exercise of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, often under the pretext of protecting public order. The South Korean National Assembly passed an anti-terrorism law substantially expanding powers of surveillance of communications and the collection of personal information of people suspected of terrorist links. In Mongolia, civil society organizations working for human rights protection faced regular intimidation, harassment and threats mainly by private actors. In a positive development in Taiwan, the new government dropped charges against more than 100 protesters who participated in the 2014 student-led protests against the Cross Straits Services Trade Agreement between Taiwan and China, known as the “Sunflower Movement”. The new Prime Minister, Lin Chuan, stated that the previous government’s decision to charge the protesters was a “political reaction” rather than a “legal case”. religious practices, again in the name of national security to curb “infiltration and extremism”. If passed it could be used to further supress in particular the rights to freedom of religion and of belief of Christian communities unrecognized by the state, Tibetan Buddhists and Uighur Muslims. In the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, the government detained ethnic Uighur writers and Uighur language website editors. Ethnic Tibetans faced ongoing discrimination and restrictions on their rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, expression, association and peaceful assembly. Tibetan blogger Druklo was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for “inciting separatism”, including for his online posts on religious freedom and the Dalai Lama. In the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, the government continued to violate the right to freedom of religion, and cracked down on unauthorized religious gatherings. PEOPLE ON THE MOVE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS Japan continued to reject most asylum applications. The South Korean immigration service held more than 100 asylum-seekers for months at Incheon International Airport, including 28 men from Syria whom a court eventually ruled should be released and allowed to apply for asylum. Dozens of asylum-seekers from other countries such as Egypt remained detained at the airport in inhumane conditions. Human rights defenders were targeted for violations throughout South Asia in several ways. Governments used draconian legislation and new laws aimed at censoring online expression. India used repressive laws to curb freedom of expression and silence critics. The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act was used to restrict civil society organizations receiving foreign funding, and to harass NGOs. The sedition law – used by the British to curb free expression during India’s independence struggle – was deployed to harass critics. Human rights defenders also faced intimidation and attacks. Journalist Karun Mishra was killed by gunmen in Uttar Pradesh state, apparently for reporting on illegal soil mining. Rajdeo Ranjan, a journalist who had faced threats from political leaders for his writing, was also shot dead. In Jammu and Kashmir, security forces used unnecessary or excessive force against demonstrators. The Jammu and Kashmir government also imposed a curfew for over DISCRIMINATION Japan’s parliament passed its first national law against the advocacy of hatred or hate speech against residents of overseas origin and their descendants, following an increase in pro-discrimination demonstrations. Critics said the law was too narrow and did not contain penalties. Discrimination against sexual or ethnic minorities remained severe. In China, freedom of religion was systematically violated. Draft amendments to legislation contained provisions to increase state power to control and sanction some Amnesty International Report 2016/17 SOUTH ASIA 35