Tag: Rule of Law / Justice
Vietnam: Stop Harassment of Rights Defenders
(New York) – On the eve of his marriage, Vietnamese police temporarily detained lawyer and former political prisoner Nguyen Bac Truyen, Human Rights Watch said today. The police also briefly detained his fiancée, Bui Thi Kim Phuong, and several visitors to their home. Although Nguyen Bac Truyen reported being...
Thailand Sends 1,300 Rohingya Back to Hell
Thailand says it has deported around 1,300 Rohingya asylum seekers back to Burma (officially known as Myanmar), in a move dubbed “appalling” by human rights activists.
The figure represents virtually all of the Rohingya boatpeople who have washed up on Thai shores.
“The deportations were voluntary. We sent them back 100...
Vietnam – RWB again tries to hand petition to Vietnamese government official
The blogger Bui Thi Minh Hang is still in prison, as is the human rights lawyer and blogger Le Quoc Quan, whose appeal will be heard on 18 February, but the Vietnamese government remains completely indifferent to their fate as it continues to celebrate France-Vietnam Year.
Reporters Without Borders tried...
UK warned that aid to Vietnam inadvertently supports death penalty
The UK's decision to send millions of pounds in aid to Vietnam has been called into question after the country confirmed that it is to execute 30 heroin smugglers.
Since Vietnam said in January that it will execute 21 men and nine women, human rights groups have urged governments around...
Appointment of police general to rights claims board questioned
DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Former political detainees and martial law survivors in Mindanao expressed dismay over the composition of the nine-member claims board created by President Aquino.
“My worst fears are confirmed,” said Gabriela Representative Luz Ilagan. “The Board is tasked to review human rights cases mostly committed by the...
Palace: Sarmiento stays as chair of HR claims board
MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang is standing firm on its decision to appoint a former police general as chairperson of the claims board for human rights victims.
This, despite criticims that retired two-star ranked Philippine National Police (PNP) General Lina Castillo Sarmiento was unqualified for the job.
Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said...
Lese majeste defendant freed
The Supreme Court has reversed the Appeal Court’s two-year-and-eight-month sentence against a lese majeste defendant, upholding the ruling of the Criminal Court that the offender suffered from schizophrenia.
Though the verdict means 73-year-old Bandhit Aniya, the defendant who is out on bail, is now a free man, human rights activists...
MSF, Human Rights Commission at Odds Over Maungdaw Violence
RANGOON — Burma’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the medical aid organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) are at odds over the latter’s statement that it treated 22 people injured during clashes between Buddhists and Muslims in Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township, near the Burma-Bangladesh border.
MSF, sometimes called Doctors Without...
Kerry, Indonesia sign memos on environment, human rights
Secretary of State John Kerry said the country has signed two memorandums of understanding with Indonesia over the environment and human rights.
The deals come as Kerry travels to Asia meeting with governments and discussing environmental issues.
He was in the Indonesian capital Jakarta for the announcement.
Calling Indonesia's biodiversity the "richest...
Vietnam: Quash Conviction of Le Quoc Quan
(New York) – The Hanoi Appeal Court on February 18, 2014, should strike down the political conviction of human rights lawyer Le Quoc Quan on trumped up charges of tax evasion, Human Rights Watch said today.
“People in Vietnam and around the world are scrutinizing Vietnam’s human rights record like...
