Institutional reform

The picture produced below shows how the kidnapping for ransom and killing of 11 young person’s inside a navy camp has become a problem troubling the conscience of the entire nation. This incident had a profound effect on the minds of everyone. On the one hand, there is a demand for justice. This demand has […]

We are sharing a short video commentary on the context between authoritarianism and democracy in three Asian countries, which are facing unprecedented struggles between the forces which represented authoritarianism of various forms and those of the opposition who are making extraordinary efforts to transform their societies into democracies based on the rule of law and […]

Due to the recent elections, there is now a great expectation for some decisive change. Everybody agrees that the election results show a very definite rejection of the old way, the old leadership, and the traditional style. People want something very different. What is the most important change that the people are expecting, which can […]

The people of Bangladesh have created an opportunity for themselves by way of a mass intervention in order to oust the rule of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and as a result, she has fled the country after resigning from her position. The people were mostly led by students and independent movements of people rather […]

In a speech read to the Parliament today, the honourable Prime Minister challenged the validity of the interim order issued by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, stopping the incumbent Inspector General of Police (IGP) from functioning in his official capacity till a final decision is made by the Supreme Court on several petitions filed […]

පොලිස්පතිගේ වැඩ තහනම් කිරීමේ අතුරු නියෝගය තුලින් අතිශයින් අනාගතය කෙරෙහි බලපෑ හැකි වෙනස්කම් ගනනාවක් වහාම ක්‍රියාත්මක කරවා ගැනීමේ ඉඩකඩක් දැන් පහලව පවතී. රටෙිම දැඩි විරෝධයට හේතුවූ මෙම පොලිස්පතිවරයාගේ පත්කිරීම තුලින් රටේ නීතිය හා සාමය පවත්වාගෙන යාමට ඉතා බරපතල අවහිරයක් පැනනැගුනා පමණක් නොව, රටේ අරාජිකත්වය වැපිරීමට හා බරපතල අපරාධ පැතිරී යාම වැඩි වීමටද තත්වයක් පහල විය. […]

 The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to share with you the following video produced by LEADS YouTube Channel.  It is a recording of a conversation among a group of persons interested in pursuing system change in Sri Lanka. Presenter Mr. Basil Fernando provides an initial outline of the problems caused by the existing constitution of Sri […]

(Sharing a link to a video explaining the Sri Lankan crisis of governance, Economy and Rule of Law. This video was prepared as a part of an ongoing discussion on the need of system change) Link to the Video  The purpose of this short article is to point to the need to focus on the […]

A Statement from CIVICUS forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission The CIVICUS Monitor added Pakistan to its watchlist of countries in March 2024, following the repression against the opposition, the censorship of journalists and attacks on peaceful protests around the elections. Other ongoing concerns include the criminalisation, threats and harassment of human rights defenders and the […]

By Basil Fernando In the context of Sri Lanka, a crucial question arises: Does the country still possess the capability to effectively prosecute crimes? This query can be raised for numerous reasons. However, even before delving into these underlying issues, one glaring reality has become evident to the people of Sri Lanka in recent years: […]

A Statement from CIVICUS forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission The CIVICUS Monitor added Pakistan to its watchlist of countries in early March 2024, following the repression against the opposition, the censorship of journalists and attacks on peaceful protests around the elections. Elections were held in Pakistan on 8th February 2024. Ahead of the elections, the […]

A Statement from CIVICUS forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission The CIVICUS Monitor in December 2023 downgraded Sri Lanka’s civic space rating to ‘repressed,’ with authorities clamping down on protesters, stifling journalists and targeting activists amid mounting public frustration with poor governance and a lack of accountability. In January 2024, Human Rights Watch said […]

(Hong Kong, January 16, 2024) The Panel of Judges at the East Jakarta District Court has issued an acquittal verdict regarding the case of criminalisation against Ms. Fatia Maulidiyanti (the Director of the Commission for the Disappearances and Victims of Violence [KontraS] for the 2020-2023 period) and Mr. Haris Azhar (the Founder of the LOKATARU […]

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the occasion of Human Rights Day In commemorating the International Human Rights Day, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) highlights the theme of the lack of protection of human rights defenders in Indonesia. More than 20 years’ of political reform after former dictator President Suharto stepped […]

IMF in its recent report issued in September titled Sri Lanka; Technical Assistance Report-Governance Diagnostic Assessment, has directed its attention to the problems relating to the independence in conduct of prosecutions into crimes in Sri Lanka. It points to the absence of independent prosecutor in Sri Lanka and also notes that this given rise to real or perceived […]

By Basil Fernando Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville is the famous author of the book Democracy in America. It is one of the world’s best known writings which have been appreciated by many philosophers, writers, thinkers and also people in many countries. It has also been translated into many languages.  Tocqueville was a […]

A Statement from Asia Democracy Network forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Seoul, Korea – The Asia Democracy Network (ADN) vehemently condemns the recent sentencing of Adilur Rahman Khan and Nasiruddin Elan, activists attached to the Odhikar human rights organization in Bangladesh. Their unjust imprisonment on trumped-up charges is a grave violation of their […]

By Basil Fernando This story is about Junious. Please do not think that I made a mistake in naming the hero and misspelling Junious for genius. I quite understand some people’s misunderstanding of that sort because an impression has been created and kept for a long time that Junious was in fact the genius. That […]

(Hong Kong, August 09, 2023)  ​​​​​​​Written submission to the Supreme Court on the “Contempt of a Court, Tribunal or Institution” Bill The Bill titled “Contempt of a Court, Tribunal or Institution” came for discussion before the Supreme Court on the 3rd and 4th of August. After the oral submission, written submissions were allowed to be filed by […]

By Basil Fernando On the larger questions raised by the arrest of Tharindu Uduwaragedera, a young journalist of very wide reputation. Tharindu Uduwaragedera who was attending a meeting on Friday (28 July) for the purpose of reporting on the meeting was forcibly dragged out of a three-wheeler, grabbed by his hair and roughly manhandled by […]