Right to life

At approximately 9 pm on 1 June 2014, the National Council on Peace and Order Maintenance Council (NPCO) issued Orders No. 42-44/2014 broadcast on the radio and television demanding that 38 persons report themselves to the Jamjuree Room at the Army Club on Thewet Road between 10 am and noon on 1 June 2014. Similar […]

Thanks to promising monsoons, India is all set for a bumper harvest. This seemingly good news, however, has a caveat to it. To begin with, an open procurement policy based on government announced minimum support price the government is duty bound to buy all foodgrain that reaches its Krishak Mandis (farmers’ markets). The Food Corporation […]

The world is once again shocked by the news of the stoning to death of a 25-year-old pregnant woman, Farzana Parveen Iqbal, in Pakistan. The stoning took place before the Lahore High Court where she had attended due to a summons. The stoning was carried out by 20 members of her own family including her […]

At 3am on May 20, 2014, General Prayuth Chan-ocha, the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army, announced that martial law was immediately in force. After two days of uncertainty, in which martial law co-existed with the constitution and the caretaker government remained nominally in power, General Prayuth led a coup at approximately 5 pm on […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding a young man of the age of 17 who was illegally arrested by officers from the Kandaketiya police and severely tortured along with his brother and another family member. Despite appeals by his parents and lawyers the Magistrate who heard the case presented […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Civil Society Women’s Organization (CSWO), an anti-corruption and women’s rights organization based in Shillong, Meghalaya regarding the custodial death of an 18-year-old youth Mr. Balsan S. Marak. Balsan was arrested under dubious circumstances on charges of kidnapping and torture of women on 13 […]

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed an application in a CBI Special Court seeking approval for criminal charges to be framed against the Director General of Police, Mr. Sumedh Singh Saini, of the Punjab state police. The accusation against Saini relates to his conduct of defence in a criminal case in which Saini […]

Human rights defenders are continually being made targets of abduction in Bangladesh, actions that are symptomatic of a kind of insanity. Yesterday (May 15,2014 ), Mr. Md. Nur Khan (Liton), a prominent human rights defender narrowly escaped being abducted. A group of men in plain clothes attempted to abduct Mr. Nur, who works as Director […]

The citizens of Pakistan watched a video recording of a police encounter on all the television channels where a man who had been pronounced dead started crying and screaming that he was alive. The police ignored his cries for help and dragged him by the hair into a police van. He was taken to a […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Nervazhi – a human rights organization based in Kerala, concerning the custodial death of a young woman aged 23 years. It is reported that the police took the victim in the case, Ms. Hanisha, into illegal custody on 23rd March 2014. The police […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the indiscriminate shootings against civilians in Moanemani, Nabire, Papua by officers of Moanemani Sub-District Police. Three civilians were injured in the incident and their condition remains critical. CASE NARRATIVE: According to the information the Asian Human Rights Commission has received from an activist […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Women in Governance (WinG-Assam), a network of women human rights defenders in Assam regarding the brutal torture of Mr. Bhaben Gogoi by Mr. Mayurjeet Gogoi, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Cinnamora police station and his team in Jorhat, Assam on 6 April 2014. As a […]

India faces the threat of being won over by religious fundamentalists; so say many experts, commenting in light of the on-going elections. Nothing could be more unfortunate for India, which has stood tall and contained regressive radicals for six decades. This is no mean task, given how many neighbours have fallen prey to homegrown rogues […]

So you are now a saint                                       Do remain human, all the same! You understood our times Our need to understand and respond To change; To have windows and doors open For all winds to blow through Daring to face diversity As a friend and not a foe; Talk, talk, you said And ushered in the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information concerning the kidnapping and rape of four dalit girls in the north Indian state of Haryana. The crime was committed to force dalits from exercising their legitimate right to equal treatment with dignity, and the local village headman is alleged to be one of […]

(Hong Kong, April 25, 2014) Rights groups in Thailand have informed the U.N. of continuing, routine use of torture in the country, ahead of a review of its compliance with an international law against torture. In reports submitted to the U.N. Committee Against Torture as part of its review of Thailand under the Convention Against […]

Dear friends, Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received disturbing information from Civil Society Women’s Organisation (CSWO), an anti-corruption and women’s rights organization based in Shillong, Meghalaya. In the remote village of Kynroh Nonglyer, Sohiong (Lyngdohship), East Khasi Hills District, Meghalaya, which lies about 50 kms from Shillong city, women have been barred from village […]

Recently, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) published its report ranking the country as 3rd “most deadly for journalists,” next to Iraq and Somalia. In another report, the Global Witness ranked the country as the 3rd “most dangerous” for environment and land defenders worldwide, next to Brazil and Honduras, where indigenous people struggle for control of their lands. The […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that brick kiln owners, with the patronage of the Punjab provincial government, have been holding children, women, and men in illegal detention. Women who have been demanding compliance of the minimum wage and social security have been beaten, their clothes stripped, and their children […]

In an Indian election, campaigns are heavily dependent on the media. Yet, however risk ridden the life and livelihood of Indian media personnel may be, their security is not an issue for political parties, governments, or owners of media houses. The north eastern region is no exception to this. North east India is a seat […]