Urgent Appeal Case

INDIA: Human rights defenders attacked for attempting to rescue children from circus

Dear friends The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the assault on Kailash Satyarthi, chairman of the Indian non-governmental organization Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save the Childhood Movement), on 15 June 2004 at the Great Roman Circus premises, Colonelganj, Gonda district, Uttar Pradesh, India. Satyarthi was leading a group of activists and parents […]

SRI LANKA: Tortured army officer complains to Bar Association of Sri Lanka after his lawyers withdraw case

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the defense lawyer of R.K.L.G. Dingiri Banda who had filed a Fundamental Rights application before the Supreme Court in 2004, withdrew the case against the victim’s wishes during the case hearing in the Supreme Court on 28 June 2004. The victim, Dingiri Banda, […]

INDIA: Campaign for total ban on Death penalty-capital punishment

Dear friends, Please send a letter to the President of India and Supreme Court of India and ask them to commute the death sentence of Mr. Dhananjoy Chatterjee! The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is concerned about the steps taken by the West Bengal Government, India for the death penalty in the case of Mr. […]

NEPAL: Two cases of arbitrary detention and torture

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received two arbitrary arrest and torture cases from Nepal. According to the information we have received, Satya Narayan Bhagat (32), a member of Madheshi Liberation Front (the sister organization of CPN-Maoist), was arbitrarily arrested by the armed police on 22 March 2004 and his whereabouts is […]

THAILAND: A prominent environmentalist Charoen Wat-aksorn murdered and an independent investigation required

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned by the murder of Charoen Wat-aksorn (37) in Prachuap Khiri Khan provincial town on 21 June 2004. The two perpetrators have not yet been arrested. Charoen led a high-profile protest against the Bo Nok coal-fired power plant project in Prachuap Khiri Khan for a […]

SRI LANKA : 17-year-old man tortured to confess theft in police officers home

Dear friends, It has come to the attention of Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that a case of illegal arrest, detention and severe torture has taken place in Gurutalawa, Sri Lanka. Moningal Akila Dilhara De Silva, a 17-year-old student of the St. Thomas College, Gurutalawa, was brutally arrested for no apparent reason at his home […]

NEPAL: Seven persons facing re-arrest by the police in violation of a court order

Dear friends, We call for your immediate intervention! The lives of people who were released from prison with a court order are at risk. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Advocacy Forum, a human rights organization in Nepal, that the security forces surrounded their office to re-arrest seven persons who […]

THAILAND: Human rights defender faces preliminary decision in libel case

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to draw attention to the fact that tomorrow, June 22, the preliminary decision will be given in a civil suit of extreme importance for all persons concerned with freedom of speech in Thailand. The case is a libel suit filed by Shin Corp, Thailand’s biggest telecommunications […]

INDIA: A 60 year old man severely tortured by the Thrithala police

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a person named Mr. Kolavan (60 years) was severely tortured at the Thrithala Police Station on 8February 2004. It is reported that the alleged motive for torture was to compel the victim to withdraw his complaint against his brother, after the Sub-Inspector of […]

SRI LANKA: Illegal arrest and severe torture of a man by the Horana Police

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Punchi Kankanamge Nimal (37, a casual worker) was severely tortured by the Horana Police on 6 June 2004. The police arbitrarily arrested P.K. Nimal on suspicion of theft without any concrete evidence and assaulted him in order to make him confess. According to […]

PAKISTAN: A sexual harassment of a 6 year old boy by his teacher

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a 6-year-old boy named Talha was allegedly sexually abused by his Quran teacher, Mr. Altaf at the Lajna Mosque on College Road, Green Town, Lahore, Punjab province, Pakistan on 6 June 2004. Mr. Altaf was arrested and is currently detained at the Kot […]

PAKISTAN: 23-years-old women killed in alleged “honor killing” drama

Dear friends, It has come to the attention of Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that another killing of a young woman has taken place in Pakistan under the allegation of honor killing. According to our sources, the accusation is likely to be composed by motives of economical interests on behalf of the man who committed […]

INDIA: A detainee waiting for trial for 24 years develops mental illness

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a person named Mr. Satya Pal has been detained in Jail for about 24 years as an Under Trial Prisoner (UTP) since he was arrested from his village of Hayatpur in Hooghly, West Bengal, India on 24 July 1979. He was arrested on […]

SRI LANKA: Death of policeman on duty, suspected murder and cover up

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is concerned about the death of Mr. Senarath Hettiarchchilage Abeysinghe (39) who was working as a reserve police constable at the Trincomalee Police Station, Sri Lanka. According to the police, on the morning of 17May 2004, Mr. Abeysinghe was found dead in his bed; he had died […]

SRI LANKA: Extra-judicial killing by the Welipenna Police allegedly for personal reasons

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned about the murder of Madugoda Ralalage Don Saman Priyantha Guneratna (29) by the officers from the Welipenna Police Station on 30 May 2004. The alleged reason of the murder is that the Sub Inspector Mr. Silva of the Welipenna Police Station wanted revenge for […]

MALAYSIA: Suspicious death of Francis Udayapan; Independent inquiry is required

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about suspicious death of G. Francis Udayapan. His body was found in the Klang River on 23 May 2004. It was covered with deep bruises. Even though the police reported that he escaped from the Brickfields Police Station on 16 April 2004, Udayapan’s mother […]

PAKISTAN: A dual murder of a woman and a man in the pretext of honor killing

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned by another “honor killing” case reported from the Shikarpur district, Sindh Province, Pakistan. According to the information we have received, the dual murder of a Mr. Manzoor Ahmed and Mrs. Begum took place in Ali Mohammad Lund Village near Jagan Village, Shikarpur District, Sindh […]

SRI LANKA: A man severely tortured by the Katupotha Police only for asking the reason of arrest

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned by the severe torture of Aththana Gamaralalage Ravindra (26) by Inspector of Police (IP) Attapattu of the Katupotha Police Station on 13 May 2004. The only reason of brutal torture by the police was that he dared to ask the police the reason of […]

INDIA: A man brutally tortured by the Pavaratty Police and Guruvayoor Police now suffers from police inaction

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a man named Baburaj P.K, 44, was brutally tortured by police officers from the Guruvayoor Police Station and Pavaratty Police Station on 20 April 2004. At first the victim was taken to the Pavaratty Police Station, where he was inhumanly tortured and later […]

NEPAL: Two human rights defenders were illegally arrested and are currently being detained at the Anamnagar City Police Office, Kathmandu

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned by the illegal arrest of Dinesh Prasain and Usha Titikchu by the police from the Anamnagar City Police Office, Kathumandu at the COCAP office in Anamnagar, Kathmandu on 4 June 2004. It is reported that at the time of arrest the police did not […]