<p>Women and LGBTQ activists who participated in the 2020 pro-democracy movement are facing gendered harassment and discrimination even from within their own movement, says a new report by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders.</p>

<p>Representatives of four high school student activist groups tell stories of the harassment and legal prosecution they now face after speaking out about human rights violations they face in school, reiterating that the right to freedom of expression is a constitutional right, while vowing to keep fighting nonetheless.</p>

<p>Human rights defenders in Asia continue to face threats and rights violations, which were made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic, says FORUM-ASIA on International Human Rights Defenders Day (9 December).</p>

<p>The Director-General of the Department of Special Investigation will visit the Dong Ma Fai Subdistrict in Nong Bua Lamphu to investigate the murders of local community&nbsp;rights defenders, but will not be able to meet with the activists&#39; families as the visit was scheduled without consultation with the community.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Protection International calls attention to the threat to human rights during the COVID-19 pandemic and calls for governments not to use their crisis responses as an excuse to crack down on human rights defenders and to ensure that their response measures are in strict accordance with human rights standard.</p>

<p>A group of UN experts&nbsp;have condemned the continued misuse of judicial processes by Thai poultry producer Thammakaset to harass and silence human rights defenders who have spoken out against its abusive and exploitative labour practices.</p>

<p>On 4 February, Protection International (PI) launched the &ldquo;Art for Resistance: Quilt of Women Human Rights Defenders&rdquo; exhibition of 54 quilts by 52 women and 2 men human rights defenders from all over Thailand, at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC).</p>

<p>At 13.00 today, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) held a press conference to reveal that DNA tests have confirmed that bones found in Kaeng Krachan Dam are those of the missing Karen environmental activist and community rights defender Porlajee &ldquo;Billy&rdquo; Rakchongcharoen, who disappeared in 2014.</p>

<p>In the case of 14 Sapwai villagers from Chaiyaphum Province, sentenced to imprisonment and fines by the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal after refusing to move from their land under the &lsquo;forest reclamation&rsquo; policy, their lawyer indicated that the problem started from missing survey data leading to a lack of legal documents, and their defence which the court refused to consider.</p>

<p>Thai&nbsp;authorities should carry out an effective investigation, open to public scrutiny, into the abduction and intimidation of Eakachai Itsaratha, a community rights activist in Phatthalung province, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/08/15/thailand-investigate-activists-abduction-phatthalung">Human Rights Watch</a> said today.</p>

<p>On 5 August, a second hearing was held at the Criminal Court in Bangkok to examine the grounds in the defamation case brought by Thammakaset Company against Ngamsuk Ruttanasatian, a lecturer in the Institute for Human Rights and Peace (IHRP) at Mahidol University.</p>