Death penalty

The Asian Human Rights Commission has received many responses from concerned persons in several countries regarding the appeal we made on behalf of Mr. Wengadasalam Sudeshkar. Several persons have indicated to us that they are contacting friends and well-wishers to assist in the saving of this young man’s life. The Asian Human Rights Commission has […]

Share| The 65th Anniversary of the independence of Sri Lanka occurs today and all that we are reminded of is the loss of the liberties of the people of the country. Perhaps the heroine to be remembered at this time is Rizana Nafeek who was 17-years-old when she left Sri Lanka to find employment in […]

An appeal: Earlier, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) informed the public in Sri Lanka and abroad about the possibility of yet another person being beheaded in the Middle East like the earlier incident of Ms. Rizana Nafeek. Mr. Wengadasalam Sudeshkar was sentenced to death on December 31, 2012. At the time of the incident […]

We reproduce below the letter written to His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka, the Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa regarding the case of Mr. Wengadasalam Sudeshkar who faces the death sentence by beheading in Doha, Qatar. The AHRC urges its readers to write to the President of Sri Lanka at the address shown below to urgently […]

(Hong Kong, January 18, 2013) Dozens of Hong Kong-based migrant workers, including Sri Lankans; migrant and human rights groups, protested today the execution of Rizana Nafeek, a Sri Lankan maid, in Saudi Arabia. (Photos courtesy of APMM) Nafeek was executed on January 9 for the death of her employer’s child. The Government of the Kingdom […]

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to the chairpersons of four parliamentary committees Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Chairwoman, Pyithu Hluttaw Rule of Law & Tranquillity Committee Thura U Aung Ko Chairman, Pyithu Hluttaw Judicial & Legal Affairs Committee U Aung Nyein Chairman, Amyotha Hluttaw Public Complaints & Petitions Committee Dr Aye […]

15 January 2013, 6:03 am We, the undersigned, condemn in the strongest terms the beheading of Rizana Nafeek, the Sri Lankan domestic migrant worker convicted aged 17 in 2005, for the accidental death of an infant, in Saudi Arabia on the morning of 09 January 2013. We are shocked at the decision of Saudi Arabia’s […]

(Note: We reproduce below the text of the letter written to the UN High Commissioner and the President of Sri Lanka requesting to cause an inquiry into the verdict and the execution of Rizana Nafeek who was executed in Saudi Arabia on January 9.) The AHRC requests all concerned persons to write to the UN […]

Both the United Kingdom Foreign Office and France issued statements condemning the killing of Rizana Nafeek. However, the Sri Lankan government which expressed sadness about the killing did not make any statement specifically condemning the killing. Commenting on reports that Sri Lankan national, Ms Rizana Nafeek, was executed yesterday in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, […]

The International Commission against the Death Penalty (ICDP) condemns today’s execution of Rizana Nafeek, a Sri Lankan housemaid, in Saudi Arabia. She was beheaded in Dawadmi province near Riyadh. Rizana, a teenage domestic worker, was condemned to death after a four-month-old baby boy she was bottle-feeding choked and died in 2005. According to her birth […]

According to reports received, the Government of Saudi Arabia has executed Ms. Rizana Nafeek (1988 – 9 January 2013) today. The embassy of Sri Lanka in Riyadh has confirmed this report. Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to categorically state, that the singular responsibility for this innocent young Sri Lankan woman’s death is upon the […]

The law enforcement agencies, the local court system and above all the government institutions are failing to protect the lives and properties of religious minorities all around the country. As in previous years, 2012 proved a nightmare for the religious minorities in Pakistan.  People from the Hindu, Dalit, Christian and Ahmadi communities and even the […]

एनडीटीवी के प्राइम टाइम में पीपुल्स यूनियन फॉर सिविल लिबर्टीज़ (पीयूसीएल) की राष्ट्रीय महासचिव कविता श्रीवास्तव ने कसाब को फांसी दिए जाने वाले प्रकरण पर अपनी बात रखते हुए कहा कि “हमें बड़े ही शर्म के साथ कहना पड़ रहा है कि हमें एक निर्दयी राष्ट्रपति मिले हैं जो फांसी की सजा दे देते हैं” […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has released its 15-page report on the situation of human rights in the Philippines this year. The report, titled “Strong rights, no remedy,” gave detailed analysis on the absence, if not lack of adequate remedy and redress to any forms of violation of rights in the country’s system of justice. The […]

Today, the federal Ministry for Human Rights arranged an inter-ministerial meeting to discuss the proposed law against torture and custodial death. The proposed draft of the law was submitted by the Asian Human Rights Commission and Anti Torture Alliance Pakistan, with the consent of the Karachi Bar Association, Karachi Union of Journalists, Karachi Press Club, […]

From 1962 there are literally thousands of people who have served sentences in Burmese prisons as political prisoners. The people resisted the military throughout this long period of about 60 years despite the ruthlessness with which the military dealt with every form of resistance. However there was continuous resistance and from one generation to the […]

Just weeks after the speech of the Foreign Minister at the UN Human Rights Council in which she explained that the government had placed a moratorium on death sentences since 2008, a condemn man was this morning executed by hanging. Mr. Hussain was an army soldier who was sentenced to death in 2009 for murdering […]

(Hong Kong, October 17, 2012) The AHRC wishes to forward this update from Change.org on the situation of Rizana Nafeek. Subject: Update about “Stop the Execution of Rizana Nafeek in Saudi Arabia” Dear supporters of Rizana Nafeek, We now have over 3,500 signatures on this petition, but Rizana remains on death row in Saudi Arabia. […]

The picture shows Rizana’s mother and sisters Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa to Meet With Gulf Heads of State Source: Migrant Rights Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is set to participate in the first Asian Corporation Dialogue Summit in Kuwait on the 16 and 17 of October. The summit is aimed at “consolidating Asia’s strength and […]

Sri Lankan immigrant maid sentenced to be beheaded in Saudi Arabia. A baby in her care choked to death & Rizana was accused of murder. Rizana was 17 at the time, couldn’t speak the language & had an unfair trial… The Asian Human Rights Commission is forwarding the attached online petition regarding the possibly imminent […]