Right to fair trial

This week Just Asia begins with Burma, where Rohingya refugees continue streaming to Bangladesh after violence erupted in Rakhine state just over a week ago. Although the Bangladesh government has a zero-tolerance refugee policy, it seems that security officials are ignoring government orders and allowing refugees to cross the border. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has […]

By: Salman Ali The executive and judicial branches of Pakistan’s state must take serious actions against enforced disappearances and on cases of missing persons As a citizen of Pakistan, I am very much concerned about the increase in cases of enforced disappearances in Pakistan. The state has utterly and miserably failed to restrain law enforcement […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding a fabricated case against Mr. Heri Budiawan. He is known as Budi Pego, a villager of Sumber Agung village, Banyuwangi, East Java Province. Budi took an active part in advocacy efforts for a safe and protected environment for Tumpang Pitu, Banyuwangi Regency. […]

06 September 2017 Mr. Krishna Bahadur Mahara Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal Phone: 977-1- 4200182/183/184/185 Toll Free No: 1660-01-00186 Fax: 977-1- 4200061/056/160 Email: info@mofa.gov.np Dear Mr. Mahara, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) would like to inform you that we are aware that your office […]

A Joint Statement by Asian Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International Indonesia, Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances, Asia Justice and Rights, East Timor & Indonesia Action Network, The Observatory for Protections of Human Rights Defender OBS, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, Protection International, TAPOL UK and International Federation […]

This week Just Asia begins with Burma, where fighting has broken out once again in the state of Rakhine. Clashes between Burmese security forces and Rohingya militants have led to some 89 people killed, including 12 security force personnel. This is the worst violence to hit the area since October 2016, when a military crackdown […]

This week Just Asia begins with Hong Kong, where there is much protest and outrage against the jailing of three democracy activists for their role in the 2014 Umbrella Movement. Hong Kong’s High Court sentenced Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow to six-eight months imprisonment for the non-violent protest related crime of unlawful assembly […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns the unlawful deprivation of liberty of Papuans which has occurred frequently of late. The AHRC has learned that the Indonesian Security Forces have been using excessive force and flaunting their authority to illegally arrest indigenous Papuans. They are simply exercising their rights to freedom of expression and opinion […]

Blogger Ahmed Waqas Goraya, who disappeared earlier this year along with four other social media activists, has recently revealed the names of his abductors. Mr. Goraya posted on his Facebook page that Colonel Khalid of the Pakistani intelligence agency, the ISI, and a civilian deputy director, Mr. Irtiza, tortured him while in custody. Having remained […]

This week Just Asia begins with Thailand, where student activist Pai Dao Din has been sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment for sharing a BBC biography of King Vajiralongkorn. Despite more than 2,000 people sharing the controversial BBC article on Facebook and millions reading it, Jatuphat was the only one arrested for lèse majesté. A […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding continuous harassment meted out by the Mahiyangana Police and the Badulla Police to Herath Mudiyanselage Podi Kumarihami, in order to grab a land which Podi Kumarihami owns and where she has been living for a long time. Police officers attached to the […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urges the Indonesian Authorities to ensure that cases of human rights violations that occurred in Papua must be investigated properly, under fair trial principles and the Rule of Law. In the last two months, the AHRC has documented and reported some three cases of serious human rights violations, as […]

Divya Bharathi, a filmmaker recently released her debut film ‘Kakkoos’, a documentary on the plight of manual scavengers in Tamil Nadu, a South Indian state. In the past one month, there have been two reports of deaths of workers engaged in manual scavenging, both from New Delhi, India’s capital city. Seven manual scavengers died due to the inhalation […]

A Report by the Asian Human Rights Commission/Asian Legal Resource Centre to the 113 session of United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) are concerned about the increase in cases of enforced disappearances in Pakistan. The state has utterly and […]

Salman Ali William Ewart Gladstone, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the late 19th century, once said, “Justice delayed is justice denied”. Moreover, the right to receive justice without delay was one of the promises made by King John of England in the Magna Carta 1215. Unfortunately, today’s Pakistan presents a typical example […]

This week Just Asia begins with Bangladesh, where police have arrested several persons involved in the rape and torture of a teenager, after pictures of the victim and her mother at hospital with shaved heads caused outrage. Tufan Sarkar, a unionist linked to the ruling Awami League party, has been charged with raping the 16-year-old at home on July […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission strongly condemns yesterday’s late evening attack on Narmada Bachao Andolan’s peaceful sit-in and fast by the Madhya Pradesh state police. The police forcibly arrested Ms. Medha Patkar and 11 others and have detained them. The activists were protesting against Madhya Pradesh government’s decision to submerge the area violating the Supreme Court of […]

The darker side of Pakistan’s lawyers’ cartel has been exposed in the case of law student Khadija Siddiqui, who was stabbed 23 times by her class fellow, Shah Husain, the son of a senior Supreme Court lawyer. After this horrific attack, Khadija could not find a single lawyer to take up her case. Being the […]

This week, Just Asia begins with the resignation of Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif. The country’s Supreme Court disqualified Nawaz Sharif on July 28, and called for criminal charges to be filed against Sharif and his family. Under the constitution of Pakistan, the prime minister is elected for five years. Until today however, no elected […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to share a video clip of a speech made by Nagahawatte Kodithuwakku, a reputed lawyer on the state of judiciary in Sri Lanka. It is a thought provoking speech that should receive the attention of all who are concerned with serious problems facing democracy, rule of law and human rights in Sri Lanka. Click […]