Human Rights Lawyer M Ravi seeks public support to pay personal cost orders for representation of death row inmates

Human Rights Lawyer M Ravi is appealing for public support after the Singapore Attorney General rejected the request to waive the adverse personal cost of S$11,400 ordered against Ms Violet Netto and himself in the representation of three death row inmates. They have till 14 March to raise the sum to pay the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

73 women journalists will spend 8 March behind bars

On International Women’s Day, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for the immediate and unconditional release of imprisoned women journalists throughout the world, and sounds the alarm about the disappearance of women journalists from the Afghan media landscape.

UN Committee finds Philippines failed to address ongoing discrimination and suffering of WWII sexual slavery victims

UN finds Philippines violated WWII sexual slavery victims’ rights. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women said the Philippine government breached its obligations by failing to address ongoing discrimination against the victims. The government waived its right to compensation after signing the Treaty of Peace with Japan. The Committee requested full reparation, including compensation, and an official apology. The case has renewed attention on wartime sexual slavery, with activists calling for more support for the victims and addressing ongoing discrimination. Similar cases have been filed by comfort women survivors in other countries, including South Korea.

Southeast Asian parliamentarians urge swift action against Myanmar junta

Southeast Asian parliamentarians are urging the international community to take swift action against the illegal military junta in Myanmar. Following a roundtable discussion in Jakarta, the parliamentarians stressed that the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the junta’s atrocities is of gigantic proportions, with hundreds of thousands of people displaced from their homes. APHR Chair Mercy Barends called on ASEAN to apply strong pressure to isolate the Myanmar military, and parliamentarians urged the international community to recognize the National Unity Government and the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw as the legitimately elected representatives of the people of Myanmar.

Southeast Asian lawmakers urge Malaysia to repeal repressive laws criminalizing government critics

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — Lawmakers from Southeast Asia are urging the new…

Human rights groups urge GANHRI to disinvite military-controlled Myanmar NHRC from 2023 Annual Meeting

The Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) has come under…

Activists of three generations commemorate 60th Anniversary of Operation Coldstore

This past Saturday (18 Feb), over 120 people gathered at an event…

SG Mental Health Matters releases report on parliamentary questions related to mental health

SG Mental Health Matters (SGMHM) was founded in 2020 by a group…

Civil society groups welcome Speaker’s agenda to reform Malaysia’s parliament

MALAYSIA —  Malaysian civil society groups welcomed the parliamentary reform agenda, which…

About 30,000, not yet tried and convicted, are in Malaysia’s overcrowded prisons of about 76,336 inmates

by Charles Hector, for and on behalf of MADPET (Malaysians Against Death…