Statement

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) notes that, as a result of encouragement from the international community, the Cambodian government signed the First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on September 27, 2004. This signature is welcomed as a first step, but is meaningless without ratification. The provisions comprised […]

This March 2006 the Hong Kong administration is having its human rights record examined for the second time by the U.N. Human Rights Committee, under its commitments as a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The government has submitted an extensive document speaking of the rule of law and guarantees […]

The Indonesian government’s commitment to ratify two key human rights instruments, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in May 2006, is a welcome step. The ratification of these two covenants, which are central to the international bill on human rights, is […]

On 3 March 2006, Joey Estriber was waiting for a lift home in Baler, Aurora, when four armed men suddenly dragged him into a nearby van and drove off. Days later, Rogelio Concepcion was also forcibly disappeared in San Ildefonso, Bulacan on March 6. According to witnesses, two men riding on a motorcycle grabbed him […]

The latest draft of Cambodia’s law on peaceful demonstrations is so restrictive, that if adopted, the Cambodian people will be unable to exercise their rights to demonstrate and express their opinion at all. This law is the latest move by the government to institutionalise restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly (see AS-038-2006 for further discussion). Such […]

In a letter dated 21 January 2006, the City Director of the General Santos City Police Office (GSCPO), Senior Superintendent Alfredo Toroctocon wrote to the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to deny allegations by torture victim Haron Abubakar Buisan against his men. Buisan accused Toroctocon’s men of brutally beating him following his arrest on 12 […]

The first step on a new road towards the worldwide enjoyment of human rights and the protection of victims was taken yesterday, with the creation of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, following a resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly. This adoption, by a vote of 170 to four with three abstentions, underlines the […]

In an attempt to fill Sri Lanka’s legal lacuna, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka has adopted a draft Contempt of Court Act to be submitted to the government this month, March 2005. The draft broadly incorporates principles embodied in the United Kingdom Contempt of Court Act (1981) and the Indian Contempt of Court Act […]

In violation of their right to freedom to expression, the Kampuchea Krom community, on March 6, 2006 was denied permission to demonstrate against the arrival of Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in Cambodia. The community is an association of indigenous people of Vietnam now living in Cambodia as Cambodian citizens. The right to freedom […]

Although a group of villagers–members of an indigenous community–in Cambodia’s northeastern province of Rattanakiri were told by local authorities that their lands were reserved for development, around 10 years later no development has yet taken place. Instead, without informing the villagers, the authorities conceded the lands to a businessman. This businessman, without securing a title […]

Two recent reports in the Sri Lankan press (see Daily Mirror, 7th March 2006) have brought to light statements made by the Director General of the Commission of Bribery and Corruption and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) on the issue of corruption. The Director General on the Commission of Bribery and Corruption is quoted […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AS-033-2006 March 6, 2006 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)  SRI LANKA: Delays in courts – everyone’s karume The expression by a High Court judge at Hulftsdorp that it was due to his karume (karma) that he had to be a judge postponing cases is a rare admission of […]

It may be of interest to those concerned with legal and judicial reforms in Sri Lanka that the World Bank has been contributing to such a reform project for several years now. According to a project appraisal document on a proposed credit of USD 18.2 million, published in 2000 and found online, “The broad project […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission urges the Cambodian government, led by Prime Minister Hun Sen, to abolish Article 63 of the UNTAC Law of 1992 on criminal defamation and libel and thereby fulfil the Prime Minster’s promise to decriminalise defamation in Cambodia. Prime Minister Hun Sen has recently stated that he has withdrawn his defamation […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received the following letter from Dr. K. Manoharan of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. As we believe that the problems he has raised are both tragic in personal terms and of the greatest importance from the point of view of witness protection in Sri Lanka, we are reproducing it here. […]

This Friday, February 24, 2006 a state of emergency was declared in the Philippines. Through Proclamation No. 1017 the president has banned all public rallies and greatly restricted constitutional rights, alleging that, “A tactical alliance [is engaging] in a concerted and systematic conspiracy, over a broad front, to bring down the duly constituted government”. There […]

The resignation of two judges from the three-member Judicial Service Commission (JSC) continues to be a matter of topmost public interest. Comments made by numerous persons reflecting different points of view with regard to the resignations are reflected in both the print and electronic media.  The majority of the views expressed tend to support the […]

Today, February 20, 2006 the Board of Directors of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has selected Somchai Neelaphaijit for its 2nd , in recognition of his tireless efforts to bring justice to victims of human rights abuses in Thailand, for which he ultimately sacrificed his life. Somchai was a world-class human rights lawyer and […]

The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka held on February 17, 2006 that officers of the Welipenna police station severely tortured Koralaliyanage Palitha Tissa Kumara by forcing a tuberculosis patient to spit into his mouth and by beating him critically with cricket stumps, causing over 32 injuries.  This judgment by the Supreme Court is a condemnation […]