Judicial system

The Sunday Times reported that the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has decided to intervene in the contempt of court case filed by seven senior lawyers against Minister Rishad Bathuideen over the threats he is alleged to have made to the Mannar magistrate. Earlier these seven lawyers, Geoffrey Alagaratnam PC, Sunil Cooray, Lal Wijeyanayake, […]

(Hong Kong, August 2, 2012) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has sent a delegate today to observe the court trial of Temogen “Cocoy” Tulawie, a human rights defender who is presently detained and prosecuted on evidence obtained through torture and a forced confession. Rasika Sanjeewa Weerawickrama, a human rights lawyer from Sri Lanka, will […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission is pleased to learn that the criminal charges brought against Chotisak Onsoong and his friend for allegedly defaming the monarchy have been dropped by the prosecutor. The charges stemmed from the couple’s decision not to stand during the royal anthem and video montage lauding the life of the king played […]

It is devastating for human rights activists the world over and those who stand for religious freedom, practise and tolerance, that the Government of Pakistan is not only stone deaf and dumb but also blind to the continuous murders of the followers of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. We have received the dreadful news that on […]

According to reports we have received, a group of criminals allegedly sponsored by a government minister, stoned the High Court and the Magistrate Court of Manner in a coordinated attack yesterday. A very tense situation is reported to be taking place in manner. According to information we have received, a mobile fishing hut was attacked […]

Basil Fernando In a previous article, SRI LANKA: The Supremacy of the national security apparatus, we discussed the issue of the Ministry of Defence being the most important institution in Sri Lanka, after the institution of the Executive President. This implies that the ministry is more important than the parliament and the judiciary within the new […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the passing down of long jail sentences on 11 people who were falsely accused in connection with a bombing in Pegu town during 2010. The innocent persons were brought to a special interrogation centre where they were tortured to confess and charged under […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a 14-year-old girl, from the Hindu religious minority community was abducted by gangsters and forcibly converted to Islam. When a police case was filed against the abductors the girl was produced before a Magistrate’s Court by the gangsters to record a statement that […]

A few decades ago, Sri Lanka’s criminal justice system was organised on the basis of the Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and the departmental orders of the police. The Penal Code defines crime and lays down penalties for each particular crime. New crimes were identified or defined either through amendment to the Penal Code […]

The concept of sovereign immunity is incompatible with the notion of democracy. It is an anachronistic relic drawn from the British Common Law principles at odds with the constitutional architecture of a state that claims to respects the supremacy of its people. Integral to democracy is the conviction that a government that draws its legitimacy […]

Dear friends, Rizana Nafeek of Muthur, Trincomalee in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka left to Saudi Arabia as a domestic helper when she was 17 years old. She became a victim of a recruitment agent who altered her date of birth in her passport, making her as 23-years old and was sent to Saudi […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a doctor who helped the American forces to locate Osama Bin Laden, the former chief of the Al-Qaida terrorist group in Pakistan, was illegally arrested and tortured to confess that he was working as a spy for the USA. He was held incommunicado […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM concerning another case of police brutality by personnel of Raninagar Police Station, under the captaincy of Sub-Inspector Nilanjan Roy of Raninagar Police Station, against 19-year-old Golam Mujtuba and a few of his friends from Char Majhardiar Village. Such impunity on the part […]

In a surprising move the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Chaudhry has shown his inclination towards the imposition of Emergency Regulations in the province of Balochistan. In the cases of disappearances that have actually been brought before the courts the military has shown complete arrogance towards the higher judiciary. They have blatantly refused to disclose […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is informed that District Magistrate Barwani in Madhya Pradesh state has issued a “show cause” notice to human rights defender Ms. Madhuri Krishnaswami on 10 May 2012 asking her why actions should not be initiated against her under the Madhya Pradesh Rajya Suraksha Adhiniyam, 1990 (Madhya Pradesh State Security, […]

India will be evaluated at the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review in Geneva, Switzerland today. The three countries (Troika) involved in the review are Kuwait, Mauritius and Mexico. That these countries have worse records of human rights in comparison to the country they would collectively review suggests how firmly, and perhaps blindly, such processes are […]

The observations made by the Supreme Court of India in a case concerning disciplinary action against a former Major of the Indian Army contradict the Court’s own profile. Dismissing the appeal filed by the Major, who had filed the appeal aggrieved by the Army’s action against him, the court held that discipline is paramount in […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-STM-104-2012 May 17, 2012 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission INDIA: Institutional peril and murderous politics The assassination of Mr. T. P. Chandrashekharan in Kerala on 4 May is another example of the murderous nature of politics in India. The police investigation has revealed that hired assassins executed the murder. […]

(Hong Kong, May 10, 2012) The Asian Human Rights Commission has described the verdict of a court in Rangoon, sentencing a torture victim to death for his purported role in a bombing, as “farcical” and a “cut-and-paste” job, and has called for his release through the intervention of outside agencies.  District Judge Aung Thein presiding […]

Thai The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to express our grief and extend our deepest condolences to the family of Mr. Amphon Tangnoppakul, who was found dead in prison custody on 8 May 2012. Amphon (also known to his family as “Ah Kong” or “grandfather,” and to the public at “Uncle SMS”), a 61-year-old man, […]