Administration of justice

Supreme Court (SC) affirms conviction of the accused in Abadilla murder but acquits accused in Vizconde Massacre on similar jurisprudence The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to draw the attention of the Supreme Court (SC) of the Philippines to its recent decision on two well-known cases tried in the lower courts; the conviction in […]

The 83rd Plenary Session of the Indian National Congress (INC), held in New Delhi has declared that eradicating corruption would be a priority for the INC and thus for the national government, formed under the banner of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and led by the INC. The President as well as other leaders of […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned about the possible implications of President Benigno Aquino III’s order of December 10, 2010 to the Department of Justice (DoJ) instructing them to withdraw the charges against the Morong 43. The accused were 43 individuals, including doctors, nurses, grassroots community health workers. They were illegally arrested […]

Over six-and-a-half years after police abducted and presumably killed human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit, no one has yet been punished. The one police officer among five accused who was found guilty of a relatively minor criminal charge and sentenced to three years in jail appealed the conviction and while out of prison on bail himself […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) welcomes with reservations President Benigno Aquino III’s order to withdraw the charges against 43 health workers, collectively known as ‘Morong 43′, as reported today. We strongly believe, based on the documents and information that we have also obtained, that they should have not been arrested, detained, and forced to […]

When Philippine President Benigno Aquino III decided to grant amnesty to the military men charged for rebellion against the government and not to file criminal charges against an official and the policemen involved in the Manila bus hostage incident, it demonstrated how deeply politically controlled the system of justice is in the country. His orders […]

The elaborate security and precautionary arrangements made by the state and central governments expecting a communal violence in response to the anticipated judgment of the Allahabad High Court is proof to the fragility of India. It exposes the depth of the fissure into which the country and its people have fallen after being communally, religiously […]

The contempt of court proceedings initiated against Advocate Prashant Bushan in the Supreme Court of India for the allegations he made against some of the former Chief Justices of the country will test the maturity of India’s judicial system and that of its democratic framework. Indeed the Court has a statutory right to initiate proceedings […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that the Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the guilty verdict on the Abadilla Five. The SC affirmed the earlier decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) which imposed a penalty of life imprisonment on them. The accused will be filing a Motion […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) previously issued a statement on the case of Phyo Wai Aung, whom the authorities in Burma have blamed for an attack on a festival in April. In this appeal we bring you the details of his case and the charges that have now been brought against him. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been closely following the case of a young man whom the authorities in Burma have accused of involvement in a bombing during April. Phyo Wai Aung has alleged that he was brutally tortured for nine days to force him to confess. He has also been held […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a woman in her twenties was illegally arrested, strung up in a police station and badly beaten for a number of hours after she refused to wrongly identify persons in a theft investigation. Dolakha district police have since charged her with the crime, and […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a man was illegally arrested in Kalutara by Baduraliya police, and tortured severely in the police barracks to force a confession. Police used the ‘Dharma Chakra’ technique of suspending the handcuffed man on a pole that was inserted into the crooks of his bound […]

(Hong Kong, July 23, 2010) The Asian Human Rights Commission announces the presentation of the Asian Human Rights Award for Creative Media to Ms. Josefina Bergsten as the producer and the director of the documentary UNJUST. The Presentation of the award will take place at Foreign Correspondents Club, Hong Kong, on the 27th July, 2010.  […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the unlawful arrest and torture of a farmer by Mathugama police. The man was falsely accused of selling illicit liquor and was tortured during arrest, along with another man, in a vegetable pit filled with leeches. The police have reportedly fabricated charges against […]

Rana Maqbool Ahmed is a former Inspector General of Police of Sindh province and has been accused of the torture of and conspiracy to kill President Zadari when he was imprisoned in 1999. Rana has been absconding court and the Additional District Sessions Court, Karachi, capital of Sindh province, has issued a warrant for his […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward to you the following open letter from the Union for Thai Democracy to the United Nations. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ——- An Open Letter from the Union for Thai Democracy forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon […]

More than 50 elderly tenants have struggled to protect their right to livelihood since being evicted on April 30, 2010. All of them were tenants of the Gocheck traditional business market and are currently protesting in front of Guro-gu administration office where many of them, being aged between 50 and 80, face health risks. The […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a man in his late forties was beaten by a policeman with a pole after he witnessed a group of officers assaulting handcuffed men outside his house. His hand is broken and his livelihood has been affected, but his complaint against the policeman is […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission would like to report that the case of a three-wheeler taxi driver charged with carrying drugs – which he claims were found in the possession of his passengers – is being continually stalled by police in the Maligakanda Magistrate’s court. The man remains in remand, unable to afford […]