Administration of justice

A Statement from the Burmese Students in Hong Kong forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission We, the Burmese students in Hong Kong, stand by our fellow students in Myanmar(Burma), who are now courageously fighting against the newly enacted National Education Law, which has been designed to perpetuate the military-dictatorship-era education system. Although we are […]

This week’s episode of Weekly Roundup brings you stories from across Asia The episode begins in Sri Lanka where the former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake is being reinstated and the recent de facto Chief Justice Mohan Peiris has been ousted; a victory for the return to rule of law. AHRC TV then turns to Bangladesh where the […]

On 23 January 2013 the Criminal Court in Bangkok convicted Somyot Prueksakasemsuk of two violations of Article 112 of the Criminal Code. Somyot Prueksakasemsuk is a long-time labour rights activist and human rights defender. The Court found Somyot guilty on both charges, and he was sentenced to ten years in prison in this case, as […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that two ethnic Kachin teachers have been tortured, sexual assaulted, and murdered. The two girls were volunteer teachers for the Kachin Baptist Church serving in a village near to the conflict area between Burma army and the Kachin armed group in Northern Shan State. They […]

India is celebrating its 66th Republic Day today. The national capital territory is under a layered security blanket, to ensure the celebrations will not be marred by any inconvenient incident, and that the foreign as well as national dignitaries will return home safe. Some amongst the millions of Indians watching today’s celebrations may wonder why such […]

Police excess is quiet a norm in Pakistan but on January 23 police transcend their authority and baton charged school children who were demanding that their school run by trust be reopened and administration not handed over to government. The students of Government Islamia High School near Bhati Gate Lahore along with their parents were […]

India has never been known for investing in the health of its citizenry. The nation’s public expenditure on health hovers around 1% of its gross domestic product; it is among the lowest in the world. This makes the recent decision to slash the health budget by 20% appalling. The move will not just deflate citizen […]

This week’s episode of Weekly Roundup brings you stories from across Asia. The episode begins in Nepal where the drafting of a new constitution has stalled, leading to violence. Advocate Dipendra Jha, provides a view from Kathmandu. AHRC TV then turns to Burma, for more on illegal land grabbing. Thein Than Oo, a Chief Court Advocate, elaborates. […]

An article from the Kathmandu Post, written by Ram Bhandari forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission On January 13, a Recommendation Committee made public a list of 68 people, mostly lawyers, political affiliates and ex-bureaucrats, for election to two transitional justice commissions—the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Commission on Enforced Disappearance (CED). […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a young man, Faraz Alam, who has been tortured to death in police custody and the Sindh Provincial Government, has to-date failed to conduct an inquiry and to set up a judicial commission of inquiry into this incident despite promises by the Minister […]

The 100-day reform programme of the new government is an opportune moment for rebuilding the legal structure of Sri Lanka, a precondition for achieving the “good governance” that has been promised. The legal structure of Sri Lanka has suffered a great fall, due to what has been termed as “tomfooling with the constitution”. From 1972 […]

Following the gruesome incident of the massacre of children at the Army Public School on 16th December 2014, within the military Cantonment, in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtoonkha Province, the government under pressure by the military immediately lifted the moratorium on death sentences which were continued since August 2008. During the period from 22ndDecember 2014 to date, 21 […]

A Statement from the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission During the latter half of January 2015, there are five cases handled by the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) to go on trial including; PDRC demonstration site bombing in Trat province (Black Case no. O1213/2557, Trat Provincial Court) […]

An Interview with Basil Fernando on the election in Sri Lanka by Qantara.de forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Maithripala Sirisena was the surprise winner of last week’s presidential election in Sri Lanka. He was swept to power on a platform of political reform and an end to corruption. Sirisena has promised to transfer […]

A Statement from the Bar Association Of Sri Lanka forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission At an Emergency Meeting of the Executive Committee of the BASL, which was attended by close to 90% of its members, it was unanimously decided to issue a Statement calling for the resignation of Hon. Mohan Peiris, PC, in […]

This is a second interview in a series of interviews by the AHRC which seeks views and  comments from jurists on the amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan to establish military courts. Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid, former judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan criticized the establishment of the military courts in order to curb […]

A Statement from the Australia West Papua Association (Sydney) forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission This report details incidents of human rights abuses and events that occurred in West Papua during 2014. It is by no means exhaustive. In the report AWPA uses the name “West Papua” to refer to the whole of the […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission wrote to the newly appointed Minister for Finance Ravi Karunanayake, congratulating him on his appointment, and stating that the establishment of good governance as promised by the new government requires budgetary allocations for law enforcement, and the prevention of corruption. The AHRC stated in the letter that “… As the […]

In this week’s episode of Weekly Roundup covers a wide range of events in Bangladesh, Burma, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The episode begins with analysis of legal developments in Pakistan. Hear what AHRC experts have to say on the increase in power granted to military courts. Next, AHRC TV turns to Burma where new protests over […]

A decisive new stage in the political life of Sri Lanka has arisen as a result of the people’s verdict, which overwhelmingly affirms the commitment of Sri Lankans to democracy and the rule of law. Victory to the new President Maithripala Sirisena and the New Democratic Alliance is a mandate given by the people to […]