Tag: Arbitrary Arrest and Detention
Joint Statement – Sombath Somphone one year on: 62 NGOs call for a new investigation into his enforced disappearance
We, the undersigned 62 regional and international organizations, express outrage over the Lao Government’s ongoing failure to shed light on the enforced disappearance of prominent activist and civil society leader Sombath Somphone.
To read the Lao version, click here.
December 15, 2013 marks the one-year anniversary of Sombath’s disappearance. Sombath was...
Myanmar Announces Year-End Prisoner Amnesty
Myanmar announced a sweeping prisoner amnesty on Monday in an apparent bid to fulfill President Thein Sein’s vow to free all political inmates by the end of the year.
The release is expected to begin Tuesday and include most of the 240 people rights groups say are held or...
Burma Releasing Remaining Political Prisoners
Burma's government says it will release its remaining political prisoners on Tuesday.
Hmu Zaw, a senior official in the presidential office, told VOA's Burmese service on Monday the amnesty includes not only those convicted of political offenses, but those whose cases are still being prosecuted.
Hmu Zaw says there are five...
Viet Nam: Buddhist activist Lê Công Câu is arrested in Hue
PARIS, 1st January 2014 (IBIB) – The International Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB) is concerned to announce that Buddhist activist Lê Công Câu was arrested at 10.15 (Vietnam time) this morning at Phu Bai Airport near Hue. He had boarded a plane bound for Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) when...
Myanmar: UN human rights office welcomes presidential pardon for political prisoners
31 December 2013 – The United Nations human rights office today welcomed the presidential pardon granted in Myanmar to political prisoners convicted of or prosecuted for various offences under seven specific laws, including unlawful association, peaceful assembly, treason and sedition.
The pardon, granted yesterday by President Thein Sein, is an...
Cambodia: Detainees In Crackdown Denied Rights, Claims HRW
The Cambodian authorities should protect the rights of 23 people arrested after a violent crackdown by security forces on striking garment workers in Phnom Penh on January 2- 3, 2014, Human Rights Watch said today. Authorities detained the group incommunicado and without medical care at the remote CC3 prison...
Cambodia: UN Rights Envoy Plans Visit in Wake of Deadly Shootings
PHNOM PENH — The UN’s human rights envoy to Cambodia will make a six-day visit to the country, following deadly shootings last week on striking workers.
The envoy, Surya Subedi, said in a statement the upcoming visit was part of his ongoing assessment of Cambodia’s rights environment.
Subedi said he hopes...
UN wants inquiry into strikers’ deaths in Cambodia
PHNOM PENH (REUTERS) — The U.N. human rights agency urged Cambodia to launch an investigation into the "disproportionate" use of force by security forces last week against garment factory workers striking over pay.
Military police opened fire on workers protesting outside a factory in Phnom Penh on Jan. 3 and...
What’s Happening in Cambodia? VOA Speaks with Activist and Analyst Ou Virak
PHNOM PENH — In recent weeks the Cambodia government has cracked down on striking garment workers demanding a doubling of the minimum wage, as well as political opposition groups who accuse the ruling party of rigging the last election. Gatherings of protesters are now banned after clashes with police...
Vietnamese Authorities Detain Former Political Prisoners Visiting Fellow Dissident
Vietnamese authorities on Tuesday detained and interrogated three former political prisoners, beating one of them severely, as they traveled to visit a fellow ex-prisoner of conscience at his home outside the capital, a member of the group said.
Writer Huynh Ngoc Tuan, blogger Pham Ba Hai and lawyer Le Thi...
