33rd 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 Ahmed Adam On behalf of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) Monday, 19 September 2016 Mr President, we draw the Council’s attention to deteriorating human rights [ Read more ]

(Bangkok/Kathmandu, 16 September 2016) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is deeply concerned by the recent police raid of the office of the Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN), a leading human rights organisation and member of FORUM-ASIA, as well as of the Maldives Independent, an English language media outlet in the country. [ Read more ]

(Bangkok/Kathmandu, 5 September 2016) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) condemns the systemic onslaught of the freedoms of expression, assembly and association in the Maldives through tacit legal and administrative methods. FORUM-ASIA urges immediate corrective and affirmative measures to protect, respect and promote the culture of free expression as a democratic [ Read more ]

On 6 May 2016 the Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN) will be organising a seminar on parliament accountability and interactive meeting between MP Anara Naeem and her constituents, encouraging the voters to hold their MP accountable. The first of this series of workshops began in March, and a total of 10 workshops will be held with [ Read more ]

(Bangkok, 4 April 2016) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) strongly condemns the arbitrary arrest of 16 journalists in the Maldives on 3 April 2016. The arrests followed a violent crackdown on a peaceful demonstration against increasing restrictions on freedom of the press and of expression in the country. FORUM-ASIA calls [ Read more ]

30th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council Item 6: Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Plenary on the Maldives Oral Statement Delivered by R. Iniyan Ilango On behalf of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) Thursday, 24 September 2015 Mr. President. FORUM-ASIA makes this statement together with our member Maldivian Democracy Network [ Read more ]

Blogging in South Asia can be a dangerous enterprise. In the last year, 4 bloggers have been killed in Bangladesh, while a number of others have been targeted across the region in various ways simply for expressing their views online. Both state and non-state actors share responsibility for this climate of fear and intimidation. A [ Read more ]

29th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council Item 8: Follow up and Implementation of the VDPA Oral Statement Delivered by R. Iniyan Ilango On behalf of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) Monday, 29 June 2015 Mr. President, the Vienna Declaration and Program of Action (VDPA) makes several references to [ Read more ]

29th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council Item 4: Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention Oral Statement Delivered by R. Iniyan Ilango On behalf of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) Wednesday, 24 June 2015 Mr President, FORUM-ASIA expresses concern over the deteriorating human rights situation in several [ Read more ]

19 JUNE 2015 – In yet another act of judicial over-reach, the Supreme Court has effectively neutered the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) by finding its stakeholder submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) unlawful. It was accompanied by an ominous 11-point guideline which imposes excessive and arbitrary restrictions on the HRCM, particularly [ Read more ]