Democracy

PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY  Discussion at Yogyakarta State University Critics against the Regime Forcibly Dispersed by the Rector          Discussion and gathering that was planned by the students of Yogyakarta State University (UNY) and other academics, such as lecturers and professors, were forcibly dispersed by the Rector due to the committee of the discussion did not have permission from the rector. Previously, […]

(Hong Kong, January 16, 2024) The Panel of Judges at the East Jakarta District Court has issued an acquittal verdict regarding the case of criminalisation against Ms. Fatia Maulidiyanti (the Director of the Commission for the Disappearances and Victims of Violence [KontraS] for the 2020-2023 period) and Mr. Haris Azhar (the Founder of the LOKATARU […]

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the occasion of Human Rights Day In commemorating the International Human Rights Day, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) highlights the theme of the lack of protection of human rights defenders in Indonesia. More than 20 years’ of political reform after former dictator President Suharto stepped […]

By Basil Fernando Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville is the famous author of the book Democracy in America. It is one of the world’s best known writings which have been appreciated by many philosophers, writers, thinkers and also people in many countries. It has also been translated into many languages.  Tocqueville was a […]

By Basil Fernando The sentencing of a former Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police for giving illegal orders not to arrest a suspect. The reported sentencing of former Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police, Lalith Jayasinghe, for giving illegal orders to prevent the arrest of a person allegedly involved in the shooting which resulted in […]

A Statement from Asia Democracy Network forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Seoul, Korea – The Asia Democracy Network (ADN) vehemently condemns the recent sentencing of Adilur Rahman Khan and Nasiruddin Elan, activists attached to the Odhikar human rights organization in Bangladesh. Their unjust imprisonment on trumped-up charges is a grave violation of their […]

Hong Kong, Thursday 14, 2023 The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) supports 130 Indonesian civil society organisations from the Aceh Province to the Papua Province to put pressure on the Indonesian Government, especially President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), to stop the Rempang Eco City project, stop blockades and evictions, and urge troops to unconditionally release residents of the Rempang Island of Riau Islands who were […]

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to the President of Republic of Indonesia  Mr. Joko Widodo President of the Republic of Indonesia Jl. Veteran No. 16 Jakarta Pusat INDONESIA Tel: +62 21 3458 595 Fax: +62 21 3484 4759 Dear Mr. President:  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) strongly condemns the alleged […]

(Hong Kong, September 04, 2023)  The Right to Information Commission in Sri Lanka has issued an order in terms of its powers under the RTI Act. Regarding a petition filed by an attorney at law in which the Bar Association is the respondent. The Bar Association objected to the power of the Commission on the […]

By Basil Fernando This story is about Junious. Please do not think that I made a mistake in naming the hero and misspelling Junious for genius. I quite understand some people’s misunderstanding of that sort because an impression has been created and kept for a long time that Junious was in fact the genius. That […]

(Hong Kong, August 09, 2023)  ​​​​​​​Written submission to the Supreme Court on the “Contempt of a Court, Tribunal or Institution” Bill The Bill titled “Contempt of a Court, Tribunal or Institution” came for discussion before the Supreme Court on the 3rd and 4th of August. After the oral submission, written submissions were allowed to be filed by […]

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to the Chief of National Police, Jakarta, Indonesia General of Police Listyo Sigit Prabowo Chief of National Police (KAPOLRI) Jl. Trunojoyo No. 3, Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan 12110 Indonesia  Tel: +62 21 384 8537, 726 0306 Fax: +62 21 7220 669 E-mail: info@polri.go.id Dear General, INDONESIA: Stop […]

By Basil Fernando A month or so earlier, it was a lawyer practicing mainly in a High Court closer to Colombo, that contacted me and told me about his concerns about a draft Bill which has been discussed amongst his colleagues which was about the introduction a draft of a Contempt of Court Bill. He […]

An article from Sri Lanka Brief forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission මෙම සටහන ඉතා පුළුල් කීර්තියක් ඇති තරුණ මාධ්‍යවේදියෙකු වන තරිඳු උඩුවරගෙදර අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීමත් සමඟ මතු වූ විශාල ප්‍රශ්න පිළිබඳවය. පසුගිය සිකුරාදා (ජූලි 28) උද්ඝෝෂනයක් වාර්තා කිරීමේ අරමුණින්  සහභාගි වෙමින් සිටි තරිඳු උඩුවරගෙදර ත්‍රිරෝද රථයකින් ඔහුගේ කොණ්ඩයෙන් වියරු ලෙස බලහත්කාරයෙන් ඇදගෙන ගොස්  පොලිස් නිලධාරීන් පිරිසක් […]

By Basil Fernando This article is  a follow up to: 1. Does the proposed contempt of court Bill amount to 23rd amendment to the constitution?     2.  Is contempt of court unlike any other crime? To anyone who may be surprised by this question, we wish to remind that not too long ago, the issue became […]

By Basil Fernando On the larger questions raised by the arrest of Tharindu Uduwaragedera, a young journalist of very wide reputation. Tharindu Uduwaragedera who was attending a meeting on Friday (28 July) for the purpose of reporting on the meeting was forcibly dragged out of a three-wheeler, grabbed by his hair and roughly manhandled by […]

By Basil Fernando The purpose of the proposed Bill on the Contempt of Court is to criminalise the acts which may be considered to constitute the offence of contempt of court and to punish it. Clearly, this proposed Bill is meant to create offences under the contempt of court and therefore the purpose is to create […]

A Statement from COLLECTIVE FOR MAANBUMIGU MALAIYAHA MAKKAL forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Today (28th July 2023) groups of men and women working in the plantations, in the hill country will begin a walk from Thalaimannar to Matale. This walk is organized by COLLECTIVE FOR MAANBUMIGU MALAIYAHA MAKKAL. The walk will end only […]

By Basil Fernando This article is  a follow up to:  The caste-based culture is still the key obstacle for development in Sri Lanka The debate on how important caste consciousness is in Sri Lanka today and whether class consciousness has replaced caste consciousness requires that we briefly examine the the beginnings of capitalism in Sri Lanka, […]

By Basil Fernando The draft Bill entitled ‘Contempt of Court, Tribunal or Institutions’, has been included in the parliament’s order paper and the issue of the constitutionality of this Bill will now be subjected to debate. There are several key questions arising from this draft Bill. These are:- Does this proposed law amounts to repeal […]