Administration of justice

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is extremely concerned for the welfare of a young man who was badly beaten along with his family, then abducted illegally by soldiers. A former employer who owes him money was seen directing his abduction. Although police were able to find him, intervene and provide medical treatment, […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information concerning yet another case of abduction and extrajudicial execution in Manipur. After unidentified persons were seen abducting a man in April, the local police reported having killed him in an armed encounter later that evening. Given the widespread pattern of extrajudicial executions in the […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has gathered detailed information on the escalating harassment of criminal witness Saman Thialakasir by police before his murder in February. He was found dead the morning after he was picked up by officers. Saman had reported a case of illegal logging in his neighbourhood with suspected connections […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that police and officials are refusing to respond to the abduction of a fifteen-year-old Hindu girl by a neighbour in December last year. Her parents found her captive in a Muslim seminary and were told that she was married and had converted to Islam. The […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received a copy of a letter from a human rights defender in Myanmar (Burma), a copy of which has also been addressed to you. As the letter may not have been received or its contents not communicated to you, we are taking this opportunity to raise the matter […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission has learned that police in Lahore made no effort to protect university staff from violent attacks by expelled students from a conservative Muslim organization earlier this month. One professor sustained serious head injuries and bone fractures. Local police then avoided filing an FIR for a week and when […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a man was arbitrarily arrested, tortured and held in remand for more than two years before he was finally granted bail. Dehiwela police held him illegally for one month and ten days before his transfer to a remand prison and he reports that officers […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that Wellawatte police have taken no action during the two-year period since a young student was allegedly arrested by the Criminal Investigation Division (CID). No information has been given to his family and his whereabouts are entirely unknown. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the illegal arrest, abduction and disappearance of two persons from the Baloch Nationalist Movement on two separate occasions in April. Eyewitnesses in both cases saw the arrests carried out illegally by persons in and out of uniform, and the family of neither man […]

Dear friends,  A radio station in Indonesia – Radio Era Baru – has been forcibly shut down by police in an alleged act of censorship. An investigation by the country’s human rights commission has concluded that the move was in response to pressure from Chinese officials, who objected to the station’s airing of criticism of […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a lawyer in Kandy has been ill treated by a high police official while trying to represent his client at a police enquiry. This comes at a time in which the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) is reporting increasing cases of open disrespect […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) team illegally arrested, detained and interrogated a number of men in February 2010. Though one was released without charge after nine days of being illegally held, three have been faced with allegedly concocted murder and arms charges, while another […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received new information about an extreme case of rape, attempted murder, corruption and impunity that took place in 2008 and 2009. The incident involved members of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a ruling partner of the Zardari government, but police have failed to protect the victims […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased to report that a young torture victim has won a fundamental rights case in Sri Lanka. He has been awarded compensation and the case has been duly handed to the Attorney General for action. Although the country has a an anti-torture act such rulings remains […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that two magistrate courts in Sri Lanka have failed to uphold the labour rights of workers over the course of decades. Although compensation was awarded in both cases, the employers failed to comply and the cases are ongoing. One has been continuously postponed for 16 […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information concerning the case of a teenage boy who was abducted by three unknown men and killed later. His corpse was identified in a mortuary by his neighbours when they went to identify the body of another person, killed in identical circumstances. Reports strongly suggest […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the enforced disappearance of two nationalist party leaders in October 2009. Although the men were seen being arrested and the case has been taken up by the Supreme Court, its directives to the officers involved have worryingly produced no further information or action. […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a 21-year-old man has been badly tortured by police and is facing two fabricated charges for theft and sexual assault due to a personal dispute. The officer leading the series of violations is father to the victim’s ex-girlfriend, who he had reportedly hit earlier […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a man who went missing nine months ago near Karachi has resurfaced this month in the custody of the Frontier Corp (FC). The man’s family were prevented from filing a report by police when he was abducted and so acted through the Balochistan High […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about the arrest and torture of a young man by police in Matara to force a confession of robbery. The victim was held illegally for over 48 hours and allegedly stripped, beaten repeatedly and sexually molested. No statement was taken and due process appears […]