Statement

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 […]

INDIA: Rotten corpses symbolise a fallen system

Rotten and maggot-ridden corpses lie scattered in compounds; dogs, crows and other rodents run around with human body parts; tables made of broken wooden planks where putrefied human bodies are cut open by Doms (members of a Dalit community known in India for dealing with dead bodies) with crude tools like a chisel or nail […]

PAKISTAN: Supreme Court failed to indict the military in contempt of court in the case of missing persons

In the case of the eleven missing persons, among them four have died in military custody due to systematic torture. The Supreme Court had ordered the military and its intelligence agencies, the ISI and military intelligence agency (MI) on February 2 to produce the remaining seven detainees before the court on February 10. However, this […]

SOUTH KOREA: Rising attacks on rights defenders under the National Security Act

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to strongly protest against the search and seizure of seven places including the offices of several rights group and of houses belonging to their staff by National Intelligence Service (NIS) on February 9, 2012 under the National Security Act (NSA) and is concerned with the increase in legal […]

PHILIPPINES: AHRC condoles with the families who lost love ones in the Visayas earthquake

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) expresses its condolences to the Filipino people, in particular those that have lost their loved ones and homes in the 6.9 magnitude earthquake that struck yesterday, February 6, in the islands of Negros and Cebu, in the Visayas. On the islands of Negros and Cebu, where some of the […]

SRI LANKA: Independence without justice

A statement for the commemoration of the independence of Sri Lanka The 64th commemoration of Sri Lanka’s independence takes place at the time when the country’s justice system is in a hopeless crisis. The abuse of the judicial process for political reasons has created doubts about the independence of the judiciary itself. The government shows […]

INDIA: Judiciary must introspect

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) appreciates the decision made by the Supreme Court of India, that set a timeframe for governments to sanction or refuse prosecution of public officers accused of offences punishable under Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The Court has held that the governments should decide whether to […]

PAKISTAN: The Ahmadiyya community has once again been targeted by banned terrorist organisations

The Ahamadiyya community, a minority religious community, is again facing systematic genocide from the militant religious groups in coming days particularly from the banned terrorist organizations that have made a joint strategy to force them to leave Pakistan. This campaign has been started from the garrison city of Rawalpindi, Punjab province, in the presence of […]

NEPAL: Delays in the implementation of UPR recommendations highlight the absence of a functioning democratic State

Statement | Nepal | 01-02-2012

On January 25, 2011, Nepal’s human rights record was reviewed for the first time under the Universal Periodic Review mechanism. That mechanism was established by the UN General Assembly on 15 March 2006 through resolution 60/251 to “review the fulfilment by each State of its human rights obligations and commitments.” On that occasion, peer countries […]

SRI LANKA: In January alone 170 deaths due to road accidents and many deaths due to dengue

On January 28 alone there were 17 deaths due to road accidents. This led to the police issuing a notice that the 28th was the date on which the most number of fatal accidents had occurred. Despite of the usual claim by the police that they will take stern action against errant drivers their incapacity […]

PAKISTAN: The people of Balochistan have to bury the mutilated bodies of their loved ones almost every day of the week

56 more bullet riddled bodies of disappeared persons were found in Balochistan during the last six months The disappearances and extrajudicial killings of Baloch activists continue despite claims from the government and security forces that extrajudicial killings have been stopped. The writ of the state is at its minimal and all the responsibilities of maintaining […]

INDIA: Censorship is a myopic world vision

Statement | India | 27-01-2012

The authorities in India have to wake up to the reality that censorship is not a norm, acceptable in the world today. In what could be considered as one of the most controversial proceedings in the country’s legal history, 21 companies including Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and YouTube are to appear in a trial court […]

PAKISTAN: Higher courts complicit in the torture and killings in military detention centres

Four men were killed in military detention centres while their cases were being heard in the higher courts and particularly one case was in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, which claims to be the independent, when it comes to the army the courts usually put aside the cases against army or delays the hearings. […]

PAKISTAN: Appeal to the international community to provide shelter to two journalists who are facing death threats from militant religious groups

The Asian Human Rights Commission is deeply concerned about the safety of two investigative journalists who are facing death threats from militant religious groups for making an exclusive video clip. The content of the video revealed the illegal captivity of 50 persons who were held in chains and trained in terrorist activities. We therefore wish […]