Uwazi

Student organisations in Pakistan had organised a countrywide student march on Friday to demand the revocation of a 35-year ban on student unions in colleges and university campuses.A day after the Students Solidarity March in Pakistan on Saturday, student activist Alamgir Wazir from the Punjab University in Punjab Province’s Lahore has gone missing.

A gender studies’ student, Wazir came into the limelight due to his “fierce” speech at the march. A video of his speech has gone viral on social media. He says in the video: “We are asking for education, justice, and roads but they are giving us guns".

​Students from Punjab University have been protesting outside the vice chancellor’s office since Wazir went missing, demanding his release. They are saying he has been arrested for chanting slogans against the authorities.

​Wazir has reportedly been vocal about racial discrimination against Pashtuns.

Netizens are condemning the “abduction” of the student leader for voicing his opinion against the Pakistani government. #ReleaseAlamgirWazir is also trending on Twitter, demanding the student’s release.

"This is extremely condemnable & sharamnak we demand immediate release of Alamgir and the perpetrators must be charged for this unlawful act," tweeted MNA Mohsin Dawar. His fellow colleague from the former federally administered tribal areas, Ali Wazir, is related to Alamgir Wazir. The missing Wazir is the MNA's nephew.

Wazir was last seen outside a hostel on the Punjab University campus, when unidentified men in a vehicle took him away at 5 PM on Saturday.

A protest to raise awareness about climate change was forced to cancel by the police Friday just minutes after it began in front of a park.

The rally, called Climate Strike Thailand, was scheduled to kick off at Lumpini Park at about 6pm today, but police officers from Lumpini Park arrived at the scene and told them to disperse. The officers refused to give any specific reason, though one eyewitness said police told them it was inappropriate to hold a protest in front of a statue of King Rama VI.

“Ironically, we were trying to get into the park, but somebody in the authorities told us we couldn’t go into the park, that’s why we ended up here,” the protester said.

About 100 people were participating in a “die-in” in front of the statue when police intervened. The memorial is a tribute to King Rama VI, who died in 1925.

The news came as a surprise to the activists because a similar demonstration was held in September without any interference from the authorities.

The climate change protest at Lumpini Park took place in the heart of Bangkok’s financial district; nearby landmarks include Silom Road and Chulalongkorn Hospital.

Vietnam’s communist regime has convicted Mr. Huynh Minh Tam, 41, and his younger sister Huynh Thi To Nga, 36, of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the country’s Criminal Code for their online postings critical to the regime, Defend the Defenders has learned.

In the first-instance hearing on November 28, the People’s Court of Dong Nai found Mr. Tam and Ms. Nga guilty of “Making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the State of Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” sentencing him to nine years and giving her to five years in prison.

According to their relatives, both Tam and Nga had no their own lawyers.

The indictment said they were posting numerous articles on their Facebook accounts criticizing the communist government for failing to deal with the country’s problems such as human rights abuse, systemic corruption, widespread environmental pollution, and weak response to China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea).

Ms. Nga, a technician in the Saigon-based Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital, reportedly to participate in the mass demonstration in Ho Chi Minh City on June 10, 2018 to protest two bills on Special Economic Zones and Cyber Security.

Mr. Tam was arrested on February 28 this year while his younger sister was kidnapped in her working place two days later. Police had not informed their families about the allegations against them and kept them incommunicado until their trial. Police also threatened their families, not allowing their relatives to contact with other activists.

Mr. Tam and Ms. Nga are among 21 activists being arrested this year for online activities, 14 of them were charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda” and five were alleged with “abusing democratic freedom” in the National Security provisions of the Criminal Code.

Vietnam’s communist regime has arrested 33 political dissidents, social activists and Facebookers so far this year, including prominent dissident journalist Pham Chi Dung. Hanoi has also convicted 39 activists, mostly on controversial allegations in the National Security provisions of the Criminal Code, sentencing them to a total 199.5 years in jail and 47 years of probation.

Vietnam is holding at least 240 prisoners of conscience, according to Defend the Defenders’ latest statistics. Hanoi always denies of holding any prisoners of conscience, saying it imprisons only law violators.

A court in Vietnam sentenced a Facebook user to six years in prison on Tuesday for a series of posts he made on the social media platform that the Southeast Asian country's government said were "anti-state".

Despite sweeping economic reform and increasing openness to social change, Vietnam's ruling Communist Party retains tight media censorship and does not tolerate criticism, and its dissent crackdown has shown signs of intensifying recently.

Nguyen Chi Vung, 38, was accused of "making and spreading anti-state information and materials" at the one-day trial at the People's Court of Bac Lieu province, in the Mekong Delta, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement.

It said Vung had held 33 livestream sessions on Facebook "to share distorted information" and "encourage people to participate in protests during national holidays".

Reuters could not reach Vung's lawyers for comment.

Vung will be placed under house arrest for two years after serving his jail term, the statement said.

The court's Tuesday decision came days after a music teacher in the central province of Nghe An was convicted of the same offences and jailed for 11 years.

Facebook is widely used in the country and serves as the main platform for both e-commerce and dissent. Facebook said in May it increased the amount of content it restricted access to in Vietnam by more than 500% in the last half of 2018.

The ministry said in a separate statement on Tuesday that police in Nghe An have arrested a 23-year-old man accused of smearing the image of Ho Chi Minh and spreading anti-state propaganda on Facebook.

Last week, police in Ho Chi Minh City arrested freelance journalist and government critic Pham Chi Dung, accused of "anti-state" propaganda.

On November 26, Vietnam’s communist regime convicted five political dissidents and sentenced them to a total 20 years in prison and five years of probation in two separate trials which failed to meet international standards for a fair trial.

In the central province of Thanh Hoa, the provincial People’s Court found local Facebooker Pham Van Diep guilty of “Making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under the country’s 2015 Criminal Code. The court sentenced him to nine years in jail and five years of probation for online postings which were considered as “distortion of the communist regime” and “defamation of communist leaders” which led to social dissatisfaction.

Mr. Diep, 54, was arrested on June 29 this year. He has voiced against the communist regime for its socio-political policies and human rights abuse in the last 17 years.

On Wednesday (27 November), the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) issued a statement condemning Thammakaset Co., Ltd’s use of the criminal defamation provisions of the Thai Criminal Code to harass former National Human Rights Commissioner Angkhana Neelapaijit.

“This action by Thammakaset is a textbook case of how defamation laws are used in Thailand to silence human rights defenders. It is clearly without any legitimate basis, and intended to harass and intimidate Khun Angkhana, who is a leading champion of human rights in Thailand and the region,” said Frederick Rawski, ICJ Asia Pacific Regional Director. “We hope that the Courts will dismiss this frivolous case at first opportunity.”

On 25 October 2019, Thammakaset Co. Ltd., a poultry farm in Lopburi Province, filed a criminal defamation suit under sections 326 and 328 of the Criminal Code against Angkhana Neelapaijit for two posts she shared that contained links to press statements of 16 organizations, including the ICJ, and Fortify Rights.

The statements cited in the warrant as the basis for the action were a post on 3 December 2018 in which Angkhana Neelapaijit re-tweeted an ICJ link to a joint statement co-signed by 16 organizations, including the ICJ. The statement contained a link (now defunct) to a short film in which former employees spoke out about alleged labor abuses; and a post on 28 June 2019 which included a link to a Fortify Rights’ news release containing the same link. The film refers to a previous defamation complaint brought by Thammakaset against 14 of its former workers, and called upon the authorities to drop criminal defamation charges against them and decriminalize defamation in Thailand. Thammakaset claimed that the film was defamatory.

Criminal defamation, under sections 326 of the Criminal Code, carries a maximum sentence of one year of imprisonment, a fine of up to 20,000 Baht (approx. USD 640) or both. Section 328 criminalizes defamation “by means of publication” with up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to 200,000 Baht (approx. USD 6,400).

Thailand is party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which guarantees the right to freedom of expression. The UN Human Rights Committee, the supervisory body that provides the authoritative interpretation of the ICCPR, has called on States that criminalize defamation to abolish criminal defamation laws and reserve defamation for civil liability.

“The criminal defamation provisions in the Criminal Code have been repeatedly invoked for nefarious ends, such to target persons seeking to bring public attention to human rights violations, including by business enterprises. They need to be removed from the Criminal Code as a matter of urgency,” said Rawski. “The imposition of criminal penalties for speech, even allegedly defamatory speech, is disproportionate and risks having a ‘chilling effect’ on the exercise of freedom of expression.” Background

Angkhana Neelapaijit is a Thai human rights defender and the wife of human rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit, who was abducted more than 15 years ago. His abduction was the only case of enforced disappearance to ever be tried in a Thai court. In 2015, she was appointed commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, before resigning in July 2019, and is a recipient of the 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Awards.

A court warrant was sent to Angkhana Neelapaijit on 23 November 2019. A conciliation conference, at which parties are brought together to settle a dispute before trial, is scheduled to be held on 12 February 2020 at Bangkok South Criminal Court.

The ICJ has repeatedly expressed concerns about the use of existing defamation laws to harass human rights defenders, activists, lawyers, academics, and journalists in Thailand, for carrying out their legitimate and important work to raise awareness and highlight human rights issues.

This case is one of many defamation and other cases brought by Thammakaset against any individuals perceived to have expressed dissent, conducted advocacy on or released information relating to labour rights violations committed by the Company. According to the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), as of May 2019, Thammakaset has filed complaints with the police, the Criminal Court, and the Civil Court against at least 22 individuals in at least 14 cases.

These included criminal defamation complaints against Sutharee Wannasiri, human rights defender and a former Thailand Human Rights Specialist with Fortify Rights, for three comments she was alleged to have made on Twitter related to the same film produced by Fortify Rights; Ngamsuk Rattanasatiean, who had shared information on the Facebook page of the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies; Suchanee Rungmuanporn, a reporter from Voice TV who had made a post on Twitter highlighting labour rights violations by Thammakaset; Suthasinee Kaewleklai, coordinator of the Migrant Workers Rights Network, who had shared information on Facebook relating to the cases; and other separate cases against 14 migrant workers and former employees.

Police in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi on Sunday blocked access to a piano recital held in the city’s Opera House, roughing up a group of environmental activists who had hoped to attend and preventing them from entering, sources said.

The concert, titled “Awake” and performed by pianist Pho An My, featured an environmental theme, the civil society group Green Trees said in a Facebook posting after its members were turned away.

“A large crowd of security forces had gathered outside, just as if they were preparing to disperse a protest, and scores of people were roughed up,” the environmental advocacy group said, adding that paintings about the environment were forbidden from display in the concert hall.

“Security men were stationed every five meters [15 feet] surrounding the theater, and were stopping people from live-streaming or taking pictures. Only the security people were allowed cameras, and they pointed them at concertgoers like they were monitoring criminals,” Green Trees said.

“All gates to the theater were locked right after the concert started, so nobody could leave or enter, and no one could give the artist flowers.”

In its Facebook posting, Green Trees said that police may have thought that concert organizers had received funding from “foreign sources” by way of the environmental group, which also advocates for human rights, freedom of expression, and freedom of assembly in the one-party communist state.

'They were brutal to us'

Speaking to RFA’s Vietnamese Service on Nov. 15, Green Trees member Cao Vinh Thinh said that she and her husband had arrived at the Opera House at about 7:30 p.m. on the evening of the concert.

“As soon as we stopped our motorbike next to the theater, we were approached by a group of about 10 people, two of whom I recognized because they have followed me around for years,” Thinh said, adding that the group ordered her to return home, later forcing her and her husband into a car and driving them home themselves.

“I’m very upset,” Thinh said. “We had bought two tickets, but the money doesn’t matter. What matters most is how they treated us.”

“They were brutal to us, and they deprived us of our rights as citizens. We hadn’t broken any law or rule,” she said.

Also speaking to RFA, pianist Pho An My said that she had only focused on her performance and was unaware of what was happening outside.

“I’m just an artist, and I want to express my thoughts. I’m not an environmental activist,” she said.

Calls seeking comment from police in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem district rang unanswered on Monday.

Civil society groups restricted

Independent civil society organizations are severely restricted by Vietnam’s communist government, which also controls all media, censors the internet, and restricts basic freedoms of expression.

On Oct. 25, Vietnamese authorities detained environmental activist and filmmaker Thinh Nguyen, a member of Green Trees, in what was thought to be the government’s response to a film, “Do Not be Afraid,” about other environmental activists who were detained for their advocacy.

Green Trees had called on Vietnam’s government just two years before to let it help monitor the payment of compensation to citizens affected by a massive toxic-waste spill in 2016 that left thousands jobless in four central coastal provinces.

According to the information received, on November24, 2019, RTI activist and HRD Mr. Parmar was going out of his village Khopalaon his bike along with his brother Mr. Vinod Parmar. They were on their way to Lakhanka village from Khopala. Around 2.30 pm when they reached at Pipal road,nearly 8 kilometres from their village,they were intercepted by four men unknown to the defender who had came on two bikes. They were carrying iron rods and batons. They started hitting the HRD repeatedly with iron rods and abused him by hurling derogatory casteist remarks. Mr. Parmar was also threatened and asked to withdraw the RTI application he had filed recently. Physical attack and beating continued for 5 to 10 minutes. The HRD suffered fractures in both his legs and hands. His elbow also suffered fracture. His lower limbs were also severely injured as a result of the beating inflicted by the assailants. His brother Mr. Vinod Parmar was also roughed up by the assailants. HRD’s brother Mr. Vinod Parmar called on 108 for emergency ambulance through which he was taken to the government hospital and admitted. Sources informed that the assault was carried out by men closely associated with the village sarpanch. RTI activist, Mr. Parmar was earlier threatened by the husband of village sarpanch Ms. Vimala Gabani. He was threatened to withdraw the RTI application filed by him or else he would face dire consequences. Because of the injuries suffered, the HRD had to undergo two surgical operations - one on his left hand and other on his leg. He is still in the hospital and receiving treatment. The Botad Police has filed a case against sarpanch Ms. Gabani, her husband Mr. Jasmat Gabani, son Mr. Sanjay Gabani and four unknown persons under Indian Penal Code sections 324, 325, 504, 506 (2) for causing hurt by dangerous weapon, causing grievous hurt, intentional insult and criminal intimidation along with sections of the Prevention of Atrocities against Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Act. The case has been transferred to SC/ST cell of Botad Police, Gujarat. However, the police has failed to arrestany of the accused yet.The Hon’ble Commission is once again appraised that manyRTI activists have been harassed and even murdered for seeking information to "promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority". Many face assaults on a regular basis. seeking information from their gram panchayat and the local administration also face social ostracism. RTI activists are vulnerable HRDs. Unlike other HRDs, a majority of the RTI activists are not part of an organisation; they often act alone, moved by anger at corruption and other illegal activities. RTI activists are vulnerable because they live in the same areas as authorities and political leaders who do not want information about their activities to disclosed. For the most part, human rights defenders receive media attention only when killed or seriously injured. When complaints are made by RTI activists, law enforcement personnel (who often work with corrupt officials) do not take appropriate action. The Central Information Commissionand State Information Commissions are not mandated to deal with such threats or attacks or to provide protection when needed. Attacks on RTI users have not ceased despite directions from several information commissions and state governments to protect them from harm. Further, per the Declaration on HRDs in the context of human rights violations by third parties, the obligation to protect, first, involves ensuring that defenders do not suffer from violations of their rights by non-State actors. Failure to protect could, in particular circumstances, engage the State‘s responsibility. Even acts and omissions committed by non-State actors under the instructions, control or direction of the State can, under certain circumstances, give rise to State responsibility. Therefore, it is paramount that prompt and full investigations are conducted and perpetrators brought to justice. Failure by States to prosecute and punish such is a clear violation of Article 12 of the Declaration on HRDs.

Journalists in Guwahati have demanded a high-level probe into an alleged attack on a colleague in a secluded part of the city on Friday night.

Police said Naresh Mitra, a journalist renowned for his reportage on environment and wildlife, was brought to the Gauhati Medical College by unidentified people. Given the severity of his injuries, his family later shifted him to the Nem-Care Super Specialty Hospital.

It was initially believed that Mr Mitra, who used to pedal to work on a bicycle every day, may have been hit from behind by a vehicle. But doctors who operated on him later said it was more likely to have been a case of assault, a press statement issued by the Journalists' Forum Assam (JFA) read.

The JFA demanded a thorough probe into the case. "We strongly demand a high-level probe into the incident where Naresh got injured that night. Moreover, we wish his early recovery and express hope that he would be able to explain the situation soon," the statement, signed by association president Rupam Barua and secretary Nava Thakuria, read.

Guwahati Police said the incident may have occurred while Mr Mitra was returning home from work around 10:30 pm. They have launched a probe, and are currently trying to procure CCTV footage to stitch together the sequence of events leading to the alleged attack.

According to family members, there were no external injuries on the senior journalist's body and his bicycle didn't seem to have been damaged either. They said that although Mr Mitra was awake in the initial hours, even speaking to those attending to him, he slowly lapsed into unconsciousness.

Afghanistan's intelligence agency has publicly acknowledged that it is holding two activists who exposed allegations of sexual abuse of children in eastern Afghanistan.

Human rights groups and others have been pointing fingers at the National Directorate for Security since the activists, Musa Mahmoudi and Ehsanullah Hamidi, disappeared on November 21.

The two had revealed that at least 546 boys from six schools in Logar province were abused by a pedophile ring that included teachers and local government officials.

Their organization, the Logar Youth, Social and Civil Institution, discovered more than 100 videos on Facebook that showed the abuse.

The government is under intense pressure from activists and influential politicians, like former president Hamid Karzai, to release the activists.

The "Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission is deeply concerned about the illegal detention of civil society activists, Mr. Musa Mahmudi and Ehsanullah Hamidi, who were investigating the cases of alleged child sexual abuse in Logar province," tweeted Afghanistan's human rights body.

In its statement Tuesday, the NDS claimed the two were moved to a safe location for protection against threats to their lives. The agency also claimed that the two had revealed during interrogations that they made up the child abuse allegations, in order to get asylum in a foreign country.

The agency also released a video of the two in which one of the activists, Mahmoudi, was seen confessing that his research was incomplete and apologizing to the people of Afghanistan and particularly of Logar province.

Without naming the two, President Ashraf Ghani said Monday that it was not acceptable for asylum seekers to undermine the dignity of Afghans.

Human rights groups are rejecting the government's account.

"Instead of punishing them for speaking out against the sexual abuse of children, the authorities should praise them and hold the perpetrators accountable" tweeted Amnesty International's South Asia office.

Before their detention, the activists had reached out to rights groups and some journalists, expressing concern for their safety.

"Hours before his detention, Mussa told the Guardian (newspaper) how he had been receiving threats and believed he was under surveillance by Afghan security services," reported The Guardian Monday.

According to The Guardian, which broke the story earlier this month, multiple victims have since been murdered, sometimes by their own relatives.

"Five families killed their sons after their faces were seen on videos posted to social media. Two other boys a 13 and 15-year-old were killed last week, although the perpetrators are unknown," the Guardian story said.

Vietnamese courts on Thursday sentenced six dissident bloggers and activists to long terms in prison amid a continuing crackdown on online expressions of dissent in the one-party communist state that has seen dozens of people jailed this year, sources said.

In southeastern Vietnam’s Dong Nai province, four men—Doan Viet Hoan, Vo Thuong Trung, Ngo Xuan Thanh, and Nguyen Dinh Khue—were handed prison terms of from 2.5 to three years each on charges of plotting to set explosives, for which no proof was shown in court, a defense attorney said.

“[Prosecutors] had no evidence to prove that the defendants were preparing explosions to go off on April 28, 2019," Nguyen Van Mieng—the lawyer for Nguyen Dinh Khue—told RFA’s Vietnamese Service after the trial.

“If they had wanted to cause explosions, they would have to have had wires, detonators, and material like that. But they had none of those things,” he said, adding, “The police only confiscated their cell phones and messages on the phones.”

Quoted by state media, a report prepared by prosecutors said the four men had gone online to read posts with “anti-state” content and had called for street protests on April 30, but Mieng said the men had wanted only to protest a price hike in electricity and gas and a law on special economic zones that many Vietnamese fear will favor Chinese investment in the country.

“They know nothing about how to make explosive devices,” Mieng said.

Unwarranted, unfair

In a separate case, a court in central Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa province sentenced Facebook user Pham Van Diep to a nine-year prison term for criticizing Vietnam’s government online for its handling of a 2016 toxic-waste spill that devastated the coastal areas of four Vietnamese provinces, leaving thousands jobless.

Speaking to RFA after the trial, attorney Ha Huy Son called Pham’s sentence unwarranted and unfair.

“He only expressed his opinion, and he did nothing to oppose the state,” he said. “He admitted what he did. He is critical of Marxism-Leninism and communism, but [the court] considers that a crime against the state of Vietnam.”

In another case, Facebook user Nguyen Chi Vung was handed a six-year prison term on Thursday by a court in southern Vietnam’s Bac Lieu province on charges of live-streaming anti-state content on his Facebook page and encouraging others to join in protests.

Call to delay trade talks

Meanwhile, prominent independent journalist Pham Chi Dung, who was detained at his home in Ho Chi Minh City on Nov. 21 for his criticism of the communist government, awaits investigation and trial on charges of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s penal code.

In a Nov. 22 statement, European Parliament envoy for trade talks with Vietnam Saskia Bricmont voiced shock at the news of the arrest of the former communist party member, noting that Pham had written earlier to the parliament’s president and to EU trade officials to alert them to Vietnam’s deteriorating human rights situation.

Saskia is now asking for a delay in the ratification of European trade and investment agreements with Vietnam “until a certain number of conditions are fulfilled,” she said.

“The essential condition is a reform of the criminal code and its implementation with United Nations standards,” Saskia said, adding, “To show its good faith, we also demand that Vietnam release [its] political prisoners without delay.”

Writing on Nov. 21, the day of Pham’s arrest, Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson called on the EU to “speak up for independent journalist Pham Chi Dung who simply called for Europe to demand real improvements in the human rights situation before ratifying the Europe-Vietnam [Free Trade Agreement].”

“By arresting Pham Chi Dung, Vietnam is showing its repressive intolerance of any dissenting voices and its determination to suppress efforts to foster an independent press in the country,” Robertson said.

“The EU, US and other like-minded countries should demand the immediate and unconditional release of Pham Chi Dung and the dropping of all charges against him.”

'Not Free'

Vietnam has been consistently rated “Not Free” in the areas of internet and press freedom by Freedom House, a U.S.-based watchdog group.

Dissent is not tolerated in the communist nation, and authorities routinely use a set of vague provisions in the penal code to detain dozens of writers and bloggers.

Estimates of the number of prisoners of conscience now held in Vietnam’s jails vary widely, with Human Rights Watch putting the number in October at 138. The rights group Defend the Defenders meanwhile puts the number as at least 240, with 36 convicted this year alone.

Authorities in Vietnam arrested a prominent independent journalist Thursday for his criticism of the communist government.

State media reported that Pham Chi Dung was detained by security officers at his home in Ho Chi Minh City and charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Criminal Code.

According to police, Pham wrote anti-state articles and cooperated with foreign media, to deliver “distorted information.”

The human rights group Defend the Defenders said he contributed to Voice of America and the BBC, under several different pen names.

Pham will be in detention for the next four months as the police investigate, and if convicted could face a sentence of seven to 12 years.

Pham had been arrested once before in 2012 on the same charge but released six months later without being tried. In 2014 he and several other writers founded the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN), an unregistered entity which “strives to fight for freedom of the press in the Southeast Asian nation,” according to local rights group Defend the Defenders.

Defend the Defenders reported that the journalists association’s website was shut down shortly after the arrest.

Prior to the arrest, he had been frequently harassed by authorities, forbidden to travel overseas in 2014 and under de-facto house arrest since 2013.

Huynh Ngoc Chenh, an IJAVN member, told RFA’s Vietnamese Service Thursday that the arrest showed Hanoi’s desire to exercise greater control over the freedom of speech.

“Pham is the president of IJAVN. He is one of the most active independent journalists. He’s written a lot and is very knowledgeable,” said Huynh.

“His reports are honest and reveal the truth, something the party does not appreciate,” said Huynh, adding, “They want to eliminate his voice.”

According to Defend the Defenders, Hanoi has arrested 29 activists, including 19 bloggers, for writing posts online, and is currently detaining 238 prisoners of conscience.

The country has been consistently rated “not free” in the areas of internet and press freedom by Freedom House, a U.S.-based watchdog group.

Dissent is not tolerated in the communist nation, and authorities routinely use a set of vague provisions in the penal code to detain dozens of writers and bloggers.

Vietnam’s authorities have barred Catholic priest Nguyen Dinh Thuc from leaving the country to Japan where he would participate in welcoming Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio) during the Vatican leader’s visit to Tokyo this week.

Speaking with Defend the Defenders, priest Thuc said security officers in Noi Bai International Airport blocked him from taking a flight from Hanoi to Tokyo at midnight on Wednesday [November 20]. Police officers said the blockage is based on the national security concerns under Decree 136 of the communist government.

Security officers in Noi Bai International Airport’s station also wrote in a working minute that the priest can appeal the police’s decision to the Immigration Department under the Ministry of Public Security.

Priest Thuc is from Song Ngoc parish in Vinh diocese. He has been assisting local Catholic followers in demanding the Taiwanese chemical giant Formosa to pay adequate compensation for the consequences caused by its toxic discharge into Vietnam’s central coastal region in 2016 which had devastating negative impacts on the local fishing industry and tourism.

He is among brave priests criticizing the Vietnamese communist regime’s human rights abuses.

He is among many Catholic priests being barred from going abroad for pastoral missions. Last year, Catholic priest Nguyen Ngoc Nam Phong was also not permitted to leave to Australia where he was invited to take a lengthy course on religion.

Along with imprisoning and harassing local activists, Vietnam’s communist regime has also been blocking hundreds of local activists from going abroad for meeting with their international partners and doing international advocacy in the human rights field.

Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung has been banned by the Hong Kong court from travelling to London to receive a human rights award from the British parliament, as he faces a charge of inciting anti-government protesters to besiege the police headquarters.

Madam Justice Esther Toh Lye-ping of the High Court on Tuesday refused Wong’s application to vary his bail conditions and lift a travel ban, citing heightened risk of absconding.

Toh said Wong did not need to be present in British parliamentary hearings and meetings in which he was invited, and could instead remain in Hong Kong to help the city return to peace.

Wong, secretary general of localist party Demosisto, was named the recipient of the Westminster Award for Human Life, Human Rights, and Human Dignity by both houses of parliament in Britain, for his “commitments to universal suffrage, human rights and free speech”.

He was the second Chinese person to receive the prize after blind mainland activist Chen Guangcheng was awarded in 2013. District council polls ban was ‘arbitrary’ decision, Joshua Wong says

Wong initially planned to leave Hong Kong next week for 20 days, during which he would attend parliamental hearings and deliver speeches in six European countries, and receive the prize in the Palace of Westminster on December 12.

But Hong Kong’s Eastern Court imposed a travel ban on Wong on August 30 after he was charged with organising, taking part in, and inciting others to take part in an unlawful assembly outside the Wan Chai police headquarters on June 21.

The lower court also refused to lift the ban earlier this month, saying Wong’s proposed trip was “not very important”.

Wong said he was disappointed with the ruling which amounted to “an extra punishment” before he was convicted by the court.

A statement by Demosisto said the court was now under immense pressure following Beijing’s criticism over its ruling on Monday that the anti-mask law was unconstitutional.

“Even in times of social turmoil, it’s really inappropriate and unnecessary for the court to step in and comment on how politicians should behave,” Wong said on Facebook.

He was charged alongside party member Agnes Chow Ting and chairman Ivan Lam Long-yin. The trio will appear in court again on December 19.

According to sources on 18 November, 2019, the Jawaharlal Nehru Students’ Union (JNUSU) organized a peaceful march towards Parliament on the first day of the Winter Session to protest against the hostel fee hikein Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Thousands of studentsfrom JNU, carrying placards and chanting slogans, participated in the march towards Parliament, demanding a total rollback of the hostel fee hike and withdrawal of the draft hostel manual which imposes dress codes and curfew timings. In response authorities imposed prohibitory orders both outside the parliament building and around the JNU campus, and set up barricades near Safdarjung Tomb in South Delhi to stop them from advancing any further. The protesters, who carried banners that read "save public education", "fees must fall" and "ensure affordable hostels for all", were stopped at multiple points on their march. The JNU administration had on 13 November, 2019 announced a partial roll back in the fee hike. However, the protesting students dubbed the move as eyewash and demanded that the JNUSU be treated as a stakeholder by the administration and the Ministryof Human Resource and Development. They also reiterated their demand for the resignation of the Vice-Chancellor on the university.The police authorities deployed ten companies outside JNU. The protesters were initially allowed to proceed but were stopped barely half a kilometer from the JNU campus by the police. Around 3.30 pm the students managed to reach Safdarjung Tomb near Lodhi Roadwhere they were stopped by the police again. The first round of lathicharge took place here. Over 100 students were detained by the Delhi Police and students suffered injuries after the police baton charged the protests. Students of Jawaharlal Nehru University allegedthat over 10 students, including the visually and physically challenged, were injured due to the "brutality" of police personnel. JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh, general secretary Satish Yadav and former JNUSU president N Sai Balaji were among several detained and allegedly taken to Delhi Cantt, Kalkaji and Badarpur police stations — where they claimed they were beaten up. Since students were not allowed to move theythen sat on the main roadat Safdarjung Tomb near Lodhi Road, singing songs, while negotiations between JNUSU and police continued. After around 6.30 pm streetlights were soon switched off and a second round of lathicharge took place, after which over 50 personnel escorted students to INA Metro station. Several students have reportedly been severely injured following the lathicharge by police. Following theprotest, videos surfaced showing personnel of the Delhi police beating up students, including girls, in a brutal manner. A particular video doing the rounds on social media shows a male student being forcibly led into a police vehicle while profusely bleeding from the head. Media reported that the Delhi police is going to lodge a First Information Report (FIR) against protesting students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) for flouting Section 144 (which prevents unlawful assembly) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which was imposed in the area surrounding the university campus and the Parliament, to prevent students from joining the agitation on 18 November, 2019. It is pointed out that the state through police is in full action to suppress the voice of students protesting for a genuine cause which is subsidized education. The police through its modus operandi aretrying to repress a democratic movement. Manhandling of students by Delhi police including women and visually challenged (which is doing rounds of social media) amounts to being barbaric, committal of atrocity and show of excessive use of force. It is further said that the police has created a situation wherein the students protesting peacefully are being shownas rioting, gathering unlawfully and obstructing public servants from discharging their public function. This is nothing but just framing the students are exercising their constitutional right to assembly peacefully and right to protest for a cause.

Six representatives of villagers involved in a long-running land dispute with a sugar company in Koh Kong have been summoned for questioning again by the provincial court over disputed allegations brought by tycoon Heng Huy.

The six were initially summoned along with four others earlier this year over a complaint filed by Huy, who accused them of public defamation and incitement to commit a felony. Four of the 10 have been questioned while the six others asked for a delay at the time.

They face up to two years in prison if convicted.

Koh Kong Provincial Court prosecutor Ros Saram summoned three people to appear for questioning on December 17, and the other three on the following day, in court documents dated November 18 and received by the six representatives on Wednesday, said Chhan Chhoeun, one of the six.

Chhoeun told VOD on Friday that he was ready to testify in court as scheduled. He was not worried because he had done nothing wrong, he said.

“I will tell the court what the reality is. Mr. Heng Huy’s company really encroached on people’s land. How did I defame him?” Chhoeun said. “I only spoke about our land being encroached on.”

Chhoeun said 197 families from Sre Ambel district lost their land because Heng Huy Agriculture Group had encroached on their plots since 2007.

Huy could not be reached for comment.

Another land disputant representative, Ith Toeng, said it was unjust for the court to call villagers for questioning based on Huy’s complaint. He had encroached on people’s land, she said.

“The court seems to be biased in favor of an oknha, while hundreds of people, it has never investigated. [The court] never came to ask for the location of the people’s land but instead believed in the tycoon alone,” Toeng said.

She called on the government to resolve the land dispute and asked the court to consider canceling the summonses.

“I asked the court to clearly inspect before issuing summonses for us to see whether we really have a land dispute with Mr. Heng Huy or not, and please drop accusations against the 10 villagers,” she said.

Pen Vuthea, a monitor with human rights group Licadho in Koh Kong, said the summonses were a threat to keep people from protesting over their lost land.

In order to show concern for people, the government must resolve the dispute soon, and the court should drop the charges against the 10 representatives, otherwise people will continue to protest, Vuthea said.

“For the authorities, if there are still people protesting and going up to Phnom Penh to find a solution, it looks like the government is not finding a solution for people who are the landowners and have lost their land,” he said.

More than 300 people from Koh Kong protested in Phnom Penh this week, calling on the ministries of interior and land management to resolve their land disputes with companies that were granted concessions by the government, including Heng Huy.

In July, the Land Management Ministry rejected the claims of about 100 Koh Kong land protesters who demonstrated outside the ministry in Phnom Penh, and requested that legal action be taken against them.

On November 15, Vietnam’s security forces detained female activist Dinh Thao upon her landing in Noi Bai International Airport after spending the last four years abroad for international advocacy, Defend the Defenders has learned.

Mrs. Thao who has a 16-month baby returned in her home country from Bangkok where she worked for VOICE (Vietnamese Overseas Initiative for Conscience), a U.S.-based rights group working for promoting human rights and multi-party democracy in Vietnam. She was taken by a group of around ten security officers to a police station for interrogation from the morning of Friday until 5 PM on the same day.

Police confiscated her passport, telling her that they may summon her for further interrogation in the future.

According to VOICE’s press release issued when she was held in police custody, in the past four years, Mrs. Thao has been working to promote human rights in Vietnam by engaging in a number of United Nations (UN)’s human rights mechanisms, advocating the EU and other foreign governments via bilateral agreements with Vietnam.

She has worked closely with international and regional NGOs to enhance knowledge of the international community about Vietnam’s human rights situation, the press release said.

Thao graduated from the prestigious Hanoi Medical University in 2015. She was one of the prominent civil activists in Hanoi before going abroad for human rights advocacy. She was a coordinator of the unregistered environmental group Cây Xanh (Green Trees) during its campaign in 2015 which aims to protest Hanoi’s authorities plan to chop down thousands of aged trees in the capital city’s main streets. She was also among key organizers of a campaign supporting independent candidates for the country’s highest legislative body National Assembly in the general election in 2016.

Thao’s detention was condemned by a number of international rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

On November 15, the People’s Court of Nha Trang city, Khanh Hoa province convicted human rights attorney Tran Vu Hai and his wife Ngo Tuyet Phuong and two local citizens of tax evasion under Article 161 of the 1999 Penal Code, Defend the Defenders has learned.

The couple was sentenced to one year of non-custodial reform and was ordered to pay an administrative fine of VND20 million ($850) each for the crime they have not committed, according to the lawyers providing legal assistance for the experienced couple attorneys.

According to the indictment against them, they were accused of committing a tax evasion worth VND276 million in a property deal in 2014. Mr. Hai and his wife reportedly bought a land parcel from Khanh Hoa province-based citizens Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh and Ngo Van Lam. The deal value was about VND16 billion but they reported to the local authorities just VND1.8 billion, by that way the sellers paid less tax for the deal. The province’s tax authorities had approved the deal.

As many as more than 60 lawyers had been registered to the court to voluntarily defense for the couple. However, many of them were denied and only around 40 were allowed to attend the trial which was treated as a political one since the local authorities deployed a large number of police officers to block all the roads leading to the court areas and the lawyers were under strict security check-up before entering the courtroom. They were requested to leave all electrical devices, including laptops and cell phones outside. A few reporters of the state-run newspapers were allowed to enter the courtroom to cover the trial.

The defense lawyers said as buyers, Mr. Hai and his wife are not subjects for tax payment for the deal, and they are innocent since the province’s tax authorities approved the deal. Ms. Hanh is a citizen of Belgium so the case should be handled by an upper court and the Nha Trang city’s People’s Court is not eligible for the case. In addition, the property Ms. Hanh sold to Mr. Hai was the only house she owned so she is not required to pay tax for the deal, according to current Vietnam’s law.

The trial lasted three days, longer than other cases with similar characters. On the first day, one of the defense attorneys, Nguyen Duy Binh was rudely expelled out of the courtroom and was taken out by two policemen after questioning Ms. Hanh about her legal representation. Binh was interrogated for hours in a local police station.

Authorities in Khanh Hoa probed the case in early July and placed the four under restricted travel, including travel abroad. In addition, Khanh Hoa police also conducted searching Mr. Hai’s law office and a private residence in Hanoi, in which they allegedly took away a large sum of money and documents from other cases.

It is clear that the allegation and convictions against Mr. Hai and his wife are political as recently the Ministry of Public Security denied Mr. Hai’s request for representing former prisoner of conscience Truong Duy Nhat who is accused of “power abuse” after being kidnapped in Bangkok and taken to Vietnam in late January.

Lawyer Hai is well-known for his participation in sensitive cases to represent victims of injustice, victims of forced land appropriation and political dissidents.

Unidentified assailants attacked Lasantha Wijeratna, a freelance journalist and anti- corruption activist, on November 14. The International Federation of Journalist (IFJ) and its affiliate Free Media Movement (FMM) raise concerns about the attack which took place in the lead-up to the country’s presidential election.

Wijeratna was attacked by three men with firearms in his home at around 2.30am on November 14. Wijeratna sustained injuries from the attack including severe lacerations to his hand and was admitted to the intensive care unit in Karapitiya Hospital.

News 1stspokesperson SSP Ruwan Gunasekara alleges it was a retaliatory attack to Wijeratna for his work on alleged acts of corruption believed to have been committed by Gotabaya Rajapaksa during his tenure as the former Secretary of Defense. Gotabaya Rajapaksa was declared the new president of Sri Lanka after the weekend’s election.

The Free Media Movement said it strongly urge “all parties concerned to expedite investigations into this incident, which has challenged the democratic space in this country.”

Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) has expressed deep concern over Rajuk’s mobile court drive yesterday that fined and ordered the rights organisation to leave its Lalmatia office in two months.

The mobile court led by Rajuk Executive Magistrate Jasmin Akhter conducted the drive at the building that houses the ASK office around noon. At one point, she went to the office and asked why the rights body was running its office in a residential area, said ASK in a statement.

ASK authorities presented all the documents of renting the office and stated that they maintained all the agreements as tenant, and that it is not a commercial organisation.

Besides, there are many business entities, schools and other social welfare-related organisations in the area, they pointed out.

Despite that, the magistrate fined ASK Tk 2 lakh and ordered them to leave the building in two months. The magistrate did not give ASK a copy of the order, despite a written request, the statement added.

“Such drive against a rights body is a matter of serious concern and worries ASK,” said Sheepa Hafiza, its executive director. She said ASK was established in 1986 and has been working tirelessly to uphold the rights of people.

“We apprehend that such drives of Rajuk will shrink the activities of rights bodies such as us,” she said.

Rights activist Idris Khattak was allegedly kidnapped by unidentified men while on his way from Akora Khattak village to Swabi, his driver Shahsawar told police, DawnNewsTV reported on Monday.

In a complaint filed in Anbar police station, Shahsawar said that he was driving Khattak to Swabi when about four unidentified men stopped the activist's car at Swabi Motorway Interchange and kidnapped him. The incident took place on November 13, according to the complaint. Though complaints have been lodged by Khattak's driver and family, police are yet to register a first information report (FIR).

Officials did confirm that Khattak was missing but said an FIR will be lodged after an initial investigation.

Politician Jibran Nasir claimed that the activist was "abducted by intel agencies six days ago on Islamabad Peshawar highway near Swabi Interchange". Nasir said that the driver was abducted along with Khattak but was released after three days. However, the application filed by Shahsawar did not mention any such occurrence.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) demanded Khattak's "immediate recovery", saying that he had "remained associated with progressive politics since his student days".

"HRCP condemns arbitrary detentions and urges the Pakistani state to fulfill its constitutional obligations towards its citizens," the organisation said in a tweet.

On November 13, Telangana police submitted documents to the Lal Bahadur Nagar Metropolitan Magistrate, which CPJ reviewed, accusing Venugopal, editor of Telugu monthly Veekshanam, of being part of a Maoist conspiracy against the state.

Venugopal, who spoke to CPJ via phone, said he has not been arrested or formally charged. If the magistrate accepts the police allegations, it could issue a warrant for his arrest any day, he said.

Venugopal could face a fine and two to seven years in prison under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Telangana Public Security Act if charged and convicted of being part of a conspiracy.

Venugopal told CPJ he had been a member of a group that authorities allege is affiliated with a Maoist party, the Revolutionary Writers Association, but left it in 2009. The association was previously banned but is now legally permitted, according to Indian news website The Wire.

“Accusing a journalist of conspiracy is a threat to press freedom and shows the government is intolerant of criticism,” said Aliya Iftikhar, CPJ’s senior Asia researcher, in New York. “Police should immediately drop their allegations against Nellutla Venugopal and stop threatening journalists with legal action.”

Venugopal filed a case in the Telangana High Court, which has jurisdiction over the metropolitan magistrate, to have the allegations against him dismissed, he said.

Venugopal frequently writes critical pieces about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Telangana Chief Minister Kalvakuntla Chandrashekhar Rao, according to The Wire.

In a statement, which CPJ reviewed, Veekshanam’s editorial team said Venugopal had repeatedly disassociated himself from the Revolutionary Writers Association and said that “though he holds progressive, democratic and left views, that does not mean that he has to be a member of any organisation.”

Venugopal is also accredited by the state government as a journalist and writes a regular column in the newspaper Nava Telangana, he told CPJ.

CPJ found that though Venugopal’s name was listed on the court documents, there was no mention of any evidence against him.

CPJ texted the Telangana director general of police for comment but did not receive a response.

In October, Telangana police arrested journalist Ravi Prakash after he refused to withdraw two interviews on alleged corruption in the state, as CPJ reported at the time.

Police in the Lao capital Vientiane detained eight people this week who were planning protests calling for free speech and condemning land grabs and dam projects, later releasing six of them, RFA’s Lao Service learned on Friday.

The arrests took place on Nov. 11 and 12, thwarting demonstrations the activists had planned for four locations in the capital during the That Luang festival, a Buddhist celebration of a 450-year-old, gold-covered temple.

“On November 11, policemen arrested some of protest leaders … and on November 12, the policemen locked some more protesters in Oudomphone guesthouse in Phonesinuan village, in Vientiane’s Sisatthanak district,” a leader of the planned protest, who avoided arrest, told RFA on Friday.

“First, people were going to rally for respect of human rights, and freedom of speech,” the organizer told RFA, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect his liberty.

“Second, they wanted to ask the government to prevent land grabs, dam building, deforestation, and unfair relocation of communities,” the activist added.

A Lao official with knowledge of the matter confirmed to RFA on Friday that “people were arrested on those days for planning to stage protests at four places (in Vientiane.”

The protests were planned for the That Luang pagoda grounds, the National University of Laos and two points along highway 13, the official said.

The guesthouse detention was witnessed by villagers.

“I don’t know whether or not those people had come to join the rally, but I saw around six people locked up by the policemen on November 12,” one villager told RFA on Friday.

“I heard some saying they are from the Phonethong district in the southern province of Champassak, but some were not from the south,” he added.

Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said "these wrongful arrests are just the latest example of the government’s phony pledges to donor agencies and foreign governments that it will respect fundamental liberties.”

The protest leader identified the eight detained activists as Sounthone Fasongsay, Kamkone Phanthavong, Bounnhone Phanthavong, Chiengsone Phanthavong, Kiatthisak Hakmisouk, Phouvong Xaiyaseng, Santinoy Thepkaisone and the wife of Thepkaisone, whose name was unavailable.

On Friday, the Sisatthanak district police station issued an order to release the six would-be protesters who were held at the guest house.

“On November 12, policeman detained an individual for gathering and making a noise longer than limited time during the celebration of the That Luang festival,” read a copy of the order received by one of the six.

“After investigation, police officers reached a compromise to release him on conditions defined in the law. He has been released and handed over to his relatives and local authorities for reeducation,” it read.

One of the six who were released confirmed with RFA that he and five others were “released today after being held for a few days.”

RFA was unable to confirm the fate or whereabouts of two detainees who were not released with the others on Friday.

Reports of protests are rare in Laos, a one-party communist state since 1975 that brooks no public opposition and deals with dissent harshly.

"Lao authorities have frequently labeled as national security threats anyone peacefully expressing dissenting views, criticizing the government, or simply calling for respect for human rights and democratic rule." said Human Rights Watch.

There are no publicly available government figures on political prisoners in Laos, whose opaque judicial system makes it hard to give a reliable estimate on how many are being held. Three were arrested in 2017 and charged with treason after protesting in front of the Lao embassy in neighboring Thailand.

The fate of about 10 other detainees, including students protesters arrested in 1999 and self-styled freedom fighters who launched a raid via a Thai border checkpoint in 2000 remains unclear.

On November 11, the People’s Court of Vietnam’s central province of Nghe An found local pro-democracy college lecturer Nguyen Nang Tinh guilty of “Making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the State of Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under Clause 1, Article 117 of the country’s 2015 Criminal Code.

After a few hours in Friday morning, the court sentenced him to 11 years in jail and five years of probation, the toughest imprisonment given for anti-state propaganda allegation for decades.

Three lawyers Dang Dinh Manh, Trinh Vinh Phuc, and Nguyen Van Mieng went to the courtroom without documentation for Mr. Tinh’s case since they had not been permitted to get access to the documents, including the indictment as Nghe An province’s authorities said the case’s documents are among top national secret. The attorneys were reportedly requested to leave their laptops and cell phones outside of the courtroom.

In his last words in the trial, before the judge announced the court’s decision, Mr. Tinh said he would repeat his actions to protect the country and promote human rights and democracy even he will be punished severely.

Mr. Tinh was arrested by Nghe An province’s security forces on May 29 who later charged him with “conducting anti-state propaganda.” Authorities in Nghe An said Mr. Tinh has used his Facebook account Nguyễn Năng Tĩnh to post and share articles and videos as well as images with content defaming state leaders and distort the ruling communist party’s policies.

According to his family, his indictment was based on the information on the Facebook account Nguyễn Năng Tĩnh, however, he reportedly denied to have this account.

Local activists said Mr. Tinh, who is a lecturer of Nghe An College of Cultural and Art, is very active in promoting human rights and multi-party democracy, and speak out about the country’s issues such as systemic corruption, human rights abuse, widespread environmental pollution, and China’s violations to Vietnam’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea) and the weak response of the communist government in Hanoi.

There are some videoclips on Youtube in which Mr. Tinh tough students to sing a number of patriotic songs composed by dissidents in which the government is criticized for suppressing anti-China activists.

Vietnam continues its political crackdown on local dissent, arresting more than two dozens human rights defenders, bloggers, and social activists so far this year with different allegations, from “disturbing public orders” to subversion and even terrorism. Hanoi has also convicted 31 activists on trumped-up allegations with a total 153.5 years in prison and 35 years of probation.

The communist regime is holding at least 237 prisoners of conscience as of November 15, according to Defend the Defenders’ statistics. It is a worrying trend that the communist regime has been ging much longer sentences in recent years for the same allegations in the national security provisions of the Criminal Code compared to a decade ago, noted Vu Quoc Ngu, director of Vietnam’s non-profit organization.

A court in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City on Monday convicted three men, one of them an Australian citizen, on charges of engaging in terrorist activities, sentencing them to prison terms of from 10 to 12 years, Vietnamese sources said.

Chau Van Kham, Nguyen Van Vien, and Tran Van Quyen were arrested in January and initially charged with “activities attempting to overthrow the state,” charges that were later changed to involvement in “terrorism that aims to oppose the people’s administration.”

Kham, a resident of Sydney, Australia, and member of the banned U.S.-based Viet Tan opposition party, received the heaviest sentence, attorney Trinh Vinh Phuc—who represented Kham in court—told RFA’s Vietnamese Service following the trial.

“The verdict was very harsh, and the sentence was too heavy,” Phuc said, adding that the defendants’ case could have been tried under terms that would have provided for sentences of less than 10 years on conviction.

“But [the court] still proceeded without paying attention to details that would have allowed for this,” he said.

“The verdict was handed down on the grounds that Viet Tan is a terrorist organization,” though no evidence ever was offered that the defendants’ activities and motivations had shown a terrorist intent, Phuc said.

Criminalizing rights advocacy

In a statement Monday, Viet Tan chairman Hoang Diem slammed the convictions and sentences imposed on the defendants, saying Kham had “traveled to Vietnam [only] to gain first-hand insight into the human rights situation in the country.”

”Nguyen Van Vien and Tran Van Quyen are peaceful activists,” Diem added.

“We challenge the Vietnamese government to provide any evidence linking them to ‘terrorism.’ The Vietnamese authorities are criminalizing human rights advocacy,” Diem said.

Born in 1971 in central Vietnam’s Quang Nam province, Vien had been active in environmental protection work following a massive spill in 2016 of toxic waste by the Taiwan-owned Formosa firm, the Brotherhood for Democracy said in a Jan. 25 statement.

The environmental disaster destroyed livelihoods across Vietnam’s central coast and led to widespread protests and arrests in affected provinces.

Tran Van Quyen, a social activist who also took part in the Formosa protests, was taken into custody ten days later in southeastern Vietnam’s Binh Duong province.

Politically motivated charges

In a statement on Monday, Phil Robertson—deputy Asia director for the international rights group Human Rights Watch—said that by sentencing the 70-year-old Kham to 12 years in prison, Vietnam has essentially condemned him to death.

“Given the harsh and unforgiving conditions in Vietnam’s prisons, he will face huge challenges to survive his entire sentence,” Robertson said, adding that Vietnam has now jailed Kham on “bogus, politically motivated charges that demonstrate just how fearful Vietnam is about people exercising their rights and demanding genuine democracy.”

“He should be released immediately and unconditionally, and allowed to return to his family in Australia,” Robertson said.

According to Human Rights Watch, Vietnam’s one-party communist government currently holds an estimated 138 political prisoners, including rights advocates and bloggers deemed threats to national security.

It also controls all media, censors the internet, and restricts basic freedoms of expression.

Two VOD journalists were detained for three hours at the Poipet military police headquarters on Saturday after reporting on border security in the area.

CNRP acting president Sam Rainsy had vowed to attempt a return to Cambodia via Thailand that day, leading to the deployment of armed forces to the Thai border as well as dozens of arrests of CNRP supporters in the lead up.

Rainsy only got as far as Kuala Lumpur on November 9.

VOD reporter Vann Vichar said he and cameraman Chorn Chanren were detained by military police from about 3 to 6 p.m.

Officers went through all his equipment, including communications on his phone between him and his wife, Vichar said.

“After detaining me for about half an hour, they separated me from Chanren. They brought me to a room to question me and check my laptop and smartphone, going through all messages, group conversations and files,” he said.

“They listened to voice chats. After questioning, they wrote reports to send to their superiors. I don’t know how high it went,” Vichar added.

Poipet city governor Keat Hul and Banteay Meanchey provincial governor Um Reatrey declined to comment on the detentions. Poipet city military police commander Nuon Ninaro hung up on a reporter when contacted by VOD.

Information Ministry spokesmen Phos Sovann, Meas Sophorn and Ouk Kimseng could not be reached.

Ninaro, the military police commander, told Khmer Times that his officers had suspected the two journalists of being “involved” with Rainsy’s supporters.

“We just called them for questioning and then allowed them to go back,” Ninaro said.

In a statement on Sunday, the Cambodian Journalists Alliance, whose co-founders include VOD editors, said the journalists had at the time been interviewing fish sellers frustrated at being unable to cross the border.

The association’s executive director, May Titthara, added that the detentions amounted to a threat.

“The government and authorities must guarantee the rights of journalists by allowing them to report the news without fear,” Titthara said.

Cambodian Center for Human Rights coordinator Vann Sophath, who was also at the Poipet border at the time to monitor the situation, said journalists have the right to cover events happening in public places.

“Freedom of the press in Cambodia is not yet being broadly respected to an international standard,” Sophath said.

In recent years, Cambodia has steadily declined in Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, falling from 137th worldwide in 2017 to 142nd last year and 143rd this year.

It began when Rana Ayyub, who is nowadays a Washington Post columnist, posted a cryptic message on Twitter on 8 November about the ruling that India’s supreme court was due to issue the next day on a fraught 30-year-old dispute between Hindus and Muslims over a religious site in the northern city of Ayodhya. It ended with the words, “I hope my country does not disappoint me tomorrow.”

It immediately unleashed a torrent of Twitter insults and calls for Ayyub to be raped or murdered that were orchestrated by trolls linked to the Hindu nationalist movement. Even more amazingly, it elicited a threat of legal action that came from the Twitter account of the police in Amethi, a town 100 km south of Ayodhya.

Posted less than half an hour after Ayyub’s original tweet, it said: “You have just made a political comment. Delete it immediately otherwise legal action will be taken against you by @amethipolice.” Amethi has no jurisdiction over either Ayodhya or Mumbai, the city where Ayyub lives.

Ayyub, who is currently on a visit to the United States, told RSF that, because of this threat, she feared that could be arrested on her return to the India. The message has not been disowned by India’s home affairs ministry.

“Police wanting to prosecute a journalist for making a so-called ‘political comment’ is something one might expect from the worst dictatorships,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “Either someone hacked into the Amethi police Twitter account, which would indicate serious incompetence, or the police are complicit in a campaign of calls for Rana Ayyub’s murder. We urge the home affairs ministry to conduct an internal investigation to identify these responsible for this unacceptable scandal.”

Wave of hate

The author “Gujarat Files,” a book examining the rise to power of Narendra Modi, who was reelected as prime minister by a clear majority in May, Ayyub is one of the favourite targets of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s notorious army of trolls.

In April 2018, RSF condemned an earlier and unprecedented wave of online hate messages against Ayyub, in which her phone number and address were posted online. RSF referred the case to the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, who then wrote to the Indian authorities requesting protection for Ayyub.

This kind of campaign is orchestrated by followers of Hindutva, an ideological blend of fascism and Hindu nationalism that inspired Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.

India is ranked 140th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2019 World Press Freedom Index.

On November 7, the Higher People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City rejected the appeal of human rights defender and environmentalist Nguyen Ngoc Anh, sending him back to prison in the hearing failed to meet the international standards for a fair trial.

Mr. Anh, 39, will have to serve his 6-year imprisonment on the allegation of “Making, storing, disseminating, or propagandizing information, materials, and products that aim to oppose the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under Article 117 of the country’s Criminal Code for his online posting on his Facebook account. In addition, his imprisonment is followed by five years of probation.

In the hearing which lasted a few hours on the morning of Thursday, his wife, relatives, and friends were not permitted to enter the courtroom to observe it but watched its development via a TV screen in another room, typical for political cases.

Observers said the judge undermined the defense statement of Mr. Anh’s lawyer and from himself. The judge even questioned him why he attended anti-Formosa demonstrations in May 2016 since the Formosa’s spill did not directly affect Ben Tre province where Anh has a shrimp farm. In response, Anh said he wants to speak out to protect the environment everywhere on the earth. He claims that he is innocent.

Mr. Anh was arrested on August 30, 2018 by the authorities in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre due to his postings and live streams on Facebook which are about prototypical issues of concern to social activists in Vietnam, including the environmental destruction wrought by the Formosa’s toxic waste spill in April 2016, the lack of free choice in elections in 2016, and the welfare of political prisoners. However, Vietnam’s communist regime sees them as harmful and defamation of the regime.

Since being arrested, he has been a subject of inhumane treatment by Ben Tre province’s authorities. He was brutally beaten by an inmate in September who mostly acted under the instruction of the local police as they want him not to appeal the sentence given by the province’s court on June 6.

Authorities in Ben Tre have also persecuted his wife who has to take care of their six-year-old child. They have been placing her under close surveillance and several times summoned her to a police station for questioning.

Two days prior to his appeal, Human Rights Watch issued a press release calling on Vietnam’s communist regime to drop the charge against him and free him immediately and unconditionally. By convicting him, Vietnam clearly violates his right to freedom of speech, said the New York-based rights group.

Mr. Anh is among 237 prisoners of conscience being held by the regime in severe living conditions.

Independent think tank Ibon Foundation expressed alarm over a notice of “ocular inspection” from the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) in the wake of successive raids of offices of progressive organizations.

In a statement, Ibon Foundation said it received a call from a certain Col. Joaquin Alba of NCRPO at around 4 p.m. informing them that a warrant of arrest will be served on someone supposedly within the office building.

Ibon Foundation told Alba that the person indicated in the warrant does not hold office there but the latter insisted that they will still go to conduct “an ocular inspection.” The research group received information that a police team from Criminal Investigation and Detection Group was preparing to go to Ibon to ‘pick up’ someone (“may kukunin na tao”).

“This is alarming and we believe that it is part of the Duterte government’s worsening crackdown on activists upholding human rights and hence critical of its retrogressive policies and authoritarian governance,” the group said in a statement.

Ibon noted that the incident comes on the heels of a week of consecutive military and police operations against various activists and activist groups in Manila and Negros. “This included using spurious search warrants to raid homes and offices, planting guns and grenades, and arresting activists on bogus charges,” the group said.

Some 60 activists have been illegally arrested and detained in the past week.

Ibon is among many activist organizations and cause-oriented groups that have been red-tagged by the Duterte administration.

“The Duterte administration is attacking IBON because our research, education and advocacy work exposes Philippine economic realities that the government wants to conceal,” the group said.

The group also blamed the so-called task force to end local communist armed conflict for the ongoing crackdown against NGOs and progressive organizations.

As of press time, police forces have not showed up at the premises of Ibon Foundation building at Timog Avenue in Quezon City.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) also alerted members of the Philippine media as Altermidya network holds office at the second floor of the building.

In a statement, Altermidya warned the Philippine National Police to stay away from its office. “Make no mistake about it, any breach into our office premises will be construed as a grave violation of press freedom and will be met with widespread condemnation and legal action,” Altermidya said.

In two separate appeal hearings on November 6-7, the Higher People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City upheld the jail sentences for Vietnamese American Michael Minh Phuong Nguyen and two local political activists named Nguyen Ngoc Anh and Huynh Duc Thinh, sending them back to prison, Defend the Defenders has learned.

On the appeal hearing on November 6, the court rejected the appeals of Mr. Michael Minh Phuong Nguyen who was sentenced to 12 years in jail on the allegation of subversion and Mr. Huynh Duc Thinh, who was given one year in prison on the allegation of misprision by the People’s Court of HCM City on June 24 this year. Meanwhile, on November 7, the same court denied the appeal of Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Anh who was sentenced to six years in prison and five years of probation by the People’s Court of Ben Tre province in the first-instance hearing on June 6.

In both appeal hearings, the judges reportedly said the final decisions were based on lack of new evidence proving the defendants’ defense. Both hearings lasted just a few hours in the mornings of Tuesday and Wednesday, observers said.

Mr. Michael Minh Phuong Nguyen visited his home country in late June and went to the central regions together with young activists Huynh Duc Thanh Binh and Tran Long Phi who participated in the mass demonstrations in HCM City on June 6, 2018 in which tens of thousands of residents rallied on streets to protest two bills on Special Economic Zones and Cyber Security. The trio was arrested and charged with subversion upon their return to HCM City on July 7 while Mr. Huynh Duc Thinh, a former political prisoner, and father of Mr. Huynh Duc Thanh Binh, was detained one day later.

Huynh Duc Thanh Binh and Tran Long Phi, who were given ten and eight years in jail by the trial on June 24, respectively, did not appeal for their sentences.

Observers said in the appeal hearing on November 6, relatives of Mr. Michael Minh Phuong Nguyen and Mr. Huynh Duc Thinh were not permitted to enter the courtroom. There were a number of the diplomats from the US’s Embassy in Hanoi and General Consulate in HCM City attended the hearing.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Anh, 39, is a shrimp grower in Binh Dai district, Ben Tre province. He was arrested on August 30 last year. He was accused of posting numerous articles and live streams on his Facebook account Nguyễn Ngọc Ánh in which he speaks out about human rights violations, systemic environmental pollution, bad economic management of Vietnam’s communist government, China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea) and Vietnam’s weak response.

In late September, he was beaten by a criminal inmate who was likely acting on behalf of the authorities of Ben Tre province. Due to the assault, Mr. Anh suffered serious injuries in his right leg, left arm and head, and he feels difficulty in moving. Later, he was placed in an isolated cell where he has no support from other prisoners but serves himself.

Two days prior to his appeal, Human Rights Watch issued a press release calling on Vietnam’s communist regime to immediately and unconditionally release him because he has conducted no crime but exercised his right of freedom of expression on Facebook.

Facing increasing social dissatisfaction, Vietnam’s communist regime has intensified its crackdown on human rights defenders, political dissidents, social activists, and Facebookers in order to keep their political monopoly. So far this year, the regime has arrested at least 28 activists and sentenced 27 to a total 115.5 years in prison and 20 years of probation.

The regime has a plan to try seven others in the coming days and its victims are human rights lawyer Tran Vu Hai and his wife on allegation of tax evasion, pro-democracy activist Nguyen Nang Tinh on accusation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” and four individuals named Vo Thuong Trung, Doan Viet Hoan, Nguyen Dinh Khue and Ngo Xuan Thanh who were charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda” for their plan to participate in peaceful demonstration in late April this year when the country marked the fall of the US-backed Saigon regime.

On November 5, authorities in the northern province of Hoa Binh arrested local resident named Nguyen Van Nghiem on allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” for his online postings and live streams on Facebook which were considered harmful for the regime.

Vietnam is holding at least 237 prisoners of conscience in critical conditions, according to Defend the Defenders’ statistics. Hanoi always denies holding prisoners of conscience, saying it imprisons only law violators.

Authorities in Vietnam’s central province of Nghe An have decided to re-schedule the first-instance hearing on November 15 to try local pro-democracy activist Nguyen Nang Tinh on allegation of “Making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the State of Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under Clause 1, Article 117 of the country’s 2015 Criminal Code.

The trial will be carried out by the People’s Court of Nghe An province in its headquarters in Vinh city, according to the court’s notice sent to Mr. Tinh’s lawyer Dang Dinh Manh.

The trial, set on October 17 for the first time, was postponed due to the absence of some witnesses, said the court’s announcement on the scheduled day.

It is unclear whether lawyer Manh and other his colleagues have been permitted to have access to the case’s documentation to prepare for his defense. In mid-October, a few days before the scheduled trial, Mr. Tinh’s lawyers asked the court to postpone the trial as they complained that they had a very short time for his defense preparation. One week before the scheduled trial, his lawyers were allowed to meet with him in police custody and got access to his case’s documents, however, they had not permitted to make copies of the indictment and other documents, making their preparation impossible for the serious charge against him.

Mr. Tinh was arrested by Nghe An province’s security forces on May 29 who later charged him with “conducting anti-state propaganda.” Authorities in Nghe An said Mr. Tinh has used his Facebook account Nguyễn Năng Tĩnh to post and share articles and videos as well as images with content defaming state leaders and distort the ruling communist party’s policies.

According to his family, his indictment was based on the information on the Facebook account Nguyễn Năng Tĩnh, however, he reportedly denied to have this account.

Local activists said Mr. Tinh, who is a college lecturer, is very active in promoting human rights and multi-party democracy, and speak out about the country’s issues such as systemic corruption, human rights abuse, widespread environmental pollution and China’s violations to Vietnam’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea) and the weak response of the communist government in Hanoi.

There are some videoclips on Youtube in which Mr. Tinh tough students to sing a number of patriotic songs composed by dissidents in which the government is criticized for suppressing anti-China activists.

Vietnam continues its political crackdown on local dissent, arresting more than two dozens of human rights defenders, bloggers, and social activists so far this year with different allegations, from “disturbing public orders” to subversion. Hanoi has also convicted 27 activists on trumped-up allegations with a total 115.5 years in prison and 20 years of probation.

The communist regime is holding at least 237 prisoners of conscience as of November 6, according to Defend the Defenders’ statistics.

According to the information received, on November 5, 2019 at8:10 AM, Dhananjay was abducted and brought to the Bihar Police Station in Bihar Sharif town of district Nalanda by a police team lead by the SHO Mr. Deepak Kumar. At the police station, hefaced degrading and inhuman treatment, including torture. Extreme methods of torture were used by the police including verbal abuse,slapping and beating with sticks. He was forced to remove his clothes, given electric shocks on his head near his ears, severely beaten including on the private parts. Sources informed that Dhananjay was picked up by the SHO Mr. Deepak Kumar from Jhing Nagar Mohalla (a locality in Bihar Sharif town) at around 8:10 AM,while he was going to meet the former ward counselor (parshad) on his bike. According to Dhananjay, he was not made aware of the grounds or reasons for detention and was abducted. He was first taken to Ali Nagar to the residence of Mr. Tinku Gupta, who is allegedly a dealer in illegal arms and ammunitions and has pending criminal charges regarding the same. At Tinku’s residence, Dhananjay was physically assaulted and was repeatedly forced to confess buying arms from Tinku. Dhananjay refused to succumb to any pressure to undertake a false confession. Dhananjay was then taken to the Bihar Police Station and illegally detained till 10:00 PM. He was once again brutally beaten and also subjected to extreme physically tortured, including electric shocks on his head near his ears. He was released only around 10:00 PM after the intervention of local respected persons. Dhananjay’s family members admitted him in the Sadar Hospital in Bihar Sharif immediately after he was released from the police custody on November 5, 2019. On November 6, 2019, the doctors at Sadar Hospital referred him to get treated in a high specialty hospital of the city. He was later taken to the Jeevan Jyoti hospital, Bihar Sharif for the treatment of his internal injuries.The Hon’ble Commission being the nodal agency on violence in police custody and attacks on HRDs is urged to take immediate action in the recent case and penalise the erring police officials who have blatantly violated the D.K. Basu and NHRC guidelines on pre-arrest & post-arrest guidelines. As per legal precedent,torture is not at all permitted whether it occurs during investigation, interrogation or otherwise. Custodial violence is in effect direct invasion of human rights. Torture in custody flouts the basic rights of citizens recognized by the Indian Constitution and is affront to human dignity. Custodial Torture is a calculated assault on human dignity and nothing can be more dehumanising as the conduct of police in practicingtorture of any kind on a person in their custody.

The government has decided to dissolve the Maldivian Democracy Network over content in a 2016 report that was deemed contrary to the tenets of Islam.

The community empowerment ministry cancelled MDN’s registry on Tuesday and informed the NGO to settle its debts and matters related to its property within 45 days.

The unprecedented move came after the Islamic ministry and police concluded that MDN’s ‘Preliminary Assessment of Radicalisation in the Maldives’ mocked Islam and Prophet Mohamed, the community empowerment ministry announced. The 2003 associations law prohibits NGOs from contradicting tenets of Islam or undermining religious unity, it added.

Religious scholars launched a campaign to ban MDN in early October after screenshots of offensive sections in the report were widely shared on social media. More than 140 out of 200 local councils backed the calls and protest marches took place on several islands during the past four weekends. On October 10, the government suspended the NGO after the Islamic ministry asked police to investigate but the campaign continued unabated and opposition parties seized upon the cause with protests of their own.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih will take any action necessary to uphold rule of law and protect Islam and public interest, Home Minister Sheikh Imran Abdulla declared. “God willing, this government will not do anything without wisdom and due process,” the Adhaalath Party leader tweeted.

Sheikh Dr Mohamed Iyaz, a senior member of the Adhaalath Party and one of the leaders of the campaign to ban MDN, thanked the president for following through on assurances “even if it came a bit late.” Sheikh Ali Zaid also congratulated the president and expressed confidence that the report’s authors would be prosecuted.

A group of scholars met with the president last month to share concerns.

The Maldives constitution limits free speech to expression that are “not contrary to any tenet of Islam” and the penal code criminalises “criticism of Islam in a public medium with the intention of causing disregard for Islam,” which is categorised as a class one misdemeanour that carries a maximum prison sentence of one year.

MANILA, Philippines – Gabriela Women's Party – which won a seat in the 18th Congress – was red-tagged by both the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Department of National Defense (DND) in a hearing held inside the Batasang Pambansa.

Facing members of the House committee on national defense and security on Tuesday, November 5, AFP Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence Major General Reuben Basiao presented a list of 18 organizations that are alleged communist fronts.

Third on the list was Gabriela, which is currently represented in the House by Arlene Brosas after the party-list group secured more than 446,000 votes during the May 2019 elections.

The congresswoman, however, was not present during Basiao's presentation. When she arrived at the conference hall, she requested to see the list once again.

"Mismo dito sa Kongreso ay tina-tag kami as a communist terrorist group? Ano ba 'yan? Ano bang nangyayari? Bakit ganyan?" asked the second-termer congresswoman.

(We're being tagged as a communist terrorist group even here in Congress? What gives? What's happening? Why are you doing this?)

Brosas lashed out against the AFP and the DND, asking if Gabriela's inclusion in the list is a "prelude" to martial law.

"Familiar naman po kayo sa mga ginagawa namin. Binoto po kami ng taumbayan. Binoto po kami. May mandato po kami. Bakit nakalagay ang pangalan ng Gabriela Women's Party in particular? Ano pong ibig sabihin nito? Prelude ba ito sa martial law na ang mga legal entities at legal organizations in particular ay tina-target ngayon ng AFP?" asked Brosas.

(You're familiar with what we do here. We were voted by the people. We were elected. We have a mandate. Why put the name of Gabriela Women's Party in particular? What does this mean? Is this a prelude to martial law, with legal entities and legal organizations in particular now being targeted by the AFP?)

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana then said that based on documents recovered by the military across the country, Gabriela is a "legal front" for the Communist Party of the Philippines.

But the DND chief said they are "not red-tagging" Gabriela.

"There is no prelude to martial law. We are not red-tagging Gabriela. We are just saying that they are [a] front of the communist movement. We based this conclusion from documents that we captured from our operations all over the country," said Lorenzana.

"Palaging lumalabas 'yung Gabriela tsaka 'yung iba pang mga fronts nila. So what can you conclude there? I'm not saying you are communist. I'm saying that you are fronting, kayo 'yung legal front nila," he added.

(Gabriela's name keeps on popping up along with other fronts. So what can you conclude there? I'm not saying you are a communist. I'm saying that you are fronting, that you are their legal front.)

In a statement released after the hearing, Brosas once again slammed the AFP and the DND for their "attempt to criminalize dissent." (LISTEN: [PODCAST] Dapat bang gawing ilegal ang pagiging komunista?)

"Hindi kami armadong grupo at hindi armado ang mga miyembro namin. Sa ilalim ng kasalukuyang Konstitusyon at mga batas, hindi krimen ang mag-organisa at hindi krimen ang maging aktibista. Gabriela Women's Party strongly condemns this clear attempt to criminalize dissent and weaponize the law," said Brosas.

(We are not an armed group and our members are not armed either. Under the current Constitution and our laws, it is not a crime to organize and become activists. Gabriela Women's Party strongly condemns this clear attempt to criminalize dissent and weaponize the law.)

Gabriela's clash with the AFP and the DND came on the same day the Manila police arrested 3 members of progressive groups during a raid in Tondo past midnight.

On October 31, law enforcers in Bacolod City also arrested 56 persons affiliated with progressive and human rights groups during raids on their offices.

Authorities in Vietnam’s northern province of Hoa Binh have arrested Mr. Nguyen Van Nghiem on allegation of “Making, storing, disseminating, or propagandizing information, materials, and products that aim to oppose the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under Article 117 of the country’s Criminal Code for his online posting on his Facebook account Nghiêm Nguyễn.

On November 5, officers from the Security Investigation Agency under Hoa Binh province’s Police Department carried out his detention and the search of his private residence in Hoa Binh city. They confiscated a number of his items, including two computers, two printers, cameras, and cell phones.

He will be held for 120 days for investigation and face imprisonment of between seven and 12 years if is convicted, according to current Vietnam’s law.

Mr. Nghiem, 56, has posted numerous statuses and conducted many live streams on his Facebook account on which he spoke out about the country’s issues such as systemic corruption, widespread environmental pollution, serious human rights abuse, and China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea). He has also criticized the communist regime and its leaders for failure to deal with these problems.

His live streams programs on Facebook have thousands of viewers thanks to his outspoken activities.

Mr. Nghiem has been the 18th Facebooker being arrested so far this year amid Vietnam’s increasing crackdown on local dissent which started in late 2015 with the arrests of prominent human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai and his assistant Ms. Le Thu Ha.

Since the beginning of 2019, Vietnam’s communist regime has arrested at least 28 human rights defenders, political dissidents, social activists, and Facebookers, mostly with allegations in the national security provisions in the Criminal Code. It has also sentenced 27 activists with a total of 115.5 years in jail and 20 years of probation.

Vietnam is holding at least 237 prisoners of conscience, including 28 in pre-trial detention which lasts up to 14 months.

Trials of many activists are scheduled in the coming two weeks.

A union leader and community organizer was killed on Monday, November 4, in front of his wife in Cabuyao, Laguna.

Reynaldo Malaborbor, 61, was repeatedly shot in the head by an unidentified man while walking with his wife near their residence at 9:30 pm in Barangay Banay-banay.

Police said the gunman managed to flee the scene of the crime by foot.

Malaborbor was a longtime activist involved in several labor organizations. He served as coordinator of Makabayan Southern Tagalog during the 2019 elections.

He was among the 3 farmers arrested and accused by the military in 2010 of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. The case was dismissed in 2015.

Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Timog Katagalugan-Kilusang Mayo Uno (PAMANTIK- KMU) condemned the killing.

“The grizly details of the last moments of Rey Malaborbor goes to show that the de facto martial rule continues to claim victims in the form of its task forces to supposedly end the armed conflict,” the group said.

Malaborbor’s death comes amid what human rights groups call a “massive crackdown” of progressive organizations and dissent under President Rodrigo Duterte.

At least 60 people have been arrested during raids of offices and residences since October 31 in Manila and Bacolod.

A pro-democracy politician and four other people were injured when a knife-wielding man attacked protesters in Hong Kong Sunday.

The assailant slashed and stabbed people at Cityplaza mall, one of several shopping centers where protesters had gathered to demand government reforms for the 22nd straight weekend.

Local media reported the attacker told his victims that Hong Kong belongs to China.

Four men and one woman were taken to hospitals, where two were in critical condition.

Among the injured was politician Andrew Chiu Ka-yin, who had part of his ear bitten off as he tried to prevent the attacker from leaving the scene.

A pro-democracy activist tweeted that his "close colleague Dr Andrew Chiu was assaulted" and his "left ear was brutally halved."

The semi-autonomous city has been mired in more than five months of massive and often times violent protests, sparked by a proposed bill that would have allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China. The protests have evolved into demands for full democracy for Hong Kong, an independent inquiry into possible use of excessive force by police and complete amnesty for all activists arrested during the demonstrations. Masked activists have vandalized businesses and the city subway system, and attacked police with bricks and homemade gasoline bombs.

In September, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam announced she would withdraw the extradition bill but that has not quelled the protests.

Hong Kong enjoys a high degree of autonomy under the "one government, two systems" arrangement established when China regained control of Hong Kong from Britain in 1997. But political activists and observers say Beijing is slowly tightening its grip on the territory and eroding its basic freedoms.

Two journalists were arrested as Hong Kong police stormed shopping malls on Sunday following protests.

With no large-scale demonstrations planned, some protesters called for “shopping” stunts in seven districts including Admiralty, Mong Kok, Tsuen Wan, Wong Tai Sin, Tai Po, Sha Tin and Tuen Mun.

Scuffles were most serious at Cityplaza in Tai Koo, where pro-democracy district councillor Andrew Chiu had his ear bitten off after the assailant slashed several people with a knife.

According to lawmaker Charles Mok, Chiu’s ear was reconnected after an operation: “His status is stable but we will have to see if its function will recover,” Mok said.

Most of the protests began peacefully as sit-in events at shopping malls. At Cityplaza, residents formed human chains and sang protest songs, whilst a group of masked protesters vandalised a restaurant in the mall.

At around 6pm, police stormed the mall and arrested several people. “Police warn the masked rioters to stop all destructive and illegal acts and appeal to the protestors to stay rational and calm. They should refrain from obstructing Police’s action,” the force said in a statement.

Hong Kong Law & Crime Politics & Protest Two journalists arrested as riot police storm malls around Hong Kong and deploy pepper spray 4 November 2019 13:25 Kris Cheng 5 min read

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Two journalists were arrested as Hong Kong police stormed shopping malls on Sunday following protests.

With no large-scale demonstrations planned, some protesters called for “shopping” stunts in seven districts including Admiralty, Mong Kok, Tsuen Wan, Wong Tai Sin, Tai Po, Sha Tin and Tuen Mun. cityplaza

A cityplaza guard. Photo: Stand News.

Scuffles were most serious at Cityplaza in Tai Koo, where pro-democracy district councillor Andrew Chiu had his ear bitten off after the assailant slashed several people with a knife.

According to lawmaker Charles Mok, Chiu’s ear was reconnected after an operation: “His status is stable but we will have to see if its function will recover,” Mok said. photojournalist Joey Kwok Stand News arrested

Joey Kwok, freelance photojournalist working for Stand News, being arrested. Photo: Stand News.

Most of the protests began peacefully as sit-in events at shopping malls. At Cityplaza, residents formed human chains and sang protest songs, whilst a group of masked protesters vandalised a restaurant in the mall.

At around 6pm, police stormed the mall and arrested several people. “Police warn the masked rioters to stop all destructive and illegal acts and appeal to the protestors to stay rational and calm. They should refrain from obstructing Police’s action,” the force said in a statement.

Joey Kwok, a freelance photojournalist working for Stand News, was arrested and handcuffed on suspicion of obstructing police as he was taking photos at the mall.

Stand News said Kwok was at standing at a distance from police officers and did not obstruct their work. The news outlet condemned the arrest as unreasonable and demanded his immediate release.

“He has said he was a journalist multiple times when he was arrested, but it was ignored by the police,” Stand News said.

Hong Kong has now entered into its 22nd weekend of protest and unrest, which was sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition bill that would have allowed fugitive transfers to mainland China.

A journalism student, who is a member of the Hong Kong Baptist University Students’ Union Editorial Board, was also arrested at the mall whilst covering the news.

Roland Chin, the university’s president, said in an email to students, alumni and staff members that the school was deeply concerned about the student’s well-being.

He said the head of the Department of Journalism and a lawyer have visited the police station to provide assistance. The student’s family members have been notified.

Hong Kong Law & Crime Politics & Protest Two journalists arrested as riot police storm malls around Hong Kong and deploy pepper spray 4 November 2019 13:25 Kris Cheng 5 min read

Donate

Two journalists were arrested as Hong Kong police stormed shopping malls on Sunday following protests.

With no large-scale demonstrations planned, some protesters called for “shopping” stunts in seven districts including Admiralty, Mong Kok, Tsuen Wan, Wong Tai Sin, Tai Po, Sha Tin and Tuen Mun. cityplaza

A cityplaza guard. Photo: Stand News.

Scuffles were most serious at Cityplaza in Tai Koo, where pro-democracy district councillor Andrew Chiu had his ear bitten off after the assailant slashed several people with a knife.

According to lawmaker Charles Mok, Chiu’s ear was reconnected after an operation: “His status is stable but we will have to see if its function will recover,” Mok said. photojournalist Joey Kwok Stand News arrested

Joey Kwok, freelance photojournalist working for Stand News, being arrested. Photo: Stand News.

Most of the protests began peacefully as sit-in events at shopping malls. At Cityplaza, residents formed human chains and sang protest songs, whilst a group of masked protesters vandalised a restaurant in the mall.

At around 6pm, police stormed the mall and arrested several people. “Police warn the masked rioters to stop all destructive and illegal acts and appeal to the protestors to stay rational and calm. They should refrain from obstructing Police’s action,” the force said in a statement.

Joey Kwok, a freelance photojournalist working for Stand News, was arrested and handcuffed on suspicion of obstructing police as he was taking photos at the mall.

Stand News said Kwok was at standing at a distance from police officers and did not obstruct their work. The news outlet condemned the arrest as unreasonable and demanded his immediate release. photojournalist Joey Kwok Stand News arrested

Joey Kwok, a freelance photojournalist working for Stand News, being arrested. Photo: Stand News.

“He has said he was a journalist multiple times when he was arrested, but it was ignored by the police,” Stand News said.

Hong Kong has now entered into its 22nd weekend of protest and unrest, which was sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition bill that would have allowed fugitive transfers to mainland China.

A journalism student, who is a member of the Hong Kong Baptist University Students’ Union Editorial Board, was also arrested at the mall whilst covering the news.

Roland Chin, the university’s president, said in an email to students, alumni and staff members that the school was deeply concerned about the student’s well-being.

He said the head of the Department of Journalism and a lawyer have visited the police station to provide assistance. The student’s family members have been notified.

“We are also liaising with the relevant government agencies in our effort to seek a fair and proper treatment for the other students arrested by the police over the weekend,” Chin said.

The student claimed police threatened him with rape at the San Uk Ling Holding Centre when he was arrested. “I would not commit suicide,” the student shouted, in reference to a spate of recent deaths which some in the protest movement believe to be suspicious.

Shopping mall protests

Police officers also stormed other malls. At around 1:40pm, officers took eight people away from a gathering outside Sha Tin Town Hall.

At 4pm, police stormed the New Town Plaza from the bus terminus below, arresting at least two. Some threw objects at police inside the mall, as officers pointed their rifles at people and fired pepper spray.

Similar scenes also occurred at Tai Po Mega Mall and Diamond Hill’s Plaza Hollywood. At the Mega Mall, some protesters were folding origami cranes to form protest slogans whilst others trashed a Yoshinoya branch in the mall, believing that the restaurant has sided with the government. Officers then rushed into the mall but did not make any arrests.

At around 6pm, police rushed into the Tai Po mall again, despite a commander ordering them not to do so. Apple Daily footage showed that the commander had to enter the mall and shout: “No-one enter the mall… go back and reform [team] at the bridge.”

Residents gathered again at the mall and riot police entered for the third time at around 7pm to arrest two people, prompting onlookers to throw objects at police from above. Officers fired pepper spray and pointed their rifles at them.

Tseung Kwan O incident

Meanwhile, protesters gathered in Tseung Kwan O following rumours that a police officer was getting married at the Crowne Plaza hotel. At around 1am, police fired tear gas to disperse them.

A student from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology appeared to be trying to escape the tear gas when he fell from a car park’s third floor onto the second floor. He was unconscious and rushed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Jordan.

The student was in a critical condition and underwent an operation to remove haematoma from his brain. Wei Shyy, president of the university, visited the student on Monday morning at the hospital.

Chiu is running in the District Council election’s Tai Koo Shing West constituency. Kacee Ting of the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong is also running.

Mr Kurban Ali is associated with the Afkar India Foundation, which is a grass-roots human rights organisation based in Shamli, Uttar Pradesh. He has also been associated with ‘AmanBiradari’ for the last two years. Aman Biradri is a nationwide people’s campaign for a secular, peaceful, just and humane world. Kurban Ali has been working on issues of education and women’s right. He has also been using the Right to Information (RTI) to highlight issues of public concern and functioning of governance structures. In the past, he hasfaced several threats from the officials of state electricity and education departments for filing RTIs to expose corrupt practices. The others who have been named in the police FIR are Mr Naushad, Mr Faran, admin of the Haji Babla Fan Club and two unknown.

According to information received, on November 2, 2019, a criminal case (FIR 564/2019) was filed against Kurban Ali and five others in the Kandhla Polic Station of Shamli under Sections 147,148,149,452,307, 504, 506 of the IPC and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act [IT Act],on a complaint by Afzal Ali. It is to be noted that Afzal Ali is the same person who in the past harassed Mr. Ashif and others, to whom the HRDs had been extending legal ssistance. This clearly shows that it is an act to supress the voices of the victims of mob lynching and the HRD from resorting to available legal options to claim relief. The recurring incidents of intimidation and attacks on the HRDs pose a direct threat to theirsafety and security. It also impinges their fundamental right to freedom of life and liberty, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. In order to enable HRDs to pursue their crucial work in the field, it is of utmost importance that congenial atmosphere needs to be created for the smooth working of the HRDs.

Authorities arrested 56 persons they alleged were communist rebels and “rescued” six minors supposedly undergoing “training and “indoctrination” during simultaneous raids on the offices of three activist groups and a private residence in Bacolod City early Friday evening, October 31.

Several firearms and grenades were also reported recovered during the raids on the offices of the Bayan Muna party-list and Gabriela in Barangay Bata, the National Federation of Sugar Workers at Libertad, and the home of Bayan Muna’s Romulo Bito-on and his wife Mermalyn, who were both arrested.

All three organizations have long been openly accused of being “legal fronts” of the communist movement.

Bito-on, on the other hand, has been previously arrested and charged for being an alleged communist.

But human rights group and some of those apprehended denied the accusations they were rebels and said the weapons had been “planted.”

Video taken of the search at the nearby office of Gabriela showed a police officer inspecting a revolver and ammunition taken from a backpack at a corner of the yard.

Local media quoted Captain Cenon Pancito, spokesman of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, as saying 49 persons, including the minors, were taken into custody from the Bayan Muna compound.

Among those arrested there were known activist leaders John Milton Lozande and Danny Tabura of the NFSW, Proceso Quiatchon of the human rights group Karapatan, Nilo Rosales of the Kilusang Mayo Uno, and Aldrin de Cerna of the Kilusang Mayo Uno.

Lozande said the raiders held them for around an hour and then he was called to a house in the compound and showed “an obviously planted” gun supposedly found in his bag.

Nine other persons were arrested at the Gabriela office and two more from the NFSW.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said among those arrested at the Gabriela office was Anne Krueger of the newly established alternative media outfit Paghimutad, which has been covering social issues, including extrajudicial killings and other human rights abuses.

They were all taken to the Negros Occidental Provincial Police Office.

Interestingly, the raids were covered by search warrants issued by Executive Judge Cecilyn Burgos-Villavert of Branch 89 of the Regional Trial Court in Quezon City.

Karapatan, in a statement, called this suspicious and said this was reminiscent of the Oplan Sauron 2 operations in Negros Oriental in March, which were covered by search warrants issued in Cebu City.

Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate also condemned the “dastardly Gestapo-like raid … simultaneously conducted by state forces against the offices of Bayan Muna, Gabriela and NFSW in Bacolod, Negros Occidental.”

He noted that the raids were conducted “at night before a long weekend so as to ensure that the courts are closed tomorrow so that the planted pieces evidence and subsequent trumped-up charges filed cannot immediately be challenged.”

Karapatan called the raids part of a “full-blown crackdown on activists and red-tagged legal organizations,” noting that earlier in the day, police arrested Cora Agovida, the Metro Manila chairperson of Gabriela, and her husband Mickael Tan Bartolome of the urban poor group Kadamay, and claimed a .45 caliber pistol and two grenades were seized from their home.

However, Pancito told media the raids, which he described as “part of cutting the source of manpower to Red areas,” or territory were the rebels operate, would prove to be a “big blow to the Red fighters of the New People’s Army” and would “trigger the downfall” of the insurgency on Negros.

The military has opened a case against three prominent political activists – former Myanmar army Captain Nay Myo Zin, poet Saw Wai and lawyer U Kyi Myint – for their remarks on charter amendments made in April in Kawthaung Township, Tanintharyi Region.

The Kawthaung Township Court accepted the case on Oct. 31, according to the military’s Coastal Command.

One of the accused, Nay Myo Zin, is currently serving a one-year prison term under the same charge, filed by the Tatmadaw in Yangon, for calling the Constitution undemocratic.

The three addressed a public gathering at a hall in Kawthaung in support of the Parliament’s charter amendment committee on April 3.

Colonel Thant Sin Oo from the Coastal Command told The Irrawaddy that their remarks defamed the Tatmadaw (military) and the military leadership.

“Their comments were aimed at causing misunderstanding. Therefore, we petitioned directly to the Kawthaung court and the court charged them under Article 505 [of the Penal Code] on Oct. 17,” said Col. Thant Sin Oo.

Section 505(a) of the Penal Code carries a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment for anyone convicted of making, publishing or circulating statements, rumors or reports intended to cause military officers to mutiny, or to fail in or disregard their duties. It is a non-bailable offense.

U Kyi Myint told The Irrawaddy that he was sued for mentioning amendments to the Constitution at the gathering in Kawthaung six months ago, but insisted he did not say anything to damage the Tatmadaw.

The lawyer said: “Former Captain Nay Myo Zin talked for about 75 minutes. Ko Saw Wai talked for about an hour. I only talked for 20 minutes, as I was the eldest there and I could not cope with the heat. I talked about the Constitution, nothing else.”

He added: “We had to stand and raise [issues] for our country’s sake. There was no support from another country. We cannot stay silent. If everyone is silent, our country will further deteriorate. We must speak out about what needs to be done.”

But he said he was denied the opportunity to address the Kawthaung court.

“The military applied to the court on Oct. 17 and the case was accepted yesterday [Thursday], but we did not receive a letter. We don’t know yet if the letter arrived, whether we would be arrested without bail and sent to prison. According to the procedures, we will have to travel there and face [the charges].”

The number of military attempts to sue activists, especially those supporting charter amendments, has risen since April, said Maung Saung Kha, the director of Athan, a group advocating freedom of expression. Of 30 cases, 24 were lawsuits filed directly by the Tatmadaw against 77 people. The six remaining cases were filed by other people on behalf of the Tatmadaw, he said.

Those targeted have included monks, journalists, politicians, political activists, farmers and comedians.

Military spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun said earlier that the Tatmadaw’s tolerance of criticism was not unlimited.

A leader of women’s group Gabriela and her husband were arrested by elements of the Manila Police District and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group early this morning, Oct. 31.

According to a statement released by Gabriela, at around 5:00 a.m. today, ten policemen forcibly entered the house of Cora Agovida, spokesperson of Gabriela-Metro Manila and her husband Michael Tan Bartolome in Manila. The couple was instructed to drop to the floor while their two children, aged two and ten years old, and their companion were asked to go outside. A few minutes later, police claimed they recovered a.45 caliber pistol and two grenades from the residence of the couple.

The couple has been brought to the Manila Police District and charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

The search warrant against the couple was issued by Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 89, the same court that issued the search warrant for the simultaneous raids of offices of people’s organizations in Bacolod City, Oct. 31.

Their children had been under the custody of the Manila Rehabilitation Action Center last night. The couple has requested the Children’s Rehabilitation Center to look after their children. As of press time, the transfer of custody is being processed.

Gabriela condemned the arrest and called for the immediate release of Agovida and Bartolome.

Authorities in the southwestern Chinese region of Guangxi have detained outspoken rights attorney Tan Yongpei, whose license to practice was revoked last year.

Tan was detained on Thursday by officers of the Nanning municipal police department during a raid on his Baijuying legal consultancy company.

An employee at a company occupying the same floor told RFA: "There were 10 or 20 of them. They came shortly after 5.00 p.m., just before we got off work."

"They showed their police identification and said they were from the police department and that they were looking for a lawyer surnamed Tan," he said. "Then they went in."

The employee said the officers were still on the premises when he left after 6.00 p.m. "They were forceful, but went into their offices quite politely, with somebody shooting video," he said. "They put seals on Tan's office door that said "Nanning Municipal Police Department."

The Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch website said the police hadn't produced any official documents authorizing the raid and search, however.

It said Tan had tried and failed to prevent them from carrying out the raid, which lasted around three hours, after which the police took Tan away with them.

Fellow Guangxi-based lawyer Tan Jiaji said it was hard to tell whether Tan would face criminal charges now, or simply be released after questioning.

"It's pretty hard to say right now," he said. "Anything is possible."

"He would regularly post [politically sensitive] stuff to social media, so maybe they now see him as a threat," Tan Jiaji said. "This sort of thing is happening more and more nowadays."

"I wasn't surprised at all that this happened."

'Picking quarrels and stirring up trouble'

He said the authorities can use catch-all charges like "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble" to detain people for what they post to social media.

"The whole idea of what is picking quarrels and stirring up trouble is so broad," he said. "It's perfect for those in power to use [against government critics]."

In January, Tan's China Lawyer's Club was raided by dozens of police office who said it was an illegal organization of banned lawyers.

A nationwide police operation under the administration of President Xi Jinping has targeted more than 300 lawyers, law firms, and related activists for questioning, detention, imprisonment, debarring and travel bans since it launched in July 2015.

The China Lawyers' Club was set up in Guangxi's regional capital, Nanning, by a group of former rights attorneys who lost their "business license" at the hands of local justice departments, and may no longer represent clients in court.

Formally established on Sept. 29, 2018, the club's aim was to find employment and income for dozens of experienced litigators who no longer have an income in the wake of the crackdown.

The club traded as a legal services company, and had 'signed' lawyers in a manner similar to the way sports teams sign big stars. Under current regulations, Chinese lawyers need a business license to represent clients, but not to offer legal consultancy on petitions and complaints.

On October 30, the People’s Court of Ninh Kieu district in the Mekong Delta’s hub Can Tho City convicted university lecturer Pham Xuan Hao of “abusing democratic freedom” under Article 331 of the country’s Criminal Code, state media has reported.

Accordingly, the court sentenced Mr. Hao to one year in prison for his postings on his Facebook page. He was said to post and share many articles which distorted the communist regime’s policies and defamed the country’s leadership. It is unclear when he was arrested.

Mr. Hao, 54, is a lecturer of Can Tho University. He graduated architecture and obtained a master’s degree.

He is among a number of Facebookers in Ninh Kieu district being convicted of “abusing democratic freedom” in recent years. In June this year, Quach Nguyen Anh Khoa was sentenced to six months in prison and in September last year, Doan Khanh Vinh Quang was given 27 months in jail for the same allegation. Vietnam’s communist regime is using controversial allegations “abusing democratic freedom” and “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the country’s Criminal Code to silence online dissent. As many as nine activists are being imprisoned between six months and seven years for the first charge and 37 activists are held for the second charge, 30 of them were sentenced to between two and 14 years in jail. Currently, Vietnam is holding 236 prisoners of conscience, according to the latest statistics of Defend the Defenders.

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong says a decision by Hong Kong authorities to bar him from running in upcoming local elections proves "how Beijing manipulate[s] the election with political censorship and screening."

Wong posted the notice he received from an election commission officer on his Twitter page Tuesday declaring his candidacy invalid.

Wong had said last week that he was the only candidate running in the upcoming polls to be barred from taking part.

A government spokesman issued a written statement saying Wong's candidacy was invalidated because he has advocated for "self-determination" for Hong Kong.

The 23-year-old Wong, along with fellow student activists Nathan Law and Alex Chow, stormed a courtyard on the grounds of the government's headquarters in September 2014, which led to the "Umbrella Revolution" that shut down several major highways for more than two months, demanding fully free elections. The protests were launched after Beijing reneged on promises of universal suffrage by 2017, but ended without winning any concessions from the Hong Kong government.

The semi-autonomous city has been mired in nearly five months of massive and oftentimes violent protests since June, sparked by a proposed bill that would have allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China. The protests have evolved into demands for full democracy for Hong Kong, along with an independent inquiry into possible use of excessive force by police and complete amnesty for all activists arrested during the demonstrations. Masked activists have vandalized businesses and the city subway system, and attacked police with bricks and homemade gasoline bombs.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam warned Tuesday that city's economy could see negative economic growth this year due to the protests.

Hong Kong enjoys a high degree of autonomy under the “one government, two systems” arrangement established when China regained control of the financial hub from Britain in 1997. But political activists and observers say Beijing is slowly tightening its grip on the territory and eroding its basic freedoms.

Vietnamese environmental activist and filmmaker Thinh Nguyen, a member of the independent civil group Green Trees, was detained on Friday in Hanoi in what was thought to be the government’s response to a film on other environmental activists who were detained for their advocacy.

Cao Vinh Thinh, a fellow member of Green Trees group, told RFA’s Vietnamese Service that Nguyen, who was later released, had been outspoken about the government’s rights abuses.

“I know Mr. [Nguyen] is a brave artist, he specializes in making videos on [about his story] to let people know about the tortuous circumstances of injustice and death row inmates … as well as the right to speak up against the government’s wrong doing in causing people to lose their land unjustly,” she said.

“We heard that he had been arrested, beaten and handcuffed by the police at his own home. Since he has no relatives, no one witnessed the arrest," she added.

Cao said she was upset that the police arrested Nguyen without any prior notice or any search warrant.

“Before [Nguyen], other members of Green Trees like myself and Dang Vu Luong had the same [thing happen to us]. They [came with] no announcements or orders at all. They can just come and arrest people, just like they can ban people from traveling aboard, just like that," she said.

She said she thought that Nguyen got arrested because of his movie “Do Not Be Afraid,” which was released by Green Trees.

According to her, the film "has the sole purpose of protecting the environment, contributing to the voice and light, the truth about people like Hoang Duc Binh, who for standing up to protect the environment was arrested and imprisoned for 14 years".

Hoang was arrested in 2017 and handed the lengthy sentence for his involvement in protests regarding the Formosa disaster, a major toxic spill in central Vietnam’s by a steel plant owned by Formosa Plastics Group, a large Taiwan-owned industrial conglomerate, that devastated more than a hundred miles of coastline in four central provinces of Vietnam.

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said in an email that Nguyen’s arrest should never have happened.

"Vietnam has no good reason to arrest photographer and film-maker Thinh Nguyen for his peaceful advocacy for the environment and human rights,” said Robertson

“Sending squads of police to grab him from his house this morning shows the authorities' incredible intolerance for any sort of criticism. Vietnam should immediately and unconditionally release Thinh Nguyen and end its abusive surveillance and harassment of people exercising their rights," he said.

RFA contacted the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security and the Tay Ho District Police in Hanoi by telephone to inquire about the arrest several times but did not receive a response.

In Taiwan, meanwhile, a resolution expressing concern over the human rights situation in Vietnam was unanimously adopted Friday by organizations affiliated with the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).

The Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) submitted the resolution to the 40th FIDH Congress, which met this week in Taipei. The annual congress, held for the first time in Asia this year, was attended by 400 human rights leaders, academics and civil society representatives.

VCHR’s resolution drew attention to the Vietnamese government’s suppression of criticism and peaceful protests, pointing out that activists are routinely detained for long periods of time. It also spoke out against the criminalization of free expression though legislation designed to “create a climate of fear among all those seeking to participate in public affairs.”

The resolution also called upon the European Union to postpone signing of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) “until it ensures the agreement guarantees the Vietnamese people’s fundamental rights.”

The FTA was signed in June this year, but has yet to be approved in the European Parliament.

“This resolution is deeply meaningful for human rights defenders in Vietnam,” said VCHR representative Võ Trần Nhật in a statement released by the organization.

“While the government deploys its vast machinery of repression, censorship, intimidation and imprisonment to suppress their voices, this statement shows that international civil society stands with them in their struggle, and will not be silenced,” he said.

Another resolution on Vietnamese environmental justice was also submitted by the Taiwanese Association for Human Rights at the congress.

The resolution, also unanimously adopted by the FIDH, drew attention to the environmental damage caused by the Formosa toxic spill.

It was critical of Vietnam’s failure in supporting victims and urged them to address human rights concerns including “the right to a clean environment, the right to food and health, the right to work, the rights to freedom of expression, assembly, the right to information and the right to an effective remedy.”

Editor of Rekhdekh Weekly and Treasurer of Federation of Nepalese Journalist (FNJ) Prabir Dadel, 30, a resident of Musikot Municipality-13 has accused Ward Chairperson Dipak KC, 37, of threatening him on October 25.

Dadel accused KC of attempting to manhandle him in connection with a news report published about corruption in Rekhdekh Weekly. KC threatened the journalist after his name was also mentioned in the report about the corruption. Dadel has filed an oral complaint against KC at District Police Office and District Administration Office.

Police in southern China detained feminist activist and journalist Huang Xueqin after she returned to the mainland from Hong Kong and Taiwan, her friends said Friday.

Authorities in Guangdong province's Guangzhou city arrested Huang last Thursday on suspicion of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble," her friends said. The vague charge is commonly used against activists viewed as threatening by the ruling Communist Party.

The friends spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared government retribution for being publicly associated with Huang. Calls on Friday to Huang's lawyer and Guangzhou's Baiyun District Detention Center, where friends say she is detained, rang unanswered.

The friends said police harassed Huang's family after she published an essay describing her experience at a protest in Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous Chinese city that has been roiled by months of anti-government demonstrations.

"Perhaps, under the powerful machine of the party state, ignorance and fear can be cultivated," Huang wrote in her essay. "But if you have personally experienced it, witnessed it, you cannot pretend to be ignorant."

In August, Guangzhou police confiscated Huang's passport and other travel documents, preventing her from pursuing a postgraduate law program at the University of Hong Kong.

Huang has been an outspoken voice in China's #MeToo movement, helping sexual assault victims highlight cases against university professors. She has worked as an independent reporter covering issues surrounding gender, equality and disadvantaged groups.

Detained, harassed

"It is unclear exactly the reasons for Huang's detention, but in recent weeks, more and more activists, writers and regular citizens in the mainland have been detained or harassed by authorities for their peacefully voicing support for the Hong Kong protests," said Yaqiu Wang, China researcher at Human Rights Watch.

"Huang's detention shows that the Chinese government has intensified the crackdown on mainland Chinese who peacefully showed solidarity with Hong Kong protesters, and that authorities are fearful that the protests in Hong Kong could inspire challenges to the government in the mainland, and any expression of ideas of freedom and democracy is a threat to their grip on power," Wang said.

The protests in Hong Kong began over the summer in response to a now-withdrawn extradition bill that would have allowed Hong Kong residents to stand trial in mainland China, where critics say their legal rights would be threatened. The sometimes-violent demonstrations have since ballooned to encompass broader calls for democratic reform and an inquiry into alleged police abuse.

Rights activist Gulalai Ismail's father, Professor Muhammad Ismail, was sent to jail on 14-day judicial remand on Friday, a day after his daughter alleged that he had been picked up from outside the Peshawar High Court (PHC) by "men wearing Malitia (sic) dress".

Professor Ismail's lawyer, Fazal Khan, told DawnNewsTV that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Peshawar had arrested his client after registering a First Information Report (FIR) against him under the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2016.

Khan said that his client was produced before judicial magistrate Naveedullah today, where the court rejected FIA's request for physical remand and instead sent him on a 14-day judicial remand. He added that they would soon file a bail application.

The lawyer said that on Thursday his client was at the PHC for another case.

"At around 4:30pm he left the high court building and was picked up by some unknown men and shifted to [an] unknown location," Khan claimed. Case registered

The FIR, a copy of which was seen by Dawn.com, was registered against Professor Ismail under Sections 10 and 11 of Peca 2016 read with Section 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code at FIA Cyber Crime Circle in Peshawar.

The case was registered after a complaint was received against Ismail by persons namely Sajid Iqbal, Ali Ahmad, Riazur Rehman and Walid Mir on October 8.

“The complaint is regarding ... hate speech and fake information against government institutions of Pakistan on Facebook and Twitter,” according to the FIR.

It said the professor's Facebook and Twitter IDs, passwords and a mobile phone were seized by the FIA. US 'concerned'

Earlier on Friday, Gulalai via Twitter said she had received information that her father had been brought to the court premises.

On Friday morning, US Assistant Secretary of State Alice G. Wells, who is also the in-charge of South Asia affairs at the US State Department, had expressed concern over "reports of the continued harassment" of Gulalai's family and her father's detention.

"We encourage Pakistan to uphold citizens’ rights to peaceful assembly, expression, and due process," Wells said in a post shared on Twitter.

In September, the New York Times reported, Gulalai escaped Pakistani authorities the previous month and had reached the United States, where she applied for political asylum.

Read: Activist Gulalai Ismail 'escapes' to New York, applies for political asylum

Gulalai is an international award-winning activist and a prominent member of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) group who had been campaigning for the rights of women and the ethnic Pashtun minority.

She had not disclosed how she managed to leave the country. All she revealed was: "I didn’t fly out of any airport."

"I can’t tell you any more," NYT quoted her as saying during an interview. "My exit story will put many lives at risk."

According to NYT, no government officials were willing to make a public comment on the matter. Security officials had said that they had suspected Gulalai had left the country.

An activist doctor and professor received death threats a few hours after joining a protest demanding a bigger budget for the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).

Dr. Gene Nisperos, president of the All UP Academic Employees Union-Manila Chapter (AUPAEU-Manila), received a text message Monday night, October 21, saying he and his family would be killed soon.

“I know where your condominium is. We will get your family one by one…You are dead by…including your children and wife,” the message read.

The message was sent by an unidentified person through mobile phone number +639567955995.

Nisperos blamed the climate of violence created by the Rodrigo Duterte government against those who seek substantial reforms and genuine change in Philippine society for the latest threats against him and his wife, also a doctor.

“In these times, those who do good and stand for what is right are persecuted. It [this administration] is sowing fear because it rules by fear. This must be opposed in whatever form and whenever it occurs,” Nisperos told Kodao.

As he was being interviewed by Kodao, Nisperos received another threat from the same number Tuesday morning.

A graduate of UP College of Medicine’s prestigious Intarmed program, Nisperos and wife, Dr. Julie Caguiat, served as community doctors in Mindanao before returning to Manila to advocate for community-based health programs in the national level.

Nisperos is an assistant professor who teaches Community Medicine in UP Manila.

Duterte government as suspects

The AUPAEU-Manila condemned the most recent death threats against Nisperos and family.

The union said the threat comes at a time when the AUPAEU-Manila is calling on all faculty, administrative staff, and researchers of the university to unite against the impending budget cut for the University of the Philippines, particularly on the UP Manila and Philippine General Hospital (PGH), and to campaign for the regularization of contractual workers, among others.

The union said the threats are attempts to sow fear among teachers and unionists who assert for their rights and to fight for a higher state subsidy for social services such as education and health.

“[O]ur Union will not tremble in the face of vicious repressive measures and increasingly fascist attacks by this administration,” AUPAEU-Manila said.

Sichuan Human rights lawyer Lu Siwei received a notification from Chengdu All China Lawyers Association’s Disciplinary Committee for allegedly violating rules while accepting to represent a defendant of a human rights case, and thus will be subjected to disciplinary punishment.

Lawyer Lu specializes in finance laws and criminal defense, and at the same time, took up human rights cases; he was notably among the lawyers who were set to represent one of the defendants in the June 4th Wine Bottle Case and the Pengxi County land seizure case. The disciplinary punishment issues by the Lawyers Association is likely to be associated with Lawyer Lu taking on the case of Lawyer Chen Jiahong, who has been suspected of committing “incitement to subvert state power.”

Lawyer Chen’s charge was probably based on his calligraphy piece against “the evil bureaucracy” and encouraging democracy which he created in April this year, leading to his detainment in Guangxi’s Yulin Detention Center, where Lawyer Lu visited him on 9th May. At the same time, a list of lawyers defending Lawyer Chen began circulating online, which triggered the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Justice to call for Lawyer Lu to return to Chengdu as soon as possible, and to notify the staff at his law firm not to sign any contract of authorization.

The next day (10th May), the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Justice received evidence from the Sichuan Department of Justice regarding Lawyer Lu possibly violating professional ethics and the disciplinary code, thus referring the case to the Chengdu All China Lawyers Association. On 4th June, the Lawyers Association’s Disciplinary Committee started investigating the allegations and found that Lawyer Lu violated rules when taking up a case, therefore planning on disciplinary punishment.

At 2pm on Monday, Lawyer Lu Siwei attended a hearing regarding his alleged misconduct and consequent punishment by the Chengdu All China Lawyers Association at the Chengdu Legal Aid Centre.

The disciplinary punishment is likely associated with Lawyer Lu taking on the case of Lawyer Chen Jiahong, who has been suspected of committing “incitement to subvert state power.” The Lawyers Association’s Disciplinary Committee started investigating the allegations, and found that Lawyer Lu violated rules when taking up a case, therefore planning on disciplinary punishment, in addition to not allowing Lawyer Lu to pass the annual inspection for up to three months for the same reason.

Staff from the Consulate Generals of the USA, Germany, Canada, and the UK attended the hearing, but the moderator stated a fear for his own safety after their entry, saying that there were too many people in the meeting room, and requested that the members of the audience be limited to five only. A decision regarding Lawyer Lu has yet to be made, as it will be debated by the Chengdu All China Lawyers Association’s Disciplinary Committee.

The Hong Kong Police Force has been obstructing the work of reporters at protests in recent months. They have even used excessive and unnecessary force. The Hong Kong Journalists Association has time and again expressed our discontent. Police has not just failed to make any improvement. They did more to obstruct the work of reporters. Yesterday, police officers targeted at journalists spraying blue dye on them. And without giving prior warning, they threw teargas canisters at a place where many reporters had gathered. HKJA again vehemently condemns Police for unreasonably obstructing the work of reporters. We demand the force to immediately stop interfering and causing injuries to reporters – and apologise to the media for their wrongdoings.

According to several press reports, police have deployed a water cannon truck to drive away protesters in Sham Shui Po on Sunday. On one occasion, officers inside the truck have twice sprayed blue dye directly to them.

Meanwhile, several journalists have been rudely treated by police officers during their reporting in Mong Kok. Some riot-police officers have shouted at reporters, pushed and drove them away. An officer had pointed his gun at reporters. Late evening, a group of riot-police officers had deliberately thrown a hand teargas canister to a group of reporters before they withdrew. The canister exploded above the heads of several reporters. Thank to their protection devices, they escaped injuries.

HKJA vehemently condemns the Police for ignoring freedom of reporting and freedom of the press when they repeatedly used unnecessary force against reporters. We reiterate that freedom of expression and press freedom are an important cornerstone of Hong Kong. Truth-finding is the sacred duty of reporters. We cannot take abuses of the use of force by the police as normal. We urge the Government to immediately correct their mistakes.

A court in northern Vietnam’s Bac Ninh province on Friday rejected the appeal of a local activist and toll-booth protester, sending him back to jail to serve his 30-month term.

Ha Van Nam was convicted on July 30 on a charge of “causing public disorder” at a toll-booth set up under Vietnam’s controversial Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) scheme, which has drawn protests around the country.

At Nam’s trial, the sentencing court said he had gone to the Pha Lai toll station on Vietnam’s Hwy. 18 with a large crowd on Dec. 29, 2018 to block traffic, causing losses of revenue to the station when station managers were forced to let vehicles pass through free of charge to relieve congestion.

Also sentenced by the court were Nguyen Quynh Phong, Le Van Khiem, Nguyen Tuan Quan, Vu Van Ha, Ngo Quang Hung, and Tran Quang Hai, who drew jail terms of from 18 to 36 months on the same charge.

Speaking to RFA’s Vietnamese Service, another local activist who was present in the courtroom Friday said prosecutors and judges did not allow Nam to speak in his own defense at the hearing.

“When Ha Van Nam tried to speak up for himself, the procuracy and the judges would not let him present his case,” Tran Thi Thu Thuy, a longtime friend and supporter, said.

“The judges said that Nam’s protest was a deliberate act of instigation, even though he had not encouraged others [to block traffic] but had only encouraged them to assert their rights,” she said, adding that Vietnamese law guarantees the people’s rights to protest wrongdoing.

Defense motions rejected

Prosecutors rejected defense motions to explain the cause of Nam’s protest, insisting that his appeal be judged only against the facts established during his first trial, Thuy said. And after about two hours of court hearing and deliberation, the court ruled to uphold Nam’s sentence.

“This sentence is very unfair. It is unjust for the government to accuse people of causing public disorder simply for insisting on their interests and legal rights,” she said.

Vietnamese citizens have long suspected station operators of falsifying collection records at BOT projects across the country, with citizen volunteers sometimes camping nearby to count cars passing through and ensure that tolls are not collected outside the times allowed.

One form of protest has involved truck drivers paying their tolls with small-denomination coins, slowing down collection and creating huge traffic jams.

Under the BOT model, investors transfer their projects to state ownership after building and operating them for a period of time.

On October 17, the People’s Court of Ia Grai district, Gia Lai province, convicted local Facebooker Nguyen Thi Hue on the charge of “abusing democratic freedom” under Article 331 of the country’s Criminal Code for her online posting.

Ms. Hue, 51, was arrested in early March this year. She was accused of using Facebook accounts named “Nguyễn Thị Huệ,” “Công Lý Về Tôi,” “Nguyễn Huệ,” “Vũ Quỳnh Hương,” and “Den Quang” to disseminate “wrong information” in the period between July 2017 and March 2019 to distort state leaders and local state officials who were dealing with her case.

She was also alleged of insulting local police officers and prosecutors when she came to their offices to file petitions for her case. However, the state media did not disclose what she had petitioned for.

The state media also reported that Ms. Hue was warned of causing public disorders in the Gia Lai province’s Office of Citizens’ handling” in late December 2016. On January 20, 2017, she was fined VND200,000 ($9) for the same accusation.

Meanwhile, Facebooker Duong Thi Lanh, who was sentenced to eight years in jail earlier this year on allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code, has refused to appeal the decision of the Dak Nong province’s People’s Court since she feels there are no fair hearings as the court system is controlled by the ruling communists.

There is an increasing tendency in which authorities in many Vietnamese localities are using allegations in the National Security provisions in the Criminal Code such as subversion, “conducting anti-state propaganda” and “abusing democratic freedom” to silence local activists and Facebookers.

So far this year, Vietnam’s communist regime has arrested 25 activists and Facebookers, and convicted 24 for online activists with imprisonment between one and 12 years in prison.

Vietnam is holding 234 prisoners of conscience, according to Defend the Defenders’ latest statistics. Hanoi always denies of holding prisoners of conscience but only law violators.

The leader of a pro-democracy group responsible for some of the largest peaceful protest marches in Hong Kong was attacked on Wednesday, four days before another planned mass rally.

Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit, convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front, was set upon by at least four non-ethnic Chinese assailants on Arran Street in Mong Kok at 7.40pm, a police source said.

The attack was the second against Sham in less than two months.

The Civil Human Rights Front said Sham had been smashed over the head with hammers and spanners but was conscious when sent to Kwong Wah Hospital in Yau Ma Tei. He was understood to be in stable condition.

A photo of Sham following the attack showed the activist lying on the ground near a white vehicle with blood spilled around him.

Police said Sham was bleeding from his head and arms when officers found him. The suspects fled in a car which officers were pursuing, the force said. An investigation was under way.

Jimmy Sham is pictured after Wednesday’s attack. Photo: FacebookJimmy Sham is pictured after Wednesday’s attack. Photo: Facebook Jimmy Sham is pictured after Wednesday’s attack. Photo: Facebook

The leader of a pro-democracy group responsible for some of the largest peaceful protest marches in Hong Kong was attacked on Wednesday, four days before another planned mass rally.

Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit, convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front, was set upon by at least four non-ethnic Chinese assailants on Arran Street in Mong Kok at 7.40pm, a police source said.

The attack was the second against Sham in less than two months.

The Civil Human Rights Front said Sham had been smashed over the head with hammers and spanners but was conscious when sent to Kwong Wah Hospital in Yau Ma Tei. He was understood to be in stable condition.

A photo of Sham following the attack showed the activist lying on the ground near a white vehicle with blood spilled around him.

Police said Sham was bleeding from his head and arms when officers found him. The suspects fled in a car which officers were pursuing, the force said. An investigation was under way. SUBSCRIBE TO Hong Kong News Get updates direct to your inbox By registering, you agree to our T&C and Privacy Policy Government condemns attack on Hong Kong protest leader

Fellow rights front member Figo Chan said witnesses had told him onlookers tried to stop the ambush but Sham’s attackers pointed a knife at them.

Sham had been making his way to the democracy group’s annual general meeting where he was expected to discuss a march from Tsim Sha Tsui to West Kowloon railway station set for Sunday.

Chan said the march would proceed as planned.

The rights front condemned the attack, saying it would have a “chilling effect” on democracy advocates and fuel fears of “white terror” in Hong Kong. China warns US it will take ‘countermeasures’ over Hong Kong bill

The attack was not the first against Sham. He and his assistant Law Kwok-wai were in late August set upon by two people in masks wielding a baseball bat and a rod, hours after the pair were told by police that a rally they had planned for the following weekend had been banned.

Police later arrested three male suspects, including a 15-year-old boy. The youngster was charged with conspiracy to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and appeared at Kowloon City Juvenile Court. Two other suspects remain at large.

In addition to his activism, Sham is contesting a seat in Hong Kong’s district council elections set for November, at Lek Yuen in Sha Tin.

A number of Hong Kong lawmakers from the city’s pan-democratic camp were among those visiting Sham at Kwong Wah Hospital on Wednesday night, including Shiu Ka-chun, Tanya Chan, Wu Chi-wai, Ip Kin-yuen, Raphael Wong Ho-ming and “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung. Fifteen-year-old boy arrested over attack on activist Jimmy Sham and his assistant

Tanya Chan, the bloc’s convenor, condemned the attack and called it shocking. She urged police to investigate as soon as possible.

“What has Hong Kong turned into?” she asked.

Democratic Party lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting said “the assault is clearly politically motivated”. He accused police of failing to protect opposition politicians and activists. Lam said he had been assaulted by government supporters in June but that police had not made any arrests.

Sha Tin district councillor Wong Yue-hon, who is campaigning against Sham for another term on the council in the November elections, condemned “all forms of violence” and wished Sham a speedy recovery.

“I do hope there will be a fair election and it will not be affected by this incident,” he said.

But Wong discouraged Hongkongers from attending Sunday’s rally, warning that it would descend into chaos like other protests in recent months. Election hopefuls insist use of ‘liberate’ slogan is not independence call

“I hope the government can come up with a concrete proposal to restore social order, instead of the city seeing more and more injuries,” he said.

Since August, at least nine pro-democracy figures have been attacked, including Democratic Party lawmaker Roy Kwong Chun-yu. Offices of pro-establishment politicians, meanwhile, have been trashed by radical protesters during the anti-government protests.

Ng Tak-nam, chief inspector of Mong Kok district, said the attackers, who were masked and were wearing black tops, assaulted Sham causing a 3cm (1.2-inch) wound on his forehead.

Ng condemned the violence and believed the crime was organised as the attackers had been wandering in the area for some time.

“After the attack, they jumped into a black private car and fled in the direction to Sham Shui Po,” Ng said. “Witnesses have told us the car had been driving in the area for a while. The attack was swift and the suspects wore similar clothing.”

Ng added uniformed officers were protecting Sham in hospital and they were investigating whether the case was linked to the previous attack in August.

Pakistan’s immigration authorities barred entry of Committee to Protect Journalists' (CPJ) Asia Programme Coordinator Steven Butler, saying that his name had been placed on a 'stop list', a press statement issued by the body said on Thursday.

"Last [Wednesday] night, Pakistani immigration authorities denied entry to CPJ Asia Programme Coordinator Steven Butler, citing a blacklist managed by the Ministry of Interior," the CPJ statement said.

"A border officer at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore told Butler that his journalist visa was valid, but it was voided because his name was 'on a stop list of the Interior Ministry'," it quoted Butler as saying.

According to the statement, Butler's passport was "confiscated" by airport authorities and he was forced to board a flight bound for Doha. When he arrived in Doha, authorities there placed him on a flight to Washington, DC, the statement read further.

While on the flight, Butler told the CPJ that the flight crew had seized his passport and boarding pass and that he was in "a kind of restrictive custody".

"Pakistani authorities’ move to block Steven Butler from entering the country is baffling and is a slap in the face to those concerned about press freedom in the country," the statement quoted CPJ’s executive director Joel Simon as saying.

"Pakistani authorities should give a full explanation of their decision to bar Butler from entering and correct this error. If the government is interested in demonstrating its commitment to a free press, it should conduct a swift and transparent investigation into this case."

Butler had landed in Lahore to participate in the Asma Jahangir Conference — Roadmap for Human Rights in Pakistan, said the statement.

In September, CPJ had expressed concern about a plan to form "media courts" in the country.

Last year, the organisation released a special report after recording testimonies of journalists in various cities of Pakistan. They said that the climate for press freedom in the country had been deteriorating, even as overall violence against and murder of journalists declined.

CPJ said that journalists, including freelancers, had "painted a picture of a media under siege". 'Alarming sign'

Rights organisations Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and Amnesty International expressed alarm over Butler's deportation and said that the decision should be "reevaluated" and "reversed".

In a tweet, HRCP said that it was "disappointed by the government's decision" to deport Butler, adding that the decision "must be reevaluated".

"On one hand, the government claims to be building a softer image of Pakistan. On the other, it refuses entry to a reputed international journalist with a valid visa," HRCP said in a tweet.

Amnesty International also criticised the move, saying that the deportation of the CPJ official was "an alarming sign that freedom of expression continues to be under attack in Pakistan".

"The decision must be reversed immediately," the rights group demanded in a tweet.

In the last three months, at least three YSR Congress MLAs have been booked for attacks on journallists—including a murder case. It has been alleged that the ruling party legislators have targeted journalists for reporting news critical of them or the state government.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy empowered principal secretaries of all the departments last week to file cases against print, electronic media houses if ‘distorted or malafide intended’ news pertaining to their respective departments are circulated.

On October 15, 45-year-old K Sathyanarayana, who was a reporter with the Telugu newspaper Andhrajyothi was killed by two assailants near his residence in S Annavaram village in Tuni mandal, East Godavari District. According to a police complaint filed by K Gopalakrishna, brother of the deceased, Tuni MLA Dadisetti Raja, who is also the government chief whip, could have supported the murderers.

“Raja (MLA) had threatened (the deceased) in the presence of other reporters after the completion of counting in Assembly polls in May that he would see the end of Satyanarayana... Several people had made threatening calls to my brother saying that Raja was backing them," Satyanarayana's brother, Gopalakrishna, told the Times of India newspaper. It has also been reported that a month ago, Sathyanarayana escaped an attack and had filed a complaint and sought police protection.

On September 23, Naidu Nagarjuna Reddy, a reporter with the Telugu daily Surya, reportedly escaped death, as he was attacked by a gang of 25 people “in the presence of a YSR Congress leader in Prakasam district”. According to the FIR registered by the police, Nagarjuna stated that he was gheraoed by 25 persons along with Amanchi Krishna Mohan, former MLA and YSRCP leader, and was stabbed several times and was beaten up with iron rods. Nagarjuna suffered five fractures and seven stab wounds.

“Although I have highlighted and exposed former MLA Amanchi Krishna Mohan for his involvement in land-grabbing, sand mafia, and intimidation many times before, this attack was provoked because I helped a 10-year-old girl write a letter to the CM against Amanchi,” Nagarjuna told The Indian Express.

On August 25, Avula Manohar, a reporter with the Telugu news channel Maha News, was attacked by unidentified persons near Stone Valley School in Rayadurg town.

Manohar alleged that he was attacked by the henchmen of Rayadurg YSR Congress MLA Kapu Ramachandra Reddy. However, police had refused to name the MLA in the FIR.

“I have been doing reports against Reddy exposing his involvement in sand mafia, shady real estate deals and high-handed behaviour. In spite of telling the police, they have not included his name in the FIR. No arrests have been made although police have identified the culprits behind this attack, and they have not called me for identification,” Manohar was quoted as saying.

On August 11, N Dolendra Prasad, the editor of Telugu weekly Zaminryot was attacked by Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy, MLA from the Nellore Rural constituency, and his followers, Vishnu, Murali Krishna Yadav, and Suresh. According to the FIR registered in the case, Prasad claimed that the accused trespassed into his house “with a view to kill him with sharp weapons and dragged him from his house and also assaulted him, criminally intimidated him and attempted to murder him with a sharp weapon”.

Furthermore, two news channels, ABN Andhrajyothi and TV5, which are considered to be favorable to the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) have been kept under an unoffocial ban since September, allegedly propelled by the instructions of the YSR Congress leaders.

Although the regulator Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) had on September 25 directed the multi-system operators (MSOs) to restore the two TV channels, the operators didn’t adhere to the orders citing technical reasons.

Opposition parties including TDP, Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Jana Sena have condemned the state of media under YSR Congress government.

Saigon-based pro-democracy activist Vu Huy Hoang has been interrogated and beaten by police in Ho Chi Minh City for his attempt to deliver books that were printed by an unregistered publisher called Liberal Publishing House.

Speaking to Defend the Defenders, the 46-year-old activist said he received an order to supply 10 copies of Đại Nghịch Bất Đạo and five copies of Ký Đinh Quang Anh Thái to a retired state official Kha Luong Ngai on October 15. When Hoang arrived at a private resident of the recipient in the morning of last Tuesday by his motorbike, plainclothes agents detained him and took him to a police station in Ward 6, District 3 for interrogation.

Hoang said that in the beginning, plainclothes agents beat him brutally on his head and body in police custody, but they stopped physical torture against him after they had more information about his social activities from the city police’s record.

Hoang was interrogated from 11 AM until 9 PM of the same day by security police officers from District 3, the city’s Police Department and the Ministry of Public Security about the contents of the ordered books and their origin: who and where have printed them.

The experienced activist said he remained silent in most times before police officers escorted him to his house. However, his house was under surveillance during the night and the police said they would summon him for further interrogation in the coming days.

In the early morning of October 16, when the surveillance was loosened, Hoang took his opportunity to leave his house and went into hiding. Now he was forced to stay inside in a secret place far from his family. He said he may have to stay away from his wife and two kids for months although he can communicate with them via secret chat applications such as Whatsapp, Telegram or Signal.

Hoang started his social activities in 2012 when he joined other activists in HCM City, Hanoi and other locations on various issues, including China’s violations of Vietnam’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea) and Hanoi’s weak response, human rights violations, serious environmental pollution, and charity programs. He is a member of the unregistered groups named the Vietnam Pathway Movement and the Liberal Publishing House.

In May 2016, local blogger and political writer Pham Doan Trang was invited by the US Embassy in Vietnam to participate in a meeting between local activists and then-President Barack Obama on the sidelines of his official visit to the communist nation. Hoang escorted Trang from HCM City to Hanoi but they were traced and detained by security forces in their midway. Police kept them for several days in a remote motel in the central province of Ninh Binh so Trang was not able to take part in the meeting.

Meanwhile, the Independent Publishing House is trying to produce unique books of political dissidents and writers considered as harmful for the communist regime which strives to halt the house’s works and suppress its staff.

Dozens of unofficial books have been printed by the Liberal Publishing House and their authors include political writers Pham Doan Trang, Pham Thanh and others from foreign countries.

Ký Đinh Quang Anh Thái is a book of the US-based veteran writer Dinh Quang Anh Thai, who is the incumbent editor-in-chief of the Nguoi Viet Daily News (or Người Việt). In this book, he wrote about prominent Vietnamese political dissidents and their activities which aim to promote human rights and multi-party democracy in Vietnam.

On the other hand, Đại Nghịch Bất Đạo is a book of Hanoi-based veteran journalist Pham Thanh about Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong, who is also the general secretary of the ruling Communist of Vietnam. In his book, Thanh described Trong as the biggest traitor of the Vietnamese nation.

Vietnam’s security forces are striving to demolish the Independent Publishing House and persecute its staff.

According to sources, on 13 October, 2019 Kashmiri journalist and human rights defender Mr. Bilal Bhatwas stopped from boarding an international flight to Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia by immigration authorities at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. Mr. Bilal Bhat was due to visit Malaysia to represent India at the Children and Youth Assembly, organised by UN-ESCAP. The Indian immigration authorities stamped his passport saying that his visa was “cancelled without prejudice.” Sources informed that Mr. Bilal Bhat was selected as a delegate and was representing India at the Children and Youth Assembly, organised by UN-Habitat, UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP), Urbanice Malaysia and UN Major Group for Children and Youth in association with the 7th Asia-Pacific Urban Forum (APUF-7). When the defender reached the immigration counter at the airport around 8 pm on 13 October, 2019, he was first asked if he was a Kashmiri and then enquired about the purpose of his visit. The immigration officials asked him a few more questions and then asked him to produce further documents to verify his age. The officials then took his driver’s licence, visa and some other documents and asked him to wait outside the office. He spent nearly six hours at the airport, first trying to understand why he was prohibited from flying abroad and then to get his baggage, which was offloaded from his Air Asia flight to Kuala Lumpur. The defender was not given any reason for not allowing him to travel abroad. Kashmiri journalist and human rights defender Mr. Bilal Bhat is not the only case of authorities barring prominent Kashmiris from flying abroad. At least two other high-profile Kashmiris –bureaucrat-turned-politician Shah Faesaland Journalist –author and human rights defender Mr. Gowhar Geelani –have also been prevented from travelling abroad after the August 5 decision of government of India to dilute Article 370 and revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. Mr. Shah Faesal was detained at New Delhi's international airport 14 August 2019 and then sent back to Kashmir while journalist Gowhar Geelani was stopped at New Delhi's international airport on 31 August 2019 from travelling to Germany to attend an advanced training programme. Faesal has sharply criticized New Delhi's abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370. It is once again pointed out to the Commission that interception of Kashmiri journalist and human rights defender Mr. Bilal Bhatand barring him to fly to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to represent India at the Children and Youth Assembly, organised by UN-ESCAP by immigration authorities at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi amounts to curtailment of Right to Liberty along with Freedom of Movement as guaranteed by the International Human Rights Law, International legal standards and the Indian Constitution.

Authorities in India’s Tamil Nadu state on Friday arrested at least 15 Tibetans, including the head of the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) exile group, as they protested an informal summit between visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Police detained TYC president Gonpo Dhundup and 14 Tibetan students in several locations ahead of Xi’s arrival in the city of Chennai, according to TYC and media reports, including the airport and a highway leading to a seaside resort in the town of Mamallapuram, where the two leaders kicked off an informal summit to improve Sino-Indian relations amid trade and border tensions.

Sonam Tsering, General Secretary of the TYC, told RFA’s Tibetan Service that police had arrested 15 of his group’s members as they waited for the Chinese leader’s entourage in Chennai.

“Initially, we tried to wait until Xi arrived at his hotel, but six of us were detained there, while police arrested six of our other Tibetan youth protesters from where they waited at the airport exit,” he said.

“We have three other protesters who were to demonstrate ahead of Xi’s arrival at the airport, but they were arrested moments ago.”

Reuters news agency reported that Dhundup shouted, “We want freedom,” as he was “wrestled away by six policemen” and taken away in a waiting autorickshaw, citing a video shared by TYC.

TYC is based in India’s hill town of Dharamsala—home to Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile—and India has taken special measures to prevent Tibetans from protesting Chinese rule in Tibet.

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet into exile in India following a failed 1959 national uprising against rule by China, which marched into the formerly independent Himalayan region nine years earlier.

Chinese authorities have maintained a tight grip on Tibet and on Tibetan-populated prefectures of Chinese provinces ever since, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of ethnic and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.

Earlier on Friday, TYC issued a press statement saying it “strongly condemns” Xi’s visit following China’s celebration of the 70th anniversary of Communist rule on Oct. 1, which it called a recognition of “70 years of oppression and aggression against the people of Tibet.”

The statement urged Modi to take up the issue of Tibet with Xi during their informal summit and called on the Indian government to release TYC cultural secretary Yeshi Chomphel, Students for a Free Tibet-India national director Rinzin Choedon, and prominent Tibetan activist Tenzin Tsundue, along with Tibetan students who are being held by police prior to Xi’s arrival.

“We also urge the Indian government for the quick release of TYC President Gonpo Dhundup along with 11 students members of RTYC Bangalore who were arrested today just before the president Xi Jinping’s arrival at the summit venue,” the statement said.

Earlier arrests

The arrests on Friday brought to at least 50 the number of Tibetans held in the lead up to Xi’s visit, including a stringer for RFA’s Tibetan Service assigned to cover the event, who has spent two nights in detention.

Kathmandu, which hosts Xi this weekend for a rare visit by a Chinese leader, has prevented 33 Tibetan delegates based in Nepal from returning home after they attended a major meeting of Tibetan exile groups from around the world in Dharamsala, the delegates told RFA on Thursday.

Of the 33, three delegates were able to slip back into Nepal just before the restriction was imposed, five delegates were sent back to India from the Nepalese border, and the rest are still stranded in India, the delegate said. Nepali media have reported that Nepal is preparing to sign an extradition treaty with China during Xi’s visit, raising concerns from human rights groups about the fate of Tibetans in the Himalayan country.

On Friday, Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) issued a statement outlining its concerns over Tibetans’ status in Nepal ahead of Xi’s visit, noting that at least 18 Tibetans were detained by police, although some of them were subsequently released.

Responding to reports that Nepal may sign an extradition deal with China, ICT president Matteo Mecacci said his organization is concerned that such a treaty could “effectively further jeopardize the situation of Tibetan refugees in Nepal, whose status has been precarious for a long time.”

“We call on the Nepalese authorities not to sign an extradition treaty with China and on the international community to be vigilant and protect the rights of Tibetans in Nepal,” he said.

ICT said that Nepal’s ability to counter China’s heavy-handed approach on Tibet has been increasingly compromised, particularly since Nepal joined the “One Belt One Road” initiative in 2017, with promises of millions of dollars of Chinese investment in Nepalese infrastructure projects that Beijing has tied to Nepal’s “role in guarding against Tibetan separatists,” according to state media.

The group said that following a crackdown in Tibet in 2008, and an ensuing tightening of border controls, there has been a dramatic decline in the number of Tibetan refugee arrivals in Nepal, while “thousands of Tibetans remain stateless and in political limbo” in the Himalayan nation.

A 2009 survey put the number of Tibetans in India at about 128,000 and 13,500 in Nepal.