Constitution and rights

Cambodian and international rights advocates have condemned the harsh charges imposed on three 20-something environmental activists in the country earlier this week, the latest sign of the Cambodian government’s determination to stamp out the last traces of independent political advocacy. On June 16, Sun Ratha, 26, ...

Thai police have detained a prominent student leader amid a growing movement calling for political reforms. Parit Chiwarak, 22, was arrested on the outskirts of Bangkok for taking part in a demonstration last month. Students have held regular protests since then. They are calling for a new ...

Before a march from the United Nations building to Government House on 13 July to demand that the Prime Minister endorse the National Pensions Bill, the Welfare Watch Network hosted a picnic, with representatives from parliament and a Deputy Prime Minister joining in. At around 9:00, ...

The draft law on public demonstrations in Vietnam, which has been planned for nine years now, will not be submitted to the parliament for discussion in its upcoming session. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved a request by the Ministry of Public Security to postpone ...

Legislation authorizing a state of emergency to contain the spread of the coronavirus in Cambodia risks violating the right to privacy, free speech, and peaceful assembly, a United Nations expert said Friday, as lawmakers gave their final approval of the bill. “Emergency measures must be necessary ...

Cambodia’s National Assembly approved legislation on Friday authorizing a state of emergency to contain the spread of the coronavirus despite widespread concerns that it would give unchecked power to Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has rolled back democratic freedoms in the country. The parliament’s 125 lawmakers, ...

Having watched popular protests, from the color revolutions in the former Soviet Union to the Arab Spring, challenge their counterparts’ power, the world’s autocrats have been adopting legal measures aimed at incapacitating civic groups, including pro-democracy movements and human-rights NGOs. Among the most sweeping measures are those enabling officials to ...

Farmers in Thailand are welcoming a new law allowing cultivation and use of marijuana for medical purposes Wednesday, in an Asian first that promises an economic bonanza but also fears that foreign companies could reap the rewards. Thailand’s National Assembly passed a bill Tuesday legalizing the use ...

Cambodia has been accused of ‘killing off democracy’ after the country’s supreme court dissolved the opposition party and outlawed over 100 politicians ahead of a general election next year. Thursday’s ruling to disband the Cambodia National Rescue Party, in a Southeast Asian country visited by about 159,000 ...

The Myanmar people are more concerned about the economy even as they expressed satisfaction about the country’s democratic reforms, according to a nationwide survey released on Tuesday. Forty percent of the 3000 respondents in the International Republican Institute (IRI) survey rated economic development as more ...