Lao PDR: The Sombath crisis has implications for ASEAN
Editorial Opinion
It reads like fiction straight from a Colin Cotterill novel. The setting is Vientiane, capital city of the People's Democratic Republic of Laos.
Sombath Somphone is a gentle and unassuming man aged 63. Married to a Singaporean, Dr Ng Shui Meng, a former senior Unicef official, Mr Sombath was...
Poor conditions in Indonesian immigration detention centres fuel violence
MEDAN, 17 December 2013 (IRIN) - Dire conditions in Indonesia’s immigration detention system fuel outbreaks of violence, human rights activists claim. Many facilities are located in remote parts of the country, sometimes as much as 2,000km from the capital, Jakarta.
“The conditions in the overcrowded, squalid IDCs contribute to...
Indonesia: Jakarta courts sentence innocent teenagers for murder, ignoring torture claims
According to Johanes Gea of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta), the case against his clients was split into two criminal proceedings. Four of his clients – AP (13), F (14), FP (16) and BF (16) – had murder allegations against them examined in a juvenile court; whereas...
US: Vietnam human rights “a TPP priority”
The US should make the promotion of human rights in Vietnam a priority in talks over the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, politicians say.
A bipartisan letter to President Obama, signed by Democrat Mike Michaud and Republican Chris Smith – plus a number of their colleagues – expresses “deep...
Time for U.S. to press Vietnam over freedoms
John Kerry is finishing up his first visit to Vietnam as Secretary of State, a trip billed as a chance to “highlight…a growing partnership” against a backdrop of increasingly intertwined bilateral interests. Yet despite the progress over the past decade, Vietnam’s sometimes fierce suppression of free speech, religion, ethnic...
Thailand: Ten years on, another cover-up in Somchai’s disappearance
The Thai government needs to account for missing documents in the case of the enforced disappearance and presumed murder of a prominent Muslim human rights lawyer nearly a decade ago, Human Rights Watch said today. On March 12, 2004, Somchai Neelapaijit was pulled from his car in Bangkok, allegedly...
Natives rally with new force against Malaysia’s extractive land policy
SARAWAK, Malaysia, “Respect native rights,” hundreds of protesting indigenous people have sent a clear message to the state government of Sarawak, the Malaysian state on the island of Borneo. They have held rallies in towns as well as in rural areas. As the international human rights day was celebrated...
Myanmar: EU urges ‘inclusive’ charter review, ‘zero tolerance’ for violent extremism
The European Union has expressed hope that the constitutional review underway in Myanmar will help to bring peace and national reconciliation and pave the way for free and fair elections in 2015.
In a wide-ranging statement, the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council also said it looked forward to a nationwide ceasefire...
Burma: It is time to free all human rights defenders and stop ongoing arbitrary arrests and imprisonment
Paris-Geneva, December 17, 2013. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of FIDH and OMCT, welcomes the latest release of prisoners of opinion in Burma/Myanmar but deplores the re-arrests of human rights defenders Ko Htin Kyaw and Aye Thein within hours of their “release”.
On...
Myanmar’s Speaker of Parliament calls on ASEAN Officials
JAKARTA, 17 December 2013 - On the sidelines of his official visit to Indonesia, the Speaker of Myanmar’s Parliament Rt. Hon. Thura U Shwe Mann met with high-ranking officials of ASEAN Secretariat at the Association’s headquarter in Jakarta. He was accompanied by a group of parliamentarians from Myanmar.
Deputy Secretary-General...
