Statement

It is seven decades since the Dalits joined their hands together and rallied against caste based discrimination and widespread untouchability. Dalit civil society has been active to ensure that their issues are heard and rights guaranteed. Nepal has been declared as an ‘Untouchability Free State’, while the Caste-Based Discrimination and Untouchability (Offence and Punishment) Act […]

On March 26, in Greater Noida, near New Delhi, India was home to a blatant display of racism, following the death of a teenage boy, Manish Khari. The teenager’s family and neighbours registered an FIR against five Nigerians in the locality, accusing them of ‘cannibalism’ and Manish’s murder, as well as of being drug peddlers […]

Radio Sweden has published the recording of a conversation with an officer of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). In it, the officer confirms the widespread practice of extrajudicial killings practiced by the RAB, targeting those it considers a threat to national security and those regarded as opponents of the incumbent Bangladesh government. The officer explains how persons […]

At the 34th Session of the United Nations, on 14 March 2017, the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) held a joint parallel event in partnership with Right livelihood Award foundation, World Sindhi Congress, UNPO, UKPNP, Baloch Sindhi Forum and the Baloch National Movement. Mr. Baseer Naweed Researcher at the Pakistan Desk of the ALRC moderated the Side Event. The organizations were […]

५२ औं अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय जातीय तथा रंगभेद विरुद्धको दिवसका अवसरमा एसियाली मानवअधिकार आयोग/एसियाली कानुनी स्रोत केन्द्र र जागरण मिडिया सेन्टर संयुक्त रुपमा नेपालमा निरन्तर बढ्दै गएका जातीय भेदभाव तथा छुवाछूतसम्बन्धी गम्भीर मानवअधिकार उल्लङ्घनका घटनाप्रति अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय समुदाय र नेपाल सरकारको गम्भीर ध्यानाकर्षण गराउन चाहन्छौं । नेपालमा दलित समुदायले आत्मसम्मान र सामाजिक न्यायका लागि सुरु गरेको शान्तिपूर्ण आन्दोलनको […]

On March 6, Higio Gungtey, a 22-year-old man from Arunachal Pradesh studying in Bengaluru was allegedly beaten up by his landlord and forced to lick the landlord’s shoe, in an incident of physical assault, criminal intimidation, and apparent racism. Gungtey alleged that the landlord hurled racial slurs against him and hit him continuously, making him bleed, because of a dispute over […]

The Government of Kerala has this week introduced a new system, that will go a long way in improving the crime investigation in the state. The government has issued an order, that from now on, interviewing suspects in all police stations is prohibited, and that such interviews must be conducted only at what is called […]

According to a newspaper report on March 8, 2006 the President of Sri Lanka noted the existing corruption within government agencies and urged the Bribery and Corruption Investigation Commission to implement measures ‘more widely and extensively to check these tendencies’. One day prior to this, comments made by the Director General of the Bribery Commission […]

On February 27th, a Christian priest in Kerala, Mr. Robin Vadakkancherry, was arrested on charges of raping a minor-girl. The incident came to light when the Childline (1098), the crisis helpline for children in distress in India was informed of the rape. The survivor got pregnant and last month, she gave birth in a Church-run hospital in Kerala. It has been […]

The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, said the following in a message on International Women’s Day. “On International Women’s Day, let us all pledge to do everything we can to overcome entrenched prejudice, support engagement and activism, promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.” The 2017 UN theme on International Women’s Day is–Women in the Changing World of Work: […]

Following a suicide attack on Lahore’s Mall Road on February 13, which claimed the lives of at least six police officials, Punjab’s law enforcement agencies launched a province-wide crackdown on the ethnic Pakhtun (Pathans) minority. Administrative officials in some Punjab districts issued informal orders asking the population to keep an eye on suspicious individuals who […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission welcomes Pope Francis’ unequivocal support for the indigenous peoples’ rights of land and livelihood. It notes that this can go a long way for tenure rights of global indigenous populations while ensuring their food security. It can also surface possible solutions to conflicts arising out of increasing encroachments and forced acquisitions of land for […]

17th February 2017 Mr Pradeep Jayatilake  Secretary  Judicial Service Commission  Hulftsdorp St,  Colombo 12,  Sri Lanka Dear Mr Jayatilake, Letter to the JSC by the Asian Human Rights Commission  Over five years of investigation into a baseless and malicious allegation against a District Judge, (now retired) Mr B. A. R Somasinghe I am writing to […]

Barely one and a half months into this year, eight terrorist attacks in different parts of Pakistan have claimed at least 50 lives, including of 24 security officials. The tall claims of the government and military establishment of breaking the back of terrorism are a shambles. Pakistan, with the world’s sixth largest army and more […]

The sudden and inexplicable surge in violence against women this year has sent shivers down the collective spine of the country. Not that previous years had been any different in terms of violence against women. However, the year 2017 appears to be particularly brutal with more than a dozen honour killings occurring in the first […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has information regarding the last two years of President Joko Widodo’s administration. It appears that the government has not yet made any effort to resolve past human rights abuses. After President Widodo won the presidential election in 2014, victims and their families had great expectations of him. Instead of […]

Nepal’s police have arrested Dr. Chandra Kant Raut, popularly known as C.K. Raut, after harassing his wife and children from Janakpurdham-4, Macha Bazar, Dhanusha district. More than a dozen police personnel broke the lock of the gate and harassed his wife and children before manhandling and arresting Dr. Raut. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) […]

It is unimaginable for any democratic, law-abiding society to outsource its key function of justice. And yet, the Government of Pakistan first outsourced the dispensation of justice to the military, and now to the Panchayat and Jirga, which are known for aiding and abetting grave human rights abuses, and are the primary cause of rising […]

The mandate for The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) is fast approaching their end. With February 9 as a deadline to complete work, only a week left in hand, bringing confusion not only to Commission members, but also conflict victims. The Commissions were established two […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission condemns in the strongest terms the killing on the evening of 29 January 2017 of prominent lawyer, constitutional expert and advisor to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, U Ko Ni, and joins with the thousands who attended his funeral to extend sincere condolences to his wife, Daw Tin Tin Aye, […]