Statement

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) strongly condemns the excessive force used by the police on peaceful demonstrators holding a candle light protest against the Korean government’s agreement to import American beef between the night of May 31st and the morning of June 2nd. We have received reports that dozens of protesters were severely injured […]

Mr. Abdul Wahab Baloch, a peace activist and Baloch nationalist, who was missing since his arrest on May 28, 2008, was released from the custody of the Secret Intelligence Agency of the Pakistan army where he was severely tortured in different locations. Mr. Wahab Baloch was arrested after holding a peaceful demonstration at the Karachi […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) congratulates the people of Nepal on its transition into a Secular, Federal Democratic Republic. The declaration made on 28 May 2008 by the Constituent Assembly of Nepal is a remarkable milestone in Nepal’s history and is the success of democracy and democratic values. Transformation of a state from monarchy […]

(This statement is an urgent call for intervention to save the who is pursuing complaints against the police at the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka and the High Court of Negombo and who had a successful case before the United Nations HRC regarding the delay to investigate and to try the case. The earlier instance […]

For many years now land grabbing has been a serious issue in Cambodia, when the rich and powerful, through illicit means acquire land belonging to weaker and poorer people. In the month of May 2008 this issue came noticeably to the forefront in the approach to the general election to be held on 27 July […]

The Prothom Alo, a vernacular national daily newspaper of Bangladesh, reports in its 27 May’s online edition that a person was held in detention for 14 years in the Bagerhat District Jail without trial. Quoting the jail officials and the detained, the newspaper reports that the Mothbaria police of the Pirojpur district arrested Mr. Md. Moslem Bishwas […]

A High Court Bench of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh has suggested the counsel of a litigant seek bail from Allah (God), in frustration at the limits of its power under Emergency Rule. Since the State of Emergency was declared in January 2007 the High Court has been barred from entertaining bail petitions. This conclusion, […]

It has only been in power for two months, but already Pakistan’s new government has broken a election promise: to reinstate the deposed Chief Justice and other judges within 30 days. That deadline has passed. Instead, the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has introduced a diluted constitutional package, and is making vague claims that after […]

The President of Bangladesh Prof. Iazuddin Ahmed has appointed Justice Mr. M M Ruhul Amin as the 16th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh to replace the outgoing Chief Justice, Mr. Mohammad Ruhul Amin. The appointment was officially announced yesterday (25 May 2008). The local media of Bangladesh, quoting the senior lawyers of […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  AHRC-STM-146-2008 May 26, 2008 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission SOUTH KOREA: Massive arrest of protesters is imminent Since the government of South Korea agreed with the United States of America to import beef on April 17, the people of the South Korea have expressed their deep concerns about the agreement […]

A High Court Division Bench of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh declared that the country’s Election Commission has violated constitutional provision regarding holding general election within 90 days since the parliament had been dissolved. The High Court Bench comprising Justice Mohammad Abdur Rashid and Justice Md. Ashfaqul Islam passed this verdict on 22 May 2008 […]

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 a jurisdiction to entertain bail petitions on crimes registered under the Emergency Powers Rules 2007. The judgement was delivered by the Appellate Division overruling a previous […]

(The Sri Lankan government lost its bid to retain its seat in the UN Human Rights Council yesterday, May 21, as it came under intense criticism from many quarters on its human rights record. This statement examines the implications of this issue for the future). The defeat of Sri Lanka to retain a seat in […]

Very recently, the Cambodian authorities at two different locations took action to ban peaceful public demonstrations of the people as they wanted to express themselves against the wrongdoings affecting their livelihood. On 12 May 2008 fifteen indigenous minority associations in the northeastern province of Rattanakiri sought permission from the provincial authorities to hold a seminar […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission wrote today to the Sri Lankan authorities and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture regarding death threats to one of the witnesses in the Gerald Perera murder trial which is being heard before the Negombo High Court. Gerald Perera, a torture victim was summoned to give evidence […]

The BBC Sinhala Service today quoted the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate and Inquire into Serious Violations of Human Rights (CoI) as stating that it could not recruit independent lawyers to assist the probe due to financial constraints. The report further stated that the two senior lawyers have volunteered to assist the CoI. The […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  AHRC-STM-139-2008 May 19, 2008 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission BURMA: From Dictator Ne Win to Cyclone Nargis – Burmese catastrophe continues Two weeks after Cyclone Nargis, which has so far claimed the lives of over 100,000 persons, the world remains unable to deliver water, basic foods and medicines to at […]

A group of civil society organisations in Sri Lanka have appealed to the members of the United Nations Human Rights Council urging them not to reelect Sri Lanka for membership to the council on the basis of its blatant human rights violations and disregard for the pledges made to the council itself. A reply from […]

The response of the Burmese regime to the Cyclone Nargis disaster is now acknowledged to be the world’s worst response to a disaster by any state or regime. The Burmese generals, including Senior General Than Shwe, are deliberately avoiding contact with world leaders and other organisations who want to assist the two and half million […]

This week the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, by a majority judgement of two out of a bench of three, held that several prison officers had violated the constitutionally guaranteed rights of Michael Anthony (Tony) Emmanuel Fernando who was severely tortured while he was in prison custody. The bench consisted of Dr. Shirani Bandaranaike, Jagath […]