About 200 people gathered outside the Burmese embassy in Thailand on Friday, 8 August, to commemorate 20 years of student-led pro-democracy demonstrations in the country. The protesters carried colorful banners, red planes and baloons, while shouting slogans of "Free Burma". More photos inside. A representative from the Peace for Burma Coalition read out a statement, after [ Read more ]

Odhikar, FORUM-Asia’s member in Bangladesh has called on the Bangladesh government to ratify the International Criminal Court treaty immediately. In 1998, at a special UN conference, Bangladesh played an important role in negotiating the Rome Statute and became one of the first South Asian countries to sign the treaty.  Odhikar calls for ICC treaty to [ Read more ]

FORUM-ASIA’s member organisation in Nepal – Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC) – has recently issued a report on ‘Sexual Violence Against Women in Nepal’. INSEC has also made a statement regarding property confiscation during conflict, and updated us on their progress in the Universal Periodic Review report. Recently, INSEC held a training on UN Human [ Read more ]

ASEAN human rights organisations met in Jakarta, from 5-8 August, for a comprehensive and strategic consultation meeting to ensure that the High Level Panel set up an independent and effective regional human rights mechanism. The three-day “Second Regional Consultation on ASEAN and Human Rights” was participated by more than 60 participants across ASEAN and beyond. [ Read more ]

 FORUM ASIA and the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) decided to conduct a fact-finding mission, consisting of four members, to South Korea from 21-24 July 2008 in the light of numerous reports of human rights violations since May. The two regional human rights organisations consider the events recently occurring in South Korea of regional importance because [ Read more ]

The much anticipated Truth and Friendship Commission's (CTF) final report was released recently. FORUM-ASIA's partner in Timor Leste, the Judicial Systems Monitoring Programme (JSMP) has conducted a series of interviews on the CTF with victims and community representatives from several districts. Reviewing evidence examined by previous investigations into the conflict, the report draws some familiar [ Read more ]

FORUM-ASIA's member, The Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) presents the "State of Human Rights of the Nation: Impunity as a Spreading Cancer" on the Occasion of the 8th State of the Nation Address (SONA), on July 28, 2008. State Obligations and Accountability The Philippines has a Bill of Rights in its 1987 Constitution [ Read more ]

Several women and children based NGOs in Mongolia have asked delegates of the 13th Annual Meeting of the Asia Pacific Forum on National Human Rights Institutions  in Kuala Lumpur to voice their concerns over the murder of Altantuya Shariibuu. The NGOs said it will demand for all necessary measures, including the review of relations between [ Read more ]

A group of 44 members of the Malaysian civil society has urged the government to initiate amendments to the 1999 Human Rights Commission of Malaysia Act to make the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) a truly independent and effective institution. The International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions (ICC)'s recent notice to SUHAKAM [ Read more ]

Two Asian organisations have launched a joint inquiry into alleged human rights violations by riot police during protests against U.S. beef imports. The on-the-ground survey team – comprised of four members from the FORUM-ASIA and Asian Human Rights Commission – began its five-day inquiry on 21 July. Their inquiry followed the unprecedented two-week research here [ Read more ]