Judicial system

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) shares the concerns expressed by the Secretary General of the United Nations in his statement on the human rights situation in Nepal. Time and again the AHRC has stressed that regional governments such as India, international governments and bodies such as European Union, national political parties and the King […]

According to the latest news, the National Police Commission (NPC) of Sri Lanka has received documentation based upon sources in the ministry of defence on 22 police officers allegedly having close links to underworld leaders and drug dealers. The officers include one senior deputy inspector general, two deputy inspector generals, two assistant superintendents of police, […]

Signs of recent days are that the government-appointed inquiry into the October 25 mass killing in southern Thailand is about to end with a whitewash. Worrying reports suggest it is likely to conclude that the killing of at least 85 persons in Narathiwat was accidental, and something that everybody should just understand and forget about. […]

The assassination of the High Court Judge Sarath Ambepitiya took place on the 19th of November. To date, no one has owned up to the responsibility for the failure to provide security to the Judge, who held senior position in the judiciary. In any democracy or in any country that respects the rule of law, […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) today extends its deepest sympathies to the families of Colombo High Court Judge Sarath Ambepitiya and his bodyguard Inspector Upali Bandara, as well as the people of Sri Lanka. The judge and police officer were murdered yesterday, November 19, outside the judge’s house. The killing was as shocking as […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that police constable Prasanna of the Keselwatta Police Station, Sri Lanka has not been arrested despite several requests from the Panadura Magistrate, in connection with his alleged involvement in the death of Mr. Done Lakshman Priyantha Rathnayake on 15 October 2004. PC Prasanna is […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that 23-year-old Mr. E.R. Kumara was arbitrarily arrested and tortured by Kalutara North police officers on 14 October 2004. At the time of arrest, it is reported that a Sub Inspector (SI) failed to show a memo of warrant to Mr Kumara. He then […]

A fatal traffic accident in the jurisdiction of Wellawaya Magistrate’s Court, Sri Lanka, has caused a lot of public confusion. It all started with an important question: who caused the accident? Media reports inform us that some family members of the deceased have accused a Senior Superintendent of Police, not the constable who has been […]

Dear friends, It has come to the attention of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that the Lower Court Records required to prosecute police officers allegedly responsible for the forced disappearance of Bhikari Paswan in 1993, have been held at the Calcutta High Court for some 72 days now.?The Calcutta High Court granted leave for […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Halwitapaththinige Mahinda Perera (39) is suffering from the inaction of the Panadura police about his complaint which was made on 22 April 2004. The victim also alleges that the police attempted to hush up the case by withdrawing his complaint without his agreement. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a man named Heeralu Mohottalalage Punchi Banda (39) was illegally arrested and tortured by the Sub Inspector (S.I.) Dhammika Bandara of Samanalaweva Police Post in Balangoda on 26 August 2004. Due to brutal torture, the victim still suffers from severe pain on his […]

On 21 September 2004 Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, addressed the General Assembly emphasising the primacy of the rule of law over all other factors governing global affairs, be they international or domestic in scope. In particular, he observed that: “We must start from the principle that no one is above the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that an 11-year-old boy named Khokan Hembram died due to severe assault by Mr. Ujjal Laha and his hired goons who suspected him as a theft without any evidence in Dohali village, Sagardighi Police Station, Murshidabad District, West Bengal on 5 September 2004. It […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that despite the earlier appeal of Mr. R.K.L.G. Dingiri Banda to the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, nothing has yet been done to correct the matter. Mr. Dingiri Banda had complained to the Bar Association that he had filed a fundamental rights application before […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about the rape of a 30-year-old woman in a vacant train compartment at the Hasanabad Railway station, West Bengal on 18 August 2004. The woman was raped by a Railway Police Force constable while a fellow constable held a rifle pointed at the woman’s […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mount Lavinia police severely assaulted numerous Bata Shoe Company workers in Colombo on 12 August 2004, to break up a 52-day long protest. Male and female workers were seriously injured in the police assault, after which the police arbitrarily arrested 13 of them. […]

  Dear friends, It has come to the attention of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that while the Calcutta High Court granted leave on 28 July 2004 to prosecute police officers allegedly responsible for the forced disappearance of Bhikari Paswan in 1993, Bhikari’s father, a chief witness in the case, who had struggled for […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the murder of two teenage girls in Pakistan, Aabida and Tahmeena for visiting their grandparents without permission. (Refer to FA-12-2004 and UP-23-2004.) The victims’ families have been given about Rs. 20 0000 and ten acres of cultivation land as compensation, and are being pressured to […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Advocacy Forum, a local human rights NGO in Nepal about another attempt by the army to weaken the judiciary by ignoring court orders. For the last several months, the army and the police in Nepal have been repeatedly re-arresting people immediately after […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the case of G. Francis Udayapan, whose body was found in the Klang river on 23 May 2004, more than a month after he was arrested by the police. Brickfields police officers claim that Udayapan jumped out of the police station window […]