London 14.03.11: ARTICLE 19 has submitted a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council highlighting the Thai government’s restriction of the right to freedom of expression including emergency powers, the Computer Crime Act, defamation and lèse-majesté laws. The report also raises concerns over the lack of implementation of the Official Information Act, and the control of the media by the military and government.

Thongbai Thongpao, noted lawyer and former political prisoner, died on 24 January 2011 at the age of 84. Although I did not ever meet Thongbai, I had been moved by his writing of his incarceration as a political prisoner from 1961 until 1966 in Communists of Lad Yao (คอมมิวนิสต์ลาดยาว), which I read as part of preparation for my Ph.D. comprehensive exams.  Communists of Lad Yao was first published in 1974, eight years after his release from prison and during the time of open politics between 14 October 1973 and 6 October 1976.

The Asian Human Rights Commission has written an open letter to Asahi Kosei (M) Sdn. Bhd. Company in Malaysia in protest against its possible move to take legal action for libel against migrant labour rights advocate Charles Hector.

We, the undersigned human rights NGOs, human rights defenders and women human rights defenders of Asia, deeply regret the conviction of Mr. Sam Chankea, provincial coordinator of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC). Mr. Chankea is a human rights defender active in land rights issues in Kampong Chhnang province. He was charged with defamation under Article 305 of the New Penal Code by the KDC International Company, a development company allegedly owned by Lauk Chumteav Chea Kheng, the wife of the Minister of Mining and Energy in Cambodia.