Right to remedy

When I talked to a Sri Lankan friend about the killings of prisoners which happened yesterday and tried to convince him that people should demand justice, his instance reply was, “ Dhang justice naah” (now there is no justice) . In the past, this expression meant that there were serious concerns about justice. However, now it […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following article from the Sunday Times, Colombo, Sri Lanka, written by Kishali Pinto Jayawardena Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-FAT-039-2012 November 11, 2012 An article from the Sunday Times, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: Shameful stifling of freedom […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following article written by Tisaranee Gunasekara who is a Sri Lankan columnist based in Colombo Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- An article written by Tisaranee Gunasekara, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: Make the Impeachment Boomerang on the Rajapaksas Tisaranee Gunasekara […]

Mr. Gordon Brown, UN Special Envoy for Global Education, has declared November 10, a global day of action in support of Malala and girls’ right to education. Malala Yousafzai, an ardent campaigner for the right of education for girls, was shot by Taliban while on her way home from school in Swat valley, in northern […]

Yesterday (9th of October), at least 11 prisoners were gunned down and around 35 were injured by the STF. The shooting was carried out when the STF entered the Welikada prison for some inspections. (Photo Courtesy: Sunday Times, Sri Lanka) According to an eye witness, interviewed by the BBC Sinhala service, when some prisoners who […]

Basil Fernando The Chief Justice (CJ) has refuted all allegations made against her contained in the much publicized impeachment motion filed in parliament. (File Photo of the Chief Justice, Mrs. Shirani Bandaranayake) The CJ’s legal representatives have said in a letter “In the circumstances, in summary: (a) Our Client has declared all her operative bank […]

A comparison with the Titanic is most appropriate. Titanic at the time was thought of as a wonder ship that could never sink. It was not expected ever to perish. Sri Lanka also was considered a wonder. It was expected to be an example to other countries. It was expected to prove that democratization of […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following article written by Tisaranee Gunasekara who is a Sri Lankan columnist based in Colombo Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- An article written by Tisaranee Gunasekara, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: Hell Hath No Fury…. Tisaranee Gunasekara “Tyrant, why swell’st thou thus, of […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following article from the Sunday Times, Colombo, Sri Lanka, written by Kishali Pinto Jayawardena Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- An article from the Sunday Times, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: The final nail in the coffin of the judiciary For those of us […]

Under the present circumstances and under the 1978 constitution, when the president does not want the Chief Justice, the president just tells them to get out and go home. The way he does it is called impeachment proceedings. Once the president decides to file such proceedings – he has a two thirds majority in parliament […]

The Rajapaksha Regime, through its parliamentarians, handed over an impeachment motion to the Speaker, the elder brother of the President Rajapaksha against the first woman Chief Justice of the country. It appears that the Government of Sri Lanka is in a mighty hurry to “get rid of the Chief Justice” so that a major obstacle […]

For the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Pakistan, the country presented a four-year working report of how the government improved the state of human rights in Pakistan. Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar, the foreign minister leading the Pakistan delegation, presented the report to the UN. The UPR is a process in which the UN […]

The Mahinda Rajapaksa regime has resorted to the ugliest attack in Sri Lankan judicial history on the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice this week by using the state media as a slander machine and through employing the state media to introduce deliberately manufactured slanderous letters to the parliament solely with the purpose of abusing […]

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission and Odhikar The entire governmental machinery of Bangladesh, with its retinue of law-enforcement units, intelligence agencies, and security forces, have totally and abysmally failed to protect minority communities in the South Eastern region of the country.  A large number of monasteries, temples, houses and establishments of the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the daughter and son-in-law of the Chief Minister of Punjab province entered a bakery near its closing time and severely tortured the sweeper with the help of police officials for not entertaining the daughter. The police refused to file a case for almost […]

The Ahmadis, a sect that believes in Islam and claims to be an ardent follower of it, has been declared as non-Muslim under the Pakistani legislation. Evidently, the Government of Pakistan has not only confiscated their freedom to faith, belief and practice, but also proactively victimises them socially, economically and educationally. The declaration goes against […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding illegal sand mining in the Meghna River adjacent to the Mayadip and Nunertek islands. There has been an investigation conducted by the government of Bangladesh, following intervention by the Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing of the United Nation, which itself followed the […]

Introduction The primary objective of a fair and free democratic election has to be the creation of truly representative institutions at all levels, federal, provincial and local government levels – a truly representative and sovereign parliament, capable of giving expression to the genuine aspirations of each and every segment and section of the citizens of […]

This distress call is not from a sinking ship but from the supreme body that represents the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) of Sri Lanka, which is desperately stating that the independence of the judiciary is under threat from the executive. The Asian Human Rights Commission has for years warned that democracy in Sri Lanka is […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a businessman named Mr. Md. Karamat Ali of Satkhira district town has been missing for ten years. Md. Hossain Ali, the prime suspect in the disappearance of the victim, has run a business right in front of the police station for the past ten […]