According to Amnesty International's report, 91 per cent of known death sentences have been handed down in Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. There is no reliable data for China, North Korea and Vietnam since the information is treated as a state secret. Iran has experienced a boom in executions, partly to crack down on protest. Governments have weaponised the death penalty under the pretext of improving security.
Trump's latest wave of executive orders has reached Radio Free Asia and other related news outlets such as Voice of America. Funded by the US government, the latter have been an essential source of information in at-risk regions like Tibet and Xinjiang, against Chinese censorship. For a former US ambassador, this is a giant gift to China.
The death sentence has been carried out on Shahzadi Khan, a migrant from Uttar Pradesh, imprisoned for the death of a 4-month-old baby following a vaccination. The family did not want an autopsy and - after two months - accused her of murder. The video in which she is accused was allegedly extracted through torture. Her father: ‘The Indian embassy abandoned her’.
The environment and the anti-corruption campaign led by the current secretary general Tô Lâm are among the “sensitive” issues that landed him in jail on 7 June of last year. It is not known whether he plans to appeal. International human rights groups are calling for his release.
According to a report by HRW, China has imposed stricter travel restrictions on members of the Muslim minority, who can travel only to a limited number of countries. Contact and interaction with activists abroad is prohibited. To obtain an exit visa, it is necessary to provide a “guarantor” or family members are held “hostage” to ensure one’s return.
The Uyghurs were detained after arriving in Thailand ten years ago on their way to Turkey. They were reportedly forced to sign voluntary deportation papers, ahead of repatriation to China where their co-ethnics suffer harsh repression in Xinjiang. Thailand is not a party to the UN Convention on Refugees.
Scores of plainclothes policemen took the clergyman into custody while he was at a restaurant, sparking a protest by local Muslims in front of the town hall in the past two days. The province where a large Hui community lives has long been a hot spot for the government’s “sinicisation” policies.
The death penalty is again a topical issue in Southeast Asia after a Philippine woman sentenced to death for drug possession is set to go home where the death penalty is not in force. Capital punishment is widely enforced in Indonesia, Singapore, and Vietnam. A call is getting louder for “the protection of vulnerable communities”, with many voices warning that “no justice system is immune to error”.
Special Envoy Alexandra Xanthaki warned at the end of a ten-day visit to a country where together minority ethnic groups make up 47% of the population. ‘Despite progress on human rights, policies of assimilation of indigenous peoples into the dominant Lao group and forced relocation of villages in the name of development continue'.
The death penalty for Rosman Abdullah, a 55-year-old Singaporean. Criticism from human rights associations and the UN, which challenge the city-state's extremely strict laws, questioning their effectiveness in deterring drug trafficking. Already 24 death sentences have been carried out since the resumption two years ago after the Covid-related blockade.
Strong-arm tactics have become a systematic means of pressure, especially against Russian political prisoners. A Mediazona investigation tells the stories of those who have been subjected to violence in Russian prisons to extract forced confessions.
The last of five seats for the Asia-Pacific region went to the Marshall Islands by seven votes. For Saudi Arabia, this is a second defeat after that of 2020, while Qatar won its second consecutive term. In the first 10 months of 2024, the kingdom carried out a record 213 death sentences.
Despite being granted refugee status by UNHCR, the court granted Y Quynh Bdap's extradition request from Hanoi. The activist has filed an appeal and a new asylum request with the Canadian embassy. The ambiguous attitude of Thailand, which opens its doors to temporary reception but is not a signatory to the UN Convention, offers no real guarantees.
Cambodia’s best-known independent journalist still active despite ongoing repression has been arrested. His posts on social media on environmental damage caused by stone quarries were probably the pretext used by the authorities to detain him on charges of causing “social disorder". Dara was also actively reporting on online scams by transnational crime syndicates employing people in slave-like conditions. He joins about a hundred political prisoners already in detention in Cambodia.
On trial behind closed doors are the leaders of the opposition movement Group 24, Sukhrob Zafare and Nasimdžon Šarifov. Having disappeared from Istanbul where they had been living in exile for ten years, the Prosecutor General announced last August that they were in a prison in the capital of Tajikistan. Banned as an ‘extremist association’ the organisation is not allowed to participate in any way in the political and social life of the country.
A petition filed by 37 death row inmates was rejected, but with a call to apply it only in ‘exceptional’ cases. The last execution dates back to 2020. Criticism from the Kuomintang, which calls the judges' verdict a “de facto abolition”. Amnesty International Taiwan speaks of a ‘step forward’ and asks the government to declare an official moratorium.
Identified as Ri and Kang, 39 and 43, they were helping other women escape to South Korea. Victims of trafficking to China, once sent back to North Korea they were killed after a public trial, confirmed by several sources.
The Taliban's repression of women's rights is even more evident for those of a different ethnic origin. Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Turkmen live in the northern regions of Afghanistan, and no one is concerned with the defence of their rights, not least because of the frosty relations with Ashgabt.
The Home Minister claimed that all deaths in detention recorded since 2022 were due to health reasons. The Bar Council expressed concern over the claims and called for independent investigations. Between 2011 and 2021, 430 deaths in custody were recorded.
The country's Churches have been pushing for this measure to counter the problem of early marriages, often linked to abductions. “We hope the government will take further steps to criminalise forced religious conversions," the Bishops' Conference said.
Repression continues after Hun Sen relinquished power to his son, with ten environmentalists convicted of lèse-majesté and one of two remaining independent unions targeted by the authorities. The lack of charisma of the young heir seems to have be fuelling corruption and abuse of power.
The WUC has organised various events to honour the victims of China’s most violent crackdown against the Muslim minority. Activist denounces policies that result in “crimes against humanity and genocide.” No Muslims from Xinjiang has been allowed to join the Hajj. Sinicisation and re-education camps have been set up for the Eid holiday.
In a historic decision, Japan’s highest court rules in favour of victims. Almost 25,000 people with disabilities or chronic illnesses sterilised between 1948 and 1996 can now obtain compensation of almost US$ 20,000 each, but the real battle is for dignity.
An AsiaNews source recounts the life of Catholics. One million people, mostly economic migrants, celebrate their faith "in private". The bond with the universal Church and the hope of one day being able to gather and pray in a church. The Internet has strengthened community relations and facilitated attendance at services. A "long history" of "discreet" presence in the region.
Although no longer directly chosen by the military, power groups still dominate the choice of the new members of Thailand's upper house. Among the only 3 civil society representatives elected was the widow of lawyer Neelapaijit, who disappeared into thin air 20 years ago. "We will work for the people, but we are disconcerted by this outcome".
On the eve of the vote, Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi dropped out of the race, calling on other candidates to do the same in favour of a unity candidate. Meanwhile, support is growing for Pezeshkian, a moderate backed by two former presidents, Rouhani and Khatami, and former foreign minister Zarif. For his part Supreme Leader Khamenei has criticised the moderate candidate, and, fearing a low turnout, urged Iranians to vote.
Advocates are pushing for legislation following a recent spate of violence against domestic workers. A draft bill was first tabled 20 years ago but never approved. Advocacy groups want the legislation passed because the more liberal President Joko Widodo will be replaced later this year by the more conservative, Retired General Prabowo Subianto.
This is according to a study covering 2023 published by activists of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey. Last year 781 people invoked help and protection after suffering violence. Six people died in prison or in custody because of the beatings they suffered. Against the Kurds a "disproportionate" use of force.
The blogger who spent four years in prison for reporting on the pandemic in Wuhan was threatened with arrest again a few days after her release. Three weeks ago, visibly distressed, she spoke about her faith behind bars in a Zoom meeting organised up by Chinese house churches, which are persecuted by the authorities.
The Buddhist leader had become famous for walking from the north to the south of Vietnam for rights. According to the authorities - who have him on file - he purposely interrupted his march. A version that does not convince activists and pro-human rights groups. A US congressman appeals to the Commission on Religious Freedom.
While China is systematically erasing the memory of the brutal repression of student protests on 4 June 1989, 14 prominent participants of that movement are still behind bars, rearrested for their struggle for democracy. Chinese Human Rights Defenders issued an appeal for their release. In Hong Kong there is concern for Jimmy Lai's health.
The bishop penned his thoughts about the "sensitive” date, which is taboo in Hong Kong, in an article published yesterday by the diocesan weekly Sunday Examiner. In it, the bishop remembers the “life sapping event that took place 35 years ago” in Beijing on 4 June 1989. Although impossible to forget, he suggests to look at it through the eyes of “God’s unconditional love” who forgives even those who “are not yet courageous enough to ask for it.
While the anniversary of the massacre of the students in Beijing will not take place on 4 June in Victoria Park, a group of individual Christians is calling on people to sign a prayer that will be published as an ad in the Christian Times. The text refers to the repression of that time, but also to the one currently underway in Hong Kong.
Zhang Zhan, 40, was a leading human rights advocate in Shanghai. The Christian woman was supposed to be freed today after four years in prison, but her fate remains unknown while her family has been forced into silence. Activist groups following her case fear that, as in other cases, she might be detained under a different form.
A journey of 10,000 kilometres extolled by Beijing as an opportunity for development (and revenge on Italy's exit from the Belt and Road Initiative). But cotton and tomatoes from Xinjang are at the heart of the ‘policy of poverty alleviation through the transfer of labour’, which according to numerous reports is a form of forced labour.
Manahel al-Qatabi's conviction for seeking an end to male guardianship is just the latest of a long list. A man who denounced corruption and human rights violations on social media was given a death sentence. Scores of people are serving “lengthy” prison terms.
