began a process of legalizing same-sex marriages. Court rulings in Hong Kong, Nepal and South Korea gave greater recognition to the rights of same-sex couples and/or transgender people. However, in South Korea the Constitutional Court upheld the criminalization of consensual same-sex sexual relations within the Korean military. In addition, governments typically reacted by appealing against rights-affirming judgments and dragging their feet on implementation. The precarious position of LGBTI individuals and groups was also illustrated in China, where a prominent LGBTI organization was forced to close in the face of the government’s ongoing anti-LGBTI campaign. In Pakistan, political and Islamist groups led a disinformation campaign that put existing legal protections for transgender (Khawaja Sara) people at risk and resulted in increased violence against and harassment of transgender and gender diverse people. In India, the Supreme Court refused to grant legal recognition to same-sex marriage. In Malaysia, books and other materials considered to promote LGBTI lifestyles were banned and in Mongolia a pro-LGBTI march was banned. Governments should repeal laws and policies that discriminate against LGBTI people, including by decriminalizing consensual same-sex sexual relations, and should recognize same-sex marriage, promote and protect LGBTI people’s rights and enable them to live in safety and dignity. INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS AND ETHNIC AND CASTEBASED DISCRIMINATION Discrimination against Indigenous Peoples and on the basis of ethnicity and caste remained widespread. In countries including Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia, Indigenous Peoples’ rights were ignored as commercial exploitation of their lands threatened their lives and livelihoods. Consultations with affected communities, where they occurred, were often superficial and Indigenous Peoples’ activists were vulnerable to human rights abuses. In the Philippines, two Indigenous environmental protection activists were forcibly disappeared and Indigenous Peoples’ rights leaders designated as terrorists. An historic opportunity to progress the rights of First Nations People in Australia was lost with the rejection in a national referendum of a proposal to establish an Indigenous “Voice” that would have enabled them to make direct representations to parliament. In New Zealand, Māori people continued to experience discrimination and marginalization including in the criminal justice system where they continued to be significantly over-represented. In India, caste-based discrimination continued unabated. Governments must ensure effective access to justice to victims of ethnic and caste-based discrimination, end impunity for human rights abuses against Dalits, Indigenous Peoples and other at-risk groups, and prioritize policies and programmes to eliminate structural discrimination including in the criminal justice system. TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT The criminalization of torture and enforced disappearances in Thailand underscored the power of concerted campaigning by victims and human rights defenders, but there remained much to be done there and elsewhere to prevent torture and other forms of ill-treatment. Multiple instances of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees were reported across the region, and deaths in custody were all too common. At least 94 detainees died in custody during the year in Bangladesh and at least 13 in Malaysia. The Nepali authorities failed to hold anyone accountable for the many credible allegations of torture and other ill-treatment. In 46 The State of the World’s Human Rights