Convention against Torture with reservations although accountability for torture and other ill-treatment was hindered by constitutional immunities and a lack of political will. EAST ASIA HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS In East Asia, human rights defenders came under concerted attacks, with a narrowing space for civil society to raise issues deemed contentious by the authorities. In China’s continuing crackdown under Xi Jinping’s rule, human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists and activists faced increasing and systematic intimidation and harassment, including arbitrary arrest and torture and other ill-treatment. Family members of those detained were also subject to police surveillance, harassment and restriction of their freedom of movement. The authorities increased the use of “residential surveillance at a designated location” which allowed police to hold individuals for up to six months outside the formal detention system, without access to legal counsel of their choice or their families. There was also an increase in detainees being forced to make televised “confessions”. The authorities continued to block thousands of websites. In Guangdong province, China cracked down on workers and labour rights activists, frequently denying detainees access to lawyers on “national security” pretexts. The Chinese government also drafted or enacted laws and regulations under the pretext of enhancing national security, but which could be used to silence dissent and suppress human rights defenders under broadly defined offences such as “inciting subversion” and “leaking state secrets”. There were fears that the new Foreign NonGovernmental Organizations Management Law could be used to intimidate and prosecute human rights defenders and NGOs, and the new Cyber Security Law could undermine freedom of expression and privacy. Yet activists dared to be innovative. Four human rights defenders were arrested for 34 commemorating the 27th anniversary of the 4 June 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. They posted an online advertisement for a popular alcohol with a label reading “Remember, Eight Liquor Six Four” – a play on words in Chinese echoing the date of the notorious event, accompanied by “tank man’s” picture. The action was covered widely on social media before being censored. In October, Ilham Tohti – a well-known Uyghur intellectual who fostered dialogue between Uyghurs and Han Chinese – received the 2016 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders awarded for deep commitment in the face of great risk. He is currently serving a life sentence on “separatism” charges. In Hong Kong, students Joshua Wong, Alex Chow and Nathan Law were convicted of “taking part in an unlawful assembly” in connection with their roles in the 2014 events that triggered the pro-democracy Umbrella Movement. North Korea exercised extreme repression, violating almost the full spectrum of human rights. There were severe restrictions on freedom of expression and no domestic independent media or civil society organizations. Up to 120,000 individuals continued to be held in prison camps where torture and other ill-treatment, including forced labour, was widespread and routine. State control, oppression and intimidation intensified since Kim Jung-un came to power in 2011. The persistent stranglehold on use of communication technology – designed in part to isolate citizens and obscure the appalling human rights situation – continued. People caught using mobile phones to contact loved ones abroad faced incarceration in political prison camps or detention facilities. In neighbouring South Korea, regressive human rights trends included restrictions on freedoms of peaceful assembly and expression which took new forms such as civil lawsuits. The authorities undercut press freedom through heavier interference with news reporting and the restriction on the Amnesty International Report 2016/17