Right to fair trial

INDONESIA: The police must immediately stop the investigation and prosecution of three human rights defenders

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to the Chief of National Police  General of Police Listyo Sigit Prabowo Chief of National Police (KAPOLRI) Jl. Trunojoyo No. 3, Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan 12110 Indonesia  Tel: +62 21 384 8537, 726 0306 Fax: +62 21 7220 669 E-mail: info@polri.go.id Dear General,  INDONESIA: The police […]

SRI LANKA:Few Reflections on the Sri Lanka’s Independence Day

By Basil Fernando Read the article in Sinhala මෙම ලිපිය සිංහලෙන් කියවන්න As Sri Lanka is to celebrate its 75th anniversary of Independence on the 4th of February, the general reaction of the people around the country this year is one of despondency with serious criticisms about the failure of governance in the country.  The need […]

INDONESIA: Waiting for the follow-up on the State’s regret and acknowledgment of 12 past cases of serious human rights violations

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to the President of the Republic of Indonesia Mr. Joko Widodo President of the Republic of Indonesia Jl. Veteran No. 16 Jakarta Pusat Indonesia Tel: +62 21 3458 595 Fax: +62 21 3484 4759 Dear Mr. President: INDONESIA: Waiting for the follow-up on the State’s […]

Indonesia: The Government must seriously consider that the enactment of the RKUHP leaves serious problems

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to the President of the Republic of Indonesia Mr. Joko Widodo President of the Republic of Indonesia Jalan Veteran No. 16 Jakarta Pusat Indonesia Tel: +62 21 3458 595 Fax: +62 21 3484 4759 Dear Mr. President: Indonesia: The Government must seriously consider that the […]

SRI LANKA: POLICE ON TRIAL: Exercising Authority without Accountability

An article from Daily Mirror forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission • Officers are rarely prosecuted for misconduct, including the brutal use of force on citizens. In rare cases, officers found guilty are given minor disciplinary punishments or given warnings. • The NPC received a total of Rs.127, 764, 000 budgetary allocation in 2018 which was […]

SRI LANKA: Peaceful Protesters Face Attacks, Reprisals, and Arbitrary Detention

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-004-2022 October 21,  2022 ———————————– SRI LANKA: Peaceful Protesters Face Attacks, Reprisals, and Arbitrary Detention ISSUES: Arbitrary Detention; Access to Justice; Right to Fair Trial; Freedom of Peaceful Assembly; Right to Liberty; Reprisals against Activists ———————————— Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has […]

INDONESIA: A university student in North Halmahera allegedly tortured after express his opinion on WhatsApp status

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-003-2022 October 12, 2022 ——————————————————————— INDONESIA: A university student in North Halmahera allegedly tortured after express his opinion on WhatsApp status ISSUES: Torture, fair trial, impunity, remedy, access to justice, freedom of expression ——————————————————————— Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received […]

INDONESIA : The non-judicial settlement team for past human rights abuses and its membership’s composition contrary to the international human rights standard

A few weeks ago, President Joko Widodo issued Presidential Decree Number 17 of 2022 concerning the establishment of a non-judicial settlement team for serious past human rights violations. We agree with the statement of the victims of past human rights abuses and their families, namely that the Presidential Decree 17 of 2022 is a means […]

ශ්‍රී ලංකා: අන්තර් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයීය සිසුන්ට කල ප්‍රහාරය තරයේ හෙලා දකිනවා

සාමකාමී උත්ගොෂකයන්ට කදුළු ගෑස් ගැසීම සහ පහරදීම පොලිස් රාජකාරියක් නොවේ. අන්තර් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයීය සිසුන්ට කල ප්‍රහාරය තරයේ හෙලා දකිනවා – ආසියානු මානව හිමිකමි කොමිසම වීඩියෝව මෙතනින් ලබාගන්න

PHILIPPINES: MY ARREST AND DETENTION FOR CYBERLIBEL

An article from Mr. Walden Bello forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission 17 AUGUST 2022 By Walden Bello On August 8, 2022, officers of the Philippine National Police (PNP) arrived at my residence at 62 Moncado Street, BF Homes, Quezon City, to arrest me on charges of two counts of cyberlibel. The arrest was […]

නීතිය මත පාලනය හදුන්වාදීමක්

The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to share with you the following video regarding current Sri Lankan situation. Click here to view

SRI LANKA: Illegal arrests and illegal detentions damage the legal system

By Basil Fernando Illegal arrests and illegal detentions do not only harm individuals, they also cause irreparable damage to the legal system as a whole. The recent wave of arrests of those who have participated in peaceful demonstrations has not only caused serious damage to the life and liberty of these individuals but they have […]

INDONESIA: Result of the Selection Process of Ad Hoc Judges for the Human Rights Court of 2022 for the Paniai Papua Human Rights Case

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), a prominent national human righs organization about the selection process of judges for the Paniai Human Rights Court. Responding to the declaration of the 2022 Human Rights Court Ad Hoc Judge who decided the eight […]

BANGLADESH: Dissidents and Human Rights Defenders Survive Defenselessly

Human rights defenders, dissidents, and political opposition survive in a profoundly dangerous condition of civic space in Bangladesh. The country’s government keeps weaponising draconian laws with impunity to curb civic freedoms of the people. The freedom of peaceful assembly and association and the freedom of expression and opinion are dealt with incarceration by the police, […]

SRI LANKA: Parliamentarians’ Inability to Mourn

By Basil Fernando What happened on the 9th of May was a tragedy. It is a tragedy that the entire nation should genuinely mourn. Such genuine mourning has a capacity to generate reflections that could transform the thinking and practices of all those concerned about how to avoid such tragedies in the future. Such genuine […]

BANGLADESH: Victims of Gross Human Rights Abuses are Defenceless in Absence of Judicial Independence

A Written Submission to the 50th Regular Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) wants to update the Human Rights Council of the United Nations about the situation of Bangladesh’s human rights in relation to the mandate of independence of judges and […]

INDONESIA: State Curbs Freedom of Expression amidst Non-stop Human Rights Violations in Papua

A Written Submission to the 50th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) strongly condemns all forms of police brutality against demonstrators who refused the New Autonomous Province (DOB) in Papua Island on 10 May 2022. Based on the monitoring and information […]

INDONESIA: 24 Years since the Student Shooting in the Trisakti case: A Human Rights Case Becomes a Political Bargain?

In commemorating the 24th year of the student shooting in Trisakti and Semanggi, and with two years to go before the General Election in 2024, the Minister of the State Owned Company (BUMN), Mr. Erick Thohir appointed the Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) to provide houses for the four families of the victims of the student […]

SRI LANKA: People’s Uprising for System Change

By Basil Fernando April and May 2022 will be remembered as the most important months in the post-independence era. During this short period the much hoped for people’s awakening expressed itself powerfully. People who wielded authority failed to see the writing on the wall although the wall was just next to the Presidential Secretariat and […]

SRI LANKA: The changing meanings of system change

By Basil Fernando One of the most popular phrases that is being talked about in Sri Lanka is the need for a system change. Often in media interviews, various people are asked about what they mean by a system change. Varying answers are given by persons depending on their ideologies, perspectives and above all, on […]