Judicial system

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that 57 humanitarian workers have either been killed or subjected to forced disappearance since last year in Sri Lanka. The AHRC has earlier reported the list of 81 and 22 disappeared persons respectively (See further: UP-061-2007). This detailed information, recently received from a reliable […]

On August 24, 2007, the Cambodian Government, the National Assembly, the Senate, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party and its coalition partner FUNCINPEC, in unison decried a request for former King Sihanouk to be stripped of his immunity and face trial in the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. The request had been made to the National Assembly by […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Chhattisgarh state, India regarding the killing of eleven children and a young man in Nendra village of Dantewada district. The incident happened on March 13, 2007. The children and the man killed in the incident were from the tribal community of the state. […]

Dear friends, Despite great personal risks, people in Burma are continuing to come on to the streets in protest two weeks after the military regime there suddenly multiplied the cost of fuels without prior warning. Since the appeal issued by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on August 26 (UA-260-2007), daily demonstrations have spread across […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been following closely events in Burma since the government multiplied the cost of fuels there without warning over a week ago, prompting public protests. Latest reports from many sources indicate that at least 65 persons have now been taken into custody in connection with the demonstrations. […]

Sri Lanka’s Deputy Solicitor General Savindra Fernando has been quoted in the local press as stating that Sri Lanka has often been bullied into signing United Nations (UN) conventions. He was speaking during celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Convention. Such international instruments on human rights […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) in collaboration with the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) wishes to announce the publication of a pictorial book that documents the development of the lawyer’s movement throughout the recent tumultuous months in Pakistan. The book covers all the events that occurred between March and July 2007. The publication, entitled “People’s […]

Predictably, the military junta in Thailand has coerced, threatened, bought and cajoled part of the electorate into passing its 309-article constitution on August 19. From results to date, just over 14 million people out of the country’s 45 million eligible voters crossed the box in favour of the charter. As only 25 million bothered to […]

Indonesia, which received the second highest number of votes in elections to the United Nations Human Rights Council earlier this year, will celebrate its sixty second Independence Day on August 17, 2007. Given these election results, we could imagine that Indonesia is considered as being a moderate nation which consistently promotes and protects human rights. […]

Dear friends, This is the latest update by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on the protests against fuel price increases in Burma: a leader of the protests has reportedly been tortured to death; courts in Rangoon have been closed for more than two weeks; arrests have continued, particularly in the delta area; monks in […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a local human rights organisation based in West Bengal, India regarding the case of Mr. Santhosh Mondal who was mowed down and drowned by the Border Security Force [BSF] in West Bengal, India. It is alleged the BSF officers ran a speedboat […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been following with concern the case of six men who were arrested in Burma on May Day for organising some discussions about worker’s rights. The men have been charged with sedition and were finally brought before a judge nearly three months after their arrests. Their arrest […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a local human rights organisation based in West Bengal, India regarding the case of Ms. Ruksana Sardar and her son Warish who have been denied justice by the local police. It is alleged that Ruksana and her son were assaulted by the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute regarding the arbitrary arrest and detention of a man who has been detained in Cengkareng Police Precinct since 28 May 2007. By this time, his family and the lawyer appointed by family members have been denied permission to […]

Dear friends, Further to our most recent update on Burma from last week, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that another human rights defender in Burma has been sentenced to jail for three years on the pretext of giving illegal tuition. As described in the previous appeal (UP-105-2007), Ko Min Min […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you of yet another death of a man, Thadallage Chamil Weerasena (29), in custody of the Ratgama police following his arrest on 21 July 2007. Before he died, he told one of his friends that the police had mercilessly beaten him and shown […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation based in West Bengal, India that one of MASUM’s staff has been charge sheeted by the local police on allegedly fabricated charges. Mr. Gopen Sharma works with MASUM from Murshidabad district. It is alleged that Gopen is continuously […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that another farmer has been killed and a community organizer disappeared. Policemen shot dead farmer Arturo Tolentino in front of his wife and children on October 26 2007 in Samal, Bataan. Another activist, Pedro Calilung, had been reported missing after he was […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that six human rights defenders in Burma, including one who was seriously assaulted by a gang organised by local authorities in April, have all been sentenced to prison from four to eight years on allegations of upsetting public tranquillity. A criminal complaint against […]

Caste based discrimination is the Indian variant of apartheid.  For decades Indians have been separated and divided according to the caste hierarchy. In spite of several laws and even Constitutional guarantees India remains largely divided along the caste lines. Caste based discrimination is omnipresent in India. It is reflected across the societal spectrum. It is […]