Arbitrary arrest & detention

This is Just Asia’s final episode for 2015. It begins with a report from Sri Lanka and the long struggle for justice of a torture survivor. Rohitha Liyanage was after 10 years finally able to see the perpetrators tried and convicted for their crime. Two police officers tortured Rohitha so brutally that his leg was broken […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is concerned about the ongoing victimization and media trial of Pakistan’s emerging media house, the Bol Media Group. The media network and its parent company Axact, the largest exporter of software solutions and the biggest IT Company in Pakistan, have been forcibly closed by the Federal Investigation […]

Human Rights violations remain widespread due to the failings of, and lack of reforms to, the country’s institutional framework, in particular, key institutions of the rule of law – the police, the prosecution, and the judiciary. This is compounded by persisting impunity enjoyed by law enforcement agencies particularly by the Pakistan’s military and intelligence agencies. […]

A Joint Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission and the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) calls for the return of all disappeared persons to their families. The government of Bangladesh must tell the whereabouts of the disappeared persons, and respond […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) received updated information on a man arrested over a Facebook post allegedly defaming the military. He is suffering from a serious health condition in Insein Prison. He has been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the prison hospital since 27 October 2015. His advocate has […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding a police officer having orchestrated the killing of his own daughter, Arifa Babbur, 21, in the name of honour to get property, cash, and a minor girl in compensation through a jirga, an illegal parallel judicial system. The murder has been facilitated […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information regarding the arrest of Patrick Kum Jaa Lee for sharing a photo on Facebook. Husband of a human rights activist, Patrick has been charged with defaming the military by his photo sharing, and faces up to three years imprisonment. During Burma’s election campaign period, Patrick […]

Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies have extended their tentacles to a web blogger who found cyberspace the only avenue available to him to expose the underbelly of corruption in the country. On October 28, a 19 year old blogger and political worker of Pakistan Tehreek Insaaf (PTI) was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) allegedly […]

This week AHRC TV first turns to the Philippines, where civil society organisations, including the Asian Human Rights Commission, recently launched a campaign to stop military harassment and killings of Lumads, an indigenous group in Mindanao. Massive displacement and over a dozen killings have been committed this year by military and paramilitary groups in the […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information regarding a young woman being arrested and brought to trial over a post on social media. Lt. Col Kyaw Htin, an Army general staff officer of the Southwest Command in Pathein, filed case against the woman over a post that allegedly insults the Burmese military. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information from human rights organisation MASUM that Mr. Ajimuddin Sarkar, a district human rights monitor of Murshidabad district, West Bengal was illegally arrested and detained by plain-clothed police personnel of Islampur Police Station in broad daylight after being abused and beaten up. Mr. Sarkar had been […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that four Christians and one Muslim publisher, including one pastor, were arrested on the charges of using word ‘Sainthood’ on the occasion of death anniversary of a father under the Anti Terrorism act . The Special Judge of Anti terrorism Court, Gujranwala, Punjab, refused […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned to have learned that Pravit Rojanaphruk, journalist for the Nation newspaper and freedom of expression advocate, is being detained in an undisclosed location by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). The conditions of his detention are arbitrary and a clear derogation of the Government […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you of the arbitrary arrest and detention of two university students in Central Luzon over a year ago. The victims were conducting research when the military illegally arrested them. They were interrogated about the whereabouts of the New People’s Army (NPA) and its firearms, […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission regrets to inform you that eight persons were arbitrarily arrested while three men were tortured in separate incidents in Mindanao. All the victims were detained on the basis of fabricated charges. They were also accused of being rebels and members of the New People’s Army (NPA). CASE DETAILS: […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you of the illegal arrest and detention of the Lampusay siblings. One of the victims is a former volunteer educator of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines – Northern Mindanao (RMP-NMR). The Lampusay siblings were accused of being members of the New People’s Army […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the arbitrary arrest, illegal detention, and torture of two young men by the Jacobabad District Police, Sindh. One of them is a young schoolteacher and, in his case, the Magistrate Court has refused to take action against the police officials despite evidences of […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding three women being sentenced to four months imprisonment, with labor, for leading a peaceful prayer. In March, the women led a peaceful prayer for the student protesters who were marching from Mandalay to Yangon and calling for amendments to the National Education Law. One week […]

Dear Friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a Labour rights’ activist is being prosecuted for allegedly trespassing on land confiscated by the military. She was arrested in July 2015. The charge relates to her helping farmers’ whose land was seized in the Bago Region. She visited the region several times […]

An Announcement by the Asian Human Rights Commission This week’s Roundup begins in the Indian state of Kerala. The state government has initiated a process of police reforms. This unique initiative involves enabling the police to undertake scientific crime investigation. AHRC TV interviews AHRC Executive Director Bijo Francis to learn more about the outlook for […]