Administration of justice

INDIA: Right Livelihood Award Laureates condemn incitement to murder Swami Agnivesh

A Press Release from Asia Press Office, Right Livelihood Award Foundation, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) We, the undersigned Laureates of the Right Livelihood Award, and the Right Livelihood Award Foundation, are deeply alarmed by reports published in Punjab Kesari, Dainik Bhaskar, Dainik Jagaran, Navodaya Times, and ABP News Channel on 24th […]

INDIA: A police officer brutally assaulted in Manipur

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information about a police officer, Mr Amitabh Singh Arambam.  He was brutally beaten by the security contingent of the Manipur Assembly Speaker, while he was on his way home with his wife and children.  Mr Amitabh Singh Arambam is known for his honesty and integrity at […]

ASIA: “We need a new frontier in the human rights field. This frontier is the frontier of institutional reform.”

Article | Asia | 17-05-2015

An Article by Basil Fernando  This is a speech delivered by Basil Fernando at  The Fifth  Human Rights Cities Forum-  As the Keynote address for the Special  Session on Asian Human Rights – Human Rights in Asia and Vision of Human Rights City- 16th May 2015. It is useful, I think, to recall the aims […]

INDIA: Wife gang-raped by husband’s friends in Kerala; police stonewall victim

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information from Nervazhi, a human rights organisation based in Thrissur District of the Indian state of Kerala concerning the case of Mary (name changed) who was gang-raped by her husband’s friends. Mary struggled to lodge a complaint against the perpetrators with the local police. The police […]

ASIA: Weekly Roundup, Episode 73

In this week’s Roundup, AHRC TV brings to you critical stories from the region. The programme begins with an update on Nepal, where a second major earthquake has rocked the nation. Renewed rescue efforts, along with relief work, have recommenced, but are inadequate for the needs of the people of the Himalayan nation.  Staying in Nepal, […]

PAKISTAN: Killing of 46 Ismailis utterly condemnable

Today, persons hailing from the Ismaili community (a branch of Shia Islam) have been attacked while they were travelling on a passenger bus managed and operated by the community. According to media reports, six unidentified assailants on motorbikes opened fire on the bus from all sides, leaving at least 46 dead and 24 injured. Many […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Court martial exonerates soldiers of murder of journalist while death inquest in civilian court still underway

On 8 May 2015 the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission issued a short statement (No. 5/2015) to the effect that two soldiers accused of involvement in the killing of freelance journalist Ko Par Gyi on 4 October 2014 have been acquitted of any crime by a summary court martial. The statement explained that the men, […]

SRI LANKA: Undoing corruption – the colossal, the trivial, and the real

Gabriel Garcia Marquez once spoke of Fidel Castro as a person “incapable of conceiving any idea that is not colossal”. During the last few months in Sri Lanka too there has been an interest in colossal ideas. One such colossal ambition is the idea of eliminating corruption.  It even became a major theme in an […]

SRI LANKA: Deterioration of the legal intellect (7): Delays in adjudication as a manifestation of learned helplessness

by Basil Fernando A young man, then 18 years old, filed a communication on 28th January 2003, about an incident that took place on 18th April 2002. The UNHRC came to a finding on 14th July 2006. The UNHRC found that the Sri Lankan Government has violated the rights of the man by its failure to adjudicate […]

PAKISTAN: Prevention of Electronic Crime Bill – strangling freedom of expression some more (6)

by Javeria Younes The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has initiated a series of articles on the proposed Prevention of Electronic Crime Act, 2015. The Bill has draconian provisions that seek to muzzle the freedom of expression and speech over the Internet to discourage dissent and stifle intellectual discourse. The Bill has been presented in Parliament […]

ASIA: Weekly Roundup, Episode 72

In this week’s Roundup, AHRC TV brings you two stories from South Asia. The programme continues its coverage in Nepal, where the people of the Himalayan nation begin what is going to be a long struggle to rebuild their lives. AHRC TV provides viewers of the Weekly Roundup exclusive interviews with Nepali citizens who share the problems they are experiencing […]

INDIA: Where cheating police officers and corrupt politicians rule

Kerala Inspector General of Police, Mr. T.J. Jose was expelled from a public examination centre on 4 May 2015 for cheating. Jose, who arrived at the centre in his official vehicle, in civilian dress, was caught red-handed by the invigilator copying from photocopies of booklets he had hidden inside a hand towel. The officer was […]

PHILIPPINES: Excusing abuses by public officials

Photograph by CJ Chanco © Note: this article was first published in latest issue of the Torture: Asian and Global Perspectives (Torture Magazine) by Danilo Reyes In August 2014, police arrested a Chinese national caught transporting ten kilos of high grade shabu (poor man’s cocaine) in his car in Quezon City. The suspect was visibly having difficulty understanding […]

WORLD: We cannot sit & wait for cases

Wolfgang Kaleck interviewed by John Clancey Wolfgang Kaleck is a German civil rights attorney and the General Secretary for the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights. Against huge odds he has sought prosecution charges against a number of US officials and personnel in connected with the alleged human rights abuses at Abu Ghraib and […]

PAKISTAN: Measures must be taken to ensure the safety and protection of human rights defenders-HRCP

A Press Release from Human Rights Commission of Pakistan forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Islamabad, May 08: A consultation organised by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) here on Thursday concluded with an 11-point charter of demands calling upon the government to ensure safety and protection for human rights defenders and to […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Activist prosecuted for protesting against confiscated land

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that activist Thant Zin Htet has been charged for taking part in a peaceful protest in 2014 against lands seized by the government. He was arrested when he arranged a welcoming for student protesters marching from Mandalay to Yangon in February 2015. A Township Sub-administrative Officer […]

INDIA: Attack on Greenpeace India is an attack on free speech

Statement | India | 06-05-2015

The announcement by Greenpeace India of its imminent shutdown is saddening. However, it was only a matter of time. How long could the organization have continued running with its bank accounts frozen and with a ban on foreign funds? That this has happened after the Delhi High Court’s judgments in two cases related to the […]

HONG KONG/PHILIPPINES: Defending the Defenders

A Press Release from Hong Kong Campaign for the Advancement of Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Defending the Defenders: When Human Rights Advocates, Environmental Activists and Indigenous Peoples in Cordillera Are Under Attack When:   May 9, 2015, Saturday, 3:00-5:00PM Venue: HKCI Office, Mongkok 10/F Ngai […]

NEPAL: Earthquake exposes crisis in governance

Statement | Nepal | 05-05-2015

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is particularly concerned about the residents of villages in Nepal devastated by the impact of a 7.8 Richter scale earthquake, and its destructive aftershocks. The loss of human lives, over 7,000 and counting, and the destruction of infrastructure supporting daily lives, already under stress in one of the poorest […]

PAKISTAN: Unsilencing Pakistan

An article from The Nation, written by Marvi Sirmed forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Despite a loud voice from civil society, later from the judiciary, the Baloch issue is far from being untangled. Those who raised it have been risking their lives and have been labeled as traitors. Renowned journalist Hamid Mir had […]