Statement

Today, the Union Home Ministry, the Chief Ministers of Manipur and Nagaland and a handful of Naga and Meitei nationalists are celebrating the 61st day of their successful enforcement of an indefinite economic blockade organised against the ordinary people living in Manipur state. In tribute to the strenuous effort of the All Naga Students Association […]

An interview conducted by the Asian Human Rights Commission. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the AHRC. Sri Lanka — A woman speaks out against bad policing and torture Inoma Karunathilaka has been involved in civil society organizations and women’s organizations for several years. She has been an active member in helping […]

Kalutara is situated around 35 kilometers from Colombo and is one of the centres of the Sinhala Buddhist heartland. What happened to a mother and her 17-year-old daughter in this place where the ‘Bodiya’, the Bodhi tree is revered, demonstrates the extent to which security has broken down in the entirety of the country. Kalutara […]

Sri Lanka — A woman speaks out against bad policing and torture   Sandamani Munasinghe, a Sri Lankan Attorney-at-Law, has worked as an advisor to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL), several human rights organisations and also assisted in many human rights cases with senior lawyers. She has also worked in the Women […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-STM-096-2010 June 8, 2010 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission INDIA: Bhopal judgment symbolises decayed justice in a deficient democracy The recent judgment delivered by a court in the Bhopal Gas disaster case convicting all the seven accused could have been a welcome one and could have gone a long […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission welcomes the ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment by the President of Pakistan. This is a very important step in the struggle of the human rights of all the citizens of the country. We […]

An interview conducted by the Asian Human Rights Commission. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the AHRC. Sri Lanka — A woman speaks out against bad policing and torture Harshi Perera, a young Sri Lankan lawyer spoke on her views of policing and torture. Ms. Perera holds two degrees in arts and […]

“Arresting, assaulting and killing have become fun activities for the police”.  Tiran Kumara Bangala Arrachi–Ravaya The most recent case to be reported is from the Kottawa Police Station is of a young man named Lalaka Peiris. He was arrested on May 23rd by a group of people claiming to be from the Homagama Police Station […]

Late in the evening of Tuesday, June 1, 2010, the government of Bangladesh closed a Bangla-speaking national daily newspaper, the Daily Amar Desh. They arrested the acting editor Mr. Mahmudur Rahman in his office in the early morning hours of June 2. The authorities cancelled the declaration of the newspaper, sealing off its newsroom and printing […]

In many countries, people talk about trial by media. This type of non-legal trial occurs when an intense amount of media speculation on a case results in the public having certain foregone conclusions about the guilt or innocence of the accused person before he or she has heard the verdict of a judge. In Burma, […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) welcomes the agreement over the extension of the term of the Constituent Assembly in Nepal, though it was arrived at the last moment. It renews the hope to establish strong and long-lasting democratic institutions that could reach out to the people of Nepal. These institutions are expected to form […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has repeatedly drawn the attention of the world’s community to the blatant abuse of Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan. This ongoing abuse is neither investigated properly nor remedied by the government who are effectively depriving them of their fundamental freedoms and Human Rights. The Ahmadi Muslims do not have the […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission will work to draw the attention of civil society and governments to the endemic torture that is prevalent in almost all Asian countries. Despite many declarations by governments, torture is carried out every day in almost all police stations throughout Asia. The routine practice of torture in normal criminal investigations, […]

The stoning to death of 22-year-old Swapna and her husband 28-year-old Sunkari Sriniwas on 23 May by Swapna’s family near Krishnajiwadi village, Nizamabad, Andhra Pradesh state is one more proof to the stark reality of the continuing practice of caste based discrimination and caste prejudices in India. Swapna belongs to a Hindu upper caste family. […]

The government must prosecute the Frontier Corp for running torture cells Mr. Murad Khan Marri was missing for eight months before the Frontier Corp (FC) announced that he had been arrested in March 2010 while crossing the Afghan border into Pakistan. He was produced before the chief justice of the High Court of Balochistan province […]

Two incidents of child abductions were reported in the past two weeks. One was of a two and a half year old boy from Kelaniya. The other case is of a one and a half year old little boy from Hendala Palliyawatte, who is still missing. The recovery of the little boy revealed a story […]

Three weeks after the Home Secretary Mr. G. K. Pillai’s discussion with the Chief Minister of Manipur, Mr. Okram Ibobi Singh, the state and its people continue to suffer from the unilateral economic blockade imposed by the Naga nationalist and political organisations including Naga student political groups. After the meeting held in the first week […]

Following a competition in which cartoons and drawings were submitted, the government of Pakistan blocked many websites over what it referred to as blasphemous caricatures. Amongst the websites blocked are Facebook and the popular video-sharing YouTube. This has apparently been done in a bid to stop the flow of blasphemous materials amid countrywide protests. Before […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has strongly and repeatedly drawn the attention of the government of Pakistan to its self-contradicting franchise system which denies the Ahmadis, a Muslim minority sect, the fundamental right to vote. Pakistan takes great pride in claiming to be a democracy. But so far it has failed to ensure that […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission shares in the worldwide concern over the recent violence in Bangkok, and especially deplores the loss of life, irrespective of all other factors. It calls upon the government of Thailand to do all that it can to restore peace and ensure public security without further bloodshed. Although the situation is […]