Statement

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 […]

This story is not only my story. Many other Dalit human rights activists have the same experience as me. When I talked about my life with other Dalits human rights defenders in Gujarat, we realised that we all had the same experience in our life. This is the first time I am sharing the experiences […]

The New Age, a Dhaka-based national English daily, has published a report yesterday (26 June 2008) quoting a former General of Bangladesh Army, who has launched a political party during the ongoing State of Emergency in the country.  According to the report, Syed Mohammad Ibrahim, a retired army General, said in a joint press briefing […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-STM-180-2008 June 27, 2008 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission  SOUTH KOREA: Government’s failure to realise people’s health A public announcement on the agreement on the import of beef between the Korean government and the United States of America was postponed after the government faced continuing protest from people. There […]

Mr. Elmore Perera, a 74-year-old lawyer who has devoted most of his time to public interest litigation was suspended yesterday, 26th June from his practice for seven years by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, which issued a rule against him on the basis of purported contempt of court. The use of contempt of court […]

June 26th was the United Nation’s Day in . As far as Sri Lanka is concerned the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights did nothing to commemorate this day. Instead the statements from the spokesman for the ministry manifested the usual lack of political will to deal with the issue of torture. The attitude […]

(June 26 is observed every year as the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.) At the seventh session of the UN Human Rights Council in March 2008, the ambassador of Thailand, Sihasak Phuangketkeow, said in response to a statement by the Asian Legal Resource Centre that, “First, I wish to point […]

(June 26 is observed every year as the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.) Giasuddin Mandol is an iron scrap dealer from the North 24 Parganas District of West Bengal. On August 2, 2007, at about 7:30 p.m., the subinspector of police at the Deganga police station, Ayub Ali, took Mandol […]