Law and judiciary
Legal and judicial reform
Ratify enforced disappearance pact now
As of last year, according to UN figures, there were nearly 80 unresolved cases of enforced disappearances in Thailand. Considering the country now has a law in place against enforced disappearances, in force since earlier in the year, how should we prevent and remedy these ...
VITIT MUNTARBHORN
Thailand is using royal defamation laws to silence its people, but it won’t succeed
In mid September, a 25-year-old trans person, Jatuporn “New” Sae-Ung, was sentenced to three years in prison for wearing a Thai traditional dress and performing a mock fashion walk at a political protest in Bangkok back in October 2020. She was charged with royal defamation, ...
SULAKSHANA LAMUBOL
Revolutionary changes proposed to draft Gender Affirmation Law
Medical interventions are now non-obligatory for people who want to be recognised as transgender, and trans men are eligible for maternity leave should they be pregnant. These amendments were proposed to the draft Gender Affirmation Law and were discussed during the Policy Dialogue on International Experiences ...
VNA
Vietnam court upholds 9-year jail sentence for democracy activist
A Vietnamese court has upheld a nine-year prison term for prominent human rights campaigner and writer Pham Doan Trang, who was convicted of anti-state activities, her lawyers and state media said. On Thursday, the Hanoi People’s High Court rejected Trang’s appeal of a sentence handed down in December ...
AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
Journalists Htet Htet Khine and Sithu Aung Myint arrested in Myanmar
Myanmar authorities should immediately release journalists Htet Htet Khine and Sithu Aung Myint and drop all charges against them, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On August 15, military authorities in Yangon arrested Htet Htet Khine, a freelance producer for BBC Media Action, and Sithu ...
Cambodia Charges Eco-Activists With Conspiracy, Royal Defamation
Cambodian and international rights advocates have condemned the harsh charges imposed on three 20-something environmental activists in the country earlier this week, the latest sign of the Cambodian government’s determination to stamp out the last traces of independent political advocacy. On June 16, Sun Ratha, 26, ...
Sebastian Strangio
Parks Dept rejects Karen call to return
The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) has rejected a request by a group of evicted Karen villagers to be allowed to resettle in their ancestral home deep into a forest at the Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi. “As long as there ...
APINYA WIPATAYOTIN
10-year implementation of Law on Gender Equality reviewed
The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) co-hosted an event on September 24 to release the independent Review of Ten Years of Implementing the Law on Gender Equality. In her remarks, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi ...
VNA
Op-ed: Election candidates must pledge to amend the Peaceful Assembly Law
On November 8, the people of Myanmar will go to the polls to select their representatives in both houses of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, Myanmar’s national legislature, as well as in state and region assemblies. With over 7,000 candidate applications from more than 90 political parties, ...
NICKEY DIAMOND and JACOB BOGART | FRONTIER
Progress made on medical cannabis, but challenges are ahead, Cannabis Walk Thailand was told
Although Thailand is still lagging behind other countries in developing cannabis-based medication, Thai medical researchers hope frozen knowledge could be renewed and extended to serve patients’ needs, especially in the field of traditional medicine. The latest progress on medical cannabis was shared with participants in a ...
Piyaporn Wongruang