Hong Kong, China — Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina returned to power after a landslide victory in general elections on Monday. The voting heralded the return of democracy after two years of emergency rule under a military-controlled regime. Thought analysts had predicted the win, the landslide was a surprise.

Hong Kong, China — The president of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, is operating as a “one-man show,” in the words of a former minister who quit his post. In fact, the whole purpose of the 1978 Constitution was to create a one-man show while maintaining the facade of the separation of powers.

Hong Kong, China — India’s Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan called upon the government Sunday to provide more courts to clear the backlog of cases that plagues the system. But this is not enough. Also required is a drastic improvement in the professional standards of judges, prosecutors and lawyers.

Hong Kong, China — Tension between the executive and the judiciary in Sri Lanka has surfaced as an open conflict. The Supreme Court on Dec. 17 ordered a reduction in petrol prices, to be implemented the same day. But the government refused to implement the court’s ruling, saying it was contrary to the war effort.

Hong Kong, China — According to news from Thailand this week, police are set to lay charges against protesters responsible for blockading Parliament after the leader of the main opposition party finally succeeded in becoming prime minister without having to win an election.

Hong Kong, China — Mob violence is often treated as a phenomenon in which the dynamics of the group create a viciously high level of hatred and violence, based on raw emotion and mass hysteria, rather than rational choice. Sometimes, an angry mob can hold bigger truths than the “irrationality model” conveys.

Hong Kong, China — December 16 is the official Victory Day for Bangladeshis. On this day in 1971, war between Pakistani aggressors and Bangladeshi freedom fighters supported by Indian troops ended. However, after 38 years of independence, with a military government in control, Bangladeshis are far from real victory.

Hong Kong, China — The Catholic clergy of Kerala province in India organized a mass rally on Sunday to protest the arrest of two priests and a nun on suspicion of murder, after a new investigation into the death of a young nun 16 years ago. Why is the Christian community so worried about the investigation of a murder?

Hong Kong, China — The appointment of Mohan Peiris as Sri Lanka’s attorney general this week is likely to further politicize that office, already battered when the Supreme Court accused it last week of filing false charges under fake laws. Peiris is a close associate of the present regime, particularly the Ministry of Defense.

Beijing, China — China’s human rights situation is the best it has ever been in Chinese history, according to Wang Chen of China’s State Council Information Office. Wang made this statement in an interview ahead of Human Rights Day on Wednesday. However, his statement is at odds with recent incidents in China.

Hong Kong, China — While governments and groups made effusive statements to mark the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Dec. 10, the Asian Human Rights Commission said the celebration was a grim reminder of the gap between what is declared and what is achieved. The downbeat mood was shared in Burma.

Hong Kong, China — India Tuesday released the pictures of eight suspects killed in the Mumbai terrorist attacks, in which 171 innocent persons were also killed. In a country where a child can be abducted for a ransom as small as US$2, the inability to prevent a well-planned and executed terrorist strike is no surprise.

Seoul, South Korea — South Korean human rights activists and defectors from North Korea are staging a domestic campaign to shed light on the humanitarian plight in the communist country. It comes at a time when tensions across the border are mounting over a separate campaign to bombard the North with leaflets.

Manila, Philippines — Landless farmers in the Philippines, seeking to take ownership of the land they cultivate from influential landlords under a land reform law, are attempting to assert their rights and draw public attention to their plight by going on hunger strikes, running long distances and walking for days.

Hong Kong, China — Negombo is just a short distance from Colombo and is far away from the north and the east. However, the extent of the lawlessness that has spread does not reflect that distance. The law virtually does not exist. You can commit murder and get away with it without much of a problem. The best friends that the criminals can have in the area are the policemen themselves.

Hong Kong, China — The Cambodian government in September 2006 announced that it was going to create a National Human Rights Commission for the promotion and protection of human rights. However, it is very doubtful that the government will keep its promise to enact this law in 2009.

Hong Kong, China — This week in Thailand a top court dissolved the biggest political party, along with two of its partners, and effectively banned its leader and executive members from politics. The ruling allowed the political extremists who had occupied the airports for a week to declare victory.

Hong Kong, China — The military-controlled government of Bangladesh has established a National Human Rights Commission, which began work on Monday. A retired Supreme Court judge has been appointed chairman of the much-awaited rights body, along with two other members. It is hoped that this body will be independent and fair.

Bangkok, Thailand — Monday is World AIDS Day, when people around the world remember the 33.2 million people living with HIV. This problem has not gone away and there is still much to be done. However, in Burma, HIV/AIDS activists and volunteers are being threatened and suppressed daily by the military authorities.

Hong Kong, China — In response to last week’s terror attacks in Mumbai, some Indian politicians are calling for calm, peace and national unity, while others are fanning anti-Pakistan and anti-Muslim sentiments. The government, meanwhile, has decided to set up a Federal Investigation Agency to play the role of super cop.

Hong Kong, China — In recent months, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka has passed several resolutions regarding lawyers who have come under attack. Yet the police have taken no action so far on any of the incidents brought to their attention. In fact, the police themselves have become a threat to the rule of law.

Hong Kong, China — Organizers of the prolonged raid on the Bangkok international airport have insisted that they will bring down the government at any cost. In targeting the airport they have taken a dramatic strategic step and have also made a move of enormous symbolic importance.

Hong Kong, China — The Women’s Rehabilitation Centre-Nepal and National Alliance of Women Human Rights Defenders started a 16-day campaign against gender violence beginning yesterday. The campaign reflects the plight of victims who have no access to justice and symbolizes Nepali women’s feelings of hope and frustration.

Hong Kong, China — Three decades ago, no one would have thought the once-hated man who orchestrated martial rule in the Philippines would become its third most powerful leader. Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, the 84-year-old martial law administrator under the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was elected Senate president last week.

Hong Kong, China — Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed the country’s top police officers at a conference on terrorism in New Delhi on Sunday, asking them to create an image of the police as a fair and impartial agency. This is not easy for a force infamous for corruption, ineptitude, use of torture and nepotism.

Hong Kong, China — Attacks on Sri Lankan lawyers are continuing. This week an online Ministry of Defense report called a group of lawyers “traitors” for representing alleged members of the LTTE militant group. The target of this kind of attack is not just terrorists but society as a whole.

Seoul, South Korea — The South Korean government is in a dilemma over how to deal with civic campaigns to send into North Korea propaganda leaflets critical of the communist leadership. The North has threatened to cut all cross-border contacts beginning Dec. 1 unless Southern citizens stop their "confrontational" activities.

Hong Kong, China — Next Thursday a court in Yala will decide on a very important case for victims of arbitrary detention and forced disappearance in Thailand. The court is due to give its view on what happened to Mayateh Maranoh, who has not been seen since he was taken away by a paramilitary group in mid-2007.

Hong Kong, China — Cambodia’s national police commissioner, Gen. Hok Lundy, was killed in a helicopter crash on Nov. 9, Cambodia’s National Day. Senior party official Cheam Yeap said, “The CPP and all Cambodians have suffered a huge loss.” But Hok’s death has brought relief to many, considering his record on human rights.

Hong Kong, China — The Election Commission of Bangladesh has announced general elections for Dec.18. Yet many people are skeptical that the voting will actually take place. Many more question the credibility of elections planned and conducted by the military-backed government.

Hong Kong, China — The humiliation and harassment of lawyers, as well as those they represent, at the hands of police officers is becoming increasingly common in Sri Lanka. The experience of a Supreme Court lawyer at the hands of a headquarters inspector last month illustrates the problem.

Hong Kong, China — It has been a frantic week in Burma’s closed courts. At least 60 people have in the past few days been sentenced for their roles in last year’s mass protests, including high-profile activists, monks, a blogger and a poet. The sentences were as harsh as 65 years for some defendants.

Hong Kong, China — With renewed conflict in central Mindanao following a failed peace deal between the Philippine government and local Muslim separatists, the government has again stressed the need to arm civilians to protect their lives and communities. Predictably, this has led to a terrible outcome.

Hong Kong, China — Four activists, including a labor lawyer, were arrested and detained in the Philippines in October and November. Irregularities in charging them and handling their cases suggest that public prosecutors are acting as political tools to stop criticism of the government.

Bangkok, Thailand — Have you ever imagined what it would be like to be a prisoner of conscience in the Burmese military junta's infamous Insein prison? Under harsh conditions, Zaw Myint Maung, an experienced physician who never committed even a small crime, has been languishing in prison for nearly two decades.

Hong Kong, China — The results of the U.S. presidential election this week are more an overwhelming rejection of the way the United States has been run than merely a victory for Barack Obama. The enthusiasm for Obama throughout the world is an expression of how badly U.S. actions have affected the rest of the world.

Hong Kong, China — Over half-a-million people in eastern Burma are living in temporary dwellings, forced out of their villages as a result of fighting, insecurity and the whims of local army commanders. Around 100,000 are hiding in jungles, valleys and hills; many have moved and adapted so many times they’ve lost count.

Hong Kong, China — South Korean Prime Minister Han Seung-soo has refused to accept recommendations of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea regarding the abuse of power by the police during candlelight protests last June. This amounts to condoning serious violations of basic human rights by the police.

Manila, Philippines — The jailing of human rights lawyer Remigio Saladero by the Philippine government last week has caused an uproar among members of the legal profession and the human rights community. Saladero has handled controversial cases involving the president and top government and military officials.

Hong Kong, China — “Witch hunting” is common in Papua among the indigenous people, as in one village in West Papua where nine women have been banished to the jungle, accused of causing disease and death. Government intervention is needed, but not the profit-motivated development the government is pursuing in the region.

Hong Kong, China — The state of Kerala and its people are quite different from the rest of India. Kerala has a literacy rate of 90 percent compared to the national average of 60 percent. People do not die from starvation. But Kerala is not immune to terrorism, and a corrupt police force makes the situation worse.

Hong Kong, China — In Sri Lanka there are two ideas, or ideologies, that are dying out in the hearts and minds of their former adherents. The first is that Sri Lanka is a Sinhala nation where minorities must accept their lesser place. The second is that a separate state is the only solution to the ethnic conflict.

West Lafayette, IN, United States — Every year Hindus observe the festivals of Durga Puja and Deepawali in September/October, celebrating the goddess of strength, Durga, and goddess of wealth and prosperity, Laxmi. But as a culture that worships women, Hindus in India and Nepal are terribly hypocritical in the way they treat women and girls.

Hong Kong, China — A court recently held that police and civilian officials who killed 19 young men in the far south of Thailand in 2004 were acting in self-defense. The Songkhla provincial court ignored facts and omitted some evidence from its verdict included the testimony of a National Human Rights Commissioner.

Hong Kong, China — As the Cold War drew to a close, 18 countries assembled in Paris in October 1991 to end the protracted war in Cambodia. They laid down a set of principles for the country’s Constitution. But 17 years on, constitutionalism has not taken root in Cambodia, and new developments have taken place to counter it.

Manila, Philippines — Social activists in Manila last week took turns questioning a report by the government that states it was able to create 9.7 million new jobs between 2004 and 2008. Given the dismal economic performance of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, most dismissed the report as “illusory” or “imaginary.”

Hong Kong, China — India and Sri Lanka signed an agreement Sunday to protect fishermen that cross their maritime border to fish in each others’ waters. For India it is a political move to appease Tamils in India who are demanding that it intervene in Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict where Tamils are facing extermination.

Seoul, South Korea — South Korean activists floated tens of thousands of leaflets critical of the communist leadership into North Korea on Monday, despite Pyongyang's warnings of military clashes and Seoul's concerns about worsening cross-border ties.

Hong Kong, China — A group calling itself the Mahason Battalion has sent threats to the registrars of Colombo courts and a number of human rights lawyers, saying anyone who represents terrorists or suspected terrorists in court will face death. If someone in Sri Lanka says, “I will kill you," it should not be taken lightly.

West Lafayette, IN, United States — An Afghan journalism student, Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, was sentenced Tuesday in Kabul to 20 years in jail, accused of blasphemy for downloading materials on women’s rights from the Internet. This injustice sends a clear signal to the United States that its goal of “spreading democracy and freedom” has bombed.