Human rights defenders

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 […]

(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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has released its 15-page report on the situation of human rights in the Philippines this year. The report, titled “Strong rights, no remedy,” gave detailed analysis on the absence, if not lack of adequate remedy and redress to any forms of violation of rights in the country’s system of justice. The […]

The full report is available for download at: http://www.humanrights.asia/resources/hrreport/2012/ahrc-spr-003-2012.pdf/view The World Human Rights Day is being marked in Bangladesh, as it is being observed across the world, with tremendous frustration and hopelessness concerning the possibility to achieve justice from the criminal justice system of the country. Human Rights Day, on December 10, formally reminds the citizens […]

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the occasion of the International Human Rights Day 2012 The full report is available for download at: http://www.humanrights.asia/resources/hrreport/2012/ahrc-spr-008-2012.pdf/view  The PPP-led government under President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Ministers Yousaf Raza Gillani and Raja Pervez Ashraf has made some effort to improve the protection of human rights […]

On the occasion of the International Human Rights Day, 10 December 2012, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) publishes its annual report on the State of Human Rights in Indonesia in 2012. The full report is now available for download at http://www.humanrights.asia/resources/hrreport/2012/ahrc-spr-006-2012.pdf  In the middle of 2012, Indonesia had its state of human rights reviewed by […]

Concepts of equality, dignity and justice are fundamental to realising human rights irrespective of jurisdictions. Universally recognised as yardsticks to measure the probity in realising human rights in a country, and guaranteed to every Indian by the Constitution of India, these normative and essential prescriptions of a justice design is experienced far below the expected […]