Human rights

Human rights groups have welcomed the early release from prison of Nguy Thi Khanh, a prominent Vietnamese climate campaigner. Khanh was incarcerated for allegedly not paying tax on her winnings from the 2018 Goldman Environmental Prize in the summer of 2022, a charge human rights and climate groups have condemned. She ...

There were tears at Cambodia’s Voice of Democracy on Monday as journalist Khan Leakhena reacted to the sudden order to close the news website. “I worked here not for money, but due to my love,” said Khan Leakhena, as others comforted the reporter. Khan Leakhena is one ...

Myanmar’s junta has been responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity since the military coup in February 2021, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2023. The security forces have been implicated in mass killings, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, sexual violence, and attacks on civilians in ...

Toru Kubota landed in Japan Friday morning after he was freed from prison and deported by Myanmar’s junta on Thursday.   The 26-year-old filmmaker and video journalist arrived in Tokyo on a scheduled flight from Yangon via Bangkok. Kubota said upon landing that he wanted to express his gratitude ...

Myanmar’s junta has officially banned online news outlet The Irrawaddy and charged the outlet’s registered publisher for violating national security laws, state media reported over the weekend, following months of legal harassment. The ban is the latest on at least 20 media groups – news agencies, ...

From cries of “fake news” in the United States and Brazil to the Marcos family’s return to power in the Philippines, the growing role of misinformation and disinformation in the global political landscape is a very real concern. The spread of deliberately deceitful and unintentionally ...

In an attempt to continue promoting young women’s rights and gender equality, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs led the commemoration of International Day of the Girl Child in the Kingdom in partnership with Plan International Cambodia. The celebration presided over by Im Sithe, Secretary of State ...

Thailand took a momentous step on 24 August  —not only because of a shock decision by the Constitutional Court to suspend Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha from his duties, but also because parliament finally passed a historic anti-torture bill. Once fully enacted, the Bill, formally known as ...

Thailand is home to over 6 million indigenous people. Yet many are outlawed, denied basic rights, and subject to many forms of oppression. This must change.  According to the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, about 10% of the population belongs to 60 indigenous and ethnic ...

A Vietnamese court has upheld a nine-year prison term for prominent human rights campaigner and writer Pham Doan Trang, who was convicted of anti-state activities, her lawyers and state media said. On Thursday, the Hanoi People’s High Court rejected Trang’s appeal of a sentence handed down in December ...