Police violence

As protests by farming communities fearing displacement from their land as a result of a new industrial project continue to lead to violence in West Bengal (Eastern India), Amnesty International is concerned at reports that state officials may be responsible for, or complicit in, human rights abuses including torture and the death or injury of […]

[NOTICE: The AHRC have developed a new automatic letter-sending system using the “button” below. However, in this appeal, we could not include e-mail addresses of some of the Cambodian authorities. We encourage you to send your appeal letters via fax or post to those people. Fax numbers and postal addresses of the Cambodian authorities are […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you about the prolonged detention of two farmers in Davao Oriental province, the Philippines. Both of them have been detained for almost three years without any progress in their case because the prosecution witnesses failed to appear in court on six occasions. One of […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a young navy sailor was harassed and threatened at gunpoint by a sub inspector and other policemen at a police security checkpoint at Modaravila, Panadura, Sri Lanka on 31 October 2006. It is alleged that when the victim protested against such behavior, the […]

According to information received by the Asian Human Rights Commission, a senior police officer in Cambodia has arrested his son for allegedly shooting a rival student in the leg. Khou Sunnary, provincial police finance bureau chief in Kratie, arrested his son, 20-year-old Khou Sovandeth and his 19-year-old friend Yiv Rothya in Chhlong district on November […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) welcomes the agreement reached between the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) political parties and the Maoist insurgents, which paves the way for an end to the decade-long conflict in Nepal and the establishment of peace, security and development, as well as the rule of law, justice, and the enjoyment of […]

The presence of the Prime Minister calls for additional security and protection. With protection and security being the job of the police, they will be on their toes when it is a matter concerning people like the Prime Minister, Governor and other ministers in India. The reason is simple; because these persons, if they wish, […]

The presence of the Prime Minister calls for additional security and protection. With protection and security being the job of the police, they will be on their toes when it is a matter concerning people like the Prime Minister, Governor and other ministers in India. The reason is simple; because these persons, if they wish, […]

In the late afternoon of October 16, a week-long strike by workers at the Bright Sky garment factory in Dangkor district of Phnom Penh, Cambodia led to an open confrontation with management. When the strikers went to request that over ten of their peers be allowed to leave the factory, hundreds of heavily-armed police suddenly […]

An October 17 article in the Bangkok Post reported that the Ministry of Justice there has to pay hundreds of millions of Thai Baht in compensation to people who have been wrongfully prosecuted for crimes they did not commit. The law providing for compensation, the Compensation for Victims of Crime Act BE 2544 (2001), arises […]

The tenure of office of Chandra Fernando as the IGP ended last week.  Throughout his tenure the Asian Human Rights Commission has pointed out the failure of leadership on his part to lift up the police service from its legacy of the use of torture as the primary means of criminal investigation, the use of […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission condemns the military coup in Thailand and calls for immediate restoration of civilian government. At approximately 10pm on September 19 a group of officers headed by army Commander-in-Chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin took power while Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was attending the UN General Assembly in New York. The group, […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that army Lieutenant General Rukmangat Katuwal was appointed as army Chief of Staff of Nepal on September 10, 2006, by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala. Mr. Katuwal, who was set to retire before this appointment took effect, stands accused of being responsible for a plethora of […]

There is a saying in India that, “If a dog goes mad it can be chained; but what can be done if the chain goes mad?” Applied to law enforcement, criminals are the dog, the police are the chain. So applied, the question is very appropriate for India today, and not least of all, West […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation in West Bengal regarding the abduction of three fishermen from Khas Mahal Damush by the officers from Bangladesh Rifles on 6 September 2006. Khas Mahal Damush is in Murshidabad District, West Bengal, India. The whereabouts of these persons […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received another case involving the fabrication of charges by the Mahiyangana police. The victim, belonging to the Adhivasi (indigenous) community was illegally arrested and falsely charged because he insisted on speaking the Adhivasi dialect when the police questioned him. In Sri Lanka, many minority populations do […]

Dear friends The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed of yet another incident of intimidation and inhuman treatment by the Indian Army officers from Manipur, a state in the north-east of India. On 15 July 2006, a vehicle in which the representatives of the student movement in Manipur were traveling, while on their […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from its local partner in India, MASUM about yet another brutal killing by the Border Security Forces (BSF) at the Indo-Bangladesh border. According to the information received Mr. Saifuddin, a farmer was forcefully taken into custody by the BSF officers on 1 June 2006, […]

The Philippine National Police have a unique definition of the word “solved”. According to them, once a charge is filed against a suspect with the Office of the Prosecutor it is solved. Suspects not arrested? No matter, it is solved. Investigation flawed? No matter, it is solved. Requests of victim’s family for more inquiries unanswered? […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has come to learn of a case involving the fabricated charges of a man, owing to the line of work he is engaged in. Though the police have charged the victim with possessing ganja (marijuana), he maintains that he was charged because of the illicit mining conducted […]