On the evening of 10 May, a group of young activists–including Tantawan ‘Tawan’ Tuatulanon and Orawan Phupong–gathered at the Samranrat police station to protest against the police’s decision to impose additional charges on Yok, a 15-year-old student who had been detained for violating the lèse majesté law or Section 112 of Thailand’s Criminal Code, which [ Read more ]

Civil society calls for review and reframing of the ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus Continuing failure of ASEAN will prompt people of Myanmar to reconsider Myanmar’s ASEAN membership [5 May 2023] Today, Myanmar civil society organisations, supported by regional and international organisations, launch a position paper to call for a review and reframe of the ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus and [ Read more ]

Civil society welcomes the special review of junta’s Myanmar national human rights commission’s status in global body The Special Review must lead to the suspension or expulsion of the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (1 May, 2023) The CSO Working Group on Independent National Human Rights Institution (Burma-Myanmar) (“Working Group”) and the Asian NGO Network [ Read more ]

In response to the proposal of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) by the government of Sri Lanka, FORUM-ASIA says: FORUM-ASIA is alarmed by the newly proposed Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), an anti-terror legislation to replace the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) of 1979. Although the bill is being introduced to do away with provisions of the [ Read more ]

In response to the Indian Supreme Court restoring the ‘guilt by association’ doctrine in criminal jurisprudence: FORUM-ASIA condemns the recent judgement by India’s apex court restoring the doctrine of  “guilt by association”. As per the new ruling, mere membership of a banned organisation will be a crime under India’s repressive anti-terror law: the Unlawful Activities [ Read more ]

In response to the Maldives parliament opening a debate regarding an amendment to the country’s General Elections Act, FORUM-ASIA says: FORUM-ASIA is alarmed by the proposed amendment to Maldives’ General Elections Act which would restrict journalists from freely monitoring elections. Only journalists from media organizations registered with and approved by the government would be permitted to work [ Read more ]

[Bangkok, Thailand] The Myanmar military junta has co-opted the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) and its silence, and instrumentalized the national human rights institution as part of its propaganda arsenal to claim legitimacy, conceal its grave crimes, and avert international attention and criticism. The international community must realign its comprehension with the accurate circumstances [ Read more ]

Cambodia has been added to a watchlist of countries that have seen a rapid decline in civic freedoms. Repressive laws are routinely misused to restrict civic freedoms and criminalise human rights defenders, trade unionists, youth activists, journalists, opposition politicians and other critical voices. Prime Minister Hun Sen has also used the COVID-19 pandemic as a [ Read more ]

Paris-Geneva, November 22, 2022 – On the first-year anniversary of prominent Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez’s arrest and detention, four human rights organisations have submitted a complaint to the United Nations (UN) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. “The detention of Khurram Parvez carries all the signs of an arbitrary detention in clear breach of [ Read more ]

For immediate release 17 August 2022, Bangkok Reflecting on one year takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban on 15 August 2021, the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), Safety and Risk Mitigation Organization (SRMO), and Afghanistan Human Rights Coordination Mechanism (AHRCM) organised a webinar to discuss the situation of human rights and human [ Read more ]