Freedom of expression

During the three year period of new Myanmar Government, new political reforms have been taking place. The authorities stopped censoring the media in June 2012 and also allowed private news media groups to print newspapers in April 2013. As people in Burma only had state owned newspapers for the previous decade, elderly journalists and society […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that four journalists who wrote an investigative article about an army facility in Burma have been sentenced to ten years in jail, along with their editor. The conviction is clearly intended to intimidate the print media in Burma, or Myanmar, at a time […]

Targeting Freedom of Expression “It is clear that the freedom of expression and opinion is a fundamental right, the mother of all rights.” – Abid Hussain, UN Special Rapporteur on the Freedom of Information, Speech in Sri Lanka, 1999. A notice has been issued by one D.M.S, Dissanayake as the director/registrar of the NGO Secretariat […]

Photo by Prachatai The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concernedto have learned that Thanapol Eawsakul, writer, human rights defender, and editor of Fa Diew Kan (Same Sky) journal and publishing house, has been re-arrested and is being held by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). The conditions of his re-arrest and detention are […]

Social Online Posting Claimed as a Breach of His Terms of Release Previously, Mr. Thanapol Eawsakul was summoned to report himself as per the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)’s announcement no. 5/ 2557 and was released on 30 May 2014. In order to be discharged from the military custody, he had to sign […]

Attached Communication was issued under the hand of the Director of National Secratariat of NGOs, an arm of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) recently. The MoD does not enjoy any specific legal authority under any statute whatsoever to control  freedom of speech and association of citizens,  who act collectively through civil society organisations. In the […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) objects to the Contempt of Court Bill, which the government has tabled in Parliament on 9 June 2014. The Bill, if passed, will restrict freedom of expression and the freedom of the press. The Bill, while purporting to uphold judicial dignity, curtails individual freedom enshrined in Article 19 of […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that an editor and publisher is facing serious threats to his life from Muslim militants for publishing an autobiography of a retired judge of the Lahore High Court who hails from the Ahmadi sect.   According to reports the religious extremists have raided the office of […]

The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) vehemently condemns the violent incidents and complete breakdown of law and order that transpired in Aluthgama on the 14th and 15th of this month. While condemning all forms of religious and ethnic intolerance, discrimination and violence, FUTA sees the Aluthgama incident as an individual expression of a larger […]

Three television channels of Pakistan’s most watched and most influential media network  Geo TV, was ordered to be taken off air and shut down for a period of 15 days on the  instruction of the country’s intelligence agency the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate  (ISI). Continuing the attack Geo TV was also baselessly fined a sum of […]

A side event at the human rights council organised by the Asian Legal Resource Center (ALRC), Franciscans International (FI), International Coalition for Papua (ICP), Pro Papua Foundation, Tapol, Vivat International, West Papua Netzwerk (WPN), on Thursday, June 12, 2014  14:30 – 16:30 (CEST, UTC+2), Room XXII  Palais des Nations, Geneva Live Webcast West Papua in Indonesia […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a Muslim national from the Shia community in Pakistan, the second largest sect of Islam, who has by his own choice, converted from Islam to Ahmadi religion is now facing threats to his life.  The AHRC has also learnt that family members have […]

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to six Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers Special Rapporteur on Torture Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Peaceful […]

Two days after the announcement that martial law had been put in force was made on May 20th, a military junta, named the National Order Maintenance Council (NOMC), led a coup and subsequently installed itself as the government of Thailand. Over the course of the six months of anti-government protests, twenty-eight people had been killed […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to express grave concern about the filing of charges against Apichat Pongsawat under Martial Law, the Criminal Code, the 2007 Computer Crimes Act (CCA), and the orders of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), the military junta that carried out a coup in Thailand on 22 May […]

Leader of National Peace and Order Council Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha Royal Thai Army Headquarters Rachadamnoen Nok Road, Bangkok 10200, Thailand Fax:  (+66-2) 226 1838 E-mail: prforeign@gmail.com Dear General We, the members of civil society and human rights defenders of Nepal, express our deep concern over the takeover the administration of the country by the military junta, […]

The undersigned national and international civil society groups call on the Cambodian Senate to delay its review of three bills passed by the National Assembly (NA) on ‘reforming’ the judiciary that, if passed, could seriously undermine the rule of law in the Kingdom of Cambodia (Cambodia). The groups reiterate their call for broad public consultation […]

The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, interpreted the much talked about blasphemy law in a timely and appropriate manner. He made an observation in a sou moto case of the desecration of places of religion belonging to the minorities, that there should be thorough and impartial investigations into complaints of blasphemy so that […]

The attempted murder of an anchorperson of a popular media house triggered the open discussion on the role of the ISI in dealing with the freedom of expression and the media as a whole. Indeed, this is not the first occasion that the role of the ISI was brought up as a conspirator in the […]

I held back on writing about the extremely traumatic experience of Naomi Coleman, 37, mental health nurse in Coventry, England. I am very glad I opted to be less than current since I felt I needed other’s opinions before expressing mine. All I spoke with from senior diplomats and retired government officers who held top […]