Human rights defenders

Press Note March 12, 2014 Stop the Bloodshed. Declare Immediate Ceasefire.  Sit for Talks to end violence. The PUBL condemns the killing of 16 security personnel, including 11 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, 4 policemen and a civilian. The incident occurred in a land mine blast followed by indiscriminate firing by Maoists at Tongpal […]

Last week the U.S. Embassy denied entry permits to Nepalese police officers as they have been stationed at police stations that have alleged track records of human rights violations during the insurgency and in other periods. The Police Headquarter sought help of the Home Ministry after the visas of 14 police officers were rejected as […]

On 10 February, 2013 a young writer and teacher, Ms. Majoni Das working at a private educational institute in the town of Jorhat, located in the eastern Indian state of Assam, went missing. All that her family knows is that Majoni was instructed by police officials to report to a police station, and that she […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that a political activist and his family were shot at while they were sleeping at home. The bullets pierced the wall of their hut and passed just inches from their heads. The shooting happened after the activist refused to join an armed militia […]

PRESS CONFERENCE “A WEEK THAT SHOOK CAMBODIA” Release of the Fact-finding Mission Report on the Violent Crackdown on Garment Workers in Cambodia (Dec 2013-Jan 2014) The garment industry has been the chief engine of the Cambodian economy for the past two decades since its establishment in 1994. However, garment workers still account for a large […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the killing of an urban poor leader after he attended a meeting on housing for informal settlers on 15 February, 2014 in Malabon City, Metro Manila. He died after being shot repeatedly in a crowded public market. CASE NARRATIVE: (Based on the documentation by […]

SELDA announces the formation of the People’s Claim Board, in protest of the Pres. Benigno Aquino III’s appointment of a PNP general in the Human Rights Victims’ Claims Board (HRVCB) to implement the law. The Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA) has repeatedly urged the BS Aquino government to immediately form the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that the court has rejected the appeal of the 21 remaining detainees who sought the reversal of the decision by the lower court rejecting their petition for bail. UPDATED INFORMATION: (from the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) and Asia Monitor […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that a local peasant leader in Bukidnon was shot dead by two armed men. He and his colleague were aboard a motorcycle and on their way to a village. The victims were actively involved in helping peasants in different villages of the […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that a labour leader, threatened in 2005 and 2006, has been shot at, while he and his colleagues, some 100 plantation workers were holding a protest in front of their employer’s home. UPDATED INFORMATION: (Based on the information received from Kilusang Mayo Uno –KMU-):  […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that two of the 23 detainees, one of whom is a minor, were released on bail on February 8. The AHRC welcomes the granting of bail and the release of these detainees; however, it notes with apprehension that 21 others remain in detention. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes with deep concern regarding the continued detention of 23 persons, composed of labour leaders, garment workers and others, whom police and military arrested in separate incidents on the 2nd and 3rd January, 2014, for holding protests demanding an increase of the monthly minimum wage to USD160 […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that a journalist and his colleague has been receiving death threats since December 2013. The journalist was threatened for exposing stories of corruption, illegal logging and human trafficking in his community; while his friend is being threatened for helping him. The police provided […]

Press Statement January 29, 2013 Reference: Cristina “Tinay” Palabay, Secretary General, 0917-3162831 – Angge Santos, Media Liaison, 0918-9790580 CA decision strengthens anti-torture charges against military/police torturers of security guard Panesa http://www.karapatan.org/CA+decision+strengthens+anti-torture+charges+against+military/police+torturers+of+security+guard+Panesa “The recent resolution of the Court of Appeals denying the motion for the re-arrest of security guard Rolly Panesa strengthens the anti-torture case he […]

The Friday Forum 2, Greenlands Avenue, Colombo 5, Sri Lanka E-Mail; chandraj111@gmail.com Telephone; 0773634444   Fax; 2504181 PRESS RELEASE 27th January 2014. There has been, in recent times, public discussion in regard to whether our country is moving towards an authoritarianism that undermines democratic governance. The President, Ministers and government spokespersons have consistently denied this allegation. They refer in particular to the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is forwarding to you an appeal from Defend Job Philippines, a local non-governmental organisation in Manila, regarding the use of excessive force by policemen who demolished the residences of informal settlers on January 27, 2014 along Agham Road in Quezon City. The policemen demolished the houses without […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed regarding the killing of an anti-mining activist in Compostela Valley, Mindanao on 3 January, 2014. No adequate police enquiry has yet taken place and none of the perpetrators have been arrested. The incident took place after the victim assisted in demanding compensation from the […]

The UN and international human rights organisations must send fact finding missions to probe the illegal disposal of Baloch people in mass graves The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) expresses shock and deep concern over the discovery of mass graves in Balochistan; it is suspected that these graves are of Baloch missing persons who were […]

Introduction The term sovereignty is frequently confronted with hostile claims. Human Right and Anti Corruption Movements are often challenged by various groups with different notions and ideologies on sovereignty.  The purpose of this brief article is to examine some of  the legal issues with reference to the concept of sovereignty in a global political context, […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that a senior police officer has threatened to kill an activist and his group, who were holding protest against human rights abuses in Burma, if ‘they do not behave.’ The group held the protest to coincide the visit of President Thein Sein in Manila […]