Judicial system

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned of another case of a human rights lawyer in Burma whose licence to practice was revoked after being released from prison. The lawyer, Ko Phoe Phyu, was freed after heavy pressure from the International Labour Organisation as he had been imprisoned for representing villagers in […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the Tala police in Satkhira district illegally arrested a man named Mr. Md. Sohrab Hossain on 7 January 2010 and tortured him on several occasions while in detention in police custody. The man, along with two other persons, has been detained in the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a partner organization, The Advocacy Forum, (AF) that two civilians, Dal Bahadur and his son Bikram Gyanmi Magar, have died following brutal torture in police custody at Prangbung Police Post of Panchthar District on February 13, 2010 and February 21, 2010 respectively. We […]

Dear friends, The AHRC has received information from the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), that a man has been arbitrarily arrested and tortured while being interrogated on false charges. CASE DETAILS: According to information received from the Commission for The Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), Mr. Aan was interrogated by […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission has learned that authorities in North West Frontier province have taken no action to arrange urgently-needed protection for a man, his sister-in-law and her young son; all are in immediate danger of being murdered as a response to a love marriage, and three murders have already taken place. […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has obtained the details of the case against a journalist who has been imprisoned in Burma for sending video footage abroad. Ngwe Soe Linn was sentenced to 13 years in jail for supposedly sending illegal clips and going illegally into Thailand, even though there was no evidence […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that police have severely beaten up three detainees in the Metropolitan Police Range in Hanumandhoka, Kathmandu. Torture is widely use by police forces in Nepal as an easy way to carry an investigation and goes unpunished because of legal loopholes and general unaccountability of the […]

The former commander of the Sri Lankan army, retired general Sarath Fonseka is today under military detention in much the same way that tens of thousands of Sri Lankans from the south, north and east in detention facilities in the recent decades. More than ever, the inability of the courts to intervene effectively to protect […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested a man named Md. Mohiuddin Arif from his house. Arif was arbitrarily detained for 54 hours in the custody of the RAB and tortured there as well as in his own house during a search conducted by […]

Dear friends, Even as the military government in Burma is preparing for a general election, it is imprisoning more and more groups of people for allegedly setting up illegal organisations. In this appeal we bring you the details of a case that is ongoing against 11 such persons who have all been accused of being […]

Dear friends, On 2 March 2010 the main hearing will begin in the case of Kiettisak Thitboonkrong, who was one of the 28 victims of the Kalasin Killings. It will take place at the Criminal Court in Bangkok and is the first case in which the DSI has charged police for the murders that characterised […]

Ostensibly the crisis is the elevation of chief justice for the Lahore High Court in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the elevation of the next senior most judge Justice Saquib Nasir, as acting Chief Justice of Lahroe High Court (a la Zia ul Haq style).   Being of the view that more harm is done […]

(Statement on the Sri Lankan Independence Day) This picture, which has become familiar to all Sri Lankans, is a symbol of the collapse of Sri Lanka¡¦s policing system and the loss of a sense of security among the Sri Lankan people. To understand this collapse and what has happened to the policing system one has […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that an 8-year-old Dalit girl has been assassinated, in what could be a sacrifice for good omen on December 4, 2009 in Maryadpur, Rupandehi District, Nepal. The AHRC is concerned that the case may not receive appropriate attention from the local police who have […]

GENEVA/ SINGAPORE (January 27, 2010) – In support of efforts to curb legal abuse across Asia, International Bridges to Justice (IBJ) this week launches its second JusticeMakers Fellowship Competition. The Competition, opening January 27, is open to applicants who have concrete, achievable ideas to promote and foster criminal justice and rule of law initiatives. Each […]

Lawyers have stormed the Lahore Session Courts to show their solidarity with a lawyer and former president of Lahore high court bar association who was arrested in the murder case of a 12-year-old Christian domestic helper. The girl was allegedly tortured. The lawyers, more than three hundred under the leadership of president of the Lahore […]

Basil Fernando The groups engaged in monitoring the election have reported flagrant violations of election laws, the illegal use of state assets and the use of violence. They have noted that in Sri Lanka today the collapse of the electoral system on an unprecedented scale is taking place. The election commissioner own comments about the […]

The existence of independent and strong media is a prerequisite for the working of a free and just society that governs itself by the rule of law. The role of media in establishing such a society is to act as the eyes and ears of the people, forming the collective conscience of the nation. After […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that the Khulna police have killed a man in a so-called ‘encounter’. The victim was known as a freedom-fighter for his role in the Bangladesh liberation from Pakistan, but no investigations have been made into his death after he was illegally arrested and detained. Relatives […]

The Indian media often report with contempt the killing and maiming of the citizens by non-state actors. The limited debate in the country upon the issue is centred on the illegitimacy of violence used by the terrorists, insurgents and armed resistance movements, and is highly polarised. Except for the effort of a few publications like […]