Institutional reform

This week Just Asia begins with Nepal, where 18-year-old Radha Chaudhary was mercilessly beaten on witchcraft charges, while the world was celebrating International Women’s Day. Led by Ram Bahadur Chaudhary, a self-professed shaman, the horrific beating can be seen in a widely circulated video. None of the spectators bothered to rescue the innocent girl or […]

Guria Swayam Sevi Sansthan (Guria), an organization based in Varanasi, has been working against human trafficking and forced prostitution for more than two decades. Guria is AHRC’s partner organisation and in 2016, Guria filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the High Court at Allahabad, seeking guidelines to be issued to the police for the […]

A supplement to the Asian Human Rights Charter launched in Gwangju, South Korea on 17 May, 1998 This declaration is to be launched on the 20th anniversary of launching of the Asian Human Rights Charter (A People’s Charter) The Asian Human Rights Commission (Hong Kong) and the May 18 Memorial Foundation(Gwangju, South Korea) are presenting herewith the […]

This week Just Asia begins with Amnesty International’s annual report, highlighting a worldwide worsening of human rights. Released last Thursday, the report covers 159 countries. It claims that world leaders are increasingly “undermining the rights of millions,” either by turning a blind eye to rights abuses, or by perpetrating them. The ‘epicenter of human tragedy’ […]

A reflection on the Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Sri Lanka at the 37th Session of the Human Rights Council, 26 February–23 March 2018 by Basil Fernando The idea of good governance in Sri Lanka seems to be – to make lot of good promises and thereafter to ignore […]

This week Just Asia begins with Pakistan, where 24-year-old Imran Ali has been given four death sentences for raping and murdering a six-year old girl last month. Zainab Ansari’s body was found in a rubbish dump in the city of Kasur on January 9, five days after she went missing. Ali has been linked by police to […]

This week Just Asia begins with Burma, with the UN’s human rights chief warning that the government’s persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority has the potential to spark regional conflict. “It is sometimes said that today’s human rights violations will become tomorrow’s conflicts,” Mr. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said on Monday. Also this week, the Associated Press […]

A Joint Open Letter by the Asian Human Rights Commission, Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), CIVICUS, FIDH – International Federation for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, Odhikar, People’s Watch, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT) To The President of Bangladesh, H.E. Md Abdul Hamid The Chair of the […]

This week Just Asia begins with Thailand, where seven members of the People Go Network and a sociology professor presented themselves at a police station inPathum Thani Province on Wednesday. The activists were accused of breaching Article 12 of NCPO Order No. 3/2015, which prohibits the gathering of five or more people for political purposes, after they organized and participated in a peaceful […]

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mr. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)  Palais Wilson  52 Rue Des Pâquis  CH-1201 Geneva SWITZERLAND Fax : +41 22 917 9012/0213 […]

This week Just Asia begins with Pakistan, where police shot dead a 24-year-old rickshaw driver while allegedly chasing terrorists. The driver was later found to have nothing to do with any terrorists or gangs. Although the police officers have been arrested, no charges have been filed yet. This is the fourth police killing seen in […]

By Reema Omer THE European Commission is due to issue a status report this month on Pakistan`s compliance with the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) Plus conditions, which also include an assessment of the human rights situation in the country. The GSP Plus trading status is an instrument of the EU`s trade policy that aims […]

The press conference held by Justices Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph on 12 January 2018 is a watershed event in Indian judicial history. Four of the five most senior judges of the Supreme Court of India, appealed to the conscience of the nation, to intervene, failing which the judges cautioned that […]

In a first for India, the 4 senior-most judges of the Supreme Court called for a press meet. Justices Chelameshwar, Gogoi, Lokur and Kurian Joseph held a press meet at the residence of Justice Chelameswar, the second in line after the Chief Justice of India, Justice Dipak Misra. There was a flurry of speculation on […]

This week Just Asia begins with Hong Kong, where abusive and racist remarks were hurled last week at Principal Magistrate Bina Chainrai after she sentenced police officer Frankly Chu to three months in prison. In response, human rights lawyer Philip Dykes, legal scholar Johannes Chan and four other barristers made a statement saying such “racial […]

Pakistan has recently been placed on a special watch list for severe violations of religious freedom by the United States’ Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. This was done under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. A brief announcement by the United States’ State Department said that for the first time it has created a […]

By Nagananda Kodituwakku and Basil Fernando It was heartening to hear from the incumbent Chief Justice, Priyasath Dep, that Sri Lanka’s judiciary is free from any interference. This statement comes as a relief, given that we can recall a long period of the most despicable forms of the interference with the judiciary in Sri Lanka […]

Democracy and judicial institutions in Pakistan have long been strange bedfellows, with the pillars of the state unable to refrain from transcending their area of power. Either the bureaucracy or the judges, who are increasingly toeing the realm of popularism have, never understood the separation of powers, as provided in the Constitution. They are forgoing […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned about an alleged case of crimes against humanity. It took place on 24 December 2011 in Sape Port, Lambu sub-district, Bima Regency, West Nusa Tenggara Province. Based upon investigations, a report was issued by the Commission for the Disappearances and Victims of Violence (KontraS), a national, prominent, […]

Bangladesh celebrates its National Martyred Intellectuals Day today, 14 December 2017. The country recalls the martyrdom of some of its citizens who had high professional integrity at the time–1971. The Pakistani occupying forces and their local collaborators were known to be involved in abducting intellectuals. This included physicians, academics, journalists, and writers. The occupying forces […]