Prosecution system

It is seven decades since the Dalits joined their hands together and rallied against caste based discrimination and widespread untouchability. Dalit civil society has been active to ensure that their issues are heard and rights guaranteed. Nepal has been declared as an ‘Untouchability Free State’, while the Caste-Based Discrimination and Untouchability (Offence and Punishment) Act […]

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to The Honourable Minister of Justice Wijedasa Rajapakse and the Honourable Minister of Law and Order & Southern Development Sagala Rathnayake 15 March 2017 Dear Ministers Wijedasa Rajapakse and Sagala Ratnayaka Two more extrajudicial killings at police stations have been reported in Sri Lanka. One of the […]

On February 27th, a Christian priest in Kerala, Mr. Robin Vadakkancherry, was arrested on charges of raping a minor-girl. The incident came to light when the Childline (1098), the crisis helpline for children in distress in India was informed of the rape. The survivor got pregnant and last month, she gave birth in a Church-run hospital in Kerala. It has been […]

This week Just Asia begins with Sri Lanka, where five police officers have been arrested in connection with the custodial death of a suspect at the Peliyagoda Police station. The 42-year-old Chadik Shyaman Wickramarachchi was arrested on February 25, following information provided by another suspect. The next day, Chadik’s body was recovered by his family at the Police Mortuary […]

Following a suicide attack on Lahore’s Mall Road on February 13, which claimed the lives of at least six police officials, Punjab’s law enforcement agencies launched a province-wide crackdown on the ethnic Pakhtun (Pathans) minority. Administrative officials in some Punjab districts issued informal orders asking the population to keep an eye on suspicious individuals who […]

This week Just Asia begins with Pakistan, where two blasts occurred outside a court in Charsadda, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday. At least eight people were killed and 20 injured in the attack. Since the beginning of 2017, Pakistan has witnessed an unprecedented spike in violence, with 20 terrorist attacks claiming the lives of more than […]

This week Just Asia begins by speaking to Adem Carroll, the Burma Task Force director for New York and UN programs regarding the dire situation faced by the Rohingya in Burma. Carroll calls for an independent commission of inquiry into the military abuses against the Muslim minority group. He also says that citizens of ASEAN […]

17th February 2017 Mr Pradeep Jayatilake  Secretary  Judicial Service Commission  Hulftsdorp St,  Colombo 12,  Sri Lanka Dear Mr Jayatilake, Letter to the JSC by the Asian Human Rights Commission  Over five years of investigation into a baseless and malicious allegation against a District Judge, (now retired) Mr B. A. R Somasinghe I am writing to […]

The sudden and inexplicable surge in violence against women this year has sent shivers down the collective spine of the country. Not that previous years had been any different in terms of violence against women. However, the year 2017 appears to be particularly brutal with more than a dozen honour killings occurring in the first […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has information regarding the last two years of President Joko Widodo’s administration. It appears that the government has not yet made any effort to resolve past human rights abuses. After President Widodo won the presidential election in 2014, victims and their families had great expectations of him. Instead of […]

Nepal’s police have arrested Dr. Chandra Kant Raut, popularly known as C.K. Raut, after harassing his wife and children from Janakpurdham-4, Macha Bazar, Dhanusha district. More than a dozen police personnel broke the lock of the gate and harassed his wife and children before manhandling and arresting Dr. Raut. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) […]

It is unimaginable for any democratic, law-abiding society to outsource its key function of justice. And yet, the Government of Pakistan first outsourced the dispensation of justice to the military, and now to the Panchayat and Jirga, which are known for aiding and abetting grave human rights abuses, and are the primary cause of rising […]

घनश्याम चम्लागाई तथा चेतनाथ चौलागाईं  १) विषय प्रवेश नेपालमा तत्कालीन नेपाल कम्युनिष्ट पार्टी माओवादीले २०५२ सालमा जनयुद्धको घोषण गरे पश्चात् सरकार र युद्धरत दुबै पक्षबाट शसस्त्र द्वन्दमा गैर न्यायिक हत्या, बेपत्ता, सार्वजनिक, भौतिक संरचनाहरु ध्वस्त पार्नेलगायतका गम्भीर मानवअधिकार उलङ्घन र मानवता विरुद्धको अपराधहरु भएका छन् । २०६३ मंसिर ५ मा तत्कालीन नेपाल सरकार र नेपाल कम्युनिष्ट […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to inform you about a paper entitled “Kidnapping and Forced Disappearances of Activists in 1997-1998: Who was Responsible?” This paper shows the stagnation of the investigative process. In 2006 the National Commission on Human Right (Komnas HAM) investigated the case and issued a recommendation report. It concerned allegations of […]

The film by Prasanna Vithanage titled “Usaviya Nihandai” (“Silence in the Courts”), is being shown not in cinema halls only, but also at popular gatherings. I had the privilege of attending four such gatherings in different parts of the country, in Panadura, Negombo and two showings in different parts of Kandy. In each instance, about 30-40 […]

A Press ReleasefromHuman Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF) forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) (19 January 2017) In pursuance to the rescue of 15 migrant workers from Cambodia, employed in the fisheries sector by the Thai authorities, on 21 January 2016,who have undergone trafficking screening process and a case against the perpetrators has […]

This week’s episode of Just Asia begins with Hong Kong, which is seeing human rights at its lowest point since 1997, said an Amnesty International report. According to the report, authorities have “failed on many fronts” to protect the city’s rights and freedoms. Amnesty urged the Hong Kong government and civil servants to “make defending […]

by Avinash Pandey Rohith Vemula’s suicide a year ago shook the country. The circumstances of his death left no doubt that it was an institutional murder committed through continuous harassment, and not a simple suicide. It exposed how the culture of caste discrimination was alive and kicking in Indian campuses despite being outlawed by the […]

By Jalila Haider Karmal It seems like yesterday when my senior lawyers, colleagues, and mentors were smiling, giggling, taunting, and guiding; it was business as usual at the District Courts in Balochistan. This business as usual was all taken away from me suddenly. The morning of 8 August 2016 brought dramatic changes to my life; […]

Last week, in the High Court of Badulla five police officers and a security officer were sentenced to death for causing the murder of Sadun Malinga, a 17-year-old boy. The boy and four of his relatives had gone to the town for some business when the police suddenly arrested them, beat them in public, and […]