Administration of justice

Dear friends,             The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding an indefinite hunger strike (fast unto death) undertaken by the people affected by the steep hike in user fee in the Sanjeevani Hospital run in Shaktinagar by the National Thermal Power Corporation. The AHRC has learnt that […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that the workers who were illegally dismissed whom the Department of Labour and Employment (DoLE) allowed to return to work are now being subjected to repressive and inhumane policies by the employing company. The policies are a clear violation of the DoLE order; however, […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the case concerning the congregation of Batak Protestant Church (HKBP) Filadelfia in Bekasi. The leader of the congregation, Reverend Palti Panjaitan, has been named as a suspect by the police after he previously defended himself from an attack by local residents of […]

An article from The Sunday Times forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission As family members of a murdered ruling party politician travelled to Geneva this week to lay their case for denial of justice before the United Nations Human Rights Council, the ironies are palpable, almost painful. Are we to see in coming months, […]

Ms. Perveen Rehman (56), worked for the betterment of the poor and neglected When a small lady weighing hardly 60 kilograms working for the betterment of poor slum-dwellers, and amongst the under-privileged in poorer residential areas, is viewed as a dire threat to the Taliban and the local administration, the sanity of these institutions, and […]

(Photo courtesy of the Daily Express) The small incident of a quarrel between three Christian and Muslim friends during a drinking session (of alcohol) turned into the ransacking, looting and burning of 180 Christian houses in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province. The fighting between the friends happened on Tuesday, March 5 but after three […]

A group of hundreds of relatives of the disappeared from Mannar and Vavuniya were to arrive on the 5th night in Colombo by buses to share with the people in the South their pathetic stories about the disappearances of their loved ones during and after the war, and then to present a petition to the […]

The US sponsored resolution against neighbouring Sri Lanka has become a discussion point in India. Debates in the parliament and in the media are about whether India should support or oppose the resolution. Government of India has not decided yet, though some politicians, including the main opposition party, the BJP, have been demanding that India […]

A Golden Opportunity to abolish self-contradictory Franchise System and Restore true Justice and Democracy in Pakistan The world has strongly and repeatedly drawn the attention of Pakistan to its self-contradictory franchise system which denies the Ahmadi Muslims the fundamental right to vote.( Click here to read our previous statement on the issue) The Supreme Court of […]

Avinash Pandey* The decision of going naked in protest to the oppression committed on them by POSCO and its supporters must not had come easily to the women of Govindpur village of Jagatsingpur district in Odisha. It cannot come easily to women of anywhere in country, however, much distressed they are. It is a country, […]

A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women Statistics apart, India is not a safe place for women to live. The recent unfortunate incidents of rape reported from the national capital and from other parts of the country have only brought the gruesome reality to the fore. Gender rights groups, the […]

When a business school invites persons to attend one of its functions, that too expecting the person to deliver nothing less than the keynote address, it must be taking into account many factors. Elementary is the invitee’s credentials, and in the background of the sponsors, who contribute to organise the event. It appears that the […]

He had to die. Die, because a nation wanted him to, or so were we told by the Supreme Court of the nation. He had to die to satisfy the collective conscience of the nation, the court added for a good measure. So, he did die, nay, hanged till death. His body was left hanging […]

Resistance to polio vaccination has been going through a constant phase of evolution in Pakistan, and with every passing day, it goes one notch up from its previous level involving people from conservative camps to enlightened ones as well. About six months ago, Maulvi Ibrahim Chishti of Muzaffargarh’s rural Khan Pur Bagga Sher area declared […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Gopalan Surendra (32) was involved in a minor traffic accident. When the police ‘arranged’ a lawyer for him Surendra decided to employ his own. This angered the police and they have intentionally delayed his case which should have been an open and […]

[RE: AHRC-HAC-004-2013: PHILIPPINES: Vendors face forced eviction and food insecurity] Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information Defend Job Philippines about the eviction of vendors of the Luneta Park. The National Parks Development Committee evicted the vendors from their livelihood places inside Luneta Park on 27 February, 2013 despite the protest […]

After hearing the accusations of covert and overt support for sectarian terrorism and the terrorists the state institutions, like the judiciary and the army are trying to clarify their positions. There is of course, the involvement of the civilian set up that, after a total of 32 years of collision between the army and the […]

Bijo Francis* Overcoming initial reluctance, the Maharashtra state police have finally registered a case in the infamous Bhandara rape and murder incident. This is a case, not much discussed in India, other than for sparse reporting in a few Indian dailies, of the rape murder of three sisters, all minors. Missing of three miserable village […]

At the Bar Association election this year, Mr. Upul Jayasooriya was elected with an overwhelming majority. He won by a margin of over 1,471 votes while the persons who came in second and third received 330 and 77 votes. It was well known that one of the candidates was openly promoted by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. […]

Mangala Samy Pungonda, the mother of Wengadasalam Sudeshkar yesterday, February 19, appealed for the final sum of Rs. 600,000/= (approximately US$ 5,000) for the saving of her son’s life from execution in Doha, Qatar. She thanked those who have already contributed to the raising of the sum of Rs. 3.5 Million and said that about […]