Statement

On June 21 the National Assembly passed the annual Finance Bill, with effect from July 1. Or did it? And what was it that was passed anyway?  By law, the Finance Bill is passed to establish the annual budget. It is limited to this specific purpose. It cannot change or amend other laws. And as […]

In recent days there have been reports that the Minister of Law, Justice and Human Rights in Pakistan has embezzled large amounts of Norwegian money that was allocated for human rights victims. According to reports in the Daily Times and other local newspapers, Mohammad Wasi Zafar has allegedly misappropriated millions of rupees of Norwegian government […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is shocked at the news of the suspected attempt to abduct Vasant Panich, the chairperson of the Subcommittee on Legislation and Administration of Justice of the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand. Vasant is a senior lawyer who has for years worked to advance human rights in Thailand, including […]

The Asian Legal Resource Centre has today, June 30, released a new report on witness protection in Thailand, the first in a planned series of detailed studies on specific institutional obstacles to human rights there.  Witness protection is all about the fight against impunity that is at the heart of human rights struggles worldwide. Without […]

Mechanisms for making complaints about human rights violations, for conducting investigations into such violations, for the arrest and prosecution of offenders, for the protection of complainants and victims, as well as all other avenues for the pursuit of redress are now completely closed in Sri Lanka. The promotion and protection of human rights by the […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 26, 2006 AS-155-2006 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission CAMBODIA: Support for rights of workers to march On 20 June, Touch Naruth, the police commissioner of Phnom Penh, and Kuoch Chamroeun, governor of Meanchey district, led a mixed police force of 200 men armed with riot shields, truncheons and […]

A Joint NGO Statement WORLD: Prohibitions against torture under attack     As we observe the annual U.N. International Day in Support of Victims of Torture on June 26, we would like to celebrate advances that have been made to end the deliberate infliction of pain on others to obtain confessions, gather information or any […]

On June 21, the representative of Thailand to the United Nations in Geneva addressed the first sitting of the new UN Human Rights Council. In his speech, Dr Chaiyong Satjipanon stated that, “Thailand is in favour of the retention of the [former Commission on Human Rights’] Special Procedure mandates, as we believe that they are […]

Although Pakistan is now an elected member of the new UN Human Rights Council, the practice of torture throughout the country is on the rise. Since its election on May 9, 2006 gross human rights violations including torture and forced disappearance have been committed against political and religious groups in Pakistan. Twenty persons from the […]

Cambodia acceded to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment in October 1992. In September 2005, the Cambodian government signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, but has yet to ratify it. However, neither the Convention nor the Protocol have become effectively operational; the government has not […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 23, 2006 AS-152-2006 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the International Day in Support of Torture Victims and Survivors, June 26, 2006 THAILAND: Failure to ratify UN Convention against Torture damaging Thailand’s international reputation as well as the lives of victims Remember Ekkawat Srimanata?  Ekkawat was arrested on […]

The International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is a sad reminder of Sri Lanka’s complete failure to eliminate torture.  This is even sadder because it was the past practices of horrendous torture which created the cyanide carrying militants and prevented the possibility of a negotiated settlement for the country’s minority problems.  In the […]

On 7 June 2006 a Committee in the Philippine Congress approved a consolidated bill seeking to outlaw torture. By approving this long overdue bill, the Committee acknowledged the need to enact an enabling law on torture. While this development is warmly welcomed the issue of how to consistently push for it is a matter of […]

On the occasion of the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) welcomes the new opportunities for human rights as a whole, and torture victims in particular, that have arisen out of the historic peoples’ movement in Nepal in April 2006. As the result of widespread […]

Police torture of criminal suspects is commonly accepted in Indonesia. This is the case whether they are suspects of insurgency and violence, or suspects of petty theft. In fact, the police are even known to harass and assault innocent civilians. At the beginning of the year, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) reported that two […]

Of the 511 Sections in the Indian Penal Code, there is not a single provision to punish a law enforcing officer for engaging in custodial torture.  One hundred and forty six years since the original version of the Penal Code was drafted and fifty nine years since independence, the Penal Code has undergone several changes, […]

On May 9th, 2006, Bangladesh was elected to the new United Nations Human Rights Council, which is currently holding its first session in Geneva. As part of the voluntary pledge the government made prior to the election, it affirmed its “deep commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights of all of its citizens.” […]

As it observes the annual U.N. International Day in Support of Victims of Torture on June 26, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) notes that fighting the “war on terror” in recent years is now threatening the much longer “war on torture.” For years, the AHRC and others around the world have called upon governments […]

A landmine attack on a bus on June 15 at Kebethigollewa on a remote road near rebel-held territory killed at least 64 persons and wounded many more.  Immediately thereafter there were several air strikes on LTTE positions by the Sri Lankan military.  This follows several months of low intensity conflict which has killed many people […]

The trial of 58 persons charged after the fatal 25 October 2004 protest outside the Tak Bai police station in Narathiwat, southern Thailand is being perverted by the non-appearance of prosecution witnesses who say that they are too busy to appear in court. On June 14, for at least the 11th time, the trial was […]