Right to life

PAKISTAN: Appeal for safe recovery of Sagheer Ahmed disappeared after pick up from University

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received the following up-dated information. It concerns the enforced disappearance of a 21 year-old student from one of Karachi University’s canteens. He was abducted by plainclothes persons in the presence of a good number of Rangers. The abductors came in a white car and on two […]

INDIA: A great betrayal

An article by Prof. Upendra Baxi, published in The Indian EXPRESS, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission State impunity continues for acts of torture. Lawmakers and court have not stepped up to their duty February 19, 2016 was an unusual day in the world history of torture when Ashwani Kumar, a senior advocate and […]

INDONESIA: Human rights merely acknowledged, not yet protected

On the occasion of international human rights day, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) observes the major human rights issues of concern in Indonesia. Impunity and a fragile criminal justice system have let down victims of human rights abuse and those seeking justice. According to research by the Indonesian Legal Roundtable (ILR), Indonesia’s rule of […]

PHILIPPINES: Massive protests against human rights violation under Duterte’s violent presidency

(Hong Kong, 9 December 2017) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that different human rights groups across the country will hold protests and a series of other events tomorrow, December 10, to mark the International Human Rights Day. Today, the Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights (Karapatan), an alliance of human […]

BANGLADESH/MYANMAR: An agreement to stifle witnesses and that will not end the crisis

The governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar have signed a bilateral arrangement concerning the repatriation of the Rohingya from camps in Bangladesh to Rakhine state in Myanmar. The agreement was signed by both governments on 23 November 2017 at Nay Pyi Taw. The bilateral agreement is only a first step in recognising the crisis. The agreement however does […]

SRI LANKA: “Police Fails to Conduct An Impartial Inquiry Into the Accident that Killed A Doctor”, Lawyer Tells The Court

The Specialist Doctor Wasantha Pushpakumara Herath died as a result of a fatal accident on the 22nd of September 2017. His car was being driven from Kandy to Colombo on the Kandy Road. A lorry which had tried to overtake another vehicle at a very high speed collided with the vehicle driven by Dr. Herath […]

INDIA: Protesting Farmers hold their Parliament, passing bills as real one looks away

Article | India | 22-11-2017

by Avinash Pandey More than 3 lakh (300,000) suicides in thirty years and millions of other lives ruined, would qualify as a national disaster, forcing the Government to tackle it all guns blazing in any democracy. Alas, it does not in the one that claims to be the largest democracy of them all-India. In fact […]

PAKISTAN: Universal Children’s Day- denied fundamental rights children suffer from State neglect

Universal Children’s Day was observed in the country as a formality, while at the same time, millions of children are denied their basic rights. Despite the Constitutional obligation, enunciated under the Policy Principle, the State is ignoring its duty of care for 53 percent of its population below the age of 18. The preliminary results […]

INDONESIA: Local community in Sanghiang Island victim of land grabbing and fabricated case

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Banten People Legal Aid (LBH Rakyat Banten) about land grabbing and a fabricated case against the local community of Sanghiang Island, Banten province. Despite the local community having lived on the island for many years, the PT. PKP company suddenly claimed that the […]

INDIA: AADHAR- starving the poor to death as the Supreme Courts looks away

by Avinash Pandey Shakina Ashfaq, 50, is the latest life claimed by the AADHAR, the name given to the 12-digit unique identification (UID) number by the government of India. The reports suggest that she died of hunger. The authorities, as is unsaid standard operating procedure, claim that preliminary inquiries suggest that she didn’t die of hunger, […]

INDIA: Arbitrary detention of Mr. Chandrashekhar Ravan makes a mockery of the rule of law by the UP state government

Article | India | 14-11-2017

By Avinash Pandey Mr. Chandrashekhar Ravan, the founder of the Bhim Army remains in custody despite the Allahabad High Court granting him bail in all the cases registered against him. Ravan is in custody because of the Government of Uttar Pradesh has registered a case against him under the provisions of the draconian, National Security […]

NEPAL: Rooting out torture requires new measures and mechanisms

Article | Nepal | 06-11-2017

by Raksha Ram Harijan The routine practice of torture in Nepal is nothing new; decades of work by human rights organizations working on torture and impunity can provide solid examples of the Nepal Police and Nepal Army practicing torture during their work. Despite the government’s ratification of the Convention against Torture (CAT) on 14 May […]

AHRC TV: Dalit girl loses eye in brutal rape and attack and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 195

This week Just Asia begins with Nepal, where a 14-year-old Dalit girl was raped by a 19-year-old youth. After raping the girl on October 28, the non-Dalit Santosh Shrestha tried to kill her by slashing her with a sickle, and gouging out her left eye. The delay in receiving treatment cost the girl her left […]

NEPAL: Mysterious custodial death of a girl must be investigated

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely disturbed by the mysterious death of 16-year-old Priyanka Yadav in police custody on October 29, 2017. The Area Police Office (APO), Mirchaiya arrested Priyanka and 14-year-old Sanjay Sah on October 28 for the murder of Bhavesh Yadav, Priyanka’s 13-year-old cousin brother. The next day, Priyanka was found […]

PAKISTAN: Shia man tormented with frivolous charges on account of his Faith

Dear Friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about the enforced disappearance of a Shia man, Muhammud Bilal, by officials of a Law Enforcement agency. He has been disappeared twice and indicted on murder charges under frivolous grounds. A few days before his disappearance, Bilal had a hernia operation. To date his […]

NEPAL: Dalit girl raped and left eye gouged out

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about a 14-year-old Dalit girl who had been raped. It was carried out by a non-Dalit male named Santosh Shrestha (19). He is an eighth-grade student at the local Saraswoti Secondary School. After raping the girl, Santosh tried to kill her by slashing her […]

SRI LANKA: Police neglect leads to the death of a young man

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information regarding Mr. Kurukulasooriyage Nuwan Chamara Perera of No: 215/5, Jayalath Place, Modara, Moratuwa, in the Colombo District. On October 5, 2017, he was assaulted by four persons, Malshika, Janith, Janithu, and Ishani Shehara at Joseph Place in Moratuwa Modara Police Post Division. He was treated […]

AHRC TV: Extrajudicial killings on the rise in Sri Lanka and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 194

This week Just Asia begins with Sri Lanka, where a man was shot dead Monday by the Special Task Force of the police while travelling with his friends in a car. The police later claimed that they only began firing after the vehicle fired on them first, but there is no evidence to support this […]

INDONESIA: Student in West Papua tortured and ill-treated by police officers

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from our local partner in Papua about the torture and ill-treatment of a high school student, Yunus Manauri, in Teluk Wondama regency, West Papua province. After Yunus refused to hand over his motorcycle for not having the vehicle’s document as well as a driving […]

INDIA/PAKISTAN: Stop shelling the Dharamsal village and other areas on the Line of Control in Jammu Kashmir

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information that around 500 residents in Dharamsal village, a small village on the Line of Control (dividing the State of Jammu Kashmir into Pakistani and Indian administered parts) have been living in equivocal situation since August 13, 2017. The Indian Army is unremittingly targeting […]