Statement

The physical damage caused by Cyclone Nargis, which swept through Burma this May 2 and 3 is clearly enormous. In addition to the at least 350 dead and uncounted numbers of injured, hundred-year-old trees have been uprooted, powerlines brought down everywhere, billboards collapsed, and houses demolished. According to government reports, at least 20,000 homes housing […]

Nirmila Deshpande, a well known peace crusader of India, died on May 1, 2008, after a long period of illness. She was 79-years-old and left behind so many followers who like her, wanted peace. From her early years she was a Gandhian and an enlightened person whose only aim in life was to work for […]

The following is a reply to the statement by Rajiva Wijesinha of the Peace Secretariat entitled ‘Crudities from the Asian Human Rights Commission.’ Not to be diverted from the issue let us reiterate that the discussion in our initial statement was regarding Justice P.N. Bagwati’s letter and the interpretation given to it by the peace […]

A news item this week had the unusually welcome piece of news of a call by a group within the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna party (JVP), who refer to themselves as the moderate wing of the party, requesting a self evaluation of the past of this party, particularly about its involvement in violence in the eighties. […]

Land grabbing has been plaguing Cambodia for many years. In early March 2007, a month prior to the commune election, Prime Minister Hun Sen loudly announced a “war against land grabbers”, and almost immediately after this announcement several land grabbers were arrested or forced to give up the land they had grabbed. This war lost […]

The ministry of Human Rights and Justice remains silent and stationary on a horrifying incident in April 9, that saw two lawyers, two women, another man and one child burned alive in a Karachi lawyer’s office building. Several other people were also killed in the violence that day (April 9, 2008); a result of attacks […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-STM-112-2008 April 30, 2008 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: The Peace Chief and the Summoner’s Tale The Executive Director of the AHRC, Mr. Basil Fernando replies to: Sri Lanka slams Sir Nigel Rodley’s “Sanctimonious Bluster” by Dr. Rajiva Wijesinha of the Peace Secretariat Subsequent to the issue […]

Jagdesh Kumar, a 27-year-old Hindu, was brutally killed by Muslim workers on the charge of Blasphemy on April 8, 2008 and to-date, no official inquiries have been initiated into this most brutal act. It was revealed after the incident by members of his family and close friends that he was in love with a Muslim […]

No cause however great, be it a claim of liberation or national security justifies attacks on innocent civilians. The bottom line in any human discourse is the basic humanity of all human beings. Where this bottom line is crossed the boundary between humanity and inhumanity is breached. The Asian Human Rights Commission unequivocally condemns the […]

On the 2nd April, 2008 the High Court of Negombo acquitted all the accused in the torture case filed against them for severely torturing Gerald Perera. Ever since many human rights organisations have supported the call of Gerald’s widow calling for the Attorney General to file an appeal in this case on the basis of […]

The well known case of Abadilla Five came before the Court of Appeals for decision after almost nine years. The appeal was on the judgment of Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Quezon City, Branch 103, which found the five accused guilty on August 1999. Shortly after the judgment of Regional Trial Court (RTC) the Alex […]

The Supreme Court Bar Association of Bangladesh (SCBA) yesterday (April 24, 2008) endorsed a resolution to condemn the decision of the Supreme Court declaring that no court, including the Supreme Court itself, has the right to entertain applications on bail in matters relating to the Emergency Power Rule (EPR). The resolution read, “The meeting endorsed […]

The decision of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh made yesterday (April 23, 2008), to the effect that even the High Court, which consists of Supreme Court judges has no jurisdiction to entertain, or to decide on appeals relating to arrest, detention and other matters related to the Emergency Power Rules (EPR), is sending shock waves […]

According to media reports, police in Thailand have so far detained six suspects involved in the April 10 suffocation deaths of 54 persons who had been brought in a refrigerated container truck from Burma, and are hunting for one more. All are civilians who were directly involved in the transport of this particular group of […]

The hottest topic in Sri Lanka this week is the press statement given at a meeting by the International Independent Group of Imminent Persons (IIGEP), in which the chairperson, Justice P.N Bhagwati, a former chief justice of India, Sir Nigel Rodley, a reputed international lawyer, and Professor Yozo Yokota, a former member of the UN […]

The Supreme Court of India is an internationally acclaimed institution, known for its neutrality and authority. Though there are incidents that have provoked criticism — sometimes for good reasons — the Court thus far has preserved its relatively untainted image of being one of the good constitutional courts in the world. This was not an […]

A 27 year old Hindu worker, Mr. Jagdesh Kumar was killed by fellow Muslim workers on the charge of blasphemy in the presence of more than two dozen policemen including an officer. The police and factory management made no attempt to stop the factory workers killing the young man. Some reports suggest that the victim […]

In the middle of this month of April, just within hardly a week, three fires broke out in quick succession in Phnom Penh. The first one happened on 11 April and the blaze destroyed some 450 houses in Tuk Thla commune, Russey Keo district. The next day another fire burned part of the Naga casino […]

In giving reasons to quit their role, the IIGEP stated that there is no political will on the part of the government to find out the truth about the alleged violations of human rights by agents of the state. This question of the absence of political will affects not only the investigations into violations of […]

According to news reports of the last couple of days, leading human rights defender and political activist Min Ko Naing is among those persons detained in Burma since the nationwide uprising of last September whose health has worsened. The Voice of America Burmese service reported on April 15 that he has asked for a specialist […]