Statement

On the 29th July, 2008 the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh stayed the order of the High Court Division on appointing ten former judges, who were illegally sacked, according to a verdict passed by the High Court Division of the Supreme Court. The Appellate Division passed this order following a provisional petition […]

The Federal Law minister, Farooq H. Naek, while talking to the media said that, “The (previously dismissed) judges were welcome to resume their responsibilities. They only had to take a fresh oath under the Third Schedule of the Constitution to resume their responsibilities.”  He added that the seniority of such judges would not be affected. […]

A young man is now in the Colombo Eye Hospital having permanently lost his sight in one eye due to acid being thrown in his face while he was in police custody. The police, acting in connivance with a truck driver, arrested him and beat him severely while the truck driver threw the acid at […]

Three lawyers practicing in the courts in Kandy have complained of having received death threats on several occasions as a result of having signed a petition calling for inquiries into the unprofessional conduct of a few lawyers which affects the rights of litigants as well as the rights of other lawyers. The lawyers who have […]

(As the Criminal Investigation Branch has questioned four representatives from several reputed human rights organisations regarding a pamphlet published on December 10, 2007 calling for the ending of impunity regarding disappearances. We set out below the legal position in Sri Lanka regarding publications as set out by the courts of the country. For details see […]

The recent questioning of some representatives of several well known human rights organisations in Sri Lanka about a pamphlet which called for the ending of impunity regarding disappearances raises many serious questions. The questioning is based on the assumption that the publication amounted to an act that demoralised the armed forces. Emergency regulations have created […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission issued an Urgent Appeal, AHRC-UAC-144-2008, with regard to a young couple (Mr. Muhammad Ibrahim and Mrs. Zainab Ibrahim), who have been threatened with death because they married without the permission of their parents. Powerful persons of the tribe in question, with the support of police authorities, have already killed a prominent […]

Last August Cambodia adopted a code of criminal procedure. In a section on pre-trial detention this code succinctly stipulates the presumption in favour of bail, and allows pre-trial detention in special cases subject to the custodial sentence attached to the crime and specific reasons. Article 203 of this code says that “As a general principle, […]

An incident which happened this week was shocking confirmation of the fears repeatedly expressed by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) about threats to the legal system of Sri Lanka. A special police unit, acting on orders from above, recorded statements from three representatives of two well-known and reputable human rights organizations, the Law and […]

A High Court Division Bench of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh declared on Sunday (13 July 2008) that promulgation of ordinance by the country’s President, under unelected caretaker government be unconstitutional and ultra vires, unless the ordinance is directly related to the general election. The Bench comprising Justice A B M Khairul Huq and Justice […]

While a researcher for the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) were conducting random interviews on the case of the Abadilla Five, a short comment from a father, Victoriano Galang, which we have published in our previous press release, caught our attention. His son, Hernani, like that of the Abadilla five, remains in jail for several […]

Mr. Sarath Kumara Naitos, aged 38 years, was arrested on 5 July 2008 around 12.30pm while he was working at Kesalwatta in a house, in Panadura, Sri Lanka. The arrest was carried out by the officers from Moratuwa Police Station. The officers who came in a three wheeler, at the moment of arrest itself beat […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) cautiously welcomes the effort by the judiciary to re-start their program called “justice-on-wheels”. The program, which started conducting hearings on July 9, aims to reduce the number of court cases in order to ease the congestion in crowded jails, by conducting hearings in jails. Buses have been converted into […]

On July 2, 2008 the Federal Cabinet of Pakistan made the decision to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment. This was extremely good news for death row prisoners who number 7,379 at the last count.  However, the incumbent  Chief Justice of  the Supreme Court, appointed by President Musharraf in November 2007, has taken it […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-STM-187-2008 July 9, 2008 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission PHILIPPINES: Arbitrary arrest that become de facto legal is endemic The rules of arrest under section 5, Rule 113 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure in the Philippines stipulate that an arrest without warrant can only be lawful on instances whereby […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-STM-186-2008 July 7, 2008 A Joint Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and the Indonesian Community Legal Aid Institute (LBH Masyarakat) INDONESIA: Failure to acknowledge the essence of right to life resulting in more people being executed Five Indonesian convicts are about to be executed within this month, according to the […]

The Sri Lanka Press Institution (SLPI) and the Newspaper Publishers Association are offering a reward of Rs. 5 million (Approximately US$ 50,000) for information on the assault on the journalist, Namal Perera. Namal Perera who works for the SLPI and Mahindra Ratnaweera, a political officer with the British High Commission, were severely assaulted on Monday, […]

Slaughter of Innocents http://noprotection.blog.humanrights.asia/ While this Statement is being written, more and more persons, including minors, have been targeted for murder on the pretext of ‘vigilante’ killings in cities of General Santos, Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Cebu. This is an insidious phenomenon that has since deprived the victims and their relatives of equal protection […]

The Bangladeshi media, during the weekend (28 and 29 June 2008), published the news of a cell phone theft by a police officer that has been found to be true following investigation. According to the reports, Mr. Mohiuddin Ahmed Faruki, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) attached to the Bangladesh Desk of Interpol at the […]

Attacks on journalists continue unabated despite of massive protests from local and international agencies and despite all sorts of talk by the spokesmen for the government about stopping human rights violations. Empty rhetoric assuring respect for human rights only hides the cynical disregard for the rights of the citizens. Silencing all is the actual policy […]