Statement

The Attorney General ignores the recommendation of the National Commission for Human Rights while victims commemorate the 21st anniversary of the atrocities. (photo: survivors of the Talangsari massacre calling for justice, source: KontraS) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and the Commission for Disappearances and Victims of Violence (KontraS) are disappointed about the continuing delays […]

General Sir David Julian Richards’ official trip to Nepal which includes a visit to the Panchkal army training camp has raised issues concerning the British government’s responsibilities in dealing with a foreign government and an army that is accused of disappearances. The visit will also trigger new discussions in Nepal and outside concerning the government […]

The life of a student leader who was arrested by state intelligence officials is in danger. It is apprehended that he might have been killed. The government of Balochistan says that he was released on January 22, 2010, but his family members have said that he has not yet returned home. They have inquired after […]

(Statement on the Sri Lankan Independence Day) This picture, which has become familiar to all Sri Lankans, is a symbol of the collapse of Sri Lanka¡¦s policing system and the loss of a sense of security among the Sri Lankan people. To understand this collapse and what has happened to the policing system one has […]

The failure to appoint the Election Commission as required by the 17th Amendment makes a mockery of any attempt to hold elections in Sri Lanka. The manner in which the election for the executive presidency would have been conducted if the commission required under the 17th Amendment had been in place would have been very […]

After the presidential election of the 16th January there are continuous reports on several matters that raise concern about the security of persons from attacks and incidents of violence. The Asian Human Rights Commission has received several urgent calls of concern regarding a serious situation that has developed within the country which requires the attention […]

After the Yongsan incident took place in January 21, 2009 (please also refer to AHRC-FUA-001-2009), the bodies of those killed during the incident had been kept in the Soon Chun Hyang University Hospital in Seoul. Their relatives had stayed in the hospital together with rights activists against whom the arrest warrants were issued since the incident […]

Menghaobi, alias Ms. Irom Chanu Sharmila, more known as Manipur’s beacon of peace and hope, received the Lifetime Achievement Award on 26 January. Sharmila shares the award with Mr. Tenzing Tsude, Prof. Hassan Mansoor, Fr. Claude, Mr. Abhay Sahoo, Mr. Prasanta Paikray, Mr. Cherkadi Rama Chandra Rao, Mr. H. Ganapati Appa Sagara, Ms. Anasuyamma Allalasandra […]

The AHRC has received photographs from Mr. Javed Kapoor showing the extent of the gender-based violence in Pakistan and the concrete consequences of the misogynist mindset which is spreading within the Pakistani middle-class. The AHRC is working on those acid throwing cases as part of its involvement for denouncing human rights violations across Asia. On […]

Lawyers have stormed the Lahore Session Courts to show their solidarity with a lawyer and former president of Lahore high court bar association who was arrested in the murder case of a 12-year-old Christian domestic helper. The girl was allegedly tortured. The lawyers, more than three hundred under the leadership of president of the Lahore […]

The common candidate for several opposition parties, retired general Sarath Fonseka, has made an appeal to the President of Sri Lanka to ensure security for him through the Inspector General of Police. This has been published through several media channels. The retired general has also stated that there is a plot to arrest and assassinate […]

The conduct of Justice P.G. Agarwal Commission of Inquiry so far appears to be a threat to media freedom in India. The single-member Commission, appointed on August 27 is the state government’s response to the large-scale and prolonged public protest against the killing of two persons by the Manipur State Police Commando Unit on July […]

There are reports that dozens of people are missing after their arrest by the intelligence agencies, operating in Pakistani held Kashmir, the Azad Kashmir. It is reported that the people were arrested when they left the Jihad (holy war) inside Indian held Kashmir or stopped providing information to the intelligence agencies about the movements of […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and the Front Line are pleased to inform you of the release of Mr. Jiten Yumnam and seven other persons from custody in Manipur state, India. The administration released the detainees on 7 January. Jiten is a human rights defender and freelance journalist working in the Indian state of […]

There is serious concern about the conduct of the judiciary in Pakistan. In a country where all manner of informal justice mechanisms, based on tribal and religious norms dispense arbitrary and discriminatory justice, the citizenry looks towards the formal justice system, to not only adjudicate matters on the basis of rational-legal canons of law, but […]

The presidential election will take place on the 26th of January. The campaign leading to the election took a bloody turn yesterday (13th of January 2010) with the killing of Kusumawahi Kurupuarachi at Hungama in Tangalle in Hambanthota district, and another very violent conflict being led by some senior politicians of the government at Polonaruwa […]

The killing of even one person signals a turn for the worst in the presidential election in Sri Lanka. The attack on the bus carrying the supporters of the opposition candidate was carried out in a manner that reeks of the organized violence practiced in previous elections. The failure of the police to provide protection […]

The Election Commissioner, Dayananda Dissanayanake, was reported by the Daily Mirror Newspaper as having removed the competent authority who was to monitor the media. LankaeNews reported that: The Commissioner who was thoroughly disillusioned remarked that, at this rate it is impossible to hold a free and fair election. He was so disgusted with the way […]

The Asian Human Commission expresses its serious concern over the conditions of overcrowding in Bogambara prison. The government should take notice of the situation and take measures to deal with the unnecessary suffering caused to the prisoners due to overcrowding. Bogambara Prison is a maximum security prison and is the second largest prison in Sri […]

Four Tamil prison inmates in Jaffna Prison were hospitalised today, 11th January, after they had fallen seriously ill due to a hunger strike they had undertaken for their release from detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. They are among thousands of Tamil detainees in several prisons who have been held under the PTA for […]