<p>Human rights activists, legal experts and politicians are demanding laws to protect citizens from enforced disappearance while calling on the Thai and Cambodian governments to show responsibility for the disappearance of Thai dissident Wanchalearm Satsaksit.</p>

<p>The conviction of a prominent journalist for criminal libel is a devastating blow to media freedom in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hrw.org/asia/philippines">Philippines</a>, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/15/philippines-rappler-verdict-blow-media-freedom">Human Rights Watch said today</a>.</p>

<p><a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fu7061146.ct.sendgrid.net%2Fls%2Fclick%3Fupn%3D4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATUZ0Azcvksdm7RxiDj2FVh-2FFBk-2F92kMN5rb2qpw56nz8zv9--_62i4ZQidJAut2vx9TYnJ83eSNeOvZZUp6-2BTeWSRd8xJKcxdxYGOMp3gsUGuf-2FK6kYlMVQaxOS53YDh0ZcnPz-2FaL51QwkhmVC7eboQcYcp94RfoIKxqJE2BZFukAya75Lh5IGKGs6-2Flu4D2B4OdYEsHlWW8nSTgjT4ESXiIhTTWa3dkv5r3GBF-2F79TkIWQxgxD9YgVxja4kSNsQVQG1LPOW5XhQlFMnHg9Iz3k8puqt6ohi3alUEfrPMbKRqeqCxG1x-2BtqY1zU6B3Pnpaz5f4QKUjgHbpdRf9Wa95ZDTb-2BVHTkDux2HEVREtR0NVh9FOf3-2FvCEsDbNVtZ2EovrpstvA-3D-3D&amp;data=02%7C01%7Crobertp%40hrw.org%7C479432c750014527be0808d80e6399d2%7C2eb79de4d8044273a6e64b3188855f66%7C1%7C0%7C637275168226129298&amp;sdata=J5BIcc5Vzc6gDkKC4ndeb0CCqsET8hqg1rUT%2BJnDU7Y%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Malaysia</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fu7061146.ct.sendgrid.net%252Fls%252Fclick%253Fupn%253D4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATUbA1oLOz52YcIopaZrT4FkZRQ1RbZYoRU1HMostZB-2FqpabfL_62i4ZQidJAut2vx9TYnJ83eSNeOvZZUp6-2BTeWSRd8xJKcxdxYGOMp3gsUGuf-2FK6kYlMVQaxOS53YDh0ZcnPz-2FaL51QwkhmVC7eboQcYcp94RfoIKxqJE2BZFukAya75Lh5IGKGs6-2Flu4D2B4OdYEsHlWW8nSTgjT4ESXiIhTTWa3dkv5r3GBF-2F79TkIWQxgxsRPU2GVE7387-2FW-2FeZxmOElEoWIIrCoxauv-2B9sdVIj793qoOrebMU9-2BW05M6CCzmTHLh3WH0-2B18pADRx-2BakfwAjDUiAYuaNIlxjdaaw6t02yxiM87SEedkII29ZaYAuUzksFGP9m9iAT6iybibhpAyA-3D-3D%26data%3D02%257C01%257Crobertp%2540hrw.org%257C479432c750014527be0808d80e6399d2%257C2eb79de4d8044273a6e64b3188855f66%257C1%257C0%257C637275168226129298%26sdata%3Diz1EpNT7EJ%252Fnpp4c1iwOKmsY0v1AiUqJM%252BnHVYPXlZk%253D%26reserved%3D0&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1592029067209000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEexkiQXvfpi-2BUoSx94QKzqauNg" href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fu7061146.ct.sendgrid.net%2Fls%2Fclick%3Fupn%3D4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATUbA1oLOz52YcIopaZrT4FkZRQ1RbZYoRU1HMostZB-2FqpabfL_62i4ZQidJAut2vx9TYnJ83eSNeOvZZUp6-2BTeWSRd8xJKcxdxYGOMp3gsUGuf-2FK6kYlMVQaxOS53YDh0ZcnPz-2FaL51QwkhmVC7eboQcYcp94RfoIKxqJE2BZFukAya75Lh5IGKGs6-2Flu4D2B4OdYEsHlWW8nSTgjT4ESXiIhTTWa3dkv5r3GBF-2F79TkIWQxgxsRPU2GVE7387-2FW-2FeZxmOElEoWIIrCoxauv-2B9sdVIj793qoOrebMU9-2BW05M6CCzmTHLh3WH0-2B18pADRx-2BakfwAjDUiAYuaNIlxjdaaw6t02yxiM87SEedkII29ZaYAuUzksFGP9m9iAT6iybibhpAyA-3D-3D&amp;data=02%7C01%7Crobertp%40hrw.org%7C479432c750014527be0808d80e6399d2%7C2eb79de4d8044273a6e64b3188855f66%7C1%7C0%7C637275168226129298&amp;sdata=iz1EpNT7EJ%2Fnpp4c1iwOKmsY0v1AiUqJM%2BnHVYPXlZk%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Thailand</a>&nbsp;should urgently rescue Rohingya refugees stranded at sea and provide them with assistance and access to asylum, Human Rights Watch said today.</p>

<p>In addition to pressure from Thai civil society, the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Socialist Party of Malaysia have called on the Thai and Cambodian authorities to immediately address and investigate the abduction of Wanchalearm Satsaksit in Phnom Penh.</p>

<p>The Thai government&#39;s extension of the State of Emergency is unjustified and is an apparent pretext for violating basic rights and suppress anti-government voices, says Human Rights Watch.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.hrw.org/thailand">Thai</a>&nbsp;authorities should allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) unhindered access to Rohingya from Myanmar to determine whether they qualify for refugee status, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/21/thailand-let-un-refugee-agency-screen-rohingya">Human Rights Watch</a> said today (21 May). The government&rsquo;s inhumane policy of holding Rohingya arriving in Thailand in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/07/31/thailand-offers-persecuted-rohingya-little-hope">indefinite detention</a>&nbsp;should be immediately repealed.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.hrw.org/asia/bangladesh" target="_blank">Bangladesh</a>&nbsp;authorities have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/news/29-rohingyas-sheltered-bhashan-char-1899223" target="_blank">quarantined 29 Rohingya refugees</a>&nbsp;without adequate access to aid on an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya-island/floating-island-new-home-for-rohingya-refugees-emerges-in-bay-of-bengal-idUSKCN1G603T" target="_blank">unstable silt island</a>&nbsp;in the Bay of Bengal, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/05/bangladesh-rohingya-refugees-risky-covid-19-quarantine">Human Rights Watch</a> said today (5 May). The authorities&nbsp;<a href="https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/rohingya-refugees-relocated-to-controversial-bangladesh-island-after-weeks-at-sea/1822838" target="_blank">said that they are holding the refugees</a>, including 15 women and 5 children, who had been adrift at sea for over two months, on Bhasan Char to prevent a Covid-19 outbreak in the camps.</p>

<p>11 human rights organizations issued a joint open letter to the&nbsp;Department of Corrections Director-General Pol Col Naras Savestanan calling for the Thai authorities to take immediate steps&nbsp;to release prisoners and ensure the health and safety of all those in detention facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.article19.org/resources/thailand-emergency-measures-threaten-human-rights/">ARTICLE 19</a> and <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/03/25/thailand-covid-19-clampdown-free-speech">Human Rights Watch (HRW)</a> have issued statements following the announcement of <a href="https://prachatai.com/english/node/8429">emergency measures</a> by the Thai government yesterday (26 March), raising concern over how these measures may threaten freedom of expression and access to information.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.hrw.org/asia/cambodia">Cambodian</a>&nbsp;authorities should stop arresting people for expressing concerns about COVID-19&rsquo;s impact in Cambodia and claiming they are spreading so-called &ldquo;fake news,&rdquo; Human Rights Watch said today.</p>

<p>Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have issued statements condemning the double bombing attack outside the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC) in Yala on Tuesday (18 March).</p>

<p>&nbsp;Thai&nbsp;authorities should drop politically motivated criminal charges against the leader of the dissolved opposition Future Forward Party, Human Rights Watch said today. The United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Japan, and other governments should call on the Thai authorities to drop the charges and the arbitrary ban on the Future Forward Party.</p>