Statement

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned by the unilateral declaration of Abdusakur M. Tan, governor of Sulu province in Mindanao, placing the entire province under a ‘State of Emergency’; and urges the latter to immediately lift the declaration as it is devoid of any legal basis and fails to meet fundamental conditions […]

Cambodia has abandoned communist rule to supposedly embrace pluralism and liberal democracy for nearly twenty years. Yet it is still saddled with many communist legacies which have stunted its democratic development. One of such legacies is the staffing of all public institutions from top to bottom, down to the village level, by members of the […]

The Internet-broadcasted public flogging of a young girl by Taliban members in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) has enraged sections of Pakistan society, and given a taste of the newly-brokered brand of religious justice in Swat. The beating has refreshed debates on religion-backed violence against women in the country, but equally as disturbing, is […]

In the immediate period leading to the trial of Khmer Rouge Prison Chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, on 30 March, there was a disagreement between the international and the national co-prosecutors of the Cambodian UN-assisted Khmer Rouge Tribunal (KRT) over the prosecution of more Khmer Rouge leaders in addition to the five who have […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) calls upon the Sri Lankan government to immediately release Mr Santha Fernando, secretary for justice and peace in the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka and long-time staff member of the international YMCA. Fernando is a well known personality in Sri Lanka, in the Christian community and among other […]

India will hold general elections for the 15th Lok Sabha in April. Lok Sabha, meaning ‘house of the people’, is the directly elected, lower house of the Indian parliament. Under the prevailing circumstances it is impossible for a political party to succeed in the general elections to claim absolute majority in the parliament and thus to form a […]

On 27 March, the Mathara High Court sentenced former magistrate, Ms. Shyamini Mihinchiarachchi, to 45 years imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 60,000 (USD 600) on charges of entering false information in court documents pertaining to fines; fraud and soliciting bribes. The court charged Mihinchiarachchi for these offences while she was serving as a magistrate […]

As the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) welcomes the investigation that the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is conducting into ‘vigilante killings’ in Davao City, it holds reservations as to how it will pursue the inquiry. It should not only be just another investigation, but rather adequate and effective so that it will be able […]

The attitude of a Pakistani judge toward a teenage gang rape victim has caused widespread outrage, throwing the training of the country’s judicial figures into question. On March 25, 2008, additional district and sessions judge Nizar Ali Khawaja conducted the trial of four men who allegedly gang-raped 13-year-old Ms Kainat Soomro in 2007, over a […]

We are forwarding the text of a letter written by Sonali Wickrematunge, the widow of Lasantha Wickrematunge, a well known journalist and the editor of the Sunday Leader newspaper who was assassinated on the 8th January 2009. The letter is reproduced from Ground Views and the original article may be found at http://www.groundviews.org/2009/03/26/is-the-president-hiding-lasantha-wickremetunges-killers/ Sonali Samarasinghe Wickrematunge […]

A Canadian freelance journalist and her two Pakistani assistants were abducted by agents reportedly working for Taliban commander, Gul Bahadur, from Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province in November, 2008. Her abductors have demanded US$375,000 by March 31 to secure her release, otherwise they claim she will be killed. Khadija Abdul Qahaar, 52, who was known as […]

India is the highest Tuberculosis burdened country in the world accounting for one fifth of the global incidence of the dreadful disease. It has remained so for the past three years. This is according to the report published by the Central TB Division functioning under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Ever since German […]

In February the US State Department released its “2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices”. The report on human rights in Cambodia stated that “the government’s human rights record remained poor” and detailed a long list of human rights abuses including extrajudicial killings by security forces, abuse of detainees, arbitrary arrests, land grabbing and forced […]

A national authority for the prevention of abductions, and a national institute for studies on the prevention of extrajudicial killings are urgently needed The abduction of six-year-old Varsha Jude Regi has highlighted a phenomenon for which Sri Lanka has been notorious for many decades. Sri Lanka has one of the world’s worst records of abductions […]

A comparison of the abduction of Varsha Jude Regi and the Delgoda family massacre The abduction and the killing of six-year-old Varsha in Trincomalee, followed by the deaths in custody of two of the alleged abductors brings to mind many similar instances, particularly the case of the family massacre at Delgoda where on the 26th […]

On March 17, five years to the week of the disappearance of human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit at the hands of police officers, the ambassador of Thailand to the United Nations Human Rights Council insisted that his government is doing all that it can to conclude the case. Responding to the Asian Legal Resource Centre, […]

Following the violent 33-hour mutiny at the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters on February 25 and 26, which saw more than 70 persons killed, the government has been swift to act. However the rising death toll of those under suspicion in custody is a cause for grave concern. The government¡¦s first steps were promising and within […]

Sri Lankans looked at their TV screens and newspapers last week with shock and shame as the story of the abduction and killing of six year old Varsha Jude Regi of Trincomalee came to the attention of the entire nation. Although much has been talked and written about this horror story, the real societal meaning […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-STM-065-2009 March 20, 2009 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission SOUTH KOREA: How to express opinions without fear of ‘legitimate’ punishment? According to the report in the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Development Index recently released by the International Telecommunication Union, South Korea took second position following Sweden in terms […]

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, stated on the 13th March: “Certain actions being undertaken by the Sri Lankan military and by the LTTE may constitute violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.” Pillay said. “We need to know more about what is going on, but we know enough to […]