Judicial system

INDIA: Public official’s escorts assault High Court lawyer in Manipur

Statement | India | 17-07-2018

The Asian Human Rights Commission has taken note of the aggressive treatment meted out to Mr. Sevananda Laimayum by a Government official and his escorts. Mr. Sevananda Laimayum is an advocate, serving as the treasurer in the High Court of Manipur’s Bar Association. According to news reports, at around 5:10 pm on the 29th of June […]

INDONESIA: Law enforcement in Papua must respect fair trial and due process principles

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns the unlawful arrest and detention committed by police officers of the Timika Police Office (Polres Timika) between 9 and 10 June 2018. Five indigenous Papuans were arrested without any arrest warrant: Titus Kwalik (48), Polce Sugumol (31), Julianus Dekme (31), Alosius Ogolmagai (49), and Orpa Wanjomal (40). According […]

AHRC TV: Activist assaulted in Sri Lanka and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 227

This week Just Asia begins with Sri Lanka, where well-known rights activist Amitha Priyanthi was attacked by two motorcyclists on July 6. Dressed in black, with helmets covering their faces, the assailants hit Ms. Amitha on her head and other parts of the body, and took her handbag and mobile phone. There is reason to […]

INDONESIA : Menanti kebijakan HAM Presiden Joko Widodo untuk Papua

By Chris Biantoro1 Sejak Suharto lengser pada tahun 1998, dan reformasi telah berjalan selama lebih dari 18 tahun, Papua belum menikmati arti perubahan yang sesungguhnya, sebagaimana dinikmati oleh wilayah lain di Indonesia. Inisiatif untuk menyelesaikan kasus-kasus pelanggaran Hak Asasi Manusia (HAM) di provinsi Papua dan Papua barat, sebenarnya telah beberapa kali muncul, misalkan yang diinisiasi […]

INDONESIA: Twenty years reform failed to increase standard of justice for torture victims

A Statement on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture Torture remains a serious problem in Indonesia, even though it has been 20 years since it ratified the International Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT). There are also various national regulations prohibiting torture: […]

AHRC TV: Indian journalist gunned down and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 224

This week Just Asia begins with India, where Shujaat Bukhaari, editor of the newspaper Rising Kashmir, was gunned down outside his office in Srinagar on June 14. A highly respected journalist, Bukhaari was known for his consistent advocacy for peace and dialogue in Kashmir. His assassination, along with that of journalist Gauri Lankesh in Bangalore […]

INDIA: APDP & JKCCS welcome the report of the UN Office of High Commissioner For Human Rights on the situation in Jammu & Kashmir

A Press Release from Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society and Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) June 14th, 2018 Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) and Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) welcome today’s important report by the Office of the High […]

SRI LANKA: A Gratuitous Relationship for the Promotion of Human Rights – AHRC and Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Report for 2017 2017 was a decisive year for Sri Lanka, showing what progress had – and hadn’t – been made in the past few years. In January 2015, a new government was elected with a massive intervention on the part of the people. For 10 years, their premiere, Mahinda Rajapaksa, ran an […]

SRI LANKA: UNHRC view asking the Sri Lankan government to pay compensation to the victim of sexual abuse and rape.

We reproduce below the full text of the view adopted by UNHRC in Rita Jesudasan’s case. The case was submitted to the committee by ALRC. Views adopted by the Committee under article 5 (4) of the Optional Protocol, concerning communication No. 2256/2013*, ** Submitted by: X. (represented by counsel, Sergey A.            […]

AHRC TV: Indian youth lynched in Assam and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 223

This week Just Asia begins with India, where two young men were lynched on the suspicion of being child abductors. Niloptal Das and Abhijeet Nath were artists based in Goa, who had come to Assam to celebrate the Bohag Bihu festival and do some sight-seeing. A mob stopped their SUV at night, believing a child […]

AHRC TV: Thai activists charged for walking and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 222

  This week Just Asia begins with Thailand, where police issued summons to at least another 47 individuals on May 29, for exercising their freedom of peaceful assembly to call for elections and democracy. Fifteen others were charged by the police earlier, also for participating at an assembly held at Thammasat University and the UN […]

WORLD: Right to Justice – A speech by the Chairperson of AHRC delivered on 17 May 2018 at the Gwangju Human Rights Forum

Statement | World | 20-05-2018

The 2018 Gwangju Human Rights Forum was jointly organized by the May 18 Foundation and AHRC RIGHT TO JUSTICE Systemic Ways to Ensure Human Rights Are Protected A. Human Rights and the Violation of those Rights Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. When you read, you begin with A, B, […]

PHILIPPINES: Statement from the Coalition against Summary Execution

A Statement from Coalition Against Summary Execution (CASE) forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission We, at Coalition Against Summary Execution (CASE)*, condemn in the strongest terms the Supreme Court’s decision granting the Solicitor General’s petition for Quo Warranto against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. It is abhorring to see the Supreme Court majority surrender […]

AHRC TV: Terror attacks in Indonesia and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 221

This week Just Asia begins with terror attacks in Indonesia. The country’s second largest city of Surabaya saw yet another suicide bombing on Monday morning, at the police station. On Sunday, three churches were attacked, killing at least 11 persons, and injuring 41 persons during Sunday mass. This was one of the worst attacks on […]

AHRC TV: Death penalty for sexual assault of children in India and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 220

This week Just Asia begins with India, where the government has cleared an ordinance introducing the death penalty for those committing sexual assault of children younger than 12 years. The ordinance has come under fire as such a serious change in the law has been attempted without proper debate and consultation in parliament. Furthermore, the […]

INDONESIA : Villagers shot arbitrarily by West Sumba police in land dispute

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), a credible national civil society organization, about a land dispute and police violence in East Nusa Tenggara Province. One villager was killed after police officers arbitrarily opened fire on villagers protesting against the Sutera Marosi Company’s […]

AHRC TV: World Press Freedom Day and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 219

This week Just Asia focuses on World Press Freedom Day, marked annually on May 3. The day celebrates the fundamental principles of press freedom, and pays tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession. Most recently, nine journalists were killed in Afghanistan, after rushing to report on a suicide […]

INDIA: The political capture of the police in India

An article from The Mint forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Kathua and Unnao. The eight-year-old, gang raped and murdered in Kathua, was reported missing in early January—more than three months ago. According to the chargesheet, the victim’s body was discovered on 17 January, five whole days after her father reported her missing. In Unnao, a Bharatiya Janata Party […]

AHRC TV: Three years after devastating Nepal earthquake and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 218

This week Just Asia begins with Nepal, where April 25 marked the third year since the devastating Gorkha-centered earthquake. The 2015 earthquake killed 8,979 people and destroyed around 900,000 homes. It is a tragedy that many victims continue living in tattered makeshift camps and tents. As yet another monsoon nears, people hope that the new […]

INDONESIA: Pandeglang man criminally charged and prosecuted due to his Facebook entries

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from LBH Jakarta (Jakarta Legal Aid), SAFEnet, and Sejuk. All of them are civil society organizations that monitored and advocated the following case. It is in regard to a criminal charge against Mr. Alnoldy Bahari, a resident of Gadog village, Cibitung sub-district, Pandeglang Regency, […]