Human rights defenders

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 […]

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, […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has submitted a Written Statement to the 128th Session of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) to be held from 19 September to 28 September 2022. While documenting the cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances the AHRC strictly follows the definition of enforced disappearance […]

An article from Mr. Walden Bello forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission 17 AUGUST 2022 By Walden Bello On August 8, 2022, officers of the Philippine National Police (PNP) arrived at my residence at 62 Moncado Street, BF Homes, Quezon City, to arrest me on charges of two counts of cyberlibel. The arrest was […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

A Statement from People’s Commission of Women in Sri Lanka forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission පසුගිය දශක ගණනාවක් තිස්සේ බලයට පැමිණි විවිධ ආණ්ඩු අනුගමනය කළ අදූරදර්ශි, දූෂිත හා මිත්‍ර හා ඥාති සංග්‍රහ වලින් සපිරි ක්‍රියාමාර්ගවල අවසන් ප්‍රථිපලය ලෙස ස්වභාවික හා මානව සම්පත්වලින් අනූන ඉතාම සශ්‍රීක රටක් ලෙස ස්ථාපිත වන්නට තිබූ අප රට බංකොලොත් […]

An Oral Statement to the 50th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council from the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) Mr. President The Special Rapporteur’s report has substantively covered the aspects regarding the protection of the lawyers against undue interference and independent exercise of the legal profession. Echoing the Special Rapporteur the Asian Legal […]

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 […]

A Written Submission to the 50th Regular Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) wants to update the Human Rights Council of the United Nations about the situation of Bangladesh’s human rights in relation to the mandate of independence of judges and […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) supports the standing point of the Commission for Disappearances and Victims of Violence (KontraS) highlighting the process of selecting candidates for the Commissioner of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM). On 27 May 2022, the Selecting Committee, in the written test, has passed the candidate for the […]

A Written Submission to the 50th Regular Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) has for over 40 years carefully studied, documented and reflected upon the actual possibilities for protection of human rights in many countries of Asia, in particular South Asia […]

In commemorating the 24th year of the student shooting in Trisakti and Semanggi, and with two years to go before the General Election in 2024, the Minister of the State Owned Company (BUMN), Mr. Erick Thohir appointed the Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) to provide houses for the four families of the victims of the student […]

By Basil Fernando April and May 2022 will be remembered as the most important months in the post-independence era. During this short period the much hoped for people’s awakening expressed itself powerfully. People who wielded authority failed to see the writing on the wall although the wall was just next to the Presidential Secretariat and […]

By Basil Fernando One of the most popular phrases that is being talked about in Sri Lanka is the need for a system change. Often in media interviews, various people are asked about what they mean by a system change. Varying answers are given by persons depending on their ideologies, perspectives and above all, on […]

By Basil Fernando Two crises overlap in Sri Lanka. One is the economic crisis which preoccupies everyone at the moment. However, in seeking a solution to the economic crisis, another crisis stands against any real solution. That is the constitutional crisis. However, this aspect has not received very much attention during the discussions which are […]

Can Sri Lanka rise from its constitutional limbo? When Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe accepted to take over as the Head of the Central Bank, in one of his early statements, he said that he would be able to do the expected job if there is no interference from outside. The demand for non-interference is today one […]

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to the President of Republic of Indonesia Mr. Joko Widodo President of the Republic of Indonesia Jl. Veteran No. 16 Jakarta Pusat INDONESIA Tel: +62 21 3458 595 Fax: +62 21 3484 4759 Dear Mr. President: The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) supports statement of the […]

A Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to the UN Secretary-General about the situation in Sri Lanka Download the PDF Version of the Letter Mr. António Guterres Secretary General of the United Nations Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General United Nations, S-233 New York NY 10017 USA A letter to inform about the […]