Myanmar’s military junta has increasingly carried out unlawful airstrikes harming civilians in its military operations against a coalition of opposition and ethnic armed groups, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday (31 January). Governments that provide transfers or assistance of arms or materiel to the junta forces risk being complicit in war crimes.

Three human rights organizations have condemned the conviction of activist Mongkhon Thirakot, who was sentenced to 50 years in prison for royal defamation and demand the immediate release of Mongkhon and other detained activists. They also endorsed the call for the repeal of the royal defamation, or lèse-majesté, law.

The conviction of Move Forward Party MP Rukchanok Srinork for royal defamation charge was a violation of freedom of expression and sends a message to opposition party members to keep silent, says Human Rights Watch, who call for such use of the justice system to silence opposition lawmakers to be taken in account by countries being asked to consider Thailand’s candidacy for the UN Human Rights Council.

On 2 November, the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, the Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association (CamboJA), along with 19 other civil society organizations, issued a statement calling for the Cambodian government to conduct independent and transparent investigations of all crimes committed against journalists and human rights defenders in Cambodia.

Four human rights organizations call for amendments to the royal defamation, or lèse-majesté, law to bring it into line with Thailand’s human rights obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and for the government to reverse the previous administration's repressive policies and actions, after it was reported that the number of verdicts in royal defamation cases has reached 100 in less than two years.