Statement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-STM-055-2010 April 7, 2010 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission INDIA: Maoists will not save the country’s poor The Maoists operating in India ambushed and killed 74 Central Reserve Police (CRPF) officers in Mukhrana of Dandewada district in Chhattisgarh state early yesterday morning. The success of the Maoist operation is […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission expresses its shock at the most . On March 22, 2010 a mob which arrived on a bus attacked the Sirasa TV building with stones. The crowd came well prepared for this attack and continued it for some time. Sirasa TV is one of the most well-known media institutions in […]

Mr. Anoop Mishra, Madhya Pradesh state Minister of Public Health and Family Welfare said in the state legislative assembly on 8 March that 30,000 children under the age of five die of malnutrition every year in the state. The shocking admission by the minister about the state government’s criminal neglect in addressing the need of […]

A battalion of the Pakistan Army has grabbed the land of old villages of the coastal area of Karachi, the capital of Sindh province. The fisher folk have been forced out of their ancestor villages and pressurised to leave the area. In a latest event Battalion 42 of army, stationed at Karachi, has grabbed the […]

Pakistan claims to provide a universal right to vote to all its citizens, which proves to be contradictory to the facts. Indeed, the members of the Ahmadi community have been denied this fundamental right. The shameful regulations implemented against Ahmadis are in violation of the 1973 Pakistani Constitution and the process of democracy itself. Right […]

The banning of books by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) and the withdrawal of movies by the Film Censorship Board (LSF) in the name of public order and state unity are unacceptable, as they contribute to the culture of impunity in Indonesia and are a serious attack on the freedom of expression. Without discussing human […]

Mr. Debiprasad Jena, Supervisor of the Soil Conservation Department (Machhkund) allegedly misappropriated INR 49,490 (USD 1000) from 16 workers under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), which aims at ensuring the right to work and food security of all in India. After pressure by the victims and human rights groups, Mr. Jena on 10 […]

The AHRC is deeply concerned about violence against civilians during anti-terrorist operations in Aceh. On February 23, a civilian was killed and another severely injured while the police arrested four alleged terrorists. During another crackdown on March 3, a suspect was shot dead. This raises the issue of strong police and military presence in Aceh […]

While the military regime in Burma has iterated that it will hold a general election for a new legislature before the end of 2010, government officials have been relentlessly pursuing, intimidating and imprisoning political opponents. In recent weeks the Asian Human Rights Commission has issued appeals on a number of such cases, including the sentencing […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission reliably understands that there is a move to arrest and detain J.C. Weliamuna, the chairperson of Transparency International in Sri Lanka (TISL) on fabricated charges. During the last few weeks there have been several media attempts on the part of the government to make insinuations against the Sri Lankan branch […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-STM-043-2010 March 8, 2010 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission PAKISTAN: Religious minority groups have nothing to celebrate on International Day on Women Although this is a day to celebrate the rights that women have acquired throughout the years we must bear in mind the efforts that still have to […]

International Women’s Day–2010 Today the world is looking to women for change in what remains a situation that offends human rights on a daily basis. In its work as a listener and voice to claims of human rights violations, the Asian Human Rights Commission regularly quotes statistics such as in Madhya Pradesh, India, 67% of […]

Despite the Pakistani government’s few efforts to improve the women’s situation, physical and sexual violence, honour killings, forced marriages and structural inequalities within the society still make Pakistan one of the worst countries in the world in terms of gender gap according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2009 . Pakistan is at […]

Concerning the case of Ms. Bhuje Naik who died of starvation and sickness on 31 December 2009, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received a letter dated 25 February from the Department of Revenue and Disaster Management of the government of Orissa. The letter is available here. Mr. S. Bhuyan, the Joint Secretary to the […]

Marife ‘Neneng’ Montano: a mentor and a mother By Pepe Panglao It was ten years ago when I first met Marife Montano or ‘Neneng’ as she was known to her friends. Neneng was one of the 32 journalists killed in the Maguindanao massacre. In paying tribute to her, I won’t repeat the countless and numerous […]

Chandradasa was a young man living in an urban area making a living through various kinds of odd jobs. He was engaged in various kinds of buying and selling, such as the selling of vegetables and fish. He also worked in small commissions of trade. He was very well liked within his community; he was […]

Yet another case involving a Nepali peacekeeper against which a civilian charge is pending in Nepal raises serious concerns about the recruitment process to the United Nations Peacekeeping missions. This new case clearly show that the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) did not draw the lessons from the repatriation of Major Basnet, an […]

The whole of Pakistan watched through many television channels the public beating and torture of seven accused persons by the police officials in district Chiniot, Punjab province. The victims were striped naked in public by the station head officer (SHO) and four other officials, three were in plain clothes, of Bhawana police station and beaten […]

The former commander of the Sri Lankan army, retired general Sarath Fonseka is today under military detention in much the same way that tens of thousands of Sri Lankans from the south, north and east in detention facilities in the recent decades. More than ever, the inability of the courts to intervene effectively to protect […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission has received conflicting information about Mr. Ehsan Arjemandi, a Norwegian citizen. The Federal Interior minister previously announced that had been extradited to Iran on September 6, 2009 where he was wanted on several charges, however, it is now believed that he is still being held in custody in Pakistan. Mr. […]