<div>Many countries have ratified the UN Convention Against Torture and its Optional Protocol, but incidents of torture by state authorities continue to increase in certain parts of the world such as Uganda and Indonesia, experts on human rights and the law said in a seminar on the Human Rights Situation in Different Regions: Torture Prevention on Thursday.&nbsp;</div> <p></p>

<p><span>Prachatai reports on the 5th World Congress Against the Death Penalty which took place in Madrid during June 12-15, 2013. The congress aimed to bring together intergovernmental, governmental and civil society leaders to come up with strategies for universal abolition of the death penalty. The congress was organized by Together Against the Death Penalty with sponsorship from the Spanish, Norwegian, French and Swiss governments.</span></p> <p></p>

<p>The 5^th World Congress against the Death Penalty took place in Madrid, Spain, last week with over 1,500 participants from 90 countries.&nbsp; Government representatives, intergovernmental organizations and civil society leaders came together to contribute to one of the biggest abolitionist movements in the world aiming for one goal – the universal abolition of the death penalty.</p> <p></p>

<div>Law students from four universities in three regions spent their semesters observing trials conducted in Thailand’s courts, and concluded that most of the time the trial process does not fulfil legal requirements set by the constitution and human rights principles.&nbsp;</div> <p></p>

<p>Washington DC - Thailand's media freedom is categorized as "Not Free" for the year 2012, a change from "Partly Free" the previous year due to ‘court rulings that the lèse-majesté law does not contradict constitutional provisions for freedom of expression and that third-party hosts are liable for lèse-majesté content posted online’, a Freedom House report released on Wednesday said.</p>

<p>A group of activists wearing identical masks and t-shirts portraying themselves as prisoners held placards calling for the freedom to read, write and publish, amidst the bustling annual National Book Fair at the Queen Sirikit Convention Centre on Sunday.&nbsp;</p> <p></p>

<p>An art exhibition at the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre illustrates the stigma and plight commonly faced by sex workers in ASEAN countries.</p>

<p>On the evening of Saturday, December 15 last year, Sombath Somphone was seen in CCTV footage being taken away by a man in plain clothes in a white truck, after he had been stopped by police officers in Thadue Road, Vientiane, Laos.&nbsp;</p> <p></p>

<p>Academics from the Nitirat (Enlightened Jurists) group and well-known scholars are calling for whole scale reform of the courts, from legal texts to ideologies, to achieve a judicial system more in line with democracy. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p></p>

<p>In a rare case in Thailand's deep south, Pattani Provincial Court is proceeding with an in camera lèse majesté trial against a <a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/3444">Malayu Muslim man</a>, who is accused of putting up banners about the country's conflict &nbsp;with a picture of &nbsp;Her Majesty the Queen in 2009.</p> <p></p>

<p>The Campaign Committee for the Amendment of Article 112 is to appeal to the House Speaker, Somsak Kiatsuranont, to review his decision to reject parliamentary consideration of the draft amendment to the lèse majesté law.&nbsp; </p>

<p>The sounds of pretty drum majorettes, cheerleaders and whimsical music were blaring. The colour of pink on the shirts of hundreds of students was being paraded from Chula to a stadium nearby, where the Traditional CU-TU Football Match was about to take place. The once-a-year event is seen by many students as a chance to show their pride, unity and loyalty to their institutions.&nbsp;</p> <p></p>