Administration of justice

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:   […]

[RE: UP-20-2005: THAILAND: Human rights lawyer still missing after nearly one year; Action needed today to have case transferred; UP-24-2005: THAILAND: Thai minister refuses to act on missing human rights lawyer case; UP-37-2005: Thai PM orders action on missing human rights lawyer, while court hears of torture; UP-45-2005: Wife of missing human rights lawyer intimidated; […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has just learned that Ms Em Ponny had been assaulted by three of her superiors on 17 June 2006. Em Ponny is a teacher at the Wat Mohamontrey primary school in Olympic commune, Chamcar Mon District, Phnom Penh, and is a member of an independent teachers union […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information that Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Justino G. Aventurado of Tagum City, Mindanao has yet to issue arrest warrants for a military official and his men charged with murder. Please see our previous appeal to read the background of this case: UA-72-2005. Aventurado has […]

[RE: UA-216-2005: Soldiers kill nine farmers in Leyte, Visayas; UP-141-2005: Peasants were brutally massacred by soldiers; pregnant woman among the dead; UP-019-2006: PHILIPPINES: Possible irregularities in police investigation; survivor details brutal killings of peasants; UP-053-2006: PHILIPPINES: Commission on Human Rights (CHR) set to file charges against soldiers allegedly involved in killing peasants in Leyte] ———————————– […]

[RE: UP-20-2005: THAILAND: Human rights lawyer still missing after nearly one year; Action needed today to have case transferred; UP-24-2005: THAILAND: Thai minister refuses to act on missing human rights lawyer case; UP-37-2005: Thai PM orders action on missing human rights lawyer, while court hears of torture; UP-45-2005: Wife of missing human rights lawyer intimidated; […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that Mr. Sajedur Rahman Sarkar Sajid, who was entrapped by the police and intelligence agents on the instruction of ruling political party leaders, was arbitrarily arrested on the evening of 18 May 2006. He was then detained in relation to a fabricated arms case […]

[Re: UA-143-2004: THAILAND: At least 84 people killed in Southern Thailand on 26 October 2004; UP-65-2004: THAILAND: A list of the victims of the mass killing in Narathiwat province; Immediate international intervention needed; UP-25-2005: THAILAND: Three generals found responsible for mass killing transferred without penalty; UP-094-2006: THAILAND: Trial opens against 58 accused in Narathiwat protest; […]

[RE: UA-004-2002: BURMA: Arrested Professor prepared to die for democracy; UP-004-2002: BURMA: Who is Dr. Salai, Burmese political prisoner?; UP-019-2002: BURMA: Arrested professor sentenced to seven years jail; UP-016-2003: BURMA: Professor Salai Tun Than; UP-017-2003: BURMA: Professor Salai Tun Than Released] ——————————————————————— UP-123-2006: BURMA: Professor says he will launch new solo protest; passport illegally revoked […]

[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 police at the Chittagong stadium] —————————————————– BANGLADESH: Torture; intimidation; threat; deprivation of professional duty; […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to raise its concern about a mysterious death of a young man and the possible cover-up by his father, who is a police inspector, surrounding the circumstances of the death. J. A. Upendra Gayan was 23-years-old at the time of his mysterious death on 2 April […]

As the government and combined military forces of the United States were cranking up and talking up the global “war on terror” in 2003, the Asian Human Rights Commission warned that deliberate efforts to undermine and relativise the absolute prohibition against torture in international law would spread and mutate into attacks on all vital principles […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you of a disturbing incident that took place at the Wennipuewa police station on 6 June 2006, when two human rights defenders accompanied a torture victim to attend an internal police inquiry at the Assistant Superintendent of Police’s (ASP) office. The police inquiry was […]

On June 5, the regional office of the Commission on Human Rights in General Santos City, southern Philippines, formally informed torture victim Jejhon Macalinsal and two companions that it would take up their four-year-old complaint of torture against the police, if they decide to pursue it. A lawyer representing the commission told them to execute […]

The numerous appointments to key national commissions by the executive president, contravening constitutional requirements, are a very clear indication of Sri Lanka’s drift from a law-based society to one in which the law plays a significantly reduced role.  While criticism against presidential actions has pointed to matters including the fact that no person is above […]