Police negligence

This week Just Asia begins with Pakistan, where the Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to the acquittal of Asia Bibi on blasphemy charges. After repealing her conviction and death sentence last October, the Court was petitioned by Islamists to review the acquittal. That petition was dismissed on Tuesday, and Asia Bibi is finally free. […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Advocacy Forum (AF) that police officers attached with the Police Post in Hatiya, Baglung District thrashed Mr. Som Bahadur Bista for speaking in English. Som Bahadur received life threatening injuries due to the police torture, and has been receiving treatment for his […]

This week Just Asia begins with Pakistan, where the overruling of Asia Bibi’s blasphemy conviction and death sentence last week has mired the country in protests. To end the protests, the government made a deal with the Islamist hardliners, where Asia Bibi would remain in Pakistan while a final review of the Supreme Court ruling […]

This week Just Asia begins with Bangladesh, where police arrested a prominent government critic on Monday. Police said Moinul Hosein, a top lawyer and publisher of an English daily, was detained after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina slammed him for his comments against a pro-government female journalist. His arrest comes in the wake of a recent government […]

This week Just Asia begins with Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi province, which was hit by a 7.5-magnitude earthquake last Friday, followed by a tsunami. Official figures are reporting the deaths of 1,234 people. Indonesia’s geophysics agency (BMKG) has faced criticism over its handling of a tsunami warning. Indonesian President Joko Widodo is accepting international help for […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) strongly condemns the custodial death of Ram Manohar Yadav, 30, a resident of Janaki Rural Municipality, Banke district. Yadav died in Police custody while on the way to Kathmandu for medical treatment. Police had admitted him to the Bardiya District Hospital in Gulariya and subsequently to the Bheri Zonal […]

This week Just Asia focuses on the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, marked annually on August 30. Enforced disappearance is frequently used to spread terror within society. Many states use counter terrorist activities as an excuse for overlooking or perpetrating disappearances. Not only is there widespread impunity for enforced disappearances, but those […]

On 25 June 2018, a CBI Special Court in Thiruvananthapuram awarded the death penalty to two police officers accused of murder in a custodial death case for the first time, while another three accused are facing three years in jail. The case is infamously known as the ‘Urutti Kola’ case due to the torture technique used; the rolling […]

This week Just Asia begins with Sri Lanka, where well-known rights activist Amitha Priyanthi was attacked by two motorcyclists on July 6. Dressed in black, with helmets covering their faces, the assailants hit Ms. Amitha on her head and other parts of the body, and took her handbag and mobile phone. There is reason to […]

A Statement on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture June 26th every year is marked as the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) works closely with victims of torture through its network of partner organisations across the countries it works in. […]

A Statement on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture Torture remains a serious problem in Indonesia, even though it has been 20 years since it ratified the International Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT). There are also various national regulations prohibiting torture: […]

A Statement on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture Globally, June 26 is celebrated as a day of solidarity for victims of torture. All over the world, various kinds of events are held in order to highlight the issue of torture and various ways to overcome this perennial problem. […]

A Statement on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture Nepal underwent political change in 2017, with local level elections held for the first time in 20 years. This was a significant step in ending the country’s political transition following the civil war (1996-2006). After a decade-long conflict in Nepal, the number […]

This week Just Asia begins with India, where Shujaat Bukhaari, editor of the newspaper Rising Kashmir, was gunned down outside his office in Srinagar on June 14. A highly respected journalist, Bukhaari was known for his consistent advocacy for peace and dialogue in Kashmir. His assassination, along with that of journalist Gauri Lankesh in Bangalore […]

This week Just Asia begins with India, where two young men were lynched on the suspicion of being child abductors. Niloptal Das and Abhijeet Nath were artists based in Goa, who had come to Assam to celebrate the Bohag Bihu festival and do some sight-seeing. A mob stopped their SUV at night, believing a child […]

On May 22, 2018, the people of Thoothukudi(Tuticorin) were protesting for the 100th day against the environmental damage caused by the copper smelter unit of Sterlite Copper company, a unit of Vedanta Group. 100 days of protests that turned violent on May 22nd, with police firing on the protesters and killing, as on date, 13 […]

A Press Release from People’s Watch forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) People’s Watch calls for the order of immediate closure of Sterlite Copper Smelter Plant No. 1 and for the stoppage of construction at the Copper Smelter Plant No.2, by the Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisamy. People’s Watch would like to highlight that […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Youth’s Forum for Protection of Human Rights (YFPHR) in Manipur, regarding the gangrape of a minor girl in Thanga.  CASE NARRATIVE: On 13 February 2018, at around 4:30 p.m., a 14-year old girl Tina, (name changed), was invited to meet her friend […]

A Joint Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission and the Terai Human Rights Defenders Alliance The proposed draft of Nepal’s National Integrity Policy (NIP)1 has created havoc among the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) and the wider human rights community in the country. It has been reported that the National Integrity Policy drafted […]

An article from The Mint forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Kathua and Unnao. The eight-year-old, gang raped and murdered in Kathua, was reported missing in early January—more than three months ago. According to the chargesheet, the victim’s body was discovered on 17 January, five whole days after her father reported her missing. In Unnao, a Bharatiya Janata Party […]