Freedom of expression

SRI LANKA: POLICE ON TRIAL: Exercising Authority without Accountability

An article from Daily Mirror forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission • Officers are rarely prosecuted for misconduct, including the brutal use of force on citizens. In rare cases, officers found guilty are given minor disciplinary punishments or given warnings. • The NPC received a total of Rs.127, 764, 000 budgetary allocation in 2018 which was […]

INDONESIA: A university student in North Halmahera allegedly tortured after express his opinion on WhatsApp status

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-003-2022 October 12, 2022 ——————————————————————— INDONESIA: A university student in North Halmahera allegedly tortured after express his opinion on WhatsApp status ISSUES: Torture, fair trial, impunity, remedy, access to justice, freedom of expression ——————————————————————— Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received […]

BANGLADESH: Government Must Stop Hate Campaign against UN Independent Experts and Rights Group Odhikar

Bangladesh Government must stop its hate campaigns against the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) of the United Nations and human rights group Odhikar. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerns over the continuation of gross human rights violations including enforced disappearances1 and extrajudicial killings in the country even after the visit […]

INDONESIA: Stop security approach in Papua Island

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) supports Indonesian civil society organizations under the Coalition of the Civil Society for Security Sector Reform. The security approach in dealing with social and human rights problems in the Papua Island shows a bad impact towards efforts to resolve the social conflict in the Papua Island. Applying this approach […]

ASIA: Enforced Disappearances Continue With Zero Accountability and Blanket Impunity

An Oral Statement to the 51st Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council from the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) Mr. Vice President: The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) welcomes the comprehensive report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) and appreciates its prompt interventions in response to reprisals against the […]

SRI LANKA: Today is the international day of democracy

Today (15th September) is the international day of democracy although in Sri Lanka we are going through very painful times. When democracy is very serious with challenge, it is very essential for us to recall the basic principles of democracy so that we could reaffirm our commitment to these principles. These principles are citizen participation, equality, […]

SRI LANKA: UN human rights experts condemn repeated use of emergency measures to crackdown on protests

GENEVA (8 August 2022) – UN human rights experts* today condemned the extensive, prolonged and repeated use of state of emergency measures since 2 April 2022 by Sri Lankan authorities to crackdown on peaceful protesters and prevent them from voicing their grievances amidst an economic collapse in the country. On 15 July, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned […]

BANGLADESH: Independent Investigative Mechanism Needed for Affording Justice to Victims of Enforced Disappearances

A Written Statement to the 51st Regular Session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) reiterates the issue of Bangladesh’s unabated enforced disappearances with blanket impunity to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council’s 51st Regular Session. Halting enforced disappearances in Bangladesh has […]

ශ්‍රී ලංකා: අන්තර් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයීය සිසුන්ට කල ප්‍රහාරය තරයේ හෙලා දකිනවා

සාමකාමී උත්ගොෂකයන්ට කදුළු ගෑස් ගැසීම සහ පහරදීම පොලිස් රාජකාරියක් නොවේ. අන්තර් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයීය සිසුන්ට කල ප්‍රහාරය තරයේ හෙලා දකිනවා – ආසියානු මානව හිමිකමි කොමිසම වීඩියෝව මෙතනින් ලබාගන්න

නීතිය මත පාලනය හදුන්වාදීමක්

The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to share with you the following video regarding current Sri Lankan situation. Click here to view

SRI LANKA: Illegal arrests and illegal detentions damage the legal system

By Basil Fernando Illegal arrests and illegal detentions do not only harm individuals, they also cause irreparable damage to the legal system as a whole. The recent wave of arrests of those who have participated in peaceful demonstrations has not only caused serious damage to the life and liberty of these individuals but they have […]

INDONESIA: Result of the Selection Process of Ad Hoc Judges for the Human Rights Court of 2022 for the Paniai Papua Human Rights Case

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), a prominent national human righs organization about the selection process of judges for the Paniai Human Rights Court. Responding to the declaration of the 2022 Human Rights Court Ad Hoc Judge who decided the eight […]

ශ්‍රී ලංකා: 2022 ජූලි 9 – 13 සිදු වූ විපර්යාසය

The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to share with you the following video regarding current Sri Lankan situation. Click here to view

SRI LANKA: An emergency means nothing less than ‘legalizing lawlessness’

By Basil Fernando A declaration of emergency means suspensions of all the laws which normally operate within a country for the protection of the people. A declaration of emergency takes away all the basic protections which are considered essential to the normal functioning of the society. Lawlessness is declared to be normal under a period […]

BANGLADESH: Dissidents and Human Rights Defenders Survive Defenselessly

Human rights defenders, dissidents, and political opposition survive in a profoundly dangerous condition of civic space in Bangladesh. The country’s government keeps weaponising draconian laws with impunity to curb civic freedoms of the people. The freedom of peaceful assembly and association and the freedom of expression and opinion are dealt with incarceration by the police, […]

INDONESIA: Human Rights Court for Paniai Case in Papua must Apply International Human Rights Standard

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to the Indonesia Supreme Court Professor. Dr. Muhammad Syarifuddin, SH., MH The Chairperson of the Indonesian Supreme Court (Mahkamah Agung RI) Jalan Medan Merdeka Utara No 9-13 Tel: +62 21 3843348, +62 21 3810350, +62 21 3457661 Fax: + 62 21 3453553, +62 21 3454546 Jakarta […]

SRI LANKA: The crisis of criminal justice in Sri Lanka

Kindly see below an interview with Basil Fernando published by xposure Media group on the present crisis of criminal justice in Sri Lanka. Click here to see the video

SRI LANKA: A New Era Of Politics Begins In Sri Lanka

By Basil Fernando A peaceful mass uprising on 9th July 2022 has brought about the end of a political era which started with the promulgation of the 1978 constitution of Sri Lanka: that constitution completely undermined democracy, the rule of law and human rights in the country. During a period of continuous protests over 3 […]

SRI LANKA: Journalists and Protesters Face Arrests, Assaults, and Interrogations as Government Fails to Tackle Economic Crisis

The crisis of major magnitude is taking place in Sri Lanka. The world has not yet taken adequate notice of the impact of an economic downturn as a result of the inability of the government to pay the foreign loans as a result of which it is suffering from the worst financial crisis ever faced […]

SRI LANKA: Two big lies told about the 1978 Constitution

By Basil Fernando Two great lies have been propagated about the 1978 Constitution. When a lie is repeated many times by many persons, often such a lie begins to be treated as a conventional truth. The first of these lies is that the 1978 Constitution was created on the model of the French Constitution and […]