Statement

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has warned that General Musharaff appears to be trying to ‘drive the country towards civil war just to perpetuate his rule.’ Referring to certain incidents of violent confrontations the SCBA said that this was ‘an attempt by the general to create chaos in the country, resulting in civil war […]

The issue of enforced disappearances is among the highlighted topics of the discussion of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka. While about 1,000 disappearances were reported in 2006, already by April, 2007 around 300 cases have been cited. A situation of this magnitude has found some response from the United States where Ambassador Richard Boucher, […]

On March 3 2007 Prime Minister Hun Sen received from his party, the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), full power to eradicate the land grabbing that has been plaguing the country for many years. With this full support, Hun Sen set out to wage “a war against land grabbers” whom he has identified as “CPP officials” […]

Monoranjan Ghosh, a resident of Gopalpur village in South 24 Parganas District of West Bengal, was threatened by a money-extorting gang at least half a dozen times. Monoranjan was assaulted several times and had to be hospitalised once. His family and the entire village were threatened by the members of the gang. On each occasion, […]

A radical mosque and its affiliated seminaries have greatly increased their influence in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan after the mass protests throughout the country against President Musharraf’s action against the chief justice, Justice Iftekhar Choudry. The male and female students and leaders of Lal mosque and its affiliated seminaries, Hafsa and Fridia, are […]

In response to the shooting of a group of youths in the south of Thailand on April 9, an army officer has been quoted as saying that the armed militia personnel were justified to fire in self defence. Two young men and two boys died and a number of others were wounded when Village Defence […]

On April 9 the King of Thailand called upon a new group of superior judges to ensure that they “maintain justice”. The King pointed out that more than ever public confidence in the judiciary depends upon them. They are vital to the peace and survival of the country, he said; their task is not easy, […]

The Sri Lankan government’s propaganda war regarding Amnesty International’s campaign based on an innocent slogan in which they call on all Sri Lankans to ‘play by the rules’ is reminiscent of Don Quixote tilting at the windmills. At the first sight it may appear ridiculous for anyone to oppose a call . This is, after […]

Criminalisation of politics in India is a growing problem, despite legal attempts to address it. In 2003 a law was introduced to prohibit the election of criminals or alleged criminals to state or central legislature. However, persons with criminal or alleged criminal backgrounds continue to hold seats in parliaments all over the country. In fact, […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission condemns the bombings at Konduwattuvan, Ampara on April 2 and Mailambaveli, Eravur on April 1 which have killed and injured many innocent civilians. The government has blamed the killings on the LTTE who, according to a BBC report have denied responsibility. Such accusations and denials also unfortunately are part of […]

(This is the third in a series of statements on the challenges facing democracy, rule of law and human rights in Nepal at present. The first and second statements appeared on March 31 and April 2, 2007) One of the direct results of the April 2006 democratic uprising was to bring the Maoists into the mainstream politics of […]

It was on January 26, 2007 that 24-year-old Mr. Hazoor Buksh Malik was arrested by the Market Police near the shopping market named Resham Gali in Larkana city, Larkana district, Sindh Province for not possessing a National Identity Card. However, the arrest lead to the shocking incident in which the Station Head Officer of the […]

(This is the second in a series of statements on the challenges facing democracy, rule of law and human rights in Nepal at present. The first statement, NEPAL: The need for a comprehensive appeared on March 31, 2007) Hope for democracy, which arose with the uprising of the people that brought down the king and paved the […]

On Monday March 26, 2007 in the early hours of the morning two small aircraft entered the airspace over the Sri Lankan Air Force base at Katunayake, dropped three bombs and returned, unchecked to safety. The whole episode exposed the critical flaws in the political system and the dysfunctional law enforcement and security systems in […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that the Cambodian government has threatened to expel the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), a New York-based human rights NGO, after it had publicised allegations of corruption (KRT) and requested a thorough investigation. The OSJI has worked in Cambodia since 2003 to assist in the establishment, […]

The Minister of Law and Human Rights, Mr. H.E. Hamid Awaluddin, in his statement at the 4th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on 12th Mach 2007 indicated that Indonesia is ready to sign the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance. In fact, it is the people of Indonesia, […]

(This is the first in a series of statements on the challenges facing democracy, rule of law and human rights in Nepal at present.) The pulse of an uprising that brought down the centuries-old monarchy and brought back the parliament as the supreme authority in Nepal still reverberates in the streets of Katmandu. There is […]

We, as members of national, sub-regional and regional NGOs from the Asia region have followed with serious concerns the 4th session of the UN Human Rights Council (Geneva, 12-30 March 2007) on the situation of human rights in Darfur. We noted with much interest, the active participation of the member-states of the United Nations from […]

The following is a joint statement by the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum-Asia), Asian Legal Resource Centre, and International NGO Forum on Indonesia Development (INFID) at the 4th Session of the Human Rights Council on Tuesday, March 27, 2007: Interactive Dialogue- Summary or Extra-judicial Executions in Asia We would like to first […]

The following is an oral submission made by Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) at the 4th Session of the Human Rights Council on March 26, 2007: Interactive dialogue – Special Rapporteur on Torture Thank you Mr. President, The ALRC would like to begin by voicing its strong support for the work and mandate of the Special […]