Human rights defenders

For immediate release on 20 February 2013 Press Release Public Seminar: “10th year of Martial Law and the insurgency:Democracy, human rights & conflict transformation in the Deep South” Wednesday 27 February 2013 (9.00-16.30) NERO  Room, 3rd Floor, Bangkok Chada Hotel, Concept Note The continuing unrest in the Deep South of Thailand has now entered its […]

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to Ms. Leila de Lima, secretary of the Department of Justice (DoJ) Ms. Leila de Lima Secretary Department of Justice (DOJ) DOJ Bldg., Padre Faura 1004 Manila PHILIPPINES Fax: +63 2 521 1614 E-mail: soj@doj.gov.ph Dear Secretary De Lima: The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is writing […]

Brig. Gen. Pol. Wahyu Indra Pramugari Chief of West Sumatera Regional Police Jl. Sudirman No. 55 Padang, Sumatera Barat 25231 INDONESIA info@sumbar.polri.go.id Phone: +62 751 33416 Fax: +62 751 33416 Dear Mr. Pramugari, The AHRC is writing to make enquiries regarding a physical threat directed against seven journalists by a civilian on 13 February 2013. […]

Mangala Samy Pungonda, the mother of Wengadasalam Sudeshkar yesterday, February 19, appealed for the final sum of Rs. 600,000/= (approximately US$ 5,000) for the saving of her son’s life from execution in Doha, Qatar. She thanked those who have already contributed to the raising of the sum of Rs. 3.5 Million and said that about […]

Mangala Samy Pungonda, the mother of Wengadasalam Sudeshkar yesterday, February 19, appealed for the final sum of Rs. 600,000/= (approximately US$ 5,000) for the saving of her son’s life from execution in Doha, Qatar. She thanked those who have already contributed to the raising of the sum of Rs. 3.5 Million and said that about […]

ศาลอาญานัดสืบพยานจำเลยนัดแรก ในคดีที่นักเคลื่อนไหว 10 คน เป็นจำเลยจากการปีนรั้วรัฐสภาเมื่อปี 2550 เพื่อคัดค้านการออกกฎหมายของสภานิติบัญญัติแห่งชาติ (สนช.) โดยในวันที่ 19 กุมภาพันธ์ 2556 เวลา 9.00 น. ณ ห้อง 801 ศาลอาญา ถนนรัชดาภิเษก นายจอน อึ๊งภากรณ์ จำเลยที่ 1 และนายไพโรจน์ พลเพชร จำเลยที่ 8 จะขึ้นเบิกความ เพื่ออธิบายข้อเท็จจริงพร้อมชี้แจงเจตนา ทั้งนี้ นับแต่วันที่ 19 กุมภาพันธ์ ถึง 14 มีนาคม 2556 ทุกวัน เว้นวันจันทร์ เป็นกำหนดการสืบพยานจำเลย ซึ่งคดีนี้มีจำเลยทั้งหมด 10 คน ส่วนใหญ่เป็นนักเคลื่อนไหวในประเด็นสิทธิด้านต่างๆ เช่น นายจอน อึ๊งภากรณ์ อดีตประธานคณะกรรมการประสานงานองค์กรพัฒนาเอกชน และเคยได้รับรางวัลแมกไซไซ สาขาบริการภาครัฐ นายสาวิทย์ แก้วหวาน ประธานสหภาพพนักงานรัฐวิสาหกิจการรถไฟแห่งประเทศไทย(รฟท.) นายศิริชัย […]

Since 21 February 2012, ten prominent Thai NGO/ labour union/ human rights activists have been on trial at the Criminal Court, Rachadapisek Road, Bangkok on serious criminal charges relating to national security, public peace, and trespass with use of force arising from a mass sit-in staged in the lobby in front of the meeting chamber […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission is deeply concerned for the fate of Rohingya asylum seekers who have been arrested in the past weeks in police sweeps of remote areas in Songkhla’s Sadao district near the border with Malaysia and the other provinces. They have fled from Burma, where they have been subjected to […]

“A pack of lies” is Pakistan army’s favorite defensive phrase whenever it is blamed for committing human rights abuses or covertly sponsoring Islamic extremist organizations. On December 13, 2012, the Pakistan army described an Amnesty International report, The Hands of Cruelty, as “a pack of lies” when the London-based international human rights watchdog exposed the involvement […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding atrocities by fisheries contractors against fishermen who are raising their voice to defend their basic rights in the district of Dera Ismail Khan (DIK), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It is alleged that the local police officials at Paroya Police Station and Cantonment Police Station […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the excessive use of force by the police in response to a peaceful protest held by environmental activists and farmers in Palembang, South Sumatera on 29 January 2013. The protesters were demanding that the Chief of South Sumatera Regional Police remove the police […]

1) Grant for Democracy and Human Rights Projects in Overseas 2013 For details, please click here. Introduction to the Grant for Democracy and Human Rights Projects in Overseas 2013 The Grant for Democracy and Human Rights Projects in Overseas (GDHRPO) 2013 supports work that contributes to promoting democracy and human rights and to building international solidarity. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received very disturbing information from Barwani, Madhya Pradesh regarding the administration’s continuing witch hunt against human rights defender Ms Madhuri Krishnaswami of the Jagrat Dalit Adivasi Sangthan. In the most recent attack, the District Magistrate has written a letter to the Divisional Commissioner that found its […]

(Hong Kong, January 24, 2013) Dean Jose Manuel Diokno of the College of Law at De La Salle University will host a lunchtime seminar at the University of Hong Kong from 12:30pm – 1:30pm on “Civic Education During Martial Law in the Philippines and Beyond”.  He will analyse the extent to which civic education was […]

We are saddened by the death of our dear Fr. Tissa Balasuriya at the age of 89. We are equally happy to celebrate his successful, colourful and controversial life.  He was a brilliant intellectual from his youth. Born at remote Kahatagasdigiliya, he graduated from the University of Ceylon in Economics, winning the prestigious Khan Gold […]

On January 23, 2013, the Criminal Court in Bangkok read the verdict in Black Case No. O.2962/2554, in which Somyot Prueksakasemsuk was charged with two violations of Article 112 of the Criminal Code.  Somyot Prueksakasemsuk is a long-time labour rights activist and human rights defender. Somyot was prosecuted in relation to two articles published in Voice […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a journalist/human rights defender has been implicated in an honour killing by a powerful tribe to punish him for raising the issue of the domestic abuse and murder of a woman, who had been declared Kari (black woman-a bad character). The victim is […]

(Hong Kong, January21, 2013) The Asian Human Rights Commission on Monday released a special dossier of recent cases of arrest, detention, torture and extortion carried out by Burma military and police personnel in Kachin State. The 36 cases from 2012 have all been conducted under the Unlawful Associations Act, 1908, a draconian colonial-era statute under […]

On December 19, 2012, the Criminal Court in Bangkok was scheduled to deliver the verdict in the case of Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, who has been charged under Article 112 of the Criminal Code.  The reading of the decision was rescheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, January 23, 2013, at 9 am at the Criminal Court in Bangkok. The […]

Fr. Tissa Balasuriya OMI, a Sri Lankan Catholic priest who once came to the attention of the world due to his excommunication by Rome which was later lifted, passed away yesterday in Colombo. He had been unwell for some time and was 89 years of age at the time of his death. He was a […]