Institutional reform

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to bring to the attention of the Sri Lankan public that we have learned about the massive frauds relating to tampering with land titles and also other frauds by the misusing the criminal justice process by way of fabrication of charges. The incidents narrated hereunder would explain the […]

The ‘Fair Trial Bill’ which, according to the news report, the government plans to place before parliament will, if passed, virtually make the fair trial impossible in Pakistan. The provisions of the bill are designed for the conviction of persons without fair trial. The direct impact of the proposed law will be to tie the […]

The villagers’ protest against the absence of reasonable settlement for the land and livelihood lost to the Omkareshwar and the Indira Sagar Dams in the Narmada Valley project has thus far fallen upon a blind and deaf government. The agitation, though has received wholehearted support from a section of the Indian civil society, has failed […]

(Hong Kong, September 05, 2012) “This is taking the Ghandhian method to the water. To be submerged in water continuously for so many days is more difficult, in fact, than fasting…” Mr. Basil Fernando, Director – Polices and Programmes said referring to the ongoing protest in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, India by the villagers who lost […]

The ongoing protest by village communities acting against the increase of water level in the Omkareshwar Dam is unique in several aspects. The protest, which has completed 11 days today, is directed against the Madhya Pradesh state government that has failed to adequately rehabilitate those who have lost their land and livelihood to this ‘development’ […]

There is nothing amiss here. The nation is in celebratory mode and it is celebrating with aplomb. The national flag, the tricolour, is everywhere: being waved in the hands of children, tattooed on the cheeks of enthusiastic youth, flying high on the walls. And, it has, for a change, ensured a full meal to the […]

A group of human rights lawyers and activists gathered for a two-day seminar on the Rule of Law and Criminal Justice in Dhulikhel, Nepal. This seminar was organized by Advocacy Forum and the Asian Human Rights Commission. Reviewing liberties, opportunities and income, the participants discussed a large number of issues relating to the recent developments […]

(Hong Kong, August 3, 2012)  Mr. Eran Wickramaratne, a member of parliament called for elimination of widespread practice of torture in Sri Lanka as in many other countries of the region in an interview to a radio program. He hoped that all members of Sri Lankan parliament regardless of their political affiliations will come together […]

(Hong Kong, August 3, 2012) The Asian Human Rights Commission has welcomed the release from prison on an amnesty today of Phyo Wai Aung, a young man falsely accused, tortured and imprisoned over the April 2010 bombing, and has called for him and other freed victims of gross abuses of human rights in Burma to […]

Basil Fernando In a previous article, SRI LANKA: The Supremacy of the national security apparatus, we discussed the issue of the Ministry of Defence being the most important institution in Sri Lanka, after the institution of the Executive President. This implies that the ministry is more important than the parliament and the judiciary within the new […]

In the public discussions recently, particularly on the occasion of erecting a statue for Baratha Lakshman Premachandra, there has been several references to the need for electoral reforms. Even the Leader of the House, Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Management, Nimal Siripala de Silva, was talking about ending the politics of violence. However, ending […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information concerning the illegal arrest, detention and custodial violence against three men in Murshidabad, West Bengal by police personnel of Salar Police Station. The victims are leaders of a local branch of the Indian National Congress party. While in the custody, the three victims were […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is informed that District Magistrate Barwani in Madhya Pradesh state has issued a “show cause” notice to human rights defender Ms. Madhuri Krishnaswami on 10 May 2012 asking her why actions should not be initiated against her under the Madhya Pradesh Rajya Suraksha Adhiniyam, 1990 (Madhya Pradesh State Security, […]

India will be evaluated at the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review in Geneva, Switzerland today. The three countries (Troika) involved in the review are Kuwait, Mauritius and Mexico. That these countries have worse records of human rights in comparison to the country they would collectively review suggests how firmly, and perhaps blindly, such processes are […]

The observations made by the Supreme Court of India in a case concerning disciplinary action against a former Major of the Indian Army contradict the Court’s own profile. Dismissing the appeal filed by the Major, who had filed the appeal aggrieved by the Army’s action against him, the court held that discipline is paramount in […]

Basil Fernando A few preliminary remarks At the very outset it is necessary to place the problem of criminal justice reforms in SouthAsian countries in its actual context. The existing criminal justice systems are in serious crisis and this needs to be the starting point when we discuss this matter from the point of view […]

Reading the speech of the prime minister and that of the home minister of India, one could easily get carried away by the thought that they are not in fact referring to India, but to some other country in the world. Both ministers were addressing the chief ministers of the country in a conference organised […]

The presidential reference made under article 143 (1) of the constitution to the Supreme Court has to be viewed with extreme suspicion. The ostensible excuse for the reference are the 2G licences that the court has declared null and void and thus not to be acted upon. However the remit of the reference, the text […]

Referring to the reactions of the government of West Bengal to demands of public causes and justice under the leadership of Ms. Mamata Banerjee, as paranoid, would be in fact an understatement. The state government led by the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) that was elected to power – reflecting the people’s wish for change, […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward you the following statement from the mother of Premakumar Gunarathnam and his sister. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong —————————– A statement from the mother of Premakumar Gunarathnam and his sister, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Earlier, we reported about the abduction of […]