Asian Regional Congress on Death Penalty

The first Asian Regional Congress on Death Penalty was held on 11-12 June 2015 in Kuala Lumpur. The conference focused on several issues regarding the death penalty in Northeast and Southeast Asia and particularly on the issue of the link between death penalty and drug trafficking. The other issues included mandatory death penalty, elements of unfair trial, working with the victims’ families, and judicial officials/judges and the death penalty. The speakers and participants included former government officials, non-governmental organization representatives and judges from Northeast and Southeast Asia, and Europe.

The Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) organized the conference jointly with the Anti-Death Penalty Asian Network (ADPAN), the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) and the Bar Council Malaysia.

For further information please contact: Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan, Executive Director, ECPM, 69, rue Michelet, 93 100 Montreuil France; ph (331) 57 63 03 57; fax (331) 80 87 70 46; e-mail: rchenuil@abolition.fr ; ecpm@abolition.fr; www.abolition.fr.

4th Asia Pro Bono Conference & Legal Ethics Forum

The 4th Asia Pro Bono Conference & Legal Ethics Forum will be held in Mandalay, Myanmar on 3-6 September 2015. The conference and forum will be jointly organized by the Bridges Across Borders Southeast Asia Community Legal Education Initiative (BABSEA CLE), Mandalay University, Mandalay University of Distance Education and Yadanabon University, in collaboration with an international consortium comprised of law firms, law societies, legal education institutions, access to justice related organizations and others. The primary objective of the Conference and Forum is to support the development of socially aware, ethical lawyers and non-lawyers to actively participate, advocate and lead pro bono initiatives as a means to strengthen access to justice on the part of people in fragile or vulnerable situations.

For further information, please contact: BABSEA CLE, 41/1 Soi 1, Sirorot Rd., Suthep, Muang, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 50200; ph (66) 52006367; e-mail: info@babseacle.ccsend.com; www.babseacle.org.

12th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific

The 12th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP12) will be held in Dhaka from 20 to 23 November 2015. The Congress has the theme “Be the Change Towards an AIDS Free Generation: Our Right to Health” and highlights the global and regional needs for achieving an AIDS-free generation through science, innovation and community involvement and public-private partnership. The Congress will have, among other topics, the topic on “Law, Policy and Human Rights - the unfinished political and social agenda.”

For further information, please contact: 12th ICAAP 2015 Secretariat; ph (88 02) 9881882; e-mail: info@icaap2015.org; http://www.icaap2015.org/.

Master on Human Rights and Democratization

The local program of the Master on Human Rights and Democratization (MHRD) of the Centre for the Study of Human Rights in the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo is scheduled to start in July till December 2015 for the first semester and January to July 2016 for the second semester. The second semester will have students from other countries who enroll under the Asia Pacific Regional MHRD Program (in coordination with the University of Sydney, Australia). The program will cover courses on human rights norms and mechanisms, human rights and democratization research, dynamics of human rights violations, democracy theory and practice.

For further information, please contact: The Director, Centre for the Study of Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Colombo, 94 Cumarathunga Munidasa Mawatha, Colombo 03; ph (94-11 2500879/2503017; fax (94-11) 2598462; e-mail: cshr@sltnet.lk; http://cshr.cmb.ac.lk/?page_id=2603.