Judicial system

Shame shadows Bangladesh again. Numerous attacks have been waged on the Hindu community across Bangladesh in the wake of the January 5th general ‘election’. Houses and business establishments owned by Hindus have been targeted. Other ethnic and non-Muslim communities have also been attacked. Temples and religious sites have not been spared. Few hundred Hindu families have […]

The debates so far, concerning the arrest of an Indian diplomat in the US, on charges of visa fraud, have omitted the nature of the crime the officer has committed. The crime alleged against the officer, is that of furnishing false documents to obtain visa for a migrant labour to the US. Read with the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the police in Pegu Region, central Burma (Myanmar) tortured and arrested two villagers without any warrant. According to the information, the two men were detained for 17 days illegally in Nattalin Township. After that the township court imposed a restriction order of six […]

Press statement 9 January 2014 New laws to protect women bring no hope to victims of sexual violence in Assam exclaimed a shocked panel of Jury members at the Public hearing on sexual violence A two day State level Public hearing on sexual violence was organized by Women in Governance [WinG-India] in Guwahati on January […]

Press Release 6 January 2014 Following the unprecedented outbreak of riots in the rural areas of Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Baghpat, Meerut and Saharanpur districts of Uttar Pradesh in the first week of September, tens of thousands of Muslim families have been living in relief camps for the last four months. However, over the past week, the […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from CGNet Swara, an organization promoting community journalism in India, regarding the continuing occupation and use of educational institutions in Chhattisgarh by the Indian paramilitary. AHRC has learnt that two companies of the Border Security Force (BSF), deployed at remote Kodapakha village of Kanker district, about […]

Each year, in South Asian communities, thousands of young brides lose their lives over dowry disputes. They are burnt, killed or maimed by husbands and in-laws whose material demands remain unfulfilled. Religions including Islam have always been interpreted and applied in favour of men and power structures.  Thus, it is not surprising to notice that   dowry […]

On December 18, 2013, the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 19 in Manila City, commenced the trial of Temogen “Cocoy” Tulawie, an indigenous activist, who is being prosecuted for fabricated charges of attempted murder, in connection with a bombing incident on May 13, 2009 in Patikul, Sulu. Photo: Mussah Tulawie, wife of Temogen, (in the middle), […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission is pleased to announce the release of the 12th episode of the Human Rights Asia Weekly Roundup. We start this episode with a special AHRC report on the sham Bangladesh national elections which were boycotted by the main opposition party. The elections were marred by violence and the lack of legitimacy […]

Wednesday, January 8, 2014 (All day) The true or genuine creative writer of the calibre of a sensitive poet writes not for the entire public but for a self expression of some of his intimate feelings and experiences for one’s sake. Perhaps he or she writes for a particular reason, for a vanishing few admirers. […]

A child of 15 was arrested by the security forces in October and there has been no response from the authorities The disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the province of Balochistan continued unabated during 2013. The Voice of Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) has compiled lists of disappearances and extra judicial killings despite threats and intimidation […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Punjab concerning the protest by fasting held by Mr. Gurbaksh Singh Khalsa, who ended his fast after 43 days, on 29 December 2013. Khalsa had commenced his protest at the Amb Singh Gurdwara on 14 November to secure the release of all Sikh prisoners that […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about a judge in Burma (Myanmar) who convicted two villagers for having stolen a box of gold jewelry, even though he knew police tortured them. According to the information received, police in Pakokku tortured 67-year-old U Kyaw Nyunt and a companion in 2012 to […]

Civil society groups must resist the evil designs of the Punjab government to stop the marchers from entering the province The second phase of the Long March for the recovery of hundreds of disappeared persons after their arrest by the security forces has now covered 600 kilometers on its way to Islamabad, the final destiny. […]

Press Statement on the Report  prepared by Mohan Rao, Ish Mishra, Pragya Singh and Vikas Bajpai, December 30, 2013 A team of independent academics and a journalist carried out an inquiry into the communal violence that shook Muzaffarnagar district in UP this past September. The report is based on the findings of the team during […]

A one-and-a-half-year-old infant was buried four days after she died from pneumonia in Toba Tek Singh, Punjab province. The girl, who was from an Ahmadi family, died on December 19, and was taken for burial the following day. At the cemetery the local clerics gathered with approximately fifty men who were armed with sticks and batons. […]

Billions of rupees had been wasted on government propaganda exercises but the Meteorological Department was not properly equipped and the Disaster Management Website, too, remained outdated due to lack of funds, an Opposition legislator charged yesterday. Eran Wickremeratne MP told The Island it was shocking that despite a total of over 1.6 million people being […]

Sabita Lahkar, a Guwahati based female journalist called for a press conference on September 10, 2003 demanding justice publicly for sexual harassment at workplace. She was working as the Chief Sub-editor at a vernacular daily Amar Asom. She alleged that her senior, editor in chief and a well known literary figure in the state of Assam […]

The open debate about the denial of equality between men and women may be seen as historically recent. However, the reality of gender imbalance has been a factual data for centuries and unfortunately, when we look at countries like Pakistan, the journey towards gender equality appears to be a long and insidious odyssey. The relationship […]

The AHRC condoles the death of Mr. Khurshid Anwar, a writer and activist reputed for his life-long struggle for upholding the rights and dignity of the downtrodden, not only in India but the whole subcontinent. Unable to cope with the mental torture of relentless social media trial over a case of an alleged rape which […]