Fabrication of charges

A Statement from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Mr. Thanakorn Siripaiboon, a factory worker in a private company, was arrested from his workplace in Samut Prakan on 8 December 2015. He was accused by Maj Gen Wijarn Jodtaeng and Colonel Burin Thongprapai, legal officers of the National […]

– Basil Fernando Leading human rights activist Basil Fernando faults the government for not pushing the good governance agenda enough: It’s time to come up with a proper implementation plan to investigate and punish those involved in the corruption and crimes that occurred during the previous decades, says leading Human Rights activist, Basil Fernando Chathuri […]

Yesterday, December 10 was Human Rights Day. This is the day in 1948 when the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. To mark this day, JUST ASIA brings you a review of the state of human rights in specific Asian countries, with several interviews with relevant experts. In Nepal, adoption of a […]

The Philippines sees routine investigations on targeted killings, torture, arbitrary arrests and detention, all of which end up without enough evidence to prosecute the perpetrators. When prosecutions are initiated, those with the most guilt and evidence for prosecution are routinely excluded from criminal complaint. Court trials, time consuming and costly for victims, largely end with […]

International Human Rights Day offers one more opportunity to streamline the discourse on human rights. The achievements in terms of the development of normative standards have been immense in the last decades. These achievements are not reflected in people’s real life, despite certain public awareness about rights being made. Together with its success in building […]

Today, celebrating international human rights day, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) expresses its concern about various forms of human rights violations still occurring in Indonesia, despite the Soeharto dictatorship having ended 17 years ago. Major human rights violations abound. There is impunity for past abuses, torture and fabricated cases (unfair trial), assorted violations in […]

A Joint Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission and the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) calls for the return of all disappeared persons to their families. The government of Bangladesh must tell the whereabouts of the disappeared persons, and respond […]

More than 100 farmers have reportedly committed suicide in Uttar Pradesh, one of the most impoverished states in India, because of a hailstorm that destroyed their crops. The situation will only worsen with 50 of 75 districts being hit by a severe drought. Despite having evidence of the drought, the provincial government took two and […]

The Pakistan Institute of Labour Research and Education (PILER), a non-profit organization, and a partner of the Asian Human Rights Commission, is being targeted in a smear campaign. This is being done by the “invisible forces” inside Pakistan, through a certain TV chanel, the content of which is aired by other television channels. As a […]

Emarine Kharbhih The Ministry of Home Affairs stated in the parliament that India is not ready for a marital rape law since it will “break the institution of marriage”. According to a study done by the International Centre for Women and the United Nations Population Fund, 57.5 per cent of men agree that a wife […]

Courtessy from daily Pakistan Freedom of religion is a fundamental right that exists only on paper in Pakistan. Each year thousands of Christians, forming 13% of the total population, suffer at the hands of religious bigots who use blasphemy as an excuse to ruin their life. Christian girls are increasingly being forced to convert to Islam. According […]

Avinash Pandey Dear President Pranab Mukherjee, it feels good to see your concern over the imminent threat of food insecurity because of the degradation of large masses of agricultural land. Your insistence upon the urgent need to adopt more sustainable methods of land use systems and soil management practices is really important and must be […]

AHRC TV opens with some good news from Sri Lanka, where the Cabinet has approved the President’s proposal to abolish the Executive Presidency, thereby returning the country to full democracy, including the separation of powers. Next, we bring you an excerpt from a documentary film titledCyber-democracy: Cambodia, Kafka’s Kingdom, directed by Ellen Grant, which highlights […]

In a shameful assent to military rule, on 11 November 2015, the National Assembly approved an amendment to the Pakistan Army Act (PAA), 1952. This amendment provides legal cover to arrests already made by law-enforcement agencies, including the Army. According to media reports, the Bill amends Section 2 of the PAA, allowing military courts to […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission is gravely concerned about the health situation of student protesters who are currently carrying out hunger strikes in the prisons. There are incidences of solitary confinement, force-feeding, denial of water to some students besides inadequate hospital care. There was a police crackdown after which they arrested the non-violent student protesters […]

Rule of Law, A Standing Committee of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka RULE OF LAW A Standing Committee of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka B.A.SL.,153, MihinduMawatha, Colombo 12. Chairpersons- Mr. Lal Wijenayake/ Mr.PriyanthaGamage Convenors- Mrs.NaliniJayathilake/ Mr.NuwanBopage MEDIA STATEMENT : The Rule of Law Committee of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka expresses it’s […]

නීතිඥ බැසිල් ප‍්‍රනාන්දු අනුරාධපුරයේ සුප‍්‍රසිද්ධ කරාටේ ශූරයෙකු මරාදැමීම පිළිබද කථාව පසුගිය සති වලදී සාකච්චාවට භාජනය විය. ඊට එක් හේතුවක් වූයේ එම අපරාධයේ දී කලා යැයි කියා ඒ වාර්තා වුන සමහර සිද්ධින්ය. 28 දෙනෙකුගේ පමණ කණ්ඩායමක් තමන් අදුනාගත නොහැකි ආකාරයෙන් එක සමාන ඇදුම් කට්ටල වලින් සැරසී එක සමාන ආයුධ ඇතිව කටයුතු කල බවත්, එම සිද්ධීන් ‘සීසීටීවී’ […]

The weekly Times column, “Focus on Rights” by Kishali Pinto Jayawardena, in the Sunday Times, Sri Lanka, on 08November 2015, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Kishali Pinto Jayawardena At one time, we had women survivors of rape and abuse in Sri Lanka praying that the Goddess Kali may visit their attackers when they […]

October 2015 marked one year of Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Vice President Jusuf Kalla’s administration, since being sworn into office on 20 October 2014. On the occasion of this milestone, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and its local partner the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS) reviews the government’s […]

The Roundupthis week opens with a report of yet another targeted assassination in Bangladesh, which pushes the country further into lawlessness and terror. Faisal ArefinDipan, owner of a publishing house, is the latest victim. AHRC TV interviews Md.Ashrafuzzamanabout the killing spree and what is behind it. Next in this programme, BablooLoitongbam, of Human Rights Alert […]