Statement

A television station in Thailand has broadcast images of a group of soldiers in the north assaulting a teenager. In the 11 August 2007 footage shown by MCOT, a soldier at a checkpoint in Lamphun Province, south of Chiang Mai, knocks 17-year-old school student Ronachai Chantra off his motorcycle. Thereafter around ten of the troops […]

Indonesia, which received the second highest number of votes in elections to the United Nations Human Rights Council earlier this year, will celebrate its sixty second Independence Day on August 17, 2007. Given these election results, we could imagine that Indonesia is considered as being a moderate nation which consistently promotes and protects human rights. […]

A common feature in several Asian countries is that the police, who are supposed to carry out investigations into crimes and abuses of human rights, do not have the necessary competence to carry out such investigations. Today proper criminal investigations require ‘skilled labour’. The investigators require adequate general education as well as competence in various […]

In recent months spokesmen for the Sri Lankan government have become quite aggressive towards the country’s critics. The Attorney General severely attacked the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) regarding its two reports; the president and other spokesmen have attacked the report by Human Rights Watch and now Action Contra La Faim is being […]

In recent days a spate of public assaults by the police and deaths in custody has been reported by independent media monitoring conditions in Burma.  According to the Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) Radio, on 27 July 2007 a 58-year-old man died while being transferred from police detention to a prison in Mandalay Division, […]

Sixty years before India took a quantum leap in its history from being a colony to that of an independent nation. Soon it was a declared to be a democratic, socialist republic. Wheels of administration started turning in a different direction where administration meant no more exploitation, but managing a country and directing its people […]

Today, August 14, 2007 the Islamic Republic of Pakistan celebrates the 60th anniversary of its independence from the British empire and separation from India. For more than half of Pakistan’s existence as an independent homeland it has been ruled by the armed forces who have worked to undermine the evolution of the political system in […]

(The following is a reply to the Daily Mirror Newspaper in response to an article entitled “Whose human rights are we talking about?” These articles may be found at the following links: http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/08/09/opinion/2.asp and http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/08/10/opinion/03.asp) The reply Who are ‘humans’? Basil Fernando – a reply to “Whose human rights are we talking about?” by Gamini Gunawardane, Rtd. Snr. […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission pays tribute to the former Attorney General, Mr. K. C. Kamalasabeyson, PC whose passing away in India was reported in the newspapers today. Mr. Kamalasabeyson, during his tenure contributed to the introduction of prosecutions on torture cases. On many occasions he also tried to take an independent stance on some […]

An attempt by the military regime in Pakistan to impose an emergency is generating considerable fear in the country. The military regime seems to be nervous about the serious changes that have resulted in the political situation due to the reinstatement of the Chief Justice, Iftekhar M. Chaudry, and moves on the part of two […]

August 9 is the international day of the indigenous people.  Several indigenous communities might not be even aware of such a day being celebrated to acknowledge, respect and protect their culture and rights. Indigenous communities across the world and their resources are being exploited by the so-called developed and urban communities and also by various […]

Where can one sell a wife, or a daughter? Sale of women and children is not a unique practice attributable to a specific geographical region. It is practiced across the globe, but mostly in clandestine deals. What makes India, particularly the state of Gujarat unique is that selling women is openly carried out there. The […]

There are many expressions of fear from many quarters about the possibility of another contempt of court action in Sri Lanka. Earlier the United Nations Human Rights Committee has made recommendations to the government to bring about a law in terms of the international norms and standards on the matter of contempt of court. The […]

(We refer to our earlier statement on this dispute which may be found at http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2007statements/1136/. We are in receipt of a reply (by email) from a subsidiary company of the Elsuma Group in Switzerland. We reproduce below this correspondence and our reply to the same.) The text of the email from CCS Elsuma Switzerland: Thomas Kaiser […]

(We reproduce below the decision of the Sri Lanka Medical Council (as received) regarding a complaint made against a Judicial Medical Officer for his failure to carry out a proper medical examination of a torture patient who was produced before him by the police and who subsequently died in prison custody). The case also came […]

A female passenger in a public bus was found bleeding from her thighs and the fellow passengers took her to hospital. At the hospital, the doctors who examined the lady found that she was wearing a chastity belt. The lady was bleeding from the injuries caused by wearing the belt. In case anyone is wondering […]

The Inspector General of the Bangladesh Police, Nur Mohammad, was quoted in various national newspapers on 22 July 2007 as accepting the poor reputation of the force and extent of political interference in policing there. “The police could not perform their duties in the past due to political interference,” the IGP reportedly told officers at […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission is seriously concerned about the developments relating to CCS Elsuma (Pvt) Ltd based at Daluwakotuwa, Kochchikade (near Negombo) which has blatantly disregarded an agreement entered into with workers under the auspices of the Commissioner of Labour for the settlement of a labour dispute and further went on to threaten the […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  AS-177-2007 July 25, 2007 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission THAILAND: Unintelligible computer “law” passed under junta’s watch On 10 June 2007 the military-appointed interim prime minister of Thailand signed into effect a new law on computer-related offences. The Computer Crime Act BE 2550 (2007), which was published in the […]

Caste based discrimination is the Indian variant of apartheid.  For decades Indians have been separated and divided according to the caste hierarchy. In spite of several laws and even Constitutional guarantees India remains largely divided along the caste lines. Caste based discrimination is omnipresent in India. It is reflected across the societal spectrum. It is […]