Urgent Appeal Case

INDIA: Young boy reportedly killed by Border Security Force (BSF) in West Bengal

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a local human rights organisation from West Bengal, India about the murder of a 14-year-old boy by the Border Security Force (BSF) took place on 24 December 2007. However, no investigation has been conducted like many other similar cases committed by BSF. […]

BURMA: Young woman and man illegally held and charged without evidence over protests

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that a young woman and young man are among those persons currently being tried in courts in Burma over their alleged roles in the nationwide protests of last August and September. The two were illegally held without charge for months before being brought […]

BANGLADESH: False charges against two persons in jail must be dropped

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Bangladesh that a judge of a Special Tribunal for Women has ordered the detention of two persons in absence of a thorough investigation and solely on the basis of a false complaint. The two detainees, whom the police have arrested on March 30, […]

INDIA: Attempted kidnapping of two girls likely to go unpunished in Varanasi

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Guria, a local human rights organisation based in Uttar Pradesh, India, regarding the attempted kidnapping of two girls in Varanasi. The person involved in the incident was promptly apprehended by the locals and handed over to the police. But the police registered a […]

BURMA: Local officials illegally confiscate land from elderly farmer

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has obtained detailed information about a case of land confiscation in the delta region of Burma. Officials in Pantanaw illegally confiscated land belonging to elderly farmer Daw Thein Hmyin after she made a complaint that one had encroached on one of her smallholdings. Although she has written […]

NEPAL: Alleged brutal torture of a man by Kathmandu police

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned by another report from Nepal of the alleged brutal torture by the police. According to the information we have received, a man was illegally arrested by the metropolitan police in Kathmandu district on 1 April 2008 and brutally tortured for 5 hours until he […]

INDIA: A Dalit brutally murdered by the dominant caste members in Gujarat

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Navsarjan, a human rights organisation working on Dalit rights in Gujarat about the murder of a Dalit (lower caste untouchable community according to the caste Hindus in India) by upper and dominant caste persons in Kasumbad village, Gujarat. The murder was the culmination […]

PHILIPPINES: Sick boy dies after being punished by teacher

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that a 14-year-old boy who was recovering from typhus, has died after having been punished by his teacher for failing to do his homework. The boy and other pupils were forced to do continuous squats. The victim had just returned to school from hospital […]

PHILIPPINES: Policemen attack peaceful protest yet again

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that 37 protestors have been injured when the policemen violently dispersed them. The police hit them with clubs, truncheons and stabbed one of them with a bladed weapon. One had his little finger cut; others suffered fractured bones and cuts on their heads. […]

SRI LANKA: Alleged torture and illegal detention of a man

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that Katugastota police allegedly assaulted a young man whilst in the custody on 28 March 2008. The police did not produce him before a court as required by the law. CASE DETAILS: (Based on the testimony from the victim, Nuwan Chamara) According to the information […]

BANGLADESH: Paikgachha police repeatedly intimidate a man to give up possession of land

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the Paikgachha police had been harassing a family following a land dispute between two persons, which is beyond the jurisdiction of the police. Sub Inspector Mr. Manjurul Alam forced Mr. Mokbul Hawladar to appear before the police along with his wife and children. […]

INDIA: One more person shot dead by Imphal West District Police Commandos

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Human Rights Alert (HRA), a human rights organisation based in Imphal, Manipur about the murder of Mr. Longjam Uttamkumar Singh who was gunned down by armed persons in civilian dress on the 29 March 2008 in Imphal, Manipur district. Following the killing, the […]

SRI LANKA: Whereabouts unknown of a man detained for questioning

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding another case in which the whereabouts of a man remain unknown after arrest in Colombo, allegedly by officers from the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) on 20 March 2008. CASE DETAILS: According to the information received, at around 9:30pm on March 20, seven persons […]

SRI LANKA: Police illegally detain a man over a civil case

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the case of illegal arrest of a man by Payagala police on 18 January 2008 in Sri Lanka. The Officer-in-Charge (OIC) allegedly forced him to sign a statement by detaining him. When he tried to seek help from senior police, the OIC harassed […]

BANGLADESH: Journalist detained for revealing police malpractices

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the Durgapur police allegedly arbitrarily arrested a journalist, Mr. Robiul Islam on 28 March without any arrest warrant. While in police custody for about 12 hours, the police attempted to implicate him in a robbery case and intimidated him to make a confessional […]

INDIA: A Dalit reportedly killed in custody in Gujarat

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Navsarjan, an NGO working on Dalit rights in Gujarat about the custodial death of a Dalit (untouchable) resulting from serious assaults by four policemen. It is reported that the police illegally arrested and detained Mr. Dhanjibhai Ramjibhai Patadia and his son Vijay on […]

PHILIPPINES: Government firm terminates three workers; suspends 36 others for holding protest

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that a government owned firm has unfairly terminated three workers, including a union leader, and suspended 36 others for holding a symbolic protest demanding the provision of benefits due to them. Their demand is part of the Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) Incentives which […]

SRI LANKA: Alleged torture of man by prison officer in Kandy

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Kandy Human Rights Office, a human rights organization, regarding the case of torture of a man by a prison officer in last December and early January. Even though this case was informed to the Prison Commissioner on February 19 but, to date […]

THAILAND: A man shot dead and another tortured by the military in the South

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed by the Working Group on Justice for Peace (WGJP) that a man was shot dead and another was reportedly tortured after being arbitrarily arrested on 18 March 2008 by military task force in Southern Thailand. The relatives of the arrestee witnessed several bruises and […]

NEPAL: Constant and arbitrary arrest of Tibetan protesters by police

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes with deep concern regarding the routine practice by the Nepalese police of arresting and subsequently detaining Tibetan protesters holding peaceful demonstrations. On March 28, at least 89 persons, including women, children and Buddhist monks, were taken into police custody from the districts of Kathmandu and Lalitpur. […]