Judicial system

(Courtesy, Sunday Island of 11th May and 18th May 2014) What is mind? No matter. What is matter? Never mind. You might cynically apply this old aphorism to the judicial mind and judicial matters in Sri Lanka. Increasingly, the grey matter of intelligence, erudition, wisdom and independence is becoming too scarce in Sri Lanka’s judicial mind, and […]

A Reflection on religious freedom with justice Puzzling Decisions and worrying trends The recent government decision to appoint a special police unit to deal with inter-religious conflict adds to the prevailing confusion on the freedom of religion and the rule of law. While the decision implies seriousness in arrestingthe current religious tensions, the government’s reluctance […]

(Hong Kong, May 16, 2014) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned, and demands an investigation into the actions of the security guards and their employer landlord for shooting at, and holding at gunpoint, indigenous people who were to occupy their ancestral land in Quezon, Bukidnon. Photo: Manobo-Pulangihons tribes. In their mission report, titled: […]

Two Indian journalists have been ordered to leave country no later than May 20 without being given any reason for the non-renewal of their visas. It is claimed in certain government circles that the decision was made by the military establishment. The Daily News International, quoting some close aides of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said […]

(Note: this article was first published in the May 4, 2014 issue of the Sunday Examiner) I am a Filipino but I see myself a Hong Konger. If we are to take the guidelines of Hong Kong Unison, a non-profit organisation advocating for the protection of the rights of ethnic minorities, a Hong Konger is any person […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) expresses its concern over the recently passed Truth and Reconciliation Law in Nepal. The law violates international standards, the Supreme Court verdict of January 2, 2014, and also the Interim Constitution and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of Nepal itself. The last time the government came up with the […]

The killing of senior lawyer, Rashid Rehman, on May 7, 2014 in his office in Multan has once again brought into focus at home and abroad how little the Pakistani state values those who risk their lives for the promotion and protection of fundamental rights for all. Rehman was killed despite having earlier expressed serious […]

White clad people of all ages observing sil; temples full of pious devotees; trees laden with flowers and mounds of jasmine and araliya offered at sacred bo tree and temple alter, scenting the air. Come night and cities that were quiet and white turn garishly gaudy. Pandals light up and stories depicted on them are broadcast too […]

The attempted murder of an anchorperson of a popular media house triggered the open discussion on the role of the ISI in dealing with the freedom of expression and the media as a whole. Indeed, this is not the first occasion that the role of the ISI was brought up as a conspirator in the […]

JPF press release On 21 May 2014, the Supreme Court will read the Court Decision of Somchai Enforced Disappearance that Somchai’s family appeal to the Supreme Court (The Attorney General did not appeal). Contact: Angkhana Neelapaijit 084-728-0350 Background: Somchai Neelapaijit a prominent human rights lawyer was abducted and disappeared in Bangkok on 12th March 2004 […]

I held back on writing about the extremely traumatic experience of Naomi Coleman, 37, mental health nurse in Coventry, England. I am very glad I opted to be less than current since I felt I needed other’s opinions before expressing mine. All I spoke with from senior diplomats and retired government officers who held top […]

The frenzy of land grabbing in Burma (Myanmar) amid the country’s transition to nominally democratic government shows no signs of abating. Reports of the number of cases and scale of “land confiscation”—a euphemism for theft by government authorities and army-linked cronies—continue to grow. At the same time, conflicts over land have escalated as farmers attempt […]

The rule of law does not exist in Bangladesh. The way the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) abducted seven men, including a senior lawyer and a member of the mayoral panel of the Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC), on 27 April 2014, and murdered them, allegedly on behalf of a feuding faction of the ruling party, in […]

The provincial assembly of Sindh has took the daring lead on 28th April 2014, that deserves appreciation for becoming Pakistan’s first elected assembly to have passed a bill restraining child marriages under 18 years. The passage of the bill has come on the heels of controversy that was triggered after the council of Islamic Ideology (CII) […]

New Delhi: The National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) strongly condemns the calculated expulsion of three marginalised students from the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) in Hyderabad on Tuesday for their alleged role in breaking the glass door of the university library on March 11 during a protest against the closure of the 24-hour reading room on campus. The […]

A lawyer and prominent human rights defender, Mr. Rashid Rehman Khan, was gunned downed yesterday by unknown persons at his chambers at 8.45 p.m. He had been receiving death threats from the Muslim fundamentalists since February. In the month of April he was threatened in court during the proceedings before the judge by a lawyer, […]

(Note: this article was first published in the April 20, 2014 issue of the Sunday Examiner) In November 2005, Jose Manegdeg, a staff member of a church-based non-governmental organisation, was killed soon after he finished conducting a para-legal training in San Esteban, Ilocos Sur. Four years later, another 57 people, 32 of whom were journalists, were murdered […]

Today the AHRC releases the 27th Episode of the Human Rights Asia Weekly Roundup. In this week’s programmewe report on the spate of killings, torture, and vandalism that has erupted in western Assam, India, in the last few days. Thirty-two have lost their lives so far. We also interview Pakistani human rights defender BushraKhaliq about slavery in […]

Sri Lankans have just been confronted with the abduction of two policemen, one of whom was assassinated. The other narrowly escaped by struggling and running into the jungle naked. He is now receiving treatment in a hospital. This incident happened at Kurunegala. The immediate reaction of some persons who were interviewed by the press agencies […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is concerned about the case of journalists and responsible persons from a news journal in Burma prosecuted under the Burma Official Secrets Act 1923 over an article about a military-owned factory. They have been accused of leaking state secrets and have been detained during the inquiry period, […]