Administration of justice

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that two Sri Lankans and one Indian were sentenced to death by the High Court of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on 11 June 2007.  They received the written verdict on 20 January 2008. This said, both governments have yet to provide legal assistance for […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the refusal of the police to register a complaint and file charges against a provincial minister and his armed men in Punjab province. He allegedly ordered the assault, arrest and detention of six student activists and teachers, two of whom were women, where […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received detailed information about the case of a child soldier in Burma who has been kept in jail since he was 15. The boy was allegedly illegally recruited over a year before and he ran away from his unit. A military tribunal sentenced him to prison, […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that two activists from Pakistan arrested in London on 4 December 2007 may be threatened with deportation. They are being held and charged allegedly for conspiring to incite another person to commit acts of terrorism. Their friends and colleagues are worried that the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) regarding the executive magistrate in Varanasi district of Uttar Pradesh assaulting journalists. It is reported that magistrate D. P. Singh assaulted the journalists at the Cantonment Police Station, along with police officers. The officer assaulted […]

The AHRC is sharing with you a list of the judges and lawyers that have been arrested, tortured or brought under house arrest since the enactment of emergency law in Pakistan by General Pervez Musharraf. However, this list is not complete. We therefore call upon the public to support the lawyers of the democratic movement […]

On the night of October 18, 2007, two blasts occurred at the welcoming procession of thousands of people, arranged for arrival of Benazir Bhutto, the Chairperson of the Pakistan People Party, after her self exile of eight years. More than 130 people were killed and about 550 injured. The government of Pakistan claims that the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that the family of U Than Lwin, who was assaulted in June after leading a prayer meeting in Burma for the release of political prisoners, has been jailed instead of the assailant. Four members of the family and five other people have been […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that thirteen suspects of the earlier reported extra-judicial killings have been released as their detention period has ended. However, there are still concerns that this case will likely be brought to the military court and a light sentence will be given to those responsible. […]

Dear friends, Further to our previous recent updates on the situation in Burma, this is the first appeal by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on specific cases of sentencing and imprisonment arising out of the protests of the last two months. Here we give the details of a man who has been sent to […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that six labour rights advocates in Burma have been given long jail terms by a special tribunal in the central prison. They were not represented, as their lawyers quit in protest after being constantly harassed by the prison authorities. Their imprisonment comes after […]

Sixty years before India took a quantum leap in its history from being a colony to that of an independent nation. Soon it was a declared to be a democratic, socialist republic. Wheels of administration started turning in a different direction where administration meant no more exploitation, but managing a country and directing its people […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from our local partner the People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights [PVCHR], a human rights organisation based in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh that Tinni Musahar, a three-year-old boy and Sushila Musahar, a one-year-old girl may die soon from acute malnourishment in Raitara Musahar ghetto of […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been following with concern the case of six men who were arrested in Burma on May Day for organising some discussions about worker’s rights. The men have been charged with sedition and were finally brought before a judge nearly three months after their arrests. Their arrest […]

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court of Pakistan today 20 July 2007 declared the suspension of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftekhar Choudry, by the president, General Pervez Musharaff, to be illegal and instructed that he be reinstated.  The Asian Human Rights Commission salutes the Supreme Court of Pakistan for this bold, upright and […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the public threats on two advocates from the Medan Legal Aid Institute (LBH Medan) by six members of the Indonesia Armed Forces (TNI-AD) on 5 June 2007, during a court trial at Pancur Batu State Court. It is reported that the military personnel […]

We, the undersigned, express our grave concerns regarding the sudden twist of events in the murder trial of Mongolian national, Altantuya Shaariibuu, which has led to an unfair delay in the court process. The abrupt replacement of the public prosecutors by Attorney-General (AG) Abdul Gani Patail raises a number of disturbing concerns. First: Why was […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from its local partner, MASUM, a human rights organisation working in West Bengal, India regarding the arrest of one of its activist. It is alleged that Mr. Gopen Sharma, a staff of the MASUM working in Murshidabad district of West Bengal was ordered to […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the brutal murder of Mr. Suherman, for reasons yet unknown, by Police Officers of the Medan District Police on the 11th April 2007. On the 11th April 2007, at around 3:30a.m., around 30 yet unidentified men claiming to be Medan District Police Officers […]

In the latest move against the supporters of Chief Justice Iftehkar Chaudry a Supreme Court lawyer, Mr. Ali Ahmed Kurd has been detained by the Quetta police at the district court. The detention comes after several attempts by unknown persons to abduct him failed. However, this effort by the government was aborted by the lawyers […]