Right to life

This week Just Asia focuses on the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, marked annually on June 26. Torture is a crime under international law. It is absolutely prohibited and cannot be justified under any circumstances. Despite this, torture persists in all regions of the world. Concerns about protecting national security and borders […]

A Statement on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture Nepal underwent political change in 2017, with local level elections held for the first time in 20 years. This was a significant step in ending the country’s political transition following the civil war (1996-2006). After a decade-long conflict in Nepal, the number […]

A Statement on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture June 26th every year is marked as the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) works closely with victims of torture through its network of partner organisations across the countries it works in. […]

A Statement on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture Torture remains a serious problem in Indonesia, even though it has been 20 years since it ratified the International Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT). There are also various national regulations prohibiting torture: […]

A Statement on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture Globally, June 26 is celebrated as a day of solidarity for victims of torture. All over the world, various kinds of events are held in order to highlight the issue of torture and various ways to overcome this perennial problem. […]

Growth has remained the buzzword in Indian polity for decades now. It started after the unprecedented economic crisis that the country faced in early 1990s and never really went away after that. It, rather, almost consumed the other big word- development, which now returns to election rallies and then disappears again until the next elections. […]

This week Just Asia begins with India, where Shujaat Bukhaari, editor of the newspaper Rising Kashmir, was gunned down outside his office in Srinagar on June 14. A highly respected journalist, Bukhaari was known for his consistent advocacy for peace and dialogue in Kashmir. His assassination, along with that of journalist Gauri Lankesh in Bangalore […]

Sri Lanka Report for 2017 2017 was a decisive year for Sri Lanka, showing what progress had – and hadn’t – been made in the past few years. In January 2015, a new government was elected with a massive intervention on the part of the people. For 10 years, their premiere, Mahinda Rajapaksa, ran an […]

This week Just Asia begins with India, where two young men were lynched on the suspicion of being child abductors. Niloptal Das and Abhijeet Nath were artists based in Goa, who had come to Assam to celebrate the Bohag Bihu festival and do some sight-seeing. A mob stopped their SUV at night, believing a child […]

  This week Just Asia begins with Thailand, where police issued summons to at least another 47 individuals on May 29, for exercising their freedom of peaceful assembly to call for elections and democracy. Fifteen others were charged by the police earlier, also for participating at an assembly held at Thammasat University and the UN […]

On May 22, 2018, the people of Thoothukudi(Tuticorin) were protesting for the 100th day against the environmental damage caused by the copper smelter unit of Sterlite Copper company, a unit of Vedanta Group. 100 days of protests that turned violent on May 22nd, with police firing on the protesters and killing, as on date, 13 […]

A Statement from Coalition Against Summary Execution (CASE) forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission We, at Coalition Against Summary Execution (CASE)*, condemn in the strongest terms the Supreme Court’s decision granting the Solicitor General’s petition for Quo Warranto against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. It is abhorring to see the Supreme Court majority surrender […]

This week Just Asia begins with terror attacks in Indonesia. The country’s second largest city of Surabaya saw yet another suicide bombing on Monday morning, at the police station. On Sunday, three churches were attacked, killing at least 11 persons, and injuring 41 persons during Sunday mass. This was one of the worst attacks on […]

A Statement from Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights (KARAPATAN) forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Karapatan expressed disappointment on the ruling of the Regional Trial Court Branch 36 of Calamba, Laguna yesterday, May 16, 2018, on the criminal cases filed by security guard Rolly Panesa against four police officers and other John […]

Despite all the tall claims of development by authorities in India, the data from Government bodies shows that there are little, if any, improvements in tackling alarmingly high levels of malnutrition. Add to this the worrisome fact of a sharp increase in the indebtedness of households and the situation becomes even bleaker. The data from […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) strongly condemns the terrorist attacks and suicide bombings which occurred in several churches in Surabaya, East Java Province. We note that the attacks resulted in at least 11 people killed and 41 injured. When the bombs exploded around 7a.m. they struck terror into the hearts of Indonesia’s sizeable, minority, Christian community. […]

This week Just Asia begins with India, where the government has cleared an ordinance introducing the death penalty for those committing sexual assault of children younger than 12 years. The ordinance has come under fire as such a serious change in the law has been attempted without proper debate and consultation in parliament. Furthermore, the […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), a credible national civil society organization, about a land dispute and police violence in East Nusa Tenggara Province. One villager was killed after police officers arbitrarily opened fire on villagers protesting against the Sutera Marosi Company’s […]

A Joint Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission and the Terai Human Rights Defenders Alliance The proposed draft of Nepal’s National Integrity Policy (NIP)1 has created havoc among the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) and the wider human rights community in the country. It has been reported that the National Integrity Policy drafted […]

This week Just Asia begins with Nepal, where April 25 marked the third year since the devastating Gorkha-centered earthquake. The 2015 earthquake killed 8,979 people and destroyed around 900,000 homes. It is a tragedy that many victims continue living in tattered makeshift camps and tents. As yet another monsoon nears, people hope that the new […]