Fabrication of charges

WORLD:Open letter from 22 ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’ Laureates to the King of Saudi Arabia for freedom of poet Ashraf Fayadh

An Open Letterfrom 22 Right Livelihood Award Laureatesforwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) To, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia Respected King, The poet, art curator and Palestinian refugee Ashraf Fayadh, was sentenced to death by beheading, on November 17, 2015, by decision of the government of Saudi […]

AHRC TV: JUST ASIA, Episode 109

This week’s episode of Just Asia focuses on Hong Kong, where the first day of the Lunar New Year saw violent clashes between protesters and police. The unrest caused shock and increased the sense of uncertainty lingering in the wake of the disappearance of five booksellers in January. The violence erupted overnight as police attempted […]

AHRC TV: JUST ASIA, Episode 108

In this episode, Just Asia continues to cover critical human rights flashpoints in Asia. In Pakistan, three employees of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) have been killed in clashes near the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, on February 3. The employees were on a countrywide protest against privatization of the national airlines. Around 30 persons have also been […]

INDIA: Dead criminal justice system haunts the living

A 21-year-old woman committed suicide by hanging herself on 28 January 2016. In her suicide note the woman wrote about the most obvious and the ugly truth of India: that of losing faith in the country’s criminal justice process. She wrote: “Please mummy, papa forgive me. I will not get justice anymore, nor will I […]

PAKISTAN: Four trade union leaders disappeared following arrest by Rangers

On February 2, the Pakistan Rangers, who have been given unbridled powers by the Federal government, have taken into custody four trade union leaders. These leaders were picked up from different locations in Karachi. Since then their whereabouts are unknown. The Sindh police deny having the men in their custody; the Rangers are yet to […]

BANGLADESH: Immediately release Mahmudur Rahman, arbitrarily imprisoned since 2013

Hong Kong, 03 February 2016 Geneva-Paris-Hong Kong, February 3, 2016. The authorities of Bangladesh should immediately release journalist Mahmudur Rahman, who completed 1,000 days in custody without trial on January 6, 2016 as part of the Government’s efforts to stifle critical voices in the country, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (a […]

INDIA: From Khairlanji to Hyderabad: what post-outrage?

RohithVemula’s suicide will not be just another suicide in the statistical records of the National Crime Records Bureau. It will not be so in the same way the 2006 massacre in Khairlanjiwas not. These two cases separated by almost a decade,are far more than a statistic of ordinary crime, such as that committed in a […]

PAKISTAN: Government uses brutal force against protesters, killing three officers of national airlines

Personnel from the Pakistan Rangers have used brute force against unarmed protesters, causing the death of three Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) employees, who were out protesting against the privatisation of the State owned airlines. The dead include Zubair Ahmed, Manager HR department, Saleem Akbar, I.T Engineer, and Inayat Jafri, a senior officer.The demonstrators assembled peacefully […]

THAILAND: Launching Pattani Torture report of 2014-2015 at PSU Pattani on 10 Feb 2016

A Press Releasefrom Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF), Duay Jai Group, and Patani Human Rights Networkforwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) And Public discussion on the Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment in Thailand’s Deep South Project Rationale The eruption of the unrest in Thailand’s Deep South can be attributed […]

SRI LANKA: Policing Sri Lanka’s Police Force

An article published in the Sunday Leader, on 24th January 2016, which is an English translation of the same, published in the ‘Irudina’ newspaper on 17th January 2016, by WimalanathWeeraratne, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission by WimalanathWeeraratne It seems that Sri Lanka Police never learns a lesson. Although it has the Dharmachakra (Wheel of the […]

SRI LANKA :On Mad Monks and Chaotic Government

Kishali Pinto Jayawardena Several wickedly problematic tragi-comedies are playing on Sri Lanka’s political stage right now, none of which are to the benefit of the country. Why was no deterrent action taken earlier? The spectacle of mad monks running amok in the Homagama Magistrate’s Court abusing the magistrate, the lawyers and the wife of disappeared […]

PAKISTAN: Judiciary observes meekly as Rangers produce Saeed Baloch eight days after disappearance

After keeping prominent Pakistan fisher folk leader and front line activist Saeed Baloch incommunicado in illegal and arbitrary detention for eight days, the Pakistan Rangers dramatically produced him in court on January 26. Earlier, the Rangers had denied that Saeed was in their custody. On 16 January 2016, Saeed Baloch was called by phone to […]

NEPAL: Corrupt Cops

An oped from the Kathmandu Post forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Corruption in the Armed Police Force (APF) was exposed after four of its inspector generals including a sitting chief were probed by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) over charges of pocketing millions of rupees illegally during their […]

PAKISTAN: 521/2160 girls missing in 2015. 7 murdered children reported.

A Statement from Roshni helpline Research and Development Organization forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission The missing children’s search and recovery organization Roshni Helpline has published its annual report for 2015 on missing children in Karachi Pakistan, one of the largest industrial cities. A total of 2160 children have been reported missing in the […]

INDIA: A state where free speech is systematically stifled

Statement | India | 25-01-2016

The suicide of a young Dalit scholar, Mr. Rohith Vemula, in the University of Hyderabad is not merely the death of an individual. The sordid saga behind what made Rohith take this extreme step exposes all the pretensions of the Indian state and its institutions. It shows how six decades after independence, elitist Brahminical domination […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Justice Delayed, Justice Denied

A Press Release from the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT) and Legal Aid Network (LAN) forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) New report exposes systematic cover-up of Myanmar Army involvement in Kachin rape-murder case A new report exposes the systematic cover-up of the Myanmar Army’s involvement in the rape-murder of two Kachin teachers […]

INDIA: AFSPA should not be enforced in Manipur to support organised lawlessness benefiting illegal drug and weapon smuggling cartels

Statement | India | 15-01-2016

“AFSPA was imposed after declaring the state a disturbed area. You mean to say that in 35 years of Army presence in the state, the situation has not improved to remove the disturbed area tag from the state? Has nothing changed on the law and order front for the last three decades?” The Supreme Court […]

AHRC TV: JUST ASIA, Episode 106

In this episode of Just Asia, AHRC TV reports from Sri Lanka where the police still appear to consider themselves above the law. Police officers in Embilipitiya killed a young man and authorities responded by simply re-locating the perpetrators to other stations rather than investigating the crime. Just Asia continues to report about the missing […]

PAKISTAN: Asylum appeal for young man threatened to death by religious extremists

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding  death threats to a young man and his parents from religious fanatics for committing blasphemy while he was sitting for his annual examinations. The young man and his family are since hiding 2011.  A blasphemy case is pending in Court and he was 17 […]

PAKISTAN: Halt the execution of Saqi Shah, a minor at the time of the incident

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information of the execution of two persons who have already spent 23 years in prison, including 20 years on death row in Adialla Prison. They are to be hanged on December 16, which is the first anniversary of the terrorist killing of 145 children at […]