Judicial system

UPDATE(Pakistan): Prime perpetrator involved in severance of penis case is still free under the protection of a Minister

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information that three of alleged perpetrators of the severing of Mr. Hazoor Buksh Malik’s (24) penis, were arrested in early June 2007. However, Mr. Tunio, the main perpetrator, as well as the Station Head Officer (SHO), of the Market police station in Larkana District […]

PHILIPPINES: Police’ vehicle used in forcibly abducting a man in General Santos City

Dear friends, The AHRC writes with deep concern regarding the forcible abduction and subsequent disappearance of a man, Arnold Aliman, in General Santos City on 27 May 2007. Witnesses have revealed that the vehicle used by the abductors, who were armed, has been traced to the local police Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB). The whereabouts of […]

INDONESIA: Alleged threats to lawyers in Medan by military personnel

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the public threats on two advocates from the Medan Legal Aid Institute (LBH Medan) by six members of the Indonesia Armed Forces (TNI-AD) on 5 June 2007, during a court trial at Pancur Batu State Court. It is reported that the military personnel […]

BURMA: Man disappears after being taken away to work as army porter

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a man who was detained by the army in Burma has since disappeared. Although it is more than one year since Maung Ko Kyi was taken away from his workplace, requests by concerned persons to know what has happened to him have not yielded […]

SRI LANKA: Human Rights Crisis Deepens the Conflict

(Note: We are reproducing the report published on June 14 2007 by the International Crisis Group. The Executive Summary and Recommendations follow below). ____________ *INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP – NEW REPORT* Colombo/Brussels, 14 June 2007: The international community must press the warring sides for urgent action to address wide-spread human rights abuses in Sri Lanka as […]

SRI LANKA: ICJ concerned about grave human rights situation and effectiveness of criminal justice system: Asks President to consider establishment of human rights field operation

For immediate release 15 June 2007 Meeting with the President of Sri Lanka yesterday, the Secretary-General of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) expressed serious concern about the grave human rights situation in Sri Lanka, including, renewed patterns of enforced disappearances and targeted killings of civilians, as well as shrinking space for civil society. “I […]

CAMBODIA: Newspaper publishing report on illegal logging is banned by Government

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that on 8 June 2007 the Minister of Information, Mr. Khieu Kanharith, reportedly issued a warning letter to the Sralanh Khmer newspaper to stop its publication of the Global Witness report on illegal logging. The GW report, released on 1 June 2007, reportedly exposed the […]

INDIA: Seven families illegally evicted from their rented houses

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from its local partners in Uttar Pradesh – The Peoples’ Union for Civil Liberties [Uttar Pradesh Chapter] and Guria Sansthan – regarding the forceful and illegal eviction of poor and helpless families in Mau city of Uttar Pradesh. It is alleged that the families […]

UPDATE (Burma): Assaulted rights defenders imprisoned & face serious legal action, while officials escape charges of assault

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned about the situation of a group of Burmese human rights defenders who were assaulted with the backing and involvement of local authorities and the police last April (UA-135-2007). Six have been charged upsetting public tranquillity and have been refused bail (UP-062-2007). Meanwhile, the criminal […]

CAMBODIA: Donors must prioritise the rule of law and judicial independence in their aid package

The Cambodia Development Cooperation Forum (CDCF) composed of donors and the Cambodian government will convene on 19-20 June to discuss the progress in the implementation of Cambodia’s development plan and its funding. This meeting is yet another occasion for all participants to honour their human rights obligations towards the Cambodian people under the Paris Peace […]

UPDATE (India): Continuing detention of human rights activist in Chhattisgarh

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that the detention of Dr. Binayak Sen, a medical doctor and human rights activist based in Chhattisgarh, India has been extended to a further period of 14 days. The AHRC had in the past forwarded an appeal issued by the Peoples’ Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), […]

UPDATE (Philippines): Killing of two peasants and wounding of six others in a violent attack

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that another two peasants were killed while six others were wounded when security guards of an influential landlord open fired on them on 4 June 2007. The guards started shooting at the farmers to prevent them from entering a portion of the […]

SRI LANKA: Abductions depict the insanity generated by absence of rule of law

Abductions, killings and robbery have become regular incidents in Sri Lanka. The telltale symptoms of a broken down rule of law and a system that has failed to address it. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has issued several statements in the past expressing its concern over the widening gap between the fact and fiction in Sri […]

NEPAL: Alleged brutal torture and attempted rape of a woman by Police

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Advocacy Forum, one of the leading human rights organizations in Nepal providing legal aid services to detainees that a woman was brutally tortured and suffered and sexually molested by the police on grounds that she was involved in setting fire to a government […]

CAMBODIA: Forced eviction of 92 families in Sihanoukville allegedly led by Khan Stung Hav governor

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that 92 families were forcibly evicted from their 120 hectares of land in Sangkat (commune) O’ Tress, Khan (district) Stung Hav, Sihanoukville by more than 100 armed police, military police and 20 gangsters on 23 May 2007. They were allegedly led by Khann Stung […]

UPDATE (Philippines): Military fails to turn personnel charged with murder over to the police

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you of the continuing failure by the leadership of the military to surrender their men, including a sergeant who is subject to arrest for the murder of a couple, Bacar and his wife Carmen Japalali nearly three years ago in Tagum City, Mindanao. Even […]

UPDATE (Thailand): General responsible for killings not prosecuted but reinstated

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is very concerned about the lack of progress in the investigation prosecution of three army officers identified by a court as responsible for the killing of at least 28 young men. Meanwhile, one of the officers, General Pallop Pinmanee, is reportedly going to be reappointed to a […]

UPDATE (Cambodia): A human rights investigator and 5 villagers are being accused of incitement to create a secession area

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information that the Sihanoukville governor, Say Hak, lodged a file complaint against Mr. Chhim Savuth, a human rights investigator for Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) based in Sihanoukville for attempting to create a secession area in Mitapheap district in order to oppose the […]

UPDATE (Cambodia): Ratanakiri authorities halted the bulldozing and clearing after forced eviction of the 115 hectares of indigenous community land

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) had previously received information that the Ratanakiri provincial governor allegedly rejected the prosecutor’s decision, made on 16 November 2006, of halting the planned bulldozing of 115 hectares of disputed land in Chrung and Kachok villages, Kok commune, Bokeo district, Ratanakiri province. The land belongs to the local […]

SRI LANKA: Lawlessness spills into mob killing of suspected thief

Mr. I. G. Pushpakumara (30) a navy officer said to be assigned to VIP security who was on home leave was beaten to death by a mob who believed that he was trying to escape after committing the theft of a mobile phone. When a crowd chased this navy officer, as some people shouted ‘thief’ […]