Judicial system

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has obtained information that farmers in the Delta region of Burma are being prosecuted by the Burmese army. The army has accused them of trespassing on paddy land, which originally belonged to the farmers but was confiscated by army captains at gunpoint. The farmers face trial in […]

The writer is the Pakistani Executive Director of the Center for Research and Security Studies, a think tank established in 2007, and an Islamabad-based freelance columnist. There are only 14 million Jews in the world; seven million in the Americas, five million in Asia, two million in Europe and 100,000 in Africa. For every single […]

The National Council for Peace and Order  (NCPO) has seized the power since 22nd May 2014. Now it is almost a month that the NCPO has issued many orders and announcements, as of 16 June 2014,  there were 68 orders/announcements. Particularly, Order No.  59/2557 and Order No.  60/2557, dated  11 June 2014, regarding the administration […]

The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) vehemently condemns the violent incidents and complete breakdown of law and order that transpired in Aluthgama on the 14th and 15th of this month. While condemning all forms of religious and ethnic intolerance, discrimination and violence, FUTA sees the Aluthgama incident as an individual expression of a larger […]

GENEVA (16 June 2014) – The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay expressed her deep alarm Monday at inter-communal violence taking place in south-western Sri Lanka in which two, or possibly three, people have reportedly been killed and scores injured. The violence erupted on Sunday 15 June in the town of Aluthgama following […]

‘Lawyers for Democracy’ views with alarm the spate of attacks on civilians by the police during the recent past.  The case of the torture of Udaya Kumara of Udawalawe police station, the killing of Subash Indika of Pasyala and the shooting at a Three Wheeler at Katunayake are serious incidents of police excesses.  From the […]

A side event at the human rights council organised by the Asian Legal Resource Center (ALRC), Franciscans International (FI), International Coalition for Papua (ICP), Pro Papua Foundation, Tapol, Vivat International, West Papua Netzwerk (WPN), on Thursday, June 12, 2014  14:30 – 16:30 (CEST, UTC+2), Room XXII  Palais des Nations, Geneva Live Webcast West Papua in Indonesia […]

Today,AHRC TV releases the 31st Episode of the Human Rights Asia WeeklyRoundup. In this episode, we bring you a panel discussion between three human rights activists, from India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, on the causes of systemic and barbaric violence that occurs with impunity in Asia on a daily basis. Gruesome stories of gang rape, custodial deathfollowing […]

Danilo Reyes, deputy director of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) in Hong Kong, was invited by the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHR) to attend the National Consultation Workshop and Writeshop for the National Preventive Mechanism for two days beginning on April 29, 2014, in Quezon City, Philippines. While attending this program […]

By Basil Fernando The major problem affecting all Sri Lankans now, and which is likely to affect future generations, is the complete failure of law enforcement and resulting lawlessness. While virtually everyone is aware of this problem, it is not subject to conversation. For the few who are vocal on matters of public interest, the […]

The rape of a judge in her residence, located in a high-security area in the city of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, speaks volumes about both the epidemic of sexual violence and the respect for law in India. Such an incident cannot occur in a jurisdiction where a citizen is convinced that the law will play its […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the life of a lady lawyer and human rights defender is under threat for pursuing the murder case of two women who were killed in the name of honour. The murderers quickly tried to bury the bodies claiming that they both committed suicide […]

The Kathmandu District Court has given a clean chit to Mrs. Surakshya Singh, a.k.a Nikki, on 2 June 2014. Nikki has been the principle suspect in the case of disappearance of Mrs. Chhori Maiya Maharjan, missing for the past two years. In following this case, and the functioning of the criminal justice mechanisms, right up to […]

The Standing Committee of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka on Rule of Law condemns the attitude adopted by the Police when students of the Ruhuna University were brutally assaulted by a mob led by a Deputy Minister and some members of the Provincial Council.  This is another instant where the Police were mere spectators […]

Two days after the announcement that martial law had been put in force was made on May 20th, a military junta, named the National Order Maintenance Council (NOMC), led a coup and subsequently installed itself as the government of Thailand. Over the course of the six months of anti-government protests, twenty-eight people had been killed […]

SRI LANKA: An open letter to the President of the Bar Association on professional negligence of some magistrates Upul Jayasuriya President Sri Lanka Bar Association (BASL) No. 153 Mihindu Mawatha Colombo 12 Sri Lanka Fax (+94) 11 244 80 90 Dear Mr. Upul Jayasuriya, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has closely monitored the situation of […]

Civil Society Women’s Organisation 29 May 2014 Shillong, Meghalaya The Civil Society Women’s Organisation (CSWO), an anti-corruption and women’s rights organization, Shillong, is deeply concerned of widespread torture by police leading to deaths including deaths in custody and other similar human rights violations in Meghalaya. Ordinary people are often helpless in the hands of such […]

Leader of National Peace and Order Council Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha Royal Thai Army Headquarters Rachadamnoen Nok Road, Bangkok 10200, Thailand Fax:  (+66-2) 226 1838 E-mail: prforeign@gmail.com Dear General We, the members of civil society and human rights defenders of Nepal, express our deep concern over the takeover the administration of the country by the military junta, […]

(Hong Kong, May 29, 2014) In this extensive interview, Basil Fernando of the Asian Human Rights Commission explains what it means to be a Rule of Law system and why it is important for human rights defenders to understand these concepts. All countries in Asia have laws, but very often the laws are not implemented […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission is saddened to learn of the death of Deshamanya Ranjith Abeysuriya PC, a man of impeccable integrity who contributed for many years in various capacities to the protection of the rights of Sri Lankan citizens in a period which saw some of the most devastating attacks on democracy and the […]