On 17 February 2023, the Central Administrative Court ruled to annul the decision of the Minister of Interior dated 13 August 2019 to dismiss the appeal filed by the Amnesty International Thailand Association after the Director General of Department of Provincial Administration in his capacity as the Bangkok Registrar of Associations had refused to register Mr. Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal, a political activist, as a member of the AIT Association’s Board of Directors since the decision had been made unlawfully. 

Thai authorities have arrested, prosecuted, surveilled and intimidated child protesters for taking part in unprecedented mass demonstrations, Amnesty International said today, as it called for charges to be dropped and an end to any harassment discouraging children from joining protests.

Amid an ongoing crackdown on peaceful protest, including charges against hundreds of people, the Thai authorities have revoked bail for two young activists in January 2023 for exercising their rights. There are concerns for the life and health of two other detained female activists who have been on hunger-strike and generally refusing liquids since mid-January 2023. Authorities are arbitrarily detaining them and other individuals who they have targeted with criminal proceedings for peacefully exercising their rights.

The Myanmar military continues to arbitrarily arrest, torture and murder people with impunity two years after launching a coup, Amnesty International said today, calling for increased global action and solidarity ahead of the anniversary on 1 February.

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Responding to the decision by the Court of Tax Appeals to acquit Maria Ressa of four counts of tax evasion, Butch Olano, Amnesty International Philippines Section Director, said:

Ahead of the 21st anniversary of the opening of the Guantánamo Bay detention center, where the United States has detained nearly 780 Muslim men without charge or trial over the years, Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s Americas director, said:

Confronted with what can sometimes seem like an endless cycle of bad news in the media, it’s easy to feel despondent. But, amid the gloom, there were plenty of good news stories to celebrate this year. 

An unprecedented number of UN member states have supported a key resolution calling for the establishment of a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty in the plenary session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on 15 December. 125 UN member states, close to two-thirds of the UN membership, voted to adopt the ninth resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, while 37 voted against the proposal and 22 abstained at the vote. This resolution was proposed by Australia and Costa Rica on behalf of an Inter-Regional Task Force of member states and co-sponsored by 79 states.

Activists across the globe will mark this year’s Human Rights Day by taking part in the world’s biggest human rights event: Amnesty International’s Write for Rights campaign. Held annually since 2001, Write for Rights sees people in more than 200 countries and territories take millions of actions in support of people whose human rights are under attack.

Responding to reports of at least one boat carrying Rohingya refugees stranded at sea, Amnesty International’s Southeast Asia Researcher Rachel Chhoa-Howard said: 

Today’s South Korean Supreme Court decision that having children of minor age should not immediately be the reason to refuse to recognize the legal gender of transgender persons is an important step forward for human rights, Amnesty International said.