Judicial system

More than a month after the deadly attack on Army Public School Peshawar, the tragedy is still under thick impenetrable clouds. The uncertainty about what the Prime Minister termed ‘a national tragedy’ persists with no one even making an effort to fathom. According to umpteen media reports about the December 16th attack, all one could […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), in coordination with the Terai Human Rights Defenders (THRD) Alliance, has been monitoring the human rights situation in Nepal in the lead up to 22 January, the deadline for the Constituent Assembly (CA) to draft a constitution. The Maoists, along with the alliance of 30 opposition parties, have resorted […]

Following the gruesome incident of the massacre of children at the Army Public School on 16th December 2014, within the military Cantonment, in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtoonkha Province, the government under pressure by the military immediately lifted the moratorium on death sentences which were continued since August 2008. During the period from 22ndDecember 2014 to date, 21 […]

We, the Conflict Victims Common Platform (CVCP), feel extreme exclusion in the whole process of transitional justice process, specifically concerning the recent recommendation committee’s list of candidates for the forthcoming Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and Commission for Enforced Disappearance (CED). The recommendations were made public last week without prior consultation with victims and surviving […]

Schools across Pakistan reopened on 12th January 2015 following the horrors of the Peshawar carnage that was unleashed on 16th December 2014, on the innocent school children at the Peshawar Army Public School (APS). Parents and teachers along with the Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Shareef attended the sombre morning assembly where the surviving students vowed […]

The Asian Human Right Commission and Asian Legal Resource Centre has developed  a handbook on torture titled “Let’s Stop torture together” the book is first of its kind in South Asia to have reached out the victims directly and to help them cope with the aftermaths of torture and how to seek legal redress. Our […]

In recent weeks, the Bangladesh government has intensified its crackdown on the media and the opposition. The country’s media is being forced to censor the news and plight of opposition parties, amidst the spree of arbitrary arrest and detention of opposition supporters. The police raided the office premises of New Age, a national English daily, on […]

A decisive new stage in the political life of Sri Lanka has arisen as a result of the people’s verdict, which overwhelmingly affirms the commitment of Sri Lankans to democracy and the rule of law. Victory to the new President Maithripala Sirisena and the New Democratic Alliance is a mandate given by the people to […]

6 January 2014 shall forever be etched in our collective concise as a sad day when we sold our souls to the devil. Senator Raza Rabbani appeared heartbroken on the floor of the assembly as he shed tears for the assembly taking its last breath “Perhaps, I never felt ashamed as much in my life […]

(Note: this article was first published in the January 4, 2015 issue of the Sunday Examiner) Six year old Chris Angela Sales, whose father is being held on charges of murder, could not understand why her father, who brings her street food, buys her milk and puts her to bed after work, has been locked in a […]

Yesterday, 6th January 2015, the National Assembly of Pakistan passed an amendment to the Constitution allowing the formation of military courts. The Pakistan Senate adopted the same amendment with a limiting clause that the amendment will be valid only for a period of two years. In responding to the 16th December 2014 massacre of 148 […]

Whatever be the outcome of the presidential election to be held on the 8th of January 2015, Sri Lanka has already entered into the deepest political crisis it has ever faced since the adoption of the Executive Presidential system through the 1978 Constitution. Within the period of a few weeks, all the manifestations of strength […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about a horrifying incident of a Christian couple being burnt alive on charges of Blasphemy in Pakistan’s Punjab Province. According to information, the couples’ legs have been broken so that they cannot escape the burning. The young Christian couple has been severely beaten and were […]

(The following article was originally published in the Ethics In Action, a bi-monthly publication devoted to discussing how movements and leaderships claiming to uphold ethics and morality have failed to promote and protect human rights. Click here to read the latest issue of the journal   ) The word ‘rights’ very often seem so wrong—politically,  socially […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the continuous persecution of human rights defenders in Gilgit and Baltistan, the occupied lands by Pakistan. Mr. Baba Jan and his associate Mr. Iftikhar Hussain were sentenced for the second time for life imprisonment by an Anti Terrorist Court (ATC) in Gilgit, […]

(Hong Kong, October 27, 2014) Every year on the 27th of October a commemoration of the enforced disappearances is held at the Raddoluwa junction in Seeduwa, in the front of the monument for the victims of enforced disappearances. On this day, parents, brothers, sisters, and other relatives and friends of the disappeared person gather at the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a local partner organization, Human Rights Defenders and Promoters, that the police, a municipality officer, and a village administrative officer from Kangyi Daunk Township, Ayeyawady Region, arrested a villager without giving any reason and tortured him. When the case was brought to court, […]

(Hong Kong, October 24, 2014) The Asian Human Rights Commission announces that the International Bar Association has awarded Adilur Rahman Khan with IBA Human Rights Award 2014. The AHRC congratulates its partner, Adilur Rahman Khan, for one more Award for his struggles against state-sponsored persecutions in Bangladesh. The awards that Adilur has been receiving one […]

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS:  THE 2015 MARTIN ENNALS AWARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS (MEA) Nominations can be submitted electronically at www.martinennalsaward.org Deadline: 9 December 2014 The Award is granted annually to an individual, or exceptionally an organisation, in recognition of their commitment and ongoing efforts in the defence and promotion of human rights. Nominees must be currently […]

เผยแพร่วันที่ 22 ตุลาคม 2557 ใบแจ้งข่าว สองผู้ต้องหาพม่าคดีเกาะเต่า ยื่นหนังสือผ่านตัวแทนสภาทนายความ ร้องขอความเป็นธรรมต่อพนักงานอัยการจังหวัดเกาะสมุย ปฏิเสธไม่ได้ฆ่าหรือข่มขืนนักท่องเที่ยวชาวอังกฤษ ระบุถูกเจ้าหน้าที่ซ้อมให้รับสารภาพ เมื่อวันที่ 20 ตุลาคม พ.ศ. 2557 คณะกรรมการสิทธิมนุษยชน สภาทนายความ ได้แต่งตั้งคณะทำงานเพื่อให้ความช่วยเหลือคดีที่ผู้ต้องหาชาวพม่าสองราย นาย วิน หรือเนวิน และนายซอ ถูกตั้งข้อหาในคดีอาญา จากเหตุการณ์ฆาตกรรมสองนักท่องเที่ยวชาวอังกฤษ นายเดวิด มิลเลอร์ วัย 24 ปี และนางสาวฮันนาห์ วิทเธอริดจ์ วัย 23 ปี ที่เกาะเต่า จังหวัดสุราษฎร์ธานี เหตุเกิดเมื่อวันที่ 15 กันยายน พ.ศ.2557 โดยมีนายสุรพงษ์ กองจันทึก เป็นหัวหน้าคณะทำงานช่วยเหลือคดีและประเด็นอื่นๆที่อาจจะเกี่ยวข้องกับการละเมิดสิทธิมนุษยชนของผู้ต้องหาในคดีอาญา โดยมีทนายความอาวุโสจำนวนหนึ่งร่วมเป็นคณะทำงานดังกล่าวด้วย ความคืบหน้าล่าสุด วันที่ 21 ตุลาคม พ.ศ. 2557 ทนายความของคณะทำงานดังกล่าวได้เข้าพบผู้ต้องหาเพื่อสอบข้อเท็จจริง โดยทางเรือนจำอำเภอเกาะสมุยได้จัดพื้นที่ให้คณะทนายความได้พูดคุยกับผู้ต้องหาได้อย่างเป็นอิสระ การสอบข้อเท็จจริงใช้ระยะเวลากว่า 5 ชั่วโมง […]