Minorities

HONG KONG: The importance of ‘right of abode’ ruling

The importance of the ruling of Hong Kong’s Court of First Instance (Vallejos Evangeline b. v. Commissioner of Registration and Another), that held as unconstitutional, the exclusion of domestic workers to qualify as permanent residents, is beyond the debate of legality and constitutionality. The debate should also explore this question: why would a citizen of […]

PAKISTAN: Ahmadi students are under threat from the extremist religious groups — government turns a blind eye again

Malice, hatred and discrimination against Ahmadi Muslim students in Pakistan are part of a wider scheme to cripple Ahmadis educationally, economically and socially. Ahmadis were declared a non Muslim minority in Pakistan by the amendment in the Constitution and they cannot perform their religious duties in open places, nor can they declare themselves Muslims. And […]

PAKISTAN: The federal government must intervene to stop the killings of Ahmadis

Another Ahmadi killed in hate crime against religious minorities The religious minority group of Ahmadis is under constant threat of religious hate crimes and no serious efforts have been initiated by the government to provide protection the community. In the latest incident a member of the Ahmadiyya community was murdered after receiving death threats from […]

INDONESIA: Conviction of Ahmadyah victim undermines constitutional protections

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is disturbed by the punitive decision of the Indonesian Court on August 15, 2011 to jail an innocent Ahmadi Muslim who protected himself during a mob attack, which reveals the lack of impartiality of the judiciary and the legal community. Deden Sudjana was sentenced to six months imprisonment by […]

INDONESIA: Papuan Peace Declaration

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following declaration from a group of Papuan organisations, indigenous and political Papuan stakeholders issued at the conference for peace in Papua which was held between 5-7 July 2011 in the UNCEN auditorium, Abepura Papua, Indonesia. The conference was organised by the Network of Peace in Papua […]

PAKISTAN: Extremists openly plan to kill hundreds of Ahmadis–government turns a blind eye

The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information from Faisalabad city of Punjab province, the second largest industrial and commercial city of the country that a plan has been chalked out to kill the owners and their family members of 36 commercial and industrial establishments belonging to Ahmadiyya community. The plan includes the people working […]

INDIA: Security personnel gang rape a 14 year-old tribal girl

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the alleged gang-rape of a 14-year-old tribal girl by four security personnel in Narayanpatna, Koraput of Orissa state on 19 April 2011. The perpetrators broke open the door of the house where three children, including the victim, were sleeping at midnight. According to […]

INDONESIA: West Papua — Violence against indigenous women

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following article written by Fien Jarangga & Galuh Wandita. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- An article from Fien Jarangga & Galuh Wandita, Cultural Survival – Spring 2011 forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission INDONESIA: West Papua — Violence against indigenous women Fien Jarangga coordinates […]

THAILAND/PAKISTAN: Another 24 Ahmadiya Pakistani asylum seekers, including children and pregnant women, are at risk of deportation

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that another 24 Ahmadiya Pakistani asylum seekers, who are applying for an asylum status in Thailand to escape from religious persecution, are at risk of being deported after they were illegally arrested from their homes in Bangkok on February 20, 2011. The group, which […]

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 […]

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 […]

PAKISTAN: Appeal to amend the Blasphemy Laws

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the introduction of a private member’s bill to the National Assembly Secretariat that would end the death penalty for blasphemy, curtail abuse of the blasphemy laws for the purpose of harassing and victimising religious minorities and take steps to ensure equal protection for […]

UPDATE (Pakistan): A teacher is warned that Christians have no future in the country by school principal and chief security guard of a housing project

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the systematic discrimination faced by a Christian teacher in Lahore. She has now been threatened by the principal of the school and the chief security guard of the housing scheme which runs the school (For further details, please see our original appeal: AHRC-UAC-113-2010). […]

PAKISTAN: International Community must uphold human values and right of self determination of Kashmiri people

A Press Release from Mr. Abbas Butt Chairman, Kashmir National Party forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) (September 9, 2010) Kashmir National Party leaders Abbas Butt and Dr Shabir Choudhry had a detailed meeting with senior officials responsible for issues related to Kashmir and South Asia at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in […]

PAKISTAN: A Hindu community is attacked and evicted on fabricated Blasphemy charges, houses burned causing death of a person by firing

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a Muslim group attacked on a Hindu community that had been living there for a century during the early hours on 23 August 2010 in order to grab the land occupied by the Hindu community in Sindh Province of Pakistan. The Hindu community, […]

PAKISTAN: A Christian teacher faces systematic discrimination at work and is dismissed without valid ground or lawful compensation

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the systematic discrimination faced by a Christian teacher in Lahore. After being repeatedly abused allegedly by her principal, she was dismissed without valid ground or lawful compensation. Her case is another example of the discriminatory treatment that members of religious minorities – and […]

SOUTH KOREA / INDIA: POSCO should take responsibility for the violent and bloody suppression of villagers protesting their steel plant project in Orissa, India

On May 15, 2010, all but 2 out of one hundred villagers were seriously injured while police were dispersing them. They had been peacefully protesting against the POSCO steel plant project in Orissa, India. According to reports published in India, the police reportedly fired rubber bullets, live ammunition and tear gas and then prevented the […]

INDIA: Country celebrates the 61st day of successful oppression in Manipur

Statement | India | 11-06-2010

Today, the Union Home Ministry, the Chief Ministers of Manipur and Nagaland and a handful of Naga and Meitei nationalists are celebrating the 61st day of their successful enforcement of an indefinite economic blockade organised against the ordinary people living in Manipur state. In tribute to the strenuous effort of the All Naga Students Association […]

PAKISTAN: Police severely beat members of a Christian family after accusing a man of urinating on the Quran

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that four members of a Christian family were severely beaten by the police after their arrest on false charges of blasphemy. Police reportedly tortured them over a two-day period to try to extract forced confessions, releasing them only after being paid a substantial bribe. […]

BANGLADESH: Police corruption allows the same girl to be kidnapped four times in one month; she remains missing

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that corrupt officers in the Paikgachha police have allowed a twelve-year-old girl to be kidnapped four times. The girl is from the Hindu minority. Each time the police have either refused to help the mother, or have accepted bribes from the perpetrators to waive a […]