Administration of justice

In the early morning of December 27, the authorities addressed a large crowd of people protesting outside Badureliya District Hospital. They had come to support a Member of Parliament who was staging a hunger strike demanding the reopening of the hospital. The authorities announced to the crowd that the hospital would be reopened the next […]

Today, December 23, 2013, the Asian Human Rights Commission releases the 11th Episode, of the Human Asia Rights Weekly Roundup with special reports on Labour Rights from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India. In these countries, specifically in Bangladesh, labour rights have been a matter of serious international concern following several tragic incidents that have led to the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the death of Danny Kogoya, regional commander of the Free Papua Movement (Organisasi Papua Merdeka, OPM), in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea. The cause of death was reported to be liver failure due to the presence of unusual chemical substances in his body. A […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received disturbing information from  local media KBK Samachar and CGNET Swara regarding two bonded labourers in Kalahandi district of Odisha who have had their hands chopped by middlemen. The AHRC has learnt that the middlemen illegally confined the labourers for almost a week before the incident. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information on the torture case of June 2013 of six minors and young adults in Jakarta. As of yet, criminal investigation of their torturers is yet to take place. Four of the six victims have been falsely convicted of murder. The Jakarta courts have […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission has learned that direct intervention from the Attorney General’s Office of Bangladesh is preventing the release of ASM Nasiruddin Elan, Director of Odhikar, a Bangladesh based human rights organisations, despite the High Court having granted bail to the prominent human rights defender. That the Attorney General’s Office can impede a high […]

The culture of women’s movement often set it root in motherhood as symbol or a weapon to create space. The notion of motherhood proved instrumental for women struggle for justice world wide. Patriarchal values existing in the society portrays women as inferior, however, this portrayal raises their presence and accessibility in public life as evident […]

With the change in Army command on November 27, a crackdown against the people in Balochistan started. A prominent lawyer, Mr. Haider KB son of Khuda Bux age 33, resident of Koshkalat, was arrested by plain clothed persons riding in a non registered two door jeep. The police stations in Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, […]

Dear friends,  We wish to share with you the following article from the Lawyer’s Weekly. Asian Human Rights Commission  Hong Kong ————- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-FAT-025-2013 November 28, 2013 An article from the Lawyer’s Weekly forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA/AUSTRALIA: LCA condemns country’s worsening rule of law The Law Council of […]

On November 22, a suspect in the killing of a police constable and his wife was himself killed after arrest. The suspect was a 30-year-old former instructor of the Commando Battalion of the army. It is alleged that he was taken to identify some weapons and when he attempted to attack the police with one […]

Nine journalists suffered the worse kind of suppression with assassinations and attacks ( Graphic Courtesy: pakistanfoemonitor.org ) With the successive governments the reality of freedom of expression grows thinner and thinner as the right guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan is further constricted. Apart from blatant interference by the government, freedom of expression is also being […]

Dear friends,  We wish to share with you the following article from the Financial Times (Daily FT), written by Ashwin Hemmathagama. Asian Human Rights Commission  Hong Kong ————- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-FAT-024-2013 November 27, 2013 An article from the Financial Times (Daily FT) forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: Eran drops bombshell […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to announce the launch of its weekly video news bulletin, the Human Rights Asia – Weekly Roundup. The seventh episode, released today, 27 November 2013, features a special focus on police torture for the purpose of extortion. Several examples from countries in Asia, such as the Philippines and Bangladesh, […]

As we begin this second meeting let us start with a short reflection on the overall aims of the project to promote the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”) and our progress in working to prevent torture in Asia. In this regard, there have been some historically important achievements this year in the Asian region. The adoption […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission condemns the detention of ASM Nasiruddin Elan and demands his immediate release. Mr. ASM Nasiruddin Elan, Director of Bangladeshi human rights organization, Odhikar, has been detained in prison by the Cyber Crimes Tribunal of Dhaka, today, November 6, 2013. This detention is part of the continued repression against the whistle-blowers […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) would like to express grave concern about the current state of the draft amnesty bill in Thailand. The draft amnesty bill (in full, the Draft Amnesty for Those Who Committed Offences as a Result of the Political Protests and Political Expression of the People B.E…..) is broad, vague, and […]

The fact that every third child of Gujarat is malnourished comes as no revelation. It cannot be for a state whose Chief Minister Narendra Modi, now Prime Ministerial Candidate of the main opposition party in the country, had infamously blamed the growing malnutrition in his state on ‘beauty conscious girls’ trying to maintain slim figures. […]

Between 314 and 544 persons have been executed in Iran in 2013 alone 16 Baloch political prisoners were executed in Iran in an act of revenge for an attack on the border security forces. The executed Balochis were already in Zahedan prison and took no part in the attack. It was alleged that the Baloch […]

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission ASIA: Watershed legislation criminalising torture & custodial violence enacted in Bangladesh The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) congratulates the people of Bangladesh for the enactment of the Torture and Custodial Death (Prohibition) Act, 2013. The Jatiyo Shangsad (National Parliament) enacted the draft law, the Torture and Custodial Death (Prohibition) Bill, […]

The government of Pakistan has – within a short period of less than two weeks – promulgated two draconian laws, ostensibly, to combat terrorism. The first ordinance was promulgated on October 11. It has amended the Anti-Terrorist Act, 1997, and curtailed fundamental rights of citizens. Now the government has gone ahead and promulgated another ordinance […]