Police violence

NEPAL: Police keep incommunicado and torture a young man by water pouring and using chili powder in Banke

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the alleged of torture of Atiram Rana by a group of policemen from District Police Office, Banke on 12 April 2011. The policemen, as many as twelve of them, used chili powder and inflicted water boarding on the victim. The victim was kept […]

SRI LANKA: Yogendra receives a death notice

(Hong Kong, April 21, 2011) Devarathnam Yogendra ( 28 ) is the complainant in a bribery case against IP Wijesuriya of the Hatton Police Station, who has been indicted on a charge of obtaining bribes. This charge has been filed on the basis of a complaint made by Yogendra on November 6, 2007 and it […]

NEPAL: Torture victims face eviction and harassment

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the case of Ang Dorje and Jangbu Sherpa who were beaten and illegally arrested by police officers from Metropolitan Police Circle, Maharjgunj, Kathmandu after they refused to pay a bribe on 9 February 2011. They are now facing continuous harassment (For further […]

NEPAL: A young man is tortured by water-boarding during interrogation

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that policemen from the District Police Office, Banke, tortured a 19-year-old man to force him to confess his alleged involvement with an underground political party. The policemen resorted to water-boarding, a form of torture which consists of pouring water into the nose and mouth […]

NEPAL: Police refuse to file a case of torture, protect the perpetrators

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the police’s refusal to register the complaint of Ang Dorje and Jangbu Sherpa who were beaten and illegally arrested by police officers from Metropolitan Police Circle, Maharjgunj, Kathmandu after they refused to pay a bribe on 9 February 2011. Their complaint was […]

NEPAL: Police ask for bribes and beat a couple in Kathmandu

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the torture of a shop owner and his wife after they had refused to give bribes to the police in Kathmandu Valley. The police also reportedly stole an important sum of money from their shop. Two days after the torture, the victims went […]

NEPAL: Prolonged unabated harassment of a policeman torture victim for nine years require legal redress

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to share with you the latest developments in Hom Bahadur Bagale’s case. This former police officer was initially tortured and illegally detained in 2002. His only reward for attempting to find legal redress has been dismissal from his job, further torture, arbitrary arrest, continuous threats and […]

SRI LANKA: Independence without civil liberties is a farce

Sri Lanka will be celebrating its independence from the British Empire on February 4, 2011. The lamentation that independence has not meant a great deal to the people of Sri Lanka is commonly heard. However, the causes that created this situation have often not been examined. The very meaning of independence for citizens of any […]

THAILAND: Rights Groups to Request Thai National Police Chief to Unchain Injured Migrant Work Accident Victim from Myanmar Detained Pending Deportation

A Statement from Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF) forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission TO ALL NEWS MEDIA/EDITORS and NETWORKS: FOR URGENT LETTER SUBMISSION AT 230PM to CHIEF OF ROYAL THAI POLICE FORCE at ROYAL THAI POLICE HEADQUARTERS opposite Siam Paragon shopping centre in Central Bangkok. ———- For Immediate Release: 3rd February 2011 Rights Groups […]

ASIA: Women Speak Out — Ethics in Action Vol.4 No. 5

(Hong Kong, February 2, 2011)  The new issue of Ethics in action is titled “Women Speak Out. The volume has put together 43 interviews from women from India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Burma, Indonesia, Nepal and Bangladesh. Available online at http://www.ethicsinaction.asia/archive/2010-ethics-in-action/vol.-4-no.-5-october-2010. Themes are torture and ill treatment, domestic violence and the problems of the policing systems in their countries […]

PAKISTAN: A lady health worker raped and forced by police to withdraw her complaint

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a lady health worker, a government employee, was raped by a notorious gangster with the help of two police informers. The First Information Report (FIR), a criminal case for legal proceedings was lodged by the police intentionally after five days of the attack […]

INDIA: Human rights defenders continue to face threats in Varanasi

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information concerning the case of human rights defenders working with Guria receiving threats for their work against human trafficking. Guria is a human rights organisation working against child prostitution and human trafficking in Varanasi city of Uttar Pradesh state. This is not the first […]

NEPAL: The torturers of an 11-year-old child must be brought to justice

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that two policemen from Pachuwarghat police station, Kavre District, tortured an eleven-year old boy, Lakpa Tamang, while interrogating him in relation to a theft case. After the torture was revealed, a case was filed at the Dulhikel District Court against the two alleged perpetrators […]

SRI LANKA: Without Witness and Victim Protection Legislation, No Hope for Restoration of Justice in Sri Lanka

In November 2010, in Hatton, Sri Lanka, Devarathnam Yogendra cooperated with the Bribery Commission to catch police officer IP Wijesuriya accepting bribes. A representative from the Bribery Commission watched as Wijesuriya accepted a bribe, then arrested him on charges of bribery (Case No.: 50600/01 in the Chief Magistrate’s Court of Colombo). Now Yogendra is being […]

SRI LANKA: Young Tamil complainant in a bribery case against a police officer faces attempts on his life and is in hiding

Devarathnam Yogendra ( 28 ) is the complainant in a bribery case against IP Wijesuriya of the Hatton Police Station, who has been indicted on a charge of obtaining bribes. This charge has been filed on the basis of a complaint made by Yogendra on November 6, 2010 and it is alleged that the police […]

PAKISTAN: Failure to take action against fundamentalists makes a mockery of the law

A YouTube presentation recently found on the internet shows Mumtaz Quadri, the assassin of the slain governor, Salman Taseer, singing in the custody of the police during his interrogation. The officers are seen standing by and sitting next to him, enjoying the performance. Quadri was reciting ‘Naat’, a poem in praise of the Prophet Mohammad, […]

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 […]

NEPAL: Impunity for those who allegedly tortured three detainees

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the torture case of Gyan Bahadur Balami (Gyanu), Hermin Ratu Lama and Makar Bahadur Gharti Magar (Iman) at the hands of a police team from the Metropolitan Police Crime Division in Kathmandu. Following their arrest under allegations of theft and drug smuggling […]

SRI LANKA: New Year Wish List – 2011

We hope that wishing for a happy new year in Sri Lanka is not just mere wishful thinking. We wish: 1. That Rizana Nafeek, facing a death sentence in Saudi Arabia, will be released as soon as possible. This wish can become true only if the Sri Lankan government makes all the diplomatic efforts to […]

INDONESIA: Killing of two indigenous Papuans during sweeping operation

Dear friends, According to reports received from local activists, two villagers were killed in Bolakme, Papua, Indonesia during a sweeping operation by the security forces on December 1, 2010. CASE NARRATIVE: Local activists reported that between 10am and 5pm on December 1, 2010 in the Bolakme sub-district of Jayawijaya in Papua, Indonesia, the Indonesian military […]