Arbitrary arrest & detention

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding another case in which the whereabouts of a man remain unknown after arrest in Colombo, allegedly by officers from the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) on 20 March 2008. CASE DETAILS: According to the information received, at around 9:30pm on March 20, seven persons […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the case of illegal arrest of a man by Payagala police on 18 January 2008 in Sri Lanka. The Officer-in-Charge (OIC) allegedly forced him to sign a statement by detaining him. When he tried to seek help from senior police, the OIC harassed […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the Durgapur police allegedly arbitrarily arrested a journalist, Mr. Robiul Islam on 28 March without any arrest warrant. While in police custody for about 12 hours, the police attempted to implicate him in a robbery case and intimidated him to make a confessional […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been further informed by the Working Group on Justice for Peace (WGJP) about another case of the alleged torture of a man, who was arbitrarily arrested and detained by the military in southern Thailand. Meanwhile, when relatives of Yapa (AHRC-UAC-055-2008) took possession of his body, marks […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed by the Working Group on Justice for Peace (WGJP) that a man was shot dead and another was reportedly tortured after being arbitrarily arrested on 18 March 2008 by military task force in Southern Thailand. The relatives of the arrestee witnessed several bruises and […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes with deep concern regarding the routine practice by the Nepalese police of arresting and subsequently detaining Tibetan protesters holding peaceful demonstrations. On March 28, at least 89 persons, including women, children and Buddhist monks, were taken into police custody from the districts of Kathmandu and Lalitpur. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Navsarjan, an NGO working for the rights of Dalits in Gujarat, about the case of sexual harassment of a Dalit female student and 58 other female students of the Primary Teacher’s Training (PTC) College–an all-women’s college in Patan, Gujarat. For many years, the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the police authorities have allegedly received bribes for arbitrarily arresting people from a community involved in a case land dispute. It is reported that when the villagers exposed corruption of the police and the harassment they were suffering, the police threatened them to […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the case of the rape of a 17-year-old girl after her abduction allegedly by a politician on 17 December 2007. While the Biyagama police have commenced an investigation into this case they have failed to secure the family’s safety despite the fact that […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that a couple has been held by the military after having been forcibly taken by men who were later identified as members of the security forces. The couple was with another woman in front of a convenient store in Bacoor, Cavite on 20 […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Baduraliya police allegedly fabricated charges against a man and his family members on 8 March 2008 in Sri Lanka. Police took one family member to police custody and forced him to sign a statement, which he never made. Later all four family members […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed of the death of a man in a military camp in southern Thailand on 21 March 2008. Five other arrestees were transferred to another camp after this incident. The AHRC calls for a thorough police investigation and prosecution of those responsible. CASE DETAILS: According […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been documenting cases of illegal arrest, detention and prosecution since the nationwide protests in Burma last September. In this appeal we give the details of the case of one young man who was arrested because of having some publications linked to those events and after a […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the alleged torture of a man by Kandana police on 6 March 2008 in Sri Lanka. Police allegedly beat him while recording a statement from him in the station and warned him not to make any complaints regarding this assault. CASE DETAILS: On 6 […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that four police officers from the Wanathawilluwa Police Station arrested a farmer from his house and took him away during the night of 28 February 2008. Since then, his family members have searched for him but his whereabouts remain unknown. CASE DETAILS: (Based on the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned about the case of a young woman who was arrested coming into Burma from neighbouring Thailand and charged with illegal immigration, joining in illegal associations and sedition. The laying of charges and the passing of sentences against Ma Thanda were all in violation of […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Mohammad Khan Lund, a human rights activist is presently in Deeplo Jail after being implicated in 57 cases allegedly by his political rival Dr. Arbab Rahim. The police at his instigation tortured Mr. Lund on several occasions at Deeplo police station and […]

Dear friends, The  Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mirihana Special Investigation Unit arbitrarily arrested and detained a man on 15 January 2008 in Sri Lanka. On the basis of a report from a third party, the police allegedly assaulted him to extract his confession, threatening him not to report the torture […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased to inform you that a farmer in Burma who was jailed for complaining that his crops were destroyed due to the negligence of local officials has been released after the Supreme Court upheld his appeal. As reported in our original appeal (UA-155-2006), U Tin Nyein […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has updated lists of some of the monks, nuns and civilians who were arrested on charges of destroying and damaging places of worship, during the military-led crackdown on protestors in September 2007. Please refer to the lists (PDF) for more details. CASE DETAILS: List 1 Eighteen monks and nuns […]