Administration of justice

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information on the case of torture against six street singers in Jakarta, who were charged with murder in June 2013. Two of them, Andro Supriyanto and Nurdin Prianto, were found guilty and sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment by the South Jakarta District Court […]

Independence Day Message As the country thinks back on the 66 years since its independence, there is unanimous agreement that the nation has failed to achieve any of the aspirations of independence. What is most glaringly horrendous is the vast numbers of crimes that are taking place. As a consequence, people are living in fear […]

The AHRC releases today the 15th Episode, of the Human Rights Asia Weekly Roundupwith special reports from Cambodia. In this week’s programme we bring you the following stories from across Asia; In Cambodia four persons were killed and many others wounded after police opened fire at protestors demanding an increase of the minimum wage. The AHRC […]

Under the Emergency Decree on Government Administration in a State of Emergency (2005), the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra decreed a State of Emergency in Bangkok and surrounding areas on January 22, 2014. The Emergency Decree gives blanket powers to state actors to take a wide range of actions to resolve the State of […]

The parents of Shiva Shankar Das (21) who was allegedly poisoned to death are still waiting for justice and compensation after two years. Shiva Shankar had a love affair with a 20-year old woman from a so-called ‘upper caste’ community and was allegedly poisoned by the girl’s relatives on January 30, 2012. The Jagaran Media […]

The long marchers are threatened by the ISI to stop their march or they would be severely dealt with The participants of the long march from Karachi to Islamabad for the recovery of Baloch missing persons are facing threats from the notorious intelligence agency, the ISI. The marchers have been threatened not to enter Punjab […]

The AHRC releases today the 14th Episode, of the Human Rights Asia Weekly Round up  with special reports from India and Hong Kong. In this week’s programme we bring you a special report from India, on how humiliation and hunger continues in refugee camps in the Uttar Pradesh. Four months after the unprecedented riots that […]

Despite the political and social changes in Burma (Myanmar) of the last two years, police and soldiers continue to enjoy impunity for the murder and torture of civilians. Despite the constant efforts of the families of victims to obtain justice, the military and police institutions are resistant to efforts to have perpetrators in their ranks […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received the updated information that courts and police did not take any action even though they found that U Than Htun’s death, which occurred while detained in police custody in Burma, was not natural. In the post mortem inquiry, the lower courts decided that the death […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the abuse experienced by a 23-year-old Indonesian domestic worker in Hong Kong. The victim, Erwiana, was allegedly assaulted by her employer during her eight month stay in Hong Kong. She did not receive any salary for the eight months in which she worked […]

In late December, just days after the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) claimed that the file for the case of the disappearance of Somchai Neelaphaijit had been lost, Niran Adulayasak, Director of the DSI Special Criminal Case Office 1 announced in a news report on Thai PBS that the file had been found (see AHRC-STM-242-2013 for analysis […]

The Bangladesh Government and Election Commission have jointly staged their tragicomic ‘general election’ on January 5, 2014. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) reflected pre-election realities and portended election day and post-election horrors in itslast statement. January 5 fulfilled its promise of violence, rigging, and farce; now it remains to be seen how low Bangladesh […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission is pleased to announce the release of the 12th episode of the Human Rights Asia Weekly Roundup. We start this episode with a special AHRC report on the sham Bangladesh national elections which were boycotted by the main opposition party. The elections were marred by violence and the lack of legitimacy […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the National NGO Child Rights Coalition and local journalists about children housed in prison in Kokrajhar, Assam. The AHRC is concerned, as such an arrangement is denying children their basic rights. The children are being housed in prison not for any delinquency on their part […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased to inform you that the three community organizers whom were reported to have been illegally arrested, tortured, detained and falsely charged in November 2009, have been released after they were exonerated from the charges against them. UPDATED INFORMATION: In our appeal in February 2010 (AHRC-UAC-005-2010), […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Punjab concerning the protest by fasting held by Mr. Gurbaksh Singh Khalsa, who ended his fast after 43 days, on 29 December 2013. Khalsa had commenced his protest at the Amb Singh Gurdwara on 14 November to secure the release of all Sikh prisoners that […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission expresses concern regarding the safety of the common candidate of the opposition Maithripala Sirisena, who has faced several attacks during the past several days. He has himself alerted the public to the threat to his life in a statement he made yesterday (4th January 2015). We urge the Government and the […]

Bangladesh’s incumbent regime is forcing the nation to witness a fake ‘general election’, scheduled tomorrow, 5 January 2014. All the opposition parties, except the allies of the ruling regime, have boycotted this election. The government is accused of extreme politicisation of the country’s civil administration, along with the police, paramilitary agencies, and all key institutions, […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission welcomes Order No. 51/2013 of 30 December 2013 by the president of Burma (Myanmar), issuing a general amnesty for all persons imprisoned or facing trial or investigation for certain categories of political offences. The categories include persons accused or convicted of offences under the colonial-era Unlawful Associations Act, for charges […]

As I wanted to discuss many things, and as I found no one else to discuss these things with, I was happy to see you on a branch of a tree in our garden. I told myself, “Ah, here is someone I can talk to.” As I approached and greeted you, you nodded to me […]