Administration of justice

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 […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that the body of a young man has been found three months after his arrest in the midst of a campaign for legal redress for his sister, who was gang raped in 2007. Sabir Soomro supported his teenage sister throughout a badly and unprofessionally tried […]

The Provincial Court of Narathiwat set the preliminary hearing on the case of Imam Yapha Kaseng at 09.00am on 2 September 2010 To determine if the case of the alleged torture to death of the Imam while under official custody is actionable or not On 18 June 2010, the Provincial Court of Narathiwat scheduled the […]

In a historic decision the Delhi High Court ordered compensation for violation of constitutional and reproductive rights of two impoverished women. The judgment will have immense health policy implications in India, where a maternal death occurs every five minutes. In the case of Laxmi Mandal vs Deen Dayal Hari Nager Hospital & Ors W.P. 8853/2008 […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission is extremely concerned that, more than eight months since the mysterious death of a 24-year-old woman, no investigation has been opened, and requests to exhume the body for a post mortem have not been entertained. The young woman’s underprivileged mother has repeatedly appealed to the authorities to have […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission is pleased to report strong progress in the complaint of a road accident victim, whose case was wilfully mishandled by police and a judge. The judge allowed himself to be misled by police officers and when the victim complained, he closed the case. This is now being thoroughly […]

An interview conducted by the Asian Human Rights Commission. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the AHRC. Sri Lanka — A woman speaks out against bad policing and torture Sister M. Pradeepa, 34, is from Trincomalee and works at the Ampitiya Convent in Kandy where she is involved with various projects involving […]