Statement

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 […]

Many newspapers reported a statement by a member of the opposition UNP made yesterday stating that during the last two months the Human Rights Commission (HRC) has received over 200 complaints of violations of human rights and also of the abduction of 40 youths in Batticaloa. The statement further alleged that the complainants were abused […]

On January 23, 2008 the Board of Directors of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) announced that it was granting its 3rd Asian Human Rights Defender Award jointly to Mr. Muneer Malik, former President of the Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association, and his successor, Choudhry Aitezaz Ahsan. A short while later, Mr. Baseer Naveed, a […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-STM-097-2008 April 17, 2008 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: Evolution of the falsifier’s role of the Attorney General’s Department AG backs government – government backs the AG and no one is backing the rule of law Today (April 17, 2008), a news item appeared reporting that the […]

The eleven-member International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) consisted of representatives from India, France, Indonesia, the United States, the Netherlands, Bangladesh, Canada, Cyprus, the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan, abandoned their efforts to assist the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate and Inquire into Serious Violations of Human Rights. They were convinced, after a […]

After nearly two years, the Office of the Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices (Moleo) has resolved to “close and terminate” the investigation they were conducting into the complaint against policemen who threatened, arrested, detained and filed false charges against eight workers in September 2006. In dismissing the complaint, the Ombudsman’s graft prevention control officer, Danilo […]

The brutal attacks on April 9, 2008, in Karachi claimed the lives of 14 persons including a child. Six persons were burned alive of which four persons were lawyers and the other two their two women clients. 19 lawyers are reportedly missing who are feared to be abducted, tortured and killed. More than 70 offices […]

Lawyers Rights Watch Canada (LRWC), the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) and Lawyers Without Borders/Canada (LWB/C) call on the Government of Pakistan to immediately provide effective protection to Pakistan lawyers and to prevent future and punish past attacks on them. LRWC, ALRC and LWB/C repeat the call on the new government of Pakistan to act […]

The news that 54 persons died in the back of a truck as they were being transported to work illegally in Thailand on 10 April 2008 has again drawn global attention to the desperate conditions in Burma from which thousands escape daily in search of means of livelihood elsewhere, and the dangers that invariably lie […]

According to reports from Karachi seven charred bodies have been recovered yesterday, the 9th April, 2008. Among them were the bodies of five lawyers including two women. In total 11 persons were killed during the violence.  These attacks are the result of a fresh unleashing of violence against the lawyer’s movement which is demanding a […]

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has started the first session of its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) from yesterday. India is among the 16 states that will be reviewed during this session. The session will end on 18th April. India will be reviewed tomorrow. The review session is held in Geneva. The UPR is […]

In recognition of the horrific violations of the rights of its people in its recent past and in order to prevent any recurrence of such violations, Cambodia, by virtue of the Paris Peace Agreements of 1991 that put an end to the war, has undertaken, among other things, to “ensure respect for and observance of […]

The Sinhala and Tamil New Year used to be a time of recreation and relaxation for all the communities of Sri Lanka, more or less like Christmas time in the west, or Chinese New Year for the Chinese. However, this year the 11th to the 13th April New Year holidays will be accompanied with sad […]

We reproduce below a letter written by an Attorney-at-Law, Mr. W.J. Basil Fernando, on behalf of Ms. Padma Wickramaratna, the widow of Gerald Perera. This letter sums up the grounds on which an appeal may be lodged against this judgement. The letter was addressed to the Deputy Solicitor General, Mr. Shavindra Fernando who prosecuted the […]

A week ago, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) issued an urgent appeal on the 27 March 2008 night time assault on a Rangoon street of 57-year-old human rights defender U Myint Aye, who had to receive stitches for an injury to his head caused by being hit from behind. So far there have been […]