Special Rapporteur, Rhona Smith, completed her seventh visit to Cambodia this week. In her final report on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Smith called on the government to improve its human rights record around freedom of assembly, inclusive development, press freedom and unlawful detention.

At the same time, Smith lauded the government for taking steps that will allegedly help to open space for civil society. But until a grassroots civil society movement is able to organise and raise these issues themselves, it’s unlikely that the government will follow the rapporteur’s recommendations.

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The European Union moved closer to imposing trade sanctions against Cambodia as a result of alleged human-rights violations in the country. The European Commission in Brussels has asked EU national governments to give the green light by Jan. 29 for suspending a policy that lets Cambodia export all goods except weapons duty-free and quota-free to the bloc, according to two officials familiar with the matter. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deliberations are private.

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A monitoring mission of experts from the European Commission and the European External Action Service visited Myanmar from 28 to 31 October. This follows deeply worrying developments highlighted in various United Nations reports, in particular as regards human rights violations in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States and concerns around labour rights.

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The post Myanmar: EU mission assesses human rights and labour rights situation first appeared on Open Development Mekong.

The intensive growth of Thai investments in ASEAN countries in recent years has demonstrated significant potential opportunities to expand markets and provide access to transboundary supply chains, raw materials, as well as the natural resources of the neighboring countries.

[…]A pattern of links between malpractice of businesses, environmental destructions and large displacements suggested a troubling track record of Thai investments in the Mekong region and Myanmar.

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The post Reckoning With Human Rights Violations in Thailand’s Extraterritorial Investments first appeared on Open Development Mekong.

Cambodian officials have accused two United Nations (UN) human rights experts of interfering in its internal affairs when they commented on the freedom of opinion and expression in the Kingdom and the media code of conduct for the July 29 national elections.

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Thai overseas investments in Cambodia and Myanmar have come under criticism for irresponsible business operations and human rights violation, which has also led to the first-ever class-action lawsuit against a Thai company in its home country.

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The post Two Thai companies face flak over practices in Cambodia and Myanmar first appeared on Open Development Mekong.

Academics have suggested there should be an international Asean declaration to control and enforce good governance and the protection of human rights in the region. Thai Extra-Territorial Obligations Working Group and Chulalongkorn University held a forum yesterday to determine measures to develop good governance for transboundary investments for sustainable development in the Mekong River region spanning multiple countries.

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Cambodia has been accused of ‘killing off democracy’ after the country’s supreme court dissolved the opposition party and outlawed over 100 politicians ahead of a general election next year. Thursday’s ruling to disband the Cambodia National Rescue Party, in a Southeast Asian country visited by about 159,000 Britons a year, was widely expected amid the worst crackdown on freedom and human rights in two decades.

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Just a few days into her fifth visit and the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar has already encountered a few bumps in the road, with the government blocking her from going to Laiza and Hpakant, in Kachin State. Yanghee Lee and her envoy were not allowed to travel to the conflict-riddled areas of the state due to “security reasons”, UN Information Centre in Yangon spokesperson U Aye Win confirmed on January 10 before declining to comment further. The rights investigator is on a 12-day tour of the country, with further stops expected to include Sittwe, Rathedaung, Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships in Rakhine State, in addition to meetings in Nay Pyi Taw and Yangon. Ms Lee arrived in Yangon on January 9. In a statement released on January 6, the UN said Ms Lee had scheduled to visit Myitkyina, Hpakant and Laiza in Kachin State.

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The power of the internet has been in the spotlight in the last few weeks thanks to the U.S. election – but while American netizens have to contend with fake news and annoying status updates, in many parts of the world just sharing an opinion can end in jail time (or worse). Freedom House, a U.S.-based NGO/research organization, released their annual Freedom of the Net report last week, and overall the results were not good. Internet freedom has declined around the world for the sixth year in a row thanks to censorship and government monitoring of messaging apps. While there are worse places to use the internet than Southeast Asia – such as  blogging about religious freedom in Saudi Arabia or Bangladesh – the region is still struggling. The entire report spans a thousand pages, but here’s a breakdown of the five worst offenders in Southeast Asia. Please note that the 2016 report only reviewed 65 countries in the world and it did not include Myanmar so it is not included in this list. Myanmar is, however, included in the 2015 report.

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The post The 5 worst places to be an internet user in Southeast Asia first appeared on Open Development Mekong.