Impunity

PAKISTAN: The former Ambassador to the United States faces death threats from the military and intelligence agencies — the civilian government has shown its inability to rein in the powerful institutions

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding various threats, including death threats, to the former ambassador of Pakistan to the United States of America. He is under virtual house arrest as his movements are restricted not only by the military intelligence agencies but also by the Supreme Court of Pakistan […]

PAKISTAN: Two journalists and members of their families face death threats from religious militant groups — police make no effort to arrest the perpetrators

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding threats to the lives of two producers-cum-investigative journalists of a private electronic media house for unearthing a private detention centre run by a Muslim fundamentalist group. It is being operated under the guise of a rehabilitation center where people, from 4 to 50 […]

INDIA: More villagers may face starvation death due to corrupt administration

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that the administration authority has been neglecting their duty to implement social security schemes for the poor thereby failing to ensure freedom from starvation and hunger. After Mr. Laxman Jagat, a resident of Kuliadongri village Karanbaheli Panchayat, Sinapali block of Nuapada district died of starvation […]

PAKISTAN: A lawyer from Hindu community is missing and police refuse to register the case claiming that the abduction of Hindus is of no consequence

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding that a lawyer belonging to the Dalit caste of Hindu minority community has been missing since December 23 when he was going to attend the Sindh High Court. His car was found abandoned at a Taxi stand with all court files in it. […]

INDIA: Manipur police assault protesting women at Loktak Lake

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Citizens’ Concern for Dams and Development, Manipur concerning a brutal police action upon women protesting against the forced eviction at Loktak Lake. The incident happened on 19 December. It is reported that about 10 women were injured in the incident when the […]

PAKISTAN: Army is silent on the disappearance of a Captain 33 years ago

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that an army officer of the rank of Captain was sent on a secret mission to Kashmir in 1979 and since then his whereabouts are unknown. The missing officer, who was identified as Mr. Ishtiaq Ali Khan Qaimkhani, told his wife before leaving that […]

INDONESIA: Massive Indonesian Offensive Displaces Thousands In Paniai As Helicopters Attack And Raze Villages

Thousands of people have reportedly fled in terror from a large area in Paniai, West Papua as a massive combined Police and military offensive attacked villages on December 13, attempting to break armed resistance from pro-independence guerrillas. Credible human rights sources are claiming up to 20 local people have been shot dead by Indonesian security […]

SRI LANKA: A woman is arbitrarily detained for more than forty months without access to fair trial

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding a woman named Ms. Anthony Chandra, who is mother of three minor aged girls of below 11 years of age, has been detained for more than forty months in twelve fabricated charges under the Prevention of Terrorism Act of Sri Lanka. The Terrorism […]

SRI LANKA: Body of a custodial death victim was dumped in a river by Chunnakan police

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information a regarding a twenty-eight-years old man’s body was dumped in a river by the Chunnakan police on 26 November 2011. Previously, the Jaffna police arrested the victim, who was identified as Sri Skandaraja Sumanan, and handed over to the Chunnakan police. The Sri Lankan […]

PAKISTAN: Brother of a teenage pregnant rape victim was murdered in the court premises-a complete failure of rule of law

The brother of a rape victim, Alamzeb Khattak, 25, a was shot dead on Friday, December 9, in the court premises of Peshawar, capital of Khyber Pakhtunkha province allegedly by relatives of police officials who were involved in the rape of a teenage girl. Uzma Ayub was repeatedly raped whilst being held captive by an […]

PHILIPPINES: Inability to protect has created a ‘parallel system’

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the Occasion of the International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2011 The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) today published its 25-page report containing its analyses on what it has observed as the irreparable ‘social and systemic impact’ of the ongoing violations of human rights in the […]

SRI LANKA: International human rights agencies failed to notice the collapse of the Sri Lanka’s public institutions of justice

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the Occasion of the International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2011 The international community, including leading human rights agencies and organisations, has failed to understand the depth of collapse of rule of law in Sri Lanka and have failed to make any effective intervention in this […]

SRI LANKA: Talatuoya Police detain a man after illegal arrest and his family fear he will be tortured and extrajudicially killed

Dear friends, Mr. Ranasinghe Arachchige Sanjeewa (33), a driver by profession, has been in police remand and arbitrary detention for more than fifty days following his illegal arrest by the Talatuoya police of Kandy district. Sanjeewa is under the custody of the Welikada Remand Prison. The Dematagoda police have received permission from a Magistrate Court […]

BURMA: Abuses remain “systemic, entrenched”, AHRC warns

(Hong Kong, December 9, 2011) Despite signs of political change and the easing of restrictions on freedom of expression in Burma, rights abuses remain “systemic, deeply entrenched and vast in scale”, the Asian Human Rights Commission said today in its annual State of Human Rights in Asia report.   The 17-page Burma report, entitled “From blinkered […]

THAILAND: “Ingrained culture of impunity” denies rights, AHRC says

(Hong Kong, December 9, 2011) A “deep-seated, ingrained culture of impunity that spans the state security forces, judiciary and civil service” is continuing to block the emergence of a human rights-respecting culture in Thailand, the Asian Human Rights Commission said today in its annual State of Human Rights in Asia report.   The 16-page Thailand report, […]

INDIA: Human rights a utopia without justice

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the Occasion of the International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2011 The state of human rights in a country is directly proportional to the extent of justice achieved in that jurisdiction. Justice is not a physically quantifiable concept. It is “truth in action” as held by […]

PAKISTAN: The government dodges the international community on civil and political rights

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the Occasion of the International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2011 The full report is available for download at http://www.humanrights.asia/resources/hrreport/2011/AHRC-SPR-008-2011/view. The state has become dysfunctional in providing basic human rights to the people. Though the parliament exists it either cannot assert its constitutional duties or does not […]

SOUTH KOREA: Human Rights in 2011 – Systematic setup to restrict rights vs. systematic failure to protect rights

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the Occasion of the International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2011 On the occasion of the International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2011 the AHRC is publishing the annual report on the State of Human Rights in South Korea in 2011. The full report is available […]

BANGLADESH: State appears bankrupt in protecting rights

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the Occasion of the International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2011 International Human Rights Day is going to be ‘observed’ in Bangladesh amidst numerous victims facing gross abuses of human rights without an access to legal remedies from the existing criminal justice system. On the eve […]

INDONESIA: AHRC launches human rights report on the occasion of the International Human Rights Day

(Hong Kong, December 07, 2011) On the occasion of the upcoming International Human Rights Day on December 10, 2011, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is launching its annual report on the State of Human Rights in Indonesia in 2011. The full report is available for download at http://www.humanrights.asia/resources/hrreport/2011/AHRC-SPR-006-2011/view. In the report, the AHRC witnessed a […]