Human Rights Council virtual informal conversation with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Joint NGO statement on civil and political rights Thursday, 09 April 2020 Civil society’s call to states:   we are in this together, don’t violate human rights while responding to COVID-19. As States are undertaking extraordinary measures to curb the spread of [ Read more ]

JOINT STATEMENT INDIA: Arbitrarily detained Kashmiri prisoners must be freed Geneva – Paris – New Delhi, 6 April 2020 – While recent steps taken by Indian authorities to decongest prisons in an effort to contain the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak are welcome, the Government should release all unjustly detained prisoners as a matter of priority. [ Read more ]

Cambodia: State of Emergency draft law will put civic freedoms and human rights defenders at further risk 6 April 2020 CAMBODIA: CIVICUS, FORUM-ASIA, Frontline Defenders and Civil Rights Defenders are seriously concerned about draconian provisions in Cambodia’s draft State of Emergency Law which mandates unfettered power to the executive, undermining fundamental freedoms with no defined [ Read more ]

(Bangkok/Kathmandu, 06 April 2020) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) along with 21 of its member organisations call upon countries in South Asia to ensure that human rights are at the centre of their emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The group is concerned with the absence of human rights safeguards [ Read more ]

We, the six undersigned civil society organisations, reiterate our call for the Thai authorities to end judicial harassment against human rights defenders and to cease reprisals against former workers of Thai poultry company Thammakaset. We also call upon the Government of Thailand to ensure that its national laws abide by international human rights laws and [ Read more ]

Joint-Statement ASEAN urged to heed UN Sec-Gen call for ceasefire, ensure human rights amid COVID19 Southeast Asian states should heed call for global ceasefire, ensure conflict sensitivity and human rights in responding to COVID19 crisis We the undersigned civil society organisations and individuals, strongly urge the Member-States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) [ Read more ]

(Bangkok, 25 March 2020) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) and its member organisations, Equality Myanmar, Progressive Voice and Women’s League of Burma call for the full restoration of Internet services in townships in Rakhine and Chin States to enable communities to access critical information in the time of the COVID-19 [ Read more ]

(Bangkok/Jakarta, 20 March 2020) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, together with the Solidarity for ASEAN Peoples’ Advocacy and the undersigned organisations, are gravely concerned with the lack of a human rights focus in the current response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Members States. [ Read more ]

(Kathmandu/ Bangkok, 19 March 2020) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is deeply concerned over the alleged enforced disappearance of Shafiqul Islam Kajol, a Bangladeshi photo-journalist and editor of the Dhaka-based Bangla-language biweekly Pakkhakal. He has been missing since 10 March 2020.  His disappearance is particularly concerning given the criminal defamation [ Read more ]

Today, 19 March 2020, marks the third anniversary of the arbitrary detention of Taiwanese human rights defender Li Ming-Che by the Chinese authorities. Since his arbitrary arrest, Li Ming-Che’s rights have continued to be violated while in detention. We, the undersigned national and international organisations, strongly condemn these violations and call on the Government of [ Read more ]