Democracy

By Avinash Pandey A newspaper carrying a story titled, “Why many women in Maharashtra’s Beed district have no wombs” should have shocked India despite the current electoral frenzy the country is undergoing due to parliamentary elections. The story had all the elements to stir the conscience of even the countries not famous for any democratic […]

A leading minister of the Government of Malaysia has noted the imminent possibility of a coup led by conservative and right wing elements. This is in retaliation for the limited amount of reforms in favour of democracy and rule of law brought about by Mohammed Mahathir’s government after his recent election victory. Over a long […]

This week Just Asia begins with the Philippines, where police shot dead 14 farmers in Negros island on Sunday. While rights groups called this a ‘massacre’, authorities said it was a legitimate operation against suspected communist rebels. According to the police, the 14 men shot at officers with search warrants for illegal firearms, prompting them […]

That there is mass dissatisfaction and frustration about the way the country has been ruled is today a commonly accepted proposition. However, this mass dissatisfaction has not given rise to more articulate expression within the country, is also an obvious truth. The result is that there is no general enthusiasm for seeking change. As is […]

This week Just Asia begins with Pakistan, where two teenage Hindu girls were placed in a government shelter on Tuesday, after allegations of their forced conversion and marriages to Muslim men. The Islamabad High Court issued the protection order for the two sisters, saying it acted on a petition from them. Sindh police have so […]

International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) to the Kingdom of Thailand’s 2019 General Election INTERIM REPORT IEOM Profile ANFREL’s International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) to the 2019 Thai General Election is composed of 34 international election observers, which include two electoral analysts (EAs) deployed for 45 days, a first team of 8 observers present for 14 […]

Shri Rahul Gandhi, president of the Indian National Congress-the main opposition party in India, made this election PROMISE if his party comes back to power- Providing a minimum guaranteed income of Rs 72,000 per year to every family belonging to the 20% of the poorest families in the country. This promise becomes very important in […]

ජනාධිපති නීතිඥ ජේ.සී. වැලිඅමුණ තරිඳු උඩුවරගෙදර අධිකරණයේ නඩු ප‍්‍රමාද වෙන බව සමාජයේ ජනප‍්‍රිය මතයක් පවතිනවා. ඒත් ඒ ප‍්‍රමාදයට හේතු ග ැන බොහෝ අය සොයන්නේ නැහැ නේද? බාහිරව බැලූවාම පෙනෙන්නේ උසාවියේ නඩු කල් යන එක විතරයි. සමහරු නීතිඥවරුන්ට බනිනවා. සමහරු විනිශ්චයකරුවන්ට බනිනවා. කොහොම ගත්තත් මේක ජාතික ප‍්‍රශ්නයක්. අධිකරණය විසින් නියමිත කාලයට යුක්තිය ඉෂ්ට කරන්නේ නැතිනම්, බොහෝවිට […]

By Dr. Divya Padmanabhan March 21 marks the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination worldwide. The day was first observed in 1966, and continues to be observed annually since then. The theme for this year is ‘Mitigating and countering rising nationalist populism and extreme supremacist ideologies’. While many countries are fighting […]

Cambodian courts have recently issued arrest warrants for top Cambodian politicians living in exile, as they began preparations to return to Cambodia. Among those for whom warrants have been issued are Sam Rainsy, founder of the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), Mu Sochua and Eng Chhay Eang, as well as five others. While […]

दक्षिण एसियामै जातीय भेदभाव तथा छुवाछूत मुख्य समस्याको रुपमा रहेको छ। विगतदेखि जातीय भेदभाव तथा छुवाछूत अन्त्यका लागि यस क्षेत्रमा भएका पहलहरु अझै प्रभावकारी हुन सकेका छैनन् । नेपालका सबै नागरिकहरूलाई समानता, स्वतन्त्रता र आत्मसम्मान जस्ता मानवअधिकारका मूलभूत विषयहरू नेपालको संविधान, २०७२, राष्ट्रिय कानुनहरू तथा नेपालपक्ष भएका मानवअधिकारसम्बन्धी अन्तराष्ट्रिय दस्तावेजहरूले प्रत्याभूत गरेका छन् । यद्यपि, […]

The world is celebrating the 53rd International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination today, on March 21. Sadly, the day marks an ironic, melancholic moment in India. Often referred to as the largest democracy in the world, India is now witnessing apartheid style violence, from mob lynchings, vigilantism and so forth. This is particularly […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) extends its deepest sympathies to the victims of the massacre in Christchurch, New Zealand. We urge all the governments and the people of the world to support New Zealand’s efforts to deal with the situation on the basis of humane values and principles. The date of 15th March 2019 […]

This week Just Asia is marking its completion of 250 episodes. Since October 2013, AHRC TV’s news programme has been providing a weekly broadcast of human rights news. Just Asia is the first online news report of its kind in Asia, bringing together stories and cases from victims, activists, journalists and all those concerned with […]

A well-functioning legal system can be measured by its response to daily crimes and complaints. This is a much better test in fact, rather than a country’s constitution (in Sri Lanka’s case, the 1978 constitution still remains a major barrier to the functioning of a legal system), or statutes, or judicial presence, all of which […]

By Avinash Pandey Contrary to the claims of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India seems to have been losing jobs at a staggering rate, with unemployment rates reaching a decade-long high. From 2.6% between 1977-78 and 2011-12, it has now jumped to 7.23% in February 2019. Unemployment rates are worst for youth, touching almost 20 percent […]

This week Just Asia begins with Malaysia, which has become a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) after signing the tribunal’s founding treaty Monday. Malaysia becomes the 124th member of the court since its establishment in 2002, a boost to the court, which has suffered several setbacks recently. The ICC is the world’s only […]

A Joint media release by the Asian Human Rights Commission and CIVICUS • A new broad and restrictive law being introduced by the Nepalese government gives the authorities sweeping powers to block social media platforms and remove or criminalise defamatory posts • The government has also tabled legislation that restricts civil servants from sharing their […]

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to the Honourable Speaker of the Parliament on the murder of two businessmen in the Rathgama Bussa area; and on the General state of murder on the Island Mr. Karu Jayasuriya Honourable Speaker  Parliament Parliament Approach Road  Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte  SRI LANKA Tel: +94 112 777 […]

This week Just Asia begins with Sri Lanka, where investigations are ongoing into the abduction and murder of two businessmen from Rathgama. Until now, two police officers have already been arrested. Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department has revealed that the two businessmen, Manjula Asela and Rashin Chinthaka were abducted and murdered, and their bodies were […]