Amnesty International urges Myanmar to overturn a new law that bars all political prisoners, including detained Nobel Peace-prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, from belonging to a political party before upcoming national elections. 

Following is the statement by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, which is commemorated on 8 March 2010:

"It has been estimated that as many as one in three women across the world has been beaten, raped or otherwise abused during the course of her lifetime. And the most common source of such violence comes from within the family. Amongst the most extreme forms of abuse is what is known as ‘honour killing’.

Chiang Mai, Thailand - On the 99th anniversary of International Women’s Day, APWLD urges the international community to become involved in what has the potential to be Southeast Asia’s most powerful tool for the protection and promotion of women’s human rights. This April at the ASEAN Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) will be established.

Survivors of rape in Cambodia face limited access to justice, medical services and counselling, Amnesty International said in a report issued today, as rapes of women and girls appear to be increasing. 

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has strongly criticised the Royal Thai Government (RTG) for its treatment of migrant workers. Just a week after the United Nation’s Special Rapportuer on the Human Rights of Migrants publically issued a statement of concern on RTG’s migrant worker policies, Thailand’s human rights reputation falls into question as it vies for membership of the UN’s Human Rights Council. 

56 organisations/groups have sent a letter to the ASEAN and Heads of Government of ASEAN countries, calling them to pay attention to the struggle of factory workers in Burma.

The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) and its sister organisation, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), have documented numerous arbitrary detentions throughout the Asian region in the year preceding the 13th session of the Human Rights Council. Cases, notably from Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand, show a consistent and widespread pattern of abuse of authority by law enforcement agencies concerning illegal and arbitrary detention.

The Union for Civil Liberty (UCL), a leading human rights advocacy organization based in Bangkok, has disseminated its evaluation of the human rights situation in Thailand in 2009, through the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).

BANGKOK, Jan 24 (TNA) -- Defending his government over recent charges by New York-based Human Rights Watch that Thailand violated several human rights principles last year, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Sunday that some information in the NGO’s report might contain inaccuracies. 

This was a  busy week on the frontlines of personal freedom, particularly in regards to free speech. Tying together several key events were government’s increasingly sophisticated restrictions on our human rights, and the efforts to push them back. For obvious reasons, freedom of speech is dear to this writer, and this week’s post addresses the past week’s developments.

(New York) - The government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva largely failed to fulfill its pledges to make human rights a priority, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2010.

On 18 Jan, human rights organizations and activists send a letter to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva for concerns over the issue of migrant workers in Thailand, the Burmese in particular, as their permits will expire in January and February, while the nationality verification process has proved to be ineffective and risky for the migrants.

Thailand should reverse its recent backward slide in respect for freedom of expression, as illustrated by the sharp increase over the past ten months in cases under the lese majeste law.

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) expresses grave concern over the Thai military's attempts to suppress the news coverage of its deportation of 4,000 Hmong refugees from their camp in Thailand's northern province of Petchabun in December 2009.

20th Jan 2010 marks the renewal deadline for the first batch of 70, 000 Burmese, Cambodian and Laotian migrants working in Thailand whose work permits will expire on that day. The next date for the expiry of all the other work permits of migrants from Burma, Cambodia and Laos (approximately 930, 000 officially registered persons) is 28th Feb 2010.

GENEVA – Two independent experts of the UN Human Rights Council -the Special Rapporteur on torture, Manfred Nowak, and the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Jorge A. Bustamante- expressed their grave concern at reports that the forcible return of large numbers of Hmong from Thailand to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic is on-going despite numerous international protests. 

On the occasion of the United Nations' (UN) Human Rights Day, this is annually observed on December 10 to mark the anniversary of the presentation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) calls for a greater recognition and respect of workers’ rights in Malaysia. This year the theme determined by the United Nations is  non-discrimination.

The concept of non-discrimination lies at the heart of human rights.

For this reason, it has been designated the official theme of this Human Rights Day, which occurs every year on the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. And for this and many other reasons it should be an unofficial theme every day, every year, for everyone. 

MANILA, Philippines—People cannot live with dignity if they are jobless, hungry, homeless, and without access to basic services like potable water, the Asia-Europe People’s Forum said in a statement on the observance of the International Human Rights Day Thursday.  

(Bangkok, 10 December 2009) The Asian region is lagging behind other regions in promoting and protecting human rights. It must catch up with others on this front if it is going to ensure human dignity, long lasting peace and sustainable development in the region, says Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) in conjunction with the International Human Rights Day on December 10.