Judicial system

I am writing this to convey some basic concerns of a group of lawyers, judges and human rights defenders who met at Hong Kong from the 17th to the 21st September to discuss the impact of delays in the administration of justice on the lives of people and on the protection and promotion of human […]

Dear friends, The recent dramatic and historic developments in Burma, with thousands of monks taking to the streets, have received a lot of international attention in recent days. Here the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) gives a short summary of some of the latest events and also add comments and information on some incidents and […]

On 27 September 2006, eight days after the coup that has dragged Thailand back to the dark days of military intervention into all areas of political and social life, the country’s ambassador to the United Nations told the General Assembly that “we can well expect that one of the first tasks of the new civilian […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you of the continuing occurrence of extrajudicial killings and disappearance in the northern part of Sri Lanka. In August 2007, fifty persons were either found dead or killed; while 38 others have been forcibly disappeared following arrests or abductions. Some of the perpetrators […]

Dear friends, Further to our previous recent updates on the situation in Burma, this is the first appeal by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on specific cases of sentencing and imprisonment arising out of the protests of the last two months. Here we give the details of a man who has been sent to […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that six labour rights advocates in Burma have been given long jail terms by a special tribunal in the central prison. They were not represented, as their lawyers quit in protest after being constantly harassed by the prison authorities. Their imprisonment comes after […]

A group of 23 legal professionals and human rights activists from Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Cambodia, Bangladesh, China and Thailand gathered in Hong Kong from May 14 to 18, 2007 for the second consultation on the Asian Charter on the Rule of Law, on the topic, Executive Control & Corruption in […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been receiving daily updates on the dramatic protests against mid-August fuel price increases in Burma. On September 6, the protests went to a new level when for the first time the army intervened directly and monks responded by holding officials as hostages. More protests and arrests […]

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 […]