Judicial system

It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that Abdul Waheed Khan projects are continued so that his death will not be in vain On May 13 a well known human rights defender, social activist and educationist was assassinated, allegedly by religious extremists suspected to be members of the Taliban. Mr. Abdul Waheed Khan […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to inform you about the research based report on historical overview of Blasphemy laws in Pakistan the Blasphemy published by Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), Islamabad. The research was compiled by Mr. Nafees Muhammad, a writer and research fellow. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has the […]

Children are conceived, some born, others grow, and many die in Indian prisons. There is nothing particular about this, since such incidents happen in prisons across the world. However, what is unique to India is that custodial violence, of which many resulting in deaths, is no more news. Yet, the assault upon Mr. Sanaullah Ranjay, […]

Another Rajapaksa modus operandi ‘arrest’ has been reported in Colombo where the former deputy mayor of the Colombo Municipal Council was arrested from his daughter’s house under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). The incident has been well publicised and many organizations, both local and international, have criticized the blatant authoritarianism of the ruling regime.  It is perhaps […]

CRM calls for even-handed action under the normal law — (CRM ref. E01/05/2013) Azath Salley’s detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act should be revoked and he should be released immediately. If there are indeed serious allegations of his inciting religious hostility that merit investigation, such investigation, and any consequent action, should take place under […]

(The original article may be seen at: http://www.lankaenews.com/English/news.php?id=13674) (Lanka-e-News-07.May.2013, 2.30PM) We the undersigned, vehemently condemn the arrest and detention of Former Deputy Mayor and General Secretary of the National Unity Alliance (NUA), Azath Salley, by a team of officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID), on Thursday, 2 May 2013 […]

(Hong Kong, May 8, 2013) The Asian Human Rights Commission on Wednesday condemned ongoing efforts by the courts and police in Burma to thwart prosecution of an influential person accused of abduction and rape of a child. On April 24, the Eastern District Court hearing a charge of rape against U Myint Aung, a businessman […]

Insanity is defined as “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Albert Einstein said this. Applying this definition, to the predicament and expectation of the Supreme Court of India, one may argue that judges in India are at the threshold of being termed ‘insane.’ (File Photo: Supreme court of India) In […]

(Hong Kong, May 06, 2013) The Asian Human Rights Commission endorses the following Press Note issued by the Right to Food Campaign. The AHRC urges the government of India to amend the food security bill and accommodate the changes if it is serious about tackling large-scale hunger and malnutrition plaguing the country. Following is the […]

Azath Salley, a prominent politician and a well-known Muslim leader, has been arrested and held in detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Law (PTA). According to reports a detention order of 90 days under the PTA days has been issued. However, even his family is unaware of what he has been charged with. His daughter, […]

The government has made moves to acquire over 6381 acres of privately owned land in the Jaffna peninsula, which it says is for a public purpose. The public purpose is presumably for the security forces.  The pasting of notices on trees in Valikamam North under section 2 of the Land Acquisition Act coincides with preparations […]

Once again violence against the Ahmadi community has erupted in Punjab province. As the election are approaching (May 11) this recent outburst is seen as an attempt to influence the voters to support fundamentalists and right wing parties. On 28th April 2013 supporters of Khatme Nabuwwat (the movement against the Ahmadi sect of Islam) raided […]

Reconciliation has not been treated as an attractive word in Sri Lanka. The government’s view is that forgetting is the best course available. It argues that reconciliation attempts could reopen the wounds and will do more harm than good. Officially therefore, the government policy is to encourage forgetting. This policy does not come under serous […]

Suggesting perhaps that the creative imagination of the cartoonist is catching up with the reality of Sri Lanka the Daily Mirror yesterday carried this cartoon as an illustration for its editorial entitled, A case for best legal brains. The cartoonist created this cartoon in reaction to a photograph which also appeared in the Daily Mirror in […]

An Indian prisoner, Sarabjit Singh, died in a state run hospital in Lahore, the capital of Punjab, after he slipped into irreversible coma. He was attacked by six ‘prisoners’ inside the Kot Lakhpat jail during the day on Friday April 26. However, the authorities are claiming that he was attacked by the two prisoners who […]

Sri Lanka’s second international airport has been built in the arid zone, in close proximity to several animal and bird sanctuaries. To protect the airport from animals and birds, the authorities are planning to destroy their traditional feeding grounds and water-holes. If these plans are carried out, the impact on Sri Lanka’s natural-wealth will be […]

For a law enforcement agency the elimination of thuggery is one of the simplest things to do. For thugs are cowards and they crawl and beg for mercy whenever they find that there is a strong enough will on the part of the law enforcement agencies and the courts to deal with crime. Anybody who […]

The publically known facts about the mass grave at Matale is that the remains of 154 persons were discovered in this grave, that the remains show injuries which indicate that they were all murdered and that most likely they were assassinated sometime between 1986 and 1991. However, the key question is as to whose remains […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission condemns in the strongest terms the announcement of the commander of the Sagaing Region Police Force, Myanmar, that the police will arrest and charge eight human rights defenders whom it blames for inciting protests against the army-backed copper mine project at the Letpadaung Hills, in Monywa. The commission also condemns […]

Dear friends, I wanted to make sure you’d all seen the petition Avaaz launched today on Sri Lanka http://www.avaaz.org/en/no_reward_for_the_island_of_fear Based upon the response rate they will decide wether or not to launch a full blooded push to see how many signatures they can get in 24 hours. Either way this is a short sharp campaign lasting […]