Niigata, Japan — Mobile phones have gained in popularity in Cambodia due to their affordability and indispensability. In addition to making communications easier, mobile phones have had a great impact on mobilizations and collective actions, during election campaigns, for example.

Jakarta, Indonesia — In January, the Indonesian president appointed as deputy defense minister Lt. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, an army officer with a record of human rights violations. Victims of violations have filed a court case to challenge this appointment as unlawful and detrimental to the country’s democratic process.

Niigata, Japan — The problem of forced evictions and land grabs is growing worse in Cambodia, leading to violence due to deep dissatisfaction over existing resettlement schemes. Some 133,000 residents of Phnom Penh, or 11 percent of the city’s population of 1.2 million, have been evicted since 1990.

Jakarta, Indonesia — Indonesia has long been proud of being the world’s third-largest democracy, with the world’s largest Muslim population, in which democracy, pluralism and Islam coexist. Yet recent events reveal that diversity so threatens fundamentalist Muslims that they feel it must be met with violence.

Washington, DC, United States — No stone has been left unturned by writers in Cambodia and abroad in exposing the Hun Sen regime’s violations of human rights and lack of good governance. Endless appeals for change have been made by national and international organizations. But this is merely water off a duck’s back to the regime.

Jakarta, Indonesia — The Indonesian police force’s success in fighting terrorism was the highlight of public interest last year, until a case exposing police corruption caused a loss of public confidence in the police. The real issues that shame the police, however, are the practice of violence and the abuse of authority.

Hong Kong, China — During the past week three women in Sri Lanka have tried to speak to the nation about the tragedies they face. The women, including the wife of former army commander and opposition presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka, are all seeking justice for their disappeared or unlawfully detained husbands.

Hong Kong, China — U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Indonesia, the place of his childhood, in March. It is important that Obama does not waste the opportunity and uses his good relations with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to raise the issue of religious tolerance in Indonesia.

Hong Kong, China — When the U.N. Human Rights Council meets in Geneva from March 1 to 26 member states, including India, will use this international platform for intense lobbying, often to claim false achievements in protecting, promoting and fulfilling human rights. Civil society must stand up to counter such falsehoods.

Hong Kong, China — The disappearance of Sri Lankan political analyst Pregeeth Ekanaliyagoda, along with the arrest and assassination of other government critics, shows the sad suppression of voices that try to develop a discourse on politics in the country. Violence continues to be used against the voices of reason.

Jakarta, Indonesia — Three of the “Bali Nine” convicted in Indonesia of drug trafficking in 2005 filed a constitutional review after being sentenced to death, saying the sentence was inconsistent with the Constitution’s guarantee of the right to life. But the court rejected their request because they were not Indonesian citizens.

Manila, Philippines — The acquittal of five men who were arrested, tortured and detained in connection with bomb blasts in the Philippines in 2003 was made public last Friday. It took the court seven years to determine their innocence. During that time the police did not hesitate to treat them as guilty.

Hong Kong, China — A group of religious leaders in India submitted a memorandum to the president on Sunday, signed by some 8 million people, demanding a statutory prohibition on slaughtering cows. But the media, politicians and people have failed to respond to the extrajudicial executions going on in the state of Manipur.

West Lafayette, IN, United States — Unable to find gainful employment in their own country, many Nepalese workers are being lured to Afghanistan by the chance to make big bucks working for international agencies that need security guards and laborers. But when they get there it’s a different story.

Hong Kong, China — Sri Lanka’s election commissioner declared incumbent President Mahinda Rajapakse the winner of the Jan. 26 election for executive president. However, both opposition candidate General Sarath Fonseka and the election commissioner complained of violence, electoral fraud and tampering with the counting process.

Hong Kong, China — The Indian government's investment-friendly policies are run by people whose policies are guided by nepotism, corruption, religion, caste and party politics. If India is to attract business investment, the government's primary requirement is to fix the country's ailing judicial institutions.

Hong Kong, China — Sri Lanka’s presidential election, set for Jan. 26, will test the popular sovereignty enshrined in the Constitution and the possibility of a genuine election. Threatening this possibility is a political scheme to intimidate the people and prevent them from voting.

Niigata, Japan — Cambodia deported 20 Uighur asylum seekers to China in December last year, in violation of U.N. conventions, ahead of a visit from a top Chinese official. This shows China’s strong political influence on the Cambodian government, which allegedly received a package of grants and loans for deporting the Uighurs.

Seoul, South Korea — North Korea runs six large prison camps for political prisoners that together hold an estimated 200,000 inmates and are used as a key tool to suppress potential dissidents and tame famine-hit people by spreading a sense of fear, South Korea's state-run human rights watchdog said on Wednesday.

Hong Kong, China — Sri Lanka’s presidential election campaign took a bloody turn on Wednesday when an attack on a bus carrying opposition candidate supporters left one woman dead. The same day clashes between supporters of rival political parties were reported. The elections must be protected from a campaign of terror.

Seoul, South Korea — North Korea's military warned on Wednesday that South Korea would face retaliation if it didn’t stop activists from sending propaganda leaflets into the communist country. South Korean activists had floated balloons toward North Korea containing some 8,000 leaflets denouncing human rights abuses.

Hong Kong, China — The very least that citizens can demand when a murder takes place is a credible inquiry. There is nothing more basic, more decent or more necessary. Yet in Sri Lanka there is a most shameless tradition of not even demanding an inquiry into a murder.

Manila, Philippines — The arraignment of Andal Ampatuan Jr., the prime suspect in the massacre of 57 people in the southern Philippines, took place in Manila on Monday. Ampatuan is lucky; ordinary detainees are often held in congested jails and suffer prolonged detention without trial for crimes allegedly committed years ago.

Hong Kong, China — Sri Lanka’s long civil war developed hardened habits of propaganda among leaders and the media. Now, with national elections looming, the government is trying to take advantage of these habits for its political war, using the media to paint its political opponents as enemies.