Urgent Appeal Update

Dear friends, Further to our previous recent updates on the situation in Burma, this is the first appeal by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) since last week on specific cases of disappearance in Rangoon: it includes details about the disappearance of a 30-year-old mother of two and three teenage sisters, as well as news […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased to inform you that a torture victim, Oting Mariano, whom police arrested and falsely charged on 13 January 2007 has already been released after he was exonerated from false charges. He walked out free from his detention center on September 20 after the prosecutor dismissed […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes with deep concern regarding the continuing threat and lack of protection to Mr. Albert Rumbekwan, head of the National Human Rights Commission’s (Komnas HAM) office in Papua. On September 23 unidentified persons broke into Rumbekwan’s house. It is believed this was yet another incident in the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) had been informed that two more suspects in Munir’s case have been identified and their court records have been conveyed to the Jakarta Pusat District Court. Munir died of arsenic poisoning on a Garuda Indonesia Airways flight to Amsterdam on 7 September 2004. Following the acquittal of […]

Dear friends, As the dramatic events in Burma of the last few days are being reported throughout the entire world, in this latest update the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), gives additional information not being widely covered in the mainstream media, as follows: – Protests have continued in Rangoon, Mandalay and other towns  – Killings […]

Dear friends, Further to our previous appeal, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed by a reliable source regarding the killing of six more persons, including a Hindu priest, disappearance of sixteen persons, and threats on persons – women, the elderly and children in Jaffna, Northern Sri Lanka. These incidents occurred from September […]

Dear friends, As has been reported throughout the world, riot police began violently attacking protestors in Rangoon today after they refused to obey instructions to not again take to the streets to call for an end to military rule there (UP-125-2007). Meanwhile, protests have also continued in other parts of the country. Here we give […]

Dear friends, Threats from the military regime in Burma have failed to get thousands of protestors of the streets again today, 25 September 2007. Here the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) gives the latest information and some on events of recent days. Please do everything you can to support the courageous struggle of Burma’s people […]

Dear friends, The recent dramatic and historic developments in Burma, with thousands of monks taking to the streets, have received a lot of international attention in recent days. Here the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) gives a short summary of some of the latest events and also add comments and information on some incidents and […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you of the continuing occurrence of extrajudicial killings and disappearance in the northern part of Sri Lanka. In August 2007, fifty persons were either found dead or killed; while 38 others have been forcibly disappeared following arrests or abductions. Some of the perpetrators […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned that Mr. Jahangir Alam Akashi, a journalist, as well as a human rights defender based on Rajshahi city, has been implicated with an alleged false extortion charge on 28 August 2007. The charge against Mr. Akashi is based on a complaint lodged by Mr. […]

Dear friends, Further to our previous recent updates on the situation in Burma, this is the first appeal by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on specific cases of sentencing and imprisonment arising out of the protests of the last two months. Here we give the details of a man who has been sent to […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that six labour rights advocates in Burma have been given long jail terms by a special tribunal in the central prison. They were not represented, as their lawyers quit in protest after being constantly harassed by the prison authorities. Their imprisonment comes after […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been receiving daily updates on the dramatic protests against mid-August fuel price increases in Burma. On September 6, the protests went to a new level when for the first time the army intervened directly and monks responded by holding officials as hostages. More protests and arrests […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is appealing to you to write to the Indian authorities requesting them to drop the false charges against Dr. Binayak Sen and release him from custody. 141 days have passed since the Chhattisgarh state government has detained Dr. Binayak Sen, a noted human rights activist and medical […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that 57 humanitarian workers have either been killed or subjected to forced disappearance since last year in Sri Lanka. The AHRC has earlier reported the list of 81 and 22 disappeared persons respectively (See further: UP-061-2007). This detailed information, recently received from a reliable […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you regarding the continuing threats to the family of murdered activist Jose Manegdeg III (a.k.a. Pepe). They are forced to take security measures by themselves due to the lack of protection and assistance by the authorities for nearly two years on. The police investigating […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) had been informed that the final review appeal into the Supreme Court’s ruling acquitting the sole suspect into the death of a prominent human rights activist, Mr. Munir Said Thalib, has began on 16 August 2007. Munir died of arsenic poisoning on a Garuda Indonesia Airways flight […]

Dear friends, Despite great personal risks, people in Burma are continuing to come on to the streets in protest two weeks after the military regime there suddenly multiplied the cost of fuels without prior warning. Since the appeal issued by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on August 26 (UA-260-2007), daily demonstrations have spread across […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information on the postmortem inquest into the deaths of 78 persons in 2004 at Tak Bai, Narathiwat, Thailand. The commander of the dispersal operation testified that he stayed inside the police station for most of the time during the dispersal; and when more than […]