Institutional reform

According to Sri Lankan Army Commander Mahesh Senanayake, the present security crisis facing the country was a result of the failures of many government institutions. In a television interview available on YouTube, he cited foreign exchange control failures to monitor money coming into the country, Customs Department failures, and intelligence coordination failures. Aside from these […]

Late Mr. Tarzie Vittachithe, winner of many prestigious awards for journalism, had a favourite saying that, “Everything is about something else”. In a similar manner, the parliamentary discussion on two no-confidence motions is also clearly about other issues, rather than the brutal carnage that took place on Easter Sunday and the causes thereof. The government […]

Although there was a two day parliamentary debate held to discuss the Easter Sunday carnage caused by the bombs that were exploded in three churches and several tourist hotels, no consensus has yet emerged as to the primary causes that led to the complete breakdown of the security situation and such an abject failure on […]

ජනාධිපති නීතිඥ ජේ.සී. වැලිඅමුණ තරිඳු උඩුවරගෙදර අධිකරණයේ නඩු ප‍්‍රමාද වෙන බව සමාජයේ ජනප‍්‍රිය මතයක් පවතිනවා. ඒත් ඒ ප‍්‍රමාදයට හේතු ග ැන බොහෝ අය සොයන්නේ නැහැ නේද? බාහිරව බැලූවාම පෙනෙන්නේ උසාවියේ නඩු කල් යන එක විතරයි. සමහරු නීතිඥවරුන්ට බනිනවා. සමහරු විනිශ්චයකරුවන්ට බනිනවා. කොහොම ගත්තත් මේක ජාතික ප‍්‍රශ්නයක්. අධිකරණය විසින් නියමිත කාලයට යුක්තිය ඉෂ්ට කරන්නේ නැතිනම්, බොහෝවිට […]

A well-functioning legal system can be measured by its response to daily crimes and complaints. This is a much better test in fact, rather than a country’s constitution (in Sri Lanka’s case, the 1978 constitution still remains a major barrier to the functioning of a legal system), or statutes, or judicial presence, all of which […]

By Avinash Pandey Contrary to the claims of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India seems to have been losing jobs at a staggering rate, with unemployment rates reaching a decade-long high. From 2.6% between 1977-78 and 2011-12, it has now jumped to 7.23% in February 2019. Unemployment rates are worst for youth, touching almost 20 percent […]

The discovery of body parts of two businessmen from Rathgama, Bussa area, who were abducted, disappeared, and later killed, allegedly by several policemen, including the Officer-In-Charge of the southern province special crime investigating unit, is major news in Sri Lanka these days. According to the newspapers, the two businessmen were kidnapped from Rathgama Bussa area, […]

A Written Submission to the 40th Regular Session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre The United Nations Human Rights Council’s faulty electoral system has adopted Bangladesh as a member of the highest global rights body from 2019 to 2021 despite the State’s deliberate failure to fully cooperate with […]

The state of Arunachal Pradesh is seeing protests for the second time this year. The first wave of protests and violence had come with the government’s ill thought out Citizenship Amendment Bill (2016), which promised to give Indian citizenship to some minority communities fleeing persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, with much-relaxed rules. The move […]

The Internet broadcasted the long interview with Arun Siddhartha by Hiru on TV and separately on the YouTube channel, Vishwa Karma. One perspective that comes out of Arun Siddhartha’s reflections can be enormously positive. It can be used in trying to understand ways to resolve the present prolonged crises which have dragged the country into […]

This week Just Asia begins with Sri Lanka, where President Maithripala Sirisena told parliament last week that he was ready to bring back the death penalty for drug offenders within one or two months. The last hanging in Sri Lanka took place in 1976, since when there has been a moratorium on capital punishment. President […]

Saya sebagai Pemerhati Ham Papua, sangat perihatin dengan situasi pelanggaran Ham di papua di akhir-akhir ini, masyarakat sipil orang asli Papua dan Non Papua hidup dengan penuh rasa takut dan trauma di tanah ini, pembunuhan terjadi di mana-mana terhadap masyarakat sipil. Tindakan (Organisasi Papua Merdeka) OPM juga sangat meresahkan bagi warga pendatang yang ada di […]

This week Just Asia begins with Pakistan, where the Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to the acquittal of Asia Bibi on blasphemy charges. After repealing her conviction and death sentence last October, the Court was petitioned by Islamists to review the acquittal. That petition was dismissed on Tuesday, and Asia Bibi is finally free. […]

Perhaps one thing that was forgotten when Lord Dunmore gave Adult Franchise for all, and also when Sri Lanka became an independent nation, is the stability of the social structure of a country. This is what provides for the establishment of the government, which will ensure security and stability to all. When these matters are […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Advocacy Forum (AF) that police officers attached with the Police Post in Hatiya, Baglung District thrashed Mr. Som Bahadur Bista for speaking in English. Som Bahadur received life threatening injuries due to the police torture, and has been receiving treatment for his […]

After two world wars, the first world elite realized the necessity of a global human rights movement, and cooperated with each other to bring that about. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was a product of this imagination and determination not to allow past rights violations to recur. Subsequent UN conventions all followed from this […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding a multi- state child sale racket from its partner organization, Aawaj, working in Madhya Pradesh for child rights. Aawaj members played a crucial role in uncovering the racket by acting as decoy customers, and working with the police. In a strange twist however, […]

This week Just Asia begins with Thailand, where 181 ethnic minority refugees and asylum seekers, most with UN refugee status, were arrested on August 28. Including some 50 children, the detainees are mostly from the Montagnard population in Vietnam and Cambodia. The arresting officials showed little knowledge about refugees, or government obligations to protect them. […]

This week Just Asia focuses on the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, marked annually on August 30. Enforced disappearance is frequently used to spread terror within society. Many states use counter terrorist activities as an excuse for overlooking or perpetrating disappearances. Not only is there widespread impunity for enforced disappearances, but those […]

This week Just Asia begins with India, where two police officers have been awarded the death penalty for the custodial torture and death of 27-year-old Udaya Kumara in Kerala in 2005. For more than 10 years, Udaya’s mother was steadfast in her pursuit of justice. Udaya’s case is a reminder not only of police brutality […]