Matthew Smith

Here is my essay in @nytimes on why I’m suing the Trump admin. The admin’s sanctions against the ICC are an attack on global justice and the rule of law. This isn’t just policy—it’s a dangerous overreach that violates our First Amendment rights. @ACLU nytimes.com/2025/06/06/opi…

I join members of the @FortifyRights Leadership Council along with Rohingya-led groups in calling on the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court to seek an arrest warrant for Ata Ullah, leader of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). Under Ata Ullah's command, ARSA has killed, abducted, and tortured Rohingya civilians in Myanmar and Bangladesh. These atrocity crimes demand accountability. The ICC must act. Read our full statement below. fortifyrights.org/reg-inv-2026-0…

Signatories include Sir Geoffrey Nice KC, who led the prosecution of Milošević; Beth Van Schaack, former U.S. Amb for Global Criminal Justice; Yale Law Prof Jim Silk; Kerry Kennedy, President of Robert and Ethel Kennedy Human Rights; Lord Alton of Liverpool; & other heavyweights.

Rohingya-led organizations, likewise, today issued a separate statement urging the ICC to seek an arrest warrant for Ata Ullah and ensure accountability for ARSA abuses against Rohingya in Myanmar and Bangladesh. The groups withheld their names to protect against reprisals.

The @FortifyRights Leadership Council — former prosecutors, intl leaders, artists, business leaders — are calling on the ICC to seek an arrest warrant for Ata Ullah, leader of ARSA, for serious intl crimes against Rohingya in Myanmar and Bangladesh: fortifyrights.org/reg-inv-2026-0…

Crimes against the Rohingya: Today, the Leadership Council at @FortifyRights and together with Rohingya-led groups, has called on the ICC to seek an arrest warrant for Ata Ullah, leader of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, for alleged war crimes and abuses against Rohingya civilians in Myanmar and Bangladesh. Rohingya communities have suffered abuses by both state and non-state actors for far too long. They deserve justice and accountability. @FCDOGovUK @BrendanOHaraMP @EwelinaUO @HelenaKennedyKC Read our statement: fortifyrights.org/downloads/Stat…

Fantastic article with #Maine's Democratic party Senate candidate Graham Platner @grahamformaine. Article is free to read below. Says so many things that make good, common sense. nytimes.com/2026/05/16/mag…

Very interesting piece that spans a range of views on Myanmar's post-coup war as it grinds into its sixth year. Some say there's an urgent need for peace talks and reconciliation to end the war, while others argue that they owe it to the dead to continue the fight.

Two years after the Arakan Army, an ethnic armed group, killed and wounded hundreds of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s Rakhine State and burned down their village, the survivors are still denied justice and cannot return to their homes. trib.al/vL768CO

🚨 #Thailand should immediately release and ensure the safety of Hong Kong pro-democracy journalist Zhang Xinyan and refrain from returning her to #China, where she risks persecution, unfair trial, and detention, said @FortifyRights today. On May 7, 2026, Thai immigration authorities arrested Zhang based on an arrest warrant issued by #HongKong and continued to detain her despite her recognized refugee status with UNHCR. “The arrest of Zhang Xinyan shows clearly that Thailand’s failure to recognize refugee status remains a major problem,” said Thanida Piyachot, Human Rights Specialist at Fortify Rights. “Thailand should immediately review the effectiveness of its existing refugee protection mechanisms.” fortifyrights.org/tha-inv-2026-0…

Fortify Rights investigations reveal that #Rohingya refugees in #Malaysia are being held indefinitely in abusive immigration detention. Malaysia must uphold international legal standards, end the criminalization of Rohingya and other refugees, and immediately release those arbitrarily detained. Full news release: fortifyrights.org/mly-inv-2026-0…

“As tensions mount between Beijing and Taipei, the international community must … deter and prevent the worst-case scenario … in doing so, it must not sell out Taiwan,” writes @BenedictRogers in @UCAnews. ucanews.com/news/the-inter…

This evening in @UKParliament with Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP @MPIainDS I cochaired a meeting of @APPGNK2024 addressed by Thae Yong-ho - deputy North Korean ambassador to the UK who defected in 2016. There were interventions from Sir Iain; from former Chief of UK Defence Staff, Field Marshall Lord Houghton; from former Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee, Sir Julian Lewis MP; from former Lib Dem Leader @timfarron ; and from co-founder and deputy chairman of the Conservative Party's human rights commission @benedictrogers . Mr.Thae told the meeting that many of the 11,000 North Korean soldiers who have been sent to fight for Putin in Ukraine have died while been used as human minesweepers. Around 2,300 North Korean soldiers have died in Ukraine. The meeting also heard how a United Nations Commission of Inquiry Report described North Korea as a State  that "does not have any parallel in the contemporary world" and which called for its leaders to be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity @HumanRightsCtte 300,000 North Koreans are incarcerated in a network of political prison camps. Hundreds of thousands of inmates have perished. Mr.Thae described religious persecution @dsnorthnorth and the suppression of all dissent. The meeting heard how a 22-year-old man was publicly executed for listening to  South Korean songs and watching films. Mr.Thae said his visits to @UKParliament while he was deputy Ambassador had convinced him to reject dictatorship and to work for democratic freedoms. @YvetteCooperMP @JennyChapman @AlistairCarns @amcarmichaelMP @Vernon_Coaker @FortifyRights @CSW_UK

Gunshots fired in Philippines’ Senate where Senator Ronald Dela Rosa has been hiding from authorities reportedly seeking to enforce an #ICC warrant against him over crimes against humanity. bbc.com/news/articles/…

Thailand is one of the first ag countries to enter a planting season since the Iran war. We went to document the impact of supply shocks to fuel/fertilizer — It was worse than I anticipated. Farmers are leaving huge tracts of land barren bc they can’t afford to plant.

We urgently need support to provide Rohingya children with basic learning materials and books. The students have no materials, but they are eager to learn and waiting for support. If you see this post, please don’t skip it. Kindly donate and retweet. chuffed.org/project/178054…

A Test for Timor-Leste, and ASEAN, on Myanmar Timor-Leste’s accession has created a rare opening for ASEAN to clarify whether it stands for anything more than procedural restraint. @PearsonElaine's oped in The Diplomat: thediplomat.com/2026/04/a-test… @hrw

A criminal complaint filed in Germany was not brought against Aung San Suu Kyi and did not “collapse under scrutiny,” clarifies @matthewfsmith CEO of @FortifyRights in response to recent commentary in @MizzimaNews. The complaint targeted #Myanmar military officials for crimes against humanity following the 2021 coup, and was declined by the German Federal Prosecutor on procedural—not evidentiary—grounds. eng.mizzima.com/2026/04/16/331…

A map of two new major Scam Centres currently under construction near the Burmese border town of Thay Baw Bo. They are under control of the DKBA, a Junta-friendly militia that is also active in Resistance controlled territory (where these centres are). bnionline.net/en/news/teleco…

This man exhibits the supreme confidence of someone who has no idea that he has no idea what he's talking about

When simulation becomes the norm, it weakens the human capacity for discernment. As a result, our social bonds close in upon themselves, forming self-referential circuits that no longer expose us to reality. We thus come to live within bubbles, impermeable to one another. Feeling threatened by anyone who is different, we grow unaccustomed to encounter and dialogue. In this way, polarization, conflict, fear and violence spread. What is at stake is not merely the risk of error, but a transformation in our very relationship with truth.