Administration of justice

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 […]

The Bangkok Post on August 23 reported a spokesperson of the deputy prime minister of Thailand as saying that the government of Argentina understands the human rights situation in Thailand. According to the news report, an aide of the deputy prime minister, Surakiart Sathirathai, said that “Argentina has no problem with Dr Surakiart’s qualifications” to […]

The statement: 31 Jul 06 Dr Chee Soon Juan and Ms Chee Siok Chin have applied for the courts not to allow Messrs Lee Kuan Yew and Lee Hsien Loong to proceed with their summary judgement as this would deprive the Defendants of a trial. Lawyer Mr M Ravi argued in his submissions that under […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has read with concern your interview published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer of 25 July 2006 entitled, “PNP clears Palparan on killings”. The article refers to how you have exonerated Major General Jovito Palparan, the commander of the 7th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army from allegations of serious […]

In an historic judgment the Criminal Court of Thailand held yesterday (July 25, 2006) that the Election Commission was guilty of malfeasance and illegal assistance to the Thai Rak Thai Party in the April 2 Election and Repeat Vote.  The Court sentenced the three members of the Commission to four years in gaol, revoked their […]

Dear friends, In June 2006, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) reported the alleged abduction of K. Thaivani’s three children aged 17, 16 and 8 by tea estate owner, D. Karunadasa who engaged in these illegal activities with the connivance of the Yakkalamulla police (please see UA-176-2006). Amidst the shameful inaction of all relevant state authorities, […]

The Philippine National Police have a unique definition of the word “solved”. According to them, once a charge is filed against a suspect with the Office of the Prosecutor it is solved. Suspects not arrested? No matter, it is solved. Investigation flawed? No matter, it is solved. Requests of victim’s family for more inquiries unanswered? […]

In a very strange move that will surprise anyone concerned with the global effort to eradicate disappearances and gross human rights violations, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL), which claims to be the country’s prime agency for the protection and promotion of human rights, officially decided to stop further inquiries into disappearance cases […]

On July 17 the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) issued an appeal on the alleged torture, armed robbery, illegal detention, and attempted rape and extortion of two persons in Saraburi, just northeast of Bangkok in Thailand. According to Uthai Boonnom, he and his partner were taken–at gunpoint and blindfolded–to a house in the forest where […]

[UP-121-2006: BANGLADESH: Judicial Probe Commission has yet to submit its report regarding police brutality; UP-095-2006: BANGLADESH: Government names District Judge to conduct a judicial probe into the police brutality on journalists; RE: UP-089-2006: BANGLADESH: Government names the head of the judicial probe commission into the police brutality on journalists; UA-128-2006: BANGLADESH: Journalists beaten by the […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is writing to you with regards to many serious allegations of brutal and oftentimes murderous violent crimes by state officers in Myanmar, which it understands should be a subject of concern for your office.  Some of the alleged cases that have come to the attention of the AHRC in […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 7, 2006 AHRC-OL-028-2006 An open letter to the Inter Ministerial Committee on Human Rights The Inter Ministerial Committee on Human Rights Thro- Hon. Mahinda Samarasinghe Minister for Disaster Management and Human Rights Parliamentary Complex Colombo 1 SRI LANKA July 6, 2006 Dear Sirs, SRI LANKA: The case of Chamila Bandara, HC […]

The Criminal Procedure Code of India has been amended to include a provision for plea bargaining with effect from 7 June 2006. The new chapter in the statute, Chapter XXI A, allows plea bargaining to be used in criminal cases where the prescribed maximum punishment is below seven years. Plea bargaining is not allowed in […]

I am sure you are aware of the murder trial of Gerald Perera, a torture victim who was assassinated while waiting to give evidence in a trial against several police officers from the Wattala Police Station for severely torturing him. Prior to the assassination the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka held that these officers had […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that an alleged rapist has been granted bail by a judge of the Special Tribunal of Women and Children Repression Prevention of Dinajpur District despite having persuasive evidence in the medical report and in the police investigation report of the perpetrator’s guilt. The victim […]

Gerald Perera was fatally shot on November 21 2004 while waiting to give evidence before the Negombo High Court against several police officers who had been accused of causing serious injuries to him after he was arrested on mistaken identity.  A few days after the shooting he died of his injuries and was thus prevented […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased to inform you that four of the accused persons in the rape and assault of a handicapped woman from West Bengal, Ms. Hasna Mandol, have been punished by the court. Ms. Hasna was tortured and raped on 27 February 1995. Today, the court sentenced three […]

The Asian Legal Resource Centre has today, June 30, released a new report on witness protection in Thailand, the first in a planned series of detailed studies on specific institutional obstacles to human rights there.  Witness protection is all about the fight against impunity that is at the heart of human rights struggles worldwide. Without […]

The New York based Human Rights Watch, in a statement issued from its headquarters, expressed deep concern that the only prosecution witness, willing to testify into the killing of five youth in Trincomalee, allegedly by the security forces, was under threat and said the government should ensure the safety of witnesses.   The statement:   […]