Statement

In declining to use its powers to review the death sentence of Dhananjoy Chatterjee, the Supreme Court of India has today not only declined to take responsibility for the life that it has condemned, but also the principles which it ought to be representing. The Constitution of India establishes that, “No person shall be deprived […]

The findings of the Independent Fact-Finding Commission on the Krue Se Mosque massacre in Southern Thailand were made public yesterday. While recommending compensation payments and the preparation of contingency plans to prevent future similar incidents, they also contained an important observation that, “Investigations should be pursued through the appropriate organs within the judicial system for […]

The Calcutta High Court last Wednesday took a short time to announce a decision on a matter that had stood before India’s courts for a decade: it granted leave to prosecute police officers allegedly responsible for the forced disappearance of Bhikari Paswan in 1993. The following day, Bhikari’s father, who had struggled for ten years […]

The attempted rape yesterday of a High Court judge in Sri Lanka indicates the extent to which the rule of law has collapsed in the country; a circumstance towards which the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has repeatedly drawn attention.     According to media reports, a man broke into the judge’s official residence in […]

During the last two weeks there were two occasions in which victims of very serious acts of torture sought protection from the Human Rights Commission (HRC) of Sri Lanka claiming that they were facing serious threats, including threats to their lives. We are glad to state that on both occasions a Commissioner took urgent steps […]

In the Sunday Leader of July 17 under the caption ‘Police Commission Blame IGP for Inaction’ by Shenan Moses, there appear several comments relating to the Constitutional powers of the National Police Commission made by the NPC Chairman Ranjith Abeysuriya.  Mr. Abeysuriya has been quoted as saying that “acts of torture are carried out by officers below the […]

July 2004 is the 21st anniversary of the government-sponsored riots against Tamils in Sri Lanka. The month became known as Black July. Similar state-sponsored violence took place in Gujarat, India in February 2002, when the state government organised and instigated massive attacks on Muslims there. When a government sponsors an assault on a part of […]

On July 1 last year, more than 500,000 people took to the streets of Hong Kong. It was the sixth anniversary of China’s resumption of sovereignty, and they marched against the Hong Kong government’s proposed national security legislation to implement Article 23 of the Basic Law, the territory’s mini-Constitution. The proposed law contained many dangerous […]

Torture is the most serious obstacle to the advancement of human rights in Asia, whether civil and political rights or economic, social and cultural rights. This is because torture is the prime generator of fear, which inhibits people’s ability to react when other rights are threatened. Where large numbers of people decline to participate in […]

As the world commemorates the International Day against Torture 2004, the countries of South Asia continue to be known only for their collective record of endemic torture. From the pre-colonial period to the present day, horrendous torture has been a characteristic of law enforcement throughout the region. In virtually every police station of every South […]

The authorities in Thailand have abandoned any pretence that they are trying to resolve the disappearance of well-known human rights defender and lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit. After initially reacting to domestic and international outcry (see AHRC statement AS-07-2004, 18 March 2004), they seem now to be concerned only with deflecting criticism, obscuring the truth and discouraging […]

That police in Sri Lanka continue to get away with torture and murder despite enormous publicity was dramatically illustrated this past fortnight, with the killing of an innocent man involving an officer who is also a known torturer. The alleged killing of Saman Priyantha Guneratne on May 30 is understood to have involved the same […]

The statement by Amnesty International in its annual report for 2004 to the effect that Sri Lanka is experiencing “an improved human rights situation” is deeply disturbing and patently incorrect. Unfortunately, this statement will now be used to silence human rights defenders in the country trying to alert the public to the extreme dangers currently […]

On 6 March 2003, 15-year-old Ma San San Aye signed a letter to senior Burmese government officials alleging that she and another young woman had been raped by U San Net Kyaw, the chairman of the Dedalu Village Tract governing council, in Pyapon Township, Irrawaddy Division. The letter explained that although the rape was reported […]

Exactly what happened in Songkhla, Pattani and Yala provinces of Southern Thailand this April 28 is yet to become clear, however, under no circumstances can the killing of at least 107 civilians be justified as “self-defence”. All indications are that security forces there were anticipating attacks, mostly by groups of teenage boys and young men […]

Democratic groups in Nepal are now demonstrating in the capital daily, putting lives and limbs at risk demanding an end to ‘regression’–the abolition of parliament by the king, who has taken both legislative and executive power for himself. They have been brutally attacked by the security forces, and large numbers illegally detained, among them, some […]

In October 2003, 17-year-old Mousumi Ari was murdered by her in-laws. Whereas the role of the state personnel should have been to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators, in fact they did exactly the opposite, as one of the accused, the father-in-law of the victim, was attached to the investigating police station. When police from Kakdwip […]

Within the first 70 days of the year 2004, the number of people shot dead by the police in Sri Lanka came to seven ¡V an average of one person every 10 days. All of these shootings have taken place during peacetime policing, and all of the victims were civilians. None of the deaths suggest […]

Disappearance of Thai human rights defender cause for grave concern What has happened to Somchai Neelaphaijit, and why hasn’t the government of Thailand so far been able to reveal the circumstances of his disappearance? Reports indicate that Mr Somchai, who is a prominent lawyer and human rights defender from the south of the country, was […]

A Statement by Asian Human Rights Commission Who is celebrating International Women’s Day in Pakistan? On 5 February 2004, Mr Bhooro Subzoai together with an accomplice first shot dead his aunt, Ms Malookan, and then Mr Ali Dost, whom he claims to have suspected of having committed adultery. However, relatives of the deceased have rejected […]