Statement

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 […]

(The Asian Human Rights Commission reproduced below a petition from the condemned prisoners from Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, which we received from the NNI news agency of Pakistan). To, Mr Yousaf Raza Gillani, Prime Minister of  Pakistan Mr Bilawal Bhutto Zardari,Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Mr Asif Ali Zardari,Co Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (the ruling party) RESPECTFULLY […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is concerned by the reported pronouncement of the Deputy Director General, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Avelino Razon Jr., that they are shipping a thousand shotguns to arm “selected, screened and trained” police auxiliaries in southern Mindanao. These police auxiliaries include village watchmen and civilian volunteer organizations […]

For anyone who wonders which nation has the best police in the world, the following may give you an answer: the Korean police definitively protected at least six female protesters from committing suicide in custody by forcing them to remove their bras. According to information received by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), one 26-year-old […]

In our statement, SRI LANKA: Permanent loss of sight in one eye due to cruel and inhuman treatment, (http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2008statements/1632/) we earlier reported the permanent loss of use of one eye by a young man, Asantha Aravindra due to acid being thrown in his face by a truck driver while Aravindra was already in the custody […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission salutes and congratulates the people of Pakistan for their resilient and determined struggle to oust the dictator, General (Ret.) Pervez Musharraf from the post of president. This completely non-violent struggle of various sections of society which included lawyers, judges, the ordinary folk, the media as well as the legislators is […]

At the last Human Rights Council session a spokesman for Sri Lanka suggested to the United Kingdom that it may consider holding a referendum for having a written constitution. One wonders whether the suggestion was based on the experience of having written constitutions in Sri Lanka, which the spokesman thought to be worthy of emulation […]

The human remains of the five women who were buried alive in Balochistan province have been and the provincial government has done nothing to provide a decent burial for these victims of honour killings. The provincial government, through its home secretary, has denied the incident reported in the Asian Human Rights Commission’s Urgent Appeal, PAKISTAN: […]