Judicial system

BANGLADESH: Army officer’s family gouges eyes and torture after kidnapping Human Rights Defender FMA Razzak, who is going to die without treatment due to pressures from armed forces and intelligence agencies

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that human rights defender FMA Razzak is going to die without proper medical treatment due to tremendous pressures from the officials of the armed forces and intelligence agencies who have cordoned the whole area in plain cloth. Since 9:45AM today, 30 April 2011, Razzak is […]

PAKISTAN: Mukhtaran Mai and the miscarriage of justice

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following article from The Daily Times, Pakistan written by Dr. Haider Shah Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- An article from The Daily Times, Pakistan forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission PAKISTAN: Mukhtaran Mai and the miscarriage of justice Dr Haider Shah In Pakistan, […]

BURMA: Former army officer illegally detained for three weeks, at risk of torture

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to draw to your attention urgently to the case of a former army captain in Burma who has been held in illegal detention for over three weeks. His family has not been able to meet him and his whereabouts are currently unknown, but he was last […]

INDIA: Stifle not the movement breathe life into it

Statement | India | 21-04-2011

The popular movement against corruption in India, led by Mr. Anna Hazare and others, shares broadly, opinions of the average citizen concerning corruption. That, the reign of corruption in the country must be brought under control, if it cannot be immediately eliminated and that there are no adequate domestic legal and executing frameworks at the […]

BURMA: Farmers ambushed, attacked and prosecuted for case against army-owned company

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is concerned by the case of a group of farmers who lodged a complaint about attempts of an army-owned company and the powerful Htoo Company to acquire their land at a greatly undervalued amount. The farmers’ complaint was rejected in court on grounds that the land was […]

INDIA: Justice implies more than a law

Statement | India | 31-03-2011

Over the past four months, the Union Law Minister, Mr. M. Veerappa Moily, has been claiming that his ministry wishes to propose a law, on the ‘right’ to justice, which would guarantee justice to every citizen. While the minister’s wish is noble, the country lacks the means and administrative will to assure what the minister […]

INDIA: Mother of two children thought of suicide, twice, fearing police persecution

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Nervazhi, a human rights organisation based in Kerala, concerning the case of torture and intimidation of a family by the local police in Ernakulam district of Kerala state. The police, reportedly after accepting offers of bribe, abused, tortured and threatened the family asking […]

BURMA: Man gets ten years’ jail for emailing political prisoners’ photos

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to draw to your attention the case of a young man in Burma who has been sentenced to 10 years in jail for allegedly sending some politically oriented photographs through the Internet. Aside from the trivial nature of the offence and the fact that the police […]

PAKISTAN: Journalists have been deprived of minimum wage for 15 years due to court delays

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that working journalists and newspapers employees of Pakistan have been denied an increase in minimum wages since 1996. Due to the ongoing litigation in the higher courts the owners of the media houses are enjoying the benefits of the delay in justice. The 7th […]

PHILIPPINES: An Indian human rights lawyer talks about misconception on the role of lawyers

(Hong Kong, February 28, 2011) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is publishing this podcast interview with Mr. Bijo Francis, a human rights lawyer from India and programme officer of the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), regarding his comments and opinion on the trial of the Maguindanao Massacre case.  Bijo has handled numerous human rights […]

CAMBODIA: CCHR releases Legal Analysis of the criminal convictions of Sam Rainsy

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward to you the following press release from the Cambodian Center for Human Rights. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- A Press Release from the Cambodian Center for Human Rights forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Press release – Phnom Penh, 22 […]

SRI LANKA: Fighting together against unlawful acts of lawful authorities

Basil Fernando For the last 20 years I have been living in Hong Kong. Here over 98% of the population is Chinese. I belong to the small minority which includes many other races and will try to illustrate some issues by using this experience. In any country there is a formal legal system and an […]

BURMA: Five men and two women given long jail sentences for alleged bomb plots

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) brings you details of the latest case in which a group of democracy and human rights activists has been accused of involvement in a series of bombings. The seven were already sentenced to over 30 years in prison in 2008 and have again been sentenced to another […]

SRI LANKA: Independence without civil liberties is a farce

Sri Lanka will be celebrating its independence from the British Empire on February 4, 2011. The lamentation that independence has not meant a great deal to the people of Sri Lanka is commonly heard. However, the causes that created this situation have often not been examined. The very meaning of independence for citizens of any […]

BURMA: Man tortured to death and three imprisoned for alleged contact with insurgents

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has obtained the details of a case in which six men in 2010 were accused of having contact with an insurgent group in the east of Burma. Soldiers and police arrested five of the six villagers, the other one getting away. Of the five men detained, one […]

INDIA: The state of the republic at 61

Statement | India | 25-01-2011

The integrity of a republic and the determination of its people depend upon the legitimacy of their government. Since declaring the Union of India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic that assures its citizens justice, equality, and liberty and to be a nation that endeavours to promote among them all fraternity, 61 years […]

BURMA: Father and son jailed and tortured for taking photographs of bombing

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been closely following the case of a father and son both of who have been imprisoned because the latter was arrested while taking photographs of a bombing in Rangoon during April 2010. The authorities have accused the two of intending to send the photographs abroad and […]

BURMA: Twelve people jailed without evidence over alleged bomb plot under antiquated laws

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned of another case of 12 persons in Burma given long jail sentences for alleged anti-government activities. In fact, the state prosecution had no evidence against the accused and the judge convicted them, as in other cases of this sort, on the say-so of the police. […]

SRI LANKA: Police torture as an indicator of the constitutional degradation of the Rule of Law

Sofie Rordam Sri Lankan citizens are protected against torture and arbitrary arrest in sections 11, 12 and 13 of the Constitution of Sri Lanka. In addition Sri Lanka has ratified the United Nations Convention against Torture and Cruel and Inhuman Treatment in 1994. While the legislation is there, the effectuation is not. The gap between […]

SRI LANKA: Dr. Chandre Dharma-Wardana admits to the publication of false and defamatory material and a death list

Yesterday we published an open letter relating to false and defamatory material which also amounted to the publication of a death list. Kindly see : SRI LANKA: AHRC tells the Canada-based Sri Lankan intellectual to stop distribution of false and defamatory material and a death list, at: http://www.humanrights.asia/news/ahrc-news/AHRC-OLT-001-2011. We have subsequently received replies from Dr. […]