An organization of incumbent and former lawmakers from Southeast Asia working for the protection and promotion of human rights on Sunday described 2017 as a “challenging year for human rights advocates” in the region, citing gross and blatant violations committed by some members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The region’s 10 countries have widely varied political system, yet things have gotten worse from a human rights standpoint in nearly all of them, writes Vincent Bevins for The Washington Post. The Human Rights Watch (HRW) annual report released in January says Southeast Asia is marked by deterioration in human rights, with special concerns over Thailand, the Philippines and Cambodia.