Tag: human rights

Last week, newly-elected Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt signed an order that declared seven public areas as suitable venues for public demonstrations, including the Bangkok Youth Center, Lan Khon Mueang Town Square, an area under the Ratchavipha Bridge,…

For UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, a visit to China has been in the works for years, and with it comes high stakes. Responding to reports that in the western Chinese province…

Eight years ago this past Sunday, General Prayut Chan-ocha staged a coup against the democratically elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra. It would be Thailand’s 12th coup since the 1932 revolution. Since the coup, Thailand has…

Narin Kulpongsathron, a 33-year old activist, was recently convicted under Article 112 of the Thai Criminal Code on March 4 for defacing a portrait of Thailand’s King Vajiralongkorn. Otherwise known as lèse majesté, which prohibits the…

In the Muang Sam Sip District of Ubon Ratchathani, an 11-year old boy was recently the victim of physical harm at the hands of his teacher. In demanding that the child cut his hair, which in…

The United Nations signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and now marks the event annually on 10 December with the commemoration of Human Rights Day.  As this day passes year after year,…

Each member state of the United Nations takes part in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process every five years. The aims are simple enough: evaluate and improve the human rights situations in all 193 UN…

When U.S. President Barack Obama was first sworn in, expectations that a departure from the Bush Administration’s obsession with the Middle East were imminent. The argument was that the United States had paid too much…

When Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, the former magazine editor and current pro-democracy activist, shared on Facebook earlier this month what appeared to be a copy of an old top secret document that classified opponents of the military-backed regime,…

Inside the walls of the United Nations compound in Afghanistan over the past few weeks, diplomats scurried about looking for some semblance of security and operational control, for after all, the Taliban were on the…