Extrajudicial killings

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Shame shadows Bangladesh again. Numerous attacks have been waged on the Hindu community across Bangladesh in the wake of the January 5th general ‘election’. Houses and business establishments owned by Hindus have been targeted. Other ethnic and non-Muslim communities have also been attacked. Temples and religious sites have not been spared. Few hundred Hindu families have […]

The debates so far, concerning the arrest of an Indian diplomat in the US, on charges of visa fraud, have omitted the nature of the crime the officer has committed. The crime alleged against the officer, is that of furnishing false documents to obtain visa for a migrant labour to the US. Read with the […]

Press Release 6 January 2014 Following the unprecedented outbreak of riots in the rural areas of Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Baghpat, Meerut and Saharanpur districts of Uttar Pradesh in the first week of September, tens of thousands of Muslim families have been living in relief camps for the last four months. However, over the past week, the […]

Each year, in South Asian communities, thousands of young brides lose their lives over dowry disputes. They are burnt, killed or maimed by husbands and in-laws whose material demands remain unfulfilled. Religions including Islam have always been interpreted and applied in favour of men and power structures.  Thus, it is not surprising to notice that   dowry […]

On December 18, 2013, the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 19 in Manila City, commenced the trial of Temogen “Cocoy” Tulawie, an indigenous activist, who is being prosecuted for fabricated charges of attempted murder, in connection with a bombing incident on May 13, 2009 in Patikul, Sulu. Photo: Mussah Tulawie, wife of Temogen, (in the middle), […]

Wednesday, January 8, 2014 (All day) The true or genuine creative writer of the calibre of a sensitive poet writes not for the entire public but for a self expression of some of his intimate feelings and experiences for one’s sake. Perhaps he or she writes for a particular reason, for a vanishing few admirers. […]

A child of 15 was arrested by the security forces in October and there has been no response from the authorities The disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the province of Balochistan continued unabated during 2013. The Voice of Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) has compiled lists of disappearances and extra judicial killings despite threats and intimidation […]

Civil society groups must resist the evil designs of the Punjab government to stop the marchers from entering the province The second phase of the Long March for the recovery of hundreds of disappeared persons after their arrest by the security forces has now covered 600 kilometers on its way to Islamabad, the final destiny. […]

Press Statement on the Report  prepared by Mohan Rao, Ish Mishra, Pragya Singh and Vikas Bajpai, December 30, 2013 A team of independent academics and a journalist carried out an inquiry into the communal violence that shook Muzaffarnagar district in UP this past September. The report is based on the findings of the team during […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the death of Danny Kogoya, regional commander of the Free Papua Movement (Organisasi Papua Merdeka, OPM), in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea. The cause of death was reported to be liver failure due to the presence of unusual chemical substances in his body. A […]

The open debate about the denial of equality between men and women may be seen as historically recent. However, the reality of gender imbalance has been a factual data for centuries and unfortunately, when we look at countries like Pakistan, the journey towards gender equality appears to be a long and insidious odyssey. The relationship […]

The AHRC condoles the death of Mr. Khurshid Anwar, a writer and activist reputed for his life-long struggle for upholding the rights and dignity of the downtrodden, not only in India but the whole subcontinent. Unable to cope with the mental torture of relentless social media trial over a case of an alleged rape which […]

Mr. Ban Ki Moon Secretary General of the United Nations Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General United Nations S-378, New York, NY 10017 USA Fax: +1 212 963 7055 or 2155 An Open Letter to the UN Secretary General by the Asian Human Rights Commission Your Excellency, the Secretary General of the United Nations, […]

Following is an extract from the Pastoral Letter of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka, entitled ‘Towards Reconciliation and Rebuilding of the Nation’. In this exercise the independence of the Judiciary should be preserved and defended at all cost. The Judiciary which has the sacred role of interpreting and applying the meaning of a […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from North East Dialogue Forum, a coalition of human rights organisations, and North East Research & Social Work Networking, a civil society organisation based in Kokrajhar, Assam, regarding the extrajudicial execution of two school children and the injuring of another by a joint team […]

The health of Mr. Nanda Prasad Adhikari and Mrs. Ganga Maya Adhikari, parents to a murdered son, Krishna Prasad Adhikari, is deteriorating rapidly. According to doctors at Bir Hospital, having  resumed their hunger strike from their hospital beds, the Adhikari couple are now in critical condition. Maoist cadre allegedly killed Krishna Prasad Adhikari in 2004. […]

Human Rights Report for 2013: ‘License’ to torture, kill and to silence the oppressed http://www.humanrights.asia/resources/hrreport/2013/AHRC-SPR-001-2013.pdf/ On December 9, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has expressed its deep concern over the renewed targeted attacks of journalists and activists. In the space of one week, five journalists and activists, known critics against corruption, wrong doings of local politicians, […]