Judicial system

CIJL Newsletter N°3 – April 2013 EDITORIAL Every two years, the leaders of the Commonwealth of Nations assemble at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), the association’s principal policy and decision-making forum. This year, the meeting is set to take place in Colombo from 15 to 17 November, where the Sri Lankan Government will […]

President Mahinda Rajapaksa was recently quoted as saying that he will take stern action to see that the judiciary will remain ‘pure’. This statement raises many questions. The test of a good judiciary is its ability to act independently. Here, ‘independent’ means the absence of dependence on the executive. The judiciary must be able to […]

On 18 April 2013, the Attorney General for Bangladesh Mr. Mahbubey Alam participated in the hearing of a writ petition before a High Court Division Bench of the Bangladesh Supreme Court. The writ was filed by Mrs. Firoza Mahmud, wife of Daily Amardesh‘s Interim Editor Mahmudur Rahman. Mrs. Mahmud had challenged the order of the Chief […]

The General should be prosecuted for betraying his oath as a member of the Armed Forces Just twenty days before the general elections the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani, has come out with a policy statement which gives the political views of the Army. The statement was delivered with the express […]

Sunday, 21 April 2013 02:24 Bishop of Mannar, Most Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph said he never stood for the separation of the country nor rejected any viable political solution to the national question. The Bishop made this statement in response to the lead story published in The Nation last week titled “Mannar Bishop, TNA Resurrect […]

The authorities in Bangladesh, yesterday, shifted the Interim Editor of Daily Amar Desh, Mr. Mahmudur Rahman, to the Bangabandhu Sheikh Muzib Medical University (BMSSU). Rahman is detained at the Kashimpur Central Jail since 17 April 2013. The court had allowed Rahman to be detained in police remand for six days, before the police handed him over […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a young man is facing trial on blasphemy charges as he did not pay a bribe to the police and a judge of the anti-terrorism court (ATC). The witnesses in the case have not identified him as the main accused and even the […]

The news had sprung up from nowhere. All that I had picked up the newspaper for, was to kill some time on that long flight and here it was, tucked away in a small box, staring at me. Reading it had sent a shiver down my spine. No, it was not about some unseen horrors. […]

แถลงการณ์ของ Finnwatch 1 เมษายน 2556 การดำเนินคดีกับนักวิจัยของ Finnwatch เป็นการโจมตีนักปกป้องสิทธิมนุษยชน และเสรีภาพในการแสดงความเห็น ทางการไทยจะต้องดำเนินการสืบสวนการปฏิบัติงานของบริษัท เนเชอรัล ฟรุต และ บริษัท แนท กรุ๊ป (NatGroup) ซึ่งเป็นบริษัทแม่ และจะต้องมีการพิจารณาถึงประเด็นด้านสิทธิมนุษยชนในการเจรจาข้อตกลงการค้าเสรีระหว่างประเทศไทยกับสหภาพยุโรปด้วย บริษัท เนเชอรัล ฟรุต (Natural Fruit) ผู้ผลิตสับปะรดกระป๋องและน้ำผลไม้เข้มข้น ได้ยื่นฟ้องต่อนายอานดี้ ฮอลล์ ผู้เชี่ยวชาญด้านการย้ายถิ่นซึ่งเมื่อเร็วๆ นี้ได้ประสานงานการวิจัยภาคสนามของ Finnwatch ในประเทศไทย สองข้อหา หากศาลตัดสินว่ามีความผิด อานดี้อาจจะต้องรับโทษจำคุกนานถึงเจ็ดปี  บริษัทเนเชอรัล ฟรุต ยังเรียกร้องค่าเสียหาย 300 ล้านบาทในคดีแพ่งอีกด้วย ข้อกล่าวหาที่บริษัทฟ้องร้องนั้นเกี่ยวกับงานวิจัยของ Finnwatch ที่อานดี้เป็นผู้วิจัยในเดือนตุลาคม-พฤศจิกายน 2555 และเกี่ยวกับการสื่อสารผลของการวิจัยต่อสาธารณะ ข้อค้นพบที่น่าตระหนกที่สุดของงานวิจัยมาจากการสัมภาษณ์ลูกจ้างของบริษัทเนเชอรัล ฟรุต  คนงานของบริษัทซึ่งบางคนเป็นแรงงานข้ามชาติที่ไม่มีเอกสารเข้าเมืองตามกฎหมาย ได้เล่าถึงสภาพการทำงานที่ไม่ดี ค่าแรงต่ำกว่าที่กฎหมายกำหนด การยึดเอกสารทางการของคนงานไว้ การใช้แรงงานเด็ก และการให้คนงานทำงานล่วงเวลาเกินไปอย่างมาก  มีการบันทึกการสัมภาษณ์ไว้เป็นเอกสารและสามารถตรวจสอบได้ Finnwatch ได้นำเสนอข้อค้นพบของการวิจัยต่อกระทรวงต่างๆ […]

FINNWATCH STATEMENT 1st of April 2013 Legal actions against Finnwatch researcher are an attack against human rights defenders and freedom of expression. Thailand’s authorities must immediately launch an investigation into the operations of Natural Fruit and its parent company NatGroup. Human rights issues must be tackled also in the ongoing free trade agreement negotiations between […]

REFERRING to the Statements we have previously issued expressing our grave concern about the flawed impeachment process by which Chief Justice Bandaranayake was removed from the office of Chief Justice in defiance of the judgements of the highest courts in Sri Lanka REFERRING also to the statements of concern issued by the UN Special Rapporteur […]

The following is a statement issued by a group of Asian jurists, who met from 9-11 April in Bangkok, to discuss about threats to professional freedom of lawyers and the independence of the judiciary in Asia. Jurists from Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, South Korea, Vietnam, and Hong Kong attended […]

A statement by Asian Jurists on the Impeachment of the Chief Justice, Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, and about the threatened rule of law in Sri Lanka. The statement is issued by the jurists who attended a consultation organised by the Lawyers’ Collective of Sri Lanka and the Asian Human Rights Commission, on the Independence of Judges […]

Today, 11 April 2013, the authorities in Bangladesh have arrested the Interim Editor of a prominent Bangladeshi daily, Daily Amardesh, Mr. Mahmudur Rahman. Officers raided Rahman’s office at about 8:30 am and taken away by the Detective Branch of Bangladesh Police. Rahman’s arrest is an attempt to stifle dissenting voice. Rahman is in a serious […]

(Hong Kong, April 10, 2013) A Burma-based lawyers group has released its findings on the Letpadaung land struggle in English. The 39-page illustrated report was submitted by the Lawyers Network (Myanmar) and the Justice Trust in February to the government’s investigation commission into events at Letpadaung, recounts the land struggle and subsequent crackdown on protestors. […]

A Reflection by Bishop Duleep de Chickera Over the past months Sri Lankans have been educated on two Arabic words: halal and haram (that which is permissible and not permissible). Unfortunately the circumstances of learning have been an unprecedented antagonism towards the Muslim community much deeper than the halal issue. This trend must be addressed without […]

The present case appears to be one where two persons along with some others were just seized from a hut, taken to a long distance away in a truck and shot there. This type of activity cannot certainly be countenanced by the courts even in the case of disturbed areas. If the police had information […]

Wednesday, 03 April 2013 02:34 The Attorney General is reported to be collecting statistics on incidents of rape and child abuse. Though this has come a little too late it is commendable. We are sad to note that Sri Lanka does not maintain proper records of such ruthless crimes. According to media reports the inquiry […]

On 21 March 2013 a member of the national legislature in Burma introduced a motion calling for the country to join the United Nations Convention against Torture. In his motion, Dr Aung Moe Nyo, member of the National League for Democracy for Pwintbyu, Magway Region, argued that as the country is now developing and democratising […]

Pakistan will hold its general elections on May 11, only the second to be held in a civilian environment in 35 years of this new Pakistan. It is, however, the first time in the history of the country that the power would be handed over from one civilian government to another. Under the supervision of […]