Administration of justice

On April 9 the King of Thailand called upon a new group of superior judges to ensure that they “maintain justice”. The King pointed out that more than ever public confidence in the judiciary depends upon them. They are vital to the peace and survival of the country, he said; their task is not easy, […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has obtained detailed information about a trial in Thailand that has been going on for 14 years. The trial of four men for allegedly planning to kill the former Supreme Court president has gone on since 1993 even though the police have not presented material evidence against […]

The last few weeks have seen the use of the powers of the Attorney General’s Department to freeze the accounts of a person associated with a leading newspaper which turned hostile to the government. Also during the last few days a former minister who had been vocal against the regime, which he served, accusing it […]

The admission by the Chief of Police in Sri Lanka that the police, army and the army deserters are responsible for abductions and killings of civilians is a bold move. However, for the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) this is no news since the AHRC has been in the past calling for intervention and warning […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the appeal of eight men over their wrongful and illegal conviction for treason in Burma has been postponed to February 22. Meanwhile, one of the defendants is reported to be sick in prison. In this update we also bring you further information on […]

Why is it that judges in Pakistan seem completely unable to apply the fundamental legal principle of habeas corpus and order police or military officers to produce detained or arrested persons in court? In the latest hearing on persons alleged to have disappeared after being detained by state officers, the Sindh High Court on January […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received detailed documentation on the appeal against conviction for treason of eight men in Burma. The accused, including Hkun Htun Oo, the chairperson of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, a registered political party, have lodged special appeals in the Supreme Court against life imprisonment on […]

On January 16 the government gazette of Bangladesh announced that the interim president, Professor Iazuddin Ahmed, signed into law the separation of the country’s subordinate judiciary from the executive. This extremely important action was taken, after many years of delays, in accordance with an order from the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court six days […]

[NOTICE: The AHRC have developed a new automatic letter-sending system using the “button” below. However, in this appeal, we could not include e-mail addresses of some of the Cambodian authorities. We encourage you to send your appeal letters via fax or post to those people. Fax numbers and postal addresses of the Cambodian authorities are […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you about the prolonged detention of two farmers in Davao Oriental province, the Philippines. Both of them have been detained for almost three years without any progress in their case because the prosecution witnesses failed to appear in court on six occasions. One of […]

The Gerard Perera murder case came for further hearing on December 1, 2006 before the Negombo High Court.  This case is being heard by a judge specially appointed to hear the case as another case relating to the torture of Gerard Perera is being heard before the permanent High Court judge of Negombo. When the […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AS-275-2006 November 06, 2006   A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission   INDONESIA: Refusal to cooperate with United Nations human rights mechanisms in investigation of Munir’s death     The wife of celebrated human rights defender Munir Said Thalib, who was poisoned and died on September 7, 2004 under highly […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a number of sources about the illegal arrest and jailing of two men in Burma who helped to collect signatures for a petition to the government seeking the release of political prisoners. The two men, Ko Win Ko and Phyoe Zaw Latt, were […]

An October 17 article in the Bangkok Post reported that the Ministry of Justice there has to pay hundreds of millions of Thai Baht in compensation to people who have been wrongfully prosecuted for crimes they did not commit. The law providing for compensation, the Compensation for Victims of Crime Act BE 2544 (2001), arises […]

PHILIPPINES: Violence against civilians; threat of possible arrests and torture of scapegoats; a need for a peaceful solution to violence; a need to resume peace negotiations —————————————————— Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to draw your attention to the increasing violence in Mindanao, Southern Philippines. On October 10 and 11, 2006, three […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission reiterates its condemnation of the military coup in Thailand and calls for immediate restoration of the constitution and civilian government. Since this morning, September 20, the coup group headed by army Commander-in-Chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin has made a series of pronouncements under martial law. These include that: 1. The democratic […]

Earlier the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) circulated the complete text of this judgement (please see AS-217-2006).  Among the many completely baseless legal positions on which this judgement is premised there are some outstanding issues.  The AHRC intends to explore a comprehensive critique on this judgement soon.  In the meantime we would like to mention some […]

We reproduced below a judgement made by a bench of five judges, presided over by the Chief Justice, Sarath N. Silva, of Sri Lanka, which leaves no doubt that the court wishes to nullify the impact of Sri Lanka being a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) as well as […]

Maina Sunawar was 15 years old when members of the Nepalese armed forces arbitrarily arrested her. Since this date – February 17, 2004 – she has disappeared. All the evidence indicates that she was tortured to death by members of the military, who have since sought to deny her arrest and cover up her death. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received detailed information about the case of a young man in Burma who has been jailed without evidence or fair trial, allegedly for selling illegal lottery tickets. Nyi Nyi Htut, a law student, was arrested in the delta town of Bogalay on 16 June 2006 when […]