Right to fair trial

BURMA: Plea to release Phyo Wai Aung immediately from the custody, who is critically ill and in the final stage of Liver Cancer

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward to you the following letter from the brother of imprisoned torture victim Phyo Wai Aung to the President of Myanmar (Burma) to request the release of his brother, who is critically ill, from custody immediately. The letter is forwarded as written Asian Human Rights […]

INDIA: An Act to suppress democratic rights

Statement | India | 25-05-2012

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is informed that District Magistrate Barwani in Madhya Pradesh state has issued a “show cause” notice to human rights defender Ms. Madhuri Krishnaswami on 10 May 2012 asking her why actions should not be initiated against her under the Madhya Pradesh Rajya Suraksha Adhiniyam, 1990 (Madhya Pradesh State Security, […]

INDONESIA: Police tortured and denied a drug offender’s access to legal counsel and medical examination

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the torture, allegedly committed by the police officers of Narcotics Department of North Sumatra Provincial Police, on Munawir Alamsyah. The police performed excessive force while arresting him on 7 April 2012 and took him to a house for an interrogation before finally bring […]

INDIA: Judgments cannot replace good governance

India will be evaluated at the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review in Geneva, Switzerland today. The three countries (Troika) involved in the review are Kuwait, Mauritius and Mexico. That these countries have worse records of human rights in comparison to the country they would collectively review suggests how firmly, and perhaps blindly, such processes are […]

MYANMAR: Release critically ill Phyo Wai Aung without delay — Asian Human Rights Commission

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to the President of Myanmar/Burma U Thein Sein President President’s Office Office No.18 Naypyitaw MYANMAR Dear President You will be aware that the case of 32-year-old Phyo Wai Aung, accused of involvement in the April 2010 bombing of the Myanmar New Year festival in Yangon, has […]

INDIA: Jurist, stop preaching

Statement | | 21-05-2012

The observations made by the Supreme Court of India in a case concerning disciplinary action against a former Major of the Indian Army contradict the Court’s own profile. Dismissing the appeal filed by the Major, who had filed the appeal aggrieved by the Army’s action against him, the court held that discipline is paramount in […]

INDIA: Institutional peril and murderous politics

Statement | India | 17-05-2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-STM-104-2012 May 17, 2012 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission INDIA: Institutional peril and murderous politics The assassination of Mr. T. P. Chandrashekharan in Kerala on 4 May is another example of the murderous nature of politics in India. The police investigation has revealed that hired assassins executed the murder. […]

WORLD: Europe’s top human rights court hears rendition case

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights heard today its first case involving a victim of the CIA rendition program. It heard evidence supporting Khaled El-Masri’s claim that he was subjected to torture and ill-treatment in an Afghan prison, after being wrongfully arrested by Macedonian agents and handed over to a CIA […]

BURMA: AHRC condemns death sentence for torture victim

(Hong Kong, May 10, 2012) The Asian Human Rights Commission has described the verdict of a court in Rangoon, sentencing a torture victim to death for his purported role in a bombing, as “farcical” and a “cut-and-paste” job, and has called for his release through the intervention of outside agencies.  District Judge Aung Thein presiding […]

BURMA: Court sentences ailing Phyo Wai Aung to death after patently unjust trial

CAMPAIGN PAGE: FREE PHYO WAI AUNG http://www.humanrights.asia/countries/burma/phyo-wai-aung ——————————————————————— Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that a judge in a closed courtroom at the central prison in Burma on May 8 sentenced Phyo Wai Aung, the accused in a bombing case arising from April 2010 to death after a patently unjust […]

PHILIPPINES: Arbitrary detention resulting from fabrication of charges against five people in Nueva Ecija

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned about the arbitrary detention of five persons, including a minor, in Nueva Ecija province. The victims were illegally arrested, laid with criminal charges based on evidence taken from a search conducted under questionable circumstances. The charges have no real evidence to support the prosecution […]

BURMA: A litany of abuses–the torture and trial of Phyo Wai Aung

On Tuesday, May 8, a judge in Rangoon will read the verdicts in four cases brought against a young engineer, Phyo Wai Aung, for alleged involvement in a bombing attack of 15 April 2010 that killed 10 people, seriously wounded 46 and injured 27 others. The trial started on 30 June 2010. Until the end […]

INDIA: Judge, judge thyself

Statement | India | 26-04-2012

The attempt by the Supreme Court of India to draw-up operative principles for the media outlining the contours of Article 19 (1) (a) of the constitution is an exercise that the Court should not venture into. In fact, the Court does not have a constitutional mandate to do so. It is within the realm of […]

SRI LANKA: Sandya Ekneligoda harassed

The harassment of Ms. Sandya Ekneligoda by the government’s supporters in Geneva and by the Attorney General’s department, for joining the UN Human Rights Council Mrs. Sandya Ekneligoda was one of the speakers during a side event held on 19th March 2012 during the 19th sessions of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The […]

INDIA: Dishonesty threatens stability

Reading the speech of the prime minister and that of the home minister of India, one could easily get carried away by the thought that they are not in fact referring to India, but to some other country in the world. Both ministers were addressing the chief ministers of the country in a conference organised […]

BANGLADESH: Yet another physical attack on rights activist’s family by the same army officer’s goons while an investigation is in progress

PLEASE MORE DOCUMENTATIONS ON THE CASE OF F M A RAZZAK http://www.humanrights.asia/campaigns/attack-on-fma-razzak ————————————————————- Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) previously issued Urgent Appeals on several occasions regarding the physical attack on human rights defender Mr. F M A Razzak and demanded fair investigation and fair trial to the case. Now, the AHRC has […]

PAKISTAN: Police insist an 18-year-old girl to settle a case of raping for five years with the rapist cum stepfather

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the rape of an 18-year-old girl in the captivity of her stepfather, a police tout, for more than five years. Her mother has also been kidnapped by the perpetrator and her whereabouts remain unknown. A case was filed after agitation from local communities […]

INDIA: Paranoia at Writer’s Building

Referring to the reactions of the government of West Bengal to demands of public causes and justice under the leadership of Ms. Mamata Banerjee, as paranoid, would be in fact an understatement. The state government led by the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) that was elected to power – reflecting the people’s wish for change, […]

PAKISTAN: No inquiry has yet been initiated in to the case of the torture to death of a school teacher

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns the recent ruthless, barbaric, and torturous murder of Mr Abdul Qudoos Ahmad, a school teacher, Ahmadi religious group of Islam. The AHRC calls on the Pakistan government to immediately bring the perpetrators to justice. The level of ruthless barbarity seen in this murder is unacceptable and seldom. It […]

SRI LANKA: Interviews of the abducted Premkumar Gunarathnam’s mother and his sister

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward you the following statement from the mother of Premakumar Gunarathnam and his sister. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong —————————– A statement from the mother of Premakumar Gunarathnam and his sister, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Earlier, we reported about the abduction of […]