Judicial system

PAKISTAN: A Norwegian citizen and Baloch activist is missing after his suspected abduction by Pakistan state agents

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a Norwegian citizen and political activist of Iranian nationality has been forcefully abducted from a bus between Balochistan province and the Sindh province capital, Karachi. Eyewitnesses described his abductors as armed, plain-clothed and in a fleet of four-wheel jeeps bearing no registration number, but […]

SRI LANKA: Two men are shot, illegally detained and charged with a fabricated offence by Urubokka police

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the botched arrest and shooting of two men by Urubokka police officers, who then fabricated their charges. The Assistant Superintendent of Police admitted that they were innocent in the Magistrate’s Court, however the officers responsible have not yet been investigated for misconduct.  CASE […]

UPDATE (Burma): Three innocent men are tortured into confessing to a bomb plot

Dear friends,  Last year the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) issued an urgent appeal in the case of U Myint Aye, the leader of the Human Rights Defenders and Promoters group in Burma whom police and other officials arrested without giving a reason. Later the military regime there organised a press conference in which it […]

UPDATE (Sri Lanka): A police officer on trial for the murder of Gerald Perera remains in service at Gampaha Police Station

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) would like to report that a police inspector being tried for the assassination of Gerald Perera is still working for the state as an officer. The victim was a complainant in a torture trial against police officers when he was shot dead. With one of the accused […]

BURMA: Two elected MPs given 27 years for writing letter to UN

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to have to inform you of yet another case of gross injustice and denial of human rights in Burma through that country’s “injustice system”. In this case, two elected parliamentarians have been sentenced to 27 years in jail each for organizing a group of their peers […]

UPDATE (Thailand): Landmark trial to begin of policemen who illegally arrested and dispersed protestors six years ago

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that the provincial court in Songkhla, Southern Thailand is set to hear the case against a group of policemen on 24 June 2009, after pending for six years. It is a landmark complaint—the first ever to be filed against policemen in the country—and has […]

BURMA: Licences of lawyers revoked for merely representing their clients’ wishes

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has previously reported on the case of two human rights lawyers who were sentenced to four months’ imprisonment each for contempt of court, because they withdrew their powers of attorney on the wishes of clients who cited the reason as a lack of faith in Burma’s judicial […]

BURMA: Case against Aung San Suu Kyi exposes ‘injustice system’

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been closely following the case against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and three other persons since their arrest in May 2009, which is a clear product of what has been described as Burma’s ‘injustice system’. In this appeal we give some basic details of the case […]

CAMBODIA: Judicial independence is the key to reducing defamation lawsuits against critics and upholding freedom of expression

Prime Minister Hun Sen is utilising much of the country’s electronic media to assert his leadership of the country and send out messages to his people through his public speeches at different functions. Now and again in such speeches he rebukes his critics and makes disparaging remarks and even or threats against them. At times, […]

PAKISTAN: A student leader goes missing after his alleged arrest by state agents; a female student demonstrator is sentenced to three years in jail

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that a student activist has been arrested by members of a military intelligence agency, and his whereabouts are still unknown. Another female student has been fined and sentenced to three years in prison on sedition charges by the Anti Terrorism Court for heading a demonstration […]

PAKISTAN: A young man is shot dead by police at a wedding party

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received reports that a young unarmed man was shot dead during his cousin’s wedding party by a police officer in Panjgore district, Balochistan province last month. The Assistant Sub Inspector accused of the shooting has defended his own authority regarding who he does and does not […]

BANGLADESH: Twelve men are detained and tortured by police under fabricated charges

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that twelve men were illegally arrested and tortured while in detention at the Kotowali police station in Jessore district. Two of the detainees’ hands were broken as a result, and no arrangement of medical treatment has been made the by authorities. No attempt has been […]

BANGLADESH: Two men arbitrarily detained and tortured by police to elicit bribes

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that two men were detained for four days by the police without charge or legal record, and beaten severely each day to elicit bribes. The men were then confronted with fabricated charges and released only after they paid large fines. The debt has caused one […]

PAKISTAN: Police complicity and judicial inaction lead to the murder of a girl on the pretext of an honour killing

The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that a girl was murdered on the . The police from four different districts were allegedly involved in the abduction and subsequent killing of the girl, Ms. Babli Lashari, and the matter appears to have been hushed up with the assistance of the higher judiciary. According to […]

SRI LANKA: Police apathy exposed towards the rape of a 14-year-old girl

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that police officers are failing to act on a report made by a young girl, who was abducted and raped on 27 April. The girl knows her attacker and has presented evidence of the crime, yet no substantive action has been taken by the local police station.  CASE DETAILS: (based […]

PAKISTAN: Government that surrenders to the militants destroys the writ of the state

The government of Pakistan has entered into an unconstitutional agreement with the Islamic militants operating in the country to implement an Islamic code of practice, the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation (NAR), through a resolution passed in the national assembly on April 14, 2009. The President signed the resolution immediately. The resolution, passed without any debate in the […]

CAMBODIA: Tolerance of corruption at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal is unacceptable

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) are very concerned that, on 3 April, the Office of the Co-Investigating Judges (OCIJ) at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), otherwise known as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (KRT), rejected a request by the defence seeking disclosure of […]

PAKISTAN: Three political activists are found murdered after daylight abduction

[NOTICE: The AHRC has developed this automatic letter-sending system using the “button” below. We encourage you to send your appeal letters via fax or post to them. Fax numbers and postal addresses of the Pakistan authorities are attached below with this appeal. Thank you.] Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed […]

BURMA: Journalist jailed on wrong charge for shooting video of referendum vote

Dear friends,  Last week the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) issued an appeal on the case of two journalists jailed in Burma for trying to help people left homeless after Cyclone Nargis to visit international agencies. In this appeal we bring the case of another journalist jailed in Burma, in his case for taking video […]

PAKISTAN: Military henchmen kill three farmers and injure 27 others

[NOTICE: The AHRC has developed this automatic letter-sending system using the “button” below. We encourage you to send your appeal letters via fax or post to them. Fax numbers and postal addresses of the Pakistan authorities are attached below with this appeal. Thank you.] Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information […]