Statement

SRI LANKA: Extrajudicial killings with impunity are increasing

The table given below sets down 09 extrajudicial killings, 01 attempted killing – 09 of which are at the hands of the police at various police stations and the other, in a prison. These 10 incidents are the ones reported to the Asian Human Rights Commission based in Hong Kong during this year. However, at […]

ASIA: A social revolution that is underway in Kerala, India

Statement | Asia | 18-10-2017

On 8 October 2017, the Kerala State Public Service Commission (PSC) announced the list of candidates who have been recommended by the PSC to be appointed as priests in Hindu temples in the state. Out of the 62 persons named in the list 36 are non-Brahmins. Out of this, 6 persons are from the Dalit […]

INDIA: Superpower aspirations while 21 percent of children waste away

Statement | India | 17-10-2017

With the publication of the 2017 Global Hunger Index Report, it is clear that India’s dreams of becoming a superpower, with world class airports and bullet trains, are all hyperbole. The utopian narrative of modern India overlooks the fact that it is a country that fell three places down to 100 in the 2017 Hunger […]

NEPAL: One-man struggle for medical sector reform deserves more public support

Statement | Nepal | 12-10-2017

Dr. Govinda KC, a senior orthopedic surgeon at Nepal’s Tribhuwan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), and professor at the Institute of Medicine (IOM), was compelled to start his 13th hunger strike on 5 October 2017, after the government failed to meet its agreements from the previous 12 hunger strikes. Dr. KC has been staging hunger strikes […]

SRI LANKA: ජාතික පොලිස් කොමිසමේ සභාපතිවරයා විසින් නිකුත් කොට ඇති පොදු පැමිණිලි විභාග කිරීම් සම්බන්ධයෙන් රීති හා ක්‍රියාපටිපාටිය, 2017- The Rules and Procedure (Public Complains Investigations, 2017)- පිළිබඳ කරුණු දැක්වීමක්

ඉහතකී කෙටුම්පත සම්බන්ධයෙන් සිදුකරණු ලබන කරුනු දැක්වීමකි. ඉහත සඳහන් කෙටුම්පතේ රීතීන්ට අනුව ඕනෑම අගතියටපත් පුද්ගලයෙකුට හෝ එම පුද්ගලයෙකු විසින් බලය පැවරූ තැනැත්තෙකුට පොලිස් නිලධාරියෙකු හෝ පොලිස් සේවය විසින් ඔවුන්ගේ නිල කටයුතු වලදී සිදුවු කිරaනියාවක් සම්බන්ධයෙන් පොදු පැමිණිලි පරීක්ෂේණ අංශය වෙත පැමිණිල්ලක් ඉදිරිපත් කොට ඒ ස`දහා සහන ඉල්ලා සිටිය හැකිය. මෙම අංශය පී සී අයි ඞී […]

PAKISTAN: Capital punishment still an excuse as deterrent against terrorism and other crimes

On 10 October 2017, the 15th World Day Against the Death Penalty aims at raising awareness about the reasons why people living in poverty are at a greater risk of being sentenced to death and executed.  Pakistan is one of the states in Asia that continues to carryout capital punishment. It is also a country […]

PAKISTAN: Protests in Azad Kashmir against enforced disappearances by intelligence agencies

A strong resentment from the people of Pakistani held Kashmir against the enforced disappearances, torture, and other criminal activities of Pakistani intelligence agencies, have led to a series of protests throughout the territory known as Azad Kashmir. On September 26, a big demonstration and rally was held in Neelam valley, which divides Indian and Pakistani […]

INDONESIA: Indonesian Government irresponsibly denies human rights violations in Papua

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is very disappointed at the Indonesian government’s irresponsible denial of human rights violations in Papua and West Papua province. Far from taking steps to improve the human rights condition there, the government consistently denies the existence of any problem. At the recent 72nd session of the United Nations General […]

PAKISTAN: Impunity and violence against Transgender community rises

Pakistan’s transgender community is the most ostracised and beleaguered community in the country. Shunned for being gender less, they are restricted to begging, prostitution and dancing, to earn their livelihood. Reduced to the level of sub-humans, the transgender community are devoid of any rights or even identity. In Pakistani society, the transgender community find it […]

PAKISTAN: A call to recover the Turk teacher and his wife and daughters who have disappeared after arrest

Despite being the host country of the highest number of refugees of the world, Pakistan is still not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or to its 1967 Protocol. The result is that the issues associated with hosting refugees are being addressed arbitrarily and inequitably. Social decency and hospitality demands that a country treats […]

WORLD: Urgent Appeals Programme – celebrating 20 years of unique resistance

Statement | World | 29-09-2017

Twenty years ago, when the Asian Human Rights Commission’s (AHRC) Urgent Appeals Programme started, we embarked on a new venture to demonstrate the potential of the Urgent Appeals in creating a culture that respects the sufferings of the victims, and to create a counter culture of concern and protest. It is time now to assess […]

WORLD: AHRC urgent appeals celebrates its 20th year

Statement | World | 28-09-2017

Asian Human Rights Commission is proud to announce that it is today celebrating the twentieth anniversary of its Urgent Appeals Programme. The first urgent appeal was issued on 17 September 1997. Ever since Asian Human Rights Commission’s Urgent Appeal Programme has continuously issued urgent appeals relating to human rights violations, reported from many countries of […]

MYANMAR/INDIA: The escalation of the Rohingya crisis requires a humane reaction from the Indian state

Statement | India | 25-09-2017

In August 2017, the government of India had termed Rohingya refugees residing in India as “illegal immigrants”, and had conveyed its intention to deport them. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has previously condemned the genocide of Rohingya Muslims at the hands of Myanmarese security forces, as well as the proposed deportation of Rohingya refugees. While it has been […]

PAKISTAN: UN critiques reprisals and intimidation suffered by human rights defenders

A new United Nations report (A/HRC/36/31) warns that a growing number of human rights defenders around the world are facing reprisals for cooperating with the UN on human rights. The report, ‘Cooperation with the United Nations, its mechanisms and representatives in the field of human rights’, mentions Pakistan among the 29 countries that have retaliated […]

INDONESIA: Stop persecution against human rights activists and victims of 1965-1966 massacre

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns the attacks against the right to freedom of expression, opinion and peaceful assembly that have occurred frequently over the past year in Indonesia. These have occurred despite constitutional and legal guarantees to protect such rights: Article 28 of the Indonesian Constitution states, “Every person shall have the right […]

WORLD: (BURMA/MYANMAR) A statement calling to end the violence committed against the Rohingya community in Myanmar, and urging the Government of Myanmar to recognise the human rights of the Rohingya people

Statement | World | 18-09-2017

1. Today, on 15 September 2017, a group of 58 Asian human rights defenders, including the Chairpersons of the National Human Rights Commissions of: Indonesia, Nepal, Timor Leste, and the Philippines, having converged in the global human rights city of Gwangju, hereby expresses our deep concern about the on-going violence committed against the Rohingya people […]

INDIA: Enclave dwellers continue to be neglected; the Indian State must prioritise and provide them their entitlements

The plight of enclave dwellers and the status of enclaves in India is something that rarely catches the attention of the media and is therefore an issue that few know or understand. The history of enclaves in India, its origin and continued existence is complex and fascinating, dating back to the 18th century. After Partition in 1947, the hurried redrawing […]

NEPAL: Mysterious death indicates police foul play

Statement | Nepal | 14-09-2017

The mysterious death of 35-year-old Dev Bahadur B.K.on 30 August 2017 seems to involve the Ghorahi Sub-metropolitan police, Dang District. Dev was arrested at around 6 p.m. on August 29 by police officers attached to the Ward Police Station, Ghorahi Sub-Metropolitan. Dev was drunk at the time of arrest, and was taken to the police station in […]

INDIA: Natural resources must be protected, indigenous people consulted before commissioning large-scale development projects in Manipur

Statement | India | 08-09-2017

The floods that took place in mid-June in northeast India severely impacted the lives and livelihood of over 17 lakh persons, many of whom were displaced from their home villages. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) had earlier noted that the damage caused by the floods was heightened by the construction of numerous dams and hydropower projects, […]

INDIA: The murder of the ‘other’

‘In India, Another Government Critic Is Silenced by Bullets’, is how the New York Times reported the murder of Gauri Lankesh, a gutsy journalist known for her fierce opposition of the religious right wing regime currently in power in India. The heading that the New York Times chose says it all. Yes, Lankesh is ‘another’ victim of […]