CRACKDOWN ON PROTESTS AND DETENTION OF PROTESTERS

Another key violation documented in the region was the disruption of protests, which occurred in at least 25 countries including five countries in the Pacific. The CIVICUS Monitor documented the detention of protesters in at least 20 countries.

Unprecedented protests that erupted across China in December 2022, due to widespread public frustration with the government’s strict pandemic regulations, were met with restrictions, arrests and excessive force. Police installed barricades and deployed sophisticated surveillance tools to track down and detain protesters. There was widespread censorship of online posts and videos related to the protests.

In Cambodia, striking unionists from the NagaWorld Casino, who held regular protests, were detained at quarantine centres for allegedly violating COVID-19 protocols. Some were forced onto buses and driven to the outskirts of the city where they had to pay for their own transport home. Strikers, mostly women union members, experienced sexual harassment.

Riot police also used violent tactics in Thailand to disperse peaceful protesters, including in the context of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November 2022, when they beat protesters with batons and fired rubber bullets. They also attacked journalists at the scene. In Indonesia, mass protests by Papuans against the central government’s policies and in support of independence were forcibly dispersed with unnecessary use of force. Arrests were made and injuries reported.

Protests in Bangladesh by the political opposition, students and workers were met with restrictions and excessive police force. In some instances, supporters of the ruling Awami League party were involved in attacks against protesters with impunity. In August and September 2022, there was a brutal crackdown by the government on nationwide protests by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party against a hike in fuel and commodity prices and mismanagement in the energy sector. In December 2022, the authorities again disrupted an opposition rally with live ammunition, rubber bullets and teargas. Mass arrests were reported.

Sri Lanka was included on the CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist in 2022 due to a crackdown on mass protests, as the country suffered its worst economic crisis in decades. The authorities used sweeping emergency powers to curtail protests, make arrests and shut down social media networks. Human rights groups documented the use of excessive force by the police against protesters, with the deployment of water cannon, teargas and rubber bullets. Hundreds were arbitrarily arrested and there were allegations of torture and ill-treatment in detention, including denial of access to medical care and lawyers. The draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act was used to detain three student activists. Journalists reporting on the protests were assaulted by security forces.

There were also restrictions on protests and arrests of protesters by the authorities in Maldives. In April 2022, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih issued a decree restricting anti-India protests as a threat to national security. In Nepal, protests against a contentious aid grant and fuel price hikes were disrupted with excessive force. The Taliban repressed protests in Afghanistan, especially by women’s rights activists, disrupting their protests by firing shots into the air and detaining, interrogating and ill-treating them. In some cases, teargas and batons were used. They also assaulted journalists and confiscated their equipment to stop them covering the protests.

In the Pacific, the disruption of protests was documented in Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu. Papua New Guinea security forces opened fire on protesters in Jiwaka Province around the general election in August 2022, killing four men and injuring 15 others. In Australia, the police undertook a pre-emptive raid ahead of protests by Blockade Australia climate protesters in June 2022, arresting at least 40 people.