Urgent Appeal General

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR), human rights organization in Cambodia that police force prevented the holding of a public forum which CCHR organised on 27 November 2007 in Rattanakiri province. The police set up a roadblock to prevent the organizers from […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that the government of Thailand is imposing policies which further deprive migrant workers of their rights. The policies, particularly on migrant workers giving birth in the country, are discriminatory as they effectively excuse the government from any responsibility to ensure the welfare of […]

Dear friends, In addition to what has been widely reported, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the plight of justices, lawyers and activists who had been unlawfully placed under house arrest and detained following the state of emergency in 3 November 2007. The justices and lawyers had been targeted to suppress […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Gramya Sansthan, a human rights organisation based in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh regarding the case of two women who were refused medical assistance at the Government Primary Health Centre, in Naugarh, Chandauli district, Uttar Pradesh. It is reported that since the women were from […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned by reports that hundreds of persons have been rounded up and detained at army camps in southern Thailand under emergency regulations, in violation of their fundamental human rights and ordinary domestic law. According to information from a number of sources, and reported from a […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is making this special appeal, choosing a mode of appeal which is exceptional as compared to our usual appeals due to the extraordinary circumstances of this case. For previous references to this case, please see: UA-207-2007, UP-093-2007, AHRC-PL-023-2007. PURPOSE OF A SPECIAL APPEAL: This case concerns Nafeek Rizana who is […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from its local partner the PVCHR, a human rights organisation based in Uttar Pradesh state, regarding the horrible living conditions of more than 100,000 Muslim weavers in Varanasi city of Uttar Pradesh. It is alleged that the district administration and Varanasi Municipal Corporation have […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received an updated list of persons disappeared in Sri Lanka from the Civil Monitoring Commission (CMC), a local human rights organization in Sri Lanka. The AHRC has previously published the list of name of 81 disappeared persons documented by the CMC (See further: UA-113-2007). The updated list […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from its local partner the PVCHR, a human rights organisation based in Uttar Pradesh state, regarding the complete failure of the state government of Uttar Pradesh in implementing the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) in 22 districts. It is alleged that even after […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned by a blockade of food supplies set up by the Cambodian authorities to force 180 families of disabled war veterans, widows and orphans out of their homes and lands at Kro-Year commune, Santuk district, Kompong province, in a forced eviction to hand over the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) is in danger of loosing its independence, through a draft by the Presidential Transition Committee (PTC) on 16 January 2008 placing the commission under the control of the incoming president. On January 25, the draft will […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that a group of indigenous people peacefully marching to protest against land grabbing in the northeastern province of Rattanakiri were dispersed on 19 December 2007. The police used water cannons and briefly took one of the organisers into their custody. This is the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (Kontras) regarding the recent developments in the yet unsolved case of the disappearances of 14 students and activists over the period of 1998 and 1999 across several undisclosed locations in Indonesia: the “handiwork” of […]

Dear Friends, Please find below a self-explanatory call for action from Geneva-based NGO the International Service for Human Rights concerning the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which we urge you to join immediately. International Service for Human Rights Action on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous […]

PAKISTAN: Violation of the right to water; corruption; misuse of power; violation of court order; restriction on the freedom of assembly; intimidation and threats; failure of the rule of law —————————————————— Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received the information regarding illegal deprivation of irrigation water from over 50,000 peasants of Sobho Dero […]

PHILIPPINES: Violence against civilians; threat of possible arrests and torture of scapegoats; a need for a peaceful solution to violence; a need to resume peace negotiations —————————————————— Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to draw your attention to the increasing violence in Mindanao, Southern Philippines. On October 10 and 11, 2006, three […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the recent repression of Hindu religious minorities by Muslim extremists in Karachi, Sindh province, Pakistan. In particular, the local police has not only refused to record the complaints from the victims and launch investigations into the incident, but also actively collaborated with alleged […]

NOTICE: The AHRC have developed a new automatic letter-sending system using the “button” below. However, in this appeal, we could not include e-mail addresses of some of the Pakistan authorities. We encourage you to send your appeal letters via fax or post to those people. Fax numbers and postal addresses of the Pakistan authorities are attached below […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has been informed about two separate incidents against the religious minority called Ahmadi sect in Punjab province, Pakistan. In one case, the Daily Al-Fazal run by Ahmadi sect was banned by the Punjab government for the reason of disseminating “hate-literature”. In another case, about 100 Ahmadis of Jhando […]

Dear friends, Since the army launched its coup in Thailand on September 19, it has moved fast to curtail civil liberties and detain members of the former caretaker government. There is growing resistance to the coup inside Thailand, but vocal opponents–especially journalists and human rights defenders–face very serious risks. Although the UN secretary general has […]