Enforced disappearances and abductions

A group of 25 human rights activists and defenders from Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Thailand who gathered for the Human Rights School Session of the Asian Human Rights Commission for 2007 wish to express their deepest solidarity with the victims and families of forced disappearances and wish to add […]

It is customary for the older generation to tell the younger generation a living memory of what the nation has been. For the survival of a nation and its own identity, a closely guarded national conscience is of paramount importance. It is such jealously guarded conscience that provides the foundation of a nation. Without such […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a local human rights organisation based in West Bengal, India regarding the illegal detention, alleged custodial torture, severe ill-treatment and subsequent disappearance of a woman and her husband. It is alleged that the lady was taken into custody, detained for 10 days, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]