Democracy

This week Just Asia begins with Malaysia, where more than one hundred foreigners in immigration detention centers have died in the past two years. There were 83 deaths in 2015, and at least 35 in 2016, from various diseases and unknown causes. More than half of the 118 dead are from Burma. A commissioner from […]

“In Search of a National Identity” a speech delivered by Dr Leonard Pinto to the Academic Circle of the Social Science Department of the Open University of Sri Lanka, Nawala on 13th Feb 2017, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission By Leonard Pinto** I had the privilege of addressing the Academic Circle of the […]

This week Just Asia begins with Burma, where the UN has agreed to ‘urgently’ dispatch an investigation team to probe the abuse amounting to war crimes against the Rohingya Muslim minority. According to the resolution adopted by consensus, the investigators must provide an oral update in September, and a full report by this time next […]

This week Just Asia begins with Nepal. March 21st, celebrated as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, is simply a day to mark all that is not right in Nepal. Since the day’s inception in 1960, the situation of Dalits has barely improved. There is no implementation of Nepal’s law against caste […]

This week Just Asia begins with International Women’s Day, annually celebrated on March 8. The theme for 2017 is ‘Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030’. The idea is to work towards the 2030 Agenda, which includes ending discrimination and violence against girls and women, and ensuring free quality education for […]

A Statement from Front Line Defenders forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission On 4 March 2017, prominent lawyer and human rights defender Muhammad Jan Gigyani was murdered by two armed, unknown assailants in Shabqadar, a small town located near the Afghan border, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Muhammad Jan Gigyani was a well-known human rights defender […]

by Avinash Pandey The Supreme Court of India is worried about the continuing havoc of farmer suicides in India. It termed it “a sensitive matter of larger public interest and human rights which covers the entire country” this January. The Court has also wondered why there is no national policy to compensate farmers in cases of crop failure and […]

This week Just Asia begins with Sri Lanka, where five police officers have been arrested in connection with the custodial death of a suspect at the Peliyagoda Police station. The 42-year-old Chadik Shyaman Wickramarachchi was arrested on February 25, following information provided by another suspect. The next day, Chadik’s body was recovered by his family at the Police Mortuary […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission welcomes Pope Francis’ unequivocal support for the indigenous peoples’ rights of land and livelihood. It notes that this can go a long way for tenure rights of global indigenous populations while ensuring their food security. It can also surface possible solutions to conflicts arising out of increasing encroachments and forced acquisitions of land for […]

A Press Releasefrom the Right to Information (RTI) Commission of Sri Lanka forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Sinhala Version read HERE Tamil Version read HERE 10 February 2017. Colombo. The Right to Information Commission is greatly encouraged by the support and interest evidenced by the public in regard to the effective working of the […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has information regarding the last two years of President Joko Widodo’s administration. It appears that the government has not yet made any effort to resolve past human rights abuses. After President Widodo won the presidential election in 2014, victims and their families had great expectations of him. Instead of […]

Nepal’s police have arrested Dr. Chandra Kant Raut, popularly known as C.K. Raut, after harassing his wife and children from Janakpurdham-4, Macha Bazar, Dhanusha district. More than a dozen police personnel broke the lock of the gate and harassed his wife and children before manhandling and arresting Dr. Raut. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) […]

घनश्याम चम्लागाई तथा चेतनाथ चौलागाईं  १) विषय प्रवेश नेपालमा तत्कालीन नेपाल कम्युनिष्ट पार्टी माओवादीले २०५२ सालमा जनयुद्धको घोषण गरे पश्चात् सरकार र युद्धरत दुबै पक्षबाट शसस्त्र द्वन्दमा गैर न्यायिक हत्या, बेपत्ता, सार्वजनिक, भौतिक संरचनाहरु ध्वस्त पार्नेलगायतका गम्भीर मानवअधिकार उलङ्घन र मानवता विरुद्धको अपराधहरु भएका छन् । २०६३ मंसिर ५ मा तत्कालीन नेपाल सरकार र नेपाल कम्युनिष्ट […]

This week’s episode of Just Asia begins with Thailand, where the Khon Kaen Provincial Court on Monday, during an in-camera hearing, granted permission for police to extend the detention of Jatuphat ‘Pai’ Boonpattaraksa. A law student and key member of the New Democracy Movement (NDM), Jatuphat was arrested on lese majeste charges for sharing a […]

This week’s episode of Just Asia is a special focus on the regional meeting of Asian Parliamentarians & Human Rights Defenders Against Torture, held in Hong Kong in December. During the meeting focusing on modernizing criminal institutions, Just Asia interviewed several parliamentarians and rights defenders. Beginning with India, Just Asia speaks to Dr. P. M. […]

The Amnesty Intentional has published a collection of poems titled ‘ Silenced Shadows’. It’s a collection of 15 poems and translations of the said poems into all three languages, Sinhalese, Tamil and English. Originally, Amnesty International called for poems on enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka and selected 15 poems for publication. Five of the poems […]

A Press ReleasefromHuman Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF) forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) (19 January 2017) In pursuance to the rescue of 15 migrant workers from Cambodia, employed in the fisheries sector by the Thai authorities, on 21 January 2016,who have undergone trafficking screening process and a case against the perpetrators has […]

This week’s episode of Just Asia begins with Hong Kong, which is seeing human rights at its lowest point since 1997, said an Amnesty International report. According to the report, authorities have “failed on many fronts” to protect the city’s rights and freedoms. Amnesty urged the Hong Kong government and civil servants to “make defending […]

This week Just Asia begins with Pakistan, where at least 14 bloggers have disappeared since the beginning of January. The government started off 2017 with a crack-down on human rights defenders and bloggers raising their voices on disappearances and extrajudicial killings, particularly in Balochistan. The security establishment there is very sensitive to the construction of the China PakistanEconomic […]

Today, January 4, is the death anniversary of former Governor of Punjab Province Salman Taseer, who was killed in broad daylight by his own bodyguard in 2011, for appealing for the pardon of a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, who had been sentenced to death for allegedly insulting Prophet Muhammad. After his assassination, Salman Taseer’s family […]