Freedom of expression

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Manipur concerning death threats faced by a senior journalist after the journalist spoke against corruption in a televised discussion organised by a local news channel. Mr. Khoirom Loyalakpa is the Editor of a vernacular daily named Naharolgi Thoudang. It is reported that Loyalakpa has been […]

Organised by: International Human Rights Committee (IHRC) UK Hosted by: Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) Hong Kong Title: Freedom of Belief in Pakistan Date: 12 March 2015 Time: 15:30 – 17:00 Venue: Room XXII, Palais des Nations Chairperson: Mr. Baseer Naweed, Senior Researcher – ALRC Speakers: Mr. Heiner Bielefeldt – UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion […]

On Monday, 23 February 2015, at 1 pm in the Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road in Bangkok, the court will read the verdict and sentence Patiwat Saraiyaem and Pornthip Munkhong. They were formally charged on 25 October 2014 with one count of violating Article 112 of the Thai Criminal Code in relation to the performance […]

“The idea that after the fall of the USSR we would have this liberal democracy spreading around the world was of course naive but, in many cases, these are issues of power. We have a Western elite that isn’t really interested in democracy unless its friends win. Otherwise, they are happier with a dictator whom […]

Public places in Bangladesh have become unsafe today for the people when protest rallies are held. Even without a public protest, person and property in the country does not have any guarantee to their security. The overall breakdown of law and order is of such state, that a pro-government group, or those protesting against the […]

Since 15 January 2015, the Bangladesh government has deployed “Joint Forces”, comprising the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB), and the police to conduct operations against the opposition. Houses and shops of those identified as opposition supporters in northern Bangladesh are ending up demolished. Hundreds of people, including women and children, have been […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that in South Korea, there are deep concerns over the so-called ‘insurrection conspiracy charges against National Assembly Member and incumbent lawmaker Lee Seok-ki’ and several others in South Korea, by the Seoul High Court – for which he and several others have been sentenced to […]

A Statement from the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission During the latter half of January 2015, there are five cases handled by the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) to go on trial including; PDRC demonstration site bombing in Trat province (Black Case no. O1213/2557, Trat Provincial Court) […]

In the wake of last week’s terrorist attack in Paris, this episode of Weekly Roundup will cover the freedoms of speech and the press in certain Asian countries. The episode begins with an overview. AHRC TV then turns to Pakistan, for a look at how satire is treated and how it is limited. Pakistani Lawyer Javeria Younes […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission is gravely concerned about growing use of courts to attack freedom of expression in matters of religion in Burma. In the latest case, a writer was charged for allegedly insulting Buddhism. He criticised the people and monks who used Buddhism as a tool of discrimination and did not […]

In this week’s episode of Weekly Roundup covers a wide range of events in Bangladesh, Burma, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The episode begins with analysis of legal developments in Pakistan. Hear what AHRC experts have to say on the increase in power granted to military courts. Next, AHRC TV turns to Burma where new protests over […]

Two heads of dogs, freshly severed, have been strewn in front of the houses of two well-known human rights defenders as the race in the presidential election is intensifying in Sri Lanka. Mr. Brito Fernando and Prasanga Fernando are two well-known human rights activists who have a long history of fighting for the protection of […]

On Monday, 29 December 2014, at 9 am in the Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road in Bangkok, Patiwat Saraiyaem and Pornthip Munkhong will appear before the court for the first time since being formally charged on 25 October 2014. They have been charged with violating Article 112 of the Thai Criminal Code in relation to […]

Whatever be the outcome of the presidential election to be held on the 8th of January 2015, Sri Lanka has already entered into the deepest political crisis it has ever faced since the adoption of the Executive Presidential system through the 1978 Constitution. Within the period of a few weeks, all the manifestations of strength […]

by Basil Fernando The 13th of November (tomorrow) will be the 25th Death Anniversary of Rohana Wijeweera, the late leader of the JVP, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuana (The Peoples Liberation Front). It is perhaps an appropriate moment to recall the cruelty and the violence engaged in by the JVP as well as of the government security […]

The following interview was originally published in the latest issue ( Volume 3 Number 4 & 5)  of Torture: Asian and Global Perspectives ON 25th September 2014, Basil Fernando and the Asian Human Rights Commission was bestowed with the coveted Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the “Alternate Nobel Prize,” for “his tireless and outstanding […]

Recently the President of Burma has been granting amnesty to political prisoners across the country. However, these grants have not reached every case, and do not address some of the most recent issues involving politically motivated mass arrests. Specifically, the government’s newspaper, The Global New Light of Myanmar has published a list of political prisoners […]

Blasphemy law has become a lethal weapon against the freedom of religion and faith and also the freedom of expression An Assistant Sub Inspector of Police murdered a detained man, from Shia sect of Islam, with an axe during interrogation and later alleged the man had committed blasphemy. The incident occurred in Lala Musa, in […]

(Hong Kong, October 27, 2014) Every year on the 27th of October a commemoration of the enforced disappearances is held at the Raddoluwa junction in Seeduwa, in the front of the monument for the victims of enforced disappearances. On this day, parents, brothers, sisters, and other relatives and friends of the disappeared person gather at the […]

A Divisional Bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) upheld the death penalty of a Christian woman convicted of Blasphemy by a Sessions’ Court in 2010. Ms. Aasia Bibi, was a mother of five. She was arrested in 2009 under blasphemy charges while working in a farm with many other Muslim women. A two-judge bench […]