Malaysia-based Global Human Rights Federation deputy president Peter John Jaban said several recent incidents underscored the rise of xenophobia, racism, racial discrimination, and intolerance in the nation.
Malaysian Muslims display placards in front of the Netherlands embassy during a protest against the insults to the Koran in European nations, in Kuala Lumpur on January 27, 2023. (Photo: AFP)
He pointed out several racial cases such as the baseless accusations against Chinese vernacular schools as breeding grounds for intolerance, and controversies surrounding school canteen operations during Ramadan month, among others.
Malaysia also made headlines by banning international celebrities and artists from performing and imposing strict rules on holidaymakers in popular tourist destinations. Rumors are rife that the government might ban wearing shorts and consuming alcohol in destinations like Langkawi Island, which the authorities have refuted.
Sri Lanka’s former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has alleged the Catholic Church played a key role in mass civil protests that led to his ouster in 2022.
In a new book, Rajapaksa said the Church was a major player behind the mass unrest that blamed him for the nation’s worst economic crisis since independence. The book titled, “The Conspiracy to Oust Me from the Presidency,” pointed fingers to Colombo archbishop Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith and sections of the Catholic Church in the crisis-hit island nation.
A woman looks at the copies of the ‘The Conspiracy’ book written by toppled Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa displayed at a bookshop in Colombo on March 7. (Photo: AFP)
The sensational claims by the former president who is a member of the powerful Rajapaksa clan, have made the book a bestseller in the nation. However, the Church has yet to respond to the claims made in the book.
Catholic Church blames the government for its failure to stop the deadly Easter Sunday bombing in 2019 and has demanded an international probe to uncover the conspiracy behind it.
In their annual report, two global rights groups have slammed Thailand for inequalities and double standards in Thai prisons. The 56-page report jointly compiled by International Federation of Human Rights and the Union for Civil Liberty was released on Tuesday. It covers developments, trends, facts, and figures related to the Thai prison system in 2023.
The report deplored the ill-treatment of ordinary prisoners and preferential treatment for inmates with a higher social status, a longstanding feature of Thai prison system.
Thai student activist Patiwat Saraiyaem (center) accused of insulting the royal family is seen in this file image. The latest annual report from International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) and the Union for Civil Liberty (UCL) criticized inequalities and double standards in Thailand’s prison system. (Photo: AFP)
The special treatment of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who returned to Thailand last year after spending years in exile, has been cited as an example.
The report revealed that wealthy, well-known, or influential prisoners typically enjoyed a wide range of privileges over the general prison population including sleeping dormitories with fewer occupants; better quality mattresses; priority in receiving more nutritious meals; and certain levels of impunity when committing disciplinary offenses.
A court in Vietnam jailed two ethnic Khmer Krom activists for allegedly “abusing democratic freedom” on Wednesday. Activists To Hoang Chuong and Thach Cuong were arrested last year when they were caught distributing books about the rights of indigenous people. They were convicted under Article 331 of the Penal Code.
Rights activists say Article 331 is used by the communist government to silence dissent, including by the Khmer Krom people who live in the lower Mekong Delta area of South Vietnam.
Youth activists raise their arms to mark the 67th anniversary of the loss of a large territory called Kampuchea Krom (Khmer Krom) to Vietnam, during a ceremony at a pagoda in Phnom Penh on June 4, 2016. Kampuchea Krom, or Lower Cambodia, was home to about 12 million ethnic Khmers. The region was incorporated into what is now Vietnam during the French colonial era. (Photo: AFP)
Ethnic Khmer Krom are considered Cambodians who live in Vietnam and were targeted for extermination by Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge regime between 1975 and 1979.
Last month, activist Danh Minh Quang, 34, was convicted on similar charges. He was sentenced to three-and-a-half years by a court in a neighboring province. The Buddhist activists were reportedly targeted because they were distributing information about the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The son of a South Korean missionary detained in North Korea aims to seek international cooperation for the repatriation of his father and other detainees during a United Nations meeting.
Sixty-five-year-old Choe Chun-gil has been detained in North Korea since 2014 and is among six other South Koreans detained for years and whose whereabouts are unknown.
This picture taken by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 26, 2015 shows South Korean Choe Chun-Gil speaking at a press conference at the People’s Palace of Culture in Pyongyang. (Photo: AFP)
His 34 year old son, Jin Young is visiting Geneva this week to “muster international attention on North Korea’s abductee issue,” according to South Korea’s unification ministry.
Kim Kuk-gi, a Presbyterian pastor and former missionary, is also reportedly detained with Choe.
In May 2015, the North Korean authorities presented Kim and Choe at a press conference in Pyongyang attended by journalists and foreign diplomats.
Jin’s visit coincides with the ongoing session of the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council from Feb. 26 to April 5.
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