Statement

WORLD: Eid greetings from  The Asian Human Rights Commission joins with people around the world in celebrating the 1427th Eid Festival at the conclusion of the fasting month of Ramadan. Eid is an important occasion for recognition and appreciation of our common humanity. It is especially a time that we should extend the spirit of […]

In the late afternoon of October 16, a week-long strike by workers at the Bright Sky garment factory in Dangkor district of Phnom Penh, Cambodia led to an open confrontation with management. When the strikers went to request that over ten of their peers be allowed to leave the factory, hundreds of heavily-armed police suddenly […]

An October 17 article in the Bangkok Post reported that the Ministry of Justice there has to pay hundreds of millions of Thai Baht in compensation to people who have been wrongfully prosecuted for crimes they did not commit. The law providing for compensation, the Compensation for Victims of Crime Act BE 2544 (2001), arises […]

Today is the sixth anniversary of the assassination of the well known BBC journalist Mylvaganam Nimalrajan.  It is also two months now since the disappearance of Fr. Jim Brown and his assistant (please refer to UA-280-2006) and during this time large numbers of journalists, social activists, aid workers and many others who were involved in one […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission has learned that the accused police officer in the torture case of Palitha Thissa Kumara was acquitted by the judge of the High Court, Kalutara this morning (October 19, 2006).  The judge stated that he is acquitting the accused as the charges have not been proved according to his view.  […]

It is now one month since the armed forces of Thailand under General Sonthi Boonyaratglin took power on September 19. Since that time, the coup group and government officials have been creating a fictional version of what they have done, are doing and will do. To mark this occasion, the Asian Human Rights Commission lists […]

Korala Liyanage Palitha Thissa Kumara’s complaint of torture against a Sub Inspector of Police attached to the Wellipena Police Station received local and international publicity due, among other reasons, to the allegation that the police officer forced a tuberculosis patient to spit into his mouth.  During the trial the tuberculosis patient confirmed the allegations and […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission has already underlined the failures of justice in the conviction of two men accused of the January 2004 murder of Chea Vichea, a famous Cambodian labour union leader. In August 2005 Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun were sentenced by the Phnom Penh court to 20 years in prison for […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  AS-255-2006 October 18, 2006 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission THAILAND: Military junta won’t bring justice to south In the days after the September 19 coup in Thailand there was some expectation that bloodshed in the south may lessen. Like a lot of other things, this has not happened. Reports […]

A senior lawyer who has appeared in many issues of public interest in recent years is now facing the threat of being removed from the roll as a lawyer due to a fundamental rights application he filed raising questions regarding the constitutionality of some issues relating to the judiciary that he pleaded adversely affects his […]

Why are the authorities of the University of Karachi protecting attempted rapists? A July 28 incident, which allegedly involved a number of university staff and members of the Pakistan Rangers stationed on campus, was at first denied outright by the university vice chancellor. After tremendous public pressure, including a series of urgent appeals issued by […]

The European Commission has reported of the visit of a mission of high level experts to be sent by the Co- Chairs to review the current situation of human rights in Sri Lanka and to suggest necessary action before the end of October 2006. The Commission further stated that it believes that this could be […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  AS-251-2006 October 13, 2006 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission BANGLADESH: Removing dust is the government’s job The Daily Star newspaper published a report on October 11 citing the outgoing Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs of Bangladesh, Moudud Ahmed, as claiming that “progress” had been made in separating […]

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 […]