Right to education

A bunch of university students in Islamabad, with whom I was informally conversing yesterday, hadn’t heard of either. Of course, they knew of Tahrir Square and Afzal Guru‘s recent execution. But they showed little interest upon learning that Shahbag Square was in Dhaka and that, as we spoke, the city was seething with protest. Between 100,000 to 500,000 […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learnt about 78 families belonging to fisherfolk community facing threats of imminent eviction during a field visit undertaken by its Programme Coordinator for Right to Food Programme together with a representative of Defend Job Philippines. The local authorities had served the notice of eviction to these […]

I am the 43rd Chief Justice of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. As the Chief Justice, I have an obligation and an unwavering duty towards the judges, lawyers and the citizens at large of my country. I stand here before you today having been unjustly persecuted, vilified and condemned. The treatment meted out […]

The vulnerability of innocent women and children has been astonishingly increased in Pakistan in past several months as the country has witnessed some deadly and planned attacks on unarmed women and children from militants. On 18 December, Five Polio lady health workers were killed in Karachi and Peshawar, while two of their male colleagues received […]

Share| When I was leaving Pakistan for Hong Kong, after a long trip to different countries, I received some shocking news at Karachi International Airport. Mr. Solangi, the Director General of Radio Pakistan informed me about the news that Malala Yousufzai had been attacked by the Taliban and was in critical condition. The doctors were […]

We the undersigned, strongly condemn the arrest of four students of the University of Jaffna (UoJ) by the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) on Thursday, November 29, 2012. While welcoming the release of Kanesamoorthy Sutharsan, a student of the Jaffna Medical Faculty on the morning of Tuesday, December 4, we condemn the continued detention of the […]

We call upon the people, in particular the judges and lawyers, to grasp the historic significance of this moment It is news now that the Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake and her legal team, led by Romesh De Silva PC, walked away from the Parliamentary Select Committee proceedings, expressing no confidence in the manner in which […]

Lack of public awareness is one the major reason of absence of watchful oversight of citizens on their rights, issues and concerned authorities. It has been appropriately said that informed citizenry is empowered citizenry; the more people are informed, the more they are vocal and critical on their issues and rights .In this way , […]

“Disability need not be an obstacle to success.” –  Stephen Hawking. Like many several years, this year too, on the eve of International Day of Disability human rights defenders and civil society leaders urged the government of Pakistan to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and implement its own […]

(The Asian Human Rights Commission welcomes this Press Release by Change.org announcing the petition to support the nomination of Malala Yusufzai for the Nobel Peace Prize) Prime Minister Harper declares his support for the ‘Nobel For Malala’ petition Canadian journalist Tarek Fatah’s petition on Change.org sparks a global movement as petition clears 160,000 signatures Canadian […]

The youth of Pakistan have found a new leader to follow, one that has inspired, not on the youth of the country but the adults as well The Malala incident in Pakistan has given a powerful voice to the people to come out bravely against Muslim extremism. The breaking of the silence in Pakistan was […]

(Hong Kong, October 18, 2012) – A group of United Nations independent experts on rights defenders, summary executions, freedom of expression and education today urged the Government of Pakistan to make every effort to ensure that school children, and particularly girls, are protected throughout all of Pakistan, and to ensure that extremist groups do not […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) strongly condemns the brutal and cowardly attack on the brilliant 14-year-old student, Malala Yousufzai. The Talibani attackers stopped the school van in which she was traveling and asked the other students to identify her. They then sprayed bullets at her in an attempt to kill her for promoting education […]

Last week we reported on three great protests taking place in Asia. We will now add a fourth from Pakistan where there was a worldwide protest against the charging of a 14-year-old girl, Rimsha, under the notorious blaspheme law. We can now briefly look at the partial results of these protests. In India the protestors at the […]

When people are hurt by the actions of authorities, they protest. When the hurt is deep and widespread it could give rise to collective modes of protest. Three such protest movements are now taking place in Asia. One is in Hong Kong, where the protesters are young students, supported by parents and a large section […]

The Federation of the University Teacher’s Association (FUTA) deserves to be congratulated for organising a historic convention on August 17, 2012 on the current status and future direction of state education in Sri Lanka (or ‘free education’ as it is popularly known) where, by way of consensus, 50 national trade unions and civil society organisations […]

The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) held a historic convention at the Western Province Aesthetic Centre on 17 August 2012 on the current status and future directions of State Education in Sri Lanka or “free education” as it is popularly known. The convention was attended by representatives of over 50 national trade unions and […]

(Hong Kong, July 13, 2012) The AHRC wishes to forward for your attention the important petition:  “Save Sri Lankan Schools and Universities!” http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-sri-lankan-schools-and-universities/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=system&utm_campaign=Send%2Bto%2BFriend It is an important cause we encourage you to add your signature. It’s free and takes just a few seconds of your time.

Education is certainly an undeniable right of every child, as enshrined in all UN and International Conventions and Protocols.  Similarly, getting education in a clean and healthy environment in school is also a fundamental child right; however, thousands of children are being denied to their basic right as they have no or very limited access […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is informed that District Magistrate Barwani in Madhya Pradesh state has issued a “show cause” notice to human rights defender Ms. Madhuri Krishnaswami on 10 May 2012 asking her why actions should not be initiated against her under the Madhya Pradesh Rajya Suraksha Adhiniyam, 1990 (Madhya Pradesh State Security, […]