Thirty-four Tibetans were arrested in Kathmandu last Wednesday, for staging demonstrations. The protests, outside a Buddhist monastery and the Chinese Embassy, were commemorating the 1959 Tibetan uprising. This crackdown on pro-Tibet actions coincides with an increase in security measures in Lhasa. 2,800 police officers have been deployed in the city in anticipation for potential violence this week during the second anniversary of the 2008 riots.
Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa dissolved parliament on Tuesday, and announced general elections as the opposition called for nationwide protests over the arrest of defeated presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka, the former army chief. Fonseka was arrested on Monday night, Rajapaksa won the presidential poll on January 26 amid opposition claims of widespread electoral fraud. Yesterday, government supporters clashed with thousands of opposition protesters over the arrest. The opposition accused the President of ordering Fonseca’s arrest on fabricated coup charges to prevent a further challenge from him in parliamentary polls. According to the Civil Rights Movement (CRM), demonstrators were physically attacked by government supporters who were prepared with sticks and large stones. Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, has expressed concern over the arrest, as has the US. “Democracy today in Sri Lanka is nonexistent,” said Ravi Rajakarunanayake, a member of Parliament from an opposition party that had backed General Fonseka. “It is very tense here today.”
The Free Media Movement (FMM) and other IFEX members report that Sri Lankan journalists continues to be arrested and intimidated as part of a post-election crackdown. The authorities have detained and questioned many journalists, blocked websites and attempted to expel a foreign journalist, fostering a climate of fear. Five Sri Lankan media organisations have expressed concerns about attacks on the media and this week two journalists from the MTV television network were assaulted.
A 15-year-old girl has been sentenced to jail for nearly eight years after having been arrested at a demonstration in support of the banned Kurdish group PPK. The girl has been convicted of ‘terrorist’ offences, including ‘crimes on behalf of an illegal organisation’, ‘attending meetings and demonstrations in opposition to the law’ and ‘spreading propaganda for an illegal organisation. ’ In her defence the girl claimed that she did not know what the word propaganda meant and that she had only confessed after having been beaten while in custody.
On 18 January at least 30 women were detained in Kampala while attempting to deliver a petition calling for the resignation of the electoral commission chief Badru Kiggundu, who they say is unable to organise credible and fair elections, scheduled for 2011. The women, members of a group called InterParty Cooperation, were wearing T-shirts with the slogan ‘Women for Peace’; “they forcefully loaded us on police vehicles like sacks of beans even when we had voluntarily accepted arrest,” said the chair of the opposition women’s league, Ingrid Turinawe. Police say they are likely to be charged with criminal trespass, unlawful assembly and inciting violence.