Statement

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 Prime Minister Hun Sen has recently stated that he has withdrawn his defamation […]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 […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission welcomes the landmark ruling by the Supreme Court of Nepal on Monday February 13, 2006, which declared the controversial Royal Commission for Corruption Control (RCCC) unconstitutional and ordered it to be scrapped immediately. This has paved the way for the release of ousted Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who had […]

Recent reports speak of significant reorganisation within Sri Lanka’s police department, bringing it under the control of the Secretary of Defence (SD), who will now attend to all police appointments, transfers, promotions and disciplinary control. In this way the Secretary of Defence seems to be taking the place of the National Police Commission. He is […]

Several senior members of the opposition United National Party (UNP) have issued statements expressing concern over the resignation of two judges from the three member Judicial Service Commission and requesting that a parliamentary select committee should be constituted to inquiry into such a significant event relating to the administration of justice in the country.  However, […]

The Government of Bangladesh has conducted a political crackdown of massive proportions, arresting over 10’000 persons between February 2nd and 5th, 2006. The police have randomly an arbitrarily arrested large numbers of persons, with the poor being targeted in particular. The arrests without warrants are being conducted through abusive application of Section 86 of the […]

North of Bangkok, the Angthong Provincial Court this morning found a farmer guilty of running an illegal community radio station. Sathien Janthorn was given a suspended jail term of six months and fined 60,000 Thai baht (USD 1500) for having broadcast from a community radio transmitter that was paid for by the Finance Ministry, through […]

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has recently secured a pardon for opposition leader Sam Rainsy and his colleague Cheam Channy, who were respectively given a jail sentence of 18 months for alleged defamation and seven years for allegedly organising an illegal army. He has promised to restore their parliamentary immunity. He has also withdrawn his […]

A serious controversy has resulted after two senior judges resigned from their positions in the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), as they found that remaining in office would compromise their conscience. There have been serious disputes within the Bar Association of Sri Lanka as to what appropriate measures should be taken to respond to this situation. […]