50th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council Item 3: Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association   Delivered by Ahmed Adam On behalf of Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), CIVICUS – World Alliance for Citizen Participation and World Organisation Against [ Read more ]

The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, FIDH and World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Frontline Defenders strictly condemn the arbitrary cancellation of the registration of Odhikar, by the Bangladesh government. The NGO Affairs Bureau (NGOAB) [ Read more ]

(Bangkok/Kathmandu, 14 June 2022) — The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) condemns the arbitrary deregistration of Odhikar by the NGO Affairs Bureau (NGOAB) of Bangladesh. Odhikar, a prominent human rights organisation in Bangladesh and a member of FORUM-ASIA, had applied for renewal[1] of its registration to the NGOAB in 2014, as mandated [ Read more ]

Bangladesh authorities have responded to US Treasury Department sanctions on the notoriously abusive Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) by retaliating against victims’ relatives, human rights defenders and their families, and human rights organizations, twelve organizations said today. The US imposed the sanctions on the paramilitary unit and several of its current and former officials on December [ Read more ]

Civic space is under attack in South Asia. Across the region, increasingly authoritarian governments are relying on a wide range of repressive laws and other tactics to silence criticism, a trend that only intensified in 2021. While the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan is the starkest example of this, almost all other countries saw alarming restrictions [ Read more ]

49th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council Item 4: General Debate on human rights situations that require the Council’s attention Delivered by Ahmed Adam On behalf of Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) 21 March 2022   Mr. President, We draw the Council’s attention to the deteriorating human rights situations in [ Read more ]

Bangladesh: The Government must amend the National Human Rights Commission Act 2009, with a view to broadening its mandate to protect and promote human rights (Bangkok/Kathmandu, 25 March 2022) – The Asian NGO Network on National Human Rights Institutions (ANNI) urges the Government of Bangladesh to take immediate measures to amend the National Human Rights [ Read more ]

To: The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Subject: International coalition of organizations calls on the BTRC to withdraw and reconsider the “Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission Regulation for Digital, Social Media and OTT Platforms” Respected Chairperson, Commissioners, and staff of the BTRC, The undersigned organizations urge you to protect peopleʼs rights and freedoms, and enable an [ Read more ]

Date: Tuesday, 8 March 2022 Time: 13:00 – 14:30 (CET, Geneva) / 19:00 – 20:30 (ICT, Bangkok) Register here: l.forum-asia.org/HRC48.HRD.Register Live via: Zoom, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Youtube Human rights defenders (HRDs) play a key role in upholding and advancing human rights. In response to their bold and tireless work, HRDs become targets of harassment and attacks by [ Read more ]

Joint written statement to the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council The undersigned organisations wish to draw the Human Rights Council’s attention to the escalating human rights violations perpetrated by the Bangladesh government. For decades, torture, ill-treatment, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, along with detention and harassment of human rights defenders (HRDs) and journalists [ Read more ]