Police violence

SRI LANKA: Eight men are facing fabricated charges after illegal arrests and torture by police

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that seven persons were arrested and charged with being involved in a fracas that caused the death of one Mr. Renganathen. The confrontation occurred when a group of men tried to intervene in an argument between two men, Moses, a Catholic and Dickson, a […]

SRI LANKA: Nine people illegally arrested, detained and laid with fabricated charges

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a group of nine men were arrested by the Matale police at the instigation of the Superintendent of the Hunnasgiriya Estate. The incident occurred after a group of men protested at the office of the superintendent who had earlier assaulted a man for […]

INDONESIA: A detainee found dead in police custody in Tangerang

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) regarding the death of a detainee in police custody in Tangerang. The detainee was found hanging in the toilet of his cell. The police have claimed that his death was ‘purely suicide’ but irregularities were found, […]

INDONESIA: Police officers in Nabire assault three Papuans over a petty fight

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the attack by members of the Mobile Brigade of the Nabire District Police on three Papuans in Nabire. The Papuans were attacked following a petty dispute between them and the officers at Kalibobo futsal pitch. One of the Papuans was stabbed in his […]

INDIA: Is the judiciary a panacea?

Statement | India | 01-04-2014

Litigants have approached the Supreme Court of India with manifold requests, solemn and bizarre, that ranges from seeking the court’s intervention to guarantee basic rights for the prisoners to asking the government of India to declare parts of Pakistan as India. These litigations are filed seeking the court to invoke its authority under article 32 […]

INDIA: Open dishonesty

Statement | India | 31-03-2014

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) appreciates India’s promise to protect and promote a pluralistic civil society. In a speech delivered in a parallel event during the 25th Human Rights Council Session, India said: “[a] pluralistic civil society complements government activities as it is often involved in local level development, advocacy, action research and social […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: No rule of law via Special Branch, militarised police

On 11 March 2014 a presidential commission of inquiry into the latest violence in the far west of Burma, or Myanmar, presented its findings. According to the commission, which is the latest in a series examining violence around the country, numbers of security forces in some areas need to be significantly increased. Highlighting Maungdaw Township, […]

INDIA: Custodial death in Manipur Dressed up as Suicide

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from civil society organizations based in Manipur, India, regarding the custodial death of Mr. Thoudam Digbijoy. Mr. Digbijoy was illegally detained in Wangoi police station, Wangoi Makha Leikai, Imphal West district, Manipur. On 26 February 2014 he was found dead, supposedly by suicide. This […]

INDIA: Law is no exception to god-men or god-women

Statement | India | 26-02-2014

In India, another controversy has erupted concerning yet another spiritual guru. The exception however is, this time, it is a god-woman from the southern state of Kerala. Otherwise, the script is an oft-repeated one. The emergence of a person claiming spiritual and god given powers from a remote hamlet in the country to national and […]

INDONESIA: Police defy court order to pay compensation to shooting victim

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Indonesian Human Rights and Legal Aid Association (Perhimpunan Bantuan Hukum Indonesia, PBHI) in West Sumatra regarding the neglected judgments of the civil courts in the case of Iwan Mulyadi. Iwan, a 28-year-old residing in West Pasaman Barat of West Sumatera, is a victim of a […]

INDIA: Most police officers are unfit to serve is now an official position

Statement | India | 24-02-2014

The report by the Director General of Police (DGP), Mr. K. S. Balasubramanian, in the southern state of Kerala to the government, that most of the police officers of the rank of Sub-Inspector of Police are corrupt, inept to discharge their duties and are clinically lazy, speaks volumes about the capacity of the state’s police […]

INDIA: Local police torture a lawyer in Thrissur, Kerala state

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the case of brutal attack by the local police of a lawyer, practicing at Thrissur courts. It is reported that the incident happened when the victim in the case, Ms. R. K. Asha, went to help her client and friend Ms. Neethu. The Sub-Inspector […]

INDONESIA: Padang police torture and shoot two men to obtain confessions

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Padang Legal Aid Institute (Lembaga Bantuan Hukum (LBH) Padang) regarding the shooting, torture, and fabrication of charges of two men by the police in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Despite their injuries, the victims have been denied adequate medical treatment as of today. LBH […]

INDIA: A mandamus writ will not ensure safety

Statement | India | 20-02-2014

The Supreme Court of India has directed the Union Government to take adequate measures to guarantee the safety of the people from the northeast, in the rest of the country against alleged racial discrimination. The court issued the directive while hearing a public interest litigation filed in court, following a series of incidents, where people […]

CAMBODIA: Two of 23 detainees released on bail

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that two of the 23 detainees, one of whom is a minor, were released on bail on February 8. The AHRC welcomes the granting of bail and the release of these detainees; however, it notes with apprehension that 21 others remain in detention. […]

PHILIPPINES: Torture victims speak out – “They tortured me, used me to get reward” Video interview 14

(Hong Kong, February 6, 2014) On January 14, the Court of Appeals (CA), Fifth Division, has concluded that Rolly Panesa, a 48-year-old security guard, could not possibly be Benjamin Mendoza, a leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), rejecting the claim of the police and soldiers as justification for his arrest. In its press release, […]

CAMBODIA: Twenty three protesters detained for demanding an increase of the minimum wage must be released unconditionally

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes with deep concern regarding the continued detention of 23 persons, composed of labour leaders, garment workers and others, whom police and military arrested in separate incidents on the 2nd and 3rd January, 2014, for holding protests demanding an increase of the monthly minimum wage to USD160 […]

INDONESIA: Jakarta court’s conviction on two street singers is a miscarriage of justice

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information on the case of torture against six street singers in Jakarta, who were charged with murder in June 2013. Two of them, Andro Supriyanto and Nurdin Prianto, were found guilty and sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment by the South Jakarta District Court […]

THAILAND: Human Rights at Risk as State of Emergency Declared

Under the Emergency Decree on Government Administration in a State of Emergency (2005), the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra decreed a State of Emergency in Bangkok and surrounding areas on January 22, 2014. The Emergency Decree gives blanket powers to state actors to take a wide range of actions to resolve the State of […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Police tortured and arrested two villagers without any warrant

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the police in Pegu Region, central Burma (Myanmar) tortured and arrested two villagers without any warrant. According to the information, the two men were detained for 17 days illegally in Nattalin Township. After that the township court imposed a restriction order of six […]