Impunity

INDIA: Let them eat rasgullas

Statement | India | 24-09-2015

Death of children under its care is nothing novel for the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Post Graduate Institute of Paediatrics located in Cuttack, Odisha. It took 58 of them to die in less than 10 days for it to become scandalous. Over the years, the Institute, popularly known as Shishu Bhawan, has recorded an alarming number […]

NEPAL: मधेशी दलितमाथि मधेशी विष्टहरुको दलन

-शिवहरि ज्ञवाली यो लेख मधेश केन्द्रित राजनीतिक दल र नागरिक समाजको मधेशी दलित समुदायमाथिको विभेदपूर्ण व्यवहारमा केन्द्रितछ । मधेशी समुदाय विगतदेखि विशेषगरी पहाडे खस राज्य व्यवस्थाका कारण नियोजित रुपमा पछाडि पारिएको र लुटिएकोसमुदाय हो । विशेषगरी मधेशी समुदायले विगतदेखि अनागरिक भएर बाँच्नुपरेको यथार्थ छ भने तिनै मधेशी उच्च जातीयसमुदायको विभेदपूर्ण व्यवहारका कारण मधेशी दलित समुदाय मान्छे भएर जिउन नपाएको तितो यथार्थ पनि हाम्रा सामु छ ।यो लेखको मुख्य सरोकार मधेश केन्द्रित राजनीति र मधेशी नागरिकसमाजको दायित्व काठमाडौंलाई औला ठड्याउनेमात्र हो कि मधेशी दलितका समस्या रसवालहरुमा आफ्नो दायित्व पनि हुन्छ भन्ने प्रश्नमा केन्द्रित छ । मधेशी दलितमाथि मधेशी विष्ट सोच “दीपक मलिकलाई अहिले पनि इनारबाट पानी खान दिएका छैनन् । कुटपिट पनि गरे । मधेस आन्दोलन भन्दै उनीहरु झन् ठूलो स्वरले कराउँदै छन् । उनीहरुको मनोबल झन् बढेको छ । दलितलाई कुट्दा प्रशासनले पनि केही गरेन ।“ बीबीसी नेपाली सेवामा कार्यरत मेघराज रसाइलीले आफ्नो फेसबुकमा सिराहा धनगढी—३, नैनपुरका प्रेम रामको भनाइ उल्लेख […]

SRI LANKA: Brutal Murder of little Seya and the relevance of the OHCHR Investigation Report

The abduction, rape, and murder of Seya Sadewmi of Kotadeniyawa on 12 September 2015 has led many Sri Lankans to react across the country, and provoked many demonstrations by women’s organisations and also by children. Even yesterday, 23 September 2015, demonstrations by school children were reported from the North of the country. Similarly, media reports […]

NEPAL: Apply Panchsheel on Nepal

An article from The Hindu forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission No other term but ‘dismay’ can describe one’s response to New Delhi’s ungenerous reply toNepal’s democratic drafting of a Constitution through a Constituent Assembly. The Ministry of External Affairs merely ‘took note’ of the document, and followed that up a day later with a […]

PAKISTAN: Where are the 8,363 Balochis arrested in the last nine months?

The Interior Ministry of Baluchistan has recently stated that it has arrested 8363 Baloch over the span of 9 months. Whereas, the Chief Minister of Balochistan Dr. Malik Baloch has said that those arrested will be dealt in accordance with the law. No further details pertaining to the arrested have been revealed. The provincial interior […]

PAKISTAN: Government determined to curb freedom of speech

The Pakistani National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information Technology approved the Cyber Crimes Bill 2015 on September 17 for a second time, after making some cosmetic changes to clauses that curb free speech. Legislators from the ruling party are determined to pass the Bill; the Chairman of the Standing Committee is the son in-law of […]

NEPAL: Immediate measures for Biratnagar violence needed

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urges the Nepal government to take urgent measures in order to defuse alarming on-going violence in Biratnagar. Police have indiscriminately fired on protesters that had just begun to gather in order to carry out their plan to burn a copy of the Constitution promulgated yesterday. The police fired live […]

NEPAL: Terai deaths blot new Constitution

Statement | Nepal | 18-09-2015

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has repeatedly raised the alarm against the killings in Terai; however, they fail to stop. The police have again opened fire, this time on 15 September, a market day. The police firings have resulted in four innocent citizens in Bethari, Bhairahawa town, Rupandehi District being killed. The mentality of […]

PAKISTAN: Judicial inquiry demanded in rape and murder of Hindu girl and police botch the investigation

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the gang rape and alleged murder of a Hindu girl from the Meghwar caste by influential people belonging to the ruling party of Sindh Province. The police of District Umer Kot (formerly Amar Kot) have botched up the whole investigation in an effort […]

ASIA: Weekly Roundup, Episode 90

This week’s Roundup will focus on initiatives for police reform in South Asia. The episode begins in Nepal where on-going instability in the Terai in the last 2 months has provided ample examples for the urgent need of police reform. Nepal’s dysfunctional, incompetent, violent, and corrupt police institution reflects the norm in the South Asian […]

PAKISTAN: Dictatorship is in the garb of democracy on International Day of Democracy

September 15 is commemorated throughout the world as the international day of democracy. Yet, for a majority of Asians, true representative democracy remains an illusion.  The “elected dictatorship” most often in practice in these regions allows the people to vote once in four or five years, but they have no say in decision-making process, matters […]

SRI LANKA: The Government recognises the mistakes of the past and the weaknesses of its institutions

The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, abandoned the practices of the previous government delegations to the UN Human Rights Council in the recent years, has frankly admitted before the Council the mistakes of the past and the weaknesses of the Sri Lankan institutions. Previous delegations came with the sole purpose of denying all allegations […]

THAILAND: Incommunicado detention of journalist by the junta

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned to have learned that Pravit Rojanaphruk, journalist for the Nation newspaper and freedom of expression advocate, is being detained in an undisclosed location by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). The conditions of his detention are arbitrary and a clear derogation of the Government […]

INDONESIA: Army grabs customary land and ignores law enforcement

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding land confiscation conducted by the Indonesian Army in Urut Sewu, Kebumen Regency, Central Java Province. The Army has not obeyed the law; it has claimed the land without supporting evidence. The conflict has not been resolved since 2011 due to lack of law […]

World : Receiving visitors in the ‘Republic of Conscience’

An Article published in the Hong Kong Free Press, on 11th September 2015, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission By Basil Fernando Perhaps the most touching moment broadcast through international media in recent times is the warm welcome people fleeing Syria through Hungary received from large German crowds on arrival. When citizens of one country […]

ASIA: Weekly Roundup, Episode 89

This week’s Roundup begins in Bangladesh, where the breakdown of the rule of law is in an ever-worsening downward spiral. On International Day for Victims of Enforced Disappearances, intelligence agencies in the country threatened family members of the disappeared and 27 out of 35 scheduled meetings were cancelled. Next, AHRC TV reports on the shocking […]

PAKISTAN: Still no justice for families of 259 workers burnt alive in Baldia Factory fire

September 11, 2012 will remain etched in the collective memory of Pakistan. On that day 259 labourers were burned alive inside a garment factory. The incident is unprecedented in the industrial history of Pakistan, and was termed a 9/11 for the laboring class of Pakistan. The fire was caused by a short circuit and quickly […]

INDIA: Practicing untouchability is a crime, ‘not a social evil’

The practice of untouchability being a criminal offence did not deter ‘upper caste’ villagers in Sigaranahalli in Holenarsipur Taluk of Karnataka from mercilessly driving out four Dalit women who dared to enter a local Hindu temple. It did not deter them from fining the women with 10,000 rupees (about $150 USD) for a crime they, […]

NEPAL: Impunity and violence growing uncontrolled in Terai

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is concerned about the prolonged general strike that has made life very difficult in the southern plains of Nepal. Curfews have been set in Terai Districts to deter any untoward incidents. There is severe shortage of essentials and medicines. Shops and factories are closed. Daily wage earners have difficulty […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Yellow Ribbon Campaign to end military appointment to judicial position

A campaign has been launched in Myanmar demanding an end to the practice of the appointment of military officers as judicial officers to the court of Myanmar. This movement demands the end to militarisation of the legal system. In Myanmar, four out of the seven Supreme Court judges are former military officers. Their names are […]