Military

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the forced eviction of Mrs. Christina Gurning (85) from her house in Jalan Kusumaatmadja No. 76 of Menteng Sub-District, DKI Jakarta Province, Indonesia. Christina is a widow of Mr. Timotius Markus Gurning, who is a national hero and retired Colonel of the Indonesian Army. […]

More than 60 convicts have been hung in Pakistan since December 2014. This number is now set to rise, with the military playing its role in executing people. The military junta that has surreptitiously imposed itself upon the pillars of the state, has handed down the death penalty to six convicts over charges of terrorism […]

Dear Friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that members of the Southern Peasants Federation of Thailand (SPFT) continue to face death threats in Surat Thani Province. Despite a legal judgment in favour of the Agricultural Land Reform Office five months ago, one that ordered the Jiew Kang Jue Pattana Co. Ltd., a […]

In this week’s Roundup, AHRC TV covers stories from Burma, the Philippines, and Pakistan. Police and mob violence against peaceful demonstrators in Burma has sown doubt about the democratisation process in the country. AHRC TV talks to several people on the ground about recent crackdowns in Rangoon and Letpadan and whether police are continuing to […]

Students and their supporters detained in Tharawaddy Prison continue to be denied access to lawyers. In addition, the authorities have refused medical assistance for the detainees that are injured. Thus, the government continues its persecution of the Burmese students who have taken a stand against the government’s plan with respect to education. The background to […]

A Press Release from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) A bomb exploded inside the compound of the Bangkok Criminal Court on 7 March 2015 and nine suspects have been arrested so far. Today, 17 March 2015, the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) has received complaints from […]

Over the last week Burma, or Myanmar, has witnessed the re-emergence of some of the most sinister methods of handling public demonstrations in its modern history. The police and civilian attack mobs have violently broken up demonstrations of workers and students in the former capital, Rangoon (Yangon), and the town of Letpadan to its north. […]

A Press Release from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) On Monday, 23 February 2015, at 13:30 hours, the Criminal Court is going to deliver a verdict on the Black Case no. 3528/2557 filed by the public prosecutor against Mr. Patiwat (last name withheld) and Mrs. Pornthip (last […]

Since the Peshawar carnage, touted to be Pakistan’s 9/11, the Chief of Army Staff General (COAS) Raheel Shareef has been on a spree of visits to garner international support for the war on terror. The army’s confused stance on issues of terrorism and militancy has received a skeptic response from the international community who believe […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding continuing threats to torture victim Padam Bahadur Khadka, who was 14 years old at the time of the original incident. On 2 October 2011, Mr. Man Bahadur Khadka, a Lance Corporal in the Nepal Army, allegedly tortured Padam, suspecting Padam of killing a […]

On 23 January 2013 the Criminal Court in Bangkok convicted Somyot Prueksakasemsuk of two violations of Article 112 of the Criminal Code. Somyot Prueksakasemsuk is a long-time labour rights activist and human rights defender. The Court found Somyot guilty on both charges, and he was sentenced to ten years in prison in this case, as […]

On 21 January, the Senate Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics has unanimously adopted a draft anti-torture bill. PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar moved The Torture, Custodial Death and Custodial Rape Bill, 2014, last August and the Chairman Senate referred it to the Committee. The objective of this Bill is to prevent and protect all persons from […]

For more information or inquiries, please contact Ms. Eun-ji KANG by email (khis21[at]hanmail.net) from Korean House for International Solidarity. – Chairperson Hyun Byung-cheol should reflect on himself whether he is qualified as the head of a NHRI of A status In the Plenary Committee meeting on 12 January 2015, Hyun Byung-cheol, chairperson of the National […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that two ethnic Kachin teachers have been tortured, sexual assaulted, and murdered. The two girls were volunteer teachers for the Kachin Baptist Church serving in a village near to the conflict area between Burma army and the Kachin armed group in Northern Shan State. They […]

More than a month after the deadly attack on Army Public School Peshawar, the tragedy is still under thick impenetrable clouds. The uncertainty about what the Prime Minister termed ‘a national tragedy’ persists with no one even making an effort to fathom. According to umpteen media reports about the December 16th attack, all one could […]

2014 was the deadliest year yet, for the children of Pakistan. The year began with the killing of 19 school children on 15th January 2014 – all pupils of the Bright Future High School in Daulatpur, in the Sindh Province. They were returning home after winning a quiz competition, when their van was crushed under the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission is shocked to hear that police shot a 57-year-old woman farmer to death during a peaceful protest over fencing on land taken from the farmers for a mining project. She was looking after her confiscated land on the day she was killed and she hadn’t accept-ed compensation for […]

The AHRC has started collecting the comments from jurists on the amendment to the constitution to establish military courts and the following is the first interview in the series. This is a war of religious ideology that cannot be won using force. It is time the government does some soul searching and bury the political […]

6 January 2014 shall forever be etched in our collective concise as a sad day when we sold our souls to the devil. Senator Raza Rabbani appeared heartbroken on the floor of the assembly as he shed tears for the assembly taking its last breath “Perhaps, I never felt ashamed as much in my life […]

(Note: this article was first published in the January 4, 2015 issue of the Sunday Examiner) Six year old Chris Angela Sales, whose father is being held on charges of murder, could not understand why her father, who brings her street food, buys her milk and puts her to bed after work, has been locked in a […]