Statement

The incident of abductions of persons followed by secret killings in Bangladesh has been a matter of serious concern for everyone. People having different backgrounds, including lawyers, university students, small businessmen and pro-opposition political activists, are being abducted by plain-clothed armed men from the streets, market places and even from their respective offices or homes.  […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission has learned of the decision of the Hon. Attorney-General to take over the prosecution of a Private Plaint filed in the Magistrate’s Court of Panadura, without the consent of the Complainant of the said case, upon an application and representations made by and on behalf of the Accused who is […]

The United Nations Human Rights Committee has issued its determination regarding the complaint made by a Sri Lankan citizen, A.S.S. Pathmini Peiris, in connection with the murder of S.K.A. Sugath Nishanta Fernando who was assassinated on 20 September 2008. Previously Mr. Fernando had complained of the torture of himself, his two children and his wife […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned by police investigations into the murder of journalists Christopher “Cris” Guarin and Alfredo “Dodong” Velarde, Jr. in General Santos City. Not only have the Philippines’ police failed in their duty to protect citizens from harm, but they are compounding this failure by their indifferent and casual […]

An organization claiming to work for the restoration of peace in Balochistan province has confessed to the killings of many activists, and has announced its intention to kill 35 more activists on its hit list in recent weeks. The organization has three activists in its custody and announces that at any time their bodies will […]

On the 2nd January a man by the name of Mohammad Nistar was abducted by a group who arrived in a white van from San Gartikulam at Puttalam. According to reports at the time of the abduction Mr. Nistar was traveling in a three-wheeler. Sometime later his body was found with bullets wounds to the […]

The murder of Kuram Shaikah Zaman (32), a prosthetic expert who was working in the Gaza Strip for the International Committee of the Red Cross allegedly by a local politician, accompanied by a gang has led to a sharp criticism against the failure of the Sri Lankan government to maintain law and order and encouraging […]

All Sri Lankans will wish that the coming year will not be like the last one and, in fact, that it be different from previous years also, years in which deep insecurity has been prevailing due to the failure of the political system, resulting in serious problems in the legal system. People reduced to powerlessness […]

The Prime Minister has accused the Pakistan army of hatching conspiracies against the elected parliament and government. The PM, in an address to the National Assembly session, has hinted that conspiracies are being hatched to ‘pack up the elected government’ pointing at the army and making a strong assertion that parliament is the highest of […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is shocked but not surprised as to how government officials, from the local and national level, have dealt with the tropical storm Sendong both prior to its arrival and in its aftermath. As the stories unfold by the day it has become apparently obvious that the value of human […]

Mr. R.D Wickramasinghe (51) was an army captain until 2003 and afterwards taught at Gurudeniya Maha Vidiyalaya. He taught Political science and Economics, in addition to being a Cadet Officer in the school, as he graduated from the Peradeniya University. He is married and has three children; two sons and a daughter, aged nineteen, sixteen, […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) expresses its deepest condolences to the Filipino people in the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Iligan and nearby areas where over 600 people died and hundreds of others are missing following flash floods due to Tropical Storm Sendong (international name: Washi). Our hearts go out to the families of the dead […]

The sentence and judgment of the Kuybyshev district court in Saint Petersburg, convicting human rights activist, Mr Filipp Kostenko, for 15 days imprisonment, once again proves the fact that despite the changes that have swept across the Russian political landscape, the country’s justice system is yet to assimilate this change into practice. Police arrested Kostenko […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) welcomes the commencement of impeachment proceedings on the Philippines’ Chief Justice Renato Corona. We view this as a constitutional process that protects the independence of the judiciary rather than a process that constitutes an attack of the independence of the judiciary. We are also pleased that he has submitted […]

There was no reason to expect much from the report of the LLRC as this commission had no mandate to investigate and to file a report on the basis of investigations. It was a mere commission of gathering some views but even in that the people who were most affected, that is those who are […]

Mr. Chia Thye Poh, a recipient of this year’s LLG Spiritual Award, will be going to receive the award which will take place on Sunday 18 December 2011 at 10am at the Confucian Chinese Independent High School in Kuala Lumpur. This piece is written by a UK returnee, Ang H. Gai. Gopal and Prema brought […]

There is no doubt that security to life and property is a fundamental right of every Indian. It is equally the duty of the state to protect it. The safety of a nation is directly proportionate to the collective notion of security of every citizen of that country. The single largest entity that is directly […]

The family of Mohamed Sali Mohamed Niyas has written to human rights organisations complaining that there are no genuine investigations into his abduction and murder and also complaining that the family members are constantly receiving death threats over the telephone. Mohamed Niyas, a well known astrologer was abducted on October 27 by seven or eight […]

On December 10 the Asian Human Rights Commission published its 2011 annual report in which it expressed concern that in 2011 the most pressing issues relating to the rights of conflict victims remained in abeyance. In particular, the government has failed to honour its commitment to adopt a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and a Commission […]

In the case of the murder of the brother of a teenage pregnant girl, the Peshawar High Court Khyber Pakhtunkha province took a Suo Motu notice and directed the provincial home secretary and the Provincial Police Officer (PPO) ordering them to ensure the arrest of the accused within three days and the immediate suspension of […]