Military

Notorious intelligence agencies have started a campaign against the nationalist groups of Sindh province in the effort to divert the national and international pressures on them and to provide intelligence reports on the activities of the religious fundamentalist groups who operate under the patronage of law enforcement agencies. In the past months the Taliban and […]

A Statement of Concern by the Women’s Action Network Womens Action Network (WAN), as a collective of 11 women’s groups from the North and the East, is deeply concerned by the recent efforts to recruit women into the military in the districts of Killinochchi and Mullaitheevu. Post-war development has failed to provide the most basic […]

We call upon the people, in particular the judges and lawyers, to grasp the historic significance of this moment It is news now that the Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake and her legal team, led by Romesh De Silva PC, walked away from the Parliamentary Select Committee proceedings, expressing no confidence in the manner in which […]

Today, the federal Ministry for Human Rights arranged an inter-ministerial meeting to discuss the proposed law against torture and custodial death. The proposed draft of the law was submitted by the Asian Human Rights Commission and Anti Torture Alliance Pakistan, with the consent of the Karachi Bar Association, Karachi Union of Journalists, Karachi Press Club, […]

From 1962 there are literally thousands of people who have served sentences in Burmese prisons as political prisoners. The people resisted the military throughout this long period of about 60 years despite the ruthlessness with which the military dealt with every form of resistance. However there was continuous resistance and from one generation to the […]

An explosive device was planted in the car of a renowned journalist. It is not known as to whether this was an attempt to assassinate him or merely intimidate him. A right wing journalist by his writings Mr. Hamid Mir, the anchorperson of Geo news channel, has accused some ‘state actors’ and some ‘non state […]

We were one of the leading nations in agriculture and many other things in South East Asia. We have lost it all since the 1962 military takeover. Now advisors come from those countries, which were in very difficult position before 1962, to advice us on agriculture, and so many other things. Our health system has […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following article from the Sunday Times, Colombo, Sri Lanka, written by Kishali Pinto Jayawardena Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-FAT-039-2012 November 11, 2012 An article from the Sunday Times, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: Shameful stifling of freedom […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following article written by Tisaranee Gunasekara who is a Sri Lankan columnist based in Colombo Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- An article written by Tisaranee Gunasekara, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: Make the Impeachment Boomerang on the Rajapaksas Tisaranee Gunasekara […]

Mr. Gordon Brown, UN Special Envoy for Global Education, has declared November 10, a global day of action in support of Malala and girls’ right to education. Malala Yousafzai, an ardent campaigner for the right of education for girls, was shot by Taliban while on her way home from school in Swat valley, in northern […]

Yesterday (9th of October), at least 11 prisoners were gunned down and around 35 were injured by the STF. The shooting was carried out when the STF entered the Welikada prison for some inspections. (Photo Courtesy: Sunday Times, Sri Lanka) According to an eye witness, interviewed by the BBC Sinhala service, when some prisoners who […]

The Chief of Army Staff, General Kayani, while addressing a group of officers at the General Head Quarters (GHQ), has unambiguously threatened the judiciary, parliament, politicians and media that their criticism of the actions of some retired generals will not be tolerated. He provoked the soldiers in such a way so as to instill a […]

Much has been made in recent times of the continued use in Burma of antiquated and anti-human rights laws from the country’s decades of military rule, as well as from the colonial era. While legislators discuss the amendment or revocation of some laws, and the issue is debated in the public domain, much less is […]

For the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Pakistan, the country presented a four-year working report of how the government improved the state of human rights in Pakistan. Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar, the foreign minister leading the Pakistan delegation, presented the report to the UN. The UPR is a process in which the UN […]

The Ahmadis, a sect that believes in Islam and claims to be an ardent follower of it, has been declared as non-Muslim under the Pakistani legislation. Evidently, the Government of Pakistan has not only confiscated their freedom to faith, belief and practice, but also proactively victimises them socially, economically and educationally. The declaration goes against […]

The Prime Minister, who yesterday said that “[m]indless atmosphere of negativity and pessimism that is sought to be created over the issue of corruption can do us no good”, has attacked and insulted the collective aspiration of the nation that longs for the government to setup an effective machinery to end all forms of corruption in India. […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) adds its voice to the chorus of concern over the promotion of Colonel Raju Basnet to the rank of Brigadier General of the Nepal Army, in spite of the seriousness of the allegations of human rights violations brought against him. Colonel Raju Basnet, then Lieutenant Colonel, was in charge […]

The ‘Fair Trial Bill’ which, according to the news report, the government plans to place before parliament will, if passed, virtually make the fair trial impossible in Pakistan. The provisions of the bill are designed for the conviction of persons without fair trial. The direct impact of the proposed law will be to tie the […]

The villagers’ protest against the absence of reasonable settlement for the land and livelihood lost to the Omkareshwar and the Indira Sagar Dams in the Narmada Valley project has thus far fallen upon a blind and deaf government. The agitation, though has received wholehearted support from a section of the Indian civil society, has failed […]

[RE: AHRC-UAC-075-2011: BANGLADESH: Rapid Action Battalion shoots innocent college student, causing permanent disability, and now threatens sympathizers with extra-judicial killing Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding repeated attempts by the state machinery to brand a college student named Limon Hossain as a criminal, after he was shot point-blank and […]