• China’s Thuggish Para-Police
    Commentary
    May 25, 2012
    The chengguan urban management officers are meant to enforce non-criminal administrative regulations.
  • China: EU Rights Talks Sliding Toward Irrelevance
    Press release
    May 25, 2012
    The European Union needs to hold China accountable for its human rights obligations under international law or face the prospect that its human rights dialogue with the world’s second largest economy will become irrelevant.
  • China: Unaccountable “Chengguan” Forces Fuel Public Resentment
    Press release
    May 23, 2012
    China’s “chengguan,” the para-police agency tasked with enforcing non-criminal urban administrative regulations, is in some circumstances a threat to, rather than a guarantor of, public safety due to the agency’s lack of effective official supervision, training, and discipline.
  • Dereliction of Duty
    Commentary
    May 22, 2012
    No one expects any of this to be easy. But the United States and its NATO partners haven't tried nearly hard enough. True, their influence decreases as NATO troops depart, but the promised delivery of massive military assistance -- aid that will be essential to the Afghan government's survival -- still provides considerable leverage. It would have been nice if the NATO governments' high-sounding rhetoric at the summit about their vision for Afghanistan were matched by some tough, no-nonsense pressure to realize it.
  • Vietnam: Free Catholic Activists
    Press release
    May 22, 2012

    Vietnamese authorities should immediately release four Catholic activists accused of conducting propaganda against the state and drop the charges against them. 

  • Malaysia: Drop Charges Against Protest Participants
    Press release
    May 22, 2012

    The Malaysian government should withdraw politically-motivated charges against opposition leaders who participated in the “Bersih 3.0” demonstration in Kuala Lumpur on April 28, 2012. 

  • Afghanistan on the Precipice
    Commentary
    May 21, 2012
    As representatives of about 60 countries and international organizations gather in Chicago for the NATO summit, much of the focus will be on who pays for Afghan security forces in the years ahead.
  • Indonesia Is No Model for Muslim Democracy
    Commentary
    May 21, 2012
    It is fashionable these days for Western leaders to praise Indonesia as a model Muslim democracy.
  • Philippines: UN Rights Body to Assess Manila’s Record
    Press release
    May 20, 2012

    United Nations member countries should call on the Philippine government during its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UN Human Rights Council to honor its commitments to ensure accountability for serious human rights abuses.

  • NATO: Rights Key to Afghanistan’s Security
    Press release
    May 19, 2012

    NATO governments at the May 20-21, 2012, summit in Chicago should endorse measures to bolster oversight and accountability of Afghan security forces and to protect women’s rights.