Democracy

The ferocious conditions of torture in Pakistan where torture has become endemic.According to AHRC survey 80% prisoners were tortured in police custody, while 72% failed to report the same fearing repercussions. As many as 44% of the prisoners were sexually abused in detention. According to a study conducted by the Asian Human Rights Commission, 80% prisoners were […]

Bangkok-Dhaka-Geneva-Paris-Quezon City, 29 November 2016 – Kashmiri human rights defender Mr. Khurram Parvez remains in arbitrary detention, despite a High Court order declaring his detention illegal and ordering his release. Our organisations are appalled at this abuse of power and demand the immediate and unconditional release of Khurram Parvez. Last Friday 25 November 2016, the High Court […]

Mr. Khurrum Parvez is a human rights defender, the chairperson of Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances, working in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. On 14 September 2016, the immigration officers stationed at the international airport in New Delhi, prevented Parvez from leaving the country. Khurrum had arrived at the airport to travel to Geneva […]

Kingsley Karunaratne Delegation says Sri Lankan government has zero tolerance for torture, but critics say police ‘enjoy impunity’ The United Nations Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) is in session in Geneva, Switzerland from Nov. 7 – Dec. 7 and Sri Lanka has been called to account for allegations of ongoing abuse. The Sri Lankan government sent […]

This week Just Asia begins with Burma, where satellite evidence shows mass destruction in Rakhine state, home to the persecuted Muslim Rohingya minority. The latest images from Human Rights Watch indicate that some 820 structures were burnt in five villages between November 10-18. The rights watchdog is calling for an urgent UN investigation into the […]

The people of tribal areas bordering Afghanistan are caught between the Pakistan army on one hand, and the Taliban and ISIS on the other. The terrorists attack and kill tribal leaders for not allowing them to set up their training centers and move freely in the mountains, while the Pakistan army arrests, tortures, and extrajudicially […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission has received a detailed complaint from Mrs. Herath Mudiyanselage Podi Kumarihami of Poojanagaraya, Mahiyangana, in the Badulla District. Her complaint reveals that the Magistrate of the Mahinganaya Magistrate’s Court, Ms. Thisani Thenabadu has taken several actions against. The Petitioner alleges that the said Magistrate has been harassing her and violating […]

शैलेन्द्र प्रसाद हरिजन (अम्बेडकर) वि.सं. २०७३ मंसिर १ गते “तराई जस्टिस सेन्टर” का तर्फबाट अधिवक्ता दिपेन्द्र झाले आगामी दिनमा न्यायाधीश नियुक्ति गर्दा समानुपातिक समावेशी सिद्धान्तका आधारमा नियुक्ति गर्नका लागि न्याय परिषद्मा ध्यानाकर्षण पत्र बुझाएका थिए । ध्यानाकर्षणमा संशोधित न्याय परिषद् ऐनको दफा ५ तथा न्याय सेवा आयोग ऐनको दफा १०(२) र नेपालको संविधान २०७२ को […]

Paris-Geneva-Hong-Kong, November 24, 2016 – After 1,322 days in arbitrary detention, journalist Mr. Mahmudur Rahman has been finally released on bail this afternoon. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT) and the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) welcome his long-overdue release, and urge authorities to drop all pending charges against him. Acting […]

The Police, Prosecution, Judiciary, and Jails are designed to protect perpetrators of crime that are associated with the powerful elites in the country. This is how the system was devised over 200 years ago, and all who are associated with the institutions have only further twisted this system against the common people since. The lifespan […]

A Joint Statement Calling for the Release of Maria Chin Abdullah, Chairperson of BERSIH2.0 We, the May18 Memorial Foundation and the Laureates of the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights, are deeply alarmed by the detention of Maria Chin Abdullah, the Chairperson of BERSIH2.0 by the Malaysian Police. BESIH2.0 is the 2016’s Laureates of the Gwangju […]

A Statement from the International Peace Observers Network (IPON) forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission. The International Peace Observers Network (IPON) expresses its deep concern about the precarious security situation and the continuing criminalization of human rights defenders (HRD) in the Philippines. Against this background, IPON welcomes the decision of the German Member of […]

Avinash Pandey The fact that the Madhya Pradesh state government has shed even the pretence of fair-trial, a cornerstone of the rule of law, has emerged as the only uncontested truth four days after the incredulous police encounter that resulted in the killing of 8 under-trial jail escapees. The circumstances of the reported jailbreak from […]

By Basil Fernando Gunadasa Amarasekera has recently published a book entitled ‘Sabyathwa RajyakKara’ (Towards an Ethical State). At around the same time, I published a book entitled ‘Dharmasokage Dhamma Prathipaththtia sahaPrajatanthrawadi watinakama’ (The Policy of Dhamma of Dharmasoka and Democratic Values). In this article, I will try to show the similarities and differences in the ideas found in these two books. The […]

Beginning with Thailand this week, the Provincial Court of Songkhla read the verdict of Appeals Court Region 9 regarding the case of Mr. Anat Hayeemasae, former member of the Satun Provincial Administration Organization (PAO). He had appealed the order of the Court of First Instance, which had sentenced him to 22-years-and-six-months-imprisonment for an offence against […]

Sadly, in an atrocious system where innocents spend decades behind bars awaiting justice to be served on them, instead death penalties are handed down as state sanctioned murder. The lack of justice sector reforms coupled with near-collapsed institutions of criminal justice has yet again caused a grotesque miscarriage of justice. In a shocking revelation on year after […]

शैलेन्द्र प्रसाद हरिजन (अम्बेडकर) स्वाधीनता आन्दोलनको फलस्वरुप १५ अगस्ट १९४७ मा अंग्रेजहरुको गुलामीबाट मुक्त भई “स्वतन्त्र भारत”को रुपमा उदय भयो । हिन्दूबाहुल्य भारत र मुस्लिम बाहुल्य पाकिस्तान भारतबाट विभाजित भई स्वतन्त्र देशमा रुपमा स्थापित भयो । भारतको विभाजनकै क्रममा बङ्गाल पनि दुई भागमा विभाजित भयो । हिन्दू बाहुल्य क्षेत्र भारत र मुस्लिम वाहुल्य क्षेत्र (पूर्वी […]

The Rupavahini, TV channel’s “Suba Udesanak” ( Good Morning ) programme on 28th October 2016, telecast an interview with Mr Basil Fernando of the Asian Human Rights Commission where he discusses issues of human rights, and national reconciliation and their progress in Sri Lanka, in the backdrop of the two students being killed in Jaffna […]

Mr Faraz Shauketaly, Host of the News First – TV1’s “Hot Seat” programme on 26th October 2016 interviews Mr Basil Fernando, Director of Policy and Programmes of the Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong on the developments with regard to the Central Bank Bond issues scandal, as well as several other pertinent issues such […]

This week Just Asia begins with Nepal, where 22 Madhesi activists were arrested on October 23 while participating in a Leadership Development workshop. Affiliated with Dr. C.K. Raut and his campaign, the activists from Nawalparasi District were meeting at a local hotel. A group of around 40 police officers abruptly closed the workshop, hit the […]