Statement

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned about the government of Nepal’s plan to deport all Tibetans living in the country to India, without valid refugee certificates. The government’s plan is already in process. Mr. Modraj Dotel, the spokesman of the Ministry of Home Affairs, confirmed to the media on September 11 that […]

The Sri Lankan government has accepted complete responsibility for ensuring the safety of internally displaced persons living in the Kilinochchi area. The UN agencies and INGOs have complied with the government’s requests to move away from this area. Therefore, the job of providing for the security, as well as necessities such as food, water, medicine […]

While welcoming the release of 11-year-old Pakistani-American, Muhammad Ahmad, from the murky realm of US custody in Afghanistan, the Asian Human Rights Commission is still waiting for information on where and why the child was detained and for how long, plus information on his current condition and official status. No information about the child’s missing […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission is concerned to hear from the United States Department of Justice that an 11-year old boy, and US-Pakistani Citizen, Mohammed Ahmad, has been illegally detained in Afghanistan since 17 July 2008, when his mother was allegedly arrested by the FBI. Strong attempts by his family in Pakistan and the US […]

The Tissainayagam case raises a fundamental question about the different kinds of criminal trials offered to the accused under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), and Emergency Regulations as against the accused in regular criminal trials. Under Sri Lankan law, according to the Evidence Ordinance, any statement amounting to a confession made to a public […]

By recommending the impeachment of a High Court judge, the Chief Justice of India has revived a dead debate concerning the Indian judiciary. On August 2, 2008 in a letter addressed to the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice recommended the impeachment of judge Soumitra Sen of Calcutta High Court. Judge Sen is accused of having […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that the two children of Dr. Afia Sidiqui, who is currently in custody in the United States on charges of assault and attempting to murder members of the American forces during her custody in Afghanistan, have been removed by Afghan and foreign forces from Bagram prison. The […]

The Balochistan police, in a bid to destroy any available evidence, have removed three of the bodies of the five women who were buried alive in Baba Kot, Jafferabad. (For details please refer to the AHRC Urgent Appeal: PAKISTAN: Five women buried alive, allegedly by the brother of a minister – http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2008/2969/). The women, including three […]

In 1993, as part of its administration of Cambodia, the UN organized an election of a new government for that country. Since then Cambodia has organized, by itself, three periodic parliamentary elections, in 1998, 2003 and 2008 and two periodic commune elections, in 2002 and 2007.  The task of organizing elections is entrusted to a […]

The UN Human Rights Committee in a View expressed under article 5 (4) of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on Civil and Political Rights held that the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has violated the rights of Mr. Soratha Bandaranayake who was dismissed on 7th November 2000. The UNHRC held that by this dismissal the […]

Prasantha Pradeep Kumara Francis (30) is married, an electrician, a resident of No 09, 3rd Lane, Akkara 35, Ballapitiya, Horana. On 21.08.2008 at about 9:00 am Prasantha went to the Panadura Police station to get a certified copy of a complaint he had made on 18.08.2008 with regard to the loss of his National Identity Card. […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission has vehemently opposed and campaigned for the lifting of the emergency decree over the southernmost provinces of Thailand since it was introduced in mid-2005. Now in an alarming sign of the dramatically worsening conditions in that country, today the AHRC finds itself calling for the lifting of the decree from […]

The forced disappearances of political opponents by the state intelligence services continues in spite of newly elected government’s claims that the issue will be solved when the coalition partners come into power. However, since the formation of the mew government no serious moves have been initiated to address the issue. on the contrary, the state […]

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, which consists of the Appellate Division and the High Court Division, has held that no court in the country has jurisdiction to entertain bail petitions on crimes registered under the Emergency Powers Rules 2007. The judgment was delivered by the Appellate Division overruling a previous judgment […]

The government of Bangladesh has directed its civil administration to work in collaboration with the officers of the “Joint Forces” stationed across the country. The government made the decision on August 25, after having reshuffled its administration by appointing 35 new Deputy Commissioners (DCs), the apex bureaucratic authorities in the district administrations. The government briefed […]

The current wave of violence in Orissa, India is not surprising. After all, Orissa is a state in India ruled by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD). The BJD has remained in power with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a Hindu fundamentalist political force operating in India. As a result, the BJD has […]

A Bench of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh on 28 August issued a rule against the government asking the authorities to explain why the Voluntary Disclosure Ordinance 2008, under which the Truth and Accountability Commission was formed on 30 July 2008, should not be declared illegal and void. A rights […]

On the eve of the anniversary of the massive nationwide protests that swept Burma last September 2007, a steady stream of cases against persons wrongfully arrested, detained and charged for their involvement in the rallies continues to pass through the courts. The accused include civilians as well as former monks who have been stripped of […]

The United Nations Human Rights Committee’s latest view issued in July 2008 on a communication filed by a Sri Lankan against the state of Sri Lanka holds the state to have violated article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which guarantees the right against arbitrary deprivation of life and article […]

A Bangladeshi rights group has challenged the legality of the Truth and Accountability Commission at the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, local media reported yesterday. According to the reports published in the New Age, Dhaka-based English daily on August 25, the military-controlled government formed the Truth and Accountability Commission on 30 […]