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FOR PUBLICATION AHRC-ART-068-2014-HI August 29, 2014 An Article by the Asian Human Rights Commission INDIA: मील का पत्थर मिड डे मील Abhishek Kumar Chanchal बिहार, भारत ही नहीं बल्कि पूरे विश्व को एक नयी दिशा देने का काम करता आ रहा है। चाहे वो शिक्षा हो, धर्म हो या आजादी की लड़ाई में उसकी भूमिका […]

(Note: this article was first published in the August 10, 2014 issue of the Sunday Examiner) What Fernando Obedencio and Haron Abubakar have in common is that they were both arrested in 2005 in General Santos City. Both were 25-years-old, accused on the grounds of planted evidence and both were tortured by the police to […]

The following article appeared as the editorial of the latest issue of ‘Torture: Asian and Global Perspectives’, a bi-monthly magazine published by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), based in Hong Kong and the Danish Institute Against Torture (DIGNITY) based in Denmark. by Nilantha Ilangamuwa Just a few short weeks after this year’s the commemoration […]

आजादी के 67 बरस बीत जाने के बाद हमारे देश के तकरीबन आधे बच्चे कुपोषित हैं। बाल मजदूरी, मानव तस्करी, यौन शोषण, जबरन अंगदान, विकृत कर भीख मंगवाने से लेकर ऐसा कोई भी अत्याचार नहीं है जो हमारे बच्चों पर नहीं हो रहा हो। वहीं दूसरी तरफ सरकारें इस अत्याचार व अराजक वातावरण में बच्चों […]

More than a Policy, Children Need Commitment! On 10th June 2014, Pawan Korku (4 years) and Durgesh Korku (6 years) climbed into an iron drum in their house along with their toys presumably as part of a game they were playing, in their house in Harrai village, District Betul, a tribal dominant district of Madhya […]

The title of this article may rather appear weird. However, the annual report released by the Central Government year-on-year on situation of tuberculosis or TB in India is invariably titled as TB India, (with year as the subscript). The one for the current year is titled as TB India 2014. Situation of TB in India […]

A transitional justice process provides credibility to the peace process. Peace does not exist in vacuum, and it does not mean only an absence of war. In order to have a lasting and genuine peace, justice and rule of law must be ensured. Transitional justice is a multi-dimensional process and it requires a range of […]

by Basil Fernando The idea of the executive presidency, as found in the 1978 constitution, is now a failed idea. Almost everybody agrees that it is a failed idea. The people who are maintaining it also know that it is a failed political idea, but it helps them to have extraordinary power and the benefits […]

by  Lakshan Dias Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), are the popular punching bag of the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), when its actions are challenged by any individual and/or organization. Name-calling, brandishing circulars to warn NGOs and now a draconian law to prevent them from raising public issues has been the modus operandi of the regime to […]

‘A cold shiver runs through my veins and my body heats up every time I see a policeman’, is what Nyima Tsering, from Tsarka VDC in Nepal, said to reporters after a 29 July press conference. During the police crackdown on 3 June, Nyima, 25 years of age, was dragged out from a grain storehouse, […]

by Phiev Tong Him Since July 28, 2013 general election, politics in Cambodia has become a sensitive topic discussed by Cambodians whether in a group of two, ten, or twenty. This is a new trend. People now feel very concerned about Cambodia’s future as they watch the destruction of rain forests, the land grabbing, human […]

This must be the first example in human history that a country actually pays their enemy to murder its own soldiers. After much fanfare, followed by congratulatory messages on social media from the liberal sections of Pakistan, the military announced on June 15, 2014, that it had launched the long awaited operation in the North […]

Targeting Freedom of Expression “It is clear that the freedom of expression and opinion is a fundamental right, the mother of all rights.” – Abid Hussain, UN Special Rapporteur on the Freedom of Information, Speech in Sri Lanka, 1999. A notice has been issued by one D.M.S, Dissanayake as the director/registrar of the NGO Secretariat […]

by Avinash Pandey The Indian Supreme Court’s decision to disallow blind arrest of the accused in dowry cases seems baffling at first sight. After all, the same court has often turned down bail applications, usually granted in such cases by Sessions Courts and High Courts. In Samunder Singh v. Rajasthan (1987), the Rajasthan High Court granted anticipatory […]

 by Dr. Bidyanath Koirala हेराइ र बुझाइ बस्तु हेरेर दृष्टिकोण बन्छ ।  भौतिकवादी त्यसै भन्छौ । दृष्टिकोण बदले बस्तु बेग्लै बुझिन्छ ।  मनोवादी त्यसै भन्छौ ।  बस्तु र दृष्टिकोणहरुबीच अन्तरक्रिया गरे एकल बस्तुको बहुरुप बुझछौं ।  एक नै वहु हो र वहु नै एक हौँ भन्ने (पभलभतजभष्कतक) त्यसै भन्छाँै ।  दलितलाई बुझनेहरु पनि यही कोटीमा […]

by Avinash Pandey The phone calls were going unanswered. A group of men had broken into a female friend’s house and were holding her hostage. I was frantically calling the Senior Superintendent of Police, the local police station, and officials in the district administration. Every passing minute sent shivers down my spine. I thought to […]

by Basil Fernando The video footage is fairly clear. First we see a tall policeman wearing a helmet standing with his arm stretched towards the other side of the road. Then we see a scooter stopped just next to him. There is one man sat on the scooter. Looking closer, we see that the policeman […]

In the recent case of three Rupandehi boys being tortured by two police personnel deployed in the Area Police Offices of Suryapura and Rupandehi, the Court delivered a verdict on 22 June 2014 ordering departmental action against the guilty police personnel and NRs. 3000 compensation to be paid to each of the three victims pursuant […]

by Bushra Khaliq Torture in police custody is a serious problem in Pakistan, rupturing the serious standards of social contract between the state and society. The menace of custodial torture has become endemic and adversely impacts on the individuals as well as society as a whole. This results in the loss of rule of law […]

by Avinash Pandey “If she had been killed on a street corner in this village, would you even be here?” was the question put to journalist Mehreen Zahra-Malik, by the husband of Farzana Iqbal, a young woman bludgeoned to death in front of the Lahore High Court. Probably not, as violence against women is not […]