Impunity

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that two scheduled caste, Hindu women were raped by their Muslim landlords before their family members. Later on, one of them was murdered in revenge for making a report to the police. She and her mother were abducted by one of the landlords from […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission has learned that direct intervention from the Attorney General’s Office of Bangladesh is preventing the release of ASM Nasiruddin Elan, Director of Odhikar, a Bangladesh based human rights organisations, despite the High Court having granted bail to the prominent human rights defender. That the Attorney General’s Office can impede a high […]

On November 22, a suspect in the killing of a police constable and his wife was himself killed after arrest. The suspect was a 30-year-old former instructor of the Commando Battalion of the army. It is alleged that he was taken to identify some weapons and when he attempted to attack the police with one […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from human rights activists based in North East India regarding the arbitrary arrest of two persons by fabricating charges in connection with the killing of human rights defender Mr. Manoj Konwar. Mr. Manoj Konwar was working with Assam based human rights organization Manab Adhikar […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a 75-year-old was raped and the officers of the Thalathuoya police are protecting the perpetrator who, allegedly, has been involved in a prior case. Suppiah Veerai (75), a resident of Kirimatiya Estate, Nugaliyadda, Thalathuoya in the Kandy District was alone in her house […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Chithra Kumar (32) of Wattala in Nuwara Eliya District was arrested by officers from the Colombo Narcotics division and tortured in an effort to extort money from him. Kumar is a legitimate gold dealer who was arrested after returning from a business […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a young woman is in hiding in different places after she was declared as Kari (black) for violating the honour of the family by marrying man of her own choice. She was kept in illegal detention by a feudal lord and her brothers […]

Irom Sharmila Chanu’s story is a bizarre, almost schizophrenic, tale of absurdities. It has a woman who has not eaten a morsel for a full 13 years. It has a state that has kept her incarcerated for most part of all these years and is force feeding her through a tube in her nose. The […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) would like to express grave concern about the current state of the draft amnesty bill in Thailand. The draft amnesty bill (in full, the Draft Amnesty for Those Who Committed Offences as a Result of the Political Protests and Political Expression of the People B.E…..) is broad, vague, and […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission condemns the detention of ASM Nasiruddin Elan and demands his immediate release. Mr. ASM Nasiruddin Elan, Director of Bangladeshi human rights organization, Odhikar, has been detained in prison by the Cyber Crimes Tribunal of Dhaka, today, November 6, 2013. This detention is part of the continued repression against the whistle-blowers […]

Between 314 and 544 persons have been executed in Iran in 2013 alone 16 Baloch political prisoners were executed in Iran in an act of revenge for an attack on the border security forces. The executed Balochis were already in Zahedan prison and took no part in the attack. It was alleged that the Baloch […]

Dear friends,  We wish to share with you the following statement from the Free Zara Alvarez Movement. Asian Human Rights Commission  Hong Kong ————- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-FST-046-2013 October 30, 2013 A Statement from the Free Zara Alvarez Movement forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission PHILIPPINES: 365 Days of unjust Imprisonment – Free Zara […]

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission ASIA: Watershed legislation criminalising torture & custodial violence enacted in Bangladesh The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) congratulates the people of Bangladesh for the enactment of the Torture and Custodial Death (Prohibition) Act, 2013. The Jatiyo Shangsad (National Parliament) enacted the draft law, the Torture and Custodial Death (Prohibition) Bill, […]

The Minority Rights Group International has published a report entitled, ‘Living with insecurity: Marginalization and sexual violence against women in north and east Sri Lanka’. The executive summary of the report is as follows: Four years since the end of the armed conflict, the situation of minority women in the north and east of Sri Lanka […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the gang rape of two young women in police custody over a period of three days by the in-charge of the police station and two head constables. This was supposedly to solve a four-year old case of abduction for ransom. A member of […]

In his message for the world peace day, the Secretary-General of the United Nations said: “On this International Day of Peace, let us pledge to teach our children the value of tolerance and mutual respect. Let us invest in schools and teachers that will build a fair and inclusive world that embraces diversity. Let us […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received disturbing information. It has come from the Citizens Concern for Dams and Development, Committee on the Protection of Natural Resources in Manipur, North East Dialogue Forum and the Centre for Research and Advocacy. It has to do with threats to the life and person of […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information on the arrest of Mr. Jayantha Aberatne, a security officer who was falsely charged with theft and tortured to confess by the Headquarters Inspector of Teldiniya. This case is an example of the inability of the Sri Lankan police to conduct proper criminal investigations […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the exhumation of the body of a young Hindu artist, belonging to the scheduled caste of Bheel, after announcements were made from a Mosque to remove it from a graveyard. The mob, lead by known criminals and Muslim extremists, attacked the graveyard and […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about Mr. Balasundaram Jeyamagudam who was arrested by the TID on the charge of being associated with the LTTE four years after the civil war ended. Mr. Balasundaram had never had any connection with the LTTE and his wife believes that the reason for […]