Inhuman & degrading treatment

This week Just Asia begins with Thailand, where the Administrative Court ruled in favor of the National Park officers who forcibly evicted and burned about 100 houses and rice barns of ethnic Karen villagers in Phetchaburi province. According to the September 7 verdict, since the Karen villagers illegally encroached into protected areas, the park officers […]

Gayashan still remains missing following police detention at the Hambanthota Police Station Thanks to media interest, the matter is being discussed all over the country. The Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundera is reported to have spoken with the father of Gayashan, promising that he would do everything in his power to find the young […]

Just Asia begins this week with Sri Lanka; on the eve of the Sri Lanka Police celebrating 150 years of service, a TV programme was held discussing Sri Lanka’s policing service, its history and present status, and the country’s much needed criminal justice reforms. The discussion was attended by Mr Basil Fernando, Director of Policy […]

(4 September 2016) On 31 August 2016, at 13:30, four men suspected of crimes in Thailand’s Deep South were taken into custody (although they were usually called “invitees” and not “detainees” by the authorities). Three were subsequently released, though one, Mr. Manasae Zoroae, 26, continued to be held at Ranger Taskforce 43 inside the Ingkhayutthaborihan […]

Avinash Pandey Unable to pay the ambulance drivers INR 1500, or around USD 22, a young mother was forced to sit out the night with her child’s dead body outside a hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district. This happened less than two weeks after a nationwide outrage over the ordeal of a tribal man named Dana Majhi […]

यातना सबै प्रकारका मानव अधिकार उल्लंघनको आमा हो । गम्भिर मानव अधिकार उल्लंघनको विषयमा अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय क्षेत्राधिकार समेत लागु हुने र यातना विरुद्धको महासन्धिले जहा सुकै यातना भएको भए पनि यातना विरुद्धको महासन्धिको पक्षराष्ट्रले त्यसलाई रोक्नु पर्ने दायित्व समेत तोकेकोले पनि यातनाको विषय सबैको चासोको विषय हो । तर यति गम्भिर विषयमा यातनाका पीडितहरु, अधिकारकर्मीहरु, विज्ञहरु […]

Please read Part I – Asian Charter on Human Rights – it’s significance and purpose The Asian Human Rights Charter – a People’s Charter, was the initiative of the Asian Human Rights Commission, a regional human rights organisation based in Hong Kong. The idea of drafting the Charter emerged as a result of certain discourses on human […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that the assassination 12 years ago, of prominent human rights activist, Munir Said Thalib, has passed without any progress being made. Munir was poisoned to death on 7 September 2004 on board a Garuda Indonesian flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam. Recently, some movement occurred when the court […]

The dust has barely settled on the Quetta carnage and killing of lawyers that another attack has taken place against the Judiciary. On 2 September 2016, terror once again visited District Court Mardan, Peshawar, KPK Province. The modus operandi was similar: a suicide attacker lobbed a hand grenade before exploding himself at the main gate […]

This week Just Asia begins with Nepal, where Ganga Maya Adhikari, an icon of justice, has resumed her hunger strike on August 11, calling for justice for her son Krishna Prasad. Krishna was brutally murdered by Maoists in 2004. Since 2013, Ganga Maya and her husband were on hunger strike. Instead of justice, 22 September […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is worried for Ganga Maya Adhikari, an icon of justice, who has resumed her hunger strike on August 11. Ganga Maya has asked Nepal’s Minister for Health, Gagan Thapa, to convey her demands seeking punishment for her son Krishna Prasad Adhikari’s murderers to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’. […]

Despite a lapse of 69 years, religious minority communities of the country lack representation in mainstream politics. A true representative democracy and constitutional politics are the best institutional tools to protect and advance the interests of religious minorities in any set of social conditions. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, the political representation of minorities in mainstream politics […]

The Migrant Working Group has provided legal representation for the Rohingya, who have become trafficking survivors and have successfully requested to become co-plaintiffs in the case filed by the public prosecutor of Pak Phanang, Nakhon Si Thammarat against Mr. Sunon or KoMit Saengthong, defendant no.1, Mr. Suriya Yodrak, defendant no.2 and Mr. Warachai Chadathong, defendant […]

Avinash Pandey Shri M.L. Khattar, Chief Minister of Haryana, finally announced the constitution of a Special Investigation team (SIT) to probe the armed robbery, double murder, and gang rapes in Dingerheri Village of Mewat that occurred on 25 August 2016. In the incident, armed robbers broke into a house, gang-raped two women of the family, […]

By Ishaq Mohammadi Hazaras draw their racial lineage from Turks and Mughals and are mostly followers of the Shia sect of Islam. Their ancestral land is situated in central Afghanistan named as ‘Hazarajat’. Hazaras living in Pakistan also come from the same race and territory. They migrated to then British India to avoid persecution. They […]

This week Just Asia marks the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearance, August 30, by looking at the situation of disappearances around Asia. Enforced disappearances are frequently used to terrorise individuals, communities and societies. Pakistan is notorious for widespread enforced disappearances, with state agents finding it an easy way to keep persons in their […]

Nida Paras Societies and cultures are man-made. Cultures play a vital role in national identities and their development. Rich cultures treat men and women More equally than ours with positive impact on the nation. Other cultures are terrible and full of fear with negative impact on the nation. In patriarchal societies, bad cultures are very […]

The Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir has seen curfew for the last 41 days. Sixty-six persons have been killed, as a result of the “actions” of government forces. Most of the channels of communication remain blocked. It is reported that the authorities have gagged the media. There are concerns that even essential supplies are […]

This week Just Asia begins with Thailand, where 25-year-old Jatupat Boonyapatraksa is continuing his hunger strike at Phu Khiao District Prison, Chaiyaphum province to protest against the country’s broken justice system. Jatupat was arrested on August 6 for distributing anti constitution flyers. The Resistant Citizen group have invited ordinary Thai people to write post cards […]

“Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and who write oppressive decrees, depriving the poor of justice, robbing the weakest of my people of their rights.” (Isaiah 10:1) Inspired by the teachings of the Catholic Church pastoral exhortation to build a society more human, more worthy of the human person, the Task Force Detainees of […]