India: Bhopal: Lawyers observe strike in protest against Mandsaur advocate murder
In Bhopal district court, advocates abstained from routine work as a mark their support to the strike call.
Advocates were on strike in Madhya Pradesh in protest against murder of advocate in Mandsaur.
Advocate fraternity across the state rose up in protest after a VHP leader and lawyer Yuvaraj Singh was murdered in Mandsaur.
State Bar Council thanked the lawyers for showing solidarity over the security and safety of their brother lawyers. After Bar Council elections, agitation is likely to be launched at mass level in Madhya Pradesh.
The lawyers opine that the frequent incidents of advocates being targeted have been witnessed in the state so there must be an advocate protection act in the state for proper security of the lawyers.
Previous government as well as present government has only extended assurance to the lawyers over the act but nothing concrete has been done in this regard.
https://www.freepressjournal.in/bhopal/bhopal-lawyers-observe-strike-in-protest-against-mandsaur-advocate-murder
https://www.thehitavada.com/Encyc/2019/10/12/Work-hit-as-lawyers-abstain-from-work.html
The Philippines: Duterte's New War
In the Philippines, the president's latest war is claiming the lives of farmers, activists and political opponents.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's "war on drugs" has been blamed for thousands of alleged extrajudicial killings.
Now, the president is waging another bloody war – this time against a communist rebellion.
In November last year, Duterte declared a state of emergency on the island of Negros, ordering military and police reinforcements to launch operations against the New People's Army.
But many allege the victims have not just been rebel fighters.
Rights organisations say they have documented more than 80 alleged extrajudicial killings of farm workers, human rights advocates and lawyers on Negros since Duterte came to power in 2016.
Ben Ramos, a human rights lawyer who represented poor farmers, was shot late one night in November last year.
His wife, Yesha Ramos, blames the Duterte government for his death.
"I feel so mad, I feel so sad, I feel just really angry," she tells 101 East. "It was the state forces. Taking the life of a person who is very innocent, who has been very supportive of farmers, is not an answer."
https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/101east/2019/10/dutertes-war-191011053006171.html
https://www.rappler.com/nation/242191-un-expert-philip-alston-duterte-drug-war-arbitrary-power
Amid unsolved killings of lawyers, attack on another in Capiz shows boundless impunity
https://www.dw.com/en/dissent-unwelcome-in-the-philippines-vice-president-leni-robredo/a-50723669
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/presidents-orders-1246986
"If They Are Stubborn, Then We Will Kill Them": Inside Rodrigo Duterte's War on Drug Suspects in the Philippines
https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2019/10/11/Amnesty-International-drug-war-Duterte-ninja-cops.html
https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/10/article/one-foot-in-the-grave-for-philippine-activists/
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tao-po-london-tickets-73515640259
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/10/philippines-end-war-drugs-following-national-police-chief-resignation/
Attacks on Filipino Lawyers and law workers 23 Sept 19 (IAPL MONITORING COMMITTEE REPORT)
Farmers, lawyers, and human rights activists on Negros Island in the Philippines fear for their lives. They claim they're being targeted by state-sanctioned death squads. On @AJ101East: https://t.co/SeWnBtwEY9 pic.twitter.com/CJlhVS0COn
— 101 East Al Jazeera (@AJ101East) October 11, 2019
"All of the 87 have not gotten any justice." Since Philippines President Duterte came to power in 2016, there have been at least 87 alleged extrajudicial killings of farmers, human rights advocates and lawyers on Negros Island: https://t.co/SeWnBtOgmJ pic.twitter.com/wJZi1nABvT
Human rights lawyer Ben Ramos was killed on the island of Negros in the Philippines. His wife blames state forces for his death. @AJ101East follows the case: https://t.co/SeWnBtOgmJ pic.twitter.com/QcflBdOlGI
"On the President's Orders" gains access to a police unit in the Philippines as suspicions continue that the police are carrying out extrajudicial killings targeting suspected drug users or dealers. WATCH: https://t.co/84qN6Fayee pic.twitter.com/pwCWAA5MUN
— FRONTLINE (@frontlinepbs) October 11, 2019
ONGOING: National Congress Against the Death Penalty
Scholars and respected speakers on the field of capital punishment and drug policy gather to discuss nuanced perspectives on the anti-drug campaign, extrajudicial killings, and death penalty. #NoToDeathPenalty pic.twitter.com/ZIUdxKsULf
— CHR Philippines (@chrgovph) October 10, 2019
New report by @PhilRights documented 118 alleged cases of Extrajudicial Killings (EJK) committed in the Philippines since the Duterte administration's "war on drugs." These human rights violations are "systemic, coordinated, sequential, and comprehensive." https://t.co/DYT66xnSFA pic.twitter.com/9ky0MDtRtF
— APHR (@ASEANMP) October 9, 2019
Over 500 civilians were reported killed in targeted attacks in the #Philippines over the first half of 2019, ACLED data show.
State forces were linked to more than 300 of these killings: https://t.co/JPEXQVuxOj #Duterte pic.twitter.com/uJGNImi8RR
— Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (@ACLEDINFO) October 9, 2019
Fascinating analysis showing many irregularities in drug-related killing campaign in the #Philippines based on comprehensive data from the only existing individual-level database of drug-related killings compiled by Ateneo Univ #ISSDPasia pic.twitter.com/azovPoZo8p
— Dr Claudia Stoicescu (@Claudia85) October 15, 2019
The #Philippine war on drugs has not had a deterrent effect on #drug use. In fact, a recent study has shown that it is having the opposite effect: by causing more distress it is increasing drug consumption. Important insights from Renier Louie Bona at #issdpAsia pic.twitter.com/90VbLAqO3o
Macau/Hong Kong: Another Winnie Ho legal representative denied entry in Macau by authorities
Donna Yau Yuet Wah, a legal representative of the late businesswoman Winnie Ho Yuen-ki, the deceased sister of gaming mogul Stanley Ho Hung-sun, indicated on her Facebook page that she has been banned from entering Macau by local security authorities.
According to the social media post, on Thursday at 11.40am, Ms. Yau boarded a TurboJet ferry in Hong Kong bound for the Macau Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal, but upon her arrival at 12:58pm she was stopped by customs authorities and refused entry under the pretext that there were strong indications she intended to commit actions that could put the security of the city in danger.
Ms. Yau underlined in her Facebook post that she was headed to Macau for work, that she was held by security authorities for almost three hours and had to contact a local legal assistant to help her get released and allowed to return to Hong Kong.
The lawyer was travelling to Macau for issues connected to the property of the deceased Winnie Ho.
Ms. Yau has also previously provided legal assistance to some pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong and was part of a 2015 petition signed by 46 legal heavyweights from the Hong Kong Bar Association and the chief executive election committee against China's crackdown on human rights lawyers and activists.
In statements to TDM Radio, Ms. Yau's lawyer José Maria Abecassis questioned the reason for the entry denial and considered it could be related to her client's links to Albert Ho, the legislator and former President of Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, who was also barred from entering Macau last month.
https://www.macaubusiness.com/another-winnie-ho-legal-representative-denied-entry-in-macau-by-authorities/
Russia: Russian Lawyer Who Defended Detainees Fined For 'Attack' On Police
A Russian lawyer and human rights activist has been found guilty of attacking police and fined 30,000 rubles ($468) by a Krasnodar court in connection with his detention while he was trying to provide legal advice to protesters being taken into police custody at an anti-government rally a year ago.
Mikhail Benyash had faced up to five years in prison, and investigators were reportedly seeking a larger fine.
International rights group Amnesty International has called the charges against Benyash "politically motivated."
He has spent the past decade working on civil and criminal cases and "has been providing legal assistance to the participants of rallies which were not officially approved," according to Frontline Defenders, a Dublin-based group that seeks to protect "at-risk" human rights defenders.
Benyash was arrested on September 9, 2018, in Krasnodar, where he went to provide legal assistance to participants in an unsanctioned protest during a wave of public rallies against Russian pension reform.
He was initially ordered to spend two weeks in jail in September 2018 for allegedly disobeying police.
Later, he was charged with "using violence against a government official," leading to this latest conviction.
https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-lawyer-who-defended-detainees-fined-for-attack-on-police/30212351.html
https://www.eng.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/48748/
https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/10/04/russia-defense-lawyer-arrested-beaten
https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur46/9295/2018/en/
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/profile/mikhail-benyash
https://lawyersforlawyers.org/en/lawyers/mikhail-benyash/