Impunity

Dear friends,  Tamil detainees in Bogambara Prison were severely tortured by the prison officials on 14 June 2011. They were threatened that they would face the same difficulties as Kuttamanni and Thangathurai, two former detainees who were killed. The prison officials later admitted the seven detainees to the Prison Hospital at Bogambara Prison. Neither the […]

Dear friends,  Ms. N. Agnes Malini of No:18, Gala Landa, Manikhinna in the district of Kandy is a widow and the mother of a 17-year-old boy named T. Yoganathan. Yoganathan was illegally arrested and severely tortured by police officers attached to the Manikhinna Police Station on 8 December 2010. Yoganathan lost his father in his […]

Dear friends,  Mr. Basil Champika and Sunethra Kumari of No: 100, Kandy Road, Manikhinna in Kandy district are the parents of a 15- year-old girl, Malathi. Malathi was abducted on 2 June 2011, by her school van driver and the parents made a complaint to the Manikhinna Police Station in Kandy. Basil and Sunethra were […]

Dear friends,  Mr. Saliya Chandrasena and Padma Jayanthi are the parents of an 11 year child, Aruna Dinujaya Chandrasena. They wanted to admit their child to a better school for his education so in May 2011 they admitted their child to Lakpahana Adventist College Mailapitiya to year 6. During the process of admitting the child […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding alleged illegal arrest and torture of a 21-year old man whose spine was broken as a result of the abuse. Mr. Nijamuddin Sekh was arrested on 21 July 2011 in Nepalgunj from police officers from the District Police Office, Banke under allegations of […]

Dear friends,  Mr. Madasamy Vishwanadan (42), was the principal at Rosella Tamil Maha Vidiyalaya. When his mother died in 2008 he informed his brother who lived in Kilinochchi but the man failed to attend the funeral. However, his nephew was able to come and he stayed a few days in Vishwanadan’s home. On his way […]

Dear friends,  Mr. Sathiyaseelan Jegadishan (24) of Sogana Upper Division, Pussellawa in the Nuwara Eliya District was illegally arrested by officers of the Pussellawa Police Station on 2 June 2010. Jegadishan, an employee of the Pussellawa Post Office received a message that there was a commotion in his village. Accordingly he to the police station […]

Dear friends,  Two members of 756th Wimaneseli infantry battalion of the Indonesian National Military (TNI) in West Papua assaulted and threatened Yani Meage on 31 May, 2011 in the Kurima district, Yahukimo. After a quarrel between the victim and the TNI members, the soldiers threatened and attacked the victim by beating and kicking him which […]

Basil Fernando In my earlier short essay titled Replacing investigations with gossip, I tried to point to the absence of outrage against forced disappearances in Sri Lanka, which I ended by saying that there must be some cultural for such an attitude. In this second short essay I venture to look into what that cultural root […]

A Joint Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission and other Thai NGOs “Torture is a crime” Statement on International Day Against Torture For Immediate Release on June 26, 2011 “Human Rights Organizations urge Thai Government to prevent and eliminate the use of torture by law enforcement officials in Thailand by implementing its obligation under […]

Dear friends,  Ms. Q. Mahendra Devi (42) is a widow and the mother of three children. She resides at No: 100/36, Dharmaraja Road, Kandy and works as a cleaning labour working for a private company. After the death of her husband she built a house in above mentioned address. Several years later a senior police […]

Dear friends,  Impunity is being provided to a perpetrator of sexual harassment by the higher authorities and members of the ruling alliance. It is alleged by women’s organisations that the prime minister’s office, the governor of Punjab province and members of the national assembly from the ruling alliance are undermining the newly passed bill against […]

Dear friends,  Mr. George Jayakody (55) of No: 24, Kundalagama, Kundasale, Kandy is a businessman. In 2008 he wanted to sell his land he came to an agreement in the presence of a lawyer. The second party who happened to be the relative of a police officer reneged on the contract and instead of abiding […]

A Joint Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission and Advocacy Forum During the interactive dialogue of the Universal Periodic Review, continuous impunity for grave human rights violations had appeared as the major concern of the international community. Peer countries have recalled that continuous impunity undermines respect for the rule of law and hampers the […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding repeated torture inflicted on Mr. Kedar K.C. by a police team deployed from Hanumandhoka Metropolitan Police Crime Division, Kathmandu under interrogation regarding his alleged involvement in a robbery case. The victim is denied medical treatment and is kept in the custody of the […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the abduction and murder of a businessman, Ram Hari Shrestha, by members of the Maoist party in 2008. Although five Maoist cadres have been charged in the case, only one has been arrested so far and was sentenced on 31 May by […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Human Rights Alert (HRA) that the 12 Maratha Light Infantry stationed at Patsoi in Imphal West district of Manipur has tortured to death a young man in custody. Upon information concerning the murder, the local police have concluded that the case is […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the case of Kiettisak Thitboonkrong that on 7 June 2011 at 9 am at the Criminal Court in Bangkok, the witness hearings of the defendant will continue in the case of Mr. Kiettisak Thitboonkrong, who was one of the 28 victims of […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information from the fact finding team that conducted a fact finding mission concerning two deceased fisher folk activists murdered by a land mafia on May 6, 2011. The police initially refused to register the case against the alleged murderers, and the Medico Legal Officer […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the case of torture of Mahima Kusule, a 26-year old woman who was tortured by officers of the Dolakha Police on 14 July 2010 to force her to confess to a theft. On 22 May 2011, the District Court, Dolakha ordered compensation […]