Enforced disappearances and abductions

PHILIPPINES: Forcible abduction and disappearance of three farmer leaders in Zamboanga del Sur

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the enforced disappearance of three farmers who are also members of the Anakpawis’ party list in Guipos, Zamboanga del Sur. The three were abducted along a highway on 3 August 2007 by several men riding on motorcycles. The whereabouts of the victims remain […]

UPDATE (Philippines): Two female striking workers allegedly kidnapped and dumped to a canal in Cavite

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding another attack to workers on strike in Rosario, Cavite on 6 August 2007. The attackers forcibly abducted two female workers and dumped them into a canal. The AHRC is gravely concerned about ongoing attacks to the workers on strike in the Cavite area […]

PAKISTAN: Two men abducted and their whereabouts still unknown;Police allegedly tortured and threatened family members to withdraw case of abduction

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the abduction of two men by two unidentified persons on 27 July 2007. Police subsequently arrested and tortured a family member to force the family to withdraw their complaint. They even attacked family member’s house. With the lack of investigation into the abduction, […]

BANGLADESH: Whereabouts of three professors remain unknown after being produced in court

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the whereabouts of three professors of Rajshahi University remain unknown after they were produced before the Chief Metropolitan Magitrate’s (CMM) Court of Rajshahi on 25 August 2007. None of them has been seen since. A report from a reliable source states that the […]

PHILIPPINES: Police kill farmer in front of his family; another activist disappears

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that another farmer has been killed and a community organizer disappeared. Policemen shot dead farmer Arturo Tolentino in front of his wife and children on October 26 2007 in Samal, Bataan. Another activist, Pedro Calilung, had been reported missing after he was […]

SRI LANKA: Yet another disappearance of a man in Colombo

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you of yet another disappearance. The victim, Eldrin Mathew, was taken by four persons on the pretext of questioning on 14 February 2007. His whereabouts remain unknown since then. The perpetrators were seen putting a placard marked with “Police” in the dashboard of the […]

PAKISTAN: Police deny registering the case of disappearance

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the police have refused a the case of a young man who disappeared, at a government hospital since it happened. The hospital also denied providing the man’s medical report to the family. It is alleged that he was killed in the hospital prison […]

NEPAL: Man forcibly disappeared and another severely tortured by the Young Communist League affiliated to the Maoists

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that two cases relating to torture and abduction allegedly committed by the Young Communist League (YCL) which was affiliated to the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) (CPN (M)). After the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Government of Nepal and CPN (M) on 21 November […]

UPDATE(Thailand): Another five killings in which Kalasin police suspected of involvement

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is continuing its series of appeals on the alleged torture, abductions and killing committed or organised by police officers in Kalasin, northeastern Thailand, over the last three to four years. In this update we report on the killing and abduction of four more persons in which these […]

SRI LANKA: A man forcibly abducted and disappeared in Munnakkara

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the forced abduction and disappearance of Mihindukulasuriya Laxman Suresh Fernando by armed men in Munnakkara, on 2 March 2007. His whereabouts remain unknown and the police have been failed to investigate. The AHRC is severely concerned about the ongoing disappearances in Sri Lanka. […]

UPDATE(Philippines): Abducted and tortured activist charged with rebellion

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes with deep concern that Gilbert Rey Cardiño (a.k.a. Jing), an activist who was abducted, tortured and subsequently released on June 8 (For details, please see UA-185-2007), had been charged with rebellion. It is reported that Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG XII), an investigating unit of the […]

INDIA: Two students abducted and disappeared in Andhra Pradesh

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from its local partner in Andhra Pradesh regarding the case of abduction and disappearance of two students. It is reported that the students were abducted on 5 March 2006 and since then their parents have not heard anything about them. The complaints made by […]

PHILIPPINES: Police’ vehicle used in forcibly abducting a man in General Santos City

Dear friends, The AHRC writes with deep concern regarding the forcible abduction and subsequent disappearance of a man, Arnold Aliman, in General Santos City on 27 May 2007. Witnesses have revealed that the vehicle used by the abductors, who were armed, has been traced to the local police Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB). The whereabouts of […]

ASIA: When is an enforced disappearance “clarified”?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 18, 2007 ALRC-OL-001-2007 An Open Letter to the UN Working Group on enforced and involuntary disappearances Mr. Santiago Corcuera Chairperson Working Group on enforced and involuntary disappearances OHCHR-UNOG 8-14 Avenue de la Paix 1211 Geneva 10 SWITZERLAND Fax:   +41 22 917-9006 Dear Mr Santiago Corcuera ASIA: When is an enforced disappearance […]

BURMA: Man disappears after being taken away to work as army porter

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a man who was detained by the army in Burma has since disappeared. Although it is more than one year since Maung Ko Kyi was taken away from his workplace, requests by concerned persons to know what has happened to him have not yielded […]

UPDATE (Thailand): More abductions & killings allegedly by Kalasin police

Dear friends, As the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has already reported (UA-136-2007; UP-065-2007) police in Kalasin district of northeastern Thailand are accused of abducting and killing at least 24 persons in the past two years. We have already reported on the details of four cases; in this update we give the names and basic details […]

PHILIPPINES: Killing of five more activists and forcible disappearance of another one in separate incidents

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that another five activists have been killed while another one was forcibly disappeared in separate incidents in February, March and May of this year. These belated reports received from various sources clearly exposes the reality of the alarming state of insecurity the […]

SRI LANKA: Two “white van” abductions within a few hours in Colombo

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed by the Civil Monitoring Commission (CMC) regarding the forcible abduction and disappearance of two men, Satkunarajah Sasindran and Robin Rosten, by armed men in white vans in separate incidents on 8 May 2007 in Colombo. The manner by which these victims were abducted is […]

PHILIPPINES: Another political activist evades possible attempt on his life; an elderly activist’ complaint of abduction against military drags on

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that another political activist, Orly Marcellana, narrowly avoided an attempt on his life on 10 May 2007. Marcellana is the husband of the late Eden Marcellana, a human rights activist murdered four years ago in Naujan, Mindoro Oriental. In another development, the complaint […]

PHILIPPINES: Forcible abduction and disappearance of five persons including a mother of two-month-old twin

[NOTICE: To facilitate your intervention of the urgent appeals issued by the AHRC, we have developed a new automatic letter-sending system using the “button” below. However, in this appeal, we could not include e-mail addresses of all the Philippines authorities. We encourage you to send your appeal letters via fax or post to those people. Fax numbers and […]