Urgent Appeal Update

Dear friends, It has come to the attention of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that the Lower Court Records required to prosecute police officers allegedly responsible for the forced disappearance of Bhikari Paswan in 1993, have been held at the Calcutta High Court for some 72 days now.?The Calcutta High Court granted leave for […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned by the safety of a torture victim, Mr. Channa Prasanka Fernando, and urges the local authorities to provide full protection to him. According to the updated information we have received, Mr. Channa Prasanka Fernando went into hiding in order to safeguard his life. On […]

Dear friends The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received new documentation from the Burma Lawyers’ Council, Thailand showing that another villager in Henzada Township, Ayeyawaddy Division, Burma has lodged a complaint of forced labour against the local authorities. The complaint follows an earlier complaint by two villagers, which relates to the same incident, in […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Mr. R.K.L.G. Dingiri Banda on the serious security threat by two unknown men on 3 September 2004. Mr. Dingiri Banda is pursuing three cases against two army officers who are now captains regarding the severe assault on him which took place on 21 […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that despite the earlier appeal of Mr. R.K.L.G. Dingiri Banda to the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, nothing has yet been done to correct the matter. Mr. Dingiri Banda had complained to the Bar Association that he had filed a fundamental rights application before […]

Dear friends, It has come to the attention of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that a jirga was organized in the case of Hidayat Mahar, who was killed by her husband on the pretext of honour killing (see UA-28-2004). The jirga, headed by tribal leaders as well as a state official, forced the victim’s father […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that A G Ravindra (26) was assaulted and illegally detained again on 23 July 2004 by the Katupota police for making a complaint against them regarding his previous torture and arrest (see UA-63-2004). The police also filed false charges against him in court, for which […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Korean-German scholar Song Du-yul, was freed on 21 July 2004 following the Seoul High Court’s decision to sentence him to three years in jail with the term suspended for five years. Mr. Song was initially given a seven-year jail term by a lower […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the murder of two teenage girls in Pakistan, Aabida and Tahmeena for visiting their grandparents without permission. (Refer to FA-12-2004 and UP-23-2004.) The victims’ families have been given about Rs. 20 0000 and ten acres of cultivation land as compensation, and are being pressured to […]

Dear friends,   The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urgently requests you to intervene in the case of Dhananjoy Chatterjee, whose execution date has been set for 4am tomorrow, 14 August 2004.   The Constitution of India establishes that, “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.” […]

Dear friends,   The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urgently requests you to intervene in the case of Dhananjoy Chatterjee, whose execution date has been set for 4am tomorrow, 14 August 2004.   The Constitution of India establishes that, “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.” […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Advocacy Forum, a local human rights NGO in Nepal, that a 30-year-old man named Upendra Timilsena was released from Mahabir Guan Himalaya Barrack, Chauni Kathmandu in the afternoon of 28 July 2004. He was illegally detained at the army barrack even though […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is happy to inform you that on 26 July 2004 the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka awarded one million rupees to the wife and three children of Mr. Lamahewage Lal Meddagoda (36) who had been tortured to death by the Negambo Prison officers on 7 November 2002. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the torture of a 16-year-old student, Sahan Tharaka, by his teachers and the Assistant Principal of his school. (Reference: UA-90-2004) Meanwhile, the teachers and Assistant Principal have been arrested, but released on bail. On 27 July 2004, the Principal of the school organised […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urgently asks you to send a strong letter to the President of India to commute the death sentence of Dhananjoy Chatterjee! According to the existing Indian laws, only a presidential pardon can save Dhananjoy Chatterjee from imminent execution at the Alipore Central Jail. On 22 July 2004, […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that The Prachuap Khiri Khan criminal court on 20 July 2004 approved a warrant for the arrest of Provincial Administrative Organisation member Manot Hinkaew on charges of involvement in the murder of environmental activist Charoen Wat-aksorn. Pol Maj-Gen Yutthana Thaipakdee, deputy chief of Police Region […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the case of Chamila Bandara, a 17-year-old boy who suffered from serious injuries due to being hung and beaten at the Ankumbura Police Station from 20 to 28 July 2003, has not yet been prosecuted under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) Act, Act […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received a copy of an affidavit signed at the remand prison in Kandy on 16 July (written in Sinhala) from Saman Priyankara, who suffered for the second time at the hands of several police officers from the Matale police station on 7 July 2004. The police […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the four people who were re-arrested by the security force from the courtyard of the Morang District Court on 14 July 2004 have been found. According to the updated information, the four persons namely, Yek Raj Basnet, Khagendra Sambahamfe, Ram Bahadur Ingaram and […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that in spite of recommendations issued by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Sri Lanka February 2004 in favor of the evicted people of Oliyamulla, Wattala, nothing has been done to implement the recommendations. The Commission recommended that the Urban Development Authority provide the […]