Judicial system

International Solidarity Week to Re member the Sewol Ferry Tragedy – The Truth Shall Not Sink with Sewol! Period: 8 August 2014 (Fri) ~ 14 August 2014 (Thu) On April 16, 2014, hundreds of desperate voices cried out for rescue – but most of those cries went unanswered. The tragic sinking of the Sewol ferry cost the lives of […]

Lawyers Collective urge Ministry of External Affairs Responding to a statement made by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on 5th August 2014 on the   incident at CSR, the Lawyers’ Collective cautions the public not to be misled by the inaccurate contents of the statement of the MEA. (see the MEA statement at the end […]

The title of this article may rather appear weird. However, the annual report released by the Central Government year-on-year on situation of tuberculosis or TB in India is invariably titled as TB India, (with year as the subscript). The one for the current year is titled as TB India 2014. Situation of TB in India […]

Urges credible probe into the actions of the mob attack on 4th August Lawyers witnessed an event of a mob disrupting a peaceful meeting to discuss issues of disappeared families, held at Center for Society & Religion, located in the premises of a Catholic Church in Colombo 10, on 4th August 2014. This meeting was […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission has learned that 65 farmers in Myanmar (of the Kanbalu Township, Shwebo District, Sagaing Division) are languishing in prison for ploughing their own fields, and over 350 more are headed for the same fate. This miscarriage of justice continues be-cause, in the words of the No. 1 Kanbalu […]

Adding to a series of unconstitutional restrictions placed on the legitimate activities of the Non-Governmental Organizations, the Director General of the Department of External Resources (DGDER) has now published a Notice, “advising” the public on the legitimate activities of the NGOs. Having examined carefully the contents of the Notice, we state that the Notice is […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a 17 year old boy –  a Sindhi national – had  been arrested, illegally detained  for eleven days, tortured in full view of his father demanding a huge sum of money  and later shot dead by the Police on the pretext of the boy […]

French philosopher Michel Foucault, in his book Madness and Civilization, reveals the other side of madness. He links our narrow understanding of madness with the development of civilization, emphasizing that deviance and transgression are all mirrors of society and hence, should be analyzed properly to understand the society we live in. Foucault’s objective was also […]

(Hong Kong, July 21, 2014) On June 23, we reported that Fernando Obedencio, a torture victim, was released after the court dismissed the fabricated charges laid on him for possession of illegal drugs. He was detained for nearly nine years. Photo: Fernando Obedencio The Moro Women Centre (MWC), the local group who documented and provided […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a young couple was murdered after they married in a court on their own choice. The local Panchayat decided to kill both, groom and bride, and father of the groom was ordered to handover a girl to the father of bride. The Panchayat […]

On April 16 of this year, a ferry sank and hundreds of lives were lost. Many students who died were from a single school. Dozens of passengers are still missing. This incident has signalled the public that they need to be more aware of the concept of ‘safety’. Analysis from experts and the media has […]

This must be the first example in human history that a country actually pays their enemy to murder its own soldiers. After much fanfare, followed by congratulatory messages on social media from the liberal sections of Pakistan, the military announced on June 15, 2014, that it had launched the long awaited operation in the North […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that four journalists who wrote an investigative article about an army facility in Burma have been sentenced to ten years in jail, along with their editor. The conviction is clearly intended to intimidate the print media in Burma, or Myanmar, at a time […]

Targeting Freedom of Expression “It is clear that the freedom of expression and opinion is a fundamental right, the mother of all rights.” – Abid Hussain, UN Special Rapporteur on the Freedom of Information, Speech in Sri Lanka, 1999. A notice has been issued by one D.M.S, Dissanayake as the director/registrar of the NGO Secretariat […]

Social Online Posting Claimed as a Breach of His Terms of Release Previously, Mr. Thanapol Eawsakul was summoned to report himself as per the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)’s announcement no. 5/ 2557 and was released on 30 May 2014. In order to be discharged from the military custody, he had to sign […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) objects to the Contempt of Court Bill, which the government has tabled in Parliament on 9 June 2014. The Bill, if passed, will restrict freedom of expression and the freedom of the press. The Bill, while purporting to uphold judicial dignity, curtails individual freedom enshrined in Article 19 of […]

The Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF) has been providing legal representation to Air, an ethnic Karen girl who has filed a case against her former employers for inflicting on her cruel treatment and enslavement. On 30 June 2014, around 2pm, the Kampaeng Phet Provincial Court read a verdict for the  case filed by Air’s […]

Today, on 26 June, the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, AHRC TV releases the 33rd episode of Human Rights Asia Weekly Roundup. On this occasion, which honours torture survivors across the world, AHRC TV details the endemic and routine nature of torture in Asia. In particular, the episode focuses on torture in […]

In the recent case of three Rupandehi boys being tortured by two police personnel deployed in the Area Police Offices of Suryapura and Rupandehi, the Court delivered a verdict on 22 June 2014 ordering departmental action against the guilty police personnel and NRs. 3000 compensation to be paid to each of the three victims pursuant […]

Nepal is a country where torture and ill-treatment are widely practised by state and non-state actors. Torture haunts detention centers, and there is no mechanism for the investigation of allegations of torture in the country. The culture of impunity strengthens its hold in Nepal, despite the armed insurgency having ended, and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement […]