Press Release

(Hong Kong, October 02, 2015) The 4th Asian Alliance against Torture and Ill-treatment & for Fair Trial – Conference of Asian Parliamentarians will be held from 5 to 7 October, 2015 in Hong Kong. The 4th conference will seek means to advance the agreement arrived at during the past three conferences, to further seek political […]

We are presenting a discussion held on the ‘Subha Udesanak” (Good Morning) Programme, on Rupavahini with Mr Basil Fernando, Director of Policy and Programmes, Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong, and popular film director Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, moderated by Mr. Chitral Perera. In this discussion the challenges faced by the new government due to the damage […]

( Hong Kong, August 28, 2015) Carlos Isagani T. Zarate concerns himself with impunity for torture in the Philippines despite anti-torture legislation. The Member of the Philippine House of Representatives from Bayan Muna Partylist observes that, “The Philippine government, run by the elite classes desperate to protect their hold on power, are anxious to allow […]

(Hong Kong, August 21, 2015) What can we do when repression is legal? This question is asked by social activists across the world, fighting against their repressive nations. Concern for the shrinking spaces for civil society and the challenges faced by those working against repression at the grassroots level are explored by Erik Wendt and […]

A Joint Press Release by Odhikar and the Asian Legal Resource Centre BANGLADESH: Torture victims demand justice (Hong Kong / Dhaka, 3 July 2015) Torture victims of Bangladesh have demanded justice for the suffering inflicted against them by the country’s law-enforcement agencies. Dozens of victims of torture participated in discussions and street protests across the country to […]

(Hong Kong, June 26, 2015) Torture victims and their families will mark the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture today, through art and literature; by reciting their poems, singing their own compositions, and painting live murals. Through art, local event organizer Defend Job Philippines, hopes they could draw attention to the lack of […]

( June 16, 2015 – Hong Kong ) We are sharing with you, the most recent publication of the AHRC, entitled: Deterioration of the Legal Intellect in Sri Lanka – A Miraculous Cure is Possible. It is a collection of recently published articles written by Basil Fernando, on problems of the Sri Lankan Justice System-i.e. Police, prosecutors […]

( Hong Kong SAR, April 17, 2015) Despite the court order and provision in the 2007 Interim Constitution of Nepal, no law criminalising torture has been enacted. The Nepal Government failed to provide justice to survivors and punish perpetrators,” Kamal Raj Pathak, human rights lawyer from Nepal states in his latest paper, published in the […]

A Press Release by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (Hong Kong, March 17, 2015) For “failing to provide reparations to survivors and their families,” Mr. Juan E. Mendez, UN Special Rapporteur on torture, concluded: the government violated the rights of witnesses, survivors and families of the Maguindanao massacre, to be free from “cruel, inhuman or […]

(Hong Kong, December 19, 2014) The AHRC TV presents a roundtable discussion which was held on 2nd December 2014, at the International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC) of the Folke Bernadotte Academy in Stockholm, Sweden. In this roundtable discussion Mr. Basil Fernando, 2014 Right Livelihood Laureate, discusses with a group of experts what he terms as a ‘new frontier […]

(Hong Kong, December 10, 2014) The family of Renante Gamara, a labour leader who was tortured and detained over fabricated charges, has informed the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that the court will decide on Renante’s appeal to dismiss that charges against him tomorrow, December 11. In her email to AHRC, Nicolette Gamara, daughter of Renante, […]

(Hong Kong, November 24, 2014) Mr.AdilurRahman Khan, Secretary of Bangladeshi human rights organisationOdhikar, has received the 31st Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award 2014. Ethel Kennedy, the wife of Robert F. Kennedy, presented the Award in a ceremony arranged by the RFK Center for Human Rights and Justice, at the Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., United […]

Image courtesy: aithiya.lk (Hong Kong, November 03, 2014)  Mayuri Inoka, the wife of a disappeared husband, Madushka Haris De Silva, was herself abducted on 1 November 2014. According to Mayuri, her abductors threatened her not to engage in any activities calling for the recovery of her husband. Mayuri’s husband disappeared in September 2013, and remains missing. […]

(Hong Kong, October 29, 2014) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is shocked and saddened by a tragic landslide, which, according to reports, has caused the disappearance of more than 300 residents in the mountainous area of Meeriyabedda, Haldummulla, Badulla District, in the early hours of 29th October 2014. The AHRC extends its solidarity to those […]

(Hong Kong, October 27, 2014) Every year on the 27th of October a commemoration of the enforced disappearances is held at the Raddoluwa junction in Seeduwa, in the front of the monument for the victims of enforced disappearances. On this day, parents, brothers, sisters, and other relatives and friends of the disappeared person gather at the […]

(Hong Kong, October 24, 2014) The Asian Human Rights Commission announces that the International Bar Association has awarded Adilur Rahman Khan with IBA Human Rights Award 2014. The AHRC congratulates its partner, Adilur Rahman Khan, for one more Award for his struggles against state-sponsored persecutions in Bangladesh. The awards that Adilur has been receiving one […]

(Hong Kong, October 17, 2014) Professor K. G. Sankarapillai is one of the best known poets in India and he has won a number of prestigious awards for his poetry. He writes in Malayalam language. His poems have been translated to many Indian languages and a number of western languages. Some of his poems have […]

(Hong Kong, October15, 2014) The Asian Human Rights Commission expressed shock and sadness at the use of police excessive force/abuse as shown in amateur video footage now available to the public on YouTube. It is apparent that the arrested person was taken to a place away from others for the purpose of being beaten by […]

(Hong Kong, October 14, 2014) “The widespread torture and ill-treatment that prevails in most of the Asian countries is a direct result of the political system and the legal system. Eradication of torture cannot be done merely by education of the police, the military and other security forces who usually engage in committing acts of torture”, […]

(September 28, 2014, Hong Kong ) Thousands of protesters take to Hong Kong’s streets as Occupy protest grows, Sunday afternoon, September 28, 2014. Click here to watch the live coverage by the Apple Daily, a daily newspaper based in Hong Kong SAR.