Social development
Human rights
Freed students defiant
Still defiant, three of the four Yadanabon University students jailed in October on riot charges were released from Mandalay’s Ohbo Prison on 22 December. A fourth, Ko Naing Ye Wai, remains behind bars. Their conviction followed a demonstration in front of the university last June in ...
Villagers in land dispute say IDs were denied
More than 100 family representatives on 21 December filed complaints at Ratanakkiri Provincial Hall and the Interior Ministry, claiming that requests to be issued with identity cards so they could vote in upcoming elections were denied by local police officials. The villagers who signed the letter, representing ...
Armed group embroiled in illegal housing scam
People duped into buying government-owned land beside the Yangon-Mandalay Highway on 17 December urged police to take action against those responsible, shortly after the authorities moved in and evicted thousands from the Hlegu site. More than 1600 acres had been subdivided and sold in 2400-square-foot plots since ...
US should withhold trade, aid from Laos barring rights improvements: Advocacy leader
Washington must withhold trade agreements and assistance from Laos until its government can demonstrate concrete progress on human rights and democratic reform in the one party communist country, the head of an advocacy group has recommended to U.S. lawmakers.Mutually beneficial trade arrangements and political exchanges ...
US demands answers over missing Lao activist Sombath
The United States called for Laos to immediately resolve the case of prominent activist whose abduction three years ago sent a “chilling message” to civil society. The State Department statement came as the top US envoy for East Asia prepares to travel to communist-governed Laos, which ...
Local printer pulls another NYT article
The local printer of the International New York Times Thailand edition left a blank space on an inside page on 15 December, the fourth time content has been removed from the internationally respected newspaper in three months. The 618-word article, written by its Bangkok correspondent Thomas Fuller, talked ...
Court rejects plea to free detained student activist
The Criminal Court on 15 December dismissed a petition filed by the head of a student activist group seeking to have the arrest of Thammasat University student Thanet Anantawong ruled unlawful. Keep reading ...
More Montagnards opt to return home
More Montagnard asylum seekers are planning to return to home amid cuts in United Nations-provided food rations. Vivian Tan, regional spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said more than 10 indigenous Christian Montagnards had requested assistance in returning to Vietnam. She said the group had decided ...
Family of missing Laos activist Sombath Somphone reveal new evidence three years after disappearance
Fresh footage of an abducted activist’s classic American Jeep could crack open a three-year-old mystery in Laos, campaigners say. On 15 December 2012, Sombath Somphone was driving home when he was pulled over just metres from the Australian Embassy Recreation Club in the capital, Vientiane. Mr Sombath ...
Police mull defamation suit against asylum-seeking officer
Police on 11 December said they were considering suing a former officer investigating human trafficking for defamation over comments he made implicating senior officials in the trade. Pol Maj Gen Paween Pongsirin arrived in Melbourne a few days ago and told the Australian Broadcasting Corp on 10 ...
