FORUM-ASIA, together with the Solidarity for Asian People's Advocacy Task Force on ASEAN and Human Rights (SAPA TFAHR), is organizing a series of national workshops for civil society representatives to comment on the first draft of  Terms of Reference (TOR) of the ASEAN Human Rights Body (AHRB). The AHRB is the first regional mechanism on [ Read more ]

The ASEAN Peoples' Forum (APF) and the 4th ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC), are now confirmed to be held between 20-22 February 2009 in Chulalangkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. This conference is a people's and civil society's process to mirror the annual ASEAN Summit. The  14th ASEAN Summit will be held in Hua Hin, from 27 [ Read more ]

ESCR-Net hosted the first international workshop on economic, social and cultural rights called "Bridging Trade, Investment, Finance and Human Rights: Pilot Project on the Agricultural Sector" in Bangkok, from 26-30 January 2009. The five-day workshop focused on human rights and economic policies, with particular emphasis on the agricultural sector. Fifteen participants from Latin America, Africa, [ Read more ]

FORUM-ASIA's Third Regional Human Rights Defenders Forum, was successfully held from 18-20 January 2009, after its postponement in December due to Thailand's political crisis.The Forum met its objectives of promoting a strong partnership between human rights defenders in Asia and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders. About 100 over participants [ Read more ]

This is an abstract of an open letter issued by FORUM-ASIA to the President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on 7 January. The letter raises the issue of excessive force used by Indonesian Police to evict the Sakal indigenous people from their tanah ulayat in Suluk Bongkal, Riau Province. This is an abstract of an [ Read more ]

SUARA RAKYAT MALAYSIA (SUARAM), FORUM-ASIA's member based in Malaysia has issued this press statement on 23 January 2009, to urge for the release of Iban land activists who were detained under the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance 1969 for suspected gang robbery, while struggling for their land rights. SUARAM also called on [ Read more ]

This statement was released by People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), FORUM-ASIA's member in Seoul on 20 January 2009, as a response to the death of at least four people and 17 seriously injured due to police violence due to their resistance against forced demolition of a building. PSPD wants Kim, Suk-Gi, Seoul Police superintendent [ Read more ]

The statement was signed on 29 January 2009 by a group of civil society organisations including Centre for Policy Alternatives, Citizen Committee for Displaced People, Home for Human Rights, INFORM Human Rights Documentation, Mothers and Daughters of Lanka, Rights Now Collective for Democracy and Women & Media Collective, to record their deepest concerns for the [ Read more ]

This statement was released in January by FORUM-ASIA's member in Timor Leste – Judicial System Monitoring Program (JSMP) – on the legitimacy of the court's decision in the case relating to the Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF). This statement was released in January by FORUM-ASIA's member in Timor Leste – Judicial System Monitoring Program (JSMP) – [ Read more ]

FORUM-ASIA has successfully hosted the Writeshop on Asian Civil Society Submission to the Outcome Document (OD) of the Durban Review Conference (DRC) 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand, from 8-9 January. The Writeshop is a joint initiative of FORUM-ASIA and the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR). The DRC will be held in [ Read more ]