In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

The Philippine Judiciary is on edge. Five months of rigorous scrutiny by the public and media as a result of the trial of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona created a high degree of expectation that major reforms are forthcoming.

> More

It is always exciting to be able to take a break from program implementation to think more deeply about the theories that underlie development practice on the ground. That is of course the whole point of a teaching sabbatical, and it is what we both enjoyed about the “Experts’ Roundtable on Local-Level Justice in Conflict-Affected and Fragile Regions.”…

> More

A robbery suspect lies naked and writhing on the cement floor of a Manila police precinct with his genitals bound while a plainclothes policeman pulls a rope and whips him. All the while a uniformed officer stood by and watched. The torture was recorded on video via a mobile phone and was leaked to the internet and aired…

> More

At the 15th ASEAN summit, held this past October, ASEAN inaugurated its Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR).  The announcement was met with criticism from some quarters, but ASEAN called it a “historic milestone” in its 42-year history of community-building in the region. During the summit’s concluding statement, ASEAN said that the AICHR “gives concrete [...]

> More

What will bring five embassies, the European Union, and The Asia Foundation together for collaboration? What will make diverse organizations reframe the way they do things, specifically in the area of funding, and adopt an approach that provides them a strategic opportunity to work collectively in the area of human rights? During a recent donor’s [...]

> More

Where is Jonas Burgos?  Where is Jaime Balao?  Who killed Rolando Antolihao and Danny Qualbar? One might better ask, “Who are these four men?” and find an easier answer. Jonas Burgos was the son of the late Philippine publisher-activist Joe Burgos, who dedicated his life to teaching farmers natural farming techniques. At noon on April [...]

> More

On Tuesday, November 20th, the leaders of the 10 Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) countries attending the 13th ASEAN Summit in Singapore signed the first-ever ASEAN Charter. Article 14 addresses human rights: ARTICLE 14: ASEAN HUMAN RIGHTS BODY 1. In conformity with the purposes and principles of the ASEAN Charter relating to the promotion and [...]

> More