Extrajudicial killings

BANGLADESH: European Parliament adopts resolutions on Bangladesh’s human rights status

TEXTS ADOPTED Provisional edition P8_TA-PROV(2014)0024 Human rights violations in Bangladesh PE536.999 European Parliament resolution of 18 September 2014 on human rights violations in Bangladesh (2014/2834(RSP)) The European Parliament, –    having regard to its previous resolutions on Bangladesh, –    having regard to the EC-Bangladesh Cooperation Agreement of 2001, –    having regard to Articles 33 and 35 […]

PAKISTAN: September 11, 2012 – when workers were forced to be burnt alive

Two years ago on 11th September  2012 a third degree fire broke out at the Ali Enterprises, garment factory in the industrial area of Karachi, where  259 workers perished – burnt alive. It was one of the most devastating tragedies known in the history of the garment industry. The tragedy sparked a debate but on a […]

SRI LANKA: Lawyers Collective Condemns Death Threats to Attorneys Namal Rajapakshe and Manjula Pathiraja

The Lawyers Collective strongly condemns death threats to two of it’s leading members, Attorneys-at-Law, Mr. Namal Rajapakshe and Mr. Manjula Pathiraja. Mr. Rajapaske  and Pathiraja have  been  leading human rights activists and lawyers with long experience in public interest litigation. They appeared in series of sensitive cases challenging arbitrary actions of all organs of the […]

PHILIPPINES: Three months ago, a 14 year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered by two suspects who were not charged

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes with deep concern that the police have not filed criminal charges against two men who allegedly raped and killed a girl three months ago. A former member of the legislative council, the prime suspect, was neither arrested nor investigated. His accomplice and a witness identified him […]

PAKISTAN: Baldia factory fire tragedy-the compensation is not the only solution to deal with such an incident

The worst ever industrial disaster in Pakistan’s history occurred on 11th September 2012 when a massive fire in the three-storied garment factory called Ali Enterprises situated in the Baldia Town area of Karachi caused the deaths of 259 workers and serious injuries to 55 more. Two years have passed since that tragic accident sent shock waves […]

PHILIPPINES: An indigenous man protesting against a palm oil company was shot dead by a manager of the company

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that an indigenous man, protesting against a palm oil company, was shot dead by one of their managers. The victim was killed a month after he and his colleagues had retaken control of 4,000 hectares of their land. The company had refused […]

PHILIPPINES: Two activists killed for opposing mining and banana plantations

Dear Friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you about the killing of two activists in separate incidents in Davao province. The victims had been involved in campaigning against the impact of a coal-powered plant, a mining operation and banana plantations in their community. Prior to their killing, the military had accused […]

PAKISTAN: Children of Baloch asylum seekers targeted for enforced disappearances

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that security agencies have started targeting the family members of Baloch refugees who have fled to western countries. Reports state that family members including children of these refugees have been arrested by plain clothed persons and have been abducted in unmarked vehicles. Their whereabouts […]

SOUTH KOREA: Military camps or government run torture centres?

Out of several recent incidents concerning conscripted men, two have sparked public outrage and triggered a call for an overhaul of the conscription system in South Korea. The first case concerns Mr. Lim, a young conscript, who turned his gun on his fellow conscripts and opened fire on 21 June 2014. As a result, five […]

NEPAL: Drunken police demand bribe and shoot Tamang dead

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Forum for Protection of People’s Rights Nepal (PPR Nepal) that police officers from the Vacchek Police Station, Gorkha District, under the command of ASI Govinda Acharya, threatened villagers from Simjung Village Development Committee and demanded a bribe, failing to secure which the […]

PAKISTAN/Sri Lanka: UN experts alarmed at deportations of Pakistani asylum seekers without assessment

GENEVA (14 August 2014) – Two United Nations human rights experts* today expressed their grave concern at the situation of Pakistani asylum seekers in Sri Lanka who are being detained and forcefully deported to Pakistan without an adequate assessment of their asylum claims.  “States must guarantee that every single asylum claim is individually assessed with […]

INDIA: BSF officer molests a woman & tortures her husband

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM – a human rights organisation based in West Bengal, India – concerning the torture of a man that dared to complain against a Border Security Force (BSF) officer. The man complained that the BSF officer had been found peeping into a room […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Police threaten relatives of deceased torture victim

Members of the Insein Criminal Investigation Department (CID) have been threatening relatives of Ko Zin Aung, a local rickshaw driver tortured to death in July this year (AHRC-UAC-110-2014). Ko Moss and Ma Aye Aye Nwe, the brother-in-law and the cousin of the victim respectively, were called, 11th August 2014 to Myo Thit Quarter Administrative Office, […]

SOUTH KOREA: Sewol Families Committee’s Position on the Agreement Between the Rival Parties Regarding the Special Sewol Bill

For more information or media inquiry, please contact People’s Committee for the Sewol Ferry Tragedy (Ms. Gayoon Baek, sewolho416@gmail.com, +82 (0)2 723 5051). We oppose the agreement between the rival parties that squashed the family’s requests The Sewol Families Committee held a press conference in front of the National Assembly main building today on August […]

INDIA: Maternity Entitlements and Crèche – Two essential commitments for better days

Article | India | 07-08-2014

More than a Policy, Children Need Commitment! On 10th June 2014, Pawan Korku (4 years) and Durgesh Korku (6 years) climbed into an iron drum in their house along with their toys presumably as part of a game they were playing, in their house in Harrai village, District Betul, a tribal dominant district of Madhya […]

GAZA: No safety, no escape

Statement | World | 30-07-2014

A young Palestinian boy walks through the remains of a house targeted by an Israeli air strike near a beach refugee camp west of Gaza City. (UN Photo/shareef sarhan – 12 July 2014 ) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and its partner organisations condemn the continuing hostilities in the occupied Gaza Strip. The AHRC […]

PAKISTAN: Mob kills 3 Ahmadis – a woman, a young girl, & a baby

On Sunday evening, July 27, a crowd of around 150 fanatics attacked a small, peaceful community of 17 Ahmadi families living in Arafat Colony, on the outskirts of Gujranwala district, Punjab. As a result of the attack, eight houses were burned down. Three Ahmadis in one of the houses succumbed to the flames. All the […]

NEPAL: Government slowly killing Adhikari couple

The fast-unto-death hunger strike of Nanda Prasad and Ganga Maya Adhikari, better known as the Adhikari couple, has reached 278 days and counting. Their only demand is an investigation and prosecution of those who killed their son, Krishna Prasad Adhikari. In other words, they demand justice. Krishna Prasad was abducted and brutally murdered in June […]

PAKISTAN: A teenager falsely branded a Taliban and shot dead in a staged encounter – A human rights defender’s life under threat for exposing such encounters

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a 17 year old boy –  a Sindhi national – had  been arrested, illegally detained  for eleven days, tortured in full view of his father demanding a huge sum of money  and later shot dead by the Police on the pretext of the boy […]

PAKISTAN: Minorities hoodwinked yet again

Shortly before the end of his seven month term and following the Peshawar Church bombing last year which left more than 100 people dead, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Tassadduq Hussain Jillani, in a case suo motu (  of his own accord) on the 19th of June 2014 , issued a landmark judgment concerning the rights of […]