Right to fair trial

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding human rights violations committed by police officers and the Adidaya Tangguh Company in North Moluccas province, Indonesia. The pattern of violations is one of land confiscation, deprivation of liberty and a vicious attack against local community members on Taliabu Island. Substantial members of […]

Dear Friends, S.C. Prasanka Fernando of No. 105, Independent Mawatha, Veyangoda, in Gampaha District, a human rights activist, and Sri Lankan Roman Catholic, who is an announcer by profession, underwent an ordeal at his residence on 05/02/2017. A group of police officers in civil attire, which included Sergeant Dissanayake and S.K. Dissanayake, Officer in Charge […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward an appeal from the International Coalition for Papua (ICP) regarding a torture case in the highland city of Wamena, which was committed by six members of the Jayawijaya District Police, Jayawijaya regency, Papua province. The torture occurred on 11th January 2017 during detention at […]

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 […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the following: forcible closure, intimidation, discrimination and State negligence against the Ahmadiyya congregation (JAI) of the Al-Hidayah Mosque, Depok City, West Java province. Without any reason, the Depok city govermmenet forcibly closed and sealed off the Mosque belonging to local Ahmadiyya groups. The […]

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 […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Commission for Disappearances and Victims of Violence (KontraS). It is a national, human rights NGO, handling the case of torture which caused the death of Mr. Afriadi Pratama (23). The case was occasioned by a personal conflict, namely a love triangle, between […]

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 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 […]

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 […]

This week’s episode of Just Asia begins with the UN’s new report detailing mass gang rape, killings and other human rights abuses against the Rohingya by the Burmese military. A team of UN investigators interviewed over 200 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, who told how their children, including a newborn, were trampled or cut to death. […]

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 […]

This week’s episode of Just Asia begins with Thailand, where the Khon Kaen Provincial Court on Monday, during an in-camera hearing, granted permission for police to extend the detention of Jatuphat ‘Pai’ Boonpattaraksa. A law student and key member of the New Democracy Movement (NDM), Jatuphat was arrested on lese majeste charges for sharing a […]

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 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; […]

शैलेन्द्र प्रसाद हरिजन (अम्बेडकर) न्यायपरिषद्का अध्यक्ष तथा सम्माननीय प्रधान न्यायधीश शुशिला कार्कीज्यूले मंसिर ३ गतेका दिन सप्तरीको राजविराजमा पत्रकारहरुसँग कुरा गर्दै “बुहारीलाई घुम्टोमा राख्ने अनी समावेशी भएन भन्ने ? जहाँपायो त्यहीँ समानुपातिक समावेशी सिद्धान्त लागू गर्दा समस्या आउछ । पढेलेखेका योग्य व्यक्तिहरुलाई पनि हेर्न जरुरी छ । बुहारीलाई नपढाउने, घुम्टोभित्र राख्ने अनि समावेशीको कुरा गर्नु […]

This week Just Asia begins with Pakistan, where at least 14 bloggers have disappeared since the beginning of January. The government started off 2017 with a crack-down on human rights defenders and bloggers raising their voices on disappearances and extrajudicial killings, particularly in Balochistan. The security establishment there is very sensitive to the construction of the China PakistanEconomic […]