(Bangkok/Kathmandu, 14 January 2021) – The recent arrests of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leaders by Pakistani authorities signal the deteriorating space for civic freedoms in the country, said the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) in a statement today. ‘The arrests of Ali Wazir and Dr. Said Alam Mehsud also demonstrate the continued [ Read more ]

19 December 2020 Today marks one year since the Government of the Maldives arbitrarily shut down the longest serving human rights group in the country, the Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN) and arbitrarily confiscated all of its funds. Since then, the Government has not reversed any of its unconstitutional actions related to the dissolution of MDN. [ 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 ]

(AP Photo/Family Photo of Sombath Somphone) 15 December 2020: On the eighth anniversary of the enforced disappearance of Lao civil society leader Sombath Somphone, we, the undersigned organizations, reiterate our calls on the government of Laos to reveal his fate and whereabouts, and to investigate all allegations of enforced disappearances in the country to bring [ Read more ]

Free Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam, repeal Hong Kong’s undemocratic Laws   Joint Statement December 10, 2020 On December 2, Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts sentenced pro-democracy activists Agnes Chow, Joshua Wong, and Ivan Lam to jail for their alleged role in a demonstration outside the police headquarters during the 2019 anti-extradition [ 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 ]

  23 November 2020 We, the undersigned 10 human rights organizations, call on the Myanmar authorities to immediately end criminal proceedings against student activists and other individuals charged in relation to recent peaceful protest activities. We call on the Myanmar authorities to immediately and unconditionally  release those detained for simply exercising their human rights. Authorities [ 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 ]

(Bangkok/Geneva, 2 November 2020) ‒ CIVICUS and the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) call on United Nations (UN) member states to urge the Government of the Maldives to protect civic freedoms as its human rights record is examined by the UN on 4 November 2020 as part of the 36th session of [ 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 ]