Right to food

BURMA: Farmers lodge new complaint against army-owned company over caustic soda factory

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has obtained details of a new complaint lodged by a group of farmers against the construction of another caustic soda factory in Kanma Township of central Burma. The factory project is an investment of an army-owned holding company. After a group of farmers in a neighbouring village […]

INDIA: Government’s failure to ensure food and health security led to death of widow

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a widow, Ms. Sanjukta Sethi, died of sickness a few days ago in Puri, Orissa. She and her four children were suffering from a lack of food since her husband, the family bread earner, died of fever and energy deficiency about a month […]

INDIA: POSCO project is not more important than public opinion

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to the Chief Minister of Orissa Chief Minister Mr. Naveen Patnaik Through the office of the Principal Secretary Home Department, Government of Orissa Naveen Nivas, Aerodrome Road Bhubaneswar 751001, Orissa INDIA Fax: +91 674 25351006 Email: homesec@ori.nic.in Dear Sir, INDIA: POSCO project is not more important than […]

INDIA: POSCO project is not more important than public opinion

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to the Chief Minister of Orissa Chief Minister Mr. Naveen Patnaik Through the office of the Principal Secretary Home Department, Government of Orissa Naveen Nivas, Aerodrome Road Bhubaneswar 751001, Orissa INDIA Fax: +91 674 25351006 Email: homesec@ori.nic.in Dear Sir, INDIA: POSCO project is not more important […]

BURMA: Draft land law denies basic rights to farmers

During the second sitting of the new semi-elected parliament in Burma this year, the government submitted a draft land law. The government gazette published the draft on September 16, and it is currently still before the parliament. Burma needs a new land law. The current legislation on land, either for reasons of content or because […]

NEPAL: Government should prioritize Dalits’ food security

Baburam Bhattarai Prime Minister Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Nepal Singh Durbar P.O. Box: 43312 Kathmandu Nepal Tel: +977 1 421 1000 Fax: +977 1 421 1086 Email: info@opmcm.gov.np Dear Prime Minister: NEPAL: Government should prioritize Dalits’ food security During the month of the World Food Day (October 16) and the International […]

INDIA: Administrative neglect and corruption resulted in the death of farmers who lost their land

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that two small-scale farmers died of intense stress and illness after realising they had lost their land to fraudulent companies that have tricked the farmers to sell their properties to the companies. Seventy farmers from 11 villages in Balangir district, Orissa, including the two […]

WORLD: End hunger and advance food security — empower rural women. Prioritizing women is not a choice. It is a necessity

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following statement from the UN Women, the UN Entitry for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong _________ A Statement from the UN Women Executive Director forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet statement […]

INDIA: Government allows attacks on protesters while ignoring their land, livelihood and food concerns

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that on September 26, hundreds of people hired by a construction company attacked villagers protesting against the construction of a coastal road, allegedly to facilitate the POSCO project. Sticks, stones and hand-bombs were hurled upon the protesters, resulting in 12 injuries, two of them […]

WORLD: “Vulnerable land users must be protected by international guidelines” – UN expert urges Rome summit

“Land rights are the first building block on the road to achieving food security, and without international consensus on how land should be governed, the interests of vulnerable land users will continue to be swept aside.” This was the warning from Olivier De Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, only days […]

INDIA: Intimidating human rights defenders is despicable

Statement | India | 03-10-2011

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns the intimidation by the state police/government of Ms Kavita Srivastava, the General Secretary of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) by undertaking a raid at her residence today. The PUCL is a social action group based in India. It is reported that today morning (3 October) at […]

INDIA: Fictional lines will end human lives

Statement | India | 26-09-2011

Debate on the basis of poverty estimate is hot. The Tendhulkar Committee earlier suggested rupees 15 (rural area) a day and rupees 18 (urban area) a day as a poverty line based on per capita expenditure at 2004-05 prices. The Supreme Court of India asked the Committee to revise it under high criticism from civil […]

NEPAL: Government should ensure the food security of 42 Gandharva families by providing land title to all

[RE: AHRC-HAC-003-2011: NEPAL: Incomplete land distribution process causes serious food insecurity to the Gandharva Dalit community currently facing crop destruction and abuse by another community] Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that government officials visited the Gandharva community in June to conduct investigations into the case the AHRC reported in […]

PAKISTAN: The AHRC appeals to the international community and humanitarian organizations to assist the flood victims before another catastrophe occurs

The Asian Human Rights Commission urges the world community and the international donors to help the more than eight million flood affected people from Sindh province who are under severe threat from widespread disease. The flooding has affected 22 out of the 23 districts in Sindh. The affected people need life-saving help. The flood waters […]

BANGLADESH: Government food subsidy fails to reach the poor due to corruption

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received the information that the Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) program aiming to ensuring food security of the poor in Gaibandha district failed to reach the actual beneficiary. Out of 13 villages in Monohorpur Union, Palasbari sub-district, 1,000 families from seven villages only are on the list […]

INDIA: Report on Sardar Sarovar Dam Project affected villages in Alirajpur district, Madhya Pradesh released

Statement | India | 01-09-2011

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to introduce you to the latest report released by State Advisor (Madhya Pradesh) to the Supreme Court Commissioner on the Sardar Sarovar Dam Project affected villages in Alirajpur district of Madhya Pradesh. The report is titled: Valley of food insecurity and chronic hunger : Field status of government programmes […]

BANGLADESH: Government fails to protect the right to food and environment from illegal sand extraction in Mayadip island of Sonargaon

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the villagers living on Mayadip Island, Narayanganj district have been deprived of their right to food as a result of sand extraction by a private company, Micro International since July 2010. The governmental authorities have failed to prevent the company from extracting sand […]

INDIA: Post Master misappropriates wages of villagers in Orissa

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the 30 villagers engaged in road construction from February 2011 onward under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) did not receive their full wages in March. All testified that the Post Master deducted certain amounts from two months wages in […]

PAKISTAN: One year after the floods-women continue their struggle to rebuild their lives & livelihoods

FOR PUBLICATION  AHRC-ART-046-2011  August 24, 2011 An Article by the Asian Human Rights Commission PAKISTAN: One year after the floods-women continue their struggle to rebuild their lives & livelihoods By Bushra Khaliq  One year ago during the months of July and August the floodwaters that ravaged the southern parts of Pakistan have long receded. Though […]

INDIA: The administration must conduct effective investigations and monitoring to eradicate malnutrition and hunger faced by the Mawasi tribe

[RE: AHRC-HAC-009-2010: India: Five children of Mawasi tribe currently suffering from malnutrition in the village where seven children died of malnutrition in 2008-09] Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received a letter from the Indian government dated April 28, 2011 in response to the AHRC Hunger Alert Case (AHRC-HAC-009-2010) reported on November 9, […]