Human rights defenders

Dear friends, The hearings in the trial of five police officers in connection with the disappearance of prominent Thai human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit at the Criminal Court in Bangkok are drawing to a close: the second-last confirmed dates, for the hearing of defence witnesses, will run from tomorrow, November 15, to Friday, November 18. In […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed of continuing threats made on human rights activists and widows of activists who are helping victims. On November 2, activist Olivia Bernardo was followed and photographed by an unknown person while her colleague Mary Guy Portajada started receiving threatening messages on her mobile. In […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information that on 4 July 2007, a court in Sihanoukville ordered the release of 13 men who were arrested in April 2007 while the Sihanoukville authorities were demolishing houses where 107 families had been staying. Six out of 13 men were released but seven […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that an activist, Ruel Munasque, who was forcibly taken by soldiers on 24 October 2007, has disappeared while in their custody. Ruel was together with Roger Morales, a farmer, when they were taken by soldiers at a checkpoint in Dumalinao, Zamboanga del Sur. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that the requests to appeal against imprisonment of the “Hinthada 6” and another human rights defender from the same group have all been thrown out of courts in Burma. Meanwhile, another three have also reportedly been imprisoned, while one who had been was […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) strongly condemns the alleged arbitrary arrest, detention and torture of Mr. Jahangir Alam Akash, a journalist and human rights defender based in Rajshahi city, by the personnel of the Rapid Action Battalion-5 in Rajshahi city on 24 October 2007. As a result of the severe torture, the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you of the renewed surveillance being carried out on a legal aid office for workers and labour organizations. Staff members of the Prolabor Legal Assistance Center (PLACE), has again noticed the suspicious movements of unknown persons immediately outside their office that began in October […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) regarding the case of Mr. Mangala Prasad, a human rights activist who is now facing death threats for protesting against corruption of the local administration. It is reported that Mangala was threatened by the local […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you of yet another incident whereby four activists, two of them were reported by us to have already been threatened a year ago, were kept under surveillance by unidentified men on 20 September 2007 in Angeles City. They had just finished a press conference […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you regarding the violent dispersal of protesting workers by the police in Manila. The workers were about to commence a hunger strike on 10 October 2007 after negotiations with the Secretary of the Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE) failed to reach an agreement […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the husband of a human rights defender in the south of Thailand has been shot dead. Ma-usoh Malong’s wife has been organising and supporting the victims and families of the Tak Bai incident. Other human rights defenders in Thailand believe that the killing […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes with deep concern regarding the continuing threat and lack of protection to Mr. Albert Rumbekwan, head of the National Human Rights Commission’s (Komnas HAM) office in Papua. On September 23 unidentified persons broke into Rumbekwan’s house. It is believed this was yet another incident in the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) had been informed that two more suspects in Munir’s case have been identified and their court records have been conveyed to the Jakarta Pusat District Court. Munir died of arsenic poisoning on a Garuda Indonesia Airways flight to Amsterdam on 7 September 2004. Following the acquittal of […]

Dear friends, The recent dramatic and historic developments in Burma, with thousands of monks taking to the streets, have received a lot of international attention in recent days. Here the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) gives a short summary of some of the latest events and also add comments and information on some incidents and […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that the whereabouts of a labour leader, Jaime Rosios (a.k.a. Jimmy), remains unknown following his abduction and subsequent disappearance on 11 August 2007. His abduction took place after he was falsely charged by the police for the August 3 bombing of their […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned that Mr. Jahangir Alam Akashi, a journalist, as well as a human rights defender based on Rajshahi city, has been implicated with an alleged false extortion charge on 28 August 2007. The charge against Mr. Akashi is based on a complaint lodged by Mr. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that six labour rights advocates in Burma have been given long jail terms by a special tribunal in the central prison. They were not represented, as their lawyers quit in protest after being constantly harassed by the prison authorities. Their imprisonment comes after […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that anti-coup activist Sombat Boon-ngam-anong is detained with pending charges of criminal defamation after he expressed opinions against the coup leaders. The AHRC calls for your immediate action to urge the case to be withdrawn. CASE DETAILS: Sombat is the leader of the Citizens […]

(Hong Kong, August 30, 2007) The families of “disappeared” persons, human rights defenders and others are on Thursday gathering in Bangkok to plant a tree in remembrance of the missing. The “Tree of Life” event is being held in front of the Grand Auditorium at Thammasat University to mark the international day of the disappeared. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes with deep concern regarding the alleged spying on and harassment of student activists and campus journalists in two universities in Metro Manila by soldiers. The soldiers covertly took photographs and video recordings of them when they enter the campus to hold meetings on the pretext of […]