Judicial system

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you about the prolonged detention of two farmers in Davao Oriental province, the Philippines. Both of them have been detained for almost three years without any progress in their case because the prosecution witnesses failed to appear in court on six occasions. One of […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AS-275-2006 November 06, 2006   A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission   INDONESIA: Refusal to cooperate with United Nations human rights mechanisms in investigation of Munir’s death     The wife of celebrated human rights defender Munir Said Thalib, who was poisoned and died on September 7, 2004 under highly […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 3, 2006 AHRC-OL-061-2006 An Open Letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights by the Asian Human Rights Commission Louise Arbour High Commissioner UN High Commission on Human Rights OHCHR-UNOG 8-14 Avenue de la Paix 1211 Geneva 10 SWITZERLAND Fax:  +41 22 917-9006 Dear Ms. Arbour THAILAND: UN role needed […]

In March 2005, the then-army commander in Thailand, General Pravit Wongsuwan, was asked what disciplinary action would be taken against three generals found liable for the death of 84 innocent civilians on 25 October 2004, six outside the Tak Bai District Police Station and 78 in army trucks that transported over one thousand demonstrators and […]

An October 17 article in the Bangkok Post reported that the Ministry of Justice there has to pay hundreds of millions of Thai Baht in compensation to people who have been wrongfully prosecuted for crimes they did not commit. The law providing for compensation, the Compensation for Victims of Crime Act BE 2544 (2001), arises […]

It is now one month since the armed forces of Thailand under General Sonthi Boonyaratglin took power on September 19. Since that time, the coup group and government officials have been creating a fictional version of what they have done, are doing and will do. To mark this occasion, the Asian Human Rights Commission lists […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission has already underlined the failures of justice in the conviction of two men accused of the January 2004 murder of Chea Vichea, a famous Cambodian labour union leader. In August 2005 Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun were sentenced by the Phnom Penh court to 20 years in prison for […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  AS-255-2006 October 18, 2006 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission THAILAND: Military junta won’t bring justice to south In the days after the September 19 coup in Thailand there was some expectation that bloodshed in the south may lessen. Like a lot of other things, this has not happened. Reports […]

The European Commission has reported of the visit of a mission of high level experts to be sent by the Co- Chairs to review the current situation of human rights in Sri Lanka and to suggest necessary action before the end of October 2006. The Commission further stated that it believes that this could be […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  AS-251-2006 October 13, 2006 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission BANGLADESH: Removing dust is the government’s job The Daily Star newspaper published a report on October 11 citing the outgoing Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs of Bangladesh, Moudud Ahmed, as claiming that “progress” had been made in separating […]

On the morning of 22 January 2004, Chea Vichea, a famous and popular labour union leader, was gunned down while reading a newspaper by a roadside newsstand in Phnom Penh. The gunman rode off on a motorcycle driven by another man. Var Sothy, the owner of the newsstand, was the only other person at the […]

The Daily Prothom Alo newspaper published a report on September 18 that murder charges against three persons have been dropped on the orders of the government of Bangladesh. According to the report, Altab Hossain was shot dead on 27 April 2000 in Badalpara village, Upazilla in Pabna district. Altogether 29 persons were charged in the […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission yesterday (October 9, 2006) wrote to Ms. Louise Arbour, High Commissioner for Human Rights and Ms. Hanna Roberts, Chairperson, International Executive Committee, Amnesty International with regard to the statement made by the head of Sri Lanka’s delegation to the Second Session of the Human Rights Council, about a suggestion made […]

In A Short History of Thailand, David Wyatt describes how after Field Marshal Phibun Songkhram retook power from an elected government in 1948 he set about retaining “the facade of constitutional democracy”. He writes that “Thailand was now receiving economic and military assistance from the United States and favors from international organizations, and Phibun could […]

The tenure of office of Chandra Fernando as the IGP ended last week.  Throughout his tenure the Asian Human Rights Commission has pointed out the failure of leadership on his part to lift up the police service from its legacy of the use of torture as the primary means of criminal investigation, the use of […]

In a September 26 address at a conference on national human rights institutions, the Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen, said that he supported the creation of a national human rights committee for the country. Om Yen Tieng, the prime minister’s aide, said that perhaps it could be set up within a year. The audience, […]

A few years ago, some senior United Nations staff in Cambodia met with a government minister to discuss the state of the country’s courts. They expressed concern about their lack of independence, and asked what intentions the government had to address this problem. “Don’t worry,” the minister told them simply, “I will make them independent.” […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to bring to the notice of the international donors that no progress of any sort can be made in any area of life in Cambodia until the country’s government gives up its deliberate rejection of the concept of a state governed by rule of law, which has been central […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission is concerned about the negative response of the Sri Lankan government to international requests for the establishment of an independent international human rights monitoring mission in Sri Lanka and are dismayed that what is offered instead is a local Presidential Commission with the possibility of some international observers being allowed […]

(The state’s failure to implement the views and recommendations of the Human Rights Committee on individual complaints, and the failure to implement the Human Rights Committee’s and the CAT Committee’s recommendations after periodic reviews.  The resulting situation of the bewildering absence of protection to the citizens and the total absence of effective mechanisms to investigate, […]