Administration of justice

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 […]

Dear Friends The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information that a family from Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) is forced to migrate from their ancestral home due to the brutal tribal custom of Ghag whereby any man can forcibly demands or claims the hand of a woman, without her own or her […]

( Hong Kong , 3 May 2016) “Conflict in Kashmir is the root cause of the problem. It has made the life, property, dignity and chastity of Kashmiri women insecure. With a revival of militancy this scenario of insecurity is increasing day by day,” notes Dr Sheikh Showkat Hussain, the Head and Dean of the Department of Law, School of […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) first learned from national and local sources that on May 2, police officers arrested at least 1,724 indigenous Papuans who took part in a peaceful protest in Jayapura and other cities in Papua. Subsequently, the AHRC received updated information that the number of indigenous Papuans arrested (primarily students) was […]

Dear Friends, The AHRC has received information from its partner organization MASUM that a man was allegedly forcibly picked up from his shop by officials of the Excise department, beaten up, and left at the emergency gate of the Dinhata Sub-Divisional Hospital in West Bengal. He was declared “brought dead”. CASE NARRATIVE: The victim, Sachin […]

Keynote address at the Conference on Human Rights Solidarity Bangladesh, May 2016, Bangkok, Thailand Discussing Bangladesh’s situation from the human rights perspective is no doubt a difficult issue, given the chaotic situation that has developed in both the country’s political and criminal justice systems, during recent times. It may not be of much comfort to […]

Labour Day in Pakistan is oxymoronic, because the day is just another holiday for the nation’s better off population, while the labour class toils under the blazing sun. Perhaps on no other day does the class difference between the haves and have nots manifest itself as clearly as it does on this day. Throughout the […]

This week, Just Asia continues its report on the prosecution of Indonesian activists for crimes against public authorities. Hundreds of labor activists have been demonstrating peacefully outside the court, calling for an end to their unfair trial and criminalization. For more details, Just Asia presents the speech of Michael, one labor activist, and a short […]

Last Sunday, the Chief Justice of India, Justice T.S. Thakur, made an emotional plea to the Executive to increase the number of judges and fill up the vacant posts to fix the issue of the severe shortage of judges in India. A visibly crestfallen man, the Chief Justice spoke in detail about the challenges faced […]

This week Just Asia begins with nine mothers cementing their feet in front of the Indonesian Presidential Palace on April 12. The mothers are calling on President Widodo to stop the development of a cement factory in Rembang, Central Java, which will damage a resource rich environment. Just Asia speaks to Mr. Ki Bagus Hadi […]

What would happen in a society where there is no sense that murder is a grave wrong to be prevented by the state and the people? The same thing could be asked about rape, sexual abuse of women, children or anyone else, about robbery and theft, extortion and drug trafficking. Many more wrongs against individuals […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward the interview by Mr. Basil Fernando, Director – Policies & Programmes of the AHRC in News Line TV 1. In the interview Mr. Fernando speaks about the importance of re-establishing a criminal justice framework in Sri Lanka that is capable of protecting all freedoms of the people. In […]

A group of people at a workshop identified the following as the basic adverse consequences of delays in litigation: • It changes the way litigation is conducted and encourages exchanging favors, as well as lying. • It encourages using criminals and other third parties to settle disputes. • Many judges preside over the same trial […]