Indigenous people

The Asian Human Rights Commission welcomes Pope Francis’ unequivocal support for the indigenous peoples’ rights of land and livelihood. It notes that this can go a long way for tenure rights of global indigenous populations while ensuring their food security. It can also surface possible solutions to conflicts arising out of increasing encroachments and forced acquisitions of land for […]

FATA is a human rights free zone where free human beings have been enslaved since 1901. Pakistan claims that FATA is its constitutional part and has placed it in the Pakistan Constitution of 1973. People in this unfortunate place have experienced inhumane treatment ever since Pakistan came into being in 1947. The miseries and troubles […]

The Maoist movement in India, which allegedly claims it will uproot the Indian State by an armed insurrection, has brought organised and armed violence to the remotest countryside in higher number and intensity. The ongoing conflict has brought the State and Maoist firepower into the daily lives of some of the most marginalised of the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Krushak Shakti Sangthan (KSS) about paddy crop failure having hit farmers hard in Nuapada district of Odisha. KSS has also informed the AHRC that most of the farmers had incurred loans for growing crops and the crop failure has thus exposed them to […]

Arsalan Barijo The smallest ethnic and religious community of Pakistan is fighting for the survival of its culture and religious identity, in the face of religious extremism, forced conversion, migration, and climate change. Are we going to allow this rich culture to vanish from the pluralistic land of Pakistan? The Kalash people live primarily in […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that three Lumad farmers were killed, while another three were wounded, including a 15-year-old girl. Lumad refers to indigenous people belonging to Higaonon tribe One of the victims raised his hand in surrender, but was still shot. The perpetrators were hired by […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned about the continued harassment of the Lumad community by members of the 58th Infantry Battalion in Lagonglong, Misamis Oriental. The villagers decided to leave their homes because they are always harassed in the conflict between the military and the rebels. Often, they are accused […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information revealed by the young victim herself, which we wish to bring to your notice. On the 7th of July when she went to the Haputale Police station, a police woman constable, had beaten the young girl, and told her that when she is […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned about the harassment of the members of the TINDOGA (Tribal Indigenous Oppressed Group Association), a Lumad organization, by private security guards belonging to Pablo Lorenzo. Lorenzo is claiming the ancestral land of the Lumads. CASE DETAILS: (Based on the documentation by the Katungod Lumad […]

Beginning with Thailand this week, Just Asia covers three human rights defenders who have been accused of criminal defamation and violation of the Computer Crime Act for publishing a report detailing 54 cases of torture by the Thai Army in the country’s southern provinces. The three defenders, Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, Director of the Cross Cultural Foundation […]

After monitoring 20 months of the human rights situation in Papua and West Papua provinces under President Joko Widodo’s administration, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is dismayed at the utter lack of progress in the protection and realization of people’s rights. Since President Widodo’s inauguration on 20 October 2014, there were considerable expectations for […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned about the continued harassment and killings of the Talaandig ethnic tribe in Agusan del Sur. As a result, hundreds of residents decided to leave their homes in fear of becoming the Dela Mance paramilitary group’s next victims. CASE DETAILS: (Based on the documentation by […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned about the harassment of the indigenous community by members of the 23rd Infantry Battalion in Agusan del Norte. After arbitrarily barging into the home of Circle and Magdalena, the soldiers opened fire and hit Magdalena as the couple ran away from their home in […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that members of the Talaandig tribe were killed without reason by the Dela Mance paramilitary group, as well as during a military operation in Bukidnon. CASE DETAILS: (Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamayan ng Pilipinas (KATRIBU)) On 6 May 2016 at 2 p.m., 64-year-old […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) first learned from national and local sources that on May 2, police officers arrested at least 1,724 indigenous Papuans who took part in a peaceful protest in Jayapura and other cities in Papua. Subsequently, the AHRC received updated information that the number of indigenous Papuans arrested (primarily students) was […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns the forced dispersal of peaceful protesters and their illegal arrest in Kampung Bhintuka-SP13 field in Mimika, Timika district, Papua on Tuesday, 5 April 2016. We have been informed that 12 protesters were taken into police custody in Kuala Kencana for further investigation and questioning. Prior to the protest, […]

Dear Friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward an appeal from the Human Rights and Peace for Papua–the International Coalition for Papua (ICP) regarding the deaths of 51 children and three adults of pertussis (whooping cough) in Nduga Regency, Papua Province, Indonesia during the past few months due to government neglect. For […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that an indigenous man was killed by members of paramilitary group in Bukidnon. The victim sustained wounds on different parts of his body from a gunshot and a machete. The victim’s grandchildren and other community members were also wounded in the incident. […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that two persons belonging to ethnic minority groups were killed in Bukidnon. The victims were gunned down a few meters away from each other. The perpetrators were allegedly members of the Dela Mance paramilitary group. CASE DETAILS: (Based on the documentation by […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that 21 members of an indigenous community group were harassed by security guards on a ranch. The perpetrators pointed their guns at the victims, who belong to a group actively opposing the expansion of an oil palm plantation in Opol, Misamis Oriental. CASE […]