Statement

Hundreds of families of disappeared persons will gather at Raddoluwa Junction at Seeduwa, Sri Lanka at the monument for the disappeared to commemorate the day. This monument was erected in 2000. In a wall behind the monument there are a few hundred pictures of disappeared young persons, who disappeared mainly from the south in the […]

Extrajudicial killings and custodial deaths are happening because of: Refusal of the police and judiciary to investigate; The absence of investigations is the result of breakdown of the rule of law; Which is in turn the result of the constitutional decision which has removed all the checks and balances once available   The incidents of […]

When Philippine President Benigno Aquino III decided to grant amnesty to the military men charged for rebellion against the government and not to file criminal charges against an official and the policemen involved in the Manila bus hostage incident, it demonstrated how deeply politically controlled the system of justice is in the country. His orders […]

It is diluting the UN ICCPR and CAT by having reservations against many of their provisions. The ratification of the of UN International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights (ICCPR) and the UN convention against Torture (CAT) this June had come after a valiant struggle by the human rights movement and had raised new hopes […]

(Part One)   The first election in post Pol Pot Cambodia was held in May 1993. The new constitution promised a liberal democracy and a system of governance based on the rule of law. However, the country is still in a state of abysmal lawlessness and ordinary Cambodians are powerless. There are no institutions in […]

(Part One)   The first election in post Pol Pot Cambodia was held in May 1993. The new constitution promised a liberal democracy and a system of governance based on the rule of law. However, the country is still in a state of abysmal lawlessness and ordinary Cambodians are powerless. There are no institutions in […]

The Sri Lankan branch of Transparency International (TISL) has been summoned to appear before the Financial Investigation Unit of Criminal Investigation Division who is conducting an investigation into a complaint on suspicions transactions of Transparency International Sri Lanka under chapter xi of Criminal Court Procedure Act No. 15 of 1979. The notice of the order […]

The elaborate security and precautionary arrangements made by the state and central governments expecting a communal violence in response to the anticipated judgment of the Allahabad High Court is proof to the fragility of India. It exposes the depth of the fissure into which the country and its people have fallen after being communally, religiously […]

On September 28, 2009 the House of Representatives issued several recommendations to the President to bring the perpetrators of the infamous student disappearances of 1998 to justice. Human rights activists who protested against the inaction of the president in Jakarta with a tent action in front of the presidential palace were arrested during the evening […]

Map Ta Phut in Rayong district is a long-standing major industrial and manufacturing area along the eastern seaboard of Thailand. In June 2009, Map Ta Phut villagers and the Stop Global Warming Association sued eight Thai state agencies in relation to the ongoing health and environmental effects caused by heavy industry and manufacturing. These agencies […]

The argument between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan concerning Kashmir during the UN General Assembly debate exposes the lack of respect both these governments entertain for their people, particularly to those living in Kashmir and for international human rights norms. Pakistan, as a member state of the UN has every right to publically […]

The contempt of court proceedings initiated against Advocate Prashant Bushan in the Supreme Court of India for the allegations he made against some of the former Chief Justices of the country will test the maturity of India’s judicial system and that of its democratic framework. Indeed the Court has a statutory right to initiate proceedings […]

Please sign the online petition urging President Obama to grant amnesty.   Dr. Aafia Siddiqui was arrested in March 2003 by Pakistani intelligence personnel and allegedly handed over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Subsequently she was detained in Bagram in Afghanistan, a facility used by the American government to hold persons suspected of […]

On 31 August 2010, the upper house of the Indian parliament, the Rajya Sabha, constituted a Parliamentary Select Committee to review the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010. The Committee, chaired by Mr. Ashwini Kumar has Dr. E. M. Sudarsana Natchiappan, Mr. Shantaram Laxman Naik, Ms. Brinda Karat, Mr. Naresh Gujral, Dr. Janardhan Waghmare, Mr. Ahmad […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission categorically condemns the decision of the second court-martial delivered today in the case against Sarath Fonseka. The political use of the judicial process is a complete denial of the basic freedoms of a citizen. A court-martial manipulated by a political regime is a threat not only to the individual concerned […]

Death visited Orissa once again. Whenever the rainy season comes, death from the waterborne diseases of diarrhea and cholera follow. As the rains are a natural phenomenon, can the deaths also be natural and unavoidable? It is reported that the official death toll hit 39 in Rayagada district, 27 in Nuapada district, 10 in Nabarangpur, […]

The arrest of the printer of a poster and the holding of his family members to force him to surrender indicates the type of suppression that will be extended to all political activities now within the new presidential order achieved through the completion of the authoritarian system by the passing of the 18th Amendment to […]

Today, the 9th September, Sri Lankans woke up to a country which has changed politically in its character and in its legal system. With the passing of the 18th Amendment Sri Lanka has abandoned liberal democracy completely and all the debates that the country has had so far will now change in a most significant […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission has closely followed the case of Phyo Wai Aung, who is the sole person detained and accused in connection with blasts on 15 April 2010 in Rangoon that killed 10 people and injured 168. Phyo Wai Aung has steadfastly maintained his innocence and has complained that he was brutally tortured […]

The 8th September will mark the end of an historical period and begin that of a dark dictatorship   Today, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka will be passed by a fast-track-procedure which has effectively disallowed public participation and discussion. The opposition has announced that it will boycott the proceedings as mark […]