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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The Business of Human Rights and Protections Abroad
Tags Share “We need to protect the journalists,” pleaded Mikhail Gershkovich, father of detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich who was arrested by Russia’s Federal Security Service on March 30, 2023, while on assignment. While his detention has been condemned by news organizations, human rights groups, and the Biden administration, Gershkovich has yet to…
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Bangladesh: Odhikar published its Annual Human Rights Report 2023
Tags Share Despite the continuous harassment imposed by the Bangladesh Government, Odhikar published its Annual Human Rights Report 2023. The report documents the human rights situation in the country, based on information collected by human rights defenders, data published in the media and is based on international human rights instruments and standards. Read the report.
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Bangladesh: Urgent Call to Safeguard Human Rights and Democracy Ahead of January Elections
Tags Share The undersigned organizations express our deep concern about Bangladesh’s current human rights situation and closure of civic space as the country heads toward national elections on 7 January 2024. Since late October 2023, following the rallies and demonstrations co-organized by the political opposition, the ruling party of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Awami…
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Full prisons and false charges: Bangladesh opposition faces pre-election crackdown
Tags Share In conversation with The Guardian, our VP of International Advocacy & Litigation Angelita Baeyens comments on Bangladesh’s pre-election crackdown on opposition leaders, supporters and activists – almost 10,000 of whom have been arrested after protests broke out against the ruling government.
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Bangladesh: Government must end excessive use of force against protesters, release arbitrarily detained activists and political opponents and conduct prompt investigations
Tags Share Bangladesh authorities must immediately cease resorting to violence and excessive use of force to suppress protests. The undersigned organizations wish to express our deep concern over the alarming and distressing developments in Bangladesh, in the context of the rallies and demonstrations co-organized by the opposition parties and led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party…
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Cambodia: Joint Submission for Universal Periodic Review Documenting Human Rights Violations
Tags Share Ahead of the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Cambodia that is taking place in Geneva next year, Freedom House, and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (RFKHR) submitted a joint report, with the support of Covington & Burling LLP. The report documents the human rights abuses committed by the government…
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NGOs call for protection of journalists and freedom of expression in Cambodia and Việt Nam ahead of UN human rights review
Tags Share Journalists working in Cambodia and Việt Nam are routinely threatened, subject to mistreatment, and detained for their reporting and commentary, with many imprisoned and denied basic rights, according to two new reports on press freedom and freedom of expression submitted to the United Nations. A report on Việt Nam was jointly submitted by…
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Việt Nam: Joint Submission for Universal Periodic Review on Human Rights Abuses
Tags Share Ahead of the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Việt Nam that is taking place in Geneva next year, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Freedom House, and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (RFKHR), submitted a joint report, with the support of Covington & Burling LLP. The report provides a…
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Experts call on the international community to engage in specific recommendations during the Universal Periodic Review on Bangladesh
Tags Share Ahead of the 44th session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) scheduled for November 13, 2023, four experts called on U.N. member states to urge Bangladesh to cease the continuing violations faced by human rights defenders, journalists, and critical voices within the country, during a virtual…
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Imprisonment of Top Rights Activists in Bangladesh Triggers Global Outrage
Tags Share “They are two of the most widely respected human rights advocates worldwide. They are being punished for speaking truth to power.” Our VP of International Advocacy & Litigation Angelita Baeyens comments on the recent sentencing of two prominent human rights activists in Bangladesh, both of whom exposed serious human rights violations by government…
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Bangladesh: Quash conviction and release rights defenders
Tags Share (September 14, 2023) Bangladesh authorities should immediately release human rights defenders Adilur Rahman Khan and ASM Nasiruddin Elan, quash their convictions, and end all reprisals against them for their legitimate human rights work, said 72 organizations today. Khan and Elan were sentenced by the Cyber Tribunal of Dhaka to two years’ of prison…
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Joint Letter Calling on Bangladesh to Dismiss Digital Security Act Cases Over Freedom of Expression
Tags Share Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina People’s Republic of Bangladeshinfo@pmo.gov.bd Sent via email Madam Prime Minister Hasina, We, the 19 undersigned press freedom and human rights organizations, write to seek your administration’s urgent intervention to immediately end the harassment and intimidation of journalist Adhora Yeasmean, who faces an investigation under the Digital Security Act (DSA)…
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