We are seeking to establish a program in support of human rights defenders in Southeast Asia. In countries such as Burma, Laos and Vietnam, no independent human rights organisations are allowed to operate, and those who dare to defy the restrictions do so at great personal risk. Our aim is to strengthen those who seek to monitor and defend human rights, including networks and civil society groups. Read about the current human rights situation in our country report Human rights in Southeast Asia
Select archive for specific country: Burma | Cambodia | Thailand | Vietnam
On April 22 the EU will review its suspended sanctions on Burma. A permanent lifting of sanctions is premature, says Civil Rights Defenders and the Swedish Burma Committee. The two organizations urge the EU to take the negotiations seriously and genuinely engage in a democratic development in Burma.
Burma/Myanmar is opening up after decades of military dictatorship, isolation and conflict. Rich natural resources and low production costs attract international companies. In the process there is a real risk that human rights may be disregarded. Hear Donna Guest, leading expert on human rights in Burma, speak about the challenges facing investors.
A high profile appeals hearing against Dieu Cay and two other bloggers, in Ho Chi Minh City on 28 December, show that heavy-handed muffling of dissenting opinions continues in Vietnam. Civil Rights Defenders call on the Vietnamese authorities to release all peaceful bloggers and to respect the right to freedom of expression.
The Cambodian criminal justice system continues to silence voices. Late December, a leading staff member at the human rights group ADHOC was charged for his work, while a grassroot activist was sentenced to three years in prison for her peaceful protest. An unexpected Appeals Court decision on the 2004 killing of union leader Chea Vichea, sent two innocent men to prison.
On 15 November, 64 grassroots, national, regional, and international civil society groups called upon ASEAN Member States to postpone the adoption of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration. The declaration does not follow existing international human rights standards and is therefore not worthy of its name.
Civil Rights Defenders and several other human rights organisations call for the postponement of the adoption of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration. In a letter sent to ASEAN Heads of State, the organisations point out that the Declaration risks creating a sub-standard level of human rights protection in the region.
On 1 October, the journalist and human rights defender Mam Sonando was sentenced to a 20-year prison term on spurious charges. The verdict followed a three-day trial last month, which failed to present any credible evidence in support of the allegations against him. The Court sentenced another 13 suspects in the case. Three of them were tried in absentia and received between 15 and 30 years in prison.
Ahead of Cambodia’s Government-Donor Coordination Committee meeting on 26 September, Civil Rights Defenders and seven other human rights groups sent a letter to Cambodia’s donors, including Sweden, urging them to make a coordinated and public condemnation of the government’s increasing human rights abuses.
Three Vietnamese bloggers were convicted to long prison sentences on Monday, 24 September, because of their peaceful activism. The most renowned, Nguyen Van Hai, got 12 years in prison. His crime: he criticized the authorities and demanded increased freedom of expression. Civil Rights Defenders urges the international community to increase the pressure on Vietnam to release Nguyen Van Hai, Ta Phuong Tan and Phan Thanh Hai.
Civil Rights Defenders and other human rights organisations today urge that Thai magazine editor and human rights defender Somyot Prueksakasemsuk be immediately released. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison for two articles deemed insulting to the monarchy.
About 60.000 people were forcibly evicted in Cambodia in 2011 alone, local human rights group ADHOC reports. Those who refuse to abandon their house or dare to demonstrate face risk of arrest or violence, and human rights defenders working on housing rights are persecuted. In a country where many non-governmental organisations are afraid to support human rights issues, Ee Sarom, and his organisation, stands tall. ”Sometimes I am scared but I have to do my job”, says Ee Sarom.
After the imprisonment of 15 human rights defenders in Cambodia in May 2012, a unique campaign: Free the 15, was sparked. Ee Sarom, from housing rights NGO Sahmakum Teang Tnaut, was one of several civil society leaders supporting the community’s mobilisation for the release of the activists. Listen to his story.
In May, police arrested 15 human rights defenders in Phnom Penh. Within days, 13 of them had been convicted to each 2.5 years in prison in an unfair trial. In the past several years, they have carried out peaceful protests against forced evictions and unlawful expropriation of land. Ee Sarom at Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT) tells his story about the “Free the 15” and the increasingly tough conditions for human rights defenders in Cambodia, in this autumn’s first seminar in our series “One hour of human rights”!
Thirteen human rights defenders in Cambodia were released today following an appeal court decision on June 27, in Phnom Penh. The judges decided to uphold the verdict from the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, claiming the women were still found guilty of “occupying state land and obstructing public officials in aggravating circumstances “.
Civil Rights Defenders and several other human rights organisations demand ambassadors in Cambodia to send observers to the appeal hearing for 13 land and housing rights activists on June 27. The organisations also call for the case to be dismissed and the activists to be immediately and unconditionally released.
Several people have been sent to prison in connection to the protests against land grabbing in Cambodia. Civil Rights Defenders urges the Cambodian authorities to respect the right to freedom of expression and assembly, as previously reported. This video about land grabbing in Cambodia was displayed at the UN Sustainable Development Conference in Rio 21-22 of June.
On May 31 children wearing pictures of relatives gathered outside the Ministry of Justice to protest against the imprisonment of their mothers. The 13 women human rights defenders are seen as informal leaders for the protests against expropriation and forced evictions held in the Boeung Kak Lake area in central Phnom Penh and were convicted to prison terms in an unjust trial. Another two community leaders are facing trial.
On 30 May the Bangkok Criminal Court delivered its verdict in the case against news editor Chiranuch Premchaiporn. After a lengthy trial, she was found guilty of crimes under the Lèse Majesté law and the 2007 Computer Crimes Act. Read Civil Rights Defenders’ interview with the Thai human rights defender.
Thirteen women human rights defenders in Cambodia have been sentenced to prison terms. They have played a leading role in peaceful protesting against expropriation and forced evictions in the Boeung Kak Lake area in central Phnom Penh. Civil Rights Defenders urges the authorities vacate the conviction and unconditionally release the women.
Om May 24, the Cambodian monk and human rights defender, Luon Sovath, was detained after documenting protests outside the Phnom Penh municipal court. Luon Sovath was released in the evening the same day but 13 other human rights defenders were sentenced to prison.
Civil Rights Defenders has together with 13 other international human rights organisations, urged AICHR to immediately publicize the draft of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration.
Buddhist monk Venerable Luon Sovath is one of three finalists for the prestigious Martin Ennals Award for human rights defenders, announced on 24 April in Geneva. Venerable Sovath was nominated by Civil Rights Defenders, WITNESS and Freedom House.
Hear the radio interview with Chiranuch Premchaiporn, human rights defender and editor of the news platform Prachatai. She is accused of crimes under lèse majesté, for not deleting comments on her news site quickly enough. If convicted she risks 20 years in prison.
Chiranuch Premchaiporn is one of many independent voices who have fallen victim to tighter restrictions and control of internet activism in Thailand. Chiranuch is accused of crimes under lèse majesté. If convicted she risks 20 years in prison. Listen to Chiranuch telling her – and others’ – stories from a Thailand we rarely have access to.
Through promoting human rights and criticism of the Vietnamese government, Nguyen Van Hai (alias Dieu Cay) has drawn the ire of the government. He has been behind bars since 2008 and his family and lawyers have had no access to him during the past 18 months. In April he is once again brought to trial, now for under national security legislation for his peaceful blogging.
The lack of rule of law can lead to unforeseen consequences for a woman living in a repressive regime, as displayed in Jens Assur’s latest film Killing the Chickens to Scare the Monkeys. In order to highlight the International Women’s Day we will show the film at the National Historical Museum in Stockholm on March 8. A conversation about fair trials follows the film.
We urge the Thai Government to drop charges against Chiranuch Premchaiporn. Chiranuch faces trial this month following charges of the lèse majesté law, a law that seriously infringes on fundamental freedoms and is used in dubious ways against human rights defenders.
(Updated in February 2012) Human rights defenders across Southeast Asia’s lower Mekong countries are fighting against restrictions on freedom of expression. The situation, however, is extremely varied across the nations: while there is widespread fear and over 2,000 activists in prison in Burma, activists in Thailand are able to publicly discuss and criticise restrictions on [...]
The Cambodian government should abandon the fourth draft law on NGOs. Read the statement we signed together with a group of international human rights organisations.
On December 20, Cambodians from the country’s 24 provinces carried a 230 meter long “kramar”, a traditional scarf, with over 10,000 signatures requesting the Parliament to stop the bill that restricts civil rights and freedoms.
Welcome to a crash course in digital self-defense and a conversation about the cat and mouse game going on in many countries, between authorities and advocates for free speech.
We urge the Cambodian authorities to immediately withdraw the drafted NGO law. The law violates the rights to freedom of association and expression, Civil Rights Defenders and several other human rights organsiations say in a joint statement.
The EU has demanded from the Cambodian Government to ensure that a law on NGOs encourages, rather than restricts, the growth of civil society, says Catherine Ashton, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
The fact that Sweden has so far refused to support a UN-led Commission of Inquiry on human rights violations in Burma is absolutely staggering for a country that claims to stand up for human rights worldwide, said Civil Rights Defenders and several other human rights organisations in SvD.
In an open letter we urge Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt to increase the pressure on the Cambodian government to abandon plans for a repressive law on NGO:s. We have previously warned that the law’s real purpose is to give the government a tool to silence inconvenient voices.
On August 2 the authorities closed down Sahmakum Teang Tnaut that works on land and housing rights. About a hundred protesting farmers were interrogated by the police, and on TV a smearing campaign was launched against NGO:s. Simultaneously a new law is prepared that will give the government a tool to silence inconvenient voices.
Leaving the closet – Civil Rights Defenders bjuder in till ett samtal om hur det är att arbeta för hbt-personers rättigheter i olika delar av världen. Tio aktivister från Östeuropa, Sydostasien och Centralasien delar med sig av sina erfarenheter och diskuterar hur vi tillsammans kan stärka kampen för öppenhet och tolerans.
Human Rights Defenders and LGBT activists from all over the world gather in Stockholm during Pride. We have invited ten activists from six countries with the aim to support their struggle against discrimination and their quest for the rights that some of us take for granted.
More than six months have passed since Burma elected a civilian government. In practice, the referendum yielded no support for democratic reforms. Rather the military’s grip on power was strengthened. Just days after the referendum Aung San Suu Kyi was released, but around 2,200 political prisoners remain imprisoned. What has happened to the respect and [...]
On World Press Freedom Day we want to draw attention to Dieu Cay, who was Vietnam’s most influential bloggers when he was arrested in April 2008. His voice for democracy in Vietnam and against widespread corruption was silenced. Today, nobody knows where he is being held.
The world must pay attention to the brave Burmese women whose struggle for human rights places their lives and health at risk. On the International women’s day we urge the international community not to reconsider its stance against the Burmese government too soon.
Civil Rights Defenders welcomes the release of the Burmese Nobel Peace laureate and opposition’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Saturday. She was released when her house arrest expired, just days after Burma’s first election in over 20 years, a process that lacked a democratic foundation.
Our guest speaker in this spring’s last seminar in the series “One hour of human rights,” talks about the human rights situation in Vietnam. What issues are most important? How is the civil society organized in the country and how much do ordinary people know about human rights? Giang Nguyen was born in Vietnam and [...]
Natasha Jevtic Esbjörnson
Phone: +46 76 576 27 62
His burnt body was returned to the family in a plastic bag. The European Court has found Russia responsible for human rights violations in the North Caucasus, in more than one hundred cases, as a result of our work.
(Photo: Joanna Kurosz)
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