Tag: Freedom of Expression / Information / Speech
Vietnam blocks journalist from attending UN rights review
GENEVA, February 2, 2014 - Pham Chi Dung, a respected independent journalist and civil society advocate, was blocked by Vietnamese authorities from leaving the country yesterday evening to attend events in Geneva during the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Vietnam. He was to be a...
Vietnam Urged To Improve Dismal Human Rights Record
New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW), on Friday urged all United Nations member-states to press Vietnam to make verifiable commitments to improve its dismal human rights record at the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva last February.
The UPR is a process all UN member states undergo every...
Philippines: Death threats against Mr. Arthur “Jun” Agarado Sapanghari, Jr.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in the Philippines.
Description of the information:
The Observatory has been informed by Task Force Detainees...
Vietnam’s Ex-Diplomat Seeks Swiss Asylum Ahead of Rights Review
A former diplomat at Vietnam’s consulate in Geneva said he has requested political asylum in Switzerland, according to a report Monday, two days ahead of a U.N. review of his country’s rights record.
Dang Xuong Hung, who served as consul from 2008 to 2012 until he withdrew from the ruling...
Cambodian Journalist Who Exposed Illegal Fishing Murdered
A journalist in Cambodia was beaten to death over the weekend following a series of articles he had written exposing illegal fishing, prompting calls from a local rights group for a probe into the murder amidst a “widespread culture of impunity” in the country.
Suon Chan, a 44-year-old reporter for...
Rights monitors slam Philippine mayor for murder threat
MANILA: Human rights activists in the Philippines expressed outrage on Tuesday at a mayor who told a parliamentary inquiry he would happily murder an alleged criminal, warning his threat fuelled the country’s infamous culture of impunity.
Rodrigo Duterte, a tough-talking politician nicknamed “The Punisher” , issued the warning in the...
West denounces repression of bloggers, religions in Vietnam
GENEVA (Reuters) - Western countries on Wednesday denounced Vietnam's jailing of bloggers and curbs on the Internet and called on its Communist government to respect basic freedoms of worship and expression.
Britain's diplomat Ruth Tumer told the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council that her country regretted "recent trends to control...
Oscar nomination ends Indonesia’s amnesia
The Academy Awards are most closely associated with expensive, red carpet dresses and banal acceptance speeches. There is rarely space for the edgy, politically meaningful, or foreign. This year, however, one Oscar nominee for best documentary feature, “The Act of Killing,” resurrects one of the great “forgotten” mass murders,...
Thailand election distracts from disastrous south
With Thailand having just gone to the polls for an historic election, in which some 6 million voters were unable to cast ballots, international media have zeroed in on the protests raging on the streets of Bangkok, where an emergency decree has been in place for about two weeks.
Given...
Investigation commission for Du Chee Yar Tan incident to report at the end of this month
An investigation commission for Du Chee Yar Tan village incident was formed with ten commission members on 6 February with the order from Presidential Office. It was published in government owned newspapers on 7 February.
Chairperson of Myanmar Red Cross Association Dr. Thar Hla Shwe acted as chairperson of the...
