Right to life

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 […]

This week Just Asia begins with India, where an 8-year-old girl from Kashmir was gang-raped and murdered. Her family reported her missing in January this year, and only a week later was her body found. According to the charge sheet filed in April, the girl from the Bakarwal Muslim community was gang-raped and murdered by […]

By Urmila Pullat On Mar 20, 2018, in Dr. Subhash Kashinath Mahajan vs. The State of Maharashtra And Anr., the Supreme Court of India held that there is no absolute bar on granting anticipatory bail for complaints under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (hereinafter the SC/ST Act). Further, […]

A Statement from by Dr. Umakant of JNU forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission April 02, 2018, JNU, New Delhi We must remove inequality, Ambedkar said, or our political structure will be in peril http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/sc-st-act-we-must-remove-inequality-ambedkar-said-or-our-political-structure-will-be-in-peril-5122076/ This protest was unprecedented because it was largely led by ordinary Dalits and Adivasis, while political parties and their leaders played […]

This week Just Asia begins with India, where social activist Poipynhun Majaw’s body was found near a bridge in Meghalaya. According to the police, the preliminary inquiry suggests he was hit on the head with a wrench, leading to his death. While the motive for his murder has not been ascertained yet, Majaw had recently […]

March 20, 2018 Inspector general of Police, Police Headquarters Colombo Sri Lanka Fax Number: +94 112440440 Re: Complaint against Sound Pollution caused by temple authorities at Sri Devram Maha Viharaya, Pannipitiya Dear Sir, I am writing this on behalf of the Asian Human Rights Commission. Our commission has revived a complaint from about 35 local […]

This week Just Asia begins with Nepal, where 18-year-old Radha Chaudhary was mercilessly beaten on witchcraft charges, while the world was celebrating International Women’s Day. Led by Ram Bahadur Chaudhary, a self-professed shaman, the horrific beating can be seen in a widely circulated video. None of the spectators bothered to rescue the innocent girl or […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), a regional, non-governmental, human rights organization in Asia, has learned of the current situation on the war against terrorism in Indonesia. We deplore the action of the Police of the Republic of Indonesia, in particular Special Detachment Anti-Terror Unit (Densus 88). They have not seriously learned from their previous […]