Police violence

I am writing to you to express our concern about the information received by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that a group of private stage carriage operators in Thrissur district has formed an association named “Kanjani Theeradesa Meghala Bus Operators Union” and are engaged in collecting money from their members to pay off police […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a family of villagers in San Ildefonso, Bulacan, was forced to abandon their home and live elsewhere for fear of continued harassment by the military. Elements of the 24th Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army, led by Master Sergeant Rollie Castillo allegedly continued to harass […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from its local partner, Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (Masum), regarding the death of 25-year-old Ms. Tulsi Das, who was killed instantly when she was shot in the face by police on 12 April 2006. The Sub-Inspector of Police from Salar police station, Murshidabad district, West […]

On April 12 an unusual story appeared in Burma’s state-run daily newspapers. It said that a man identified as Wai Phyo Naung killed himself in a police lock up in Mandalay after being arrested for loitering in the early morning of March 25. According to the report, he had twisted his sarong into a rope […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that at least 16 journalists were injured due to police brutality at the Bir Sreshtha Shahid Ruhul Amin Stadium in Chittagong on 16 April 2006. The police beat the on-duty journalists with guns, sticks, boots and fists. The perpetrators also damaged and confiscated the […]

[RE: UP-062-2006: BANGLADESH: Harassment and threats continue towards victim despite a High Court ruling ordering the alleged perpetrators to stop; UP-058-2006: BANGLADESH: Police seriously intimidate and threaten victim, her husband and her witnesses; UA-105-2006: BANGLADESH: Pregnant woman tortured by police in Dhaka] ———————————– UP-083-2006: BANGLADESH: Police defy High Court order by continuing to make threats […]

Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) notes with shock and dismay the appointment of the members to the National Police Commission and Public Service Commission, in violation of the constitutional provisions to protect the integrity of those institutions. It is the Constitutional Council that should select and screen members of all of these commissions established under […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that the Bishwanath police in Sylhet district have deprived three victims, including an immigrant couple from the UK, from seeking justice by submitting a false investigation report. The Investigation Officer has allegedly taken bribes from the alleged perpetrators and submitted a final report to […]

Today, March 30, 2006 the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has nominated three outstanding widows of human rights defenders to receive jointly the prestigious 2006 , awarded by the May 18 Memorial Foundation, Korea. The three are: Angkhana Neelaphaijit, wife of disappeared Thai human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit; Suciwati Munir, wife of murdered Indonesian human […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the brutal assault of a 39-year-old farmer from Pitigala Hill, Kalavana by two policemen from the Kalavana police station on 12 March 2006. The policemen also forced Mr. E. Gnanadasa to sign a written statement, the contents of which he was unaware. Mr. […]

[RE: UP-031-2006: SRI LANKA: Supreme Court granted to leave to proceed in a torture case for the compensation filed by S.A. Akila Chaturanga; UA-006-2006: SRI LANKA: Arbitrary arrest, detention and torture of a man by the Horana police] —————————————————— UP-043-2006: SRI LANKA: Young man who was brutally tortured by the Horana police now threatened to […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the brutal assault of 76-year-old Mr. K Victor Fernando by Police Constable Ratwatte of the Panadura South police station on 13 February 2005, and the police’s failure to take action in this case, despite a year having now passed. On 13 February 2005, […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding human rights violations in Varanasi, India, at the hands of local police officers who act with complete impunity. In the latest series of incidents an innocent school student was brutally beaten, a man was tortured in police custody and another man was shot-dead […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission welcomes the landmark ruling by the Supreme Court of Nepal on Monday February 13, 2006, which declared the controversial Royal Commission for Corruption Control (RCCC) unconstitutional and ordered it to be scrapped immediately. This has paved the way for the release of ousted Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who had […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward to you a letter sent by the AHRC to Mr. Chandra Fernando, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) in Sri Lanka. The letter details recent threats made against Koraleliyanage Palitha Thissa Kumara, who is the torture victim in two cases currently pending before the […]

[RE: UP-013-2006: BANGLADESH: Three persons tortured by the Chapainawabganj police; UA-041-2006: BANGLADESH: Eight people killed and at least one hundred injured by police fire in Chapainawabganj district; UA-013-2006: BANGLADESH: Two people killed and thirty-five injured by police fire in Chapainawabganj district] ———————————– UP-016-2006: BANGLADESH: Three detained and tortured leaders have been released from prison in […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information from a reliable source regarding the killing of peasants in Palo, Leyte, Visayas on 21 November 2005. (Please visit our previous appeals: UA-216-2005; UP-141-2005). Concerns of irregularities in the investigation taken by the Palo Police Station and inadequate handling of the victims have been raised. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wrote to you on 10 January 2006 (UA-013-2006) detailing the killings of two people and injuries to at least 35 others following the police opening fire on a group of demonstrators in Chapainawabganj district, Bangladesh. The demonstrators had been protesting outside of the rural electrification Centre demanding […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that ten students were beaten by soldiers of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). The victims were demanding the punishment of some errant staff of the public transport system for charging extra bus fares to college students. When the students blocked the road that the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received further information regarding the case of Diosdado Fortuna, a labour union leader who was slain on 22 September 2005 in Barangay (village) Paciano Rizal in Calamba City, Laguna. (Please visit our previous appeal: FA-27-2005). According to a report by local labour and human rights organisations, there […]