Arbitrary arrest & detention

PAKISTAN: A young Christian man has been tortured to death by Karachi police and jail officials for not paying bribes in time for Eid

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the torture and extrajudicial murder of a young man in Pakistan. The man was reportedly beaten and abused in a number of police stations and Karachi central prison for not paying bribes in the lead up to Eid, and was beaten unconscious in […]

INDONESIA: Innocent person arrested on false charges and tortured in police custody

Dear friends, The Asian Human Right Commission (AHRC) has received information that police officers of the sector police of the Beji subdistrict of Depok city in West Java illegally arrested Mr. J.J. Rizal with the heavy use of violence which resulted in serious injuries. CASE DETAILS: According to information from the Commission for The Disappeared […]

PAKISTAN: A tribal court announces the murder of a couple and the High Court has proved impotent before the feudal society

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission received information that a tribal leader of Sindh province has held three women and two children in his private jail and one woman has been continuously raped for more than three years. She has had two children whilst in custody. The Sindh High Court and the provincial police […]

INDONESIA: Police officers torture a young woman to force her husband’s surrender

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) continues to receive reports of police torture in Indonesia, the latest of which involves the illegal arrest and torture of a young woman by Jakarta Metropolitan police officers and sector police in Natar, South Lampung. The woman was allegedly tortured over two days with electric shocks to […]

SRI LANKA: Mahiyangane police arbitrarily arrest an indigenous man after allowing him to be beaten by a priest

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that Mahiyangane police officers witnessed the severe beating of a man by a priest and refused to intervene. The act constitutes torture under international law. The victim was then arrested with scant evidence of his crime and his allegations of torture were not addressed by […]

SRI LANKA: Baduraliya police illegally arrest and fabricate charges against a rubber tapper

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received the information that Baduraliya Police have illegally arrested and detained a rubber tapper, and fabricated charges against him by taking his thumbprint signature on an unknown statement. The victim has pleaded not guilty and was released on bail, but is currently facing charges of harbouring […]

PAKISTAN: An army colonel has had four men abducted and tortured due to a personal dispute, in Pakistan-held Kashmir

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that four young men have been illegally arrested, detained and tortured by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officials because of a minor personal dispute. The first victim was allegedly taken hostage by an ISI colonel so that his uncle would pay a debt, and the other three […]

UPDATE (Bangladesh): A woman tortured by police while pregnant gets help from the courts after three years; police harassment continues

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has issued regular updates on the case of Mrs. Shahin Sultana Santa, a pregnant woman who was brutally tortured and whose unborn child was killed by police after she became caught up in a political demonstration. One witness has been killed, and at least two others have […]

SRI LANKA: Police, doctors and magistrates are complicit in a man’s torture

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) brings you case details of a farmer who, while on his way to pick up his child from school, was arbitrarily arrested, faced with fabricated charges and extensively tortured for two days by Galgamuwa police officers, some of whom were allegedly drunk. He was suspended by his […]

SRI LANKA: Nawalapitiya police illegally arrest a man and fabricate evidence against him

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that police in Nawalapitiya have arbitrarily arrested a man, beaten him and created evidence to use in the framing of charges against him. He will appear before a magistrate on 25 November 2009.  CASE DETAILS:  According to the information we have received, on the […]

INDIA: Nine months into a case of custodial death, witness statements have still not been taken

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about unnecessary delays in the investigation of a man’s death in custody, following his arrest for a fabricated charge. It has been reported that police officers murdered the shop owner in February last year, however the investigating agency has not even recorded the statements […]

SRI LANKA: An injured man is beaten by police, illegally detained and denied medical treatment

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that an injured man was severely and randomly beaten by a police officer at Negombo Police Station and then denied medical treatment for more than 24 hours, causing possible permanent nerve damage. He now faces fabricated charges for a robbery. No legal or disciplinary action […]

INDONESIA: No investigations have been started into the torture of an indigenous Papuan, detained in a case of mistaken identity

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission has been informed that an indigenous Papuan was illegally arrested, detained and tortured in July after he was taken into custody by the airport security unit of the police in Wamena town. During his assault he was ordered to confess to the killing of five Javanese Indonesians, however […]

PAKISTAN: Police block investigations into the disappearance of an injured, falsely accused young man in custody

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that a young man, fatally injured, has gone missing in Sargodha while being transferred between hospitals by police. The man and his father were facing false charges for a highway theft after they tried to help the victims; his resulting death would have shed light […]

BANGLADESH: Police prevent a journalist from filing torture allegations against paramilitary soldiers

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a team from the Rapid Action Battalion-10, a paramilitary force involved in maintaining law and order in Bangladesh, tortured a journalist at his house while in their custody, and detained him for more than ten hours. The soldiers made a fabricated video at his […]

SRI LANKA: A woman is unlawfully arrested, detained and degraded by Kochchikade officers

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that officers at Kochchikade officers have arrested and detained a woman without cause or complaint, only releasing her due to pressure from her friends. While in custody she was subjected to an unnecessary, aggressive strip search and verbally abused and threatened. She has made official […]

INDONESIA: Tortured student activists who protested against a hotel’s fictitious facilities convicted for nine months

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that three protestors, whom the police had brutally assaulted, arbitrarily arrested and tortured while in custody in May 2009, had been convicted for nine months over false charges of attacks and violence. The protestors were together with several villagers holding a peaceful demonstration […]

UPDATE (Philippines): Court’s review in Abadilla Five petition lacks transparency

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you of the lack of transparency by the Supreme Court (SC) in hearing the petition of the Abadilla Five. The petition, which sought to declare as null and void their conviction for murder, suffered further delay due to the lack of transparency and arbitrary […]

BURMA: Man imprisoned for complaining about electricity supply

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has obtained details of another case in Burma speaking to the country’s “injustice system” and how it affects the rights of all citizens in different ways. In this case a man who repeatedly called the government electricity supplier to complain has been jailed under a restraining order, […]

PAKISTAN: The special assistant to a chief minister and policemen attack villagers to grab land killing three persons

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the special assistant to the chief minister of Sindh, Mr. Ismail Dahri, in the company of several policemen attacked villagers in Nawab Shah district on the nights of September 26 and 27, to forcibly evict them from their land. Mr. Dahri, a close […]