Administration of justice

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that a man has died in police custody following his arrest after he was falsely accused of stealing a palm oil nut on 26 March 2008. The police officer and three unidentified companions, who had taken the victim with them, have not been […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that another six persons have been killed on the pretext that they were either involved in criminal activities or had criminal records in General Santos City. The AHRC is seriously concerned by the continued failure by the concerned authorities to prevent these murders and […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes with deep concern regarding the continuing failure by the police and the local government to ensure protection and prevent the systematic murders in General Santos City. At least 29 persons, five of whom are minors, have already been killed from February 4 to May 16, 2008 […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a man was found dead with a broken neck and severe injuries on his head in a river in Takeo province on 8 May 2008. The police have classified the case as accidental drowning. It is suspected that the man’s death was a political […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received additional information concerning the case of rape that was reported earlier by the AHRC on 31 March 2008. The AHRC is informed through Navsarjan that the case is currently taken up for trial. The AHRC is also informed that the victim suspects unfair practices during […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that following the Court of Appeals (CA) conclusion of its appellate review affirming the conviction imposed by a lower court on the Abadilla Five, the lawyers for the accused are seeking to nullify the CA’s decision on April 1. They filed a Petition […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Bangladesh that a judge of a Special Tribunal for Women has ordered the detention of two persons in absence of a thorough investigation and solely on the basis of a false complaint. The two detainees, whom the police have arrested on March 30, […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information from the Legal Aid Institute of Surabaya (LBH Surabaya) that autopsy reports confirmed that four persons died due to gunshots. Several others were injured due to shooting by naval officers. Questions have been raised on the fairness of the trial and possibility of […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has obtained detailed information about a case of land confiscation in the delta region of Burma. Officials in Pantanaw illegally confiscated land belonging to elderly farmer Daw Thein Hmyin after she made a complaint that one had encroached on one of her smallholdings. Although she has written […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that the Attorney General (AG) has, at the time of writing, failed to appeal the case of Gerald Perera even though there are serious grounds on which to pursue this case (AHRC-STM-088-2008). The AHRC, once again, kindly asks for your immediate intervention in […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes with deep concern about the manner the police conducted its investigation into the case of a 32-year-old farmer who was abducted, tortured and left for dead. The victim survived from his ordeal but the investigation has come to a halt after the police argued that the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that the accused police officers responsible for the torture of Gerald Perera, who was later assassinated before giving evidence before a court, were acquitted by the Negombo High Court on 2 April 2008. This judgment is extremely dangerous as hereafter persons who want […]

What if some one says that and asks you to disprove it?  Or, if a whole society or even a large part of it begins to believe in fact that two and two is five.  This may be dismissed by some as pure fantasy.  However, in many matters regarding society, particularly in matters relating to […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the continued inaction of the police into the alleged sexual abuse of a five-year-old girl by her father in Sri Lanka. The girl’s grandmother filed a complaint at the Panwila police station in Kandy on 18 June 2007 (See further UA-258-2007). A court […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the police authorities have allegedly received bribes for arbitrarily arresting people from a community involved in a case land dispute. It is reported that when the villagers exposed corruption of the police and the harassment they were suffering, the police threatened them to […]

In one of his two latest reports to the UN Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar (Burma) has written that: “The Special Rapporteur is seriously concerned at the continued misuse of the legal system [in Burma] which denies the rule of law and represents a major obstacle to securing the effective and meaningful […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the death sentence of a man from minority community, who is due to be executed on 12 March 2008. He was charged with murder however, he was allegedly severely tortured after the illegal arrest. It is also alleged that he was not provided […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the deteriorating health of a Pakistani prisoner detained in a U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The prisoner is suffering from a serious heart ailment and his health has worsened since he was first imprisoned there in September 2004. The government of Pakistan […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that eight people, including a four year old girl and a pregnant woman, were killed by soldiers on the pretext of a “legitimate encounter” in a coastal village in Maimbong, Sulu on 4 February 2008. The soldiers claimed the shooting was supposedly in […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that since our appeal on the case of a child soldier who was jailed in 2005 (AHRC-UAC-016-2008) a number of persons involved in the case have been threatened by local authorities. His aunt, who made the complaint, is under watch, and two people […]