(Bangkok, 2 April 2021) The Thai authorities’ adoption of a draft law to regulate non-profit groups would strike a severe blow to human rights in Thailand, several international organizations said today. The bill is the latest effort by the Thai government to pass repressive legislation to muzzle civil society groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The [ Read more ]

On the deteriorating health of Thai pro-democracy activists Parit ‘Penguin’ Chiwarak and Panusaya ‘Rung’ Sithijirawattanak, FORUM-ASIA Executive Director Shamini Darshni Kaliemuthi said: The Court must immediately grant bail to human rights activists Parit ‘Penguin’ Chiwarak and Panusaya ‘Rung’ Sithijirawattanak, who are facing deteriorating health issues after 47 and 32 days of hunger strike, respectively. While [ Read more ]

(Bangkok, 23 March 2021) – The Thai authorities must respect and abide by the principles of necessity and proportionality in handling protests and must hold accountable police and plainclothes officers who have responded to protests with violence, said the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) and  CIVICUS in a joint statement today. On [ Read more ]

46th regular of the UN Human Rights Council Item 4: General Debate on human rights situations that require the Council’s attention Oral Statement Delivered by Ahmed Adam On behalf of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)  Friday, 12 March 2021      Madam President, We welcome the Secretary-General’s update on the [ Read more ]

[Joint Statement] Thailand: Strengthen National Human Right Commission before Accreditation Upgrade (Bangkok/Geneva, 16 December 2020) — The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRCT) should continue to be accredited as ‘B status’[1] in the re-accreditation exercise by the Sub-Committee on Accreditation of Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI-SCA), said the Asian NGO Network [ Read more ]

  We, the undersigned organisations, condemn the Thai police’s unnecessary and excessive use of force against peaceful protesters marching to the national parliament in Bangkok on November 17, 2020. We are concerned that authorities could employ similar measures when facing protesters who have declared they will march to the Siam Commercial Bank headquarters on November [ Read more ]

(Jakarta, 18 November 2020) ‒ The use of violence by police  to disperse yesterday’s protest by the pro-democracy movement is unjustified, and fails to meet the international human rights standards Thailand has committed itself to, the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), said in a statement today. Thai police, yesterday, dispersed pro-democracy movement [ Read more ]

*Please scroll down for a Thai version of this statement. Thailand: End harassment of Suchanee Cloitre, human rights defenders Baseless criminal defamation cases undercut labor rights protections 26 October 2020 We, the undersigned twelve human rights organizations, call on Thailand’s government to immediately end the harassment through the judicial system of journalist Suchanee Cloitre and [ Read more ]

(Jakarta, 22 October 2020) ‒ We, 72 organisations across Asia, stand in solidarity with the peaceful democracy movement in Thailand as it continues to push for fundamental freedoms and democratic reforms, in the midst of government repression. The Government of Thailand should abide by its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [ Read more ]

(Jakarta, 15 October 2020) ‒ The state of ‘severe’ emergency in Thailand declared in the wee hours of the morning is aimed at centralising the Thai government’s power and preventing the legitimate expression of dissent, the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) said today. The rights group said the ‘severe’ emergency, which bans [ Read more ]