SL’s civic space rated ‘obstructed’ as majority of countries in Asia are suppressing civic freedoms

• Majority of countries in Asia restricting civic freedoms
• Singapore downgraded from ‘obstructed’ to ‘repressed’
• Concerns about the deterioration of civic space in Myanmar and Afghanistan

Restrictions and attacks on activists and civil society has persisted across the Asian region, according to a new report released by the Civicus Monitor, an online research platform that rates and tracks fundamental freedoms in 197 countries and territories.

The report, ‘People Power Under Attack 2021’, shows that out of 26 countries or territories in Asia, four – China, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam – are rated as ‘closed’. Eleven are rated as ‘repressed’, and seven, including Sri Lanka, as ‘obstructed’. Civic space in Japan, Mongolia and South Korea is rated narrowed, while Taiwan remains the only country rated as ‘open’. 

In reality, this means that the basic freedoms of speech, peaceful assembly and association are not being respected in most countries in this region. This decline marks a trend worldwide, as data from the Civicus Monitor shows that 89% of the world’s population now live in closed, repressed or obstructed countries.

In Sri Lanka where civic space is rated ‘obstructed,’ the Civicus Monitor documented in 2021, the use of the draconian anti-terror law, disruption of protests and the targeting of journalists and critics.

The notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) was used to enable arbitrary detention, despite commitments made to repeal the Act. The PTA allows for the prolonged incarceration, based on mere suspicion, of any person who “causes or intends to cause commission of acts of violence or religious, racial or communal disharmony or feelings of ill-will or hostility between different communities or racial or religious groups.” 

Among activists detained under the act include lawyer and minority and civic rights activist Hejaaz Hizbullah, and Ahnaf Jazeem, a poet and teacher.

There have been systematic attempts by the authorities to prevent or disrupt protests and arrest peaceful protesters. In February 2021, Sri Lankan magistrates across districts in the north-east issued bans and injunctions against civil society members, journalists and other individuals ahead of a ‘walk for justice’ organised by Tamil war victims’ families and civil society organisations. In July, the police arrested 31 people, shortly after they began a protest against the Kotelawala National Defence University (KNDU) Act, which seeks to ‘militarise’ higher education in Sri Lanka.

Journalists and critics have also been targeted by the Government to stifle dissent. In July 2021, Batticaloa-based Tamil journalist Selvakumar Nilanthan was interrogated for nearly three hours, in which he was asked whether he had any links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and was questioned extensively about his work. In the same month, social activist Shehan Malaka Gamage was summoned by the police. He had been outspoken over the investigations into the 2019 Easter attacks.

This year, Singapore has been downgraded from ‘obstructed’ to ‘repressed’ as the Government continues to use various tactics to silence dissent. A repressive ‘anti-fake news’ law was used against government critics and independent media outlets. Journalists and bloggers also faced defamation charges with exorbitant fines imposed. A vaguely worded contempt-of-court law has been used to prosecute activists for criticism of the courts under the guise of protecting the judicial system, while activists organising peaceful gatherings, including solo protesters, have been arrested or charged. Civil society has also raised concerns that a new Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act, passed in October 2021, will further curtail civic space

“A staggering number of people in the Asia region are living in countries with closed or repressed civic space where their freedoms to speak up, organise or mobilise are severely restricted. Now Singapore, which claims to be a democracy, is joining this notorious list, due to its array of restrictive laws used to stifle dissent, the attacks on independent media, and a chilling new foreign interference law,” said Civicus Asia-Pacific Civic Space Researcher Josef Benedict.

In Asia, the top civic violation this year is the use of restrictive laws in 21 countries, as governments use legislation to muzzle dissent. Human rights defenders were detained under such laws in at least 19 countries and in 11 countries they were prosecuted.

China continued to prosecute scores of human rights defenders under vaguely worded offences, while in Hong Kong, the draconian National Security Law has been weaponised to target dozens of activists. In Vietnam, activists and bloggers are facing long sentences for ‘anti-state propaganda’ and ‘abusing democratic freedoms’, while in Cambodia, ‘incitement’ laws are systematically used to target dozens of activists. 

Criminal defamation laws were deployed to criminalise activists and critics, including for ‘lèse-majesté’ (royal defamation) in Thailand. Such defamation legislation was also used in in Bangladesh for online dissent. 

Another major violation is the crackdown on protests with protesters detained in at least 14 countries. In Myanmar, thousands of protesters were arbitrarily detained by the junta following the February 2021 military coup and some were even met with deadly force; in Thailand the authorities disrupted pro-democracy protests, at times using excessive force, including live ammunition. In Indonesia, activists protesting the unilateral renewal of the Papua Special Autonomy Law were disrupted.

Other major violations documented in the Asia region include the harassment and intimidation of activists, including surveillance, smear campaigns, cyberattacks, torture, ill-treatment and the detention of journalists.

“As authoritarian leaders in Asia seek to hold on to power, they have deployed restrictive laws to arrest and criminalise human rights defenders. Scores of activists and journalists are behind bars, facing trumped-up charges, and some have been tortured and ill-treated. Instead of listening to peoples’ demands, the authorities have also resorted to disrupting peaceful protests in numerous countries, at times under the guise of the pandemic, with excessive or deadly force. Despite these attacks, civil society have not relented and are finding new ways to push back and to demand their rights,” said Benedict.

Countries of concern in the region were Myanmar, which saw a rapid decline in fundamental freedoms following the coup with the crackdown on protests, the arrest, detention and criminalisation of hundreds of activists, the targeting of journalists, as well as the torture and ill-treatment of political prisoners. Another country is Afghanistan – following the Taliban takeover, protests – especially by women – were met with excessive force, leading to deaths and injuries, and there have been reports of intimidation and attacks on activists and journalists.

Despite these threats to civic freedoms, there has been some good news. Mongolia’s civic space rating has been upgraded from obstructed to narrowed. In April 2021, the country adopted a new law for the protection of human rights defenders, making it the first country in Asia to provide a legal framework for their protection. Other positive developments include progress in the campaign by activists to hold Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte accountable at the International Criminal Court, and the decriminalisation of same-sex relations in Bhutan.

Over 20 organisations collaborate on the Civicus Monitor, providing evidence and research that help Civicus target countries where civic freedoms are at risk. The monitor has posted more than 550 civic space updates in the last year, which are analysed in ‘People Power Under Attack 2021’. 

Civic freedoms in 197 countries and territories are categorised as either closed, repressed, obstructed, narrowed or open, based on a methodology that combines several sources of data on the freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and expression.