ADVOCATE by ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR)

Charles Santiago is a Malaysian public servant and a former Member of Malaysian Parliament for Klang from March 2008 to November 2022. Charles also served as the Chairman of the National Water Services Commission, and currently APHR Co-Chairperson. In this episode, we will talk about the APHR Parliamentary Forum on Human Rights and Democracy in Southeast Asia and Members’ Forum that’s already unde...

Cynthia Lorraine Silva is Community Media Program Officer from Centre for Independent Journalism, Malaysia, and Maria Chin Abdullah  is former member of Parliament of Malaysia and APHR member. In this episode, Lola Loveita, APHR consultant for Freedom of Religion or Belief, Cynthia Lorraine Silva, and Maria Chin Abdullah will talk about the situation on harmony and multiculturalism in Malaysia and...

U Shwe Maung is a Rohingya rights activist and former politician, who served as a member of parliament in Myanmar’s House of Representatives from 2011 to 2016. As well as being a Board Member of APHR, he is also a founding member of the International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief (IPPFoRB) and serves as President of the Arakan Institute for Peace and Development. In t...

Mu Sochua is a former member of the National Assembly of Cambodia. She served from 2008 until 2017, when the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was dissolved. In addition to her work as vice president of the CNRP she has spent decades working as a human rights advocate, particularly for marginalized groups including migrants, workers, and women. She was minister of Womens’ Affairs fr...

Arlene Brosas is an educator, child rights activist, and politician. She is also an APHR Board Member and a member of the Gabriela Women’s Party -list. She is also one of the co-authors of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression Equality Bill. Previously, as spokesperson of the Anti-Child Pornography Alliance, along with other activists and civil society organizations, she successful...

Kunthida Rungruengkiat is a Thai academic and a politician. She was previously a member of parliament and the deputy leader of the Future Forward Party. Her policy portfolio includes education reform and early childhood education improvement. After the disbandment of the Future Forward Party by the Constitutional Court, she faces a 10 years ban from contesting in any election. She is currently the...

Mercy Chriesty Barends is an Indonesian politician who is the current chair of APHR  and is a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle or PDI-P. She has served as a Member of Indonesia’s House of Representatives since 2014,  where she has been very active on Climate Change issues through her work in The Alliance of Parliamentarian Call for Fossil Free Future, the Global Alliance for G...

Kasit Piromya is an APHR Board Member, former Thai career diplomat and former People's Alliance for Democracy ("Yellow Shirts") activist. He also served as  Foreign Minister of Thailand from 2008 to 2011. In this episode, Karina Tehusijarana, APHR Media Manager, and Kasit Piromya will talk about the future of democracy in Thailand, what’s inside the Thai parliament, the role of Thai...

Wong Chen is an  APHR Board Member, Malaysian MP and lawyer. He also has served Non-executive Chairman of the Malaysia Debt Ventures Berhad (MDV) since May 2023, Chairman of the International Relations and Trade Parliamentary Select Committee from December 2019 to May 2020 and again since May 2023 as well as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Subang since May 2018. In this episode, Karina Tehusijar...

In the third and final episode of APHR’s latest podcast series, Restricting Diversity, Kyaw Min San, an APHR member from Myanmar, introduces us to the world of Blasphemy Laws and some of the experts who are advocating for reforms that bring clarity to laws and policies and protect the most vulnerable.  This episode features guests from Myanmar and Indonesia with extensive backgrounds working to un...

In the second episode of APHR’s latest podcast series, Restricting Diversity, Luluk Nur Hamidah, a Member of Parliament from Indonesia and an APHR member, introduces us to experts working on women’s rights and how State laws in Malaysia and the Philippines attempt to suppress their fundamental freedoms.  They will address how their communities are impacted by child marriage, anti-abortion laws and...

For the first episode in APHR’s latest podcast series called, Restricting Diversity, Isabel Maria Ximenes, a Member of Parliament from Timor Leste and APHR’s member, introduces us to activists and experts from Myanmar and Vietnam on how issues concerning freedom of religion or belief affect the daily lives of minorities, and what is being done to curb dissent.  With the participation of Kyaw Win,...

Ahead of the historic Philippine elections of 9 May 2022, Veronica Pedrosa interviews Etta Rosales, former Member of Parliament and Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights of the Republic of the Philippines, and Luie Guia, former election commissioner. Also with the participation of Walden Bello, vice-presidential candidate, APHR Board Member and former congressman; Gemma Mendoza, journalist...

For the final episode in this series, we take a look at the rise in youth-led movements across the region, including Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia. 

In recent years, Vietnam has made some progress on the issue of marriage equality. What does the campaign there mean for efforts elsewhere in the region, notably Thailand? 

Human rights advocates know all too well just how challenging rights work can be, here in Southeast Asia and globally. In addition to a host of rights abusing actors targeting those expressing dissent, rights defenders often face what can sometimes feel like a constant losing battle.    Advocacy often begins with the odds stacked against them, with governments undemocratically introducing oppressi...

In the Philippines - described as a "poster child for the impacts of climate change" - lawyers and activists hope that some accountability measures are on the way when it comes to the issue of the climate crisis.  APHR speaks with two figures closely involved in the Climate Change and Human Rights Inquiry in the Philippines. 

Welcome to the final episode in our series, Myanmar: Anatomy of a Coup - Looking Ahead.  Throughout the series, we've had one eye on this final episode, which aims to use much of what we've discussed in earlier episodes to provide solid recommendations to international actors - including governments, but also humanitarian actors, think-tanks, and anyone with an interest in Myanmar - abou...

In Episode 4 of our podcast series, Myanmar: Anatomy of a Coup, we'll step outside Myanmar's borders, and analyze the country's international relations, both before and after the coup took place.  We'll look at those dynamics close to home, notably with China and neighbors in Southeast Asia, as well as further afield to countries with significant interests in Myanmar, including...

In Episode 3 of our podcast series, Myanmar: Anatomy of a Coup, we'll hear from the many people up and down the country who have risen up against the military since its February 1 coup.  This includes human rights defenders, journalists, politicians, and members of the Civil Disobedience Movement, to better understand why so many people across Myanmar are willing to risk their lives to bring...

On the 1st of February 2021, Myanmar’s military grabbed power in a coup d’etat, and declared a state of emergency with all legislative, executive and judicial powers handed to Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.  Within a day of the military's power grab, government workers launched a Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), in order to make the country ungovernable for the junta, wh...

In episode two of our 5-part series, Anatomy of a Coup, we'll delve into the historic pattern of violence Myanmar's military, the Tatmadaw, has used in all corners of the country, and how the brutality we are witnessing today is just the latest in a long history of oppression and state-terror it has meted out against the Myanmar people.  For more information about APHR's work, pleas...

Episode two in a two-part series that assesses the response of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to the ongoing crisis in Myanmar's Rakhine State, following the devastating military-led crackdown on the Rohingya population that began on the 25th of August 2017. "To be completely candid, I think ASEAN has been pathetic in its handling of the crisis in Rakhine, going back...

Episode one in a two-part series that assesses the response of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to the ongoing crisis in Myanmar's Rakhine State, following the devastating military-led crackdown on the Rohingya population that began on the 25th of August 2017. "Believe me, as a young man in the camps, it is like hell for me. And I believe it is the same for everyone her...

Our final episode in this series, "'Excluded and undermined': Female MPs targeted" looks at the threats and harassment against women lawmakers who as well as the reprisals faced by their male counterparts, are also targeted with campaigns of sexist vilification. In this episode, we'll be interviewing Pannika Wanich, a former Thai MP for the Future Forward Party, Senator Ri...