33rd Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council Item 2: Oral Update by the High Commissioner – General Debate Oral Statement Delivered by Rosanna Ocampo On behalf of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) Wednesday, 14 September 2016 Mr President, FORUM-ASIA welcomes the High Commissioner’s update. We share his concerns on [ Read more ]

(Bangkok/Kathmandu, 30 August 2016) –  The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is saddened to learn that Himal Southasian, a regional journal promoting ‘cross-border journalism’ in South Asia, is suspending its publication from November 2016. According to the publishers, the decision was taken ‘due to non-cooperation by regulatory state agencies in Nepal that [ Read more ]

In December 2015, The Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), a member of FORUM-ASIA in India, took the responsibility to coordinate a fact-finding mission to the Kakarbhitta border between India and Nepal to investigate the accusation by government of Nepal that India imposed a blockade, disrupting entry of vehicles carrying essential supplies from India to Nepal [ Read more ]

32nd Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council Item 2: Thematic reports by the High Commissioner – General Debate Oral Statement Delivered by Rosanna Ocampo On behalf of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) Tuesday, 21 June 2016 Mr. President, FORUM-ASIA welcomes the High Commissioner’s practical recommendations for the creation and [ Read more ]

(Bangkok/Kathmandu, 26 May 2016)– The arbitrary arrest of Shesh Narayan Jha on 23 May, while he was carrying out his professional duties as a journalist, is a flagrant violation of his human rights and a serious attack on press freedoms in Nepal, the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) said today. FORUM-ASIA calls [ Read more ]

(Bangkok/Kathmandu, 25 April 2016) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is deeply concerned by the arrest of Kanak Mani Dixit –journalist, human rights activist, and founder/editor of Himalmedia [1] – on 22 April. He was taken into custody from his office in Patan Dhoka, Kathmandu. The Commission for the Investigation of [ Read more ]

31stRegular Session of the UN Human Rights Council Item 6: Universal Periodic Review Plenary on Nepal Oral Statement Delivered by R. Iniyan Ilango On behalf of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) Monday, 16March 2016 Mr. President, FORUM-ASIA appreciates that the Government of Nepal has fully accepted 152 out of the 195 [ Read more ]

(Kathmandu, 7 November 2015) – We, the undersigned human rights organisations from South Asia who gathered in Kathmandu on 5th of November 2015 to participate in the South Asian Members’ Meeting of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), welcome the new Constitution adopted by Nepal’s Constituent Assembly on 20th of September 2015. [ Read more ]

(Bangkok, 20 October 2015) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is deeply concerned about the unofficial blockade imposed by India on Nepal. The blockade follows the promulgation of a new constitution on 20 September 2015 despite India’s reservation on some issues internal to Nepal. “Constitution making is purely an internal affair [ 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 ]