Statement

The kinds of punishments that are meted out in Sri Lanka today are not based on the making of distinctions between guilt and innocence. Within any system of criminal justice making distinctions on guilt and innocence is at the very core of the principles and practices. Penal laws, criminal procedures and evidence laws have all […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that a girl was murdered on the . The police from four different districts were allegedly involved in the abduction and subsequent killing of the girl, Ms. Babli Lashari, and the matter appears to have been hushed up with the assistance of the higher judiciary. According to […]

NAME: SINNAVAN STEPHEN SUNTHARARAJ WIFE’S NAME: VATHANA SUNTHARARAJ Stephen is a B.A. graduate in Sociology from the University of Jaffna. From 2001 to 2003 he worked as Assistant Lecturer in the University of Jaffna. After a short stint as Lecturer in the University of Colombo from 2003 to 2004 Stephen returned to Jaffna to take […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-STM-105-2009 May 12, 2009 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission BURMA: Imprisoned Burmese prodemocracy activist is awarded 2009 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights Award The AHRC congratulates Mr. Min ko Naing, who is presently serving a prison sentence in Burma for fighting for democracy for this country on receipt of […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on 8 May had issued a statement exposing the controversial steps taken by the Rajasthan state government in the excuse of ensuring security in the state. The statement (AHRC-STM-101-2009) also highlights the misuse of Section 109 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 by the law enforcement agencies, including the […]

On May 12, 2009, the United Nations General Assembly will hold elections to the UN Human Rights Council. Five seats will be available to the Asian region. Only five States from the region – Bangladesh, China, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan and Saudi Arabia – have announced their candidacy, meaning that they will be elected for three-year terms […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following statement from Sonali Samarasinghe Wickrematunge, widow of Lasantha Wickrematunge and 2009 UNESCO World Press Freedom Laureate on the World Press Freedom Day Conference in Doha, Qatar, 2009.   Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- A Statement from Sonali Samarasinghe Wickrematunge, widow of Lasantha Wickrematunge […]

Stephen Suntharaj, age 39, has been working for Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD) since March 2008 as program officer. He formerly worked for Child Protection Authority, Jaffna branch. Stephen had taken up many cases of child abuse in Jaffna as a result was threatened by different groups and ultimately had to flee Jaffna. […]

During the fourth phase of the national general elections held yesterday in India, the state government of Rajasthan has resorted to controversial security measures. On the pretext of ensuring safety, the police ‘sanitised’ the state by imprisoning hundreds of poor people. Of those arbitrarily imprisoned, there are a large nu mber of young migrants, who […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  AHRC-STM-100-2009 May 8, 2009 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission CAMBODIA: The Bar Association must not be an instrument to curtail professional freedom The international norms and standards relating to the legal profession require that the lawyers could practice their profession without fear and intimidation. The professional rights of the […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following statement of the former Prime Minister of Nepal Mr. Pushpa Kamal Dahal. The statement is the abridged transcript of Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s speech he made to the People’s Liberation Army cadres. The speech was made on 2 January 2008, three months prior to the Constituent […]

India is about to complete the national general elections to the 15th Lok Sabha. The fifth and the last phase of the election is expected to be completed on 13 May. The results will be declared on 16 May. Politics and its shallowness in India apart, any government that assumes office in the country after […]

The world’s attention at the moment is fixed on about 192,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and another 50,000 – 100,000 civilians trapped within a five square-kilometer area in what used to be called the no-fire zone. BAN Ki Moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations, in a press release issued after a telephone conversation […]

The resignation of the Prime Minister of Nepal and its prompt acceptance by the country’s President, expose the vulnerability of the ongoing democratisation process in that country. The peace process in the newest democracy of the region, even after nine months, appears to be extremely fragile due to the continuing tensions between the Maoists and […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-STM-096-2009 May 6, 2009 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: Fundamental rights upheld Supreme Court holds that police authorities have not heeded chief justice’s recommendations against police abuse, rampant dishonesty and corruption Making a judgement in a fundamental rights case Justice Shiranee Tilakawardane (S.N. Silva, C.J. and Justice […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  AHRC-STM-097-2009 May 06, 2009 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission PAKISTAN: The dubious role of Pakistan army in dealing with Taliban thereby legitimizing the massacre After the failure of the peace initiatives with the Taliban and Tehreek-e- Nifaz-e-Shariah Mohammadi (TNSM), the government of Pakistan has started an operation with the […]

Last Friday, May 1, the appointee Senate of Thailand elected seven new persons as the country’s National Human Rights Commission. They are, Police General Vanchai Srinuwalnad, assistant commissioner general of the Royal Thai Police; Mr. Parinya Sirisarakarn, former member of the Constitution Drafting Assembly of Thailand (2007); Mr. Paibool Varahapaitoorn, secretary to the Office of […]

The parents in Batticaloa decided to stop sending their children to school for a week as a mark of protest over the kidnapping and killing of an eight year-old girl Satheeskumar Thinuska. Earlier six-year-old Varsha Jude Regi was also abducted and killed after a demand for ransom. According to a Daily Mirror report the decision […]

“We may have to take choppers and machetes, we will have to attack with choppers those who jump over the boundaries,” chanted a group of people from Hela Urumaya, (a Sinhala heritage party), gathered in front of the British High Commission to protest the visits of the British Foreign Secretary, David Milliband and his French […]

At a news conference on 23 April 2009, Ms Mu Sohua, Member of Parliament (MP) for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), flanked by her lawyer, announced that she was going to file a defamation lawsuit against Prime Minister Hun Sen. This decision followed a public speech Hun Sen had made in which he attacked […]