Special Focus

  • Laos: End Cover-Up in Activist’s ‘Disappearance’
    Jun 14, 2013
    Authorities in Laos have failed to seriously investigate or credibly explain the enforced disappearance six months ago of a leading social activist, Sombath Somphone.
  • North Korea: Denial of Rights Forces Back Refugees
    May 30, 2013
    North Korea should immediately reveal the whereabouts and well-being of nine North Korean refugees who were forced back to Pyongyang from Beijing on May 28 according to media reports, Human Rights Watch said today, emphasizing that the government must ensure that they are not punished for having fled the country. Under international law, individuals have the right not to be forcibly returned to a place where they face persecution.
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Laos

  • Laos: End Cover-Up in Activist’s ‘Disappearance’
    Jun 14, 2013
    Authorities in Laos have failed to seriously investigate or credibly explain the enforced disappearance six months ago of a leading social activist, Sombath Somphone.
  • North Korea: Denial of Rights Forces Back Refugees
    May 30, 2013
    North Korea should immediately reveal the whereabouts and well-being of nine North Korean refugees who were forced back to Pyongyang from Beijing on May 28 according to media reports, Human Rights Watch said today, emphasizing that the government must ensure that they are not punished for having fled the country. Under international law, individuals have the right not to be forcibly returned to a place where they face persecution.
  • UN Report Highlights Abuse as ‘Drug Treatment’
    Mar 3, 2013
    A United Nations report about torture and other abuses in healthcare settings points to the need for donors to withdraw funds to compulsory drug detention centers, Human Rights Watch and Harm Reduction International said today.
  • Letter to AICHR Representatives on the Disappearance of Sombath Somphone
    Feb 20, 2013
    The enforced disappearance in December 2012 of prominent development educator and Magsaysay Award winner Sombath Somphone at a police checkpoint in Vientiane, Laos, demands urgent action by Asian governments and regional bodies.
  • Laos: End Silence on ‘Disappeared’ Activist
    Feb 19, 2013
    Lao authorities have failed to provide information on leading social activist Sombath Somphone since his apparent enforced disappearance in December 2012.
  • Laos: Investigate ‘Disappearance’ of Prominent Activist
    Dec 20, 2012
    The Lao government should urgently investigate the feared forced disappearance of Sombath Somphone, a prominent social activist.
  • Civil Society Denounces Adoption of Flawed ASEAN Human Rights Declaration
    Nov 19, 2012
    Disregarding the deep concerns expressed by senior United Nations officials, human rights experts and hundreds of civil society and grassroots organisations at the national, regional and international levels, ASEAN leaders nonetheless adopted yesterday an “ASEAN Human Rights Declaration” that undermines, rather than affirms, international human rights law and standards.
  • Drug Detention Centers Offer Torture, Not Treatment
    Jul 24, 2012

    Hundreds of thousands of people identified as drug users in China and across Southeast Asia are held without due process in centers where they may be subjected to torture, and physical and sexual violence in the name of “treatment.” International donors and United Nations agencies have supported and funded drug detention centers that systematically deny people rights to effective HIV and drug dependency treatment, and have ignored forced labor and abuse.

  • Laos: Clinton Should Urge End to Abuses at Drug Center
    Jul 10, 2012

    United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should call for the immediate release of detainees at the Somsanga drug detention center in her meeting with Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong. Clinton is scheduled to visit the Lao capital, Vientiane, on July 11, 2012. 

  • ASEAN: Ensure Declaration Meets Rights Standards
    Jul 8, 2012

    Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should make a public commitment to ensure that the forthcoming ASEAN Human Rights Declaration will fully comply with international human rights standards. 

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