<p>Over the past few weeks, we here at EFF have watched as whistleblowing website WikiLeaks has fueled an emotionally charged debate about the secrecy of government information and the people's right to know. We have welcomed this debate, and the fact that there have been myriad views is the embodiment of the freedom of expression upon which this country was founded.</p>

<p>Inactive since the military crackdown on May 19, the Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship (DAAD) came back to life with the naming of Thida Tawornsate Tojirakarn, the wife of jailed co-leader Weng Tojirakarn, as the acting chairperson of the movement on Wednesday.</p>

<p>Malaysia - The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) is greatly concerned at Home Minister Dato' Seri Hishammuddin Hussein's references to a new law that will be introduced to govern sedition in cyberspace. The Home Minister reportedly said that it would be based on existing Sedition Act (1948) and would assist in determining what can be prosecuted on the Internet.</p>

<p>December 2 , Manila -- The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders, Margaret Sekaggya, yesterday urged governments in Asia to recognize and protect persons working on human rights issues as &ldquo;essential&rdquo; to building democracy.</p>

<p>Nowadays, the failure of one public institution after another is disillusioning more and more Thais - something that could turn Thailand into a dysfunctional society or a failed state.</p>

<p>Burma has in recent weeks been one of the top world news stories. The country&rsquo;s November 7 general election was followed less than a week later by the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, one of the world&rsquo;s best-known political dissidents, whose appearance at her front gate on Saturday, November 13, was carried on news networks around the world.</p>

<p>GENEVA &ndash; The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Wednesday hailed the coming into force of a landmark new human rights treaty designed to deter the practice of enforced disappearance, punish its practitioners and protect its victims. After Iraq became the 20th State to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance on 23 November 2010, it will officially come into force 30 days later on 23 December 2010.</p>

<p><em>Authorities Use Draconian Law to Violate Rights and Obstruct Justice</em></p> <p>(New York, November 24, 2010) &ndash; Thai authorities are using emergency powers to violate fundamental rights and obstruct efforts to bring abusers to justice six months after violent clashes between anti-government groups and government security forces, Human Rights Watch said today.</p>

<p>Exactly one year ago, on 23 November 2009, 32 media professionals were massacred in Maguindanao province, on the southern island of Mindanao, by a private militia controlled by the local governor&rsquo;s family.</p>

<p>It is ironic that the &ldquo;experts&rdquo; and bureaucrats on the Board of Censors can decide that a film cannot be watched by the general public because it would damage &ldquo;public order or morals&rdquo;, yet they don&rsquo;t seem to get &ldquo;corrupted&rdquo; themselves.</p>

<p>Amnesty International welcomes the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, but calls on the government of Myanmar to immediately release all of the prisoners of conscience in the country.</p>

<p>The military should withdraw armed soldiers from BTS Skytrain and MRT subway stations and lift immediately the emergency decree which has been imposed for nearly six months. The prolonged decree and soldiers' presence is militarising Thai society and creating fear among those who oppose the government, said Patchanee Kumnak, a committee member of Social Move, a fringe group of Thai leftists.</p>