The Cambodian Political Crisis Hor Hen
For more than a year, Cambodia has been a land of protests as many citizens do not accept the results of the national election held in July 2013 in which the ruling Cambodian Peopleâs Party (CPP) was declared the winner and its leader, Hun Sen, remained as prime ministerâa position he has occupied since 1985. The author outlines the political turmoil in Cambodia of the past 12 months that has not ended with an agreement between the countryâs two main political protagonists, the CPP and the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), last month. [Read more]
No Debate, Only Dialogue Mijanur Rahman
Divisiveness, tension and violent conflict initiated on the basis of oneâs identity is a social syndrome affecting many parts of the world today. Based on his experience in Bangladesh, the author shares his thoughts about a process that he believes can contribute to addressing this social malady. [Read more]
Due Process of Law Must Protect Those Who Seek the Missing in Sri Lanka National Peace Council
With the world observing the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances on Aug. 30, it is an appropriate time to ask what has happened to the tens of thousands of missing people in Sri Lanka who have disappeared in the past several decades. It is also relevant to ask why Balendran Jeyakumari and other parents who seek to find their disappeared children and loved ones have recently been arrested and detained. [Read more]
Elusive Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement Continues to Distract from Substantial Peace Talks Burma Partnership
Talks between the government in Burma and the countryâs armed ethnic groups over a nationwide ceasefire have gone on for nearly 18 months. Concerns are raised in this article about these discussions when attacks by the Burma army continue in ethnic areas where ceasefire agreements have already been signed with the government. Moreover, the 2008 Constitution that entrenches the political power of the military remains unchanged. Without a cessation of combat in ceasefire areas and without an amendment to the present Constitution, the article concludes that negotiations over a nationwide ceasefire have little meaning. [Read more]
Military Demands Farmers Destroy Their Own Homes in Burma Asian Human Rights Commission
Can a person become a criminal after their land has been taken from them without compensation and due process and when they are being pushed to dismantle their homes and leave their land that they are trying to reclaim? In Burma, this scenario is now taking place for tens of thousands of the countryâs farmers. [Read more]
Don't Have the Man You Want, then Convict the Man You've Got Danilo Reyes
The arrest of activists in the Philippines on what are believed to be false charges is a phenomenon in recent years that reflects attempts by the government to silence its critics or to prevent those who struggle to protect their rights from doing so. This article highlights this issue in the case of two men, one who was finally released nine years later and the other whose identity was forcibly changed to the name of the person the police were seeking and who is still in detention and being tried for a crime he and others claim he did not commit. [Read more]
|