Statement

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) commends the efforts of Department of Justice (DoJ) Secretary Raul Gonzalez to issue immediate orders to “provide security” to the witnesses who could identify the perpetrators of the bombings on Mindanao on October 10 and to “facilitate the release of funds for compensation” to the affected victims; for after […]

The Nation newspaper of October 8 reported Professor Worachet Pakeerut of Thammasat University as saying that coups would continue in Thailand for so long as the courts there recognise the amnesties that perpetrators pass for themselves. Worachet had said that there “was a discrepancy in the Thai judicial system that recognised law written by people […]

On the morning of 22 January 2004, Chea Vichea, a famous and popular labour union leader, was gunned down while reading a newspaper by a roadside newsstand in Phnom Penh. The gunman rode off on a motorcycle driven by another man. Var Sothy, the owner of the newsstand, was the only other person at the […]

October 10th was declared as the World Day Against the Death Penalty in 2003 by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. The ongoing debate has again arisen on the issue of the existence of the death penalty in India, since the Supreme Court of India upheld the decision of the special court in meting […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission joins with people in Thailand today to recall and celebrate the ninth anniversary of their 1997 Constitution. It was on 11 October 1997 that for the first time the people of Thailand realised their popular aspiration towards government based upon a rational set of standards applied to all persons, rather […]

The Daily Prothom Alo newspaper published a report on September 18 that murder charges against three persons have been dropped on the orders of the government of Bangladesh. According to the report, Altab Hossain was shot dead on 27 April 2000 in Badalpara village, Upazilla in Pabna district. Altogether 29 persons were charged in the […]

After Bishop Alberto Ramento of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), or  Philippine Independent Church, was killed on October 3, police investigators were quick to declare his death as a case of robbery and homicide. Two days later the Philippine National Police (PNP) pronounced Bishop Ramento’s case “solved” following the arrest of four alleged suspects in […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission yesterday (October 9, 2006) wrote to Ms. Louise Arbour, High Commissioner for Human Rights and Ms. Hanna Roberts, Chairperson, International Executive Committee, Amnesty International with regard to the statement made by the head of Sri Lanka’s delegation to the Second Session of the Human Rights Council, about a suggestion made […]

In A Short History of Thailand, David Wyatt describes how after Field Marshal Phibun Songkhram retook power from an elected government in 1948 he set about retaining “the facade of constitutional democracy”. He writes that “Thailand was now receiving economic and military assistance from the United States and favors from international organizations, and Phibun could […]

The tenure of office of Chandra Fernando as the IGP ended last week.  Throughout his tenure the Asian Human Rights Commission has pointed out the failure of leadership on his part to lift up the police service from its legacy of the use of torture as the primary means of criminal investigation, the use of […]

In a September 26 address at a conference on national human rights institutions, the Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen, said that he supported the creation of a national human rights committee for the country. Om Yen Tieng, the prime minister’s aide, said that perhaps it could be set up within a year. The audience, […]

A few years ago, some senior United Nations staff in Cambodia met with a government minister to discuss the state of the country’s courts. They expressed concern about their lack of independence, and asked what intentions the government had to address this problem. “Don’t worry,” the minister told them simply, “I will make them independent.” […]

The Indonesia Supreme Court quashed a judgment by the Court of Appeal which affirmed the 14 year jail sentence pronounced by the Central Jakarta District Court last December against Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto for the murder of the well known human rights campaigner Munir. The Supreme Court in a two-to-one judgment reduced the charge against the […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  AS-236-2006 October 5, 2006 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission BANGLADESH: What is really needed to maintain law & order The Daily Janakantha newspaper on October 4 quoted the Bangladeshi State Minister for Home Affairs, Lutfuzzaman Babar, as saying that, “This is our country. We shall not withdraw the RAB […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to bring to the notice of the international donors that no progress of any sort can be made in any area of life in Cambodia until the country’s government gives up its deliberate rejection of the concept of a state governed by rule of law, which has been central […]

A prominent critic of the wave of extrajudicial killings that have swept the Philippines under the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has himself become a victim of these killings. Bishop Alberto Ramento of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), or Philippine Independent Church, was awakened and killed in his room at about 4:00 a.m. on October […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission is concerned about the negative response of the Sri Lankan government to international requests for the establishment of an independent international human rights monitoring mission in Sri Lanka and are dismayed that what is offered instead is a local Presidential Commission with the possibility of some international observers being allowed […]

When General Sonthi Boonyaratglin led the armed forces of Thailand to overthrow the caretaker government of Pol. Lt. Col. Thaksin Shinawatra on September 19, the military indicated that it would withdraw from politics within two weeks, having set in place an interim constitution and premier. Interim constitution and premier are now there as promised. And […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  AS-231-2006 October 4, 2006 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: Only the practice of telling the truth can bring back respect for Sri Lanka’s international diplomacy The Sri Lanka government has withdrawn its candidate, Jayantha Dhanapala, from the list of contestants for the post of UN Secretary General […]

Civil society organizations in Sri Lanka made a great advance during the last week when they were able to identify a group of persons who are allegedly involved in the abductions in Colombo.  On the basis of their information the police at Kotehena have been able to arrest several persons who are said to belong […]