Human rights defenders

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 […]

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 […]

(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 […]

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 […]

On January 15, the Supreme Court of the Philippines (SC) heard oral arguments questioning the constitutionality of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and its conformity to international norms and standards. The Cybercrime Prevention Act is one of the many unprecedented pieces of legislation in the Philippines in recent years. The Cybercrime Law is expected […]

(Note: We reproduce below the text of the letter written to the UN High Commissioner and the President of Sri Lanka requesting to cause an inquiry into the verdict and the execution of Rizana Nafeek who was executed in Saudi Arabia on January 9.) The AHRC requests all concerned persons to write to the UN […]

Dear friends, After almost four months, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed by the Supreme Court (SC) that it has issued a Resolution as its judicial action to our appeal on the plot to kill Temogen “Cocoy” Tulawie in jail. Tulawie is an activist from Sulu being prosecuted over fabricated charges. Though […]

According to the news received from Saudi Arabia Rizana Nafeek, who has been the Dawadami Prison since 2005 may be executed at any moment. This was revealed to the BBC Sinhala Service by Dr. Kifaya Iftekhar, who is based in Saudi Arabia and who has been looking after the interests of Rizana for several years […]

The brutal incident of rape in New Delhi, the death of the victim and the public response to the issue has brought to the forefront several vital issues plaguing India. Of primary concern were three aspects (i) the nature and frequency of violence, committed against the vulnerable sections of the society, most importantly women; (ii) […]

The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) is concerned at the circumstances surrounding the impeachment of the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, Shirani Bandaranayake, and at reports of attacks against the judiciary and the legal profession within Sri Lanka. The independence of the judiciary and the rule of law  The independence of […]

NEW REPORT: Special Report: The Philippines’ hollow human rights system http://www.article2.org/pdf/v11n0203.pdf Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concern by yet another filing of fabricated charges on two urban poor leaders and 30 others. The victims, who are known leaders helping urban poor in Metro Manila from forcible eviction, have been laid […]

เผยแพร่วันที่ 17 ธันวาคม พ.ศ. 2555 ใบแจ้งข่าว เมื่อวันที่  17 ธันวาคม พ.ศ. 2555 องค์กรด้านสิทธิมนุษยชนได้ส่งหนังสือร้องเรียนเรื่อง  การตรวจเก็บดีเอ็นเอชาวบ้านของเจ้าหน้าที่ทหารโดยอำนาจกฎอัยการศึก ไปยังแม่ทัพภาคที่ 4 ผู้อำนวยการกองอำนวยการรักษาความมั่นคงภายในภาคสี่  เลขาธิการศูนย์อำนวยการบริหารจังหวัดชายแดนภาคใต้   นายกรัฐมนตรี ผู้อำนวยการกองอำนวยการรักษาความมั่นคงภายใน (กอรมน.) และ คณะกรรมการสิทธิมนุษยชนแห่งชาติ ระบุว่าขอให้ยุติการตรวจเก็บดีเอ็นเอชาวบ้านของเจ้าหน้าที่ทหารโดยอำนาจกฎอัยการศึกเป็นการละเมิดสิทธิมนุษยชนขั้นพื้นฐาน เมื่อวันที่ 16 ธันวาคม พ.ศ. 2555 ที่อำเภอไม้แก่น  เวลา 8.00น. ถึง 17.00 น. มีปฎิบัติการของเจ้าหน้าที่ทหาร ไม่ทราบสังกัด แต่ทราบว่ามาจากค่ายอิงคยุทธฯ ได้ดำเนินเรียกตัวชายอายุตั้งแต่ 16 ปี ถึง 35 ปี ที่เดินทางผ่านพื้นที่อำเภอไม้แก่น  และได้บังคับให้ขึ้นรถของเจ้าหน้าที่ไปที่ว่าการอำเภอไม้แก่น ซึ่งมีพื้นที่จัดไว้สำหรับการตรวจเก็บดีเอ็นเอของบุคคลดังกล่าว   รวมทั้งมีเจ้าหน้าที่อีกจำนวนหนึ่ง สนธิกำลังระหว่างเจ้าหน้าที่ตำรวจทหารฝ่ายปกครอง เข้าไปในหมู่บ้านเพื่อนำตัวชายอายุ 16 ปี ถึง 35 ปี ในพื้นที่ตำบลไทรทอง […]

For immediate release on 17 December 2012 On 17 December 2012, human rights organizations submitted a letter of petition concerning the invoking of Martial Law to impose DNA profiling by military officers in the Southern Border Provinces to the Army Area Region 4 Commander, Secretary General of the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center (SBPAC), the […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased that Leila de Lima, secretary of the Department of Justice (DoJ), has recommended to President Benigno Aquino III the granting of a “conditional pardon” to the Abadilla Five. The Abadilla Five: Lenido Lumanog, Augusto Santos, Cesar Fortuna, Joel and Rameses de Jesus, are serving terms of life […]

(Hong Kong, December 18, 2012) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is publishing below a letter written in prison from Temogen “Cocoy” Tulawie. Tulawie is an indigenous human rights activist from Sulu, southern Mindanao, now in prison facing fabricated murder charges in Davao City. In his letter received by the AHRC, Tulawie asked that the people of […]

Next week, the Criminal Court will resume its schedule on Somyot’s case on 19 December 2012 after it has been delayed for three months without informed explanation. Prior to this, the Constitutional Court also ruled that Article 112 is not against the constitutionality. Both information made the lawyer as well as the family grave concerns […]

The full report will be available for download at http://www.humanrights.asia/resources/hrreport/2012/ahrc-spr-011-2012.pdf/view In previous annual reports, the Asian Human Rights Commission has documented Sri Lanka’s rapid fall into a dictatorship under the executive presidential system. This process has now been completed. There are violations written into the basic structure of its constitution, which was initially based on Sri […]

Professor Noam Chomsky is an Institute Professor and Professor (Emeritus) in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was educated at the University of Philadelphia and at Harvard University as a Harvard Junior Fellow. He earned his PhD in Linguistics from the University of Philadelphia in 1955. He has […]

Share| When I was leaving Pakistan for Hong Kong, after a long trip to different countries, I received some shocking news at Karachi International Airport. Mr. Solangi, the Director General of Radio Pakistan informed me about the news that Malala Yousufzai had been attacked by the Taliban and was in critical condition. The doctors were […]