Administration of justice

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Udon Thani Environmental Conservation Group about the intensification of ongoing threats and surveillance of human rights defenders who are members of the group. They have been engaged in a long-standing struggle for community participation in decisions about potash mining in Udon Thani province. Similar […]

Amila Sampath, founder of the Human Rights Asia Weekly Roundup presenting its’ 64 episode ( AHRC Photo) This week’s episode of Weekly Roundup covers recent event involving human rights groups in Asia. The show begins with an announcement about the Asian Human Rights Commission. The AHRC is moving to a new office in Hong Kong. In Mumbai, India, the […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) strongly condemns the arrest of reputed human rights defenders and advocates Thushar Nirmal Sarathy and Jaison C. Cooper under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in Kerala. They, like many others in the state, have been labeled “Maoist sympathizer” and are in jail since 30 January 2015. Jaison, […]

A Press Release from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) On Monday, 23 February 2015, at 13:30 hours, the Criminal Court is going to deliver a verdict on the Black Case no. 3528/2557 filed by the public prosecutor against Mr. Patiwat (last name withheld) and Mrs. Pornthip (last […]

A Press Release from Erwiana Sulistyaningsih forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) 10th February, 2015, Hong Kong SAR: I am happy that I won my case and the justice for me and other victims are finally upheld. I would like to thank Riyanthi for helping me at the airport and make my abused case known […]

Women and minorities are the most marginalized faction of the Pakistani society; the Muslim majority is increasingly being intolerant towards people professing religion other than Islam. In a recent case of increasing rape incident of Christian girls, as reported by British Pakistani Christian Association, two minor Christian girls from Jaranwala, Punjab, Farzana aged 14   and […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information that no redress has yet been provided for farmers from central Burma that were attacked violently by the police during peaceful protest. Without any warrant or court order, the police used guns on the protesters. Farmers lodged a case against the police but […]

A Statement from Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission TFDP STATEMENT February 11, 2015 Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) calls on the immediate implementation of the Review Resolution issued by the Department of Justice Secretary Leila De Lima and the immediate release of the two Agta […]

An article from Kathmandu Post forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission The government has finally formed a Commission on Enforced Disappearances (CED) and a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), as committed to in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2006. On February 9, a Recommendation Committee recommended names for the respective commissions with political consensus, […]

Since the Peshawar carnage, touted to be Pakistan’s 9/11, the Chief of Army Staff General (COAS) Raheel Shareef has been on a spree of visits to garner international support for the war on terror. The army’s confused stance on issues of terrorism and militancy has received a skeptic response from the international community who believe […]

A Statement from Cambodian Civil Society Organisations forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission We, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) underwriting this statement, condemn the repeated and ongoing violation of communities’ rights in Botumsakor and Kirisakor District, Koh Kong Province, by the Union Development Group. In 2014-2015, Civil Society documented a series of evictions conducted by […]

A Statement from Lawyers for Democracy, Sri Lanka. forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission “Lawyers for Democracy” views with deep concern the death of Marimuttu Manoj, a youth from Talawakelle, while under the custody of the Talawakelle Police as a suspect. It is reported by police that the suspect, while being transferred in a […]

A Statement from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Lahore, February 04, 2015: The international conference on disappearances in Asia, held in Islamabad on Feb 2-3, 2015, has called upon all Asian states to take effective measures to eliminate the practice of enforced and involuntary disappearances. These states […]

“The idea that after the fall of the USSR we would have this liberal democracy spreading around the world was of course naive but, in many cases, these are issues of power. We have a Western elite that isn’t really interested in democracy unless its friends win. Otherwise, they are happier with a dictator whom […]

This week’s special episode on Sri Lanka brings you an exclusive interview with Basil Fernando, Director for Policy and Programme Development at the Asian Human Rights Commission. Mr Fernando has just returned from a visit to Sri Lanka, a country in the midst of dramatic changes after the surprise electoral victory of opposition leader Maithripala […]

Today, (6th February 2015) the Rupavahini, TV channel in Sri Lanka, telecast a one hour interview with Basil Fernando of the Asian Human Rights Commission in its early morning programme ‘Ayubowan Suba Dawasak”- the morning talk show. The Rupavahini morning show host, Gimananda Rajapaksa interviewed Basil Fernando on many of the current issues such as the proposed constitutional reforms and […]

An interview published in the UCA News, Thailand forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Prominent Sri Lankan rights lawyer Basil Fernando was effectively forced from his homeland amid mounting death threats. Now, 13 years after he left, Fernando has returned to Sri Lanka following last month’s surprise ouster of strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was […]

මාධ්‍ය වාර්තා සඳහන්කර තිබුණේ නව අධිකරණ ඇමති විජේදාස රාජපක්‍ෂ මහතා විසින් සිදුකර තිබු ප‍්‍රකාශයක් වන අපරාධ මැඩලීම සඳහා කළ හැකි සියළුම  ක‍්‍රියාමාර්ග ගන්නා බවත් එහිදී අවශ්‍ය නම් මරණ දඬුමව නැවත ක‍්‍රියාත්මක කරණ බවත්ය. අමාත්‍යවරයාගේ ප‍්‍රකාශනය ආසියානු මානව හිමිකම් කොමිෂම විසින් පිළිගන්නා අතරේ, මරණ දඬුවම ක‍්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම අපරාධ මැඩලීම සඳහා වන අරමුණ ඉෂ්ඨ කරගැනීම සඳහා වන විකල්පය […]

The media has reported a speech made by the new Minister of Justice Wijedasa Rajapaksa wherein the Minister has stated that everything will be done to curb the increase in crime including, if necessary, the re-imposition of the death sentence. While welcoming the Minister’s announcement that all measures will be taken to curb crime, the […]

The 67th anniversary of the declaration of independence will take place as a hopeful event. The defeat of the repressive and corrupt Mahinda Rajapaksa regime and the resolution of the crisis of judicial independence that was caused by the illegal removal of Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake from the post of Chief Justice have created this environment. That […]