(Bangkok, 10 February 2016) – Today marks one year since Anwar Ibrahim was sentenced to five years in prison, on 10 February 2015, on sodomy charges under Section 377B of Malaysian Penal Code. The Federal Court upheld the verdict of the Court of Appeals and reaffirmed his conviction. The Asian Forum for Human Rights and [ Read more ]

14 December 2015 H.E. Dato’ Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak Office of The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dear Mr. Prime Minister, I write to you on behalf of the Asian NGO Network on National Human Rights Institutions (ANNI) to express our concerns over a significant budget cut of 50 per cent [ Read more ]

(Bangkok, 5 December 2015) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) condemns the Government of Malaysia’s illegal and arbitrary refusal to allow Hishamuddin Rais, a well-known social activist and member of Bersih 2.0 Steering Committee, to travel outside his country. This brazen violation clearly aims to create an atmosphere of fear among [ Read more ]

(Bangkok, 7 October 2015) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) and its member Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) express their disappointment over the ruling by the Federal Court of Malaysia to declare the Sedition Act 1948 constitutional. The verdict marks another serious setback to the already dismal environment for fundamental freedoms in [ Read more ]

Statement issued by the 8th Regional Consultation on ASEAN and Human Rights: Migration and Human Rights in ASEAN Kuala Lumpur, 17 & 18 August 2015 In Malaysia’s term as the chair of ASEAN, civil society organizations in the ASEAN region met for the 8th Regional Consultation on ASEAN and Human Rights, in Kuala Lumpur on [ Read more ]

30th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council Item 4: Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention – General Debate Oral Statement Delivered by R. Iniyan Ilango On behalf of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) Tuesday, 22 September 2015 Mr. Vice President. FORUM-ASIA draws the Council’s attention to the [ Read more ]

(Bangkok, 31 August 2015) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) expresses its solidarity with the people of Malaysia for the organisation of “Bersih 4.0”. The two-day peaceful gathering, which took place on 29-30 August 2015 in three cities in Malaysia, as well as in different places across the world, called for: [ Read more ]

On the 17-18 August 2015 the 8th Regional Consultation on ASEAN and Human Rights – Migration and Human Rights in ASEAN will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Regional Consultation on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Human Rights is a yearly initiative of Southeast Asian civil society organisations (CSOs) led by [ Read more ]

“Activist Adam Adli seeks new possibilities at UN’s Geneva meet”, article written by Deborah Augustin for The Malaysian Insider Link to the article: http://bit.ly/1H8o0cz Adam Adli Abdul Halim first made headlines in 2011 when he lowered a flag depicting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at a protest demanding academic freedom, when he was a [ Read more ]

FORUM-ASIA, together with Bytes for All, Association for Progressive Communications, Global Partners Digital, the Internet Democracy Project, KontraS and ICT Watch, recently organised a regional consultation on “Expression, Opinion and Religious Freedoms in Asia” on 3-5 June 2015, in Jakarta, Indonesia. Over 140 people, comprised of experts, including the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion [ Read more ]