Impunity

SRI LANKA: Police harass entire family for complaining to DIG

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mrs. Maladeniyegedara Padma Irangani and her two sisters were all illegally arrested by the Katugastota police officers, in revenge for Padma complaining and seeking justice from the Deputy Inspector General of Kandy. After Padma complained about her husband’s illegal arrest, Padma and her […]

SRI LANKA: An innocent couple arrested by the TID in Oddusudan

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that on 5 July 2016, Mr. Kethesawaran and his wife Savithri, residents of Sivanagar in Oddusuddan, Mulativu have been arbitrarily arrested by police officers attached to the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID) and their whereabouts are unknown. The police deny any such arrest, and their […]

SRI LANKA: Police fail to investigate the abduction of a businessman in Vavuniya

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Shanmugam Selvarajah from Velikkulam in Vavuniya was abducted by an unknown group of persons on 21 June 2016. He was later found near the Settikulam area in Varikuttiyar in Vavuniya. Repeated complaints by relatives to the Vavuniva Headquarters Police Station seeking immediate […]

SRI LANKA: Innocent man tortured by military officers in Mannar

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Santhiyogu Anton Dani, a resident of Mannar, was illegally arrested by military officers on 29th June 2016 at St. Peters Church in Mannar. He was continually tortured before being released without any charges and not being produced before a court of law. […]

INDONESIA: Investigation remains unclear after criminal suspect is tortured to death by police while in custody

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding a torture death conducted by police officers in the North Central Timor regency (TTU), East Nusa Tenggara province. Mr. Marianus Oki was illegally arrested, detained and tortured to death in police custody. An investigation has been conducted with no significant progress. Marinus was […]

SRI LANKA: Teacher asks students to beat up 10-year-old classmate

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a 10-year-old girl has been tortured on the instructions of her teacher at Anula Devi Girls’ College in Galle District, Sri Lanka. The teacher ordered the class to beat the 10-year old girl on the head, considering it a minor crime; 44 students […]

SRI LANKA: An innocent man tortured by Katugastota police

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Niroshan Chamara Rupasinghe of the Kandy District was tortured by two traffic police officers attached to the Katugastota Police Station on 13th November 2015. Later he was treated at the Kandy Teaching Hospital. Police have filed fabricated charges against the victim alleging […]

SRI LANKA: Journalist attacked in broad daylight

Dear Friends, According to information received by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Mr. Freddy Gamage, journalist and Editor of the Meepura, a newspaper and news website, was violently attacked by unknown persons in broad daylight. The attack occurred in the vicinity of the Negombo Municipal Council, on 2 June 2016 and left Freddy badly […]

INDONESIA: Judges fail to meet standard of fair trial in activist murder case

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about the result of the trial process with respect to the assault and torture to death of Mr. Salim Kancil, a land rights defender and environmental activist, who fought against illegal sand mining in Selok Awar-Awar Village, Lumajang Regency, East Java Province. The judges […]

SRI LANKA: Katugastota Police illegally extort money from an innocent woman

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Ms. Subramaniam Rubini of Katugastota, Kandy District, has been harassed by police officers attached to the Katugastota Police Station on the whims of a former lover, Selvam. Police officers from Headquarters and the Katugastota Police Station demanded that she pay a sum of […]

INDONESIA: Security forces and a mining company-government supported, violently attacked and shot villagers

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has information provided by the Land Reform Commission (KPA), a national NGO documenting land conflicts, and other national NGOs against human rights violations in the mining area. Police and military security forces forcibly attacked and shot villagers protesting against the Cipta Buana Seraya coal mining Company (PT. […]

SRI LANKA: British citizen tortured and arbitrarily detained in Sri Lanka

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Velauthapilai Renugaruban, a British citizen who was visiting his relatives in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, has been illegally arrested, detained, and severely tortured by Sri Lankan police officials. He is being accused of aiding and abetting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) […]

INDONESIA: Police officers, civil service police unit and local parliament staff attacked a peaceful public protest in Manado

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about police brutality provided by the Indonesian Student Christian Movement (GMKI) Manado branch office, North Sulawesi Province. Police officers supported by the civil service police unit (Satpol PP) and staff employees of the local parliament (DPRD) attacked the protesters. Rather than accommodate the protesters’ […]

SRI LANKA: Victim of crime refused justice and assaulted at Peradeniya Police Station

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Ms. Pushpakumari Hunukumbura was slapped by the Officer-in-Charge of the Peradeniya Police Station when she refused to come to a settlement against the perpetrator who assaulted her. Instead of investigating the crime, the Peradeniya police are protecting the culprit, illustrating the police’s lack […]

INDONESIA: Human rights lawyer charged after filing judicial review against Police

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information concerning a fabricated case filed by the police against a human rights lawyer who was involved in a judicial review of two laws regarding the police in the Constitutional Court. The judges accused the lawyers of falsifying signatures on the judicial review application and […]

NEPAL: Government continues mass arrests, with 43 Madhesi activists arrested on Buddha’s birth anniversary

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the Nepal police arrested 43 Madhesi activists on 21 May 2016 in Lumbini – Rupandehi and Sarlahi districts, when the country was celebrating the 2560th birth anniversary of Buddha. The Madhesi activists were not provided with any arrest warrants, and were kept in […]

INDONESIA: President must fulfill promise to solve the Paniai case, and investigating team must commence work

A Joint Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Papua itu Kita, LBH Jakarta, SKP-HAM Sulawesi Tengah, SETARA Institute, IKOHI, AJAR, LBH Pers, LBH Semarang, LBH Bandung, Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), Imparsial, SIMPONI (Sindikat Musik Penghuni Bumi), CEDAW Working Group Indonesia (CWGI), Yayasan Satu Keadilan, Yayasan Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Indonesia (YLBHI), Purple Code […]

NEPAL: Protest & Repression – Special Report on State Responsibility for 37 Killings During Protests in Terai

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and Terai Human Rights Defenders Alliance (‘the THRD Alliance’) published today a report on the anti-Constitution protests from August 16, 2015 to February 5, 2016 in which over 40 people died. The report focuses on the use of force by the Government of Nepal against protestors and bystanders. Based […]

NEPAL: Police torture man in public

Dear Friends, The Terai Human Rights Defenders Alliance (THRDA) has informed the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that two police officers attached with Area Police Office Semari Nawalparasi District tortured Tejman Prasad Chaudhary (54), resident of Ward number 3, Jamuniya village development committee (VDC) Nawalparasi district, in public and kept him under illegal detention. This […]

SRI LANKA: Man killed by police officers in Gokarella

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Mannikkuge Sumith Dayaratne of Madhuwa, in Katunayake, has been extrajudicially killed by officers attached to the Negombo Law Enforcement Unit and the Special Task Force (STF). The fact that no proper investigation has been carried out yet is a denial of justice […]