Forwarded Article

For the third time in 30 years, Members of Parliament have launched impeachment proceedings against a Chief Justice of Sri Lanka setting the stage for a crucial struggle for the preservation of independence of the judiciary and the rule of law. In many democratic countries impeachment of a judge is among the rarest of events […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following article written by Tisaranee Gunasekara who is a Sri Lankan columnist based in Colombo Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- An article written by Tisaranee Gunasekara, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: Hell Hath No Fury…. Tisaranee Gunasekara “Tyrant, why swell’st thou thus, of […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following article from the Sunday Times, Colombo, Sri Lanka, written by Kishali Pinto Jayawardena Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- An article from the Sunday Times, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: The final nail in the coffin of the judiciary For those of us […]

‘An independent judiciary functions as a critical institutional mechanism providing a check and balance on the executive and legislative branches of a democratic society. The independence of this organ is vital, not only to ensure that the judiciary is able to discharge its functions without fear or favour, but also to uphold public confidence in […]

Over four million brick kiln workers in Pakistan are bonded labourers, tied by debt to their employers. Credit: Irfan Ahmed/IPS One does not always need a time machine to travel into the past — a visit to a typical brick kiln in Pakistan’s Punjab province is enough to evoke a time when human beings were […]

The picture shows Rizana’s mother and sisters Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa to Meet With Gulf Heads of State Source: Migrant Rights Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is set to participate in the first Asian Corporation Dialogue Summit in Kuwait on the 16 and 17 of October. The summit is aimed at “consolidating Asia’s strength and […]

These are cataclysmic times marked by complete public cynicism regarding the value of the law, when the Judicial Service Commission has been unrelentingly attacked by the state media and its Secretary complains publicly that there are fears for the security of even ‘the person holding the highest position in the judicial system’ (see Daily Mirror […]

www.countercurrents.org 30 September, 2012 I want to tell you, and from your mouth to God’s ear, the tragic tale of Rizana Nafeek, an inconsequential and faceless housemaid from Sri Lankawho is presently incarcerated and awaiting public execution by beheading in Saudi Arabia. The tale begins in 2005 when Rizana, hardly 17 years old at the […]

Publicly disseminated last September, the National Nutrition Survey reports mass deprivation from adequate nutrition. Along comes another dire news from Save the Children — over 90 percent of infants receive unacceptable diets that threaten both physical and mental development (A Life Free From Hunger, 2012). A recent (draft) report by UNICEF is grim: unacceptably large […]

‘You should write a political marsia for L.K. Advani’, suggested a friend of mine last Friday. ‘A political marsia’, he repeated, ‘Arabic for elegy, a dirge or a funeral song.’ I was stunned and uncertain. This was an uncertainty caused by not knowing what shocked me more: the request of writing one for someone whose ideas and […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following article from the diplomatic titbits blogspot, written by Mr. Ramesh Chander (IFS). Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- “The hunt for The Greatest Indian has come to a Celebratory End! The votes are in and the people of India have spoken. The Greatest Indian […]

Pakistan remains silent about its only Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam and his contribution to the recent discovery of the ‘God particle’ because the late scientist belonged to the ‘heretic’ Ahmadiyya sect. Internationally, Professor Abdus Salam is known for his outstanding contribution to Physics and his groundbreaking work that led to the discovery of the so-called […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following article from Babar Ayaz’a Weblog, written by Babar Ayaz. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- Mixing of religion with politics has brought us today to the most violent juncture of history Babar Ayaz Disregarding the people’s plight and rising terrorism in Pakistan the judicature […]

Another round of elections has been fixed and the country is turned into election mode. Elections are said to be a benchmark of democracy, and then why are we bothered when more and more elections are held? More and more elections, have we correspondingly increased democracy in Sri Lanka? What does an election mean and […]

Sri Lanka x news journalist Shantha Wijesooriya addressed a written complaint to the IGP yesterday (8) in connection with an attempt to abduct him made by a group last Wednesday (5) who are suspected to be of the Govt. security divisions. Hereunder is the complaint made by Shantha Wijesooriya: By registered post Shantha Wijesooriya, 61, […]

Shantha Wijesooriya, an investigative web journalist attached to srilankaxnews.com freed himself after a scuffle with his abductors, when they tried to bundle him into a vehicle in broad daylight in Nugegoda, a densely populated suburbs of Colombo. The attempt was made during the afternoon rush hours by unidentified men in civil attire who arrived in […]

According to the report of the Red Cross Organization , the number of persons gone missing under the Rajapakse Government until 2011, is over 15000. Among those 15780 persons who went missing, the majority are males, while 1494 children and 754 females, based on these reports. Jacob Kalanberger, the chief of the International Red Cross […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following articles from the New Age, sent by ODHIKAR of Bangladesh. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- A news report and an editorial from the New Age, sent by ODHIKAR, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Mock trial calls for prosecution of people involved […]

From 24 to 48 – lengthening hours and pruning freedom In March, Aruna Roshantha (42), a labourer at a brick factory in Mugunuwatawana, Chilaw, resting near his brick kiln during his lunch break was randomly picked up by a cop and taken to a police van parked nearby. He was asked about a person who […]

Increasing police atrocities on suspects have led a parliamentary committee to recommend capital punishment to police officials for custodial deaths. The committee has suggested that “threats of rape” during interrogation would be considered torture. It is alleged that interrogations of suspects is all about inflicting torture: threat of rape, sodomy, electrocution or forced sniffing of […]