(Jakarta, 24 May 2021) ‒ The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has yet to make meaningful progress towards implementing the ASEAN five-point consensus since the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting exactly one month ago, the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) said. Aiming to tackle the deteriorating socio-political crisis and to find a peaceful [ Read more ]

(Bangkok, 20 May 2021) – The Philippine government must immediately rescind Executive Order (EO) 130 and reject OceanaGold’s mining permit renewal as it imperils every Filipinos’ constitutional right to a safe and healthy environment. The Executive Order also guarantees continued impunity in a country dubbed as one of the most dangerous places for environmental human [ Read more ]

(Bangkok, 20 May 2021) ‒ The historic passing of the Law on the Legal Status of Human Rights Defenders (HRD Protection Law) on 1 April 2021 in Mongolia is a welcome step towards fostering a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders (HRDs). However, despite the significant progress made, vaguely worded provisions in the [ Read more ]

(19 May 2021) The threats, harassment, intimidation and attacks against human rights defenders, activists, journalists and media workers in Afghanistan must end – the undersigned international human rights organizations said. From September 2020 until May 2021, a total of 17 human rights defenders have been killed, including nine journalists, based on information compiled by the [ Read more ]

(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 ]

(Bangkok/Geneva, 11 May 2021) – A recent amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution grossly undermines the credibility of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL), raising questions on the Commission’s compliance to international standards, the Asian NGO Network on National Human Rights Institutions and its member the Law and Society Trust said in a joint [ Read more ]

(Bangkok, 7 May 2021) ‒ The international community must take a strong, principled stand against the escalating repression and reprisals against human rights activists and civil society in Hong Kong, said the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), Asia Democracy Network (ADN), and CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation. ‘Authorities in China and [ Read more ]

(Bangkok/Kathmandu, 6 May 2021) – Pakistan must uphold its constitutional obligation to guarantee the right to freedom of expression by rejecting the Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2020, said the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA). Under the bill approved by Pakistan’s National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior on 7 April 2021, those who [ Read more ]

We, the undersigned organizations, call on the United Nations Security Council to urgently impose a comprehensive global arms embargo on Myanmar to help prevent further violations of human rights against peaceful protesters and others opposing military rule. In recent weeks, Myanmar security forces have killed hundreds of people, including dozens of children, merely for exercising [ Read more ]

(Bangkok, 30 April 2021) – ‘ASEAN has failed to recognise the peoples’ desire for a meaningful political solution to the Myanmar crisis during its Leaders’ Meeting,’ said the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), along with its member organisations from Indonesia and Myanmar in a joint statement today. The rights groups derided the [ Read more ]