Urgent Appeal Case

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about a Sri Lankan woman, Dodanwela Welikanda Keerthilatha, who was assaulted and inhumanely treated whilst she was a housemaid in Saudi Arabia for two years since September 2002.  While in Saudi Arabia, Keerthilatha was subjected to severe assault including having acid soaked cloth tied […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from local human rights groups that a 16-year-old girl (name withheld) was gang-raped by five army soldiers from Eastern Pritana headquarter, Itahari on 10 November 2004. It is also reported that after being raped, the girl was threatened by the army soldiers with their […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that 21-year-old Don Mahesh Duminda Weerasuriya was illegally arrested and tortured by the officers of the Panadura North Police Station on 5 November 2004. It is reported that the police arbitrarily arrested the innocent victim to inquire into the whereabouts of his uncle. According […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned by a new report from the Advocacy Forum, a local human rights organization, of a person named Jeewan Sharestha being detained and re-arrested by the Nepalese security forces upon his immediate release by the Supreme Court.  According to the information we have received, Jeewan […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a human rights organization in West Bengal, that a person named Dipak Rakshit was assaulted by a gang of criminals on 8 March 2004 which resulted in his death. The family reported that Mr. Dipak Rakshit, a local real estate businessman, had […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Gerald Perera, a torture victim in Sri Lanka who had earlier received the highest compensation pay-out and who has since been the key complainant in a criminal case against the accused police officers, has been shot. At last report, he was being rushed […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that 20-year-old Mr. Pushparaj Kanagaraj was severely tortured by a drunk officer of the Pussellawa Police Station for several hours after being arbitrarily arrested on 23 September 2004. The victim claimed that the police prosecuted him with false charges after taking bribes from a […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that police constable Prasanna of the Keselwatta Police Station, Sri Lanka has not been arrested despite several requests from the Panadura Magistrate, in connection with his alleged involvement in the death of Mr. Done Lakshman Priyantha Rathnayake on 15 October 2004. PC Prasanna is […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from People’s Watch-Tamil Nadu, a local human rights organization, regarding the suspicious deaths of Mr. Veerapan and his three associates by Special Task Force (STF) officers during an encounter on the night of 18 October 2004.  Although STF claimed that all of the men […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP)-Mindanao, a human rights organization, regarding an illegal demolition by Dacudao & Sons that took place in Dacudao Compound, Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines on 19 October 2004 and on 4 November 2004. Having nowhere else to […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to bring to your attention two recent cases of very serious and gruesome torture and cruel and inhuman treatment by police in Thailand. According to the information we have received, in the first case officers at the Lumpini Police Station in Bangkok detained a young couple […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that three young men, namely Bishwanath Parajuli (also called Nagendra Parajuli), Tomnath Poudel and Dhan Bahadur Tamang, of the Hasandaha Village Development Committee (VDC) in Morang, Nepal, were shot dead by security forces on 28 September 2004. No proper inquiry was conducted before their […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from our partner, Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association and Map Foundation, regarding the denial of labour rights and inhumane working conditions for Burmese migrant workers at two separate factories in Mae Sot, Thailand.  At the Kong Lian Thai Knitting Co. Ltd. (1000 workers) and […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that 23-year-old Mr. E.R. Kumara was arbitrarily arrested and tortured by Kalutara North police officers on 14 October 2004. At the time of arrest, it is reported that a Sub Inspector (SI) failed to show a memo of warrant to Mr Kumara. He then […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that a 15-year-old boy named Suranga Priyan Moraes was severely assaulted by his teachers at St. Servatius’ College, Matara between 3 and 7 September 2004, and has had further threats made against him, following his lodging a complaint regarding this incident. Due to the brutal […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a human rights organization in West Bengal, that a nine-months pregnant woman was not provided timely medical treatment by Vishnupur Sub-Divisional Hospital, Vishnupur in Bankura District, West Bengal, India. Due to this act of the hospital, the woman had to carry the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the torture and inhuman and degrading treatment of a Dalit youth, called Sharavanan, by police officers attached to the Njarackal Police Station between 22 September 2004 and 30 September 2004.  The victim was detained on 22 September 2004, following a complaint lodged against […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the custodial death of a man named Mr. Shibu at the Thrissur Town West Police Station in Kerala, India on 12 October 2004. Mr. Shibu was found dead in the toilet of the police station after he was arrested and detained at the […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding approximately 50 civil activists who were charged with sedition against the State by the police after they held a protest at the Lakhi Gate Tower Ghowk on 17 October 2004. The protesters gathered at the Lakhi Gate Tower Ghowk to express their concern […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that at least 84 people died and more than 20 others were injured on 25 October 2004, when the Thai government security forces dispersed and arrested about 3,000 protesters in Narathiwat province. The government officials said that about 1,300 protesters were arrested for questioning, […]