Right to fair trial

The Ahmadis, a sect that believes in Islam and claims to be an ardent follower of it, has been declared as non-Muslim under the Pakistani legislation. Evidently, the Government of Pakistan has not only confiscated their freedom to faith, belief and practice, but also proactively victimises them socially, economically and educationally. The declaration goes against […]

Sri Lankan immigrant maid sentenced to be beheaded in Saudi Arabia. A baby in her care choked to death & Rizana was accused of murder. Rizana was 17 at the time, couldn’t speak the language & had an unfair trial… The Asian Human Rights Commission is forwarding the attached online petition regarding the possibly imminent […]

Dear friends, Further to our earlier appeal about the plot to kill human rights defender Temogen “Cocoy” Tulawie, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urges you to write to the Supreme Court of the Philippines requesting that they urgently act on Tulawie’s petition to reconsider its decision to transfer him from Davao City jail to […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a businessman named Mr. Md. Karamat Ali of Satkhira district town has been missing for ten years. Md. Hossain Ali, the prime suspect in the disappearance of the victim, has run a business right in front of the police station for the past ten […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed of a plot to kill a human rights activist, Temogen “Cocoy” Tulawie, who is being prosecuted on fabricated charges inside the jail should he be transferred from Davao City to Manila. This plot is serious because the court has already postponed the scheduled hearing […]

The arrest of Aseem Trivedi, a cartoonist and a member of India against Corruption, is not only ridiculous but also a telling comment on the paranoia that has set in the government circles and deserves all the outrage it has caused. In fact, the only thing more ludicrous than the arrest itself is the reason […]

After 17 days of daring to stand in neck-deep water, the villagers who are protesting against the unjust compensation package offered for the Onkareshwar Dam in Madhya Pradesh is yet to receive any guaranteed assurances from their government. Yesterday, the Madhya Pradesh State Government has reportedly agreed to reduce the water level in the reservoir, […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding an incident of rape. An 11-year-old girl has been raped by a policeman in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The minor girl has suffered serious physical, psychological, and social trauma due to the sexual assault for which the local police initially refused to register […]

The ‘Fair Trial Bill’ which, according to the news report, the government plans to place before parliament will, if passed, virtually make the fair trial impossible in Pakistan. The provisions of the bill are designed for the conviction of persons without fair trial. The direct impact of the proposed law will be to tie the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that when Ms. Warnakulasuriya Tresa Dorin Marcus tried to make a complaint to the officers of the Pamunugama Police Station that her son-in-law was in possession of an illegal weapon the officers sided with the culprit and verbally and physically abused her. Working under […]

[RE: AHRC-UAC-075-2011: BANGLADESH: Rapid Action Battalion shoots innocent college student, causing permanent disability, and now threatens sympathizers with extra-judicial killing Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding repeated attempts by the state machinery to brand a college student named Limon Hossain as a criminal, after he was shot point-blank and […]

The people of Bangladesh are scared. Incidents of abduction by plain-clothed people, who often claim to be law-enforcing agents of the country, are ongoing, without any indication of being on the want. The people of Bangladesh are scared because their brothers and sons are disappearing. The stories of disappearances are being exposed by the media […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Sivapalan Pradeepan (28) of Batticaloa was arrested shortly after his brother-in-law by officers of the Terrorist Investigation Department. After being assured that he would be released after a statement was taken from him Sivapalan was sent to the CID offices where he […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that Mr. Mam Sonando (70) was arrested from his home on 15 July 2012 by the police and was formally charged on the following day by Phnom Penh Municipal Court. The main charges against Mr. Mam Sonando include plotting secessionist movements in Kratie province, inciting […]

The Chief Minister of West Bengal is once again in the news. This time the minister is critiqued for her comments on judicial corruption. However, if truth is the best defence, and if such a defence is bona fide, then in public interest none can blame the minister for her ‘expressing opinion.’ In fact, it […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Alexander Thayaparan was abducted by carders of the LTTE in 1991 and was only released after he lost his leg. At the closing of the civil war he and his family attempted to flee to safety but were arrested by the Sri […]

The government is again planning to change the criminal justice mainframe of the country. Again, the ruse is that of justice to the people and national security. The proposal is open; its true purpose clandestine. If the 2007 report of the Committee on National Policy on Criminal Justice, chaired by Dr. N.R. Madhava Menon, is […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the local administration of the two districts of Punjab province and the owners of kiln factories are using the accusation of committing blasphemy against a human rights organization and its staff for raising their voices against bonded labour. They are also demanding wage […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM concerning the indefinite detention of a person after the completion of his sentence in Bangladesh. The victim in the case, Mr. Sahab alias Sahabuddin Seikh is a resident of New Sikarpur village under the jurisdiction of Murutia Police Station in Nadia district, […]

Basil Fernando The interview of the Defense Secretary Mr. Gotabaya Rajapakse with the editor of the Sunday Leader on the airlifting of a dog deserves comment not because of anything surprising contained in the interview. Its importance lies in its banality. It reveals something that has come to be quite common and ordinary in the […]