Press Release

(Hong Kong, August 31, 2007) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on Friday launched a new webpage and began petitioning individual governments on the recent dramatic protests against fuel price increases in Burma. The Hong Kong-based regional rights group is sending letters and information packets to diplomatic missions throughout the territory calling for much stronger […]

(Hong Kong, August 30, 2007) Human rights defenders in Bangkok and Hong Kong on Thursday submitted letters and appeals to government representatives, calling for new laws that violate the rights of migrant workers in Thailand to be revoked. In Bangkok, the Action Network for Migrants submitted a letter to the prime minister and key ministers […]

(Hong Kong, August 30, 2007) The families of “disappeared” persons, human rights defenders and others are on Thursday gathering in Bangkok to plant a tree in remembrance of the missing. The “Tree of Life” event is being held in front of the Grand Auditorium at Thammasat University to mark the international day of the disappeared. […]

(Hong Kong, August 10, 2007) Thailand is set to join a global anti-torture law, according to a government announcement issued this week. A notice on the government website dated Tuesday indicated that the interim cabinet has approved the proposal for Thailand to ratify the UN Convention against Torture, subject to interpretations of some articles. Basil […]

(Hong Kong, August 6, 2007) Twelve community radio and people’s media groups in Thailand have rejected the military-backed draft constitution as undemocratic and have called for it to be rejected. In a statement distributed in English on Sunday, the groups, including the Northern People Media Network, Campaign for Popular Media Reform, and Thai Volunteer Service […]

(Hong Kong, August 2, 2007) The Asian Human Rights Commission on Thursday submitted a letter of complaint with the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) concerning the arrest and imprisonment of a human rights defender in Burma at “precisely the same time” that the regional grouping was debating the establishment of a new regional […]

(Hong Kong, July 31, 2007) A member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Thailand has condemned the previous weekend’s violence between security forces and crowds outside the house of the chief Privy Councillor, after which he and other anti-coup protest leaders were arrested.  In a letter to the regional representative of the UN’s […]

(Hong Kong, July 23, 2007) The Asian Human Rights Commission is happy to announce that the money needed for the legal fees have now been received and wishes to thank all contributors, as well as those who took an active part in canvassing of support for this case. The required sum of US$ 40,000 was […]

(Hong Kong, July 11, 2007) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on Wednesday published an analysis on the shortcomings of the new Witness Protection Law in Indonesia. The Indonesian law was promulgated on August 11, 2006, as the first legislation of this nature in the history of the country. It establishes the Witnesses and Victims […]

(Hong Kong, July 11, 2007) ‘As the deadline for the filing of the appeal, which is July 16, is approaching rapidly, and as the Sri Lankan government has not lived up to its obligation of defending the rights of its citizens to a fair trial by providing funds for the appeal, the Asian Human Rights […]

(Hong Kong, July 9, 2007) A new publication by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) documents the “serious threat” facing constitutionalism in Thailand under the September 19 coup group. The 68-page special edition of the bimonthly periodical article 2 describes the future of constitutional rule there as being in serious jeopardy as a consequence of the latest […]

(Hong Kong, July 9, 2007) The Asian Human Rights Commission wrote to the Sri Lankan ambassador in Saudi Arabia requesting him to urge the Sri Lankan government to make payment for the filing of the appeal on behalf of Rizana Naffeek, the deadline for which is July 16, 2007. Moon Jeong Ho, programme coordinator of […]

(Hong Kong, July 4, 2007) “The government of Sri Lanka must clearly state its position regarding providing legal assistance to young Nasik who is facing death sentence by beheading in Saudi Arabia” said Basil Fernando, the Executive Director of the Asian Human Rights Commission. He said, “The government is fully aware that there are only […]

(Hong Kong, July 23, 2007) An online petition has been launched in support of a Thai lecturer who has been accused of insulting the monarchy through the questions asked in a university examination paper. Boonsong Chaisinghanon, who teaches philosophy at Silpakorn University, has been asked by its administration to hand copies of his examination papers […]

(Hong Kong, June 15, 2007) The Cambodian delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) launched an unprecedented and unwarranted attack on United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary General for Human Rights in Cambodia, Professor Yash Ghai, during a session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on June 12, 2007. The delegation […]

(Hong Kong, June 7, 2007) “In my 35 years in the legal profession I have never witnessed the type of strong unity prevailing among the lawyers in Pakistan as is being seen now, as the lawyers are reacting to the suspension of the Chief Justice, Iftekhar Choudhry and the attack on the independence of the […]

(Hong Kong, June 6, 2007) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on Wednesday welcomed the launch of a new English-language independent online news page from Thailand. The Prachatai online news group launched its English version on May 24 to complement its established Thai-language website. Launching the page, columnist Pitch Pongsawat said that democracy could only […]

(Hong Kong, May 31, 2007) On May 26, 2007 five persons belonging to the same family were chopped to death in their own home. According to reports the alleged cause of the multiple murders was a land dispute which had gone on for some time. The following day, according to reports, a group of people […]

(Hong Kong, May 4, 2007) The 2006 country report on Thailand released by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) was on Friday released online in Thai. The 33-page report, “The return of the army and the maintenance of impunity”, reveals the deep setbacks to institutions for the rule of law and human rights in Thailand […]

(Hong Kong, May 2, 2007) Two persons fighting for human rights in different parts of India were awarded a prestigious regional human rights prize on Monday. The 2007 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights went jointly to Lenin Raghuvanshi for his resistance to caste-based discrimination in the country’s north and Irom Sharmila for her resistance to […]