Police stated that the social media activist has been transferred to the Colombo National Hospital for further treatment.
Meanwhile, the former Kaduwela deputy mayor has also filed a complaint claiming that he had been attacked during the clash as well, while he is receiving treatment at the Mulleriyawa Hospital.
Based on the complaints from the two parties, the Thalangama Police have arrested both the social media activist and the former Kaduwela deputy mayor over the clash.
Both suspects are receiving treatment at the relevant hospitals under Police protection, while the Thalangama Police is conducting investigations into the incident.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- May 10, 2023
- Event Description
Pakistan authorities and the leadership and supporters of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party must respect the rights of journalists covering the country’s political unrest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.
Amid protests following the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday, May 9, authorities and supporters of Khan’s PTI party have repeatedly attacked and harassed members of the press, according to a statement by the local press freedom group Pakistan Press Foundation and local journalists who spoke to CPJ. On Thursday, Pakistan’s Supreme Court declared Khan’s arrest illegal and ordered his immediate release.
As of the evening of Friday, May 12, at least one journalist, Imran Riaz Khan, was being held in an unidentified location, his lawyer Mian Ali Ashfaq told CPJ by phone.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has also suspended mobile internet services and restricted access to Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter in various areas throughout the country since Tuesday.
“Pakistan authorities must unconditionally release journalist Imran Riaz Khan, investigate all attacks on the media, and restore unrestricted access to internet services and social media platforms throughout the country,” said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director. “The Pakistani people have a right to be informed about the ongoing upheaval in their country. The authorities and the opposition political party must respect that right.”
Authorities arrested Imran Riaz Khan, an anchor with the privately owned broadcaster BOL News, in the early hours of Thursday, May 11, at Punjab’s Sialkot Airport, where he was scheduled to travel to Oman, according to news reports and Ashfaq.
In a detention order reviewed by CPJ, the Sialkot police accused the journalist of repeatedly delivering “provocative speech” and requested that he be detained for 30 days due to the “likelihood that he will create unrest [among] the general public and create [a] law & order situation.”
Prior to his arrest, the journalist had published videos on his personal YouTube channel, where he has about 4 million subscribers, demonstrating support for PTI protesters and sharing reports alleging that the former prime minister had been tortured in custody.
Attacks by police
At about 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday, police officers attacked Feezan Ashraf, a producer for the privately owned broadcaster Suno TV, and Syed Mustajab Hassan, a producer for the privately owned broadcaster Express News, while they were attempting to cover a raid on the home of a PTI leader in Rawalpindi, according to a statement by the National Press Club in Islamabad, which CPJ reviewed, and the two journalists, who spoke with CPJ by phone.
Six police officers confronted Ashraf and Hassan, who introduced themselves as journalists and showed the officers their press identification cards. However, the officers proceeded to kick, slap, and beat the journalists with wooden rods for about 15 minutes, they said, adding that officers also broke their mobile phones and forced Hassan to delete a video he captured of the raid.
Ashraf and Hassan sustained significant lesions throughout their bodies and painful injuries, including to their heads, according to the journalists and photos of their injuries reviewed by CPJ. They received treatment at a local hospital and were prescribed painkillers.
Separately, at around 3 a.m. on Thursday, five police officers detained Aftab Iqbal, an anchor with the privately owned broadcaster Samaa TV, at his farmhouse in Lahore, according to a video by the journalist’s wife, Nasreen Iqbal, and Ashfaq, who is also representing Iqbal.
While entering the home’s premises, officers pushed a security guard to the ground, slapped Iqbal’s assistant, and threatened others at the scene to lie down or be shot, Nasreen Iqbal said in that video, adding that her husband did not resist his arrest.
Iqbal had also published videos on YouTube, where he has 1.6 million followers, that showed his support for PTI protesters and Imran Khan. Iqbal was released on Friday following an order by the Lahore High Court, Ashfaq said.
CPJ called and messaged Lahore Capital City Police Officer Bilal Kamyana and emailed the Punjab police for comment but did not immediately receive any replies.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- May 10, 2023
- Event Description
9 activists were arrested during a protest at Samranrat Police Station on the afternoon of 10 May to demand the release of 15-year-old activist Thanalop Phalanchai.
The protest took place after the police filed more charges against Thanalop, now detained pending trial on a royal defamation charge at the Ban Pranee Juvenile Vocational Training Centre for Girls in Nakhon Pathom.
Officers from Samranrat Police Station went to Ban Pranee to inform Thanalop of the charges without informing her guardian or lawyer. They also brought a woman who they claimed was a lawyer they had appointed for Thanalop.
Activist Anna Annanon, who was visiting Thanalop, livestreamed the officers' visit on Facebook. When she asked the officers if they had informed activist Sopon Surariddhidhamrong, Thanalop's guardian, that they were filing more charges against her, they said that they had told the "human rights lawyer."
Anna also asked the alleged lawyer for her name, but she refused to answer and threatened to file charges against Anna under the Personal Data Protection Act for livestreaming the officers' visit.
Anna said that she was visiting Thanalop with other activists and was about to leave but decided to stay when they saw officers from Samranrat Police Station arriving at Ban Pranee. She said that, in the end, the police left without seeing Thanalop.
Meanwhile, a protest took place at Samranrat Police Station. Activists threw red paint onto the police station building and onto the household spirit shrine in front of the building. They also demanded that Pol Col Thotsaphon Amphaiphiphatkun, superintendent of Samranrat Police Station, explain why officers visited Thanalop to notify her of her charges without notifying her guardian.
They also demanded the 15-year-old's release, saying that it is within the police and the court's power to release Thanalop so she can return to school.
Pol Maj Gen Nakarin Sukonthawit, commander of the Metropolitan Police Division 6, came to the police station and told the activists that the officers were only doing their job by informing Thanalop of further charges. He also insisted that Thanalop's parents file a bail request for her
After Pol Maj Gen Nakarin went inside the police station building, activists threw coloured smoke flares up the steps in front of the police station.
A small clash then occurred after activist Tantawan Tuatulanon went to the police station door to demand that a representative of the police come to speak to the media. The activists tried to push through the police barrier but were pushed out, and the glass door of the police station was broken during the clash.
At around 18.55, several units of crowd control police in normal khaki uniforms arrived at the police station. 10 minutes later, they blocked the entrance to the police station with shields as the activists tried to go back up the steps.
Meanwhile, Tantawan continued to demand that Pol Col Thotsaphon come out to speak to them and said that the police had ruined Thanalop's future by detaining her and keeping her from going to school. Another protester also threw objects at the officers, starting another clash, during which officers pulled Tantawan inside the police station.
Activist Orawan Phuphong was also arrested while shouting at the officers for injuring her during the clash, after the police ordered them to leave the police station and crowd control police blocked the entrance to the police station.
A total of 9 activists were arrested: Sittichai Prasai, Natthaphon Lekyaem, Suttawee Soikham, Noppasin Treelayapewat, Thiraphat Pradapkaeo, Jirapas Koram, Ronnakorn Hangchaicharoen, Tantawan Tuatulanon, and Orawan Phuphong.
The activists were separated and moved from Samranrat Police Station to three other police stations. Sittichai, Natthaphon, and Suttawee were taken to Chalongkrung Police Station. Noppasin, Thiraphat, Jirapas, and Ronnakorn were taken to Lat Krabang Police Station. Tantawan and Orawan were taken to Thung Song Hong Police Station.
At around 21.00, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said their lawyers had gone to the three police stations. At Lat Krabang Police Station, Noppasin and the three other activists told the lawyer they were beaten while being arrested.
Meanwhile, at Thung Song Hong Police Station, TLHR said that Tantawan and Orawan have been separated, with Tantawan being placed in a men's jail cell. In protest, they tied their bras around their own necks, and after officers took their bras from them, Orawan banged her head against the cell wall.
Tantawan told her lawyer that Pol Col Thotsaphon flashed his middle finger at the activists while they were detained, and that an officer named Siriphong Kongkaeo hit Orawan's hand with the keys to the jail cell and pulled Tantawan's head while threatening them.
TLHR reported that because the activists' phones were confiscated and the officers did not tell them on what charges they were being arrested, Orawan stripped naked as a form of civil disobedience, and that women crowd control officers took videos of Orawan while she was naked.
At Chalongkrung Police Station, lawyers were not allowed to see the three activists detained there, claiming that they needed to wait for every detainee's lawyer to arrive. TLHR noted that it is a violation of the detainee's right, since they have the right to see their own lawyer and no law requires that lawyers have to wait as the police claimed.
TLHR said that Tantawan and Orawan sustained minor injuries while being arrested. Tantawan has cuts and bruises on her hands from being dragged inside Samranrat Police Station, while Orawan has bruises on her legs from being forced inside a police car, as well as cuts on her hands and bruises on her neck from tying herself to the cell bars using her bra.
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- May 10, 2023
- Event Description
Farmer unions, farm labourer organisations and activists in Punjab have condemned the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) questioning of author-activist Navsharan Singh under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Navsharan was questioned for eight hours on May 10.
The wife of JNU professor and former Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Association president Atul Sood, Navsharan used to regularly visit the farmers during their agitation against the farm laws at Tikri and Singhu border. She is also a board member of Aman Biradari, a trust headed by rights activist Harsh Mander. Sources revealed that she was questioned about certain financial transactions with Aman Biradari and her association with Mander.
Navsharan is the daughter of the famous theatre director, the late Gursharan Singh, who was also popular as Bhai Manna Singh.
“I strongly condemn the ED harassment of Navsharan, a social worker and untiring supporter of the farmers’ movement. We both addressed the Tikri border farmers’ rally on Gursharan Singh’s birth anniversary,” Chaman Lal, a retired JNU professor, said. “The whole family has a glorious record of progressive and democratic thinking and siding with democratic struggles. Navsharan’s mother Kailash Kaur was a stage actor and her sister Dr Areet retired as director of health services in Punjab,” he added.
Narain Dutt, the president of the Inqlaabi Kendra Punjab, also condemned Navsharan’s questioning. “Navsharan, who is a human rights activist, has always stood up for the democratic rights of the masses. She was grilled for the funding given for publishing books of activist Harsh Mander. The Union government has always tried to intimidate the ‘right thinking’ people.. we are standing tall with Dr Navsharan,” Dutt said.
Joginder Singh Ugrahan, state president of Bhartiya Kisan Union Ekta (Ugrahan), alleged that Navsharan was being targeted by the Modi government “for speaking out the truth”. “In continuation with the series of attacks on intellectuals and democratic rights activists across the country, Navsharan was summoned under the PMLA and an attempt was made to intimidate and harass her in the name of an inquiry. Like the UAPA, PMLA also gives the government unrestrained powers to crush the democratic rights of any person,” Ugrahan said.
Navsharan was one of the leading supporters of the peasant struggle on the borders of Delhi, Ugrahan said. “Not only did she continue to participate in the Delhi sit-in, but she also made efforts to share the experience of the farmers’ struggle with people in different countries of the world,” he added.
“Navsharan is one of the leading intellectuals of the country raising her voice against the brutal fascist attack of the Modi government on the ordinary people. The nefarious attempts to silence the democratic voices in support of the working people must stop. We are standing firm with Navsharan. I call upon all sections of the people’s democratic movement in India to immediately raise their voice against this incident,” Ugrahan added.
Lachhman Singh Sewewala, general secretary of Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union (PKMU), said the questioning by ED officials was “an attempt to intimidate Navsharan and all the human rights activists”. “We fully support Navsharan as we value her contribution to public issues. The Union government should stop harassing intellectuals in the name of such inquiries,” Sewewala said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Academic, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- May 10, 2023
- Event Description
About the Human Rights Defender: Mr. Santosh Thakur (39) is a human rights activist in Muzaffarpur, Bihar and the founder member of Grameen Vichar Manch, a civil rights organization which actively works on human rights, civil rights and social issues in Bihar. Mr. Santosh Thakur is also associated with various human rights organizations. Details of the Incident: On May 10, 2023, at 11:00 am, Mr. Manoj went to Mushahari police station, Dumri, Muzaffarpur with his relative Ms. Sanju Devi, to file a complaint regarding a forcible control of her wheat crop by Dheeraj Kumar with his associates. When they tried to file a complaint, Mr. Narendra Kumar, the station in-charge started abusing them and gave an order to arrest Mr. Santosh Thakur and Ms. Sanju Devi, who were then taken into custody. No FIR was filed on their complaint. Mr. Thakur was given no detention memo, in violation of the DK Basu guidelines. His mobile and 5000 rupees and watch were taken by the policemen illegally without any memo. Both Mr. Thakur and Ms. Devi were detained till the evening and given no water or food. At 5:30 pm in the evening they were released but their mobile and money were not returned by the police.
On May 12, 2023, Ms. Sanju Devi wrote the entire incident in a letter and sent it to Inspector General of Police, Bihar. A copy of the letter was also sent to Superintendent of police of Muzaffarpur and Director General of police, Bihar. Ms. Sanju Devi in her complaint letter has alleged that the policemen are in collusion with the accused Dheeraj Kumar and Mr. Santosh Kumar and herself were detained because of the pressure of the accused on the SHO.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
Case shared by FORUM-ASIA member People's Watch
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- May 9, 2023
- Event Description
In the wake of the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on May 9, freedom of expression in Pakistan has suffered significant setbacks as internet shutdowns, attacks and detainment of journalists and media workers have swept the country. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), condemn the attacks on media workers and urge the Pakistani government to apprehend the perpetrators to protect working journalists.
In the days following the arrest of Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and former Prime Minister Imran Khan, authorities have restricted access across the country to social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook, with total internet shutdowns experienced in Islamabad and other cities.
On May 9, during ongoing protests against Khan's arrest, Nisar Ali Khan, the chief executive of Chhachh News Network, was pelted with stones by PTI workers in Lahore. Khan suffered injuries across his body, including a gash on his forehead and severe bleeding. Despite further threats from protestors, intervention by journalist Malik Asif stopped any further attacks on the journalist. Khan was taken to Tehsil Headquarters Hospital to receive medical attention with assistance from his colleagues.
In Peshawar, PTI employees attacked a Dawn News team on May 9, targeting and injuring reporter Arfi Hayat and network media workers. The assailants damaged the crew’s cameras and vehicle, breaking one window, and a side mirror, and creating a large crack in the windscreen. The PTI workers similarly vandalised equipment and vehicles from Express News and Khyber News.
The Peshawar offices of national broadcaster Radio Pakistan, the country’s oldest radio station, were vandalised and partially set alight on May 10, with furniture, equipment and vehicles damaged and looted.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- May 7, 2023
- Event Description
The Uttar Pradesh Police on Sunday morning picked up activist and lawyer Mohammed Shoaib of the legal aid group Rihai Manch, a letter from his wife to the police said.
Shoaib’s wife Malka Bi alleges that he was taken away around 7.15 am by a group of police personnel who declined to share the information about the action.
Shoaib is the founder of the legal aid group Rihai Manch which works for marginalised communities. In December 2019, he was arrested in connection with protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. He was granted bail on January 15, 2020.
A video of Shoaib being taken away from his house has also been shared by journalists on social media.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- May 7, 2023
- Event Description
Held a protest, detained, released, detained again
Vlada Yermolcheva has been demonstrating with a poster stating “We were robbed of elections” in the central pedestrian street in Almaty on March 26, a week after the parliamentary election. She was swiftly detained that day, but later released. On May 6, police officers approached her in a cafe and demanded she follow them to a police station. On the night to May 7, she was found guilty of a violation of Article 488(7) of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Darkhan Sharipov has also been detained for a protest on November 20, 2022. On the day of the presidential election, a group of activists unfurled a banner reading “Will we live to (see) fair elections?” on the main square in Almaty. All were detained by the police in less than ten minutes and released the same day without charge. On May 7, the night court found Sharipov guilty of a violation of Article 488(6). Police and court violated the procedure
In his interview to The Village Kazakhstan Yermolcheva’s attorney, Talgat Miyermanov, pointed out numerous procedural violations. No document stating the time and date of Yermolcheva’s first detention in March has been provided in the court materials. The detention report is dated 27 March – a day after the initial detention – but includes information from 19 April. Moreover, possible penalties stated in the law include a fine, an arrest is imposed only in exceptional cases – for instance, when a person has a previous conviction. The court, however, chose the harshest punishment – arrest with the maximum term, despite the fact that Yermolcheva had no criminal record. Penalties for peaceful assembly without permission
Kazakhstan’s law “On Peaceful Assemblies” is heavily criticised by civil society for violating the right of peaceful assembly. While the Constitution grants the right to peacefully gather to all Kazakhstani citizens, and the Law states that it is sufficient to inform local authorities without obtaining explicit permission to organise a demonstration, in fact there is a very limited space where such gatherings could be held, and the organisers need to “book” them in advance by the same city council, who has the ability to veto the assembly. For the mobile demonstrations such as rallies, notification is not enough – one has to apply for a written approval of the authorities.
Read more on Novastan: Women’s Day in Kazakhstan: hundreds gather for rally in Almaty
Human rights defender Tatiana Chernobil, commented to Novastan on why the authorities acted so long after the pickets took place, says one can be held liable within one year after the peaceful assembly itself.
“This law prohibits the holding of peaceful assemblies without the so-called sanction of the Akimat (city council), – explains Chernobil. – Pickets under this law are considered to be peaceful assemblies, which means that holding them, the same as with other peaceful assemblies, without notification and, importantly, without obtaining the necessary reciprocal approval of the Akimat will be illegal.
Darkhan and Vlada held their actions without notifying the Akimat out of principle, rightfully believing that holding of solitary pickets should not require the approval of the authorities. Fair enough because these are international human rights standards. But our government and the law believe otherwise. Therefore, holding even single pickets without Akimat approval in Kazakhstan is fraught with penalties.
What is interesting is that, in general, the limitation period for administrative responsibility established by the Code of Administrative Offences is 2 months, but a special period of 1 year is established for violating the legislation on peaceful assemblies.
It is also interesting to see what other administrative offences have such a long limitation period of 1 year. These are ‘corruption offences, unlawful interference of officials into entrepreneurial activity and also for offences in the sphere of inspections of private enterprise and other forms of control and supervision with visits to private enterprise, taxation, environment protection, protection of competition, customs, legislation on pension provision, on obligatory social insurance, on energy saving and improvement of energy efficiency, on state secrets, on natural monopolies, subsoil and subsoil use.’ This is the kind of company that peaceful assemblies find themselves in,” – concludes Chernobil. Verdict upheld
On May 11, after Yermolcheva’s verdict was upheld in the court of appeal, she declared she is going on a hunger strike.
In his letter from detention center, Darkhan Sharipov sends warm greetings to his fellow activists: “You must not be ashamed for your civic position; the president and the state must be ashamed of imprisoning citizens for dissent. Until there is one person willing to fight for their rights and freedoms, I have no doubt about the future of this country.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- May 6, 2023
- Event Description
Kyrgyz authorities should let the independent news website PolitKlinika work free from fear of legal harassment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.
On May 6, officers with Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security, or SCNS, summoned PolitKlinika founder and chief editor Dilbar Alimova for questioning about a May 5 article published by the outlet, according to news reports and Alimova, who spoke to CPJ by phone.
Alimova told CPJ that she was outside the capital city of Bishkek at the time, and authorities demanded she return immediately, or they would come with a summons and take her to the city for questioning. However, after she posted about the call on social media, SCNS officers agreed to ask her questions by phone.
The officers did not make it clear why the SCNS was looking into that article, which reported on a letter allegedly written by the speaker of Kyrgyzstan’s parliament to the prosecutor-general, Alimova said, adding that the head of the SCNS was a close political ally of the speaker. The officers asked her about the letter and where the outlet got it from.
After the publication of that article, the speaker’s press secretary said the letter was “fake” and threatened to apply for PolitKlinika’s website to be blocked under Kyrgyzstan’s law on false information unless the outlet deleted its report.
“Alongside their forced closure of RFE/RL’s local service, Kyrgyz authorities seem to have embarked on a systematic course of undermining and intimidating independent media into silence,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Kyrgyz authorities must stop summoning journalists for interrogation over their reporting, and should allow Dilbar Alimova and PolitKlinika to work freely.”
PolitKlinika publishes fact-checking reports, political news, and investigations, those news reports said.
On Monday, May 8, PolitKlinika issued a statement saying the outlet stood by its reporting and noted that it had included a statement from the parliamentary office denying the letter’s authenticity, and had also reached out to the prosecutor-general for comment. The outlet said it was temporarily taking the report down pending a response from the prosecutor-general.
Alimova told CPJ that she felt there was “colossal pressure” on independent media by Kyrgyz authorities, pointing to the April 2023 shuttering of U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s local service Radio Azattyk.
Separately, on February 20, Kyrgyz state broadcaster EITR filed a lawsuit against PolitKlinika and Tynystan Asypbek, a reporter at the outlet, demanding 10 million som (US$115,000) in damages over a February 3 video report alleging that ElTR had made false claims about government borrowing, according to news reports.
Alimova told CPJ that the ongoing court case – in which the state-run channel is seeking 7 million som (US$80,100) from PolitKlinika and 3 million som (US$34,360) from Asypbek for “undermining the reputation of the channel and its staff” – could force the outlet to close.
Alimova said she and PolitKlinika have also been the target of online harassment, which she believes to be coordinated involving social media accounts of employees of state media. CPJ reviewed many posts by users calling for legal action to be taken against the outlet.
Also in February, the SCNS summoned Asel Otorbaeva, general director of independent news website 24.kg, for questioning over comments under a 24.kg report, and in March, the SCNS summoned 24.kg editor Anastasia Mokrenko for questioning about a fake bomb threat on a shopping center that was sent to the outlet and others, according to reports by that outlet.
CPJ emailed the Kyrgyzstan presidency, the SCNS, and ElTR for comment but did not receive any replies.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending