Judicial system

NEPAL: Dalit woman assaulted, publicly humiliated and forced to eat human excreta

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Jagaran Media Center (JMC), a human rights organisation in Nepal concerning the case of a Dalit woman who was assaulted, publically humiliated and forced to eat her own excreta by the villagers. It is reported that Mrs. Kalli Kumari was accused of practising […]

BURMA: Two journalists imprisoned for helping cyclone victims visit international aid groups

Dear friends,  In June 2008 after Cyclone Nargis devastated the Burma delta, a group of homeless residents went to request assistance from offices of international agencies in Rangoon. At that time, two reporters for local news journals went along with them. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) in this appeal is bringing you details of […]

BURMA: Nine people convicted without admissible evidence over protests

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has closely followed and issued appeals on many of the cases that arose from the September 2007 nationwide protests against military dictatorship in Burma. Here we bring you details of a number of related cases that were among the large numbers of those decided late in 2008. […]

PAKISTAN: A young couple is in hiding after a tribal court sentenced them to death for their inter-tribal marriage

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that two young Pakistanis who chose to marry out of their tribal boundaries are currently in hiding, after the leaders of both tribes sentenced them to death in a jirga, or tribal court. The pair has a baby, and the husband’s family members have […]

BURMA: Citizenship of family revoked and members given long jail sentences

Dear friends,  In recent weeks there has been a great deal of news internationally about the plight of Rohingya leaving from western Burma in boats whom navy and security personnel of Thailand have pushed back into the ocean. In order to illustrate some of the problems that they face in Burma, the Asian Human Rights […]

BURMA: Man jailed over footage of army-confiscated farmlands

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has obtained details of the charging, sentencing and imprisoning of a man in Burma for helping farmers to lodge complaints about confiscation of land in the central part of the country. Ko Zaw Htay was found guilty of giving out official secrets and sentenced to ten years’ […]

SRI LANKA: Human rights lawyer and activist facing death threat

Mr. Amitha Ariyaratne, Attorney-at-Law, was threatened three times with death on 27, January 2009 at the Negombo Police Station by some police officers. He was visiting the police station for an official business when this happened. Earlier he was threatened with death and the Bar Association of Sri Lanka passed a resolution condemning the death […]

BURMA: Three men sentenced in another evidence-free case

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been collecting and documenting cases of illegal arrest and imprisonment of persons accused in relation to the September 2007 protests in Burma. In this appeal we give the details of another three persons who in December were convicted without evidence on charges of having attempted to […]

BURMA: Another 14 people wrongly convicted over September 2007 protests

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been collecting and documenting cases of illegal arrest and imprisonment of persons accused over the September 2007 protests in Burma. In this appeal we give the details of another 14 persons who in November were convicted without evidence on a variety of offences.  CASE DETAILS  The […]

BURMA: Thirteen people wrongly convicted over alleged illegal organization

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received detailed information on the case of 13 people who have been imprisoned for supposedly having set up and participated in an illegal organization that was involved in the September 2007 protests against the government in Burma. The group have been convicted even though a like […]

INDIA: Poor policing results in crime and communal violence in Manipur

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a human rights organisation based in Manipur state that a violent incident involving local drug smugglers and underground militant organisation has resulted in the death of two persons and injured three others. It is reported that in a conflict between two rival groups […]

ASIA: Protection of human rights in non-rule of law countries – institutional reforms in the administration of justice must be given primacy of place

The celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the UDHR is a grim reminder that even after 60 years of the adoption of this great declaration the gap between what is declared and what is actually achieved by way of the improvement of the protection of the rights of the people is enormous. Both in the […]

PAKISTAN: Eight women and their children taken as hostages by police are at risk of torture and sexual harassment

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) strongly condemns the arbitrary arrest and detention of eight women and their children as hostages by police, in order to secure one man from the same family who was allegedly involved in abduction of a government official on November 24. Police have so far refused to disclose […]

UPDATE (Thailand): Court ignores evidence of police killings

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that a local court in southern Thailand has ordered after four years of hearing the post-mortem inquest over the death of 19 men, on the pretext of self defense, that the policemen who killed them cannot be charged. The court had depended […]

BURMA: First charges against monk who led protests and 10 others now going to court

Dear friends, In the latest in the series of cases of persons involved in last September’s mass protests in Burma, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) brings you details of the first charges against one of the monks who were at the forefront of the Saffron Revolution. After being held illegally for around 10 months […]

BURMA: Police lie about date of arrest to illegally detain and imprison five people

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about five activists in Burma who have been imprisoned for attending a gathering and meeting with American embassy staff around the time of anti-government protests last September. Apart from not following the laws of evidence in making the case against the five, the police […]

SRI LANKA: Assault and fabrication of charges against a minor by police

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Kuruwita police assaulted a boy on the road and forcibly took him, with his brother,  into police custody and later fabricated charges against him in collaboration with a Judicial Medical Officer on 31 August 2008. CASE DETAILS: (based on the testimony of Liyanage Buddhika […]

PAKISTAN: Three girls handed over to a man who killed his wife on the pretext of honour killing as compensation

[NOTICE: The AHRC has developed this automatic letter-sending system using the “button” below. However, in this appeal, we could not include e-mail addresses of some of the Pakistan authorities. 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 […]

UPDATE (Indonesia): Court treats torture case as minor offence; police responsible are freed

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the case of Mr. Hartoyo who was tortured and sexually abused in January 2007 in Aceh. The Banda Aceh District Court treated this case as a minor offence and let those responsible go free. UPDATE INFORMATION: Mr. Hartoyo and his partner were […]

UPDATE (Burma): Legally incoherent cases lodged against comedian and journalist for cyclone relief work

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has previously reported on the case of the nationally renowned Burmese comedian Zarganar, who was taken from his house in June apparently in connection with cyclone relief work that he was doing at the time. The AHRC has since closely followed the cases against him and a […]