CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY Corporate accountability for human rights abuses too often remained elusive. However, Amnesty International’s research on Myanmar contributed to positive developments, with several companies linked to the supply of aviation fuel that was used by the Myanmar military in air strikes against civilians ceasing their involvement. Also, the EU, the UK, the USA and other countries passed targeted sanctions against some of these companies. Governments must put in place legislation that requires corporate actors to conduct human rights due diligence to ensure that their operations and those of their partners do not cause or contribute to human rights abuses, and that any harm resulting from their operations is remedied. FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND BELIEF Freedom of religion or belief remained under threat, especially in South Asia. In India, hundreds of incidents of violence and intimidation of Muslims were recorded. Violence against religious minorities was also widespread in Pakistan, where Ahmadi grave sites were desecrated, and allegations of blasphemy used to target minorities including to justify attacks against over 20 churches in a single day. In Afghanistan, religious minorities including Shia’s and Hazara Shia’s, Sikhs, Hindus, Christians, Ahmadiyya and Ismailis faced extreme discrimination under the Taliban, who also ensured formal religious teaching was exclusively based on the Sunni sect of Islam. Governments must take effective measures, including legal and policy reforms where required, to fully protect, promote and guarantee freedom of religion or belief without discrimination. WOMEN’S AND GIRLS’ RIGHTS Legal protections against sexual violence were strengthened in Japan where the definition of rape under criminal law was extended to include non-consensual sex. In Fiji, legal obstacles to participation in elections for married women were removed. But the reality for many women and girls in the region remained one of systemic discrimination and violence. High numbers of incidents of harassment and violence including rape and other sexual violence, continued to be reported particularly in South Asia, and accountability was rare. In India, there was particular concern about the high number of incidents of sexual violence against Dalits, Adivasi and Kuki women by members of dominant castes. Discrimination took many forms. In Afghanistan, the ever more extreme restrictions on women’s and girls’ rights and the scale of human rights violations against them reached the level of the crime against humanity of gender persecution. In Nepal, women continued to be denied equal citizenship rights. In Bhutan, Fiji, Japan and elsewhere women remained significantly under-represented in public office and the work force. Governments must accelerate efforts to uphold and promote women’s and girls’ rights, end gender and intersectional discrimination against women and girls and prevent and prosecute gender-based violence. LGBTI PEOPLE’S RIGHTS There was both progress in and setbacks to LGBTI rights. In Taiwan, authorities recognized the right of most transnational same-sex couples to marry and on 21 December, Thai lawmakers The State of the World’s Human Rights 45