Freedom of expression

About 50,000 members of the fisher folk community in the Negombo lagoon area have been protesting against a move by the government to initiate a tourism project which will require the reclamation of part of the lagoon to build a landing strip. The Negombo lagoon is rich with marine resources and has provided livelihoods for […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission shares the excitement felt worldwide at the release of Burma’s unrivalled symbol of democracy and hope for the future, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and at her first public speech in many years, held at the headquarters of the National League for Democracy in Rangoon on 14 November 2010. The […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned that Jean Marie Ferraris, a mining activist attached to the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan or LRC, has been falsely accused as “head of the international financial cell” of the Communist Part of the Philippines (CPP) in Indonesia. Falsely accusing human rights and […]

Dear Friends,   The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward the following statement from the Thai Netizen Network requesting representatives to consider urgent amendment to Article 15 of the Computer-Related Crimes Act 2007.   Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong   ————- A Statement from the Thai Netizen Network forwarded by the Asian […]

(Hong Kong, November 5, 2010) The Asian Human Rights Commission on Wednesday launched a new campaign webpage on the case of Chiranuch Premchaiporn, the director of the independent online news service Prachatai, who is facing multiple criminal charges over material that readers posted onto her website. The webpage, which is mostly in English but also […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission has followed the case of Nyi Nyi Htun, the editor of a Karenni state-based news journal, who was charged for upsetting public tranquility by sending news reports outside Burma. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison on 13 October 2010 by the Seikkan Township court. Police officers from the […]

ISLAMABAD Oct 31: The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has expressed concern over non-arrest of officials of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) who ruthlessly tortured and inflected more than 31 injurers on various parts of the body of Din TV channel’s Faisal Shoukat Ali Rajput and demanded immediate action against all those involved in […]

Since October 28, 2010, the Asian Human Rights Commission’s (AHRC) website has been subjected to a concerted “cyber-attack” in which computers with hidden locations and identities have been used to flood the website’s servers with fake requests, in order to overload it. This has resulted in visitors not being able to access the website’s content […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward to you the following open letter from the Cambodia Center for Human Rights to the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ——- An Open Letter from the Cambodia Center for Human Rights to the United Nations Secretary General […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Burmese migrant workers in the city of Khon Kaen in north east Thailand, holding a peaceful protest against their employer for illegally keeping their legal documents, had allegedly been fired upon by gunmen. To frighten them, the gunmen fired shots into the community […]

Basil Fernando What Sarath Fonseka and Sam Rainsy have in common is that they are the most popular opposition leaders in their countries and that they have been jailed for that very reason. Political popularity is treated as a serious crime in both countries, where the ruling parties are aspiring to create one party rule. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that Ms. Chiranuch Premchaiporn, director of Prachatai online newspaper, was detained by the immigration police at Suvarnabhumi Airport, in Samutprakarn province near Bangkok, and transferred to Khon Kaen police station, in northeastern Thailand. She has been charged with violating the Computer Crimes Act BE.2550 (2007) […]

(Hong Kong, September 22, 2010) The BBC should not shut down or scale back Burmese-language broadcasts, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urged in a letter sent to the UK government on Wednesday. According to recent media reports, including in items on the BBC Burmese Service itself, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office is considering […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward to you the following press release from the Free Media Movement. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- A Press Release from the Free Media Movement forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) SRI LANKA: The Free Media Movement condemns the arrest of […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the shameful act allegedly by the officials of notorious intelligence agencies and the Elite Force, a law enforcement agency of Punjab government. Mr. Umer Cheema, a senior journalist from the newspaper, daily The News International, was abducted, tortured severely and kept in incommunicado […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following statement from Reporters Without Borders. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- A Statement from Reporters Without Borders forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission PAKISTAN: Murder attempt on journalist over TV report of lynching English: http://en.rsf.org/pakistan-murder-attempt-on-journalist-over-01-09-2010,38255.html Français : http://fr.rsf.org/pakistan-un-journaliste-en-danger-de-mort-01-09-2010,38253.html 1st September 2010-Dunya TV reporter Hafiz Muhammad […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward to you the following open letter from NGOs and West Papua Networks worldwide regarding political prisoners in Papua and West Papua, Indonesia. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ——- An Open Letter from NGOs and Papua Networks worldwide forwarded by the Asian Human Rights […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward to you the following press release from Reporters Without Borders. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- A Press Release from Reporters Without Borders forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) (Hong Kong, August 11, 2010) Reporters Without Borders/Reporters sans frontières English: http://en.rsf.org/sri-lanka-where-is-prageeth-10-08-2010,38113.html Français: http://fr.rsf.org/sri-lanka-ou-est-prageeth-10-08-2010,38112.html […]

As Prageeth Eknaligoda remains a matter of concern the principles of international law relating to the right to truth is a relevant issue. we reproduce below the General Comment on the Right to the Truth in Relation to Enforced Disappearances of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances Preamble   The right to the truth — sometimes […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following statement from the South Asia Forum for Human Rights. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- A Statement from the South Asia Forum for Human Rights (SAFHK) forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: Attack on mass media continues In Sri Lanka, the […]