Statement

Mr. Dammika Nisantha – Photo Courtesy of the BBC A man was bitten four times by a venomous cobra after being forced into a barrel with the snake by a criminal gang operating a baby elephant stealing racket in Sri Lanka This story was reported in several news channels. The victim, Dammika Nisantha, a resident […]

Human rights defenders are continually being made targets of abduction in Bangladesh, actions that are symptomatic of a kind of insanity. Yesterday (May 15,2014 ), Mr. Md. Nur Khan (Liton), a prominent human rights defender narrowly escaped being abducted. A group of men in plain clothes attempted to abduct Mr. Nur, who works as Director […]

The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, interpreted the much talked about blasphemy law in a timely and appropriate manner. He made an observation in a sou moto case of the desecration of places of religion belonging to the minorities, that there should be thorough and impartial investigations into complaints of blasphemy so that […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) expresses its concern over the recently passed Truth and Reconciliation Law in Nepal. The law violates international standards, the Supreme Court verdict of January 2, 2014, and also the Interim Constitution and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of Nepal itself. The last time the government came up with the […]

The citizens of Pakistan watched a video recording of a police encounter on all the television channels where a man who had been pronounced dead started crying and screaming that he was alive. The police ignored his cries for help and dragged him by the hair into a police van. He was taken to a […]

The frenzy of land grabbing in Burma (Myanmar) amid the country’s transition to nominally democratic government shows no signs of abating. Reports of the number of cases and scale of “land confiscation”—a euphemism for theft by government authorities and army-linked cronies—continue to grow. At the same time, conflicts over land have escalated as farmers attempt […]

The rule of law does not exist in Bangladesh. The way the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) abducted seven men, including a senior lawyer and a member of the mayoral panel of the Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC), on 27 April 2014, and murdered them, allegedly on behalf of a feuding faction of the ruling party, in […]

A lawyer and prominent human rights defender, Mr. Rashid Rehman Khan, was gunned downed yesterday by unknown persons at his chambers at 8.45 p.m. He had been receiving death threats from the Muslim fundamentalists since February. In the month of April he was threatened in court during the proceedings before the judge by a lawyer, […]

In February 2014, the Government of India decided to constitute a committee to study and frame remedial measures to address the concerns of citizens hailing from North East India residing in different parts of the county. This is an initiative to understand the layers of discrimination faced by persons from the North East. Notably, the […]

Sri Lankans have just been confronted with the abduction of two policemen, one of whom was assassinated. The other narrowly escaped by struggling and running into the jungle naked. He is now receiving treatment in a hospital. This incident happened at Kurunegala. The immediate reaction of some persons who were interviewed by the press agencies […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) expresses its grave concern that its deputy director, Mr. Danilo Reyes, had been overtly followed by two unidentified men, one of whom carrying a short firearm, at around 8:30 to 9am on April 30, 2014 along E. Rodriguez Avenue, Quezon City, Metro Manila. Mr. Reyes travelled to Manila to […]

India faces the threat of being won over by religious fundamentalists; so say many experts, commenting in light of the on-going elections. Nothing could be more unfortunate for India, which has stood tall and contained regressive radicals for six decades. This is no mean task, given how many neighbours have fallen prey to homegrown rogues […]

The United States, the United Kingdom and a delegation of the European Union on Friday called upon the Government of Pakistan to resolutely defend media freedom in the country, adding that gags on the media and attacks on journalists were not acceptable. While marking the World Press Freedom Day today, May 3, the European Union […]

So you are now a saint                                       Do remain human, all the same! You understood our times Our need to understand and respond To change; To have windows and doors open For all winds to blow through Daring to face diversity As a friend and not a foe; Talk, talk, you said And ushered in the […]

The people of Pakistan watched the brutal attack by the police on a peaceful demonstration for the recovery of disappeared persons in front of Parliament House in Islamabad on April 28. There were more than 250 persons including a good number of women and children who were from the family members of disappeared persons. The […]

It is one year now since Sarabjit Singh, an Indian prisoner, was killed in Lahore prison on April 26, 2013 when he was struck on the head in an attack by two Muslim fundamentalists. He was hit with bricks and his neck and torso cut with sharp weapons from which wounds he subsequently died in […]

The decision of a high court judge in Kerala to stop hearing a case, following the visit of a lawyer who allegedly trying to influence him, is another symptom of low morale within the judiciary as well as the Bar. The judge in question, Justice C. T. Ravikumar, was hearing a series of litigations relating […]

Adilur Rahman Khan, Human Rights Defender of Bangladesh; AHRC File Photo Mr. Adilur Rahman Khan, a renowned human rights defender, who has been relentlessly persecuted by the incumbent regime in Bangladesh, has been recognized for his courage by the global human rights community. Adilur has been awarded the 2014 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights, which he […]

The tension between Pakistan’s military and a large section of the country’s media has escalated following the assassination attempt on Geo TV anchor Hamid Mir. On the complaint of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the Defence Ministry has directed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to take action against Geo TV network for levelling allegations […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) appreciates the Supreme Court of India’s initiative to institute a panel that will suggest measures to prevent road accidents and to ensure road safety in the country. The court has set up the panel after hearing a public interest litigation, filed by Dr. S. Rajaseekaran, (295/2012) which requested judicial […]