Statement

The Cambodia Development Cooperation Forum (CDCF) composed of donors and the Cambodian government will convene on 19-20 June to discuss the progress in the implementation of Cambodia’s development plan and its funding. This meeting is yet another occasion for all participants to honour their human rights obligations towards the Cambodian people under the Paris Peace […]

While the actions by the government to expel over three hundred Tamils from Colombo came under furious condemnation in the parliament, by political and civil society organisations in the country and also from the United States Embassy and other international groups, President Mahinda Rajapakse has done nothing to ensure that proper action is taken against […]

The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Shoukat Aziz has suspended the implementation of the recently amended Pakistan Electronic Media Regularity Authority (PEMRA) Ordinance which was issued by President General Musharraf on June 4, 2007. The amended ordinance gave the Authority sweeping powers with which to seal the premises of, or confiscate the equipment of broadcasters […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission condemns the forcible removal of several hundred Tamils from Colombo by the Sri Lankan police and military in an operation carried out on the morning of June 7, 2007. Several buses were loaded with Tamils, a few of whom, according to reports are permanent residents and others who were visiting […]

What is common between the governments in Uganda, Sudan, India and Nigeria? The past or present governments in these four states had employed a policy of arming the local population against its own people. After implementing this policy the African states named above soon found that the situation what they sought to contain in fact […]

On the evening of June 1, 2007 two Red Cross volunteers who had attended a training programme of the Red Cross in Colombo and were returning home to Batticaloa were abducted at the Central Railway Station in the presence of several of their colleagues. Their colleagues immediately complained to the Inspector General of Police and […]

President Pervez Musharraf has handed unprecedented powers to the Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), allowing it to seize the broadcast or distribution service equipment of television and radio channels and suspend their licenses. The ordinance which came into effect on June 4, 2007 has also displaced the Council of Complaints, the body under which complaints […]

Abductions, killings and robbery have become regular incidents in Sri Lanka. The telltale symptoms of a broken down rule of law and a system that has failed to address it. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has issued several statements in the past expressing its concern over the widening gap between the fact and fiction in Sri […]

The judicial system in Pakistan is very weak and can not deliver justice to the people. The weakness of the judiciary can be blamed on the continuous interference by successive governments, in particular by military governments. The judiciary in Pakistan has traditionally always supported those in power, even if they came to power by ousting […]

Under the international peace agreements concluded in 1991 to end a protracted war in the country as well as under its own constitution, Cambodia has undertaken to ensure the respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms of its people, including the establishment of an independent judiciary for the protection of those rights […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 31, 2007 AL-012-2007 HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Fifth session A Written statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre, supported by the Law and Society Trust, Sri Lanka SRI LANKA:  Serious Concerns Affecting Sri Lanka’s Judiciary 1. Introduction Sri Lanka’s legal system was originally a combination of the Roman-Dutch Law and English […]

The Prime Minister of India in his foreword in the ‘Report to The People’ dated May 22, 2007, claims: “In this 60th year of independence, the country should have the satisfaction of recording for the fifth year in a succession a rate of economic growth of over 8.5%.”  [1] The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) […]

On 30 May 2007 Thailand’s senior judges participated in a farce that was not of their making but has, thanks to their acquiescence to the country’s military regime, been made to appear one of their doing. By sanctioning a decision that was made well before 19 September 2006, they have caused immense damage to already […]

On Tuesday, May 29, 2007, three senior journalists received death threats in the city of Karachi, Sindh province. Envelopes containing live bullets were found attached to the driver’s side of the windscreen on two cars. In a third, a bullet was found on the driver’s seat. The journalists who received the first bullets are, Mr. […]

The killing of five members of a single family at Delgoda over a land dispute, a subsequent mob attack in which three houses in the neighbourhood were burned, followed by the shooting of two alleged suspects whilst in police custody, which killing has been declared by a magistrate as justifiable homicide, has been subjected to […]

The Supreme Council of the Magistracy (SCM) of Cambodia, the supreme judicial body governing the judiciary, should be commended for having recently adopted a code of ethics for judges. The adoption of this code is a significant development in the protracted legal and judicial reform programme undertaken by the Cambodian government. If effectively enforced and […]

Chhattisgarh and Kerala are two states in India. Chhattisgarh is a newly formed state compared to Kerala. Chhattisgarh and Kerala have nothing much in common. For example, the Chief Justice of India is from Kerala whereas judges like Mr. Jagdish Bhalla are asked to serve in Chhattisgarh. What is so special about Justice Bhalla? Justice […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AS-106-2007 May 23, 2007 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission INDONESIA: It is not “MALTREATMENT UNTIL DEATH” but “TORTURED TO DEATH” On 14 May 2007, the Indonesian Surakarta District Court decided that the death of Roni Ronaldo was caused by “maltreatment until death.” The six defendants were police officers, one […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission has learned that the suspended Chief Justice, Mr. Iftehkar Chaudhry, will address the members of (SCBA) on May 26, 2007 in the premises of the Supreme Court, Islamabad. It is a non-transferable duty of the government of General Musharaff to ensure that the meeting is allowed to proceed safely and […]

After observing the situation of the rule of law in Sri Lanka for several years and meticulously observing recent developments, the Asian Human Rights Commission is compelled to announce that what Sri Lanka is facing now is a situation of lawlessness of epidemic proportions. Such lawlessness is manifested by the ongoing abductions and forced disappearances, […]