<p>Survivors of rape in Cambodia face limited access to justice, medical services and counselling, Amnesty International said in a report issued today, as rapes of women and girls appear to be increasing.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has strongly criticised the Royal Thai Government (RTG) for its treatment of migrant workers. Just a week after the United Nation&rsquo;s Special Rapportuer on the Human Rights of Migrants publically issued a statement of concern on RTG&rsquo;s migrant worker policies, Thailand&rsquo;s human rights reputation falls into question as it vies for membership of the UN&rsquo;s Human Rights Council.&nbsp;</p>

<p>56 organisations/groups have sent a letter to the ASEAN and Heads of Government of ASEAN countries, calling them to pay attention to the struggle of factory workers in Burma.</p>

<p>The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) and its sister organisation, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), have documented numerous arbitrary detentions throughout the Asian region in the year preceding the 13th session of the Human Rights Council. Cases, notably from Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand, show a consistent and widespread pattern of abuse of authority by law enforcement agencies concerning illegal and arbitrary detention.</p>

<p>The Union for Civil Liberty (UCL), a leading&nbsp;human rights advocacy organization based in Bangkok, has disseminated its evaluation of the human rights situation in Thailand in 2009, through the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).</p>

<p>BANGKOK, Jan 24 (TNA) -- Defending his government over recent charges by New York-based <a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/1585">Human Rights Watch</a> that Thailand violated several human rights principles last year, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Sunday that some information in the NGO&rsquo;s report might contain inaccuracies.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This was a &nbsp;busy week on the frontlines of personal freedom, particularly in regards to free speech. Tying together several key events were government&rsquo;s increasingly sophisticated restrictions on our human rights, and the efforts to push them back. For obvious reasons, freedom of speech is dear to this writer, and this week&rsquo;s post addresses the past week&rsquo;s developments.</p>

<p>(New York) - The government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva largely failed to fulfill its pledges to make human rights a priority, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2010.</p>

<p>On 18 Jan, human rights organizations and activists send a letter to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva for concerns over the issue of migrant workers in Thailand, the Burmese in particular, as their permits will expire in January and February, while the nationality verification process has proved to be ineffective and risky for the migrants.</p>

<p>Thailand should reverse its recent backward slide in respect for freedom of expression, as illustrated by the sharp increase over the past ten months in cases under the lese majeste law.</p>

<p>The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) expresses grave concern&nbsp;over the Thai military's attempts to suppress the news coverage of&nbsp;its deportation of 4,000 Hmong refugees from their camp in&nbsp;Thailand's northern province of Petchabun in December 2009.</p>

<p>20th Jan 2010 marks the renewal deadline for the first batch of 70, 000 Burmese, Cambodian and Laotian migrants working in Thailand whose work permits will expire on that day. The next date for the expiry of all the other work permits of migrants from Burma, Cambodia and Laos (approximately 930, 000 officially registered persons) is 28th Feb 2010.</p>