Rule of law

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Defend Job Philippine regarding eviction notice served on 250 families living along the R-10 or Road 10 in Tondo, Manila by the government authorities. The planned forced eviction, without compensation, will not only jeopardize living conditions of the people but also expose them […]

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to the Home Minister of Nepal Mr. Madhav Prasad Ghimire Home Minister Government of Nepal Simha Darbar, Kathmandu NEPAL Fax: +977 1 42 11 232 Dear Sir, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to voice its deepest concern regarding the sharp deterioration in the health of […]

A response to Dr. Mark Cooray’s defence of the impeachment of the Chief Justice (This article initially appeared in GALLE –Law Journal- 2013 Vol. 2) “We have every reason to be proud of the fact that our judicial system has been adopted in so many different parts of the world. At the heart of it is […]

ICAED’s Voice: Honor the Disappeared through incessant call for States’ Accession to the Anti-Disappearance Convention  It has been 32 years ago since our Latin American sisters and brothers from the Latin American Federation of Associations of Relatives of Disappeared-Detainees (FEDEFAM) initiated the commemoration of what is now officially recognized by the United Nations as the […]

After the Anti-Torture Law was enforced, there have been two widely publicized torture videos where police officers were caught on camera torturing suspects in their custody. The first was in August 2010; the perpetrator was Joselito Binayug. The second was in June this year and the perpetrator was none other than Alfredo Lim, a former […]

Last week a shocking story was revealed in the media. On August 21 2013 P. Chandana Thushara Peiris, (32), the father of one child was arrested by the Moratuwa police and severely tortured to force him to confess to having possessed bombs and having committed several other crimes. When the family learned about the arrest […]

After 22 years of advocacy and lobbying, the Philippines enacted the Anti-Torture Law in November 2009. This law is not an ordinary law. The Philippines became the first country in Southeast Asia to enact a domestic law on torture. In effect, this law means the country commits itself legally to the international community to enforce […]

On July 3rd 2013, President Mahinda Rajapaksha published a gazette that authorized the armed forces to engage in “the maintenance of public order”. Last week, he announced a new ministry under the title “the Ministry of Law and Order”. By these two acts, the Sri Lankan civilian police have been virtually reduced to nothing, and […]

Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena*, Gehan Gunatilleke** & Prameetha Abeywickreme*** Originally published in the LST Review, Volume 23, Issue 306 & 307, April & May 2013 Introduction The Nature of Impunity Those who abuse power almost invariably enjoy the power to abuse. Impunity is both a corollary of power and a tool for power retention; a phenomenon that, by […]

This article was initially published in LST Review- Vol.306 and 307 in May 2013 1. Introductory Remarks “We have every reason to be proud of the fact that our judicial system has been adopted in so many different parts of the world. At the heart of it is fairness to everyone who holds views with which […]

On June 21, we reported that Alfredo Lim, the former Mayor of Manila, had tortured a rape suspect in full view of the public, while the senior police officers present did nothing to prevent him. We rightly demanded that Lim, who perpetrated the torture and the policemen, who did nothing to stop the torture, be […]

The Balochistan government has registered a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act against the chief executive and three other employees of a television channel, ARY Digital, for releasing a documentary about the attack on the former residency of the father of the nation. The three other employees are the Executive Director, Owais Tohid, the Quetta bureau […]

CONCEPT PAPER: This conference is jointly organised by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and DIGNITY. Scheduled Date: 11-13 November, 2013 States across the world deny that custodial torture and ill-treatment exist within their jurisdictions. Yet, in reality, not only does such practice exist, it is often promoted within states, as a policy, whether clandestine […]

Sombath Somphone, a widely-respected leader in education and sustainable development in the Lao PDR, and recipient of the 2005 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, disappeared on the evening of December 15th, 2012 in the Lao capital Vientiane (see http://www.sombath.org). CCTV footage which became available 2 days later showed Sombath being stopped by traffic police, […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a woman was dragged onto the street and was tied to a tree by land grabbers working for a member of the provincial assembly of Punjab from the ruling party. The police reached the scene just as the perpetrators were getting ready to […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding continued deaths of children by Encephalitis in Eastern Uttar Pradesh from Manoj Singh, a local journalist working with a reputed Hindi newspaper. The toll has gone up frighteningly and now stands at 172 and counting. Sadly this is the state of affairs despite […]

by Basil Fernando Within just a few days of the announcement of the new ministry, the Ministry of Law and Order, a rather unusual level of interest has emerged, judging by the many articles that have appeared in response to the government’s move. Though such quick responses are unusual, they are not surprising. If anyone […]

2013 අ‍ගෝස්තු 23 ජනාධිපතිවරයා යටතේ නීතිය හා සාමය අමාත්‍යාංශයක් ස්ථාපිත කරන බව නිවේදනය කර තිබේ. මේ අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම් වන්නේ, වාර්තාවන්ට අනුව විශ්‍රාමික හමුදා නිලධාරියෙකු වන මේජර් ජනරාල් (විශ්‍රාමික) නන්ද මල්ලවාරච්චි ය. මේජර් ජනරාල් මල්ලවාරච්චි    ශ්‍රී ලංකා යුධ හමුදාවේ හිටපු කාර්ය මණ්ඩල ප්‍රධානියා ය. පසුව ඔහු ඉන්දුනීසියාවේ සිටි ශ්‍රී ලංකා තානාපති බවට පත්විය. මැලේසියානු ආරක්ෂක අංශවල උදව් […]

The relationship between the High Commissioner for Human Rights and member nations of the United Nations is expected to be one of cooperation for the improvement of the rights of the people of the countries. The member states are expected to have the most cordial and friendly relationship with the High Commissioner’s office so as […]

The establishment of a Law and Order Ministry under the President has been announced. The Secretary to this Ministry, according to reports, is Major General (Retired) Nanda Mallawarachchi, a retired military officer. Maj.Gen. Mallawarachichi is a former Chief of Staff of the Sri Lankan Army. He later became the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Indonesia. He […]