What is art? What is the purpose of art? No two people agree on the same answer, but I believe that art exists to communicate a message. Art acts as the pathway that bridges the gap between an idea that needs to be spreaded, and the intended audience. A form of art that has proven to be quite effective is the art of film.
As almost 400,000 refugees flee ethnic cleansing in Myanmar, world leaders meeting at the UN General Assembly should hang their heads in shame that they have not only failed to make good on their promises to take in more refugees, but have actively dismantled refugee rights in many parts of the world.
Amnesty International can reveal new evidence pointing to a mass-scale scorched-earth campaign across northern Rakhine State, where Myanmar security forces and vigilante mobs are burning down entire Rohingya villages and shooting people at random as they try to flee.
In recent weeks, around 150,000 Rohingya refugees have fled into Bangladesh, as a result of an unlawful and totally disproportionate military response to attacks by a Rohingya armed group.Here, Amnesty International explains this people’s plight, their state-sponsored persecution, and the crisis’ wide-ranging humanitarian effects.
The Myanmar authorities’ restrictions on international aid in Rakhine state is putting tens of thousands of lives at risk in a region where mainly Rohingya people are already suffering horrific abuses from a disproportionate military campaign, Amnesty International said today.
Today, Amnesty International in partnership with The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Human Rights Watch, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Thai Lawyers for Human Rights and the Cross Cultural Foundation submitted a joint letter to the Royal Thai Government on International Day of the Disappeared which is held on 30 of August annually, to raise the issue publicly and to bring the cases to the court with neutrality.
Mrs. Piyanuch Kotsan, Director of Amnesty International Thailand, exchanged opinions on the topic “Viewpoint on Death Penalty in Thailand” at Workshop to Review Death Penalty Law in Thailand held by the European Union (EU) and the Rights and Liberties Protection Department, Ministry of Justice.
Amnesty International Thailand activists gathered opposite the Embassy of The People’s Republic of China in The Kingdom of Thailand in order to lay flowers commemorating the passing of Liu Xiaobo, a human rights and democracy activist, prisoner of conscience and the first Chinese person who received the Nobel Peace Prize. Liu Xiaobo died of cancer on 13th July 2017 his imprisonment in China. The activists put white chrysanthemums in front of Liu Xiaobo’s portrait and held message sign encouraging his family.
Amnesty International submitted the letter to Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand claiming the Thai authority to keep its stance in protecting human rights activists and promote their operations. On the occasion that Thailand will present the report on Sustainable Development Goals of 2030 at the United Nations (UN)
Responding to the news that Nobel Peace Prize Winner Liu Xiaobo has passed away, Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International commented:
On the occasion of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Mr. Filippo Grandi’s visit to Thailand, Amnesty International joins 12 other organisations urging the Thai government to demonstrate its commitment to protecting refugees by ending abusive practices as well as instituting and implementing laws that guarantee the rights of refugees in Thailand. These rights should be guaranteed without discrimination on the basis of race, religion, nationality or national origin, or membership of a particular social group or political opinion.
A live broadcast on ‘E-jan’ facebook page allowed me to witness the minutes ‘Wa’, the scapegoat who was jailed over a wrongful murder, walked free from Ubonratchathani prison into the arms of his mother, wife, sisters, toddler daughter, practically his whole family. He bent down to the ground in front of his mother to wai her (putting both his hands clapped together as a form of paying respect). They cried while holding each other. I couldn’t help crying as if this was happening to my own family. Later, elder relatives and friends took turn to tie holy threads around his wrist, a ritual of the northeasterners of Thailand to express loving care and to give protection to the person. They also sprinkled holy water collected from 9 temples to chase away bad omens.