Right to fair trial

by Avinash Pandey ‘Why do armed women cut off a particular organ of Indian soldiers engaged in combating armed insurgencies across India, be it Punjab, Kashmir, Arunachal, Assam, Bengal or Jharkhand?’ asked senior opposition leader Azam Khan. The insinuation was unmistakable, and it had a basis: armed Maoists had indeed chopped off private parts of Central Reserve […]

The scenic Parachinar valley, capital of the federally administered Khurram Agency, has been under the grip of sectarian violence for many years, resulting in thousands of deaths. However, the Parachinar twin blasts on June 23 were the deadliest, unnerving citizens ahead of Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. The […]

Recent events in India remind us of the landmark case of Balwant Singh & Anr. v State of Punjab 1995 (1) SCR 411. In this case, two Government officers were convicted by a Special Court under Ss.124 A and 153A of the Indian Penal Code for raising slogans in support of Khalistan on the day […]

READ FULL REPORT – HERE ලංකාවට අවශ්‍ය අධිකරණමය සංශෝධන එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මණ්ඩලයේ විනිශ්චයකාරවරුන්ගේ හා නීතිඥයන්ගේ ස්වාධීනත්වය පිලිබඳ සුවිශේෂ වර්තකාරිය වන මොනිකා පිටෝ විසින් ඇය ලංකාවට පැමිණි දුත ගමනින් පසු සකස්කොට නිකුත් කොට ඇති නිල වාර්තාව.  මහ ලේකම් කාර්යාලයේ සටහන 2016 අප්‍රේල් 29 සිට මැයි 7 වෙනි දින දක්වා ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තුල කල දුත ගමනේදී සකස් කරනු ලැබූ විනිසුරුවරුන් හා නීතිඥයන්ගේ ස්වාධීන බව […]

A news item was published in the Daily News today under the title – Alleged attack on 160 Churches – BASL asks lawyer to come clean. In this news item, it refers to an order made on the basis of a decision at the Bar Council calling on Mr. Lakshan Dias, Attorney-at-Law, to explain the statement made by […]

With the collapse of the overall system of governance in Pakistan, the jail system followed suit and collapsed. As the last resort in the system of criminal justice, jails were meant to reform an individual who has gone astray and resorted to crime. Due to pervasive corruption and incompetence the prison system has been reduced […]

A Statement “Rapid Collapse of the Secular State “ translated by Yahapalanaya Lanka issued and forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission. SINHALA Version English Version Read HERE 2017 ජුනි 24 වෙනි දා‘ ආසියානු මානව හිමිකම් කොමිසම‘ මගින් ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කරන ලද “ශ්‍රී ලංකාව/ ලෝකය: ලෞකික රාජ්‍යයේ සීග්‍ර කඩා වැටීම” නමැති මේ සමග අමුණා ඇති ලිපිය සිංහලට පරිවර්තනය කලේ ‘යහපාලන ලංකා‘ අනුග්‍රහයෙනි. එය ඔබට ප්‍රයෝජනවත් […]

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on the occasion of International Day in Support of Victims of Torture The government of Pakistan has stated before the UN Committee on the Convention against Torture (CAT) that it does not intend to set-up legislation against torture and ill-treatment. On May 13, 2017 during the UN review, […]

A Press Release from Their world News forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) PAKISTAN: Host to the second largest refugee population – 1.4 million, almost entirely from Afghanistan — UNICEF Around the world last year, an average of 28,300 people every day were driven from their homes by conflict, persecution or human rights violations. […]

This week, to mark the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, celebrated annually on June 26, Just Asia has a special report on Hong Kong’s plan to withdraw from the UN Convention against Torture. The reason for such a withdrawal is a misguided attempt to address the rise in torture protection claimants in […]

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on the occasion of International Day in Support of Victims of Torture ‘“As a last resort,” wrote a Nepalese Inspector, “torture is practical and necessary.”’ This was reported 43 years ago in certain newspapers in the United States, in articles titled “Chilling views on torture tactics” […]

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on the occasion of International Day in Support of Victims of Torture India is the only country in Asia that has during the past seven decades remained a parliamentary democracy, having elected its government through a transparent and accountable democratic process. Its judiciary is independent, and […]

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on the occasion of International Day in Support of Victims of Torture Torture remains a serious problem in Indonesia, even after 18 years of police and legal reform. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has noted some fundamental problems that prevent the elimination of torture in […]

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on the occasion of International Day in Support of Victims of Torture On occasion of the International in Support of the Victims of Torture 2017 we think it is appropriate to recall the recommendations made by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or […]

An Open Letter from Professor A.N.I Ekanayaka, Ph.D (Lond.), DDPH.RCS (Eng.), BDS Emeritus Professor, University of Peradeniya forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) 91, Epitamulla Road, Pita Kotte, Kotte June 22, 2017 Hon Dr Wijeyadasa Rajapaksha PC Minister of Justice Dear Dr Rajapaksha, Arrogant and Foolish Attempt to Deny the Persecution of Christians […]

READ Report on Independence of Judges and Lawyers  READ Report on Torture The Asian Human Rights Commission strongly endorses the reports of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of Judges and Lawyers, Ms. Monica Pinto and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Dr. Juan E Mendez. For […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding a pretrial judgment cancelling the suspect status of three detainees for motorcycle theft. Assisted by Jakarta Legal Aid (LBH Jakarta), the three detainees sued the Jakarta Metropolitan Police about the illegality of the investigation process and their suspect status. However, despite the […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information regarding Mr. Sandaradura Nilanka de Silva. On 28 March 2016 he was illegally arrested by police officers attached to the Kalutara North Police Station. Later he was severely tortured resulting in the loss of one tooth. Nilanka was introduced to the Informant who gave his […]

By Sanjeewa Weerawickrama [1] The history of torture has been from time immemorial. Today and in the future torture is a reality in many countries. To solve a problem there may be multiple approaches. Maybe certain methods are more effective than others but each has its own ways, means and value. An intervention to minimize […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is alarmed by the Nepal police’s unjustified use of force and arbitrary arrests of protesters in various Tarai districts. The AHRC also condemns the acts of surveillance by security personnel against the leaders and cadres of the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN) in various districts. The RJPN has been demanding for […]