Asia
We work alongside local and international organizations and human rights defenders to protect civic space and promote accountability for serious human rights violations in South and South East Asia. From advocating for freedom of expression and the right to protest to an end to the use of torture, enforced disappearance, and arbitrary detention, we support international justice efforts.
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This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share Trump’s Attacks On Press Freedom Are Paving The Way For Authoritarianism A leading global democracy research institute says democratic “backsliding” must be turned around quickly—warning that after 10 years, recovery is “close to impossible.” In 2024, the Democrats ran on the catchphrase “We are not going back.” Even after the party’s resounding defeat,…
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This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share Trump Administration Advances Immigration Crackdown On Foreign Student Protesters The Trump administration is ramping up penalties against students who engaged in protests against the war in Gaza, revoking the visas of hundreds of alleged demonstrators. The Trump administration is ramping up penalties against students who engaged in protests against the war in Gaza, revoking…
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This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share Judge Rules DOGE’s USAID Dismantling Likely Violates The Constitution The dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency likely violated the Constitution, a federal judge ruled as he indefinitely blocked DOGE from making further cuts to the agency. The order requires the Trump administration to restore email and computer…
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This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share US Added to Human Rights Watchlist For ‘Narrowing’ Freedom and Now Ranks Near Serbia and Congo The U.S. was added to a watchlist of countries with “faltering civic freedoms” after a global watchdog group raised alarm bells over recent actions taken by President Donald Trump and his administration. The U.S. joins the Democratic Republic…
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Dhaka Tribune: Rights Organizations Demand Transparent Digital Laws in Bangladesh
Tags Share On Tuesday, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Access Now, ARTICLE 19, Human Rights Watch, PEN International, and Tech Global Institute stated that Bangladesh is experiencing significant systemic and structural changes, including reforms to cybersecurity and data protection laws. The groups stated,”Acknowledging the interim government of Bangladesh’s timely and necessary efforts to reform digital…
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Letter to the U.N. Secretary-General in Advance of His Visit to Bangladesh
Tags Share His Excellency António Guterres Secretary-General of the United Nations Dear Secretary-General: As human rights organizations, we write to respectfully urge you to do everything in your power to provide U.N. support to Bangladesh during this critical period in the country’s political transition. Bangladesh is now undergoing unprecedented changes following widespread protests that led to…
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This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share UN Chief Guterres Says Human Rights Are Being Suffocated By Autocrats and Warmongers U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres says human rights are being “suffocated” around the world, lashing out at voices of division and anger who see them as a barrier to their quest for power and profit. In a speech to the Human Rights…
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The Daily Star: Digital law Reforms Hasty, Lack Transparency
Tags Share The Daily Star has reported that six international human rights organizations have raised concerns over Bangladesh’s proposed Cyber Protection Ordinance, 2025, and Personal Data Protection Ordinance, 2025, citing a lack of transparency and stakeholder consultation. In a joint statement, groups including Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and Human Rights Watch warned that the…
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The Business Standard: Bangladesh’s New Digital Laws Under Scrutiny
Tags Share The Business Standard has reported that human rights organizations are raising concerns over Bangladesh’s fast-tracked digital law reforms, warning that the public has been excluded from the process. Groups, including RFK Human Rights, have criticized the lack of transparency, particularly regarding amendments to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulation Act, which could enable internet shutdowns…
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Joint Statement on Emerging Digital Laws in Bangladesh
Tags Share Bangladesh is undergoing a significant transitional phase, marked by wide-ranging systemic and structural transformations, including legislative reforms to cybersecurity and data protection statutes. Acknowledging the timely and necessary efforts of the Interim Government of Bangladesh to reform digital governance policies and regulatory frameworks, we, the undersigned organizations, remain concerned that these initiatives are…
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This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share Private Prison Companies Call Trump’s Deportation Plans ‘Unprecedented Opportunity’ Trump made mass deportation of undocumented immigrants ― and even some immigrants who are here with legal protections ― a cornerstone of his 2024 campaign, building on years of racist and dehumanizing rhetoric about immigrants, speaking affectionately for President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s mass deportation program, and even invoking an 18th-century…
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This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share Trump Wins, the Press Loses Since he entered politics, a decade ago, Donald Trump has castigated journalists for their skepticism and independence, calling the media “the enemy of the people,” a “threat to democracy,” “fake,” and “crooked bastards” whom he vows to prosecute. Now that he has secured a second term, he will be…
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