Statement

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned to have learned that Pravit Rojanaphruk, journalist for the Nation newspaper and freedom of expression advocate, is being detained in an undisclosed location by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). The conditions of his detention are arbitrary and a clear derogation of the Government […]

September 11, 2012 will remain etched in the collective memory of Pakistan. On that day 259 labourers were burned alive inside a garment factory. The incident is unprecedented in the industrial history of Pakistan, and was termed a 9/11 for the laboring class of Pakistan. The fire was caused by a short circuit and quickly […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is concerned about the prolonged general strike that has made life very difficult in the southern plains of Nepal. Curfews have been set in Terai Districts to deter any untoward incidents. There is severe shortage of essentials and medicines. Shops and factories are closed. Daily wage earners have difficulty […]

A campaign has been launched in Myanmar demanding an end to the practice of the appointment of military officers as judicial officers to the court of Myanmar. This movement demands the end to militarisation of the legal system. In Myanmar, four out of the seven Supreme Court judges are former military officers. Their names are […]

A new wave of target killings of journalists and attacking on the media houses have again started. With in the span of 24 hours two media persons were killed by, as usual, “unknown persons”. The score comes to five during the current year. According to Dunya Tv during the last five years 65 journalists were […]

The number of hangings in Pakistan has already crossed the 200 mark in 2015, and there are still about four months left in the year. If killing human beings were a race, Pakistan is winning hands down. And still there is room for improvement. An estimated 8,000 people, the largest in the world, are on […]

दक्षिण एसियामै जातीय भेदभाव तथा छुवाछूत मुख्य समस्याको रुपमा रहेको छ । विगतदेखि जातीय भेदभाव तथा छुवाछूत अन्त्यका लागि यस क्षेत्रमा भएका पहलहरु अझै प्रभावकारी हुन सकेका छैनन् । नेपालका सबै नागरिकहरूलाई समानता, स्वतन्त्रता र आत्मसम्मान जस्ता मानवअधिकारका मूलभूत विषयहरू नेपालको अन्तरिम संविधान, २०६३, राष्ट्रिय कानुनहरू तथा नेपालपक्ष भएका मानवअधिकारसम्बन्धी अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय दस्तावेजहरूले प्रत्याभूत गरेका छन् […]

Who will account for the death of three year old Aylan whose dead body was washed up at the Aegean beach in Turkey, the photo of the toddler called upon world’s conscience. The photo that went viral over social media sparked a fresh debate on the Syrian refugees facing civil strife since 2011. As mentioned […]

In response to the calls for proposals from the public for the 2016 Budget, by the Ministry of Finance, Sri Lanka, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) submitted proposals calling for adequate financial allocation towards the modernisation of the policing institutions, the judicial institutions, the creation of an effective agency to control bribery and corruption, […]

A joint statement by the Commission for the Disappearances and Victims of Violence (KontraS) and the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) The Indonesian government is planning to provide an Rp 781 Billion (USD 62 Million) loan to PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya (MLJ), a national company, to complete the compensation to victims of the mudflow disaster […]

A khap panchayat (sub-caste council) in Baghpat District of Uttar Pradesh has allegedly ordered that two dalit sisters be raped and paraded naked as retribution for their brother having eloped with a married woman from another, so called, higher caste. There is nothing much unique in the case. Khap panchayats have been known to issue […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that gives cause for alarm. It appears what happened at Kailali is set to happen in other regions of Terai as well. If lessons are not learned and a pathway for a just and unified Nepal is not opened, the tinderbox could ignite. A keen observer […]

The mob lynching of eight policemen and a two-year-old child during clashes between protestors and the police on August 24 in Tikapur, Kailali District, has left many stunned. Some police officers were burnt alive after being stabbed with home made weapons. The protesters (majority Tharu) showed no mercy to the officers, who had been left […]

A Joint Statement by  Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances Asian Legal Resource Centre The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders [a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)] BANGLADESH: Government repression and intimidation of families of victims of enforced disappearance 1 September 2015 […]

August 30 marks the International Day of the Victims of Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances. Many families of the disappeared await the return of their loved ones; many have waiting for a decade or more. Unfortunately, for families that have had loved ones picked up by security agencies, the ordeal begins when they register a complaint; […]

A Joint Statement by Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances, Asian Legal Resource Centre, & FIDH – International Federation for Human Rights on the occasion of the International Day of the Victims of Disappearances, 30 August 2015   Enforced or involuntary disappearances have become a part of the public vocabulary in Bangladesh in recent years. Between […]

The military courts have surreptitiously been given power to try suspects languishing in interment centers located in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). These military courts will now decide the fate of militants declared ‘black’, a term that has not been clearly defined in the Pakistan Army Act, 1952 (PAA). […]

Could it be that the relentless endeavour of civil society, NGOs, and human rights defenders has finally begun to bear fruit? On, 20 August 2015, the Supreme Court has directed the federal and provincial governments to submit recommendations on police reforms. Reports in The News International and The Frontier Post on August 20, have quoted Supreme Court Chief Justice […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns the continuing police violence in Nepal, which has escalated in recent weeks, following the proposed demarcation of Nepal into 6 states. Many ethnic and other groups have taken to the streets against the proposed demarcation. Due to constant strikes, people’s lives and livelihoods have been thrown into chaos. […]

The double defeat suffered by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the Presidential Election of 8 January 2015 and in the Parliamentary Elections concluded on August 17, hopefully, marks the end of a long period (1978 to 2015) of onslaught on democracy and the rule of law. All eyes will turn to see how the new […]