<div><img alt="" src="http://www.asef.org/images/stories/partners/images/forum_asia.jpg" /></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>3 October 2016</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The Thai Government should immediately drop all proceedings against human rights lawyer, Sirikan Charoensiri, including the specious accusation of sedition, which apparently relate to her organization’s representation of 14 student activists peacefully protesting in June 2015, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Asian Fo </div>

<p dir="ltr">Thai and foreign human rights organizations issued statements, urging the junta to drop all charges against Dao Din, the anti-coup student activists from northeastern province of Khon Kaen.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-712811dd-1fb4-19e8-df2b-9eee9b9ba963">On Monday, the Human Rights Lawyers Association (HRLA) and the Union of Civil Liberty (UCL) issued statements on the judicial harassment against &nbsp;on 19 June which 3 students of the Dao Din, an anti-coup student activist group based in Khon Kaen, were arrested and detained for drawing paintings.</span></p>

<p>(Bangkok, 25 March 2015) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is deeply concerned by the Draft Public Assembly Act (Draft Act) regulating public gatherings, including demonstrations that require prior notification. The Draft Act, which was proposed on 26 February 2015, is expected to be passed by the military junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly and enter into force this month.</p>

<div>(Bangkok, 28 October 2014) Defamation charges against community based human rights defenders who exposed alleged human rights abuses by Tungkum Company Limited (TKL) should be dropped immediately, the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) said today. The Order Announcement of Mr. Surapan Rujichaiwat will be held on 29 October at 13.30 pm in the Phuket Provincial Court to rule whether or not to proceed with the case. Meanwhile Ms. Porntip Hongchai is due to stand trial on 3 November 2014 in the same court. </div>

<div>(Bangkok, 28 May 2013): The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) has condemned the charges filed against a number of activists and opposition leaders in Malaysia in relation to their exercise of freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly in the past two weeks. The regional human rights group, representing 47 organisations from 16 countries across Asia, deplored what it called a post-elections crackdown on dissent by the government in the wake of allegations of electoral irregularities in the recently-concluded general elections in the country. The regional group charged that the country’s Prime Minister has reneged on his promises of greater respect for human rights since assuming power in 2009.</div> <p></p>

<p><em>Report Highlights Violations of Freedoms of Expression, Peaceful Assembly and Association</em></p> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>(Rangoon/Bangkok, 2 May 2013): The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), together with its member Human Rights Education Institute of Burma (HREIB), and Burma Partnership, called on the Burma government to respect the freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly and association. The appeal came during a launch event in Rangoon today of the Burmese-language version of the report of an international fact-finding mission on freedoms of expression, assembly and association in Burma held in October 2012 by FORUM-ASIA, a Bangkok-based regional human rights group representing 47 organizations in 16 Asian countries.</div> <p></p>

<p>(Bangkok, 12 February 2013) - Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), a regional human rights group representing 47 human rights organizations from 16 Asian countries including Sri Lanka, has expressed its deep frustration in a statement issued to mark the three years of the abduction and killing of human rights defender Pattani Razeek. &nbsp;<br /></p>

<p>(Bangkok, 6 November 2012) - Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), a regional human rights organization representing 49 non-governmental organizations across Asia, expressed its grave concern at the pending impeachment motion filed against Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayke, in the Parliament of Sri Lanka. The move to impeach the Chief Justice was made on 1 November 2012 by the country’s ruling party MPs handing the motion to Parliamentary Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa, a brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.</p>

<p>(Bangkok, 13 September 2012): The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) has strongly condemned the fierce police repression on the peaceful protest by the people of Idinthikarai and other villages surrounding the Koodankulam Nuclear Plant in Tamil Nadu, India on 10 September 2012. The regional human rights organization representing 49 non-governmental organizations across Asia has urged Indian government to refrain from intimidating peaceful protesters of Koodankulam.<br /></p>

<p>(Bangkok, 29 August 2012) The Government of Bangladesh should initiate dialogue with the protesting students, rather using force to meet their grievance, said the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), a regional human rights organization representing 49 Non Government Organizations across Asia.</p>

<p>(Bangkok, 31 July 2012) Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is deeply concerned over the news of the release of Nawshaad, one of the key suspects of the abduction and killing of human rights defender Mr. Pattani Razeek in Sri Lanka.</p>

<p><em>New publication highlights increasing attempts by governments and some non-state actors in Asia to reduce online spaces</em></p> <p>(Tokyo/Bangkok, 20 July 2012): The space for free speech and expression on the Internet and social media in Asia is shrinking and faces increasing challenges, said the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), a Bangkok-based human rights NGO, during the launch of its latest report titled, &ldquo;<em>Internet and Social Media in Asia: Battleground for Freedom of Expression</em>&rdquo;, in Tokyo, Japan today.</p>