Statement

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 […]

There has been a lot of misunderstanding about the September 19 coup in Thailand. Many foreign correspondents, tourist bloggers and other casual observers have written that the local market is still busy, people are smiling politely as usual, and life seems to be going on like normal. The coup has been described as “courteous” and […]

(The state’s failure to implement the views and recommendations of the Human Rights Committee on individual complaints, and the failure to implement the Human Rights Committee’s and the CAT Committee’s recommendations after periodic reviews.  The resulting situation of the bewildering absence of protection to the citizens and the total absence of effective mechanisms to investigate, […]

On September 27 the Bangkok Post newspaper published an article pointing to the likely shape of Thailand’s new draft interim constitution in the wake of the September 19 military coup. The interim constitution is expected to grant amnesty to the coup leaders. It will set up a 250-member legislature with limited powers, and a 2000-member […]

It was reported in the Sri Lankan press (Daily Mirror September 27, 2006 – Sri Lanka signs convention on transnational crime and child abuse) that Sri Lanka has recently ratified the Transnational Organized Crime and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and […]

At the beginning of this year there were hopes for more freedom of expression and the improvement of democracy in Cambodia. Prime Minister Hun Sen had dropped his defamation lawsuits against human activists whom he had arrested in 2005, pardoned two opposition parliamentarians whom he had had convicted in the same year, and had removed […]

On September 21 the Royal Thai Consulate General in Hong Kong wrote to the Asian Human Rights Commission. In the letter, the consul general said that despite the September 19 military coup “the courts… function as normal, with the exception of the Constitutional Court”. The Constitutional Court has been suspended in the absence of the […]

We refer to the recent Supreme Court (please see below for reference) and our subsequent statements on this matter. As there has been considerable interest in this case and also some confusion we are reproducing below the written submission filed on behalf of the Petitioner which may clarify certain matters. This application to the Supreme […]