Statement

Since it was reported on April 26 that General Sonthi Boonyaratglin admitted that the Thai army and police are using “blacklists” to hunt for alleged insurgents in the south, discussion has turned on how the lists are being made. “One wonders exactly what sort of evidence is needed to have a person put on one […]

The parliament of Nepal will meet tomorrow, April 28, 2006, for its first meeting since King Gyanendra of Nepal was pressured into re-establishing it as a result of weeks of massive popular protests in the country. The meeting represents the dawning of a new era in Nepal, and credit is due to the peoples’ movement […]

There have been many disappearances in Pakistan’s political history. The present disappearances are occurring in the Sindh and Balochistan provinces of the country, largely by law enforcement agencies. In response, Pakistani citizens have organised two protest rallies against these disappearances. One of these will be held in Karachi, Pakistan on April 28, 2006 organised by the […]

The speeches by the King of Thailand to the Supreme Court and Administrative Court judges on 25 April 2006 have with good reason been reported all around the world. Among his remarks, he told the judges that “When an election is not democratic, you should look carefully into the administrative issues. I ask you to […]

On April 25, as the second anniversary of the 28 April 2004 killing of 106 young men in the south of Thailand approached, army commander Sonthi Boonyaratglin reportedly made a remarkable admission. There are, he said, “blacklists” of wanted persons in the south. The blacklists, he also reportedly admitted, are perhaps being used by some […]

The murder of Inspector of Police (IP) Douglas Nimal and his wife, who with several other police officers were making allegations of high ranking police officers being involved in drug trafficking, casts a dark shadow on the capacity of the Inspector General of Police and other high ranking officers to maintain the rule of law […]

The trial of 58 persons charged after the fatal 25 October 2004 protest outside the Tak Bai police station is getting under way in Narathiwat, southern Thailand. Although 85 persons were killed–seven during the protest and 78 in army custody afterwards–it is not the military and police officers responsible for their deaths who are on […]

Violence is escalating in Sri Lanka, with an attack by a suicide bomber in Colombo on the army headquarters that has seriously injured the army commander and killed many others. In retaliation, the Government of Sri Lanka has ordered air and naval attacks on LTTE strongholds. The international media is announcing a “return to war” […]

On April 17, 2006 the Indonesian Supreme Court announced that a five-member panel of judges would review the case of three men on death row in Poso, Central Sulawesi. Although the men–Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus Da Silva and Don Marinus Riwu–were sentenced for inciting communal conflict in Poso in 2000, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AS-080-2006  April 25, 2006 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) SRI LANKA: Civil society in Sri Lanka must learn lessons from the people’s movement in Nepal As a major victory is being won by the Nepalese people in reclaiming democracy and the Constitution from the grip of the country’s […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) joins hands with the hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the streets of Nepal who have successfully defeated a coup started on February 1, 2005 by the despicable monarch, Gyanendra. All persons detained arbitrarily in the country must now be released. The people have forced the king to […]

Under sustained international pressure, the government of Cambodia on April 21 decided to remove the custodial sentence of eight days to one year for defamation under article 63 of the 1992 criminal law, commonly known as the UNTAC Law.  This is a positive development and should be welcomed, especially after a year of widely-condemned repression […]

Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI) again appears to have lost interest in the case of abducted human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit. After local human rights defenders obtained the cooperation of the Central Institute of Forensic Science to search an area of the Mae Klong River in Ratchaburi Province during late March, the DSI director-general, […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 25, 2006 AS-076-2006 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission PHILIPPINES: UN General Assembly must reject the Philippines’ Human Rights Council bid On April 19, the government of the Philippines joined other Asian countries applying to be members of the new UN Human Rights Council. It also issued a pledge […]

After years of unbearable horrors, the people of Nepal are once more in the streets as they were in 1990, demanding democracy and human rights. The recent offer by coup leader Gyanendra to allow for a new prime minister to be appointed is merely an attempt to save his own skin. It is too little, […]

Today, April 24, Thailand’s daily newspapers reported that members of the People’s Alliance for Democracy were attacked in the northeastern city of Udon Thani. According to the news, hundreds of people stormed a meeting organised to discuss the current political situation and criticise the outgoing prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, and his Thai Rak Thai Party. […]

The issues of the non appointment of the Constitutional Council (CC) members and the resultant collapse of all the relevant independent commissions remain unresolved despite unprecedented public protests arising from all sectors of Sri Lankan society and also from international sources. The government remains stubborn in its refusal to appoint the nine members who have […]

Demonstrations totalling hundreds of thousands of Nepalese citizens have continued unabated since April 6th, 2006, defying curfews and shoot-to-kill orders given to the security forces. The movement to rid Nepal of its autocratic monarch has become more and more determined throughout this time. At least 14 persons have been killed, hundreds injured and thousands arrested […]

On April 12 an unusual story appeared in Burma’s state-run daily newspapers. It said that a man identified as Wai Phyo Naung killed himself in a police lock up in Mandalay after being arrested for loitering in the early morning of March 25. According to the report, he had twisted his sarong into a rope […]

The human rights, humanitarian and political crisis in Nepal has hit a new low and demands an immediate solution. On the eve of the third week of widespread, legitimate popular protests against the direct rule of King Gyanendra, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) calls for immediate and credible steps to be taken in order […]