Democracy

SRI LANKA: පෙළපාලි හා මහජන උද්ඝෝෂණ වල පොලිස් සහභාගීත්වය

නීතිඥ බැසිල් ප‍්‍රනාන්දු නොබෝදා පත්කරන ලද ජාතික පොලිස් කොමිසම විසින් ඔක්තෝබර් මස 29 වන දින විශ්ව විද්‍යාල ප‍්‍රතිපාදන කොමිෂන් සභාව ඉදිරිපිටදී ශිෂ්‍යයන් කණ්ඩායමකට පොලිසියේ කැරලි මර්ධන ඒකකය විසින් පහර දීමේ සිද්ධිය සම්බන්ධයෙන් පරීක්‍ෂණයක් පැවැත්වීම ආරම්භ කිරීම සතුටට කරුණකි. එම පරීක්‍ෂණ කොමිටුවේ වාර්තාව සති දෙකක් ඇතුළත නිකුත් කරනු ලබන බවට ජාතික පොලිස් කොමිසමේ ප‍්‍රකාශකයෙකු විසින් නිවේදනය […]

NEPAL: UN Members deeply concerned about caste discrimination and untouchability

A Press Releasefrom the Nepal Dalit National Social Welfare Organisation (NNDSWO), Dalit NGO Federation (DNF), The Feminist Dalit Organisation (FEDO), and the Jagaran Media Center (JMC) on behalf of the Dalit Civil Society Organisations Coalition and by the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN)forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) UN Nepal UPR Review calls […]

WORLD: An Overview of Major Challenges in Law and Practice regarding Gender Perspectives on Torture and Ill Treatmen

A Paper – “An Overview of Major Challenges in Law and Practice regarding Gender Perspectives on Torture and Ill Treatment”, by Therese Maria Rytter, Director of Legal Affairs and Advocacy, DIGNITY – Danish Institute against Torture, and Member of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Arrested Student Leaders’ Rights Under Grave Threat

The Asian Human Rights Commission is deeply concerned about the situation of two Burmese student leaders who have recently been arrested after being fugitives for nearly 7 months. Kyaw Ko Ko and Lin Htet Naing both played a leading role during the student protest earlier this year, against a controversial national education law passed by […]

PAKISTAN: An 8 year old girl was raped by Imam of a mosque – no end in sight for child sexual abuse

An eight years old girl, Miss N (real name withheld), who is the daughter of Meer Muhammud, from Golrachi Village, in the Badin District of Sindh Province has been raped by a religious leader in the mosque. Her Quran teacher, Imam Khameesa, someone who is also a local mosque leader, reportedly raped her on 25 […]

NEPAL: Torture and Ill-treatment in Nepal – Anti-torture law, impunity, and the UPR

A Joint Press Release by the Asian Legal Resource Centre and Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO Nepal) The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) and the Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO Nepal) have prepared this report in relation to the upcoming second cycle of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) to be held on 4 November 2015. It presents the […]

WORLD: The radical influence of the Magna Carta, eight centuries on

An article published by the Hong Kong Free Press on 31st October 2015 forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission by Basil Fernando A two-day public display of one of the four remaining copies of the original Magna Carta was to be exhibited at Renmin University in Beijing, but at the last minute it was […]

NEPAL: Independent Citizens’ Call on International Community to Address Humanitarian Crisis in Nepal

A Statement from Independent Citizens’ Group of Nepal forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission We undersigned citizens are deeply concerned that the de facto economic blockade of the past two months by India has resulted in a grave humanitarian crisis in Nepal. We appeal to the concerned parties of Nepal, and to the international community including […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Call to ensure peaceful election on November 8

The historic parliament election is due to be held on 8 November 2015 in Burma/Myanmar. This election is seen by some as the country’s first free and fair election in 25 years, and that the future of democratic reform will depend on the outcome of this election. The central issue is whether the military rule […]

SRI LANKA: Embattled Media: On A Unique Book and A Seminal Launching Event

Press Release of  the launch of the book,  ‘Embattled Media Embattled Media: Evolution, Governance and Reform in Sri Lanka’ By Dr. Chaminda Weerawardhana, and edited by Dr William Crawley, David Page and Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission. Nasir Mansoor, Colombo Telegraph [LINK https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/embattled-media-on-a-unique-book-a-seminal-launching-event/] October 27,2015 ( October 29, 2015 ) The book Embattled Media: Evolution, Governance and Reform in […]

PAKISTAN: Gender discrimination – a stark reality

Amir Murtaza Neglect and discrimination on the bases of gender has been quite common in traditional societies. Such phenomenon is present in all classes of the society and exhibits in several forms. According to Dictionary Online: Gender Discrimination is a situation in which someone is treated less well because of their sex, usually when a […]

WORLD : තේමාව: මධ්‍යතන යුගයේ ප‍්‍රභවයන්

මැග්නා කාර්ටා යනු කුමක්ද? එය සෑදුවේ කුමක් සඳහාද? එයින් පවසන්නේ කුමක්ද සහ ඉතිහාසයේ වඩාත්ම වැදගත් ලියවිල්ලක් ලෙසට එය සලකනු ලබන්නේ සහ සමරනු ලබන්නේ ඇයි? මොන්ටි පයිතන් හි ටෙරී ජෝන්ස් විසින් හඬ කවනු ලැබූ මෙම කෙටි ඇනිමේෂන් චිත‍්‍රපටය මගින් ඔබ ව මධ්‍යතන යුගයේ එංගලන්තය වෙත රැුගෙන යනු ඇත. එය වර්ෂ 1215 හි පාලනය ගෙන ගිය නපුරු ජෝන් රජු ගේ පාලන […]

PAKISTAN: Gang rapes and videos that circulate

Rape is not merely an offence against the body; it is soul shattering. In a so-called Islamic state like Pakistan, rape is a punishable crime, with a zero conviction rate. The true intentions of the State and its people are exposed in a land where a rape occurs every two hours and a gang rape […]

PAKISTAN: Supreme Court makes landmark judgment

Aftab Alexander Mughal In a landmark judgment on 7 October the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) upheld the death sentence of Malik Mumtaz Qadri, 30, who murdered the former Governor of Punjab, Salmaan Taseer, a liberal Muslim, on 4 January 2011. Qadri, one of Taseer’s official bodyguards from the Elite Force, shot him 27 times with […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Imminent elections causes spike in politically motivated arrests

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is concerned about the state of freedom of expression in Burma, at a time when Burma is awash in election campaigns. Rather than allow for the people to air their opinions as befits a democratizing nation, the government has chosen to suppress freedom of expression and Internet freedom and […]

ASIA: Weekly Roundup, Episode 94

This week AHRC TV continues its coverage of the 4th annual Asian Alliance Against Torture and Ill-Treatment and for Fair Trial Meeting, which saw parliamentarians, senior policemen, and senior activists gather in Hong Kong last to deliberate on the transformations required in the justice institutions of Asia. The programme includes talks by Sri Lankan Deputy […]

INDIA: Fanatic fringe the new mainstream

Article | India | 15-10-2015

Avinash Pandey “Incidents like Dadri and Ghulam Ali are really sad but what is the role of the Centre in them?” These are the words of Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, who finally appears to have broken his silence in this statement made to the Bengali newspaper Anandabazar Patrika on the increasing instances of […]

INDIA: Dalit women stripped naked is the fact that matters

Article | India | 09-10-2015

Avinash Pandey It is the Republic and not a Dalit family that stands naked in front of Dankaur Police Station in Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, located not more than 50 kilometres from the national capital. There are “conflicting” reports, as well as pictures and videos, which have gone viral on social media about what […]

ASIA: Weekly Roundup, Episode 93

Earlier this week, Asian Parliamentarians gathered in Hong Kong for the 4th conference of the Asian Alliance Against Torture and Ill-Treatment and for Fair Trial. Three days of discussions on the rule of law, democracy, fair trial, and police reform ensued. AHRC TV documented the event. This episode features snippets from the conference. Don’t miss […]

PAKISTAN: Patriarchal culture amongst the lawyers reaches alarming level

Javeria Younes Women in Pakistan are treated as second class citizens. Denied their fundamental rights, the they are often viewed as property, to be dealt with as their owners deems fit. The chauvinism and patriarchy prevalent in Pakistan ensures systematic gender subordination, which perpetuates violence. In a society where the male ego is inflated at […]