Impunity

A Statement from the civil society in Sri Lanka forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission As Sri Lankan citizens and Sri Lankan civil society organizations, we are appalled by the recent arrests and deportation of asylum seekers from Sri Lanka. According to the UN, 108 Pakistanis have been deported as of 14th August[i] . According […]

In the 41st episode of Human Rights Asia Weekly Roundup, AHRC TV brings news of the acquittal of Irom Sharmila. Also known as “the Iron Lady of Manipur”, Irom Sharmila, has been on hunger strike for 14 years in protest against the 50-year-old Armed Forces Special Powers Act in northeast India. The law gives security […]

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has announced its agreement with the Burmese government to collaborate on strengthening the rule of law and addressing significant drug and crime threats. The agreement, the result of over a year of negotiations, will cover a period of three years (2014 – 2017). It has been […]

Farmers from Ngetpyawtine village tract, Kanbalu Township, Sagaing Division, have been instructed by the Township Administrative Office to remove the houses they have built on their own farmland. The administration and the No. 2 Shwe Bo Logistic Battalion have warned the farmers that if they do not dismantle the houses and leave the land, they […]

Death threats still stand and are repeated against the Wang Saphung community We, the undersigned 18 organisations, are deeply concerned about the Wang Saphung community’s situation. The death threats against 10 community members are still standing. More worryingly, we have been told by community leader MrsVironRujichaiwat – mother of a one-month old baby – that […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Kamal Singhi, a journalist based in Indore, about continuing social and economic ostracism of Dalits in Sitapat village of Mhow Tehsil in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The ostracism that began some 17 days ago has culminated into the locally powerful landlords cutting off the […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Forum for Protection of People’s Rights Nepal (PPR Nepal) that police officers from the Vacchek Police Station, Gorkha District, under the command of ASI Govinda Acharya, threatened villagers from Simjung Village Development Committee and demanded a bribe, failing to secure which the […]

Dear Friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission has learned that peaceful protestors from Mandalay Region have been beaten and shot. The protest centered on land confiscated by the Burmese military two decades ago and handed over to a Chinese company. The land has yet to be returned or compensated for as per law.  With this, […]

A news journalist, working with the Minivan News, in Maldives, Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla has been missing since 8th August 2014. AHRC has received information from the Minivan News in Maldives that  there is credible evidence that  the journalist  has been abducted, with the recent spate of incidents of intimidation created by religious groups in affiliation […]

The following article appeared as the editorial of the latest issue of ‘Torture: Asian and Global Perspectives’, a bi-monthly magazine published by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), based in Hong Kong and the Danish Institute Against Torture (DIGNITY) based in Denmark. by Nilantha Ilangamuwa Just a few short weeks after this year’s the commemoration […]

Courtesy: Mathrubhumi Daily India’s battle against poverty has reached the phase of “elimination” from “alleviation” said President Pranab Mukherjee in his address to the nation. That was last evening, the eve of 68th Independence Day of the republic. It was encouraging to listen to the president explain that the difference was not merely about semantics. […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission is gravely concerned to have learned that Patiwat (last name withheld), a fifth-year student in the Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts at Khon Kaen University and a human rights defender, is facing a criminal investigation in relation to a complaint under Article 112 of the Criminal Code in Thailand. […]

Police in the Mandalay region of Burma shot farmers who were protesting their land having been grabbed by the military. The protest, which took place this morning (14th August 2014) involved the farmers ploughing the fields that had been taken from them. The farmers are from Nyaung Wine Village, Singu Township, Mandalay Region. Over 6,000 […]

Members of the Insein Criminal Investigation Department (CID) have been threatening relatives of Ko Zin Aung, a local rickshaw driver tortured to death in July this year (AHRC-UAC-110-2014). Ko Moss and Ma Aye Aye Nwe, the brother-in-law and the cousin of the victim respectively, were called, 11th August 2014 to Myo Thit Quarter Administrative Office, […]

Dear Friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you about the disappearance of a man and his son in Maguindanao. They were last seen by a witness at a military checkpoint. The military claim they had released the two after talking to them. However, they have not been located as yet.  CASE […]

At dawn today, Jovito Palparan Jr., a retired military general, wanted on charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention, was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), in Sta. Mesa, Metro Manila. Palparan is the principal accused in the abduction, illegal detention, torture and rape of Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno. Jovito Palparan Jr. […]

In two video clips released to the public on 2 and 3 August 2014, Kritsuda Khunasaen, who was arbitrarily detained by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), detailed her experience while in detention. She described a range of forms of both mental and physical torture. The response of the NCPO has been to […]

Eighteen days have passed since the tragic incident where the arms of a 10-year-old boy were severed from his body by a landlord and to-date, no positive developments have been taken nor has there been any progress in the case against the perpetrators of this horrific crime.  According to reports, doctors are being tight-lipped to […]

On the 4th of August, a meeting for the families of disappeared persons, held at the Centre for Society and Religion in Colombo, was disrupted by a mob of people led by several Buddhist monks. The families, who had travelled from Mannar, Mullaitivu, Killinochchi, Vavuniya, and Jaffna, had also visited the International Committee of the […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that police in Bago No.1 Police Station arrested a 37-year-old man on 4 July 2014, without an arrest warrant or court order, over the theft of bottles of motorcycle fuel. While in custody for three days, he was tortured. Subsequently, he was admitted to […]