On the second anniversary of the enforced disappearance of prominent Lao civil society leader Sombath Somphone, rights groups firmly condemn the Lao government’s ongoing refusal to provide any information regarding Sombath’s fate or whereabouts.

On the occasion of the UN climate change negotiations in Lima, Peru – known as COP20 – we reaffirm that rejecting REDD+ and ‘environmental services’, two manifestations of the so-­‐called ‘green economy’, is a central part of our struggle against capitalism and extractive industries and the defence of territories, life and Mother Earth.

The 10th Asia Europe People’s Forum (AEPF10) tackled five major themes, or People’s Visions, which represent AEPF’s hopes for citizens of the ASEM member countries and the communities they live in. This is their final declaration.

Ensuring that investment in agriculture is done responsibly is vital for indigenous peoples, whose identities and cultural survival are inextricably linked to their lands and natural resources. Respecting this link is a fundamental principle in international law and jurisprudence, the recognition of which indigenous peoples have fought for and won and which reaffirms their right to determine the outcome of decision-making that affects them, rather than merely being involved in the process.

There is great concern among Myanmar CSOs that signing investment treaties at this moment in time will freeze further democratic development.

After several months of political unrest in Thailand, the military declared martial law on May 20, 2014, and then called leaders in for a supposed attempt at dialogue before seizing power in a coup d’état on May 22. General Prayuth Chan-ocha abolished the 2007 Constitution and dissolved the caretaker Government and Senate. In subsequent days, the military has summoned and detained scholars, activists, journalists and politicians, even carrying out arbitrary arrests and secret detentions, targeting people who think differently and who have campaigned for democratic and legal reforms.

Over 70 Myanmar CSOs express their concerns over the EU-Myanmar Investment agreement in the below letter to European Trade Commissioner De Gucht.

TNI has joined twenty trade unions, human rights and civil society organisations from across Europe to send a letter to the President of the European Parliament to ask him to undertake a Report on the situation of human rights, the rule of law and democracy in the country holding the Presidency of the European Council, under article 7 of the TEU.