Day: March 20, 2024

Overseas activists have vowed to keep up their campaign for Hong Kong’s promised rights and freedoms amid international condemnation of the city’s second national security law, which critics say will likely widen an ongoing crackdown on dissent when it takes effect on Saturday.

The Taiwan-based advocacy group Hong Kong Outlanders said the Safeguarding National Security Law, passed unanimously in a Legislative Council with no opposition members on Tuesday, had been rushed through in just 11 days.

“We will continue to speak out without fear of this evil law,” the group said, announcing a protest on the streets against the legislation on Saturday, to “defend the rights of Hong Kongers.”

U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the law will have “a chilling effect on the remaining vestiges of Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedoms.”

He said he was “alarmed” about the impact of the law on American citizens, businesses and independent media in the city.

“I urge the Beijing and the Hong Kong governments to rescind Article 23, as well as the 2020 National Security Law, and restore to the people of Hong Kong their basic rights and freedoms,” Cardin said, adding that Congress will continue to reevaluate the treatment of Hong Kong as a separate entity from the rest of China under U.S. law.

Making life harder

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron warned that the law will make it harder to live, work and do business in Hong Kong.

“It fails to provide certainty for international organizations, including diplomatic missions, who are operating there,” Cameron said in a statement on the government website.

“It will entrench the culture of self-censorship which now dominates Hong Kong’s social and political landscape, and enable the continuing erosion of freedoms of speech, of assembly, and of the media,” he said. 

In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said such comments were “slander.”

“China expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to certain countries and institutions that denigrate and smear Hong Kong’s Safeguarding National Security Ordinance,” Lin told a regular news briefing in Beijing.

“The Chinese government is unswervingly determined to safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests, and … to oppose any external interference in Hong Kong affairs,” he said.

‘Puppet government’

U.S.-based Hong Kong rights campaigner Frances Hui said she had “struggled to get out of bed” due to depression after the government bypassed democratic institutions that took decades to build.

“I know #JoshuaWong, Wong Ji-yuet, and others will probably spend more days in jail under this law,” Hui said via her X account, in a reference to democracy activists already imprisoned for taking part in protests in the city.

“The only remaining bits of freedom in the city will soon be crumbled. Hong Kong will become just another Chinese city with a puppet govt that obeys China,” she wrote.

But she added: “I know our determination for freedom & democracy will never change. One day, we will meet again.”

Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party condemned the passing of the law as the “darkest day” for Hong Kong. 

“Hong Kong is now completely shrouded in the shadow of the Chinese Communist Party’s totalitarian rule,” the party said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that the Legislative Council was now just a “rubber stamp” for Beijing.

It said the new law’s more expansive interpretations of national security crimes would “completely destroy what Hong Kong has left in the way of human rights or a legal system.”

The party vowed to support the international effort to help Hong Kong, safeguard democracy and counter totalitarianism.

Investors will leave

In Japan, Foreign Ministry Press Secretary Kobayashi Maki said the government has “grave concern” about the law, and called on the authorities to ensure that the rights of Japanese nationals and companies in Hong Kong were respected, citing close economic ties with the city.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said the law has the potential “to accelerate the closing of Hong Kong’s once open society.”

“We’re alarmed by the sweeping and what we interpret as vaguely defined provisions laid out in their Article 23 legislation,” he told a regular news briefing in Washington on Tuesday.

“We think that this was fast-tracked through the non democratically elected Legislative Council after a truncated public comment period,” he said, adding that U.S. officials are in the process of analyzing potential risks to American interests under the law.

Wu Jui-ren, an associate researcher at Taiwan’s Academia Sinica, predicted that the law will spell the end of Hong Kong’s status as a global financial center.

Foreign investors will leave one after another, he predicted. 

Patrick Poon, human rights campaigner and visiting researcher at the University of Tokyo, said the law gives officials too much power, especially when it comes to defining what is meant by “collusion with foreign forces” or “state secrets,” or what constitutes subversion.

He said anyone working for foreign organizations in the city could be at risk under the law, even if they post something online that the government doesn’t like.

“It’s all entirely up to those who enforce the law to decide, in line with the practice of totalitarian governments,” Poon said. “Hong Kong has gone a step further towards being just like mainland China.”

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Re-educated and released?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Translated by RFA Lao. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

After Beijing imposed the draconian National Security Law for  Hong Kong in 2020, the UK, Canada and Australia responded by opening “lifeboat schemes,” or special immigration pathways, for Hong Kongers. Article 23, the latest tightening of the screws on Hong Kong freedoms, requires a similar response from the European Union.

The UK provided an escape valve by allowing Hong Kongers with British National (Overseas) (BNO) status to apply for a visa with a permanent residence pathway in Britain. More than 160,000 Hong Kongers have resettled in the UK alone since the imposition of the law, and London has taken further steps to welcome them in anticipation of the passage of Article 23..

Canada launched programs to provide permanent residency to Hong Kong residents who have graduated from a selected post-secondary institutions in Canada, and to Hong Kongers who have completed post-secondary education and have worked in Canada for a minimum of one year.

Australia enabled Hong Kongers completing eligible tertiary studies to apply for a temporary graduate visa after their studies, with a pathway to permanent residency. 

This week, the Hong Kong government enacted the Safeguarding National Security Bill, colloquially known as “Article 23 legislation,” in the territory. Article 23 is a domestic, albeit more severe, version of the National Security Law, and was first proposed in 2003. 

Under the Basic Law of Hong Kong, the city’s constitution, the Hong Kong government is required to introduce legislation to safeguard national security. In recent days Hong Kong officials have said that it is their constitutional “duty” to introduce Article 23 legislation, but I am not sure that broad and unclear language is what the writers of the Basic Law had in mind. 

When the Hong Kong authorities attempted to introduce Article 23 in 2003, more than 500,000 Hong Kongers protested, and the plans were abandoned. But today, the Hong Kong people do not have a choice nor the right to protest without facing serious repercussions. 

Vague terms

Under directives from Beijing to pass Article 23 “as soon as possible,” the Hong Kong government left a few days to consider a public consultation process which received over 13,000 submissions and for the Hong Kong Legislative Council to review and make amendments to the 212-page bill.

Article 23 prohibits seven types of activities: treason, secession, sedition, subversion, theft of state secrets, foreign political organizations or bodies conducting political activities in Hong Kong, and political organizations or bodies in Hong Kong establishing ties with foreign political organizations or bodies. 

The language surrounding what constitutes these activities is vague to intentionally allow the government to criminalize whatsoever and whosoever it wishes. For example, starting with the definition of ‘national security’, the bill reads “specific measures to be taken to safeguard national security will depend on the actual situation in the HKSAR.” 

Under which circumstances, and in what situations, will certain individuals and organizations be criminalized? This language not only mirrors the definition of national security on mainland China, but potentially contravenes the “principle of legal certainty” protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Article 23 also poses a major risk to Hong Kongers in exile abroad, particularly the 13 in the UK, U.S. and Australia who continue to be targeted by the Hong Kong authorities with arrest warrants with HK$1 million (US$127,800) bounties. The legislation refers to such individuals and others who have fled from Hong Kong to seek refuge from repression as “absconders,” and includes provisions which allow the Hong Kong government to cancel their Hong Kong passports. 

Hong Kongers in the EU are not immune. In December 2017, the Hong Kong government issued an arrest warrant for Ray Wong, the first Hong Konger to secure asylum in Germany. The prosecution in the show trial of British citizen Jimmy Lai has also cited Wong’s name. 

Under Article 23, the likelihood and severity of arrest warrants with bounties and transnational repression, as well as the targeting of exiled Hong Kongers’ family members and friends who remain in the city, will only increase. 

Deterioration of rights and freedoms

After the imposition of the National Security Law, Hong Kongers hopped on planes to welcoming countries, used speedboats to flee to Taiwan, or accepted jail terms. 

In response to the enactment of Article 23, EU member states should link arms with allied nations to introduce lifeboat schemes for Hong Kongers. This would not only provide thousands of Hong Kongers with needed safe haven, but send a strong message to Hong Kong and Chinese officials that crackdowns on basic civil and political liberties will not be tolerated. 

The first step is for EU member states to introduce pilot lifeboat schemes, which, for example, would allow up to 100 Hong Kongers each year to apply for five-year work visas in areas where there are shortages of skilled labor. Opening lifeboat schemes for Hong Kongers would be consistent with previous recommendations from the European Council and European Parliament calling for a review of immigration schemes for Hong Kongers in the EU. 

The National Security Law of 2020 was Beijing warning Hong Kong officials to remember who runs the show. Now, the passage of Article 23 is confirmation of the tightening relationship between Beijing and Hong Kong officials, as well as the utter deterioration of rights and freedoms in the once-thriving international financial hub. 

Hong Kongers have a track record of participating in civil society and peacefully defending democratic values, and in every country they relocate to, they contribute to local communities, the economy, the workplace and education, including in high-skilled jobs. They would contribute to the greater EU and national economies as they have in the UK and elsewhere

With Russia’s war on Ukraine, the crisis in Israel, and threats to Taiwan looming on the horizon, the EU must not let this further assault on Hong Kong’s already diminished freedoms, rights and the rule of law go unchallenged and it should not miss this important opportunity to provide a lifeline to Hong Kongers in their darkest hour.

Megan Khoo is a research and policy advisor at the international NGO Hong Kong Watch. Khoo, based in London, has served in communications roles at foreign policy non-profit organizations in London and Washington, D.C.. The views expressed here do not reflect the position of  Radio Free Asia.

Updated March 20, 2024, 09:32 p.m. ET.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘The reality of suppression’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Translated by Anna Vu and Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster. RFA Khmer contributed to this report.

Updated to include comment from Human Rights Watch.

Prabowo Subianto, the former Indonesian general whose human rights record has faced scrutiny, will take over as leader of his country after clinching victory in the presidential election and securing 96.2 million votes, according to official results unveiled Wednesday.

The Feb. 14 polls saw Prabowo receive 58.61% of the vote, far outpacing former Jakarta Gov. Anies Baswedan who received 24.9%, and former Central Java Gov. Ganjar Pranowo who received 16.5%, according to the General Elections Commission.

Prabowo, 72, emerged victorious in his third run at the presidency of Southeast Asia’s largest country after putting the eldest son of the outgoing but popular president on the ticket as his running mate, and despite allegations that the vote and the courts were tampered with. 

“The election we have just conducted has been recognized by the global community and has been conveyed to me through statements and letters by many heads of state, governments and ambassadors,” Prabowo told reporters at his Jakarta home. 

“Those who monitored our election said they were very impressed with its smoothness, its orderliness, and the calm, coolness, and joyful atmosphere that was felt on Election Day.” 

A former army special forces commander who had been married to a daughter of the late dictator Suharto, Prabowo, who serves as defense minister, thanked the Indonesian people. He called for unity, saying that he had respect for those who voted for his opponents. 

An election official, meanwhile, said the vote was fair.

“We apologize for any shortcomings in the conduct of the 2024 elections,” Hasyim Asy’ari, chairman of the General Elections Commission, said during a meeting certifying the results. “We have strived to be as honest and transparent as possible in organizing the elections.”

The U.S. State Department congratulated Prabowo on his victory and praised the Indonesian people “for their robust turnout and commitment to democracy and the rule of law.”

“We look forward to partnering closely with President-elect Subianto and his administration when they take office in October,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

Prabowohas pledged to bolster Indonesia’s economy and military prowess. His campaign promises included free lunches and milk for school students across the country.  

Prabowo is to be inaugurated on Oct. 20, succeeding rival-turned-ally Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who remains popular after nearly decade in power. Prabowo lost to Jokowi in the 2014 and 2019 presidential elections. 

This year’s election has faced criticism for what some perceive as a decline in democratic standards. Allegations of nepotism surfaced following a contentious Constitutional Court ruling that allowed Jokowi’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, 36, to run as Prabowo’s vice president.

Two watchdog groups have labeled this election as the worst since Indonesia’s transition to democracy 25 years ago, citing issues with campaign finance and electoral fraud.

Both Anies and Ganjar have declared their intent to challenge the results, alleging widespread fraud and vote-buying.

Reacting to the official results, Anies emphasized the importance of the electoral process over the final outcome.

“The integrity of the electoral process is fundamental to the continuity of democracy and the fulfillment of the people’s aspirations as a whole,” Anies said in a statement.

“A leader born from a tainted process would lead to a regime full of injustice, which is not the desired outcome,” he said.

Hundreds of Indonesians took to the streets of Jakarta this week to call for Jokowi’s ouster over alleged electoral fraud.

Authorities deployed thousands of police to secure key locations in anticipation of further unrest after the coalition threatened over the weekend to hold larger protests against the election results.

Previously, Indonesia was praised for its successful transition from Suharto’s authoritarian rule to a vibrant democracy.

However, from the Constitutional Court’s October decision to Prabowo’s ascension to power, questions have been raised about the state of democracy in the country.

Jokowi was also accused of using populist measures, such as handing out social aid early and raising salaries for civil servants, police and the military during the election campaign, which critics said were aimed at boosting Prabowo’s chances.

The president denied any manipulation of the judiciary or favoring a particular set of candidates. 

Jokowi did not publicly endorse any candidate for president, but critics alleged that his administration had tampered with government materials and influenced the judiciary to ensure a victory for Prabowo and Gibran.

Prabowo’s victory followed a massive rebranding effort to soften his image from that of a fiery ex-general to a cuddly or cute grandfather figure.

The president-elect has been dogged by his links to alleged human rights abuses throughout his political career. 

After graduating from the Indonesia Military Academy in 1974, he rose through the ranks to command the army’s elite special forces unit, known as Kopassus.

In 1983, he married Siti Hediati Hariyadi, the daughter of President Suharto, and in 1998 became head of the Army Strategic Reserve Command.

That same year, he was discharged from the military after a council of honor officers found him guilty of several violations, including involvement in the abduction and disappearance of pro-democracy activists during student protests that led to Suharto’s downfall in May 1998.

Prabowo has denied any wrongdoing and said he was only following orders from his superiors. He has never been tried in a civilian court for the alleged crimes.

Last year, Jokowi acknowledged 12 severe human rights violations committed by the Indonesian state dating back to the 1960s, including the 1998 abduction of the pro-democracy activists.

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.

A junta court-ordered auction of jailed democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi’s historic home in Myanmar’s Yangon region concluded with no buyers, sources said Wednesday, after the bidding price was set at more than 300 billion kyats, or about US$90 million.

Critics have called the auction part of an attempt by the military regime to “obliterate the history” of Myanmar’s democratic movement, while the country’s shadow government of former civilian leaders vowed to take legal action against anyone who tries to purchase the home.

They say it should be protected as a place of cultural heritage.

The auction was held on Wednesday morning at No. 54 University Avenue in Yangon’s Bahan township, the two-acre site of the lakeside home where the deposed state counsellor spent nearly 15 years under house arrest under Myanmar’s previous military junta.

But sources close to the Kamaryut District Court, which laid out the terms for the auction, told RFA Burmese that it ended after repeated calls for bids by the auction officer were unsuccessful.

Observers had predicted that no one would pay the 300 billion kyat starting price set by the court in January.

Suu Kyi’s lawyers had lodged a petition with the Yangon District Court over the January ruling and an attorney based in the city told RFA that the outcome would determine whether another auction of the home could take place, “possibly with a revised floor price.”

If the home does not return to auction, the Kamaryut District Court will proceed with its sale on the open market in accordance with the law.

Suu Kyi, 78, is the head of the deposed National League for Democracy and the country’s former de facto leader whose government the military overthrew in a February 2021 coup, sending the country into civil war.

She is now in prison, initially sentenced by the junta to 33 years on 19 charges, a sentence that was later reduced to 27 years. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was initially put in solitary confinement in Yangon’s Insein Prison and is now being held incommunicado at a facility in the capital Naypyidaw.

In January, her son Kim Aris, who lives in the United Kingdom, received a letter from her – the first public communication from her since late 2022. Aris didn’t have much to say about her health based on the letter, but she is believed to be suffering from medical and dental problems.

Family dispute

The lakeside home was awarded to Suu Kyi’s mother, Khin Kyi, after her father, independence activist Gen. Aung San was assassinated in 1947.

Granted freedom in 2010 after years of house arrest, Suu Kyi received U.S. President Barack Obama, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the compound.

But ownership of the historic property has long been disputed by Suu Kyi and her elder brother Aung San Oo.

On Aug. 22, 2022, the junta-controlled Union Supreme Court declared the home would be auctioned under Aung San Oo’s appeal. 

Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, on Wednesday reaffirmed its vow to take legal action if the home is auctioned or sold.

“No one wants to be prosecuted for [the junta’s] actions that are not in accordance with the law,” said Nay Phone Latt, the spokesperson of the NUG Prime Minister’s Office. “Because of this, there will be no one who will bid.”

Political commentator Hla Kyaw Zaw told RFA that the junta’s attempt to auction the house is motivated by “a personal vendetta” and desire to “whitewash” the country’s history.

“No. 54 University Avenue is a symbol of Burma’s democracy movement,” she said. “This is a petty attempt to erase its legacy … [and] tarnishes the reputation of General Aung San’s family.”

Translated by Kalyar Lwin. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.