Right to remedy

PHILIPPINES: Ombudsman did not investigate cases of threat and torture on its own

Dear friends,  With regard to two cases that we have asked the Ombudsman to conduct investigations into one involved threats to the lives of an activist and his family. No investigation had been conducted in this case. They did investigate the second one which involved the torture of three activists but did not provide a […]

INDIA: The state of the republic at 61

Statement | India | 25-01-2011

The integrity of a republic and the determination of its people depend upon the legitimacy of their government. Since declaring the Union of India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic that assures its citizens justice, equality, and liberty and to be a nation that endeavours to promote among them all fraternity, 61 years […]

SRI LANKA: Police torture as an indicator of the constitutional degradation of the Rule of Law

Sofie Rordam Sri Lankan citizens are protected against torture and arbitrary arrest in sections 11, 12 and 13 of the Constitution of Sri Lanka. In addition Sri Lanka has ratified the United Nations Convention against Torture and Cruel and Inhuman Treatment in 1994. While the legislation is there, the effectuation is not. The gap between […]

ASIA: Christmas and New Year Wishes from the Asian Human Rights Commission

The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes everyone a merry Christmas and a happy new year. In all countries of Asia, this Christmas and new year will be celebrated in very difficult conditions. We extend our wishes to all families who are struggling in the midst of these difficulties to fight for their rights. We particularly […]

PHILIPPINES: ‘Morong 43’ case–exposes a prosecution system directly under political control

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) welcomes with reservations President Benigno Aquino III’s order to withdraw the charges against 43 health workers, collectively known as ‘Morong 43′, as reported today. We strongly believe, based on the documents and information that we have also obtained, that they should have not been arrested, detained, and forced to […]

PAKISTAN: A woman was gang raped and kept for 50 days in a private detention center of police

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a woman, who received a stay order from court over a dispute on ownership of her house, was picked up by policemen and their informers and taken to a private detention centre where she was gang raped for more than 50 days. The […]

INDIA: Test of honesty for the country’s judiciary or an ode on its demise

Statement | India | 28-09-2010

The contempt of court proceedings initiated against Advocate Prashant Bushan in the Supreme Court of India for the allegations he made against some of the former Chief Justices of the country will test the maturity of India’s judicial system and that of its democratic framework. Indeed the Court has a statutory right to initiate proceedings […]

BANGLADESH: A man has been killed by Rapid Action Battalion-10 team in Dhaka city

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) team killed a man on 16 March 2010. The witnesses told the AHRC that Major Kamruzzaman of the RAB-10 shot the man pointing a pistol at the person’s head in a staircase of a two-storied building. The authorities have […]

PHILIPPINES: How could the ‘Maguindanao massacre’ have been allowed to happen? — Asian Human Rights Commission

(“We don’t care about it, we don’t know about it” – the Acting Head of the Provincial Police)     As it has been widely reported, 57 people-including two human rights lawyers and 30 journalists – were slaughtered on November 23 in Maguindanao, a province in central Mindanao. While much of the stories and worldwide […]

UPDATE (Philippines): Four years after his murder a widow is still waiting for the investigation report of her activist husband’s death

Dear Friends,   The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes with deep regrets with regard to the lack of substantial progress in the investigation of the murder of an activist we reported to have been killed on November 28, 2005. His wife has yet to obtain a copy of the official reinvestigation report into his […]

NEPAL: Police fail to charge those who accused a Dalit woman of witchcraft and forced her to eat human excreta

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that police are pressuring a low-caste woman to withdraw a case against a group of people who accused her of being a witch, beat her, and forced her to eat human excreta. There are currently no laws in Nepal designed to protect religious minorities or […]

BANGLADESH: Police prevent a journalist from filing torture allegations against paramilitary soldiers

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a team from the Rapid Action Battalion-10, a paramilitary force involved in maintaining law and order in Bangladesh, tortured a journalist at his house while in their custody, and detained him for more than ten hours. The soldiers made a fabricated video at his […]

SRI LANKA: A local criminal disables a man and police fail to act

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that police and the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission have failed to investigate case in which a man was attacked and disabled by thugs allegedly working for a local criminal. The case highlights a relationship of convenience between criminal informers and the police in […]

INDIA: A 13 year old girl is sexually assaulted but police fail to arrest the perpetrator

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed by a local human rights organisation in Uttar Pradesh, the People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), that a 13-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by her neighbour.  In an attempt to rape the girl the accused entered their house and attacked her whilst she […]

CAMBODIA: Police fail to arrest persons who mutilated the fingers of an alleged thief in Banteay province

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a group of villagers had badly beaten a teenager named San Seng, aged 18. They cut off two fingers on his left hand for allegedly stealing two mobile phone sets on 9 September 2008 in Palilay village, Poipet commune, O Chreou district, Banteay Meanchey […]

INDIA: Security forces murder another civilian in a fake encounter in Manipur

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a civilian was arrested and murdered by security personnel in Manipur. It is reported that this incident is yet another case of a notorious ‘pick up’ that usually results in torture, killing or enforced disappearances.  When the wife of the victim tried to […]

CAMBODIA: Police allegedly extort bribes in arrest in Rattanakiri province

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that the police allegedly ordered parents to pay a bribe of 150000 riels (US$37.5) each if their sons were not to be arrested after these youths had damaged a party sign in Soeung commune, Bor Keo district, Rattankiri province. On 2 July 2008, they arrested […]

BANGLADESH: False charges against two persons in jail must be dropped

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Bangladesh that a judge of a Special Tribunal for Women has ordered the detention of two persons in absence of a thorough investigation and solely on the basis of a false complaint. The two detainees, whom the police have arrested on March 30, […]

CAMBODIA: Forced eviction of 229 families in Sihanoukville

[NOTICE: The AHRC have developed a new automatic letter-sending system using the “button” below. However, in this appeal, we could not include e-mail addresses of some of the Cambodian authorities. We encourage you to send your appeal letters via fax or post to those people. Fax numbers and postal addresses of the Cambodian authorities are […]

PHILIPPINES: Delays in prosecution causes prolonged detention of two farmers

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you about the prolonged detention of two farmers in Davao Oriental province, the Philippines. Both of them have been detained for almost three years without any progress in their case because the prosecution witnesses failed to appear in court on six occasions. One of […]