Administration of justice

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Devatha Pedige Jayathilaka from Karandupana, in the Kegalle District, for no apparent reasons, has been produced before the Kegalle Magistrate Court, having been framed on fabricated charges by the Kegalle Police, on 27 June 2015. Meanwhile the Rambukkana Police have also filed […]

Dear Friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned that a father and son were tortured for allegedly stealing from a convenience store. They were interrogated and beaten up to admit to the crime. The perpetrators were members of the Special Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit Active Auxiliary (SCAA).  CASE DETAILS: (Based on […]

Dear Friends, According to information received by the Asian Human Rights Commission, Mr. Neil Silva an owner of a hotel in Kandy has been illegally arrested, detained and produced before the Magistrate of Kandy on fabricated charges by the police officers attached to the Peradeniya Police Station on 3rd December 2015. Mr. Neil Silva states […]

Strengthen protection mechanisms and ensure accountability for human rights abuses (Bangkok, 9 May 2016)—We, the undersigned organizations and community-based networks, urge the Thai authorities and several mining companies to drop legal proceedings against community-based human rights defenders and call on Thai authorities to strengthen mechanisms to protect human rights defenders and ensure accountability for human […]

In this month five-year-old Hindu girl, Shazia Bheel, was murdered by Zahid Sheikh, a man who was dressed as a woman when he raped and murdered the child in Hyderabad. An FIR (# 22/2016), was lodged for murder and rape against the culprit on the compliant of the father of the deceased child. Women and […]

This week Just Asia begins with Pakistan, where three cases of honour killings have been reported from the country over the last 15 days, killing five women. Such acts are the result of a typical mindset that women must be killed for disobeying men, and besmirching their honour. The year 2015 saw more than 7,010 […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is concerned about the recent political move in Nepal. The political parties have ganged up to undermine the ongoing transitional justice process, to flout the verdict of the Supreme Court of Nepal – on how those involved in crimes committed in the conflict period can be given amnesty, and […]

The UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment Mr Juan E Mendez, published his preliminary findings on 7th May 2016 following an official visit to Sri Lanka. He has observed that torture is a common practice in Sri Lanka and structural reforms are required to prevent it. In […]

Dr. Deepika Udagama Chairman, National Human Rights Commission Head Office,  No. 165 Kynsey Road,  Borella, Colombo 08 Sri Lanka Dear Dr. Deepika Udagama, Request for special action regarding Ms M K Malani, presently being held at the Dumbara-Bogambara Prison – tortured, sexually abused and incarcerated under fabricated charges by Nawalapitiya Police The Asian Human Rights […]

Ms. Patnaree Chankij, a 40-year-old single mother of four children, including anti-junta student activist Mr. Sirawit, aka, ‘Ja New’, has been charged with defaming the monarchy. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deems Ms. Patnaree’s arrest a new low in the junta-ruled country. Mr. Sirawit is a Thammasat student activist who has been actively involved […]

Hello. On 9 May 2016, Tanya Shrivastava, a 21-year-old journalism student, made a distress call to 1091, the toll free womens’ helpline. An intern with The Times of India, a prominent Indian newspaper, Tanya had just survived an attempted kidnapping right outside her newspaper office. As she dialled, her kidnapper was trying to get way. What […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) would like to inform you that three police officers attached to Area Police Office Surkhet District have tortured two youth, aged 15 and 19. Following the torture, the policemen garlanded the young man and the juvenile with shoes and slippers and paraded them in the market. After […]

The pattern on display in the Bombay High Court yesterday, 9 May 2016, was not that of the cycle of drought affecting millions. It was that of callous – bordering on malicious – governance. According to media reports, like this one, the Maharashtra state government informed the Court that it would declare drought in over 29,000 […]

The Chief Justice of India, Mr.T.S. Thakur, has once again appealed to the Government of India regarding the immediate need to appoint judges in the country. Citing reports of the National Law Commission from 1987, Justice Thakur said that the Commission had assessed that to tackle court delays the country required at least 40,000 judges […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Independent Journalist Alliance (AJI) of Yogyakarta province, that the police along with vigilante groups forcibly dispersed the commemoration of the world press freedom day. By taking sides with vigilante and intolerant mobs, the police have failed to guarantee the freedom of press, […]

In a harrowing incident of honor killing a 16-year girl, Miss Amber, from Makol village near the town of Dunga Gali, distrct Abbottabad Khyber Pakhtun Khuwa (KPK) province was burned alive on 29th April 2016 for helping her friend elope. Because of her help her friend was married The incident caught media attention after a […]

Dear Friends,  The AHRC has received information from its partner organization Human Rights Alert in Manipur, that two persons have been killed and others injured due to police firing at a public protest in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. The public protest was organized to demand the release of activist Lobsang Gyatso, who has been protesting […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission received information that police officers attached to the Nawalapitiya Police have illegally arrested and severely tortured Ms. M K Malani, a resident of Dholosbage Estate, and later produced her before the Nawalapitiya Magistrate. She was detained when she tried to lodge a complaint at the Nawalapitiya police station […]

Bangladesh is today going through a deep political crisis that the global civil society is yet to fathom. For all practical purposes, the country is under a dictatorial regime that has usurped power through unfair means. Independent institutions like the Judiciary, Election Commission, and the National Human Rights Commission are completely under the control of […]

Now, there is a new Attorney General and a new Inspector General of Police. Whatever be the disputes about the manner in which their appointments were made, they are now the operators of two of the most vital systems of the state apparatus in Sri Lanka, the Attorney General’s Department and the police service. That […]