Democracy

Following is an extract from the Pastoral Letter of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka, entitled ‘Towards Reconciliation and Rebuilding of the Nation’. In this exercise the independence of the Judiciary should be preserved and defended at all cost. The Judiciary which has the sacred role of interpreting and applying the meaning of a […]

Democracy and human rights were taboo under the military regime until the movement of democratisation which took place in 1987 triggered the 9th Amendment to the Constitution in the country. This Amendment guaranteed at least ‘procedural’ democracy. Those terms were released from constraints that had been kept for decades by the military forces. After they […]

Over the course of 2013 the Asian Human Rights Commission has followed reports of a larger number of conflicts over land grabs and attempted grabs in Burma, or Myanmar. Some of the conflicts are over recently taken land, and others are reinitiating struggles begun many years ago. These land grabs include the well-known expansion of […]

Commemorating the 64th Anniversary of Human Rights Day, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has released a comprehensive report, State of Human Rights in Asia 2013, covering Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Hunger in Asia. The report can be accessed here. The global theme for this year is 20 Years: Working for your rights. […]

The full report is available for download at: http://www.humanrights.asia/resources/hrreport/2013/AHRC-SPR-008-2013.pdf/view Human Rights Day is being observed in Bangladesh, amidst extreme forms of humiliation and denial of human dignity. Lives, livelihoods, and liberties are not only being undermined but being literally denied in the political quest of a few. The two major political camps of Bangladesh are in […]

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on Human Rights Day Sinhalese The full report is available for download at: http://www.humanrights.asia/resources/hrreport/2013/AHRC-SPR-006-2013.pdf/view International human rights day is a day for the celebration of human dignity. It is an appropriate date to take stock of what progress, if any, has been made in the promotion and protection […]

English The full report is available for download at: http://www.humanrights.asia/resources/hrreport/2013/AHRC-SPR-006-2013.pdf/view අන්තර්ජාතික මානව හිමිකම් දිනය මානව අභිමානය සමරන දිනයකි. එහිදී, ශරී   ලංකාවේ මානව හිමිකම් පර්ත වර්ධනය හා ආරක්ෂාව සම්බන්ධයෙන් යම්කිසි දියුණුවක් ලබා තිබේ නම් එම දියුණුව කුමක්දැයි සලකා බැලීම සඳහා මේ දිනය යොදාගැනීම සුදුසු ය. අවාසනාවකට මෙන් මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් පරුසුගමනයක් දැකගත නොහැකි අතර ඒ වෙනුවට පැහැදිලිවම […]

The full report is available for download at: http://www.humanrights.asia/resources/hrreport/2013/AHRC-SPR-002-2013.pdf/view In commemoration of Human Rights Day on December 10, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is issuing a brief report on the state of human rights in Indonesia. Using the examples of events which took place in 2013, the report highlights three crucial subjects which have been […]

The full report is available for download at: http://www.humanrights.asia/resources/hrreport/2013/AHRC-SPR-003-2013.pdf/view Human Rights Day commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948, which declares freedom and equality for every human being in the world. The Indian constitution, adopted by the people of independent India a year later, guarantees each Indian citizen right […]

The full report is available for download at: http://www.humanrights.asia/resources/hrreport/2013/AHRC-SPR-005-2013.pdf/view A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on Human Rights Day AHRC releases its Report on the State of Human Rights in Pakistan, 2013 In 2013, the people of Pakistan have remained at the mercy of state and non-state actors who resort to violence as a […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward to you the following press release and declaration from ‘Samsung Labor Watch’. For more information, please directly contact below. Mr. CHO Dae Hwan Samsung Labour Watch Address: 3/F, 135, Dangsan-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Korea Telephone: +82 (0)2 3667 1210 Fax: +82 (0)2 312 1638 e-mail: […]

(This article was first published by the Australian National University’s College of Asia and the Pacific (http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au) on November 7, 2013) There is little point in delegates gathering at the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka unless rule of law issues in the South Asian nation are raised, a Sri Lankan […]

Irom Sharmila Chanu’s story is a bizarre, almost schizophrenic, tale of absurdities. It has a woman who has not eaten a morsel for a full 13 years. It has a state that has kept her incarcerated for most part of all these years and is force feeding her through a tube in her nose. The […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to announce the launch of its weekly video news bulletin, the Asian Human Rights Commission – Weekly Roundup. The fourth episode, released today, 4 November 2013, covers an exclusive report on Disappearances in Asia. The report covers extensively on patterns of disappearances in Asia and how, even in states […]

“It is madness for sheep to talk peace with a wolf,” said British historian and clergyman Thomas Fuller. In other words, we cannot change the nature of wild creatures. We cannot predict when snakes, lions, wolves or any other wild animals will attack, and without protecting ourselves we cannot sit calmly. In the context of […]

Modern slavery: a matter of poverty, the rule of law and the indifference of the national government Pakistan ranks third in the Global Slavery Index. It is estimated that there are 2,000,000 – 2,200,000 people involved in various forms of modern slavery in Pakistan. Pakistan counts a population of 179,000,000 people and with the increasing […]

While inside a bookstore in a city in southern Mindanao, I saw a booklet containing the biographies of modern Filipino heroes. Their names are not new to Filipinos. In fact, their photographs and their work are displayed in museum exhibits, the streets and public owned buildings even bear their names. Photo: Loreto Cambo (left) and […]

Lahore, October 14: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has voiced concern at the absence of clarity and direction in dealing with the many pressing crises confronting the state. In a statement issued at the conclusion of its autumn meeting on Sunday, the HRCP executive body said: “The Executive Council of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received disturbing information. It has come from the Citizens Concern for Dams and Development, Committee on the Protection of Natural Resources in Manipur, North East Dialogue Forum and the Centre for Research and Advocacy. It has to do with threats to the life and person of […]

The following review was originally printed in the latest issue of the Torture: Asian and Global Perspectives. by Eran Wickramaratne Basil Fernando’s well researched book documents state perpetrated torture reaching back to 1998 and tells a harrowing narrative of the willingness of state machinery to resort to the most egregious violations of personal security and dignity […]