Arbitrary arrest & detention

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that the life of a journalist who has been twice arrested, tortured and remanded on tenuous charges, is in danger. Senake Ekanayake has complained to the National Human Rights Commission, the National Police Commission, the President and the Inspector General of Police about his illegal […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that three girls in Burma have been sentenced to a year in jail with hard labour for allegedly selling illegal lottery tickets. When the case against them came to court, the judge reportedly ignored evidence given that the three girls are not yet 16 years […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the relief of a 75-year-old man who was illegally chained in a room for almost 34 years by relatives, with the knowledge of local police. Though the man was released under the orders of the Supreme Court and declared mentally sound, we […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform that one of the 19 striking workers, held in detention on fabricated charges, has died after contracting an illness inside the jail. His health was aggravated by poor prison conditions and the lack of adequate medical attention. He is the second detainee to […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to report that various police units have squabbled over the custody of a rebel in front of a judge in open court and violated various other procedures, suggesting an interest in securing a bounty and other rewards. Police deceived the rebel’s indigenous village elders by falsely […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has obtained the details of yet another group of people in Burma who have been charged without evidence for alleged anti-government activities. Five young men have been accused of setting up an illegal group and trying to contact other groups based in Thailand. There is no actual […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased to let you know that a number of human rights defenders on whose behalf we have campaigned in recent years have been released from imprisonment in Burma, as well as some of those who were involved in the September 2007 protests.  DETAINEES RELEASED:  The AHRC […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has obtained further and more detailed information on the case of Ma Mar Mar Aye, on whose imprisonment we recently issued an appeal. According to this information, the primary reason for her imprisonment was not the T-shirts that the police removed from her house, as previously reported, […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased to inform you that two journalists who had been imprisoned in 2008 for helping cyclone victims to contact international agencies have been released from prison. CASE DETAILS: As per our appeal in April (AHRC-UAC-033-2009), 24-year-old Ma Eint Khaing Oo and 29-year-old Ko Kyaw Kyaw Thant, […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned of the abduction, ill treatment and two-week detention of a Papuan man, during which he was interrogated about a fire that destroyed property owned by former Indonesian president Suharto. The incident is similar to past cases of abduction by army personnel and we are concerned […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information about a case in which six close relatives of a man have been arrested, tortured and falsely charged in response to his love marriage to a higher caste woman. The woman’s family (which includes powerful Punjab assembly member Iftekhar Baloch) is alleged to be behind […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has obtained information on another recent case of gross injustice and denial of fundamental rights in Burma, this time arising from possession of some T-shirts. Police arrested Ma Mar Mar Aye at her house in August after misleading her into thinking that she would come back home […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a man has been illegally imprisoned for over two and a half years after his illegal arrest, beating and mock execution by police officers. Although no legitimate evidence has been produced and he was cleared of the charge after two years, a second terrorism […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that police from Slawi station in Central Java tortured a man to death shortly after his arrest and torture by Tegal station police. The victim was reportedly forced to confess to a crime that he did not commit, with the post mortem report fabricated by […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has obtained detailed information about the case of a monk in Burma who is being tried without evidence for insulting religion. The monk, U Sandadhika, went like other onlookers to the outside of the court where Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her co-defendants were being tried […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed of an ongoing case in Burma in which four men are being tried for having stickers of Aung San Suu Kyi. The men were arrested without basis and it was reportedly only after entering their houses that the police seized the stickers and accused […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a man was taken to court by the police and remanded for 18 days on tenuous grounds, with limited and fabricated evidence. The case is one of many received by the AHRC that illustrates gross misconduct, both by officers who wish to boost […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Krueng Raya police arrested a man without a warrant and tortured him in custody. He died in hospital on the day of his arrest, however no legal action has been initiated against the officers responsible.  CASE DETAILS:  According to the Aceh Legal Aid […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes with deep concern regarding the continued detention of 19 workers who are facing fabricated charges for holding a strike two years ago. They were, at the time, protesting the illegal termination, demanding payment of minimum wages and other lawful benefits from their employers. One of the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you about the continued disappearance of one of three men. Soldiers illegally arrested them on May 18, 2009, on suspicion that they were members of a rebel group. The missing victim was last reported in police custody; however, the police officer who had taken […]