Freedom of expression

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information that the Supreme Court dismissed all charges against Song Du-yul, German professor, under the National Security Law (NSL) on 17 April 2008. The AHRC welcomes the court’s decision and we thank you for all your support. UPDATED INFORMATION: Song Du-yul, 64, was immediately […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that 37 protestors have been injured when the policemen violently dispersed them. The police hit them with clubs, truncheons and stabbed one of them with a bladed weapon. One had his little finger cut; others suffered fractured bones and cuts on their heads. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that a government owned firm has unfairly terminated three workers, including a union leader, and suspended 36 others for holding a symbolic protest demanding the provision of benefits due to them. Their demand is part of the Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) Incentives which […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes with deep concern regarding the routine practice by the Nepalese police of arresting and subsequently detaining Tibetan protesters holding peaceful demonstrations. On March 28, at least 89 persons, including women, children and Buddhist monks, were taken into police custody from the districts of Kathmandu and Lalitpur. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the alleged threat to a Member of Parliament (MP) who was prevented from holding a meeting with villagers by the village head of Tuk Lich village, Siemreap province on 26 February 2008. The MP organised the meeting to listen to the villager’s complaints […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that ten activists were charged with trespassing and coercion in relation to peaceful protest that was held on 12 December 2007 in Thailand. The demonstration was organized to protest against the appointed National Legislative Assembly’s (NLA) attempts to push through legislation that would restrict […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Meetchi Makkal Iyakkam and the People’s Watch, two human rights organisations based in Tamil Nadu, India regarding the case of people’s protest against the systematic denial of rights and the discrimination practiced against the Dalit communities in Iruvappapuram panchayat. Iruvappapuram panchayat comprising […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed of yet another killing of an activist subsequent to receiving continuing threats on his life in 17 January 2008 in Tagbilaran City. He was in front of a pharmacy buying medicine when one of the two gunmen riding on a motorcycle shot him at […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a journalist working for Koh Santepheap newspaper, Try Vantha, 46, has been threatened by a senior official of the social affairs department in Preah Vihear province. On 13 November 2007, Try was in a restaurant where the official, Kim Thany, was also present. While […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) regarding the executive magistrate in Varanasi district of Uttar Pradesh assaulting journalists. It is reported that magistrate D. P. Singh assaulted the journalists at the Cantonment Police Station, along with police officers. The officer assaulted […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from an official of the Cambodian Government Garment Workers Democratic Union (CGWDU), a human rights activist and other reliable sources, that on the morning of 29 November 2007 some 200 police officers armed with assault rifles, electric batons, tear gas and anti-riot shields used […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR), human rights organization in Cambodia that police force prevented the holding of a public forum which CCHR organised on 27 November 2007 in Rattanakiri province. The police set up a roadblock to prevent the organizers from […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that charges have been filed against the policemen involved in violently dispersing a group of public school teachers holding a peaceful demonstration in Manila. They were charged with criminal offenses by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the Office of the Prosecutor in […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the continuing threats of social workers by the Army Special Forces in Papua since September 2007 to get location of Father Johanes Djonga working for human rights. The AHRC has earlier raised the alarm about the army’s threats against the Father Djonga […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that Mr. Jahangir Alam Akash, a journalist and human rights defender based in Rajshahi city is once again threatened by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) for exposing the atrocities committed by the RAB in Bangladesh. Mr. Akash is the coordinator of the Task Force […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the police arbitrarily confiscated all copies of a magazine without the court’s decision in Phnom Penh and the provinces on 1 November 2007 in Cambodia. Whilst the police are repressing the freedom of expression, it is reported that Mr. Lem Pichpisey, a publisher […]

movement On 30 October 2007, the Constitutional Court of Indonesia read out its verdict on the constitutional review of the Narcotics Law that provides for the death penalty in several articles. The court ruled that capital punishment in cases of drug trafficking is not unconstitutional and does not violate the constitutional right to life. The […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) strongly condemns the alleged arbitrary arrest, detention and torture of Mr. Jahangir Alam Akash, a journalist and human rights defender based in Rajshahi city, by the personnel of the Rapid Action Battalion-5 in Rajshahi city on 24 October 2007. As a result of the severe torture, the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from reliable sources concerning several cases of extrajudicial killings and threats to media personnel in Sri Lanka since 2004. Few cases have been investigated and to-date not a single person has been brought before the court. The AHRC is concerned by the impunity of […]

Dear friends, In this general update on events in Burma, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) concentrates on the following topics: – Details emerging of more deaths during September  – Denial of medical treatment for injured persons – Family members of wanted persons taken as hostages – Special concerns over women prisoners For all statements, […]