Democracy

INDIA: Human rights a utopia without justice

Statement | India | 08-12-2011

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the Occasion of the International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2011 The state of human rights in a country is directly proportional to the extent of justice achieved in that jurisdiction. Justice is not a physically quantifiable concept. It is “truth in action” as held by […]

PAKISTAN: The government dodges the international community on civil and political rights

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the Occasion of the International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2011 The full report is available for download at http://www.humanrights.asia/resources/hrreport/2011/AHRC-SPR-008-2011/view. The state has become dysfunctional in providing basic human rights to the people. Though the parliament exists it either cannot assert its constitutional duties or does not […]

SOUTH KOREA: Human Rights in 2011 – Systematic setup to restrict rights vs. systematic failure to protect rights

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the Occasion of the International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2011 On the occasion of the International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2011 the AHRC is publishing the annual report on the State of Human Rights in South Korea in 2011. The full report is available […]

BANGLADESH: State appears bankrupt in protecting rights

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the Occasion of the International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2011 International Human Rights Day is going to be ‘observed’ in Bangladesh amidst numerous victims facing gross abuses of human rights without an access to legal remedies from the existing criminal justice system. On the eve […]

NEPAL: Commitments to accountability and justice continue to be jeopardized in 2011

Statement | Nepal | 07-12-2011

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the Occasion of the International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2011 On the occasion of the 63rd Human Rights Day, the Asian Human Rights Commission is releasing its annual report on the state of human rights protection in Nepal through 2011. The report is available here. Given […]

INDONESIA: Human Rights in 2011 – The Decay of Pancasila and Constitutional Protections

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the Occasion of the International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2011 On the occasion of the International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2011 the AHRC publishes its annual report on the State of Human Rights in Indonesia in 2011. The full report will be made available […]

SOUTH ASIA: India is not Pakistan

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) is a subject of severe criticism by human rights activists and jurists in India and across the world. The alarming number of human rights abuses committed by the security agencies deployed in regions where AFSPA is currently put to use is depressing proof to the draconian nature […]

SRI LANKA: Concluding observations of the Committee against Torture

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following statement from the Committee against Torture at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- 1. The Committee considered the combined third and fourth periodic report of Sri Lanka (CAT/C/LKA/3-4) at its 1030th and 1033rd meetings, […]

NEPAL: Amnesty for human rights violations is unacceptable in a democracy

Statement | Nepal | 10-11-2011

The Asian Human Rights Commission strongly condemns the government cabinet’s decision to recommend that the President grants amnesty to Balkrishna Dhungel and wishes to add its voice to that of Nepalese civil society and the victim’s family to denounce the additional attempt by the government to shield human rights violators from justice and thereby entrench […]

SRI LANKA: Fr. Prasad Perera obstructs the use of a national monument for the disappeared

(Hong Kong, October 21, 2011) The national monument for the disappeared at Raddoluwa, Seeduwa is nationally and internationally known and respected place where the families of the disappeared persons gather to pay respects for their loved ones who are counted among the disappeared in Sri Lanka. The monument was eructed in 2000 at a place […]

SOUTH KOREA: Sexual crimes against minor girls by US military based in South Korea

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following statement from the Women Making Peace (WMP) and the Korean Women’s Association United. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- A Statement from the Women Making Peace (WMP) and the Korean Women’s Association United forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission A teenage girl was […]

SRI LANKA: Executive presidential system and the supremacy of T56

Murders of father, mother and two children in Udawalawe While the whole nation was shocked by the multiple killings at Mulleriyawa, another set of gruesome murders have been reported from Puhulyaya, Panahakaduwa, in Udawalawe. A father M K Lalith (37), mother R Indrani Gnanalatha (32), son M K Dilan Chathuranga (12), daughter M K Nadeeka […]

INDIA: 685-crore Dalit park, a Bokkasan style monstrosity

Statement | India | 14-10-2011

At 5 pm Indian standard time today (14 October), the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Ms Mayawati, will inaugurate a park in Noida, that Mayawati claims is a Dalit memorial to symbolise Dalit liberation and power in India. Noida is close to New Delhi, the national capital. It is reported that the park, constructed at […]

SRI LANKA: The link to the alternative report to the CAT Committee by four international human rights organisations

(Hong Kong, October 14, 2011) This report is entitled the Alternative report to the committee against torture in connection with the third periodic report of Sri Lanka. The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), Hong Kong, REDRESS Trust London, Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims (RCT), Denmark and Action des chrétiens pour l’abolition de la torture (ACAT France) […]

SRI LANKA: The Regime’s Politics of Violence Implodes – triple murder and further violence leads to no arrest

On the last day of the 3rd stage of the Local Government Election, two prominent politicians from United People Freedom Alliance (UPFA) fought with each other at Mulleriyawa in Kolonnawa in Colombo District, according to reports. Former Member of Parliament and a presidential advisor on trade unions, Bharatha Lakshman Pramachandra, and three of his body […]

INDIA: Police force a child to gather severed human parts in Indore

Statement | India | 05-10-2011

A Joint Statement by Vikas Samvad and the Asian Human Rights Commission Despicable it might be, yet it is a relatively irrelevant incident in India. The latest is the case of Firoz, a 12-year-old boy who is now reportedly suffering from serious psychological trauma after being forced by a Head Constable of the Railway Protection […]

SRI LANKA: A young man’s complaint of imminent threat to life

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to the Inspector General of Police and the Secretary, Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka  Dear Sirs, SRI LANKA: A young man’s complaint of imminent threat to life Re: A young man’s complaint of imminent threat to life due to a powerful businessman working hand-in-hand with […]

PAKISTAN: The federal government must intervene to stop the killings of Ahmadis

Another Ahmadi killed in hate crime against religious minorities The religious minority group of Ahmadis is under constant threat of religious hate crimes and no serious efforts have been initiated by the government to provide protection the community. In the latest incident a member of the Ahmadiyya community was murdered after receiving death threats from […]

Human Rights and Democratic Governance

(This is the text of a presentation at A Consultation on Peace and Security in Asia and Ecumenical Responses held on August 1-6, 2011, organized by WCC and CCA) As a start we may try to reflect on some of the concerns expressed by the participants of this meeting who have spoken so far. One […]

INDIA: Who has the right to judge?

Statement | India | 24-08-2011

There is surely nothing wrong in demanding an end to the reign of corruption. And yet, for many in India it seems to amount to being “as good as undermining the Constitution”, or resembling “a process to destabilise the establishment”. The religious elite in the country claim that “fasting demanding an end to corruption is a sin, since […]