Statement

BURMA: WOMEN’S DAY — No protection for women

In October 2011 a 28-year-old woman Sumlut Roi Ja, who is the mother of 14-month-old girl, was abducted and allegedly gang-raped by the military. She was residing in Hkai Bang village, Momouk District, Kachin State, near to the border of China where a militaristic ethnic conflict is taking place. Soon after she was kidnapped her […]

SRI LANKA: Peoples’ expression of frustrations by burning of some houses at Kahawatte

After intense public pressure the police have revealed that they have identified the culprits behind the assassination of a mother and daughter at Kahawatta which took place one month ago. The failure of the police to take action so far has been attributed to political interference which has prevented them from carrying out their duty. […]

SRI LANKA: WOMEN’S DAY — Failure of state protection for women from rape, sexual harassment, murder and other harmful acts

At Kahawatte, representatives from several religions met and addressed a press conference on the issue of insecurity relating to the women living in this area. Ten women have been raped and killed in this area within a short period of time; the most recent incident occurred one month ago. For further information please see the article published […]

PAKISTAN: WOMEN’S DAY — Unheard and unwanted, rape continues to be used as a tool to suppress women

The women’s international day on March 8 is generally celebrated throughout the country with enthusiasm and jubilation to assert the achievement of the rights gained by women through their continued struggle. There is no doubt that the women of Pakistan and the leadership of feminist organizations have achieved remarkable success for getting stronger laws in […]

NEPAL: Blanket amnesty goes against the victims’ fundamental rights

In three separate open letters issued today, the Asian Human Rights Commission and Advocacy Forum have urged the leaders of the Nepali Congress, the Communist Party of Nepal (UML) and the United Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) not to include provisions providing blanket amnesty to perpetrators of grave human rights violations in the text of […]

INDIA: WOMEN’S DAY — Rhetoric guarantees no equality

Today, the world’s largest democracy along with the rest of the world would celebrate international women’s day. The media will reproduce public statements and the promises made. Institutions like the National Commission for Women would reiterate its mandate to protect, promote and guarantee women’s rights and thus ensure gender equality in the country. The President […]

ASIA: WOMEN’S DAY– Discrimination and violence hamper gender equity

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the occasion of the International Women’s Day Today marks the International Women’s Day, a day to reflect on the gains achieved by women in the respect and protection of their rights and to denounce the places in which those rights are too frequently trampled on. In […]

PAKISTAN: The Superintendent of a prison demolishes the holy places of minority religious groups

A Superintendent of Prisons, the highest ranking officer in the prisons system, having affiliations with a banned Islamic group, has burnt two places of prayer (mosques) and a church inside the jail premises in a hate move against the religious minorities. Mr. Tariq Mehmood Khan, the Superintendent of Central Prison of Faisalabad, Punjab province, who […]

THAILAND: Threats to political freedom intensify with assault on HRD and law professor

On the afternoon of 29 February 2012, Professor Worachet Pakeerut, a law professor at Thammasat University, leader of the Khana Nitirat, and human rights defender (HRD), was assaulted by two men outside the Faculty of Law at Thammasat University.  The two men punched Professor Worachet several times in the face until he bled and his […]

SRI LANKA: The Human rights activist for fisher folk Herman Kumara tells the story of the attempted abduction and continuing threat to his life

(Following is an English Translation of a written statement made by Herman Kumara to the police) I am Mr. Wijetunga Appuhamilage Herman Kumara of Sandalankawa, Irabadagama, (located in the Kurunegalle District). I am 48 years of age, married and a father of two children. While, I am the Chief Executive or National Coordinator of the […]

BANGLADESH: Clemency must not be a political game

The President of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Md. Zillur Rahman has once again exercised his power of clemency. This time his office has commuted the sentence of a convict formerly given a life sentence to that of a ten years’ imprisonment.  It is not surprising that the same person has received two commutations in […]

PAKISTAN: The killing of Shias –it is hard to refute the accusation that the military was involved

In a cold blooded attack by men in uniforms of the Pakistan Army, 18 persons from the Shiite community of Islam were targeted and killed. The incident occurred in the Khyber Pakhtunkha province close to the border of Gilgit and Baltistan area where Shias reside almost in good numbers to the Sunni population. On February […]

SRI LANKA: As HRC officers go attend Deyata Kirulla, there is no one attend to torture victims

All most all the investigation officers in the Human Rights Commission ( HRC ) have gone to attend and enjoy the carnival, ‘Deyata Kirulla’, a publicity programme organized by the Government to celebrate the 64th Independence Day. But, what a pity! No one is on duty to assist the helpless-complainant approaching to the HRC for […]

NEPAL: Proposed inclusion bill leaves the most vulnerable behind

Statement | Nepal | 23-02-2012

On 15 February 2012, a government cabinet meeting decided to table a revised version of the Bill on Inclusion before the Parliament. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is concerned that the provisions of the bill, as it stands now, fail to guarantee an equal participation of all castes, genders, and indigenous peoples in the […]

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව: සාමකාමී උද්ඝෝෂකයින්ට වෙඩි තැබීම ආණ්ඩුවේ පුරුද්දද?

මාධ්‍ය නිවේදනයයි AHRC-STM-034-2012-SI පෙබරවාරි 22, 2012 ආසියානු මානව හිමිකම් කොමිසමේ නිවේදනයයි සාමකාමී ලෙස උද්ඝෝෂණය කරන උද්ඝෝෂකයින්ට වෙඩි තැබීම ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොලිසිය සාමාන්‍යයෙන් සිදුකරන දෙයක් බව ධීවර සහ ජලජ සම්පත් සංවර්ධන කැබිනට් අමාත්‍ය රාජිත සේනාරත්න මහතා  හලාවතදී ධීවරයෙකුට වෙඩි තබා මරාදැමීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් බී.බී. සී. සිංහල සේවයේ වාර්තාකරුවෙකු ඇසූ ප්‍රශ්නයකට පිළිතුරු දෙමින් ප්‍රකාශ කළේය.  මෙලෙස ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පොලිසිය […]

SRI LANKA: Is shooting at peaceful demonstrators a government policy

Mr. Rajitha Seneratne, the Cabinet Minister for Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development, when answering a question to a BBC Sinhala Service correspondent regarding the shooting of a fisherman at a peaceful demonstration in Chilaw stated that the shooting of demonstrators is a usual practice of the Sri Lankan police. Sri Lankan policemen have shot demonstrators […]

SRI LANKA: The DIGP Ravi Wijegunawardena should be held responsible for the shooting of a fisherman engaged in a peaceful demonstration

On February 14 a young fisherman, Anthony Fernando, was shot dead while he was engaged with a number of other fishermen in protesting the increase of oil prices which would seriously affect the livelihood of fisherfolk. A large group of policemen led by the Deputy Inspector General of Police for the North Western Province, Ravi […]

NEPAL: Government and army share responsibility for impunity of Maina Sunuwar’s murderers

Statement | Nepal | 17-02-2012

Credible action to bring Maina Sunuwar’s murderers to trial in Nepal’s civilian jurisdiction has been unjustifiably delayed. The government bears responsibility for allowing impunity to become so deeply-entrenched that those who tortured a 15-year-old school girl to death remain unpunished despite arrest warrants pending against them. On February 17, 2004 a troop of army personnel […]

SOUTH KOREA: National Election Commission must ensure security of data in order to guarantee free and fair elections

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned with the introduction of the new online service for national elections by the National Election Commission (NEC). The failure of the previous system in October last year during the Seoul Mayor election has raised serious concerns about allegations of election fraud. The National Assembly decided to […]

PAKISTAN: Criminal negligence of the Punjab government results in the deaths of factory workers

On February 6, 2012 the three-storey building of a pharmaceutical company named “Orient Laboratory” engaged in the manufacturing of veterinary medicines collapsed after a boiler explosion. The factory was located at Kharak Stop, Multan Road, Lahore. The explosion was so huge that the entire building was razed to the ground. Around 30 people were killed […]