Today, 10 October 2014, is the 20th anniversary of Odhikar.  Odhikar was established by a group of young people who  strongly believed in democracy, human rights and rule of law; who protested and fought against the autocratic regime of Lieutenant General Hussain Muhammad Ershad. Ershad was toppled by a mass movement in December 1990, mainly [ Read more ]

Oral Statement Delivered by Ahmed Adam on behalf of Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) Thursday, 25 September 2014 Mr. President. FORUM-ASIA welcomes the High Commissioner’s update on Sri Lanka. Incidents in the six months following the last resolution by this Council on Sri Lanka (A/HRC/25/1)[1] strongly suggest that a climate of fear [ Read more ]

Oral Statement Delivered by Mr. Nay Vanda on Behalf of Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) Wednesday, 24 September 2014 Mr. President, FORUM-ASIA, along with its Cambodian members, the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) and the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (Licadho) appreciates the work of [ Read more ]

Oral statement delivered by Ahmed Adam on behalf of Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) Tuesday, 23 September 2014 Mr. President, Article 76 of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (VDPA) encourages states to avail international support in strengthening regional arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights in accordance with [ Read more ]

Today, September 21st, the community of nations and the peoples of the world commemorate the International Day of Peace, with the UN’s theme “The Right of Peoples to Peace”. In the face of continuing oppression of Muslim Rohingyas and other indigenous ethnic peoples in Burma, martial law in Thailand and unabated political repression in Cambodia, [ Read more ]

27th Session of the Human Rights Council ANNUAL DISCUSSION ON INTEGRATION OF A GENDER PERSPECTIVE  Panel: Gender integration in the country-focused work of the Council     Statement from the following organizations: Amnesty International Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development Association for Progressive Communications, Association for [ Read more ]

Oral statement delivered by Kirsty Welch (Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative- CHRI) in association with the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) and the Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN) Mr. President, this statement is delivered by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) in association with FORUM-ASIA and our long standing partner the Maldivian Democracy Network [ Read more ]

For Immediate Release (London, August 30, 2014) – Independent organizations in Egypt face a looming crackdown, 45 international and national human rights groups from across the globe said today in a joint statement. The Egyptian Social Solidarity Ministry placed an advertisement in leading state newspaper Al-Ahram on July 18, 2014, giving all Egyptian and international [ Read more ]

30 August 2014 Today, on the occasion of International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, we, the undersigned organizations, urge ASEAN member states to end acts of enforced disappearances in Southeast Asia. Cases of enforced disappearances continue to occur in the region. Victims include human rights defenders as well as ordinary citizens. Enforced disappearances [ Read more ]

Joint Statement – 25/08/2014 Statement on the Judicial Harassment of Leading Human Rights Defender, Ms. Pornpen Khongkachonkiet We, the undersigned civil society groups, are gravely concerned about the criminal legal action taken for defamation and libel against the Cross Cultural Foundation, headed by Ms. Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, by the Army’s Task Force 41. Ms. Pornpen, Director [ Read more ]