Administration of justice

(Hong Kong, August 21, 2015) What can we do when repression is legal? This question is asked by social activists across the world, fighting against their repressive nations. Concern for the shrinking spaces for civil society and the challenges faced by those working against repression at the grassroots level are explored by Erik Wendt and […]

A Press Release from British Pakistani Christian Association forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Image of Gujrat Hate spilled onto the streets after a large evangelical conference was organised in the city of Gujrat for August 15th. The conference had been organised by Pastor Aftab Gill, son of Pastor Fazal Gill (RIP). The […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns the continuing police violence in Nepal, which has escalated in recent weeks, following the proposed demarcation of Nepal into 6 states. Many ethnic and other groups have taken to the streets against the proposed demarcation. Due to constant strikes, people’s lives and livelihoods have been thrown into chaos. […]

By Javeria Younes The ongoing fight against militancy and terrorism has seen many a fallen soldiers, the latest being Punjab Home Minister Col. (retd.) Shuja Khanzada, who was killed along with 16 others in a suicide blast at his political office in Shadi Khan near Attock on 16 August 2015. In another incident, political worker […]

An article from the Kathmandu Post forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission The Far-West, the Karnali region and the Madhes have begun to burn again, and the conflagration seems to be spreading all over the country. The leaders of the ruling coalition and their opinion makers blame the marginalized – especially the Madhesi leaders […]

The double defeat suffered by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the Presidential Election of 8 January 2015 and in the Parliamentary Elections concluded on August 17, hopefully, marks the end of a long period (1978 to 2015) of onslaught on democracy and the rule of law. All eyes will turn to see how the new […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about a 17 year old young man. His grandmother was missing and later found dead, floating in the Maussakele Reservoir nearby. The family members sought police help to investigate for a possible crime. Without proper investigation the young man was arrested, tortured and pressured […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), along with the Terai Human Rights Defenders (THRD) Alliance, condemns the use of excessive force by the police in the Bhardah area of Saptari District. Today, in Bhardah, the police fired 100 rounds, in addition to tear gas shelling. The shootings have resulted in the death of Rajiv Raut, […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward an appeal from the Centre for Research and Advocacy, Manipur, regarding the displacement and injustice faced by villagers affected by the Mapithel Dam construction. For more information, please contact: Jiten Yumnam Secretary, Centre for Research and Advocacy, Manipur Sega Road, Hodam Leirak Imphal Manipur […]

A Press Release from the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and World Organisation Against Torture (Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture;OMCT) forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) PRESS RELEASE – THE OBSERVATORY BANGLADESH: Judicial harassment against free speech defenders continues Paris-Geneva, August 14, 2015 – The three-year prison sentence handed down to Mr. Mahmudur Rahman yesterday morning by […]

A Press Release from Christian Solidarity Worldwide forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) For Immediate Release 20 July 2015-United Nations human rights experts, the European Union, UK, US and other voices from the international community have expressed their concern regarding the detention of over 200 lawyers and activists in China since 10 July. […]

A three-member team of Women In Struggle for Empowerment (WISE) visited the town of Hussain Khan Wala, Kasur district on 11 August 2015 to gather facts and assess the situation on ground regarding the child sex abuse scandal that has recently surfaced. The team, headed by Bushra Khaliq, the Focal person of Anti-Torture Alliance Pakistan, […]

This week’s Roundup reports on the encouraging re-opening of a three-year-old crime investigation relating to the death of Sri Lankan rugby player Wasim Thajudeen. While it was initially determined to be an accidental death, allegations of it being a murder committed by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son have long circulated. The body has now been […]

An editorial from The Statesman forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission The road to a new Constitution in democratic Nepal has been paved with good intentions, but the ride may yet be bumpy. This week’s curtain raiser doesn’t readily inspire optimism, if Monday’s firing at Surkhet is any indication. The political consensus to divide […]

A Press Release from the Right Livelihood Award Foundation forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Friday, 14 August 2015 Hong Kong The Asia Press Office, Right Livelihood Award Foundation, would like to forward you an appeal on behalf of over 40 Laureates of the Right Livelihood Award, also known as ‘The Alternative Nobel Prize’. Laureates […]

By Javeria Younes August 11 is a historic day that marks the celebration of Minorities’ Day in Pakistan. It was on this date that the father of the nation, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, in a speech at the first Legislative Assembly of the country on 11 August 1947, i.e. three days before the official announcement of […]

Urikhimbam Jenison The Manipur state government has closed down all educational institutions in the state in an attempt to curb the ongoing movement for the implementation of the Inner Line Permit System (ILPS) in Manipur. It has been a month since this decision was taken. In other words, students have been kept out of their […]

With the exhumation of Wasim Thajudeen’s body, and the start of the reinvestigation into the case a large body of information has been placed before the public by various sources. Therefore, it would be quite natural for the people to want to have truthful answers to many of the questions have been raised through such […]

An article written by Kishali Pinto Jayawardene and published in The Sunday Times forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Deaths of innocents in Sri Lanka have had a long and terrible history. No political party can wash its hands of this blood despite the hypocritical outrage often professed in public. Such fire breathing rhetoric […]

The initial shock at the serial sexual abuse committed over a decade in three villages of Punjab Province of Pakistan has unfortunately given way to something even more tragic: an understanding of the true scale of sexual violence committed on children in Pakistan, something that far exceeds what has been unearthed, and something that appears […]