The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) has condemned the Myanmar State Administration Council (SAC)'s executions of two pro-democracy activists and call on ASEAN foreign ministers to push the SAC to terminate the execution of detained activists and for their release.

Thailand remains on the CIVICUS Monitor's human rights watchlist following a series of alarming developments, including the dissolution of the Move Forward Party and the continued prosecution of activists under the royal defamation law.

ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR). calls on Southeast Asian governments to support a new convention on crimes against humanity to ensure that states are responsible for for preventing and prosecuting these crimes, since a lack of a global convention has allowed such atrocities to continue unchecked, including in Southeast Asia.

As Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra will soon be taking office, Human Rights Watch calls on the new government to make human rights a priority, including by ending torture and enforced disappearance.

Following the dissolution of the Move Forward Party and the dismissal of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, the human rights organization Fortify Rights calls on the Thai government to undertake comprehensive constitutional reforms to protect democratic principles and ensure a balance of power between elected and appointed branches of government, as the "overly broad" power of the Constitutional Court disrupt democratic governance.

UN independent experts said that they are "dismayed" at the use of the royal defamation law to dissolve the Move Forward Party (MFP), which won the largest number of seats in the 2023 general election, and ban its leaders from politics. They noted that the royal defamation law is outdated and inconsistent with international law, and efforts to "peacefully reform" it should be supported, not thwarted.

Amnesty International, in response to the Constitutional Court ruling to dissolve the Move Forward Party, has asserted that the Court's ruling is deemed an untenable decision that reveals the authorities’ complete disregard for Thailand’s international human rights obligations.

Ahead of tomorrow's Constitutional Court ruling on whether to dissolve the Move Forward Party, the human rights advocacy organization Fortify Rights condemns the attempt to dissolve the party as a "direct attack" on democratic principles and called on the Thai authorities to reject the Election Commission's attempt to dissolve the party and institute a ten-year ban on party leaders.

US Senator Ben Cardin, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to Thai Foreign Mnister Maris Sangiampongsa raising concerns about the potential dissolution of the Move Forward Party, which could disenfranchise millions of voters and undermine Thailand's commitment to democracy and human rights.

Ahead of the Constitutional Court's ruling this Wednesday (7 August) on the dissolution of the Move Forward Party over their proposal to amend the royal defamation, or lèse-majesté, law, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) calls upon those exercising de facto power in Thailand to refrain from politicising the courts as an instrument to silence parliamentarians on charges that contravene universal democratic principles, for their political longevity and motivation. APHR encourages the Constitutional Court to consult the Venice Commission's guidelines on the prohibition and dissolution of political parties, which states that dissolution of a political party should only be used as a last resort in extreme cases.

On Monday (23 July), ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) held the first hearing of its International Parliamentary Inquiry (IPI) on the adverse impacts of industry activities on the environment, particularly focusing on nickel mining and deforestation in Indonesia.

20 July marked 19 years since the State of Emergency was declared in Thailand's Deep South provinces. The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) issued a statement calling for the State of Emergency Decree to be ended or amended to comply with Thailand's international legal obligations and for emergency measures to be lifted without delay, since it has remained in effect longer than necessary, with inadequate checks and balances, leading to the suppression of fundamental freedoms, abuse of power, and violations of human rights.