Urgent Appeal Case

On 6 August 1998 at 3.15 pm, a man named Weerasinghe Arrachige Janaka Chaminda was taken to Ja-ela police station. He was severely beaten up by Inspector Weerasinghe. He was beaten several times during the day and night. A person who went to see him one Milroy was also pulled inside the police station and […]

National Commission for Justice and Peace CAMPAIGN AGAINST BLASPHEMY LAWS CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM DELEGATION MET WITH MINISTER ZAFARUL HAQ A joint delegation of Christian and Muslim leaders met with Raja Zafarul Haq, Federal Minister for Religious and Minorities Affairs, on May 19,1998 in Islamabad and expressed their concern over the misuse of blasphemy laws. They also shared […]

On 2 July 1998, SARANGBANG Group for Human Rights, a network member from Korea issued a statement against forced Conversion of political prisoners. They are seeking your support and assistance on this issue. BACKGROUND INFORAMTION On 1 July, the minister of Justice, Sang-chon Park confirmed that the government would abolish ‘the conversion’, and implement a […]

Dear friends, Attached is a statement of concern on nuclear arms race in South Asia. The statement will be release in Colombo on the eve of the SAARC summit, July 29-31, 1998. We invite all concern persons to: – sign through the e-mail this campaign – email copies of this statement to other organisations – […]

The three government commissions established to inquire into disappearances, which took place in large scale in Sri Lanka, have established 16,782 cases of such disappearances. (NGOs have estimated much larger number) The commissions have spend almost three years for inquiries and published their report at the end of last year. However no action has been […]

Sri Lanka was once known to have a very independent judiciary. It is well known that the former government (1977 – 1994) which ruled for over 17 years did a great deal to undermine the position of the judiciary. Many persons are worried about the situation that developed as a result of the neglect of […]

Message: National Commission for Justice and Peace, Pakistan 8 May 1998 PAKISTAN: Eminent Catholic Bishop Sacrifices His Life to Protest Against Deadly Blasphemy Law Dear Friends, FUNERAL OF BISHOP JOHN JOSEPH’S Lahore. 8th May 98 The funeral service of Bishop John Joseph, who committed suicide as a protest against the blasphemy laws in Pakistan on […]

Bishop John Joseph fired a bullet into his head on 6 May 1998 in a court-house where a Catholic was sentenced to death on 27 April under the blasphemy law of Pakistan. The blasphemy law in Pakistan has been condemned throughout the world for many years, but there had been no change in the provisions […]

16 April 98 the District management supported by police force demolished the All Pakistan Trade Union Office. The office is located at 114 – Gulberg Road, Industrial Area, Kashmir Road, Gulberg, Lahore. No warning was given by the police. Police aggressively attacked the workers and beaten them when they try to stop the demolition. The […]

On 28 February 1998 Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai decided that the laying of the Yadana gas pipeline by the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) should proceed as eighty percent of the construction is completed. The PTT project continues despite the fact that there was no transparent decision-making process; poorly conducted Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) without […]

The Asian Human Rights Commisssion and MINKAHYUP- Human Rights Group express their deep concern on the continuing violations of the right to freedom of expression and opinion of Professor Lee Jang-hee. Professor Lee is from the Korea Foreign Language University and is on trial for publishing a children’s book titled \”I Am Reunification Generation One\” […]

Dear Friends, Once again thank you for your support, solidarity and actions on the Sky Sport Lanka appeal. Unfortunately this matter is still a long way from resolution, but workers are continuing to fight on. This press release which we are about to issue should update you on the most recent developments. We are planning […]

Prom Mean Rith, 34 years old, male – HIV test on 19 November 1997 Sar Ka Sem, 29 years old, male – HIV test on 19 November 1997 Prom Mean Rith and Sar Ka Sem are two prisoners in PJ Prison in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, who are facing death due to AIDS and are unable […]

Three lawyers have been harrassed for engaging in a case against the military implicated in the torture and murder of labour leader Rolando Olalia in 1986. The lawyers subject to harassment are Romeo T. Capulong, Marie Yuviengco and Rolando Rico Olalia of the Public Interest Law Centre. They are legal representatives of state witnesses in […]

SUH Joon-sik, 49, the director Sarangbang human rights group, has been charged for screening a film called Red Hunt duing a human rights film festival. The authorities have claimed that the screening \”constituted a violation of the National Security Law (NSL).\” The film documents the mass killings on Cheju Island in 1948. Suh Jun-sik is […]

3 January 1998 the police rearrested Chua Sakhon, a military police commander and a member of Prince Norodom Ranariah’s royalist FUNCINPEC party. He was in a U.N. vehicle accompanied by several U.N. officers at the airport trying to leave Cambodia under U.N. protection. However, the police did not have a warrant of arrest. When questioned […]

Dear friends, Happy New Year greetings from Hong Kong! Thanks for responsing to our Urgent Appeals. We hope for the coming year you will continue the letter writings and other appropriate actions against Human Rights Violation. Attached, below, is the REPORT ON FACT FINDING MISSION TO WANNI by a group of church people to the […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) expressed its concern over the killing of three prisoners and attacks on many others for more than an hour on 12 December 1997 in Kulutara Prison, which is located about 50 kilometres from the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo. The three who were killed and all other injured victims […]

A Jesuit priest, Fr. Anchanikal T. Thomas, 46, was murdered in the Hazaribagh District of the Indian state of Bihar. He was working with the “untouchables” or dalits in the villages for their land rights. A press statement released in Rome by the headquarters of Society of Jesus confirms that Father Thomas was kidnapped in […]

Srun Vong Vannak, a member of the opposition Khmer Nation Party (KNP) and the party’s chief of security, was sentenced to 13 years in jail – a decision that took the judge only 10 minutes to reach. He was convicted of conspiracy to murder Second Prime Minister Hun Sen’s brother-in-law, Kov Samuth, in November 1996. […]