Extrajudicial killings

PAKISTAN: Drought in Thar-the irresponsible attitude of the authorities

Every Pakistani is well aware of terrorism, unemployment, inflation, injustice, forced labour, disappearances, blasphemy against minorities, discrimination against women, custodial deaths, torture and so on as these are the challenges they are face on a daily basis in their lives. Now there is another challenge for impoverished Pakistanis: famine; like the conditions faced in the […]

INDIA: Custodial death in Manipur Dressed up as Suicide

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from civil society organizations based in Manipur, India, regarding the custodial death of Mr. Thoudam Digbijoy. Mr. Digbijoy was illegally detained in Wangoi police station, Wangoi Makha Leikai, Imphal West district, Manipur. On 26 February 2014 he was found dead, supposedly by suicide. This […]

THAILAND: Australian academics voice concern for missing Somchai, Sombath

(Hong Kong, March 6, 2014) Academics of the Australian National University on Thursday submitted a letter to the diplomatic mission of Thailand in Canberra marking the tenth anniversary of the enforced disappearance of Thai human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit. File photograph of Thai human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit The 23 scholars said they lamented that nobody […]

INDIA: Year after Majoni’s Disappearance, Investigation still Missing

Article | India | 04-03-2014

On 10 February, 2013 a young writer and teacher, Ms. Majoni Das working at a private educational institute in the town of Jorhat, located in the eastern Indian state of Assam, went missing. All that her family knows is that Majoni was instructed by police officials to report to a police station, and that she […]

PAKISTAN: The government ignores the historical long march for the recovery of disappeared persons

The historic long march of the Baloch family members of missing persons ended in Islamabad after covering 2800 kilometers. The 20 member’s contingent of long march created history in the sub-continent by continuously walking 104 days from Quetta, the capital of the Balochistan province, to Islamabad, the capital of the country via the Sindh and […]

ASIA: AHRC TV- Human Rights Asia Weekly Roundup Episode 19

Announcement | | 26-02-2014

The AHRC releases today the 19th Episode, of the Human Rights Asia Weekly Roundup In this week’s programme we bring you coverage of the following stories from across Asia. In news from Pakistan, threats continue for Baloch long marchers. The march completed its 100th day last Sunday and has now covered more than 2,700 kilometres. The protesters have reached the […]

CAMBODIA: A week that shook Cambodia

PRESS CONFERENCE “A WEEK THAT SHOOK CAMBODIA” Release of the Fact-finding Mission Report on the Violent Crackdown on Garment Workers in Cambodia (Dec 2013-Jan 2014) The garment industry has been the chief engine of the Cambodian economy for the past two decades since its establishment in 1994. However, garment workers still account for a large […]

PAKISTAN: A nationalist and political activist killed by law enforcement agencies after severe torture

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that officers of the law enforcement agencies abducted a young activist who was tortured to death in illegal detention. After the incident officers of these agencies threw the tortured and bullet riddled death body near the Bharia Road City Railway Station of District Naushero […]

PHILIPPINES: Another urban poor leader was shot dead after attending a meeting on housing in Metro Manila

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the killing of an urban poor leader after he attended a meeting on housing for informal settlers on 15 February, 2014 in Malabon City, Metro Manila. He died after being shot repeatedly in a crowded public market. CASE NARRATIVE: (Based on the documentation by […]

ASIA: AHRC TV- Human Rights Asia Weekly Roundup Episode 18

The AHRC releases today the 18th Episode, of the Human Rights Asia Weekly Roundup. In this week’s AHRC TV – Weekly Round we bring you the following stories. In Sri Lanka, the ruling party has moved yet again to increase censorship of the independent media channels. In a new twist of events, reports revealed that a popular […]

PAKISTAN: The Long March in support of the families of victims of enforced disappearances is under threat and the government is preparing to halt the marchers by force

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received reports that Mama Qadeer, the organiser of the Long March from Balochistan to Islamabad, the purpose of which is to urge the Pakistani government to do something about the ongoing enforced disappearances of Balochi activists is receiving death threats. The marchers have now reached an area just […]

PHILIPPINES: Another peasant leader shot dead in Bukidnon

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that a local peasant leader in Bukidnon was shot dead by two armed men. He and his colleague were aboard a motorcycle and on their way to a village. The victims were actively involved in helping peasants in different villages of the […]

SRI LANKA: Will the Bar Association submit to the proposal for Case “Mismanagement”?

In his remarkable writings, Orwell reminded us as to how the Ministry of War was represented as the Ministry of Peace. Such coinage of words to mean the opposite of reality is part of the mischief in introducing repression in place of freedom. We have occasion to remember Orwell’s words of warning when reading about […]

ASIA: AHRC TV – Human Rights Asia Weekly Roundup, Episode 15

The AHRC releases today the 15th Episode, of the Human Rights Asia Weekly Roundupwith special reports from Cambodia. In this week’s programme we bring you the following stories from across Asia; In Cambodia four persons were killed and many others wounded after police opened fire at protestors demanding an increase of the minimum wage. The AHRC […]

PAKISTAN: The total number of deaths in 2013 reached to 5665 in different incidents of violence

A report by Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) The month of December saw a moderate reduction in the number of casualties related to militant, sectarian and politically-motivated violence plaguing Pakistan. The overall death toll was at around 275 while up to 325 people were wounded in these hostilities bringing the total number of […]

PHILIPPINES: Anti-mining activist shot dead in Compostela Valley, Mindanao

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed regarding the killing of an anti-mining activist in Compostela Valley, Mindanao on 3 January, 2014. No adequate police enquiry has yet taken place and none of the perpetrators have been arrested. The incident took place after the victim assisted in demanding compensation from the […]

PAKISTAN: More than 100 dead bodies from three mass graves were found in one district of Balochistan

The UN and international human rights organisations must send fact finding missions to probe the illegal disposal of Baloch people in mass graves The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) expresses shock and deep concern over the discovery of mass graves in Balochistan; it is suspected that these graves are of Baloch missing persons who were […]

PAKISTAN: The taliban are on the attack as the government continues to formulate its security policy to combat terrorism

A media house issuing adverse reports on the Taliban is attacked and three employees were killed The Pakistani Taliban, a brutal and bloody organisation, has accelerated its attacks in different parts of the country. During the last four days from January 15, a total of 52 people have been killed in suicide attacks and targeted […]

PAKISTAN: While illegal and gender-biased verdicts are passed by a Jirga with the assent of the State, women make amends

Whether fully or partially responsible for a crime, whether involved or not in an offence, women in Pakistan frequently come off worst when it comes to punishment. Gender-biased practises and discriminatory attitudes have become social norms which have even gained the status of religious dictates. Islam, in its original doctrine and essence, promotes equal recognition […]

CAMBODIA: Stop the Violence: A Call for Release, Investigation and Reparation

We, the Cambodian and International Civil Society Organizations represented in this statement, condemn the use of armed force and escalating violence against the Cambodian people. At the start of 2014, following three weeks of peaceful demonstrations in Phnom Penh, tensions increased dramatically as authorities brutally cracked down on garment factory workers, who were demonstrating for […]