Statement

Is it an attribute of sovereignty that the state is allowed to be corrupt? Is it a challenge to sovereignty to question corruption and also to make corrupt leaders, civil servants and even powerful sectors of private business responsible before law and even to punish them? Can a state apparatus that does not have a […]

The military-controlled interim government of Bangladesh has revoked the State of Emergency from early morning of 17 December 2008. The President of the country Prof. Iazuddin Ahmed promulgated the ordinance on 15 December to withdraw the State of Emergency.  “Whereas the president is satisfied that it is expedient and necessary to revoke the State of […]

The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, in a judgement that is considered controversial this week (December 17) ordered that petrol prices should be reduced to Rs 100/= per litre to be effective from midnight the same day. The prevalent price for petrol with a octane count of 90, was Rs 122/= and petrol with an […]

On 27 March 1992 the body of a Catholic nun, Rev. Abhaya, was recovered from a well in the compound of the Pius Tenth convent where she lived. The convent is in Kottayam district in Kerala state of India. The local police concluded that the death was by suicide. The father of the deceased nun […]

The AHRC is publishing its 2008 annual human rights report on the Philippines. A pre-publication version of the report can be downloaded at http://material.ahrchk.net/hrreport/2008/AHRC-SPR-015-2008-Philippines_AHRR2008.pdf To illustrate how far the protection of human rights has been achieved, if at all, the 60th anniversary of the Universial Declaration for Human Rights on the International Human Rights Day is […]

The Sindh police have at last early this morning released the eight women and four children whom they took hostage in order to secure the surrender of a suspected bandit. The illegal arrest and detention of the women and children were apparently ordered by top ranking officials of the Sindh police. The victims were held […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  AHRC-STM-315-2008  December 11, 2008 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission PAKISTAN: The government must take cognisance of human right violations in the country and make the ICESCR, ICCPR and CAT part of the country’s laws The AHRC is publishing its 2008 annual human rights report on Pakistan. A pre-publication version […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  AHRC-STM-314-2008  December 11, 2008 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: Further politicisation of the Attorney General’s Department expected The Attorney General’s Department is to be further politicised with the expected appointment of Mohan Peiris; a close associate of the present regime and in particular, the Ministry of Defence. […]

The AHRC is publishing its 2008 annual human rights report on Sri Lanka. A pre-publication version of the report can be downloaded at http://material.ahrchk.net/hrreport/2008/AHRC-SPR-017-2008-SriLanka_AHRR2008.pdf. The human rights situation of today is much when the UDHR was adopted with regard to civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights. Particularly the denial of […]

The AHRC is publishing its 2008 annual human rights report on Indonesia. A pre-publication version of the report can be downloaded at http://material.ahrchk.net/hrreport/2008/AHRC-SPR-012-2008-Indonesia_AHRR2008.pdf. How proud can Indonesia be of its reform process? While the country has established a national human rights commission (Komnas HAM) and has also undergone wide-reaching institutional reforms since the end of Suharto’s […]

The AHRC is publishing its 2008 annual human rights report on India. A pre-publication version of the report can be downloaded at http://material.ahrchk.net/hrreport/2008/AHRC-SPR-011-2008-India_AHRR2008.pdf. Yesterday, the government of India released the pictures of eight suspects who were killed in the Mumbai terrorist attack. Today, India along with the rest of the world celebrates the International Human Rights […]

The AHRC is publishing its 2008 annual human rights report on Bangladesh. A pre-publication version of the report can be downloaded at http://material.ahrchk.net/hrreport/2008/AHRC-SPR-008-2008-Bangladesh_AHRR2008.pdf. Today being December 10, it is the International Human Rights Day. It is also the 60th anniversary the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations in 1948. […]

Since the three-month occupation of Government House and week-long occupation of the two main airports in Bangkok ended on 3 December 2008 following the dissolution of three parties in Thailand’s ruling coalition, the extent of destruction that the occupiers have caused is now becoming clear. Leaving aside the indirect damage that the invasion caused to […]

Lanka-e-News reported today, December 5, 2008, that a Supreme Court bench consisting of the Chief Justice and Justices Shirani Thilakawardane and K. Sripavan, criticised the Attorney General’s Department for having filed false charges on fake laws. The report stated The Chief Justice thus criticized the Attorney General’s Department suspending two crime charges framed in Colombo […]

Policemen in Sindh province have yet to release eight women and four children who were arrested on the night of November 24, 2008, without charge, and taken away in police vans. (http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2008statements/1785/) Higher police officers are currently using them as bartering tools, to force relatives to hand over a suspected bandit, Haji Wakeel, who may […]

Negombo is just a short distance from Colombo and is far away from the north and the east. However, the extent of the lawlessness that has spread does not reflect that distance. The law virtually does not exist. You can commit murder and get away with it without much of a problem. The best friends […]

The Mumbai terrorist attack was one more occasion for the Indian politicians to call for calm, peace and national unity. Political parties like the Communist Party of India (Marxist) convened a special Politburo session and repeated the rhetoric, in addition to demanding that the Government of India approach the UN Security Council. The Hindu fundamentalists […]

The siege of Bangkok’s airports that is into its sixth day is being accompanied by increasing lawlessness. On Saturday a convoy of armed occupiers attacked a police checkpoint, causing the officers to flee, smashing vehicles and making off with shields and other equipment. One policeman has been taken hostage. Armed thugs set upon a local […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that police from four districts of Sindh province have taken in custody eight women along with their children on the suspicion that a young man from the same family is involved in the abduction of a district health officer. The whereabouts of the women and four minors […]

The following resolution proposed by the president of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, Mr. W. Dayaratne, was unanimously adopted by the Bar Council at a meeting on November 22, 2008. WHEREAS, in the exercise of his professional duties, Mr. Dothalu Waniga Chinthamani Mohotti (Ranga) Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka is made […]