Statement

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 […]

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 […]

A journalist was attacked and seriously injured by office bearers of a political party, the Sindh Nationalist Front (SNF), on December 31, 2009, near the Hyderabad Press Club, Hyderabad City, Sindh province. A senior newspaper journalist, Mr. Mohammad Hussain Khan, was attacked and injured when he was on the way to the Press Club. He […]

Long years of war have had a terrible impact on all areas of Sri Lankan life and one of the major areas to suffer from the war was the media. This was only natural. The war on the military front is also fought on the propaganda front by all the parties involved in the conflict. […]

Although the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Thailand has not yet posted the details of its new subcommittees on specific issues to its website, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has obtained details of their current membership.  Among the subcommittees, the one on administration of justice is of special importance, as it deals with […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-STM-253-2009 December 18, 2009 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission SOUTH KOREA: Seoul city fails to respect and protect the right to adequate housing leading a tenant’s suicide On 2 December 2009, 66 year-old man, Mr. Kim committed suicide. He lived in a Yong Gang apartment which was in the […]

Three young men from the Pakistani part of Kashmir, abducted by an army Lieutenant Colonel and officials of Frontier Corp were released by their captives after the warning that they should not reveal that where they were held in captivity and tortured or the identities of those who had abducted them. The men were severely […]

Manipur, a state in the northeast of India is in national news since the past two decades. The state remains in news for all the wrong reasons. Stories from Manipur are not that of the miraculous economic growth the country has been achieving despite the worldwide recession. They have nothing to do with the information […]

The AHRC is publishing its 2009 annual human rights report on Sri Lanka. A pre-publication version of the report can be downloaded at: http://material.ahrchk.net/hrreport/2009/AHRC-SPR-009-2009-Sri-Lanka-HRReport2009.pdf. The world Human Rights Day was on the 10th December. The event passed in Sri Lanka without anything to celebrate in terms of any kind of positive achievements in the area of […]