Fabrication of charges

SRI LANKA: Gayashan is still missing

Gayashan still remains missing following police detention at the Hambanthota Police Station Thanks to media interest, the matter is being discussed all over the country. The Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundera is reported to have spoken with the father of Gayashan, promising that he would do everything in his power to find the young […]

THIALAND: The Judicial Harassment of Human Rights Defenders and Torture in the South

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to draw the attention of the interested persons to follow the judicial harassment of three human rights defenders in Thailand. According to the AHRC Urgent Appeals case (AHRC-UAC-065-2016) which was released on 13 June, 2016. The Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF) is an organization that monitors and documents cases of torture […]

AHRC TV: Sri Lanka Police mark 150 years and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 138

Just Asia begins this week with Sri Lanka; on the eve of the Sri Lanka Police celebrating 150 years of service, a TV programme was held discussing Sri Lanka’s policing service, its history and present status, and the country’s much needed criminal justice reforms. The discussion was attended by Mr Basil Fernando, Director of Policy […]

ASIA: Advances in legislative processes and lack of institutional frameworks to uphold the prohibition of torture in Asia

By Md. Ashrafuzzaman INTRODUCTION: There is an urgent and unavoidable need to protect people from torture. And, towards this end, there have been few notable legislative developments in Asia. However, despite the promulgation of select legislation in certain Asian jurisdictions, which now criminalize torture, the crime remains entrenched in the fabric of daily life. The […]

INDONESIA: Company supported by land agency confiscates land from Bahotokong Residents

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding Anugerah Saritama Abadi Company (PT. Anugerah Saritama Abadi) grabbing the land of local residents and farmers of Bahotokong Village. The company, without adequate compensation, confiscated the villager’s land. On the other hand, many of villagers are now facing criminal charges for advocating their […]

PHILIPPINES: Police falsely implicate persons in drug charges to boost image

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned about the police’s torture and planting of evidence on suspected drug users and sellers in General Santos City. The police operation was allegedly conducted to boost the police image in their campaign against illegal drugs. CASE DETAILS: (Based on interviews and documentation by the […]

THAILAND: Rights of suspects under Martial Law must be respected; prohibition on visits by family must end

(4 September 2016) On 31 August 2016, at 13:30, four men suspected of crimes in Thailand’s Deep South were taken into custody (although they were usually called “invitees” and not “detainees” by the authorities). Three were subsequently released, though one, Mr. Manasae Zoroae, 26, continued to be held at Ranger Taskforce 43 inside the Ingkhayutthaborihan […]

PAKISTAN: Harassment of human rights defender Dr. Rubina Feroze Bhatti and closure of her organization

On 2 September 2016, a team of police was seen in the vicinity of the home of the human rights defender Dr. Rubina Feroze Bhatti, and questioned her house maid of her whereabouts. The previous day, the NGO of the human rights defender, Taangh Wasaib Organization (TWO) was shut down by police and 8 of […]

PAKISTAN: September 7; One of the Darkest days in the History of Pakistan

The 7th September is one of the darkest days in the history of Pakistan when religion was firmly inducted to be the basis of the state affairs. This laid the foundation of unprecedented discrimination, abhorrence and violence against other religions, other sects or other interpretations of religion that did not conform the religious interpretations of […]

INDIA: A democracy that discriminates and disgraces citizens even in death

Avinash Pandey Unable to pay the ambulance drivers INR 1500, or around USD 22, a young mother was forced to sit out the night with her child’s dead body outside a hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district. This happened less than two weeks after a nationwide outrage over the ordeal of a tribal man named Dana Majhi […]

नेपाल: यातना दिने तथा निर्मम, अमानवीय वा अपमानजनक व्यवहार गर्ने कार्यलाई नियन्त्रण गर्ने सम्बन्धमा व्यवस्था गर्न बनेको विधेयकमाथि टिप्पणी तथा सुझाव

यातना सबै प्रकारका मानव अधिकार उल्लंघनको आमा हो । गम्भिर मानव अधिकार उल्लंघनको विषयमा अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय क्षेत्राधिकार समेत लागु हुने र यातना विरुद्धको महासन्धिले जहा सुकै यातना भएको भए पनि यातना विरुद्धको महासन्धिको पक्षराष्ट्रले त्यसलाई रोक्नु पर्ने दायित्व समेत तोकेकोले पनि यातनाको विषय सबैको चासोको विषय हो । तर यति गम्भिर विषयमा यातनाका पीडितहरु, अधिकारकर्मीहरु, विज्ञहरु […]

WORLD: Brand new satire program launches this Friday

Engaging daily with the misery manufactured by Asia’s dysfunctional justice institutions was bound to result in something truly creative some day. This creativity has sprung forth in the form of biting satire and humor. And, that day is the day after, none other than this Friday. It is the pleasure of the Asian Human Rights […]

THAILAND: Call for observers in verdict of landmark Kaeng Krachan National Park case

On 7 September 2016, at 10:30 a.m., the verdict in the case of Karen people forcibly relocated from the Kaeng Krachan National Park will be read at the Central Administrative Court in Bangkok. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urges all concerned persons to attend the court as observers, and calls on other interested persons […]

WORLD: How the Asian Human Rights Charter (1998) came to be written

Please read Part I – Asian Charter on Human Rights – it’s significance and purpose The Asian Human Rights Charter – a People’s Charter, was the initiative of the Asian Human Rights Commission, a regional human rights organisation based in Hong Kong. The idea of drafting the Charter emerged as a result of certain discourses on human […]

INDONESIA: Charged with criminal defamation under the ITE and tagged on Facebook

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding a fabricated case against Mr. Dedi Sutanto. He was tagged on Face book concerning allegations of corruption involving a local businessman. His friends were also tagged. They reported to the Police and were charged with criminal defamation under Law No 11 of 2008 […]

INDONESIA: Justice for Munir, Justice for All – is it true Mr. President ?

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that the assassination 12 years ago, of prominent human rights activist, Munir Said Thalib, has passed without any progress being made. Munir was poisoned to death on 7 September 2004 on board a Garuda Indonesian flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam. Recently, some movement occurred when the court […]

AHRC TV: Mother’s health deteriorating on hunger strike in Nepal and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 137

This week Just Asia begins with Nepal, where Ganga Maya Adhikari, an icon of justice, has resumed her hunger strike on August 11, calling for justice for her son Krishna Prasad. Krishna was brutally murdered by Maoists in 2004. Since 2013, Ganga Maya and her husband were on hunger strike. Instead of justice, 22 September […]

NEPAL: Government must serve justice to Ganga Maya Adhikari and prevent a senseless death

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is worried for Ganga Maya Adhikari, an icon of justice, who has resumed her hunger strike on August 11. Ganga Maya has asked Nepal’s Minister for Health, Gagan Thapa, to convey her demands seeking punishment for her son Krishna Prasad Adhikari’s murderers to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’. […]

PAKISTAN: Religious minority representation in political process conspicuously absent

Despite a lapse of 69 years, religious minority communities of the country lack representation in mainstream politics. A true representative democracy and constitutional politics are the best institutional tools to protect and advance the interests of religious minorities in any set of social conditions. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, the political representation of minorities in mainstream politics […]

PAKISTAN: Ongoing Genocide of the Hazara Shia Sect

By Ishaq Mohammadi Hazaras draw their racial lineage from Turks and Mughals and are mostly followers of the Shia sect of Islam. Their ancestral land is situated in central Afghanistan named as ‘Hazarajat’. Hazaras living in Pakistan also come from the same race and territory. They migrated to then British India to avoid persecution. They […]