Administration of justice

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been closely following the case of democracy activist Kyaw Zaw Lwin, whom the military regime in Burma has accused of involvement in a bombing plot. Authorities at the airport arrested him in September 2009 and he has been tried for a number of offences but none […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a young deaf girl has been missing since June 2006 and that police have refused to investigate the case; instead they have acted as brokers for the suspected perpetrators. The seventeen-year-old was hired by a well known politico-religious family in Punjab to assist […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that Mahiyangane police officers witnessed the severe beating of a man by a priest and refused to intervene. The act constitutes torture under international law. The victim was then arrested with scant evidence of his crime and his allegations of torture were not addressed by […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received the information that Baduraliya Police have illegally arrested and detained a rubber tapper, and fabricated charges against him by taking his thumbprint signature on an unknown statement. The victim has pleaded not guilty and was released on bail, but is currently facing charges of harbouring […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received the information that Galle police have refused to register a mother’s complaint about suspicions that her 24-year-old daughter was murdered. The authorities also failed to adequately look into the woman’s concerns that the girl was being put to work by her foster family, years before. […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that four young men have been illegally arrested, detained and tortured by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officials because of a minor personal dispute. The first victim was allegedly taken hostage by an ISI colonel so that his uncle would pay a debt, and the other three […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Right Commission (AHRC) has been informed that the Indonesian police shot at, arrested and intimidated peasants who were protesting against the alleged illegal occupation of their land by a government-owned plantation company. The land workers have been protesting regularly for years, but rather than address their concerns, the local authorities […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is concerned about the eviction risk faced by around 300 people of a lower caste Hindu community in Chittagong, without adequate compensation or rehabilitation being arranged. The land will be seized for the government-led Patiya Bypass project, yet the community is very poor and residents have not […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that a rape victim for whom we have been campaigning has finally won her case in court, after a judge took particular interest. The victim has been fighting a criminal case against her father for more than five years, during which she has been […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is seeking your support in calling upon the members of the Philippine Congress to revoke Proclamation No. 1959, which has been signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and has declared a state of martial law in Maguindanao. It suspends the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, and […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) brings you case details of a farmer who, while on his way to pick up his child from school, was arbitrarily arrested, faced with fabricated charges and extensively tortured for two days by Galgamuwa police officers, some of whom were allegedly drunk. He was suspended by his […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is closely monitoring the investigation into the massacre in Maguindanao on November 23, which left 57 people dead, among them two human rights lawyers and 30 local journalists. The AHRC is deeply concerned for the safety of three journalists who escaped. More than a week into the […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about the extrajudicial killing of two men by soldiers of the Kumaon Regiment, Assam. The men were reported to have been killed in an encounter incident, but they were in custody and had left notes hidden in their clothing that predicted their murder. The […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that a man has become critically ill and partially paralysed after time in the custody of Gampola Kuruduwatte police. He is reportedly tied to his bed and under constant guard in hospital, but was in a healthy condition before his arrest. His relatives have […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission has learned that twenty days after the abduction of a high profile scientist in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), no official investigation has been held into his disappearance. Political agents in the federally administered tribal area have told the man’s family not to lodge a criminal complaint, […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that police in Nawalapitiya have arbitrarily arrested a man, beaten him and created evidence to use in the framing of charges against him. He will appear before a magistrate on 25 November 2009.  CASE DETAILS:  According to the information we have received, on the […]

Dear Friends,   The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes with deep regrets with regard to the lack of substantial progress in the investigation of the murder of an activist we reported to have been killed on November 28, 2005. His wife has yet to obtain a copy of the official reinvestigation report into his […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about unnecessary delays in the investigation of a man’s death in custody, following his arrest for a fabricated charge. It has been reported that police officers murdered the shop owner in February last year, however the investigating agency has not even recorded the statements […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that police officers allowed a lawyer, her mother and domestic helper to be beaten by a group armed with sticks. The women and their family are being harassed by their neigbours over a land dispute, and a judge has already ruled for the status quo […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has just learned that the remains of two persons, believed to have been summarily executed by police officers, have been stolen from their graves. The family of the victims had requested that their bodies be exhumed to collect evidence, but they were told that there was no […]