Corruption

INDIA: Democracy a charade when the home minister runs weapons, money, and hooch

Statement | India | 18-02-2013

Mr. Imkong Imchen, the Home Minister of Nagaland, a state in the north-eastern region of India will have tough time explaining why he was traveling with weapons, ammunition, alcohol and money estimated to be more than Rupees 10 million, from his constituency Koridang to the state capital Kohima. The Assam Rifles, a paramilitary unit of […]

PAKISTAN: Persecution of Ahmadis during the month of January 2013

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward to you the following press release from Nazarat Umoor Ama. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- A joint swoop on an Ahmadi printing press in Lahore by a team of mullas and the police: The Punjab Police raided a printing press Black Arrows, owned […]

INDIA: Police officers run human trafficking cartel

Statement | India | 07-02-2013

28 police officers from the Kerala State police is accused of running a human trafficking cartel in the state. This felonious syndicate run by police officers is linked with international criminal cartels that supply women, children, and men. It is estimated that about 300 victims have been trafficked out of India by this criminal gang. […]

INDIA: Put an immediate end to plans of inundating people without rehabilitating them

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learnt about the imminent threat to lives of thousands of families in the Narmada Valley which encompasses large tracts of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh through an urgent action alert issued by the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA). The NBA has learnt about an impending meeting of the […]

BANGLADESH: Destitution pushes several single elderly women into starvation

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about several elderly single women being pushed into starvation in the Ghorabandha village of the Gaibandha district of Rangpur division. Most of these destitute women have been widowed for decades with no family to bank upon and have been forced into begging to ensure […]

INDIA: Stop blaming the judiciary for government’s failures

Statement | India | 21-01-2013

Speaking at a function held in Kolkata yesterday, the President of India, Honourable Pranab Mukherjee has asked the country’s judiciary to: “ensure that those who are in the wrong side of the law are dealt with swiftly and effectively to maintain social balance.” Iterating further, Mukherjee said: “though the Indian judiciary has preserved its pre-eminent […]

INDIA: What is fundamentally wrong with the criminal justice system?

Statement | India | 14-01-2013

The ensuing debates after the rape in Delhi has thrown up several opinions, some poignantly valid and others ridiculous, about what changes are to be made to the criminal justice process to effectively address the scornful menace of rape and forms of sexual violence in India. An alarmingly large proportion of the population, if the […]

SRI LANKA: The Comments of S.N Silva – the archenemy of rule of law

Sarath Nanda Silva is heavily quoted in SLBC programmes trying to criticize the Supreme Court judgment relating to the question on the interpretation of law referred to it by Court of Appeal. He says that the Supreme Court has not properly interpreted the words “or standing orders” as found in Article 107(3) of the constitution. […]

SRI LANKA: Should the dentists conduct trials?

Basil Fernando The state media continues their non-stop misinformation campaign on the impeachment move by the government. Several ministers also participated in this media campaign. The central topics of the campaign are that it is the charges that are important, and not the process – meaning that whether the inquiry took place by a competent […]

SRI LANKA: Why people oppose the undermining of the judiciary

“The court system is skewed against ordinary folk,” says Malinda Seneviratne, writing a comment on my last article. His argument is that the people will not defend the courts as the court system is skewed against the people. However, people do have a reason to defend even the highly inadequate and problem ridden justice system […]

SRI LANKA: Rajpal Abeynakaye calls Chief Justice John Marshall a “cunning” and “devious” person and Justice Vigneshwaran a schizophrenic

In today’s ( December 24) SLBC program, most inappropriately called “People’s Power” – a better name would have been “A Voice from the Political Gutters” – Rajpal Abeynayake, the commentator, labeled America’s greatest judge a “cunning” and “devious” person. The commentator also called one of the most respected retired judges of the Supreme Court, CV […]

SRI LANKA: An attempt on a lawyer’s life; an attempt to use violence against lawyers opposing the government’s move to impeach the CJ

The Asian Human Right Commission has learned that there was an attempt at the life of Gunaratne Wanninayaka, the President of Colombo Magistrate’s Court Lawyer’s Association and the Convener of People’s March. He has played a very prominent role in fighting for the independence of the Bar for several years. He has actively participated against […]

SRI LANKA: Crisis in the University of Jaffna — A new wave of old scenarios

The Asian Human Rights Commission expressed grave concern over the present situation in the University of Jaffna. Most students are unable to attend lectures as the whole university is in a state of stalemate. The government has added a “national security” mood to the crisis, rather than taking it as a part of the problem […]

NEPAL: The slow erosion of democratic institutions hampers accountability

Statement | Nepal | 10-12-2012

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the occasion of the International Human Rights Day The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is releasing its annual report on the state of human rights protection in Nepal through 2012 on the occasion of the 64th Human Rights Day. This year the world human rights community […]

SRI LANKA: We salute the Chief Justice and her legal team for the historical decision to walk out of the PSC proceedings.

We call upon the people, in particular the judges and lawyers, to grasp the historic significance of this moment It is news now that the Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake and her legal team, led by Romesh De Silva PC, walked away from the Parliamentary Select Committee proceedings, expressing no confidence in the manner in which […]

SRI LANKA: Speaker’s ruling has no bearing upon the substantive issues in the impeachment

The Speaker’s ruling relating to the Supreme Court’s notice to the Speaker and the members of the Parliamentary Select Committee does not in any way prohibits the constitutional right of the Court to entertain and to determine the Reference made by the Court of Appeal for a specific question relating to the scope of Article […]

INDIA: Is it not time to question the role of police in crowd control?

Statement | India | 30-11-2012

The Surendranagar firing that killed three Dalit youth on 21 September this year has once again brought to light the concern, that in India, the police do not have adequate training nor the government has necessary resolve to overhaul the police service into one that fits a modern democracy. An affidavit filed by the Gujarat […]

SRI LANKA: A judge is in a worse position than an accused murderer or rapist

Even the worst of criminals have a right to a fair trial before an independent judiciary. A judge in an impeachment proceeding in Sri Lanka does not have that right. Article 107 of the Constitution and the standing orders as they stand now preclude that right. Is the quality of citizenship of a judge of […]

SRI LANKA: Drawing back from a ruinous precipice

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following article from the Sunday Times, Colombo, Sri Lanka, written by Kishali Pinto Jayawardena Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-FAT-044-2012 November 18, 2012 An article from the Sunday Times, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: Drawing back from […]

SRI LANKA: It’s Not Mahinda vs. Shirani; It’s the Rajapaksas vs. the Rest

No questioning arises from subservient lips”. Andrée Chedid (For Rushdie) Ideally Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranaike would have prevented her husband from accepting Rajapaksa largesse; ideally. Ideally, the Supreme Court would have resisted the 18th Amendment; ideally. Ideally the term-limit provision would be in place and a post-Rajapaksa future just five years away; ideally. But as […]