Institutional reform

A statement made in court by the driver of a movie actor has again exposed the abundant opportunities for exploitation of the criminal justice process in India; defending his employer, the driver has stated it was the driver, not the actor, behind the wheel when the vehicle sped out of control, killing a person sleeping […]

An article from the Kathmandu Post, written by Kanak Mani Dixit forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission The Teaching Hospital at Maharajganj is presently dealing with two fasts-unto-death, one, which has already seen its tragic and terrifying finale and another that is ongoing. Nanda Prasad Adhikari died 187 days ago while on a second-time […]

Discrimination based on caste practices, including untouchability, is a deep and unhealed wound in India’s collective conscience. Caste-based prejudices adversely affect an estimated 160 million Indians. Despite a constitutional injunction and legislations that seeks to prohibit caste-based discrimination, the practice continues in India. Most tribal communities in the country also face discrimination that has its […]

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was launched with much fanfare and was touted at the vehicle to drive India’s poor out of financial untouchability; it remains one of the pet projects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A country dealing with the double whammy of a nightmarish accident toll and a virtually non-existent public […]

In this week’s special episode, AHRC TV brings you excerpts from a lively panel discussion between four Right Livelihood Award Laureates during a regional conference held in Mumbai last week. The panel of Laureates comprised of Afghan doctor and human rights defender Sima Samar, Indian social activist Medha Patkar, Dalit rights activist Ruth Manorama, and Asian […]

Amila Sampath, founder of the Human Rights Asia Weekly Roundup presenting its’ 64 episode ( AHRC Photo) This week’s episode of Weekly Roundup covers recent event involving human rights groups in Asia. The show begins with an announcement about the Asian Human Rights Commission. The AHRC is moving to a new office in Hong Kong. In Mumbai, India, the […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) strongly condemns the arrest of reputed human rights defenders and advocates Thushar Nirmal Sarathy and Jaison C. Cooper under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in Kerala. They, like many others in the state, have been labeled “Maoist sympathizer” and are in jail since 30 January 2015. Jaison, […]

An article from Kathmandu Post forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission The government has finally formed a Commission on Enforced Disappearances (CED) and a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), as committed to in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2006. On February 9, a Recommendation Committee recommended names for the respective commissions with political consensus, […]

“The idea that after the fall of the USSR we would have this liberal democracy spreading around the world was of course naive but, in many cases, these are issues of power. We have a Western elite that isn’t really interested in democracy unless its friends win. Otherwise, they are happier with a dictator whom […]

This week’s special episode on Sri Lanka brings you an exclusive interview with Basil Fernando, Director for Policy and Programme Development at the Asian Human Rights Commission. Mr Fernando has just returned from a visit to Sri Lanka, a country in the midst of dramatic changes after the surprise electoral victory of opposition leader Maithripala […]

Today, (6th February 2015) the Rupavahini, TV channel in Sri Lanka, telecast a one hour interview with Basil Fernando of the Asian Human Rights Commission in its early morning programme ‘Ayubowan Suba Dawasak”- the morning talk show. The Rupavahini morning show host, Gimananda Rajapaksa interviewed Basil Fernando on many of the current issues such as the proposed constitutional reforms and […]

මාධ්‍ය වාර්තා සඳහන්කර තිබුණේ නව අධිකරණ ඇමති විජේදාස රාජපක්‍ෂ මහතා විසින් සිදුකර තිබු ප‍්‍රකාශයක් වන අපරාධ මැඩලීම සඳහා කළ හැකි සියළුම  ක‍්‍රියාමාර්ග ගන්නා බවත් එහිදී අවශ්‍ය නම් මරණ දඬුමව නැවත ක‍්‍රියාත්මක කරණ බවත්ය. අමාත්‍යවරයාගේ ප‍්‍රකාශනය ආසියානු මානව හිමිකම් කොමිෂම විසින් පිළිගන්නා අතරේ, මරණ දඬුවම ක‍්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම අපරාධ මැඩලීම සඳහා වන අරමුණ ඉෂ්ඨ කරගැනීම සඳහා වන විකල්පය […]

The media has reported a speech made by the new Minister of Justice Wijedasa Rajapaksa wherein the Minister has stated that everything will be done to curb the increase in crime including, if necessary, the re-imposition of the death sentence. While welcoming the Minister’s announcement that all measures will be taken to curb crime, the […]

A Statement from the Burmese Students in Hong Kong forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission We, the Burmese students in Hong Kong, stand by our fellow students in Myanmar(Burma), who are now courageously fighting against the newly enacted National Education Law, which has been designed to perpetuate the military-dictatorship-era education system. Although we are […]

A Statement from the Bar Association Of Sri Lanka forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission At an Emergency Meeting of the Executive Committee of the BASL, which was attended by close to 90% of its members, it was unanimously decided to issue a Statement calling for the resignation of Hon. Mohan Peiris, PC, in […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission wrote to the newly appointed Minister for Finance Ravi Karunanayake, congratulating him on his appointment, and stating that the establishment of good governance as promised by the new government requires budgetary allocations for law enforcement, and the prevention of corruption. The AHRC stated in the letter that “… As the […]

A decisive new stage in the political life of Sri Lanka has arisen as a result of the people’s verdict, which overwhelmingly affirms the commitment of Sri Lankans to democracy and the rule of law. Victory to the new President Maithripala Sirisena and the New Democratic Alliance is a mandate given by the people to […]

Three days ago, two human rights activists campaigning for one of the candidates contesting the national election received a message sent by an opposing candidate. The message arrived in the form of the heads of two freshly slaughtered dogs. This message is symbolic in more ways than one. It represents what has gone radically wrong […]

Everyone knows that Pakistan’s government and military have failed to deal with the widespread terrorism in the country. All Pakistanis would agree that this problem needs to be addressed and that it should be addressed urgently and thoroughly. However, the government’s suggestion of enabling the military to try terror suspects in military courts is no […]

Whatever be the outcome of the presidential election to be held on the 8th of January 2015, Sri Lanka has already entered into the deepest political crisis it has ever faced since the adoption of the Executive Presidential system through the 1978 Constitution. Within the period of a few weeks, all the manifestations of strength […]