Administration of justice

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 […]

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. […]