Judicial system

MAP FOUNDATION STATEMENT 2nd August 2013 Since November 2010, the Social Security Office of Thailand has promised social security benefits to migrants holding temporary passports. This promise became policy under the Cabinet Resolution of January 15th 2013. Migrants who persevered through all the steps and all the fees to regularize themselves believed that it would […]

Human rights defender and philanthropic educator Shahed Kayes knew there were serious risks involved in his work. He had to, as nothing in Bangladesh comes without associated risks. He knew that his attempt to educate impoverished children from the low castes was unacceptable to the deeply entrenched local power structure and those at the top […]

The Pakistan People’s Party took office in 2008, and shortly thereafter issued a moratorium on the death penalty, temporarily commuting thousands of death penalty cases to life imprisonment. The move was hailed by the UN and rights organizations worldwide, as it indicated a move by the Pakistani government to respect the right to life and […]

The Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) is calling for justice four years to the day since a horrific attack on the Christian town of Gojra in Pakistan. It was on 1 August 2009 that a Muslim mob went on the rampage in the town, burning eight people to death, including children, and […]

(Hong Kong, July 31, 2012) The Asian Human Rights Commission fully endorses the following petition issued by the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) India. Online petition can be found and signed at http://www.change.org/en-IN/petitions/shri-manmohan-singh-prime-minister-government-of-india-save-rti-act-from-amendments.  Following is the full text of the petition. To: Shri Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister, Government of India Dear Mr. Prime […]

The issue of minority rights in Pakistan is discussed often around the world these days, in parliaments, human rights groups like Amnesty International, religious freedom departments, foreign affairs committees and international organisations like the Commonwealth and the UN. By contrast, the Pakistani government hardly mentions it and pays very little attention to the repression minority […]

Impeaching the Chief Justice and Sri Lankan Politics By Upul Abeyrathne1 “All are accordingly bound by the necessity of keeping the law, unless perchance there is any who can be thought to have been given the license of wrong-doing. However, it is said that the prince absolved from obligations of the law, but it is […]

GENEVA (26 July 2013) – On the eve of the National Assembly elections in Cambodia on Sunday 28 July, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Surya P. Subedi, reiterates his call for free, fair and peaceful election that is underpinned by respect for human rights before, during and […]

Mr Ban Ki-moon Secretary General, United Nation 1 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017 Dated: 28/07/2013 Dear Sir, The Baloch Social Media Activists forum would like to draw your kind attention towards the heinous crimes that the occupying Pakistani army is committing against humanity in Balochistan on daily basis. In order to contain the […]

What happened on July 23, 1983 was not the event of a single day in history. The impact of that day lives on and with each passing year the situation of the rule of law in the country has become worse. The 1978 Constitution was quite incompatible with the rule of law and democracy. Since […]

Last Tuesday the 16th of July, schoolchildren from a government school in Bihar complained that the midday meal they were served by the school tasted bad. They ate it anyway, because they were hungry, and could not be sure that they would get another opportunity to eat that day. The food was filled with concentrated pesticides. […]

Last Tuesday the 16th of July, schoolchildren from a government school in Bihar complained that the midday meal they were served by the school tasted bad. They ate it anyway, because they were hungry, and could not be sure that they would get another opportunity to eat that day. The food was filled with concentrated pesticides. […]

The president of Burma, or Myanmar, U Thein Sein in his recent visit to the United Kingdom has made a commitment that all political prisoners in his country will be released by the end of the year. According to him, a committee is continuing to review all relevant cases and determine those persons who are […]

The Jihad to convert Hindu girls is continued unabated under the indifferent attitude of Pakistani authorities. In recent months, seven Hindu girls have been targeted in the conversion to Islam campaign. Of the seven, five have been abducted and converted by Muslim goons. One Hindu girl was abducted and forced to convert to Islam, but […]

Press Release – 18th July 2013 It is reliably learnt that the government is in the process of instituting criminal prosecution against the CJ, Shirani Bandaranayake shortly.  The recommencement of the hate campaign against her in the state media is an indication of this intended action. The state media is known to be operating in […]

(Hong Kong, 19 July, 2013) “If one innocent person is killed by [the] police or other security forces in a fake encounter, it creates tremendous upsurge of hatred…people always accurately know who was innocent. People even know whether an innocent person was killed by mistake or deliberately…” said the Commission of Inquiry constituted by the […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received a report issued by a Christian organization, CLAAS (Center for Legal Aid, Assistance & Settlement), negating the stripping and parading of Christian women in what appears to be an attempt to exonerate those that violated the rights of  the women. Throughout the report, the organizations that joined […]

During the last few weeks the Sandakada pahanas (Moonstones) in a couple of churches in Kalutara District came under attack from Bodu Bala Sena, a Buddhist militant organisation led by Buddhist monks. They claimed that Sandakada pahana (Moonstone) is a Buddhist symbol found at the entrance to Buddhist temples, and therefore should not adorn the […]

Pakistan Conflict Tracker Monthly Report (June 2013). By Mohammad Nafees   The month of June dawned with lots of hopes and expectations for the people of Pakistan as the new government was to take oath during this month and to offer peace, good governance, and rule of law in the country.  The hope of peace […]

15 July, 2013 Colombo We the undersigned, who stand for justice and democracy,  note with regret and concern the use of State media, especially the Independent Television Network (ITN) that uses its air time to stick labels on and intimidate social and cultural activists who stand for plurality and fair play and for their dissenting […]