Right to health

A Joint Statement forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Phnom Penh, 28 June 2017 – We, the undersigned, condemn the discriminatory and arbitrary denial of medical care to three of the five ‘#Freethe5KH’ detainees at Phnom Penh’s CC1 (Prey Sar) prison facility. Mr. Ny Sokha, Mr. Nay Vanda, and Mr. Yi Soksan have finally […]

by Sanjeewa Weerawickwama The population of Sri Lanka is 20.97 million (2015) people. Some 1.84 million are migrant workers. The number of Dengue Fever affected individuals in 2015 was 29, 777. In 2016 it was 55, 154. Statistics for the first 5 months of 2017 show affected individuals to be 56,887! And the total number […]

Dear Friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward an appeal from the Alliance for the Advancement of Peoples Rights (KARAPATAN), a human rights organization in the Philippines.  For more information, please contact:  Ms. Deejay Acierto at +63 2 4354146, +63917 6224761 (Globe) or +63 999 974 8718 (Smart). Thank you.  Urgent Appeals […]

[RE: AHRC-HAC-001-2017: Immediately stop demolition drive against Dalit and tribal hamlets in Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information from the Samaj Chetna Adhikar Manch, Dabhaura about the demolition drive against five Dalit and tribal settlements in Jawa block of Rewa District, Madhya Pradesh. The […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), received information concerning Mr. Ranjith Sunil Jayatissa (55) of No: 114, Walgowwagoda, Danture in the Kandy District. On 6 July 2016, while being treated at the Kandy Teaching Hospital, he died due to medical negligence by the doctors. He underwent hernia surgery at the hospital on 27 […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) remembers with deep sorrow the April 25, 2015  two devastating earthquakes that stuck Nepal two years ago today. More than 9000 people were killed, and over half a million houses were destroyed in the aftermath and Nepal experienced frequent aftershocks during last two years affecting a total of 542,593 […]

by Basil Fernando Dealing with the Meethotamulla waste dump has now become a major national problem for Sri Lanka. At least 30 persons have lost their lives due to the collapse of the waste dump. Many others might have died or suffered serious diseases due to the existence of this waste dump polluting the entire […]

An Article Basil Fernando For many decades Sri Lankans have ignored the collapse of their legal system, the crisis of the judicial system and the virtual disappearance of all legal traditions. For this reason, the bond between law and social structure is now weak. This means that the law is unable to keep the political, […]

How does one deal with a 42% spike in suicides by farmers/cultivators in a country where “development” has been the buzzword for the last couple of years? If the question isn’t creepy enough to send a shiver down one’s spine, consider that “Bankruptcy or Indebtedness” and “Farming Related Issues”, i.e. non-personal reasons, account for 58.2% […]

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the occasion of Human Rights Day The year 2016 has proved to be a difficult year in terms of food and livelihood security for the poor and marginalized communities across Asia. There have even been reverses in food security of the people in countries like Sri […]

By Avinash Pandey Even if one puts the cacophonous debate on the merits and demerits of demonetisation of Rupees 500 and 1000 currency notes aside, one thing is clear: it has hit hard the farmers all set to sow Rabi crops. Almost entirely dependent upon cash transactions for everything, starting from buying seeds and fertilisers, […]

Srikant Dixit, a 40-year-old farmer did not die of hunger, claim authorities in Uttar Pradesh. These authorities base their conclusion on the post-mortem report, which states that there was 50 grams of food in the man’s stomach. Yes, for authorities, finding 50 grams of food in the stomach of a man starving for 12 days […]

Avinash Pandey One doesn’t often see a respected international media house asking a democratic republic’s prime minister to break his silence in an editorial. Even more rare is it to see this “silence” tagged with the adjective “shameful”. The New York Times did exactly that today, 8 August 2016. The editorial forewarns Mr. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of […]

Naseer Memon The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) have released a report “Multidimensional Poverty in Pakistan” which depicts a grim picture of social well-being in the country. The concept of poverty has evolved over time. As knowledge about the complexity of human societies is growing, poverty has […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns racism, insults and assaults against indigenous Papuan students in the Papuan students dormitory at the Kamasan I Jalan Kusumanegara, Yogyakarta province, Indonesia. Since Friday morning, July 15, police officers have surrounded and forcibly closed the Papuan students’ dormitory. Inside there were approximately 100 Papuan students. The police did […]

Beginning with Thailand this week, Just Asia covers three human rights defenders who have been accused of criminal defamation and violation of the Computer Crime Act for publishing a report detailing 54 cases of torture by the Thai Army in the country’s southern provinces. The three defenders, Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, Director of the Cross Cultural Foundation […]

After monitoring 20 months of the human rights situation in Papua and West Papua provinces under President Joko Widodo’s administration, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is dismayed at the utter lack of progress in the protection and realization of people’s rights. Since President Widodo’s inauguration on 20 October 2014, there were considerable expectations for […]

The Supreme Court’s rap to the Union and to various state governments for their apathy to drought victims is welcome. But, it is akin to a few drops sprinkled onto a parched desert under the oversight of unconscious executive governance. The verdict in the writ petition, filed by Swaraj Abhiyan on 11 May 2016 (Swaraj Abhiyan v. Union […]

The pattern on display in the Bombay High Court yesterday, 9 May 2016, was not that of the cycle of drought affecting millions. It was that of callous – bordering on malicious – governance. According to media reports, like this one, the Maharashtra state government informed the Court that it would declare drought in over 29,000 […]

For millions of Indians hit by the devastating drought, death comes in myriad forms. Farmers’ suicides – oft reported by the media and denied by the State – are one of them. A recent and surprising pattern of drought death is heart attacks to those waiting in water collection queues. This is what killed 12-year-old Yogita […]