Right to life

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received the information from the Medan Legal Aid Institute (LBH Medan) concerning the death of two brothers from Medan, North Sumatera. The two brothers, who were suspects in a drug case, were shot to death by the police who claimed that they attempted to escape and […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received very disturbing information regarding the assault on five women human rights defenders working with Sahjani Shiksha Kendra (SSK) in Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh. The women, belonging to the Dalit and backward communities, were physically and verbally assaulted while inaugurating an adult literacy centre for Dalit women. […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to inform you about the research based report on historical overview of Blasphemy laws in Pakistan the Blasphemy published by Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), Islamabad. The research was compiled by Mr. Nafees Muhammad, a writer and research fellow. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received worrying information regarding the imminent inundation and subsequent loss of livelihood for the inhabitants of Balapur Village, Mahadevpuri VDC, ward no. 6, Banke district. This follows a recent field visit undertaken with colleagues from FIAN Nepal. The inundation, caused by the completion of a canal […]

News reports from Bangladesh allege that a series of attacks on demonstrators have taken place, at around 3am today, May 6, 2013. The extent of the injuries and death is difficult to be ascertained at the moment. The Daily Star, a Bangladeshi newspaper, gave the figure of deaths as 5. However, several internet reports have mentioned that the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding chronic water shortage plaguing the lives of Dalit residents of Duma village in Mugu district of Nepal during a field visit undertaken together with colleagues from FIAN Nepal. In absence of tapper water supply to their village, they have to fetch their water […]

Some call it the land of murder; it is also known as the land of rape; the land of robbery; the land of corruption; the land of criminals and the land of liars! It must be asked if our country has lost its identity with the positive values in life and in doing so has […]

Reconciliation has not been treated as an attractive word in Sri Lanka. The government’s view is that forgetting is the best course available. It argues that reconciliation attempts could reopen the wounds and will do more harm than good. Officially therefore, the government policy is to encourage forgetting. This policy does not come under serous […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a local NGO, KontraS, regarding the shooting of four detainees in the Cebongan Correctional Facility by military officers. The shooting was an act of revenge by the officers for the murder of one of their colleagues which took place a couple of days […]

Basil Fernando A seven-year-old child, Pushpakumara Wijekoon from Kegalle, went to school as usual and left around 1 pm. He walked to the junction where his father usually picked him up on his cycle to bring him home. As the child did not see his father, he started walking back home. The distance was about […]

On 18 April 2013, the Attorney General for Bangladesh Mr. Mahbubey Alam participated in the hearing of a writ petition before a High Court Division Bench of the Bangladesh Supreme Court. The writ was filed by Mrs. Firoza Mahmud, wife of Daily Amardesh‘s Interim Editor Mahmudur Rahman. Mrs. Mahmud had challenged the order of the Chief […]

The following is a statement issued by a group of Asian jurists, who met from 9-11 April in Bangkok, to discuss about threats to professional freedom of lawyers and the independence of the judiciary in Asia. Jurists from Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, South Korea, Vietnam, and Hong Kong attended […]

Baseer Naveed Freedom of expression is today at its lowest in the history of the country. The people of the country have, in fact, never enjoyed freedom of expression. However, during the last decade or so the governments have claimed that they have given freedom of expression to the media. This is not borne out […]

Today, 11 April 2013, the authorities in Bangladesh have arrested the Interim Editor of a prominent Bangladeshi daily, Daily Amardesh, Mr. Mahmudur Rahman. Officers raided Rahman’s office at about 8:30 am and taken away by the Detective Branch of Bangladesh Police. Rahman’s arrest is an attempt to stifle dissenting voice. Rahman is in a serious […]

(Hong Kong, April 10, 2013) A Burma-based lawyers group has released its findings on the Letpadaung land struggle in English. The 39-page illustrated report was submitted by the Lawyers Network (Myanmar) and the Justice Trust in February to the government’s investigation commission into events at Letpadaung, recounts the land struggle and subsequent crackdown on protestors. […]

The most popular slogan during the movement for the creation of Pakistan was, “Haath main lota munh main paan — laiker rahain gay Pakistan”, believe it that this was the ideology of Pakistan It was on March 25, 1969, when General Yahya Khan imposed another period of Martial Law by sending General Ayub Khan home […]

A Reflection by Bishop Duleep de Chickera Over the past months Sri Lankans have been educated on two Arabic words: halal and haram (that which is permissible and not permissible). Unfortunately the circumstances of learning have been an unprecedented antagonism towards the Muslim community much deeper than the halal issue. This trend must be addressed without […]

An article from The Sunday Times forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Kishali Pinto Jayawardena With a foreign policy in tatters, the judiciary and the legal system in deep crisis and the state of the economy looking more perilous with each monumentally wasteful government extravaganza, the seasonal call of the koha heralding the Sinhala […]

Dear friends,  We wish to share with you the full text of the speech of former Supreme Court Judge C. V. Wigneswaran at the 39th Annual Convocation of BASL. Asian Human Rights Commission  Hong Kong ————- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-FST-017-2013 March 31, 2013 A Statement from the United Nations forwarded by the Asian Human Rights […]

A Statement from the United Nations forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission GENEVA (29 March 2013) – A group of United Nations independent human rights experts today called on all parties in Bangladesh “to cease violence immediately and return to peaceful demonstrations,” after worrying levels of violence have been reported following large-scale protests across […]